T-Mobile prepares for Android 1.6 (Donut)

Update (10/1 1:45): The Android 1.6 OTA has been confirmed.

I just got an notification from Android Market informing me I had several apps that needed to be updated. I went to check which apps had a new version and found T-Mobile My Account had been updated to 2.0.3. According to the release notes, this new version was targeted specifically to support the new Android 1.6 (Donut).

Over the past couple of weeks we have seen Google deliver the Android 1.6 SDK then HTC released the Android 1.6 images for developer phones. Some sites are interpreting the update of My Account to mean that T-Mobile is ready to roll out Android 1.6. Tmonews even goes as far to say the Android 1.6 over the air update is coming at midnight.

Based on the history of the Android 1.5 rollout from T-Mobile, I think we still have several weeks to wait. It’s nice to see T-Mobile update their apps to work with the latest update, but many developers have not tested their apps and there are compatibility issues. Android Market Support typically sends an email out to developers before any rollouts occur and they have not done so for Android 1.6.

T-Mobile could surprise everyone and push the update out tonight, but I’m not holding my breath.

For those of you wondering about the article we wrote claiming the G1 might not get future updates, we have good news. As I explained in my G1 storage problem article, the Android 1.5 (Cupcake) update consumed 99.5% of the space available for the operating system. The system partition of the G1 is about 70 MB and Android 1.5 used around 69 MB.

I’ve had the chance to install and play with developers version of Android 1.6 and it only uses 60 MB. This means the Google engineers were able to shave off around 10 MB of code with new optimizations. The final T-Mobile version of Android 1.6 will be slightly larger when they add their MyFaves and IM apps, but it should have no problem fitting on the G1.

And now the wait begins.

T-Mobile prepares for Donut.

rtxGuest 10/01/09 12:05 AM

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i have friends who work at tmo. they would have seen a notification in streamline if 1.6 is gonna roll out tonight. you’re right and once again tmo news is incorrect. it probably will be several weeks. maybe not til after the cliq release even.

99 Taylor Wimberly 10/01/09 12:13 AM

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I think I agree with you. The Cliq is shipping on October 19 and I don’t expect the 1.6 OTA till late October.

MiguelGuest 10/01/09 12:12 AM

Yeah, I also took note of this earlier today. This is my third app or so to be updated for 1.6. :) Thanks for sharing! I wouldn’t be surprised if it did occur within a week. Cheers!

-Mig

JosephGuest 10/01/09 12:18 AM

this is a stupid question, but im having a brain fart, the OTA wont hit my rooted phone will it? Im going to have to flash it on my self, ya?

99 Taylor Wimberly 10/01/09 12:32 AM

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Every custom rom I have seen intentionally blocks OTA updates from even being downloaded. You will have to manually download a rom and flash it yourself.

terrellGuest 10/01/09 12:28 AM

If u have a modded g1 does this means u will have to uninstall the mod to the original g1 if so please let me know my email is terrelltp@gmail.com

99 Taylor Wimberly 10/01/09 12:31 AM

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If you have a modded G1 it means you can install whatever you want. You can load the official T-Mobile version or download a hacked one.

JosephGuest 10/01/09 12:36 AM

Are you going to post the Official Donut version?

99 Taylor Wimberly 10/01/09 12:37 AM

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The official T-Mobile version has not been released. There is only the developers version that is out right now.

kmohr25Guest 10/01/09 1:09 AM

I just received an over-the-air update from T-Mobile for my G1 (HTC Dream) with Android 1.6 included …

John BGuest 10/01/09 1:29 AM

I got the 1.6 update OTA just now. Has some really nice features and some that I have no clue what the hell they do and some features are there but not operational as of yet. App market changed, Camera app has changed, in the settings menu you got many more options to choose from, eg. Voice synthesis whatever that is used for I cannot figure that one out as of yet, It also has a place to check what app is using the most battery power mine shows the screen uses 53% battery power (OUCH!!!!!) Now wonder the phone dies so damn fast. Creential storage and password for the storage what its used for not sure yet, Search functions and Accessability. So when someone figures out what this shit does holler back.

John B.Guest 10/01/09 3:53 AM

OUCH OUCH OUCH. You would think tmobile would have tested this 1.6 update before releasing it. It totally has messed up the internal compass. I just got off the phone with tmo tech and they said to me “you got the update that hasn’t been released yet” What I find funny is before I got the live person they had a recorded msg asking if you got any problems with the update to stay on the line. It also stated that the update will be rolling out the next couple of days. I highly reckommend nobody update their phone unless they know how to reverse it. I unfortunately have no clue how to revert back. If anyone else has the same problem holler back.

SergioGuest 10/03/09 4:41 PM

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yu hve to downgrade back to RC29, then wait for the upgrade usually overnight

mobile brazzersGuest 10/01/09 9:31 AM

I’m running JF 1.5 and wondering if I should even bother with rooting at this point?

I have the pinch zoom on the browser, but dont really use it.

I dont use Apps2SD- (was going to do it on cyanomod, but that seems to be in limbo now)

so whats the point of staying rooted now? Should I just flash this new update onto the phone? or will devs put out a rooted version?

Ruben SunGuest 10/01/09 12:47 PM

Not quite sure what the hu-bub is about the future upgrade… I’ve certainly seen unofficial ROMS hit the upper limits of 80 90 megs… anyone care to comment?

phact0rriGuest 10/02/09 5:44 PM

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The difference is that Roms run off your SD card. The stock roms are firmware and an internal partition space.

SergioGuest 10/03/09 4:34 PM

I got the 1.6 update! Donut is out everyone! its nice actually wayyy better than 1.5 cupcake!

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T-Mobile prepares for Android 1.6 (Donut)