Wew, this is great and all, but when am I going to be able to disable the list of trending topics or search history in my search bar, or at least hide it entirely? Never? I have to learn about the spirit airlines emergency landing and some bs about the NFL even though I'm not even in that country? Idk that customization feels paramount if I can't control what I see as I'm using the device.
Android and Wear OS are getting a redesign
81–90 of 144 posts
Re: Android and Wear OS are getting a redesign
#82Google is allergic to normal interfaces nowadays. Everything about Material when it rolled out rubbed me the wrong way, Rounded edges? Extra real estate? Everything is bubbles.
I'll take cold, basic, and data-full interfaces instead of the wasted real estate in the era of CSS-ifying every user interaction to death.
Re: Android and Wear OS are getting a redesign
#83Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you care about always having the latest software with the latest Google features just get a Pixel. 7 years of OS and security updates: https://support.google.com/pixelphone/answer/4457705?hl=en Google doesn't control what other vendors do; that's the beauty of open source. (You can argue how open Android really is these days but it's still more open than iOS.)
Pixel have other issue, quality control and run on Samsung exynos hardware with bad performance and connectivity. I'd argue that Android is technically more open than iOS but in practice it isn't. Google have dark pattern and elaborated ways to get Android user to stay in the 'walled Google play service garden'. Like when you install a third party store and Google play protect warns you it may be insecure. Or having…
I have fdroid installed on a pixel and I didn't hit any warnings beyond needing to enable side loading. As for push notifications, if you are developing an app, you can build your own infrastructure for that or rent it from someone else. If you are concerned about google software you can, with effort, reflash with another OS.
All of the above either don't exist on iOS or only exists in the EU.
Personally I've never had issues with Samsung modems and I am honestly confused what people are doing with their phones that require high power CPUs.
Re: Android and Wear OS are getting a redesign
#84The number one issue I have with Android is that while this looks cool, because of the fragmentation of the OS delivery between vendors- I have no idea which phone or timeframe when I could see the rollout of Material 3 Expressive. More than 10 years later, shopping for an Android phone with the latest OS is a nightmare. Android leadership keeps on getting shuffled around, Google changes priorities every 6 months it…
Buy a phone with an unlocked/unlockable bootloader, and use custom ROMs to stay up to date long after the manufacturer has stopped caring about support. Unlocked phones seem few and far between nowadays, but there's still some. Here's another not-so-subtle recommendation for the Google Pixel line.
I've been using a Moto X4 (8 years old!) with LineageOS for 6-7 years. I'll probably get an open box (for a discount) Pixel soon, and probably put GrapheneOS on it.
Re: Android and Wear OS are getting a redesign
#85In human–computer interaction, baby duck syndrome denotes the tendency for computer users to "imprint" on the first system they learn, then judge other systems by their similarity to that first system. The result is that "users generally prefer systems similar to those they learned on and dislike unfamiliar systems". The issue may present itself relatively early in a computer user's experience, and it has been observ…
Are you gonna clarify at all how this is relevant to the original article...?
No, because their first experience in online discussion was slashdot. They are forever bound to that now.
Re: Android and Wear OS are getting a redesign
#86Earlier quoted context omitted.
Your comment seems out of date. There's no $200-300 iPhone anymore. iPhone 16e is the cheapest model I think? That's $600usd? But there are in fact $200-300 Moto phones still and new ones every year, with decent specs for the price and fairly close to stock Android OS. No, they dont have 6 or 7 year of OS upgrades, but that was never a realistic option in the budget Android phone market anyway. It would be unfair and…
These show as $270 new https://swappa.com/listings/apple-iphone-se-3rd-gen-2022?car...
Just for reference, last year my friend bought a new Xiaomi 13T for $35 more (so +13%), which destroys this phone by every metric except synthetic CPU benchmarks. Apple really is heavily overpriced.
https://www.gsmarena.com/compare.php3?idPhone1=11410&idPhone...
(Prices listed by GSMArena have no relation to reality for both models.)
Re: Android and Wear OS are getting a redesign
#87Earlier quoted context omitted.
The problem with a Pixel is the hardware is always a step or two behind what other vendors are doing at the same price point, and they tend to be weirdly buggy for a first-party device. For example the bug where Pixel phones are randomly unable to call emergency services has been happening for years and keeps regressing again and again. 2021 https://www.vice.com/en/article/google-pixel-bug-prevented-u... 2022 https:/…
Not a problem with an iphone
The walled garden is a problem with an iPhone. The OS treating me like a toddler is another.
Re: Android and Wear OS are getting a redesign
#88Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I have no idea which phone or timeframe when I could see the rollout of Material 3 Expressive. Not a problem with a pixel > More than 10 years later, shopping for an Android phone with the latest OS is a nightmare Not a problem with a pixel > They will need to improve on their ecosystem commitments Not a problem with a pixel
The problem with a Pixel is the hardware is always a step or two behind what other vendors are doing at the same price point, and they tend to be weirdly buggy for a first-party device. For example the bug where Pixel phones are randomly unable to call emergency services has been happening for years and keeps regressing again and again. 2021 https://www.vice.com/en/article/google-pixel-bug-prevented-u... 2022 https:/…
I've been using Pixel 8 for nearly a year now and I agree that it's surprisingly buggy. Also, the chip is excessively power-hungry, especially for the performance it offers. In addition: the modem is bad and very power-hungry as well. And the cherry on top for me was the subpar fingerprint scanner. Can't recommend.
Re: Android and Wear OS are getting a redesign
#89Earlier quoted context omitted.
A headphone jack is unfortunately a problem with a pixel. Otherwise I would still own one. I had a Pixel 1, then a pixel 3a, then Google decided to get rid of a basic feature that every phone should have. So I stopped buying them.
For everyday use, wireless headphones offer a superior experience simply due to the lack of a cable, and for the cases where an audio output is desired, it should be easy to connect the phone to an audio interface. Is any of this a problem in the Android ecosystem?
> For everyday use, wireless headphones offer a superior experience simply due to the lack of a cable
Surely this is offset by a) having to charge it and b) not being able to replace the battery when it dies
Not to mention a cable can be debugged easily; i don't even know which device my bluetooth headphones is connected to let alone why it's not working as expected.
Re: Android and Wear OS are getting a redesign
#90Earlier quoted context omitted.
They've been copying iOS for years, time to bring some of that Windows "consistency" into the mix.
It's astonishing that anyone can say this with a straight face. Just unbelievable the effect Apple has on some people. Gruber finally getting disenfranchised. Eeven my most annoying/obsessive iOS-fan friends have admitted that they are jealous of my camera, my ability to do real multi-tasking, upload photos with the screen off, have the audio and BT audio work reliably. It's just stunning what some iOS users don't kn…
Do you think that audio (or bluetooth) doesn't work reliably on ios? Why?