Ok, with that in mind, I'll take a shot at a quick wrap-up for newcomers - y'all tear into any mistakes or misrepresentations I've made - or just plain fill in what's what.
OK - the deal with Froyo for those new -
YouTube - Android 2.2 Official Video
Cutting out the technobabble, it goes down like this:
- You get an optimized compiler
- Basically - everything on your phone is an app calling a service or services
- Service software is already very efficient Linux code (meaning - works great, been around, very stable, very good stuff)
- Most all apps are written in Java - this is the big compiler improvement
- Apps run much faster and more efficient - using LESS cpu power!
- You get to put (some) apps on your SD card
- OK, that some=a lot, actually
- You can get around this with some pre-Froyo utilities
- Why put apps on your SD card?
- SD card has more memory possible than what's built-in to your Ascend
- Froyo comes with full Flash support
And there's the rub, in my outsider opinion. Once upon a time, Adobe said they'd make Flash work with the class of cpu in your Ascend - the ARMv6.
Then - one day, without ever saying why - Adobe quietly dropped that and only supports Flash on phones with ARMv7 or higher processors and more memory.
So - on that day, a whole lot of phone owners previously expecting Froyo were suddenly faced with announcements that they'd never see an official Froyo update. The Ascend wasn't on those lists - but the Ascend is hardware-similar to those phones from other makers.
Next - we get the new gorilla in the room - Samsung - who comes into the US market, makes a huge splash with their Galaxy S-class phones, and takes forever and a day to update them to Froyo - long after others were enjoying it - and those Sammies had top cpus and memory.
So - take your pick - the carriers and makers have learned they can sit on their hands, point fingers and the consumers are stuck in the cold - or - they don't want to support a partial Froyo and get people upset.
Next - we get the MetroPCS Ascend TapouT version (something to do with martial arts on the wallpapers) and it's claimed to be at Froyo 2.2.
It's also widely claimed to be the exact same phone as the Ascend - which makes me suspicious of all claims.
So - take your pick - the TapouT is proof your Ascend can run Froyo and you'll get it officially - or - the TapouT is really modified hardware - or - they're just trying to sell you a new phone instead of updating you.
Enter rooting.
Getting root access means the exact same thing as getting Administrator privileges on your PC - you can change things, you can install new system stuff.
Enter Icarus and CM.
Icarus is a non-Froyo replacement software (rom) for your phone that many Ascend users are quite happy with.
Cyanogen Mod is the best-known independent rom developer for Android, and seems to have a Froyo-update for your phone. Links to CM are at the top of this page, references thereafter.
So - rather than wait - you can root, and replace your built-in software with an update.
Important to note when considering what to expect with the Ascend - is the Ascend a cheap phone?
- No.
- The Ascend is a less-expensive phone that just over a year ago would have qualified as near state-of-the-art.
- Being inexpensive, it has memory and cpu limits that means it won't support all future Android updates.
- After you hit the point where you're 100% happy with your Android phone, updates don't matter a whole lot.
- If you never hit the point of happiness, that's ok too - just upgrade your phone and know your first Android was probably better than mine.
Hope I got this right - as I said - the gang here will correct what I boffed!
