Help Have they finally done it?

[gloriousnumber1]

Very quick question. My OG Droid, rooted running CM7 just isn't cutting it anymore. It's nice to have the new options as opposed to stock, and I love gingerbread, but I'm always rebooting because of issues. I get a new app, then things mess up so I have to get rid of it.

Does ICS finally allow the type of "it just simply works well" type of experience known by the IOS users? I want a big screen. I want LTE. I want LED notification lights. I want ICS. But I am so tired of having issues, and no I don't want the technical explanation of what ROM, kernel, etc that I need to fix it. I am so tired of digging down to fix the problem. I want it to be easy to use, and I don't mind spending a couple hours getting my phone set up perfectly like after a factory reset, but beyond that, I can choose to root or not, but I just want it to work.

I am seriously considering jumping ship in the near future, away from the OS that I have grown so fond of, used to, and gotten good at using. I feel it may be the only way to avoid problems. I can't even use the facebook app because it made my phone hell! Thank goodness, I never had it in CM7.

A friend did the rooting and ROMing for me, so I don't wanna bother him forever to help me fix the inconsistent issues. To me, this still feels like beta test of Android, and if ICS doesn't make is user friendly, reliable, solid, and yet Android amazing, I may go for good.

Please, help me out.

 

[Crude]

I'm afraid only you can answer that question. It's loaded with personal bias. I came from a Fascinate that had to be romed just to make it work and so sharing your sentiment I was not going to settle for anything less then working phone free of VZW's STD's. I feel I made a good choice. You should pick one up if you want to stay in the Android camp and try it out. Just keep $35 for a restocking fee if you decide to go all fruity on us

Honestly, there's no sin in switching to Apple. I am trying to be funny.

 

[Bnice]

Only you can determine if the OS is satisfactory for your needs.. The user experience is different for every individual. Some find Android to simply just work for them just as folks with ios. The direction you want to go is totally up to you and if you have not tried ICS, then how will you know?

 

[Jay3]

I think the short answer to your question is "yes." The whole point behind the GNex is a user experience that Google is accountable for (because there's no manufacturer layer in there to cause issues). I've had almost zero issues, and I expect any that come up to be fixed by timely update.

I think the iPhone is still the superior device "for dummies," because there's just too much personal, anecdotal evidence from my life about grandmas and housewives just preferring it because everything it can do is more obvious and easier to understand. (Less ability to customize it, etc.). But ICS is way better, in my view. Does way more stuff.

I mean, people act like iPhone was always great, but take the example of notifications -- notifications were a complete dumpster fire on the iPhone for a VERY long time. iPhone notifications now work like Android notifications always worked (notification bar, etc.). But when notifications were absolutely STUPID on the iPhone ( either nonexistent or having mandatory popups that could not be turned off), users just accepted it. "Oh well, that's what Apple wants the user experience to be."

There are still more examples like that, were the functionality of iPhone is inferior ( for example, widgets). But the type of person that immediately warms up to iPhone is the type of person that never knew Android had widgets, doesn't know how to work them, and certainly doesn't know how to look for widgets they like.

In a compromise, ICS has made the widgets easier to discover, choose, and customize by having a separate widget menu in the app drawer. So they learned a bit from Apple -- more accomodate for "dummies," because let's face it, there's a bit of dummy in all of us.

 

[kg2128]

I would say yes ICS is more polished, complete, and stable than froyo or gingerbread. I have unlocked my bootloader and rooted my phone in anticipation of future roms (mainly because unlocking wipes your phone) but I am enjoying stock in the meantime. To be honest most of the roms are not different enough or complete yet to make flashing them worthwhile (IMO of course).

I understand what you mean about getting tired of dealing with incomplete roms, I flashed many roms on my droid x but they were 2init roms/nightlies, had issues with wifi, battery life, and other small problems. That is a big reason why I am waiting for a more finished rom, the other reason is it isn't night and day like on the older phones. Stock froyo/GB on the droid x to CM7/miui droid x was a major transformation in features/polish/usability. On the nexus it is about a lot of small tweaks so far, ICS is a really good base.

 

[Lukewarm]

My long-winded two cents.

I picked up two Verizon Galaxy Nexus phones. One for myself switching from a five year old flip phone, the other for my wife switching from a two year old Blackberry.
We both have owned Ipod Touches for a couple years and are very familiar with them. I don't really need a smartphone because I am almost always within reach of wifi other than while driving and I don't mess with my phone while driving. My wife started her own business and needed a new phone. Because I always ended up fixing/supporting her Blackberry more than her employer, I thought I would get the same phone to better be able to answer her questions without her having to wait for me to get my hands on her phone. Because of our familiarity with IOS on the Touches and Apple's reputation for being simple and just working, I considered buying two Iphones. The biggest thorn being the need to do everything through Itunes and having to jailbreak/root the phone to be able to do some basic things. After doing way too much research and reading I decided I would gamble on a Nexus phone and ICS. We have both been very happy with our phones. They are not rooted and I don't see the need. I like being able to plug it into my laptop or work computer and simply drag and drop files, music, documents etc without waiting for Itunes to load and wading through all the crap and being limited as to what type of files I can load.
Neither phone has ever locked up or crashed. The battery life is acceptable and we both easily get through a full day. We mainly use them as phones and for email and music. Playing games, watching video and navigation will burn through the battery very fast. We always plug it in when using it for navigation. Car chargers are included when you purchase it through Costco. The only issues have been some apps that have not been updated yet to be compatible with ICS. Mostly apps that have little support. Most apps that have over a 100,000 downloads are being updated quickly. However even apps from some large developers have problems. I have a few Gameloft games on my phone and Asphalt 6 doesn't work when trying to use the gyro to steer (fulltime hard left). Through reading reviews in the market and this forum, and through some trial and error, we have found all the apps we need to make the phones functional and very handy.

I enjoy playing with technical stuff as much as anyone but its not fun when it doesn't work and you need it to. These phones work without all the work.

 

[HamakiBCN]

One thing that i noticed about the file transfer from a PC: since it now uses MTP instead of a mass storage protocol, you no longer need to unplug the USB cable and wait for media scan to complete. Files will show in the gallery/file browser/video player right after the transfer is complete.

(To the OP: Don't worry: MTP just means "Multimedia Transfer Protocol". Your PC will recognize it just fine, so will Windows Media Player, and it will show up as a device in My PC in Windows 7 as always, to access the internal memory. It's just that when yo plug it in the first time, a few drivers will get downloaded and installed automatically).

That's kind of an example of how things indeed "just work" in the Galaxy nexus.

 

[Gunner]

To the OP: Yes, they've done it. ICS feels like the 1st 'world-class' version of Android. I went from the Droid 1 to the GN. The Droid 1 was a thing of beauty in it's heyday, but it eventually became an endless battle for me - trying various ROMs, kernels, tweaks to get the stability & smoothness I wanted. I was wasting too much time just trying to keep it stable, and I was constantly battling out-of-memory errors. Going from the D1 to the GN is like heaven. Yes, there have been a few quirks...a few FC's from various apps, 2 random reboots in 33 days (my D1 random-rebooted multiple times daily). The D1 had 256 MB RAM, 800Mhz CPU. The GN has 1GB RAM, 1.2 Ghz CPU x 2. That extra RAM alone makes a huge difference in smoothness/stability. I wholeheartedly recommend you try the GN. The only turnoff for some people w/ regard to usability might be the physical size. It's a big boy, and takes some getting used to. If you have small hands, you may indeed get frustrated trying to 1-hand the GN. Best thing to do is go to a VZW store and spend plenty of time test-driving one.

 

[Mr. Link]

My short-winded two-cents. No. Android will probably never be the "polished", "it just works" type of OS. It's designed for a techie generation that LOVES to tinker. With that said, it is BY FAR the best Android OS to date...but I would not say that "it just works". There are many well-documented bugs that exist on some, but not all of Nexus devices. In other words, your mileage may vary...which you don't hear a lot from the Apple OS. Like many said before you...it's a personal preference, but in answer to your original question...I'd say Android is not a "it just works" type of OS.

 

[Mr. Link]

P.S. - Being a techie who loves to tinker, I LOVE Android!!!!!!!! I just refuse to be a fanboy that doesn't acknowledge the ups AND downs.

 

[dhworph]

LED notifications are a bit of a hassle on my GNex, as lightflow is buggy and there are little to no native LED notifications in current version of ICS. I liked the control in BB OS over notifications much better than android. But this is just an annoyance, not a choice killer for me.

with that said. I am stoked on this phone, my main complaints are: (1) battery life --- its reasonable but I wish it lasted longer, the screen is a energy hog!; (2) speakerphone on calls is noisy and sounds bad, especially on mobile to mobile calls, to home lines it sounds better, my BB storm was WAY better on speakerphone, but im getting used to it --- ear speaker in calls sounds great except maybe a little quiet; and (3) the radio is a bit touchy switching from 3G to 4G, this is mostly an issue with driving through spotty coverage areas or fringe 4G areas, but when I'm at home tethering 4G it is spectacular.

AWESOME personal data device.

...is android as 'polished' as iOS? no. phone OS is a matter of preference... they both do things better than the other. you just have to decide what is most important to you. In the end, you can convince yourself that anything is sufficient and you just adapt to use it, even with all the shortcomings.

 

[Shockwave78]

iPhone user since day one...have been tired of iOS for almost 2yrs now. No other android phone looked polished like iOS until now. The move to the Nexus and ICS is seemless IMO.

100% converted for me

 

[breynolds007]

Having many previous high end Android phones, I've enjoyed most of them. They all have their shortcomings and bugs, but for me it was worth a little hassle. In the back of mind, I've always wanted Android to find a way to "just work" and do all the good things right. Well, ICS is it! It does just work...it made me a believer all over again. Soo smooth, all the customization we love and I have had NO lock ups/reboots in 2 weeks. My DroidX restarted itself 1-2 times per day, couldn't even use Pandora and GPS would lock-up about 1 out of 3 times. I'll still loved that phone, but the constant issues really got old. My GNex works great and it's soo nice to be able to enjoy Android and it be dependable all the time. The main downside is battery life, which isn't great for most, but tolerable. I thinks some people who complain about their GNex want a phone to be perfect. It's not perfect, but it's pretty darn close

 

[redraptor]

In my totally honest opinion, I believe it is FAR superior to Gingerbread.

Let me kind of lay out how I personally see things: I am by no means a phone or android expert, but I know my way around both IOS and Android better than most (Not including XDA or some of this forum) and for the most part, people come to me when they need advice on upgrading a phone or troubleshooting a problem. My uncle who is a tech head is pushing me for me to get into a Verizon based store, but lack of REAL experience is what is scaring me off.

Anyway, lets get away from the "full-of-myselfness" and get down to the nitty gritty. Like I said, people often come to me when they want advice on a device when they are eligible for an upgrade. 9 times out of 10 I say go Iphone SPECIFICALLY because it simply works and works better than anything else. Of course I try to persuade them toward Android, but I understand what the person REALLY wants instead of what I think they should have.

I love Android but up until Gingerbread, it has felt like nothing more than a Beta. It works, and works well most of the time, but there are still big bugs, lagginess and lack of polish. As an alternative to the Iphone, it was passable, but not nearly on the same level.

ICS and the Galaxy Nexus changed my views. Everything is FAR tighter and for the most part, "it just works". When I click on the browser button, I can truly "feel" the click. I am greeted with an opening animation and I can see the phone is working toward loading the page. I never had to push multiple times, thinking it didnt work, when in fact it just didnt give good response (A pet peeve of mine with gingerbread). The menus are set up intelligently and respond well. It finally feels like a TRUE release rather than still trying to play catch up with Apple.

With that said, I would still tell most people to go Iphone simply because its easier to understand and more universally accepted, meaning easier to find help, accessories, fans ect. ICS feels tighter and is FAR more responsive, although its still a bit of a chore to get over the learning curve. If you sat down with my grandma and gave her an Iphone and an ICS based android, things would be quicker on the Iphone. Although, once over that learning curve, it is as good, if not better than IOS in responsivness and general quality.

Would I recommend it over the Iphone? No. Would I recommend it as a REAL alternative to the Iphone? Hell. Yes.

I finally feel like its Iphone = Android rather than Iphone > Android. And thats been something LONG over due!!

 

[crankerchick]

I haven't all the responses, but I'll add that for me, I am someone that likes to tinker and play with ROMs in my spare time, but I also like my phone to just work too so that when I get caught up with other hobbies I still have a working phone.

I didn't even root my Droid in the first 8 months of ownership because I was pretty happy with it, or so I thought anyway. After FroYo and the non-stop home refreshes, I rooted and started flashing ROMs trying to make my phone more usable. What I learned from that point was that root is essential to me, just so I could get rid of the stuff I don't use. At that point, I also knew that for that phone at that point, custom ROMs were essential so my device could just not be a pain to use. I finally also learned that while I do enjoy all the tinkering, I also don't want a phone where that is a necessity, rather than a treat.

I have had the Nexus since the weekend it released and while I have unlocked and rooted, I haven't even flashed any ROMs yet, in part because I want to run stock and get a feel for stock battery life and performance so I have a good baseline, but also because I just haven't found anything missing that would make me want a custom ROM. Sure I would like a 4G toggle and the toggles in the notification tray are nice, but the truth is, for me at least, ICS fills a lot of gaps in gingerbread and previous iterations and it's so fast and smooth to do things that some of the customizations I became accustomed to in custom ROMs are my Droid are now either in ICS or barely missed. Root is essential to me, so I can get rid of things I don't want or use, just so they don't clutter my app drawer, but for the first time since starting with custom ROMs, I feel like I don't actually need a custom ROM to make my device work well. They are just something fun to be able to add to mix on a weekend when I feel like playing.

 

[dhworph]

I too was waiting for the right android phone... I thought about the thunderbolt, but tested it in the store and it was still laggy as hell... although when I was testing the razr and rezound in the store before getting the nexus, they both seemed really smooth as well... but i just wanted a purer android experience.

 

[HamakiBCN]

Is it just me or we're all answering the wrong question?.We were asked by the OP if ICS was finally as polished as iOS. Instead, we're all, and that includes myself, answering to a completely different question: "

 

[jroc]

To me....I agree stock ICS is alot better than stock Android that was on phones before.

You would be surprised how much better Gingerbread is on phones with custom UI's right now tho. The RAZR, Bionic and Rezound are a few examples that to me are better than some, probably most stock Gingerbread phones. To me and some ppl anyway. The custom UI's add a lil something extra to the stock Android experience that makes it better IMO.

Stock ICS vs. iOS, have they finally done it? I would say yea or its alot closer than before. Its finally what most of us imagined when we heard stock Android on phones was gonna have a radical new look. Google has done a good job making Android more attractive on phones. ICS is smoother than GB or Froyo. ICS is the first time on a stock Android phone I didnt want to change the launcher.

On that some note....the GB update for the Droid X1 is the first time I went with the stock launcher on a phone with a custom UI.

About that user experience that just works on iOS? Got lost using that one button setup. Kids mother has an iPhone 4 and she does too, she had it for a few weeks. I had to go online to find where the blue tooth settings were on her phone. I was used to it being in wireless and network settings on Android.

I picked up Android alot faster than iOS coming from Win Mo and the Omnia 1. My kids mother after using my Android phones for a years also has issues getting used to iOS. With that said....she has a Nexus S...and seems to use her iPhone 4 more. She says the Nexus sticks, get stuck too much. I assume she means lag. Apple was smart to put smoothness as a top priority.

Also have a co worker that had an EVO for 2 years, just picked up an iPhone 4 around the same time as my kids mother. She has said to me: its too small, I dont see what all the fuss is about...where ppl have to have it and cant live without it, I dont think I like it.

It reminds me of the Windows PC vs Mac debates about user friendliness a few years ago. I told ppl all the time...wanna get used to using OS X? Play around with Linux first. Using Linux first made using OS X alot better for me. Just works, user friendly is all relative, depends on different things.

 

[mrspeedmaster]

(To the OP: Don't worry: MTP just means "Multimedia Transfer Protocol". Your PC will recognize it just fine, so will Windows Media Player, and it will show up as a device in My PC in Windows 7 as always, to access the internal memory. It's just that when yo plug it in the first time, a few drivers will get downloaded and installed automatically).

That's kind of an example of how things indeed "just work" in the Galaxy nexus.

Not quite. I am a Linux CentOS/Mac user. On a mac, there is a solution but on Linux , good luck with MTP.

There are some work arounds with the new beta builds of Ubuntu but they're flakey at best. Slow transfer, drop connections, command line mount each and every time you want to connect/disconnect.

I find it strange that a Linux based OS (Android) can't even talk to other Linux devices. So your "just work" is not a true assessment.

And a lot of "just work" assumes you are using Google's eco-system. Want cal-dav support? Good luck with that.

As a professional IT user, I find it increasingly difficult to integrate it in my workflow. No push email support (except Exchange and Gmail), Lackluster VPN support. I posted a long list of where it fails in the enterprise.