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Android Ice Cream Sandwich SDK Released
Hitting the front page for the first time, ttong writes "The highly anticipated Android 4.0 (codenamed Ice Cream Sandwich) has been released and finally brings the features of 3.x Honeycomb to smaller devices. Some of the highlights include: a revamped UI, a much faster browser, face unlock, a vastly improved camera app, improved task switching, streaming voice recognition, Wi-Fi Direct, and Bluetooth Health Device Profile. ... The API level is 14, download the new SDK here."
calc noted that the source code has yet to be released (Google account required) except to legally required GPL components. Supposedly progress is being made toward getting AOSP back online: "We're working on it and we're making good progress, but we're not ready to announce any additional details yet." How many of the new features will remain proprietary and tied to Google services remains to be seen.
Gingerbread = 2.3 more precisely. 2.1 is Eclair and 2.2 is Froyo.
The API is horrible - standard Java classes replaced by poorly designed alternatives for no apparent reason
So your rationale is that the API is horrible because they added in some bespoke classes? In the platform developer's opinion, those classes are better suited to mobile devices. But, guess what, you don't even have to use them. What Java classes did they "replace" that aren't still there? I haven't found anything in particular that has been replaced, they just gave you the option of using the newer stuff. The analagous Java class is still there. And how are the new classes poorly designed?
those horrible XML files as the preferred way of designing a UI
Er, if you don't want to use XML files to do your UI, you don't have to. You can use pure Java all day long. Besides, the XML files are exploded into Java on the device anyway. You use the XML to quickly design the static elements of your UI and use Java code to do the interactive stuff. What is there to bitch about?
When I got to the bit in the tutorials about apps being forcibly restarted when the orientation changes I cried with laughter.
This is not even true. The activity does not "restart", the ui reinitializes to use the layout prescribed for that particular orientation. You don't want a long list of single column buttons in landscape, you want them more logically laid out so the UI for the activity restarts. It is trivially easy to keep all of the ui data like form contents, etc. and reinsert it into the layout when the screen rotates and it happens instantly so the user isn't even remotely aware. Poor app developers that don't take the very small amount of time to make this happen is what gives it a bad rep.
It feels a proof of concept rather than a polished development platform
Nothing you've said supports this conclusion. The points you make are what I would expect from someone that is looking for a reason to hate before he's even given the platform a chance.
The soylentnews experiment has been a dismal failure.
It's starting to look like one of Android's greatest weaknesses is that people flame manufacturers, but don't mention their name yet do mention Android's name in spite of the fact that Android had nothing to do with the problem they had.
Dude: name names. Someone sold you an un-upgradable phone and you won't say who? Thanks, now they will be free to pull the same bullshit on me.
If we were talking about desktop computers instead of phones, you wouldn't be talking shit about the OS not being upgradable; you'd be warning the world against the desktop computer manufacturer and their user-hostile BIOS.
"Believe me!" -- Donald Trump