Still waiting for Android to come of age

[omnius]

Several areas in which Android still hasn't got it right.

-The best selling Android, perversely, makes the cheapest looking chassis of most phones on the market, including other OS's.

-OEM's continue to ship brand new phones with ICS to this day, despite JB being out for half a year.

-many OEM's leave their past phones standing out in the cold for OS updates even if they're only a year old

-OEM's are slow to update phones that are going to receive latest Android versions, and carriers make a bad problem worse

-many users are apologetic for the OEM and carrier delays rather than demand better service, they roll over and defend it.

-The closest thing to a pure Android (Nexus) has prompt updates but doesn't get LTE or expandable memory. Conversely another phone that offers a pure OS and OEM experience - iPhone - DOES get all of the following:
larger internal memory offerings
LTE
also receives updates straight from the source
good build quality

-The Nexus 4 stock situation is a fiasco

Android is getting there, but it's slow and they're not quite there yet.

 

[Adauth]

For "not getting it right" android os is dominating the market and continues to grow more dominant in the smartphone and tablet every quarter.
Yes there are things that can be improved, but then again name anything that can't use some improvement.
Also your comments on the things the iphone has right?
Android has those features as well...
You're comparing the iPhone to dozens of different android phones.
It's alot easier to pack all the goodies into a phone....when it's the only one a company produces.
Not to mention that's part of the appeal of android. Choice. You don't have to buy a top of the line device to still get a very capable smartphone. If you want ios you have one choice, the iphone. Not everyone wants or can spend the money for a flagship phone. Hence there are countless different android smartphone options. From the budget phone to the top tier devices.

 

[Mostly Harmless]

It really hurts to respond to this thread but:

iPhone 5 16GB $649 (mind you no expandable memory either)
Nexus 4 16GB $349

And let's not even discuss that the iPhone finally just got LTE with the 5. How long has Android had LTE phones in it's arsenal?

Android's ecosystem is vastly different then iOS's, in both good and bad ways, but at the end of the day I much rather have a green robot leading the way.

 

[Crashdamage]

Moving on...nothing new to see here...

 

[omnius]

Moving on...nothing new to see here...

Just a note here. Pointing out areas which could use improvement does not just automatically = trolling or bashing. Don't make the same mistake others do by thinking so. It's a knee-jerk reaction not a thoughtful one.

 

[Adauth]

Just a note here. Pointing out areas which could use improvement does not just automatically = trolling or bashing. Don't make the same mistake others do by thinking so. It's a knee-jerk reaction not a thoughtful one.

What kind of responses do you think I would get if I went to an ios forum and named all the things I didn't like about it and the improvements I thought they needed to make?
Think before you post. What kind of responses did you think you would get on an android forum?

 

[omnius]

What kind of responses do you think I would get if I went to an ios forum and named all the things I didn't like about it and the improvements I thought they needed to make?
Think before you post. What kind of responses did you think you would get on an android forum?

It's called constructive criticism. Where else but an android forum would you voice criticism? I'm not trolling so you're confusing the difference. I'd agree with you if I was. The fact that I'm not is quite obvious in the OP. In light of that if a small number of people aren't mature enough to handle it and post a courteous disagreement within forum guidelines , they are free to use the ignore feature. Either way it's not your place to tell me I can't have critical comments. If the moderators agreed with you this thread wouldn't exist. That says it all in itself and puts your claim quite firmly to rest. If you have any thoughtful responses on the actual topic they'd be welcome.

 

[nickdalzell]

coming to an Android forum and posting 'I hate Android it sucks!!!' is trolling. however, asking valid questions about problems that DO exist in various copies of Android and asking for solutions, or simply noting them for the record is NOT trolling.

I myself love Android for its customizability and free software support. however that does not mean i'm a fanboy that ignores the problems or pretends they do not exist, or should deserve being labeled an Apple fanboy. the truth is fanboys are bad on either side. be it Android, iOS, or RIM. i'm not a fanboy of any one system. I use Windows 8, iOS, and Android. I love Android's level of custom features, however I do prefer iOS's smoothness and stability/speed. I like Windows 8 for its simplicity and fast UI elements for the off time I even use a laptop anymore. this does not mean, however, that I ignore the shortcomings of them all. I cannot download music for free on iOS, I cannot get rid of 'Android Lag' entirely, and Windows 8 still has a few bugs in it. saying those things does not make me a troll.

personally I find it sad that people get jumped on like gazelles fed on by a pride of hungry lions for just saying they prefer Apple over Android, even if they use both. I am not sure why people seem so worked up if someone likes Apple or RIM better. isn't it someone's right to choose what works best for them? who are we to tell people that Android is THE system that EVERYONE should use no matter what? I don't think it's the end of the world if one person buys an iDevice personally. it's what they like. this whole war over OSs needs to stop. it's bad enough there are Xbox vs. PS3 wars, but Apple vs. RIM vs. Android wars are just as ridiculous; can't we all just get along?

 

[prajune]

what???????????

 

[EarlyMon]

Discuss Android, good or bad? Fine, go for it.

Best to drop discussing each other and especially people's motivations, though. Going to delete any further of that, thanks.

 

[chanchan05]

Several areas in which Android still hasn't got it right.

-The best selling Android, perversely, makes the cheapest looking chassis of most phones on the market, including other OS's.

Just goes to show that many people really don't care about the whole "premium" feel, but more on the inside. Anyway, this has nothing to do with Android.

-OEM's continue to ship brand new phones with ICS to this day, despite JB being out for half a year.

Because its cheaper to do so, since their ICS ROMs have already been fully ready for some time. Plus it gives their more expensive phones and edge, making people want to buy the more expensive devices more. Its a marketing tactic.

-many OEM's leave their past phones standing out in the cold for OS updates even if they're only a year old

Usually this depends on several factors, but a lot is based on how much they earned from a device. A device that does not sell well may not get much updates, or a device which as borderline compatible hardware may also not get updates so as to avoid consumer problems like more lag and such with the ROM+skin

-OEM's are slow to update phones that are going to receive latest Android versions, and carriers make a bad problem worse

-many users are apologetic for the OEM and carrier delays rather than demand better service, they roll over and defend it.

All things considered, the OEMs don't have any obligation to update the phones they sell. So there really isn't anything to complain about updates are really something of a token of good will so to speak.

-The closest thing to a pure Android (Nexus) has prompt updates but doesn't get LTE or expandable memory. Conversely another phone that offers a pure OS and OEM experience - iPhone - DOES get all of the following:
larger internal memory offerings
LTE
also receives updates straight from the source
good build quality

The Nexus 4 build quality is pretty good for an LG phone. As for memory, well, how about a look at the price tag? Besides, its because Google and Motorola is cooking up a phone for themselves

 

[omnius]

Are they? I've read speculation that moto might make the next nexus, nothing firm yet though. I love moto build quality but have been frustrated by how long their os updates take on their usual phones. A nexus from them would be nice to see

 

[nickdalzell]

Moto 'Droids' also tend to have a locked BIOS or something that prevents ROM builds from being flashed somehow. they're not exactly future proof, they are more like locked down un-jailbroken iDevices in that respect.

 

[EarlyMon]

Moto 'Droids' also tend to have a locked BIOS or something that prevents ROM builds from being flashed somehow. they're not exactly future proof, they are more like locked down un-jailbroken iDevices in that respect.

They have locked and encrypted bootloaders, and despite that, many Droids get rooted anyway. The freedom to update those varies by specific models.

Hope this helps!

 

[Adauth]

I get the feeling no matter what I say ill get deleted/warned so i'll just say this. Read between the lines people.

 

[chanchan05]

Are they? I've read speculation that moto might make the next nexus, nothing firm yet though. I love moto build quality but have been frustrated by how long their os updates take on their usual phones. A nexus from them would be nice to see

There are lots of rumors of the "X" phone, using the X nexus Logo.

 

[EarlyMon]

I get the feeling no matter what I say ill get deleted/warned so i'll just say this. Read between the lines people.

I'm not singling anyone out.

Just want everyone to debate the play and not the players.

 

[Stuntman]

-The best selling Android, perversely, makes the cheapest looking chassis of most phones on the market, including other OS's.

This is subjective. There are a number of high end Android phones made by many manufacturers. You do have a selection of different devices with different chassis.

-OEM's continue to ship brand new phones with ICS to this day, despite JB being out for half a year.

-many OEM's leave their past phones standing out in the cold for OS updates even if they're only a year old

-OEM's are slow to update phones that are going to receive latest Android versions, and carriers make a bad problem worse

-many users are apologetic for the OEM and carrier delays rather than demand better service, they roll over and defend it.

There are simply people out there who thinks their phone is a POS the moment a new version of the OS comes out that is not available on their phone. The very day before, these same people think their phone is the greatest thing since sliced bread.

With regard to ICS and JB. There are probably many features in ICS that most users don't even use or need. So what if there are so many more features in JB that many people also don't use or need. Is having the ability to use all of these features you don't use really that important? I had ICS on my phone until earlier this month. I was perfectly happy with my phone running ICS. Now that I have JB, I do like it but would be fine had I stayed on ICS. Better smoothness of the graphics is nice, but not anything I could not live without. Other than that, a minor improvement in battery performance is the only other thing I noticed.

If you can tell me what other OS runs on as great a variety of hardware and has a great as amount of software customisations on it that can provide updates in a significantly more timely manner, then I will point it out to Android and demand why Google cannot do the same.

-The closest thing to a pure Android (Nexus) has prompt updates but doesn't get LTE or expandable memory. Conversely another phone that offers a pure OS and OEM experience - iPhone - DOES get all of the following:
larger internal memory offerings
LTE
also receives updates straight from the source
good build quality

I would not consider the N4 due to it only having 16GB of storage. It is a deal breaker for me. However, you cannot beat the price and the value you get for that price.

-The Nexus 4 stock situation is a fiasco

I agree.

 

[Shocky]

Your not being very specific with many of your points, which OEM's are you referring too? what devices?

As for the Nexus 4, it's a massive improvement over previous Nexus phones with only one drawback being storage, 16GB is not enough without expandable storage and the 8GB version is a joke.

The stock issues don't surprise me at all, kind of suspected LG wouldn't be able to keep up.

 

[lightsleeper23]

Well as far as the storage is concerned, I'm a person that likes to put a lot of my music on my phone. I'm a huge rock n roll junkie, and I have hundreds of CDs. Yes, I collect actual physical CDs. I'm not old enough to have nostalgia for vinyl records, and I just don't get the novelty of them today. But anyways, in the past I've dealt with phones that had 2 and 4 gigabyte SD cards. I found these inadequate and had a hunger for more storage. With my last phone, I purchased a 32 gigabyte SD card to hold almost my entire music collection, and certain videos that I would have downloaded at any given time.

What I've discovered lately, is that I just don't need 32 gigabytes. Most of the music on that card is either extremely rarely or never listened to. At least from my phone while I'm out and about. And since I've purchased my Nexus 7 tablet which I now use exclusively for watching my videos, I have even less of a need for storage on my phone. I could cut my music collection on my phone down considerably to 8 or 9 gigabytes and still have more music than I would need to listen to on a day to day basis. With that and some app storage, a 16 gigabyte memory would still have a decent amount of open space for emergencies.

For me personally I think the 16 gigabyte Nexus 4 will be just perfect. Coming from a 32 gigabyte card, I can honestly say I can't imagine myself needing more storage. I honestly think with how much digital storage space has exploded on these devices in the last year or 2, that people have fooled themselves into thinking that they actually desperately need 32 or 64 gigabytes. Now yes, some people might actually have a legitimate use for that much storage, but I think the vast majority of users won't.

 

[TgeekB]

Well as far as the storage is concerned, I'm a person that likes to put a lot of my music on my phone. I'm a huge rock n roll junkie, and I have hundreds of CDs. Yes, I collect actual physical CDs. I'm not old enough to have nostalgia for vinyl records, and I just don't get the novelty of them today. But anyways, in the past I've dealt with phones that had 2 and 4 gigabyte SD cards. I found these inadequate and had a hunger for more storage. With my last phone, I purchased a 32 gigabyte SD card to hold almost my entire music collection, and certain videos that I would have downloaded at any given time.

What I've discovered lately, is that I just don't need 32 gigabytes. Most of the music on that card is either extremely rarely or never listened to. At least from my phone while I'm out and about. And since I've purchased my Nexus 7 tablet which I now use exclusively for watching my videos, I have even less of a need for storage on my phone. I could cut my music collection on my phone down considerably to 8 or 9 gigabytes and still have more music than I would need to listen to on a day to day basis. With that and some app storage, a 16 gigabyte memory would still have a decent amount of open space for emergencies.

For me personally I think the 16 gigabyte Nexus 4 will be just perfect. Coming from a 32 gigabyte card, I can honestly say I can't imagine myself needing more storage. I honestly think with how much digital storage space has exploded on these devices in the last year or 2, that people have fooled themselves into thinking that they actually desperately need 32 or 64 gigabytes. Now yes, some people might actually have a legitimate use for that much storage, but I think the vast majority of users won't.

I tend to agree with you. I think we believe that, because we can, we must carry around every song, movie, etc. that we own even though we may never listen to or watch them. Now I know someone will say they need them because ______, but I think that's more the exception than the norm.

As far as collecting vinyl, I have to admit I still have a small collection of some of the music I listened to as a youngster. I guess I believe I will pass it on to my children, who will probably play frisbee with them after having a few drinks some day.

 

[OverByter]

Moto 'Droids' also tend to have a locked BIOS or something that prevents ROM builds from being flashed somehow. they're not exactly future proof, they are more like locked down un-jailbroken iDevices in that respect.

This can quite easily change now that Google owns Motorola Mobility, especially if they introduced a Nexus device.