4 ms·

Android has grown too big for google to maintain, which is why most change seem to be looks and user-goodies, rather than focusing on bug fixes or stability. I

by petee 5y ago

Android has grown too big for google to maintain, which is why most change seem to be looks and user-goodies, rather than focusing on bug fixes or stability. I've experienced the severe decline in stability over the last 10 years of use, and on flagship phones, not outdated. Currently my Pixel sometimes displayes an open app partially off screen, or scaled wrong and clipped --- this is basic UI that worked for years and is now broken again.

eckesicle 5y ago
Yeah, I'm seeing the same clipping issues since upgrading to Android 12. Lots of other bugs too. For example, since upgrading when I use my "<Car Company Name> Remote App" to lock my car the phone will crash to the lock screen and get stuck there. The only way to get out of it is a hard reboot. Shocking.
- petee 5y ago
  I've luckily not seen a crash-to-lock-screen, that really sucks. And of course these things usually happen when you actually need them. While driving to NYC recently, I briefly lost all signal between two bridges; the whole phone slowed down rapidly and hung within a couple of seconds, google maps frozen on screen.
- zibzab 5y ago
  You should NEVER upgrade to a new android release before the mandatory 6 months of bug fixes. "Release" is the Google terminology for "it compiles, let's see if it works". That's why most people are okay with the 3-6 months Samsung lag. They simply get a much more stable OS compared to Pixel users. Source: owner of multiple Google devices.
mijoharas 5y ago
The thing that has frustrated me for a long time is google discover showing the temparature in Fahrenheit. Predictably there is a support issue with all sorts of people saying they suffer from the same issue and no resolution[0]. The problem is that there are about 5 different ways to get the temperature through google now, probably all built by different teams, so everyone suggests a different way to set your temperature units, but they're all wrong. Pretty sure the same thing is happening internally at google with every team just trying to blame each other one, and no-one caring enough to fix the issue. It just feels like shoddy coding. [0] https://support.google.com/websearch/thread/105615277/temperature-shown-in-fahrenheit-in-google-discover-even-tho-all-is-set-to-celsius?hl=en https://support.google.com/websearch/thread/105615277/temper...
p2t2p 5y ago
> Android has grown too big for google to maintain My theory is Google was never setup to maintain such a thing. I think an operating system running on customers hardware requires quite a bit different, more stringent, responsible approach to development and release process. Microsoft seems to have it (albeit with their own flaws and in recent years they went rogue - when they fired their testers, shoot it was almost 10 years go). Google is not setup in same way and internal incentives are not like that, judging by hoard of messaging apps. They are simply setup to make very short projects that do not require long-term commitment. When people move on, projects get abandoned, neglected and killed. Their incentives structure is like that. It is one thing to change a webapp willy-nilly and another thing to change and support code that you ship to millions of devices you know nothing about. During 90th Windows had a lot of growth problem that Microsoft was figuring out, now Google's doing the same with Android but I don't think that they will succeed unless they change their incentive structure. Now having said that about Google, one has to admit that it is _vast_ and there are a lot of different teams and I suppose there are plenty of teams that work in different way. But still, they can't be shielded from corporate overall culture.

by petee 5y ago

eckesicle 5y ago

Yeah, I'm seeing the same clipping issues since upgrading to Android 12. Lots of other bugs too. For example, since upgrading when I use my "<Car Company Name> Remote App" to lock my car the phone will crash to the lock screen and get stuck there. The only way to get out of it is a hard reboot. Shocking.

petee 5y ago
I've luckily not seen a crash-to-lock-screen, that really sucks. And of course these things usually happen when you actually need them. While driving to NYC recently, I briefly lost all signal between two bridges; the whole phone slowed down rapidly and hung within a couple of seconds, google maps frozen on screen.
zibzab 5y ago
You should NEVER upgrade to a new android release before the mandatory 6 months of bug fixes. "Release" is the Google terminology for "it compiles, let's see if it works". That's why most people are okay with the 3-6 months Samsung lag. They simply get a much more stable OS compared to Pixel users. Source: owner of multiple Google devices.

mijoharas 5y ago

The thing that has frustrated me for a long time is google discover showing the temparature in Fahrenheit. Predictably there is a support issue with all sorts of people saying they suffer from the same issue and no resolution[0]. The problem is that there are about 5 different ways to get the temperature through google now, probably all built by different teams, so everyone suggests a different way to set your temperature units, but they're all wrong. Pretty sure the same thing is happening internally at google with every team just trying to blame each other one, and no-one caring enough to fix the issue. It just feels like shoddy coding. [0] https://support.google.com/websearch/thread/105615277/temperature-shown-in-fahrenheit-in-google-discover-even-tho-all-is-set-to-celsius?hl=en https://support.google.com/websearch/thread/105615277/temper...

p2t2p 5y ago

> Android has grown too big for google to maintain My theory is Google was never setup to maintain such a thing. I think an operating system running on customers hardware requires quite a bit different, more stringent, responsible approach to development and release process. Microsoft seems to have it (albeit with their own flaws and in recent years they went rogue - when they fired their testers, shoot it was almost 10 years go). Google is not setup in same way and internal incentives are not like that, judging by hoard of messaging apps. They are simply setup to make very short projects that do not require long-term commitment. When people move on, projects get abandoned, neglected and killed. Their incentives structure is like that. It is one thing to change a webapp willy-nilly and another thing to change and support code that you ship to millions of devices you know nothing about. During 90th Windows had a lot of growth problem that Microsoft was figuring out, now Google's doing the same with Android but I don't think that they will succeed unless they change their incentive structure. Now having said that about Google, one has to admit that it is _vast_ and there are a lot of different teams and I suppose there are plenty of teams that work in different way. But still, they can't be shielded from corporate overall culture.