
I'm sick to death of Android - colinprince
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/perlow/im-sick-to-death-of-android/20242
======
makecheck
I had an Android phone for roughly a year, after having a not-smart flip-phone
for about 7 years! And even though I found real value in my old phone for 7
years, I tossed the Android for an iPhone 4S almost as soon as the new iPhone
came out.

When I first bought the Android phone (HTC Hero) I thought it was amazing. It
really had some neat features, and there were things the iPhone couldn't do
(like totally change the home screen manager).

But it was never updated. Not once. It took just months to start seeing apps
in the Android Market that only worked with newer OS versions.

I'd also discovered battery issues; it was _abundantly_ clear that the
carrier, Sprint, had the phone pre-loaded with apps ( _in the ROM_ so they
_could not be removed_ ). Not only did ALL of these stupid things auto-start
when the phone was powered on, but they were apparently set up to _start
themselves_ every hour or so because even with an app-killer I'd still see
this junk back in memory sooner or later.

Say what you will about Apple, but they keep the crap off your phone. Carriers
can't put a _damn_ thing on there that you don't want. I've also _already_
received 2 OS updates from Apple, which is 2 more updates than I ever received
with Android.

I also realized that even though Apple doesn't let you customize as much,
their UI is also _not broken_ the way Android's is. For instance, some of the
default HTC Sense UI did really stupid things in my opinion. Sure I was able
to "fix" problems by downloading replacement keyboards, etc. but with iOS I
don't even feel the _need_ for that because Apple's UI is by default more
sensible.

~~~
Osiris
I haven't owned an iPhone, so I've kept myself content by keeping CyanogenMod
ROMs on my phones just to keep them updated.

I do think Apple's iron grip on certain parts of the OS is a problem though.
For example, I really dislike the iOS virtual keyboard. All caps all the time?
Really? I love that in Android there are dozens of replacement keyboards I can
use if I want. Unfortunately, I don't think Apple will ever loosen it's grip
and that's the biggest thing that keeps me away from the platform.

~~~
rbarooah
What do you mean by 'all caps all the time'?

~~~
acuozzo
> What do you mean by 'all caps all the time'?

I think (he|she)'s referring to the displayed case of the graphemes on the US
iPhone's on-screen keyboard; that is, all letters are always displayed in
upper-case, regardless of the state of the ``shift'' key.

~~~
rbarooah
Fair enough.

I guess the trade off is against having a massive visual change every time you
tap shift that could draw your eye away from the cursor position in the middle
of typing.

------
Osiris
The main benefit of Android, in my opinion, is the large selection of
hardware. I like hardware keyboards, for example, and so I at least have some
choice if I want it (unlike Apple).

However, that diversity in hardware is also the biggest problem with the
platform. Handset manufacturers seem to look at a device as a "sell and
forget" sort of item. They make it, sell it, and then move on to the next
project.

It's too expensive, in their minds, to support a handset that they've already
sold. They make money by selling more handsets, not by putting large amounts
of effort into supporting and updating old hardware from which there is no
revenue stream.

Apple, on the other hand, actually has a significant revenue stream from
existing hardware through the sales of apps, music, and books. So, by
providing updates for older versions of the hardware they are improving their
ability to collect additional revenue. For example, when they added in-app
payments, those APIs were available to all existing iPhone users, not just the
newest users and thus were able to extract more profits from those existing
users.

In the Android world, a manufacturer only makes money from the original sale.
So, it seems that in order for Google to encourage on-going support, they
should:

1\. Participate in a revenue sharing program from app sales from the
manufacturers phones that are running the most current release of the OS.

2\. Improve the situation with drivers the large variety of hardware. If the
Google distribution supported a large amount of hardware (CPUs, GPUs, sensors,
etc) "out of the box", perhaps it would be easier for manufacturers to get the
OS running on their devices and thus take less time to get updates to market.
Or perhaps I'm being naive and there's something else that's holding up
updates other than technical issues with drivers/hardware compatibility.

~~~
martey
" _Or perhaps I'm being naive and there's something else that's holding up
updates other than technical issues with drivers/hardware compatibility._ "

In the United States at least, mobile firmware updates are subject to the
approval of mobile carriers. Most phones that are released in both the United
States and Europe are updated in the latter region before the former. American
carriers are also a primary reason why most phones do not run stock Android
[1].

Since some revenue sharing is already in place [2], and carriers make money
regardless of what Android version their customers are on, I do not think it
is the answer. Unless Google can find a way to reduce the control that
carriers have (by weaning Americans off of subsidized phones, or by
restricting Android software customization similar to iOS or Windows Phone), I
am not sure things will change for the better.

[1]: [http://www.theverge.com/2012/1/10/2697939/motorolas-
sanjay-j...](http://www.theverge.com/2012/1/10/2697939/motorolas-sanjay-jha-
verizon-and-at-t-dont-want-seven-stock-android)

[2]:
[http://articles.businessinsider.com/2010-03-25/tech/30041935...](http://articles.businessinsider.com/2010-03-25/tech/30041935_1_nexus-
one-google-s-android-google-apps)

~~~
dubya
I can't find a reference for what firmware covers. Could it be as small as
something like the BIOS on a PC that doesn't have to change between OS
updates?

~~~
martey
I am using firmware to reference the entire mobile operating system, from the
kernel and radio interface libraries all the way to the crapware applications
installed by mobile carriers.

On Android devices, the best analog to the BIOS would be the bootloader. Since
most Android bootloaders are locked to prevent unsigned kernels from running,
they are updated during OS updates. See
[http://www.extremetech.com/computing/120771-what-is-a-
bootlo...](http://www.extremetech.com/computing/120771-what-is-a-bootloader-
and-why-does-verizon-want-them-locked) .

~~~
dubya
I was thinking that "subject to the approval of the carriers" was a legal
requirement, along the lines of anything that could alter the operation of the
radio would have to be approved. The hope being that a thin layer that deals
directly with the hardware could be subject to approval, but the rest of the
stack could be updated without approval. On further reflection, I suspect it's
more of a contractual obligation, and that neither party is all that
interested in keeping 6 month old phones up to date. It's a shame, because
Android developers can't reasonably expect ICS to be widespread for at least a
year or longer.

------
nextparadigms
One other thing, if Android/Google execs read this: _for the love of God_ go
ahead and admit that there is a need for _tablet apps_. It's the first step in
solving the problem - admitting you have a problem. As long as you have the
attitude that phone apps work "just as well" on tablets, developers will have
the exact same attitude and will not care as much. It also "helps" that you
don't really want to emphasize tablet apps in their own categories, so devs
have little incentive to build them.

Also, wake up and promote this heavily, before you lose the tablet market
_forever_. The iPad advantage is growing by the day, and Windows 8 tablets are
coming, too, and even though I'm not a fan of Windows 8, I'm almost certain
Microsoft will be able to brag about having more apps for ARM tablets than
Android has for tablets at the time, because I'm sure they will be just as
aggressive about it as they are with WP7 apps. You simply can't afford to stay
on your asses and _let apps come to you_. I know that's Google's attitude
towards it right now, because it's obvious from how Andy Rubin and Eric
Schmidt speak at events. Change that! Fast!

It's simply inexcusable that you've launched Honeycomb more than a year ago
and all you have to show for it is a few hundred tablet apps. The Nexus tablet
will not change that if it's only 7", even if it's a popular tablet. I don't
think devs will bother to make "tablet apps" for a 7" tablet. They'll just
leave the phone apps, which look rather well on 7", and Kindle Fire is an
example of that.

So I don't know what you have to do, pay each developer, hold a _$100 million_
contest for Android tablet apps, reject their apps if they don't also make a
tablet version within 6 months - whatever. Just do it and be very aggressive
about it, because you've lost a lot of time with the Honeycomb launch failure,
and now you only have little time before Amazon's ecosystem or Microsoft's
ecosystem become bigger than Android on tablets, too. And that's without even
mentioning the enormous and growing iPad ecosystem. That's why you need to
start being pro-active about tablets apps like _yesterday_.

~~~
frio
I strongly agree. I've been averse to owning a tablet for a while; generally,
I prefer to have a laptop: if I want to do work on it, I can. I've recently
tried a different approach: use the laptop (/tablet, now) for all my
entertainment needs, and my desktop for work (in order to encourage myself to
do more/better work on my desktop).

So, to facilitate that, I grabbed a cheap HP TouchPad, and flashed the
(admittedly still reasonably raw) CM9 ICS build onto it. ICS itself is
pleasant: the notifications system is great, the multitasking is easily on par
with WebOS, and the action bar is a good step forward. The screen wasn't so
great, but I knew that going in; most of the "real" Android tablets have
beautiful hardware.

The state of the apps, however, is shocking. Even Facebook and Twitter haven't
bothered to build tablet apps. I believe Google is somewhat stuck between a
rock and a hard place here, however, and it boils down to an argument I've
often thought entirely facetious - fragmentation. While they introduced decent
APIs in ICS for making apps that work well on both phones and tablets, the
_vast_ majority of phone hardware out there is still running Gingerbread or
older. Meaning that developers can't use those new ICS APIs, because their
apps will no longer run on most user's devices.

I don't know how Google can address that easily, but I'd wager it proves to be
a significant impediment to those trying to target Android tablets: either
they do the whole thing manually in Gingerbread, or fork their codebase into
an ICS version, and a Gingerbread version. Neither is an overly pleasant
solution.

(for the record, I ended up drooling over/buying an iPad 3. The apps are much
better)

~~~
kalleboo
They actually have a compatibility package[1] to let apps use the new tablet
layout classes on Android versions back to 1.6. Developers have no excuse.

[1] <http://developer.android.com/sdk/compatibility-library.html>

~~~
frio
I wasn't aware of that; thankyou for the link.

------
ilamont
iOS (iPod and iPad2) and Android user (Samsung Exhibit II) here.

The OP brings up many valid concerns, and asks, _as a consumer, how much is
one willing to tolerate this?_

My answer: A very long time, as long as Android phones and plans continue to
smoke iPhone on price and provide an "almost iOS" experience.

The Exhibit II has Android 2.3.5 installed. T-Mobile charges US$30 per month
for 100 minutes of talk, unlimited messaging, and 5GB of 4G data; thereafter
it reverts to slower data and 10 cents per minute of talk. I am not a heavy
talker, nor do I stream video or audio (and when I do it's usually within wifi
range). When I was looking for a plan, I saw a similar offer for a Virgin plan
(I think it was US$35). Friends overseas tell me even cheaper Android plans
are offered through local carriers.

For owners of Android handsets, using Facebook, Twitter, email, Web, and most
mobile news sites is comparable to iOS. I miss Instagram, but it is coming
soon to Android, and in the meantime I make do with Path. There are a few
other missing Android apps, and the UX is slightly inferior, but considering
it's $30/month, it's good enough.

To many people, that's the value of Android. The UX is very similar to iOS, it
handles most smartphone functions, and it's a lot cheaper.

~~~
inoop
So what about WP7? Both as a user and as a developer I was completely
frustrated with Android, so I went out and got myself a Lumia 800.

Here in Europe you pay about $525 for this device (off contract), and the 710
and 610 are about $330 and $260 respectively. An HTC radar goes for $380.

~~~
dagw
As another Android user looking for other options, I'd love to hear your
opinion of WP7. Especially on how you're finding the selection and quality of
the available apps.

~~~
inoop
It all depends on what you're using your device for. Personally I'm missing
internet tethering (update coming soon, apparently) and Spotify, which exists
but is so buggy I removed it and downgraded my account. I'm not too happy with
the calendar app but I've been too lazy to look for a replacement. You're tied
into Bing for search which I don't appreciate. File transfers over bluetooth
are not supported, not sure if anyone still does this.

On the other hand, the UI is silky smooth, not at all like the Galaxy Nexus I
have lying around here for development. I guess it's just a personal thing,
but I really can't live with the UI lag and jitter on Android. You don't have
a ton of options to play around with, but the features that are there just
work without hassle.

Things like email, messaging, facebook all work great. The browser is nice and
responsive too. You get Office for free so you can open Word documents on the
go, and Nokia Drive 2.0 gives you free navigation with free offline maps. It
works well here in the Netherlands and is a big plus for me. Skype is
available as a beta which is still rough around the edges, but it's nice to be
able to call my mom over Wi-Fi without wasting minutes.

So I guess it's a bit of a mixed bag. For me the positives greatly outweigh
the negatives, so I'm a happy camper. Maybe you should just go play with one
at a store and see if it's for you.

------
sukuriant
Am I the only one that's happy with their Android phone? Sure, I wish I could
get cyangen mod on my phone, but oh well that I can't. I prefer the experience
far over iOS and others. I like being able to change various aspects of my
phone without jail breaking it. I like the user experience vastly more than
iPhone's, primarily because of that back button. And, even on my old Motorola
Droid, I never saw a "your phone can't support this app" problem.

~~~
jakeonthemove
What phone do you have? CM (including custom versions of it) is available for
an astounding number of phones, maybe you need to dig deeper into XDA forums
:-)...

~~~
sukuriant
Droid Bionic. I've looked. :/

~~~
jakeonthemove
Well, the phone can be rooted and there are already half-baked ports of CM
floating around - shouldn't be long before the phone (which is still pretty
new) is supported officially or a good unofficial CM-based ROM is released.
Have patience :-)...

------
yason
It's the transition period from cellphones to computers. A cellphone doesn't
need updates, it's a hard-coded brick that's released once and then it works
until it gets broken. A computer is a platform, mostly made out of software
and the freshness of the software platform is a key part of its nature: we've
used to updating our linux and windows boxes for fifteen years.

Now, smartphones are still a bit in between. They're basically computers but
still regarded as phones. It'll take some time for everyone to catch up to the
same level, maybe some years. Apple does it already and others must follow as
soon as they get the order back in their development chain.

Ideally, an Android phone would be like Ubuntu with per-device kernels. It
would continuously stream new packages over the net and the kernel would
handle all device specific things so that Android userspace doesn't have to.
It basically works like this already, it's just the update process that hasn't
been mechanized. And there are a small number of device specific tricks in the
userspace too, these days, because OEMs think they can tailor Android for
their product. It's as bad as an OEM that would want to sell laptops with an
OEM customized Ubuntu distribution. It works one time but gets left back as
soon as the real Ubuntu makes the next release.

~~~
rogerbinns
> A cellphone doesn't need updates,

Note that security holes have been found in the dumber phones such as
specially crafted SMS messages that cause grief.

In the case of a highly connected device that has a web browser (eg a
"smartphone") there are guaranteed to be many security holes. That is the
biggest problem with Android non-updates. It is bad enough being behind on
functionality updates, but being vulnerable is even worse.

------
mark_integerdsv
I think we have yet another example of someone just not getting it.

The OP repeatedly laments the fate of people less technically minded than
himself, how hideous the experience must be for them if someone do clued up is
having such a terrible time... The fact is that those users to whom he is
referring exist in a realm of blissful ignorance.

I wonder what proportion Android users out there even know what ICS is. I'm
willing to bet it's a tiny fraction and I'm willing to bet that Google knows
that. That's what makes the whole Android story such a cynical one IMO-the
platform was (still is to a large degree) touted as the ultimate geek device.
Something beautiful that google was goig to give to the techies out there...
What it is is a shallow, lowest common denominator.

I had such high hopes for the 'Google phone' of 2006 but I have never owned
and Android device and really do not care to.

~~~
iscrewyou
You are right. I work in cellphones. When I say the words Ice Cream Sandwich,
they laugh. Same goes for the previous versions of android. When they hold the
Galaxy Nexus, they want it. Same goes with the iPhones. It's what the device
does and how it looks let's an average customer decide, not the technical
mumbo jumbo. And the price.

Leave this guy alone with his rant.

------
cageface
I picked up a Galaxy S2 recently because a client asked me to do an Android
port of an iOS app.

As a communication device, I think it easily trounces the iPhone, even though
its only running 2.3. The Google accounts integration is a lot smoother than
mail on the iPhone and the phone features are better overall. And I _never_
want to go back to pecking out text messages one letter at a time after using
Swype.

However, as an apps platform it sucks for all the well known reasons. I think
the reason that Android phones have sold so well is that the core features are
at least as good as the iPhone. It's too bad, because I actually prefer the
way they do a lot of things in the SDK (resource management, for instance).
But I agree Google needs to get things under control soon.

------
latch
Smartphones are a commodity. I hate my Samsung Galaxy. It destroyed the
Samsung and Android brands for me. When it's time for me to get a new phone,
I'll definitely pick an alternative (probably an iPhone). Doesn't matter if
there's a Galaxy 5 running Android 6 by then.

Same thing played out with US vs Japanese car manufacturers. People have
lasting memories when they feel that they spent money on an inferior product.

~~~
creamyhorror
I hate my iPhone 3GS, because after my PC died I couldn't sync it any more
without losing my media, couldn't update the OS because I had jailbroken it
(never installed pirated apps either), and because the battery life is
horrible on 3G - it heats up, drops a few percentage points in a few minutes,
and I often have to power off the phone.

I told myself I was running off to Android where I wouldn't have to deal with
a walled garden any more, so I'm kind of like the reverse of you - going to
get a non-iPhone after my bad experience with Apple.

What I'd like to know is whether Android is still worth going to. Will I be
able to sync without worries, install apps as I like, and root the device
easily? I keep seeing mention of CyanogenMod and I don't know if that's what
I'll have to install to get the full control I want. Is installing CM what
rooting (mostly) involves?

I've been meaning to pick up the Galaxy Nexus, but bad press about its camera
and uncertainties about the degree of freedom it allows have been keeping me
back. I was even considering getting a Galaxy S II and installing ICS. I
appreciate any advice from the Android users among you.

~~~
rbarooah
How much of your bad experience was caused by 'Apple' and how much was because
you jailbroke your device?

~~~
creamyhorror
Most Apple, I guess? The jailbreaking prevented OS updates, but the inability
to sync and battery life were most likely due to the device itself.

In the first place, I want to be able to install programs from wherever I like
(which was why I needed to jailbreak - to install an important app which had
no official iOS release at the time), so having to jailbreak for that
capability is still a drawback (or 'failing') of Apple/iOS relative to my
requirements.

I hope the Nexus won't get in the way of my needs - I don't want to have to
wrangle with anything when an OS update is issued, even if I root my phone.
And I also don't want 0 updates. Does any phone fit my use case?

~~~
rbarooah
Not being able to update may well have limited you from getting battery
related bug-fixes, and jailbreaking is notorious for allowing power-
inefficient mods or apps to run - indeed that's the reason many people choose
to do it.

I guess my point is that you knew in advance that the device wouldn't do what
you wanted, so it's not really surprising that you didn't have a great
experience and I think it's hard to blame that on Apple.

Personally I think that anyone who would need to Jailbreak an iPhone would
have their needs better served with a good Android phone. In this regard they
are simply aimed at different customers.

------
johngalt
Rational carriers and android hardware manufacturers would understand what's
at stake here. Do they really want to hand the entire mobile device market to
Apple because of a few updates?

~~~
tensor
The update situation has improved quite a bit since the early days of Android.
I don't see any reason to think that "all of a sudden now" the market will
shift entirely to Apple. The new iPhone caused some market shift, and new
Android handsets and OS version will likely cause some shift back.

Hopefully Google's new "streamlined and integrated" philosophy will continue
to reduce update times and further polish and unify the interface. Only time
will tell.

It _is_ nice to have a good new contender on the scene with Windows Phone
though.

~~~
jerlam
In regards to regular updates, Windows Phone is looking more and more like
Android. Even on Microsoft's "preferred" US carrier, smaller bugfix updates
are being delayed or skipped by AT&T:

[http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/microsoftpri0/20178567...](http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/microsoftpri0/2017856705_att_to_offer_windows_phone_os_update_
--_just_not_y.html)

Previously, Microsoft provided exact details on when specific phones on
specific carriers would be getting software updates, but this policy ended in
January 2012:

[http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2012/01/microsofts-
new...](http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2012/01/microsofts-newold-
windows-phone-update-policy-keeps-customers-in-the-dark.ars)

~~~
cageface
Quoting from the original article:

 _I’ll point them towards Apple’s iOS and Microsoft’s Windows Phone instead.
At least with these platforms, you’re guaranteed core OS updates and bugfixes
for the length of your contract._

I think this just isn't true. Maybe WP is currently more homogeneous than
Android but clearly MS is somewhat at the mercy of the carriers here too.

------
wladimir
I'm sick of Android's permissions system. As you can't reject individual
permissions it suffers from permission creep. In their first versions,
applications tended to request only permissions they really need. Then every
update they request more and more, usually wildly different from the purpose
of the application.

For example, Google Maps requires "Allows the application to call phone
numbers without your intervention" since last update. I don't want to grant
that (it just needs to show a map ffs), but must, or stay behind.

What would great is to be able to selectively grant permissions to
applications. I've read that cyanogenmod can do that, but have been careful
with reflashing my phone. Maybe I'll give that a try now...

~~~
CrazedGeek
If anyone's interested, on CyanogenMod 7.2 the relevant setting's in Settings
-> CyanogenMod settings -> Application -> Permission management. After that,
you can turn permissions on and off from the app manager. (As far as I can
tell, this hasn't been implemented in any of the CM9 nightlies.)

~~~
BlackShirt
The problem with this approach is that the app expects the permission and will
most likely crash if rejected. One alternative which works better is the LBE
Privacy Guard app, what it does is, instead of denying the app to read the
contacts list for example, it simply gives it an empty one.

------
CrazedGeek
Do phones really /need/ to be updated to new OS versions? I recently upgraded
to a Galaxy Nexus, and while ICS is pretty nice, I honestly think I could have
lived with Froyo or Gingerbread for another couple years.

(as an aside, as of last month, a good 45% of desktop web users were on
Windows XP, an OS version that hasn't received any major updates since 2008:
[http://www.netmarketshare.com/operating-system-market-
share....](http://www.netmarketshare.com/operating-system-market-
share.aspx?qprid=11&qpcustomb=0) )

~~~
LVB
Of course they don't need to be updated, but when I'm paying $50+/month for
essentially a luxury (I could _live_ with a prepaid dumb phone), my
expectations go up. I'm paying a lot for fun/interesting technology and I want
to partake now in the new whizzy things that people are raving about, not 9
months from now.

~~~
CrazedGeek
What "new whizzy things" are people raving about? I haven't seen anyone get
even close to excited over a new OS feature since iOS 4's multitasking -- from
the people I know, the response to iCloud, FaceTime, iMessages, Notification
Center, ICS's Face Unlock, etc. has been a collective "meh". The only thing
I've heard anyone seriously happy about recently was Windows Phone 7.5's
ringtone manager.

~~~
LVB
Doesn't have to be a new OS feature directly. I'd like to run the new Chrome
browser but can't. In any case, I'd like to decide "meh" or not for myself.

You're right that most changes have very little impact, so this is largely
psychological. It hits in two ways for me: 1) the delay between the product's
"release" and when I can get it, 2) the uncertainty of whether an upgrade will
even come at all for my phone.

------
nextparadigms
First, I know many people make a big deal about the transition to Android 4.0
being too slow, but I just think the issue is that it's a lot harder for
manufacturers, and even the hacker community (hence no stable ICS ROM yet) to
transition from 2.3 to 4.0, than it was to transition from 2.2 to 2.3 or from
Honeycomb to ICS/4.0. I do believe/hope that the transition to 5.0 or 4.5 from
4.0 will be much faster.

Also remember that Google releases their version as soon as it's ready _for
them_ , unlike Microsoft who keeps the OS from being released until at least a
few manufacturers have it on their devices and ready to ship. Should Google
adopt the same model and in this case keep ICS from being released until
summer 2012, when all manufacturers would be ready to release devices with it
at once? Perhaps, but keep in mind that this would also mean using obsolete
hardware, just like with all WP7 phones, and it also means they would be way
behind iPhones and iPads in terms of hardware, when they adopt a model like
this.

Second, can the solution for standardization be having some kind of a "virtual
hardware layer", and by that I mean more than just what the Dalvik VM
currently does - more like "universal drivers" that would make Android easy to
upgrade and install on any ARM phone? That would be a dream come true for any
Android fan.

One thing I know for sure is that Google needs to be working on something like
this - even if it takes them years to do it, whether it's because it's hard to
do technically, or because they need a lot of time to set-up all the right
partnerships.

This goal is well worth pursuing, until things become too complex (thousands
of devices). But I'm hoping they've been working on it already, and we're only
1-2 years away from seeing it.

------
jakeonthemove
One solution (at least to some of the problems) is to use third party ROMs -
there are plenty of them out there for every phone, made by people who know
this stuff better than the manufacturers themselves. Support them and use
their versions of Android - latest versions, fast, sleek, free to modify
however you wish - what's not to love?

I have my old Droid and I won't upgrade until it's dead - it's running
CyanogenMod (Gingerbread), has a wicked custom home screen, it's overclocked,
undervolted, can run OnLive games, Angry Space Birds :-), One Piece for
GameBoy Advance (loved that game on my GB!), Skype on 3G, and a s*it ton
more...

I'll get a Droid 3 when I upgrade, as well - I feel crippled without a
dedicated keyboard...

I see smartphones (and laptops, tablets) as simple platforms to customize to
your liking - obviously, networks would have a problem with that if everyone
thought that way, but it's the best way...

------
mhw
_"If someone like me who is an astute observer of the industry has to do such
intense research on which Android device to buy based on the potential for
ongoing support and then ends up getting burned in the process, what is the
average consumer to do?"_

In a nutshell, the reason I haven't seriously considered an Android device. I
was burned by my last Nokia/Symbian phone not getting any OS updates or bug
fixes, and quickly decided that I wouldn't be able to predict which of the
numerous Android devices would turn out to be the lucky ones that would be
supported and maintained.

------
chown
I just ranted about this too:
[https://plus.google.com/102672078908622237427/posts/GoDo6JeV...](https://plus.google.com/102672078908622237427/posts/GoDo6JeVMuW)

I was proud to call myself an Android Fan Boy and urged my friends to get one
(last year I convinced about 10 friends to get an Android phone and they did).
I'm now a frustrated user myself and the worse part is when those friends read
article like this and ridicule me.

------
Tichy
Sick to death because he can't update to a new version of an operating
system??

I know this psychological feeling of wanting the latest craze, but the reality
is probably that the old versions of Android work just fine. We have somehow
been trained to crave new OS versions, but that is nothing to commit suicide
over.

------
orbitingpluto
As an Android consumer, one of my biggest gripes is paid apps slowly
increasing their permissions until they require _everything_.

Google has to allow downloads of previous versions if a paid app starts upping
permission requirements OR providing an app by app permission blacklist for
non-rooted phones.

------
antirez
"variety of manufacturers devices with varying feature sets that gives
consumers the added benefit of choosing exactly what product suits their
specific needs."

Basically the recipe for a disaster.

------
damian2000
If you want an update just root it download the update. People who are wanting
the latest greatest incremental release are usually a bit techie anyway, so
its not that hard is it?

~~~
Radzell
This is true techy people have this option, but google needs to think ourside
this market. Android needs to move beyond the 18-20 year old college or
college bound male demographic if it's going to grow. It needs to simple
enough for your grandma run it. Your phone should update with the latest
features as soon as they are available not a year down the line. It's like
playing roulette when buying a phone trying to find out which OEM will update
there OS on time and which will not.

~~~
orangecat
_Android needs to move beyond the 18-20 year old college or college bound male
demographic if it's going to grow._

Around half of all smartphones sold today run Android. I don't think there are
that many 18 year olds.

 _Your phone should update with the latest features as soon as they are
available not a year down the line._

Yes, it should. But most users don't really care, as long as it makes calls
and can get on Facebook and run Angry Birds. Apple/MS fanboys are correct that
Android geeks aren't representative. But neither are they.

 _It's like playing roulette when buying a phone trying to find out which OEM
will update there OS on time and which will not._

GSM Nexus.

~~~
Radzell
People don't relize that when you marker things to people like face to unlock
for android that when people buy the phone that's what they want the app
market is proof they want more than just angry bird they want the apps their
friends are using. It would make me angry if I wasn't a techy and a bought a
new with a OS not know a app could play a game on my brand new phone because
it wasn't updated.

------
avens19
What we have to think about here is that this guy, and probably anyone reading
this blog (myself included), is a nerd. The average consumer doesn't give a f
__* about Ice Cream Sandwich. If their phone does what it needs to do on a
daily basis they are happy. It has the same features as it did when they
bought it and new apps come out every day. It's not much different with Apple,
aside from a few minor features, updates are merely bug fixes. As for us
nerds, the internet is crawling with custom roms and custom updates that allow
us to fiddle to our heart's content. So no, I don't think Android has much to
worry about.

~~~
rbarooah
This is simply false.

The iPhone 3GS shipped in June 2009 with iOS 3, and has continued to receive
every update between then and now.

There have been literally hundreds of new features added in that time, as well
as a series of whole new built-in apps.

~~~
avens19
And are any of those features not available in Gingerbread?

------
webwanderings
That was my first reaction playing with my tablet with the Android for the
first time. I am a Windows user and I could not believe how Microsoft blew
this field.

------
Radzell
I think it's obvious that sometimes open is not best. Business at a certain
point don't really care about customers if they aren't getting profit. They
sell millions of phone if they were to let say charge $5-$10 to people in
order to upgrade the OS this would solve the problem. Yes giving upgrades for
free would be the right thing to do for a moral human being, but this is a
company not a person. Companies have not moral compass and you can't guilt
them into doing something.

~~~
nextparadigms
That's why I think for businesses who want to go open source, the best model
is the Chrome/Chromium model. Keep Chromium as open as you want, but keep
Chrome - that is built on it - only for yourself, and only you can control and
modify it. If only Android worked the same way...

I believe all Chromebooks even get all the updates from Google, though it
remains to be seen if that can be maintained with more than a few devices.

------
wavephorm
Blame the carriers. That carriers lock their phones, and customize the OS with
spam. Google offers them this "free OS" they can't refuse, then they lock
their phones, and don't keep up to date with anything. Why would they care,
you already bought the phone, they already have your money and you are forced
into a 2 year plan. You'd have to be nuts to buy into a mismanaged nightmare
like this.

------
Tomis
If you're sick of Android usage you should try Android development, that would
really make your day. In any case, if you're looking for an open platform try
a Symbian or MeeGo. The Nokia N9 is one of the best smartphones ever made and,
if you can get it, you will have a real user experience. Also, if you're a
mobile developer who is not into BDSM you will be happy to hear that you don't
have to write your programs in Java, although if you really want to you
probably can.

Symbian and MeeGo are also getting constant OS updates although Nokia's
official direction has shifted away to Windows Phone, and will continue like
that for several years. As for Android, Google is treating it like an ugly
retarded kid that they don't really want but are forced to take care of.

~~~
anonymoushn
The N9 is easily worse than every other phone I have used and every phone
anyone I know has used. I feel very silly for paying for it. Can you introduce
me to someone who shares your opinion of it and does not have one yet?

~~~
Tomis
What's wrong with your N9?

~~~
anonymoushn
From the home screen, hitting "Music" -> "Songs" involves about 20 seconds of
waiting before you can pick "Shuffle." The ssh app is significantly worse than
similar apps for other OSes because it is missing important keys. Putting
music on the device took a couple hours because it would repeatedly spend a
great deal of time indexing the music before telling me that I did not have
any music. The UI is generally less responsive than is tolerable, even when
doing extremely simple things like dialing a phone number. I do not enjoy
going to the phone app, hitting a few numbers and waiting a few seconds before
the phone makes any sound to assure me that it knows I am hitting numbers.

The swipe gesture is really cool until a bunch of apps also want to use swipe
within the app. At that point, you get to play the fun game of trying to
perform a swipe that is long enough to get the app to acknowledge it without
starting at the edge of your screen, because that would cause the OS to switch
out of the app.

There is no option to display 24-hour time and YMD other than by setting the
locale. My phone now thinks that I am Japanese because I want it to display
24-hour time and YMD, but I do not know any Japanese, so every bit of software
that localizes based on my locale is somewhat difficult to read.

It took a couple days to get IMAP IDLE to work, but even once it worked it
would often repeatedly attempt to download a huge amount of email, fail midway
through, and start again from the beginning rather than keeping whatever
portion it had finished.

It is also missing a lot of software that two other OSes have, but I at least
knew that would be true before buying it.

~~~
Tomis
You'll be happy to know (or sad, depending on how you look at it) that your N9
is defective. It takes me 5 seconds at most from the home screen until I can
hit shuffle, with all the loading, animations and whatnot, I never have the
feeling that I am waiting. I also used the included USB cable to transfer my
music to the phone, can't say I have experience with the ssh app.

The fact that you hit numbers in the dialing screen and have to wait a few
seconds before the phone makes any sound is another strong indicator that your
phone is broken and you need to have it replaced under warranty. It is not
supposed to be behaving like that.

I have not seen any swipe conflict between the applications and the phone's
UI, which is basically because for the built-in gestures you swipe from the
edges, whereas for the apps you swipe from inside the window. I don't see how
you can get a conflict out of that. Can you give me an example of app that
does that? Seem like an app fault, not phone fault.

------
jay_kyburz
I don't understand why I can't just install any OS on my mobile computer
(phone/tablet) the same way I can install any OS on my desktop computer.

Please somebody, create a start up or two to solve this problem!

Think big, be the next Microsoft!

