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Early Android UI was such a clusterfuck. Not surprising really given that it started as a BlackBerry-like UI then pivoted hard when the iPhone was launched. The

Early Android UI was such a clusterfuck. Not surprising really given that it started as a BlackBerry-like UI then pivoted hard when the iPhone was launched. They also weren’t really in the position to finely curate their app collection so just about any shoddy UI got approved for the store. And then Google dedicated an entire version (3) to tablets only, leaving phones with a rapidly aging v2 UI for far longer than they should have. There are a bunch of alternate histories from that era, if MS had their shit together and launched the Windows Phone a little earlier I think it could have taken the place Android occupies today. Android really wasn’t impressive in the early days (and I say this as someone who bought a Nexus One day one)

jeffbee 2y ago
Early Android was so bad it was impossible to believe that anyone had tried to use it before release. The first bug I filed against the Nexus S was that the camera app recorded video frames out of order. If literally anyone had tried the video function even once it would have been obvious. Total failure of dogfood testing.
duskwuff 2y ago
> Early Android UI was such a clusterfuck. Not surprising really given that it started as a BlackBerry-like UI then pivoted hard when the iPhone was launched. Don't forget all the early Android phones that launched with physical controls to navigate around the screen, like the trackball on the HTC Dream or the directional pad on the Motorola Droid. It's as if they weren't quite sure touchscreen interfaces were going to take off, so they wanted to hedge their bets.