7 ms·

I never used webOS. But I have the impression the author isn't familiar with Android. It seems most of the features the talks about webOS having better than iOS

I never used webOS. But I have the impression the author isn't familiar with Android. It seems most of the features the talks about webOS having better than iOS are alredy on Android. Better multitasking -- showing you screenshots of running apps and tabs. App intercommunication (intents). Shared account info. Etc. In fact, the only time the author wrote about Android was when he said Android notifications sucks and he loves how he can drag notifications away in webOS. But you can do that same thing in Android 4.0. Then again, I never really used webOS myself, so this could be just an outsider's misconceptions. Is the author really missing Android features or is webOS really all that much better in doing what Android already does?

untog 15y ago
A lot of those Android features are new in 4.0, though. Given the depressingly low number of phones out there running it, it isn't surprising that people don't know about the changes.
deet 15y ago
Yes, the author is missing some Android features. Android notifications, at least in Android 4.0, are as usable as those in WebOS. Android 4, at least in the tablet form, also has the convenient access to settings the author mentions. Overall, many things in Android are now on par with WebOS, but that is a recent development. The WebOS multitasking paradigm still has significant advantages other mobile OSes, and I would say that that is its biggest remaining advantage. I find it makes it much easier to organize ongoing activities into logical tasks, especially when those tasks involve using multiple applications. That said, since I installed Android 4 on my Touchpad I have yet to boot back into WebOS. At least some of that is due to having an Android 4 phone and wanting consistency, however.
huggyface 15y ago
The author was pandering to the iOS audience, and the tone followed.
darklajid 15y ago
You start with a disclaimer that isn't big enough. I'm on Android, 3rd device generation so far. I also own 2 (outdated) WebOS phones. Android is on a beta/unstable ICS ROM right now and - comes slowly closer. The ancient Palm Pre Plus here feels nearly as snappy (or - better even in some cases) and a joy to use. These 'swipe away the notifications' thing? That probably _was_ stolen from WebOS. It's just too similar and was in WebOS loong ago. Multitasking became better on ICS, before that it was crap. Even comparing ICS with WebOS: The latter just stole from WebOS again (which, I agree with the author, is probably a good idea by now). You can swipe apps off screen to remove them (ICS: Left to right. WebOS: Bottom to top). You see previews. What Android lacks is the groups (see his email example). So - again Android's close, but not there yet. Shared account info is not the same as Synergy. "Is the author really missing Android features or is webOS really all that much better in doing what Android already does?" WebOS does it better and did it before. The recommendation to steal its ideas (or - if I get one wish - revive it as open-source project) is still valid, even if you consider ICS the 'standard' Android (which, in my world, it isn't yet).
- cpeterso 15y ago
  > became better on ICS, before that it was crap. Even comparing ICS with WebOS: The latter just stole from WebOS again Not surprising now that Matias Duarte, former VP of webOS Human Interface and User Experience, is now Google's Director of Android User Experience. :)
yardie 15y ago
Android has grown leaps and bounds since WebOS was released but there were so many things that webOS got right at the start. * multitasking worked well because you had to use it. Start 3-4 apps by the time you launched the 4th the first would be ready to use. *Shared account is closer to iMessage than shared account. You could have a conversation by SMS, email, twitter, AIM, Facebook and LinkedIn. They would all be displayed in the same card. That is what shared contacts means in webOS.
mgcross 15y ago
I got the same impression. I think only 4.0 has running apps and the ability to swipe away notifications (like CM), right? The webOS cards also act as stacks of windows within each app. It's nice to be able to click one in the background to bring it into the foreground, swipe one up to close, etc. WebOS is clean and pretty. Feels like the good parts of Android and iOS. Unfortunately, it can be slow and laggy, and only has around 5,000 apps.
masklinn 15y ago
> I never used webOS. But I have the impression the author isn't familiar with Android. He might not be aware that Google pre-emptively took his advice on their very latest Android version running on all of one phone out of the box (as far as I know, is there any other handset sold with ICS yet?), and did indeed "lift" many WebOS features for their own use.
LukasMathis 15y ago
I own a bunch of Android phones (though none of them run ICS, so my experience with the notification system is based on Gingerbread), and I have the Sony tablet. I'm not a huge fan of Android's UI. Since Duarte is working at Google, it's getting much better, but it still has a ways to go.
commandar 15y ago
Mattias Duarte, who was the lead UX designer on WebOS, is now head of UX development for Android. ICS has lifted a lot of ideas from WebOS as a result. That said, WebOS multitasking is still much better than even ICS. The thumbnail menu in ICS is an improvement over the old Android task switcher, but it doesn't even come close to the fluidity of swiping up to bring up the card view and then flicking between running apps (which aren't thumbnails; they update in realtime as you're looking at them). >App intercommunication (intents). Shared account info. These are definitely areas where Android is still ahead. The account integration in WebOS is okay, but works far better in Android. And intent are the killer feature of Android, IMO.
- nieve 15y ago
  The live update is good enough & the viewing quality sufficient that with the homebrew patch for larger active cards (and the patching is another feature I miss on ICS) I'll flick up, drag over slightly to read a number or address off another card, and drop back rather than bothering with copy & paste. I do the same for an irc notification out of wIRC or a repository address for wTerm.. webOS is the only tablet UI I've used that made working on something in one app while referring to 2-3 web pages & emails fluid and comfortable. The cognitive load is lower, the act of switching faster, and the gestures more natural (you don't have to aim for finger-sized targets, most things take advantage of Fitt's Law). It's not visually stunning, but you miss it on anything else.
  - commandar 15y ago
    >the homebrew patch for larger active cards I had missed this one. Thanks for the heads up.
    - nieve 15y ago
      For anyone else who's looking it's actually "Bigger Active Screen when minimized" and also moves the cards closer together. It's marked as 3.0.2-3.0.4, but installs and works fine for me on 3.0.5: http://patches.webos-internals.org/?do=browse&webosver=3.0.4&category=Misc http://patches.webos-internals.org/?do=browse&webosver=3...

untog 15y ago

A lot of those Android features are new in 4.0, though. Given the depressingly low number of phones out there running it, it isn't surprising that people don't know about the changes.

deet 15y ago

Yes, the author is missing some Android features. Android notifications, at least in Android 4.0, are as usable as those in WebOS. Android 4, at least in the tablet form, also has the convenient access to settings the author mentions. Overall, many things in Android are now on par with WebOS, but that is a recent development. The WebOS multitasking paradigm still has significant advantages other mobile OSes, and I would say that that is its biggest remaining advantage. I find it makes it much easier to organize ongoing activities into logical tasks, especially when those tasks involve using multiple applications. That said, since I installed Android 4 on my Touchpad I have yet to boot back into WebOS. At least some of that is due to having an Android 4 phone and wanting consistency, however.

huggyface 15y ago

The author was pandering to the iOS audience, and the tone followed.

darklajid 15y ago

You start with a disclaimer that isn't big enough. I'm on Android, 3rd device generation so far. I also own 2 (outdated) WebOS phones. Android is on a beta/unstable ICS ROM right now and - comes slowly closer. The ancient Palm Pre Plus here feels nearly as snappy (or - better even in some cases) and a joy to use. These 'swipe away the notifications' thing? That probably _was_ stolen from WebOS. It's just too similar and was in WebOS loong ago. Multitasking became better on ICS, before that it was crap. Even comparing ICS with WebOS: The latter just stole from WebOS again (which, I agree with the author, is probably a good idea by now). You can swipe apps off screen to remove them (ICS: Left to right. WebOS: Bottom to top). You see previews. What Android lacks is the groups (see his email example). So - again Android's close, but not there yet. Shared account info is not the same as Synergy. "Is the author really missing Android features or is webOS really all that much better in doing what Android already does?" WebOS does it better and did it before. The recommendation to steal its ideas (or - if I get one wish - revive it as open-source project) is still valid, even if you consider ICS the 'standard' Android (which, in my world, it isn't yet).

cpeterso 15y ago
> became better on ICS, before that it was crap. Even comparing ICS with WebOS: The latter just stole from WebOS again Not surprising now that Matias Duarte, former VP of webOS Human Interface and User Experience, is now Google's Director of Android User Experience. :)

yardie 15y ago

Android has grown leaps and bounds since WebOS was released but there were so many things that webOS got right at the start. * multitasking worked well because you had to use it. Start 3-4 apps by the time you launched the 4th the first would be ready to use. *Shared account is closer to iMessage than shared account. You could have a conversation by SMS, email, twitter, AIM, Facebook and LinkedIn. They would all be displayed in the same card. That is what shared contacts means in webOS.

mgcross 15y ago

I got the same impression. I think only 4.0 has running apps and the ability to swipe away notifications (like CM), right? The webOS cards also act as stacks of windows within each app. It's nice to be able to click one in the background to bring it into the foreground, swipe one up to close, etc. WebOS is clean and pretty. Feels like the good parts of Android and iOS. Unfortunately, it can be slow and laggy, and only has around 5,000 apps.

masklinn 15y ago

> I never used webOS. But I have the impression the author isn't familiar with Android. He might not be aware that Google pre-emptively took his advice on their very latest Android version running on all of one phone out of the box (as far as I know, is there any other handset sold with ICS yet?), and did indeed "lift" many WebOS features for their own use.

LukasMathis 15y ago

I own a bunch of Android phones (though none of them run ICS, so my experience with the notification system is based on Gingerbread), and I have the Sony tablet. I'm not a huge fan of Android's UI. Since Duarte is working at Google, it's getting much better, but it still has a ways to go.

commandar 15y ago

Mattias Duarte, who was the lead UX designer on WebOS, is now head of UX development for Android. ICS has lifted a lot of ideas from WebOS as a result. That said, WebOS multitasking is still much better than even ICS. The thumbnail menu in ICS is an improvement over the old Android task switcher, but it doesn't even come close to the fluidity of swiping up to bring up the card view and then flicking between running apps (which aren't thumbnails; they update in realtime as you're looking at them). >App intercommunication (intents). Shared account info. These are definitely areas where Android is still ahead. The account integration in WebOS is okay, but works far better in Android. And intent are the killer feature of Android, IMO.

nieve 15y ago
The live update is good enough & the viewing quality sufficient that with the homebrew patch for larger active cards (and the patching is another feature I miss on ICS) I'll flick up, drag over slightly to read a number or address off another card, and drop back rather than bothering with copy & paste. I do the same for an irc notification out of wIRC or a repository address for wTerm.. webOS is the only tablet UI I've used that made working on something in one app while referring to 2-3 web pages & emails fluid and comfortable. The cognitive load is lower, the act of switching faster, and the gestures more natural (you don't have to aim for finger-sized targets, most things take advantage of Fitt's Law). It's not visually stunning, but you miss it on anything else.
- commandar 15y ago
  >the homebrew patch for larger active cards I had missed this one. Thanks for the heads up.
  - nieve 15y ago
    For anyone else who's looking it's actually "Bigger Active Screen when minimized" and also moves the cards closer together. It's marked as 3.0.2-3.0.4, but installs and works fine for me on 3.0.5: http://patches.webos-internals.org/?do=browse&webosver=3.0.4&category=Misc http://patches.webos-internals.org/?do=browse&webosver=3...