5 ms·

There is also another factor that may influence this statistic: most android phones in the general population are slow as hell. While in IT, especially in mobil

by sputr 11y ago

There is also another factor that may influence this statistic: most android phones in the general population are slow as hell. While in IT, especially in mobile development, phones are fast-ish. Developers keep adding features (OS as well as app) when they should be doing performance optimization. I have a 1 year old, low/mid range phone I bought because I just didn't have the cash for a flagship. I have only the "most common" apps installed. Mobile web is unusable. Opening chrome takes 2 minutes, doing the actual search a minute more, rendering the site ... well, let's just say I have JS turned off. Unless I don't have access to the internet some other way and it's really crucial, I'm just not going to bother.

maxerickson 11y ago
I just bought a 2015 Moto G (the 8GB/1GB model, to use without a data plan). It works much better than you describe. Is $200 unlocked not what you mean by low end?
- dangrossman 11y ago
  You can pick up any of a dozen Android phones for $20 at Wal-Mart [1]. That's the low end. $200 is a big expense for most people. 1: http://www.walmart.com/browse/cell-phones/shop-all-no-contract-phones/1105910_1072335_1056206?sort=price_low http://www.walmart.com/browse/cell-phones/shop-all-no-contra...
  - maxerickson 11y ago
    Those are all carrier locked, so the actual cost of the phone might be higher than the retail price. I don't think net10 is spending huge dollars making their phones cheap, but I'm sure they spend a bit.
    - fein 11y ago
      Yes but unfortunately people look at up front costs and not end costs. $200 to someone living in poverty is more than a month of food, while $20 up front + $40/ month for a baseline limited text and call plan seems far more manageable.
      - maxerickson 11y ago
        My point was that the value of the hardware may not be reflected in the retail price of the phone, the purchasing psychology doesn't matter there. It seems that there are lots of ~$100 (or less) phones shipping though, and they are quite a bit less capable than the one I bought.
- creshal 11y ago
  > Is $200 unlocked not what you mean by low end? You get reasonable (unlocked!) Android phones for as little as $100, and entry-level ones for a lot less. Low end is really, really low nowadays. Edit: The cheapest I could find: http://www.alcatelonetouch.com/global-en/products/detail?model=POP%20C2 http://www.alcatelonetouch.com/global-en/products/detail?mod... Sells for less than 50€ unlocked.
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
skimpycompiler 11y ago
I have a 4 year old phone. Without all of the kernel optimizations, forced removal of Google App and Google Play Services, I wouldn't be able to do anything. My battery lasts 4 days of normal use. Before my changes it couldn't last 10 hours. So much amateurish bloat. I'm baffled by those engineers.
- Elessar 11y ago
  Don't be baffled. Engineering is driven by business direction, and the creation of an upgrade cycle is beneficial for the entire Android ecosystem. You are not the customer they want.
  - legulere 11y ago
    This has nothing to do with an upgrade cycle. Optimisation costs engineering time which is quite pricy. So it's an easy way to cut costs.
  - skimpycompiler 11y ago
    > You are not the customer they want. That's true. Then I'd say I just don't like the engineering they are doing.
- 72deluxe 11y ago
  How did you force remove the Google apps and Google Play Services? Did this require root? I have a Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 edition that I bought in February, and it lasts nowhere as long as my wife's 2012 iPad3. Such a disappointment. I will sell it, last Android device I buy.
  - skimpycompiler 11y ago
    Of course, root, without it I couldn't do a thing. I have Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 but older edition, battery is still fine, the OS got slow, even on factory reset, so, I decided to root it and runs much faster - pen use was not that great before, now it's perfect. Note that the act of rooting didn't have anything to do with the speed up, after installing a custom OS with GPU optimizations for drawing graphical elements it worked great.
CaptSpify 11y ago
I used to work at a place that gave everyone 2 machines for development: Their regular desktop, and a 5 year old machine, with a throttled internet connection. The programs had to be run on both. I wish more companies would do this. Especially in mobile. Sure, your site loads fast when your in a major downtown area, but try using your 30 different java-scripts when your in Nowheresville Alabama
- 72deluxe 11y ago
  This is a very good idea. Might as well just use a VM and throttle that as a test too.
nilkn 11y ago
I was recently basically forced to get a new phone because my Galaxy Note 3 had become virtually unusable from software updates over the past few years. Common tasks would freeze the phone for seconds at a time. All animations were laggy. It was as if it was running on 10-15 year old hardware, not 2 year old hardware. Just to be clear, I've experienced similar degradation with Apple products as well (specifically an older iPad), but never as severe as with the Note 3. My old iPad is still definitely useable; it's just not as smooth as it once was. The phone on the other hand had just become complete junk. Meanwhile my girlfriend's Nexus 5 phone has been on a roller coaster of battery life changes. Not too long ago, an update caused her battery life to drain to 0 in roughly half a day of light usage. Then it was fixed. Then it was ruined again in the update to Marshmallow. She's going to have to get a new phone as well because hers too has become nearly unusable.
- walterbell 11y ago
  Obsolescence as a Service! It can even be A-B tested to optimize the migration to new phones.
- tonfa 11y ago
  Did you consider replacing the battery? (beside the battery not aging very well, I'm still happy with the N5 performance).
  - soylentcola 11y ago
    I agree. I damaged the charging port on my N5 and while it usually works, it occasionally doesn't and I didn't feel like depending on it. Still, I kept it around when I bought a Moto X last year and still fire it up occasionally and use it as a backup phone. I'm always surprised when I fire it up and (once it finishes syncing all of my email and stuff) it still runs great. I actually miss how the display is bonded to the glass so that there's just a little less of that barely perceived disconnect between my finger and the screen. Didn't think much of it but when I go back to the N5 it's a pleasant surprise. I feel like the last couple of years have seen mobile devices really hit a point where even a $350-400 device can remain useful for several years. Anything I own that's older (iPad2, Galaxy S2) ran like a dog within a couple of years.
intoli 11y ago
If you don't mind sharing, what kind of phone is it and how much did you pay? I have a 1st gen Moto X which is now over two years old and the tasks you mention feel pretty much instantaneous. I know that the Moto X was a high end phone when it came out but I bought it used last summer for $100 and I imagine that the specs were comparable to inexpensive new phones at the time.
- sputr 11y ago
  It's a Samsung GT-I8260. I got it on contract (I was really low on cash and with a broken phone) and it was marked at 160€. It's not unlocked and not rooted. Cynogenmod is not supported for the device (as far as I know).
driverdan 11y ago
What phone? I have a Nexus 4 running Android 5.1.1 (Lollipop). It's three years old and still works just fine. Battery life has decreased a bit as expected. It has some quirks but overall performance is on par with when it was new.

by sputr 11y ago

maxerickson 11y ago

I just bought a 2015 Moto G (the 8GB/1GB model, to use without a data plan). It works much better than you describe. Is $200 unlocked not what you mean by low end?

dangrossman 11y ago
You can pick up any of a dozen Android phones for $20 at Wal-Mart [1]. That's the low end. $200 is a big expense for most people. 1: http://www.walmart.com/browse/cell-phones/shop-all-no-contract-phones/1105910_1072335_1056206?sort=price_low http://www.walmart.com/browse/cell-phones/shop-all-no-contra...
- maxerickson 11y ago
  Those are all carrier locked, so the actual cost of the phone might be higher than the retail price. I don't think net10 is spending huge dollars making their phones cheap, but I'm sure they spend a bit.
  - fein 11y ago
    Yes but unfortunately people look at up front costs and not end costs. $200 to someone living in poverty is more than a month of food, while $20 up front + $40/ month for a baseline limited text and call plan seems far more manageable.
    - maxerickson 11y ago
      My point was that the value of the hardware may not be reflected in the retail price of the phone, the purchasing psychology doesn't matter there. It seems that there are lots of ~$100 (or less) phones shipping though, and they are quite a bit less capable than the one I bought.
creshal 11y ago
> Is $200 unlocked not what you mean by low end? You get reasonable (unlocked!) Android phones for as little as $100, and entry-level ones for a lot less. Low end is really, really low nowadays. Edit: The cheapest I could find: http://www.alcatelonetouch.com/global-en/products/detail?model=POP%20C2 http://www.alcatelonetouch.com/global-en/products/detail?mod... Sells for less than 50€ unlocked.
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]

skimpycompiler 11y ago

I have a 4 year old phone. Without all of the kernel optimizations, forced removal of Google App and Google Play Services, I wouldn't be able to do anything. My battery lasts 4 days of normal use. Before my changes it couldn't last 10 hours. So much amateurish bloat. I'm baffled by those engineers.

Elessar 11y ago
Don't be baffled. Engineering is driven by business direction, and the creation of an upgrade cycle is beneficial for the entire Android ecosystem. You are not the customer they want.
- legulere 11y ago
  This has nothing to do with an upgrade cycle. Optimisation costs engineering time which is quite pricy. So it's an easy way to cut costs.
- skimpycompiler 11y ago
  > You are not the customer they want. That's true. Then I'd say I just don't like the engineering they are doing.
72deluxe 11y ago
How did you force remove the Google apps and Google Play Services? Did this require root? I have a Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 edition that I bought in February, and it lasts nowhere as long as my wife's 2012 iPad3. Such a disappointment. I will sell it, last Android device I buy.
- skimpycompiler 11y ago
  Of course, root, without it I couldn't do a thing. I have Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 but older edition, battery is still fine, the OS got slow, even on factory reset, so, I decided to root it and runs much faster - pen use was not that great before, now it's perfect. Note that the act of rooting didn't have anything to do with the speed up, after installing a custom OS with GPU optimizations for drawing graphical elements it worked great.

CaptSpify 11y ago

I used to work at a place that gave everyone 2 machines for development: Their regular desktop, and a 5 year old machine, with a throttled internet connection. The programs had to be run on both. I wish more companies would do this. Especially in mobile. Sure, your site loads fast when your in a major downtown area, but try using your 30 different java-scripts when your in Nowheresville Alabama

72deluxe 11y ago
This is a very good idea. Might as well just use a VM and throttle that as a test too.

nilkn 11y ago

I was recently basically forced to get a new phone because my Galaxy Note 3 had become virtually unusable from software updates over the past few years. Common tasks would freeze the phone for seconds at a time. All animations were laggy. It was as if it was running on 10-15 year old hardware, not 2 year old hardware. Just to be clear, I've experienced similar degradation with Apple products as well (specifically an older iPad), but never as severe as with the Note 3. My old iPad is still definitely useable; it's just not as smooth as it once was. The phone on the other hand had just become complete junk. Meanwhile my girlfriend's Nexus 5 phone has been on a roller coaster of battery life changes. Not too long ago, an update caused her battery life to drain to 0 in roughly half a day of light usage. Then it was fixed. Then it was ruined again in the update to Marshmallow. She's going to have to get a new phone as well because hers too has become nearly unusable.

walterbell 11y ago
Obsolescence as a Service! It can even be A-B tested to optimize the migration to new phones.
tonfa 11y ago
Did you consider replacing the battery? (beside the battery not aging very well, I'm still happy with the N5 performance).
- soylentcola 11y ago
  I agree. I damaged the charging port on my N5 and while it usually works, it occasionally doesn't and I didn't feel like depending on it. Still, I kept it around when I bought a Moto X last year and still fire it up occasionally and use it as a backup phone. I'm always surprised when I fire it up and (once it finishes syncing all of my email and stuff) it still runs great. I actually miss how the display is bonded to the glass so that there's just a little less of that barely perceived disconnect between my finger and the screen. Didn't think much of it but when I go back to the N5 it's a pleasant surprise. I feel like the last couple of years have seen mobile devices really hit a point where even a $350-400 device can remain useful for several years. Anything I own that's older (iPad2, Galaxy S2) ran like a dog within a couple of years.

intoli 11y ago

If you don't mind sharing, what kind of phone is it and how much did you pay? I have a 1st gen Moto X which is now over two years old and the tasks you mention feel pretty much instantaneous. I know that the Moto X was a high end phone when it came out but I bought it used last summer for $100 and I imagine that the specs were comparable to inexpensive new phones at the time.

sputr 11y ago
It's a Samsung GT-I8260. I got it on contract (I was really low on cash and with a broken phone) and it was marked at 160€. It's not unlocked and not rooted. Cynogenmod is not supported for the device (as far as I know).

driverdan 11y ago

What phone? I have a Nexus 4 running Android 5.1.1 (Lollipop). It's three years old and still works just fine. Battery life has decreased a bit as expected. It has some quirks but overall performance is on par with when it was new.