Android 2.2 Froyo Screens Show Auto Updates

Is automatic updating coming to the next OS release?

Phandroid managed to score a couple of screenshots showing Android 2.2 "Froyo" running on a MyTouch 3G. The screens came from an "android trusted tester" via 4Chan, and shows both the version number and another highly-anticipated feature. There's indication that the images could possibly be a fake, however with Froyo out and about in Rumorland, chances are the images are legit.

The big scoop in this latest brief is the possible arrival of automatic updating. Froyo may allow users to choose whether to let the installed application update itself, or let the end-user decide when or if to update. On one hand, this would be a welcome feature for heavily-used apps like Google Maps, Slacker Radio, XXX Videos Viewer, and more. However this could be problematic if the update has an unintentional glitch, rendering the app useless.

As reported earlier, Android 2.2 will supposedly offer performance enhancements to the OS including additional RAM for the end-user, support for Adobe Flash 10.1, new APIs that will unleash OpenGL 2.0's entire library to developers, and a possible refinement to the touchscreen resolution, making for more accurate selections. Of course, none of this has been officially confirmed, so chalk these features up as mere rumor.

If Google does plan to implement an automatic update feature, then the company also needs to consider a rollback feature for faulty patches. There's certainly nothing more annoying than broken software thanks to a bad update, leaving end-users nowhere to turn but to sit and wait on a fix for a fix. A rollback feature would definitely be ideal for the next update.