It’s always nice to get updates to your Android phone, but the anticipation can sometime become irritating to some users. Up until now, only Android 2.2 Froyo users were able to update all of their applications at once or have applications automatically update themselves. That time seems to have come to an end, as users on lower versions of Android have been seeing these options recently.
We’re not sure just how the update is being rolled out, whether it depends on the handset or the OS version you’re running, but some users that are running Android 1.6 to 2.1 have been seeing these changes. The silent update is obviously a little more surprising and maybe a little more rewarding than an announcement of an upcoming update. There was likely very little reason to announce this, as it’s just one particular application, but we’re glad it’s happening.
We’ve yet to see this update hit any Android 1.5 handsets and we’d be surprised if we did. Android 1.5 still has the old Marketplace and it’s likely that only those with the updated Android Market (1.6 +) will receive this silent update. Even when the updated Android Market made its appearance in 1.6, it still left much to be desired, so this addition is better than nothing.
The features that users will see are the option to have an app automatically update itself, an update all option if you have more than one app that needs updating, searching will give you options before you actually hit search (picture above), and the comments section has been moved to its own tab.
This update may go two ways with users: It’ll either make them happy that they can enjoy some of the new features that come from Android 2.2 Froyo while they wait for the full OS update or it will reignite their complaints that they don’t have the most updated version. Either way, we think it’s cool that Google’s updating some of the OS versions who have seemed to fall behind.
But, in the end, it’s not Google’s fault the handset makers or wireless carriers won’t update certain devices but it does make one question just how easy it was for Google to push this silent update out, as it looks like users from all carriers are seeing the option pop up.
If you’ve received the update, how do you like the new features? Is it too little too late?
[Via: AndroidCentral]