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Things I'll miss from my Pre (maybe)

dgeezer

Newbie
May 6, 2010
21
3
I am a first day pre purchaser so I will be eligible to upgrade to the Evo on June 6th, like a bunch of people here probably.

I have no experience with android but I thought I'd list some things I really like about the pre and hopefully get some feedback on how android handles the same things.

1. Notifications. The pre pops up a box across the bottom of the screen for a new text message, email, missed call, voicemail or appointment. It's unobtrusive but hard to miss, if that makes any sense.

2. Incoming calls show up no matter what app or website you are using. Once the call is over the phone resumes the music, pandora radio or browsing where you left off. Is android similar?

3. Touchstone. Probably the best single feature of this phone. I have 2 of these and one is stuck to the dashboard in my truck. The phone shows a clock while charging. Any new notifications will pop up and stay visible below the clock. Is there a dock coming for the Evo with similar functionality?

Thanks in advance.
 
You'll miss color too. At least that was my first thought using the Droid.
Everything is black and white.
Notifications are there as little icons at the top of the screen(mostly black and white) but they just aren't as good period. Not to mention it gives me worthless notifications like when I plug it in that it's in USB debugging mode? WTF who cares quit telling me worthless stuff.
E-mail is the same way. All black and white and just overall dull and gray with most lists and settings screens.
That's probably the number one thing I hate is nothing is ascetically pleasing unless you are color blind.

Still getting used to the one window at a time multi-tasking. Yeah I know it saves the state of the other stuff but it's not easy to read and e-mail and follow directions about where to go in say a mapping site and meanwhile IM another person about how you are lost and keep toggling back and fourth what so ever.

I played with the google goggles for a few minutes. Realized it was nothing more then a bad OCR program. Played with the bar code tool and realized even if it found a better price online it was some store I never heard of so it didn't matter.

Hooked up easytether which is nice but nothing I can't do now.

So far I haven't found anything better OS wise.
Maybe people associate a nice 8MP camera with AndroidOS or maybe they go but it has this great app. But neither of those things is AndroidOS, those are just things that happen to be avaliable to AndroidOS.

I'll be the first to admit I haven't used Android like WebOS so hopefully I am missing all these great features people talk about.
I told my Sprint rep I want a free EVO 4G to play with as soon as they get here. I know the hardware will be great I am just very worried I'll always be thinking gee I wish this great hardware ran WebOS instead of this clunky thing.
 
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android is anything but clunky... i fought more with webos to get it setup and working 100% than i have with android period

the simple fact that you have to update ota and you HAVE to have 5 bars of signal and you have to have an account before you can even use the phone is the most moronic setup of a phone that has ever existed

I have no idea what you are talking about. It was idiot-simple for me. On first power-up I plugged in my Gmail, Exchange, and Facebook credentials. From then on, everything was always in sync and I had access to everything without ever having to manually sync anything.

I never had any issues updating or with account management. Easily one of the most streamlined setups I've ever used on a phone.
 
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I came from WM over to the Pre and while multitasking is nice, I really don't use it much. I did love the search functionality for contacts or anything else but it seems every OS is getting that now. Basically I still kind of miss my WM phone as crazy as that sounds. Hopefully the move to the Evo will give me that old feeling of love again.
 
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it took me 5 hours to get a pixi working it just wouldnt sync with sprints network saying no evdo conenction even though i had a 5 bar connection with my hero right next to it...
who cares that's obviously something with sprint's network or the user, nothing to do with WebOS.
Your one of those people that associates EVERYTHING about the phone, on the phone and that you can access with the phone all with one vendor even though many are involved And then because you can't do something that's clearly not widespread you go tell your friends this product sucks.
No wonder people's opinions are so skewed on stuff. Hell most don't understand the difference between Droid and Android so I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

"Oh no i can't get a signal, that's WebOS's fault" :rolleyes:

I might as well complain that Android doesn't sync with itunes if we are following that logic.


In reality the only fair comparisons are the core things all smartphones do, e-mail, web surfing, calendar, contacts, calls, and things like that.
 
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who cares that's obviously something with sprint's network or the user, nothing to do with WebOS.
Your one of those people that associates EVERYTHING about the phone, on the phone and that you can access with the phone all with one vendor even though many are involved.
No wonder people's opinions are so skewed on stuff.

"Oh no i can't get a signal, that's WebOS's fault" :rolleyes:

I might as well complain that Android doesn't sync with itunes if we are following that logic.

Not really. I had no idea that this was a Pixi. The Pixi has no Wifi so if your signal is weak you will have a hard time downloading updates. Since 1xRTT is not fast enough for big downloads, they had restricted it to when you are in EVDO areas. I think that was changed in an update but since I never wanted a Pixi (underpowered) I didn't run into it personally.

Still, you could just download WebOS doctor or something like that and flash the ROM on your computer instead of over the air.
 
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You'll miss color too. At least that was my first thought using the Droid.
Everything is black and white.
Notifications are there as little icons at the top of the screen(mostly black and white) but they just aren't as good period. Not to mention it gives me worthless notifications like when I plug it in that it's in USB debugging mode? WTF who cares quit telling me worthless stuff.
E-mail is the same way. All black and white and just overall dull and gray with most lists and settings screens.
That's probably the number one thing I hate is nothing is ascetically pleasing unless you are color blind.

Still getting used to the one window at a time multi-tasking. Yeah I know it saves the state of the other stuff but it's not easy to read and e-mail and follow directions about where to go in say a mapping site and meanwhile IM another person about how you are lost and keep toggling back and fourth what so ever.

I played with the google goggles for a few minutes. Realized it was nothing more then a bad OCR program. Played with the bar code tool and realized even if it found a better price online it was some store I never heard of so it didn't matter.

Hooked up easytether which is nice but nothing I can't do now.

So far I haven't found anything better OS wise.
Maybe people associate a nice 8MP camera with AndroidOS or maybe they go but it has this great app. But neither of those things is AndroidOS, those are just things that happen to be avaliable to AndroidOS.

I'll be the first to admit I haven't used Android like WebOS so hopefully I am missing all these great features people talk about.
I told my Sprint rep I want a free EVO 4G to play with as soon as they get here. I know the hardware will be great I am just very worried I'll always be thinking gee I wish this great hardware ran WebOS instead of this clunky thing.

If you are talking about the motorola droid you are right it is all black and white. But that is because it doesn't have htc sense with it. Android with HTC sense has a much better look to it with colorful icons and stuff
 
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aaron dont start assuming anything like that please... i have been cookin roms since i had my htc touch... web os isnt bad once you get into it but if you have a problem with it its a pita and neo thanks for being constructive i didnt know about web os doctor.
o and i cant get a signal its web os fault when theres a hero laying right beside it with 5 bars? huh didnt realize that you can get 5 bars difference in signal when a phone is less that 1 foot in difference
 
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aaron dont start assuming anything like that please... i have been cookin roms since i had my htc touch... web os isnt bad once you get into it but if you have a problem with it its a pita and neo thanks for being constructive i didnt know about web os doctor.
o and i cant get a signal its web os fault when theres a hero laying right beside it with 5 bars? huh didnt realize that you can get 5 bars difference in signal when a phone is less that 1 foot in difference

Yeah, it is basically like the official RUU for Windows Mobile and can flash new stock ROMs. Never saw any modded ROMs but there are lots of great patches and tweaks you can run with Preware or when you plug in your phone and use WebOS Quick Install to transfer files and run things from the command line on your phone.

I actually really like WebOS and found it to be a good option. I just want better hardware and Palm can't afford it at the moment.
 
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You'll miss color too. At least that was my first thought using the Droid.
Everything is black and white.
Notifications are there as little icons at the top of the screen(mostly black and white) but they just aren't as good period. Not to mention it gives me worthless notifications like when I plug it in that it's in USB debugging mode? WTF who cares quit telling me worthless stuff.
E-mail is the same way. All black and white and just overall dull and gray with most lists and settings screens.
That's probably the number one thing I hate is nothing is ascetically pleasing unless you are color blind.

Still getting used to the one window at a time multi-tasking. Yeah I know it saves the state of the other stuff but it's not easy to read and e-mail and follow directions about where to go in say a mapping site and meanwhile IM another person about how you are lost and keep toggling back and fourth what so ever.

I played with the google goggles for a few minutes. Realized it was nothing more then a bad OCR program. Played with the bar code tool and realized even if it found a better price online it was some store I never heard of so it didn't matter.

Hooked up easytether which is nice but nothing I can't do now.

So far I haven't found anything better OS wise.
Maybe people associate a nice 8MP camera with AndroidOS or maybe they go but it has this great app. But neither of those things is AndroidOS, those are just things that happen to be avaliable to AndroidOS.

I'll be the first to admit I haven't used Android like WebOS so hopefully I am missing all these great features people talk about.
I told my Sprint rep I want a free EVO 4G to play with as soon as they get here. I know the hardware will be great I am just very worried I'll always be thinking gee I wish this great hardware ran WebOS instead of this clunky thing.



nice post...i'm hoping i don't experience a big let down as well with the android OS...i'd like to know what is "so nice" about the android OS...i've never had an android phone so i really would love to get feedback from someone who's had an android and a web OS phone, so a true comparison could be made...i never realized how great the web OS experience was until i used the HD2 and incredible in store...now obviously that is attributable to the fact that i've been using my pre for a year, but i really hope my evo experience feels just as great
 
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nice post...i'm hoping i don't experience a big let down as well with the android OS...i'd like to know what is "so nice" about the android OS...i've never had an android phone so i really would love to get feedback from someone who's had an android and a web OS phone, so a true comparison could be made...i never realized how great the web OS experience was until i used the HD2 and incredible in store...now obviously that is attributable to the fact that i've been using my pre for a year, but i really hope my evo experience feels just as great

I agree. This was my point in asking this to begin with. So far, it sounds like Android may not be all that great as a day to day experience. My main usage for my pre is still a basic communication device. I spend about half my time reading and responding to emails and regular voice conversations. The other half is browsing the web etc.

I am afraid that what I am hearing here is that WebOS is actually better as an interface for communication than android. Games, music and video is great, but I run my business from my cell and I can't afford to miss calls or emails because I don't happen to see a tiny icon in the bar across the top of the screen. Hopefully, there is more of a notification of a missed call than that.

BTW, I am certainly not trying to be a troll here. I am hoping that someone will post a demo of how notifications work in android and calm my fears.
 
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I came from WM over to the Pre and while multitasking is nice, I really don't use it much. I did love the search functionality for contacts or anything else but it seems every OS is getting that now. Basically I still kind of miss my WM phone as crazy as that sounds. Hopefully the move to the Evo will give me that old feeling of love again.



wow i'm surprised u found not many uses with the multi tasking...it has to be the single best feature to me and i use it all the time...the ability to keep up with an email, text, espn scores, navigation simultaneously in a matter of seconds by just moving over to the card i need is phenomenal to me...having never had this ability before my pre, it's something now that i would really really miss if the evo doesn't have something similar that lets me do the same things...just my opinion of course
 
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wow i'm surprised u found not many uses with the multi tasking...it has to be the single best feature to me and i use it all the time...the ability to keep up with an email, text, espn scores, navigation simultaneously in a matter of seconds by just moving over to the card i need is phenomenal to me...having never had this ability before my pre, it's something now that i would really really miss if the evo doesn't have something similar that lets me do the same things...just my opinion of course

Same here. It's like on any computer. I have multiple things open for fast task switching back and forth. Having to open one thing, close it, open another, close it, go back to the first thing, etc. gets old fast.
 
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I think some may be a bit disappointed with the android experience. I came fro the Pre to the Hero. And the pre IMO is simpler and prettier. The notifications are way better. Being able to get rid of just one notification at a time and leave the rest until i choose to check on them was nice. With android your choices are check the notification, ignore the notification or delete all of the at once. Plus the Pre multi-tasking to e is the only true multi tasking in how it keeps it open and visible.

But the android is a much more powerful device and i love how it brings everything together. I like being able to select a picture and ht share and get an option to share with everything on the phone, wether its a native app or one from the market.
 
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I too have a pre and planning on switching to evo. I have had nothing but good experience with my pre and love the ability to patch webos to make it work how i want. Will also really miss the touchstone charger:(. I will get the evo and try out and if not as good as i expect i will return. The pre is going to my husband to replace his instinct which he hates. Looks like sense allows you to customize your experience. I really want the wifi hotspot for my ipad as tethering pre not impossible but complex. Hope the evo coming soon. Eagerly awaiting sprint event tomorrow!
 
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I too have a pre and planning on switching to evo. I have had nothing but good experience with my pre and love the ability to patch webos to make it work how i want. Will also really miss the touchstone charger:(. I will get the evo and try out and if not as good as i expect i will return. The pre is going to my husband to replace his instinct which he hates. Looks like sense allows you to customize your experience. I really want the wifi hotspot for my ipad as tethering pre not impossible but complex. Hope the evo coming soon. Eagerly awaiting sprint event tomorrow!

Check out myTether.
 
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In our house my BF was a first launch day Pre owner as well and one thing he constantly rants about how he hates on my new Moment is the fact that when he trying to do something he is interupted by a text, or notification ... His Pre handles those types of things with grace, i too think its kinda annoying, but dont really know any better since i came from the Centro -

Also i dont know how no really gave any awards away for the Pre's cards (multitasking) the easiest thing when trying to do alot of different things since sliced bread, really is a marval -
 
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