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[Misc] future of android.

Would like to start a general discussion here.
Would it be a good idea if Google only use android on their own ( Motorola) hardware?
Take this as current state and not the changes in ice cream.
Currently android is a mess 6 versions of the the os in the market.
Three main ones app makers have to support.
I love aosp so I use cm7 as I missed the nexus one and the nexus s didn't have an SD card.
I have tried touchwiz on a galaxy s. Sense on a hero and desire HD. Motoblur on a dext and defy.
They add nothing all they do is slow down the phone and updates.
Why do company's feel the need to add old ui's ( most are ported from older model phones)
Something I miss from my iphones was updates on all devices as the same time, no waiting around for a manufactor to mess around with it,then a network to spoil it even more, then for me to get it after a slow roll out.
So maybe android needs to take a look at ios and think why do app devs like it more? Why do normal users like it more?( XDA users are not normal users)
I would like one of three things to happen.
1- all android phones are aosp.
2- added UI are installable as an option not bundled into the phone.
3- Google to only release phones for purity.
Would like to see peoples thoughts on this.
And also if you like a UI why do you like it? what do you think it adds?
I repair things I am not a writer so hope its coherent enough to get the jist.
Sent from my Tablet

HTC, Samsung, Moto, etc... they put those UIs on to dumb down the OS. Make it simple. Simple sells.
Simple UI plus a Powerful OS = great sales!

But sense adds even more settings and more to the lockscreen more everything.
Motoblur seems to need a blur account then you need your Google account for market.
Not that simple to me.
Touchwiz just seems to change things not add or take away.
Sent from my Phone

All of those make it simple. How do you add to the lock screen on stock Android?

vetvito said:
All of those make it simple. How do you add to the lock screen on stock Android?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can't on stock its a simple unlock or mute
Sent from my Phone

What makes apple so "great" in most customers eyes is the simplicity. I love android just for the fact that there are so many ways time customize it it's ridiculous. Example: apple had to release almost 5 generations of the iPhone just to try to keep up with the android.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

aurgerman said:
Example: apple had to release almost 5 generations of the iPhone just to try to keep up with the android.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure I agree with that.
Android only really took over apple when android got to 2.2( not everyone even has that yet)
Ios is very rock soil and before ios4 didn't really crash on me. I have only started noticing problems since ios4.
And with the customization with our phones there is a limit to what you can theme on stock rom without root.
Installing cydia on ios devices you get loads of themes and changes some of them are even better then android visually.
Sent from my Phone

Are you sure ^ ? 2.2 - 2.3 is on 85% of Android devices right now.

Let's keep in mind that all these companies need to distinguish themselves from their competition. Consider all the competing phones based on, say, the ARM A8 platform. With similar core hardware under the hood running the same underlying OS, the interface is simply the best place to make a given model noticeably distinct to the average consumer.
Google may not be thrilled with platform fragmentation, but I'd wager that the various royalties / licensing fees / brand recognition opportunities / whatever more than make up for it. Going full-turtle would be bad business. Just my 2 cents...
Sent from my SCH-I500 using xda premium

iammodo said:
3- Google to only release phones for purity.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Coming soon from Google: AryanOS, locked down tighter than **** Cheney's butthole to guarantee purity!
/Godwinned
Sent from my SCH-I500 using xda premium

vetvito said:
HTC, Samsung, Moto, etc... they put those UIs on to dumb down the OS. Make it simple. Simple sells.
Simple UI plus a Powerful OS = great sales!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So true.
Also, Google, Moto, Sammy, and HTC don't fight back enough with carriers, mainly Verizon, against bloat. Verizon would probably say "To hell with Android then" if they did, since they don't have as much leverage as the iPhone and Apple.
Jazz is also right. If every manufacture had stock on their phones, you wouldn't know which to choose since there would be no difference. Only buyers, like us, that actually care about the speed of a phone, and the ram and rom and all that jazz would know the differences, but average users wouldn't. Hell, my sister, who is only 21, doesn't understand the difference between a Droid and an Android phone, she assumes that every phone that runs Android is a Droid...like my aunt's Evo. (lol)
I actually like Sense, especially Sense 3.5. I think it makes Android look a little nicer, especially if you don't want to root or use custom roms. Touchwiz is also kinda nice, but it's really just the launcher that is changed. Blur is a piece of doodoo though. Can't even install the Facebook app onto my X2 because of Blur's useless Facebook integration that works like hell. Tells me everything I don't want to know, and nothing that I do.
I seriously don't see the point of bloat anyways. If the app is already installed on my phone and I never use it, what is the difference between that and it not being on my phone entirely. If I wanted the dang app, I would've clicked the Verizon tab in the market and downloaded VCast or VMusic. Best answer is probably that Verizon has some stupid person in HR or whatever deciding on what is preinstalled on the phone, instead of the actual consumer. (Then again, I don't see the point in a Facebook phone as well..)

Thanks
Enviado desde mi SM-G925F mediante Tapatalk

Its like looking into a time machine , i remember iOS3 & 4 when it was as simple as jailbreak.me man it used to be so easy :/

So WEBOS will be open source

Does that mean we might see a port on our phones?
Sent from Oxygen 2.3.2 powered Nexus S 4G

I suppose if they release everything like kernel source I don't see why not. Personally I'd love to see webOS on my nexus s
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App

I sure hope we do.
Not that I plan on changing to it permanently, but it might be cool.

I would PAY big to get webOS on the Nexus S 4G!!
I formally owned the Palm Pre and the Pixi. The pre had horrible hardware but the OS was beautiful, simple, elegant, and overall a pleasure to use.
So... I will lend my girlfriend for two weeks to the first developer to make this possible.

What is andrid fragmentation

Over the last few weeks almost every artile I have viewed about android have mentioned fragmentation can someone please explain to me what this is and how it affects gingerbread?
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

It means some devices run 2.2 others run 2.3
Carriers putting on skins ect
Sent From Space Using My ICS Flavored Sensation

So like honeybread?
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asoep1 said:
So like honeybread?
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is no android version called honeybread but you might be thinking of the version for tablets which is called honeycomb.
Fragmentation means that there are several versions of android being used rather than just one or two.
All operating systems are fragmented but some more than others. For example a number of iphone users are not using ios5 just as a lot of android users are not using ice cream sandwich.
Dave
Sent from my LG P920 using Tapatalk

From what I have been reading, it mostly refers to the fact that the all Android versions for phones have, over time, taken slightly different directions as far as the UI, development, tools, etc from Honeycomb, the version dedicated to tablets. This in turn has created increasing consistency/incompatibility issues with applications since even slight differences in the OS would (in many cases) require different versions of the same application. This, again translates into unnecessary additional costs, and so ICS has been developing as the common ground for any future software development, be it phone or tablet.

@nacho thnx and other dude I know honeybread is not a version its when you have gingerbread on something but have honey comb icons
Sent from my SPH-D700

asoep1 said:
Over the last few weeks almost every artile I have viewed about android have mentioned fragmentation can someone please explain to me what this is and how it affects gingerbread?
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It means that not all Android devices are up to date, and they're all running slightly different software versions and manufacturer overlays.
For example there are tons of phones with Android 2.3 (Gingerbread), some with 2.2 (Froyo), and a few still on 2.1(Eclair) or 1.6 (Cupcake). The latest Galaxy Nexus has 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) and most tablets are still running 3.2 (Honeycomb).
Of the phones on 2.3, all of these phones have slightly different versions of 2.3, with HTC Sense, Samsung Touchwiz, etc. that make these all look and act differently. People complain because there are no consistent UI paradigms across different devices. If you pick up an HTC phone then a Samsung phone they look completely different.
So right now, only ~1% of Android devices are running the latest software (even though ICS is months old), consisting of devices like the Galaxy Nexus and Transformer Prime pretty much. Contrast that with iOS, where probably 90% of devices have the latest version (save for iPhone 2G and 3G, which got kicked off the update path), and when the new version is available, all devices get it at the same time. Windows Phone is similar, in which when there is an OTA, pretty much all manufacturers and carriers push the update, and about 85% are running WP7.5 (latest version).
If you want an editorial opinion, I think Google needs to learn from how Apple and Microsoft are doing their updates and controlling their OS. Fragmentation is bad for the ecosystem, bad for users, and bad for Google. They need to start putting the screws to manufacturers to stop putting skins on Android (for example withhold GAPPS from those who skin), and start hitting the carriers to push OTAs in a timely matter.

martonikaj said:
If you want an editorial opinion, I think Google needs to learn from how Apple and Microsoft are doing their updates and controlling their OS. Fragmentation is bad for the ecosystem, bad for users, and bad for Google. They need to start putting the screws to manufacturers to stop putting skins on Android (for example withhold GAPPS from those who skin), and start hitting the carriers to push OTAs in a timely matter.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You got that right. The reason the Samsung Galaxy S series isn't getting an official ICS is because they haven't figured out a way to cram Touchwiz into it. In their view, that's the deal breaker.
On the plus side, it's pushed people like me to XDA. I was quite content with the official Gingerbread but now I wonder why I waited so long before jumping into custom ROMs.

Wakamatsu said:
You got that right. The reason the Samsung Galaxy S series isn't getting an official ICS is because they haven't figured out a way to cram Touchwiz into it. In their view, that's the deal breaker.
On the plus side, it's pushed people like me to XDA. I was quite content with the official Gingerbread but now I wonder why I waited so long before jumping into custom ROMs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But we are getting the.value pack instead
Sent from my SPH-D700

A lot of Android phones aren't getting updates after a few months of being released. This causes major fragmentation. iPhones have fragmentation too, as the older models can't run iOS 4.3 and above.

iJchen said:
A lot of Android phones aren't getting updates after a few months of being released. This causes major fragmentation. iPhones have fragmentation too, as the older models can't run iOS 4.3 and above.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes very true, but only very old models. Even the 3GS got iOS 5, and that is coming up on 3 years old. And the 2G and 3G got updates for about as long as well.

Best Phones for Testing APKs?

We need to buy about 2 phones for testing some custom android apps we've built.
Does anyone have suggestions on what the best phones for testing would be?
I was thinking something with HTC sense on it, and something with stock android on it. Both need to be able to s-off and root easily.

erm... the google dev phones (nexus) ?? Personally I use galaxy nexus most for this kinda thing

For any kind of software testing, you need to know how it will function on both the latest and greatest devices, as well as the oldest hardware you intend to support.
I'd think for the price of two top-tier 2012 phones, you could buy 1 top of the line current phone, one from last year, and one from 2 years ago. Possibly also include Sense, Touchwiz and vanilla android.

Something running GB and something running ICS/JB. Many phones are still on GB so a used device running GB would be useful to test on.

Test it on emulator first?

jianC said:
Test it on emulator first?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes for sure it's the first thing to do,but not always if it works on emulator it will work on specific phone

Nexus one and galaxy nexus. Then you've got gingerbread and jellybean covered

If you need a newer phone for testing , the Galaxy Nexus is an obvious choice .
If you need a older phone ( old hardware ) to test yous apps , have a look at Nexus 1 or HTC Desire , it can run flawlessly 2.2 , 2.3 and 4.0.4 . I have a Desire on ICS ( BCM ) so I can tell .

willpower102 said:
We need to buy about 2 phones for testing some custom android apps we've built.
Does anyone have suggestions on what the best phones for testing would be?
I was thinking something with HTC sense on it, and something with stock android on it. Both need to be able to s-off and root easily.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HD2? ROMs range from Android 2.1-4.1 (AOSP, AOKP, CM), Sense 2.0-3.5 (one discontinued Sense 4 alpha), TouchWiz + GB, Xperia Arc GB, MIUI etc. It's also got similar specs to a low-range phone nowadays so that would be a good choice I think. In addition, a One X probably.

HTC One X?!

Samsung galaxy nexus
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium

Galaxy nexus its official hands down
Sent from my evo 4g using xda premium

It seems it is indeed no contest there.
Does the Galaxy Nexus come with Sense by default? (It's been a while since I've looked into these. Last Android phone I owned was a droid bionic and before that the htc hero.)
We definitely are going to support gingerbread, so we'll need a little bit of an older phone too. I'm sure breaking it up like that into 3 or so phones is ok, as long as they fall under budget.
And yeah, the dev tests with emulators, but I'm QA on this project so I get to play with them real-world once he's done and find more bugs.

Nexus S and a Galaxy Nexus,
Will do the job well:thumbup:
Sent from my GT-S5660 using xda premium

willpower102 said:
It seems it is indeed no contest there.
Does the Galaxy Nexus come with Sense by default? (It's been a while since I've looked into these. Last Android phone I owned was a droid bionic and before that the htc hero.)
We definitely are going to support gingerbread, so we'll need a little bit of an older phone too. I'm sure breaking it up like that into 3 or so phones is ok, as long as they fall under budget.
And yeah, the dev tests with emulators, but I'm QA on this project so I get to play with them real-world once he's done and find more bugs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
GNex is a Nexus phone, so why would it come with Sense?
Anyway, the best choice is still the HD2 IMO. You can test it on all versions of Android from 2.1-4.1 and it's incredibly cheap, with specs which are not too bad (1GHz Snapdragon with 576MB RAM) for the price. If you can get the app to run smoothly on the HD2 the likelihood is that it will run on any newer phone.

IMHO you have yo use a stock device.. nexus as all the docs suggest. Custom ROMs have additions substitutions and tweaks that in a dev sense are not baseline. Although the differences are minimal or should be. Better to play safe. So nexus s and galaxy nexus.. Google provide stock ROMs for these in dev device downloads.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium

Noted. Thanks.
And yeah, that's cool that some of these phones support plenty of roms, but I don't want to be flashing 3 different roms every time the dev iterates a new point (v.2) update. I'd rather have 2-3 phones ready to go. (seems lazy, but I've got a lot of other work to do to

We got a droid (motorola timestamp issues), a Galaxy Nexus, and an hd2. So the hd2 comes stock with windows mobile? This is strange to me.

willpower102 said:
We got a droid (motorola timestamp issues), a Galaxy Nexus, and an hd2. So the hd2 comes stock with windows mobile? This is strange to me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, the hd2 does have a lot of support, but when the top threads in the device specific forum warn of how unstable and beta-ish android development is on this phone, then I'm not really as excited as I was. might end up returning this one.

Is it just me or should EVERY Android phone have a Google edition?

Perhaps it's not such a big deal on the new fancy phones like the S4 and One, but on lower end phones I don't believe it's fair to have TouchWiz, Sense, or MotoBlur completely destroy the usability of the phone. I think it's unfair. They developed a stock Android Rom and then shoved all their theming up its rear end. A flashable stock Rom should be readily available from the manufacturer. Does anyone else agree?
Sent from my SPH-M830 using xda app-developers app

BlackFire27 said:
Perhaps it's not such a big deal on the new fancy phones like the S4 and One, but on lower end phones I don't believe it's fair to have TouchWiz, Sense, or MotoBlur completely destroy the usability of the phone. I think it's unfair. They developed a stock Android Rom and then shoved all their theming up its rear end. A flashable stock Rom should be readily available from the manufacturer. Does anyone else agree?
Sent from my SPH-M830 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A lot of low end devices are just pumped out of factories by the manufacturers just so they can make a bit money. These devices generally screw the users because it isn't updated much (or possibly not even at all). A Google Edition ROM should be made for every device. But we don't need the manufacturers to make them for us - we on XDA are developers, and a Google Edition ROM is pretty much AOSP android built for that device. Also, flashing ROMs usually voids the warranty, so I don't see why most manufacturers would support that. And yes, all the manufacturer skins such as Touchwiz, Sense, etc waste RAM and make the CPU load heavier. AOSP android would not only be pretty, it would also generally provide better performance.

My life is heavily firewalled preventing me from getting much if any development work done :c and honestly if it means I can use my own device that I paid for, I could give 2 craps less about the warranty. My phone is struggling to type this post. It's pathetic.
Sent from my SPH-M830 using xda app-developers app

BlackFire27 said:
My life is heavily firewalled preventing me from getting much if any development work done :c and honestly if it means I can use my own device that I paid for, I could give 2 craps less about the warranty. My phone is struggling to type this post. It's pathetic.
Sent from my SPH-M830 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try getting Google Keyboard if you want a better typing experience. There are several Galaxy Rush modified stock ROMs. There are dozens of scripts that you can apply to your phone. Some phones just aren't that fast. I have a Ace II X (Galaxy S Duos) and it doesn't lag much, but your device seems to have better specs than mine! Try the app lagfix from the Play Store. Unfortunately I cannot help you with compiling a ROM, I don;t have time to help you with that (I'm compiling my own ROM). Don't be afraid to try anything and everything for your device. Just keep a backup of your ROM (system folder) beforehand.

It's like buying a Windows PC to install Linux.
Part of the price goes to an OS that you don't want.
To change that, the demand must greatly increase.

I would love to finally see a paradigm shift away from manufacturers butchering Android with their own versions. I've heard and read a ton of reviews recently about these Google Edition phones and in all cases they've had better than favourable reviews. Of course, reviewers are tech savvy and like most people on xda would love to see AOSP Android become more widespread. The message that's emerging is that the people want AOSP. It's better in every way. Now we just need to make the general buying public realise that! I like the branding and 'Google Edition' is the sort of hook that might generate more interest, but i wonder if the manufacturers have the motivation to market these devices properly.
Some interesting points i've heard raised include HTC, Samsung et al being hardware companies that should be differentiating their products by releasing better hardware than their competitors. They're not software companies. They get the software from Google. They shouldn't be sabotaging their own devices by adding bloatware features that nobody likes, needs or uses. Look at the recent outcry over the lack of free storage on new devices!
It's time for things to change!