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>> Faster, Smoother, More Responsive Does all this finally mean it has actually caught up with iOS in terms of touch-lag? And is this finally admittance that t

>> Faster, Smoother, More Responsive Does all this finally mean it has actually caught up with iOS in terms of touch-lag? And is this finally admittance that there was a problem all along? I know some may jump to the defence of Android here, I've seen this argued ad nauseam before, and yes I've tried some Android phones that didn't have noticable lag, but the 'top of the range' Samsung Galaxy II tablet is indisputably laggy when compared to an iPad 2. If this is finally the fix we've (or maybe just I've) been waiting for then congrats to Android, I'm really glad to see it.

veeti 14y ago
Honeycomb and ICS aren't as smooth as iOS, but most of the lag that you're experiencing on your tablet is coming from Samsung's terrible software and not Android itself. The Galaxy Tabs are an embarrassment.
- nilliams 14y ago
  Oh wow thanks, I hadn't realised that was the case, never actually heard anyone state that so bluntly. Is it safe to say the ASUS tabs are smoother?
  - veeti 14y ago
    Definitely. I've played around with a friend's Transformer Prime for a bit and it was mostly pretty fluid. ASUS also makes far less modifications to the OS, too. Their devices are very close to stock Android with just some small additions, some new apps and wallpapers and whatever.
    - nilliams 14y ago
      Great, thanks that's good to know, my company is considering developing on Android and the Samsung tabs are very off-putting :)
  - sigkill 14y ago
    Yep. I've got the Old Transformer 101, and the Galaxy S2. Both are totally smooth which is why I was confused as to what you were referring to.
    - nilliams 14y ago
      Not trolling, but as a followup to my above post, I can't believe you think the S2 is smooth, have you compared it to an iPad 2/3?
      - bmunro 14y ago
        The Galaxy S2 is a phone. I think that you are thinking of the Galaxy Tab 2, a tablet.
- vibrunazo 14y ago
  That's true, I have a Samsung Galaxy Tab. My girlfriend have an Acer Iconia tab. Same Android version, very similar hardware. I droll every time I use her tablet, it's so smooth compared to mine. It's a shame Samsung does this.
  - Ralith 14y ago
    Can't you reflash it with a generic install?
- creamyhorror 14y ago
  I upgraded to a Samsung Galaxy Note from an iPhone 3GS not long ago, and my father upgraded to an Asus Padfone (ICS) at the same time. I was utterly dismayed at how wonderfully responsive the Padfone was compared to my touch-laggy Note. The Note became significantly smoother after upgrading it to ICS, but it was still slightly laggier than the Padfone, which is really smooth to use. Also the Padfone has a really nice default look overall, pretty glowing-blue notification icons, it feels good in the hand, etc. It still irritates me that I bought a Samsung specifically because I heard they were easy to root compared to other vendors, but didn't realise that had changed in recent months -- or that they were laggy. I should've gone for a new-gen ICS device instead; an S3 perhaps. I'm still enjoying the Note's screen size and the Android app ecosystem, though. There are some great apps out there to play with.
  - antihero 14y ago
    Galaxy Nexus is pretty much awesome, though. I've heard that the unofficial port to the GSII was actually smoother than the official one, too!
    - veeti 14y ago
      That's because the software is by Google. Samsung has great hardware but they need to fire their software teams.
  - antihero 14y ago
    Galaxy Nexus is pretty much awesome, though. I've heard that the unofficial port to the GSII was actually smoother than the official one, too!
no_more_death 14y ago
Yes, iOS caught up with Android in many respects at the last WWDC, and Android is catching up with iOS on the responsiveness front. That's fine, on both counts. It means that Android and iOS are competitive. It also means I don't have to switch to iOS if I'm craving responsive. The Android JVM basically means Android needs a faster processor to get the same level of responsiveness. So that's what they're giving it.[1] That's fine, since the benefit of Android is being flexible enough to run on scads of devices. That's emphatically a benefit, not a curse, just like being able to buy all different configurations of PCs is emphatically a benefit. [1] Reports of A5x being faster than Tegra 3 are overblown.
- ConstantineXVI 14y ago
  The JVM isn't relevant to Android's responsiveness, only Android is. Android wrote Dalvik and the Android UI framework from scratch, it's performance is entirely in their hands.
  - glogla 14y ago
    I think he ment Dalvik by "The Android JVM". It's really JVM, sure, but it's similar.
smithian 14y ago
As an iPad 1, iPad 2, original Droid, Nexus S, Galaxy Nexus, and Kindle Fire owner, I have no idea what you are talking about. Our iOS devices have hiccups just as much as any of our Android devices do, and sometimes more.
- nilliams 14y ago
  Have you used the Galaxy Tab 2? That's what I'm referring to, and it's really poor in a straight comparison to an iPad 2. Perhaps I've been unlucky and picked the worst of the bunch. Above poster suggests the ASUS tabs are considerably better and it's Samsung at fault here and I'm inclined to take him/her at his/her word. Edit: That said the difference is so vast, that combined with these announcement details I'm also inclined to believe no to-date Android tab is as smooth as iOS prior to this release, otherwise there would be nothing to improve on and make the above claims about being "Faster, Smoother, More Responsive" which is why I'm excited about this and have high hopes for Jelly Bean.
  - mcantelon 14y ago
    >Edit: That said the difference is so vast, that combined with these announcement details I'm also inclined to believe no to-date Android tab is as smooth as iOS prior to this release Yeah, iOS has been smoother for awhile. Android improved a lot in recent generations (to the point where Android was "smooth enough" rather than blatantly irritating), however. I've only used Honeycomb, not ICS, so not sure how much or if that release improved response. Hopefully this "Project Butter" will make them more or less equivalent in smoothness.
- jsz0 14y ago
  Hiccups aside, which I agree is universal, the scrolling performance in-particular with Android devices just seems atrocious. I remember playing around with the GNex when it came out and just moving between home-screens was full of lag. That's with ICS. The mere existence of this Project Butter is a pretty good indication the problem was not solved in ICS isn't it?

veeti 14y ago

Honeycomb and ICS aren't as smooth as iOS, but most of the lag that you're experiencing on your tablet is coming from Samsung's terrible software and not Android itself. The Galaxy Tabs are an embarrassment.

nilliams 14y ago
Oh wow thanks, I hadn't realised that was the case, never actually heard anyone state that so bluntly. Is it safe to say the ASUS tabs are smoother?
- veeti 14y ago
  Definitely. I've played around with a friend's Transformer Prime for a bit and it was mostly pretty fluid. ASUS also makes far less modifications to the OS, too. Their devices are very close to stock Android with just some small additions, some new apps and wallpapers and whatever.
  - nilliams 14y ago
    Great, thanks that's good to know, my company is considering developing on Android and the Samsung tabs are very off-putting :)
- sigkill 14y ago
  Yep. I've got the Old Transformer 101, and the Galaxy S2. Both are totally smooth which is why I was confused as to what you were referring to.
  - nilliams 14y ago
    Not trolling, but as a followup to my above post, I can't believe you think the S2 is smooth, have you compared it to an iPad 2/3?
    - bmunro 14y ago
      The Galaxy S2 is a phone. I think that you are thinking of the Galaxy Tab 2, a tablet.
vibrunazo 14y ago
That's true, I have a Samsung Galaxy Tab. My girlfriend have an Acer Iconia tab. Same Android version, very similar hardware. I droll every time I use her tablet, it's so smooth compared to mine. It's a shame Samsung does this.
- Ralith 14y ago
  Can't you reflash it with a generic install?
creamyhorror 14y ago
I upgraded to a Samsung Galaxy Note from an iPhone 3GS not long ago, and my father upgraded to an Asus Padfone (ICS) at the same time. I was utterly dismayed at how wonderfully responsive the Padfone was compared to my touch-laggy Note. The Note became significantly smoother after upgrading it to ICS, but it was still slightly laggier than the Padfone, which is really smooth to use. Also the Padfone has a really nice default look overall, pretty glowing-blue notification icons, it feels good in the hand, etc. It still irritates me that I bought a Samsung specifically because I heard they were easy to root compared to other vendors, but didn't realise that had changed in recent months -- or that they were laggy. I should've gone for a new-gen ICS device instead; an S3 perhaps. I'm still enjoying the Note's screen size and the Android app ecosystem, though. There are some great apps out there to play with.
- antihero 14y ago
  Galaxy Nexus is pretty much awesome, though. I've heard that the unofficial port to the GSII was actually smoother than the official one, too!
  - veeti 14y ago
    That's because the software is by Google. Samsung has great hardware but they need to fire their software teams.
- antihero 14y ago
  Galaxy Nexus is pretty much awesome, though. I've heard that the unofficial port to the GSII was actually smoother than the official one, too!

no_more_death 14y ago

Yes, iOS caught up with Android in many respects at the last WWDC, and Android is catching up with iOS on the responsiveness front. That's fine, on both counts. It means that Android and iOS are competitive. It also means I don't have to switch to iOS if I'm craving responsive. The Android JVM basically means Android needs a faster processor to get the same level of responsiveness. So that's what they're giving it.[1] That's fine, since the benefit of Android is being flexible enough to run on scads of devices. That's emphatically a benefit, not a curse, just like being able to buy all different configurations of PCs is emphatically a benefit. [1] Reports of A5x being faster than Tegra 3 are overblown.

ConstantineXVI 14y ago
The JVM isn't relevant to Android's responsiveness, only Android is. Android wrote Dalvik and the Android UI framework from scratch, it's performance is entirely in their hands.
- glogla 14y ago
  I think he ment Dalvik by "The Android JVM". It's really JVM, sure, but it's similar.

smithian 14y ago

As an iPad 1, iPad 2, original Droid, Nexus S, Galaxy Nexus, and Kindle Fire owner, I have no idea what you are talking about. Our iOS devices have hiccups just as much as any of our Android devices do, and sometimes more.

nilliams 14y ago
Have you used the Galaxy Tab 2? That's what I'm referring to, and it's really poor in a straight comparison to an iPad 2. Perhaps I've been unlucky and picked the worst of the bunch. Above poster suggests the ASUS tabs are considerably better and it's Samsung at fault here and I'm inclined to take him/her at his/her word. Edit: That said the difference is so vast, that combined with these announcement details I'm also inclined to believe no to-date Android tab is as smooth as iOS prior to this release, otherwise there would be nothing to improve on and make the above claims about being "Faster, Smoother, More Responsive" which is why I'm excited about this and have high hopes for Jelly Bean.
- mcantelon 14y ago
  >Edit: That said the difference is so vast, that combined with these announcement details I'm also inclined to believe no to-date Android tab is as smooth as iOS prior to this release Yeah, iOS has been smoother for awhile. Android improved a lot in recent generations (to the point where Android was "smooth enough" rather than blatantly irritating), however. I've only used Honeycomb, not ICS, so not sure how much or if that release improved response. Hopefully this "Project Butter" will make them more or less equivalent in smoothness.
jsz0 14y ago
Hiccups aside, which I agree is universal, the scrolling performance in-particular with Android devices just seems atrocious. I remember playing around with the GNex when it came out and just moving between home-screens was full of lag. That's with ICS. The mere existence of this Project Butter is a pretty good indication the problem was not solved in ICS isn't it?