8 ms·

Honestly. The hardware is fine. The problem with android is still the software and only the software. I'll take my handset in pink polka dots if it can finally

by moe 15y ago

Honestly. The hardware is fine. The problem with android is still the software and only the software. I'll take my handset in pink polka dots if it can finally scroll smoothly everywhere and not constantly annoy me with bugs in almost every single basic feature. Instead they keep on shoving out bigger screens, faster CPU's every year - and the only UX issue ever being addressed is the camera finally snapping pics in reasonable time.

RobAtticus 15y ago
Have you used an Android phone with 4.0 (hardware acceleration)? At least on my tablet with 3.1 (which also has opt-in hardware acceleration), the UI moves very smoothly.
blinkingled 15y ago
Performance / UI fluidity issues - that hasn't been true since long time now, especially so since ICS. Only hardcore apple enthusiasts and the ignorant keep repeating that (and Windows viruses) ;)
- gcb 15y ago
  Which are still low numbers. My nexus one with animations disabled is sluggish. Mainly dragging maps is embarrassing. on the other hand, the 3gs of the time is also laggy. And it's not even on ios4
  - blinkingled 15y ago
    My wife's Nexus One doesn't seem to lag with default animation settings - running CM7. Both 3GS and N1 are arguably old devices in mobile times!
    - zobzu 15y ago
      And the 3GS also lags a little from time to time anyway (probably less than a nexus one, but still)
    - gcb 15y ago
      Cm7 here too. Open maps and start dragging it. It's not the hardware power. It's bad coding. even gmaps fails at standard nonblocking coding for fluid interface.
- thought_alarm 15y ago
  Samsung made $10 billion over the last two quarters selling devices with outdated 2.x Android software. And last time I checked my carriers, none of their myriad of Samsung devices came with ICS. Clearly ICS and smooth scrolling is not important to the carriers or their typical customers. Consequently, ICS is not important to Samsung. It's not ignorant to say that Andriod scrolls poorly. It's just that scrolling performance isn't a priority when you're already pulling in $5 billion a quarter.
  - blinkingled 15y ago
    Android scrolling wasn't bad enough for normal, non-picky users to notice. It's only techies who are used to iOS scrolling who complain about it.
    - Karunamon 15y ago
      Anecdote: You don't need to be a techy to notice the scrolling smoothness. This is the reason my mother now owns a 4S instead of a Droid 2.
    - Domenic_S 15y ago
      > Android scrolling wasn't bad enough for normal, non-picky users to notice. To _notice_? Maybe not, but perhaps the price difference vs the iPhone was more important than the smooth scrolling?
      - blinkingled 15y ago
        Doesn't the iPhone 3GS sell for free and iPhone 4 for $99?
  - w1ntermute 15y ago
    > And last time I checked my carriers, none of their myriad of Samsung devices came with ICS I don't know which carriers you checked, but the Samsung Galaxy Nexus (which runs stock ICS) has been on the market for several months now. In the US, it's available from Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint.
- hdevalence 15y ago
  My Galaxy Nexus runs stock ICS and has fluidity issues, FWIW, and I'm not an Apple enthusiast. In particular, I've noticed problems switching in and out of the camera app, problems with the contact picture pop up, and with the music player.
  - joenathan 15y ago
    You are fooling yourself if you think the iPhone is always smooth all the time, every device experiences hiccups at times. Android used to be worse at this but has come a long way with 4.0.
    - moe 15y ago
      You are fooling yourself if you think the iPhone is always smooth all the time, every device experiences hiccups at times. When I read such claims I can't help but wonder, have you even used an iOS device recently? It's a night/day difference for the constant touch-lag alone. On iOS the screen "sticks" to your finger, on android it runs noticeably behind and even the simplest screens choke. I can't remember having ever experienced an unexplained "hiccup" on iOS. An app may take a second to open/close/switch. When something loads then there might even be a brief pause. But these are very rare and expected. That's a fundamental difference to android where random, unpredictable chokes are the norm.
      - joenathan 15y ago
        Here is a video of my 2 year old Nexus S running ICS http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCy_urYqDEM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCy_urYqDEM I am going to assume that your aren't trolling and just aren't familiar with what you are talking about. I was using a 3rd gen iPad just a couple of days ago where the keyboard choked for a good second when I opened the browser and tried to type right away. iOS has advantages when it comes to speed for sure. One of the big things is the user can't screw it up like they can on Android, I've seen many Android phones that are the equivalent of Internet Explorer with 15 toolbars. Android has true multitasking and unfortunately that means that you have to be aware of the apps that you install aren't crappilly coded and running in the background eating CPU and RAM. I think
- moe 15y ago
  that hasn't been true since long time now, especially so since ICS That's plain out wrong. I'm on a Galaxy Nexus with ICS. Scrolling and responsiveness are still major issues. In 2012 I expect my phone to respond instantly and scroll smoothly, in all but the most extra-ordinary situations. iOS demonstrates how it's done. On Android ICS my touches still incur a random lag that prevents me from tapping "by muscle memory" like on an iOS device. And I did spend multiple days removing all bloat, running the absolute minimum of background apps (JuiceDefender and a tool for the LED). Likewise most apps can't even scroll a text list smoothly for whatever reason (lack of hardware acceleration perhaps, but as a user I shouldn't even have to think about this). If you know any Android device that will survive a head-to-head comparison with an iOS device then I'd be curious to hear about it. I've bought the last two supposed high-end androids (Galaxy S, now Galaxy Nexus) and while there has been a noticeable improvement (largely due to the ridiculous CPUs that we get now) the overall situation is still a joke.
  - blinkingled 15y ago
    I seriously don't know what you are complaining about. Bought my GNex straight from Google and it is hardware accelerated, is stock Android, had no bloat ware at all, all apps scroll butter smooth and there is no random lag or jerkiness. And I am not alone in liking GNex over the iPhone.
    - e40 15y ago
      I have a Verizon GNex (got it 9am on launch day) and I don't see lag either.
    - moe 15y ago
      Try e.g. the calendar (swipe left/right). Or pretty much any 3rd party home-screen. Or pretty much any 3rd party dialer. Or, frankly, pretty much any 3rd party anything.
      - tensor 15y ago
        3rd party software needs to recompile with updated flags to make use of hardware acceleration.
- sasidharm 15y ago
  Only 5% of all android devices out there have ICS (http://developer.android.com/resources/dashboard/platform-versions.html http://developer.android.com/resources/dashboard/platform-ve...). Even if you are correct that ICS has no fluidity issues at all, that means 95% of android devices out there have these issues.
drivebyacct2 15y ago
Someone hasn't used a recent Android phone or certainly not one with Gingerbread or ICS. I have never, ever, ever, ever experience scroll lag or a lockup on my Android phone with hundreds of apps installed running relatively unstable CM9 nightlies.
snaky 15y ago
>The hardware is fine Pentile screen
gouranga 15y ago
Seriously - try a Nokia windows phone if you want something that just works.

by moe 15y ago

RobAtticus 15y ago

Have you used an Android phone with 4.0 (hardware acceleration)? At least on my tablet with 3.1 (which also has opt-in hardware acceleration), the UI moves very smoothly.

blinkingled 15y ago

Performance / UI fluidity issues - that hasn't been true since long time now, especially so since ICS. Only hardcore apple enthusiasts and the ignorant keep repeating that (and Windows viruses) ;)

gcb 15y ago
Which are still low numbers. My nexus one with animations disabled is sluggish. Mainly dragging maps is embarrassing. on the other hand, the 3gs of the time is also laggy. And it's not even on ios4
- blinkingled 15y ago
  My wife's Nexus One doesn't seem to lag with default animation settings - running CM7. Both 3GS and N1 are arguably old devices in mobile times!
  - zobzu 15y ago
    And the 3GS also lags a little from time to time anyway (probably less than a nexus one, but still)
  - gcb 15y ago
    Cm7 here too. Open maps and start dragging it. It's not the hardware power. It's bad coding. even gmaps fails at standard nonblocking coding for fluid interface.
thought_alarm 15y ago
Samsung made $10 billion over the last two quarters selling devices with outdated 2.x Android software. And last time I checked my carriers, none of their myriad of Samsung devices came with ICS. Clearly ICS and smooth scrolling is not important to the carriers or their typical customers. Consequently, ICS is not important to Samsung. It's not ignorant to say that Andriod scrolls poorly. It's just that scrolling performance isn't a priority when you're already pulling in $5 billion a quarter.
- blinkingled 15y ago
  Android scrolling wasn't bad enough for normal, non-picky users to notice. It's only techies who are used to iOS scrolling who complain about it.
  - Karunamon 15y ago
    Anecdote: You don't need to be a techy to notice the scrolling smoothness. This is the reason my mother now owns a 4S instead of a Droid 2.
  - Domenic_S 15y ago
    > Android scrolling wasn't bad enough for normal, non-picky users to notice. To _notice_? Maybe not, but perhaps the price difference vs the iPhone was more important than the smooth scrolling?
    - blinkingled 15y ago
      Doesn't the iPhone 3GS sell for free and iPhone 4 for $99?
- w1ntermute 15y ago
  > And last time I checked my carriers, none of their myriad of Samsung devices came with ICS I don't know which carriers you checked, but the Samsung Galaxy Nexus (which runs stock ICS) has been on the market for several months now. In the US, it's available from Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint.
hdevalence 15y ago
My Galaxy Nexus runs stock ICS and has fluidity issues, FWIW, and I'm not an Apple enthusiast. In particular, I've noticed problems switching in and out of the camera app, problems with the contact picture pop up, and with the music player.
- joenathan 15y ago
  You are fooling yourself if you think the iPhone is always smooth all the time, every device experiences hiccups at times. Android used to be worse at this but has come a long way with 4.0.
  - moe 15y ago
    You are fooling yourself if you think the iPhone is always smooth all the time, every device experiences hiccups at times. When I read such claims I can't help but wonder, have you even used an iOS device recently? It's a night/day difference for the constant touch-lag alone. On iOS the screen "sticks" to your finger, on android it runs noticeably behind and even the simplest screens choke. I can't remember having ever experienced an unexplained "hiccup" on iOS. An app may take a second to open/close/switch. When something loads then there might even be a brief pause. But these are very rare and expected. That's a fundamental difference to android where random, unpredictable chokes are the norm.
    - joenathan 15y ago
      Here is a video of my 2 year old Nexus S running ICS http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCy_urYqDEM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCy_urYqDEM I am going to assume that your aren't trolling and just aren't familiar with what you are talking about. I was using a 3rd gen iPad just a couple of days ago where the keyboard choked for a good second when I opened the browser and tried to type right away. iOS has advantages when it comes to speed for sure. One of the big things is the user can't screw it up like they can on Android, I've seen many Android phones that are the equivalent of Internet Explorer with 15 toolbars. Android has true multitasking and unfortunately that means that you have to be aware of the apps that you install aren't crappilly coded and running in the background eating CPU and RAM. I think
moe 15y ago
that hasn't been true since long time now, especially so since ICS That's plain out wrong. I'm on a Galaxy Nexus with ICS. Scrolling and responsiveness are still major issues. In 2012 I expect my phone to respond instantly and scroll smoothly, in all but the most extra-ordinary situations. iOS demonstrates how it's done. On Android ICS my touches still incur a random lag that prevents me from tapping "by muscle memory" like on an iOS device. And I did spend multiple days removing all bloat, running the absolute minimum of background apps (JuiceDefender and a tool for the LED). Likewise most apps can't even scroll a text list smoothly for whatever reason (lack of hardware acceleration perhaps, but as a user I shouldn't even have to think about this). If you know any Android device that will survive a head-to-head comparison with an iOS device then I'd be curious to hear about it. I've bought the last two supposed high-end androids (Galaxy S, now Galaxy Nexus) and while there has been a noticeable improvement (largely due to the ridiculous CPUs that we get now) the overall situation is still a joke.
- blinkingled 15y ago
  I seriously don't know what you are complaining about. Bought my GNex straight from Google and it is hardware accelerated, is stock Android, had no bloat ware at all, all apps scroll butter smooth and there is no random lag or jerkiness. And I am not alone in liking GNex over the iPhone.
  - e40 15y ago
    I have a Verizon GNex (got it 9am on launch day) and I don't see lag either.
  - moe 15y ago
    Try e.g. the calendar (swipe left/right). Or pretty much any 3rd party home-screen. Or pretty much any 3rd party dialer. Or, frankly, pretty much any 3rd party anything.
    - tensor 15y ago
      3rd party software needs to recompile with updated flags to make use of hardware acceleration.
sasidharm 15y ago
Only 5% of all android devices out there have ICS (http://developer.android.com/resources/dashboard/platform-versions.html http://developer.android.com/resources/dashboard/platform-ve...). Even if you are correct that ICS has no fluidity issues at all, that means 95% of android devices out there have these issues.

drivebyacct2 15y ago

Someone hasn't used a recent Android phone or certainly not one with Gingerbread or ICS. I have never, ever, ever, ever experience scroll lag or a lockup on my Android phone with hundreds of apps installed running relatively unstable CM9 nightlies.

snaky 15y ago

>The hardware is fine Pentile screen

gouranga 15y ago

Seriously - try a Nokia windows phone if you want something that just works.