11–20 of 137 posts
I was roughly halfway towards either peltier elements or Stirling engines, when I realized hat Ice Cream Sandwich is probably one of those silly names that people feel they have to give to their software.
From a user perspective, the interface is super cluttered. Its like Windows, just a screen full of icons and battery-eating widgets.
http://thisismynext.com/2011/10/18/galaxy-nexus-android-ice-...
Check the video out on the link. Watch how long it takes him just to find the camera for the demonstration--at first he doesnt even know which way to go. Its just too much for a phone if you ask me. Even with its oversized screen the Nexus looked crowded. Its not a tablet--less is more.
Furthermore, as a developer I dont like this descision to keep apps running even when you side-swipe them out of the 'active-app' list. Google reps claim that Android can handle resources well enough that we never need to worry about completely closing any app but if you ask me that sounds suspect. If resources are that plentiful and the OS is still completely open-source then its only a matter of time until this is exploited and the phone starts to lag. And if something does go wrong in an app I apparently can't kill it? I just see a number of problems down the road.
Very disappointed.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Doubt it. There's no reason why hardware buttons that do the exact same thing as onscreen ones wouldn't work.
They don't match though. Search = (search?), Menu = App Switcher? I'm sure it won't block upgrades, but it's definitely at least a little bit awkward. I'm also wondering what apps will look like with the menu button--is there a 4th added onscreen? Then how does the hardware/software button mapping work?
The menu button will likely be handled similarly to Honeycomb (it will appear for legacy apps, and disappear for modern apps).
As far as I know, manufacturers are still allowed to include hardware buttons for now, thus old phones can still be upgraded. I expect they will phase this out eventually though, thanks to the flexibility that purely soft buttons can offer. The honeycomb buttons really do work better than the ones on previous phones (fewer inadvertant taps, easier to tap when wanted, etc).
The top result when I google 'gingerbread' is the android SDK. This headline is funny, and a little stupid. I wish more stuff was just version numbers and not codenames. /endgripe
Be interesting to see how quickly ICS is adapted by the public at large. I mean it'll be interesting to see how quickly Android 2.2 and 2.3 devices are upgraded to Android 4.0.
"The subtle, pervasive lag that has characterized the Android UI since its inception is still there."
You have got to be kidding me. How is it that Android still doesn't map a user's finger movements with nearly 1:1 accuracy on the screen? Pinch, zoom and flick response times on the iPhone have been superior to Android for years, even with significantly less powerful hardware (compare a 3GS response speed to a Nexus S and it's painfully different).
Imagine if your mouse cursor couldn't keep up with your hand movements, or if letters didn't appear on the screen until a moment after you pressed your keyboard. That's what using Android is like for me, someone who has owned an iPhone since 2007. When I use my friends' Android phones, any of them, especially in the browser, it boggles my mind how laggy everything is. When will this actually be addressed?
Is it my imagination or did the consistency they talked about involve the same swiping action doing completely different things throughout the OS & apps?
You flick items away in some cases, you pull screens to rotate/pan them. This is already implemented in some mods and is totally natural.
I've got to say, I've had high hope for ICS, both as a user and developer but this OS looks extremely disappointing. From a user perspective, the interface is super cluttered. Its like Windows, just a screen full of icons and battery-eating widgets. http://thisismynext.com/2011/10/18/galaxy-nexus-android-ice-... Check the video out on the link. Watch how long it takes him just to find the camera for the demonstration…
It's really not a function of plentiful resources. It's that the contract only allows applications to keep running, it doesn't guarantee it. So if resources are a bit low, Android has the right to kill -9 any background process.
In Android 2.2+ this actually works really well, in my experience.
I do agree with your other points, though. Matias Duarte is good at making it pretty, but his designs tend to be quite cluttered and complicated, IMO. I wish they would focus on simplifying and making the interface more welcoming.
4.6" screen? Do they not understand user experience at all? The arms race on screen sizes is getting ridiculous. It's like having a paperback book in your pocket. Why can't they increase pixel density but keep it in a dimension good for one handed operation with normal sized thumbs?