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Android 2.1’s Best Features in Screenshots

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Re: Android 2.1’s Best Features in Screenshots

#21

Post by thwarted »

mikeryan wrote: post #10

I have to admit I have a real thing for aesthetics. Maybe one reason I'm partial to apple products. But I keep waiting for the Android UI to look nicer. I'd love to see a top end design firm take a shot at cleaning up the icons etc. Even that wallpaper is pretty atrocious.

That specific wallpaper is animated. I don't know about atrocious, but I do find it a little hard to see the icons because the colors are so bright on it.

But complaints about wallpapers are kind of dumb: you can change them, or even set it to your own picture that is non-atrocious. It's like complaining that the default twitter avatar icon is ugly. No duh: then change it.

Re: Android 2.1’s Best Features in Screenshots

#22

Post by mark_h »

jcl wrote: post #15
jsz0 wrote: post #9

I'm disappointed in 2.x so far. Google is making some good refinements but they seem to be ignoring two of the biggest usability issues in my opinion: We need a real multi-tasking UI. If the OS is going to multi-task apps we should have a way to intuitively interact with this functionality. Installing third party utilities such as task managers shouldn't be required to use a major feature of the OS. The "alt-tab" fea…

I'm curious: What exactly are you expecting to be able to do with multitasking that Android doesn't already do?

I still really like the "cards" metaphor that Palm WebOS uses (well, I like the idea of it -- I've only played with it in a shop, not lived with it full time, but I do live with android and I still want to be able to do it)

Re: Android 2.1’s Best Features in Screenshots

#23

Post by icey »

jrockway wrote: post #11
icey wrote: post #7

It would sure be nice to also include text-to-speech. Then you could actually use it without having to get too hands on.

Even Android 1.6 has built-in text-to-speech.

Hah, I've clearly asked the wrong Android user if it had text-to-speech. Thanks for clarifying.

Re: Android 2.1’s Best Features in Screenshots

#24

Post by haberman »

kyro wrote: post #4

I hate to be 'that guy' who's always putting down Andriod, but there are a few 'features' listed here that make me think Google just doesn't get how customers actually use their phones. The cube menu interface seems really impractical, and given how poorly existing Android phones perform at simple scrolling, I doubt the Nexus One will provide a smooth and fluid experience. And as for the speech-to-text, hardly anyone…

> And as for the speech-to-text, hardly anyone will use that.

As someone who has been using a Nexus one for a few weeks now, I have to say that I use speech-to-text ALL THE TIME. In fact it's one of the things that really convinced me to give the thing a chance over my iPhone.

I haven't used it much for texting or emailing yet, but I use it constantly for:

- searching the web - making phone calls ("call sally") - initiating turn-by-turn navigation ("navigate to town hall")

It's perfect for when you're in your car and you can't safely type. And it's pretty accurate too.

Funny story actually: some friends and I were going to get brunch after a rehearsal, but we couldn't remember if there was an IHOP in the U District in Seattle or not. My friend who has a Droid and I both pulled out our phones and did voice internet searches at exactly the same time, totally without meaning too. Since we were talking at the same time neither of our phones knew what we were saying. :)

Re: Android 2.1’s Best Features in Screenshots

#25

Post by catch23 »

jsz0 wrote: post #18
jcl wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm curious: What exactly are you expecting to be able to do with multitasking that Android doesn't already do?

It's just a GUI issue for me. I want a way to easily see which applications are running and more consistency in how applications terminate or stay running in the background. Right now I'd say it's 50/50 -- some apps quit when you hit the home button, some remain running. There's no taskbar, dock or expose style feature to quickly see what's running or switch between applications. The drop down menu is hit and miss. A…

install the advanced task killer app on android

Re: Android 2.1’s Best Features in Screenshots

#26

Post by SandB0x »

andrewljohnson wrote: post #2

We have come full circle. First, we got the telephone and started talking. Then, we got instant messaging and started typing text messages. And now we say our messages, but they get translated into text messages?

Don't forget the text to speech functionality for the recipient!

Re: Android 2.1’s Best Features in Screenshots

#27

Post by pkulak »

aschobel wrote: post #13

The multi-touch keyboard in 2.1 is a big improvement over the previous generation, I type much more quickly with it. I'm a little surprised this hasn't gotten more attention.

Wait, where's this multi-touch? I have the Nexus One and if I hold down one key, I can't type another. In fact, if I start typing too quickly, I will often miss letters because I'm not lifting my thumbs up enough.

Re: Android 2.1’s Best Features in Screenshots

#28

Post by hexley »

jsz0 wrote: post #18
jcl wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm curious: What exactly are you expecting to be able to do with multitasking that Android doesn't already do?

It's just a GUI issue for me. I want a way to easily see which applications are running and more consistency in how applications terminate or stay running in the background. Right now I'd say it's 50/50 -- some apps quit when you hit the home button, some remain running. There's no taskbar, dock or expose style feature to quickly see what's running or switch between applications. The drop down menu is hit and miss. A…

As an iPhone user I'm shocked if that is actually the state of things in Android. The iPhone automatically fades out music for calls.

And these multitasking interfaces: http://www.cultofmac.com/kirikae-jailbreak-app-switcher-for-... http://www.multifl0w.com/

Re: Android 2.1’s Best Features in Screenshots

#29

Post by jsz0 »

hexley wrote: post #28
jsz0 wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's just a GUI issue for me. I want a way to easily see which applications are running and more consistency in how applications terminate or stay running in the background. Right now I'd say it's 50/50 -- some apps quit when you hit the home button, some remain running. There's no taskbar, dock or expose style feature to quickly see what's running or switch between applications. The drop down menu is hit and miss. A…

As an iPhone user I'm shocked if that is actually the state of things in Android. The iPhone automatically fades out music for calls. And these multitasking interfaces: http://www.cultofmac.com/kirikae-jailbreak-app-switcher-for-... http://www.multifl0w.com/

Sorry if I made it sound worse than it is. Android does fade out the music it just doesn't do so well handling multiple things at once. I feel like certain apps (phone of course) should always work more or less perfectly no matter what else the device is doing. The lack of a good multi-tasking UI just aggravates the situation because I'll often have 3 or 4 background apps running that I had no clue about until I notice a performance drag. I'm not going to run a task manager every few minutes to make sure my device can operate properly. That's just unacceptable.

Re: Android 2.1’s Best Features in Screenshots

#30

Post by aschobel »

pkulak wrote: post #27
aschobel wrote: post #13

The multi-touch keyboard in 2.1 is a big improvement over the previous generation, I type much more quickly with it. I'm a little surprised this hasn't gotten more attention.

Wait, where's this multi-touch? I have the Nexus One and if I hold down one key, I can't type another. In fact, if I start typing too quickly, I will often miss letters because I'm not lifting my thumbs up enough.

You can start typing the second key, when you remove your finger from the first key the second gets activated.

this behavior is new to 2.1

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