Google announced Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) last week, but unless you have a Nexus S or you invest in a Galaxy Nexus, chances are you won’t receive an official update until 2012. Furthermore, ICS represents a huge updated with many new features and improvements, so the wait will be particularly excruciating. Don’t despair, though: With a little digging and a few new apps, your older Android phone can get an ICS-style makeover.

Look and feel

Android 4.0 has a new, more refined visual appeal. Users can attain a modicum of ICS style just by grabbing some of the leaked Android 4.0 media files. The wallpapers [ZIP file] are mostly new in ICS, and have been scaled down to fit on current generation phones. These can be added to the SD card and applied like any other wallpaper.

Google has also moved toward a more electronic feel for the notifications sounds included with the software. Luckily, these have been leaked as well. The .ogg files [ZIP file] can be dropped on the SD card, but some will be repeats from previous versions of Android. It isn’t a bad idea to go over the files to make sure duplicates aren’t added.

To really get that ICS vibe, the new system font from Android 4.0 can be added to any rooted phone. The Roboto font was designed from the ground up to exemplify the clean design aesthetic that Google is going for in the new version of Android. To install the new fonts, just grab the files and add them to the /system/fonts folder in place of the Droid-sans fonts, but be sure to back them up first.

Data management

One of the killer features in Android ICS is the new mobile data tracking screen. Here, users can input their cell phone plan details and track data usage over time. In this age of data caps, this is an essential feature. Users don’t have to wait for a system update to get this ability though, because there’s a great app called 3G Watchdog.

In the free version of 3G Watchdog, users can add plan start and end dates, as well as the limits. When 3G or 4G is active, the app will count those bytes, adding them to the handy bar graph in the app. Usage is broken down by month, week, day, and plan on a chart on the main screen.

To get a little closer to ICS functionality, a pro version of the app is available which offers smart predictions of plan usage based on current habits, as well as per-app usage. 3G Watchdog can be used to switch data off at a certain threshold, just like the native ICS solution. The only drawback is that another app called APNdroid is required to enable that functionality, though it is free. Watchdog 3G Pro costs about $3, but the basic version should work well enough for most users.

Lock screen

The new minimalist lock screen in Android 4.0 is a thing of beauty, if that’s your aesthetic. The Android Market is filled with apps that claim to replace the lock screen, but more often than not, they do a poor job. An app called WidgetLocker does an excellent job of enhancing the lock screen, however, and it has just been updated to include an Android 4.0 skin

WidgetLocker has many additional features that go beyond the Gingerbread or Ice Cream Sandwich lock screens. The new default skin is the ICS one (pictured right), and it comes complete with the lock icon that you drag to either unlock the phone, or go straight to the camera. Both these actions work like you’d expect, but WidgetLocker also lets you add another shortcut or action to the “top” of the unlock circle.

The app originally got its name from the capability to run widgets on the lock screen, and this is still available. Any widget that works on the home screen can be added here. With this $2.99 app, Android users can get a taste of Ice Cream Sandwich, and more.

Next page: Tweaking the camera and home screen