Follow Us:
Google stalls Ice Cream Sandwich update for Nexus S over purported battery issues
The last few days have been awash in nervous excitement, as Nexus S owners impatiently wait for their Android 4.o.3 OTA download. While the update has been rolling out for AWS devices in North America (T-Mobile, Mobilicity, WIND and Videotron) it seems that Google has quietly pulled it on calls of bad battery life and high CPU usage.
A number of users in the Google Mobile Forums have complained that their device received the download, only to have it not install once completed. The phone will literally count backwards from ten and reboot into Gingerbread as if nothing ever happened. Google has not come out and said the build was pulled due to any specific issue, but an employee named Paul on the forums replied with the message below:
If you received an update notification a little while ago but the update isn’t currently available for your phone, this is likely the result of Google pausing the update in your area while we monitor feedback. The Android 4.0 update is continuing to roll out around the world so your phone will receive another update notification when it’s available again in your region.
For those who have received the notification for the install but have chosen not to install, a number of users have noted that it just disappears after a time. Apparently Google has more control over the update process than we original thought!
Obviously there is cause for concern here, since many users have noted a huge hit in battery life with Ice Cream Sandwich on the Nexus S. While we haven’t seen the dramatically high CPU usage of others, it’s quite apparently Google has some optimizing to do.
Has your Nexus S Ice Cream Sandwich update come and gone without a trace? Let us know!
Source: Google Mobile Forums
Via: XDA-Developers
Discussion
56 comments for “Google stalls Ice Cream Sandwich update for Nexus S over purported battery issues”
Post a comment
- CES 2012
- Mobile News
- Airtel Wireless
- Bell Mobility News
- Chatr
- Clearnet
- Eastlink
- Fido News
- Globalive News
- Koodo Mobile News
- Mobilicity
- MTS
- NorthernTel
- PC Mobile News
- Petro-Canada Mobility
- Primus Wireless News
- Public Mobile
- Rogers Wireless News
- SaskTel News
- Shaw
- Solo Mobile News
- Speak Out Wireless News
- tbaytel
- Telus Mobility News
- Vidéotron News
- Virgin Mobile News
- WIND Mobile
- Reviews – Carrier
- Reviews – Manufacturer
- Various News
I was watching as this happened to my co-workers Nexus S on Wind. It downloaded the update. Counted down from 10 and said it was going to reboot and then did nothing. Still on GB and no sign of the update.
Like or Dislike:
4 
1
” The phone will literally count backwards from ten and reboot into Gingerbread ”
no, it wont reboot into GB, nothing happens.
i think its ok Googl suspends updates, but why it is neccessary to download 128MB of data? it consumes up my bandwidth.. -.-’
Like or Dislike:
1 
0
If ‘Google Paul’ said it, you can take it to the bank! *rolleyes*
Like or Dislike:
14 
4
I manually installed the update. Battery life is pretty horrid. Worse than I saw with one of the XDA builds of ICS. I hope they fix this soon.
Like or Dislike:
4 
2
I installed the update manually on my wind phone and the battery life is almost the same as GB. It actually might even be slightly better. I’m assuming that people who are reporting horrible battery life have GB applications that are not optimized for ICS and are sucking up battery life. How else can you explain that difference in results?
Like or Dislike:
11 
3
I was running an alpha build of CM9 on my nexus s, I re-flashed 2.3.3 and got an OTA update to ICS, and can confirm my battery life on the offical version of ICS gets substantially worse battery life than CM9. That being said, everything else is much faster and smoother, so I’ll deal with it until a fix comes out.
Like or Dislike:
4 
0
I received notification about ICS but decided to wait until I get home… Notification disappeared… I want to get my ICS!!!
Like or Dislike:
2 
1
This was exactly my case. I saw the upgrade notification, decided to wait since I did not have wifi connection at that time. The next day that I knew, upgrade notification was gone.
Like or Dislike:
3 
0
I got the update a few days ago. I can attest to the battery problems. It’s a stretch for me to make it through a day on one charge. At first I thought it might be just that I was using the phone so much (new stuff to explore!), but it’s now clear there’s a problem. Android OS + Android System are using an absurd amount of battery, on some days dwarfing Screen.
Fortunately, I have a spare battery and an external charger. That will hold me over until the fix comes.
Like or Dislike:
4 
2
When you start pushing more through, you get worse battery life. Apple ran into that problem, and now Google has. Either code optimization needs to be better, or they better be investing a lot of money into battery research right now.
Like or Dislike:
6 
2
I updated manually on Friday, the first two days the battery life was bad. But now now I get more than I got with Gingerbread.
Like or Dislike:
9 
3
I agree with Roman129. the 1st few days were bad, but after that it is comparable if not better than GB!
Like or Dislike:
4 
2
How can i update to ICS manually? please provide details, i’m new at this…
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Downloaded update, needed to connect to charger to install, by the time I did update was gone. Dammit Google, why must you tease me so!?
Like or Dislike:
2 
0
Mo:
Uh, a bug? Most bugs only occur in a subset of cases, that’s why they initially go unnoticed during testing. Maybe it depends on a certain combination of settings, or a particular pattern of use.
As I said, I’m seeing unusually high battery use in Android OS and Android System, so I don’t think it has anything to do with apps. Also, why would you expect an app that ran well on Gingerbread to suck battery on ICS? If one did, that might be indicative of a bug in the OS, too.
Like or Dislike:
5 
2
I am having more battery life on ICS actually.
Like or Dislike:
6 
1
my battery seems fine but i do notice stock ics isn’t as smooth(like for scrolling through menus and contacts and stuff) as the xda version(4.0.1) i had for a few weeks before this one.also opening some apps the phone does seem to take a bit longer.
Like or Dislike:
3 
0
NO WIFI after update (Nexus S to ICS 4.0.3)
My Wifi no longer turns on after the update! It stocks in the “Turning Wireless on”. Seems like this issue targets only some sim-cards
Now my phone is like a simple music player!
It is Android-pod!
Like or Dislike:
2 
1
I got my ics 4.03 notification yesterday morning on Mobilicity but wanted to wait for a more convenient time to do the upgrade later in the evening when I’m not expecting calls. Then the notification disappears and when I goto system update it says my phone is up to date on 2.3.6. I thought it was me swapping out sim cards during the day that might have caused this but reading above it does make sense that Google has control over this. Guess I have to wait at this point. Don’t think I want to install this yet.
Like or Dislike:
2 
0
Battery is fine here when I manually updated to Android 4.0 … odd that it affects some devices.
Like or Dislike:
1 
0
Why the hell is this update not being rolled out to i9020a devices. C’mon!! At least post a zip so I can manually update. Don’t need no OTA….getting seriously fed up of this already.
Like or Dislike:
10 
9
@ Frank
Are the i9020a devices you are referring to the Robelus handsets? If so Im with you. WTF?
Like or Dislike:
3 
2
I received the OTA 4.0.3 update Monday (12-19), then immediately after a download for 2.3.6 was started. I haven’t flashed an older version yet. (Nexus S I9020XXKD1) Neither downloads installed when I rebooted and went to recovery.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Received ICS 4.0.3 OTA update on Saturday. Used 3G on Mobilicity to Download and install. Installed without any issues on first try. Definitely worth it.
But yes, battery is an issue. The Android OS now consumes most of the battery life compared to the screen or any other software combined. Has been consuming over 50% of the battery life alone. Lasted just 6 hours yesterday.
Like or Dislike:
2 
0
I did the ICS update (4.03) on my Nexus S with Wind. Pretty nice OS. Haven’t noticed battery issues since I just ported over to Wind from Telus. Had a Galaxy S with Telus. Performance and battery life seems better. ICS is definitely worth the wait people so be patient! Merry Christmas Mobilesyrup and thanks for your excellent site!
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
got the update last night, download was sucessful, rebooted to gingerbread, what a mean joke…still waiting…
Wind NexusS.
Like or Dislike:
1 
0
My battery life seems to be the same as GB if not slightly better =] I love love love love love ICS!
Like or Dislike:
1 
0
I’m finding that the battery life is ok. Generally about 12 hours with light-moderate use I’d say. But the Android OS is sucking a lot more of the battery than usual. But I agree with a couple other people. The first day the battery was really bad, and its gotten a bit better
Like or Dislike:
1 
0
I am also seeing the Android OS/System consume a high level of battery on my Nexus S. I downloaded the update zip and installed manually on my 9020T. I’m on Mobilicity.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Yes, it would have been nice to have the update pulled BEFORE downloading 128MB and clicking on the Restart only to see the updates section with the message “Your system is up to date” and still seeing version 2.3.6.
Uh hello? I don’t have unlimited download, not very nice. Also didn’t like searching my phone for the download somewhere and then searching online how to get the update, very annoying.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
I updated before they pull out the update, I think the battery got worst, but I got the latest OS….
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
I for one will gladly wait until the bugs are ironed out before Google pushes out an update that breaks things like wi-fi, battery life, Facebook, touch-screen sensitivity, etc. Read the XDA thread, that’ll put you off if nothing else: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1395828 Kudos to Google for reacting so fast. Hopefully their devs are sequestered in a room with pizza and beer until this is fixed. OK, scratch the beer…
Like or Dislike:
1 
0
I recieved the update on the 16th and I downloaded it and everything and everything seems to be working fine. It rebooted into what looked like Gingerbread but it was ICS and and now i see different ICS boot up screen not the GB screen i havent noticed any battery changes. It usually lasts me 12 hours on my normal usage with mostly talking texting facebook and internet browsing.I also find that it laggs less than Galaxy Nexus. i havent seen any major problems.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
can i get a copy of that wallpaper?
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
is the battery issue only from the people who manually updated their nexus s or is it from people updating by OTA. If its only an issue by manually then stop manually updating your nexus s and just OTA update it. But if its an issue with OTA and not manual, then manual update.. Google needs to find out which one is the issue manual or OTA and then just do one of these to update your nexus. But if its both then Google has a big problem and will have a lot of nexus s owners being upset. I for one only just recently bought a nexus s last week just because the nexus s is getting Ice cream Sandwich update, but if Google decides to pull it permanently or the update has major issues with it, then I will be hugely upset and I will be returning my nexus s to Koodo mobile for a refund. I really hope Google figures things out very fast before my 14 day return policy runs out, because if the update or a fix doesn’t come before my 14 day return policy runs out, I will be returning it ASAP.
Like or Dislike:
0 
5
And second, people might see a battery issue because they might be playing around with their nexus s way more than usual because they got a new update and are so excited by it and play around with the phone like crazy. When I first bought my nexus s I was playing around with it for hours and the battery died pretty fast, but now since I’ve had it for over the weekend and use has slowed down a bit to normal use and my battery last me for close to 2 days now.. So maybe this could be a problem for the battery issue people are noticing.
Like or Dislike:
1 
2
There does appear to be a battery issue. The on the battery usage screen, the “Android OS” is consuming about the same amount of energy as the “Screen”. Normally “Android OS” is consumes very little energy.
This result is about a 30% reduction in battery life, based on my usage.
Like or Dislike:
5 
0
I’m with Mobilicity but didn’t notice any ICS update. Maybe because I’ve been to busy Christmas shopping amongst other things……
Patiently awaiting optimized version of ICS
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
Like or Dislike:
1 
24
@ GEorge: Premium brands? Haha, more like robbers. Actual paying customers? Haha, more like the wealthy or people who don’t know how to save money. Wind/Mobilicity are for intelligent people who are wise enough to avoid getting ripped off by the Big 3. I bet you don’t even know Koodo and Fido are owned by Rogers and Telus. Enjoy paying your big bills while I enjoy unlimited voice, data, and text for half of what you pay! Peace
Like or Dislike:
9 
3
Enjoy your wind and mobilicity coverage. Piece of advise, don’t count/rely on wind or mobilicity when emergency occurs!
Like or Dislike:
1 
6
Actually, in an emergency situation, Mobilicity and WIND phones hook onto the Roger’s network anyway.
Honest, paying at least 60 dollars a month for less than I get with Mobilicity when I barely travel out of my area seems like a waste.
Like or Dislike:
1 
0
I updated to Ice Cream Sandwich on Monday (Dec 19) OTA and haven’t noticed any problems with my battery or OS.
It’s totally bizarre that the issue is happening to some and not others. Hopefully Google gets a fix out there for you guys affected by this.
PS: It’s actually hilarious that people think Rogers/Fido, Bell/Virgin/Solo, and Telus/Koodo are all separate companies. They’re all the same 3 companies, they just do that so you think there’s actual competition. Don’t be fooled!
Like or Dislike:
4 
0
I got ICS on my Nexus S and have been noticing a huge hit to my battery. In just 5 hours of standby time, my phone went from 100% to 35%. Battery usage says most is from Android OS, which is odd, bc usually display is the one that eats the battery…
Like or Dislike:
0 
1
Battery life is HORRIBLE with ICS. Terrible, terrible, terrible. If you don’t already have ICS, don’t get it until they fix the issue. Last night, went to bed w/ 80% battery, got up in the morning and phone was dead. Seriously. No usage, little running and dead 6-7 hrs later.
Like or Dislike:
0 
3
I updated my Mobi phone manually via the update link found on ZDnet (http://www.zdnet.com/blog/hardware/install-android-403-ice-cream-sandwich-on-your-nexus-s-now/17340). Battery life has been about the same as Gingerbread for me. This is my second day using it.
My only complaint is that the build provided in the article seems to have a limited feature set (no face lock, or connections in the ‘People’ app) and it may be a developer version since there’s a settings menu ‘Developer’ option.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
Like or Dislike:
0 
19
Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
Like or Dislike:
0 
12
For those who updated and have a battery issue, check that Internet Calling > Receive incoming calls is not checked.
Like or Dislike:
0 
1
just updated my nexus s moblicity to new ics and its amazing i really like it,install with charger plug in no issuse just follow steps and everything will work out,works really well no issuse as yet. os is great they just have to make it run more faster and i am good,so happy
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Just got a nexus s today and found out about this so disappointed
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
I was wondering if it’s possible to downgrade from ICS… the battery of my Nexus S lives only 8-9 hours after I have installed ICS. I don’t like it at all.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
This whole ICS fiasco makes Google look like a bunch of amateurs… No, actually that would be disrespectful for the amateur developpers deploying quality custom roms for android and the nexus s. This makes Google look like a bunch of begginers.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
any update when it will be rereleased OTA?
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Did 4.04 update from 2.3.6. Went well, all data,apps etc still work.
Battery life sucks. I used to make it thru the day, now I’m lucky to make it it until lunch.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
4.0.4 has ruined my nexus s. Battery won’t charge past 28 percent. Phone is warm to touch. Battery life is about 4 hours Max. Wow… do I ever regret down loading this marvellous new software. I can barely use my phone. Thanks Google. Great job.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0