Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) introduced several new features including a refined user interface with new widgets, lock screen actions, improved multitasking, text input and spell checking, voice recognition, and controls for network data usage. It also included enhancements to the camera, gallery app with photo editing, live video effects, screenshot sharing, web browsing, and face unlock capabilities.
2. Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich Features 1. Refined UI 2. Easy multitasking 3. Home Screen Folders and Favorites Tray 4. Resizable Widgets 5. New Lock Screen Actions 6. Quick Response for Incoming Calls 7. Improved Text Input and Spell Checking 8. Powerful Voice Input Engine 9. Control Over Network Data
3. Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich Features cont., 10 Communication and Sharing 11. Rich and Versatile Camera Capabilites 12. Redesigned Gallery app with Photo Editor 13. Live Effects for Transforming Video 14. Sharing With Screenshots 15. Powerful web browsing 16. Face Unlock
4. Refine UI Focused on bringing the power of Android to the surface Users navigate with simple, intuitive gestures. Refined animations and feedback throughout the system make interactions engaging and interesting An entirely new typeface optimized for high-resolution screens improves readability and brings a polished, modern feel to the user interface. Virtual buttons in the System Bar let users navigate instantly to Back, Home, and Recent Apps. The System Bar and virtual buttons are present across all apps, but can be dimmed by applications for full-screen viewing. Users can access each application's contextual options in the Action Bar, displayed at the top (and sometimes also at the bottom) of the screen.
6. Multitasking Multitasking is a key strength of Android The Recent Apps button lets users jump instantly from one task to another using the list in the System Bar. The list pops up to show thumbnail images of apps used recently tapping a thumbnail switches to the app.
7. Home screen folders and favorites tray New home screen folders offer a new way for users to group their apps and shortcuts logically, just by dragging one onto another. Immediately uninstall it, or disable a pre-installed app. Customizable favorites tray visible from all home screens.
8. Resizable widgets Home screens in Android 4.0 are designed to be content-rich and customizable. Users can do much more than add shortcuts they can embed live application content directly through interactive widgets. Widgets let users check email, flip through a calendar, play music, check social streams, and more right from the home screen, without having to launch apps. Widgets are resizable, so users can expand them to show more content or shrink them to save space.
9. New lock screen actions The lock screens now let users do more without unlocking. From the slide lock screen, users can jump directly to the camera for a picture or pull down the notifications window to check for messages. When listening to music, users can even manage music tracks and see album art.
10. Quick responses for incoming calls When an incoming call arrives, users can now quickly respond by text message, without needing to pick up the call or unlock the device. On the incoming call screen, users simply slide a control to see a list of text responses and then tap to send and end the call. Users can add their own responses and manage the list from the Settings app.
11. Improved text input and spell-checking Error correction and word suggestion are improved through a new set of default dictionaries and more accurate heuristics for handling cases such as double-typed characters, skipped letters, and omitted spaces. Word suggestion is also improved and the suggestion strip is simplified to show only three words at a time.
12. Powerful voice input engine Continuous "open microphone" experience and streaming voice recognition. The new voice input engine lets users dictate the text they want, for as long as they want, using the language they want. Users can speak continuously for a prolonged time, even pausing for intervals if needed, and dictate punctuation to create correct sentences.
13. Control over network data Mobile devices can make extensive use of network data for streaming content, synchronizing data, downloading apps, and more. To meet the needs of users with tiered or metered data plans, Android 4.0 adds new controls for managing network data usage.