Help The Great G Wall/No way around it

[thenrik]

Hi:

So in China they have the Great Firewall, circumventable via software, while here we have the Great G Wall, an operating system released to us by an unapproachable company with no customer service.

Google has designed the market and their operating system so that developers cannot restore backed up applications and have the Market app recognize them for future updates.

I setup my phone for the first time. The update was released so I had to wipe my phone, reinstall all of my apps, re-organize them etc. Then a couple of weeks later, there's a defect in my phone. I get a replacement and have to wipe the phone, reinstall of my apps, re-organize them for the third time. Soon Android 2.1 will come out and I get to setup my phone from scratch for the fourth time.

So I try to call Google customer service and find there is no Google customer service. Google customer service refers you to their website. The website informs you that there is no customer service.

Android is not controlled like the Iphone but there's no there, there.

Anyone else p**ed off because there's no way to offer feedback or get answers about operating system problems? A petition? Letter writing campaign?

It's not right.

Tom

 

[joeykrim]

android seems to be quasi open source meaning the linux kernel is open but libraries and modules the cell phone companies develop are private. it is a new mix of property rights to hit the cell phone market in mass.

google in general doesnt really offer traditional customer service per say, they just have feedback and help forums. perhaps they also have them for the android?

 

[thenrik]

Hi:

Well, Google made the Android system and controls it. They don't offer any support per say. I say that's not right.

Tom

 

[nyall]

Bring your concerns up with sprint.

 

[thenrik]

Hi:

I've brought up this concern with Sprint but it's an operating system problem not a Sprint problem. The likelihood of being able to speak with anyone at Sprint who could actually speak with Google, is next to nothing.

 

[nyall]

Click this link:
Issues - android - Project Hosting on Google Code

click on new issue
File your suggestion using the "feature request" template:

 

[pastafarian]

The reason there's no customer support from Google for you is that you are not their customer. Samsung is Googles customer and they're who you should contact as well as Sprint as they are Samsungs sales agent. An analogy between China's "great firewall" anti free speech policies and the (slight) inconvenience of having to re download apps and the "horror" of rearranging icons is goofy at best. Here's a better analogy, if you buy a box of Kelloggs Corn Flakes and the box pops open on its own, you go back to Kelloggs or the store you bought it, not the company that makes the box for Kelloggs. My guess is that Google will likely never address your issue directly, instead depending on some third party to make an app for it. If you really want the right to complain directly to Google? Buy a Nexus One.

 

[the_dingman]

The reason there's no customer support from Google for you is that you are not their customer. Samsung is Googles customer and they're who you should contact as well as Sprint as they are Samsungs sales agent. An analogy between China's "great firewall" anti free speech policies and the (slight) inconvenience of having to re download apps and the "horror" of rearranging icons is goofy at best. Here's a better analogy, if you buy a box of Kelloggs Corn Flakes and the box pops open on its own, you go back to Kelloggs or the store you bought it, not the company that makes the box for Kelloggs. My guess is that Google will likely never address your issue directly, instead depending on some third party to make an app for it. If you really want the right to complain directly to Google? Buy a Nexus One.

Well said.

Think of it like your computer, you don't generally go to Microsoft on issues like this... That said, every time you do a proper windows or OS X update you will wipe the drive a start from scratch, same thing with a hardware problem.

I don't know of ANY phone that saves all your settings and apps if you have to reset it.

 

[njbianco]

Thats a problem you take up with Samsung not Google.

 

[thenrik]

Hi:

I can backup Windows and Microsoft did not design their operating system so it couldn't be restored. No google Android phones can be restored--it's an operating system flaw.

If I buy a Windows computer from HP, generally I'll deal with them but I can deal directly with Microsoft with operating system problems. We have an operating system from a company that won't deal with its consumers.

It's a problem that Sprint can't deal with--It's an operating system flaw.

Tom

 

[dbpaddler]

or you can go to the market and download a backup app that backs things up to the card. then you can restore when you have to start from scratch. not necessarily rocket science.

Instead of whining about it, why didn't you just search on "app backup" and pick one of the few threads on the topic?

 

[thenrik]

Hi:

I'm not whining. All of the backup apps, My Backup, Sprite Mechanic, Astro et all, will back up and restore your applications but Market will recognize none of them. You have to re-download your applications in order to receive updates. Please skip the name-calling.

If you don't believe me, use the backup software of your choice and backup one of your apps. Delete it from your phone, restore it and you will see that it doesn't show up in downloads. If you ever want to get any updates, you have to delete it and download it again.

Tom

 

[dbpaddler]

In a fiesty mood tonight, sorry.