5 ms·

Stupidest Android bug unresolved for 5 years

12 points by givan 12y ago

smackfu 12y ago
It's not clear it's an Android bug.
- freehunter 12y ago
  What else could it be? If it's happening on multiple versions from multiple vendors including Google themselves, what else could be to blame?
  - krisdol 12y ago
    The dialer and call apps are often vendor specific. Even Google is not using the open source version of the dialer and call app. That said, since so many different vendors have this issue, the problem probably exists upstream. Thing is, this could get (or already be) fixed upstream and none of the people complaining will ever see the fix on their handset because of lazy, slow patching strategies and myriad of forks among vendors. Android phones are, unfortunately, a lot like windows laptops. The manufacturer uses proprietary drivers and hardware when it shouldn't, MAYBE releases an update within the first six months after release, and then the device is as good as abandonware.
    - freehunter 12y ago
      While I agree with what you said (I've long called Android the Windows of the mobile world), if this is happening on Nexus phones (which the Nexus 4, last generation's phone, just got the brand new 4.4.4 update), then it's not down to vendor patching.
dfabulich 12y ago
Nobody reads the Android bug DB. https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/list?sort=-stars https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/list?sort=-stars "New" means "Unreviewed."
Cthulhu_ 12y ago
So... it seems there's a lot of people that prefer to post 'me too, please fix' and 'Y U NO FIX GOOGLE' instead of actually dig into the code and look for the source of this issue; it's an open source project (or well, most of it), so people should propose fixes and point out where the error is, not that there is or may be an error. IMO anyway. I'm naive like that though.
- Osiris 12y ago
  Really? You expect regular people to dive into a codebase as completely massive as AOSP and grok it well enough to identify a long standing and solve it? While I applaud open source, not even most engineers want to or can take the time to troubleshoot, debug, and fix, bugs in the original source, let alone non-programmers. On another note, some people suggested the bug might be in the radio firmware, and I believe that radio firmwares are not open source.
- freehunter 12y ago
  How about the comment where the person provided the traceback? [1] Or where someone provided step-by-step directions on how to reproduce the issue? [2] How many people know AOSP well enough to fix the bug? That's what bug trackers and stack traces are for, so regular people can help the developers fix their code. [1] https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=2973#c91 https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=2973#c91 [2] https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=2973#c94 https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=2973#c94 [2]

12 points by givan 12y ago

smackfu 12y ago

It's not clear it's an Android bug.

freehunter 12y ago
What else could it be? If it's happening on multiple versions from multiple vendors including Google themselves, what else could be to blame?
- krisdol 12y ago
  The dialer and call apps are often vendor specific. Even Google is not using the open source version of the dialer and call app. That said, since so many different vendors have this issue, the problem probably exists upstream. Thing is, this could get (or already be) fixed upstream and none of the people complaining will ever see the fix on their handset because of lazy, slow patching strategies and myriad of forks among vendors. Android phones are, unfortunately, a lot like windows laptops. The manufacturer uses proprietary drivers and hardware when it shouldn't, MAYBE releases an update within the first six months after release, and then the device is as good as abandonware.
  - freehunter 12y ago
    While I agree with what you said (I've long called Android the Windows of the mobile world), if this is happening on Nexus phones (which the Nexus 4, last generation's phone, just got the brand new 4.4.4 update), then it's not down to vendor patching.

dfabulich 12y ago

Nobody reads the Android bug DB. https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/list?sort=-stars https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/list?sort=-stars "New" means "Unreviewed."

Cthulhu_ 12y ago

So... it seems there's a lot of people that prefer to post 'me too, please fix' and 'Y U NO FIX GOOGLE' instead of actually dig into the code and look for the source of this issue; it's an open source project (or well, most of it), so people should propose fixes and point out where the error is, not that there is or may be an error. IMO anyway. I'm naive like that though.

Osiris 12y ago
Really? You expect regular people to dive into a codebase as completely massive as AOSP and grok it well enough to identify a long standing and solve it? While I applaud open source, not even most engineers want to or can take the time to troubleshoot, debug, and fix, bugs in the original source, let alone non-programmers. On another note, some people suggested the bug might be in the radio firmware, and I believe that radio firmwares are not open source.
freehunter 12y ago
How about the comment where the person provided the traceback? [1] Or where someone provided step-by-step directions on how to reproduce the issue? [2] How many people know AOSP well enough to fix the bug? That's what bug trackers and stack traces are for, so regular people can help the developers fix their code. [1] https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=2973#c91 https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=2973#c91 [2] https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=2973#c94 https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=2973#c94 [2]