So apparently I kinda suck at this “daily blogging” thing. I think until my life gets a little more stabilized I’m gonna stick to more feature writing and app reviews and only kind of do these daily check ins. It’s a lot harder than I thought!
I guess one of the main problems has been A) my phone has only been running the new leak about half of the last 3 days and B) I’ve been a little busy with a new job, new house, and moving. Ha. Hopefully things will level out within the week so I can get back to some daily reports on the usefulness of this ROM. To any newcomers (and just to bring us back up to speed) I am now running the 2.3.3 Blurred official unofficial build for the Droid 2. Leaked by Team Black Hat and P3Droid, this newest update has brought speed, updated features, and a whole new Blur experience.
At this point I’m more or less completely covering up the Blur aspects of this phone. My ideal ROM would be one that simply keeps the dock app (just for the scrollable widget bar at the bottom) and the Blur phone app (just for the predictive dialing). There’s not much else that a hardcore AOSP Android user like me would keep, but the rest of Blur certainly does seem to add functionality instead of detract (like the original Blur).
Performance is increased too. Quadrant went from an average performance run of 1700-1800 to usually 2000+. It’s also quicker in feel too. The stock home loads quickly enough, but still scrolls slow. It doesn’t feel like a glitch either. It actually feels like Motorola tuned the scroll speed down. The app drawer, however, couldn’t feel more sprite. Minus effects, it’s super snappy and loads apps lightening fast. This new software really makes the phone feel like the more powerful Droid it is. App switching is also totally lag free. Jumping in and out of the browser between multiple apps is like a dream. The ability to switch the recent apps (long press on Home) to the full app drawer without actually loading your homescreen is also a neat idea. It sounds weird in print, but can be really handy in a pinch.
Right now I’m running ADW EX and Widget Locker, effectively erasing some of the main Blur points. Having root means a lot more accessibility options for various apps. My boot overclock options have been set to 1.1ghz Ultra Low Voltage, but turning it up to 1.3ghz Medium Voltage yields impressive performance increases especially in apps like N64oid and the now infamous PSX4droid. With my regular boot options I post a decent 1886 in Quadrant and still get at least 20 hours of battery. That’s pretty much the golden hour mark right there for me: enough that it’s ok if I get up a little early, but it’ll last if I stay out late.
Overall the build feels really quick still 3 days later. I’ve removed a couple system apps that were pure bloatware anyway. Nothing too serious. I got a little overzealous once 2 days ago and had to SBF back to 2.2 stock just to get my phone working again. Also of note is there is still no fix for the WordPress for Android app (which majorly sucks) and none to Weatherbug fixing their seeming incompatibilities with this ROM. Not that big a deal as it is in fact unofficial software and was more likely than not the update from Motorola that Verizon rejected. Perhaps this is why? I’ll never know for sure, but so far as P3Droid has released I’m not sure how long I’ll be running this unofficial software. Only time will tell and a lot has to do with his post tomorrow. Here’s to hoping, and a new house. Will post back about more Star Wars goodies (I know I’ve been putting it off) and how that works out. Also, if anyone could teach me how to make new WidgetLocker themes that’d be great. I’m not having any luck getting my app to recognize my custom images. Thanks a bunch. Hope you all are enjoying Gingerbread on our Droid 2’s as much as I am. Until next time:
You stay classy, World Wide Web.
adroidblog 