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Behind the Pixel: Google’s First Real Threat to Apple’s iPhone

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Re: Behind the Pixel: Google’s First Real Threat to Apple’s iPhone

#471

Post by ngcazz »

cableshaft wrote: post #266
hitr wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was a windows phone user for a long time currently switched to android.I checked quite few android devices and I think Windows phone has better feel and usability for apps like messages, dialer,recent call list,app list etc.I have never used a nexus device though.how is stock Android's basic apps like messages, dialer etc? Do we need to install apps to get basic features like nice threaded views, message search,rec…

No message search in hangouts makes me angry to no end. I had message search on my old Windows Phone and got so used to it I don't ever want to go without it again, especially when my girlfriend and I talk about something and then want to refresh my memory later (We discuss ideas we have, preferences, etc. and I used to be able to search for them again, now I can't).

you can search through your chats using Gmail IIRC.

Re: Behind the Pixel: Google’s First Real Threat to Apple’s iPhone

#472

Post by criddell »

rayalez wrote: post #403
Retr0spectrum wrote: post #362

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Wow this is amazing!" doesn't make particularly interesting discussion.

It feels like people are being negative just to sound all intelligent, skeptical, and subversive. In my opinion, there's no wisdom in naysaying. Haters are just as much a part of a groupthink as fanboys. Negativity, by itself, does not make discussion more interesting. I think it's okay to have an intelligent, critical discussion about new things. But what I am observing on the recent Hacker News threads does not fee…

I don't think it's just being a hater. Google's marketing campaign leading up to this event is a classic case of over-promising. They really built up expectations so I'm not surprised that people are disappointed.

Re: Behind the Pixel: Google’s First Real Threat to Apple’s iPhone

#473

Post by kaishiro »

asdf333 wrote: post #441
erikpukinskis wrote: post #367

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honestly, in terms of staff UI design cred Android is in better place than iOS right now. With the Sidekick, PalmOS, and then Material Design, Matías Duarte has been consistently at the forefront of mobile UI design. Jony Ive is probably the most brilliant consumer electronics hardware designer in the world, but I have yet to see any indication that he has any idea how to lead a platform UI design project. I had issu…

I don't think UI is the issue. Coming from someone who WANTS to love android for philosophical reasons and bought the google nexus, google nexus 5x. I always went back to iphone. The biggest issue is the device is not very good in comparison to the current gen iphone. It feels 1-2 gen behind in performance.

How so, exactly? I have a 5x myself and have never felt this to be the case.

Re: Behind the Pixel: Google’s First Real Threat to Apple’s iPhone

#474

Post by pdxandi »

joshstrange wrote: post #411
geodel wrote: post #86

I think it is just me but I find this 'book me a concert and fancy dinner' schtick rather boring. May be well off people are so busy and book these things so often that these virtual assistant really save time if price is of no concern to them.

I use Siri for 3 things: * Quick conversions "How many Tablespoons are in a Cup" * Setting Reminders "Remind me at 9:30am today to pay my rent" * Setting Timers "Set a time for 10 minutes" Anything else and I can normally do it faster. That's not to say Siri couldn't beat me at doing something but that I have to repeat myself or I get the dreaded "I search the web and found this..." Not only are the results normally…

That is quite honestly the exact three reasons I use Siri. I do, however, open Google fairly often to search for complicated answers. The Google voice dictation engine is so incredibly accurate.

Re: Behind the Pixel: Google’s First Real Threat to Apple’s iPhone

#475

Post by deong »

problems wrote: post #465
deong wrote: post #330

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I think it's probably sensible advice to say that if you want to stay away from Google apps and services, you're better off with iOS.

Try getting an IMAP PUSH on iOS or staying logged in to XMPP or SSH all day and you'll take that back pretty damn quick. How about not wanting to use their phone app and use SIP instead? These are things I find necessary for day-to-day stuff, but which are simply impossible on iOS. If you want good 3rd party integration, Android is your only option in many cases. You just have to find the good apps.

I'm not a heavy iOS user, and I hadn't considered that sort of thing, but I can see your point.

Re: Behind the Pixel: Google’s First Real Threat to Apple’s iPhone

#477

Post by givinguflac »

kefka_p wrote: post #281
cholantesh wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed, and I personally like Cyanogenmod and OxygenOS a lot, too. In fact, I think Touchwiz is the only (major) Android iteration that I haven't enjoyed using. Frankly, I don't get all the hype about iOS' user experience - every time I've had to use an Apple device, I've found just about every task much more cumbersome.

Frankly a lot of people don't get the hype about having to install custom ROMs to make their phones behave in a tolerable way. People are always going to find computing on devices they don't normally use to be more difficult than computing on devices they normally use, yet to you this is proof Android is better?

THANK YOU! We are mostly techy folks here, and I don't understand how anyone could say to the average user "just install a ROM and it's a big improvement on the software that ships with it." As correct as that is in my experience, you seriously expect grandma or even just your average non-techie user to even give a shit? My wife can't be bothered to turn wifi on when she gets home because she doesn't even think about it, and you want me to have her unlock her bootloader and flash something? hah. Perspective folks.

Re: Behind the Pixel: Google’s First Real Threat to Apple’s iPhone

#478

Post by mhomde »

erikpukinskis wrote: post #367
adamweld wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Now, Google is no Samsung, but they're a long way from Apple or even Microsoft on the UX front. Not sure I agree with this. I've been on android for a while, so I'm sure I'm biased, but stock AOSP Android is pretty much perfect for me. Very minimal and aesthetically beautiful, but still powerful and customizable.

Honestly, in terms of staff UI design cred Android is in better place than iOS right now. With the Sidekick, PalmOS, and then Material Design, Matías Duarte has been consistently at the forefront of mobile UI design. Jony Ive is probably the most brilliant consumer electronics hardware designer in the world, but I have yet to see any indication that he has any idea how to lead a platform UI design project. I had issu…

iOS is in a tough position, the road of incremental changes is coming to an end. The icon-based home screen is showing it's age and will need a revolution rather than an evolution. You can kinda see Apple dipping it toes into the widget arena with the notifications area, yet they're probably hesitant to remake the whole home screen and risk alienating their current users. Tech savvy people won't mind a new home screen concept but for the "dad's and mom's out" there it might be a tough sell.

Apple's leadership in UI design the last couple of years has been a little lackluster. While they seem to be able to iterate, with a few missteps, I'm less sure about their capability to get a whole revamp done right.

The talent is surely there but the question is whether the leadership and willing to take the right risks is. It's going to be interesting going forward, I'm guessing they will have to introduce something widget/tile -ish in the next phone

Re: Behind the Pixel: Google’s First Real Threat to Apple’s iPhone

#479

Post by stronglikedan »

Besides the obvious economic benefits to the companies that make these phones, is there any real benefit to the user of not having a user replaceable battery? I feel really comfortable keeping an extra battery on standby for emergencies, especially since their charge capacity usually greatly diminishes in about a year or so.

Re: Behind the Pixel: Google’s First Real Threat to Apple’s iPhone

#480

Post by dpiers »

erikpukinskis wrote: post #367
adamweld wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Now, Google is no Samsung, but they're a long way from Apple or even Microsoft on the UX front. Not sure I agree with this. I've been on android for a while, so I'm sure I'm biased, but stock AOSP Android is pretty much perfect for me. Very minimal and aesthetically beautiful, but still powerful and customizable.

Honestly, in terms of staff UI design cred Android is in better place than iOS right now. With the Sidekick, PalmOS, and then Material Design, Matías Duarte has been consistently at the forefront of mobile UI design. Jony Ive is probably the most brilliant consumer electronics hardware designer in the world, but I have yet to see any indication that he has any idea how to lead a platform UI design project. I had issu…

| With the Sidekick, PalmOS, and then Material Design, Matías Duarte has been consistently at the forefront of mobile UI design.

Agreed, but with a slight nitpick - Duarte was hired to lead development on Palm's webOS designs. PalmOS was the aging predecessor.

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