All Things Android - Apps, Phones, Tablets - Discussion

That's debatable.
Tegra2's A9 cores are hampered by a laundry list of issues like lack of NEON support and a crummy GPU.

 

With all that texture compression and such by NVIDIA's OpenGL binaries it's really easy to see it's effects in the UI. Gaming wise it can still pull off pretty darn good graphics, but 2D UI acceleration... no. NEON is very important in 2D acceleration in phones that don't have OpenVG GPU acceleration, which is almost all of them minus the GSII.

Plus the Sensation has that really nice NON-Pentile QHD panel. That really makes a LOT of difference.

Really, the only way the Atrix is ahead is that it has a better CPU. Other than that...

 

Yeah, the Atrix is nice enough but I have my eye on a Samsung of some sort.

Don't get me wrong, I still like the various SE handsets I've had and I'm curious to see what they do next year but looking at the market just now and making some fairly reasonable assumptions about what'll happen next year, I think other manufacturers will struggle to keep up with Samsung.

 

Tried TouchWiz 4.5 launcher from XDA = got instabilty with full reboots happening instead of those weird "soft" reboots.

I don't know if it was from the launcher itself, the widgets, linking the facebook functions built into TouchWiz 3.x with my contacts, or a few apps i installed but i've restored back to stock, left the Facebook stuff alone and all is well.

 

HAL, is there a way to disable motion blur and AA in MC3? I compared to the Xperia Arc S build and the reason why it runs smoother than the GSII build (in the GSII heavy parts) is because it has lower res textures, nearly no smoke effects, no motion blur and AA.

 

It's all in the game code as to what textures to load and what kind of AA to enforce. The Arc has a much weaker GPU, and obviously the writers of that game have given certain GPU's graphics profiles in the game code.

Aside from taking the game APK and decompiling it and making changes in the XML files, I don't think you can change it.

 

Interesting article about android. One thing I didn't know: "They reported that they had to contend with more than 100 different versions of Android software on 244 different handsets" Seems crazy.

For Consumers, Android Is More "Clopen" Than Open

 

I sense an apple fanboy coming into this thread and getting it locked.

 

Yeah you're right it will probably turn into a flame war. My current phone is a Android and before that I had a iPhone 4. Their are advantages and disadvantages to both. I just thought it was a interesting article.

 

On top of that, I believe that you should be happy with any phone you have, no matter if it's a smartphone or a flip phone because some people have no phone and some people have free phones (like me.) And ultimately, nobody will say that Android or Apple is superior or inferior to the other (Mind fanboys and trolls )

 

Android isn't hard to get "open", it's just phone manufacturers make it difficult to do...

 

Nothing contained within that article is a) new or b) newsworthy.

Accusations about Android's open-ness have been levied time and again already and this guy going over the same stale points doesn't change anything.
Not to mention, his points about the market and the methods by which different OSs handle updates are pretty meaningless.

 

Okay guys, I have a very weird problem with my Droid 2. Ever since the 2.3 update, it's been very difficult keep my phone turned off. Half the time when I shut my phone down, it will actually turn itself back on about 10 seconds later! Shutting it down the second time will get the phone to stay off, though.

This issue never happened before the 2.3 update. Any ideas??

 

I ditched my $60 dollar phone for a Samsung Galaxy S.

Ooooooooh...if you spin the phone around the display also moves!
I thought that stuff was supposed to be made in 2384!

 

'My phone soft rebooted back into the "USB Storage In Use" screen.

I'm tempted to press Amazon for the chance to replace it with the Droid 3. They said I had until the first of January but I wasn't expecting it to suddenly destabilize again. I thought uninstalling a round of apps cured its ails, guess not. There's a few more apps I can uninstall but I really don't want to have to live in fear about which apps will cause the deck of cards to fall or not.

Also, I made the mistake of installing TouchWiz 4.5 from XDA into the /system/ folder (it gave the choice of either doing that for a more integrated feel-uninstalling apps from app drawer, etc, or installing it as a fully removable app) and now need to get rid of it if I proceed to return the phone. How exactly would I go about this, using the phone itself to recover to stock didn't remove it.

 

/system isn't touched by a factory reset. The only way to get /system on stock, you need to flash a stock ROM, otherwise there is no way to re-stock system.

 

He could manually remove it from the system partition using adb or root explorer.

Sent from my HTC Sensation using Tapatalk

 

Damn...

I'll see if the 4.5 manager offers a way to remove it. If not I'll see if I can via root explorer.

EDIT: It worked!

 

Anyone got a copy of the Samsung logo without the ellipse around it?

 

I am now officially the owner of a Droid 3. Should arrive mid january.

 

Google: Android 4.0 'Holo' theme to be mandatory on all devices with Android Market -- Engadget

Excellent news IMO.
Nothing worse than an OEM ruining a UI *cough* Samsung *cough*

 

Of all the UI's out there for Android, you single out Samsung. LMAO. Go after Motorola. Their Gingerbread skin is an abomination, as is HTC's Sense on ICS. Of the three I'd say Samsung's is the least abominable.

But in response to the article: "And so it begins...."

 

I knew you'd comment on that.

Try one of their Honeycomb tabs, go into the Settings menu and you'll see exactly what I mean about an OEM ruining a device's UI.

 

I actually like the TouchWiz UX on the tablets (ditto phones but the tablets especially). The UI is much more friendly in things like the settings and calendar, less bland monochrome mehness.

Plus they change things that were legitimately broken. Like the "i don't know what those buttons do unless I'm a lover of Tron or I squint really hard" Home/App Switcher/Back buttons at the bottom left of the Honeycomb screen.

That said, I think that there's room for a middle ground of sorts. Leave the stock launcher alone and augment it with Sense/TouchWiz/Blur widgets and apps like the Samsung Hubs. Heck, I'd even love it if they'd let Samsung's notification shade toggles remain: even on the Honeycomb tabs, they're better than what's there already.

Of course that would end up killing off innovation somewhat (like the mini apps tray on the Galaxy Tabs...that would likely have to disappear if the stock launcher is mandated.) but I think at this point that it's just going to have to be killed off to avoid user discontent.

 

Galaxy Note isn't available in the US, therefore I do not care about it.

 

It's really a distinction without a difference. Most of those "100" versions of Android all run the exact same apps the exact same way. I don't understand why people can't wrap their heads around it. It's not like there are major apps that ONLY run on Motorola's version of 2.3 or some crap like that.

 

LOL. Not trying to be blunt, but that one is actually true. Manufacturer skins have a very common tendency to break apps. Motorola's Gingerbread is one of the worst ones because everything in their UI is layered with 14 separate transparent pieces. IE: A common touch button... it takes 4 different PNG's to draw that one button. It should be one, and shouldn't even be a thought to run through the developers mind as to whether or not the PNG he needs to draw his button in his app will be properly drawn or even there in Motorola's framework at all. There needs to be standards and this is one thing I can get behind.

..then we get into how deep some skins go, like Sense. If there is to be any semblance of a UI left for Android in 2-3 years, this move needs to happen yesterday. If Motorola had their way they'd dumb Android down in looks and functionality to a dumbphone OS. I swear it. And HTC... I can't even go there at this time in the morning.

(Ok, maybe it's not 14, but it's over 4. It should only be ONE PNG to draw a button.)

 

That's a different issue, and Google's fixing it by requiring everyone to use the same theme for 4.0.

My point is that when people bring up fragmentation, their argument is usually idiotic.

 

Being a Moto user... I totally understand what HAL is saying... which is why I don't think I'll buy Moto ever again.

 

ICS is running nicely on my DHD, other than the camera...

-Tapatalk

 

I'm glad my Moto Triumph didn't have any custom theme crap.

 

The irony of this is that Google is acquiring Motorola Mobility, so in all likelihood Motorola will be producing pure Android devices in the future.

 

For technical people (who are regulars here), fragmentation may not be an issue, but for the average consumer, which is where the dollar hits the road... it's a relevant concern.

It's not just about different versions of Android or that an app that doesn't run the same on different skins of 2.3, it's a variety of things such as hardware, order of buttons, arrangement of home screens etc etc etc.

You have various UIs... pure Google, TouchWiz, Sense, MotoBlur (or whatever it's called now) and LG's (forgot the name). And while similar, each of them have different ways of doing things that are significant enough to give Uncle Joe some confusion when trying to compare and use the devices.

And sure, when a person becomes accustomed to it, it's fine... but throw a different phone at them and they'll have to stop and poke around a bit. I think some of the posters here work in retail, but whenever I'm in Best Buy or any phone store I always hear buyers question the differences between each Android phone and which is better... that in itself is an example of fragmentation (and while many of us like that choice... it can be frustrating for others).

P.S. Rumors are the Galaxy Note is headed for AT&T and/or Sprint

 

You do bring up a good point. Most people make an argument that the various UIs and versions of Android have some effect on app compatibility, which is no more true, really, than it is for the iPhone (try running Infinity Blade on an iPhone 3G). But from a usability and a comparison standpoint, it does certainly muddy the waters, especially for someone that doesn't follow Android closely.

The Galaxy Note is definitely US bound, but it's not here yet. I don't like it. My Nexus is already huge at 4.7 inches, I can't imagine adding over a half inch to the screen.

 

Everyone's entitled to their own opinion but it's still a prime example of an OEM showing complete disregard for the styling of the OS as a whole.
We all know what Honeycomb looks like, a dark backgrounds throughout like this ) - with TouchWiz, it's almost as though Samsung have deliberately set out to make their UI clash with the rest of the OS and it looks awful. Just look at the icons down the left of the menu, with the stock Honeycomb UI there's a consistency to them with Samsung it's looks really amateurish in comparison.

Samsung had three good ideas TouchWiz UI on the Galaxy Tabs and two of those are still really badly implemented.

As you've highlighted, the notification area is the one out-and-out success, the scrollable list of toggles is a big improvement over the standard Honeycomb set-up.
But the mini-apps are ridiculous, you can't change what's in there making them worse than useless - not to mention, their position on the bar is such that you end up inadvertently hitting them all the time, which is annoying to say the least when you're playing games etc. Same goes for the screenshot button; it's nice they added the functionality but putting it on the bar instead of, say, building it into the notification area in some way or even making it something that was accessed via the mini-apps menu ( and, in doing so, actually making the mini-apps menu useful for something).


The fact that a lot of Galaxy Tab 10.1 ROMs on XDA are stock Honeycomb and not TouchWiz and that a lot of the TouchWiz ROMs are themed to look more like stock says everything really.

Doesn't change the fact it's better-specced than the Nexus though.

 

I would hope so, since it's freaking huge.

 

Haha Mine's 4.52" and I definitely wouldnt mind having another half

 

Have you actually seen one in the flesh?
It's not that bad a size.

Of course, if the rumours about the Galaxy S3 are true, both the Note and the Nexus will be obsolete in a few months.

 

+1

And still, you get used to it fast. I thought my phone was huge when i first saw/held it. Now i still wish it was bigger

But I'd like a 20" laptop too lol

 

TWSS.

Anyway, point is, it's a tablet/phone crossover, I would expect it to be bigger. It really is considerably larger than the Nexus and I don't think I would be able to comfortably fit it in, say, my jeans pocket.

 

Pocket would be my only concern - not getting it into the pocket, it fits fine, it's just the risk of it being flexed if the jeans were tight.

 

Unlikely. Motorola is still, and will be in the foreseeable future, operating as an independent company, just with a new owner for a patent shelter. Besides, FAR too much has been invested in Blur.

 

Likely, considering that Google is requiring all devices with 4.0 to have the Holo theme in order to access the Market...

Sunk costs are sunk costs. If Google has acquired the company, what would its incentive be in continuing a practice that is detrimental to the platform?

 

I will just leave this here...

Source

 

EDIT: ^That.

You're not seeing it right. Google bought Motorola as a patent shelter, and as promised to the Android OEM's, they will NOT interfere in the normal company operations. They will step in if the company falters or is in dire straits, but since that's really not an issue ATM...

 

As far as the settings screen goes, one could say that they made it more neutral with the gray backdrop. Does stock honeycomb's settings screen "follow" the wallpaper color (like win 7 picks the brightest color in a taskbar icon by default for the hover over) or does it stay purple? If the latter is true, it could be seen as visually jarring, especially if the app drawer doesn't do that.

I've played with the XOOM and visited settings, but didn't attempt to change the wallpaper as it was a demo device at Target.

I guess they could have kept the monochromatic scheme by using gray on light gray/white icons. That would have been more fitting although the colors add visual punch.

You're right about the mini apps tray, they should have done a SDK for devs to be able to build in support for it into their apps. Being able to, say, use a IM app while not having to leave your webpage would be awesome. Or at the very least have quick shortcuts to your favorite apps which would obviously be full screen.

Screenshot button and mini app tray launch button should both either require double presses or long presses. Car makers got this right ages ago with the "trunk" and "panic" buttons on keyless entry keyfobs. Its just good human factors engineering.

My main gripe I guess is that Google still makes annoying decisions like the overly styleized buttons on an otherwise decent UI. Clearly if even friggin Pantech changed them to conventional icons that you'd have to be a idiot to mix up then somethings not right with the design. Either people are reporting feeling confused in internal testing or something else is going on.

 

The lack of quality ICS support for most apps is sort of getting on my nerves at this point. They all work, naturally, but there are goofy issues. I've been using Spotify for several days, and all of a sudden, it won't open. Kindle needs to be force stopped pretty frequently.

 

I find this post ironic in light of your previous post about fragmentation and app interoperability. And I know you were referring to same OS version operation... but your complaint is an example of fragmentation issues across different versions of Android.

I'm sure it will smooth out once more devices are moved to ICS but it may take longer since 4.x seems to have significant changes over previous version jumps.

How has the battery life been on your Nexus? That's still my main concern with Android.

 

Yeah. Kindle will just freeze at the Kindle splash screen forever...

Otherwise, everything else works fine for me. Be wary of using the Force 2D Acceleration option in the Developer's Menu. While it does give 2D GPU acceleration to every app, I found it also broke some apps, such as the Slick Deals app.

 

Honestly, it just popped up yesterday really, Kindle has always been wonky, even on Froyo, but Spotify just stopped working this morning.

Battery life is decent. The screen takes a lot of juice on max brightness. If I'm using it sparingly, I can get a day and a half out of it. Normal usage (which is quite heavy) gets me roughly eight to ten hours. I have chargers everywhere (at home, at my desk at work, and in the car) so battery life doesn't concern me too much. I think the iPhone's battery life is still better.

TBH, I just suggested the 4S to a coworker. I love my GNex, but it's definitely not for everyone. The tradeoffs (battery life, the "it just works" factor) were worth it for me to get the benefits (data speeds faster than my home cable connection, the Android platform [which I maintain is a superior system functionally and aesthetically, especially ICS]) but for a lot of people those things aren't as important.