Before I begin, I am fairly new to posting actively on XDA but I am far from new to XDA and Android. Please also note that I am not a developer or Android coder I am a Grad Student with much interest in technology and of course the Nexus S being it's my baby
So, this is all in reference to two things, one is this artical posted by a ex-Google intern, in reply to a former Google Android engineer. https://plus.google.com/100838276097451809262/posts/VDkV9XaJRGS and two, the latest and greatest Ice Cream Sandwich.
The post is about why Android phones UI is generally more laggy compared to the likes of Windows Phone, and iOS. I am not going to go into details much on this so please read the link, it is really quite interesting.
Here are my two cents on the whole UI Lag discussion that I thought I would bring up here to see what you guys think.
I am currently using a normal Nexus S rooted and running the Crossbones ICS ROM, and I have used many other ICS ROMs as well. Before I rooted my phone and tried out some custom ROMs, I was using stock Android 2.3.X for several months, and I was satisfied... but not impressed with the visuals Android had to offer. True I knew all about Android before buying the phone but I was expecting a little more from Google' flagship device (At the time) and was wanting a little more eye candy: Thus leading to me rooting the phone after much debate of waiting for ICS to officially come out or skipping into the joys of early betas and amazing 2.3.X ROMs. Now, being a person who likes a good looking ROM and all the smooth eye candy I went over to MIUI for quite some time (BrainMasters 2.3.7 version) and I stuck to it for a fair time. MIUI was a vast improvement in the browser, UI and everything in general which is why I liked it so much, yet it was still totally stable and very fast.
Moving on to ICS, now in fairness I am not using a official ICS ROM but all the ones I have tried were identical in overall differences that I may mention.
With Android 4.0 I noticed that there was a IMMEDIATELY noticeable difference in the design (I really love a good looking ROM) and more importantly the smooth performance of... EVERYTHING! To more clearly state my point here is what I mean mostly...
Android 2.3.X
Load up desktop version of YouTube and I scroll around finding...
-Delay in response time
-Drop in FPS
-Video and flash content is very choppy and doesn't hold to frame well
-Pinch to zoom works smooth but initial response is delayed
etc.
Android 4.0.3
Load up desktop version of YouTube (Or ANY webpage I have tried on it) and see...
-Response is immediate and very smooth on scroll
-DOES NOT JITTER WHEN FULLY ZOOMED OUT
-Pinch to zoom works 100%
-Maintains high FPS no noticed drops
-(Amazingly...) Flash content on all sites tried stays not only in frame and in tact with the page but video plays at a CONSISTENT FPS (Something Dual-Core 2.3 phones suffer on!)
-Sometimes has to reload certain areas once panned and or zoomed.
I encourage you to test this yourself if you can on both versions
The battle claimed in link I posted is that you can have a smooth UI but background processes suffer, well on Android 4.0.3 it seems they have both, because it is smooth (As your eyes will tell you) and it loads say for example images on a website AS you scroll and zoom where as in iOS sometimes pinch to zoom or scroll will stop all loading. Websites with timers are a good example...
iPhone/iOS
Zooming/Panning with a timer on the webpage FREEZES the timer.
Android 2.3.X
Zooming/Panning with a timer may stop the timer, but when fingers are released countdown continues depending on how many seconds you held your finger down.
Android 4.0.3
Zooming/Panning with a timer keeps timer going and displays it accurately.
Basically what the engineer claims is that iOS prioritizes the look, and animation rendering thread, over anything else, and Android runs it along with everything else, and if Android chose to change this, then they would need a total framework re-write (Almost out of the question considering the consequences of such) Yet to me it seems like those Google engineers have worked out both?...
I am again not a coding person so if you are I would love to hear why this is?
Any input on this from your perspectives?
Reserved
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA App. Developer of brickROM, and OP of XDA Thread of The Year 2011.
Shark_On_Land said:
Reserved
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA App. Developer of brickROM, and OP of XDA Thread of The Year 2011.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why do people reserve on here?
LGIQEXPO said:
iPhone/iOS
Zooming/Panning with a timer on the webpage FREEZES the timer.
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Click to collapse
It think it's kinda normal. The iPhone is not multi-task at all, when you do something, everything is paused and the processor is only working on what you're doing.
It's designed so.
Interesting though, thanks for the share.
kooskoos1814 said:
It think it's kinda normal. The iPhone is not multi-task at all, when you do something, everything is paused and the processor is only working on what you're doing.
It's designed so.
Interesting though, thanks for the share.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So its a bfs kernel?
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA App. Developer of brickROM, and OP of XDA Thread of The Year 2011.
LGIQEXPO said:
Why do people reserve on here?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If this Knowledge is key.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA App. Developer of brickROM, and OP of XDA Thread of The Year 2011.
LGIQEXPO said:
Android chose to change this, then they would need a total framework re-write
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's basically the TLDR.
Now, what will Google do? Probably nothing, quad cores are around the corner and rumors of today are, they'll start with their own HW.
They need to focus really fast, if they don't want to become the next Microsoft. Android has a large user base by now, but in this year, WP will come closer and closer. More and more larger apps from iOS & Android are now ported on this platform, which doesn't have UI framework issues and is quite well polished to run on older HW (comparison: HTC Desire vs HTC Trophy).
I was saddened to realize that Apple did the multitasking right. Why ?
Well, multitasking on the PC is not the same as on the phone. You don't have apps side by side.
So when I'm interacting with an app, I want full UI response and don't care what's running in the background or what system is doing. It should listen to ME and STOP anything else. That's why the iOS is so fluid.
Androids Intent system is brilliant, also the notification stuff. But as in UX, Apple (and MS - they went more Apple style here) knows what they're doing.
The older Androids suffered from the effects of a true multitasking system, though even the now dating single core Nexus S can easily and happily runs the latest and greatest practically lag free. The biggest factor in all of this is the kernel - the only one which i find noticeable lag in is the stock kernel. This should be the first place google looks at in upcoming devices, even though such enhancements aren't even needed anymore (all SGS2s i've used are comparable to the iphones fluidity).
In the coming years apple will likely fall behind. Phones are becoming like computers, and hell so many people are using phone OSs as a computer replacement (i'm looking at you, tablets).
A couple of rough years with weaker-than-preferred hardware are, in my opinion, worth it for getting a several year headstart. I'm normally not for an OS requiring lots of hardware to keep up, but the damn thing has more pretty effects than my windows desktop. Try running windows xp with 512mb of ram and a 1.4ghz celeron processor and let us remember what progress requires.
Harbb said:
The older Androids suffered from the effects of a true multitasking system, though even the now dating single core Nexus S can easily and happily runs the latest and greatest practically lag free.
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Sorry, but anyone saying any Android is lag free, compared to 60fps iOS fluidity - needs to get an eye surgery.
madd0g said:
Sorry, but anyone saying any Android is lag free, compared to 60fps iOS fluidity - needs to get an eye surgery.
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Lags in certain apps. Like twitter. However general UI is lag free. Lag comes here and there however.
Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk
In general comparisons to an iphone 4 it really is not far off. Browsing around home screens and app menu and working with them is on par. Switching back and forth in the settings menu takes its time in comparison, which is definitely a pain, as well as lag when doing something that hasn't been done in a while. Some apps tend to fail with scrolling lists for reasons i do not know; not caching images maybe?
The iPhone definitely is better with the UI, there are no doubts here. But in a couple of days of switching back and forth it is starting to seem more fluid because of how iOS reacts with scrolling and the likes - it's very sensitive and flings around for a long time. I noticed this when playing with a 3gs and 4 next to each other, the 3gs was lagging but still felt very fluid - somehow.
Multi core cpus are the cure to this lag. Simple. I experience this lag on minor occasions with my nexus. I'm sure if I had a gnex I'd never notice it at all. Android does so much more than ios. As so, its not gonna run as smooth no matter what. I'd take a slightly laggy, fully functional ui over a closed in, non multitasking, uncustomizable heap of hipster trash anyday.
pwnd by my ns4geee yo
madd0g said:
That's basically the TLDR.
Now, what will Google do? Probably nothing, quad cores are around the corner and rumors of today are, they'll start with their own HW.
They need to focus really fast, if they don't want to become the next Microsoft. Android has a large user base by now, but in this year, WP will come closer and closer. More and more larger apps from iOS & Android are now ported on this platform, which doesn't have UI framework issues and is quite well polished to run on older HW (comparison: HTC Desire vs HTC Trophy).
I was saddened to realize that Apple did the multitasking right. Why ?
Well, multitasking on the PC is not the same as on the phone. You don't have apps side by side.
So when I'm interacting with an app, I want full UI response and don't care what's running in the background or what system is doing. It should listen to ME and STOP anything else. That's why the iOS is so fluid.
Androids Intent system is brilliant, also the notification stuff. But as in UX, Apple (and MS - they went more Apple style here) knows what they're doing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry but none the Apps I use are on Windows Phone. I've even ask developers to port some apps over, and their answers were all the, "its not worth it".
Yeah its smooth, but that's it. I'll buy a iPhone if I want looks over function.
Fyi, everything is not 60 fps on IOS, just like Android.
Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk
RushAOZ said:
Multi core cpus are the cure to this lag.
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Click to collapse
That's just a poor excuse for bad OS architecture planning and inefficient coding. A perfect proof for that is the above stated comparison of HTC Desire & HTC Trophy. Same hardware, totally different UI response.
And HW ain't the solution, unless they suddenly make a magical battery that lasts longer. You can't just stuff hardware and hope for the best. That's why proper coding on embedded devices is so important.
---------- Post added at 04:41 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:27 PM ----------
vetvito said:
Sorry but none the Apps I use are on Windows Phone. I've even ask developers to port some apps over, and their answers were all the, "its not worth it".
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Click to collapse
True, at this point. But I see more and more apps that were ported first from iOS to Android, now being ported to WP and the number of major apps IS rising, even faster then it was for Android in 2009/2010.
Google can't sleep now, when he's still on the top.
Another point: they have more and more inconsistency issues then ever, just see the Nexus line. New device is on an older 4.0.2 , old dev phone is on 4.0.3, but not the 4G version. Hilarious. They managed to get their own phone line fragmented.
They start many different new services, then they get behind with trying to fit them all together, UI wise or function wise. Then in the middle they change the UI look. Like chasing their own tail.
We could go on and on, but if they want to make drastic changes for anything on the OS, now it's still the time. Specially since now there's an opportunity when they develop the next Android version.
madd0g said:
That's just a poor excuse for bad OS architecture planning and inefficient coding. A perfect proof for that is the above stated comparison of HTC Desire & HTC Trophy. Same hardware, totally different UI response.
And HW ain't the solution, unless they suddenly make a magical battery that lasts longer. You can't just stuff hardware and hope for the best. That's why proper coding on embedded devices is so important.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You do understand how hardware grows? Smaller chips equal less power consumption. Like how the gs2 has better battery life than my nexus.. hardware IS the cure. This is why quad cores are being brought in so early. Do you not think Google knows this? Besides is this "lag" that big a deal to you folks?? Its barely noticeable on my nexus. My buddy just switched over from an iPhone 4 to an epic touch 4g and he wont stop talking about it. He's owned it for a month now and he always rubs in my face how fast it is and how lag free it is compared to his iPhone 4.
pwnd by my ns4geee yo
RushAOZ said:
You do understand how hardware grows? Smaller chips equal less power consumption. Like how the gs2 has better battery life than my nexus.. hardware IS the cure. This is why quad cores are being brought in so early. Do you not think Google knows this? Besides is this "lag" that big a deal to you folks??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, it grows slowly, because the makers of HW want to collect $ from each iteration. HW is not the cure, it's one part of the equation. Power is nothing without control.
Yes, I think any micro lag is a BIG thing. Have you ever worked behind the PC with a ****ty/old mouse with the ball + a worn out mouse pad ? It stuck, skipped etc. Or consider moving your mouse around in on the desktop and the cursor stutters from the time to time. It's like someone slapping you in the face every single time. And that not what I expect from a couple hundred dollar device.
madd0g said:
That's just a poor excuse for bad OS architecture planning and inefficient coding. A perfect proof for that is the above stated comparison of HTC Desire & HTC Trophy. Same hardware, totally different UI response.
And HW ain't the solution, unless they suddenly make a magical battery that lasts longer. You can't just stuff hardware and hope for the best. That's why proper coding on embedded devices is so important.
---------- Post added at 04:41 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:27 PM ----------
True, at this point. But I see more and more apps that were ported first from iOS to Android, now being ported to WP and the number of major apps IS rising, even faster then it was for Android in 2009/2010.
Google can't sleep now, when he's still on the top.
Another point: they have more and more inconsistency issues then ever, just see the Nexus line. New device is on an older 4.0.2 , old dev phone is on 4.0.3, but not the 4G version. Hilarious. They managed to get their own phone line fragmented.
They start many different new services, then they get behind with trying to fit them all together, UI wise or function wise. Then in the middle they change the UI look. Like chasing their own tail.
We could go on and on, but if they want to make drastic changes for anything on the OS, now it's still the time. Specially since now there's an opportunity when they develop the next Android version.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nah, windows phone isn't targeted at the Android market. Windows Phone is clearly after the iPhone market, however it fails big time. Its 2012 and still requires the use of cords. The major apps are pathetic, ever tried WhatsApp? Tango really sucks, angry birds doesn't even have all the levels, I could go on and on. Those are just the major apps, the other apps are even worse.
But yeah, its smooth. The UI gets beyond boring after a couple of weeks. I actually missed my static icons on Android. Hell the iPhone started looking good to me after dealing with my hd7.
Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk
All of you are saying that Windows Phone and iOS have different priorities over Android and this is true. Apple believes in making everything look and function nicely with out actually adding anything new. Android is more like the true computer if anything. I think that in coming years with quad core phones Android will soon be able to dedicate a whole core at 1000mghz to the UI if they wanted to opposed to the current 100ish it has.
LGIQEXPO said:
All of you are saying that Windows Phone and iOS have different priorities over Android and this is true. Apple believes in making everything look and function nicely with out actually adding anything new. Android is more like the true computer if anything. I think that in coming years with quad core phones Android will soon be able to dedicate a whole core at 1000mghz to the UI if they wanted to opposed to the current 100ish it has.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Heh. A laymans solution without thinking constructively.
You can throw 100 cores in if you want, but then what happens. On current dual core phones, the 2nd core is active only when needed. Battery life would be hammered down if it wasn't. Now imagine the same scenario for a quad. 1 core for UI animation ? Yeah, right for 4h of battery life perhaps.
This is from Cayniarb (http://forum.xda-developers.com/member.php?u=2634309), question was if you can enable the 2nd core to be on all the time instead of just when needed :
"People forcing cpu1 (the second core) to be online all the time will destroy your battery life and very possibly cause permanent damage to the chip in your device. The second core comes online under load. It is supposed to work that way. The architecture here is multi-processor - not the same as the multi-core architecture people are more familiar with in desk/laptops. This means that it is 2 pretty much entirely independent CPUs cast on one piece of silicon (as opposed to 1 CPU with multiple processing cores). This architecture allows the second core to be 'hotplugged' offline. It saves on power consumption, reduces heat output, and increases the longterm stability of the chip. Additionally, the Snapdragon S3 is the only aSynchronous Multi-Processor (aSMP) available. The critical difference there is that when cpu1 comes online it operates fully independently of cpu0.
The problem that aSMP and SMP chips have in android is that the core operating system is not designed to distribute processes across multiple cores/processors. Effectively, what you get here is a single core phone clocked at 1.2Ghz except when you really push it, there is an extra 1.2Ghz available on top. It's still only working one thread at a time, so it is not multiprocessing.
In order for anyone to experience the real power and benefit of dual-core phones, the core operating system needs to be completely reworked to include multiprocessing support natively... Oh wait. Isn't that happening like next week or something?""
Not many apps are coded right now to properly use 2 cores and they exist almost for 1 year now. How long would it take to redone this for quads? Again, HW is nothing without coding it right.
Is this not just history repeating itself? Patience, the future will answer our concerns.
Related
So I convince my sisters husband to trade in his iphone 3Gs for an HTC Desire HD. Within a week he is selling it on ebay, siteing very weak battery performance, poor multitouch implementation and general Lag as the main issues. He's actually gone back the 3GS.
I am an android fan an user. But while the poll seems to suggest the Desire HD is the best android phone of the year personally I disagree. The battery life on this device is absolutely appalling. Whats the point in having all those features when you MUST disable pretty much all connectivity/widgets etc to get a days use out of it? Personally I think it's poor engineering on HTC'S part. This in my mind shows a lack of thought as well on HTC's part.
How is it also that a device with the most ram on the market and one of the most capable CPU's is still laggy? I've seen it myself, it does pale in comparison to an iphone 4. And the multitouch implementation is also not as smooth. Now these issues wouldn't bother me as much because I love the android platform but for regular more superficial consumers who aren't looking to hack their device (like my sstsres husband) these are obvious problems and perceived as a direct indication of the superiority of apple devices.
I used to be an HTC fan but I am now becoming skeptical. My next android device will almost certainly not run sense UI as I think it is a contributing LAG factor and provides little actual benefit due to the Weak battery performance on most high end HTC devices.
So can anyone explain to me why all high end android devices are considerably more laggy and the UI's less fluid than the Iphone 4 and even the 3GS? Is it the software coding? Graphics engine? Manufacturer specific optimizations? The platform as a whole? Multi tasking? Hardware/Software integration? The way the transitions are implemented?
sere83 said:
So can anyone explain to me why all high end android devices are considerably more laggy and the UI's less fluid than the Iphone 4 and even the 3GS? Is it the software coding? Graphics engine? Manufacturer specific optimizations? The platform as a whole? Multi tasking? Hardware/Software integration? The way the transitions are implemented?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hate I can't be of assistance but I have not experienced lag on my high-end android device.
I see lag and have a HTC Evo. It lags while scrolling through web pages and it lags while scrolling through the apps. This is because of the Android OS. Open up system panel and scroll up and down in the open apps and watch the cpu spike to almost 100%...WTF. This is what causes the stuttery look. It's not smooth at all compared to the Iphone.
So can anyone explain to me why all high end android devices are considerably more laggy and the UI's less fluid than the Iphone 4 and even the 3GS? Is it the software coding? Graphics engine? Manufacturer specific optimizations? The platform as a whole? Multi tasking? Hardware/Software integration? The way the transitions are implemented?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The software isn't coded to efficiently offload to the GPU.
Dalvik isn't as great as other VM implementations (like .NET CF, I'm not sure if Apple uses a VM implementation - I have used, but never owned, an iOS device).
Manufacturer additions can clog the device up.
Also, Location services running in the background (even with GPS off) use your Cell Radio - draining battery. C2DM is nice and all, but most applications are coded also to work with 2.1 devices and tend to fail at choosing which one to use exclusively on FroYo devices. This leads to more battery drain.
Widgets use too much battery power. They need something similar to Live Tiles or PUSH-based updating instead of polling for widgets. If Google would develop decent stock Widgets, we'd be less dependent on these battery draining third-party or manufacturer widgets.
Most Android phones poll for Facebook/Twitter/etc. updates at specified intervals, using up battery. In addition, the Official (and third-party) Facebook/Twitter apps poll alongside the Android integrations, using up double the amount of battery power needed to update 2-4+ separate entities with the same data. Manufacturers should just integrate the official apps, instead of making redundant integrations into the base system. Waste of resources and battery power.
The base Android system is simply less efficient than something like Symbian when it comes to conserving data and Android developers generally don't worry about these types of things until after their applications are released, and it can take them months to remedy the issues due to the inefficiencies in the code, etc.
Akulamenuri said:
I hate I can't be of assistance but I have not experienced lag on my high-end android device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Then don't respond.
Thanks N8ter, nice for someone to finally shed some light on the subject. Really think they need to address some of these issues, especially if they are to change the mainstreams perceptions of the OS.
Any chance this little update's gonna help you think?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jx3pdWBlZ34&feature=player_embedded
I've yet to see any great lag on my Desire Z.
Sure, it can lag from times. But usually doesn't. This is probably because of OC and using a non-rosie rom.
Using a non-sense rom would help even more, as Sense itself causes lag.
I don't get lag on my gt540.
And thats a low end phone running 2.1.
Why you getting lag?
Well,it's mostly due to lack of UI hardware acceleration.The iCrap had it first because Apple needs to develop their OS for only one piece of hardware,which means it can be optimized in every possible way.Android and other platforms(although I think WP7 also has hardware acceleration) lack this and all of the UI is for the CPU to handle.Software rendering is zip compared to hardware,as GPUs are far more powerful than CPUs,they just use a limited instruction set,but they need no compiler.
Hope I helped!
It's a serious design flaw the needs to be addressed. Use the GPU, Luke! It feels awful using an Android handset, especially if you come from the perfect (albeit "limited" in some respects) world of another platform (I don't want to mention its name here). This problem completely shatters the user-experience.
If you, like millions of others, want to see this design flaw addressed, then cast your vote here:
(I can't post links, just search for "Android Issue 6914" - should be the first result).
Also, looks like Samsung are doing something about it with their latest Android 2.2.1 update that should be hitting the UK soon:
(again, can't post links, go to YouTube and tack this on the end of the URL: "watch?v=JpH3oX9RhIE").
(Youtube: watch?v=MkZZXeF5uV8)
At the moment, "Android" in synonymous with "lag" and "sluggishness". The above YouTube links of 2.2.1 on the Galaxy S show Android the way nature intended it to run! They show that things can be different, and we don't have to suffer that shame and embarrassment of sub-standard UI performance that's a far second to (you know who)!!
I for one am hoping Samsung's example with 2.2.1 is a sign of things to come (I've been hoping this for over 2 years now - sigh...).
I hope so as well. Lay is a major issue and to me waste battery life.
I get no lag with my vibrant even with little storage left.
I rarely ever get lag, only time I have on my Inc is when I downloaded an app that didn't agree with the phone.
Sent from my ADR6300 using......blah blah you get the idea.
Had no lag on my Nexus One with Froyo or now with Gingerbread.
galaxys said:
Had no lag on my Nexus One with Froyo or now with Gingerbread.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Go try the Microbes LWP. You'll soon see it
DirkGently1 said:
Go try the Microbes LWP. You'll soon see it
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Click to collapse
HaHa! I'll take your word on that one and stick with my stable rom...for now
Samsung Fascinate. No lag. Battery about the same as an iPhone unless put through rigorous usage. Amazing screen / multitouch.
Screw HTC.
Samsung Fascinate, Verizon
EB01 Superclean 2.4
Kenesis' TransMyst GBKB (EPIIIIIC)
Mob87's Honeycomb Theme
Stock Kernel
I guess you guys have less than 50 apps..I understand..really.
On my at this point low powered Eris I'm running with sense and have 60 apps installed with almost no lag
Sent from my Eris using Tapatalk
I have 104 ..
My dad is using a stock Mytouch 4G and I noticed some lag when I was playing around with it, and we've only had our phones for about a month . I am running CM7 RC2 on mine and I think it's safe to say that sense is what causes a good part of the lag. I think GPU acceleration is what is needed to keep android from running dry due to laggy devices. I know a couple of people who immediatly opted to get the iPhone over android because the devices were faster.
YouTube - Google I/O 2011: Accelerated Android Rendering
At the beginning of this video, they basically state that because "Dual core and quad core devices are coming out" that there will be no FULL hardware acceleration in Android...ever...
In a nutshell, they're saying the general public will buy a phone because "IT HAS 5 CORES!" or w/e and not know the difference between GPU and CPU usage. I find this amazing that Android phones, often associated with lag on even dual core phones, still find this a low priority when they are trying to compete with Apple (and potentially Windows Phone 7 someday).
I played with a Motorola Xoom yesterday in the Sprint store (to see what hardware acceleration would POSSIBLY be like in ICS and further beyond). The animations were smooth, but there was STILL some lag (I suppose this is because of larger screen and more pixels needing to drawn.....but why does the iPad and iPad 2 use hardware acceleration so much better with large screens....?) I know in 3.1 they say they're supposed to better support hardware acceleration, so maybe the demo unit I tested still had 3.0....
For the first time, I've actually been considering dropping Android and moving onto Windows Phone 7 in the future. I was really looking forward to the future of Android, but it looks like Google really is only a cash cow looking to cash in on consumers' lack of knowledge on this issue...
EDIT: I know that it has been said that Android will be hardware accelerated, but I guess I was posting to get an understanding on WHY Romain Guy said this....it's conflicting to what has been stated and confusing....
Why don't you consider this for one second. Open the app drawer in Android...thats the whole iOS basically. Does not take much power to run that smooth.
Then consider that the App Drawer is only one part of a huge OS with widgets running and multiple panels and its easy to understand why it takes a bit more power to run this OS.
As for lag, zero with my Nexus S everything is lightning fast. My captivate, x10, and Arc had lag yes, but not my Nexus S.
gunstar3035 said:
Why don't you consider this for one second. Open the app drawer in Android...thats the whole iOS basically. Does not take much power to run that smooth.
Then consider that the App Drawer is only one part of a huge OS with widgets running and multiple panels and its easy to understand why it takes a bit more power to run this OS.
As for lag, zero with my Nexus S everything is lightning fast. My captivate, x10, and Arc had lag yes, but not my Nexus S.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is a ridiculous statement. Use iOS for a couple of days and then say that. It's a lot smoother doing everything, especially scrolling.
gunstar3035 said:
Why don't you consider this for one second. Open the app drawer in Android...thats the whole iOS basically. Does not take much power to run that smooth.
Then consider that the App Drawer is only one part of a huge OS with widgets running and multiple panels and its easy to understand why it takes a bit more power to run this OS.
As for lag, zero with my Nexus S everything is lightning fast. My captivate, x10, and Arc had lag yes, but not my Nexus S.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've actually been playing with my Nexus S a little more and try to push it to see if there is lag, and I agree wholeheartedly....if the speed only improves from here then I'm a happy camper I guess. I think this is due to the fact that there are some parts of hardware acceleration present in Gingerbread currently. If they enable "more hardware acceleration" then I guess it will be much smoother (which there already is virtually zero lag to this phone). I played with other phones in Sprint yesterday, and even comparing the Nexus to the Xoom, the Nexus was faster (albeit, smaller screen means faster drawing and smoother....). I used to have the Epic and that lagged also quite a bit as well (thanks Touchwiz).
You do make an interesting point that I never thought about when comparing iOS to Android with the app drawer example (thanks for that). I hate iOS, and Apple (although the iPhone 4 device itself is dead sexy). Lol...I'm actually kind of disappointed in myself for comparing the smoothness I guess and falling for the Apple "trap".
If you listen a little further, they start talking about tablets and how in Android 3.0 all the basic drawing is now hardware accelerated, and needs to be because they are trying to push so many more pixels through the same pipeline.
They then talk about GPUI - GPU-accelerated UI. That's the core of what they're moving forward with.
Long story short, Honeycomb has HW acceleration in the basic UI. ICS will have that too.
jonnythan said:
This is a ridiculous statement. Use iOS for a couple of days and then say that. It's a lot smoother doing everything, especially scrolling.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
THIS.....At the event, they said that apps can be hardware accelerated. Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but this will bring the true "iOS" like experience to opening apps, and once the app is open it will be smooth like iOS from there (if the line of code is added by the developer(s)).
The scrolling IS smooth on Android, but not iOS smooth. For example (using a static wallpaper) scroll and notice it is smooth. However, add a YouTube widget to the screen and then click the search icon.....on my Nexus it will lag for a second or two (like it's thinking about it) and then present me with the window transition to the search bar screen. THAT, to me, suggests CPU "thinking" and NOT GPU "thinking". I guess I just notice a lot of elements that can sometimes tax (an extremely light tax thanks to EXT4, but a tax) on the CPU sometimes when it comes to animations and window transitions.
jonnythan said:
This is a ridiculous statement. Use iOS for a couple of days and then say that. It's a lot smoother doing everything, especially scrolling.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No its not and though I didn't start with the original iphone or iphone 3g, I have a iphone 3GS, iphone 4, and an ipad. Statement holds bud.
I like to switch around, I also have a black berry, but Android is superior in every way...though I do not own a windows phone 7 device as of yet.
I love how you say my entire statement is ridiculous and bring up scrolling...did I mention scrolling? NO...did that have anything to do with what I posted? NO...
Common sense, level it up.
jonnythan said:
If you listen a little further, they start talking about tablets and how in Android 3.0 all the basic drawing is now hardware accelerated, and needs to be because they are trying to push so many more pixels through the same pipeline.
They then talk about GPUI - GPU-accelerated UI. That's the core of what they're moving forward with.
Long story short, Honeycomb has HW acceleration in the basic UI. ICS will have that too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. I noticed this, and this was what led to my confusion. They say they're moving forward HW acceleration, but why then are there so many contradictory statements such as "there are these limitations to it....etc...." or other statements that basically say "yea...it's coming....but it's not gonna be what you expect it to be.....".
I'm at work, so I can really watch it again to come up with specific quotes, but if you listen there are some in there IMO...
Does a little bit of lag really bother people this much? I've used an iPhone 4 and still prefer android any day of the week. My Nexus S is the best phone I've ever used.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA Premium App
Zardos66 said:
Does a little bit of lag really bother people this much? I've used an iPhone 4 and still prefer android any day of the week. My Nexus S is the best phone I've ever used.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It bothers me, yeah. I find it very frustrating.
I think the lag has been slowly bugging me more and more....i seem to still get scrolling lag and some lag opening the app drawer in cm7 regardless of what I do.... That kind of lag is the first thing people notice... It should be one of the highest priorities for the future
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
Android 3.0 hardware acceleration, see here:
http://android-developers.blogspot.com/2011/03/android-30-hardware-acceleration.html
ICS is the next evolution (revolution?) from 3.0, so expect the same there.
If ICS will be used in the phone, it would have the same hardware acceleration as well.
So, be happy and wait for the Nexus Prime !
gunstar3035 said:
Your really coming off as a little troll ****. If you love apple so much stick with that and GTFO, thanks.
You come into this topic, posting that iOS is anything more than a giant menu (which by the way it is just an app menu and nothing more) and now your *****ing because you get frustrated by the nonexistant lag in the Nexus S...if that frustrates you I'd hate to see how you cope with a real issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Booooo to you sir, for being a flamer. He posted a reasonable question about a legitimate issue.
There IS lag in Android UI. I see it all the time. The main time I notice is the application opening/closing transition animations. Sometimes they literally render at about 2 to 4 frames per second.
Also there is major lag in Honeycomb on Tegra 2 tablets, but it is because of Tegra 2 bug in portrait mode. It is smooth in landscape but very laggy in portrait.
Holy crap, someone has issues
jonnythan said:
Holy crap, someone has issues
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol. I think his parents never loved him.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
malikadnanm said:
Lol. I think his parents never loved him.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Love is for the weak.
gunstar3035 said:
Love is for the weak.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The surest sign of strength is calling someone names on an internet message board for speaking about weaknesses of a mobile operating system.
gunstar3035 said:
I'll let you know when I give a ****.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I lol'd...
They better add gpu support...
gunstar3035 said:
Love is for the weak.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
derekwilkinson said:
I lol'd...
They better add gpu support...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No GPU support! It's perfectly 100% smooth as it is!
iOS is smoother because it's just an app drawer! iOS is incapable of the incredible things we do on Android.
I mean, iOS isn't smoother, AND it's just an app drawer! Wait, what am I saying?
PRESS THANKS IF YOU LIKE THE POST!!
The news comes straight in the form of two posts over on Google’s struggling social network Google+: one by a Google engineer who talks about how graphics work on Android and the other by a 3rd year software engineering student in reply to the first post. Both are pretty lengthy and can get pretty technical, so we’ll try simplifying it as much as we can.
We’ll start off with Google engineer Dianne Hackborn’s post. She states that hardware acceleration – i.e. using the GPU, instead of CPU alone, to render the user-interface – has existed on Android since version 1.0 for things such as sliding the notification bar, pop-up dialogues etc. Full hardware acceleration only came with Android 3.0 Honeycomb and, unsurprisingly, Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich actually has the same kind of hardware acceleration and this won’t necessarily sweeten things up.
Hackborn states that hardware acceleration “is not all full of win” since it takes away a lot of RAM when used for devices like Nexus S, Galaxy Nexus with OpenGL. Each process takes about 8MB of RAM and “isn’t worth it” considering the minimal effect it has on how “smooth” the UI looks after implementing it. So yes, hardware acceleration certainly helps, but it takes far too much processing power for it to be implemented to all parts of the UI.
She ends her post on how full, complete, A-to-Z hardware acceleration that results in 60 frames-per-second graphics is simply not possible, even with powerful chips like the Tegra 2.
Now, the question arises: why is it that even seemingly outdated phones like the iPhone 3GS offer a smoother UI than the latest Android smartphones? iOS uses hardware acceleration and that too on weaker hardware. How does Apple’s engineers manage to pull it off, then? Why can’t Google do the same?
That has been answered by Andrew Munn – software engineering student, ex-intern at Google and future intern with Windows Phone 7 team at Microsoft – who states that UI rendering processes in iOS occur with dedicated threads with real-time priority whereas on Android, UI rendering processes occur along with the main thread with normal priority. Whenever an iOS devices detects touch, it stops other processes and focuses all attention to rendering the UI. Android devices don’t do this, instead general processing and UI rendering occurs concurrently which results in choppy UI.
OMG....now developers...any help!!
First of all, it's all in our minds that gingerbread and ICS are all so much better than their predecessors. In reality, if you want 99.99% lag-free, just flash froyo 2.2.1 onto your Galaxy S. I've used JVQ, JVR,JVS, JVT, L41D's ICS and a bunch of custom roms, but the most lag free of all roms was Froyo ZSJPK.
So full acceleration will be in ics OK.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
Drift spunk said:
So full acceleration will be in ics OK.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No... The article said they will try to compensate for it with ram. Hardware acceleration well be turned off if it in fact makes the phone slower.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium
To my mind, the Android way is the only real multitasked way (if what the intern says is correct...)
Sounds rather silly to stop all background tasks if you touch the screen?
k|zer said:
To my mind, the Android way is the only real multitasked way (if what the intern says is correct...)
Sounds rather silly to stop all background tasks if you touch the screen?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dude which background process is using your GPU??
It sounds correct, and like some one says, its really random, i mean... you may use a GB and is super smooth, or an ICS and everyone claim it to be super smooth, and for me, is not, and is not by any mean... lets hope, in some ways this things to be corrected at some point...
k|zer said:
To my mind, the Android way is the only real multitasked way (if what the intern says is correct...)
Sounds rather silly to stop all background tasks if you touch the screen?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Indeed, but obviously Apple obviously value smooth UI above strict task scheduling... personally I don't care for style over substance... But if it's THAT important to someone buying a phone for it to look far better than it actually functions, they buy an iPhone!
I LOLd... then I LOLd again. Then stopped, had a deep breath and LOLd for the 3rd time.
So iOS is better because it gives priority to UI rendering, meaning that if you touch the screen like you're possessed, you get low framerate, and that sounds ok to you.
Ok.
That's a different approach, and may I remind you that multitasking was added (well, kinda...) to iOS in... like... 4.0? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IOS#Multitasking
next gen phones with 2 gb ram
absro said:
So iOS is better because it gives priority to UI rendering, meaning that if you touch the screen like you're possessed, you get low framerate, and that sounds ok to you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What are you talking about?
There are no fps drops.
Actually iOS (and WP7) is incredibly smooth, unlike android.
And to be honest that's a huge advantage for those OSes.
It just feels better.
Android seems to be targeting quantity rather than quality.
At least for now.
The only reason android lag is because of low ram. My galaxy s lags when on JVT and ICS because the free ram is always less than 120mb, hence the cpu has to constantly close and reopen background processes. But on froyo 2.2.1, I always have more than 150mb of free ram and it never lags.
---------- Post added at 01:40 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:38 AM ----------
k|zer said:
To my mind, the Android way is the only real multitasked way (if what the intern says is correct...)
Sounds rather silly to stop all background tasks if you touch the screen?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To me, the only true multitasker that doesn't sleep your programs without your permission or keep programs running when you actually want to exit them are symbian and maemo. At least on those two, when you exit an app, it really exits and when you minimize an app, it really minimizes.
On a multi (core) cpu only bandwidth should limit performance. Using a proper kernel / scheduler it is possible to dedicate a certain amount of processing power to any thread. Why not to the ui?
never say never.
ICS on my galaxy nexus is incredibly smooth.
zyo said:
never say never.
ICS on my galaxy nexus is incredibly smooth.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
teamhacksungs ICS on my i9000 is pretty darn smooth already- Not having seen it on the Galaxy Nexus in person, I can imagine it runs like a dream
moonbeamsyndicate said:
teamhacksungs ICS on my i9000 is pretty darn smooth already- Not having seen it on the Galaxy Nexus in person, I can imagine it runs like a dream
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not smooth. Don't be a dreamer. But it will be smooth. We are sure.
For me 2.3.6 is the most stable stock rom I have ever used. And after adding tweaks and semaphore on deodexed jvx its just better. It dances on my fingers but still their are things which are not as smooth as they should be or can be. I don't think it's is that smooth, windows 7 is smoother(ios Is also pretty smooth but after using them personally I found that wp7 is smoother) . But whatever it is, android is just getting better and better so no problem. Regarding cm9 or ics ports, they are not as good as some people claim. They are good but the best ics will be from samsung. Still I am pretty sure cm 9 will be very good once it goes into nightly.
burakgon said:
It's not smooth. Don't be a dreamer. But it will be smooth. We are sure.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes not smooth but has less fc's all over other android versions
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
zyo said:
never say never.
ICS on my galaxy nexus is incredibly smooth.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've got one as well. It's not that smooth, in fact it seems less smooth than my Galaxy S II.
If it is just about priority, will this app help ?
https://market.android.com/details?...SwyLDEsInNvYXBib3guc3ltM3RyeS5tcm5pY2VndXkiXQ..
As a long time Android user (OG Droid) I cannot believe I am about to ask this. I know it will spur alot of hate my way, but I guess I can take it...
I am thinking of upgrading to the next Iphone (5).
I haven't thought lightly about this. As previously stated, I have used Android since the motorola droid 1 and since then I have rooted every phone and installed countless roms.
The common theme in all the phones and roms I've encountered is intermittent lag. Every phone, every rom, has had lag from time to time. I'm talking about having to wait 3-10 seconds for the dialer or home screen to come up.
I have tried all different homes, scripts, etc to improve it, but the problems remain. The problem is it's intermitent, that's why it's hard to isolate the cause.
Also, the only root privledges I really enjoy are removing apps and wireless tethering.
So a few questions for you guys:
Who here also has an iphone 4, 4s?
Does it have any lag at all?
Is there a way to bypass itunes to transfer music/vids to it?
Anyone convert to iphone and then regret it?
What limitations besides flash are there?
Is there a way to wirelessly tether?
Flame on, I'm ready
Galaxy Nexus and done
A few of my buddies have iPhones, dating back to the iPhone3G. They have all had problems at one point or another. All of them. Lag? Have you ever used an iPhone? Two of my friends have jailbroken iPhone4s that lag more than my OG Droid. They look at my Charge and drool. My friends with stock iPhone4's seem to have better performance.
iPhone3G had some of the most ****ty battery life I've ever seen on a phone. This was back in 2008. Everyone I knew who owned an iPhone3G had multiple chargers (office, home, car). Also, the iPhone3G didn't handle the OS updates as well as the 3GS and above. My friend who used an iPhone3G was basically crippled at times.
I've seen plenty of lag on the iPhone3GS as well. I have the iPod Touch (3rd gen) and have seen lag. My iPod Touch also likes to skip tracks whenever it feels like it.
I can't speak for the performance of the iPads, but I can offer my opinion: they're giant iPod Touches. NOT revolutionary in the least bit. I seriously hate iPads and hate Apple for ruining what "tablet computers" are. Even my supernerdyApplefanboy coworker got upset when the iPad was showcased. He was hoping for an actual tablet (he's an artist), and not just a giant iPod Touch.
EDIT: I'm surprised you haven't complained about your PC lagging.
I hardly ever have lag on my phones, and when it does happen its not extreme and doesn't last long usually just a stutter...
on a related note it bugs me when I watch/read reviews about android phones and all I see/hear is LAG LAG LAG LAG DERPY DERP DERP LAG then the reviewer proceeds to do a demonstration of it and it looks COMPLETELY NORMAL, like they're calling the two milliseconds screen transition lag and afterwards continue to say how horrible it is compared to iOS, which is retarded because they are two completely different os's and everyone knows iOS has its faults as well (one of which, surprise surprise, is LAG)
/end rant
Being that I am not a fanboy in either direction, I will give my input, and experience.
Lag. Not normally seen in a stock iphone, but ever so present of jailbroken.
Bypass itunes? Nope. And if you have never used itunes to sync, then coming from android, you may have a hard time getting used to it.
I have used android and ios. Regret it, no. but I prefer androids openness. If I was forced to only user ios would I be miserable? Not from the reliability standpoint. Personally I get bored easily, so I love flashing different roms with android.
Limitations? Ability to change roms. If you jailbreak then you can load up winterboard for themes, but you are still on the same os.
Tether? Possible, yet easier to track, and apple has been known to break this feature easily from their end at carrier requests.
My additional input. Unless the iphone 5 has at least a 4 in screen, and better battery to compensate, I will pass. The small screen does annoy me
I went from Windows Mobile 6.5 -> iOS -> Android.
Even a jailbroken iPhone still needs to call home (your PC) whenever you want to update it. You mentioned bypassing iTunes for adding music. While I am no expert on iOS, there is no method that I've discovered to do this on my Touch 4G. With the exception of my SD backup last night, I cannot remember the last time I needs a PC in front of me to do anything on my phone.
Lag has already been touched upon, and while I've seen it on occasion with Android, iOS 5.0.1 lags a hell of a lot more on my bone stock, with the exception on jailbreak, iPod.
There are plenty of ways to by pass iTunes, I prefer to CopyTrans Manager since it's free and simple.
http://www.copytrans.net/copytransmanager.php
There are wireless tether apps PdaNet, TetherMe, and MyWi for jailbroken iPhones on cydia. Be aware though that it is much easier for the carriers to detect tethering on IOS than android.
Macs=scam backwards. Enough said.
Sent from my SCH-I510 using xda premium
kvswim said:
Macs=scam backwards. Enough said.
Win...
Sent from my SCH-I510 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent from my SCH-I510 using XDA App
It really comes down to what you want in the long run.
My wife has the Iphone 4 and I have the charge. personally I like the charge better.
Its not in a locked environmet. If your phone lags, and all will it comes down to specs.
My next phone will have 1.5 gb cpu and 1gb ram simple enough for me. Then it will have to fall into a "can I mod it catagory".
kvswim said:
Macs=scam backwards. Enough said.
Sent from my SCH-I510 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This made me laugh. Never realized it.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
tsitalon1 said:
As a long time Android user (OG Droid) I cannot believe I am about to ask this. I know it will spur alot of hate my way, but I guess I can take it...
I am thinking of upgrading to the next Iphone (5).
I haven't thought lightly about this. As previously stated, I have used Android since the motorola droid 1 and since then I have rooted every phone and installed countless roms.
The common theme in all the phones and roms I've encountered is intermittent lag. Every phone, every rom, has had lag from time to time. I'm talking about having to wait 3-10 seconds for the dialer or home screen to come up.
I have tried all different homes, scripts, etc to improve it, but the problems remain. The problem is it's intermitent, that's why it's hard to isolate the cause.
Also, the only root privledges I really enjoy are removing apps and wireless tethering.
So a few questions for you guys:
Who here also has an iphone 4, 4s?
Does it have any lag at all?
Is there a way to bypass itunes to transfer music/vids to it?
Anyone convert to iphone and then regret it?
What limitations besides flash are there?
Is there a way to wirelessly tether?
Flame on, I'm ready
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The main problem I have with the iPhone (my mom has it) is that its browser lacks text reflow. You can use alternative browsers that can increase font size, but this can backfire on certain websites (such as dslreports) where lines begin to overlap. Windows Phone 7 also lacks text reflow, and this is a serious issue for me.
Obviously there's Readability, or even Safari's own built-in "Reader" function, to strip ads out of web pages and display text in a very readable format, but that doesn't work with forums or comment pages such as xda or reddit (which are my favorite parts of the web). This issue is exacerbated on iOS's relatively small screen.
As for smoothness and lag, there's no doubt iOS is smoother in all facets. It also doesn't experience standby drain issues, which I've struggled with dealing on my Charge. Its browser is silky smooth, and touch input is prioritized over all other actions (like web page rendering), so you'll be able to move around a page that hasn't fully loaded (you'll just see checkerboxes).
I was hoping Google would fix Android's lag issues with ICS. I want them to eliminate the Dalvik VM framework (it would at the very least spare their OS's future from Oracle's lawsuits) and run things in native code. If you've used WP7 you've no doubt been surprised at how oily smooooth it runs even on outdated Cortex A8 single-core CPUs.
Unfortunately, responses from Google's own engineers are incredibly disheartening. Take this one for example: https://plus.google.com/105051985738280261832/posts/XAZ4CeVP6DC
Dianne argues points about the differences between iOS and Android, and how this leads to performance issues with Android (security and sandboxing leads to slowness). But later on in the thread an iOS jailbreaker by the name of "Jay Freeman" utterly destroys every one of her claims, pointing out iOS goes above and beyond what Android does (in that specific instance).
If one of Google's own Android engineers doesn't even realize their excuses for performance issues is completely invalid, how is Google ever going to improve their OS?
So yeah, if it weren't for LTE and text reflow in the browser, I might have moved on. You also may want to consider those issues before switching.
Also as a disclaimer, I've flashed the "pre-alpha" ICS ROM on the Charge, and while the stock browser loads much, much faster than Gingerbread, it still stutters and lacks smoothness. Opera Mobile is still by far the smoothest, but even that occasionally experiences microstutters. Many people won't notice or care, but as a former high(ish)-level FPS player I notice these details and it drives me crazy.
To the person above me... Jay Freeman aka Saurik is the person who basically invented jailbreaking. He is the iOS god-the JT1134 of the iPhone.
Sent from my SCH-I510 using xda premium
I thought this debate died a while back. I don't have lag on the Charge, period.
Get a good ROM, Fugu, V-6, change scheduler, freeze stuff.
Or get Apple. If you have to even ask, then you probably should get Apple.
Besides, by the time the iPhone 5 is out, just think where Android phones will be.
Lol, worst place to post this thread Maybe you should try an iForum
On a serious note, I know what you mean, the UI is smooth as silk, apps open quick and the UI is super speedy. Honestly though, I just upgraded from a milestone (international version of OG Droid) to a Galaxy Nexus, and I really can't complain. I haven't played with a 4S but I mean this phone is buttery smooth with no lag whatsoever. The screen is gorgeous and I love having so much more real estate than a measly 3.7' device. I also could never get used to such a boring UI such as the one present on the iPhone. I mean seriously, the same, overrated UI for 7 years? Although I love what Apple does, their UI is lacking some serious innovation and I for one could never live with that UI on my phone.
As per whether iTunes is required or not, I believe if you are jailbroken, you can use a desktop app called iFunbox. Not sure about this one, but I know you can navigate through the root of the device but not sure if it would play with the native music/video player
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
kvswim said:
To the person above me... Jay Freeman aka Saurik is the person who basically invented jailbreaking. He is the iOS god-the JT1134 of the iPhone.
Sent from my SCH-I510 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Holy... *that* was Saurik? No wonder he was so knowledgeable about the ins and outs of iOS. I thoroughly enjoyed reading his posts. He somehow made it possible for even a layman like myself to understand what he was saying.
What frustrated me the most was that Dianne did nothing to follow up. She updated her post and admitted to being in error about iOS, but apparently didn't make the connection that her mistake made her entire argument completely moot.
I've always had high hopes for Android, but it's been frustrating me lately. The XDA community does an amazing job of tweaking, fixing, modding, speeding up, etc. to make Android run far better than even stock versions, but only a rewrite of Android's foundations will give it the power to run as ridiculously fluidly as WP7 does on 2009 hardware, let alone iOS on a single-core 600 MHz iPhone 3GS at 256 MB of RAM (albeit at low resolution).
As for Android being linux-based, Meemo is even more customizable and runs more smoothly, despite having less investment into it. Android deserves better. I want Google to stand up and say "we're breaking backwards compatibility to rewrite this OS". Take the lead, be bold, ignore the bleatings of the carriers and OEMs.
With WP7 and iOS not having full multi-tasking support, at least to the level that Android has it, that helps make them more fluid. If you don't have apps in the background taking up RAM and CPU time, regardless of how much or little of the system resources the app takes up, it is still wasted time. In return though, we don't have to worry about closing out music or the browser just to check a text message. If you want to remove the multi-tasking ability of Android, especially if done to ICS, I'm sure that it would be very smooth as well.
imnuts said:
With WP7 and iOS not having full multi-tasking support, at least to the level that Android has it, that helps make them more fluid. If you don't have apps in the background taking up RAM and CPU time, regardless of how much or little of the system resources the app takes up, it is still wasted time. In return though, we don't have to worry about closing out music or the browser just to check a text message. If you want to remove the multi-tasking ability of Android, especially if done to ICS, I'm sure that it would be very smooth as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think this is a fair argument. iOS multitasking is just done differently and has a scheduler optimized for mobile devices with battery constraints. However it is no doubt more limited, which is why I used Meego as an example. Meego has true multitasking, but is still extremely responsive to input with an extremely smooth UI. Even incomplete webOS is more responsive in the browser (although not smooth). And multitasking isn't the only issue with Android.
Take one of the poster's comments: "While the S2's browser is fantastic, other parts are not - such as an SMS inbox with a thread of 30 or so messages, or scrolling through a long list of contacts (it seems to 'stutter' when the ListView has to render headings while scrolling is occurring, so it's not 'fluid'). Third party apps suffer the same fate (i.e. IMDB: scrolling through 'Latest Trailers' or the 'Coming Soon' list, same app on iPhone - buttery smooth and flawless fluidity which makes the end-user feel good).
...
Or Skype: install Skype, chat with someone, then scroll up the chat. I'm not even going to start on viewing/panning around PDF files ;(."
Another poster with a custom kernel claimed smooth experience on a different app with similar functionality, but that speaks to xda's accomplishments, and not to Android's effectiveness.
Jay Freeman (aka Saurik... I had no idea) sums up the above mentioned issue here:
"http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3332357 <- check out the responses from Xuzz and ryanpetrich.
In particular, iOS in fact has a multi-window architecture: applications can be made up of multiple UIWindows, and you can have UIWindows from different processes on screen at the same time. When you click on applications in SpringBoard, the transitions you see are animations of windows, and it would not at all be difficult to implement (from a rendering perspective) a scheme where different processes registered something similar to Android's activities, where clicking links slid one process's content off-screen while sliding another process's content on, even while sharing a navigation bar.
The status bar actually used to be an example of this, but they changed it at some point (and honestly I do not remember why, but I do not believe it to have been due to a rendering issue); the notification center, however, is a good current example: the window for the notification center is in SpringBoard, but it is rendering over and at the same time as the window for the application you are covering. There is also no issue having these windows alpha composite onto each other: the little popups that happen from clicking the volume buttons are windows in SpringBoard.
The reason for this is that, like with most multi-window environments (including Android), there is a window manager that is handling all of the actual compositing. In this case, it is SpringBoard, the process that manages the home screen, task switcher, notification center, lock screen, and honestly almost anything that has to be "always happening". The way this works is that surfaces (backed by system or video memory) are managed by a driver that allows them to be passed between processes: applications can render directly to their surfaces, while the actual surface hierarchy is maintained by SpringBoard.
Honestly, though: around here is where my knowledge is really fuzzy, and can't be trusted; Ryan Petrich's knowledge can be, so I will quote his comment from Hacker News: """On iOS, all standard rendering is done in a single context by the Core Animation window server which lives in SpringBoard. Only when an app adds an OpenGL ES layer to the view hierarchy does a separate context need to be created. When that happens, the render graph is split into subgraphs that are rendered to surfaces and displayed as overlays (with SpringBoard rendering all the standard layers and the app rendering the OpenGL layer)""".
The result of all this is that your comments regarding iOS's inability to handle multiple applications sharing screen real-estate in an efficient and secure manner are simply false: the fact that Apple does not support the Android notion of seamlessly moving between applications, with a back-button instead of simply an up/home-button, is simply an irritating business decision they make. As mentioned by Xuzz on Hacker News, it would be a simple manner to, for example, modify UIKeyboard to be handled by a separate process from the app that was calling for it: the involved work would not be rendering complexity.
Finally, the reason why you need to be careful with your view hierarchy to get 60fps scrolling is due to the complexity of loading new table cells and rendering them for the first time: once they are rendered they scroll quickly as the entire layer is cached (afaik, and if I'm wrong on this it doesn't actually matter). The problem on Android is that, even in the best possible cases, where you are staring at a trivial table implemented by the Android team itself (such as the Settings/Preferences app), there is noticeable UI latency and slop while moving your finger over the screen. When you read threads like the response to your first article on Hacker News, you can see this is a serious challenge for Android."
Dianne Hackborne's response is to disregard these points by claiming all of this is due to the nature of GPUs on old Android devices: "Unfortunately for us, until recently we just didn't have GPUs that could do multiple contexts, so if our system worked like that we wouldn't have been able to ship. :}"
She uses the Nexus S as an example of a "newer" device that solved these problems: "For example, a Nexus S can definitely does 60fps on well written lists."
Sadly, my Droid Charge still stutters on lists and when opening the app drawer.
Jay refutes her silly claims and cites an article on lag in ICS on the GNex and lambasts her for attempting to spread the false claim that Android's lag is due to sandboxing and security issues. I've even seen Hackborne (or at least someone claiming to be her) posting on sites like ArsTechnica with various long-winded arguments like the one she posted on Google+. It's bizarre how unwilling she is to directly address these complaints.
Sorry for the long post. It's a wonderful thread with plenty of amazing back and forth arguments. I just want Google to recognize the issues and talk about them more in public. Talk about how they're specifically addressing them. I'm excited as the next guy to get ICS, but it's just not enough. I've seen videos comparing browsing in ICS compared to a single-core A8 WP7 phone. Scrolling and zooming... just no comparison. As much as I hate to admit it, the idea of an HTC Titan II with 4.7" screen and LTE makes me jealous. What I wouldn't give to have an Android phone with that kind of user experience.
Ok, thanks guys.
So from what I'm hearing, it doesn't sound like a fundamental difference in user experience really. Sure you lose control unless you jailbreak, which causes iOS lag...
Most of what I want to do still seems doable. If I decide to go that route I would wait for the 5, as I have to have a bigger screen.
Next question for those that have experienced it. Is there anything comparable to Google navigation on iOS? I know Google has it on iOS, but it's crippled, I also believe there are paid versions, but is there anything free that's as accurate and reliable as the turn by turn Android Nav app?
How about theming? app drawers? I really don't like a cluttered homescreen with all my apps on it. I assume there is an app drawer app that can clean it up right? Oh, what about widgets?
I also want to thank you guys for the open and honest feedback without the usual dismissal that is usually found on some of these boards.
tsitalon1 said:
How about theming? app drawers? I really don't like a cluttered homescreen with all my apps on it. I assume there is an app drawer app that can clean it up right? Oh, what about widgets?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haha, personalization, what's that?
So a partial spec list for the iPhone 5 was released, and it mentioned the processor being 1 GHz. Now lets assume that this is a dual core CPU, and lets also assume that there is active GPU rendering as in Android 4.0 +.
The IP4s has a dual core, 800 MHz Cortex A9, (A9 just like most modern phones). now however, if you take that 800 MHz CPU and put android onto it, we aren't going to see anything special happen.
I'm way too tired to finish this post now, but basically, I'm curious if anyone knows why iOS seems to be so much more efficient than android does.
I refuse to have this turn into the typical VS thread and will just lock it if it does. I would like this to be a discussion about the firmware (as much as we know at least) and anything technical.
please, feel free to correct me of anything i have said.
Umm, because iOS is tailored for that exact hardware?
Have you ever used a Nexus phone? Runs really damn well for the specs, because Android is tailored to those specs first and foremost.
Apple puts in lots of tricks to make the user experience of iOS a smooth one. (Example: when waiting for a web page to load and you start dragging, iOS actually stops the process of loading the page and focuses everything on your finger. Android continues to load the page).
No true multitasking to bog down RAM as well. Simple OS, simpler hardware.
Also the post above. Tailored hardware. Just look at WP7 and their single core snapdragons!
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speedyink said:
Umm, because iOS is tailored for that exact hardware?
Have you ever used a Nexus phone? Runs really damn well for the specs, because Android is tailored to those specs first and foremost.
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Click to collapse
Unfortunately, as I was having issues with AOKP rebooting at the time my friend got his GNex, I haven't been allowed to touch a nexus LOL
gagdude said:
Apple puts in lots of tricks to make the user experience of iOS a smooth one. (Example: when waiting for a web page to load and you start dragging, iOS actually stops the process of loading the page and focuses everything on your finger. Android continues to load the page).
No true multitasking to bog down RAM as well. Simple OS, simpler hardware.
Also the post above. Tailored hardware. Just look at WP7 and their single core snapdragons!
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Click to expand...
Click to collapse
See i thought it had to do with the dedicated hardware, with the non nexus users getting shafted.
I'm curious of things like... lags in the messaging app. I don't have that many messages (all threads are capped at 450 and 20 pics) yet I still have some bad lag on my phone.
I guess I'm curious if we can get into the reasons why some apps and processes (messaging app etc) will lag, and if there is a known way to improve the issues.
glad to see this hasn't gotten to an outright flame war yet lol
I figure it's very similar to power-to-weight ratio. Some lightweight cars with lower horsepower are much faster than 2-ton cars with massive horsepower.
The lack of multitasking alone would have a huge impact. I think that could be tested in a Rom like AOKP, by telling it to destroy the activity as soon as the user leaves it. I don't have access to an iPhone to compare to, though.
Either way, I'd rather have a heavier, more full-featured OS today requires better hardware than iOS.
jRi0T68 said:
I figure it's very similar to power-to-weight ratio. Some lightweight cars with lower horsepower are much faster than 2-ton cars with massive horsepower.
The lack of multitasking alone would have a huge impact. I think that could be tested in a Rom like AOKP, by telling it to destroy the activity as soon as the user leaves it. I don't have access to an iPhone to compare to, though.
Either way, I'd rather have a heavier, more full-featured OS today requires better hardware than iOS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It seems that iOS has a better featured multitasking than this though... it doesn't completely destroy the task (or it seems not to)
Read here.
http://androidandme.com/2011/12/news/android-may-never-be-as-smooth-as-ios-says-ex-googler/
And
https://plus.google.com/app/plus/mp/66/#~loop:view=activity&aid=z124gl3b2o3jzx0ll220gfnhmuusu54rk04
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new ion? said:
It seems that iOS has a better featured multitasking than this though... it doesn't completely destroy the task (or it seems not to)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From what I've read, that depends on the task/API. iOS doesn't multitask as well as Android, certainly. Destroying all tasks on Android wouldn't be a perfect comparison, but you can see if it makes a big difference or not.
The UI rendering thing above games sense, but on my T-Mobile GSII, I don't experience any noticeable or bothersome lag. It was stable and smooth until I switched from AOKP ICS to AOKP JB. Smooth, sure, but JB is a work in progress.
new ion? said:
It seems that iOS has a better featured multitasking than this though... it doesn't completely destroy the task (or it seems not to)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, it just forces suspension within 5 seconds of all but a few special types of programs. (Which, in case you weren't sure, is neither as flexible nor good.)
See this link for information on both: http://www.extremetech.com/computing/112013-how-multitasking-works-on-android-and-ios
---------- Post added at 11:59 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:54 PM ----------
new ion? said:
The IP4s has a dual core, 800 MHz Cortex A9, (A9 just like most modern phones). now however, if you take that 800 MHz CPU and put android onto it, we aren't going to see anything special happen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Makes me actually wonder what would happen if you put Jellybean on comparable specs. Not enough to try looking for it, though. It's not like better hardware has not been cheaply available for some years.
new ion? said:
Unfortunately, as I was having issues with AOKP rebooting at the time my friend got his GNex, I haven't been allowed to touch a nexus LOL
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ahh, you be missing out. Especially with a few of the new tricks Jellybean added to bump it up to a iOS similar experience. Although with Android being so much more advanced than iOS I still think iOS will appear a little faster. However, I'd much rather have true multitasking, open file system, and massive customization than a slightly faster phone (and honestly, we're splitting hairs at this point)
jRi0T68 said:
From what I've read, that depends on the task/API. iOS doesn't multitask as well as Android, certainly. Destroying all tasks on Android wouldn't be a perfect comparison, but you can see if it makes a big difference or not.
The UI rendering thing above games sense, but on my T-Mobile GSII, I don't experience any noticeable or bothersome lag. It was stable and smooth until I switched from AOKP ICS to AOKP JB. Smooth, sure, but JB is a work in progress.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
See i run cm9 on my herc, and the lag in the keyboard and messaging app kills me. I hate tw, but im tempted to go go try evo8 just cuz tdj is god.
thebobp said:
No, it just forces suspension within 5 seconds of all but a few special types of programs. (Which, in case you weren't sure, is neither as flexible nor good.)
See this link for information on both: http://www.extremetech.com/computing/112013-how-multitasking-works-on-android-and-ios
---------- Post added at 11:59 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:54 PM ----------
Makes me actually wonder what would happen if you put Jellybean on comparable specs. Not enough to try looking for it, though. It's not like better hardware has not been cheaply available for some years.
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Click to collapse
Is jelly bean really that much better than ics? The issues with the dev for my phone has caused me to have to avoid it as I wake up at 4 and if my phone decides to random reboot and get stuck then I'm fubard.
Thanks for the link btw, cleared many things up!
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speedyink said:
Ahh, you be missing out. Especially with a few of the new tricks Jellybean added to bump it up to a iOS similar experience. Although with Android being so much more advanced than iOS I still think iOS will appear a little faster. However, I'd much rather have true multitasking, open file system, and massive customization than a slightly faster phone (and honestly, we're splitting hairs at this point)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol I figured in was missing out. My next phone probably will be a nexus. But I just can't help but love the powerhouses of non nexus phones.
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new ion? said:
Is jelly bean really that much better than ics? The issues with the dev for my phone has caused me to have to avoid it as I wake up at 4 and if my phone decides to random reboot and get stuck then I'm fubard.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To be honest, I haven't been able to notice any lag even with ics.
JB supposedly fixes most/all of the lag issues, and is quite smooth on N7. However, you are correct in that it is only as good as the deving is. For example, CM10 on the S3 suffers from a memory leak (largely due to the "official" kernel not being available yet) and automatically closes apps as a result. So I can't make any promises.
thebobp said:
To be honest, I haven't been able to notice any lag even with ics. (Maybe it's the hardware difference; I'm using GN.)
JB supposedly fixes most/all of the lag issues, and is quite smooth on N7. However, you are correct in that it is only as good as the deving is. For example, CM10 on the S3 suffers from a memory leak (largely due to the "official" kernel not being available yet) and automatically closes apps as a result. So I can't make any promises.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We have some great devs for the herc, but unfortunately since we don't have source either (and won't till probably 2013 if Sammy keeps their word... and never will if they don't lol) these guys are moving forward... but just. Not trash talking in any way.
I thought I saw an optimization someone had posted here for the XML layout of the messaging app... but of course I didn't save the link and haven't found it again
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new ion? said:
We have some great devs for the herc, but unfortunately since we don't have source either (and won't till probably 2013 if Sammy keeps their word... and never will if they don't lol) these guys are moving forward... but just. Not trash talking in any way.
I thought I saw an optimization someone had posted here for the XML layout of the messaging app... but of course I didn't save the link and haven't found it again
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Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I get it.
I think the best way to scope out buggy ROMs is just to read their threads, watch for complaints. And, of course, get another alarm clock redundancy is always a good thing.
thebobp said:
Yeah I get it.
I think the best way to scope out buggy ROMs is just to read their threads, watch for complaints. And, of course, get another alarm clock redundancy is always a good thing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bought one, dropped it once and the time reset. I'm not spending another 5 mins adjusting it to the right time. Lol.
So basically, iOS is a lighter OS all together,(with a bit of smoke and mirrors) whereas android is more of a powerhouse. Take a bit more to keep er running, but its well worth it.
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new ion? said:
So basically, iOS is a lighter OS all together,(with a bit of smoke and mirrors) whereas android is more of a powerhouse. Take a bit more to keep er running, but its well worth it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thing about android is that it improves, both in terms of hardware (due to competition between oems that iOS never really faces) and software (due to google benefiting only if consumers actually want to use it, not just buy it). The cost of this is that everything moves so quickly for the corporations (the bureaucracy in pushing an update is so intense, for example) that old devices may be much worse than the devices two years later. But the benefit is also that new devices are so much better than the devices two years earlier.
Why do I mention this? Because every release also gets closer and closer to the point that "you no longer have to change from stock to get a good experience". Indeed, this may already be true depending on individual requirements, and for most I daresay it is already true for, example, the S3 or GN. So, while I would agree with your "powerhouse" characterization in broad strokes, the "maintenance" associated with such a thing gets less and less accurate. An analogy might be: in the past, it would've taken an expert to fine-tune a powerful device like a computer, whereas now, it's a non-issue.
thebobp said:
Thing about android is that it improves, both in terms of hardware (due to competition between oems that iOS never really faces) and software (due to google benefiting only if consumers actually want to use it, not just buy it). The cost of this is that everything moves so quickly for the corporations (the bureaucracy in pushing an update is so intense, for example) that old devices may be much worse than the devices two years later. But the benefit is also that new devices are so much better than the devices two years earlier.
Why do I mention this? Because every release also gets closer and closer to the point that "you no longer have to change from stock to get a good experience". Indeed, this may already be true depending on individual requirements, and for most I daresay it is already true for, example, the S3 or GN. So, while I would agree with your "powerhouse" characterization in broad strokes, the "maintenance" associated with such a thing gets less and less accurate. An analogy might be: in the past, it would've taken an expert to fine-tune a powerful device like a computer, whereas now, it's a non-issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thing is though, that I kinda really like the external SD card. and the GN doesn't have it. neither does the N7 (or any other nexus IIRC) which scares me for the next one...
Totally understand. the flip side of this is that Apple has the chance to develop for their 3 year old phone still (3gS) whereas my phone, purchased last year, is BARELY going to get JB officially... and it took almost a year to get ICS. I kind of wish these phone makers had to slow it down a bit.
I'm curious though, hoping for a broader opinion, what do people think that iOS does better than Android? When i get the time I'm going to start coding again and I'd like a project to look into.
new ion? said:
thing is though, that I kinda really like the external SD card. and the GN doesn't have it. neither does the N7 (or any other nexus IIRC) which scares me for the next one...
Totally understand. the flip side of this is that Apple has the chance to develop for their 3 year old phone still (3gS) whereas my phone, purchased last year, is BARELY going to get JB officially... and it took almost a year to get ICS. I kind of wish these phone makers had to slow it down a bit.
I'm curious though, hoping for a broader opinion, what do people think that iOS does better than Android? When i get the time I'm going to start coding again and I'd like a project to look into.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What they think is better? To name a few
Stable, no viruses, faster, retina display, made by apple, great UI, better updates, blah blah blah (this is what I have heard from many isheep)
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gagdude said:
What they think is better? To name a few
Stable, no viruses, faster, retina display, made by apple, great UI, better updates, blah blah blah (this is what I have heard from many isheep)
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Click to expand...
Click to collapse
there are viruses for everything. and their precious retina display is no better than a 720 one.
I was more referring to people that use both, and aren't total fanboys, what does iOS do better than android?