Do you enjoy using Android...

[dontpanicbobby]

Or does it feel like WerK!
Discuss...

 

[dontpanicbobby]

Me personally I never enjoyed any kind of computer until GUI became a thing.

I'm a late bloomer baby boomer. So I played with some so called computers (They really we're computers) that you couldn't just ask questions. You had to know the secrets...

Anyone else?

 

[ocnbrze]

yeah i like android, but i don't think that any one system is perfect. they all will have flaws. its just whether you can live with it or not. i'm really looking forward to google stadia. and i love my chrome os (linux kernel based) pixelbook. i love it mainly because i can run my android apps on it.

 

[Hadron]

I think that if using an OS is something you don't think about then it's doing its job. So active enjoyment, for me, comes mainly in the "discovery" phase of using a platform. But I do appreciate it when an OS makes it quick to do common tasks, and provides enough flexibility that I can configure it to how I like to work (the latter being a big part of why I prefer Android to iOS). And conversely if it makes me go through a series of steps to do something that should be simple, or just doesn't allow me to do something or access some information I want, that's a definite negative. So there are ways Android could improve it's probably the best that's currently available (though my ideas of how it could improve might not be the public's or Google's: I want more options, I like the option to access the nitty-gritty details if I want to, and I don't mind there being 4 different ways of doing the same thing because then I can choose the one that suits me best at that moment. I don't want the "simplicity" of a highly locked-down and curated interface).

As for computers, I'm not really a GUI guy. I'm typing this on a current model Macbook Pro, but a quick inspection shows that I've currently got 13 terminal windows open, some of which have multiple tabs (so I think 19 terminal sessions in total). These are distributed (not evenly) across a large number of virtual desktops (I regard any computer OS that doesn't support virtual desktops as a toy that's not fit for serious work). Yes, I could use file explorers and app menus for everything, i.e. do it all with the GUI, but I can navigate, manage files, launch apps and execute scripts much faster using a command line and tab completion in a bash shell than I can with all of that clicking and scrolling stuff. And while this might be a niche use case, if you need to work on a remote system rather than the computer that's in front of you a remote terminal session is far, far faster than any remote desktop.

(Why so many terminals? Why many virtual desktops? At any given time I'm working on a number of different activities and projects, and I use virtual desktops to manage this, with different desktops devoted to different tasks or task areas. Not all will be worked on every day, but the terminals and other applications will stay open until I come back to them. And this is why a phone or tablet cannot come close to replacing a real computer for me).

 

[lunatic59]

I enjoy a good book. I enjoy an evening out with friends. I enjoy a good tennis match. I use Android ... and it doesn't irritate me doing so.

 

[Deleted User]

I enjoy a good book. I enjoy an evening out with friends. I enjoy a good tennis match. I use Android ... and it doesn't irritate me doing so.

Yes "enjoy" is the wrong word. A good O/S should facilitate your real work and keep out of the way. And my work isn't compiling drivers and kernel modules. Yeah I know that stuff can be cool, but last time I checked, there were 0 story points available on my current project sprint for completing such tasks

 

[MoodyBlues]

Do you enjoy using Android

In a word: Yes.

In a bunch of words: Being a Linux-only person, the moment I heard about Android I knew it was for me. (In case there's an Android user out there who doesn't know this, Android is a Linux.)

Because I'm used to having total control of my computers--in ways other OS users can't even imagine--it's important that I can do things, like customize the hell out of my devices, that other mobile OSes lock down and don't let the OWNER do.

Rooting was fun, what with giving me full access to the Linux guts of the device, but is no longer necessary. For me. It's one of those 'YMMV' things.

Using Android certainly is enjoyable, even when there's no conscious thought involved about it being enjoyable. Doing what I want or need to do, quickly and painlessly is enjoyable! The time spent fully tweaking/customizing a new device--which is considerable, due to how much I do--is well worth it, in terms of efficiency and ease of use, in the long run.

I must add that I'm gleefully happy Linux is now the most-used operating system on the planet, aided in no small part, of course, by Android. Window$ users who had the WOEFULLY wrong idea that Linux was command-line only, or ugly, or difficult, etc., are now happily using their beautiful, GUI, easy-to-use Linux devices. Gotta love it!

 

[NnamAries]

I most certainly do, that way I get to pay less to use most features unlike some other softwares.

 

[Deleted User]

I must add that I'm gleefully happy Linux is now the most-used operating system on the planet

On smartphones yes.
I like your optimism, but the fact is that Windows is still king of the desktop. It will take many more years to break down Microsoft's dominance in that arena, if it ever happens.

 

[dontpanicbobby]

Microsoft desktops and laptops use the graphical user interface and gives you the command line (Werk!) too.
I call that a win-win.

 

[Hadron]

Linux and MacOS (which is another *nix under the GUI hood) also give you both GUI and a command line for those who want it. The main difference is (IMO) they give you a better command line than Windows.

Though with Win 10 Microsoft finally offer some virtual desktop functionality, which I've been using daily on other platforms since the early 90s. Still, better late than never. And I do like some of the Surface devices.

 

[codezer0]

I used to, when it was actually open, custom roms were more common, and most models had functionality that separated them in the market and showed off things the iphone couldn't do, for half (or less than) of the price tag.

Now, they all want to copy the worst aspects of the iphone for all the wrong reasons. I got both an lg g4 and a v20 that should be rootable but literally nobody will demonstrate how to do it. For the v20, xda at first kept saying "you had to have this specific model to root". By the time i finally was able to buy that exact model, guess what? Their site won't show me how to do it anymore.
Weirder still, is when i first boight the g4, xda kept insisting that it couldn't be rooted and wouldn't even put the effort to. Now more recently, their forum topics make it sound like it has been... And i still can't find a way to do it.

I miss my rooted phones. I miss having that level of control to dial the phone the way i want it to run. And I'm angry that XDA is allowed to just dictate what i have to buy, and then refuse to show me how to do it. Not even google bothers to list how to do it anymore. Though I'm sure Google has a vested interest in blocking results because it lets them force more ads on you.