iPad window manager, wheres the Android love?!? - Android General

I've dreamed of having this on a tablet ever since they came out. I cannot believe iOS got this before any Android implementation, Cornerstone is ok, but this beats it hands down!!!
http://thebigboss.org/quasar-a-window-manager-for-ipad?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=quasar-a-window-manager-for-ipad

This is awesome, thanks for the link. I'll have to get it for my iPad. 10 buck though.. I would love to have it on my other tablet too

pretty cool app...Gonna have to try this out. Hopefully my daughter will learn to use it quick or i'll be helping her for a while.

"where's the Android love"?
You do realize that you are ecstatic about an app that makes ios act like a competing operating system don't you? Lol
If ios is so good, why do you want it to act like windows?

85gallon said:
"where's the Android love"?
You do realize that you are ecstatic about an app that makes ios act like a competing operating system don't you? Lol
If ios is so good, why do you want it to act like windows?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I love when people act like one OS is the end all and be all of all OSs. I don't want Windows, I don't want iOS, but you can't deny that they both have very good things about each of them in their own rights. What I would like is for one OS( preferably Android obviously, as I do believe it's currently the best base frame work as far as customize-ability, range of hardware support, and memory management ) and for that base OS to take the best features of other OSs and incorporate them. This happens all the time, look at Ubuntu's "Unity" interface, remind you of OSx maybe? Or Androids "app drawer" kinda looks like the default iOS desktop doesn't it? I'm just saying, why not take this one additional feature and add it, why bash something that would make Android even more versatile.

Related

Apple IOS Ported to android

http://getandroidstuff.com/ios-running-android-watch-video-preview/
Found this and it looks promosing IOS has been ported to android,
MacaronyMax said:
http://getandroidstuff.com/ios-running-android-watch-video-preview/
Found this and it looks promosing IOS has been ported to android,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. Android is an OS, not a device.
2. No it hasn't. Not possible.
1. I know it is an OS and not a device but it has been ported to run on Android devices in this case HTC Magic (Or atleast recreated)
2.Nothing is impossible, Yes they have a locked source but people created it people can recreate it
1. I know it is an OS and not a device but it has been ported to run on Android devices in this case HTC Magic (Or atleast recreated)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Then you probably should have said ported to the HTC Magic. Otherwise it just sounded silly. Just saying.
I personally do not think that is iOS, but a knock-off of the GUI running on top of probably some Linux variant or Android. I have personally seen some in China, and the GUI seems like a pretty good reproduction of the original. But is was nothing more than a reproduction of what iOS looks like.
OMG I almost choked on my apple while reading the topic, total massive FAIL tho, complete bogus, iphone 4 is still king, happy me.
nilly said:
OMG I almost choked on my apple while reading the topic, total massive FAIL tho, complete bogus, iphone 4 is still king, happy me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A king that's being bullied by it's wife Ann droid
Hehe
MacaronyMax said:
A king that's being bullied by it's wife Ann droid
Hehe
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's great
- The background in the task pane doesn't seem quite right.
- That's running awfully snappy for a HTC Magic, especially since iOS doesn't have Qualcomm drivers (and closed-source, etc.)
- iOS won't let you delete the Phone app.
[busted]
Don't people rather have fully functional android on the iphone?
Sent from my HTC
When I looked at the news I laughed, because thousands of Shanzhai (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanzhai )phones are out there with pseudo-iOS UI.
Erm...
Search pc world and how_to_install_android_on_your_iphone.html (can't poslt links yet)
If Android on iPhone can be done on sure the reverse can be too.
Not sure why you'd want to though cause a new development idea (called monodroid) is being worked on by Novell so apps can run on all smartphones. Or at least be MUCH easier to cross platform. I think they have already made this for the iPhone.
vilesy said:
If Android on iPhone can be done on sure the reverse can be too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, Android is open source, iOS obviously is not. Which means that, to port iOS to, let's say the HTC Magic, someone would have to rewrite it all from scratch.
MacaronyMax said:
A king that's being bullied by it's wife Ann droid
Hehe
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol
Sent from my Samsung GalaxyS using the xda app.
If OS X can now be installed on a PC, then IOS can be installed on another mobile!
This is NOT iOS.
This is just a skinned Android to look alike iOS.
Read the news completely:
The operating system is perfectly identical to that of Apple, in every detail. The language set should be Chinese and is so well played that seems to be a sort of port. And it’s called Android Frøya iPhone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's called Miui
StephanV said:
No, Android is open source, iOS obviously is not. Which means that, to port iOS to, let's say the HTC Magic, someone would have to rewrite it all from scratch.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
not really, creating an emulation of an iphone to run iOS is totally possible and more likely to be done then recoding iOS, however, this looks fake, so i do agree that it hasn't been done.
But never underestimate determined developers, if they have been able to run windows 95, and/or ubuntu on android devices, or running Mac OS X on PCs running AMD, emulators to run older Mac OS on pc, emulators to run older games, emulators for private servers for games, I'm completely sure they can figure out how to get iOS running on an android devices without the source code of iOS itself, just give it time.
Ok...........
First of all, MUIU DOES NOT, I repeat DOES NOT work like this. Nobody in their right mind would write all these functions from scratch just so they could pretend its iOS. Why on god's earth would you write a weather app that functions, and looks exactly like Apples? Same goes for calculator and finance.
I honestly have no idea what to think. This has the exact same applications, functions as iOS. But the weird thing is that the wallpaper scrolls with each slide... This definatley is not MUIU, though.
This is way more than just a skinned launcher with a set of apps, but I'm not convinced it's an ACTUAL port of iOS (because that seems insane?).
It seems more fesable to me that this is a port of one of the Chinese clone iOS offerings. There have been a lot of iPhone clone phones on the market for a while, and some of the software has become quite sophisticated, it's more than possible that one of these UI's has been ported to the Magic (as it's a good bet that more than a few of these clone devices run on Android/Linux anyway).
Notice that he doesn't open the App store, or Safari, or the music player. Definitely NOT actually iOS, but certainly something I would be interested in seeing ported to other devices!
Zeb
I have an Android Phone for a reason, why would I want an apple piece of crap?
Ubermicro13 said:
I have an Android Phone for a reason, why would I want an apple piece of crap?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe you want to use one hardware button only? Or have no custom ring tone? Or be locked to a browser with no flash? The possibilities are endless man

Android or iOS? Which do you prefer?

Im just curious how many of you out there would recommend an iPhone over an Android phone or an Android over an iPhone. After being an iOS user since 09 and recently switching to Android, I would actually say that Android is my favorite. Just because of all the customization options I have and all the things I can do that I could of never done with an iPhone (even when jailbroken). Now I'd like to hear your opinion.
android all the way
darkchazz said:
android all the way
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Android
....................../´¯/)
....................,/¯../
.................../..../
............./´¯/'...'/´¯¯`·¸
........../'/.../..../......./¨¯\
........('(...´...´.... ¯~/'...')
.........\.................'...../
..........''...\.......... _.·´
............\..............(
..............\.............\...
IOS.
Android FTW!
agreed with android ftw..
i do enjoy reponsiveness of ios and polished look. it just looks "nice"
but android ftmfw..
my friend had an iphone 4 and we jailbroke it and he was showing all the cool things you can do with jailbroken phones..
i was like wait.... what? my phone could do this before it was even rooted.
makes me sad that ios has sooo many features just "missing" that phones should have. or be able to do. i guess thats why its not open sources... =\
Actually I like iOS 'cause it's so stable and really really easy , thus leaving it for all ages to use. But it's really limited and therefore you jailbreak.
Android on the other hand is a very good OS too! It's very very versatile and you can custom it like you want. The only thing with Android is that it's kind of messy.
So to conclude iOS is an OS that you'll find attractive in first look and some months to come. Android is an OS that grows on you and you'll love it in the long-run.
Has anyone seen iOS5? Apple obviously stole almost every new feature from the jailbreak community then they stole notifications from Android. They need to come up with their own ideas.
GagesiPad said:
Has anyone seen iOS5? Apple obviously stole almost every new feature from the jailbreak community then they stole notifications from Android. They need to come up with their own ideas.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They do that quite often! Same happend with iOS 4 with the wallpaper and multi tasking
I suspect you're going to get android as the majority answer here.
I'm over the ios>android or android> ios. They're different beasts with great qualities all around. I think ios is a simpler os in that really anyone can use it. At the same time, android's strength comes in its flexibility and customization. This doesn't suite everyone because really the majority of people just want an easy button. They can find that in android, they just don't have the patience to look.
ABorgh said:
They do that quite often! Same happend with iOS 4 with the wallpaper and multi tasking
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wouldn't neccesarily say that Apple stole multitasking from another OS/Device because its different. I mean, come on, its fake. I wouldn't say Apple stole the homescreen wallpapers either. Its an image that doesn't move and it isn't live. Basically, it makes it look a little better. No biggy.
pandamaja said:
I suspect you're going to get android as the majority answer here.
I'm over the ios>android or android> ios. They're different beasts with great qualities all around. I think ios is a simpler os in that really anyone can use it. At the same time, android's strength comes in its flexibility and customization. This doesn't suite everyone because really the majority of people just want an easy button. They can find that in android, they just don't have the patience to look.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you want to use your phone as a phone with a little web browsing and a little Angry Birds playin', get iOS because its simple. If you want to make your phone the way you want it and you like customization, freedom, and the ability to to almost anything with your phone, get Android. =)
This might ne 101st thread of iphone vs android topic and this thread will just encourage flamers.
And on side note.. U like android over ios... Cool.. There are millions who do for the same reason as you do. Nothing special.
GagesiPad said:
Im just curious how many of you out there would recommend an iPhone over an Android phone or an Android over an iPhone. After being an iOS user since 09 and recently switching to Android, I would actually say that Android is my favorite. Just because of all the customization options I have and all the things I can do that I could of never done with an iPhone (even when jailbroken). Now I'd like to hear your opinion.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent from my HTC Desire HD using XDA App
jags_the1 said:
This might ne 101st thread of iphone vs android topic and this thread will just encourage flamers.
And on side note.. U like android over ios... Cool.. There are millions who do for the same reason as you do. Nothing special.
Sent from my HTC Desire HD using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would really like Ios, it's not a bad OS. Multitask, runs pretty decent, huge app store, but there are a couple reasons why I'm not on ios.
Flash, I use flash on my phone all the time. Keeps me entertained.
Screen size, 3.5" is too small for me.
Carrier, I'm on Sprint dammit.
GagesiPad said:
Im just curious how many of you out there would recommend an iPhone over an Android phone or an Android over an iPhone. After being an iOS user since 09 and recently switching to Android, I would actually say that Android is my favorite. Just because of all the customization options I have and all the things I can do that I could of never done with an iPhone (even when jailbroken). Now I'd like to hear your opinion.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use an iPhone for the reliability of it. And because currently it's the only phone I have with FFC. I also use an Android phone because of the enjoyment of it and apps. I feel my Inspire is smoother and nicer than my iPhone, but not as reliable. The screen isn't nearly as good as the iPhone 4's, either.
I also use a WP7 device and feel WP7 will overtake bother other formats eventually. It's that good.
But right now I don't leave the house without my iPhone. I feel secure in the knowledge I can get ahold of someone shuld the need arise. My Inspire almost got my family and I lost once due to a malfunctioning compass and non-functioning nav.
MartyLK said:
I use an iPhone for the reliability of it. And because currently it's the only phone I have with FFC. I also use an Android phone because of the enjoyment of it and apps. I feel my Inspire is smoother and nicer than my iPhone, but not as reliable. The screen isn't nearly as good as the iPhone 4's, either.
I also use a WP7 device and feel WP7 will overtake bother other formats eventually. It's that good.
But right now I don't leave the house without my iPhone. I feel secure in the knowledge I can get ahold of someone shuld the need arise. My Inspire almost got my family and I lost once due to a malfunctioning compass and non-functioning nav.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Almost exact sentiment, except in reverse. My trusty Eris does all my heavy lifting for work-related tasks while my iPhone is my gps/playtoy. Haven't gotten my hands on a windows phone yet but they certainly are sounding more and more attractive these days!
iOS is too newbie friendly for me, no offence to the people on here btw, you guys are awesome
I went Android because I don't follow Iphone/Blackberry trends and I love it now
The best out of all of them....WIndows Phone 7
DavidinCT said:
The best out of all of them....WIndows Phone 7
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats a nice OS but a WP7 phone at work somehow got a virus and it wouldbt let the phone do anything and all it did when you turned it in was show a big smiley face with the bird finger. XD
So yeah unlike allot here i won't go FU on iOS.
Here is my subjective list of pro & contra for both systems.
Mind you i have used both.
iOS​PLUS:
Stable
For it's money a well running piece of software built on that specific hardware
Fast
Simple to use
Design = top notch
Good service and reliable
Contra:
Hard to modify the feel of the OS
Forced to stay with all apple software (unless jailbroken) to downlaod upload music,etc..
Easy to jailbrake but still a challenge
Android​PLUS:
Easy to use
Smooth and stable
Easy to modify and root
Customizable to a great extend
Perfectly combined with all Google products
Good service and help from google with personal calls explaining things
Contra:
Default FM can hang once in a while
Without root no way to do much or change much
Easier battery drain (personal opinion)
No updates for all the phone due to builds and limitations ( this is because there are so many companies producing Androids but all with different specs)
WP7​Well really don't have much usage experience i did boot the emulator to check it out. Can't say it's ugly but doesn't look appealing either.
I believe that the OS probably is decent but it doesn't beg me to try it out
I think the WP7 is a good phone matching all other MS products. Like Xbox to phone connections and with Win8 it will be easy to look things up on your PC and share it with your phone if you godda go real quick. Win8 get's the same WP7 overlay.
All in all no real user experience so won't brake it down.
I believe it's a small correct list.
I can't say i hate either one of them but currently running android. Feels a Little slower then iOS but my biggest plus is all my Google Docs,Searches,G+,Mail,Pic are easy to acces with simple clicks from your phone.
Who the best is?
Think both are worth as much but if you like to mess around with your phone i would advise the android OS. Also you are more free to choose a phone to your liking then being forced a same look like the guy next to you in the train has.

iOS 5.0.1 running on other smart phones?

have you ever grew jealous of iphones and ipods with there new iOS 5.0.1 or newer. I have and I came to think to myself is it possible to make iOS 5.0.1 to run on other smart phones or tablets?? i tired google and not much of a topic to find. yet...what do you guys think??
hijack562 said:
have you ever grew jealous of iphones and ipods with there new iOS 5.0.1 or newer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. Never. Not for a second.
Sent from HTC G2
Um...no. iOS vs Android, I'll take android first any day. That said, you are on a android forum too. Lol
Sent from my iPad 2 3G using Tapatalk
I think he's just asking if it's possible, not opinions.
IDK but iOS is really integrated with his hardware, the Iphone are not so status of the art tech phone, there are better one, but it run like butter, Android is not so integrated due the fact you can install it on multiple phone, with different features
but for sure I'll never get one
Very simple, it's clouse source
But, ios can run on htc g2 . lol . I thinks it's ilauncher and lock screen replace
If any other phone were to run iOS it would be the HD2... but anywho i doubt you would see an iOS port. Apple would be on it like angry birds to pigs. Always trying to defeat them but there just seems to be more out there
Even better, you should install android on an iPhone. To me that proves which is superior. Open source software will always be morally superior, at the very least
hijack562 said:
have you ever grew jealous of iphones and ipods with there new iOS 5.0.1 or newer. I have and I came to think to myself is it possible to make iOS 5.0.1 to run on other smart phones or tablets?? i tired google and not much of a topic to find. yet...what do you guys think??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
eeeewww!
it's heretic!
burn it now!
as far as i believe, ios is closed source when android is open sourced linux based which makes android to be ported but ios can't...
You can tell you're new here....
hijack562 said:
have you ever grew jealous of iphones and ipods with there new iOS 5.0.1 or newer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No.
hijack562 said:
I have and I came to think to myself is it possible to make iOS 5.0.1 to run on other smart phones or tablets??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No.
hijack562 said:
i tired google and not much of a topic to find. yet...what do you guys think??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you should get an iPhone, but that's just a suggestion.
I can't believe I'm recommending this thread to anyone, but here goes...
The following thread is from a guy that wanted to get his Android phone looking and acting as much like an iPhone as possible. He calls it "an authentic taste", but it is not made by Apple - it's just skin. It's still Android underneath and that's not gonna change.
Anyway, have a look at the suggestions (throughout the thread - not just the 1st post) and see if it helps you.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1389470
Better yet, get MIUI. It has a very similar look and feel to iOS, but it has a lot more options and functionality. It's also a doddle to completely retheme with just a couple of clicks, so you can get a totally fresh interface as often as you like.
http://miuiandroid.com/
If only, some androids have great hardware but the software side is sad.
if you want ios get an iphone.
if you want android get an android phone.
if you like both install miui on your android device.
There is no way of installing ios on anything other than a device that was meant to run it in the first place.
z33dev33l said:
If only, some androids have great hardware but the software side is sad.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Troll........
HazzaBlake said:
if you like both install miui on your android device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL very interesting statement, but it's becoming reality
there's an insanely huge horde of people following MIUI for no good reason IMO (reminds you of Apple? anyone )
I apologize, I'm a phone gamer and android is none too fulfilling in that sense. That paired with ill-optimized software and I don't see the benefit. WP7 is lesser on gaming as well, but I'm a bit of an achievement whore.
Jesus, is this forum really only filled with uneducated, over-opinionated, and unhelpful people?
To answer the OP's question; yes and no. It won't be able to run natively, due to the fact that it's closed source. Though, that's never stopped people before. One could write an ARM-based iDevice emulator and it would theoretically boot.
The trials and tribulations of the emulator would be difficult, but here's what would have to be implemented (off the top of my head, of course):
1. CPU (shouldn't be extremely difficult because the host (phone) is ARM-based)
2. Sound
3. Memory (not the worst, especially because an iPhone only has 512 MB RAM)
4. Graphics/Display/Input (shrug)
5. Implement measures to counter device-checks when booting
6. Flash storage (easy)
7. Anything else that I can't think of atm.
So yes, it would be a huge undertaking, but theoretically, it could run in an emulated environment with bad-mild performance. Don't ever expect iOS-like butter, though. The overhead cost of Android is extremely large (my 1 gig RAM usually has 600 MB free to use) and the phones have near identical specs, which makes it difficult for perfect performance due to limited memory/cpu.
I hope this is better than "OMG HAHA I <3 ANDrOID SO MUCH! BOOo APPL AND TEH iPhonE SUX!!!"
EDIT: Also, it is technically possible to create an iOS compatibility layer (like wine), so you could just launch iOS apps. But that's something I know nothing about and would probably be very difficult. You would have to subvert the need for the kernel (it's open source, so who knows if that helps?) and then rewrite all of the frameworks that iOS uses to work on Android. It's a large undertaking, but it would be interesting, none-the-less.
Smith7018 said:
Jesus, is this forum really only filled with uneducated, over-opinionated, and unhelpful people?
To answer the OP's question; yes and no. It won't be able to run natively, due to the fact that it's closed source. Though, that's never stopped people before. One could write an ARM-based iDevice emulator and it would theoretically boot.
The trials and tribulations of the emulator would be difficult, but here's what would have to be implemented (off the top of my head, of course):
1. CPU (shouldn't be extremely difficult because the host (phone) is ARM-based)
2. Sound
3. Memory (not the worst, especially because an iPhone only has 512 MB RAM)
4. Graphics/Display/Input (shrug)
5. Implement measures to counter device-checks when booting
6. Flash storage (easy)
7. Anything else that I can't think of atm.
So yes, it would be a huge undertaking, but theoretically, it could run in an emulated environment with bad-mild performance. Don't ever expect iOS-like butter, though. The overhead cost of Android is extremely large (my 1 gig RAM usually has 600 MB free to use) and the phones have near identical specs, which makes it difficult for perfect performance due to limited memory/cpu.
I hope this is better than "OMG HAHA I <3 ANDrOID SO MUCH! BOOo APPL AND TEH iPhonE SUX!!!"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey thanks for that but his question was answered on the first page. But obviously you felt the need to try and showcase your knowldedge. Good for you. The answer is no.
lowandbehold said:
Hey thanks for that but his question was answered on the first page. But obviously you felt the need to try and showcase your knowldedge. Good for you. The answer is no.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The difference between an opinion and a fact is that an opinion varies on a person to person basis. If there had been an iOS port on android, I'd have kept my streak for the ability to play those games on such a screen alone. But obviously you felt the need to try and showcase your blind fanboyism. Good for you. The answer differentiates on a person to person basis.
z33dev33l said:
The difference between an opinion and a fact is that an opinion varies on a person to person basis. If there had been an iOS port on android, I'd have kept my streak for the ability to play those games on such a screen alone. But obviously you felt the need to try and showcase your blind fanboyism. Good for you. The answer differentiates on a person to person basis.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, actually it is not opinion. Are you kidding me? IOS is closed source. You wouldn't be able to build even the simple frameworks for it without the source code. What kind of fool calls answering a question like that blind fanboyism? I didn't say.."no apple sucks". I said it wasn't possible. Please show me where the "blind fanboyism" comes in. I truly feel sorry for you.

Decisions Decisions

I dove into tech early, when I was eleven and have been at it ever since. I've watched a lot grow and have made my informed decisions. Android holds phones, Apple has tablets and normally I believe Linux is best on computers. Still being young though I always have a craving for change in my day to day life. They are so many PC operating systems out there and I want to have a a set OS for my computer like I do with my other devices while still satisfying my want for change. So simply put, what is the most innovative, and frequently updated OS that is best for my 3 main things, Coding/Android development, music, and news. I want it to be well rounded in other categories too, I don't want to try and edit a photo on a piece of horrid software for example.
What do you consider to be the best OS?
What do you use and why?
I use OSX on my laptop and Android on my phone. OSX is fast, intuitive, and aesthetically pleasing. I think one of the reasons why Apple hardware is so expensive is precisely because of the software it runs.
rizzodg said:
I use OSX on my laptop and Android on my phone. OSX is fast, intuitive, and aesthetically pleasing. I think one of the reasons why Apple hardware is so expensive is precisely because of the software it runs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope Apple products are over priced and expensive for the same reason "premium" bottled water and power balance bands exist. Because people are dumb and want to believe that things are better than they actually are. Buy apple products if you like just don't delude yourself its anything special.
Besides that you didn't actually answer the ops question, but nice add shill.
Why in your opinion is OSX good for coding?
Sent from my HTC EVO 3D X515m using xda premium
I just have Windows because I built the computer for gaming and it was the easiest way to reliably get mainstream games to work well on it.
It's a Catch-22 - because myself and relatively few other people are on Linux and demand gaming content, no one is making it - and because no one is making it, we stay with Windows (at least for gaming). I think if game developers released for Linux it would boom like Android has, but everyone is too afraid to make the first step - and props to the people who fuss around getting games to work on Linux via wine and such - I just don't want to deal with it.
I've had Windows DOS, 95, 98, ME (blame parents), XP and now 7. I used a MacBook for a few years that had Leopard on it. I don't think it makes a great deal of difference to the end-user between Windows and Mac - that was my experience. I'm really tired of the look of OSX and Apple's products in general - Windows 8 "not Metro" has a nice look, though I haven't bothered to upgrade yet (no touchscreen monitor or anything, so meh). I used pretty much the exact same programs on Windows and Mac. I used Open Office / NeoOffice, PhotoShop CS3/CS5 (until Adobe pissed me off and now screw them - glad I'm not a professional and can get away with not bothering with their products any more), Chrome/Firefox, et cetera.
Apple's code terminal looks like, prettier, I guess.
When I bought my MacBook, it was a good choice for the money at the time - but things have changed a lot since then. I don't feel Apple's products are a good value any more and I feel like they're falling behind the times by not taking any chances with their design.
I don't think OS is really important for music and news unless you want to use very specific programs. Even Chrome OS could do that.
My grandparents use Kubuntu.
But why tie yourself down to just one OS ? Have a few - switch when necessary. Why not ? Buy a couple of cheap sub-500Gb HDDs if you want to play around without partitioning. You can use a VM program for even faster access to use what you want as you need. I would like to do this with Mint eventually but I'd like to get a second redundant drive for my main one first. Because I have much paranoia.
I've found plenty of great software that's available free for Linux as well as Windows - so I don't think it's a huge issue other than games or if you have a specific software you need to use for which the Linux equivalents don't provide what you need. Perhaps write down programs you'd like to use and see what there is ? Or write down what you want out of an OS ?
But, if you want variety, why pick when you don't have to ?
Using linux for few years, now I hate using anything else ...

Android marketing and the fragmentation argument

I just saw an ad on TV for an android device on one of the big us carriers (I forget which one) and it was really bad. It made me realize something I've never agreed with before: that indeed android fragmentation is a hinderence.
Hear me out. Obviously being an active xda member I'm pro-android, but most people with android devices aren't on xda and wont root or even use a different launcher. So that is why I realize carriers like Verizon or whoever have to show generic commercials with no or little focus on the actual operation system. Don't get me wrong, I'm not sticking up for the carriers, they are the ones that take forever to update android versions. But they don't have to. That's the "beauty" of android.
But this has never been more of an issue than right now, I argue. Android 4.2.x is excellent and beautiful. It is the first time an iPhone user could try android and actually feel like it could be in the same competition as iOS in terms of looks and general UI. Meanwhile only a very tiny percent of android users have the latest version.
So to bring it back around to the commercial I saw, which goes for pretty much all android commercials I've ever seen, they do not display android at all! Its always generic futuristic music and background fx and distractions. Meanwhile iOS always shows a closeup of the phone with a mere finger navigating the os.
The ironic thing is that android is better now! But carriers take months or a year to update so they can only advertise their ****ty versions of android which are always stale at the time so instead they just show the phone dancing to dubstep music in front of lightning. They should be showing how Google Now is already way better than siri, how the notification drop down was started by Android (taken by iOS) and is now beautiful and functional, and how the recents button has become essential, not just usable.
There should be a SHORT grace period for carriers to update to the newest version of Android. Only then will they realize that their biggest asset isn't their ability to have 20 different android phones, or their attempt at theming a ROM (sense, touchwiz), but you actually have the best operating system out now! You just don't have the latest version because you're a phone network company and not a software development company.
But I put the blame on android because surely they are able to have a bit more control over how the big carriers manipulate their os? Why wouldn't a company like Verizon want to display the freshest os and advertise that they have the newest version of android and will always be this first to update because they don't change a thing? They would advertise that if Google had some sort or mandate on update time periods. Then android wouldn't always be thought of as the poor mans iOS .
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus
The problem is, I don't think the average user - the one you're talking about - cares about "updates". They're just something annoying that happens and you have to restart your phone for a while. They don't care if it has the "newest" Android OS, just that it does what they want - this is the rest of my family feels, and even some of my friends who ARE interested in tech.
My dad couldn't give a crap if he has ICS or JB and wouldn't be able to tell the difference. If you put 4.2 in front of him, I doubt he could tell you the difference without spending half an hour hunting it down - and after that, I would question if the changes are anything he would actually care about. That kind of a user doesn't really WANT fast change - they care that things are familiar and easy to use, they don't want to have to re-learn parts of their phone in a few months - that's one thing I can give to iOS - as boring as it is, it's well, the same.
People have always said that one particular iteration of Android is when it's "finally ready to take on iOS". I think ICS is fine in that regard. iOS is so stylistically "stagnant" that Android really doesn't have to do much to match it. The advantage of iOS is that it's always the same, that it's not changing, that you can upgrade your phone hardware and still have everything work exactly the way you knew.
"Constantly updating" appeals to tech geeks who love learning new things and better ways to use them - and that's what the Nexus line is for - that's what flashing ROMs is for. People that want that find it.
Basically, your average Android phone shopper is Windows, not Linux. They're there because they want a phone that fits their needs and price-point - something Apple isn't offering. Sure, some people are Windows people for other reasons - but we're talking the average person who just wants a computer they can afford that "just works".
A good example is my mom - I just helped her buy a tablet. She was a little afraid of the idea of an Android tablet because she had no brand familiarity. She'd seen people using iPads to do what she wanted, and was worried because she'd never heard of ASUS and better knew Samsung as an appliance-maker. These ads, the most important thing they can do is just get people to recognise the name. There have been studies done on this, and it's true - getting people to know your brand's name is one of the best things you can do. That way, the "average Joe" goes into the store and thinks, "Hey, that's Samsung - I've heard of that" and the human brain tends to go, "I've heard of that, so it must be good" - true or not. They aren't looking at the specs and comparing, they're looking for a device they can trust. Trust starts with familiarity. The iPhone came from a company that already had name-recognition, but they grew that into a much larger market by using exclusivity and ease of use. It's like with liquor - people see an expensive liquor and assume that it must be a better liquor. Simply jacking up prices has totally worked for some brands to gain success. I'm not even kidding. People do this with expensive purses and jeans and crap, too - even if it's all made in the same exact Chinese factories.
Um.
Sorry for the novel.
tl;dr : Our brains are often illogical
sd0070 said:
Android 4.2.x is excellent and beautiful. It is the first time an iPhone user could try android and actually feel like it could be in the same competition as iOS in terms of looks and general UI.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Android has been able to compete in looks and general UI since 4.0 IMO, and easily since 2.2 with Sense. Smoothness is a completely different factor, but the actual look and feel of Android has been decent for a while. iOS isn't even a UI anymore, it's an app launcher and that is all. You can't do anything at all in iOS outside of the apps, which is frankly pathetic. iOS works as Apple wants it to, Android works like you want it to.
As a developer I do think Android fragmentation is a huge issue. I agree that Android 4.0+ is nice looking and has some very nice API's however developing Android applications that run consistently accross different devices is very difficult. I find more and more that a good portion of my code ends up being wrappers and reflection calls to support API's and classes not found in previous Android versions. For example, If I want to add media player lock-screen controls to my application it's not a problem in Android 4.0+ but the class isn't available in versions below 4.0. So, what am I supposed to do? Do I release a version to the play store and say my application supports lock screen controls ONLY if you run a specific version of Android? That certainly won't ecourage people to use the application. Just my opinion.
I agree it can be a problem for development.
However, I think it's reasonable to say, "this feature will only work on 4.0+" - people are used to that, if you have a Windows 98 machine still, I hope you're not expecting to be able to run everything a Windows 7 machine could, for example. I see things like designations requiring XP/Vista/7, et cetera on packages - I don't think it's unreasonable that at some point Android is the same - you can only reasonably support so far back because at some point it's just not worth your time.
If it's possible to implement below 4.0 and it's worth your time to make it happen - that's the cost of business to decide if it's worth it or not to support the older devices based on what your market looks like.

Categories

Resources