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Why I Hate Android

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Re: Why I Hate Android

#171

Post by kevinh »

cbs wrote: post #142
lucisferre wrote: post #34

Really? I was completely expecting this to be a tear down of Androids horrible UX. Color me surprised.

Oh come on. I'm getting really sick of hearing about this. The problem win android ux is (and this also applies to gripes with ios ux for people coming the other direction) your own infamiliarity with it and a few pet issues that are largely inconsequential.

The problem with the Android devices that I've used* is that they just feel cheap. When scrolling does not occur smoothly, that's a serious UX issue.

*I haven't had the opportunity to use ICS yet.

Re: Why I Hate Android

#172

Post by drivebyacct2 »

eddieplan9 wrote: post #168
bane wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would like to introduce you to http://www.cyanogenmod.com/ http://miuiandroid.com/ two efforts among many that demonstrate that it isn't "totally" controlled by the carriers.

And you do realize the reason that the two custom ROM projects still exist today is because not many people are using them, right? Do you think the carrier would do nothing if custom ROM grows beyond being a niche and grandmas start talking about rooting their phones, which is purposefully locked by carriers? You think carriers lock their phone for fun and would not fight back when 50% of the customers would circumve…

""And you do realize the reason that the two custom ROM projects still exist today is because not many people are using them, right?""

What? That sentence doesn't make any sense. Oh wait, are you implying Google would come along and DMCA them or something? Do you even get what is going on? CM is built on top of AOSP. Google has tipped their hat at them, the lead dev now works for Samsung.

There are (edit, at least a) MILLION of installs of CyanogenMod alone. http://stats.cyanogenmod.com/ Those are opt-in only, it's not enabled on any of the CM9 kangs, and that's not counting the dozens of other AOSP ROMs that don't have stat tracking.

Re: Why I Hate Android

#173

Post by drivebyacct2 »

steipete wrote: post #154
mattstreet wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with you, but the fact that you have to root your phone and only a few of the handsets seem work well with the open source builds limits how open it can be. Not saying this is google's fault.

Don't forget the fact that they use Google's closed source software like GMaps, GMail, Market... and strictly they don't allow you to run that on custom firmware.

That's also not true. They don't allow custom ROM developers to illegal distribute copyright protected proprietary apps, no.

But they haven't C-D'd anyone rehosting the GAPPS zip files, nor do they care about the backup and restore script in CM to back them up from an existing Google-packaged ROM and restored into a custom one.

Re: Why I Hate Android

#174

Post by eddieplan9 »

drivebyacct2 wrote: post #172
eddieplan9 wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And you do realize the reason that the two custom ROM projects still exist today is because not many people are using them, right? Do you think the carrier would do nothing if custom ROM grows beyond being a niche and grandmas start talking about rooting their phones, which is purposefully locked by carriers? You think carriers lock their phone for fun and would not fight back when 50% of the customers would circumve…

""And you do realize the reason that the two custom ROM projects still exist today is because not many people are using them, right?"" What? That sentence doesn't make any sense. Oh wait, are you implying Google would come along and DMCA them or something? Do you even get what is going on? CM is built on top of AOSP. Google has tipped their hat at them, the lead dev now works for Samsung. There are (edit, at least a)…

According to this article[1] written in last July, CyanogenMod had 4k installs per day. At the same time, Andriod saw 550k activations per day. That's clearly less than 1%.

[1] http://www.phonearena.com/news/CyanogenMod-sprints-past-the-...

Re: Why I Hate Android

#175

Post by drivebyacct2 »

eddieplan9 wrote: post #174
drivebyacct2 wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

""And you do realize the reason that the two custom ROM projects still exist today is because not many people are using them, right?"" What? That sentence doesn't make any sense. Oh wait, are you implying Google would come along and DMCA them or something? Do you even get what is going on? CM is built on top of AOSP. Google has tipped their hat at them, the lead dev now works for Samsung. There are (edit, at least a)…

According to this article[1] written in last July, CyanogenMod had 4k installs per day. At the same time, Andriod saw 550k activations per day. That's clearly less than 1%. [1] http://www.phonearena.com/news/CyanogenMod-sprints-past-the-...

Again, your point is? You're trying to use that statistic when the original argument was "Android isn't open".

Re: Why I Hate Android

#176

Post by bane »

steipete wrote: post #154
mattstreet wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with you, but the fact that you have to root your phone and only a few of the handsets seem work well with the open source builds limits how open it can be. Not saying this is google's fault.

Don't forget the fact that they use Google's closed source software like GMaps, GMail, Market... and strictly they don't allow you to run that on custom firmware.

"and strictly they don't allow you to run that on custom firmware"

That is strictly incorrect. I have all of Google's proprietary software on my rooted devices with custom roms, and didn't have to do anything special except get them from the Market after installing the roms. Just like I did when I got the phone from the carrier in the first place.

Re: Why I Hate Android

#177

Post by bane »

eddieplan9 wrote: post #168
bane wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would like to introduce you to http://www.cyanogenmod.com/ http://miuiandroid.com/ two efforts among many that demonstrate that it isn't "totally" controlled by the carriers.

And you do realize the reason that the two custom ROM projects still exist today is because not many people are using them, right? Do you think the carrier would do nothing if custom ROM grows beyond being a niche and grandmas start talking about rooting their phones, which is purposefully locked by carriers? You think carriers lock their phone for fun and would not fight back when 50% of the customers would circumve…

And you do realize the reason that the two custom ROM projects still exist today is because not many people are using them, right?

This sentence makes no sense at all. Care to explain?

Re: Why I Hate Android

#178

Post by bane »

mattstreet wrote: post #139
bane wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would like to introduce you to http://www.cyanogenmod.com/ http://miuiandroid.com/ two efforts among many that demonstrate that it isn't "totally" controlled by the carriers.

I agree with you, but the fact that you have to root your phone and only a few of the handsets seem work well with the open source builds limits how open it can be. Not saying this is google's fault.

True, but I think there are things google could do to alleviate many of the problems here. My understanding is that drivers appear to be a significant contributor to the portability problems of Android across devices. This is the same problem that Microsoft had for years and thankfully seems to be largely resolved with 7.

The fix is relatively simple, all "certified" devices must register their driver software with Google so it can be centralized, pooled, shared and reused without restriction.

Another problem is the bizarre proclivity of manufacturers to encrypt their boot loaders, then release a "fix" for it a month later. Just require manufacturers to not lock the bootloaders, that easy. Locked boot loader? No license. Done.

Note: Insterestingly, I believe it was HTC that accused Google of requiring the encrypted boot loaders to comply with the DRM'd distribution of media through Google's market.

Re: Why I Hate Android

#179

Post by angryasian »

this is neither manufacturers fault, and the blame lies strictly in the consumer. Change comes from where the money is spent. Instead of upgrading to the latest hardware , getting stuck in 2 year contracts and giving carriers passive income, for all those minutes, data, and text you don't use. Consumers do need to go with phones that work for them and prepaid. Once carriers don't have this hold any more they will have to compete on features and price. This is the real path to change.

Re: Why I Hate Android

#180

Post by sathishmanohar »

Hmmmm its interesting, when iPhone 4 was slammed for signal death grip issues, MG argued, people use phones as computers nowadays, so voice/carriers are not important. Now, He hates android, because carriers are screwing android ecosystem. I sense a contradiction here.
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