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KaiOS – A Smartphone Operating System

kaiostech.com

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Re: KaiOS – A Smartphone Operating System

#71

Post by elipsey »

bachmeier wrote: post #53
zokier wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It's really preventing the way Linux took off on developers desktops back in the late 90s/early 2000s. It is somewhat ironical that the Wintel monopoly that standardized so much of PC space ultimately ended up helping Linux desktops, despite the grumblings of UNIX greybeards.

I don't really agree with the claim. What allowed the Linux desktop to take off was extreme security problems in Windows and generally a terrible user experience. Anyone adopting Linux had to put up with constant hardware incompatibility issues. It's just that Windows was so bad that it was worth it. (I made the switch sometime around 2003, and have been Linux-only for more than a decade.) In contrast, there is no ob…

I think what they meant was hardware standardization and commoditzation driven by PC clones allowed linux to target a cheap standardized hardware platform that IBM had no legal standing to control after Microsoft started selling windows separately, etc. Or something. I was still in diapers, but if you don’t believe me, Neil Stephenson explained this in ‘In the beginning there was the command line.’

Also, I think terrible security and user experience applies to Android now too.

Re: KaiOS – A Smartphone Operating System

#72

Post by isaiahg »

msoad wrote: post #2

Let's face it, web on mobile has failed. Web abstraction layer for UI is too heavy and very limited. Even today we can't have multithreaded scrolling or manage painting with the latest web standards. Native platforms don't have to worry about "other browsers" so they can optimize their UI abstraction layer specific to their target devices. They also don't have to wait for ever to get consensus for new APIs and archit…

In my experience it doesn't matter what you use to make an app with as long as it fits the use case. I've seen great web apps and horrible ones. I've also seen great native apps and ones with horrible experiences equally. It's all a balance act of using the technology you know best and which covers your needs best.

Re: KaiOS – A Smartphone Operating System

#73

Post by lovemenot »

bachmeier wrote: post #53
zokier wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It's really preventing the way Linux took off on developers desktops back in the late 90s/early 2000s. It is somewhat ironical that the Wintel monopoly that standardized so much of PC space ultimately ended up helping Linux desktops, despite the grumblings of UNIX greybeards.

I don't really agree with the claim. What allowed the Linux desktop to take off was extreme security problems in Windows and generally a terrible user experience. Anyone adopting Linux had to put up with constant hardware incompatibility issues. It's just that Windows was so bad that it was worth it. (I made the switch sometime around 2003, and have been Linux-only for more than a decade.) In contrast, there is no ob…

>> there is no obvious need to move away from Android

I don't disagree as of now.

If there'll ever come a time when Android has its Windows security moment, the trigger this time should be Privacy.

Re: KaiOS – A Smartphone Operating System

#74

Post by YSFEJ4SWJUVU6 »

nkkollaw wrote: post #65
beeflaw wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Remember all those feature phones with a plethora of custom operating systems? Almost none of the users cared (or knew) what the OS was. This is an OS for that kind of device. Nokia is shipping it right now.

The target market might not care or know what the OS is, but they'll want to use software they're used to: Google Maps, Facebook, Facebook Messenger, Snapchat, Tinder, Skype, games, etc. I'm just saying that whatever OS will be useless to a lot of people if it doesn't run what they want it to. One way to do that is to make it compatible with Android apps, which have already a version of virtually every major app.

Are you sure you know the target market you're speaking of? They're not coming from Android world, so they're probably used to exactly the kind of services these phones support.

Re: KaiOS – A Smartphone Operating System

#75

Post by nkkollaw »

YSFEJ4SWJUVU6 wrote: post #74
nkkollaw wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The target market might not care or know what the OS is, but they'll want to use software they're used to: Google Maps, Facebook, Facebook Messenger, Snapchat, Tinder, Skype, games, etc. I'm just saying that whatever OS will be useless to a lot of people if it doesn't run what they want it to. One way to do that is to make it compatible with Android apps, which have already a version of virtually every major app.

Are you sure you know the target market you're speaking of? They're not coming from Android world, so they're probably used to exactly the kind of services these phones support.

No, not really. I'm just thinking about my mom--she doesn't know anything about phones or technology, but she'll ask right away if Whatsapp works.

Also, in my original comment I was speaking more in general rather than about KaiOS alone.

Re: KaiOS – A Smartphone Operating System

#76

Post by blitmap »

TickleSteve wrote: post #69
blitmap wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Speaking as someone not at all involved in this space, I'd love for Google to take smartphones waaaay more seriously. I feel like in an effort to make Android easy to adopt and customize they have let the "feel" of Android suffer. I hate bloatware on every new phone. I hate that phones differ so greatly. Something invaluable to me on an iPhone is the switch to silence alerts. I wish Google would define a "standard" l…

That's exactly what the Android One (and previously Android Go) standards where all about, they set minimum hardware standards and experiences. They then guarantee updates for two years, etc...

The focus of Android One seems to be running an unmodified Android? I don't think there is an emphasis on a minimum hardware spec. The phones showcased there do impress.. https://www.android.com/one/ Is there a requirement for how long the phones are supported with software/security updates?

If I were to add to the brief spec I defined above I'd also require speakers at both ends of the phone for stereo output, and require keeping the 3.5mm jack (yay S9?). I still think Samsung likes to make slippery bar-soap phones that I cant hold.

I still don't like how permissions are done even on LineageOS - I wish I could grant access to the camera for an app "for the next 5 minutes".

Now I'm really off topic. I shall diminish ~

Re: KaiOS – A Smartphone Operating System

#77

Post by acabal »

RandallBrown wrote: post #39
acabal wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Man, WebOS was truly excellent. I had a Palm Pre back in the day and to this day there are moments when I'm using Android and I wish I was using WebOS instead. It had such a natural interface for multitasking too. Unrelated to WebOS, but the Pre's wireless charging accessory is IMHO still the best to date.

The multitasking interface from webOS is very similar to what iOS has now.

Yeah, but on WebOS it was a little different... the home screen was actually the open app list, and the app launcher was accessed from that home screen; compared to iOS, which has the app launcher as the home screen, and the open app list as a semi-hidden double-click feature.

I much prefer WebOS's approach. On the other hand, in those days you wouldn't really have more than a few apps open at once, unlike iPads which could have dozens of apps or browser tabs. So who knows if WebOS's style would translate well to today's usage patterns.

Re: KaiOS – A Smartphone Operating System

#80

Post by DiThi »

djsumdog wrote: post #8
jpalomaki wrote: post #4

Looks like the new HMD-Nokia "banana" is powered by KaiOS [1]. [1] https://www.nokia.com/en_int/phones/nokia-8110-4g

Ugh...school wheel hijacking in the middle of the page ... still not has bad as the KaiOS page.

Is it scroll wheel hijacking when the scroll itself works as intended (as configured by the user) but some part of the content "locks" to the viewport? I'd say it doesn't touch the wheel at all.
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