Tesco Hudl2 gets Android 5.1
Gigabit
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I've just been notified that my Hudl2 is now downloading the Android 5.1 update!
Quite late after it's release but still, it's getting it so at least Tesco are supporting this very cheap tablet
Quite late after it's release but still, it's getting it so at least Tesco are supporting this very cheap tablet
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And there is my Hudl 1 still stuck on jellybean......
I'll have to see if our Hudl2 has the update. I am hoping that it doesn't **** it up.
It's a shame it's taken them all the way to the day where Google possibly announces the release of Marshmellow, though
Can anyone persuade me I'm wrong?
It's also important because it shows Tesco is actually trying to care about the thing - manufacturers dumping the product after its initial release is not unheard of.
I understand the Nexus 7 had hardware issues that couldn't be fixed through software. Totally different.
Another thing of note (so far it runs well on my tablet btw) is that the blinkbox apps are gone and Kobo and something called wuaki.tv is preinstalled. Spotify is there too. I would guess TalkTalk was unwilling to pay Tesco for advertising
One big flaw with lollipop is that if you have apps moved to sd card to save space, the stock launcher does not put the icons on the screen.
You have to install a 3rd party app like NOVA to see icons on launcher screens.
Lollipop can be very battery hungry until you work out which google apps cause the problems and disable them. No disrespect, but the average user will struggle to sort this, and the HUDL2 is targeted very much at the average user market.
From memory, Tesco have sold blinkbox.
Yes, I do agree with that. Assuming they haven't cocked it up, of course!
As I acknowledged. Though (as I mentioned in another thread) what really pissed me off was that I had just one thing I was still able to use my N7 for despite its severe dropoff in performance. I used to lug it around in a rucksack while mountain biking to record my routes using MyTracks - and then Google deprived me of even that by updating MyTracks so that it no longer worked - but only on the N7!
Ok, thanks for that.
I believe whether an app can be moved to external storage is up to the app's developer. What I do remember happening is that you couldn't edit documents in QuickOffice, the SD card was read only, which was stupid. The same would be true for other apps and files.
e.g. http://www.androidpolice.com/2014/11/04/android-5-0-makes-sd-cards-great-again-extends-api-to-allow-full-directory-access-automatic-mediastore-and-improves-security/
Another change is that you can now use 128GB microSD cards if you want. That is probably overkill
Hopefully it's a sign that they might keep up with Google at least for security updates, even if not major Android versions
I haven't used it much yet but it seems okay. It's as fast as I remember kit-kat being
One of the original flaws with the hudl 2 is that the battery life was not that good. Anything can only be an improvement.
To TalkTalk, as I said, so perhaps they aren't willing to pay Tesco to have it preinstalled.
More and more apps have features that are specific to the latest versions of Android. Then there are the security problems which never get addressed.
Anyway, it updated and now I can copy more apps to the SD card than I could before, but it still managed to let me run out of storage space and not clear the cache as did Play store updates in the background, which caused some fun. I had to delete some apps to give myself some breathing space because once you run low on storage space everything slows to a crawl.
(Think a Nexus 7 (2012) when almost full, and imagine it even worse than that!)
Google Play Services failed at first as it seemed to have installed the wrong version (it suggested it was using the version for ARM and not Intel) but an update fixed that. Surely Tesco didn't bundle the wrong version in the firmware update?!
As for supporting 128GB cards, I have no idea what Tesco is on about as you could use them before. The device has always supported microSDXC cards and I am sure it will work with 200GB cards too.
Perhaps this made the changelog simply to tell people you could use them because it hadn't said so before?
Anyway, I now need to let the thing update thumbnails and other background stuff that will probably stuff the battery over the next 12 hours or so, but after that I am fairly convinced that it's a very worthwhile update.
5.1.1 should be bug free and not suffer the memory/wakelock problems.
I suspect we shouldn't expect an Android 6 update soon though, even if Google later today surprises us with news that it will be working with manufacturers to speed up updates (something that is always hinted at, but never seems to happen).
Is it exFAT support that's been added? It's a requirement for claiming SDXC compatibility.
Without exFAT support only SDHC compatibility can be officially stated even if the card IO hardware is SDXC compliant, which is why a lot of device manufacturers state only up to 32GB while larger FAT32 formatted cards do in fact work.
But could be worse. Proof of the pudding ......
As I haven't heard anything about a Hudl 3, it seems that Tesco has taken the IMHO wise move of giving the Hudl 2 a further push in the run up to Christmas with the new lollipop update. A sensible move as the Hudl 2 still has a lot to offer and still compares very favourably with other tablets in the price range. I own two hudl 2s and think they are superb tablets, couldn't be happier that they can now be updated to Lollipop.
Tesco gets a lot of flak, perhaps a bit more than they deserve, but I think they deserve a big thumbs up for continuing to support the Hudl 2 so well.
If it gets Android 6, it will benefit from even better battery life (Doze is ideal for when the table is laid down for long periods of time) and allow the memory card to be treated like internal storage.
Now I'm hoping this will make a massive difference to my N7 (2013).
Anyway, seems ok but with a few teething problems. Namely that Lollipop seems to have taken up a lot of my storage. Before installing I had 2GB available, after install just under 1GB. I expected it to be a bit bigger than Kitkat but a whole GB larger? Suspect there might be some download or temporary files it's forgotten to delete, not good when there is only about 9GB available to start with.
Also, while the wifi was on after it first upgraded on the second boot wifi was turned off and wouldn't come back on till I rebooted, on the following boot it was on but it hadn't connected to my network and I had to cycle wifi off/on to get it to connect....
Had a weird incident in the play store too where telling it to do some updates (of play store apps) prompted the tablet to do a reboot for no apparent reason.
Still clearly one of the best value tablets out there by quite a fair margin.
Both of my sons have them - oldest uses it primarily for comic books (I'm tempted to buy one for the same reason), youngest for a variety of gaming. The screen is excellent, overall device performance is pretty good too.
Heck, was surprised by the camera on them too. Whilst around Longleat safari park, suggested the kids try taking shots with them - and the kids eye view of things can be very entertaining.
Will probably run the update on ours over the weekend.