Author Topic: Everything Android - The Official Android Thread (Read 321249 times)

shingi_70 · « **Reply #1100 on:** June 27, 2014, 04:59:06 PM »

The Acer looks good, but I wish it was as good looking as the pixel or the Chromebook 11.

Think I'm going to get a Android Wear watch come this Christmas. Funny how far Android has come and now androids main marketing for their products seems about the combination of design, fashion, and technology.

BlackNMild2k1 · « **Reply #1101 on:** June 28, 2014, 09:37:04 AM »

Had anyone heard of the Oppo Find 7?
http://www.engadget.com/products/oppo/find/7/specs/

I have one of their DVD players and it's a damn good, so I'm wondering if anyone had seen, heard our had hands on this phone.

pokepal148 · « **Reply #1102 on:** June 28, 2014, 04:25:08 PM »

So tiny little rant I need to get off my chest.

The newest YouTube update is like 8mb and so I decinde I'm going to update it. I have about 500mb open so I figure why not.

So I try to download it off the play store and get the stupid 'insignificant storage' notice.

so Google, if 500mb isn't enough to download an 8 mb app are you gonna tell me what is? No? Are you going to explain to me why I need 500mb to download an 8mb update? No? Well at least I can click somewhere on your oh so informal notification and be taken to my storage settings right? No?

It's probably some cache thing somewhere but google, you need to explain what the hell is going on here this is absurd and I shouldn't need over 500mb open storage to download an 8mb update, what the hell?

Stratos · « **Reply #1103 on:** June 28, 2014, 04:35:11 PM »

The storage issue is really my only complaint with my Galaxy S2. Next phone I get I will be sure does not have those silly storage issues.

pokepal148 · « **Reply #1104 on:** June 28, 2014, 07:39:06 PM »

This isn't a device thing either i mean i had this issue with the ZTE Avail which runs stock gb (soon i will finally replace that thing) this is something Google has been having issues with for a while. The issue lies with google play.

Stratos · « **Reply #1105 on:** June 28, 2014, 07:44:09 PM »

It's a play issue and not an android one? I just blamed it on android when my updates failed due to "storage issues". I just stopped updating my apps unless I viewed it as a very important app.

pokepal148 · « **Reply #1106 on:** June 28, 2014, 08:11:13 PM »

either that or I have two unlucky hits. perhaps it's an issue of the storage analysis thing misreading how much free space I have but I don't think so.

BranDonk Kong · « **Reply #1107 on:** June 29, 2014, 10:07:11 AM »

Google will prevent OEM's from customizing the UI on Android Wear, Auto, and TV.

http://www.androidcentral.com/google-prevent-oems-customizing-ui-android-wear-auto-tv

YES. It makes sense to allow OEM's to slap their own UI on top of Android for phones, since that's part of the drawing point for many phones. I could even see if for Android Wear, but TV and Auto need to have the same UI among every device, period.

shingi_70 · « **Reply #1108 on:** June 29, 2014, 02:29:27 PM »

Makes sense, while they had to make Android open source and customizable its probably the worst thing Google could have done for the OS in the long term.

NWR_insanolord · « **Reply #1109 on:** June 29, 2014, 02:50:22 PM »

Android wouldn't have been as successful as its been if Google had tried to lock it down. They're trying to pull it back a bit, but I'm not convinced they'll be successful.

shingi_70 · « **Reply #1110 on:** June 29, 2014, 03:20:43 PM »

I know, but I feel since ICS that the OEM skins have been dragging Android down to a point where ios and windows phone don't have to deal with. For all its awesomness of Android L, most people won't even see its changes outside of apps.

Google has been trying to take control of Android so to speak for a while now. It was telling when they killed off reader, Gallery, and Music in favor of their Google controlled counterparts.

I don't they'll be successful either but it seems like they're gearing up to try.

They finally have all of their services and apps working together as well as having a common desgin language. When they make the Jump to L every major Google app and service needs to be redesgined the same day. Google tends to have a problem with updating an app with a new look and the others being updated later.

Android One should be good at grabbing the emerging markets, but i'm a bit suprise they didn't announce it as a push in America and other western markets. Android still doesn't have a lot of good low end models and a nice low end phone would be paired wonderfully with google's own chromebook Initiative especially in schools.

I don't think google will do well till they get a concreate marketing push. The Nexus 7, chromebook, and google play rebranding went very well becuase google actively marketed them all the time on the web and TV.

[/size]But it seems google wants android without putting in the work as evidence by selling Motorola off to Lenovo. The Moto devices are good phones but they should have been branded google.[size=78%]

[/size]But at the end of day Google is weird bone headed company at times. Despite the fact that mobile chrome works good with touch, and they make a chromebook with a touch screen, desktop chrome isn't natively touch friendly and only works if you enable stuff in flags. [size=78%]

Stogi · « **Reply #1111 on:** June 29, 2014, 03:36:59 PM »

Google stock phones have always been cheaper though.

Furthermore, those wanting a vanilla experience can do it with very little trouble. I, for one, like what Samsung and HTC and others are doing. It's like they are right along side the developers at XDA trying to put the best version of Android out there.

But, and this an assumption, most people could careless about the software, just as long as everything works and most thinks are easily customizable. That's the appeal of android in the first place. It basically an unlocked iPhone.

shingi_70 · « **Reply #1112 on:** June 29, 2014, 04:00:37 PM »

Maybe its cause I'm a tech guy who likes to dabble in design but I hate skins. It lacks the cohension as well as the speed and joy to use that I've found I get with stock andorid, iOS, and Windows Phone.

If you guys want to try it the L keyboard is in the marketplace. Somebody ripped it from the emulator and put it in its own apk.

L just looks so good.

So looks like the nexus 8/9 will be 4:3.

BranDonk Kong · « **Reply #1113 on:** June 29, 2014, 05:32:06 PM »

I'm not a fan of 4:3, but 3:4 (as in portrait mode of 4:3) tends to work better for reading. I'm also not completely sold on those new icons, I see nothing wrong with the old ones (and will SONY sue?). I could try out L right now on my Nexus 7...but it seems that there is a lot that doesn't work yet.

pokepal148 · « **Reply #1114 on:** June 29, 2014, 07:54:30 PM »

so google is now beating the on-screen buttons with the ugly stick? Great...

shingi_70 · « **Reply #1115 on:** July 01, 2014, 01:13:02 PM »

Speak of the devil.

http://gigaom.com/2014/07/01/want-to-build-chrome-or-android-apps-from-a-chromebook-now-you-can/

Might seriously think about picking up a chromebook soon. Will ait to see if the Chromebook 11 firesale hits sub $150 prices.

The newer menu buttons are the only thing I find off about L so far. It just doesn't go with the OS and feels like it ould have went better with Honeycomb or Roboto.

Here's a big meatly ebook on Material Desgin and how to use it.
http://www.google.com/design/spec/material-design/introduction.html

It has a ton of images of what the future google apps will look like with it.

Gmail

Calander

Google Drive

Google Now

Google Music

Google Maps

Unsure what app this is

Google Books

Keep

Google Newstand or Google Reader relaunch

Google Desktop possible makeover

I'm guessing they're going to keep the web ap[s but also push all the Google Android Apps to Chrome OS where it makes sense.

pokepal148 · « **Reply #1116 on:** July 01, 2014, 01:51:01 PM »

Man I am not a fan of how L looks.

Stogi · « **Reply #1117 on:** July 01, 2014, 02:49:21 PM »

I think it's clean but I'd still rather have physical buttons for things like Home/Back/Menu.

shingi_70 · « **Reply #1118 on:** July 01, 2014, 02:53:29 PM »

Is it the reliance on more Pastel colors to contrast the black/white main spaces, or is the somewhat Flat desgin similar to ios and Windows. Or is it how casual it is, despite being less rigid ios and Windows Phone still look pretty uniform all things considered.

Anyword on if the Moto 360 will have changable bands like the LG G Watch does. As much as I like the moto being able to change watch bands is a big selling point for me.

pokepal148 · « **Reply #1119 on:** July 01, 2014, 03:23:42 PM »

I think it's the flat pastels and ugly on-screen buttons.

shingi_70 · « **Reply #1120 on:** July 01, 2014, 03:43:55 PM »

Well it isnt completely flat in some of the cards you can see shadows. But yeah this was going to be just as polarizing as ios7/Yosemite and windows.

I'm wondering how developers will change their apps to reflect it. An app like pocket will be able to make the cgnage pretty seamlessly but something like Press probably won't.

pokepal148 · « **Reply #1121 on:** July 09, 2014, 10:50:48 AM »

I feel like the android interface in general has had alot of aesthetic changes that I haven't enjoyed. Like Aesthetically I think android peaked at 2.3. I just feel that 2.3 had a more sorta 'high tech-industrial' feel whereas L seems to have embraced a style inspired by 'Joeseph's Technicolor dream coat'

I feel that I've been finding myself disagreeing more and more with some of google's (along with collective decisions by OEMS) decisions regarding android, for example:

SD cards: It seems that nobody wants to have an SD card slot on their phone anymore. While I realize that SD cards can cause some issues with App specific data and can cause some confusion with the average consumer the value of having a separate storage option for photos and music and stuff like that is invaluable.

The Menu Button: ok the reason google gave is that they felt the menu button was causing confusion with consumers... that's bullshit.

I suspect that Google decided they wanted the multi-tasking button thing on there because that's a big thing in android and decided that the menu button was the least important of the three to the way android operates.

My issue here is twofold:
1. the Multitasking button fails to justify having more then something like 'if you hold the home button for 2 seconds you can access your recent apps and running tasks'

2. the excuse for getting rid of the menu button is bullshit. The menu button at it's core is basically a 'stuff' button. you press the button and 'stuff' happens. The nature of the 'stuff' that happens depends on what app you're using. THAT ISN'T HARD TO UNDERSTAND

And Onscreen buttons:
Now in order to understand my issue with on-screen buttons we're going to take a look at what LG did for the G2 pro.

You see that? That's something you can do with on-screen buttons.

If I get a phone with on-screen buttons there is no reason I shouldn't be able to rearrange them to match Samsung's format. Now I get alot of people prefer the standard layout but I see no reason to not offer a bit of flexibility.

And a few things with bloatware which everyone's guilty of (my phone doesn't need google+ to be a phone.)

And some other little things.

BranDonk Kong · « **Reply #1122 on:** July 09, 2014, 11:25:33 AM »

You forgot to finish your poast, bruh.

Oblivion · « **Reply #1123 on:** July 09, 2014, 01:15:24 PM »

On-screen button > Real button

pokepal148 · « **Reply #1124 on:** July 09, 2014, 01:40:13 PM »

Quote from: Oblivion on July 09, 2014, 01:15:24 PM

On-screen button > Real button

in your opinion... the way they are implemented right now with Android in general makes it difficult for me to see an advantage here.

If what LG brought to the table there becomes standard though I might change my tune.

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Author Topic: Everything Android - The Official Android Thread (Read 321249 times)