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Google should buy WebOS, merge the Luna window manager it uses with Android to fix Android's terrible user experience, and release the whole thing as Android 5.0
Friday, 19-Aug-11 12:27:09 UTC from web-
@ceruleanspark I have an Android phone (htc Desire Z) I use it on a daily basis and bar for battery life (purchased an additional 2400 mAh battery for this) and a slightly quiet music playback experience I have no problems with it whatsoever.
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@leonkfox Android is really rough though, compared to how smooth WebOS is. Things like WebOS's unified messaging, or (god knows how google let this happen) better on-phone search. Things like being able to toggle your wireless connection type from the home-screen without a widget, always being able to find in-app settings in the same place. Direct-app switching by summoning your app-dock with a gesture without having to go back to the home screen. The active-bezel gesture system. Even little things like the OS offering to automatically redial someone in the event of a dropped call. Little things count. Designers in the past have called it "Death by a thousand cuts".
Friday, 19-Aug-11 12:39:19 UTC from web-
@ceruleanspark Android has wifi toggle and many other things in the pulldown bar, if you hold the home key it brings up a list of recently used apps, and you can configure it to go to the recent calls list when a call finishes. No idea what an active bezel is.
Friday, 19-Aug-11 12:44:59 UTC from web-
@starshine The toggle in the pulldown bar isn't stock android. It's part of CyanogenMod and some manufacturer derivatives. The recently apps thing, I know about, but it's not equivalent to WebOS's gesture, the gesture summons up your "Dock" so you can launch apps that aren't recent. Loading the recent-calls list isn't as convenient as being asked if you just want tor redial (WebOS drops you to that list anyway by default anyway) . An active bezel basically means that the touch sensitive area of the screen surface extends a little beyond the edge of the screen itself. On WebOS, this lets you do things like go "back" by swiping back, or change tasks by swiping "up" in the gesture area. It means you don't have to give up screen-real estate for on-screen controls, as well as providing a unified interface for all the apps on the handsett
Friday, 19-Aug-11 12:50:05 UTC from web
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@ceruleanspark Must confess I have not once found any of those to be an issue, but changing connection type? Most Android phones have quick settings in notification center, it's as easy as can be.
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Friday, 19-Aug-11 12:46:49 UTC from web
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@starshine I don't hate it so much as I want it to improve. I don't really consider it to be such a polarising issue. If google put a little more thought into the UX of their handsets, then I'd consider switching back.
Friday, 19-Aug-11 12:57:14 UTC from web-
@ceruleanspark I think the biggest problem is that there really is no "Android experience" for users. Just like when Linux tried to dominate the emerging netbook market and every company released some silly branded spin on some distro, every handset has some slightly different take on the base Android OS.
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@scribus This isn't an big issue when it's done right. But many software products are made from the developer's point of view so that novel users are lost in the user interface.
Friday, 19-Aug-11 13:22:54 UTC from Choqok-
@broniebrown Oh, God, is that ever true... The new systems they keep rolling out at work completely reconfigure how we have to perform our job for no reason. No study of what we do & how we do it. They just dream up a GUI and shovel it on out.
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@starshine Never really got that impression, he seems quite open minded to me, we just have different opinions on Android as a platform. I for one love it, but this is of course after changing to Launcher Pro.
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Friday, 19-Aug-11 20:17:21 UTC from web
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@rotation More recent than Gingerbread?
Friday, 19-Aug-11 12:55:45 UTC from web-
@ceruleanspark there's a newer one, isn't honeycomb newer?
Friday, 19-Aug-11 12:59:30 UTC from web-
@koen Honeycomb is tablet-only at the moment. I've never really played with it.
Friday, 19-Aug-11 13:00:15 UTC from web-
@ceruleanspark it's quite alright... i've fiddled with it on tablets in shops, it seems fair
Friday, 19-Aug-11 13:06:53 UTC from web
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@ceruleanspark no it's not.. i feel like a tool...
Friday, 19-Aug-11 12:59:49 UTC from web
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@rotation Really? I don't have it on my handset. Are you running a custom ROM?
Friday, 19-Aug-11 13:01:35 UTC from web-
@ceruleanspark The pulldown has been stock since 2.3 at the newest, maybe 2.2. They got it from the Cyanogen guys, I think. - In any case, why is a widget objectionable? It does the same task, so I don't see why the low-level details are relevant.
Friday, 19-Aug-11 13:09:15 UTC from web-
@starshine (It must be 2.3. It definitely wasn't 2.2) That's kind of my entire point actually. The low level details DO matter. WebOS is full of thoughtful details (A lot of the smaller touch targets respond to being swiped over, for instance) that make the OS easier to use. Android doesn't really have anything like that.
Friday, 19-Aug-11 13:16:04 UTC from web-
@ceruleanspark and my point was that HOW the thing you tap to toggle wifi is presented isn't relevant - it does the same thing and you're still tapping on something. This whole discussion is starting to feel a lot like the old debate in how (Mac OS / Windows) is better because the window management buttons are on the (left / right).
Friday, 19-Aug-11 13:23:58 UTC from PonyNet Android-
@starshine i try to avoid the mac/windows arguments by using Ubuntu... then i realise Ubuntu doesn't support anything that i own :3
Friday, 19-Aug-11 13:26:22 UTC from web-
@koen how does it not support your hardware? Ubuntu probably even has a dishwasher edition by now.
Friday, 19-Aug-11 13:28:35 UTC from PonyNet Android-
@starshine not the hardware, the software i use constantly xD ... i'm not enough of a pirate to download everything illegally :3 (Glancing on the left hand side of the screen with several torrents downloading)
Friday, 19-Aug-11 13:30:24 UTC from web -
@starshine I want one!
Friday, 19-Aug-11 13:44:04 UTC from web
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@starshine If we're talking about it being in the notification bar, then yes, they're functionally equivalent.
Friday, 19-Aug-11 13:28:44 UTC from web -
In any case, as much as I'd love to continue this discussion, I've got to split. Bye~
Friday, 19-Aug-11 13:32:00 UTC from PonyNet Android
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