6 ms·

> If you think about purchasing a device don't. the work so far can all be done with emulator. DO NOT BUY A DEVICE. and as the parent just said, the performan

by gcb0 12y ago

> If you think about purchasing a device don't. the work so far can all be done with emulator. DO NOT BUY A DEVICE. and as the parent just said, the performance on the emulator is MUCH better than the real device. it is just more waste in the world. Also, if anyone want a couple firefox phones msg me. i have a couple left. i got them when i believed that since they were going to be sold in stores, they would be consumer ready... and hence i needed to support them on my site... big mistake on all accounts. to being with they are not consumer ready. and it was close to impossible to find them in stores (despite them being advertised on billboards all over the city) anyway, if you want a phone, msg me. i have a few left. be warned that is harder to flash than a re-purposed android phone. much. much harder. (extremely closed components and hard to crate kernels) This is not hate on the project. just on their careless aggressiveness to go to market. the project has lots of future. just take your time before polluting the world with pure garbage.

darklajid 12y ago
Hmm.. I know I can only comment on the Flame, but your trouble with flashing seems odd. Update sources? git pull; ./repo sync -d Build from source? ./build.sh Flash to device? ,/flash.sh Done. Device reboots into a shiny new version. I couldn't imagine an easier way tbh. Regarding the rest of your comment: I do have pain points¹. I was a bit disappointed at times. But the progress is good and the current state (git, not what my flame came with, 1.3) looks very, very promising. 1: Keyboard's UX decision to be all caps (a la iPhone), lack of a working xmpp client, lack of a mail client w/ idle (mandatory) and server side search (optional but really helpful) support. Solve these and I need no apps/a different platform.
- darklajid 12y ago
  Lots of negativity here. I juat grabbed the Flame from upstairs again to test a browser feature. Now I remember the one single point of cannot-use. Keyboard? Usable, merely annoying. XMPP? I.. would even fall back on SMS. Mail client: It works, kinda. Not well, not nice, but it exists. The single one rant-worthy FxOS thing is the 'search'. It seems they integrate some weird recommendation engine. And that feels like browsing the web, ca. 2000 and no adblock. It even comes with predefined 'categories' (looks like folders, but it will search the web for 'games' for example and list the lowest of the low, the worst corners of the internet, the online scum - as 'apps' on your phone). Hrm.. Damn, that really turns me off every time I give it a try.. Can you rip it out/disable it? Nope.
  - hsivonen 12y ago
    > It seems they integrate some weird recommendation engine. > And that feels like browsing the web, ca. 2000 and no > adblock. It even comes with predefined 'categories' > (looks like folders, but it will search the web for > 'games' for example and list the lowest of the low, the > worst corners of the internet, the online scum - as > 'apps' on your phone). Hrm.. Damn, that really turns me > off every time I give it a try.. Can you rip it > out/disable it? Nope. Probably a relevant bug report: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1048771 https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1048771
    - benfrancis 12y ago
      From version 2.0, disable search suggestions in the Homescreen settings in the Settings app and you'll stop getting recommendations from EverythingMe.
      - darklajid 12y ago
        Whoa! I'm glad to hear that (I even was a pita on the fxos IRC channel before about this and that never came up). You made my day, thank you!
fred_durst 12y ago
I've been building my ZTE Open since pretty close to its initially release. I also use it as my daily device. Also, I think this is your 3rd time(in my recent memory) derailing a Firefox OS thread to talk about how there are no phones in stores etc. Are you an astro turfer or are you just really angry at Mozilla for some reason?
- the_mitsuhiko 12y ago
  > Also, I think this is your 3rd time(in my recent memory) derailing a Firefox OS thread to talk about how there are no phones in stores etc. Are you an astro turfer or are you just really angry at Mozilla for some reason? I'm sorry but he's right. The OS is not good, the phones are not powerful, they are barely available and because they are web based they have no unique selling point over any other platform. You can get more powerful Android phones for cheaper and they run more stuff.
  - fred_durst 12y ago
    But what does any of that have to do with the process of designing and developing Firefox OS? You also just kind of seem like an astroturfer. Android was not mentioned anywhere in that article as far as I could tell. Why are you posting that here?
    - the_mitsuhiko 12y ago
      > But what does any of that have to do with the process of designing and developing Firefox OS? [...] Android was not mentioned anywhere in that article The thread (if you have missed it) was about Firefox OS devices and how a person was recommending against buying a device. I agree with this sentiment and was mentioning that there are cheaper Android devices which are a better purchase. > You also just kind of seem like an astroturfer. Take off your tinfoil hat. Just accept that some people do not like Firefox OS or the devices.
      - fred_durst 12y ago
antonios 12y ago
100% spot on. Too many features missing. The flashing procedure is problematic as well (for the ZTE "open" C you need a custom patch found in a bug report, and you have to be extremely carefull not to brick the device.) I purchased a ZTE Open C just to try out Firefox and the internet browsing experience. You can't change tabs unless you scroll all the way to the top, otherwise the address bar is hidden. Needless to say, browsing becomes very taxing if you're viewing even moderately large pages.
- darklajid 12y ago
  That is confusing. The behavior is similar/equal to the Android Firefox: Scroll down, address bar goes off-screen. Want it back? Scroll a small amount up, albeit rapidly. Think 'pull down' on the content. Did you mias that (we can argue about whether that's intuitive) or does that plain not work for you? Scrolling back to the top should definitely be unnecessary.. Works just fine for me (typing on Android, in Aurora).
  - antonios 12y ago
    > Want it back? Scroll a small amount up, albeit rapidly. Doesn't work. AFAIK, there isn't a way to show the address bar unless you scroll all the way up to the top. I'm aware that Firefox on Android has the behaviour you mention. Also, I haven't yet found a way to quickly scroll up to the top of a page.
    - darklajid 12y ago
      Apologies. I was absolutely certain that this would work, did work. After your comment I grabbed the Flame from upstairs and .. actually tested it. Yep, seems to be missing here as well (2.1 prerelease). Sorry for speaking first, testing later.
  - Pacabel 12y ago
    That behavior of Firefox on Android is just plain stupid and broken, even when it's working. It's another great example of how the Firefox developers have added in functionality that just makes the browsing experience less efficient or more confusing, without any real benefit. Getting a sliver more of screen space just isn't worth the inconvenience this "feature" brings, especially on larger mobile devices. Disabling it via 'Settings' -> 'Display' -> 'Scroll title bar' was the first thing I had to do when trying out Firefox on Android, and that was just to bring it up to a minimal level of usability.
DanBC 12y ago
You don't say what country you're in. If it's easy to ship the phone to UK (preferred) or US (I'll get it eventually) then get in touch. You don't have any contact details in your profile, so it's not possible to message you privately. (Or if anyone wants to give me a Firefox phone I'd be immensely grateful)
ibotty 12y ago
how can you be contacted? i have a few things that work ok in an emulator but i'd like to try (not regularly) on a real, constrained device.
szatkus 12y ago
My app crashed on real device. There are some differences.

by gcb0 12y ago

darklajid 12y ago

Hmm.. I know I can only comment on the Flame, but your trouble with flashing seems odd. Update sources? git pull; ./repo sync -d Build from source? ./build.sh Flash to device? ,/flash.sh Done. Device reboots into a shiny new version. I couldn't imagine an easier way tbh. Regarding the rest of your comment: I do have pain points¹. I was a bit disappointed at times. But the progress is good and the current state (git, not what my flame came with, 1.3) looks very, very promising. 1: Keyboard's UX decision to be all caps (a la iPhone), lack of a working xmpp client, lack of a mail client w/ idle (mandatory) and server side search (optional but really helpful) support. Solve these and I need no apps/a different platform.

darklajid 12y ago
Lots of negativity here. I juat grabbed the Flame from upstairs again to test a browser feature. Now I remember the one single point of cannot-use. Keyboard? Usable, merely annoying. XMPP? I.. would even fall back on SMS. Mail client: It works, kinda. Not well, not nice, but it exists. The single one rant-worthy FxOS thing is the 'search'. It seems they integrate some weird recommendation engine. And that feels like browsing the web, ca. 2000 and no adblock. It even comes with predefined 'categories' (looks like folders, but it will search the web for 'games' for example and list the lowest of the low, the worst corners of the internet, the online scum - as 'apps' on your phone). Hrm.. Damn, that really turns me off every time I give it a try.. Can you rip it out/disable it? Nope.
- hsivonen 12y ago
  > It seems they integrate some weird recommendation engine. > And that feels like browsing the web, ca. 2000 and no > adblock. It even comes with predefined 'categories' > (looks like folders, but it will search the web for > 'games' for example and list the lowest of the low, the > worst corners of the internet, the online scum - as > 'apps' on your phone). Hrm.. Damn, that really turns me > off every time I give it a try.. Can you rip it > out/disable it? Nope. Probably a relevant bug report: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1048771 https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1048771
  - benfrancis 12y ago
    From version 2.0, disable search suggestions in the Homescreen settings in the Settings app and you'll stop getting recommendations from EverythingMe.
    - darklajid 12y ago
      Whoa! I'm glad to hear that (I even was a pita on the fxos IRC channel before about this and that never came up). You made my day, thank you!

fred_durst 12y ago

I've been building my ZTE Open since pretty close to its initially release. I also use it as my daily device. Also, I think this is your 3rd time(in my recent memory) derailing a Firefox OS thread to talk about how there are no phones in stores etc. Are you an astro turfer or are you just really angry at Mozilla for some reason?

the_mitsuhiko 12y ago
> Also, I think this is your 3rd time(in my recent memory) derailing a Firefox OS thread to talk about how there are no phones in stores etc. Are you an astro turfer or are you just really angry at Mozilla for some reason? I'm sorry but he's right. The OS is not good, the phones are not powerful, they are barely available and because they are web based they have no unique selling point over any other platform. You can get more powerful Android phones for cheaper and they run more stuff.
- fred_durst 12y ago
  But what does any of that have to do with the process of designing and developing Firefox OS? You also just kind of seem like an astroturfer. Android was not mentioned anywhere in that article as far as I could tell. Why are you posting that here?
  - the_mitsuhiko 12y ago
    > But what does any of that have to do with the process of designing and developing Firefox OS? [...] Android was not mentioned anywhere in that article The thread (if you have missed it) was about Firefox OS devices and how a person was recommending against buying a device. I agree with this sentiment and was mentioning that there are cheaper Android devices which are a better purchase. > You also just kind of seem like an astroturfer. Take off your tinfoil hat. Just accept that some people do not like Firefox OS or the devices.
    - fred_durst 12y ago

antonios 12y ago

100% spot on. Too many features missing. The flashing procedure is problematic as well (for the ZTE "open" C you need a custom patch found in a bug report, and you have to be extremely carefull not to brick the device.) I purchased a ZTE Open C just to try out Firefox and the internet browsing experience. You can't change tabs unless you scroll all the way to the top, otherwise the address bar is hidden. Needless to say, browsing becomes very taxing if you're viewing even moderately large pages.

darklajid 12y ago
That is confusing. The behavior is similar/equal to the Android Firefox: Scroll down, address bar goes off-screen. Want it back? Scroll a small amount up, albeit rapidly. Think 'pull down' on the content. Did you mias that (we can argue about whether that's intuitive) or does that plain not work for you? Scrolling back to the top should definitely be unnecessary.. Works just fine for me (typing on Android, in Aurora).
- antonios 12y ago
  > Want it back? Scroll a small amount up, albeit rapidly. Doesn't work. AFAIK, there isn't a way to show the address bar unless you scroll all the way up to the top. I'm aware that Firefox on Android has the behaviour you mention. Also, I haven't yet found a way to quickly scroll up to the top of a page.
  - darklajid 12y ago
    Apologies. I was absolutely certain that this would work, did work. After your comment I grabbed the Flame from upstairs and .. actually tested it. Yep, seems to be missing here as well (2.1 prerelease). Sorry for speaking first, testing later.
- Pacabel 12y ago
  That behavior of Firefox on Android is just plain stupid and broken, even when it's working. It's another great example of how the Firefox developers have added in functionality that just makes the browsing experience less efficient or more confusing, without any real benefit. Getting a sliver more of screen space just isn't worth the inconvenience this "feature" brings, especially on larger mobile devices. Disabling it via 'Settings' -> 'Display' -> 'Scroll title bar' was the first thing I had to do when trying out Firefox on Android, and that was just to bring it up to a minimal level of usability.

DanBC 12y ago

You don't say what country you're in. If it's easy to ship the phone to UK (preferred) or US (I'll get it eventually) then get in touch. You don't have any contact details in your profile, so it's not possible to message you privately. (Or if anyone wants to give me a Firefox phone I'd be immensely grateful)

ibotty 12y ago

how can you be contacted? i have a few things that work ok in an emulator but i'd like to try (not regularly) on a real, constrained device.

szatkus 12y ago

My app crashed on real device. There are some differences.