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THE PROBLEM WITH ANDROID THAT NEEDS TO BE FIXED - OEMs

This is what i think the real and biggest problem with android is, the battle is not with apple, their os or their phone. The actual problem is this-
"Google has done an extremely awesome job with jelly bean, the 'project butter' has really changed the Android experience, experience is fast and ultra responsive, devices dont lag when u turn them on or when u wake them from sleep. Google Now is pretty instant and gives some delightfully satisfying answers which the software is all about, offline voice typing is also pretty accurate, fast and an actual step forward with voice typing, the animations are wonderful, the lockscreen is simple and easy to use and its pretty fast, and what to say about notifications they are just a treat to use.
But all of what google has done is waste, total waste.
Cause OEMs wont be able give JB to their devices. Why? Because they will be busy to make stock JB look ugly, they will be busy to just change the way the UI looks so that their device can look be different no matter if its uglier than stock, they will be busy to add stupid features like 'direct call' when the call button is just their above the messages(I MEAN ITS JUST ONE FREAKING TAP ON THE CALL BUTTON AS ITS JUST RIGHT THEIR, U R LOOKING AT THE SCREEN ANYWAY SO U CAN JUST PRESS THAT FREAKING BUTTON TO CALL THAT PERSON), features like 'Tap to Top' (CAN'T U JUST FLICK UR FINGER ON THE SCREEN TO SCROLL BACK TO TOP, IT TURNS OUT THAT U CAN BUT OEMs HAVE TO ADD THESE FANCY FEATURES TO SHOW THE WORLD THAT THEY CAN DO FANCY 'CODING'), they have to add fancy and weird lockscreen. I know some features are important to add for ur company like various camera settings that google don't add cause they simply dont feel the need of those settings, BUT WHY THE HELL OEMs HAVE TO ADD THEIR FREAKING CUSTOM UGLY SKINS AND USELESS FEATURES.
I think google should do something to stop this madness, i see tons of bulls*** on internet just to compare the iphone and android. Most of the comments is people saying that they have older version of android on their device and 'not the one shown in the video' but on iphone they have latest software that is even in 'iphone4s' so they still think iphones are better. It ALL ABOUT UPDATES, GOOGLE WORK REALLY HARD ON ANDROID AND THE RESULT IS THAT MAJORITY OF ANDROID DEVICES ARE STILL ON '2.3.3.
Its pretty dissapointing to see how idiotic OEMs behave about updates, skins and fancy features. I hope the google PDK help OEMs to give faster update.
Some comapnies are still struggling to push ICS to their old devices and JB is out, they are busy in working on their new devices and some few people from their team work on OS updates to old devices, and the process is so slow because they are busy in adding ****ty skins and features.
P.S. Other OEMs should learn from HUAWEI, they also wanted to add some features that they feel are useful to their ICS phones, but they didnt ****ed the UI, they have their file manager, their cloud services, some additional camera app features in their ICS phones but they dont **** the UI."
This is what i think, i was pretty angry about OEMs and updates so i shared all my thoughts on a g+ post and this quote is the same g+ post.
Here is my g+ profile- https://plus.google.com/117638526643371847672/posts

I think/hope Google is having this very revelation, since they are supposedly releasing some more Nexus devices in November. I know I'm waiting to see if one of those devices is a slider, as the rumor goes. I'm definitely with you on this!

You are absolutely right. Maybe not every OEM's ROM is bad, but they shouldn't try to make things better because it takes a lot of time and usually makes the system look ugly. That makes Android different on almost every manufacturer's device...
Sent from my E15i using XDA Premium App

One thing that I have decided that I am just going to buy devices that come under Google's NEXUS program. That way even if I may get not the latest and greatest hardware, I am still assured that I will get updates for at least 2-3 years and instant updates is what we are talking about.

Feel You
Hahahahahha
Anger is good
you were right about every single word
OEMs ruin the Android
trying to make it better
while the only thing happening is Android getting S*** taste instead of vanilla taste
well
on my side
i would prefer if the Stock android was available to all phones beside the OEMs one
in that way we have a choice
also
the Android pure Rom is much better than any other
i came to that after a lot of flashing
---------- Post added at 11:26 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:17 PM ----------
yogi2010 said:
I think/hope Google is having this very revelation, since they are supposedly releasing some more Nexus devices in November. I know I'm waiting to see if one of those devices is a slider, as the rumor goes. I'm definitely with you on this!
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Slider +1:victory:

Haha, I also was getting myself worked up the other day thinking about carriers: I'm sure they also have a lot to do with how long updates take to come out. And, they get you on a 2-year contract, and then you're lucky if they support the device with updates for even 1 year!

I'm hoping PDK begins to lock down a bit of what they can do. Also, Carriers are a huge problem too. They don't want you to get updates.
Sent from my LG-E739 using Tapatalk 2

You know I see a lot of people thinking that all OEM do is make it look ugly ( to be honest all the OEM and ICS default themes look like crap)
But they do alot more. Take the SGS3 for example. All the nice software that made people excited about it would not be there if OEM didn't add their spin. All the nice features people enjoy wouldn't be there either. I mean if all that stuff didn't matter then people would be running a nexus as it is pure android.
Sent for a corner cell in Arkham

zelendel said:
You know I see a lot of people thinking that all OEM do is make it look ugly ( to be honest all the OEM and ICS default themes look like crap)
But they do alot more. Take the SGS3 for example. All the nice software that made people excited about it would not be there if OEM didn't add their spin. All the nice features people enjoy wouldn't be there either. I mean if all that stuff didn't matter then people would be running a nexus as it is pure android.
Sent for a corner cell in Arkham
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Click to collapse
I understand what u mean, i have also mentioned in op that many OEMs feel the need of some features that stock android doesnt have and they can add and they should obviously add them but amount of these features are really low, most of the features we see are just fancy features that show that they can also 'code'.
I know a bit about android ICS (stock) as i make themes for theme engine and i made roms earlier. Its divided into two parts or two UIs, one is the dark part or the dominating part that we see across ICS, the grey backgrounds with blue text, other is the light UI, that is the white backgrounds with blue and black text. I am also not a big fan of they grey part of the UI but the white part is just wonderful. Also no OEMs' ui i have seen is better than stock ICS UI so they are clearly making it worse.
I hope google go full on with their white/light UI in next version of android.
Also i agree to the fact that many required features that a consumer wants these days with software these days are lacking in stock android like some settings, options and features in camera app, that actually all consumers these day want. I have seen many nokia users who still buy nokia phones cause they have these small features to mess with in camera app. There are many things that android team have not thought of added in stock android, and i think the main reason for that is the fear of people declaring their OS as 'complicated' and non-user friendly.

What worse it can get. Now Gnexus may get banned.

From now on Google is going to allow OEMs to gain access to upcoming versions of Android sooner than the general public so that they can get updates out sooner.
OEM skins annoy me as well. Most people care more about the apps than the OEM skin and all these differences between carriers default skins creates some fragmentation. OEM bloatware that can't be uninstalled also annoys me but at least with ICS apps can now be hidden without rooting.

Good point.

spunker88 said:
From now on Google is going to allow OEMs to gain access to upcoming versions of Android sooner than the general public so that they can get updates out sooner.
OEM skins annoy me as well. Most people care more about the apps than the OEM skin and all these differences between carriers default skins creates some fragmentation. OEM bloatware that can't be uninstalled also annoys me but at least with ICS apps can now be hidden without rooting.
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But still, Google is doing so that OEMs are ready to push updates along with Google. If Google is gonna give them new versions earlier we can assume they will give 1-2 months earlier and they will still be working on it so they will also give new source code later maybe 10-20 days earlier. So OEMs like Samsung or HTC who take 5-7 months for an update will still not be able to catch up with Google's announcements and updates.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using xda premium

I agree and disagree.. I never used stock roms until i purchased the droid razr. I know blur makes it look better and also realize that motorola has a **** ton of bloatware that i have to freeze but i've been happy with gingerbread and now the ics stock roms. I do however think that needs to include an option to root the device on the configuration when you first setup the device. I think it shouldn't have locked bootloaders or things like that because it is linux underneath the nice ui and you should be able to mod it the way you like without having to hack everything. Long story short, most stock roms do look like crap and are bloated but some do a good job.
Sent from my DROID RAZR using xda premium

Another thing I forgot about is carriers, they need to get their hands out of the software. My broadband ISP doesn't care what updates or OS I am running, they just provide me internet.
Ideally we would get all software upgrades from Google sort of like Windows, but I'm not sure if this is possible with Android. At least just let us update direct from the OEM, carriers shouldn't have to approve updates.

Guys support me and others who are with me and retweet #OmlyNexus and #****AndroidOEMs .

The OEMs don't care what you think, because they want you to run THEIR software - which they will be putting on their phones instead of Android eventually.
That's why Google is pushing their Nexus line to the next level, they know this to be true.
Look up Tizen and read about what Samsung is planning on doing.
With the open source nature of Linux, mfg's don't care about Android. That's why they are getting their customer's used to their "flavor" of Android, whether it be Sense UI or TouchWiz. They aren't spending all this time and money so that their developers can learn to make Android better.. they're getting ready to launch their own projects.
Google knows their time is limited as far as Android being the only major Linux player in the mobile phone business, and it's coming faster than people realize. Firefox, Tizen, Ubuntu.. just watch.
Half of these Android users won't even be on Android in two years, because they are loyal to HTC or Samsung, not Google.
Hence, the Nexus line.

ingenious247 said:
The OEMs don't care what you think, because they want you to run THEIR software - which they will be putting on their phones instead of Android eventually.
That's why Google is pushing their Nexus line to the next level, they know this to be true.
Look up Tizen and read about what Samsung is planning on doing.
With the open source nature of Linux, mfg's don't care about Android. That's why they are getting their customer's used to their "flavor" of Android, whether it be Sense UI or TouchWiz. They aren't spending all this time and money so that their developers can learn to make Android better.. they're getting ready to launch their own projects.
Google knows their time is limited as far as Android being the only major Linux player in the mobile phone business, and it's coming faster than people realize. Firefox, Tizen, Ubuntu.. just watch.
Half of these Android users won't even be on Android in two years, because they are loyal to HTC or Samsung, not Google.
Hence, the Nexus line.
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Click to collapse
Actually u r a bit wrong here. As people are getting more informed and educated about android they are getting to know it, once they know and love android. They won't buy a new Samsung device with tizen or bada in it. I live in India, people here are slowly starting to know about android. And as u all know India is not one of the developed countries, still if people can like and know android and be loyal to it then why can't other countries' people do the same. We are going into a new era, its not about hardware anymore, firmware comes first. Most of the companies are able to produce good hardware and mostly on a similar level, what matters is the software and OS.

bhu1 said:
Actually u r a bit wrong here. As people are getting more informed and educated about android they are getting to know it, once they know and love android. They won't buy a new Samsung device with tizen or bada in it. I live in India, people here are slowly starting to know about android. And as u all know India is not one of the developed countries, still if people can like and know android and be loyal to it then why can't other countries' people do the same. We are going into a new era, its not about hardware anymore, firmware comes first. Most of the companies are able to produce good hardware and mostly on a similar level, what matters is the software and OS.
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I'll have to respectfully disagree here.
When the Samsung GS4 or the next HTC flagship device comes out, no one is going to care if it's running Android or not, except die-hard Android fans. All they will care about is the new features that the phone offers. And the mfgs are smart, they will make their platform compatible with Android apps, allow Google Market (and others). Look at Amazon, guarantee they will have their own Linux dist. as well eventually
and in regard to "We are going into a new era, its not about hardware anymore, firmware comes first"
Uh, I don't think so. Minus the Nexus crowd, nobody buys their next phone because it is going to have JB, they buy it because it's going to have the newest/fastest dual/quad core, XXMp Camera, the newest 'smart' feature, the bigger screen, etc. Nobody ran out to buy the GS3 because it has ICS...
XDA is about 1-2% (if that) of Android users. And even on XDA, half of the users don't know enough about Android to even matter. Maybe it's somewhat different in India, but my guess is the people you are referring to are just starting to understand what Android/Linux really means, so that isn't really relevant to this discussion.

ingenious247 said:
I'll have to respectfully disagree here.
When the Samsung GS4 or the next HTC flagship device comes out, no one is going to care if it's running Android or not, except die-hard Android fans. All they will care about is the new features that the phone offers. And the mfgs are smart, they will make their platform compatible with Android apps, allow Google Market (and others). Look at Amazon, guarantee they will have their own Linux dist. as well eventually
and in regard to "We are going into a new era, its not about hardware anymore, firmware comes first"
Uh, I don't think so. Minus the Nexus crowd, nobody buys their next phone because it is going to have JB, they buy it because it's going to have the newest/fastest dual/quad core, XXMp Camera, the newest 'smart' feature, the bigger screen, etc. Nobody ran out to buy the GS3 because it has ICS...
XDA is about 1-2% (if that) of Android users. And even on XDA, half of the users don't know enough about Android to even matter. Maybe it's somewhat different in India, but my guess is the people you are referring to are just starting to understand what Android/Linux really means, so that isn't really relevant to this discussion.
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Click to collapse
I don't think a die hard fan of a flagship phone from Samsung or HTC is gonna buy the new flagship phone if the company changes the OS. I know people care about hardware but that doesn't mean they go totally mad about it, not looking the software at all. Btw, play store access is only for Google/android phones.
Also, nobody bought Gs3 cause it just had a quad core or it had a 8mp camera. If Samsung had bada or maybe android 2.1 on it then believe me it would have been samsung's worst selling phone.
Edit: Will u buy a new i7 3rd Gen laptop if it had windows 2000 and a restriction that u can't change it??? For same price that u buy a normal i7 laptop or even higher.

Getting Gear 2 to work on non Samsung phones

Now that the whole gear series has gone all Tizen on us.. what is the chance that they will work with non Samsung phones?
Is it going to be like now where you just get the Gear Manager apk working on the other phones and you are good to go? or is it going to be more complicated?
Anyone know anything about this Tizen crap at all?

Shouldn't matter. The thing holding back compatibility is that touchwiz is required on phone

so it should work on non samsung phones just like gear 1?

It already works, only a few thing are missing.
Check gear2neo qa subforum for the working gear manager apk !

It works with my nexus but I dont see the camera app on my Gear 2 Neo and I cant install any 3rd party apps on my watch like evernote and zite.
A little useless...

If you don't have a Samsung phone, why not wait on the Moto 360?

EVOme said:
If you don't have a Samsung phone, why not wait on the Moto 360?
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Click to collapse
My sister got an s5 and got it for only $50. She just gave it to me for free.

EVOme said:
If you don't have a Samsung phone, why not wait on the Moto 360?
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Click to collapse
Moto360 is one of those things that will one day come but no one can say battery will be good. No speaker phone on the Moto360 either.

idle0095 said:
Moto360 is one of those things that will one day come but no one can say battery will be good. No speaker phone on the Moto360 either.
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By the time that notification-only watch comes out, the Gear 3 Solo will land. It's rumored to have its own cellular/data radios.

BlackZenith said:
By the time that notification-only watch comes out, the Gear 3 Solo will land. It's rumored to have its own cellular/data radios.
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Samsung announced an "Android Wear" version of the gear coming this year as well... now I am second guessing this gear 2! =/ ...just after I took the Gear 1 back and waited for this! ...craaazy lol

GermanBrot said:
Samsung announced an "Android Wear" version of the gear coming this year as well... now I am second guessing this gear 2! =/ ...just after I took the Gear 1 back and waited for this! ...craaazy lol
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Based on this video, I wouldn't wait on that if you're wanting a "full feature" smart watch. Besides, I think the resale value of the Gear 2 should be decent when they release another successor. So you could sell the Gear 2 just like you did the Galaxy Gear...

BlackZenith said:
Based on this video, I wouldn't wait on that if you're wanting a "full feature" smart watch. Besides, I think the resale value of the Gear 2 should be decent when they release another successor. So you could sell the Gear 2 just like you did the Galaxy Gear...
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You sound a lot like myself and enjoy all those features that others call "gimmicks". A watch with all the features is exactly why I stuck with the Gear. I wouldn't put it past them to include a front facing camera (even for just the Smart Stay feature alone). But then again, sometimes you have to just stick with something and enjoy what you have. A watch with an IR blaster, Camera, and handling phone calls is a great start for my first... um.. watch? lol... thanks for the advice! =D
p.s. The video just lost some of my interest for Android Wear... thanks for posting that! Im glad Samsung took it to the next level already.

GermanBrot said:
Samsung announced an "Android Wear" version of the gear coming this year as well... now I am second guessing this gear 2! =/ ...just after I took the Gear 1 back and waited for this! ...craaazy lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't ask me why, but I believe that watch won't be a flagship product as Gear.
It would be like a WP-like device for Samsung. Samsung also makes WP devices, but they hardly give much attention to that compared to Galaxy devices. Why do you think that Samsung wants Android Wear devices to succeed? They have invested in Tizen, and they want to people to buy into that instead of Android Wear devices. This also gives them a big incentive to control the whole ecosystem with Tizen-based devices.

CLARiiON said:
Don't ask me why, but I believe that watch won't be a flagship product as Gear.
It would be like a WP-like device for Samsung. Samsung also makes WP devices, but they hardly give much attention to that compared to Galaxy devices. Why do you think that Samsung wants Android Wear devices to succeed? They have invested in Tizen, and they want to people to buy into that instead of Android Wear devices. This also gives them a big incentive to control the whole ecosystem with Tizen-based devices.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats a good point, but on the other hand, the tables are turned in this case. WP has like what, 4% market share, while Android has around 54% or so? It makes sense not to put too much love into WP. In this case, its the opposite where Tizen is .001% (thats a random guess...lol) and Android is way in the lead.
Luckily they talk to each other nicely, and I am assuming Tizen relies mostly on HTML5 and CSS to run apps so its more widely compatible (correct me there if I am wrong). I just know as much time, money and development they have put into Tizen, I could guess (and this is a guess) that they have already spent at least double in android development. I cant see them dismissing this on the same level as WP.
You did make a good point though, we can all tell they really REALLY want Tizen to succeed. lol

GermanBrot said:
Thats a good point, but on the other hand, the tables are turned in this case. WP has like what, 4% market share, while Android has around 54% or so? It makes sense not to put too much love into WP. In this case, its the opposite where Tizen is .001% (thats a random guess...lol) and Android is way in the lead.
Luckily they talk to each other nicely, and I am assuming Tizen relies mostly on HTML5 and CSS to run apps so its more widely compatible (correct me there if I am wrong). I just know as much time, money and development they have put into Tizen, I could guess (and this is a guess) that they have already spent at least double in android development. I cant see them dismissing this on the same level as WP.
You did make a good point though, we can all tell they really REALLY want Tizen to succeed. lol
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NOTE: This discussion might be OT, but I feel it's important.
You bring up very valid points, I appreciate that. It's good to have such discussions. BTW, Android has around 81% market share (worldwide) according to last IDC numbers.
Yes, Tizen relies of HTML5 and CSS. You have the option to make web apps and also native apps. Gear will (atleast initially) use Web runtime.
The reason why Samsung is investing in Tizen is purely from future perspective. Android doesn't give them total control of the ecosystem. Just have a look at present Android -- Google control Android. If I am brutally honest - the best parts of Android are not open. Google services, apps, maps, youtube, search are not open. You just can't have app store without taking all other google services along with that. Samsung doesn't like that as it limits their chances to create a serviceline of their own. Samsung would love to have have users do everything within their ecosystem. Like after getting a Samsung phone, they would want the users to buy the apps from their store (not Google Play), purchase music from them, rent videos from them etc., So how they plan to do it? They have now tie-ups with Amazon for books, tie-up with Yahoo for various web apps, Nokia Here as default map applications, 7digital, Slacker etc., Samsung also have to think what happens if google decides to keep Android for themselves? or start putting strict conditions to use their services?
Check this Tizen Whitepaper. Some very interesting statements --
Tizen’s open governance – which is designed to prevent any single entity from controlling the platform – will help it avoid the pitfalls of previous broad-based industry initiatives, which ultimately suffered from perceived vendor control.
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Tizen is designed to fill an important gap in today’s smartphone landscape: namely the perceived need for an open platform free from control by a single entity.
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Click to collapse
It's not Apple or Microsoft that they are targeting, Google/Android is the target.

Works with Sony Xperia Z Ultra
I can connect with My Sony Z Ultra which is Android 4.3.
But, some functions are not working.
I used Gear Manager from this thread.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2677686

CLARiiON said:
NOTE: This discussion might be OT, but I feel it's important.
You bring up very valid points, I appreciate that. It's good to have such discussions. BTW, Android has around 81% market share (worldwide) according to last IDC numbers.
Yes, Tizen relies of HTML5 and CSS. You have the option to make web apps and also native apps. Gear will (atleast initially) use Web runtime.
The reason why Samsung is investing in Tizen is purely from future perspective. Android doesn't give them total control of the ecosystem. Just have a look at present Android -- Google control Android. If I am brutally honest - the best parts of Android are not open. Google services, apps, maps, youtube, search are not open. You just can't have app store without taking all other google services along with that. Samsung doesn't like that as it limits their chances to create a serviceline of their own. Samsung would love to have have users do everything within their ecosystem. Like after getting a Samsung phone, they would want the users to buy the apps from their store (not Google Play), purchase music from them, rent videos from them etc., So how they plan to do it? They have now tie-ups with Amazon for books, tie-up with Yahoo for various web apps, Nokia Here as default map applications, 7digital, Slacker etc., Samsung also have to think what happens if google decides to keep Android for themselves? or start putting strict conditions to use their services?
Check this Tizen Whitepaper. Some very interesting statements --
It's not Apple or Microsoft that they are targeting, Google/Android is the target.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
WOW ...kinda speechless on that white paper. It makes sense... so many are putting all their eggs in one basket. That was the semi beauty of Android... you dont like Samsung, and you can leave that brand and as long as your on Android, all the apps and etc you paid for follow you.
Do you think the entire reason Android Wear exists is because it (Tizen) scares the fire out of Google? I mean look at what all Tizen is capable of running from the G1 to G2/N ...the exact same CPU, and hardware... I think this even has a smaller battery than the previous with nearly double battery life. The dots are starting to connect! ...Let the content owners keep the data...(Amazon for books, tie-up with Yahoo for various web apps, Nokia Here as default map applications, 7digital, Slacker etc.,) and not depend on 1 "play/app store" ...regardless of OS...
I almost want to believe Android is so heavy on the resources that this is why they are wanting to "keep it simple"?

GermanBrot said:
WOW ...kinda speechless on that white paper. It makes sense... so many are putting all their eggs in one basket. That was the semi beauty of Android... you dont like Samsung, and you can leave that brand and as long as your on Android, all the apps and etc you paid for follow you.
Do you think the entire reason Android Wear exists is because it (Tizen) scares the fire out of Google? I mean look at what all Tizen is capable of running from the G1 to G2/N ...the exact same CPU, and hardware... I think this even has a smaller battery than the previous with nearly double battery life. The dots are starting to connect! ...Let the content owners keep the data...(Amazon for books, tie-up with Yahoo for various web apps, Nokia Here as default map applications, 7digital, Slacker etc.,) and not depend on 1 "play/app store" ...regardless of OS...
I almost want to believe Android is so heavy on the resources that this is why they are wanting to "keep it simple"?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's an interesting topic, but I sometimes feel it could get boring for other folks. But following are my own views in this topic:
1] Google would want all vendors simply following their guidelines and simply fighting on the basis of price (similar to laptop vendors). Just look at computers - everything runs Windows and with very little chance of customization. Vendors like HP/Lenovo/Dell simply compete on price or or make more powerful hardware. But look at the profit margin in that industry. Only Microsoft makes money from PC business! That's a cold hard fact. Google wants to do same in mobile space what MS did to desktop computers. Difference is that MS sold software, google wants to engulf everyone in their web services.
2] Samsung doesn't want to be a generic mobile vendor, say like those Chinese companies. The moment Samsung become like everyone else, why would you pay premium for Samsung phones?? That's exactly how Apple is able to always demand premium price for their hardware. At all times, they sold decent hardware with unique software. Samsung knows if you can't be different/unique in this market, you would be left to play the price game. And very soon, the profit margin will decrease to bare minimum.
On Tizen, I think it's pretty good foundation that they have. If you check Tizen 3.0 UI, you will see that they have also adopted flat UI design (Sept 2013 information). We will know which way this is going by Q2. First Tizen phone is supposed to come out by that time.
This is Tizen 2.2. 3.0 is supposed to be come by Q3.

Johnnynho said:
I can connect with My Sony Z Ultra which is Android 4.3.
But, some functions are not working.
I used Gear Manager from this thread.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2677686
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Click to collapse
Have you gotten 3rd party apps to work on your Gear 2? I mean do you have access on your device to Samsung Apps so you can download apps made for gear 2? I got Nexus 5 and all i can use are the default pre installed apps.

hawksking said:
Have you gotten 3rd party apps to work on your Gear 2? I mean do you have access on your device to Samsung Apps so you can download apps made for gear 2? I got Nexus 5 and all i can use are the default pre installed apps.
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No. Haven't got 3rd arty apps to work as I also don't have Samsung Apps on my Sony Z Ultra.
For me, some pre-installed apps are missing such as Call Log and Media Control. Do you have on your Gear 2?

Come on Samsung!!!!!!!!! Where are all your apps?

I have found a few good ones but when you really look there is actually very little available still, and stop putting the same app in different categories to make it look like there is more there than there really is grrrrr

NZ_Nitro said:
I have found a few good ones but when you really look there is actually very little available still, and stop putting the same app in different categories to make it look like there is more there than there really is grrrrr
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I agree samsung need to tidy there categories up it was the same for the first gear TIDY UP

Oh yeah, there's no reason whatsoever this watch needs Android... None... Just build an ecosystem from scratch. Again...
Tizen = Samsung grab for control.
Give it up Samsung your stupid OS will not make it. Give-it-up.

Too much negativity on here. There are already more apps for Gear 2 than there were for the Galaxy Gear. Also, many more should be coming with the contest for developers that Samsung has coming up. Remember that the iPhone did not even have apps on it at first and that Jobs said they were not needed. He was wrong, and apps are necessary now, but they will come. Give it a little more time.

You're right. Negativity is not good. I really didn't see the need for Tizen though... Samsung really did it's customers a disservice. To say that the OS was not important demeaned our intelligence.

EDIT: Chose to say nothing at all...

highlordkram said:
Too much negativity on here. There are already more apps for Gear 2 than there were for the Galaxy Gear. Also, many more should be coming with the contest for developers that Samsung has coming up. Remember that the iPhone did not even have apps on it at first and that Jobs said they were not needed. He was wrong, and apps are necessary now, but they will come. Give it a little more time.
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Have you actually counted them? there is not many at all

Yup I'm kinda regretting this purchase. It was gimmicky for a week or two but I'm not finding it to useful really. If there was a bunch of apps it would be different. If Samsung goes the Tizen route with their phones I will go back to HTC or LG. Great devices but Tizen blows. Seems like nobody wants to develop for it.
Sent from my SM-N900T using XDA Free mobile app

gunflight said:
Yup I'm kinda regretting this purchase. It was gimmicky for a week or two but I'm not finding it to useful really. If there was a bunch of apps it would be different. If Samsung goes the Tizen route with their phones I will go back to HTC or LG. Great devices but Tizen blows. Seems like nobody wants to develop for it.
Sent from my SM-N900T using XDA Free mobile app
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Click to collapse
Now that the Gear 1 is going Tizen, I sure hope they get on the ball and convert all of their Android apps to Tizen. They should have done that before they ever put Tizen on a watch to begin with.

Hardly any of the Android apps for the GG1 worked anyway. Notifications work great, but I liked the watch styler feature of the original Gear and the ability to side load Android apps to the watch that made sense. I flashed Tizen to my Gear 1 last night. I was under the impression it would bring consistency across all 3 devices (GG, G2, G2N). Still not consistent as original Gear owners (even though running same OS) still don't have access to same apps or user experience.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using XDA Free mobile app

At this point, the one I miss the most as I used it daily no my Pebble is Evernote.
Heck just some simple list syncing app where I can send my shopping or todo tasklist from my phone/computer to the watch and tick items off as I complete them would have been ok until we get a proper Evernote client as promised in the marketing.

Willing to Pay for android wear port

Cut dry plain & simple.
Im offering anywhere between 300-$500 for someone to port android wear to the Gear S2 Classic and have it fully function.
Im tired of Tizen and if i gotta dish out some extra cash to get better functionality from my watch then i will. This is no joke. you can PM me, or just leave comments below. I need android wear and so does the community. :good:

Why you bought smartwatches with Tizen, if you want Android Wear? Sorry, I don't get it.

Obvious question: Why not buy a Android Wear watch with your money?
Less obvious question: Why do you have a payment range?

pRo_lama said:
Why you bought smartwatches with Tizen, if you want Android Wear? Sorry, I don't get it.
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Click to collapse
i bought it because it was my first Samsung watch with tizen so i had no pre-experience with tizen and i wanted to give it a try. I like tizen, but there's limited functionality so i like android wear more, the watch has more than enough horse power to run android wear.
its like asking why do ppl buy touchwiz enabled phones just to use AOSP roms. people want what they want.

GodzillaMonster said:
Obvious question: Why not buy a Android Wear watch with your money?
Less obvious question: Why do you have a payment range?
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Click to collapse
well 1. because i wanna keep my watch and have android wear on it. i love the s2's design over anyother watch and its more than capable spec wise to run android wear.
2. because i understand how hard devs work and i also understand the time and effort it takes to make something like this and to have it work 100%. its not easy for all of them. so i figure offering a nice wad of cash would peek someones interest and motivate them to do it. devs work hard and alot of times for free to give us amazing things. so for someone to do that for me and an entire community at that? id be willing to pay.

none24 said:
well 1. because i wanna keep my watch and have android wear on it. i love the s2's design over anyother watch and its more than capable spec wise to run android wear.
2. because i understand how hard devs work and i also understand the time and effort it takes to make something like this and to have it work 100%. its not easy for all of them. so i figure offering a nice wad of cash would peek someones interest and motivate them to do it. devs work hard and alot of times for free to give us amazing things. so for someone to do that for me and an entire community at that? id be willing to pay.
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Click to collapse
Understood.
I also think the design is great - not sure what Android Wear function you'd want to have the navigation ring perform - is there a good equivalent in Android wear's UI?
I'm part of the community and don't really want Android wear on my S2 - so perhaps 'entire community' is an assumption or projection.
Your sentiment for remuneration is admirable - but I was curious about the range ($300-$500), not the cash itself. Under what criteria would you donate $300 as opposed to $500? The reason I ask is that you are effectively saying "Spend 500 hours on something for me and I'll pay you for between 4 and 6 hours of that time, depending on... ? ".

none24 said:
Cut dry plain & simple.
Im offering anywhere between 300-$500 for someone to port android wear to the Gear S2 Classic and have it fully function.
Im tired of Tizen and if i gotta dish out some extra cash to get better functionality from my watch then i will. This is no joke. you can PM me, or just leave comments below. I need android wear and so does the community. :good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got 50 on it thinking about sending biktor my s2 when I get my s3 if he's willing I'll pm him

What im saying is id donate that much to have a fully functioning version not just at whatever i see appear. Of course i dont mean the whole community wants it but if you look in the android wear for gear s2 thread there's a lot of ppl there that really want it. and i think it sucks that ppl cant enjoy one or the other. and the navigation ring should have scrolling features. in android wear you can go left right up and down in the menus, and in tizen you can do the same in certain menus, so the ring should be able to scroll left and right or up and down in the menus the same way. im in no way saying Tizen sucks, but i also dont see anything wrong with wanting extra functionality when almost all of us root our phones and install custom roms. almost every other gear watch has android wear whether its official or a dev ported it, i just wanna see it for my watch and for the others who do want it, have them enjoy they're watch even more than they do. I personally can get more out of my watch with android wear, and i love it already i just want to love it more lol

I definitely understand the OP's statement. I love my Gear S2 for casual wear (back and forth to work) and I use my Huawei Watch to go out.
Tizen vs Android Wear is a huge difference. I love how large the Android Wear development community is compared to Tizen. I love the hardware on the Gear S2, mainly the built in ambient light sensor and rotating bezel.
Sent from my SM-G935T using XDA-Developers mobile app

none24 said:
What im saying is id donate that much to have a fully functioning version not just at whatever i see appear. Of course i dont mean the whole community wants it but if you look in the android wear for gear s2 thread there's a lot of ppl there that really want it. and i think it sucks that ppl cant enjoy one or the other. and the navigation ring should have scrolling features. in android wear you can go left right up and down in the menus, and in tizen you can do the same in certain menus, so the ring should be able to scroll left and right or up and down in the menus the same way. im in no way saying Tizen sucks, but i also dont see anything wrong with wanting extra functionality when almost all of us root our phones and install custom roms. almost every other gear watch has android wear whether its official or a dev ported it, i just wanna see it for my watch and for the others who do want it, have them enjoy they're watch even more than they do. I personally can get more out of my watch with android wear, and i love it already i just want to love it more lol
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Click to collapse
I understand the issue better now. Thanks.
Perhaps I am not a typical user - I use my watch to view notifications, set timers, track steps walked, check the weather and of course tell the time. This is a lot of functionality, it all works, and it pretty sufficient (for me) for a single device.
You say you 'need' Android Wear and will be able to get more out of your watch. What will the new OS specifically let you do? If it is install more apps, specifically which AW apps will you install?

GodzillaMonster said:
I understand the issue better now. Thanks.
Perhaps I am not a typical user - I use my watch to view notifications, set timers, track steps walked, check the weather and of course tell the time. This is a lot of functionality, it all works, and it pretty sufficient (for me) for a single device.
You say you 'need' Android Wear and will be able to get more out of your watch. What will the new OS specifically let you do? If it is install more apps, specifically which AW apps will you install?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Install more apps and to answer the question of specifics, there are none in specific, people have apps in the android wear section that they personally love, where as tizen has a lack of. it also makes things like creating my own watch faces & installing them easier, and you can also make certain apps compatible with your watch that are not. and because my watch has 4G I can also install a web browser. thats just scratching some surfaces. side loading apps that devs make is another big thing. i buy android phones because i can customize them however i want to make my experience better and I feel like Tizen is too restricting and not too much supported with the lack of apps as well as not really being able to be modded. It works, but i would much rather have android on my watch where i could do more and make things easier and get more bang for my buck.

none24 said:
Install more apps and to answer the question of specifics, there are none in specific, people have apps in the android wear section that they personally love, where as tizen has a lack of. it also makes things like creating my own watch faces & installing them easier, and you can also make certain apps compatible with your watch that are not. and because my watch has 4G I can also install a web browser. thats just scratching some surfaces. side loading apps that devs make is another big thing. i buy android phones because i can customize them however i want to make my experience better and I feel like Tizen is too restricting and not too much supported with the lack of apps as well as not really being able to be modded. It works, but i would much rather have android on my watch where i could do more and make things easier and get more bang for my buck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm.. I guess my understanding fails here.
It seems to be that you want the flexibility to do things that you can't really specify, but feel there is potential there and you would like to have that potential, regardless of how useful it is will be, and with no particular personal usage problem to solve.
Ah, first-world problems are fascinating
Best of luck with the search for purposeless flexibility!

Google Now! Google maps!
S voice is terrible
Lot of various reasons to want android wear

The S2 might be lacking in the app department, but I think Android Wear is just decent at best, and Google Cards are annoying as hell. A good portion of Wear apps don't work as flawless as people make it out to be. Grass is always greener.
What I would like is for Samsung to get serious and get Bank, Credit Card, Social Media, and other misc services to develop apps for Samsung Tizen watches, like Apple does.

Google now! To hell with the cards just want the voice capabilities. If this watch had that it would be perfect even without android wear
Sent from my SM-N920P using Tapatalk

LIVEFRMNYC said:
The S2 might be lacking in the app department, but I think Android Wear is just decent at best, and Google Cards are annoying as hell. A good portion of Wear apps don't work as flawless as people make it out to be. Grass is always greener.
What I would like is for Samsung to get serious and get Bank, Credit Card, Social Media, and other misc services to develop apps for Samsung Tizen watches, like Apple does.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you OWN an Android wear watch? I own both the Gear S2 and Huawei Watch and the software on the Huawei Watch is way more intuitive and it has a ton more of 3rd party development.
FYI I wear my Gear S2 as my daily driver because I don't mind scratching/damaging it. It definitely works. My biggest gripe is lack of development and the placement of the back button vs the home button.
Sent from my SM-G935T using XDA-Developers mobile app

OuncE718 said:
Do you OWN an Android wear watch? I own both the Gear S2 and Huawei Watch and the software on the Huawei Watch is way more intuitive and it has a ton more of 3rd party development.
FYI I wear my Gear S2 as my daily driver because I don't mind scratching/damaging it. It definitely works. My biggest gripe is lack of development and the placement of the back button vs the home button.
Sent from my SM-G935T using XDA-Developers mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I have owned the Gear Live and still have the 360(first smart watch I've owned). The last 2 years I've been wearing a Gear Neo 2 almost daily. And now the S2. Barely wore the Gear Live or 360. I just don't like the way Android Wear works for me. As much as I hate the "walled garden approach", I think it works great on a smartwatch.

Future of Gear S series and Tizen

So my question is basically will the future watch (or watches) from Samsung will be also using the Tizen system and will Samsung continue to support and the devices?
Or will it be like in other experiments where after a couple of versions the company moved to a different system and abandoned the old one.
I am asking this because i have been burned before with the HTC HD2 (LEO) that came with win6.5 and lost support after about a year (give or take) luck would have it that it could be outfitted with android and be used for a few more years but i don't think that this will be the case with watches.
So do you guys think that there is a future to Tizen and that the app store will continue to grow and improve and Samsung will continue to update the software? or will it switch for example to androidware next year and we might be stuck with a 400$ unsupported outdated watch that gets no new apps what so ever. (windows even closed down the app store for the win 6.5 at some point)..........
Hope to hear your thoughts o the matter before I go and buy one

It's tough to say... We're in a very weird spot. I would guess the Gear S3 is probably the best selling wearable, most desirable and IMO, most well rounded smartwatch. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like developers are knocking the door down to create apps. The scary part is, the S2 has been out for a while and it doesn't seem like much has been accomplished. Let's hope that these developers see the value in the S3 and we can get some basic apps added.

tnt2sniper said:
It's tough to say... We're in a very weird spot. I would guess the Gear S3 is probably the best selling wearable, most desirable and IMO, most well rounded smartwatch. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like developers are knocking the door down to create apps. The scary part is, the S2 has been out for a while and it doesn't seem like much has been accomplished. Let's hope that these developers see the value in the S3 and we can get some basic apps added.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tizen is an experiment - not much promotion by Samsung. The watch is a beautiful piece of hardware but as usual, Samsung is being devious - there is NOT 4 Gb of memory available but only 1.5 Gb - the rest is taken up by bloat - watchfaces that many won't use, S-Health that cannot be removed, etc.
Typical - they think they know what we want and never listen to customers - IMHO, these watches will (are?) not gaining market traction and are a solutoion looking for a problem to solve. Maybe some folks just want notifications, SMS, Email and not how many steps they walked today?

docfreed said:
Tizen is an experiment - not much promotion by Samsung. The watch is a beautiful piece of hardware but as usual, Samsung is being devious - there is NOT 4 Gb of memory available but only 1.5 Gb - the rest is taken up by bloat - watchfaces that many won't use, S-Health that cannot be removed, etc.
Typical - they think they know what we want and never listen to customers - IMHO, these watches will (are?) not gaining market traction and are a solutoion looking for a problem to solve. Maybe some folks just want notifications, SMS, Email and not how many steps they walked today?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've had my S3 for a few weeks now and love it but I have to admit that after having several Android watches, the support for apps is so much better. With the S3, you are pretty much stuck using all Samsung apps which sucks.

docfreed said:
Tizen is an experiment - not much promotion by Samsung. The watch is a beautiful piece of hardware but as usual, Samsung is being devious - there is NOT 4 Gb of memory available but only 1.5 Gb - the rest is taken up by bloat - watchfaces that many won't use, S-Health that cannot be removed, etc.
Typical - they think they know what we want and never listen to customers - IMHO, these watches will (are?) not gaining market traction and are a solutoion looking for a problem to solve. Maybe some folks just want notifications, SMS, Email and not how many steps they walked today?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately it is not just Samsung that does crap like that (forced apps etc). Even Pebble had watch faces that you couldn't remove if you wanted. Most every phone/tablet has bloat you can't remove. I don't understand this mentality and why they won't let the user make their own decisions, I guess they think we are all too dumb to know what we want. Maybe users aren't vocal enough and since no one complains they keep doing what they do thinking everyone likes it.
I have an issue with the S3 where when not connected to phone I get that distracting watch icon that ruins the look of watchfaces and can't be turned off. I guess Samsung never thought anyone would use the watch without being tethered to the phone constantly even though they allow it to be used standalone. I suppose they also never thought putting a big white icon over the 12:00 position on all faces would bother anyone, go figure.
As far as Tizen who knows I guess it depends on how easy it is to port to it from android and how popular it gets. Apple watch OS is only Apple and they succeeded being a separate OS.

I have been wondering the same. Whats the future of this platform? The gear s2 has been out for a while, and still pretty much the same. I mean not even google has any apps for tizen. What if this is a dying platform? What if once android wear gets next big release, samsung decides, oh we are done with tizen?
Sent from J's Droid

InfiniteDrag said:
I have been wondering the same. Whats the future of this platform? The gear s2 has been out for a while, and still pretty much the same. I mean not even google has any apps for tizen. What if this is a dying platform? What if once android wear gets next big release, samsung decides, oh we are done with tizen?
Sent from J's Droid
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Welcome to Blackberry OS10 and Windows Mobile!

That is exactly my point...
I mean the watch looks beautiful and I think it's one of the best looking smart watches out there, and I also love the bezel use.
I had experience with Windows Mobile and Windows 8 rt and this is why I am not buying the watch yet.
I don't buy and don't intend to buy a new watch every year, I replace watches only when needed or every several years and I am kinda of scared on spending almost 400€ ( I live in germany) on a watch that will become irrelevant and not useful in a year or less.
Just like the HTC hd2 was replaced by an android version after less then a year ....

A big problem I see is our community is very scattered. Basically, I migrate between xda and android central. I've had android wear and after having this watch, I really don't want to go back, but unfortunately will have to of the app selection doesn't grow. I use this watch as a standalone sometimes and I need certain apps.

Man i dunno. I guess we probably have to just wait and see. If samsung sees money in this thing, they might invest enough. And who knows. Wish we had a way to attract developers for tizen.

Thank you all for the answers
I guess that at least for now i will remain on the fence.....
I cant afford and nor do I want to spend almost 400Euro's on a watch that I will need to replace in a year because of lack of support and lack of development......