I really hope the new version of Android fixes the bug in their Wifi-enabled location service in version 4.3, as it's been draining the battery on my Nexus 4, with the only fix available being to disable it.
Android for all and the new Nexus 5
151–160 of 235 posts
Re: Android for all and the new Nexus 5
#152Earlier quoted context omitted.
Apart from Mozilla love, what are the good reasons to use Firefox on Android? I tried it, found it slower and less responsive than Chrome. But as this is a completely biased feeling, I'd love to know more.
Those are mine: * Firefox Sync. As I use Firefox on my desktop, it's nice to keep them synched. * Addons. I know this might sound stupid on a phone, but having lastpass autofill your passwords on-the-go is awesome. * Interface. I really like the Firefox Mobile UI, but I hate the Chrome (Tablet, I browse on a Nexus 7) Mobile UI. Chrome get really bad with 3 or 4 tabs, making it really hard to switch tabs, and really e…
I can second every point @Spittie wrote. I love Firefox for Android.
To be fair to Android Chrome, it also does Sync if you login with your Google Account. It doesn't handle passwords very well though. I also like how Chrome handles clicks on links - so if the link is too small, or if you're hitting two links at the same time, then it shows you a magnified view of the area you've hit, a feature that's very useful on a mobile phone (not so much on a tablet).
But Firefox did improve by leaps and bounds and has unique features that no other mobile browser currently has, like Addons (AdBlock FTW).
Re: Android for all and the new Nexus 5
#153I'm disappointed with the current lack of details around this. For example, it's unclear if the rumoured Dalvik improvements made it in. The omission of GN support is slightly galling too, although with the variants of that in the wild it may be too complicated to deploy.
That said, a couple of things in the API, especially the storage framework, could be really good. That may provide a way forward to get apps working with the cloud or self hosted servers with a common API, which would be a great development.
Cyanogenmod usage may get a big spike when they get on to Kitkat, and that might be just what the Android ecosystem needs.
Re: Android for all and the new Nexus 5
#154Already bought the Nexus 5. My GNex is really showing it's age, and it'll be nice to have a device with the new OS to develop and debug apps with.
My GNex is still doing just fine! The recent 4.x dot releases have been a bit shabby, but fundamentally things work (bluetooth cough cough). I guess being stuck with a 4.3 device for testing will be ok. I do most of my Android dev and testing on the first gen Galaxy Tab 10.1 which is stuck on Android 4.0, and my consumption/games on a Nexus 10 which Google will no doubt abandon soon.
Doing dev and debug on a device I don't actually use has been effective. My most productive features have been having the device in a dock, and using wifi adb so I don't have to bother with cables.
Re: Android for all and the new Nexus 5
#155I'm disappointed with the current lack of details around this. For example, it's unclear if the rumoured Dalvik improvements made it in. The omission of GN support is slightly galling too, although with the variants of that in the wild it may be too complicated to deploy. That said, a couple of things in the API, especially the storage framework, could be really good. That may provide a way forward to get apps workin…
As a GNex owner, I'm a bit upset with the fact that there won't be official support for 4.4 on my phone. Supposedly, this choice is due to TI not supporting the chip anymore.
Re: Android for all and the new Nexus 5
#156Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't use HN site on Chrome Browser anymore because the app Hacker News 2 is so good: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.airlocksof...
Hacker News 2 is virtually perfect.
Looks great. Any idea why it uses a different font than the one used by Android?
Re: Android for all and the new Nexus 5
#157Here's the Android release notes: http://developer.android.com/about/versions/kitkat.html Highlights: * WebView is now based on Chromium * KSM and zRAM integrated into stock kernel * Public SMS framework * Printing framework * Storage access framework
>WebView is now based on Chromium Does that mean that there will no more be stock 'Browser' app? I refuse to use Chrome on Android because of brain-dead, non-disablable 'font-boosting' that makes (among many others) Hacker News absolutely unusable. If that means that the same engine is the only one officially supported on 4.4 forwards, then that's really sad and unfortunate.
The font-boosting has tons of known bugs: https://code.google.com/p/chromium/issues/list?q=Cr=Blink-Te...
Once that list gets shorter, it's slated for inclusion in Webkit, though. It's a useful feature if it works consistently. Prevents needless scrolling from side-to-side on tiny screens. (It's a lot less useful on my 21" Android Slate, however)
Re: Android for all and the new Nexus 5
#158Re: Android for all and the new Nexus 5
#159I'm sad that the Galaxy Nexus isn't supported. My phone has increasingly been running out of RAM lately for reasons I don't understand - hearing Google boast about how KitKat has been optimized for memory had me hoping that it would support more than just the latest-greatest.
Thank you very fucking much Google. 4.2 and 4.3 trashed the experience for GNex users, now that 4.4 is "butter smooth" again it ain't coming to the phone. Excellent God bless CyanogenMod.
4.3 runs quite well on my Galaxy Nexus. 4.2 was a disaster though.
Re: Android for all and the new Nexus 5
#160Android for all, except me: > Sorry! Devices on Google Play is not available in your country yet. Oh, wait, their "all" means "U.S., Canada, U.K., Australia, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Japan and Korea", ie 10 out of 200ish countries in the world.
It really bothers me that they disallow people altogether from seeing the page just because they live in the wrong country (or happen to be passing by). The web is not supposed to be like this.
Some countries have specific laws that apply to the advertisement or listing of products to users. I suspect that's part of the reasoning.