4 ms·

After trying Android on Samsung for the first time in a few years ... I feel it's a bit of a disaster. I could almost not find the 'settings' with the help of 5

by jasmer 4y ago

After trying Android on Samsung for the first time in a few years ... I feel it's a bit of a disaster. I could almost not find the 'settings' with the help of 5 other people. I was at a loss to know what I could delete and not. After 20 minutes of trying to delete an 'Amazon' app I realize that Samsung probably forced it to be pre-installed and not removable. Along with 10 other garbage Samsung and carrier icons. Paradoxically most of that does not even benefit Samsung. This individual also had almost 10 terrible spyware apps installed without remembering that they had installed them. Such poor design. Like an ugly, dirty esplanade off the main strip in some gambling resort. I'm awaiting the gambling and girls preloads. I loathe so many of Apple's policies but I wonder if it's better to have a monopolistic overlord that is 'mostly benevolent' over the Android bad design and chaos. The sad thing is a Trillion dollar company should have a better product. I suggest Microsoft in many ways is not that that much better as can be seen with the abysmal degradation of Skype, and MS Teams which is a poor copy of Slack. This could be a function of the nature of those divisions, or of the company losing it's touch.

bryanlarsen 4y ago
The best government is a benevolent tyranny tempered by an occasional assassination. - Voltaire
beaned 4y ago
Just get a Pixel instead, there's none of that. Android the OS is great.
- shrimp_emoji 4y ago
  Yep, Pixel's the best game in town until a usable Linux phone comes along. (Pixels also get security updates the longest, last I checked.)
JadeNB 4y ago
> I loathe so many of Apple's policies but I wonder if it's better to have a monopolistic overlord that is 'mostly benevolent' over the Android bad design and chaos. The problem is benevolent dictators don't stay benevolent. Or, to put it differently, things are great while you're on the same side as the dictator, but, once you get on their wrong side, things get bad suddenly, and it's hard to find allies since your erstwhile community is probably still on the right side of the dictator. (I am not a software developer, much less an iOS developer, and have no experience with being on the wrong side of Apple—but I do have experience, as a long-time OS X user who now finds macOS becoming "iOS, but less important!", with what happens when the dictator controls your working environment but doesn't care about it any more.)
- BLKNSLVR 4y ago
  Google itself is an example.
- scarface74 4y ago
  You’re right. Apple is taking the Mac less seriously. It’s not like they just designed an entire line of processors just for the Mac and created laptops that are the fastest in the industry with three times the battery life.
  - JadeNB 4y ago
    > You’re right. Apple is taking the Mac less seriously. It’s not like they just designed an entire line of processors just for the Mac and created laptops that are the fastest in the industry with three times the battery life. The Mac hardware is still taken seriously. The software is not, in the sense that the distinction between iOS and macOS (which I value) is being—not just negligently but intentionally—erased. (To be sure, there are people for whom that's a good thing, and maybe even objectively, on average, it's a good thing. But I think it's hard to argue that Apple as a company cares about what OS X used to be.)
helen___keller 4y ago
> I suggest Microsoft in many ways is not that that much better I accidentally opened Edge today and it had this awful sidebar with buttons like “Shopping” and “Games”
MikusR 4y ago
> After trying Android on Samsung for the first time in a few years ... I feel it's a bit of a disaster. I could almost not find the 'settings' with the help of 5 other people. Is this some kind of AI generated comment? It's in the app list under settings, also in notification shade next to search button, and first result in search.
- m00x 4y ago
  And Samsung lets you easily search for settings, just like IOS does. It's extremely easy to find them unless it's an odd feature with an ambiguous name.
- SkyPuncher 4y ago
  Some apps can only be disabled, but not deleted. It's basically forced marketing.
  - TapWaterBandit 4y ago
    This is legitimate criticism and pisses me off to no end about Samsung devices (which are what I use).
  - Rebelgecko 4y ago
    IMO that's a good thing, 99.9% of people who try to delete the Settings app probably shouldn't. For the average user it would be basically a bricked phone at that point.
    - SkyPuncher 4y ago
      I'm not talking about system apps. Of course those are reasonable to remain installed. I'm talking about pre-installed BS: https://www.xda-developers.com/uninstall-carrier-oem-bloatware-without-root-access/ https://www.xda-developers.com/uninstall-carrier-oem-bloatwa... * TikTok * Amazon * Netflix * Snapchat * Etc
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
chaosbolt 4y ago
How is that Google's problem? Android is open, so Samsung can modify it anyway they want, and they do put bloatware you can't delete there. If you're going to compare with apple then at least use a pixel phone.
- fbdab103 4y ago
  Like it or not, Samsung is the premium phone in the Android ecosystem. That is cheapens the experience with bloatware is a real blight on the ecosystem. Your options are either Pixel or Android One. Last I looked, few models are still utilizing the Android One program. Recent, begrudging convert to iPhone, because Google refused to fix 911 calling.
  - kaoD 4y ago
    Android One being seemingly abandoned is such a pity. My best phone every was an Android One (Mi A2 Lite).
- scarface74 4y ago
  There is nothing “open” about Android in a practical sense. Most of what makes “Android” Android outside of China is closed sourced Google Play Services and related apps and Google has requirements as far as when a manufacturer is allowed to use the closed proprietary parts.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
Mikeb85 4y ago
> After trying Android on Samsung for the first time in a few years ... I feel it's a bit of a disaster. I could almost not find the 'settings' with the help of 5 other people. Is this a joke? It's in the app drawer, it's called "Settings". Not even hidden in a folder, it's right there. And if you're that blind, the app drawer also has a search box... Settings also has an icon prominently placed in the notification tray. And the settings app itself also has search so you can search for whatever setting you need. You can also search "Settings" in the Google app/search bar widget, it brings up the app as well.

by jasmer 4y ago

bryanlarsen 4y ago

The best government is a benevolent tyranny tempered by an occasional assassination. - Voltaire

beaned 4y ago

Just get a Pixel instead, there's none of that. Android the OS is great.

shrimp_emoji 4y ago
Yep, Pixel's the best game in town until a usable Linux phone comes along. (Pixels also get security updates the longest, last I checked.)

JadeNB 4y ago

> I loathe so many of Apple's policies but I wonder if it's better to have a monopolistic overlord that is 'mostly benevolent' over the Android bad design and chaos. The problem is benevolent dictators don't stay benevolent. Or, to put it differently, things are great while you're on the same side as the dictator, but, once you get on their wrong side, things get bad suddenly, and it's hard to find allies since your erstwhile community is probably still on the right side of the dictator. (I am not a software developer, much less an iOS developer, and have no experience with being on the wrong side of Apple—but I do have experience, as a long-time OS X user who now finds macOS becoming "iOS, but less important!", with what happens when the dictator controls your working environment but doesn't care about it any more.)

BLKNSLVR 4y ago
Google itself is an example.
scarface74 4y ago
You’re right. Apple is taking the Mac less seriously. It’s not like they just designed an entire line of processors just for the Mac and created laptops that are the fastest in the industry with three times the battery life.
- JadeNB 4y ago
  > You’re right. Apple is taking the Mac less seriously. It’s not like they just designed an entire line of processors just for the Mac and created laptops that are the fastest in the industry with three times the battery life. The Mac hardware is still taken seriously. The software is not, in the sense that the distinction between iOS and macOS (which I value) is being—not just negligently but intentionally—erased. (To be sure, there are people for whom that's a good thing, and maybe even objectively, on average, it's a good thing. But I think it's hard to argue that Apple as a company cares about what OS X used to be.)

helen___keller 4y ago

> I suggest Microsoft in many ways is not that that much better I accidentally opened Edge today and it had this awful sidebar with buttons like “Shopping” and “Games”

MikusR 4y ago

> After trying Android on Samsung for the first time in a few years ... I feel it's a bit of a disaster. I could almost not find the 'settings' with the help of 5 other people. Is this some kind of AI generated comment? It's in the app list under settings, also in notification shade next to search button, and first result in search.

m00x 4y ago
And Samsung lets you easily search for settings, just like IOS does. It's extremely easy to find them unless it's an odd feature with an ambiguous name.
SkyPuncher 4y ago
Some apps can only be disabled, but not deleted. It's basically forced marketing.
- TapWaterBandit 4y ago
  This is legitimate criticism and pisses me off to no end about Samsung devices (which are what I use).
- Rebelgecko 4y ago
  IMO that's a good thing, 99.9% of people who try to delete the Settings app probably shouldn't. For the average user it would be basically a bricked phone at that point.
  - SkyPuncher 4y ago
    I'm not talking about system apps. Of course those are reasonable to remain installed. I'm talking about pre-installed BS: https://www.xda-developers.com/uninstall-carrier-oem-bloatware-without-root-access/ https://www.xda-developers.com/uninstall-carrier-oem-bloatwa... * TikTok * Amazon * Netflix * Snapchat * Etc
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]

chaosbolt 4y ago

How is that Google's problem? Android is open, so Samsung can modify it anyway they want, and they do put bloatware you can't delete there. If you're going to compare with apple then at least use a pixel phone.

fbdab103 4y ago
Like it or not, Samsung is the premium phone in the Android ecosystem. That is cheapens the experience with bloatware is a real blight on the ecosystem. Your options are either Pixel or Android One. Last I looked, few models are still utilizing the Android One program. Recent, begrudging convert to iPhone, because Google refused to fix 911 calling.
- kaoD 4y ago
  Android One being seemingly abandoned is such a pity. My best phone every was an Android One (Mi A2 Lite).
scarface74 4y ago
There is nothing “open” about Android in a practical sense. Most of what makes “Android” Android outside of China is closed sourced Google Play Services and related apps and Google has requirements as far as when a manufacturer is allowed to use the closed proprietary parts.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

Mikeb85 4y ago

> After trying Android on Samsung for the first time in a few years ... I feel it's a bit of a disaster. I could almost not find the 'settings' with the help of 5 other people. Is this a joke? It's in the app drawer, it's called "Settings". Not even hidden in a folder, it's right there. And if you're that blind, the app drawer also has a search box... Settings also has an icon prominently placed in the notification tray. And the settings app itself also has search so you can search for whatever setting you need. You can also search "Settings" in the Google app/search bar widget, it brings up the app as well.