Just wondering what you fellow G2/DZ owners think about the upcoming android release "Ice cream sandwich". what features or changes are you excited about? do you reckon cyanogen team will migrate to it for our devices? and can our devices even effeciently run it?
i for one am always excited about any improvements to android, seeing it come so far has been incredible and i hope it continues to expand and prosper while still maintaining the performance and complexity weve come to adore as modders/hax0rs.
please share
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I'm assuming you've seen the engadget video of the leaked software? I know it's just a visual eyecandy thing but I'm actually looking forward to the screen rotation animations, for one. The lockscreen looks like it is similar to a MIUI circle lockscreen where you can unlock to different app shortcuts. Just looking forward to something new in general I guess, heh. If it was running on a Nexus S, I'm 100% it will work just fine for us, too.
i think that engadget video cant be faker, cmon a lucky guy from ebay?? hahaha yeah right reminds me of the iphone prototypes found in a bar a while ago
i think its just a very nice cooked ROM, also compare it to the leaked pictures and it doesnt look the same
about ICS taken from cyanogen i think it is gonna be ported by the team as theyve been doing with every previous version of android, so expect CM8! also i think were not gonna have any problems running it on our G2s since AOSP are not that heavy and i think ICS is not gonna be that heavy either, at least not like a sense ROM
As stated above. I'm mainly looking forward to rotation animation and speed increases.
As far as I'm concerned each new stock version has had a similar speed to the previous modded version. So I'm not expecting much in the way of speed..... yet.
Here's hoping there's plenty new toys.
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Visual improvements are welcome, but I'm looking forward to the under the hood improvements. And hopefully being able to run honeycomb apps.
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Will it be released ota for desire z devices.
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JDogg1329 said:
Will it be released ota for desire z devices.
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Click to collapse
Doubt it. On my 5th android handset from 3 manufacturers and resigned to the fact that I need custom roms to get the latest/fastest software.
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Frankly, it looks horrendous - especially from a user experience point of view. As a longtime fan of Android, it boggles my mind that the software is so half-baked.
I'm not exactly blown out of the water by it. It looks like they took some of the Honeycomb design language and ported it over as a skin ontop of Gingerbread. I really hope that its more than that, but we'll have to see. 2.2 to 2.3 was a lot of polish and cleaning up with some new UI elements, so I hope 4.0 is a big leap.
I hope that we see performance gains, new features, and more stability/usability. I liked what they did in Honeycomb from a UI and smoothness PoV, but I'm not sure how that will translate to the smaller screen. The big test will be how it performs and looks on the next Nexus device, as that is the benchmark or platform example of what they want it to look like. I don't think the vision of ICS is complete when its running on a Nexus S.
Pickx said:
Frankly, it looks horrendous - especially from a user experience point of view. As a longtime fan of Android, it boggles my mind that the software is so half-baked.
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Click to collapse
I disagree, but I don't think anybody can judge until we officially see them demonstrate it.
If that leak was real, it's basically some honeycomb elements and a bluish neon theme. Not really a huge stretch from what we have currently. And face it, Android still isn't as user friendly as it could be. ICS needs to be huge if they want to stay ahead of WP7 and compete with iOS.
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Nospin said:
And face it, Android still isn't as user friendly as it could be. ICS needs to be huge if they want to stay ahead of WP7 and compete with iOS.
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Click to collapse
I agree with that. They really need to knock it out of the park. Not necessarily with features (they already have a ton of features) but with user experience and consistency/reliability. iOS and WP7 knock it out of the park on user experience whether you care to admit it or not. If Android can smooth out a lot of the rough edges and issues I'm sure it'll give a huge boost to sales.
The problem is that high end Androids still lag. Now I'm willing to place a lot of blame on oems, but Android is still too power and resource hungry. That NEEDS to be addressed here.
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Nospin said:
The problem is that high end Androids still lag. Now I'm willing to place a lot of blame on oems, but Android is still too power and resource hungry. That NEEDS to be addressed here.
Sent from my T-mobile G2 using Tapatalk
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Click to collapse
Funny...my g2 lasts twice as long on battery as my lender iphone 4, though I'm all for power and battery improvements who knows what android can achieve.
As for top end androids lagging, I'm assuming your referring to stock devices. In which bloatware can be blamed for 99% of that lag. For a one year old device my g2 blows every one of my friends devices out of the water, especially when everyone is out somewhere and we need to 'google' something, my wp7 friends never find the right info, and the iphone guys/gurls usually never get to the search fast enough lol. THIS is what I believe sets us apart, the speed in which I can fire a google search, check google maps, etc leaves all my non google friends gawking at how easy my droid is.
I'm hoping for a little bit of user experience improvement, but mostly if they can squeeze out even more performance and power saving, it'll truly set us apart from the competition.
Edit: IMO
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Iphone5 comes out
G-Infinity is a quadcore with qwerty and invisibility cloaking option, (just in case) also has a mini lightsaber incase you know, ..
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App
To be honest, I don't like the way Android development is going. I mean, phones keep getting more and more powerful, we have dual-core CPUs and lots of RAM, but the OS doesn't really feel faster and the user experience is more or less the same.
What I'd like to see in ICS is a smoother feeling, especially faster launching apps and making better use of the hardware (the second one is difficult with all the diferent phones out there).
Also, some more UI customization would be welcome. For example, changing the battery icon (or the whole status bar icon set) without root or cooking a custom rom, or making my own tabs in the app drawer.
costipl said:
To be honest, I don't like the way Android development is going. I mean, phones keep getting more and more powerful, we have dual-core CPUs and lots of RAM, but the OS doesn't really feel faster and the user experience is more or less the same.
What I'd like to see in ICS is a smoother feeling, especially faster launching apps and making better use of the hardware (the second one is difficult with all the diferent phones out there).
Also, some more UI customization would be welcome. For example, changing the battery icon (or the whole status bar icon set) without root or cooking a custom rom, or making my own tabs in the app drawer.
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Click to collapse
I also agree, the way I see it the more powerful they get the more battery hungry they will be, though I could be wrong. Cm7 runs pretty damn smooth at 800mhz stock speed so I mean it is possible to optimize the os for a single core. But I mean looking back from donut to ginger, the os does feel not only bigger but also runs smoother in my opinion. But again it could be because the hardware has improved so much as well.
Given the fact the iphone 4s specs were just announced, and don't really wow anyone, I'm hoping oct 11th and ICS blow everything out of the water. Google is most definetly capable of showing some innovation, so my fingers are crossed that ICS is everything we want! Would also prove perfect timing to make even more gain in the mobile os department. They also need to keep up the sick advertising on tv, lord knows the commercials make my iphail pals jealous!
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i'm with the people saying that they hope ICS brings with it better performance and nicer User Experience. rooting really barely helps. don't get me wrong its fun having all these choices and flashing roms and whatnot. but none of them really make the phone work like it should. i still have lag. i still have crashes. full wipes do nothing. yea it runs AMAZING for a day. maybe a week on a really good rom. and then things start lagging. it's getting harder and harder to defend. "no you don't get it, with android you get choice and iphone sucks" ... as my friend's iphone works perfectly pretty much 100% of the time. blah. come on ICS. wow me. please!
Related
According to this article (http://phandroid.com/2010/10/18/exclusive-first-android-gingerbread-details/) there is an early build of Gingebread in the wild. If this is true, I believe a leaked rom won't be long away.
That image could be anything, not a great article.
aww I was hoping for some serious overhaul of the UI but it looks to be essentially froyo. Loving the hardware acceleration bit though.
teihoata said:
aww I was hoping for some serious overhaul of the UI but it looks to be essentially froyo. Loving the hardware acceleration bit though.
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Click to collapse
My toughts exactly. I bet this explains the rumors of Gingerbread not being the tablet optimized 3.0 OS version we were waiting for. It will be a cleaned up version of Froyo with hardware accerlation. Which sure isn't bad but I'm afraid a lot of users will end up being dissappointed.
Of course the picture can be fake but the source seems pretty solid.
Unless they fix some of the big issues in their current "features", they will have a max exodus to WP7
wow nice article the author is just taking wild pot shots to things that will be on gingerbread.
nexusdue said:
Unless they fix some of the big issues in their current "features", they will have a max exodus to WP7
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Can't see it myself.
booooo! blurry pic means nothing.
nexusdue said:
Unless they fix some of the big issues in their current "features", they will have a max exodus to WP7
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Click to collapse
lmao
WP7 will be a damn train wreck. The Kin's production was haulted a month end because it sold only a few thousand devices. They should probably just call it what it really is, Windows Mobile 6.6
Enjoy your decade old technology with a mediocre gui slapped on top. It's the Microsoft way.
As for Gingerbread, I hope there are alot of behind-the-scene updates. Gui updates can wait if you're cranking things up under the hood like they did in Froyo.
I think that the article has some truth.
It mentions that the Android Green is going to be much more prominent throughout the OS which I think is correct. The new Market has much more green and in the latest Gmail app, when an email is deleted the undo bar that appears is the same green as the green used in the Market.
All this talk of there being a totally brand new UI (like WP7) is wrong. There is nothing wrong with the look of the homescreens so that it why the blurry image looks pretty similar to Froyo. The UI is going to be refreshed which means the UI is going to be consistent throughout the entire OS and apps created by Google.
From what I have seen, the new UI is going to be similar to the current Gallery app and the Android Green is going to be much more prominent throughout the OS. At I/O, a music app was shown which had the same UI as the Gallery app. The latest Car Home app also has the look of the current Gallery app.
Sarg92 said:
I think that the article has some truth.
It mentions that the Android Green is going to be much more prominent throughout the OS which I think is correct. The new Market has much more green and in the latest Gmail app, when an email is deleted the undo bar that appears is the same green as the green used in the Market.
All this talk of there being a totally brand new UI (like WP7) is wrong. There is nothing wrong with the look of the homescreens so that it why the blurry image looks pretty similar to Froyo. The UI is going to be refreshed which means the UI is going to be consistent throughout the entire OS and apps created by Google.
From what I have seen, the new UI is going to be similar to the current Gallery app and the Android Green is going to be much more prominent throughout the OS. At I/O, a music app was shown which had the same UI as the Gallery app. The latest Car Home app also has the look of the current Gallery app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nothing wrong with this at all. I always wondered after Eclair why Google didn't make more of the OS elements look more like the genie widget or the gallery with the 3Dish grey look. Now if they can get a decent media player and have studios continue to give Android respect and porting good games to our OS I think I'll just keep my eye off that shiny new Dell Venue Pro
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App
http://youtu.be/dttyQo3BPrk
Check out that YouTube video, at about a minute into it, you can see the current music app but with a UI similar to the Gallery app.
I just wish they fix the damn stock dialer to dial by name. Dialer One works but is aggravating trying to bounce back and forth.
Honestly the only 2 things I replace right off the bat is the dialer and Launcher Pro. Everything else is stock... and its great.
Sarg92 said:
http://youtu.be/dttyQo3BPrk
Check out that YouTube video, at about a minute into it, you can see the current music app but with a UI similar to the Gallery app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good looking out! That is some sexy software. If the rest of the OS is going to look like this in a few months I may cry from pure gingerbread induced joy!
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Sarg92 said:
http://youtu.be/dttyQo3BPrk
Check out that YouTube video, at about a minute into it, you can see the current music app but with a UI similar to the Gallery app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If rest of the OS is like that, I might hold off on switching to WM7
nexusdue said:
they will have a max exodus to WP7
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Man I LOVE windows phone 7 trolls!
They bring alot to the forum with their wisdom
ap3604 said:
Man I LOVE windows phone 7 trolls!
They bring alot to the forum with their wisdom
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He's hardly trolling. Google need to change more than just invisible behind-the-scenes stuff, although adding Flash support was a fairly big deal. Android needs better support for large screens, a much better media/music player (Gapless support is way overdue if nothing else).
I'm perfectly happy with my N1 with 2.2, but Android can't stay still, most of the changes since 1.5 have been background things, tweaking and quite incremental. Hopefully 3.0 has something really good in it to justify my waiting for a decent Android tablet.
knightnz said:
He's hardly trolling. Google need to change more than just invisible behind-the-scenes stuff, although adding Flash support was a fairly big deal. Android needs better support for large screens, a much better media/music player (Gapless support is way overdue if nothing else).
I'm perfectly happy with my N1 with 2.2, but Android can't stay still, most of the changes since 1.5 have been background things, tweaking and quite incremental. Hopefully 3.0 has something really good in it to justify my waiting for a decent Android tablet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's what I'm sayin. We just need a good music player, like the one in the youtube link a few posts above, and more quality apps. I must admit I was pretty excited about WP7, but I'm in the air bc I'd be losing flash for a few months, as well as all the cool *cliche* customizations. If Gingerbread is as good as expected I'm saying.
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App
if that is indeed the new ui, i can't help but feel a bit underwhelmed. i was expecting something a little more than better icons and an enhanced notification bar lol. can't wait to see this release though
knightnz said:
He's hardly trolling. Google need to change more than just invisible behind-the-scenes stuff, although adding Flash support was a fairly big deal. Android needs better support for large screens, a much better media/music player (Gapless support is way overdue if nothing else).
I'm perfectly happy with my N1 with 2.2, but Android can't stay still, most of the changes since 1.5 have been background things, tweaking and quite incremental. Hopefully 3.0 has something really good in it to justify my waiting for a decent Android tablet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for the support. I am glad not everybody just drinks the koolaid.
I would say the biggest task is to finally fix the really long list of bugs and annoyances in current version android/google apps. THEN they should tackle the GUI.
xtop said:
if that is indeed the new ui, i can't help but feel a bit underwhelmed. i was expecting something a little more than better icons and an enhanced notification bar lol. can't wait to see this release though
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Click to collapse
I am 100% with you on that.
I really like how MS thought outside the box for WP7/Zune.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dugI-robCuQ
Make that Gingerbread....that's what i get for rushing a thread before lunch.
Nice find. Am I alone in preferring the current look?
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niiiiice!!!!!!!!!
I hoped in new and more transitions effects...
but the major thing i don't understand is why some google widgets are white, and others are black...why don't keep it coherent, it would result much better
Even though green is my favorite color, it didn't look to good in the low quality pics that had been leaked so far. They were all blurry and I think over-saturated as well. But seeing it clearly now it looks much better then I had previously thought.
Also, I like that it's being demonstrated on an N1 still. Take that NS
Here's a screenshot of it, for everyones convenience.
More thumbs from the video at Engadget.
The new launcher graphic looks awful; and what's up with the boxy look of everything? Basic UI stuff like radio buttons look AWFUL now. I'd rather they look completely flat (black/white only) then the cartoon-like gray-ish flat graphics they decided to use in Gingerbread - in fact, I much prefer the Froyo look. Popups are now boring looking, even more so than before which is quite a accomplishment. The status bar is a mixed bag, in the blurry pics I hated it, now I only kind of hate it. I think I can get into a black bar but the icons looks worse - not that the olds were perfect but they were overall better than what I'm seeing here.
Overall I'd rather have the old Froyo look with 3D-gallery-app-like UI overhauls of other central apps, more core OS animations and maybe HW acceleration.
-Just an opinion from somebody who works professionally as a designer and who had high expectations for 2.3/Gingerbread.
Award Tour said:
had high expectations for 2.3/Gingerbread.
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Click to collapse
Why? Google has never said what changes are coming in Gingerbread, and EVERY bit of factual evidence thus far has pointed to no major UI changes.
Hopefully you are able to choose between a white or black status bar and the froyo or gingerbread dock.
GldRush98 said:
Why? Google has never said what changes are coming in Gingerbread, and EVERY bit of factual evidence thus far has pointed to no major UI changes.
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Click to collapse
that my friend...i believe is actually true.
it seems as though gingerbread is going to be a somewhat minor update. changes to the market, maybe changes to music and one or two more things.
if it does turn out to be a relatively minor update (compared to froyo) i would expect that honeycomb will be released a lot sooner than expected...maybe February/march
adam18488 said:
that my friend...i believe is actually true.
it seems as though gingerbread is going to be a somewhat minor update. changes to the market, maybe changes to music and one or two more things.
if it does turn out to be a relatively minor update (compared to froyo) i would expect that honeycomb will be released a lot sooner than expected...maybe February/march
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Fair enough; but who wouldn't consider this to be the most significant visual change since Android's initial release? I would, and like I said, the visual changes in my opinion have so far been bad.
moelester518 said:
Hopefully you are able to choose between a white or black status bar and the froyo or gingerbread dock.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't count on it.
Looks like someone made a boo-boo, the video has been taken down now.
yea, the video has been removed by user.
ahahah i saw it but you can't
The people over at Google HQ obviously need to consult with the MIUI graphic designers (consult with someone, please..). No, I don't want Android looking like an iPhone, but the other various changes they made simply just kill the default Vanilla design. Especially the music application. Honestly stock Android looks pathetic at this point compared to other User Interfaces.. very disappointing.
Eclair~ said:
The people over at Google HQ obviously need to consult with the MIUI graphic designers (consult with someone, please..). No, I don't want Android looking like an iPhone, but the other various changes they made simply just kill the default Vanilla design. Especially the music application. Honestly stock Android looks pathetic at this point compared to other User Interfaces.. very disappointing.
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Click to collapse
I'm a dual iPhone/Android user, and while iOS is still ahead in terms of looks (stock vs stock), stock Android wasn't bad. I actually kind of like it to be honest, just needs a little bit more work. This though is a step back.
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http://mashable.com/2010/12/02/android-gingerbread-demo-video/
Just about the most unimpressive home UI tweaks Ive ever seen.
They just made a few things green.
Maybe theres more but Im certainly not expecting it.
Someone needs to explain how some random guy makes Launcher Pro and thus Android home UI inifintely more usable and uniform. Yet google cant even get the dock portion right.
Googles reputation of making things not pretty continues. Im expecting 2.3 to be a very very big letdown.
I really don't see any real improvement to the ui . Didn't they said it'd be better looking and more useability and fun? Still ugly to me. Give me launcherpro with 2.2 and I'm happy. Gingerbread 2.3=fail
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App
I think the UI rehaul is for 3.0 Honeycomb.
Google has not even said anything about Android 2.3 other then its going to be called Gingerbread. Never said it was going to be a major update or completely change the UI. All the rumors speculated about a UI change but only subtle changes.
Yep, there's nothing official about gingerbread. We will know more once the xda gang get it on our devices!
generalamerica said:
I think the UI rehaul is for 3.0 Honeycomb.
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Click to collapse
Honeycomb is geared towards better tablet compatibility.
I think the major UI overhaul that was planned for Gbread was pushed back to Honeycomb. I'm not sure if this is because of the timing of the hire of Duarte (as in, maybe the UI was halfway there, they hired Duarte, and he scrapped it), or because they just didn't think they had time to implement it.
Either way, I think the major changes to Gingerbread will be under its skin... everyone's just focusing on the UI because that was probably the biggest touted change. My prediction is that we'll see better utilization of hardware, and thus improved efficiency... plus a number of new (but minor) features.
joshnichols189 said:
Honeycomb is geared towards better tablet compatibility.
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Click to collapse
From what I've heard Honeycomb is geared for tablets and superphones and it will start a split of higher end phones getting 3.0 and lower end phones get 2.X. I've seen a guy's phone that said he had 3.0 and it doesn't look like standard Android, the UI was much different. So unless he just had an awesome rom I'm sticking with there will be a UI change in 3.0.
this post is silly. if you think android is an ugly system and UI just use something else.
Launcher Pro looks exactly the same as the standard launcher besides the dock area.
It's a pretty widespread opinion that the Android UI is ugly, and that's the reason why Google is supposed to be overhauling it.
If it was beautiful I doubt manufacturers would spend so much money overhauling it as if it was Symbian 5th edition.
N8ter said:
It's a pretty widespread opinion that the Android UI is ugly, and that's the reason why Google is supposed to be overhauling it.
If it was beautiful I doubt manufacturers would spend so much money overhauling it as if it was Symbian 5th edition.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree that Android's UI needs some help. I'm liking the flat sharp look they're going for. Also, good to see they're sticking with black and green to try to keep consistency. Only little was shown on Gingerbread, but I'm liking it.
Also, even after Google does an overhaul, they will still skin it. It's not about whether it looks good or not, its about setting themselves apart from the competition.
EggoEspada said:
Also, even after Google does an overhaul, they will still skin it. It's not about whether it looks good or not, its about setting themselves apart from the competition.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you. I could not agree more with that statement.
Everyone has a personal preference. Some people love the ios ui; some people like me hate it. Yes I prefer Android and personally I prefer my android mostly unskinned (other than maybe a simple black bar theme -- ala Desire). It sounds like I'm in the minority -- but I also dislike 99% of the OEM skinned options like Sense, Motoblur, etc. The most important factor in those being what people in the company designing the UI want THEIR phone to feel like. Then this causes outrage from the users that don't like it. You can't please everyone. /rant
I believe there will be MINOR changes, most likely at a kernel and java level.
Well, I hope that there will be some significant improvement under the hood. From what I've seen so far, I'm not going to be impressed with the revised stock UI at all. In fact, I like the old UI much more (it might of course change over time as I get used to the new look). On the other hand, I'm using HTC Sense right now, which makes the revised UI redundant for me anyway, and I expect HTC to stick with Sense for the time being. Other manufacturers have their own UI too...
I'd be happy if 2.3 were just the same as 2.2 on feature level, but more efficient. Because even though I am impressed with what 2.2 stock phones are capable of doing right now, better battery life is always a good thing.
/rant/ said:
Well, I hope that there will be some significant improvement under the hood. From what I've seen so far, I'm not going to be impressed with the revised stock UI at all. In fact, I like the old UI much more (it might of course change over time as I get used to the new look). On the other hand, I'm using HTC Sense right now, which makes the revised UI redundant for me anyway, and I expect HTC to stick with Sense for the time being. Other manufacturers have their own UI too...
I'd be happy if 2.3 were just the same as 2.2 on feature level, but more efficient. Because even though I am impressed with what 2.2 stock phones are capable of doing right now, better battery life is always a good thing.
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Click to collapse
Google should dedicate one release per version chiefly to combatting issues with efficiency, speed, battery life, removing deprecated components, and other optimizations - with adding features being on the backburner.
That will at least allow manufacturers to deliver one update to fix known issues on handsets and make them work *better* in a timely fashion without spending 4-6 months reinventing the wheel and reintegrating everything into yet another release.
Also, I don't really blame the manufacturers. Android has some deep-rooted issues when it comes to the user interface and the only way to make it attractive to a majority of people is to make some deeprooted changes.
I personally think that android 2.2 (froyo) actually has a pretty good UI. Coming from an iPhone, I find the squared-off corners and minimalistic (moreso than the iphone, amazingly) UI elements a LOT more aesthetically appealing. I do dislike the non-support for full hardware acceleration and the non-skinned dock, but I suppose that that's a non-issue. Hopefully 2.3 or 4.0 will update the UI, but as it stands I'm not THAT bored of it (granted I've only had my Epic for a month, but still) so if google doesn't it's fine. I really, really, really want hardware acceleration though.
Android 2.3 is really a fail!
I just downloaded a android 2.3 SDK and tested my app, I disappointed very much about it. It's UI is so ugly than 2.2 and before, especially TabWidget style and black notification bar.
I think Google is going towards a wrong road just like Microsoft, and android is not as hopeful as before. Maybe when a company grow great enough, they must be going down...
The problem is, android is not windows yet, if they continue to wrong, they would be dying.
I do not really know what sets 2.3 apart from 2.2, except colour icons for call, programs, and web. My notification bar is a dark grey, so a black one really wouldn't affect me. I never heard of TabWidget.
For me, when I got Stock 2.2, I added on a fake HTC clock, a nice calendar that I'll never use, and have been looking for some other nice apps to throw on my home screens. It looks beautiful. I thought the point of Android was to be customizational? And so far, my Android phone is very much what I wanted it to be. So how could 2.3 radically change that?
I do think we should have more customization options, but it's amazingly more open and freeing than my old Windows Mobile phone with the earliest of Sense on it (HTC Touch Pro)
angingrich said:
I think the major UI overhaul that was planned for Gbread was pushed back to Honeycomb. I'm not sure if this is because of the timing of the hire of Duarte (as in, maybe the UI was halfway there, they hired Duarte, and he scrapped it), or because they just didn't think they had time to implement it.
Either way, I think the major changes to Gingerbread will be under its skin... everyone's just focusing on the UI because that was probably the biggest touted change. My prediction is that we'll see better utilization of hardware, and thus improved efficiency... plus a number of new (but minor) features.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I second this thought. The UI is a little better, but nothing major. Most of the hype I think was just that...hype with no real information from anyone except what they HOPED would be.
I assume...ASSUME...that before 3.0 comes out, we may see a 2.3.x that will include a more substantial UI update. Or it may jump up to 2.4 or 2.5 for the UI. Not sure how major or Minor Google considers a UI upgrade.
2.3, as we know now, was mainly meant to improve the underlying stuff and to implement the NFC. 3.0 is SUPPOSE to be an update to make android better support tablets (is that official? I'm honestly not sure if Google has officially said that yet), so if that's true then I suspect we'll see one more iteration of the 2.x before 3.0 to give us the UI upgrade that MANY was hoping for.
All that is just a theory though, we may move straight from 2.3 to 3.0 and Google may separate android then with 2 version. 3.0P and 3.0T (That's Phone and Tablet). Who knows, most we can do is wait and see. Though I do imagine at some point they will have a division of the OS for the Tablet and one for the Phone. Same features and all, just optimized for one or the other.
3.0 is nothing like what we've seen before. Its amazing.
I still havent got an update yet.
Ok I saw ics like most and im somewhat excited by the possibility of this update on the sgs2.
Now rather than focussing on ports, dev issues, etc. How about we talk about what were looking forward to the most?
Personally I've always found the ui of android lacking compared to its piers like iOS and WP7. My personal interest is in the new look, im running the excellent theme by vertimus and its made using the phone more enjoyable (odd I know) I think options like folders on the homescreens, and even the handling of the running apps makes the ui seem far more user friendly.
my second point I like is the facial unlock, i've never liked unlocking phone via codes or patterns, one people can learn them, and second there labourius
So i'll ask once DO NOT START RANTING ABOUT THE PORT, DEMANDING, ETC. JUST TALK ABOUT WHAT YOU'RE LOOKING FORWARD TO.
moderators if you think this is a bad post feel free to shut it down, and ill hold tongue re ics til a later time, id also suggest if some derails this topic u ban them, as a warning..
So what you looking forward to?
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
i demand to have a beta build to play with and i want it NOW haha i wanted to be a troll oh yeah by the way when is the release going to be
Just messing...anyways what i am looking forward to the most from ICS. well firstly the ultra smooth fujutweaks that make it extra crisp and smooth when scrolling through the homescreens. also the new layout and animations. to be honest mate although GB is good im just looking forward to the whole OS and i am wondering what the devs of gaming applications and other apps can do with the new beast once it comes out
Matriak31 said:
i demand to have a beta build to play with and i want it NOW haha i wanted to be a troll oh yeah by the way when is the release going to be
Just messing...anyways what i am looking forward to the most from ICS. well firstly the ultra smooth fujutweaks that make it extra crisp and smooth when scrolling through the homescreens. also the new layout and animations. to be honest mate although GB is good im just looking forward to the whole OS and i am wondering what the devs of gaming applications and other apps can do with the new beast once it comes out
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium
And as a side note.. Its a shame all the keyboard heroes couldn't shut their mouths n there by ruining your thread
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium
Ban the Matriak31, BAN HIM!!!
jokes
Yeah I think ICS will bring Android up to the same bar as it's piers, i'm also interested to see if the camera will be instantanious as the Nexus, this will be very useful to myself.
Also you guys have any views on the colour swap google have introduced, i mean green for how long now? and were switching to a colour which i'd call cyan... cyanogen?
diablous said:
Ban the Matriak31, BAN HIM!!!
jokes
Yeah I think ICS will bring Android up to the same bar as it's piers, i'm also interested to see if the camera will be instantanious as the Nexus, this will be very useful to myself.
Also you guys have any views on the colour swap google have introduced, i mean green for how long now? and were switching to a colour which i'd call cyan... cyanogen?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i wouldn't mind the colour change to be honest..Reminds me of Tron
I'm looking forward to the new awesome smoothness its reported to have . Hopefully force closes and lag will be a thing of the past come ics. and do u think Samsung will launch a new version of tw for the update? Or just release ics and add in the new features wit tw4 :L
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sent from my galaxy s2, using my fingers.
I think iOS has a good interface for a toy with that app drawer and nothing more where you don't even have widgets and you have to go to settings to enable or disable wifi, etc.
Now its about android or wp7 and yes... a real improvement for the intarface is wellcome.
To be honest, I am more than satisfied with my sgs 2 right now. However I will say I do look forward to hardware acceleration. I might not see the difference, but its still appreciated. Also maybe some system improvements would be nice so android would be more efficient at handling resources.
Quite a lot actually...
The camera interface and multitude of extra features that ICS has on offer.
Not much of TW. I mean TW has got better, but is still not in Sense's league (which actualy is pretty big resource hog, the reason why htc phones have never had good battery life). I wouldn't extra software tweaks and additional apps (bloatware..), but keep it non obtrusive.
Keep it as close to stock in terms of visual overlay. Stock ICS does look amazing.
Better battery management, no android os bug.
Better audio quality in video recording.
Better optimised browser and tabbed browsing. All of us do use third party browsers but an excellent stock browser wont hurt. Not everyone is a nerd and we do expect some things to be good , out of the box.
Steer clear of trying to copy ios.. (Sammy you know what I am talking about).
Loads of expectations but well that is just me.
I'm excited about the new multitasking, launcher, and redesigned UI and Widgets.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium
King Shady said:
I'm excited about the new multitasking, launcher, and redesigned UI and Widgets.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium
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Click to collapse
+1
Basically we were left out when honeycomb came out. They got the deal and we didn't so this is the update that brings us in the same league.
I am looking forward to Linux kernel 3. Efficiency Improvements. Better games with joystick support. Word like spell check throughout UI. Even smoother graphics. Kick ass mobile platform besting multi tasking. Data usage control like a BOSS.
Am waiting to see what Samsung does to ICS. I feel with touchwiz 4 they did an awesome job.
Sent from my GT-I9100
Honestly, this phone is close to perfect, as was my Android-running HD2 before it, but anything that improves battery life is particularly appreciated on the sgs2... I know its the old conundrum of battery tech not improving at a time of touchscreen frenzy, but a phone is a phone - something you occasionally need to depend on - and 24 hours does not cut it.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
It should be as battery resourceful as an iphone. xD
I'm looking forward to what the manufacturers are going to do...
What is HTC going to do with sense, what about Touchwiz, Motoblur etc etc?
The ICS UI/launcher looks great and my question is: Does it it need further modification by those companies?
I'm looking forward to rubbing my iphone using friends noses in the dirt!
Nah, just the smoothness and overall optimized speed and look of the ui. Not too big a fan of touchwiz ui though! We'll see.....
Cobesz said:
I'm looking forward to what the manufacturers are going to do...
What is HTC going to do with sense, what about Touchwiz, Motoblur etc etc?
The ICS UI/launcher looks great and my question is: Does it it need further modification by those companies?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not about looking great, it's about being different. We ain't no ios or wp7.
$1 gets you a reply
It seems a lot of users are unaware that touchwiz is hardware accelerated, including the stock browser. I underclock my sgs2 to 500mhz and its just as smooth and slick as default 1200mhz, no difference what so ever. If you use other launchers, you will notice the difference big time. Only really need the extra power for graphically demanding games like Shadowgun and Blood and Glory, and Flash player.
MDaveUK said:
It seems a lot of users are unaware that touchwiz is hardware accelerated, including the stock browser. I underclock my sgs2 to 500mhz and its just as smooth and slick as default 1200mhz, no difference what so ever. If you use other launchers, you will notice the difference big time. Only really need the extra power for graphically demanding games like Shadowgun and Blood and Glory, and Flash player.
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Click to collapse
The extra power for graphically demanding games isn't coming in the form of ICS. For that we need an improved GPU which unfortunately won't be until the sgs3 is released. That being said, try Siyah kernel, you can overclock the GPU and have no graphical issues.
---------- Post added at 05:22 AM ---------- Previous post was at 05:20 AM ----------
I'm hoping ICS reduces OS fragmentation. Sadly though, I fear it will only lead to more of it.
Improved battery management. Really, I don't ask for much.
I've patiently been waiting and flashing the alpha/beta ICS ROMs onto my phone as and when they come (thanks devs!).
What I am wondering is, why am I distinctly unimpressed with ICS?
Sure it looks pretty, but when you get down to the nuts and bolts of it, it seems to be form over function. The launcher now takes several swipes to access an app which I could previously have got to in one flick. The task switcher which used to be just long-press on home button then bam, touch your desired app, is now a case of long-press then swiping through a long list of pretty windows to find the one you need. Don't get me wrong, the changes to the built-in apps are good (and necessary - having to press menu to get to the draft new email button was ridiculously bad UI) - but I'm just left unimpressed overall.
And still we have the poor choppy scrolling performance that iOS and WP users laugh at instead of the ultra-smooth buttery goodness they enjoy (although it is better than it used to be I admit).
I know the ICS ROMs are a work in progress still, and I've not spent any time using a Galaxy Nexus - perhaps it all makes sense on a superphone with dual-cores and a massive screen, and these are non-issues for those people. But I am in no position to get a new phone (need a hardware keyboard and there aren't any better ones around) and hence I don't see much compelling reason to get ICS over GB - except for the apps maybe.
Am I the only person feeling this way?
Take into consideration these are ALPHA and BETA stages..cameras still don't even work. Just be patient
Sent from my HTC Vision using xda premium
Hm, I'd have to agree with you about the Task Switcher. There is little to no functionality to it. May I add widget grouping in the Drawer would also be a great addition. Otherwise, I liked most of the changes.
Although, I have two questions. What ICS ROM did/are you test(ing)? And did you try Overclocking? I'm currently running Virtuous Quattro (Beta 8) and have an overclock of up to 1,6GHz, and I can tell everything is running smooth as silk. Of course you don't have to OC to upto 1,6, but 1,2-1,3 would definitely suffice.
Edit: As spastic909 said, there will be a LOT of changes in the upcoming updates, this is only a preview of what we're soon going to get.
As a test I just overclocked to 1.8GHz on performance governor, and rebooted to ensure minimal running processes. This is on a fresh install of Andromadus Alpha v8, no apps installed except GAPPS - scrolling is still really choppy when going through lists, such as my GMail inbox and my contacts list. This is just a fact of life on Android, it doesn't matter what ROM you have, and I've been through a lot in the 14mths that I've had this phone
If iOS and WP can scroll smoothly EVERYWHERE on hardware much older/worse than my phone then there is something seriously wrong with Android at a deep functional level. I think Google needs to sort that out now they've "prettyfied" Android. Lipstick on a pig springs to mind. I love Android, and as it stands I would never consider iOS or WP. But I am jealous of the performance they get.
setspeed said:
As a test I just overclocked to 1.8GHz on performance governor, and rebooted to ensure minimal running processes. This is on a fresh install of Andromadus Alpha v8, no apps installed except GAPPS - scrolling is still really choppy when going through lists, such as my GMail inbox and my contacts list. This is just a fact of life on Android, it doesn't matter what ROM you have, and I've been through a lot in the 14mths that I've had this phone
If iOS and WP can scroll smoothly EVERYWHERE on hardware much older/worse than my phone then there is something seriously wrong with Android at a deep functional level. I think Google needs to sort that out now they've "prettyfied" Android. Lipstick on a pig springs to mind. I love Android, and as it stands I would never consider iOS or WP. But I am jealous of the performance they get.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So the addition of hardware acceleration for moving UI elements doesn't function in CPU realtime like the iPhone or Windows Phones? I'm still running Virtuous G-Lite here, haven't flashed any ICS roms yet as they are all in beta.
setspeed said:
Am I the only person feeling this way?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I feel exactly the same way especially in regards to the app list and recently used apps. I think those are steps backward which is keeping me on GB. However ICS does have some improvements in other areas of the OS which I wish I could enjoy.
Sent from my HTC Vision using Tapatalk
setspeed said:
As a test I just overclocked to 1.8GHz on performance governor, and rebooted to ensure minimal running processes. This is on a fresh install of Andromadus Alpha v8, no apps installed except GAPPS - scrolling is still really choppy when going through lists, such as my GMail inbox and my contacts list. This is just a fact of life on Android, it doesn't matter what ROM you have, and I've been through a lot in the 14mths that I've had this phone
If iOS and WP can scroll smoothly EVERYWHERE on hardware much older/worse than my phone then there is something seriously wrong with Android at a deep functional level. I think Google needs to sort that out now they've "prettyfied" Android. Lipstick on a pig springs to mind. I love Android, and as it stands I would never consider iOS or WP. But I am jealous of the performance they get.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Fast real-time UI scrolling has very little to do with actual performance. From what I loosely understand, Android is fundamentally more ambitious. Rather than being flawed compared to her competitors. iOS and WP7(Not 100% sure about this.) has the UI on some kind of urgent priority line to render scrolling at 60fps. Android on the other hand, won't forsake any other tasks for the UI scrolling. In essence, Android is closer to a true computer.
That said, I'm guessing the only way to stamp out Android's inherent lagginess is to brute force it with increasingly advanced hardware. Or in my case, using MIUI bulletproof w/ that Charger V6 script thingie gives it a comparable homescreen scrolling speed to the iPhone 3GS.
setspeed said:
As a test I just overclocked to 1.8GHz on performance governor, and rebooted to ensure minimal running processes. This is on a fresh install of Andromadus Alpha v8, no apps installed except GAPPS - scrolling is still really choppy when going through lists, such as my GMail inbox and my contacts list. This is just a fact of life on Android, it doesn't matter what ROM you have, and I've been through a lot in the 14mths that I've had this phone
If iOS and WP can scroll smoothly EVERYWHERE on hardware much older/worse than my phone then there is something seriously wrong with Android at a deep functional level. I think Google needs to sort that out now they've "prettyfied" Android. Lipstick on a pig springs to mind. I love Android, and as it stands I would never consider iOS or WP. But I am jealous of the performance they get.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There was a very good explanation to why you would be seeing this that I unfortunately don't remember where I found it, but it was a google employee explaining why android will never LOOK as smooth as iOs (despite both being almost the same) what it is, is that with iOS it prioritizes interaction above everything else, including rendering, in that, if you were to load a page on safari or whatever and while its loading start moving the page around, all rendering will stop, whereas with android it will try to do both simultaneous thereby resulting in what appears to be a choppier experience. As for google fixing this, they cannot (or rather will not) because it would literally require an overhaul of everything that is android to fix, yes it's do-able, but it would result in everything that we know to be android restarting practically from scratch (with some trial and error already done for us IE we know what works so we can implement it from the beginning) Hope this answers your concerns!
noneabove said:
iOS it prioritizes interaction above everything else, including rendering, in that, if you were to load a page on safari or whatever and while its loading start moving the page around, all rendering will stop, whereas with android it will try to do both simultaneous thereby resulting in what appears to be a choppier experience.
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Click to collapse
Hmm.. I'd read about it somewhere. And I'd also read elsewhere that the google devs wanted to find a decent middle ground to reduce this "choppiness" as well.
This the article others are referring to - https://plus.google.com/105051985738280261832/posts/2FXDCz8x93s
Also, another one from the same source (a senior Google/Android engineer) - https://plus.google.com/105051985738280261832/posts/XAZ4CeVP6DC
Sent from my Desire Z running CM7.
Yeah I was already aware of those posts by Dianne Hackborn and others. It also seems that NO-ONE including Hackborn herself can give a definitive answer (which doesn't then get refuted by someone) as to why iOS can achieve 60fps animation pretty much everywhere, and Android just fails spectacularly at it.
The technical issues are way above my head, and I have no real interest in changing that - I'm just a normal end-user (albeit one who likes to meddle, hence why I have an XDA account). What I would like to hear is that Google has a plan for fixing Android, whether that be through a rewrite or whatever, to nail this final issue of stuttery, laggy performance compared to the competition.
I think the original point of my post was that ICS doesn't seem to offer me much in the way of actual advantages over GB (except for apps). The launcher appears smoother (at the cost of now having to make mutliple swipes - a choice made to get around the abysmal list-scrolling performance). The task manager is prettier but less functional. It just seems like it's been tarted up, with none of the actual underlying issues fixed. That's how it is from my perspective.
I wish there was a viable alternative, as I am truly starting to get itchy feet. I know that I won't go anywhere at the moment, but one phone that really interested me was the Nokia N9. I never got the chance to actually use it, but all the reviews said that the Meego interface was a joy (despite a couple of minor performance issues and the fact Nokia killed it before it was born).
I think I'm starting to question whether in fact I need the advantages that Android offers at all. On a daily basis there is only one root app that I use and that is Adfree Android. Could I live without it - probably.
And although I love flashing new ROMs on my phone, and the choice that brings, ultimately I'm only trying to fix deficiencies with the software my phone came with. This DZ was dead slow when I first got it - overclocking and a new ROM fixed that. But when the competition is fast and smooth, would I feel the need for any of that? I suspect the answer is probably "Yes, I would miss it like anything". But the fact I'm asking myself these questions tells me I'm not perfectly happy with Android the way it is. iPhone users don't have that feeling. I know they expect less of a computer and more of an appliance, but when they have an amazing experience day after day, and I'm being frustrated day after day, I ask myself who really is the smarter one?
setspeed said:
I'm being frustrated day after day, I ask myself who really is the smarter one?
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Click to collapse
No one is smarter than anyone for choosing one particular brand over another. Its just a preference in the end.
While it's short sighted of you to equate UI scrolling to actual performance, you're quite entitled to love smooth scrolling.
And if 60 fps scrolling is your thing and if the lag bothers you that much. Then it would be wise to move to the iPhone or Windows. Especially if you believe it to be the smarter choice.
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App
Smarter as in "not spending a lot of time babying my phone". Is it possible to make the transition from phone tweaker to just phone user, and enjoy those benefits (scrolling performance, better quality of apps) instead of enjoying total control and customisation?? Who knows, but when my contract's up and if there isn't a decent qwerty Android on the market (highly likely) then maybe I should try a change!
The scrolling lag of Android is a software design "flaw" if you can call it that. Someone wrote a nice article on G+ about it. Essentially, Android spawns a thread for the UI and lets it do its thing. That's why when you scroll down, not only does the existing content move, but new content is also added on the fly. And this happens across the OS - when you are updating an app, the phone also is trying to address your latest command of swiping homescreens. The author went on to show how in iOS this is not the case, that when a webpage is loading and the user begins to scroll, the page stops loading and full processor power is dedicated to the scrolling, thus resulting in a smoother performance. Apparently, it is baked too deep into the kernel and changing that is not a trivial issue. thus, the only solution now is to throw more HP at it, which is why the latest crop of phones don't stutter too much.
I think I'm a victim of my own anticipation. Like most people here I check Android news on a daily basis. When a major version revision like 4.0 is announced I buy into all the hype and by the time it gets to release I'm ready for the second coming of Jesus. When that doesn't happen then I've set myself up for a major fall. ICS brings some welcome (and some not so welcome) changes, but there's nothing earth shattering here, it feels like an incremental improvement.
I'm setting myself up for some major flaming here, but I would like Google to pull out the big guns and wow us with something. Something like Siri.
Before you all lambast me, let me state my position - I don't think Siri will set the world on fire like Apple hopes it will, we're just not ready for it yet. And I know all us jaded tech types can sneer and say "I could do all this ages ago with Tasker and Voice Search and Vlingo etc etc". But what Apple has done is wrap it all up into a nice useable package that anyone can easily access, without having to think about it, or search the Market for apps. There is nothing wrong in spotting something that you think is great and adding it to your OS. And if you try and deny that this will how we will interact with our phones in 20yrs time (or perhaps via mind control!) then you are kidding yourself.
I know Apple bought it from an iOS dev, but equally they've polished it into something that is talked about by everyone - everyone has an opinion on it when they become aware of it. What does Android do (for the average user, who doesn't root/flash custom ROMs) that's anywhere near the same level of impressive? Widgets and nice Maps? I admit voice nav is a great selling point, but seriously, I think Google needs to step up it's game and start bringing out the big guns to compete with iOS which, although limiting in lots of ways, clearly has the most polished apps, the best user interaction in the mobile world when it comes to scrolling and smoothness, and they bring futuristic stuff like Siri to the party as a part of their standard OS. It's not about bragging rights, or showing off or anything like that - it's about being the best OS around, and at the moment, aside from the fact Android is very customisable even without root, I can't say it's 100% the best OS. It is for me, at the moment, and probably for you too if you're on this site, but for the rest of the general population I can see why Android doesn't really hold a candle to iOS in the layman's eyes.
Rant over!
The one major thing you're missing is that ICS was designed mainly to integrate functionality between both tablets and phones. Google made a decision and then decided they weren't to keep on developing Honeycomb nor likely wanted current tablets running cropped versions of GB when it was solely made as a phone OS.
So there was a notion to make a unification with devices running Gingerbread/Froyo along with tablets running GB/HC, thus ICS was formed.
ashwinmudigonda said:
The scrolling lag of Android is a software design "flaw" if you can call it that. Someone wrote a nice article on G+ about it. Essentially, Android spawns a thread for the UI and lets it do its thing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you're referring to the post from a guy who used to be an intern at Google, then that second article link I posted (from Dianne Hackborn) is basically pointing out how that guy posted some incorrect stuff.
Sent from my Desire Z running CM7.
steviewevie said:
If you're referring to the post from a guy who used to be an intern at Google, then that second article link I posted (from Dianne Hackborn) is basically pointing out how that guy posted some incorrect stuff.
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Click to collapse
Doesn't matter if the guy posted incorrect stuff.
The empirical evidence and summary is that Android does not prioritize UI and UI animations (nor sound threads), and never will this point forward, so far.
Dianne also pointed out a deficiency in the kernel for high-priority/foreground threads which they gave up on fixing since Android 1.6.
I notice this every day but I'm a tech if it ain't broken i don't want it...
I'm just throwing my thoughts around here, please correct me if I'm wrong and flame me if you must, I'm kind of just interested in this topic.
I've had an ipod touch. I've played with the iphone 3gs. I've seen the iphone 4g. I've even been offered to try siri for a few weeks. The 3gs actually wasn't a huge leap from an ipod touch. They pretty much slapped a phone on it, right? There was nothing I could do on a 3gs that I couldn't do on an itouch connected to wifi. Literally nothing. The change from 3gs to 4g was just that. 3g changed to 4g. Beyond that, the user experience was identical. Nothing had changed. The addition of siri added 100 bucks of value to the 4g though? Yeah, that kinda didn't make sense to me, as there are literally free apps that did the same thing. But behind siri was the same phone. Ios hasn't changed drastically since the first time we saw it. Granted it's ALREADY such a great phone.
But look at android. Younger, and from the g1 to the nexus s, HUGE improvements, and for pennies to the dollar cheaper. Android WILL improve. There's no question of that. At this point, my phone has literally replaced my desktop; and from a phone that has already reached EOL, that's quite an accomplishment. the next gen phones have way more muscle to swing out at the graphical glitches that plague us, and the OS just keeps improving.
ICS is merely a stepping stone into something bigger. And android, being as customizable as it is, offers ui similar to ios through miui (soon miuiv4). You can't put off the changes made between cupcake, eclair, froyo and gingerbread. How you can put off the changes yet to be made, however, is quite staggering.