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Android Oreo

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Re: Android Oreo

#401

Post by ricardobeat »

ftxrcc wrote: post #318
ehsankia wrote: post #271

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep, new emojis look absolutely awful. They are so out of touch with what their customers want. It's like the emojis were made by some robot or algorithm that is trying to optimize the wrong parameters. I mean, just look at this comparison: http://i.imgur.com/apqo9Ry.png

They're not out of touch with what their customers want. Many of them didn't like them because of the whole "Android is cheap" dilemma (which is BS). The users asked and they got. The people who did like them are a very small, specific, yet vocal group of people.

Where do you take that from? To me, the new ones look way "cheaper", like ripped off WordArt.

Re: Android Oreo

#402

Post by zamalek »

BinaryIdiot wrote: post #9
ghughes wrote: post #5

The awful scroll hijacking implementation on this page really distracts from the content.

Yeah I tried scrolling down to see if it had any information regarding how or when this update would be released to their own phones and the scroll was just all over the place. I really wish everyone would stop hijacking scrolling.

Enroll in the beta to get the release version (on Pixel).

Re: Android Oreo

#403

Post by moosingin3space »

0xFFC wrote: post #389
moosingin3space wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Samsung actually has a decent track record of updating their software -- my family's Galaxy S5s on T-Mobile (purchased 2014) are actually still receiving security updates, despite being on Marshmallow API level.

You kidding me right? They literally didn't update note tablets once!

There was an implied "in my experience" on that. My family has used S-series devices, and those have generally gotten prompt security updates.

Re: Android Oreo

#405

Post by Tehnix »

rubyn00bie wrote: post #332
xorcist wrote: post #280

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Carriers are a red herring. The world at large couldn't care less about how the customers of AT&T can supposedly only install AT&T-approved firmware. Most people can, but they're not seeing any updates. Google needs to fix their upgrade story. Even if the North American customers continued to run old vulnerable versions forever, updating everyone else's systems would be a tremendous improvement. (It would also make i…

Do you have any facts to back this up? Prior to the iPhone changing how phones were sold-- carriers meddled with everything so they could get their hands in media playback, app sales, feature upgrades etc. I don't think much has changed in this where anyone gives them an inch (which is nearly everyone but Apple). Note: I worked for T-Mobile for four years prior and a little after the originals iphone came out.

Before the iPhone, how prevalent were software updates to phones? I know of no one who ever got had an update.

There is absolutely no reason for carriers to need to do anything at all, else it would not make sense that I can change the SIM card out and voila I’m on a new carrier. The manufacturer is the one doing the testing, and the carrier simply provides the infrastructure.

I feel US perhaps has a different experience, because of their ridiculous CDMA infrastructure. Is it Verizon or what, where it’s not a SIM card but the phone itself that’s setup to a specific carrier?

Re: Android Oreo

#406

Post by askafriend »

VeejayRampay wrote: post #269
kllrnohj wrote: post #233

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So you're upset about not having enough niche power-user knobs, so you're going to a device that has basically zero power-user knobs? How does that make any sense? Why not just flash an AOSP-based ROM that does what you want, which Google officially supports for their devices?

Exactly. I need to customize, so I'll go to Apple, the most user-infantilizing software company on the face of the planet, world-renowned for their repeated refusal to let users tweak the user experience of their $1000 phones on the grounds that some people in a board room in Cupertino know what's best for you better than you do.

I'm happy with my relationship with Apple and their products over the years.

I trust them to do the right thing, and they usually do - for my needs. Obviously many other people feel the same way too. I don't want to customize anything, I want things to work and work well. I don't want to be in the driver's seat, I want to be driven.

Your view of Apple and their relationship with their customers is very skewed. The same thing that seems to infuriate you is the thing that makes them so incredibly successful.

Re: Android Oreo

#407

Post by fpgeek »

keganunderwood wrote: post #329
sangnoir wrote: post #234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I remember many years ago when a few carrier and chipset execs stood up on Google I/O stage and announced a new program to ensure Android devices get updated quicker. Nothing came out of that Google remembers that too, and this change allows Google to bypass those same execs when pushing out updates. The HAL layer will not change from version to version, meaning no driver support will be required from the OEM for n…

They were supposed to not put any user app on the system partition but rather install them using play services when the user logs in. I've only seen one device implement it and it was a low end device so it kind of choked anyway.

I've seen plenty of devices implement this. Of course, they were all ones I'd flashed with CyanogenMod...

Re: Android Oreo

#408

Post by mlnj »

flukus wrote: post #330
rdsubhas wrote: post #141

Not saying that everything else is bad, but one thing that strikes me is how much they have run out of interesting things now that they had to use fillers[1] like: Tooltips Support for tooltips (small popup windows with descriptive text) for views and menu items. Normally, this would be relegated to a git changelog in the support library. But this is on the global marketing landing page. I like to imagine a fictional…

How do tooltips even work on a touch based OS?

Devices with a stylus (like the Galaxy Note series) can use it by hovering on the element.

Re: Android Oreo

#409

Post by askafriend »

ehsankia wrote: post #277
Asdfbla wrote: post #174

I know programming within the constraints of mobile devices isn't easy and I want to take nothing away from the release, but when you are still used to Desktop computing it's kind of funny to see how seemingly trivial nice to have features like picture-in-picture or notification dots get all hyped up in the press release.

Does desktop have good PIP? It obviously matters much less when you have multiple monitor, but I'd love to see OS level PIP support on desktop. Aka, have a video "always on top" in the corner that I can move around and resize while browsing the web, all on the same monitor. Some programs have "always on top" support but there's nothing OS level.

Like someone else below mentioned, MacOS has built in native PIP support for videos at the OS level. Browser-wise it only works in Safari though.

It's also a little hidden in YouTube's site because YouTube hijacks the first right-click. Try this if you have MacOS and want to see how it works with YouTube:

1. Open Safari

2. Go on YouTube

3. Go to any video

5. Right-click then right-click again immediately

6. Select "Enter picture in picture"

It should be available in the right-click menu in the native MacOS video player that most apps build on top of (unless said services hijack the right-click like YouTube). Works well with Netflix, Vimeo, VLC, you name it.

It's one of my favorite things.

Re: Android Oreo

#410

Post by fpgeek »

Tehnix wrote: post #405
rubyn00bie wrote: post #332

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you have any facts to back this up? Prior to the iPhone changing how phones were sold-- carriers meddled with everything so they could get their hands in media playback, app sales, feature upgrades etc. I don't think much has changed in this where anyone gives them an inch (which is nearly everyone but Apple). Note: I worked for T-Mobile for four years prior and a little after the originals iphone came out.

Before the iPhone, how prevalent were software updates to phones? I know of no one who ever got had an update. There is absolutely no reason for carriers to need to do anything at all, else it would not make sense that I can change the SIM card out and voila I’m on a new carrier. The manufacturer is the one doing the testing, and the carrier simply provides the infrastructure. I feel US perhaps has a different experi…

It's not just just Verizon. AT&T, in particular, has a habit of locking important features (VoLTE, Wi-Fi Calling) to phones running AT&T-branded and certified software. So unless the device you want is sold by AT&T and you get the AT&T-branded version, you're SoL. They even do IMEI blocking, so even if your device could otherwise work...
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