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Android Companies Keep Pretending That Android Doesn't Exist (theverge.com)
Europe's biggest tech show IFA is underway in Berlin currently. Companies from around the world are showcasing their new smartphones at the event, chearleading the advancements they have made on the hardware side. Pretty much all these devices are running Android, but the way they are presented, you wouldn't be able to tell if that really is the case. The Verge's Vlad Savov writes: Sony would have us believe that buying an Xperia phone grants us a pass into the exclusive Xperia experience. The stuff actually differentiating the Xperia brand is junk and bloatware: the Xperia assistance software is a mobile version of Microsoft's Clippy. Huawei is even worse in its Android omerta, deathly afraid to utter the green giant's name. I understand that hardware companies want to spend more time talking about their hardware, but all these launches feel lobotomized without a proper discussion of the software driving their devices. Tell me about your implementation of Android. Tell me why you think it's okay to launch a phone without the latest software. Reassure me that I won't be left behind the way that many 2014 Android flagships already have been, and explain to your users why they don't need smarter multitasking, improved notifications, and baked-in VR support. Yes, those are harder issues to discuss, but dodging them is what makes customers untrusting of Android manufacturers.
This is exactly how Android was designed by Google and intended to be implemented. If you don't like it buy another phone with another OS.
All the phones run Android. The cell phone companies are trying to differentiate themselves from each other. Why talk about a feature that is the same on all of them? The real differentiation is in look and feel, or slight variations in hardware specifications, or in price, or in branding, or even in stupid apps that come with the phone.
LG devices have standard connectors, microSD cards, removable batteries, and best of all: they are well supported by Cyanogenmod. My devices are always up-to-date and functional the way I want them.
This has been done for a Long time.
Branding the Crap out of Windows so far as long as MS will not sue them. Adding additional stuff to give you the company X advantage.
Heck I remember on my Amstrad CPC1512 it came with MSDOS (Red disk) labeled in such a way that you really didn't know it was MSDos 2.x And they prefered that you booted with the Blue Disk that brought you into GEM Desktop using Dr Dos. I think the Yellow Disk (Perhaps the Green One) loaded Dr Dos alone.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
You can't lock people in "hardware specs" the way Apple locks people to its IOS platform
I can live without new features. But can I live without security updates on an always connected internet device??
what makes customers untrusting of Android manufacturers
Yet Android dominates the market.
The average consumer doesn't care about the operating system of their phone. They probably don't even know what Android is in detail and they wouldn't care or notice that they are running an out of date OS or that there are different skins of Android. They just install and use the apps they want and then if the phone is slow they just buy a new phone.
... because these phones have a clean OS, regular software updates and no bloatware.
If you buy Samsung or Huawei or Sony or any of the many other phones from companies that don't comprehend software, the hardware may be good, but the software won't be, and the price will be inversely related to the software penalty.
These companies need to either spin up a competent software department or, just as good, get out of the software business entirely and just work to keep patches coming on their products, old and new alike. They'd lose face (a problem for Asians) but they'd gain market share.
Reassure me that I won't be left behind the way that many 2014 Android flagships already have been
The are telling you what they plan to do; which is exactly the same as they have been doing. There will be no updates.
Just because you don't like the message doesn't mean they are not being clear.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Where is android clunky? Maybe try something without the Samsung bloatware or whatever you are using. Stock android is very fast.
Do you know?
Carl Downing shot Danny in the head 4 times!
Now you do!
Why would Sony want to market their phone by talking about how awesome Android is? Any smartphone you get (that's not an iPhone, obviously) will be running Android. If Sony's sales pitch is, "You should buy an Android phone!" it doesn't differentiate them from other phone manufacturers. It doesn't tell you why you should buy an Xperia phone.
So every phone manufacturer is trying to differentiate itself. They want to make their phone different from the other Android phones, and then their sales pitch is going to focus on those differences. For some manufacturers, those differences might be good, and for some they'll be bad, but there is a need to be different. Even Google's Nexus devices are, to some extent, marketing themselves on the premise that they're the reference design. You're getting the true, pure Android experience without all that pesky manufacturer interference.
If you root. I want to know one thing about a phone before I buy, can I root it.
Does this behavior have anything to do with the ongoing legal battle between Google and oracle over the API's?
I always thought that the reason why the makers of computers with pre-installed Microsoft Windows advertised their products as computers that run Windows was Microsoft paying them to do so. Am I missing something?
Linux is for people who don't mind RTFM.
Why advertise that which your product shares with your competition? You emphasize it's advantages. Simple marketing.
Have gnu, will travel.
ry ANYTHING non Android
Translation: "Hi, I am an apple fanboi"
Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
Android is clunky, has a history of terrible security, and invades your privacy thanks to Google. If I was trying to sell a smartphone, I wouldn't want to be associated with Android, either.
"Clunky" is subjective, personally I find stock Android to be very intuitive compared to iOS.
Android's security has historically been just as good/bad as iOS's as well. The difference is that carriers and OEMs prevent upstream security updates from being installed for Android. Blame them for that.
I don't know of any datamining that Google does that also isn't done by Apple.
Completely disagree. As a long time iOS user who switched to Android about six weeks ago I'll say it's been a great change. It's not as polished as Apple's walled garden but it is hardly clunky. Perfectly usable and I feel like I'm using a computer instead of an appliance, plus I'm running all of the same apps as I did on iOS.
Try ANYTHING non Android and you will see how clunky and ridiculously sluggish Android really is.
I have a Nexus 5X. My mother has an iPhone 6. For what it's worth, doing assorted things seems faster on my phone than hers.
Many of the handset OEMs have direct experience with being box-stuffers for Wintel PCs; and the ones that don't have had plenty of time to observe the ones that do.
Moral of the story, you are a low-margin, interchangeable, and largely expendable partner if you don't provide either the OS or the high-value components; with conditions moderately better for companies that can at least make money on SoCs or screens or batteries.
Plus, some vendors still cherish the delusion(despite 'smartphone' having been a thing for some years now) that phones are just 'consumer electronics' and so consumers will dutifully consume them based on the 'features' the vendor shoves in to differentiate the product, rather than just loading the applications that provide the features they want, as with a real computer.
Now, while I can't exactly blame the handset OEMs for wanting to avoid being just board stuffers who basically exist just to install Google's OS on Qualcomm's hardware; they have the crippling little problem that you can't put yourself in the position of being a value-added software contributor just by wanting to, or just by shipping software. You have to not suck at it. And that...hasn't exactly happened. Even after years of trying, OEM bloatware is considered to be doing atypically well when reviews describe it as 'subtle' or 'inoffensive' compared to stock Android.
They're phone companies. They're going to want to talk about phones. Samsung has been meddling with forking/making a new phone ecosystem to get away from Google.
Google is the Android company. Don't conflate.
Windows Phone
I've used a lot of Android devices, and still use them with my current Galaxy S5 running CM13. It's obvious that despite all Apple's shortcomings in its walled garden approach, their ecosystem is a lot more unified and provides a consistent user experience compared to Android-based phone manufacturers. Among Android devices, I have to say Samsung's blend of Android is definitely one of the worst. The UI is broken, inconsistent garbage and it takes a very long time to turn off all the on-by-default annoyances that the phone keeps reminding of all the time. Simple things like connecting to a wifi hotspot is a pain in the ass if you have a "recognized" network in the range, too.
-SR
What is this so called "Android" you speak of?
Sent from my Moto Z Droid
And wouldn't you? If you're selling a computer that has Windows on it, and MS will lower the price of licensing for you if you conspicuously advertise that it has Windows, it makes little sense not to. As far as Android goes, this is a non-story. Anyone with any sense already knows what the OS is, and people who care will find out the version before buying. Since they are all running Android, the hardware manufacturers compete on hardware.... I don't see the problem.
Stupid sexy Flanders.
You want new features, buy a new phone. There is no money to be made supporting old handsets.
"Tell me why you think it's okay to launch a phone without the latest software. ... explain to your users why they don't need smarter multitasking, improved notifications, and baked-in VR support."
In this case the person would buy a new phone and it doesn't have new features.
Smartphones are clunky, have a history of terrible security, and invades your privacy thanks to EVERYONE. If I was trying to sell a phone, I wouldn't want to be associated with Smartphones, either.
FTFY.
But seriously, folks.. my first impression about this? That manufacturers marketing departments think like this:
Android, LOL, we don't make that, right? That's that skeezy 'open source' thing, isn't it? LOL, don't even mention it, downplay it as much as you can, and talk up what we put on the phone, that's what the customers are paying for, otherwise they'll know we're ripping them off by charging them for something that doesn't cost us anything
Basically, I think manufacturers use Android like a $20 whore and DGAF, and try to make it look like their shitty bloatware apps are what are running the phone. That's what the average consumer sees, not the underlying OS, so that's what they think is running the phone. It's like your grandparents thinking that the monitor is the computer, not the box next to it on the desk.
Are YOU using the TOOL, or is the TOOL using YOU? Think about it!
Its marketing 101. Even if its true, admitting that its Android-based is the same as telling you that their product is just like everyone else's.
My android has become somewhat slower as more OS updates have come through. Potentially I am also using more features as time goes by. But the same thing happened to my iPhone, so...
You want new features, buy a new phone. There is no money to be made supporting old handsets.
You mean "features" like security updates? Or existing features that don't work quite right out of the box? Yeah I don't really give a crap if the vendor makes money on those or not. If they don't provide updates I won't buy their product in the first place. So at least from me there is no money to be made in NO supporting old handsets.
Amstrad CPC1512? Mixing your old machines: CPC464 and PC1512...
Amstrad had their own version of MS-DOS on the system disk, 3.2.0, which no one else had; 3.2.1 was the official release version from Microsoft.
"Wait. Something's happening. It's opening up! My God, it's full of apricots!"
There is no need for VR on a phone. The people pushing this are fools.
"Clunky" is subjective, personally I find stock Android to be very intuitive compared to iOS.
Maybe but very few devices have stock Android on them. As for me the Android devices I own are definitely more of a pain to use that the iOS devices I own. Possibly I have the wrong ones but my experience with Android is that it requires (and allows) considerably more fiddling than iOS. Whether you like that or not is a matter of personal preference.
Android's security has historically been just as good/bad as iOS's as well. The difference is that carriers and OEMs prevent upstream security updates from being installed for Android. Blame them for that.
If the security isn't available on the device then it may as well not exist. It is not important if Google or the handset maker or the telecom is to blame. The whole system has to work or it is worthless.
I don't know of any datamining that Google does that also isn't done by Apple.
Apple isn't in the advertising business to anywhere near the degree Google is. As a result Google does CONSIDERABLY more data mining than Apple does because Apple doesn't need to do nearly as much. Whether you have a problem with this or not is a matter of personal perspective. Apple screws you in different ways than Google. Pick your poison.
First thing I do before buying an Android phone is make sure there's a root method and supporting decent mod. First thing I do after buying an Android phone is root it, remove the crap the manufacturer put on there, and install decent mod.
== Jez ==
Do you miss Firefox? Try Pale Moon.
The obvious problem with the iPhone is that nobody makes a good one right now. Step through all the various Android manufacturers, and among all the heaps of garbage you can find some pretty good ones. With iOS, there simply aren't any good ones, at least in 2016. It doesn't matter if you found a nice one 8 years ago, or if they're going to have a good model a few years in the future: you can't use the good ones today.
It's pretty much the same as the desktop. No manufacturer stays on top, so the user needs their OS to work on dozens of manufacturers' products, so that whoever is making the good one that year, you can run your software on it. For any particular big manufacturer (Apple included) there's something like a 5-10% chance that your product happens to be reasonably competitive right now. That means if your OS isn't portable, I'm going to be disadvantaged 90-95% of the time! Some people care about that, and some don't. I think it eventually worked out to about 15% of the market not caring if they're usually behind the curve. Apple's niche.
And that tells you what's the big error in the Android market right now: manufacturers, nobody wants your ___ experience, because whatever it is, is pre-ordained to be a flavor-of-the-month anyway! Everybody wants the generic experience. What we search for, is if our current phone is about to die, who this month, happens to be making the best replacement unit? (Where "best" means speed (? that one always seemed weirdest for handhelds, but maybe because I've never had a slow one) or cost, or long-lived battery, or whatever.)
"Samsung or Huawei or Sony or any of the many other phones from companies that don't comprehend software" If they don't comprehend software how do they build their hardware? Linux is engineering it's own demise. It's openness in allowing people to fork the code, create new functionality, or change existing functionality has resulted multiple distributions all containing their own little differences. And with all the various flavors there is no centralized support mechanism in place to manage the delivery of software updates. There is also no guarantee that the version of Linux being run will continue to exist if the principles driving the development decide to move on to something else and leave people with a dean end OS. And before anyone says that the users have access to the code and provide their own support I would point out that companies don't usually have dedicated OS developers on their staffs. Average users will certainly not be able to take over OS level maintenance. And the large majority of software developers who think they are qualified to maintain an OS would discover that their application development skills are woefully inadequate when it comes to OS development. Most of them would have trouble configuring and compiling an OS starting only with the source code.
false.
I have the misfortune of having to carry my employer's Apple phone when on call
my Android phone is much faster at any task
I recently switched from Android to iPhone, i always had Android devices, but the poor quality devices, the non-working custom UIs and having my LG G3 stuck on Android 5 while on some parts of the world LG released Android 6 made me switch, and i'm not looking back
And so does your mom!
I want the complete set of code for *everything*, especially drivers and related firmwares. I don't want to be dependant on a manufacturer for updates.
I moved from Android to iOS a few years ago. The ecosystem and user presentation differences are minor. For me, the problem was that I have no interest in 'phablets.' Unfortunately, there isn't a single Android manufacturer that offers a smaller cell phone that's not also totally stripped of performance and features.
Tried doing a backup & restore?
I guess it really is true there's two sides to every story. Here's how I interpret the data: In a world where multiple vendors all run off the same base OS, they hype up what makes them unique, not the common denominator.
ry ANYTHING non Android
Translation: "Hi, I am an apple fanboi"
Not necessarily and not defending the Apple Fanboi.......for some idiotic reason, I got an HTC One M8 Windows phone with my last phone upgrade and it is a pretty fast operating phone. Battery usage is VERY low (could probably go 2 days before recharging, but I charge every night (with 80% charge left) out of habit)... if the app selection was a little more diverse I wouldn't mind keeping it in the long term.
But the other day a friend of mine got a new Samsung phone with Android and out of the box it actually felt slower than mine as far as response to user inputs goes...
You're messin' with my Zen Thing, man.....
I think TFA is saying that the shiny hardware doesn't do anything without the software. That makes the software pretty important. Yet, the software (and its maintenance) is barely mentioned in all the marketing fluff. That is the reported problem.
new Samsung phone with Android
There's your problem ;) Samsung isn't just "android" it is TouchWiz on top.
Having had a Samsung, and having used both Touchwiz and close to stock (CyanogenMod) on it, the differences were remarkable.20% better battery, and it seemed both faster and smoother running CM
And I haven't ever seen Windows Phone in the wild, I can't say anything else about it.
Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
It should be LAW that if you BUY a phone then you should be able to Root the phone and do want with the software that does not mess with the actual phone software (which should be a separate downloadable ap package).
(oh and "design decisions" that make it hard to get Root should require that OEM to provide at no cost the needed materials to bypass)
I made the same switch a while back. Give it a few years and you'll probably do what I did more recently: buy a Windows phone.
iOS feels like a toy.
Android feels like a toy with malware.
I'm not going back.
YMMV.
I have got my smartphones from small, relatively unknown companies. Why? First, because they do most, and have most of the capabilities, of what big brand, snazzy phones do, at a small fraction of the price. Two, because they tend to keep customizations and bloatware down to a minimum. The price to pay is less frequent OS updates - but, then again, they are such good value, that buying a new one every so often is not a big deal. The likes of Samsung, Sony, etc. won't get a single cent from me any time soon, when it comes to smartphones.
I'm on a Windows Phone, actually.
Behold an endangered species if I ever saw one. What is its current global market share, less than 1%?
For me, the problem was that I have no interest in 'phablets.' Unfortunately, there isn't a single Android manufacturer that offers a smaller cell phone that's not also totally stripped of performance and features.
You're gonna have to explain how moving to iOS solves that. The iPhone is a 4.7" and above device, with the 4" iPhone SE being an concession to people holding onto older handset. It's not a "regular iPhone model" so who knows if it will ever get upgraded again.
Meanwhile, there are many Android phones available in 4.7" size, including higher end models like the new Xperia X Compact, and manufactures like BLU making devices as small as 3.5".
Completely disagree. As a long time iOS user who switched to Android about six weeks ago I'll say it's been a great change. It's not as polished as Apple's walled garden but it is hardly clunky. Perfectly usable and I feel like I'm using a computer instead of an appliance, plus I'm running all of the same apps as I did on iOS.
Yeah, what model phone would that be? Also, you missed years of Android's growing pains.
So it's just as secure until a security vulnerability is found. When there is a security vulnerability found in iOS and it's patched, Apple releases a patch that goes out to all iPhone users worldwide. Right now, to all phones introduced in the last 5 years.
When a security vulnerability is found in Android, Google might create a patch, the OEM might integrate the patch, and the carrier might release it.
I don't have to wait on Dell to get a patch for Windows. I get it straight from MS.
Windows Phone doesn't have any apps, and will be dead in a year or two.
Eat the rich.
Oh yeah, I remember my HTC Hero. What a heap of junk that phone was.
Eat the rich.
So it's just as secure until a security vulnerability is found. When there is a security vulnerability found in iOS and it's patched, Apple releases a patch that goes out to all iPhone users worldwide. Right now, to all phones introduced in the last 5 years.
When a security vulnerability is found in Android, Google might create a patch, the OEM might integrate the patch, and the carrier might release it.
On a Nexus here; neither my OEM nor my carrier blocks any updates, so I get them as they're released by Google.
"Google might create a patch." And they might not. Which is also true of Apple, so no difference there.
I don't have to wait on Dell to get a patch for Windows. I get it straight from MS.
MS also gets all the data from the spyware ingrained in their OS, so have fun with that. Your computer also runs a serious risk of being bricked every update because Microsoft is the sole dealer of updates and they don't rigorously test all available hardware, since that really should be the OEM's job.
Oh the irony. Let me paraphrase that "Pretty much all these devices are running Linux, but the way they are presented, you wouldn't be able to tell if that really is the case.
Buy yourself an Android(tm) branded phone case if you care that much about a fscking logo.
Motorola makes the Moto G line which is not huge and gets pretty decent performance. Runs a vanilla version of Android with very little bloatware.
I have bought multiple Motorola phones because I like the service and experience that I have gotten through the years. Now that they are Lenovo owned that may change but until it does I will continue to buy Motorola. That is the long term play.
its a fucking phone, if you are carrying very important stuff on it, it wont matter if its the latest version, it will get raped (just like women in germany that live to close to a refugee center :P)
your concern about it being the latest version is LAAAAAAAAAAAAAAME
What is a long time? This rose with commercial software, a relatively recent thing.
The stuff actually differentiating the Xperia brand is junk and bloatware:
Not Pig Sh## Fuel!!!
rofl I knew you're an m$ shill lol...
So the only way you get guaranteed updates is by buying the one or two Android phones that Google markets? So much for Android giving you lots of choices, You're stuck with just one vendor just like iPhones.
When has Apple not patched a published vulnerability? Currently Apple supports all iPhones that were released since 9/2011. How many Android devices from 2011 are still getting vendor supplied updates -- including Nexuses?
You really think that a company that makes most of it's money via ads is not spying on you?
I'm on a Windows Phone, actually.
Behold an endangered species if I ever saw one. What is its current global market share, less than 1%?
0.7% in early 2016, according to this
Agree. It is a basic fact of computer science that you can write sluggish and unusable software for any platform. Whether you can write efficient software is another thing. Whether it is easy to do so is yet another. Most app vendors aim to do just enough to get paid.
John_Chalisque
For drivers? I never apply MS driver patches. Dell or manufacturer. Try using MS video card drivers, and good luck to you.
Iphone updates, android updates through the carrier, that is to say not at all.
Google really has to lean on or bypass the carriers.
You got me into this! You were the ideologue! I'm only a poor assassin! - Twenty evocations, Bruce Sterling
Windows Phone doesn't have any apps, and will be dead in a year or two.
That's why it doesn't "feel like a toy" to the AC. It's feels like a serious phone because you can't do much on it other than make phone calls and use the prepackaged apps it comes with. It's kinda like the Nokia Asha phones in that way, but those get much better battery life.
Anyone with any sense already knows what the OS is,
Yeah, the OS is TouchWiz. Oh sure, *you* might know that it's based on Android, but most people don't.
Though it's good for Android that nobody knows. TouchWiz is horrible. Followed closely by Emotion. Sony's is pretty bad, but HTC and Oppo get it right. Sense and ColorOS are the only two I've used that are better than stock Android. TouchWiz and Emotion are worse. Sony's is close enough I'll be generous and call it a tie.
Samsung's plan was always to have TouchWiz build an ecosystem of TouchWiz only applications in their Samsung-only store to be able to take on Android with Android. But even as the #1 selling Android, nobody liked their ecosystem.
Learn to love Alaska
After the latest update, my Samsung Galaxy S5 has so much bloatware that I almost can't use it anymore. The camera app refuses to take pictures unless I have an external SD card installed, and some apps refuse to download from the app store. 16GB RAM - 5.46GB OS - 7.11GB apps = 3.4GB left. After you include the Google Maps cache and voice mail cache and a few other things I have 1.1GB free. You can't move the built-in apps to the external SD card. My wife has the same phone, with no apps installed, and she can't install the latest update because it says there isn't enough free space to do the update.
This is preposterous. My next phone will be a Nexus for this reason. Samsung actually makes good hardware and has reasonable support, but their built-in apps are making the phone nearly useless. They are usually the worst in their class: there's always a free app that does a better job than what they provide.
Lol, pick one up. Slashdot is full of linux and droid trolls
false.
I have the misfortune of having to carry my employer's Apple phone when on call
my Android phone is much faster at any task
Does it ring, dial, or text faster? Yeah, didn't think so. How about email? No? Hmm, something smells here.
The cesspool just got a check and balance.
By the time I load my basic utilities and required apps, my phone's speed is always way slower than out-of-the-box stock. I have come to accept this. OS updates have also slowed things down over time. Back when my Nexus 5 came out, it responded faster than I could muscle-memory position my finger for the next button. Lollipop was a little slower, and Marshmallow is even slower. Not unusable, like my HTC G2 on Gingerbread became, but with more than a few milliseconds response time between actions.
What's done's in the past, forever shall last.
Work is work; life is life; fair is not!
False.
And honestly, as a Windows developer, I'm learning how to make apps and put them on the store. Why? Because "nobody" develops apps for Windows and all of those bajillions of apps that carry those asinine "Download on the AppStore" and "Get it on Google Play" badges are all ripe for the ripping off and cashing in by someone who can put that same functionality on Windows Mobile. Because fuck those app developers for ignoring my platform of choice. I'll steal your shit and make money off of your snobbishness and/or laziness.
Just as an example: There was a guy making an Instagram client for Windows Phone (6Tag), and he pretty much had the market cornered until Instagram finally got off their dead ass and released an official client back in June. And now that everyone has the official client, they're using 6Tag again because, unlike the official client, it's not a locked-down piece of shit that won't integrate with the Windows platform correctly.
I'm not going back. Android was sloppy and brutal, like a gangbang from a pack of wolverines. iOS was a typical Apple butt-fuck with a rusty BBQ grill brush. At least Microsoft has the decency and good sense to use lube, a calm voice, and a properly sterilized anal probe.
I work at a telco/ISP, so I've handled plenty of phones of all configurations, with every possible OS.
Windows phones have great build quality (thanks to Nokia), and the OS itself is quite good, it's a well-designed touch interface. But as I said, there are absolutely no apps worth a damn.
Eat the rich.
is its the verge, cant take them serious
The mobile standard has a 5-20 second call setup time and transmit time. Any perceived difference you may think you have is totally decimated by whatever tower you're currently connected to.
As for text. Yes the lack of swype on iPhone keyboards makes sending emails or any text message significantly faster on Android. The stock gmail app seems to be lighter and run better than the iOS one.
That smell, it's a rotting Apple, and like the person you replied to I also curse the damn iPhone my employer gave me.
If they did market it as the best vanilla android phone you could get, I'd be all over it just for that very reason
So buy a Nexus.
That works as long as Google continues to sell Nexus devices. There already isn't a Nexus tablet since late May, and Nexus phones appear to be on their way out as well since a couple days ago. Or did you mean a used Nexus?
You want new features, buy a new phone. There is no money to be made supporting old handsets.
Tell that to Apple.
Where "best" means speed (? that one always seemed weirdest for handhelds, but maybe because I've never had a slow one)
"Speed" means not having to wait several seconds for the UI to unfreeze. Lag like this is typical of Nexus 7 (2012) tablets upgraded to Android 5 "Lollipop", especially if you don't clear the cache often. I think what's happening is that Android 5 loses all the RAM efficiency gained in the Project Svelte focus of 4.4 "KitKat", and apps end up terminated more often to reclaim memory. A bunch of applications saving state to the N7's relatively slow-to-write NAND storage in reaction to an onTrimMemory signal causes other applications to be blocked on storage access.
Google seems to dislike microSD.
I wonder how much of this dislike comes from the SD Card Association's having made a Microsoft patented file system a requirement for the microSDXC logo. I forget where I read it, but Microsoft reportedly made more money licensing patents to Android device makers than it ever made on Windows Phone 7 and later.
As for text. Yes the lack of swype on iPhone keyboards makes sending emails or any text message significantly faster on Android.
Bullshit. Learn to type. I turned off type ahead, autocorrect, and suggest on my keyboards. Why? Because they're nearly useless, and I happen to type lots of technical terms that are listed as errors.
The stock gmail app seems to be lighter and run better than the iOS one.
That smell, it's a rotting Apple, and like the person you replied to I also curse the damn iPhone my employer gave me.
I have multiple Android phones and tablets. I use them for development. They generally run no better or faster than iOS. That said, there's a number of things that suck about iOS. There's also any large number of suckage points for Android. Between the two, iphones have more consistent interfaces and usage patterns, and generally the things I do use on my phone always work on Apple. On Android, it's different, less intuitive, and usually a few more steps. YMMV.
However, the only rotting thing is the version of the OS on your android device. Since it stops being updated after 18 months with 1 or 2 exceptions.
The cesspool just got a check and balance.
Completely disagree. As a long time iOS user who switched to Android about six weeks ago I'll say it's been a great change. It's not as polished as Apple's walled garden but it is hardly clunky. Perfectly usable and I feel like I'm using a computer instead of an appliance, plus I'm running all of the same apps as I did on iOS.
Really? How're you enjoying that Android version of GoodReader? How about Garage Band. I hear that really rocks on Android.
Oh, wait...
You're gonna have to explain how moving to iOS solves that. The iPhone is a 4.7" and above device, with the 4" iPhone SE being an concession to people holding onto older handset. It's not a "regular iPhone model" so who knows if it will ever get upgraded again.
Apple has seen impressive sales figures on the SE; so there is every likelihood it will remain in the lineup, and be updated along with the other variants. Probably not next week; but next time around.
Android's security has historically been just as good/bad as iOS's as well. The difference is that carriers and OEMs prevent upstream security updates from being installed for Android. Blame them for that.
You're either a liar or illiterate. Nobody in their right mind would make that claim, even with your disclaimer.
I don't know of any datamining that Google does that also isn't done by Apple.
Then you haven't been paying attention, or are again, illiterate or a liar.
My Android Nexus 6 is over 3 years old. While I had to replace the battery in it, it still works fine and is running Marshmallow with the latest security updates. I always try and stick with Nexus phones since they don't come with all the bloatware that others have and they can be unlocked so I can install 3rd party firmware in the future if I want. Supposedly Nougat will be released soon for my phone.
This post is encrypted twice with ROT-13. Documenting or attempting to crack this encryption is illegal.
I moved from my iPhone 6 to a Galaxy S6 and I'll tell you that the samsung wins on speed 100% of the time. There are quite a few things I don't like as much, but speed is most certainly not one of them.
Actually studies found that Android users are more honest then apple user so I'd assume your full of crap
https://www.cvedetails.com/top-50-products.php?year=0
facts disagree with you, liar.
Yes, but the grandparent is right: while some manufacturers make smaller phones, they are usually stripped down versions. The Moto G is not exactly small - the Moto E is, but it is also anemic. The same applies to the Galaxy S mini series. Sony is the only manufacturer producing small phones with decent spec: the Compact Z series was legendary. Of course they cannot pack the same components in a smaller case, so compromises are necessary. Sony balanced that really well in my eyes. (Shame they discontinued the Z series - X does not quite seem to reach the same top performance range).
Actually studies found that Android users are more honest then apple user so I'd assume your full of crap
Citatation?
https://www.cvedetails.com/top-50-products.php?year=0
facts disagree with you, liar.
That's FIXED vulnerabilities.
However, the big difference is that, On Android (unlike iOS), even though those Vulns are fixed, there AREN'T any fixes forthcoming for the VAST majority of their vic^H^H^Husers.
And that is the difference that makes all the difference.
Dispute that.
Bullshit. Learn to type. I turned off type ahead, autocorrect, and suggest on my keyboards.
Typeahead? Autocorrect? Sounds like someone has never used Swype. But hey if you feel like I've threatened your manhood then more power to you.
However, the only rotting thing is the version of the OS on your android device.
Oh so my 2 generations behind S5 that Marshmallow on it pushed by the vendor not as an after market hack is rotten and out of date. What next you're going to accuse me of being a luddite because I'm not part of the Windows Insider fast look program? Nice try, thanks for playing and better luck next time.
Spot on! I have a HTC M7 that got a Marshmallow update within 3 months of Marshmallow being released on Nexus. And they were explicit in their policy of not supporting more than 2+ Android generations when I bought the M7 - I went from 4(?)-5-6(marshmallow) with just OTA and no hacks. Swype is pretty much the best keyboard mechanism for soft keyboards (incidentally, we're actually trying to implement swype for one of our touch screen kiosks because of lots of typing that a user has to do).
My corporate iPhone cannot be an AP because an idiot in IT negotiated the deal with AT and apple believes that this "luxury" needs to be controlled by the hone company; who is beyond my understanding but we live with this walled garden of misery. And if you have tried setting up a private app store to push corporate apps to your iDevice, life is not that good! it's a miserable experience and our developers are insisting that we move to pure webapps as a result!
Apple's h/w is great and it's battery life is to die for. None of the Android manufacturers seem to spend time optimizing their kernels for battery (or maybe Android disallows this?) and as a result beefier and newer phones than ip6 end up draining their batteries faster. All you need is to run Waze or Maps (even on a stock Nexus) and you can feel the phone heat up through all the layers of clothing. Honestly, if the vendors did less about the eyecandy crapware they push and focused on core functionality like battery, camera, voice I'd be a happier person.
lol a fixed vulnerability is still a vulnerability . you apple worshippers are such a dull lot.
https://apple.slashdot.org/story/16/09/02/1345200/android-users-more-honest-and-humble-than-iphone-users-study-says
and dishonest.
really.. so apple FIXED more vulnerabilities that they THEMSELF introduced into their toxic hellstew of an operating system and you want to applaud that? Makes me wonder how many hundred more bugs there that other people will have to find for apple
you sir have no business in a discussion about technology and are not worth anther second of my time,
Wow where did you get a time traveling Nexus from? That wasn't an advertised feature! As far as I recall the 6 came out in October 2014 so it shouldn't be even 2 years old yet...
lol a fixed vulnerability is still a vulnerability . you apple worshippers are such a dull lot.
https://apple.slashdot.org/story/16/09/02/1345200/android-users-more-honest-and-humble-than-iphone-users-study-says
and dishonest.
Ok, by that measure, Linux is #2 on that list, and actually has 200 MORE Vulnerabilities in the most recent year (2016) than #1 OS X; but more significantly, over twice as many EXPLOITS (which are Vulnerabilities that have actually been "realized") than OS X for that same year.
As for your supposed "study", so many people run each platform that, like with the Bible, you can literally "prove" anything.
lol a fixed vulnerability is still a vulnerability . you apple worshippers are such a dull lot.
https://apple.slashdot.org/story/16/09/02/1345200/android-users-more-honest-and-humble-than-iphone-users-study-says
and dishonest.
Ok, by that measure, Linux is #2 on that list, and actually has 200 MORE Vulnerabilities in the most recent year (2016) than #1 OS X; but more significantly, over twice as many EXPLOITS (which are Vulnerabilities that have actually been "realized") than OS X for that same year. As for your supposed "study", so many people run each platform that, like with the Bible, you can literally "prove" anything.
Rereading that list, I realize I was looking at the total, not the 2016 row, for which I apologize.
But the rest still stands. Depending on the category, Linux and OS X are pretty much neck-and neck; but Linux has had almost THREE TIMES as many EXPLOITS as OS X overall (29 for Linux, vs 12 for OS X) and it is EXPLOITS that are the dangerous ones. Everything else is, an UNREALIZED, theoretical threat.
Exactly. And you cannot buy a new phone with new features if you didn't know what features your old phone had. Furthermore, why exactly do I have to pay for a whole new phone to get a little extra bloatware on top of Android?
The key thing here is that in a capitalist economy consumers must demand full specifications for everything they buy.
really.. so apple FIXED more vulnerabilities that they THEMSELF introduced into their toxic hellstew of an operating system and you want to applaud that? Makes me wonder how many hundred more bugs there that other people will have to find for apple
you sir have no business in a discussion about technology and are not worth anther second of my time,
You will note that Linux is #2 on that list, right behind OS X.
And if we are counting EXPLOITS (which are the only Vulnerabilities that actually matter to USERS), Linux had nearly THREE TIMES as many as OS X. Everything else is completely theoretical.
So, it looks like Linux is absolutely as big of a "Toxic hell stew of an operating system" as OS X.
Remember: I didn't bring up the CVE list. You ACs did.
Everyone with half a brain cell knows that every OS has Vulnerabilities; but it is the ones that actually make it to EXPLOITS that matter. And by that measure, it sure looks like OS X is nearly THREE TMES SAFER than Linux.
Bullshit. Learn to type. I turned off type ahead, autocorrect, and suggest on my keyboards.
Typeahead? Autocorrect? Sounds like someone has never used Swype. But hey if you feel like I've threatened your manhood then more power to you.
How do you think swype works? Magically takes words from your mind to the screen? No, it attempts to predict your words based on roughly where your motions touched letters. If you have to touch them exactly (like typing) then it's effectively slower than typing. 2 thumbs are faster than 1 finger, at least for me they are.
However, the only rotting thing is the version of the OS on your android device.
Oh so my 2 generations behind S5 that Marshmallow on it pushed by the vendor not as an after market hack
You are one of the fortunate few then, provided that is true. I have a whole list of devices that have been dropped after at most 2 updates, some with none. It's a well known problem with Android, why, after all, are less than 8% of devices running Marshmallow? How about less than 45% running the last 3 releases? I just can't figure out why such exceptional update support results in such underwhelming updates by users. iPhones, by comparison, are running 90+% on iOS 9.
Android's device update support is rotten to the core. Deal with it. I have to, as I support it.
The cesspool just got a check and balance.
If you have to touch them exactly (like typing)
You don't.
You are one of the fortunate few then
I am the happy owner of the most popular Android device released in 2014.
If you have to touch them exactly (like typing)
You don't.
That was kind of the point... how exactly do you think it determines what the word is? Magic? Or the same process as suggest/type ahead/autocorrect, which all pretty much use the same underlying processes?
You are one of the fortunate few then
I am the happy owner of the most popular Android device released in 2014.
And one of the select < 8% that are currently running Marshmallow, your final update. No Nougat for you.
The cesspool just got a check and balance.
im sure it has its own planned obsolescence path as all apple products do
im sure it has its own planned obsolescence path as all apple products do
I don't think that any Fandroid has a single word to say about "Planned Obsolescence".
Speaking of which, I had been avoiding Upgrading my iPad 2 and iPhone 4s for a little my, long time, due to all the horror stories about "Upgrades making your old iPad and iPhone unusably slow".
So, imagine my surprise when, after I just upgraded both of the, to the latest version of iOS (9.3.5), not only were they not slower, they were actually faster, especially the iPad! In fact, it seems about 25% faster in all respects.
Android's security has historically been just as good/bad as iOS's as well. The difference is that carriers and OEMs prevent upstream security updates from being installed for Android. Blame them for that.
You're either a liar or illiterate. Nobody in their right mind would make that claim, even with your disclaimer.
Google's still pushing updates for Android 4.4. The only reason phones running KitKat aren't getting those updates is because OEMs and carriers are not allowing those updates to go through. This isn't obscured in any way, it's widely known, I don't know what you're so panicked about.
Then you haven't been paying attention, or are again, illiterate or a liar.
Please show me the exact data that's collected from Android OS and by iOS and tell me what the substantial differences are.