Forgive me for not searching but I only have my nexus one right now and when I start typing in the xda search box with my phone the search box disappears immediately each time I type the first letter.
First of all xda seems to be pretty good with scrolling. Yahoo, espn, most other sites however don't. This is about the issue with scrolling where images get kind of fuzzy (almost like the resolution drops) and it makes the scrolling seem jittery because the lines and characters are rapidly switching width with every frame while scrolling. It's most noticeable when you stop scrolling but leave your finger on the screen and then really look at the image before removing your finger, once you remove your finger the screen will become as crisp as before you initially applied your finger to scroll.
I think the only reason this bothers me is because the iPhone screen doesn't change at all when scrolling and so it appears more clear/crisp/smooth. Honestly I wish I never fiddled with the 3gs to begin with because I can't stop comparing it to my truly amazing nexus one.
I'm wondering is this a hardware issue or software? I recall a recent pro-iphone article about poor image quality that was soundly refuted by the incomparable people here at xda with the explanation that it was simply a software issue not a hardware defect and I believe the issue was centered around the gallery app and touching the images?
Are these two issues essentially the same in that they can both be resolved with software updates? I just compared the nexus browser scrolling with that of my g1 and mytouch, and although they both are extremely jumpy/jittery I don't notice the change in image quality when removing/applying my finger like on the nexus so it must be the nexus hardware or else 2.1. I'm basically looking for an explanation about what different things make images/characters/lines change in quality and make scrolling so jerky and what can be done.
Thanks to anyone who can decipher and helpfully reply to this post
Edit: Here's the only thing I found searching Google. It addresses the issue pretty well but I'm still curious to hear what xda folks think.
http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/android/thread?tid=79967f44ddd5d178&hl=en
Apparently the g1/mytouch jumpiness is from the weak processors. It seems clear its software related on the nexus, I just hope its important enough to Google to fix...
DMaverick50 said:
Forgive me for not searching but I only have my nexus one right now and when I start typing in the xda search box with my phone the search box disappears immediately each time I type the first letter.
First of all xda seems to be pretty good with scrolling. Yahoo, espn, most other sites however don't. This is about the issue with scrolling where images get kind of fuzzy (almost like the resolution drops) and it makes the scrolling seem jittery because the lines and characters are rapidly switching width with every frame while scrolling. It's most noticeable when you stop scrolling but leave your finger on the screen and then really look at the image before removing your finger, once you remove your finger the screen will become as crisp as before you initially applied your finger to scroll.
I think the only reason this bothers me is because the iPhone screen doesn't change at all when scrolling and so it appears more clear/crisp/smooth. Honestly I wish I never fiddled with the 3gs to begin with because I can't stop comparing it to my truly amazing nexus one.
I'm wandering is this a hardware issue or software? I recall a recent pro-iphone article about poor image quality that was soundly refuted by the incomparable people here at xda with the explanation that it was simply a software issue not a hardware defect and I believe the issue was centered around the gallery app and touching the images?
Are these two issues essentially the same in that they can both be resolved with software updates? I just compared the nexus browser scrolling with that of my g1 and mytouch, and although they both are extremely jumpy/jittery I don't notice the change in image quality when removing/applying my finger like on the nexus so it must be the nexus hardware or else 2.1. I'm basically looking for an explanation about what different things make images/characters/lines change in quality and make scrolling so jerky and what can be done.
Thanks to anyone who can decipher and helpfully reply to this post
Edit: Here's the only thing I found searching Google. It addresses the issue pretty well but I'm still curious to hear what xda folks think.
http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/android/thread?tid=79967f44ddd5d178&hl=en
Apparently the g1/mytouch jumpiness is from the weak processors. It seems clear its software related on the nexus, I just hope its important enough to Google to fix...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The issue you're seeing is due to how each OS renders the webpages.
The iPhone renders webpages as one huge jpeg file. So scrolling will of course be very smooth. However, that's why when you pinch and zoom in, the text doesn't reflow. You have to pan left and right like a madman. EXTREMELY annoying.
The Nexus One renders the webpage.... well, as a TRUE webpage. It actually renders each element separately. The "fuzzyness" you're seeing is that pictures are downsized in quality while scrolling so that the scrolling is smooth. I've never seen it be laggy or choppy as a result of this (maybe because I'm using the Desire ROM/browser), but the fuzzyness is still there.
Either way, I'd rather have webpages rendered in their true nature. Increased functionality (text reflow, flash, etc) > silly eye candy that personally doesn't bother me and only happens for a split second anyway. Like most things, the iPhone OS is built for the eye first (minus the nasty home screen), functionality second.
that was an awesome reply, thank you
i love the being able to pinch to zoom and then tap or press zoom to format it. i guess if it has to be a choice of smoothness or utility im with you, id hate for the page to not reformat when i zoomed.
Related
I have played around with some of the multitouch apps (browser, maps, image-gallery examples) and found them quite impressive. My question is, can the onscreen-keyboard be hacked to allow for multitoutch?
i know the keyboard is pretty useful but it would be better to have the multi touch features. The screen supports multutouch and it is a bit stupid that apple can copyright multitouch. alot of my friends mock the android cos it doesnt have mutitouch (stupid iphone snobs)
so, is it possible?
I'm sure it would be possible. There honestly should be multi-touch support for the virtual keyboard. Not to display 2 letters at a time obviously, but to just que the second letter to allow for faster typing rather than have it skip between 2 letters. The iphone does have multi-touch support on its VK for the same exact reason of faster typing.
wardy277 said:
I have played around with some of the multitouch apps (browser, maps, image-gallery examples) and found them quite impressive. My question is, can the onscreen-keyboard be hacked to allow for multitoutch?
i know the keyboard is pretty useful but it would be better to have the multi touch features. The screen supports multutouch and it is a bit stupid that apple can copyright multitouch. alot of my friends mock the android cos it doesnt have mutitouch (stupid iphone snobs)
so, is it possible?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
so where are you seeing all of this stuff with the multi touch?
Yeah, I don't think multi-touch is available for Maps and Gallery. If I'm wrong could someone shoot me a link please?
Multi touch is only available in the browser. There were some demos you could install on your phone of the maps and gallery but they were just demos not the actual program.
As for the VK not sure why you would need it. Maybe type faster but other than that I see no need for it.
He's talking about the multitouch examples here: http://lukehutch.wordpress.com/2009/01/25/get-multi-touch-support-on-your-t-mobile-g1-today/
I don't really see what all the hype is about multi-touch. The only reason I can see it being useful is for games, and maybe if a shift key was inserted in the VK. Other than that, I feel it just becomes more difficult. Sure, it's cool technology, but isn't it easier to zoom using your thumb, holding the phone with one hand, than having to use two fingers or two separate hands? I've been running JF builds for months which multi-touch, and barely use it at all.
Multi touch allows for faster typing. Especially if you're typing in landscape mode with your thumbs going at it. I've noticed it would skip letters for me on various occasions because of it not registering hits that are too close to each other.
Why wouldn't you just open the keyboard...
I don't get it
I agree about typing. I also think the iphone's way of zooming in/out on the map is easier, too. It is all preference, but I really want the multi-touch map. Having it as an option would satisfy the masses.
To be honest, after the novelty of having multitouch on the browser wore off I found myself using the "+" and "-" buttons on the screen anyway!
fdisk81 said:
To be honest, after the novelty of having multitouch on the browser wore off I found myself using the "+" and "-" buttons on the screen anyway!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Personally, I hate those freaking on-screen zoom in/out buttons with the white hot intensity of a thousand suns. They're always popping up in the way of links that are placed at the bottom of web pages and I constantly hit that stupid button in the bottom right of the screen, opening that useless panning box. IMHO on-screen menus should never be placed in front of content. Am I the only one that thinks that's completely retarded?
multitouch
frankly i like the circle zoom!! i thnk tht wud b more convinient then the multi touch unless ur in landscape mode for some reason or another but yes i wud really like multi touch vk!! i need to b able to type faster but i still use my hardware keyboard for fast typing!
i prefer using two fingers to zoom in and out. I feel that by using two fingers you see where you are zooming and dont have a finger in the way. As multitouch is enabled in the rom, using two fingers emulates a finger press in between them, which can get quite enoying if you type fast ir knock a key by accident, u get a random key in the middle.
I know its not essential but these little things give it a nicer feel.
Chris
d0nkey said:
Why wouldn't you just open the keyboard...
I don't get it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's a matter of personal preference. Is that not why we like open source so much? Some of us don't want to open keyboards every 4 seconds. Some of us have magic's sans hardware keyboards.
I for one welcome any improvements that I may or not use but in the end they are improvements.
d0nkey said:
Why wouldn't you just open the keyboard...
I don't get it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because, I text a LOT. Between work and twitter and friends... I'm texting all the time. sometimes it's just faster to start typing.. plus I'm sure it's better on the hinges to not keep snapping the thing open every minute.
I tried out Dolphin Browser for a few days and can't understand how people enjoy that experience more. Obviously I'm not trying to say that their opinion is wrong but I would like to hear how they overcame the issues I had (if it was ever a problem for them).
1. Multitouch - I understand that the stock browser (SB for short) didn't have it for a while, but dolphins was very picky in reformatting text columns after a multitouch zoom and zooming was never very smooth.
2. Bookmarks - I hated the bookmark system. It never arranged as conveniently as the SB and never remembers that I wanted to sort a-z. It also doesn't fit as many on the screen which reults in more scrolling. And why in the world would bookmarks not be an icon option in the popup menu? I do most navigating one-handed, on the bottom half of the phone so when I'm trying to access bookmarks thru dolphins I would have to use my other hand because the lack of multitouch resuts in my palm hitting the screen as I tried to tap this tiny star that is the bookmark opener.
3. Menu layout - simply don't like an intrusive menu taking up the whole screen just because I want to press the back, forward or reload button. I seem to remember a prior version having an option where the menu loadout would only occur after pressing the down arrow, but couldn't find that in this latest version.
4. Ads - nuff said
That said, what I lover is full screen browsing, seeing the subtle green bar at the bottom showing number of open windows, swiping to change windows, removing the on-screen zoom buttons and having the dedicated Google bookmarks tab are all features I will not soon forget as I venture back to the stock browser.
After the multitouch update for the SB(which I seldomly use in browsing, thanks to the awesome double-tap-to-fit feature), what other reasons do you have for continuing to use Dolphin?
Again, not trying to say Dolphin users are wrong, I oust get surprised to hear so many rave reviews when everytime I have tried it has turned out to be an unfulfilling experience.
Edit: hopefully I've posted this in the correct section (maybe General would have been better). I know some out there are very picky about what should go where.
yea i like the stock browser with MT now. Screw dolphin
somehow i feel pity for dolphin's devs..
at one time people rated them as one of the best browser out there, and when our default browser got updated, there's people open up thread just to point out its weaknesses..lol.
it's a free software, so we can choose to use it or not..
btw i myself prefer stock browser as well haha..
agreed.
I don't like how the tabs and buttons are in low resolution. It may look good on other phones but on a nexus OLED screen....it doesn't look good.
To be fair, the only big update to the stock browser since its inception (inception for me being a few months after the G1 came out) is MT, and icon-bookmarks and that wouldn't affect my final opinion of Dolphin either way. I tried out Dolphin back on my G1 and wasn't a huge fan of it then, either.
As far as the devs go, if they read my OP (highly unlikely) I really hope they just look at it as some random donkey with suggestions as opposed to me trying to say their product has no place in Android devices.
Steel in complete junk and always was. Dolphin has its moment but I don't care for MT as it is so that was never really a draw for me. The low-res icons exists on the G1/myTouch. I'm sure that Dolphin has its use and I certainly don't mind competition as that can only be good for us as end users. I prefer the stock browser as it serves its purpose very well. Dolphin needs to get rid of the confusing, unintuitive menu system.
Gestures and the "open windows" pane are excellent.
Prefer default becuase of MT/text formatting/Bookmark Icons.
Now that Stock has Multi-Touch and Double-tap to Fit-to-screen... I haven't touched Dolphin.
Dolphin is great for it's auto-sizing so far as webpages are concerned... But it's really just too much in my opinion. I like the layout of stock, and the menu is just simpler. Gestures were really startin' to irritate me too. Some are easy, but making your own and the phone would get mine about 33-50% of the time.
I started using dolphin on my g1 mainly for the full screen options and the ability to download just about any type of file to the phone. I kind of gave up on the stock browser pretty soon after I started using dolphin. however the ads are annoying & the ui sucks major ass, after reading all your thoughts I'm inclined to give the stock browser another chance.
oh yeah and the ability to hold down back and be presented with a dialogue to clear cache and close from dolphin was another big selling point for me.
loving the stock browser!!
occasionly switch over to Xscope
The bookmark syncing in Dolphin is good though....
Why does the stock not have that? (or am I missing something here)
irenic said:
somehow i feel pity for dolphin's devs..
at one time people rated them as one of the best browser out there, and when our default browser got updated, there's people open up thread just to point out its weaknesses..lol.
it's a free software, so we can choose to use it or not..
btw i myself prefer stock browser as well haha..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is how the software world works though...
A void is found and someone/a team steps up and fills that void; in this case it was a broswer to answer the asks of all the users not pleased with this or that in the stock browser.
Once the majority of the asks were met with an update, the need for an additional installed app went away for almost all users.
If firefox comes to android you can bet everyone who is calling dolphin garbage compared to the SB will be doing the same with the SB compared to FF....just the way it works
Personally, I would LOVE FF to hit android; I really miss xmarks and adblock. Yep.
i need to try stock I've been using dolphin ever since........
Right now I Prefer the default because of Text formatting and Bookmark Icons.
Dolphin browser was pretty slick a few updates ago, then they messed it up with the menu navigation.
Gestures...full screen...and to deal with the ads...adfree (if rooted).
Hmmm... I'm not sure if I'm right bout this, but I think loading pages on the dolphin browser is quicker, I tested and compared both browsers against my co worker's Iphone, and SB loaded a few seconds behind the Iphone, then I tried it on the dolphin browser and it loaded up faster, of course I've tried this several times and got the same results. It was a very noticeable difference too, so from that point on I never used SB again.... You guys should try it out and let me know what you think.
i liked the dolphin for a while for enriched functions and the look, but then i somehow found it too overbearing for the simple task that i do every time. i may look into the firefox browser (if it ever really comes), but i am all for native as long as possible to retain native integration.
I've also found Dolphin to be quicker in loading pages than SB, which is the reason I'm using it atm. I use a browser to get around the web as quickly as possible so that the SB is slower makes it a no-brainer for me at least.
The reason I won't be leaving Dolphin Browser for now is definitely the full screen browsing. I've also grown so used to gestures for everything I think it would be hard to go back. I personally don't mind the menu taking up the whole screen because if I hit the menu button that's what I want, the menu, nice not having to do menu>more for basic stuff, long press>page or gesture to select text is also really nice. To each their own I suppose, just be glad we have options unlike some other phones *cough**cough*
I've got an Evo 4G/Supersonic with Sense, so I'm not sure how widespread this issue is, but I'm sure many people have noticed how when you visit certain websites (say, for example, the Engadget "full experience"/non-mobile version of the site) that the loading bar will periodically appear at the top, reducing the amount of screen real estate for content. This bar will also not go away until it is done loading.. whatever it is that it is loading.
Does anyone have any solutions to this? A different (better) version of the stock android browser? A better browser (that doesn't look horrible, and/or use up more screen real estate inherently)?
I've tried out many different browsers, but have yet to find one I actually prefer to the stock browser - and really, this background loading this is my only major gripe. Opera comes close, but its UI is pretty clunky (IMHO).
Any suggestions?
how about steel or xscope?
steel is very minimalist.. i love it
xscope, u can hide the address bar to view it full screen.. check it out
I actually just tried Steel (and uninstalled it) before making this topic.
One interesting thing is (with Swype at least) you have to press 'cancel' to 'go' when you enter in a URL. Overall it seemed fairly buggy. Nice looking interface though.
I'll check out xscope, thanks
Engadget has it own app, it loads in mobile friendly format but still keep the pictures and comments and without having to jump through the loop of going back and forth with the browser. It saves on battery as well since it doesn't have to load all the extra junk that's usually on the right side of Engadget (like popular posts, most discussed, Facebook integration, etc, which is what I expect was causing the extra loadings).
I notice when viewing images on the internet, that the there is a lot of banding in the images and that the color depth looks pretty low 256 colors?
does anyone know if the HD7 display is even 16, 24, or 32 bit color?
I've noticed the color banding only happens on webpages in IE. If you look at a photo in or any image anywhere else in the platform, it looks just fine and I don't see any banding.
It has something to do with the way that WP7 IE renders pages. My guess is that the turned down image quality a little bit so that it can stay so fast and fluid.
prjkthack said:
I've noticed the color banding only happens on webpages in IE. If you look at a photo in or any image anywhere else in the platform, it looks just fine and I don't see any banding.
It has something to do with the way that WP7 IE renders pages. My guess is that the turned down image quality a little bit so that it can stay so fast and fluid.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
this is true at least for what IE renders. We discovered this at work especially with alpha channels not overlaying as well as it should.
yeah, i guess it is only in IE, which still sucks, browsers i used on my android phones didnt cheap out on the bits... IE also seems to load pages slowly, they start loading fast, but then hang on the last 10% for a while...
adambu1 said:
yeah, i guess it is only in IE, which still sucks, browsers i used on my android phones didnt cheap out on the bits... IE also seems to load pages slowly, they start loading fast, but then hang on the last 10% for a while...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
True, Android and iOS do not seem to mess with the quality of images much, but, neither of those browsers scroll/pan/zoom and fluidly as Windows Phone 7. So it seems to be a trade-off of sorts.
it will be interesting to see what the quality is like when IE9 mobile comes.
Hi there, not sure what is the confluence of factors....
But I find it horribly nasty in Lollipop with the google keyboard to place my cursor by tapping text I am editing. It just doesn't go where my thumb and eye thinks it should. It is getting more and more annoying.
I used Smart Keyboard Pro in KitKat, and it had a "calibration" subroutine that I thought was responsible for hitting the actual keys, but do you think it also helped text entry selection?
Do IME rules govern the text cursor placement? I am now used to the google keyboard layout but find the precision horrid.
Thanks for any thoughts on subject.
Hah. Just tested Smart Keyboard Pro again... after calibrating. It feels like I can enter text again right away. It was very buggy during the Android version bump, but updates have made it work great again!
Now just another layout reconditioning....d'oh
nednednerb said:
Do IME rules govern the text cursor placement?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope. All an IME can do is read what is in the text field (for correction) and what type of text field it is (plaintext, password, username, number-only, etc) through the system (not the text field itself), and tell the system to input keystrokes (it doesn't input them itself).
It has no direct contact with the text field itself.
A keyboard app is really just a UI and sometimes also a text corrector.
Hmmm. I wonder about how Smart Keyboard Pro works its "calibration"... and then I wonder why without fail, switching keyboard is letting me navigate the text field better.
Something in the story you give is missing perhaps. Text correction for instance indicates going "into" the text field...
I notice the little handle to drag the cursor also feels way less buggy. I was having trouble even grabbing the handle in Google Keyboard. It also looks like a different handle.
Maybe things have changed from KitKat to Lollipop....perhaps somehow related to not being able to use any alternative IME if the default IME was removed. I saw others complaining about that. Some input method functions that were "deeper than the IME apk" are now placed differently...
I am not a dev though and wouldn't know where to begin to look in version manifest to see this described.
It makes sense a keyboard app dev would try to make entry work better if they COULD somehow fool the screen to better "read my mind" which is totally the aim of Smart Keyboard Pro's calibration function.
Not saying you're wrong exactly, but curious because I'm always learning and enjoy understanding and my test has seemed to work in my favour!
nednednerb said:
Hmmm. I wonder about how Smart Keyboard Pro works its "calibration"... and then I wonder why without fail, switching keyboard is letting me navigate the text field better.
Something in the story you give is missing perhaps. Text correction for instance indicates going "into" the text field...
I notice the little handle to drag the cursor also feels way less buggy. I was having trouble even grabbing the handle in Google Keyboard. It also looks like a different handle.
Maybe things have changed from KitKat to Lollipop....perhaps somehow related to not being able to use any alternative IME if the default IME was removed. I saw others complaining about that. Some input method functions that were "deeper than the IME apk" are now placed differently...
I am not a dev though and wouldn't know where to begin to look in version manifest to see this described.
It makes sense a keyboard app dev would try to make entry work better if they COULD somehow fool the screen to better "read my mind" which is totally the aim of Smart Keyboard Pro's calibration function.
Not saying you're wrong exactly, but curious because I'm always learning and enjoy understanding and my test has seemed to work in my favour!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The only thing a keyboard app can "calibrate for accuracy" is on the keyboard view itself, not the text field. Both the text cursor and text field are 100% handled by the system and in some cases the app you're typing in, never the IME application.
Okay, thanks.. hmm. What kind of system features may be responsible for precision?
There are "responsiveness" differences between kernels and ROM combos... but assuming I like my ROM and kernel, what kind of potential tweaks to settings might make the touch screen more snappy and stable for text editing?
I notice thermal throttling when using phone when charging definitely worsens ability to type. Way more lag.. for example, cursor will jump around. Key presses will hang.
Thank you @Lethargy for your time spent thinking.
nednednerb said:
Okay, thanks.. hmm. What kind of system features may be responsible for precision?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know what you mean here. It uses InputMethodManager/InputMethodService, and text fields are managed by TextView.
nednednerb said:
There are "responsiveness" differences between kernels and ROM combos... but assuming I like my ROM and kernel, what kind of potential tweaks to settings might make the touch screen more snappy and stable for text editing?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ROMs have no influence unless one has a terribly written feature which lags the entire thing. Kernels don't affect anything themselves either - the kernel settings do, which are also user tunable anyways (default settings on a kernel are usually just what the builder prefers themselves). Neither have anything to do with text cursor placement accuracy, and no ROM should be messing with how the IME works anyways as it'll cause problems for more people than solve.
And there isn't anything you can do to make it more accurate other than physically (via using a stylus or having smaller fingers), since each touch is registered on an individual pixel, not the entire surface area being touched.
nednednerb said:
I notice thermal throttling when using phone when charging definitely worsens ability to type. Way more lag.. for example, cursor will jump around. Key presses will hang.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not necessarily thermal throttle. An IME will run fine on a Nexus 5 even if you underclock to 1GHz. More likely its just your CPU usage being high and the IME isn't as high a priority as what is keeping up lets say 75% of your CPU.
So perhaps I might have less lag if I overclocked a bit? I guess that is obvious...
Do you know of not too invasive methods of altering the IME priority or tweaking the touch responsiveness in general?
Also, I am being more careful about my large thumb's "one pixel" touch point, and I am noticing an improvement already.... although I had already switched back to the 3rd party keyboard which seemed to help right away with input accuracy.
I also found a google android issue with 51 stars regarding generally buggy input issues in the Nexus 5 on Lollipop... so I am not too crazy about noting my issue perhaps!
Thanks for your help in understanding IME, @Lethargy.
nednednerb said:
So perhaps I might have less lag if I overclocked a bit? I guess that is obvious...
Do you know of not too invasive methods of altering the IME priority or tweaking the touch responsiveness in general?
Also, I am being more careful about my large thumb's "one pixel" touch point, and I am noticing an improvement already.... although I had already switched back to the 3rd party keyboard which seemed to help right away with input accuracy.
I also found a google android issue with 51 stars regarding generally buggy input issues in the Nexus 5 on Lollipop... so I am not too crazy about noting my issue perhaps!
Thanks for your help in understanding IME, @Lethargy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Overclocking might not help that much, and I don't know of an easy way to force priority.
I don't have such issues with any sort of IME, so it's likely a per-user issue rather than affecting everybody. I also use the AOSP and Google keyboard.