Android 2.2 FroYo launch centre- updated!
UPDATED! Welcome to the Android 2.2 Launch centre. Am excited to say as of 29 June 2010, Android 2.2 has officially started rolling out to Google Nexus One owners. 
For full feature lists visit:
Other phones will follow soon, see bottom of post for office confirmations
See below for the original post on Android 2.2 including some nice videos
Its no secret that the new version of Android 2.2 (dubbed FroYo or Frozen Yogurt) is in the works and is hopefully going to be announced on the forthcoming Google I/O conference starting on 19 May 2010. We are all hoping that that Google will take it a step further and release it then as well, however I don’t think its too outlandish to predict we will be snacking on our FroYo come summertime.
We have already had a lot of news leak out about it so here is a brief rundown of what we know so far:
Confirmed:
1. Built in Flash- This should produce a shot in the arm for games and apps developers by making it easier to port their existing flash content to android as well as allowing full compatibility with existing websites. I have an Android Flash Demo video of it courtesy of Ryan Stewart, an Adobe Evangelist. Ryan shows off powerful features, like 3D graphics and animations, video streaming and slick looking flash charts and full screen games. Its a fascinating watch as it seems that the flash is running independent of the browser, as you have to click on the flash content to interact with it. Here’s the video if you want to watch it yourself:
2. Auto – Updating apps via Android Market. – There is a screenshot in the wild showing a new option on the android market giving users the ability to allow trusted apps to update
themselves. The leaked image has been taken down but has been mirrored around the web.
3. Tweaked user interface- There will be an improved launcher including a very useful shortcut to the phone and web from the desktop(please make this configurable?!). A new Android Tourguide widget also seems to pop up on the screen ( and has a companion notification icon) which will hopefully help new users get into the Android mindset. Search also seems to have been improved with the addition of a drop down below the “G” button. If it follows the same User Interface pattern as the Twitter app, it should allow us to filter down what we search or even introduce custom searches like Firefox has( unlikely).
4. Go Faster Stripes- If you thought the nexus was fast, its going to get a whole load faster. Some figures being mooted is an increase of up to 450%! This sounds almost too good to be true, however if there is a reasonable amount of hardware acceleration it could turn the Nexus and Desire into veritable super phones.
5. Tethering and Portable WiFi Access point- Thanks to info leaked to Techcrunch we have confirmed that simple USB tethering is coming to FroYo, along with the exciting possibility to allow the handset to act as a wireless access point ( Replicating functionality that is already available through a MifI) This would be a great inclusion and allow your handset to be the perfect companion to your netbook/ tablet.
6. Allow any file to be Browser Uploaded-The limit on the types of content that can be uploaded via the browser looks set to be removed.
All but confirmed:
1. Apps to SD Card- It has been hinted from Google Android bug reports that a future incarnation of Android will allow you to install apps to the sd card. I personally hope that this will be used to give us G1 owners a much requested begged for upgrade to the latest version of android. With the amount of great new apps being released for Android 2.0 and up, it would be a hard pill to swallow if those Android early adopters are left out of OS they have supported from day 1.
2. Spinning out inbuilt apps- As a strategy to reduce the “fragmentation” criticism that has been levelled at Android, there will be less frequent updates of the Os after FroYo and the developers will instead focus on developing the individual apps within Android. This has already been demonstrated with Google Maps which since launch has had compass, latitude, buzz integration and Google Navigation added via updates.
We will hopefully be able to look forward to updated versions of Gmail, Calendar , Contacts and hopefully a decent Google tasks application in the forthcoming months.
Update: 17 May 2010- 23.45: Looks like techcrunch have found out that the first handsets to get Froyo are going to be Nexus One and Motorola Droid ( Milestone?!)
Update : 29 June 2010 10.23 : Android 2.2 is rolling out to Nexus one! Here is the post: Nexus One Android 2.2 Release post
Release date confirmations for Android 2.2 phones:
HTC Desire, HTC Legend and HTC Wildfire- Q3 2010
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[...] a new version of Android- Version 2.2 ( dubbed “Froyo”) – is widely expected to be announced. Check out our Froyo Launch centre to be kept updated and to see what to [...]
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[...] are looking for some of the great features that you can look forward to- be sure to check out our Android 2.2 (“Froyo”) launch centre and check out Google’s own “Android 2.2 platform highlights” page. Strangely Google [...]
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I for one am NOT hoping Android 2.2 is released at Google I/O, and you really shouldn’t be either. Google screwed up the releases of 2.0 and 2.1 by giving developers no time to get their apps in shape; these versions were just let loose in the wild, breaking a fair number of apps. We should all be hoping that 2.2 heralds a return to the better practices of 1.x, when the SDK was released to developers first, then updated onto live devices a bit later.
That’s a great point Sterling . Anxious as I am to get the latest taste of Froyo I want to make sure that my favorite apps work too.
its a cat and mouse game.
if there is no users for new OS, programmers will be less inclined to develop for it.
if there is no apps for new OS, users will be less inclined to get it.
so it doesnt matter which one comes first as long as it catches up in the end.
@sterling
It appears that Android is reaching a state of maturity and combined with decoupling of apps android should receive fewer major os revisions. I understand the developer angle of getting blindsided with a broken app. I still think most apps going forward should require less code rewrites as the core should remain mostly unchanged. I’m just excited to get froyo and am willing to go without an earlier sdk being released. Google will make sure we get what we need to keep developed apps stable. Google does have a good history empowering the developer so I wouldn’t worry about this too much.
@androiduk
Added the rss feed for your site to my reader. Good article
I too hope that the Android core is stabilizing, and that updates will break fewer apps in future. I’ve just lost a bit of faith in Google on this front after the way that developers WERE blindsided with 2.0, and worse with 2.1. I’m hopeful this time, though… all the buzz is about 2.2 itself, not about specific hardware, as was the case with the Droid and N1. A couple of weeks with an SDK is all I ask. :^)
People complaining about frequent OS updates needs to seriously put a sock in it already. That’s the entire point of an open source operating system. Bugs, glitches are fixed fairly fast, improvements are made features added.
Don’t go crying because you bought an android phone when they first came out and now you can’t run 2.2.. duh lol.
I think people are stuck in the stone age thinking about cell phones the same way they did 9 years ago, basically it’s just for calling and occasionally text. Times change, These are not just phones anymore, they are full featured computers that happen to be small and make phone calls. and we all know how fast computers can become obsolete.
Most carriers offer substantial discounts every 6 months to 2 years depending on contracts. If you want to run the new stuff then I suggest upgrading your phone and making sure it has proper specs. aka it might be a new phone but if you go for the cheapest, you deserve what you get….
I WANT these frequent updates, in fact I’d like them more often. We’ve (rom dev community) have known about lots of these things like JIT speed improvements for several months now and it’s just now finally getting added.
just to close this monster post. I’d much rather have google working hard on the operating system, adding, fixing, improving then merely tweaking applications. Let market developers do that. I kinda look at it like people whining because their super nintendo can’t play wii games. what? why do they have to keep updating their consoles????? =(
sorry, yeah I’m a bit blunt somtimes, but seriously. if upgrading your phone is such a big issue than either you prob should find a better job to pay for better ones when you have upgrades available, keep the phone and be happy (it’s still going to work, you just won’t be playing the newest cutting edge stuff) or go back to the old mono colored flip phone or whatever that barely texted and stick with that… I don’t think they updated those very much.
the apps to sd-card is is definitely a win-win situation. the developers can create bigger apps and the downloaders won’t have to worry about memory space. as for the nexus one itself, well, it’s out-of-this-world!! if froyo can make it 2 to 5 times faster then the sat-nav time delay on finding addresses and the voice recognition should be alot quicker and more accurate one would hope. i have the nokia x6 and i was surprised how fast it was at finding addresses and calculating routs compared to the nexus. and i mean alot quicker, like on average 3 times quicker. shocking i know. lets hope froyo addresses this problem.
What about my G1? Any chance I will ever be able get Android 2.2, or am I being punished for being an early adopter
They haven’t ruled out an official release of 2.1 for the trusty g1. However the small amount of memory allocation maybe an issue.
If you want to get the update at the moment, there is the option of rooting your phone and installing it unofficially however you can risk breaking the phone
What I don’t understand is why its so difficult for the phone designers to take the source code for these android releases and then customise it using an installer script to fit with the designs they have the specifications for and then publish the finished work for an OTA update? Do PC users have to wait for the pc manufacturer to update their windows everytime microsoft announces a patch or a new release?
The reason it takes as long as it does, is they also need to make their drivers and software programs work with the operating system and thoroughly test it.
More people would complain if it came out and it didnt work properly.