Finally got 2.3.3 on my Atrix

[CurseTheSky]

Plus whatever the new version of Motoblur is.

Wow... just wow. I thought this was going to be a fairly minor update but the entire UI is far more fluid and graphically pleasing. I'm not sure if Gingerbread is the big reason here or if it's Motoblur, but I'm really liking the new colors (notifications bar, text messaging, etc.) keyboard, screen rotation animation, etc. It's like using a whole new device.

 

[dguy6789]

Can you give a more in depth overview of everything that is changed?

 

[OBLAMA2009]

is this because gingerbread is more optimized for dual core? im wondering because i didnt notice much difference in performance between my droid x and droid x2 running froyo

 

[CurseTheSky]

I'm not sure if I'd call any of it a "performance" improvement. I think it's more related to the UI and it's overall fluidity. In other words, I think the phones have always (well, at least since the first 1GHz era phones) had plenty of performance for most tasks, especially just switching home screens. The UI just tended to be very choppy. It's sort of like one Internet browser being able to fluidly scroll down a page while content is loading while another gets choppy - the performance is there regardless, the programming behind it is just optimized differently.

Here are a list of things that I've noticed so far that I like. Again, I don't know how many of these are 2.3 vs. the latest version of Motoblur:
- It looks like many elements have had a color / graphical change. The notifications bar went from (gray? I think) to dark blue. It's easier on the eyes and looks a bit nicer.
- The pattern lock screen traces a BRIGHT blue pattern now, instead of green, which is much easier to see. It also feels significantly more fluid (less of a pain in the ass to unlock it quickly).
- Screen rotations are much more animated now. It's actually kind of fun to watch. It seems a bit more fluid like iOS devices too.
- The stock text messaging application had a slight graphical redesign. Overall, nothing earth-shattering, but I like the brighter colors.
- Notifications in the notification area can be dismissed one at a time
- The photo gallery application seems to have been redesigned
- Edit, forgot: When pressing the power button to turn off the screen, it has an animation like an old CRT TV turning off. It's somewhat entertaining.

Overall, it's not going to change the way you use your phone, but it's sort of like if you bought a car a few years ago, and someone came in overnight and replaced the entire interior with something that looks a feels a bit nicer. It'll still drive and feel like the same "old" car, but the new and smoothness will put a smile on your face.

Let's put it this way, I was getting bored of looking at my Atrix several weeks ago and was anticipating new phones coming out. Now I don't really have the itch anymore.

 

[dguy6789]

Good info, sounds great thanks

 

[GrumpyMan]

Yeah I'm really enjoying the new interface on my Atrix from Gingerbread. It does seem to be much smoother. :thumbsup:

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

UI is choppy because of shitty launcher. I've already shown in my Nexus S vs Atrix video that the Atrix is choppy despite its dual core processor. Heck I've seen the Atrix slower than my Motorola Milestone. That's just because of the blur launcher. I'm glad Moto updated this in 2.3.3?

 

[jpeyton]

You should be running 2.3.4, not 2.3.3.

Kudos for Motorola/AT&T making this phone worth owning with the new update.

That said, I would unlock your bootloader and run a better ROM. There are no good AOSP ROMs for the Atrix, but Ninja 0.4.5 Speed Freak is a nice improvement over the stock bloated ROM.

Paired with faux123's newest kernel and the newest baseband, I'm getting excellent battery life and 3500 on Quadrant.

 

[MarkLuvsCS]

- Edit, forgot: When pressing the power button to turn off the screen, it has an animation like an old CRT TV turning off. It's somewhat entertaining.

I love looking at that animation when i turn my screen off. I always make sure to watch it when i click the button. How sad is that.

@ Dlerium I noticed originally motoblur being super laggy on retail launch, and then a friend put on launcherpro and it seemed motoblur was no longer there lol. i know it wasn't rooted because it took a few minutes and was done totally on the phone, but I'm not totally sure because it was my first real smartphone and i'm a clueless noob . I'm sure if u search the XDA atrix forums for launcherpro they will probably explain it all.

 

[jpeyton]

LauncherPro and ADWLauncher are both free downloads from Android Market and will make your stock phone feel noticeably snappier.

 

[badb0y]

This update was amazing. I have had it for like a month and it's MUCH better then the crap they shipped with.

 

[jpeyton]

 

[Loop2kil]

Not sure why but all my contacts that I had originally imported from my previous phone in March when I got my ATRIX were deleted when i upgraded to Gingerbread. Only the contacts that I have manually added since I got the phone are still there. And yes I was a moron and did not back them up before upgrading so I deserve no sympathy.

As the Op has stated the aesthetics of the phone have been nicely improved...especially the news ticker.

 

[Anubis]

your contacts should have been auto backed up to your google accnt

 

[Loop2kil]

Also the basic controls of the built in music player is now usable without having to unlock the phone which I love.

 

[Loop2kil]

your contacts should have been auto backed up to your google accnt

Sadly, it did not