Help Does Your Launcher Give The Wrong Perception of Android???

[kblanco]

So while watching some Android Authority YouTube videos, I came across one that postulated an interesting argument. Because the Android OS is basically free for manufacturers - and anyone really - to download and then craft to the needs of their device(s), we have all these different versions of Android. Android was originally intended to be extremely easy to use, and it is for most people, but we have manufacturers like ZTE, Samsung, HTC, OnePlus and others that put their own spin on the Android experience - Samsung through TouchWiz for example.

So the argument that was postulated in the article that they were basing their video on was that with all the different tweaks and modifications done to the OS, and how some manufacturers are so prominent, that for the uneducated in the way of Android, if you were to pick up a device - say a Samsung or HTC - and didn't like the experience then would you possibly think that all Android devices are the same and thus a negative experience not knowing that each device holds a different experience?

So take that a step forward and substitute launchers that we all use. There's a slew of different launchers available in the Play Store that'll allow you to craft and tweak your device so it's the ultimate Android, mimics the IPhone or even mimics the Windows Phone if that's your thing; but Nova Launcher and Action Launcher are perhaps the two most prominent. So if someone who doesn't know any better picks up a device running Nova Launcher for example, does that mean they perhaps will think all Android devices should act like the one they're messing with and when it doesn't they won't know why? Will there be anyone to help them make the connection that as much as it is the device, it's the launcher that can just as easily make or break the experience?

 

[Hadron]

It depends where this hypothetical person picks the phone up. If they pick it up in a shop then it won't be running Nova, because no phone comes with that pre-installed. There are shop staff who would know enough to tell them that they can just change the launcher, and there are also some who don't, so it would depend on who you got and whether they could work out what the problem was.

If you pick up a friend's device and they have a replacement launcher on then of course they know. It's if they just have the manufacturer's stock launcher that they might not.

But even then, all launchers allow very different customisation. My homescreens have no app launcher icons on them, which might confuse an iPhone owner! But you can do different things with the stock launcher too (just not as many as if you start changing launchers).

The other element is that customisation goes deeper than launchers. Samsung in particular change the menu structure significantly (far more so, in my experience, than the difference between say HTC and AOSP). After a while people may get used to one way of doing things and find a change jarring, but it's important to remember that "different" doesn't necessarily mean "worse", just "different". Back when I was swapping custom ROMs regularly (sometimes weekly) my rule was to always give a new ROM a couple of days: you'd very quickly notice the things that were missing with a new ROM, but it took longer to discover the things it did better, so to be fair to it you had to give it a little time.

And for the basic question, if someone picked up one flavour of Android and wasn't familiar with the OS, yes, they are very likely to think that they are all the same. We get that all the time with people asking questions here who don't realise that their device is not the same as someone else's.

 

[Dannydet]

Other than the play store, Android doesn't do a good job at marketing what's out there. That's coming from a newbie using a flip phone.
2 years in, and I've learned a lot, but seriously, absolutely nothing out there to the casual consumer.

 

[mikedt]

Other than the play store, Android doesn't do a good job at marketing what's out there. That's coming from a newbie using a flip phone.
2 years in, and I've learned a lot, but seriously, absolutely nothing out there to the casual consumer.

Quit frankly I don't think they have to now, it's like if you're not buying an iPhone or a very cheapo feature phone or butt-plug phone, you're very likely buying an Android device anyway, especially here, because there's no Windows Phone nor Blackberry OS any more. The flagship Microsoft Store doesn't even sell Windows Phone now. And Blackberry have gone to Android anyway. I still do see a lot of the green Android robot branding though, on store fronts and signage.

 

[AZgl1500]

The other element is that customization goes deeper than launchers. Samsung in particular change the menu structure significantly (far more so, in my experience, than the difference between say HTC and AOSP). After a while people may get used to one way of doing things and find a change jarring, .

I'm in the Samsung camp, that is the ONLY Android device that I have used for myself.

I "mistakenly" bought the super duper HTC One M9 for my daughter to use, simply because it has stereo speakers and decent audio.... it makes a great little miniature theater to watch the flicks on. The menu in it is a POS, I can't find a damn thing, and the wording is all wrong.... nothing where it belongs at all. That HTC is a piece of junk right now, HTC won't fix it, the digitizer is broke and the friggin thing is not even paid off yet.

 

[Bg260]

The changes made to the User Interface by various OEMs is only superficial. The core components of Android remain the same.