Verizon pushes out firmware update for Nokia Lumia Icon

Today, we've been made aware of an update which is being fired out to Lumia Icon owners on the Verizon network. Consumers have been experiencing issues with Windows Phone 8.1 on their Icon smartphones, but unfortunately this appears to be a 8.0 update and not one for the Developer Preview.

Windows Phone Central reader Dreamspell noted some visible changes after updating:

"It was a Nokia update. They changed the Verizon boot splash to an orange one from the white one. They also added the little arrow thingy to the WiFi symbol in the status bar. That's what I've noticed so far. No DTTW yet."

Verizon has published a PDF (opens in new tab) containing changes included in this release:

  • Improvements to Wi-Fi Connectivity to ensure a more consistent experience
  • Roaming enhancements when traveling internationally

Not a massive change log, but firmware updates rarely are when not combined with Windows Phone OS updates. Do let us know if you've received an update in the comments and join in the conversation over on our forum. Thanks, Dreamspell, for the tip!

Rich Edmonds
Senior Editor, PC Build

Rich Edmonds was formerly a Senior Editor of PC hardware at Windows Central, covering everything related to PC components and NAS. He's been involved in technology for more than a decade and knows a thing or two about the magic inside a PC chassis. You can follow him on Twitter at @RichEdmonds.

83 Comments
  • Hmm. I was hoping a firmware update for the Odyssey... The cellular stuff is wonky at best.
  • Same problems on the icon on rogers. update did nothing except make it goto 3.5g more often instead of dropping all together. What happened to their radio fw the 822 seems to be popular here in Canada but i cant see why if lte doesn't work
  • Well my dam 1520 didn't get a update. I'm about to throw this thing off a cliff and watch a small city explode.
  • :-)
  • Why, are you having problems? Did you not do a hard reset or if you did then did you restore from a backup. Do a hard reset and set the phone up as new, don't restore your apps or settings.
  • No point of trying again.... The phone will still be plagued w/ over sensitivity and autobrightness issues.
    I'm not the only user having these problems.
    Btw, according to the Nokia Care Suite...all the tests (that the repair centers do to see if your phone has issues) pass. -which is probably why people who send in their 1520's to the repair centers, are not getting these problems fixed.... Mine just came back from repair...nothing was fixed or done to it. -Nokia stated nothing was wrong....
  • No you're not
  • My 1520 is worst than yours, camera does not work all i get is a black screen then straight back to home screen. And it no longer vibrates either. If i had only known Nokia phones had these issues i would have bought an ativ s instead.
  • Is it not available on 8.1 Preview? I just checked and I don't have an update for my Icon.
  • Yeah. This is for those on 8.0. Read the post yo.
  • Alot of us on 8.1 are having severe wifi issues on the Icon. Any idea when a firmware update for us is coming?
  • When Windows Phone 8.1 is released.
  • What kind of issues?  Haven't noticed much on my Icon.
     
  • Im on gdr3 & im having issues with wifi range mostly. On my sgh-t899m i can get my 5ghz n signal in further areas that the icon cant. So much for having an ac capable handset if it cant even receive basic 5ghz n
  • Reading, bitch!
  • Yep and holding the camera button to turn the phone on cause the power button doesn't do it sometimes lol.
  • Icon has been having serious Wi-Fi issues on 8.1, maybe this helps
  • It is not for thoes on 8.1
  • I have an Icon with 8.1 and have had some issues with autoconnect to Wi-Fi (it connects, but sometimes says "No internet connectivity" and I have to turn WiFi off and on to get it back). is this what others have had problems with as well? I haven't noticed anything else.
  • I've had this and just overall performance issues. With 8.1 on the horizon its a wonder why not just release to us now so we can verify improvemtns. Instead of waiting for 8.1 and then telling them their firmware update still needs work. Either way happy go see they are working in it. Can't wait for some 8.1 fixes. Wifi is terrible right now.
  • I can't really say I've had consistent Wi-Fi issues with my Icon on 8.1. Two times I can think of, the symbol showed I was connected, but clearly wasn't. A reboot fixed it both times. I've experienced more instances of the issue with the power button. Hopefully, a firmware update when 8.1 rolls out will correct both.
  • I had the issues where the power button wouldn't turn on the display at first.  After a couple reboots and letting it be for a while it cleared itself up.  My home wireless has problems randomly on all my devices so I can't attribute that to a WiFi bug and our Cisco CAPs haven't had any issues with my phone at the office.  But I bought it and upgraded to 8.1 before doing much of anything on it. (Icon, btw)
  • For gdr3 im having range issues for 5ghz n Whereas my ativ s works much better.
  • i wonder if its worth a downgrade to 8.0 to install the firmware and then reinstall 8.1? might be the fix for the wifi issues icons are having in the preview.
  • How do you downgrade?
  • You don't.
  • Didn't think so.
  • You can downgrade with the Nokia Recovery Tool.
  • You can restore 8.0 using nokia software for retail, takes about 20 minutes to do it.
  • I downgraded using Nokia Software Updater (NSU for Retail).
  • I might do this tonight as I've had WiFi range issues before and after 8.1 on my Icon
  • Let us know. Tempted to do this to take advantage of the Nokia voucher program going on now with $25 store credit and free gameloft games.
  • I reverted back to 8.0 and before and after the 8.0 WiFi update I could not download the Voucher, it's still broken for Icon's.
  • Was it for 5ghz n &/or ac ? If so its normal but not as bad as this my ativ s gets better reception
  • My wife is having serious touch lag issues in her 928. How about an update for that phone?
  • Have you tried the common posted resolutions for that stuff like a hard reset?
  • Yes. There's even been two updates to " touch" app from Nokia since she got it about three weeks ago and it still doesn't help.
  • I had those same problems on my 1520. A recent update from Nokia right before 8.1 was let loose solved my problem. I also did a hard reset post 8.1, I seriously suggest doing it. Many things changed regarding what runs in the background as well as SD transfer issues. The touchy touch screen is awful to live with. I was so happy when it begun working correctly. Also, if you choose to use your present settings when you reset, the apps that were on the SD card and those on the internal memory are put right back where they were, including your start screen and background image. That is wonderful, for a reset was such a pain prior to these enhancements. I used to spend hours fixing start screen, log ins, etc. You will still have to log into email (password only), Hulu, rhapsody, and other such apps. Any questions, reply to me. B. Love, Ph.D.
  • God, reading the headline and then reading the articles just gave me blue balls. I though I was about to be very happy with this update. Regardles I will do it.
  • I hope it fixes the sound levels. Volume set on 1 is way too loud for videos/music but other sounds like keyboard typing are nonexistent unless its on volume 20 or higher.
  • It seems like you have to consistently change the equalizers levels in settings guess its just bad software
  • Yeah I am not getting it.
  • Side note about the Icon power button issue with WP 8.1:  If you have this problem occur on occasion like myself, you can still turn on the phone with a long press of the camera button. You'll have the extra step of closing the camera app, but it's quicker than resetting your phone.
  • Thanks, good info. Just had to reset from a freeze on my ICON.
  • This happened sometimes on my 521 with 8.0 as well. One reason it's good to have a hard camera button, I guess. :)
  • Anyway to use the Nokia tool to upgrade firmware only?
  • Not for 8.1 preview?
  • TIME FOR AN ATT ICON
     
  • Goodness that orange splash is horrible. Please go back to the white one.
  • I haven't seen either but is it worse than the blue screen with the hideous box logo on all of verizon's other WPs?
  • That's there also.
  • Looks more red then orange
  • Has anyone noticed that the battery in their Icon seems to be drianing slower since this update?  
  • so update firmware first, upgrade second. BTW what is up with MSFT and WP updates? You used to be ablet o make an image backup and roll back but they seem to have forgotten this ancient lost skill? I've been on WP 8.1 for a long time now and while I like it, the battery life issues and performance woes on my 1020 make me want to go back to 8.0 while a proper firmware is released. I'm sure many Icon owners would for I have seen a co-worker suffer from the "phone never wakes up" bug. I've even seen a 1020 do it. Sorry MSFT but after being burned by surface pro 2's updates in december, and having a tablet that still doesn't feel like it properly works, and now a phone that burns outself out of battery if I use IE too much....you're REALLY pushing your customer's patience.
  • What are you talking about? Microsoft was upfront and clear about the Developer Preview. They had clearly mentioned that there is no way to downgrade and with a Preview release bugs are to be expected. You have no business upgrading to developer preview ss you are clearly not a developer. Don't act like a child.
  • and? they have the capability to allow you to roll back. it doesn't take much to backup the rom to your PC and restore it. In fact I did it several times when you had to upgrade your phone via Zune. it is about being better, clearly you settle for less.
  • @neonspark Aparrently you don't understand software development. The developer preview is just that. nobody forced you to install 8.1 preview. They don't have to provide a recovery tool/process. I'm sure there will be a recovery process if needed once the software is officially released.
  • apparently YOU don't understand that MSFT has had this capability for we used it before to be able to roll back ROMs in the WP7 days. But even in production systems MSFT is turning to be lazier than ever. Case in point, official surface firmware updates cannot be rolled back as it happened with the botched december and march updates. So be developer preview, or production system. MSFT is doing its customers, developers or users a disservice whenever it puts out something which cannot back out. The tools they have. The money they have. They just don't have the will.
  • Sure they had it but it wasn't perfect if they push fw & os updates as separate install overwriting the other backup.
    Wp7 was based on windows ce kernel with windows embedded compact which is different then wp8 which is sandboxing wp7 apps
  • This must be the update I received yesterday. I was curious.
  • Hey...i know I read it somewhere before, but can't remember...what is the little arrow thing by the LTE and WiFi icon at the top of the phone?
  • That is to let you know if there is internet bandwidth traffic uploading or downloading. Posted via the WPC App for Android!
  • Need wifi update for WP 8.1 preview. Can't connect and device can't reach wifi errors
  • Use nokia software recovery tool to install latest firmware on 8.0, then upgrade back to 8.1 with dev preview.
  • I have Verizon Nokia Lumia Icon. Yesterday, I happend to be going over the settings, and on the Phone Update screen I clicked Check for Updates. That is when the phone started downloading and update (had no idea what was being downloaded). The whole download and install took about 30 minutes. Later I noticed that the Version splash screen (at boot up) had changed to red color, and also now there is little arrow that appears intermitently right above the WiFi and LTE icons. Other that that, no idea what else has changed.
  • I think it fixed the icons WiFi connection issue and range as I'm not having trouble with it anymore.
  • FYI downgrade/FW update/upgrade works - new splash screen and new wireless icons exist.
  • Excellent, running this now!
  • Sometimes the power button doesn't turn the screen on immediately, but it does within a few seconds.
    The wifi connection is annoying, but switching to airplane mode and back (allowing time for it to turn both on and off) fixes the problem for me. Although sometimes turning off my location and disabling cortana seems to fix it.
    (Lumia Icon)
  • So I downgraded back to WP 8, got the radio update (with the red VZW logo screen), installed WP 8.1 and the firmware stuck.  FIXES MY WIFI ISSUES IN WP 8.1 DP!!!
  • Mind posting the process including backup/restore to the Icon forum? Would be ever so thankful... WiFi issue is killing me but new to Nokia/Icon so unsure how to revert back to 8.0 and also prefer not to have to set everything back up (Start Screen/Apps).
  • 1).  Backup your files using the built in backup feature 2).  Locate and install the Nokia Software Recovery tool (Google it) 3). Use the tool to go back to 8.0 - this will WIPE YOUR PHONE and reinstall WP 8.0.  Takes about 30 minutes 4). After being restored to 8.0, skip all the account set up stuff and go right into Settings - Phone Update and check for updates.  This will give you the new radio update from VZW. 5). Once the update is applied, go into the store and redownload the Developer Preview app and re-enable the Developer Preview. 6). After enabling the Developer Preview, check for updates again and you'll get the 2 updates for 8.1 (the prep update and after applying that update and restarting, you'll get 8.1. 7). 8.1 is now installed and during the initital setup it will prompt to restore from backup, simply choose the one with the most recent date. 8). Profit Enjoy!  
  • I did this earlier today and my wifi issues are fixed. Battery still sucks though and the power button still doesn't work all the time. I'm glad I can at least watch video on my phone again though!
  • Nokia care suite now has the latest firmware (1028.3566.1417.0047) and had a release note mentioning 8.1 support, so you dont need step 4)    I checked for updates just in case, and no updates were to be found.
  • Yes you do because you won't get the radio update from VERIZON otherwise.  The Nokia tool won't update to the newest radio.
  • Eric, thanks for the steps however I tried this 3 times and each time the Icon's WiFi strength is great when back on WP8, but the upgrade to WP8.1 kills the WiFi again (and I can verify the radio update is still there in WP8.1 because I get the red/orange background on the Verizon logo screen at startup and I have the tiny arrows on the WiFi icon in the header).  So I would say this is not worth the effort until Verizon/Nokia annonce a fix for WP8.1. Also, at step four (before reinstalling the dev preview) there are no updates available - so it does appear the Verizon firmware patch is available from the Nokia desktop tool. Anyone getting good results with this? 
  • Why Verizon not just send it to all Icons, regardless of 8 or 8.1
  • Probably isn't meant for 8.1...  We're working around the system to get it on 8.1...  The long way.  Plus 8.1 isn't currently supported by VZW.  
  • I had several WiFi issues today (Icon with 8.1), which is weird because I had rarely had any. I decided to use Nokias Recovery Tool and downgrade to 8.0. That went well, and then got this fix when checking... I miss soooo many of the 8.1 features, but I think I'll stick to 8.0 for now if this helps the WiFi problem...
  • if you reinstall 8.1 the updated firmware will still be there. i did it last night.
  • I've had my icon (on the Verizon Network) for about a week now. Running 8.0 with really no issues at all...yay me! I don't really want to do the fw update, I like the white splash page vs the orange/red one. I've had no WiFi issues. FW updates are like PC bios updates, they're made for fixing issues, if you aren't experiencing the issues - don't update it. MHO
  • Hmmmm!  Interesting!  They send out a firmware update for Lumia Icon with Windows Phone 8.0, but Developer Preview doesn't get the update and Developer Preview phones are having a MASSIVE problem with not waking up using the power button AND having the SAME WiFi issue that was in WP8.0.  I would think Microsoft and Nokia would want to fix the non-waking issue and WiFi issue on WP8.1 as well, like YESTERDAY!  It's no wonder sales are slowing on these devices. And before anyone gets smart, yes, I know I didn't have to "Developer Preview", but somebody has to test this software and provide feedback to Microsoft so they can fix these issues.  Well, here's my feedback, now FIX IT!
  • 8.1.1 that came out today did NOT fix Wifi or Hardware button issues.  Although it DID seem to fix bluetooth jitter issues i was having.  Alas i am Nokia Software Recovery Tool'ing to 8.0 with latest firmware, and re-upating to 8.1.1 now