to the pholks that run phandroid

[ionekoa]

first off, i love the site. it's the best place to get android news, and have it all consolidated and not dilluted with other things.

i really hope that this is the right forum for this, i would try the "contact us" button, but there is no delivery confirmation and i never get a reply, which is understandable as im sure it would be impossible to respond to every contact.

while this is the best android site out there, there are a few improvements i would like to see that would make the services offered here a bit more effective.

1) replies on the stories: it would be nice if there were a way to actively conversate on the actual articles instead of typing a response and wondering whether or not anyone will respond to us and having to check back constantly.

2) the phones page: there is a lot of unrealized potential here.
a), it doesnt seem to be up to date. there are phones in the headlines(epic 4g for example) that do not apear anywhere in the phones section, under available, upcoming or rumored.
b) it would be nice if there were a way to sort/filter phones by features. this could help people who are looking for a new phone decide which phone/carrier is best for them or to see what upcoming phones have the features they are looking for.

3) a new page for "devices": tablets, netbooks, e-readers, essentially any non-phone devices carrying the android brand.

i know that these, esp, addressing 2) and 3) would take some major development time, however, i believe that they would make the phandroid experience more fulfilling and user friendly.

i would love to hear some feedback on this and hope that even if not considered viable that these suggestions are at least constructive.

 

[OfTheDamned]

Nice suggestions. I'm going to move this to the suggestion and feedback forum for you.

 

[ionekoa]

Nice suggestions. I'm going to move this to the suggestion and feedback forum for you.

thanks, i looked for this but aparently missed it.

 

[Slug]

1) replies on the stories: it would be nice if there were a way to actively conversate on the actual articles instead of typing a response and wondering whether or not anyone will respond to us and having to check back constantly.

There's an IRC feature available in the menu bar at the top of the page as "Chat Live!".... is that the sort of thing you're suggesting?

2) there are phones in the headlines(epic 4g for example) that do not apear anywhere in the phones section, under available, upcoming or rumored.

It's simply impossible to keep up with the rapid rate of development/release. New devices are usually added once release details are confirmed and the admins have time in between their many other higher-priority tasks.

b) it would be nice if there were a way to sort/filter phones by features.

See above. I agree this would be an attractive feature but suspect it would require full-time maintenance to keep it up-to-date.

3) a new page for "devices": tablets, netbooks, e-readers, essentially any non-phone devices carrying the android brand.

There is already a Tablets & MIDs forum, and the generic Other Androids. The admins are always open to suggestions though - that's how the "Tablets..." forum came about.

HTH

 

[Phases]

Thanks for the suggestions! I did see your contact form - but left that up to Rob to reply to. He is, however, out of town at the moment.

I will pass your message along, they are good suggestions. I'm not sure how best to address the conversation flow issue, as it is just a standard comment system - but we HAVE talked about this before. (I assume you're talking about on Phandroid itself, with the news articles)

The phones page now has someone full time on it. It will take some time to get it caught up, though. Should have seen it a few weeks ago. WAY behind.

Devices should at least have a section in the phone guide - I agree.

Anyway, thanks again!

 

[ionekoa]

Thanks for the suggestions! I did see your contact form - but left that up to Rob to reply to. He is, however, out of town at the moment.

thank you for the reply. im sure with a site this size it isn't easy to read much less reply to many people.

I will pass your message along, they are good suggestions. I'm not sure how best to address the conversation flow issue, as it is just a standard comment system - but we HAVE talked about this before. (I assume you're talking about on Phandroid itself, with the news articles)

correct. one blogging site i am a member of simply has a "reply" link next to every comment. when clicked it automatically places an @userX in front of the reply being made(which when clicked takes the reader to the comment being replied to) and notifies the user being replied to via e-mail. all of this would be possible since in order to comment on stories we have to supply e-mail anyway.

if people complaining that they didnt authorize e-mail from phandroid is a concern then perhaps adding a radio button requesting notification of replies would solve that. another solution would be to auto-populate the comment section of the articles with the login info from the forums(for those who are members of the forums and logged in).

The phones page now has someone full time on it. It will take some time to get it caught up, though. Should have seen it a few weeks ago. WAY behind.

Devices should at least have a section in the phone guide - I agree.

Anyway, thanks again!

i saw the update right after i originally posted this,(Epic 4G and many others now up.) and i was really psyched about that. just one more reason i know that phandroid is the best place to get all my android news.

on another note, do you know where i can send "consumer feedback" to manufacturers effectively regarding the handsets they are putting out, or would it be possible to try to start some sort of "petition" here and have phandroid pass that on(im not sure what if any relationship as journalists, you guys would have with the manufacturers but you would certainly know more than i do where to begin)?

 

[Phases]

Well, believe it or not companies DO see feedback posted around the 'net - and there are a couple who troll here - but it's best to post or rally in their official forums I'm sure - as I've personally seen results from this over at Motorola.

With that said, we do have a much larger userbase than official forums (that I've noticed) - and if/when petitions here are big enough of a result - We'd most certainly be happy to pass them along.

 

[ionekoa]

Well, believe it or not companies DO see feedback posted around the 'net - and there are a couple who troll here - but it's best to post or rally in their official forums I'm sure - as I've personally seen results from this over at Motorola.

With that said, we do have a much larger userbase than official forums (that I've noticed) - and if/when petitions here are big enough of a result - We'd most certainly be happy to pass them along.

awesome, i will pursue both then. what would be the apropriate area to post such a thing here?