Weird thing about android

[slackerinabox]

I noticed a weird thing after switching from ios to Android: on iOs I played a ton of games, on android I spend much more time customizing/fucking with my phone to entertain myself than actually using the phone. To me, that's like buying a car because you enjoy changing the oil vs going places. From figuring out what's killing battery life to finding the right launcher, mixed with the lack of top tier games it's a bit maddening. In other words, instead of playing games ON my phone, I'm spending a lot of time playing WITH my phone. Last night, for example, my s6 edge slowed to a crawl (and HUGE data usage the past week, with the most basic of apps installed). I spent over an hour on mother's day resetting to factory mode and installing my apps all over again (i didn't want to restore because I've had that replicate the initial problem again). Annoying! I don't want to restore my phone every x months, I don't enjoy this process, and I don't view user intervention for basic system functionality as a platform advantage - why do so many of you guys do? Just curious! This isn't pro-apple, windows phone gave me little problem and just worked (though the app store blew). Can't android have style guidelines? Coding requirements/ a testing protocol? I think there's a solution but android fans don't complain because they view it as a compromise for choice.

It's kinda a maddening pursuit because a lot of this "customization" is coming from amateurs not professionals who beta test or even seem to do much UI optimizations. For example, I like the ability to customize themes and icons, but the vast majority of theme designs contain enough bad design choices (mixed in with the good) that I find it frustrating, from asymmetrical layouts to icon sets that are woefully incomplete. For example, I could find an awesome black and white theme but, use an app that's not part of their limited icon set and you've got odd color icons that break the design rules of the set. I would hope a good programmer would just grayscale icons not part of the set but, nope - color icons clashing with a a duo-tone icon set. Didn't they test their damn product? Or icons that aren't sized properly (so they looked staggered on a grid), or just bad programming. Or horrible fonts on otherwise nice widgets. It's like amateur hour, and the reviews on the appstore seem phony to the point of reviews being useless. Oh and android 5.0 is worse than 4.4 based on what I'm reading, so now I have to wait until samsung does the point upgrade for improved battery life - it feels like one step forward two steps back, because you're waiting months for point releases that fix bugs instead of relatively shortly after the masses notice a bug (like ios).

My point is, that tech saavy people seem to love android with an erection worthy amount of lust, but isn't this much user intervention for daily operation kinda less about "user choice" and more about bad coding guidelines or lack of hardware optimization? Customizations aside, I had to spend a good week figuring out the battery drain on my phone, spend time figuring out why google play wouldn't download apps, find out how to disable useless apps I didn't want but couldn't uninstall - why is all of this considered a feature by some when the end result for all the trouble is a platform with less top tier apps/games anyways. I guess it means I'm an iOS fanboy now, but that's a weird end result from buying an expensive s6 edge.

 

[cronos]

If it's not for you then it's not for you. There's no reason to force yourself to 'understand' why it's for others. Just move on and be at peace.

 

[slackerinabox]

If it's not for you then it's not for you. There's no reason to force yourself to 'understand' why it's for others. Just move on and be at peace.

I hear you, i think I'm grumpy about a bad toy investment

I just like understanding, do people who love android play WITH their phone not ON their phone?

 

[sm625]

If you're going to spend $600+ on a device, then you may as well get the walled garden too. Android makes zero sense in a high end device. Android is meant for $100 smartphones like mine, and a $10 a month service plan.

 

[slackerinabox]

If you're going to spend $600+ on a device, then you may as well get the walled garden too. Android makes zero sense in a high end device. Android is meant for $100 smartphones like mine, and a $10 a month service plan.

I think you're right - the moto g I gifted my mom was a hell of a value, the galaxy s 6 is not $600 better. I should have gotten a moto g and a $400 great point and shoot camera if I wanted the android experience.

 

[TripleThreatTLT]

You pretty much summed up what drove me to windows phone. Unfortunately the lack of apps then drove me to Apple.

I got really tired of tinkering with my phone. Because I had the option to customize I felt the need to customize. Surely there must be a better text messaging app? Let me search forums then try out half of dozen of them to determine what works best. Then use it for a month only to discover some really annoying bug and then start the whole thing over.

 

[slackerinabox]

You pretty much summed up what drove me to windows phone. Unfortunately the lack of apps then drove me to Apple.

I got really tired of tinkering with my phone. Because I had the option to customize I felt the need to customize. Surely there must be a better text messaging app? Let me search forums then try out half of dozen of them to determine what works best. Then use it for a month only to discover some really annoying bug and then start the whole thing over.

Yes! The maddening quest for something better. I'm still looking for a good sms app (textra was nice until the ads kicked in). It feels like, instead of making the built in sms client better (it feels like it's out of 1996) google just thought "eh, they have the choice to find a better one." iMessages is just vastly better than anything I've found on android.

Honestly, I"m curious to see what samsung does with tizen. The s6 hardware is top notch, it feels like it would be fantastic if samsung had control at the software level

 

[cronos]

I hear you, i think I'm grumpy about a bad toy investment

I just like understanding, do people who love android play WITH their phone not ON their phone?

Short answer is yes, personally I love playing with my phone, and I don't 'love' playing (games) on my phone.

To elaborate, I have two games on my phone, and they're both the puzzle variety (fives and 7 words). They're what I use to waste time waiting for the doctor or picking my kid up, and even then I'd sometimes rather read my feedly or tapatalk. I didn't get my phone to play games, I have a computer for that (and maaybe sometimes the tablet).

So yeah, people are different. I'm sure there are Android users who love both playing ON and WITH their phones. This is why we have options! I've said this several times before but the tech world is currently a buyer's market. You can find something for everyone out there. There won't be a device that is the top everything, and there's no reason for it to exist either.

 

[dawheat]

I noticed a weird thing after switching from ios to Android: on iOs I played a ton of games, on android I spend much more time customizing/fucking with my phone to entertain myself than actually using the phone. To me, that's like buying a car because you enjoy changing the oil vs going places. From figuring out what's killing battery life to finding the right launcher, mixed with the lack of top tier games it's a bit maddening. In other words, instead of playing games ON my phone, I'm spending a lot of time playing WITH my phone. Last night, for example, my s6 edge slowed to a crawl (and HUGE data usage the past week, with the most basic of apps installed). I spent over an hour on mother's day resetting to factory mode and installing my apps all over again (i didn't want to restore because I've had that replicate the initial problem again). Annoying! I don't want to restore my phone every x months, I don't enjoy this process, and I don't view user intervention for basic system functionality as a platform advantage - why do so many of you guys do? Just curious! This isn't pro-apple, windows phone gave me little problem and just worked (though the app store blew). Can't android have style guidelines? Coding requirements/ a testing protocol? I think there's a solution but android fans don't complain because they view it as a compromise for choice.

It's kinda a maddening pursuit because a lot of this "customization" is coming from amateurs not professionals who beta test or even seem to do much UI optimizations. For example, I like the ability to customize themes and icons, but the vast majority of theme designs contain enough bad design choices (mixed in with the good) that I find it frustrating, from asymmetrical layouts to icon sets that are woefully incomplete. For example, I could find an awesome black and white theme but, use an app that's not part of their limited icon set and you've got odd color icons that break the design rules of the set. I would hope a good programmer would just grayscale icons not part of the set but, nope - color icons clashing with a a duo-tone icon set. Didn't they test their damn product? Or icons that aren't sized properly (so they looked staggered on a grid), or just bad programming. Or horrible fonts on otherwise nice widgets. It's like amateur hour, and the reviews on the appstore seem phony to the point of reviews being useless. Oh and android 5.0 is worse than 4.4 based on what I'm reading, so now I have to wait until samsung does the point upgrade for improved battery life - it feels like one step forward two steps back, because you're waiting months for point releases that fix bugs instead of relatively shortly after the masses notice a bug (like ios).

My point is, that tech saavy people seem to love android with an erection worthy amount of lust, but isn't this much user intervention for daily operation kinda less about "user choice" and more about bad coding guidelines or lack of hardware optimization? Customizations aside, I had to spend a good week figuring out the battery drain on my phone, spend time figuring out why google play wouldn't download apps, find out how to disable useless apps I didn't want but couldn't uninstall - why is all of this considered a feature by some when the end result for all the trouble is a platform with less top tier apps/games anyways. I guess it means I'm an iOS fanboy now, but that's a weird end result from buying an expensive s6 edge.

Yes and no - I think the first time you get an Android phone, you'll spend a disproportionate amount of time finding the launchers, themes, keyboards, etc that you like. I went through this with the S3. In the following years, setting up a new phone was much faster since I knew what I liked. I'd occasionally try out a different app, but those were just exploratory.

The issues you've been having with the S6 are unfortunate - having to factory reset should be a last resort step. Since you didn't restore from a non-Lollipop phone, you shouldn't have had the app issues you've been having.

However, with apps like GSAM battery monitor, it's pretty easy to find what app is going rouge and I've found sometimes going back a version or clearing data solves it. On my Note 4, this has happened twice - once with an update to Good for Enterprise, and another for Facebook Messenger. Both cases were app developers introducing battery draining bugs and I had to go back to an older version until they fixed it and I could jump the problematic version.

So after your first phone, I don't think you have to tinker unless you want to.

 

[dainthomas]

I've found the launcher/themes/keyboard etc I like years ago that work best for me and it takes me a grand total of a half hour to get a new phone running like how I want it.

With the Note4 though I was able to ditch Camera Zoom FX for the stock camera app, which is the first one I've seen that's better.

 

[dbk]

Return it for an iPhone ASAP

 

[poofyhairguy]

I just like understanding, do people who love android play WITH their phone not ON their phone?

It is just different priorities. I honestly care so much less about the minor design details that you are fixated on, and are much more concerned about raw functionality. That is where Android is king. For example, without root or jailbreak I can:

-download ANY file I want with any file extension, and use a real file manager to copy those files to a pen drive

-use real multitasking to download the aforementioned file in the background while I do something else

-emulate almost every console I played growing up

-change the default application for a task to anything, then change it back if I made a bad choice

-install my favorite media player app (Kodi) and sync it to the rest of library used by the rest of the Kodi clients in my house

-sideload another app store, or just single apps that might go against what some corporate overload might not want me to have (like a tethering app)

-use a new launcher to turn a device into a ten foot media box, or maybe a car dashboard

-can use a mouse with real mouse support

-install an adblocker that isn't just a single browser

I could keep going, but I am sure you look at this list and think either "why would I want to do that on my phone?" or "who cares about emulators when "basic" phone tasks aren't completely optimal?" It comes down to priorities. One thing I am not mentioning is just the FACT that you can tweak things how you want them to be. The flexibility of Android is what allows me to use it as a ten foot OS. I had to do some hacking (namely making everything run in immersion mode via xposed) but that is hacking I CAN do that iOS won't let me do.

One thing I see happen with a lot with iOS switchers is that they will box themselves in on what a phone can or even "should" do based on what the iPhone can do, and therefore they don't appreciate the extra functionality Android can provide because they aren't mentally wanting to do that on a phone. So instead they focus on just the things the old iPhone can do (calling, texting, apps made for normals, etc.) and then complain when Android can't do that subset of tasks as well. Which is completely fair, the design of Android is often behind iOS on "basic" phone tasks. Well, that isn't completely true. I MUCH MUCH MUCH prefer mobile Chrome on Android to mobile Safari. Maybe three or four times as much. But for a lot of things the design of iOS is better.

I personally don't compare iOS to Android anymore. Not as equivalents/replacements at least. Yeah they both run on phones, but Android is nearly as capable as OSX to me so I compare it to desktop OSes. Compared to say, Windows XP or heck even 8, Android Lollipop is a design masterpiece. I used computers for years before Apple made OSes the domain of design nerds, and I can appreciate pure functionality more than I can appreciate how an icon looks. I prefer the icon/functionality be there first. Some of my favorite Android apps have disgusting GUIs and I don't care.

The final piece is value. You are comparing a flagship to a flagship. But the trick is that unlike iOS the Android solution that is half the price (or less!) is still 60% as good. For the price of a G2 the best iPhone I could get is an old and slow (and small screened) iPhone 4Gs. That really isn't a comparison at all, and not everyone buys flagships.

I think we should all be happy multiple options exist, and that both extremes of the market (nerds and normals) are taken care of.

 

[poofyhairguy]

(textra was nice until the ads kicked in).

See, that there is the basis of an unfair comparison.

On Android, you get the option for an ad-driven app because Android users are cheap. But that isn't the only option- if you pay for Textra the ads go away. But that doesn't even register to you that the problems isn't the app or OS, the problem is you haven't paid for it yet.

On iOS, you don't even get to install an app like that without paying. There is no getting upset by the ads, because the pro version is the only option. The end result can be the same, as you paid the same money to not see them that you would on Android.

That is honestly why iOS is such a good OS for so many people- it never even gives you the choice of a suboptimal (and less costly) option. Instead you are forced into the best case, and you never see the strings making the puppet dance. iOS was a downright miracle when it hit for the 90% of the population who can't use a computer for a month without getting malware on it because they monkey ad said so.

But not everyone wants a sandbox, and some of us can make good choices on our own. We can tell the monkey no. I personally have bought Textra, it's worth every penny. I buy most of the apps (launchers, calenders, etc.) I use on Android because they are worth it and I dislike ads. But maybe my mom shouldn't have the option to not buy because she wouldn't (who doesn't prefer free?) and then she would be upset by ads.

It's all what matters to you, no two people are the exact same.

 

[Sheep]

I'm still looking for a good sms app (textra was nice until the ads kicked in). It feels like, instead of making the built in sms client better (it feels like it's out of 1996) google just thought "eh, they have the choice to find a better one."

I will NEVER understand how people won't pay $1 for an app they'll use literally every single day.

Google Messenger does all the SMS/MMS functions I need it to. I don't know what Samsung has installed on their devices but I'm sure you can completely replace it and never see it (like I did with Hangouts for SMS/MMS).

 

[slackerinabox]

I will NEVER understand how people won't pay $1 for an app they'll use literally every single day.

Google Messenger does all the SMS/MMS functions I need it to. I don't know what Samsung has installed on their devices but I'm sure you can completely replace it and never see it (like I did with Hangouts for SMS/MMS).

Good point, I think I was annoyed *how* textra advertised (fake texts from sponsors) so I tuned it out.. Something about paying for such basic functionality as txt rubs me the wrong way, but that's not textra's fault

 

[gorcorps]

Good point, I think I was annoyed *how* textra advertised (fake texts from sponsors) so I tuned it out.. Something about paying for such basic functionality as txt rubs me the wrong way, but that's not textra's fault

You're not paying to read/send texts... you can do that by default. What you're paying for is a much more customized way to do it that somebody somewhere worked on and would like some sort of compensation for it. It's $1... a bottle of soda costs more and you literally piss that away.

 

[poofyhairguy]

What you're paying for is a much more customized way to do it that works with the terrible group texts iPhone users love to abuse.

Fixed.

Its not Android's fault Apple let them have a toy they never should have had. If I die and go to hell I expect iPhone group texts to be running the place.

 

[richierich1212]

Textra is worth it and cheap. iOS works for most people but I dislike not being able to download media files (my brother and I enjoy making music mixes) straight to our phones without having to sync with iTunes.

 

[gorcorps]

Textra is worth it and cheap. iOS works for most people but I dislike not being able to download media files (my brother and I enjoy making music mixes) straight to our phones without having to sync with iTunes.

Is there something wrong with your email accounts? Seems like attaching and saving files via email would be much better than trying to that over text.

 

[MrSquished]

i too don't get the thing about textra. it was free for a long time, now it's a buck if you love it to get rid of the ads. it's not android's fault you get OCD and over-tweak things because you can. i've done it too. it's not the OS, it's you. after i stopped rooting and all that, i have my favorite apps for most everything. i have my nova launcher setup i love, used it on my last 3 phones. i switch between that and the google now launcher when i'm in the mood. i have the phone all set up and i don't tweak it anymore. just get to that point and you can handle android

 

[slackerinabox]

i too don't get the thing about textra. it was free for a long time, now it's a buck if you love it to get rid of the ads. it's not android's fault you get OCD and over-tweak things because you can. i've done it too. it's not the OS, it's you. after i stopped rooting and all that, i have my favorite apps for most everything. i have my nova launcher setup i love, used it on my last 3 phones. i switch between that and the google now launcher when i'm in the mood. i have the phone all set up and i don't tweak it anymore. just get to that point and you can handle android

My textra argument's wrong, I jumped to handcent and it's good enough but I suppose they deserve the buck. But the customization is frustrating, because nothing I've run into is polished to the point of me feeling done. Ok, what I pose as a critique is a problem that can be overcome by good developers. What sucks about the theme marketplace, as one specific problem, is that some are so close to being polished but are obviously the result of one ambitious designer, vs. a team with quality assurance and testers. Bugs (from graphical glitches and functionality to anal design goofs, because I"m a little ocd - text oriented incorrectly bugs me insane), compromises (low-res textures that look crap on my 1440p screen), and just short cuts abound in most of the very DIY feel themes. I'd play $20 for a polished launcher theme with iOs level attention to detail. Does that exist?

I think a premium marketplace should exist, for us flagship snobs who want to show of the gpu on our new shiny phones. I feel like I have all this hardware that's sitting around being neglected on half baked software. I understand samsung's tizen ambitions now.

 

[poofyhairguy]

But the customization is frustrating, because nothing I've run into is polished to the point of me feeling done.

Then you didn't customize enough!

Ok, what I pose as a critique is a problem that can be overcome by good developers. What sucks about the theme marketplace, as one specific problem, is that some are so close to being polished but are obviously the result of one ambitious designer, vs. a team with quality assurance and testers. Bugs (from graphical glitches and functionality to anal design goofs, because I"m a little ocd - text oriented incorrectly bugs me insane), compromises (low-res textures that look crap on my 1440p screen), and just short cuts abound in most of the very DIY feel themes.

The problem you are running into is Android's strength. Those developers aren't making themes for JUST YOUR PHONE, like what happens on iOS. They couldn't do that and survive, the market would be too small. On iOS they only have to worry about like four phones that can run the current OS. On Android there are THOUSANDS of devices, each with their own SoC or screen resolution or some other difference. Even Apple couldn't make an experience on THOUSANDS of devices be perfect, Microsoft has tried for years and Windows 8.1 is still the best they can do.

For example, your complaint about low-res graphics. At least they work, at least they fill the screen. When my wife got her iPhone 5 all the apps just had a wasted black bar on the bottom until the developers fixed it. Apps looks like crap on the 1080p 6+ until developers fixed it. Super high res screens just hit Android last year. Not everyone has had time to fix it yet, but they did give you something that can work in the meanwhile because the apps are more flexible. That is pretty cool if you think about it, and to me is worth some design flaws only a person with OCD can recognise.

I'd play $20 for a polished launcher theme with iOs level attention to detail. Does that exist?

That is what the Chinese specialize in- launchers that look like iOS. Hell that is the whole point of Miui. If you really want that iOS feel I have head good things about iLauncher. Or just do what the rest of us do and spend an hour with Nova until you beat it into submission.

I think a premium marketplace should exist, for us flagship snobs who want to show of the gpu on our new shiny phones. I feel like I have all this hardware that's sitting around being neglected on half baked software.

I hate to tell you this, but the launchers don't really stress the GPU. Neither do the themes, or almost anything in the GUI. Same on iOS, that is why you can run iOS 8 on ancient hardware like the iPad 2. The only way to show of the GPU is to run a AAA game, just like in iOS.

Plus who is really going to look at your phone? Like that close? No one. In Android we "show off" via the actual hardware, and you did that when you bought the edge model over the normal one. That is the wow factor.

I mean, I don't disagree with you. I would never own a Galaxy S6 and the GUI is the reason. I don't think Tizen would be any better, Samsung just has a crappy sense of design. Look to a HTC phone to see how pretty Android can be.

 

[boomhower]

That's the biggest reason I use an iPhone. I don't want to screw around with it at all other than changing the background. I certainly understand the want of others to be able to customize to their needs. Also being able to essentially do what you want is another big plus in Androids favor. Using an iPhone I give up the ability to customize and live with a lot of restrictions on what my phone can do, plus have to walled garden to deal with. But for me it works.

 

[ControlD]

Personally I feel like stock Android is good enough that I don't need to fool around much with customizing my phone. The problem is that most phones don't come with stock Android, they come with all kinds of duplicated and/or unnecessary apps installed from both the carrier and the manufacturer. Honestly, if I ever went back to using an iPhone it would be for two reasons:

(1) Access to the latest OS image direct from Apple
(2) No crapware installed from the carriers.

However, there are so many more reasons I stick with Android (some of them illustrated by PFG above) and I feel I would feel way to constricted now that I have tried both platforms for a couple of years. Customization is nice, but for me these days that is more setting my preferred apps and setting my DPI to something that isn't ridiculous.

 

[richierich1212]

Is there something wrong with your email accounts? Seems like attaching and saving files via email would be much better than trying to that over text.

With iOS you can't download files directly to your phone. My gf has to copy the Dropbox link in my txt message, email herself the link on her iPhone, then use her MacBook to open up her email, download the mix and then sync with her iPhone.

With android I can upload a mix (MP3 or WAV format) to Dropbox and then my brother can download it to his phone and play it via whichever music app he wants to on his G2 or any other android device.