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Trying to wrap my head around Android (Page 12)
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Laminar
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Mar 1, 2014, 05:40 PM
 
Oh, and mostly out of boredom last night, I installed Cyanogenmod onto my S2, so I could at least say I gave it a shot. At the minimum, the phone does feel a lot snappier. However, my contacts are messed up and being a pain in the ass, and battery life seems to have suffered, but it's only been a day so I'll give it time.
     
sek929
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Mar 1, 2014, 08:24 PM
 
Originally Posted by Laminar View Post
Have you installed the 7.0.6 update?
I'm on my new Galaxy S4 Mini, but yes, my friends have the newest iOS version.
     
sek929
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Mar 2, 2014, 10:51 PM
 
Finally got about two dozen texts this morning and friends tell me iMessage now fails and reverts back to SMS. Had several calls to Apple Support over the last couple days, very helpful and proffesional as you would expect, but past just "waiting it out" it doesn't appear anyone knows exactly what the cause is. Supposedly just having iMessage turned off on the old iPhone is supposed to work, but going by my search results that works about 10% of the time.
     
Cold Warrior
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Mar 3, 2014, 06:56 AM
 
A relative had this issue after her iPhone was stolen. One of the things I recall was removing the old device from your apple support profile, then turning iMessage back off and on.
     
raybright
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Mar 3, 2014, 07:49 AM
 
been having the same text message/iMessage problem since yesterday. Re-started my iPhone which didn't help. Maybe reset the network settings? Anyone tried that?
     
sek929
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Mar 3, 2014, 09:13 AM
 
I reset my password, had the device removed, turned iMessage off and on on the old phone a dozen times, etc..

Basically you need to wait a few days until the iMessage servers suss out that your number is no longer connected to an iPhone and trickle that info down to the iPhones trying to contact you. That was pretty much the final verdict from the last AppleCare rep I talked to.
     
Jawbone54
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Mar 3, 2014, 12:21 PM
 
It all sounds like a complete disaster.

I'm guessing Apple doesn't have huge incentive to fix it either, since they're mostly dealing with people that switched away from their product.
     
ShortcutToMoncton
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Mar 9, 2014, 06:28 AM
 
I ended up with.....a Z10. At least temporarily anyway, until I decide whether to get a new HTC One. But I like it okay so far.
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Laminar
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Mar 9, 2014, 07:39 AM
 
Originally Posted by Laminar View Post
Oh, and mostly out of boredom last night, I installed Cyanogenmod onto my S2, so I could at least say I gave it a shot. At the minimum, the phone does feel a lot snappier. However, my contacts are messed up and being a pain in the ass, and battery life seems to have suffered, but it's only been a day so I'll give it time.
Battery life is horrid, after a day of no use it's below 50%, an hour of web browsing drains it. Looks like I'll be going back to the standard image.
     
ShortcutToMoncton
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Mar 29, 2014, 03:21 PM
 
Well they released the HTC One (M8) - looks like it`s the Android phone to beat as an all-round package, but unfortunately they made it even bigger than it already was, and didn`t really seem to upgrade the camera at all (added what looks to be a somewhat gimmicky second camera, but the overall complaint about needing more pixels if cropping pictures seems to still be an issue.

Grrrr.....basically the two things I was hoping they wouldn`t do, haha. Will be interesting to play with when it`s available up here, though....maybe it will be different in person.
( Last edited by ShortcutToMoncton; Mar 31, 2014 at 08:57 AM. )
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Jul 12, 2014, 02:39 PM
 
Great deal for those who want a big tab. I use mine as my comic book reader, it's the perfect size for that (having 2 pages open @once).

Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 12 2" 32GB SM T9000ZKCXAR Android Kit Kat Quad Core Wi Fi | eBay
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Phileas
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Jul 14, 2014, 07:28 AM
 
I looked into all of the Android tablets and in the end I went and got myself a new iPad Air - this is for the main, use everyday, take to meetings, collect and order ideas, device. 64GB, cellular, with a Bluetooth stylus it's still a very capable machine. The lack of data sharing amongst apps is annoying when compared to my Nexus, but there are workarounds and I believe much of that will be addressed in the next OS update.

There are just, still, too many iPad apps I rely on, Paper and Penultimate are just two examples, that Are only available on iOS (I know Evernote has built elements of Penultimate into the Android Evernote app, but it's a poor implementation).

Also, the google apps for iOS are almost better than those for Android. For somebody like me, who lives in google docs and google apps, the iPad is the best Android tablet on the market. Everything I need is there and works like a dream.
     
Shaddim
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Jul 14, 2014, 08:01 PM
 
Unless you enjoy the Android experience and its flexibility, then there's no reason to go with it.
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starman  (op)
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Jul 14, 2014, 10:45 PM
 
Originally Posted by Shaddim View Post
Unless you enjoy the Android experience and its flexibility, then there's no reason to go with it.
I see what you did there.

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Phileas
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Jul 15, 2014, 08:01 AM
 
Originally Posted by Shaddim View Post
Unless you enjoy the Android experience and its flexibility, then there's no reason to go with it.
Which is why my phone is a Nexus 5 and my sofa tablet a Nexus 7. Tying it all together is the Google apps ecosystem.

Tools. Jobs.
     
Shaddim
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Jul 15, 2014, 11:54 AM
 
Originally Posted by Phileas View Post
Which is why my phone is a Nexus 5 and my sofa tablet a Nexus 7. Tying it all together is the Google apps ecosystem.

Tools. Jobs.
That flies in the face of what you were saying before, but whatever. I still have ~half a dozen iPads too, but they aren't nearly as configurable or powerful as my Android and Ubuntu tablets. More and more the Apple devices are feeling like toys, in comparison.
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Phileas
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Jul 15, 2014, 01:32 PM
 
Originally Posted by Shaddim View Post
That flies in the face of what you were saying before, but whatever. I still have ~half a dozen iPads too, but they aren't nearly as configurable or powerful as my Android and Ubuntu tablets. More and more the Apple devices are feeling like toys, in comparison.
What I was saying is that the there are several iPad only apps that I rely on - and that I am prepared to make do with workarounds as a price for having access to these apps. For those occasions where I don't need my iPad, I use my Android tablets.

Right tool for the right job, etc.
     
sek929
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Jul 15, 2014, 04:51 PM
 
Originally Posted by Shaddim View Post
More and more the Apple devices are feeling like toys, in comparison.
I think that's a common thread for the more tech-literate mobile device users. I love the Android ecosystem and its flexibility, but for most people, like people who see cars as appliances, iOS is still king...and rightfully so.
     
subego
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Jul 16, 2014, 02:56 AM
 
I'm pretty tech literate, but I've been both ecosystemed, and muscle memoried by iOS.

Likewise, my phone has become the "computer" I use the most, by an order of magnitude. That's a shitload of inertia to overcome.
     
Spheric Harlot
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Jul 16, 2014, 04:50 AM
 
I'm pretty tech-literate, but my interest in the tools themselves has waned greatly over the last five years. They do get me excited, but in the end, it's about getting my stuff done with the least amount of fiddling, annoyance, and worrying.

iOS is a better fit for what I do, despite its limitations. And most of those are disappearing in autumn, with the whole office being tied together with Handoff.

I'm happily stuck.
     
Phileas
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Jul 16, 2014, 06:59 AM
 
Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot View Post
I'm pretty tech-literate, but my interest in the tools themselves has waned greatly over the last five years. They do get me excited, but in the end, it's about getting my stuff done with the least amount of fiddling, annoyance, and worrying.
I think that's the problem the tech giants are facing these days. Technology has become pretty commoditized. In most cases, it just works and the differences are becoming smaller and smaller and less and less important.
     
Spheric Harlot
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Jul 16, 2014, 07:04 AM
 
I don't know. They said that about Windows vs. Macintosh LONG before it was even remotely true.
     
Phileas
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Jul 16, 2014, 09:42 AM
 
Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot View Post
I don't know. They said that about Windows vs. Macintosh LONG before it was even remotely true.
Not sure. I keep two ecosystems going partly because there's a need (albeit small) but also because I've got an interest in these things. But, if I had to make a choice between iOS and ANdroid, I could be perfectly happy with either one.
     
OreoCookie
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Jul 16, 2014, 09:43 AM
 
Originally Posted by Phileas View Post
I think that's the problem the tech giants are facing these days. Technology has become pretty commoditized. In most cases, it just works and the differences are becoming smaller and smaller and less and less important.
I don't think the commoditization argument really works or has really worked if you prefer Mac OS/OS X/iOS: there is only one manufacturer to choose from. If you prefer Windows/Android, then you have a commoditized market. But I think to a significant number of people the operating systems are not commodities, they do have a preference.

My brother, for instance, was a huge Windows guy who made fun of me using OS X. Bit by bit, he got pulled into Apple's ecosystem, starting with an iPod. He really did try to escape (replacing his iPod with non-Apple mp3 players and buying a Windows Phone 7 phone). He still has an Android phone (a Sony Xperia), because he wanted custom keyboards. He likes the hardware (it's water- and beer-proof, Apple, please copy this!), but he's not in love with the software.

In the end, I'm very happy that there is lively competition between Apple and Android (unlike what happened in the desktop OS space for almost 10, 15 years), and that's what counts to me.
Originally Posted by sek929 View Post
I think that's a common thread for the more tech-literate mobile device users. I love the Android ecosystem and its flexibility, but for most people, like people who see cars as appliances, iOS is still king...and rightfully so.
I don't think this has anything to do with it, I'm quite computer-literate but I prefer iOS to Android. For me, it's in part a matter of aesthetics, Android feels as if it was designed by computer scientists only. And I don't feel constrained by iOS. Android L may change that for stock apps (I've only seen pictures so far, so I reserve my judgement until I have tried it), the design direction looks promising. But that doesn't change the big difference in the quality of third-party apps.
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OreoCookie
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Jul 16, 2014, 09:48 AM
 
Originally Posted by Phileas View Post
I think that's the problem the tech giants are facing these days. Technology has become pretty commoditized. In most cases, it just works and the differences are becoming smaller and smaller and less and less important.
I think there is an important aspect you are not mentioning here, and that is ecosystem lock-in. There will be no commoditization unless you have platform-independent sync services and such. I don't want to be part of Google's ecosystem (I do have a gmail account for the rare occasion when I need to use Google Hangouts for work), because they creep me out: they want to keep me logged in all the time even when it's of no benefit to me, they try to bring me to use Google+ even though I choose not to and I don't want my e-mails to be analyzed to make it easier for Google to sell ads to me. Apple's ecosystem similarly keeps you in the iOS world for the most part.
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Jawbone54
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Jul 16, 2014, 11:30 AM
 
After spending wayyyy too much time poring over Google's Design page, I'm actually optimistic that the OS won't look like an inconsistent piece of crap for much longer.

Now to see if they actually enforce these guidelines.
     
Phileas
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Jul 16, 2014, 02:12 PM
 
The look and feel is easily fixed with an icon pack. I know that's not needed* for iOS, but my Android phone hasn't looked like a pile of crap for a long time. I use** a beautifully flat tiled theme for my Nexus that looks cleaner than anything Apple has ever made.

For me, the biggest advantage Android offers is inter-app connectivity. On my Nexus, sending pretty much anything to, say, Evernote is as easy as easy can get. With the iPad, it takes thinking and more often than not, a workaround.

*There are plenty app icons that look like crap for iOS as well.
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subego
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Jul 16, 2014, 02:27 PM
 
The thing is, I'd probably be happier with Android if I could get over the hump. The main app I use is Safari.

It's utter garbage. Apple should feel ashamed by how it uses memory.
     
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Jul 16, 2014, 03:00 PM
 
Originally Posted by Phileas View Post
The look and feel is easily fixed with an icon pack. I know that's not needed* for iOS, but my Android phone hasn't looked like a pile of crap for a long time. I use** a beautifully flat tiled theme for my Nexus that looks cleaner than anything Apple has ever made.
I disagree: an icon pack does not fix how an app or the system works. What I like about iOS 7 are the layers and the physics used in the UI. Android L seems to go in the same direction by giving user live feedback on his/her actions, using motion and layering things like notifications on top of the app you're using. They've hired top notch talent with Duarte (he was the master mind behind webOS), so I am very hopeful about the design direction of Android. The best thing that can happen to us, the users, is a healthy competition between iOS and Android on all fronts.

There are many great iOS apps which incorporate the spirit of iOS 7 (e. g. Castro and Vesper), and I hope Android developers will also get on board the Android L train.
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Spheric Harlot
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Jul 16, 2014, 03:17 PM
 
Originally Posted by Phileas View Post
The look and feel is easily fixed with an icon pack.
Good Lord. Twenty-five years since the Apple-Microsoft trials, and it's still believed that Look and Feel are fixed by replacing a couple bitmaps?
     
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Jul 16, 2014, 03:56 PM
 
Originally Posted by Shaddim View Post
Ubuntu tablets.
Care to share where you got a tablet with Ubuntu? According to their site (Ubuntu on tablets | Ubuntu) the first device hasn't been released.
     
Shaddim
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Jul 17, 2014, 12:34 AM
 
Originally Posted by mattyb View Post
Care to share where you got a tablet with Ubuntu? According to their site (Ubuntu on tablets | Ubuntu) the first device hasn't been released.
I can't, it's a beta product and I promised not to talk about specific things. However, I can say that, despite needing more polish and refinement, it's a damned powerful device.
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Jul 17, 2014, 05:24 AM
 
Can you tell us about using the Ubuntu OS on a tablet? What its like, compared to iOS and Android?
     
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Jul 17, 2014, 01:46 PM
 
Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot View Post
Good Lord. Twenty-five years since the Apple-Microsoft trials, and it's still believed that Look and Feel are fixed by replacing a couple bitmaps?
Not trying to be snarky, but when was the last time you've used an Android device? Really used it, not looked at it for a second and decided that it wasn't for you?

The Apple interface niceties are mostly there in Android as well - not the patent protected versions of course, but the equivalent. Visual feedback on interface interactions is just as nice as it is on iOS these days, the times of "ugly ANdroid" are long past.

I switch between iOS and Android (the clean google version) several times a day and there's just no difference in user satisfaction. Animations, overlays, haptic feedback are just fine on both OS options.
Where Android wins out, for me at least, is in usability. It makes common tasks, again common for me, easier than iOS does as strange as that might sound. Save a web page to Evernote in Android takes two clicks (Share to/select/Evernote). Try that in iOS for an exercise in frustration and workarounds. Sure, that's one specific example, but for me, who uses Evernote as an idea repository, an important one.
     
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Jul 17, 2014, 02:46 PM
 
I honestly tried to go to an Android phone but it was the hardware that failed me, not Android itself. I just couldn't find a non-Apple phone that looked great, had a screen bigger than the iPhone but not ginormous, and had a great camera and battery life. (Basically, I was looking for an iPhone with a bigger screen.)

Oddly enough the original HTC One was so close to perfect but the camera wasn't great and I couldn't justify getting an old processor. So I had high hopes for the new One, but turns out they made it ginormously large and didn't really fix the gimmicky camera.

Sigh....at this point I'm just waiting it out and hoping the iP6 comes out soon.
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starman  (op)
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Jul 17, 2014, 05:24 PM
 
After using Android for over a year, it's a POS. Sure, it's got some cool things like widgets and color-coded light messages, but in the end, it's a dog. A stinky dog.

Worst offender: what effing century is this where we STILL have to deal with carriers AND companies that screw with Android before it gets distributed? Eight month wait for KitKat on my Verizon SGS4, *TEN* month wait for the Note 8, and it isn't even carrier locked.

But the problem with Android is that if you want a drawing tablet, you have to get the Samsung, you can't get the Nexus, but if you want updates fast, you can't get the Samsung, you have to get the Nexus.

And as for development, Eclipse is a slow, horrible beast of an app. Is it written in Java? Sure feels like it. The emulator is hideously slow.

It's a mess.

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sek929
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Jul 17, 2014, 05:41 PM
 
Absolutely love my GS4 Mini, with 80GB of storage for a fraction of the price Apple would gouge you for 32GB. Google Voice utterly smacks the shit out of Siri, it's not even close. I send almost all my texts with voice now, trying to do that with Siri is like pulling teeth, with Google voice it's effortless. I love how the Play store doesn't prompt me for my password like iOS does every ten minutes, I like how I dropped my phone in the toilet and was able to extract it and pop the battery out in seconds (works fine BTW), I like the camera... takes beautiful photos on par with my g/f's 5 for sure. Battery life is amazing, waaaaaay better than any iPhone I've used. Do I care I had to wait for KitKat? Nope. Do I care that Sprint probably installed a couple apps? Nope, phone runs like lightning.

After using iOS and Android for a similar amount of time (couple years each) I wouldn't say I'm "Android or Bust" but I definitely lean that way. I like the flexibility, I like not being tied down to that horrible POS iTunes, I love having a 64GB SD card slot for all my music and taking video. Never once after switching from iOS have I missed anything about the iPhone.
     
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Jul 17, 2014, 06:50 PM
 
I'm not going to argue GV being better than Siri, it's pretty obvious, but in the same vein, when it comes to passwords, TouchID blows the Android offerings out of the water.
     
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Jul 17, 2014, 07:32 PM
 
Originally Posted by starman View Post
After using Android for over a year, it's a POS. Sure, it's got some cool things like widgets and color-coded light messages, but in the end, it's a dog. A stinky dog.

Worst offender: what effing century is this where we STILL have to deal with carriers AND companies that screw with Android before it gets distributed? Eight month wait for KitKat on my Verizon SGS4, *TEN* month wait for the Note 8, and it isn't even carrier locked.

But the problem with Android is that if you want a drawing tablet, you have to get the Samsung, you can't get the Nexus, but if you want updates fast, you can't get the Samsung, you have to get the Nexus.

And as for development, Eclipse is a slow, horrible beast of an app. Is it written in Java? Sure feels like it. The emulator is hideously slow.

It's a mess.
Uh huh. Well, if you're buying any phone expecting a prompt update, you fail. There's no other way to say that. Also, as for Samsung's new tablets, they're the best hardware and software around, but if for some reason you don't like their iteration of Kitkat, you can just install CM11 or one of 20 other builds. Touchwiz hasn't been bad in a while, and what is there can be disabled to a nearly vanilla experience in 5 minutes.
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Jul 18, 2014, 02:57 AM
 
Originally Posted by Shaddim View Post
Uh huh. Well, if you're buying any phone expecting a prompt update, you fail. There's no other way to say that.
iPhone

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starman  (op)
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Jul 18, 2014, 03:02 AM
 
Originally Posted by sek929 View Post
Absolutely love my GS4 Mini, with 80GB of storage for a fraction of the price Apple would gouge you for 32GB. Google Voice utterly smacks the shit out of Siri, it's not even close. I send almost all my texts with voice now, trying to do that with Siri is like pulling teeth, with Google voice it's effortless. I love how the Play store doesn't prompt me for my password like iOS does every ten minutes, I like how I dropped my phone in the toilet and was able to extract it and pop the battery out in seconds (works fine BTW), I like the camera... takes beautiful photos on par with my g/f's 5 for sure. Battery life is amazing, waaaaaay better than any iPhone I've used. Do I care I had to wait for KitKat? Nope. Do I care that Sprint probably installed a couple apps? Nope, phone runs like lightning.

After using iOS and Android for a similar amount of time (couple years each) I wouldn't say I'm "Android or Bust" but I definitely lean that way. I like the flexibility, I like not being tied down to that horrible POS iTunes, I love having a 64GB SD card slot for all my music and taking video. Never once after switching from iOS have I missed anything about the iPhone.
Let me tell you why I wanted KitKat so badly. Other than the fact that I wanted to test my apps on the latest and greatest (thanks, Verizon), Google Wallet was cock-blocked by Verizon. Yup, you can't pay for things with your phone because Verizon was pushing ISIS. This is the kind of cellular BS I effing hate. This is why I moved to the iPhone in the first place - because you don't deal with this petty crap from carriers. So, KitKat comes out where Google gives the finger to Verizon and AT&T and says "Ok, we'll just implement Google Wallet security ourselves. Natch". And they did. And it works. But I had to wait almost a year for that update.

It's not that I use NFC payments often, it's the principle of this carrier vs. Google crap. I hate it. Yeah, GV kicks Siri's ass, but I don't use Siri often enough to care.

If Google would just throw their muscle around and find some way to tell the carriers to get bent about "validating" new OS updates, then maybe I'll feel better about it.

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Jul 18, 2014, 03:54 AM
 
Originally Posted by starman View Post
After using Android for over a year, it's a POS. Sure, it's got some cool things like widgets and color-coded light messages, but in the end, it's a dog. A stinky dog.

Worst offender: what effing century is this where we STILL have to deal with carriers AND companies that screw with Android before it gets distributed? Eight month wait for KitKat on my Verizon SGS4, *TEN* month wait for the Note 8, and it isn't even carrier locked.

But the problem with Android is that if you want a drawing tablet, you have to get the Samsung, you can't get the Nexus, but if you want updates fast, you can't get the Samsung, you have to get the Nexus.

And as for development, Eclipse is a slow, horrible beast of an app. Is it written in Java? Sure feels like it. The emulator is hideously slow.

It's a mess.
LOL. You didn't use Android, you used a borked version of Android because you went with Samsung and Verizon. 21st century Nexus user and I get all the latest and greatest updates, vanilla Android.
     
Spheric Harlot
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Jul 18, 2014, 05:09 AM
 
See, that's exactly the vibe I get from phileas, too.

I played with a friend's galaxy S5 for a while, and the thing is a mess. The only hardware I'd consider in earnest at the moment is an HTC One, but again, people who have issues are dismissed with a hand-wave and the note that "that's not Android".

BULLSHIT.

The crap the carriers and manufacturers dump on their phones, THAT is Android reality.

If you are talking about "real" Android, then stop talking about Android and make it clear that you talk about just the Nexus, because that one series of devices is, apparently, in no way representative of the actual Android experience you get when you just select a device that you like and buy it.

"Android is awesome, provided you buy this one device or root whatever else you get, if you can", which is how you're coming across, does not seem a particularly convincing tack to take.
     
Spheric Harlot
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Jul 18, 2014, 05:49 AM
 
Originally Posted by Phileas View Post
Not trying to be snarky, but when was the last time you've used an Android device? Really used it, not looked at it for a second and decided that it wasn't for you?
Not as extensively as I probably should, but I have dabbled a bit. And a good friend swears by her S5 and still keeps complaining. (She's given up on the Galaxy Gear Samsung threw in to pad their numbers, I think.)

I switch between iOS and Android (the clean google version) several times a day and there's just no difference in user satisfaction. Animations, overlays, haptic feedback are just fine on both OS options.
There's a lot more to "Look and Feel" than that, and I certainly don't get that from the S5.

And yes, that's "real" Android.

Where Android wins out, for me at least, is in usability. It makes common tasks, again common for me, easier than iOS does as strange as that might sound. Save a web page to Evernote in Android takes two clicks (Share to/select/Evernote). Try that in iOS for an exercise in frustration and workarounds. Sure, that's one specific example, but for me, who uses Evernote as an idea repository, an important one.
On this, I definitely hear you.

It looks like Apple has taken the fundamental step to rectifying this in iOS 8, but we'll see how effectively it solves my recurring work issues.
     
ghporter
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Jul 18, 2014, 06:58 AM
 
I bought a small Android tablet to play with and to see what the fuss with Android was all about. So far, for basic functions I'm not seeing a huge difference in the "quality" of my user experience. I am seeing differences in how Android does things compared to the way iOS does them, but it's not nearly as big a change as going from iOS to OS X (and yes I still try to tap things on both my MBP's and my iMac's screens).

For me, I think the biggest difference is in how apps "feel." Most iOS apps that I use are pretty consistent in what's where and how one does various normal things, while many Android apps (free ones so far) are more varied in their user interface, with this selection here and that option there. Not a big deal, really, and something I chalk up to getting used to new apps.

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Phileas
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Jul 18, 2014, 07:25 AM
 
Fair point about using clean Android. Not only that, but all my devices are set to use ART runtime, which makes things extra-snappy™

I too am very much looking forward to iOS8. I am hoping that Apple will improve, and relax, the way data is handled amongst apps. I don't care much for the eye candy, I just want the iOS to get out of the way of work.
( Last edited by Phileas; Jul 18, 2014 at 07:39 AM. )
     
starman  (op)
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Jul 18, 2014, 09:14 AM
 
Originally Posted by mattyb View Post
LOL. You didn't use Android, you used a borked version of Android because you went with Samsung and Verizon. 21st century Nexus user and I get all the latest and greatest updates, vanilla Android.
And if I wanted a Wacom tablet I can't get a Nexus tablet. Again, this is what I effing hate about Android - its inconsistencies.

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Phileas
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Jul 18, 2014, 09:52 AM
 
As far as hardware is concerned, my Nexus 5 is without doubt the best phone I've ever owned. I've been using it for well over a year, no case, and apart from the tiniest micro scratches on the screen it looks like new. My iPhone 5 got dinged up within a week. Great screen, fast as blazes, decent camera and good battery life. Once you're used to wireless charging (which is a small things until you've got it) having to plug in a phone is a hassle.

I had one issue with the phone, when the microphone died. Knowing that google has a reputation for crap support I was expecting the worst, only to be pleasantly surprised. One phone call and I had a new phone in my hands two days later (even though the old one was out of warrantee) and a return authorization for the old one. Not quite as good as walking into an Apple store for an instant replacement, but a lot better than I had expected.

On the Apple front, the iPad Air is also a thing of beauty. Fast and light, great for sketching and collecting ideas.
     
ShortcutToMoncton
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Jul 18, 2014, 09:58 AM
 
Yes the iPad Air would be utterly fantastic....if Safari didn't refresh existing pages whenever you have more than one tab opened. Nothing more frustrating that reading a large article, clicking on a given link in it to look at that page, and then going back to find out the page has been refreshed back to the top and you have to scroll down again. Ugh. :/
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Jul 18, 2014, 10:01 AM
 
Originally Posted by OreoCookie View Post
I disagree: an icon pack does not fix how an app or the system works. What I like about iOS 7 are the layers and the physics used in the UI. Android L seems to go in the same direction by giving user live feedback on his/her actions, using motion and layering things like notifications on top of the app you're using. They've hired top notch talent with Duarte (he was the master mind behind webOS), so I am very hopeful about the design direction of Android. The best thing that can happen to us, the users, is a healthy competition between iOS and Android on all fronts.

There are many great iOS apps which incorporate the spirit of iOS 7 (e. g. Castro and Vesper), and I hope Android developers will also get on board the Android L train.
This.

Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot View Post
Good Lord. Twenty-five years since the Apple-Microsoft trials, and it's still believed that Look and Feel are fixed by replacing a couple bitmaps?
And this.

Originally Posted by Phileas View Post
Not trying to be snarky, but when was the last time you've used an Android device? Really used it, not looked at it for a second and decided that it wasn't for you?

The Apple interface niceties are mostly there in Android as well - not the patent protected versions of course, but the equivalent. Visual feedback on interface interactions is just as nice as it is on iOS these days, the times of "ugly ANdroid" are long past.
I use a Nexus 7 quite often, and I couldn't disagree more. The "interface niceties" are at least one generation of design behind iOS. Overall, Android still looks like it was designed by engineers, though I believe Material Design will help with that. It might not be absolutely disgusting, but the inconsistency (and especially the laggy scrolling) keeps Android at second-level status as far as design and interaction are concerned.

I switch between iOS and Android (the clean google version) several times a day and there's just no difference in user satisfaction. Animations, overlays, haptic feedback are just fine on both OS options.
I use the "Nexus 5" Google Launcher, and while it helps, my previous paragraph still applies.

Where Android wins out, for me at least, is in usability. It makes common tasks, again common for me, easier than iOS does as strange as that might sound. Save a web page to Evernote in Android takes two clicks (Share to/select/Evernote). Try that in iOS for an exercise in frustration and workarounds. Sure, that's one specific example, but for me, who uses Evernote as an idea repository, an important one.
Now this is where we can agree. iOS 8 will finally include many of the features of Android that it should have ripped off two years ago.

My favorite example would be Pocket. In Android you click "Share > Pocket." In iOS, you have to create some bogus bookmark to save a page to pocket, and it usually requires a few backward steps from where you are.

Android is getting there, and trumps iOS in a few ways, but there's no comparison between the two, aesthetically.
     
 
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