I switched to Android after 7 years of iOS • Hacker News Board

Re: I switched to Android after 7 years of iOS

#141

Post by task_queue » Wed, Mar 23, 2016, 7:06 PM UTC

treehau5 wrote: post #79

kalleboo wrote: post #63

My main exposure to Chrome web apps is Hangouts on Chrome for Mac and half the time I shut it down and choose to use the native app on my phone instead due to the poor, non-native UI and the battery life impact of Chrome. edit: the other shiny Google Web App example, Google Docs, doesn't work either. In Safari it likes to drops keys, and the last time I used it in Chrome (last autumn), it would either crash the whole…

> Every web app I've used has required a painful sign-up process, which is usually where I bail out of the process. Way more friction than an app store install. That signup process can be made better. Nothing fixes the pains of having to download a large app over a potentially slow/spotty network, sacrifice an unknown amount of privacy, then having to twiddle a variable amount of options to get the thing to stop send…

With today's web apps, I can only sympathize with the examples that deal with file size. The others still apply to using web services.

Re: I switched to Android after 7 years of iOS

#142

Post by vacri » Wed, Mar 23, 2016, 7:08 PM UTC

Jerry2 wrote: post #5

>So, instead of opening my text editor I placed an order for a Nexus 6P Nexus 6P is notorious for atrocious build quality. It bends easier than a bar of chocolate. [0] Google should do a recall on these things. It bends a lot easier than an old iPhone 6 plus. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3cWVdLqXCg Edit: I see Google fanboys decided to downvote this comment instead of engaging in a debate. This is not in the…

Complaining (passive-aggressively) about downvotes is both not in the spirit and against the guidelines of HN.

Re: I switched to Android after 7 years of iOS

#143

Post by lewisl9029 » Wed, Mar 23, 2016, 7:09 PM UTC

itp wrote: post #56

cheeaun wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hi! Creator of HackerWeb here, just wondering what kind of additional functionality that you're expecting?

Hey! Sorry if that comment came out a bit harsh; I definitely didn't mean it to. As evidenced by the fact that I continue to use the web app over any of the native options, I'm obviously a pretty happy user. So, random thoughts/feedback: - I wish I could login, comment, maybe even receive comment notifications? Although the last would clearly be an improvement on HN itself. - I wish I had some preferences available t…

> I wish I could login, comment, maybe even receive comment notifications?

AFAIK authenticated user actions (logging in/commenting/profile management/etc) are simply not exposed through the official HN API. I don't think there's much third party developers can do about that, unfortunately.

But yes, web apps have come a long way. Apple treating web apps as second-class citizens will probably still pose a huge barrier to widespread adoption for quite some time though.

Re: I switched to Android after 7 years of iOS

#144

Post by wanda » Wed, Mar 23, 2016, 7:10 PM UTC

criddell wrote: post #67

untog wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's not how it works. Most Android phones have come with Chrome preinstalled for a while now. That version is automatically updated, just like any other app.

It was enough of a problem less than four months ago that phonearena.com published an article about it: http://www.phonearena.com/news/How-to-change-your-Android-ph... I don't think Chrome is as ubiquitous as it should be. Do new cheap tablets (like the Kindle Fire) even ship with Chrome? New phones from Samsung don't have Chrome set as the default browser (not sure if it's even installed by default).

The Kindle Fire ships with the Amazon Silk web browser, a Chromium/Blink fork which supposedly tries to serve all content via SPDY tunnel to Amazon's CDN.

Re: I switched to Android after 7 years of iOS

#145

Post by taesu » Wed, Mar 23, 2016, 7:15 PM UTC

jkyle wrote: post #115

taesu wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These things that you mentioned, you didn't really have to do. Buy a nexus, and it's as clean as it gets. What you're saying is that you left the freedom of your device to jail yourself into simple interface...? I do agree though, that those samsung/lg/etc phone have lots crapwares + carrier crapwares.

What you're saying is that you left the freedom of your device to jail yourself into simple interface...? That's an incredibly hyperbolic way to spin their choice. No one's in prison here. A choice was made based on desired functionality and features. And they paid for that choice out of their own free will. They've chosen 'the jail of a simple interface' the same way someone who gets tired of working on a classic ca…

I am not generalizing here. I am solely talking about kev009's decision in moving. Read his comment, his motivation to move is because he could not resist doing things that resulted him with a bricked device.

Re: I switched to Android after 7 years of iOS

#146

Post by matwood » Wed, Mar 23, 2016, 7:16 PM UTC

takno wrote: post #61

ihsw wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anecdotal evidence here -- ordered mine on launch day, been using daily it for a few months. No issues whatsoever. FYI I have a case and I don't know anyone that uses a phone without a case.

Interesting on case usage. I'd say virtually everybody I know with an iPhone has it in a case, but for other devices it's maybe 20% of people I know who use one. All anecdotal, and every mall I go in has a hundred shops selling them, I've just always wondered who's buying them

I've never used a case on any of my phones whether iPhone or Nexus. I did use the iPhone 4 bumper they gave out because it was free and I liked the little ridge that let me lay the phone face down.

Re: I switched to Android after 7 years of iOS

#147

Post by alinspired » Wed, Mar 23, 2016, 7:16 PM UTC

Swizec wrote: post #102

stcredzero wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What you're saying is that you left the freedom of your device to jail yourself into simple interface...? Actually, this is a pattern that many products follow, as they evolve from a newly tinkered thing pioneered by enthusiasts to a mature consumer device. There is much more "freedom" in 80's and 90's audio equipment. (And markedly higher build quality. Bargain stuff I bought as a teenager is now lauded on ebay as t…

> Cars also followed this pattern, come to think of it. I remember my dad complaining all through my youth about how the more modern that cars get, the less serviceable you are. That in new cars you need special computers just to tell them that yes, you did fix the problem and the car can stop complaining now. 10 years later ... man, if I have to even think about opening the bonnet and poking at something, I assume t…

>Maintainability is the feature of unreliable equipment.

It's the feature of equipment designed for long term

Re: I switched to Android after 7 years of iOS

#148

Post by babuskov » Wed, Mar 23, 2016, 7:19 PM UTC

taesu wrote: post #78

_kp6z wrote: post #70

I did the opposite and can't believe how much better my life had gotten because my iPhone is just a simple tool that I use for communications and don't think about it as a project. With Android, I always wanted to tweak silly things and run Cyanogenmod because the handset firmware was always so bad and vulnerable. On several occasions I'd bricked my phone requiring hours of recovery, or had transient failures of cell…

These things that you mentioned, you didn't really have to do. Buy a nexus, and it's as clean as it gets. What you're saying is that you left the freedom of your device to jail yourself into simple interface...? I do agree though, that those samsung/lg/etc phone have lots crapwares + carrier crapwares.

Don't buy a Nexus. I have and it's a huge disappointment.

I had a perfect Nexus 10 device running KitKat. And then it keeps nagging to upgrade to Lollipop, so I did. Ever since that, it runs every application slow as hell. If you allow the battery to run out, prepare for pain. Once you fill up the battery and it restarts it will start "optimizing" all installed applications. I have about 80 applications and this takes an hour. Every time it reboots!

Also, whether the sound will work after reboot, is a lottery. If you leave it plugged into the power, it surely won't work.

It's been how long since Android L came out and they still haven't fixed these issues for their own flagship device. Nexus is a mess and we're not even beta testers. Just a big fu from Google.

Re: I switched to Android after 7 years of iOS

#149

Post by JustSomeNobody » Wed, Mar 23, 2016, 7:20 PM UTC

collyw wrote: post #83

aikinai wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How did Android help you with f.lux? Apple just came out with a f.lux copy built into iOS, while none of the alternatives on Android work without rooting.

I installed another program that does the same thing, without any need to root my Android.

Similar != Same

Re: I switched to Android after 7 years of iOS

#150

Post by BuckRogers » Wed, Mar 23, 2016, 7:21 PM UTC

I did the opposite. 7 years of Android to iOS. I'll never go back unless Apple somehow swaps the experience to be more like Android phones, and less like iOS is. But I don't really care about that. I just want my phone to work, to make calls and not fail or slowdown. Not be another computer I have to maintain. iOS in my experience is a great choice if that's the goal.

He hit the nail on the head at the end. Native React and similar tools are going to simply help the app stores. I have no qualm with app stores as I'm not a webapp diehard.

Just use what makes sense. I never think that is Javascript and take the exact opposite view of the author. I use JS only when I absolutely have to. I prefer to build native platform experiences, which if you're doing more than a CRUD app many times you have to do anyway. I'd work with C#, Swift, Rust, Python and their associated ecosystems before trying to JS All The Things. I find that concept very anti-democratic and regressive.

The Javascript diehard mentality will come to it's final death throes once wasm hits V2 and allows every language the chance to work in the browser. Then the web will truly progress as the author states. Developers will be freed to use whatever they want. Swift on the server, iOS and browser. Let programming platforms and tooling duel it out, not hand the crown to a PL that was created in 1 week. I choose Python, but everyone should be able to use whatever they want as well.

For me, that's the real "progressive web app".