
Google Promises To Bring December Back To Android 4.2 “Soon” - aritraghosh007
http://techcrunch.com/2012/11/20/google-promises-to-bring-december-back-to-android-4-2-soon/
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zmmmmm
For those deceived by the headline, December is still in "Android", it is one
date picker in one app, where dates are not used much (the People, or contacts
app).

~~~
rkwz
Don't they use the same datepicker throughout the OS? Why do they have
different ones for different apps? #DRY

~~~
zmmmmm
They do. The People app has specialized it though, because in the birthday
date picker the year is optional, whereas in the stock one the year is
required.

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paul
It's always the little details. My limited experiences with Android (I try it
every year or so) always end when I get annoyed by basic things not working.
The tablet I got at Google I/O 1.5 years ago would power off every time it was
fully charged, so I could either leave it unplugged (it which case it would
run down the battery after a few days), or I could keep it plugged in, but
then I'd have to wait for it to boot every time I tried to use it. It feels
like they give more attention to the "big" features than the "little" details,
which is why I still have an iphone.

~~~
Lewisham
Things were dramatically improved with Jelly Bean, which is the first Android
release I think really stepped up to the plate with iOS. The little things
were, by and large, dealt with. Matias Duarte has done a fabulous job.

~~~
avalanchenine
> _Things were dramatically improved with [X release]_

I've been hearing this argument with every single Android release to date.
Like your comment's parent, I try out another Android device every 18 months
or so, and I still have yet to be impressed.

I haven't tried Jelly Bean though. Maybe it is really the release that makes
everything better.

~~~
w1ntermute
> Like your comment's parent, I try out another Android device every 18 months
> or so, and I still have yet to be impressed.

And I try out an iOS device every year or two, and I have yet to be impressed.
The notification system is still inane, Mobile Safari still lags when
scrolling, all your app icons still show up on your home screens, and you
still can't use widgets on the home screen. When is Apple going to fix these
glaring UX flaws?

~~~
wlesieutre
@defen, Android lets you put widgets like weather, clock, stocks, etc, in your
home screens. Something like this: [http://phandroid.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-
content/uploads/2009/07...](http://phandroid.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-
content/uploads/2009/07/smsunread_270x404.png)

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DHowett
What I cannot fathom is why the list of dates available via a date picker
(which, as far as I can tell, is a standard kit component) is up to each app.

I can understand situations in which the available dates should be limited,
but the People application does not need to impose any such restrictions;
therefore, what is available in the picker should not be up to it.

~~~
tadfisher
The People app uses its own picker widget for event dates, in order to support
the optional year element; it uses NumberPicker widgets internally. There is
an off-by-one bug in NumberPicker that was worked around in the standard
DatePicker component, but not in the custom widget implemented in the People
app.

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baggachipz
4.2 has been a real disappointment to me compared to 4.1. Since my update, the
phone lags on input more, apps crash frequently, and restarts must happen more
often. Just today, I had Google Voice slow down, crash, restart, and crash
again. Then, after I took a picture, the whole phone locked up. It seems that
4.2 wasn't ready for prime time, but was pushed out for the Nexus 4 release.

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Tichy
Unless you add dozens of people to your address book every day, this is
actually not such a big deal. I tend to edit the address book on the web
anyway.

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NathanKP
It sounds and looks like an off by one bug. But it could be nasty to fix if
people have already created events with an off by one bug. Any update to fix
the date picker could then cause their scheduled dates to show up a month
early, and would therefore also have to include some sort of script to update
existing scheduled events users have created.

~~~
ch0wn
Yap, there was a change in the NumberPicker that seemed to have caused it:
[https://github.com/android/platform_frameworks_base/commit/a...](https://github.com/android/platform_frameworks_base/commit/a1410e6789ce72bc423793315a51aea8b6bad6c7)

~~~
swohns
That makes sense, but why is the patch taking so long?

~~~
zmmmmm
50% of comments: what horrible QA, don't they test anything?

Other 50% of comments: why is the patch taking so long!

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diggan
Think if Android had the same "patch small and often" as Google Chrome, that
way, this could be fixed rather quick.

~~~
paxswill
They're working towards it. Lots of former system apps are being extracted
from the base OS and turned into apps updated through the Play store. The most
recent I remember was the Calendar app, which changed into Google Calendar
through the Play store.

~~~
mtgx
But I don't think they'll ever make the whole OS work like that,
unfortunately. I was hoping they would at least create a whole line-up of
"Nexus" devices from all manufacturers that would be updated the way they
update the Chromebooks. But I'm beginning to think that won't happen either

~~~
drivebyacct2
They can't. Many of the core underlying bits are tied to the device drivers.
[Insert mobile device drivers and ARM complains here.]

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michaelhoffman
Say what you will about Microsoft's products, but I doubt an error like this
would make it through their robust testing process these days.

~~~
M4v3R
I can't tell for "these days", but back then on Windows 98 IIRC, they forgot
Poland (literally) on their time zone map:

<http://img166.imageshack.us/img166/9331/nopoland9fg.jpg>

~~~
michaelhoffman
A cosmetic issue from 14 years ago doesn't make a great counterexample.

The reason for the Poland error is explained here:
[http://blogs.msdn.com/b/oldnewthing/archive/2006/10/27/88041...](http://blogs.msdn.com/b/oldnewthing/archive/2006/10/27/880411.aspx)

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ilanco
This bug should be Google's last worry. There are people with Nexus devices
that can't make a simple phone call.

Open issues:
[http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/list?can=2&q=typ...](http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/list?can=2&q=type=Defect&sort=-stars&colspec=ID%20Type%20Status%20Owner%20Summary%20Stars)

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bdavisx
Am I the only person that thinks that DatePicker really sucks because there's
no way to actually enter a date thru a "keyboard"?

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state
Maybe it's not cool to admit it, but this is a bug I can really relate to. I
had a Facebook page title become [Object Object] the other day and this feels
similar. I wonder if the luddites of tomorrow will lament the loss of these
wabi-sabi details.

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acex
for some reason i find this hilariously funny.

~~~
smokeyj
As if they don't expect December to arrive..

~~~
brianto2010
Maybe it'll be a Christmas present. :-)

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TimGebhardt
Just replace it with Smarch: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RCs2RKiLlA>
<http://simpsonswiki.net/wiki/Smarch> "Smarch is the thirteenth month of the
year, according to Springfield Elementary School calendars. It has 28 days."

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evanphx
Soon as in next month, January.

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patmcguire
...and the carriers will push the update in about 6 months.

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rmrfrmrf
UIDatePicker must have had a good laugh at this.

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suyash
What kind of QA google has? - Good for nothing kind

