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I've had the worst time since switching to the OnePlus 3 and from what I've read the OS on this phone is very close to stock Android. The only way to have a go

I've had the worst time since switching to the OnePlus 3 and from what I've read the OS on this phone is very close to stock Android. The only way to have a good experience with email, calendars and contacts is to use Google Apps – which I refuse to migrate to. The stock apps have no support for IMAP IDLE, CardDAV, or CalDAV. You have to resort to 3rd party apps for these and they are without fail either slow, buggy, very unappealing visually, or all three.

x0x0 10y ago
This is absolutely true -- I'm on a nexus 5/android 6. There's no native caldav. I use a paid client called caldav-sync which is mediocre. For a while on android 5/lollipop, you had to install a second app (free from the same author) to prevent settings being wiped during OS upgrades/patches. When I upgraded to android 6 I couldn't figure out why calendars weren't syncing until I discovered caldav-sync decided to sync every 6 hours instead of every 5 minutes. The whole thing feels and works like a hack. Using the gmail app as an imap client for fastmail is crap, particularly if you access the email account from a desktop. The Gmail app regularly desyncs from the state of your email. It has recently decided to announce old emails as new. If you move/delete an email in fastmail from the web client on your desktop, you have to manually tell gmail to sync or it won't notice, even hours after the fact. I was hoping for a cheap nexus replacement and was also looking at the OnePlus 3. Dual sims are nice too. That's too bad that you don't like it...
- anfogoat 10y ago
  I should clarify. Except for Android's lack of support for good email/cal/contact syncing, I've got no major complaints about the OnePlus itself.
- tdkl 10y ago
  I used Aquamail & Davdroid (paid on Play,free on F-droid) for that combo (before my hosting got ActiveSync, for which I another excellent client app called Nine), was working without issues you write about.
  - x0x0 10y ago
    The problem with ActiveSync -- which you may be aware of? -- is it gives the server the rights to remote wipe your phone! Great if you control the server and are really (really really really) sure it will never be hacked... Thanks for the Davdroid recommendation!
    - fencepost 10y ago
      Nine allows you to specify a variety of security-related options including local passcodes, internal app data encryption, and whether the security policy (remote wipe capability) is applied at the application level or at the device level. I believe many of the other third-party Exchange-connecting apps have the same type of options.
      - vetinari 10y ago
        Actually, when I was doing my research, Nine was the only app that allowed you to limit the Exchange policies to app-only level, not device-wide. That's the reason why I ended up using it.
        fencepost 10y ago
        TouchDown, one of the oldest (which does not automatically imply best) should also allow this, though their description isn't quite as clear: "Corporate Data Separation: TouchDown keeps your corporate data separate from your personal data. Without TouchDown, your employer can actually flatten your phone to factory defaults. With TouchDown, they can only remove corporate data belonging to them, leaving behind your personal information."
        vetinari 10y ago
        I might have skipped TouchDown at the time, because 1) it does not integrate with the native calendar and contacts (or at least the screenshots imply that it is a built-in functionality), 2) it looks like from Gingerbread era, 3) has separate versions for phone and tablet. Nine had neither of these issues.
johansch 10y ago
That's quite tangential. How surprising is it really that Android sucks if you refuse to use Google services? Where have you been the last 3-5 years?
- anfogoat 10y ago
  I guess I should have know. It's just that out of the two I would have expected Apple to be the one forcing you into their ecosystem, yet on iOS I had no trouble having a great experience in respect to email, contacts and calendars without signing into iCloud.
  - marcoperaza 10y ago
    They're both all about forcing you into their ecosystem. The difference is that Apple's business is (mostly) about their hardware ecosystem, while Google's is (mostly) about their online services ecosystem.
w1ntermute 10y ago
Have you tried using third party apps on the iPhone? You can't change the default browser, mail client, maps app, etc. on iOS. At least it's possible to switch the defaults to 3rd party apps on Android.
- anfogoat 10y ago
  You're right about the core apps on iOS. In principle, Android seems preferable to iOS.
- st3v3r 10y ago
  But it sounds like the core apps on iOS work the way they want them to, whereas the alternatives on Android are all lacking. So being able to change is a nice option, but if you don't use it, doesn't really add much.
  - w1ntermute 10y ago
    > But it sounds like the core apps on iOS work the way they want them to, whereas the alternatives on Android are all lacking. It doesn't make sense to compare the core apps on iOS to the alternatives on Android. The core apps on Android are just as good as (I would say better than) the core apps on iOS.
deong 10y ago
Yeah, I think it's probably sensible advice to say that if you want to stay away from Google apps and services, you're better off with iOS.
- problems 10y ago
  Try getting an IMAP PUSH on iOS or staying logged in to XMPP or SSH all day and you'll take that back pretty damn quick. How about not wanting to use their phone app and use SIP instead? These are things I find necessary for day-to-day stuff, but which are simply impossible on iOS. If you want good 3rd party integration, Android is your only option in many cases. You just have to find the good apps.
  - deong 10y ago
    I'm not a heavy iOS user, and I hadn't considered that sort of thing, but I can see your point.
  - st3v3r 10y ago
    While that's part of your every day routine, I think you'd have to agree that a lot of that is pretty niche.
    - problems 10y ago
      Niche, maybe, but we're talking about integration with 3rd party stuff and that's exactly what this is.
ake1 10y ago
it is quite close to stock android and i think it is quite unfortunate that it is not actually stock android. your critique, while somewhat valid, is not of the oneplus3 but of google's applications.
cyphax 10y ago
I was very surprised to see Android lacking support for CalDav out-of-the-box. Seemed like an obvious feature for a calendar app, yet no provider. So while it might not be much; there are CardDav/CalDav-adapters on f-droid.org, they are free software and work very good in my experience. It integrates so it allows you to use the stock calendar app. In the end, though, I think the idea with phones like these is that they work "best" if you use the services that the manufacturer supplies, be it Apple or Google. If you use Gmail, Google Drive, Google everything, it's got a lot to offer.
- tdkl 10y ago
  That seems to be an Apple specialty, because Windows software always lacked that as well.
JustSomeNobody 10y ago
K9 mail I find to be tolerable. A shame sunrise calendar is no more.

x0x0 10y ago

This is absolutely true -- I'm on a nexus 5/android 6. There's no native caldav. I use a paid client called caldav-sync which is mediocre. For a while on android 5/lollipop, you had to install a second app (free from the same author) to prevent settings being wiped during OS upgrades/patches. When I upgraded to android 6 I couldn't figure out why calendars weren't syncing until I discovered caldav-sync decided to sync every 6 hours instead of every 5 minutes. The whole thing feels and works like a hack. Using the gmail app as an imap client for fastmail is crap, particularly if you access the email account from a desktop. The Gmail app regularly desyncs from the state of your email. It has recently decided to announce old emails as new. If you move/delete an email in fastmail from the web client on your desktop, you have to manually tell gmail to sync or it won't notice, even hours after the fact. I was hoping for a cheap nexus replacement and was also looking at the OnePlus 3. Dual sims are nice too. That's too bad that you don't like it...

anfogoat 10y ago
I should clarify. Except for Android's lack of support for good email/cal/contact syncing, I've got no major complaints about the OnePlus itself.
tdkl 10y ago
I used Aquamail & Davdroid (paid on Play,free on F-droid) for that combo (before my hosting got ActiveSync, for which I another excellent client app called Nine), was working without issues you write about.
- x0x0 10y ago
  The problem with ActiveSync -- which you may be aware of? -- is it gives the server the rights to remote wipe your phone! Great if you control the server and are really (really really really) sure it will never be hacked... Thanks for the Davdroid recommendation!
  - fencepost 10y ago
    Nine allows you to specify a variety of security-related options including local passcodes, internal app data encryption, and whether the security policy (remote wipe capability) is applied at the application level or at the device level. I believe many of the other third-party Exchange-connecting apps have the same type of options.
    - vetinari 10y ago
      Actually, when I was doing my research, Nine was the only app that allowed you to limit the Exchange policies to app-only level, not device-wide. That's the reason why I ended up using it.
      - fencepost 10y ago
        TouchDown, one of the oldest (which does not automatically imply best) should also allow this, though their description isn't quite as clear: "Corporate Data Separation: TouchDown keeps your corporate data separate from your personal data. Without TouchDown, your employer can actually flatten your phone to factory defaults. With TouchDown, they can only remove corporate data belonging to them, leaving behind your personal information."
        vetinari 10y ago
        I might have skipped TouchDown at the time, because 1) it does not integrate with the native calendar and contacts (or at least the screenshots imply that it is a built-in functionality), 2) it looks like from Gingerbread era, 3) has separate versions for phone and tablet. Nine had neither of these issues.

johansch 10y ago

That's quite tangential. How surprising is it really that Android sucks if you refuse to use Google services? Where have you been the last 3-5 years?

anfogoat 10y ago
I guess I should have know. It's just that out of the two I would have expected Apple to be the one forcing you into their ecosystem, yet on iOS I had no trouble having a great experience in respect to email, contacts and calendars without signing into iCloud.
- marcoperaza 10y ago
  They're both all about forcing you into their ecosystem. The difference is that Apple's business is (mostly) about their hardware ecosystem, while Google's is (mostly) about their online services ecosystem.

w1ntermute 10y ago

Have you tried using third party apps on the iPhone? You can't change the default browser, mail client, maps app, etc. on iOS. At least it's possible to switch the defaults to 3rd party apps on Android.

anfogoat 10y ago
You're right about the core apps on iOS. In principle, Android seems preferable to iOS.
st3v3r 10y ago
But it sounds like the core apps on iOS work the way they want them to, whereas the alternatives on Android are all lacking. So being able to change is a nice option, but if you don't use it, doesn't really add much.
- w1ntermute 10y ago
  > But it sounds like the core apps on iOS work the way they want them to, whereas the alternatives on Android are all lacking. It doesn't make sense to compare the core apps on iOS to the alternatives on Android. The core apps on Android are just as good as (I would say better than) the core apps on iOS.

deong 10y ago

Yeah, I think it's probably sensible advice to say that if you want to stay away from Google apps and services, you're better off with iOS.

problems 10y ago
Try getting an IMAP PUSH on iOS or staying logged in to XMPP or SSH all day and you'll take that back pretty damn quick. How about not wanting to use their phone app and use SIP instead? These are things I find necessary for day-to-day stuff, but which are simply impossible on iOS. If you want good 3rd party integration, Android is your only option in many cases. You just have to find the good apps.
- deong 10y ago
  I'm not a heavy iOS user, and I hadn't considered that sort of thing, but I can see your point.
- st3v3r 10y ago
  While that's part of your every day routine, I think you'd have to agree that a lot of that is pretty niche.
  - problems 10y ago
    Niche, maybe, but we're talking about integration with 3rd party stuff and that's exactly what this is.

ake1 10y ago

it is quite close to stock android and i think it is quite unfortunate that it is not actually stock android. your critique, while somewhat valid, is not of the oneplus3 but of google's applications.

cyphax 10y ago

I was very surprised to see Android lacking support for CalDav out-of-the-box. Seemed like an obvious feature for a calendar app, yet no provider. So while it might not be much; there are CardDav/CalDav-adapters on f-droid.org, they are free software and work very good in my experience. It integrates so it allows you to use the stock calendar app. In the end, though, I think the idea with phones like these is that they work "best" if you use the services that the manufacturer supplies, be it Apple or Google. If you use Gmail, Google Drive, Google everything, it's got a lot to offer.

tdkl 10y ago
That seems to be an Apple specialty, because Windows software always lacked that as well.

JustSomeNobody 10y ago

K9 mail I find to be tolerable. A shame sunrise calendar is no more.