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T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S2 ICS update with no OTA

Categories Google Nexus Samsung T-Mobile
Author by James June 12, 2012
3,105 54

For those Android faithful that own a Samsung Galaxy S2 on the T-Mobile network who have been patiently waiting for Samsung and T-Mobile to make the Android Ice Cream Sandwich update available to their smartphone, you might like to know that ICS for your T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S2 is now available.

According to the guys over at Android Community, T-Mobile confirmed via their support page that the ICS update for the Samsung Galaxy S2 would be available as of the 11th of June at 11:00PM EST/ 8:00PM PST, and unfortunately the ICS update will not be available over the air.

As for some reason Samsung and T-Mobile have decided not to deliver the Android Ice Cream Sandwich update for the Galaxy S2 OTA, the update has to be grabbed via the Samsung Kies software, which can be a fairly easy process if Samsung Kies works as it should, but not as easy as an over the air update naturally.

According to the guys the most likely reason for the Ice Cream Sandwich update not coming over the air is because they class the update as ‘optional’ and that it will wipe out the users home screen, which means the user will have to set up their device again. However Android Ice Cream Sandwich is more of a recommended update than an optional one, as the OS was quite an improvement, and no doubt every Android users wants ICS on their handset.

So basically if you own the Samsung Galaxy S2 on T-Mobile you will need to download the Samsung Kies software if you don’t already have it, install and run the software on your PC, enable USB debugging on your SGS2 in settings>menu>apps>development, then connect via USB, click and accept update, and you should be good to go.

So there you go, if you own the T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S2 and grab the Android Ice Cream Sandwich update via Samsung Kies, feel free to let us know how it all goes.

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54 thoughts on “T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S2 ICS update with no OTA”

    1. Twshield says:

      You have to dowload Kies on your desktop and u can find it at the samsung website under downloads. Kies is a sync program like i-tunes that you install on your pc to sync your smart phone. Once you install the program, it should prompt you to update it if it is not the current verson so you must update it. Once this is done connect your phone to your pc via usb and allow it to connect. (this may take a wile)
      If you get an error like “software was not installed”, then you must download and install the samsung drivers which you can also find on the samsung webside under downloads. Once you install the drivers, try reconnecting the phone to your pc and open kies, and it should connect and the update box should pop up alerting you of a firmware update. just follow the instructions and absolutley do not unplug the phone until the process is complete.
      Good luck…

      1. ddillas says:

        So are Kies and Kies Air not the same?  I’ve been using Kies Air for about 6 months with no problems between my S2 and my desktop, but I see no way to unpgrade the firmware here on Kies Air…. 

      2. Kathy says:

        I’m having the same problems.  I downloaded and plugged my phone but no messages of updating? Prior to that I received a notification on my phone to update in which I did (without my computer) and nothing much was changed.  I checke the current version I have and it still says 2.3.6 Gingerbread.  Can someone tell me what I did wrong?

  6. Lucgehring says:

    ICS was a waste. Wish I went with a nexus so i could have real ICS. There is so much touchwiz that you can barely tell where Gingerbread ends and ICS begins. Considering ICS is supposed to be completely different from anything else I feel very sad. 

  7. Carlosvarela13 says:

    You will have to download kies software for your mac or PC a from samsung website after that you plug your galaxy s2 and fallow the instructions.let me know if i can help.

  8. Twshield says:

    I recieved my update this morning. Just as i connected my s2 an update box popped up and i followed the instructions. The whole process took maybe 15 minutes and the phone rebooted.
    I must say that i am happy with the update but i was hoping the camera software would be updated to allow fast snapshots like on the galaxy nexus. I really like the face reconition lock screen!!!

  10. Diordna11 says:

    I updated last night and it seems to be smoother and quicker. Quadrant runs about 600 higher than Gingerbread. Its not an “oh my gosh” update unless you are a Android geek like me. The average user will wonder what all the excitement has been about and Touchwiz has a lot to do with that. Hopefully my Razor Maxx gets updated soon so I can do a Blur to TW comparison. I will say that the overall UI is considerably better than GB and far more intuitive. It will probably take a day to realize all of the tweaks. The update process through Kies was much better than any other Kies experience I have had.

  11. Kendall Dever says:

    I think my performance was better before the upgrade. WiFi is definitely affected as now coverage in my house disappears in places I had before. Also dial a number and no ring back tone so hang up and works next attempt 

  12. Erburrus says:

    anyone have any issues with wifi hot spot i pay extra for this

    before updating turn on hot spot and game on

    now i have to teather with a cord to the lap top also i have to turn off my phone and turn it back on before it will connect to internet

    any idesa

  13. Twshield says:

    I have nticed after the ICS update my S2 was acting a bit weird and dragging  so i would suggest  everyone  do a system restore on your device after you perform the update. Just make sure you back up your data before you do this!
    One minor change i am not happy with is when you open the phone dialer now, the contacts tab at the top is gone! you now have to hit the menu button and select contacts there.
    The settings menu layout has completely changed. The new layout will take a bit  to get use to but its better organized and  full of new options.

  15. Moeverma says:

    I updated mine to Ics and lost the following amazing features on my galaxy s2
    I can no longer adjust brightness by Swyping the notification toolbar
    I can no longer take screen snap shot
    The date on the top tool bar is missing
    The wallpaper no longer moves from left to right and vice versa.
    Contacts tab is missing from phone tab
    I hate ics on galaxy s2, it sucks! Please don’t update.

    1. Corina Gaytan says:

      It’s no so bad, it’s a different OS so there’re going to be some changes!! I upgraded it and I’m happy I just have to adapt to a different OS and play with the new options in my phone 🙂

    2. Corina Gaytan says:

      And by the way the ”
      The wallpaper no longer moves from left to right and vice versa.” that was removed before the ICS update 😛

  16. LanceMiller says:

    I don’t consider it “quite an improvement” after T-Mobile loaded it up with bloatware & Samsung butchered the rom in such a way that it doesn’t even remotely resemble the stock ICS that google released. Samsung even left some of Gingerbread in this frankenstein.

  17. Lisastubbs88 says:

    Apparently if you have the s2 with model number GT-I9100 then there is still no update…therefore i am not a happy person right now!

  18. Kenjhall says:

    When I plug in, Kies tells me that I cannot connect with USB debugging active and then with it turned off it does nothing,,,would love some help?

    1. Jimmypro29 says:

      Its slow and eats up all the ram, no more screen shot.
      I wish i never updated it. Some things are better but overall its not worth it.

      1. Aquiminal says:

        Agreed…I’m happy it was made available in a reasonable amount of time, but not exactly the polished ICS I was expecting.  Hoping that the bugs get sorted out and fixed in a near future update.

  24. Emond A. says:

    I tthink there should be a OTA UPDATE because, I have a friend that did his update manually & He’s not Happy with the results at all…

  26. anglsage says:

    The features lost vs the ones gained are hardly worth it, IMO. Not being able to screen shot is just donkey doo.
    Samsung, TMobile, At&t your update is bad and you should feel bad. 🙁

  29. Doobing_dog says:

    Ive done the upgrade on my t-mobile s2 through kies but since doing so my phone keeps shuting down and restarting. Any help on this please?

  30. Sarahpayne20 says:

    I updated to ICS yesterday. Took me about 4 hours. It froze in the middle of the update so I had no firmware on my phone at all. The online tech with Samsung didn’t understand what I was saying (I told her I couldn’t get to my menu as I couldn’t move off the error page and the phone doesn’t turn off it only reboots). It took 4 different people on the phone before someone had a slight idea what was going on. I would strongly suggest not trying to update using Windows 7 64bit. They said they have known problems with that and if I used a different OS on a different computer I should be able to fix the problem and get firmware back on the phone although they didn’t know which firmware I was going to get back. I tried it on a PC with Windows XP on it and it didn’t even find the phone at all let alone try to fix the problem! It did eventually finish the update (Sometimes it good to be nerdy!!) and put ICS on the phone BUT now I’m having a bunch of problems. Like some others have said I get lag, random shut off, lots of freezing, and I can’t even look at my gallery unless I use some other app on the phone to look at a picture first (that only happens after I reboot my phone which is a LOT more often these days). The funny thing is I only found out and attempted the update because my husband got his replacement phone from T-mobile and it already had ICS on it. We don’t like having different phone because he can’t help me if he doesn’t know how my phone works so I always get the same phone as he has. He isn’t having any problems with his… no lag, no freezes, gallery works fine and no random reboots.

    1. Leeloo says:

      So agree! My phone now hangs and does strange random things. In the last couple of days my phone randomly starts ringing, but I am not able to tell if or who is calling, since the screen to answer does not come up. Really not happy with ICE upgrade. Hope they may come out with some fixes.

  32. Vy says:

    I’ve been wanting this phone for the longest time but I use T-Mobile. Is it a better choice to not buy it or just buy it and do the Kies thing??

  33. Vy says:

    I’ve been wanting this phone for the longest time but I use T-Mobile. Is it a better choice to not buy it or just buy it and do the Kies thing??

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