Op-Ed: Android is pretty shit, needs huge improvements and continued support.

BabyHeadCrab

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So, working at Best Buy, we're given certain opportunities such as more hours and opportunities for promotion for becoming tablet specialists. I work at Geek Squad and handle tablets of all kinds all day (Windows, Android, PalmOS and, of course, iOS). Ironically, the biggest pieces of shit are Androids.

Let's talk about this and the mythos surround the supposedly most flexible and workable tablet OS.

The more I learn about Android, the more it seems it's a total colossal mess in the tabloid market. Old versions are not receiving updates, people are paying for apps that aren't working, and old versions are no longer receiving updates.

On top of that, they advertise flash support while it seems the phones crash or outright don't load the pages at all half the time. Now that I've become quite acclimated with Android it seems to be just as frustrating as iOS, if nor moreso. Has anyone else here experienced the same woes?

At geek squad even the most tech savvy folks (dispatch, the guys who actually know their shit), diss it all the time. It would seem Google doesn't really give a shit about it's old distros and only updates the 3 or so latest versions. It's a pain in the ass when I'm trying to give a demonstration only to find a free app that won't actually run on the Toshiba Thrive I'm showing off to a customer.

Hell, at this point, I've been recommending iOS (with a great deal of guilt, admittedly) more often to customers. It's just more hassle free, and iOS 5 is supported across more of their hardware.

Let's not even bring up Windows Phone 7/8 (or PalmOS) - they're nowhere near approachable yet.

In short: at first I fell in love with Android. The customization, the extensive application store, the ability to add memory of any sort, keyboard docks. Now they're become more proprietary per company, limiting the function of older tablets which COULD support the newer versions of the OS, and selling applications to phones and tablets which simply cannot run them.

Thoughts? It seems they just need more QA, to update one version and stick to it for a while. Sure, it's a rapidly growing market in terms of technology, particularly at this point. But when a customer comes in every day asking which tablet runs "Icecream Sandwich" I cringe, it's just a bunch of arbitrary features that could easily to uploaded onto one of our dual core tablets we already have on the floor. It's no better than Apple in that regard.

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TL;DR: Android is rather unstable, lacks support for previous distros, and often fails at even the most simple of tasks. It often reminds me of Windows in it's youth - only worse. iOS is not only easier to fix, it's web support is actually...better. HTML5 is embarrassing adobe right now. In terms of repairing the ****ing things, don't even get me started on droid tablets. The things people do to those things and the lack of restore options for the older versions of the OS... ugh.
 
When you look at iOS you have a single system with a single manufacturer, so you don't have much of a problem with legacy hardware in development. With Android you have multiple manufacturers each with a variety of Android versions that are customized in their own way. It has very little to do with the quality of the OS and much more to do with the dynamic quality of its implementation. When you buy an iPhone, you're getting basically the same OS that you had years ago with only minor additions. Personally I love Android and its inherent freedoms. I know sometimes I won't be able to use an App and other phones will have newer versions with features I want, but I can't see sacrificing my ability to build an app for myself any time I want and having a device that can really do whatever I'm willing to push it to do.

However, I think the qualities of Android are lost on the general public. For a general consumer it's a device that, with reasonable effort, can function on par with an iPhone, but most just won't be able to unlock the potential without really getting in to it. From a support standpoint that has to be much more frustrating... but it's not all that different from dealing with PCs and Macs a few years ago. Macs would almost always be the same hardware and software because that was all that was available. When someting broke on a Mac, the company that built it and the company that made the OS would support it because it was easy to support. PCs - multiple manufacturers, multiple versions of the OS and software, variety of problems... However someone with reasonable effort could have a PC working fine indefinitely and have all the freedom of customization and applications.

Ultimately I think Google will organize Android more and once it's more feature rich and refined, there will be fewer issues and more good times.
 
It's the fact that they can't manage the sheer variety of old and new variety of distros released for 7 inch and 10 inch tabs as well as phones simultaneously. It makes things hard as shit to support and turns people DIRECTLY towards iPads and iPhones. It's sad, really. Heads up their asses.

@RJ this applies very much to smart phones as well.
 
android is for people who know what they're doing tbh. to me, android is like source engine. technical support is bad, but you can do whatever you want with it.
 
I find Android for my HTC phone does the business very well. I've not experiened any issues and am not sure what issues I would experience if I did. But I have never really used a tablet!
 
I find Android for my HTC phone does the business very well. I've not experiened any issues and am not sure what issues I would experience if I did. But I have never really used a tablet!
You have the Wildfire S right? You may find a really annoying problem with it soon; although you can put most stuff onto the SD card, many things need to go on the phone's internal storage and it's way too goddamn small.
 
Oh, I figured that was just a ruse to make me spend money on a bigger SD card.
 
It's the fact that they can't manage the sheer variety of old and new variety of distros released for 7 inch and 10 inch tabs as well as phones simultaneously. It makes things hard as shit to support and turns people DIRECTLY towards iPads and iPhones. It's sad, really. Heads up their asses.

@RJ this applies very much to smart phones as well.

The thing is, Google doesn't really work to support the OS, every company that uses it sort of brands it in to their own hardware and then the carriers plaster stuff on top of that. That's just the nature of their business. I think if Google buy Motorola they'll have a little bit more control. I've also heard good things about the new Nexus devices. At the same time I've heard some fairly bad things about android tablets, especially older ones. My phone uses Gingerbread and I haven't had any problems with it except that it bogs down a lot if I don't clear the caches and shut down everything after a while.
 
Nothing in this thread is relative to my interests and I have nothing to say about any of it but I'm going to post anyway because it appears to be a trend.
 
I just bought a Asus Transformer 10". It's got Android 3.2 installed, and upgradeable to ICS. Comes in the mail tomorrow, so I'll let you know what I think about Android after a little bit of use.

It'll be my first Android device... so, any suggestions for apps/customization/etc.?
 
I figured you had to be rich or foolish to get one of these things at the prices they cost because of that monthly fee.
 
Nothing in this thread is relative to my interests and I have nothing to say about any of it but I'm going to post anyway because it appears to be a trend.

Well now you've gone and made yourself look like a fool who doesn't know the difference between the words relative and relevant, all just so you could make a pointless post. You basically did the exact opposite of what Abraham Lincoln suggested.
Lincoln said:
Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.
 
I cant update my android phone without it giving me an error every 2 seconds, so I don't update it anymore
 
I've never once had an issue with updating my Droid Incredible. I've also never had an update break an app that I use, especially since the apps I use are always being updated themselves as well.
 
I have the HTC Incredible with Android 2.2?? and so far so good. Right now after so many months of having it they just released yet another update for it which improves it a lot. As far as Tablets go, my girlfriend has the HP Touchpad and its pretty rock solid. Although they discontinued the device, the machine still plays Angry Birds and online sites mostly work for the most part. Plus we're not tools and spent $500 on a mediocre Tablet because we know a bargain when we see one
 
I wish I had an Android phone. Blackberries are like Fisher-Price toys.
 
Android is shit. Nearly every app I download does not work the way it is supposed to. ****, even the facebook app is incredibly broken. If I ever get another android device it's sure as shit not going to be another motorola
 
Android is ok. On my phone atleast. Anus.
 
If blind people can use smartphones, then he should be able to use his intuos 3 as a tablet.
 
I have a Motorola Xoom running Android 3 and I have had zero issues and love the thing to death. They've also ported dosbox to android, so it's great to play Master of Orion 2 on my tablet whenever I have somewhere to wait.
 
Gotta say that i love my Asus Transformer so far (typing from right now actually).

Things I don't like about Android so far:

Considerable keyboard lag
No quick way to end running applications without third party app
Spellchecking with default keyboard (although, I do like the suggetions up top)
Andoid Market is not really organized (needs dedicated tablet version)
Hard to pinpoint spelling mistakes and correct them (I prefer the iPhone magnifying glass method)
Several apps seem to be broken or just not updated (many having to force close after running for a few minutes)

Many of the above are supposedly being fixed in ICS.

This is only my second day with this guy, so I'm quite sure I'll find more issues. Still, even with the faults, I'm really enjoying my experience so far.
 
Does the iPhone have Swype? If not, then its automatically inferior.
 
Does the iPhone have Swype? If not, then its automatically inferior.
Not without jailbreak.

Know what, the keyboard lag is only an issue when typing on the forums.

Also, I just got the keyboard dock for the Transformer... and holy shit... I love it. No mouse lag, keyboard lag, or anything. Essentially makes this thing a notebook.
 
Transformer is my favorite Android tablet by miles. We have one on demo with the keyboard dock it's very slick.

The new one on the latest OS + the faster processor and trimmer body is coming out soon aka "Transformer Prime". We'll probably sell a lot of these.

ASUS-Eee-Pad-Transformer-Prime-dock-02.png


Quad Core Sex. Genuine iPad2 competition.
 
http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/02/some-android-phones-fail-to-enforce-permissions-exposed-to-unau/
Some Android phones fail to enforce permissions, exposed to unauthorized app access

Eight Android phones, including the Motorola Droid X and Samsung Epic 4G, were found to house major permission flaws according to a research team at North Carolina State University. Their study revealed untrusted applications could send SMS messages, record conversations and execute other potentially malicious actions without user consent. Eleven of the thirteen areas analyzed (includes geo-location and access to address books) showed privileges were exposed by pre-loaded applications. Interestingly, Nexus devices were less vulnerable, suggesting that the other phone manufacturers may have failed to properly implement Android's security permissions model. Google and Motorola confirm the present flaws while HTC and Samsung remain silent. Exerting caution when installing applications should keep users on their toes until fixes arrive.

guess thats also not the only problem plaguing smartphones....

http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/01/carrier-iq-what-it-is-what-it-isnt-and-what-you-need-to/
Carrier IQ: What it is, what it isn't, and what you need to know

Cellphones, Software, Wireless
Carrier IQ: What it is, what it isn't, and what you need to know
By Zachary Lutz posted Dec 1st 2011 1:54PM
Feature
Carrier IQ has recently found itself swimming in controversy. The analytics company and its eponymous software have come under fire from security researchers, privacy advocates and legal critics not only for the data it gathers, but also for its lack of transparency regarding the use of said information. Carrier IQ claims its software is installed on over 140 million devices with partners including Sprint, HTC and allegedly, Apple and Samsung. Nokia, RIM and Verizon Wireless have been alleged as partners, too, although each company denies such claims. Ostensibly, the software's meant to improve the customer experience, though in nearly every case, Carrier IQ users are unaware of the software's existence, as it runs hidden in the background and doesn't require authorized consent to function. From a permissions standpoint -- with respect to Android -- the software is capable of logging user keystrokes, recording telephone calls, storing text messages, tracking location and more. It is often difficult or impossible to disable.

How Carrier IQ uses your behavior data remains unclear, and its lack of transparency brings us to where we are today. Like you, we want to know more. We'll certainly continue to pursue this story, but until further developments are uncovered, here's what you need to know.
 
This is why I have an iPhone. This is also how I defend having an iPhone. If I buy an app for the current version of iOS, and my phone is able to run that version, it's going to ****ing work.

Oh and don't get me started on how stupid the marketing term "4g" is.
 
I switched from Android to iPhone a few weeks ago and I find iOS to overall be a better experience. But that is just my opinion.
 
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