6 ms·

Since you've got no problems with Android, maybe you can solve mine: - Why does the phone crash when I try to pair with my bluetooth headset? - Why do all ele

Since you've got no problems with Android, maybe you can solve mine: - Why does the phone crash when I try to pair with my bluetooth headset? - Why do all eleventy-billion of my contacts show up in the dialer instead of the relatively small handful who've got phone numbers? - Why the *@#$% doesn't this thing have a proper headphone jack? - How do I sync music between my computer and my G1? - How about podcasts? - How do I play videos on this thing? - When I mark a contact as a "favorite", how do I change which phone number gets dialed from the favorite screen? - Why don't I get autocompletion when I use the hardware keyboard? - Why does the system freeze for about a second when I rotate it? - Why do about 25% of the apps I have not work with the soft keyboard? - Why do another 25% not work in horizontal mode? - Where's the PDF reader? - Why can't I read Google documents on this thing? Shall I continue?

boucher 17y ago
to be fair, the iPhone is at the same place or worse on several of these issues.
- al3x 17y ago
  But does that excuse issues with a platform that's intended to compete with the iPhone? The whole point of Gruber's piece is that Android is going to have to exceed the standard set by the iPhone in order to capture mindshare with early adopters who then encourage wider adoption.
mr_justin 17y ago
Some of the issues you are complaining about can be cured with a setting (syncing contacts). Some should not be features of an open handset using non-proprietary technology (syncing music), some are legitimate bugs though not everybody has them (crash when pairing) and some are just rants.
mcantelon 17y ago
That's quite a list. I'm with you on the annoyance with apps that don't work with the soft keyboard, but that's due to developer lag. I had no trouble finding a video app in the app store that worked fine. A good PDF viewer is RepliGo Reader. It's $8 US, but no available in some Android Markets (such as Canada).
jrockway 17y ago
Dunno. I get Google Docs just fine. Google for "Google Docs", tap the first result, and there they all are. I sync my music with a Perl script that looks at my xmms2 playlist and copies the music in there to the phone. (Not possible with the iPhone, BTW.) What you consider major flaws are things I have never had a problem with. I do have a few contacts with no phone numbers, but I can also tap them to chat with them via GTalk. (A green light appears next to their name when they are online. Cool!) Nothing is perfect, nor will it ever be. With the iPhone, you are stuck with whatever Apple says you are stuck with. With Android, you are stuck with whatever you decide not to write. BTW, one complaint: I wish I had the Kindle app for this phone. Some other things: The iPhone is just as bad with respect to proprietary connectors. If you don't have an Offical Apple Cable, you can't even charge your phone. With the HTC devices, you just plug in a standard mini-USB cable. Tradeoff.
- mrshoe 17y ago
  I sync my music with a Perl script that looks at my xmms2 playlist and copies the music in there to the phone. For some reason I don't think this is exactly what Gruber had in mind when he said, "The goal should be to make a phone that is better than the iPhone. Better."
  - jrockway 17y ago
    It's better for me. I think a lot of people design systems for imaginary users that don't actually exist. I try to make stuff that works for me, because then at least it works for one person. (I assume "normal people" use some sort of GUI for this. If you are using Amarok, for example, it's a simple matter of drag-n-dropping your playlist to the icon that says "Android Phone".)
    - unalone 17y ago
      "Normal people", by which I mean myself, want to plug in their iPhone and have all of their stuff synced without ever clicking any button. Drag-n-drop is nice, but even that's more of a hassle than I care to bother with.
litewulf 17y ago
For the second one, go to your contacts list, hit menu and select groups. There is an option to limit to contacts with phone numbers. I have no idea why that isn't the default. Videos, there is an application called "Video Player" that actually, well, plays videos.
nuclear_eclipse 17y ago
- Why do all eleventy-billion of my contacts show up in the dialer instead of the relatively small handful who've got phone numbers? Because the Dialer app is listing all of your contacts, because it serves as both the Dialer and the Contacts app all rolled into one. - Why the @#$% doesn't this thing have a proper headphone jack? Yell at HTC, not Android. - How do I sync music between my computer and my G1? Plug the included USB cable into your PC. Android will pop up a notification allowing you to choose if you want to mount the internal SD card as a drive on the host machine. Use Finder/Nautilus/Explorer to copy music to the drive, or Google for the proper file that tells the PC that your G1's SD card is actually a music device so that your music apps will sync with it. Arguably, the G1 should do this for you, but what if you put your camera's SD card into the G1? It wouldn't know the difference, but you wouldn't want it to label the SD card as a music player without you asking it to... - How about podcasts? Get a podcast app, or see above? - How do I play videos on this thing? Use the included YouTube app, or download a file-manager app (I recommend the Linda File Manager) and click on the video from the file manager. Yes, Android should include this type of app out of the box. - When I mark a contact as a "favorite", how do I change which phone number gets dialed from the favorite screen? Open the contact, long-press on the desired number, and select Make Default Number. - Why don't I get autocompletion when I use the hardware keyboard? Because, arguably, most people using a real keyboard don't generally need/want auto-completion? Also because with the physical keyboard, there's no keyboard "app" being used in the first place, which is what provides the auto-completion you speak of. - Why does the system freeze for about a second when I rotate it? Because of the way Android handles apps. When the screen rotates, Android sends the "Stop" signal to the current activity, resets the framebuffer, and then sends the "restart" signal to the activity, more-or-less forcing the activity to save and load its state and rebuild the UI. This allows Android and the application to pick up new resources or new UI layouts based on the new conditions of the phone (new resolution, keyboard availability, etc). See my previous comment on this: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=699223 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=699223 - Why do about 25% of the apps I have not work with the soft keyboard? Most likely because developers did some funky business under the expectation that the user would be using Android 1.0 and/or the G1's hardware keyboard. Please yell at developers to update their applications. - Why do another 25% not work in horizontal mode? Once again, developers can specify that applications only run in certain orientations, which can be useful in certain apps (eg, Solitaire really can't play well in portrait mode). Yell at the developers to knock it off if you disagree. - Where's the PDF reader? I believe there's one on the Market. - Why can't I read Google documents on this thing? I'm not sure why Google overlooked a native app for Docs, but they worked relatively well through the browser, last time I tried. There are also several "Office" apps on the Market, if you're interested... Shall I continue? I'd be happy to answer, refute, or agree with more complaints if you can keep them civil.
nwatson 17y ago
don't know about your other issues, but I love DoggCatcher (see Android Market) for podcasts. I'm in no way affiliated with the developer. Downloads programs in the background ... when I want news/interviews/talk-show I have plenty. I used the phone for talk, lots of web browsing, podcasts, and music, mostly. The music transfer is lacking ... I just do file copies. YouTube works fine, haven' tried transferring videos.
albemuth 17y ago
>>- Why do all eleventy-billion of my contacts show up in the dialer instead of the relatively small handful who've got phone numbers? Contacts -> Menu -> Display Group -> Contacts with phone numbers
jsz0 17y ago
Engadget is reporting the G1, due to internal flash limitations, may be stuck at version 1.5 forever. Really horrible situation for such a young platform to already be having these issues.
- hboon 17y ago
  Any idea if this applies to the dev phone? If it does, developers are screwed.
BillGoatse 17y ago
I'm guessing you're on the G1? I picked up an HTC Hero (More or less the G3, but I don't think out in the US yet) yesterday. The way it's going, I think I may love this phone more than my child. Most of your problems are gone with this generation. It even has a standard headphone jack. Android is catching up, fast.
- nailer 17y ago
  Same here - iPhone user for two years, got my Hero a couple of weeks ago. I'm in love. Tip: make sure you get a Class 6 SDHC card if you're going to use a lot of apps at once.
  - BillGoatse 17y ago
    Thanks! I haven't updated my SD yet.

boucher 17y ago

to be fair, the iPhone is at the same place or worse on several of these issues.

al3x 17y ago
But does that excuse issues with a platform that's intended to compete with the iPhone? The whole point of Gruber's piece is that Android is going to have to exceed the standard set by the iPhone in order to capture mindshare with early adopters who then encourage wider adoption.

mr_justin 17y ago

Some of the issues you are complaining about can be cured with a setting (syncing contacts). Some should not be features of an open handset using non-proprietary technology (syncing music), some are legitimate bugs though not everybody has them (crash when pairing) and some are just rants.

mcantelon 17y ago

That's quite a list. I'm with you on the annoyance with apps that don't work with the soft keyboard, but that's due to developer lag. I had no trouble finding a video app in the app store that worked fine. A good PDF viewer is RepliGo Reader. It's $8 US, but no available in some Android Markets (such as Canada).

jrockway 17y ago

Dunno. I get Google Docs just fine. Google for "Google Docs", tap the first result, and there they all are. I sync my music with a Perl script that looks at my xmms2 playlist and copies the music in there to the phone. (Not possible with the iPhone, BTW.) What you consider major flaws are things I have never had a problem with. I do have a few contacts with no phone numbers, but I can also tap them to chat with them via GTalk. (A green light appears next to their name when they are online. Cool!) Nothing is perfect, nor will it ever be. With the iPhone, you are stuck with whatever Apple says you are stuck with. With Android, you are stuck with whatever you decide not to write. BTW, one complaint: I wish I had the Kindle app for this phone. Some other things: The iPhone is just as bad with respect to proprietary connectors. If you don't have an Offical Apple Cable, you can't even charge your phone. With the HTC devices, you just plug in a standard mini-USB cable. Tradeoff.

mrshoe 17y ago
I sync my music with a Perl script that looks at my xmms2 playlist and copies the music in there to the phone. For some reason I don't think this is exactly what Gruber had in mind when he said, "The goal should be to make a phone that is better than the iPhone. Better."
- jrockway 17y ago
  It's better for me. I think a lot of people design systems for imaginary users that don't actually exist. I try to make stuff that works for me, because then at least it works for one person. (I assume "normal people" use some sort of GUI for this. If you are using Amarok, for example, it's a simple matter of drag-n-dropping your playlist to the icon that says "Android Phone".)
  - unalone 17y ago
    "Normal people", by which I mean myself, want to plug in their iPhone and have all of their stuff synced without ever clicking any button. Drag-n-drop is nice, but even that's more of a hassle than I care to bother with.

litewulf 17y ago

For the second one, go to your contacts list, hit menu and select groups. There is an option to limit to contacts with phone numbers. I have no idea why that isn't the default. Videos, there is an application called "Video Player" that actually, well, plays videos.

nuclear_eclipse 17y ago

- Why do all eleventy-billion of my contacts show up in the dialer instead of the relatively small handful who've got phone numbers? Because the Dialer app is listing all of your contacts, because it serves as both the Dialer and the Contacts app all rolled into one. - Why the @#$% doesn't this thing have a proper headphone jack? Yell at HTC, not Android. - How do I sync music between my computer and my G1? Plug the included USB cable into your PC. Android will pop up a notification allowing you to choose if you want to mount the internal SD card as a drive on the host machine. Use Finder/Nautilus/Explorer to copy music to the drive, or Google for the proper file that tells the PC that your G1's SD card is actually a music device so that your music apps will sync with it. Arguably, the G1 should do this for you, but what if you put your camera's SD card into the G1? It wouldn't know the difference, but you wouldn't want it to label the SD card as a music player without you asking it to... - How about podcasts? Get a podcast app, or see above? - How do I play videos on this thing? Use the included YouTube app, or download a file-manager app (I recommend the Linda File Manager) and click on the video from the file manager. Yes, Android should include this type of app out of the box. - When I mark a contact as a "favorite", how do I change which phone number gets dialed from the favorite screen? Open the contact, long-press on the desired number, and select Make Default Number. - Why don't I get autocompletion when I use the hardware keyboard? Because, arguably, most people using a real keyboard don't generally need/want auto-completion? Also because with the physical keyboard, there's no keyboard "app" being used in the first place, which is what provides the auto-completion you speak of. - Why does the system freeze for about a second when I rotate it? Because of the way Android handles apps. When the screen rotates, Android sends the "Stop" signal to the current activity, resets the framebuffer, and then sends the "restart" signal to the activity, more-or-less forcing the activity to save and load its state and rebuild the UI. This allows Android and the application to pick up new resources or new UI layouts based on the new conditions of the phone (new resolution, keyboard availability, etc). See my previous comment on this: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=699223 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=699223 - Why do about 25% of the apps I have not work with the soft keyboard? Most likely because developers did some funky business under the expectation that the user would be using Android 1.0 and/or the G1's hardware keyboard. Please yell at developers to update their applications. - Why do another 25% not work in horizontal mode? Once again, developers can specify that applications only run in certain orientations, which can be useful in certain apps (eg, Solitaire really can't play well in portrait mode). Yell at the developers to knock it off if you disagree. - Where's the PDF reader? I believe there's one on the Market. - Why can't I read Google documents on this thing? I'm not sure why Google overlooked a native app for Docs, but they worked relatively well through the browser, last time I tried. There are also several "Office" apps on the Market, if you're interested... Shall I continue? I'd be happy to answer, refute, or agree with more complaints if you can keep them civil.

nwatson 17y ago

don't know about your other issues, but I love DoggCatcher (see Android Market) for podcasts. I'm in no way affiliated with the developer. Downloads programs in the background ... when I want news/interviews/talk-show I have plenty. I used the phone for talk, lots of web browsing, podcasts, and music, mostly. The music transfer is lacking ... I just do file copies. YouTube works fine, haven' tried transferring videos.

albemuth 17y ago

>>- Why do all eleventy-billion of my contacts show up in the dialer instead of the relatively small handful who've got phone numbers? Contacts -> Menu -> Display Group -> Contacts with phone numbers

jsz0 17y ago

Engadget is reporting the G1, due to internal flash limitations, may be stuck at version 1.5 forever. Really horrible situation for such a young platform to already be having these issues.

hboon 17y ago
Any idea if this applies to the dev phone? If it does, developers are screwed.

BillGoatse 17y ago

I'm guessing you're on the G1? I picked up an HTC Hero (More or less the G3, but I don't think out in the US yet) yesterday. The way it's going, I think I may love this phone more than my child. Most of your problems are gone with this generation. It even has a standard headphone jack. Android is catching up, fast.

nailer 17y ago
Same here - iPhone user for two years, got my Hero a couple of weeks ago. I'm in love. Tip: make sure you get a Class 6 SDHC card if you're going to use a lot of apps at once.
- BillGoatse 17y ago
  Thanks! I haven't updated my SD yet.