Let me say first this- is NOT a tinfoil hat-style thread. I know data gets collected and that is not really the concern I have here. I am more interested in what seems to be an attempt at monopolizing users' devices. What I am trying to start a discussion on is the recent changes in just about every Google-produced apk update and the changes these updates implement into the Android environment. Take GBoard for example....this recent update took an excellent keyboard and added several features to it that are frankly, redundant and unnecessary. Rendering is better in Chrome or Firefox and with "Now on Tap", Google search widget, Google Now, and the browsers themselves this redundancy is borderline meaningless and seems more like bloatware intended to promote people to use google over any other search engine. Android System Webview is almost as meaningless. There is no reason to have an un-configurable web interface coded into every app when it makes more sense to just use a browser with more feature-rich abilities. I could see it maybe useful on slow devices, but anyone with a Qualcomm dual-core or better should not need it.
Then on the other end of the spectrum they have Google Now Launcher, which has not been updated in over a year and is extremely boring in its customizability. NowLauncher has been ignored even though it's the core of the interface. It's as if they are just bored and instead push updates in order to make people feel like things are new, when in fact many of these updates are really downgrades in functionality by causing the operating system to feel schizophrenic.
Now I am certain some will agree and probably more will disagree, but I am finding myself simply disabling or uninstalling more and more of google's totally revamped "upgraded" apps. The level of device synergy they are trying to accomplish appears to be doing the opposite and creating solutions for problems that really didn't exist. These things may pose security issues, but again that is the least of my concern.
It kinda makes me feel like Google's change in direction since the drop of the Nexus line has caused further alienation of those who loved Android for being simple yet customizable. Does anyone out there agree that Google needs to calm down a bit with these changes and maybe consider that add-ons are not improvements? I know one thing for sure- it's beginning to drive me towards AOSP and third party alternatives. I appreciate any and all input. Thanks.
The Now Launcher hasn't been updated because they moved to the Pixel launcher, I guess.
I honestly kinda like the Pixel launcher a lot better than Now launcher, though I don't use either of them. I did try them, but I prefer Nova still.
As for the keyboard, I think what they did was to make stuff more convenient, or at least try it.
The keyboard browser wasn't made to replace an actual browser. It's just for really small searches.
I also find it kinda neat.
I myself don't use Google Now, nor Google Assistant. I don't even have the Google app installed.
So being able to do a quick search right from the keyboard could prove useful in this scenario.
And I'm pretty sure I saw a switch to turn off the search option, so you can still have the old-school keyboard while still having the new features (multilingual predictions).
But I'm not using their keyboard either. It doesn't really have what I need.
Most Google apps don't suit my needs, so I opt not to use them. And that's everybody can do. They aren't forced to use them. Sure, they may come pre-installed on devices, but I'm almost certain that you can disable them if you don't need of use them.
Related
As a new Asus Transformer owner and first time Android Market customer I have to say that I am utterly disappointed with the current state of the Android Market. The android market ap is a joke. The website is a little better, but desperately needs a better way to filer aps by tablet/non-tablet or hd/sd aps.
There is no legitimate reason that the market couldn't have a specific section dedicated solely to tablets. Or at least better filter/sort functions that allow you to filter in a more effective way. I was going to post a list of what is bad about the marketplace, but there is just too much. I'm sure that everyone who owns a honeycomb tablet is well familiar with the problem(s) by now. Anyway, just wanted to vent. /rant
Use appbrain (google it), it's much nicer and lets you filter your search.
see here for compatible tablet apps: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1032381
el_brio said:
As a new Asus Transformer owner and first time Android Market customer I have to say that I am utterly disappointed with the current state of the Android Market. The android market ap is a joke. The website is a little better, but desperately needs a better way to filer aps by tablet/non-tablet or hd/sd aps.
There is no legitimate reason that the market couldn't have a specific section dedicated solely to tablets. Or at least better filter/sort functions that allow you to filter in a more effective way. I was going to post a list of what is bad about the marketplace, but there is just too much. I'm sure that everyone who owns a honeycomb tablet is well familiar with the problem(s) by now. Anyway, just wanted to vent. /rant
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There actually sholdnt be a tabletsection at all. If a dev programs oroperly their app will work fine on any size screen. Thats the benefit of the way the xml layout in the sdk work. Locations all become relative. You say x is next to y andbelow z. Then let the device sort it out.
crater said:
There actually sholdnt be a tabletsection at all. If a dev programs oroperly their app will work fine on any size screen. Thats the benefit of the way the xml layout in the sdk work. Locations all become relative. You say x is next to y andbelow z. Then let the device sort it out.
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Not necessarily true, especially as Honeycomb introduces new layout elements that many app developers want to and should take advantage of to make their apps more tablet friendly. It might still all end up in the same APK in the end, but the developer still should do some tablet specific work to make it more user friendly. It would still be nice to know which APKs have been "tablet-optimized".
They do have a "Featured Tablet Apps" section, which as far as I can tell is just a list of all/most of the APKs that have been optimized for tablets.
I thought some of these issues were fixed with 3.1 according to xoom owners.
I think it's because they don't want people to see how few apps there are optimised for tablets.
case0 said:
I think it's because they don't want people to see how few apps there are optimised for tablets.
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+1 internets
I agree
There should be a tablet filter. Even amazon apps suck at it. I download some apps and it FC on me.
You say all apps should work on tablet? Well that's not the case for many apps so there should be some kind of distinction. But, I hear some problems will be fixed in 3.1.
The pop down add won't be popping down anymore, it will just be there when you open it up, more catagories, and when you view an app and go back, it suppose to remember your location.
Be nice to be able to add reviews, but I didn't hear anything about that.
as a poor uesr from china pr
i need an app like market access lol
No no no... there is nothing about an Android app that says "I'm a tablet app" unless it just happens to be written for _only_ the Gingerbread API level (and that will be false the second the next version of Android comes out) which is pretty bad practice.
Using 3.0 classes is possible via reflection while remaining compatible back to 1.6, given that you can have a specific layout for x-large screens you can use 3.0 layout elements there even if your app targets a lower API level. Fragments are available all the way back to 1.6 now.
There is no "Tablet version" switch to detect, nor should there be.
It is up to the devs themselves to support the use cases they want to target, not specific devices, with freedom comes responsibility.
there should't be a tablet filter..android is different from iOS in terms of the layout design and ideally all apps should just run just fine on hc.
I remember reading that Google were going to put extra layers/levels into the current market to provide better touch browse/navigation - which might be nice.
But I don't really have any problems with the current one and the other sites do a good job at simplifying searches anyway.
It will never please everybody, but will continue to get better I am sure.
magicpork said:
there should't be a tablet filter..android is different from iOS in terms of the layout design and ideally all apps should just run just fine on hc.
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It's not whether or not they run fine, it's whether or not they are optimized for a tablet, like the CNN app. So I agree, a filter for apps that are tablet-optimized is a must. Until then, I just rely on the Featured Tablet Apps to see if anything new has been added.
magicpork said:
there should't be a tablet filter..android is different from iOS in terms of the layout design and ideally all apps should just run just fine on hc.
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yes ideally they should, but theyre phone apps. When they do work correctly, they just stretch. Everybody makes of the ipad saying its a giant ipod touch, but the apps that are optimized for it look amazing. So yes there should be a tablet filter.
Hello,
I'm considering purchasing One X but after reading so many posts about multitasking issues I have serious doubts. I can not really check this since it takes time to see the issue but how if I don't use Sense (use alternative launcher like GoLauncher, will I still have this issue or Sense is bigger then just laucher itself.
artisticcheese said:
Hello,
I'm considering purchasing One X but after reading so many posts about multitasking issues I have serious doubts. I can not really check this since it takes time to see the issue but how if I don't use Sense (use alternative launcher like GoLauncher, will I still have this issue or Sense is bigger then just laucher itself.
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Click to collapse
Sense is bigger than the launcher. Sense affects a lot of the core phone's features can can't be removed with just a launcher. In this particular case, Sense affects memory management, as well as the actual multitasking app itself.
Let's put it this way. If you're playing a game like say... Radiant Defense (awesome game, btw) that takes a while to complete a level and you get a text message... switching to the messaging app will actually cause the game to close. Now you can use the "multitasking" app to go back to the game, but the game will reload. It will not leave off where you left it.
If that sounds like something that would bother you a lot... I'd avoid the phone. HTC has even said that this is a core Sense 4 FEATURE, not a defect. So they won't be fixing it.
Personally don't think this really warrants a new thread, you probably should have just asked in the ongoing discussion on this.
Haven't tried an alternate launcher yet, so I can't comment on that. But as to the basic question of "how bad" the issue is, I think it depends greatly on how you use your phone, and what you expect from it. Obviously, HTC expects most people to be okay with it, or they wouldn't have tweaked it this way. Only had the phone for a few days, but so far the memory management doesn't seem much different from how the HTC Flyer does it, and I've been fine with that (having owned it since June 2011).
Like posted above, Sense is more than just a launcher. The multi-task changes are likely deep in the kernel.
To me, it is not a big deal. I don't like anything running in the background anyway. And for that matter, the number 1 app in the past a typical Android user uses is Auto Task killer which serves the exact same purpose as the new Sense 4.0. I suspect a lot of those Auto Tasker kill users now also the ones who complain about HTC's feature.
Either way, the biggest problem is with Android itself. There isn't any uniform way to inform OS that an app requires to remain running in background (unless you created a service) can be kept that way. And there is no way for an app that doesn't do anything in the background to be suspended without using any system resources. For later, both iOS and WP7 have much better implementation.
For many years now, I use Google Listen as my podcast player everyday. It works in most times while in the background but a lot of occasions, this app will be closed by OS while I'm listening to the podcast. This behavior is the same on couple different Android phones (samsung and now HTC One X). So, if google's own app can't even stay alive in background in various Android phones, it speaks volume that multi-tasking is a over-hyped feature. What HTC did is not necessary bad to everyone. For example, my Samsung phones (SGS, SGS2 and GTab 10.1) doesn't auto kill bakcground tasks (still kills my GListen) but they all lags badly from time to time.
For what it worth, I can use Google Listen in the background while running Google Nav app in the fore ground for a few hours without problem (other than occasionally Listen get closed for no reason).
I have had mine for 2 weeks and only knew about a "problem" from reading these threads.
In all in how you use it. First reply answered it best
ricktat said:
I have had mine for 2 weeks and only knew about a "problem" from reading these threads.
In all in how you use it. First reply answered it best
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Click to collapse
Agreed. The only app I use for streaming in the background is subsonic, which functions just fine.
Also I have the very very slight annoyance that games have to completely reload if you exit them and don't switch back very very quickly. So if I get a phone call and go right back to game it's fine, but if I go web browse or something else and go back the game has to reload. This is mitigated somewhat by the raw speed of the phone, as game loading doesn't take very long (unless the game is a ****ty port like PvZ).
To avoid confusion, lets just keep this conversation with the ongoing one here. Thanks.
Thread closed.
I hope MS is going to implement automatic updating of apps from the windows store like Android does. What a pain to have to update apps manually - Every time I go to the store I have 3-4 apps that need updating.
I think the Windows Store needs alot of work - Its not easy to find stuff (Searches are not very effective), and the layout is horrible.
Just saying . . . .
Agreed! then only thing I hate about t Microsoft's new OS is the constant scrolling to the right.... it's painful to mind and body.
guitar1969 said:
I hope MS is going to implement automatic updating of apps from the windows store like Android does. What a pain to have to update apps manually - Every time I go to the store I have 3-4 apps that need updating.
I think the Windows Store needs alot of work - Its not easy to find stuff (Searches are not very effective), and the layout is horrible.
Just saying . . . .
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iOS doesn't have automatic updates either, android is the only one really ahead of its time with this feature, hopefully microsoft implement it, maybe along side windows updates.
I don't really find the layout that horrible though, I find the layout is very consistent with the rest of the os which is just fine.
I don't see the issue with searches either, I search, it works as expected, if you are finding that some apps are not showing up with certain search terms it may actually be the developer not entering enough detail to show up in the search (missing keywords, bad descriptions, etc.)
Automatic updating doesnt work for everyone tho, some apps when updated are broken etc so the option to do it as and when you want is a bonus.
As far as work goes, MS should take a leaf out of the "Play Store" book, especially when it comes to searching for apps from the same people, perhaps change it so where it says who wrote an app you can tap on that bit and it shows you all the apps by that person/company, that'd be a big one for me..
lilstevie said:
iOS doesn't have automatic updates either, android is the only one really ahead of its time with this feature, hopefully microsoft implement it, maybe along side windows updates.
I don't really find the layout that horrible though, I find the layout is very consistent with the rest of the os which is just fine.
I don't see the issue with searches either, I search, it works as expected, if you are finding that some apps are not showing up with certain search terms it may actually be the developer not entering enough detail to show up in the search (missing keywords, bad descriptions, etc.)
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Actually the search is not intuitive, like Play Store and iTunes. You need to be very specific to get the hits you want. There is an article that discusses this. you would think with Bing techology they would be able to improve it. But you are correct in that it may be the developer's fault with keywords.
Also, on the Start Screen, I want to have the ability to group apps into folders, as I have a ton of apps , and scrolling takes for ever, even with pinching the size down first.
I see that the HTC First will be more integrated into the notification system of Android. Will ROM makers be able to make these higher level integrations on their ROMs, or is this specific to individual devices, like PhotoSphere?
Probably way too early in the game for such. Don't know much about it yet but it seems Facebook Home is deeply integrated into the OS (with respect to the First), mainly in the form of a launcher. However, HTC/Facebook states the First comes "preinstalled" with Home so maybe they will be releasing a stand alone launcher for other phones.
zhp pilot said:
Probably way too early in the game for such. Don't know much about it yet but it seems Facebook Home is deeply integrated into the OS (with respect to the First), mainly in the form of a launcher. However, HTC/Facebook states the First comes "preinstalled" with Home so maybe they will be releasing a stand alone launcher for other phones.
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Click to collapse
From what I understand, the idea is to have a standalone launcher serperate from the Facebook and Messenger apps, in case you don't want the launcher. But if you get the launcher, it also includes a universal messenger for Facebook and SMS. The "deep integration" on the First is for notifications only, and the way the OS handles them.
I read an article stating the First will have a way of uninstalling the app so you have a stock OS.
I am getting fed up it seems they make a new version of android twice a year and are starting to add very little, instead they are taking away or changing things that were working perfectly well. I just installed lineage os android 11, they took out the downloading icon so when I press download on any file it doesn't show a icon in the notification bar???
WHY??
Instead you have to swipe the notification bar down to see the download, so they added an extra swipe for no reason. I end up pressing on the file to download twice because I think it didn't register, then swipe only to see its downloading multiple files!!!???
Also who else is annoyed that they changed the open app overview button (square one) since nougat, in nougat it was a stack of all your open apps and you can instantly see ALLL open apps and press on one quickly, because it was like a pile/stack with the headers and names showing on top like a pile of documents on a desk. You would swipe up and down to go through them all and left or right to close them. It worked perfectly and gave an edge over the Apple way of doing it.
Now they made it so you can only see one open app at a time and have to swipe left or right through them, its very unintuitive and awkward on my thumb, if you swipe fast you cannot even see what is open as they fly past like building out the windows of a fast moving car. And you swipe up to close them. The whole thing is very un intuitive and painful almost on my thumb.
I feel like they are not looking at improving things they just change it, so they can release new versions of android and peole want it. Like planned obsolescence the only reason for its existance is to make people want a new phone.
They added one feature of note in android 11 the dark mode. That is all.
Also all the symbols and fonts are so tiny now its hard to quickly swipe down the notification bar and press on the settings cog, its literally hald a centimeter large...
Anyway I thought I was going to be happy with lineage 17/ android 11 and it was a total waste of my time... Now trying to find an older lineage for my moto g5, android 7 or 8. As long as the over view is a pile not only one open app on screen at a time..
And who do I even complain to? It is impossible to get in touch with anyone at these huge corporation and they have no customer service anymore.
This world is a **** show, no one wants a quality product its just all about looking cool and spending cash.
WE ARE DOOMED!!!
At this point, Samsung is taking more responsibility for Android than Google is.
Generally I share the sentiment. Change for the sake of change every few months, both in the OS and apps. Options disappear, reappear, change for the worse, and sometimes for the better. Also the GUI, with its ever changing look du jour, is an always moving target, in many cases for the worse. Another problem, new Android versions sometimes break compatibility or start disallowing certain options, usually for the sake of "security".
But non-stock Android variants may look or work differently. Some allow more tweaking. And for certain things you can use third party apps, or launchers, to fix the GUI or add (back) missing features. I haven't used vanilla Android much but the little I tried wasn't impressive. It seemed more limited and primitive than manufacturer variants.
By the way, a new version of core Android is only once a year. Luckily?
hkjo said:
Generally I share the sentiment. Change for the sake of change every few months, both in the OS and apps. Options disappear, reappear, change for the worse, and sometimes for the better. Also the GUI, with its ever changing look de jour, is an always moving target, in many cases for the worse. Another problem, new Android versions sometimes break compatibility or start disallowing certain options, usually for the sake of "security".
But non-stock Android variants may look or work differently. Some allow more tweaking. And for certain things you can use third party apps, or launchers, to fix the GUI or add (back) missing features. I haven't used vanilla Android much but the little I tried wasn't impressive. It seemed more limited and primitive than manufacturer variants.
By the way, a new version of core Android is only once a year. Luckily?
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Yeah, I find stock/Pixel Android hilariously under featured now.
I mean, Apple has a built-in automation app (Shortcuts) that is good-enough.
Android users would have to download a 3rd Party app unless they choose a Samsung device with Bixby Routines (fantastic app by the way).
I don't mean app-level stuff, but more the global UI and real core functionality.
Yeah nice you all raise good points and I dunno if its just be getting old but a lot of the time things change for the worse! It just seems to be for the sake of "change" itself. I dunno why that app overview has been changed it is so awkward and hard to use now hahah. It was perfection in android 7, it seems like they did that just to copy apple? Strange as the previous method (stack or pile as it were) was a pretty unique and easy to use alternative making android stand out more. But no they just copy apple again and again so its more "cool"? I dunno I thought it was meant to be competing with apple not copying it!!
I agree, the only reason I went from 7 to 10 was for dark theme and latest security patch, and to get rid of all the Samsung bloatware. It really is all down to marketing, newer latest higher numbers is better in most peoples eyes.
I really think google could add new features into existing builds rather than having to flash a new install.