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I have been thinking a lot lately about my phone, I have a Galaxy S and I felt some features that were not there or missing without the third party apps, I think putting these together will help making an already amazing operating system even better
1. SMS and call history
Google should come with service where these are backed up on Google servers, or have the option to save it to the external sd card, so that when you format your phone they should be back again. (Yes I know there are third party software’s that does that but something like that should be a part of Google android)
2. Google Talk with Video Integration.
(Right now Yahoo, fringe etc. are there for video chat) but Google should come up with their own video integration service.
3, Google doc support.
Android is lacking with Google doc support, I hope they come up with it, in coming versions.
4. Google chrome,
It should be the default Browser, and should come up as preinstalled browser on the Android.
5. Bookmarks.
Google should come up with a service like xmarks and xpass, which saves your bookmarks and passwords on the servers and sync them with your home and office computers.
6. Video/music player.
I saw this somewhere on the xda where they have put in upcoming default player for android that would be a great thing to come. Also I would want it to have an option where it gives you option to select the directory which you want to scan and put into the music and video player. I don’t want it pick anything and everything (Like the game video/music files)
7. Google sync.
Google should come up with a default pc application, not something like HTC has their own, and Samsung has bull**** kies. Also it should have options to save a back up for settings, sms, applications and call logs etc.
8. Market.
They made the interface better but they still need to sync it much better to the Google account and next time when you format the phone, the applications which the person has always be using, should come in the list of previously installed applications, so that we can install them all in one go.
9. Power saving feature.
I used the task killers etc.. They don’t really do anything. but one thing I do not know when you close the application why does it keep running in background? We don’t really need this, it should be more like Symbian once you close the app, it should not run unless you rerun it.. (This will help fix the battery issues)
10. Google maps.
They are getting better and better day by day with maps, but one thing I would say is still lacking is the navigation part. Google Navigation is really not as good as the Igo, Garmin etc. They should allow you to download the map of the city you are in and should show route by route navigation. Also There is a Mark your place option missing, you can mark your house etc, unless you save it as a contact on Google maps, which is annoying..
This is my experience on Android and features which I feel are missing and can make the Android the best OS on the earth ...
PS. This feedback is more related with software only, if you know any feature that you miss the most, comment
Gaurav Kainth
Android SGS user
196 views 0 reply
Guyz this is not something random picked from some site.. this is what I feel is missing on the android... worth a reading.. may be some devlopers put these issues accoss and might help us all
Contrary to popular believe google software is far from the miracle work it's made out to be. In fact their software is often rather immature. Best example of that is google maps but the whole android os is another example. However, unlike microsoft, google is not looking to provide an all in one solution by themselves. They are in fact intentionally leaving out many of the features you mention in order to make those a commodity (and it works, there are apps for most of those functions). It's bad and good for the enduser at the same time. But considering google's software quality, I think it's mostly positive.
PS: Leaving voice and video out of gtalk on the mobile is retarded. But it will likely change with the new apis introduced in android 2.3
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
They probably do back up your call history and SMS messages lol.
Market should be a part of Android (AOSP), not Google Apps.
1. SMS and call history
Syncing to a server would enrage privacy organisations, regular users don't flash thier phone every week. But being able to read them in Gmail would be awesome.
2. Google Talk with Video Integration.
Will be here within months, Andy Rubin already showed it on the dive into D:mobile interview
3, Google doc support.
Google docs = webbased, you can edit in the webversion.
4. Google chrome,
Browser already uses the V8 engine and the webkit renderer, just like chrome.
5. Bookmarks.
Bookmarks already get saved and synced on google phones and AOSP roms, samsung disabled it?
6. Video/music player.
7. Google sync.
it's called google apps (gmail, calendar, picasa, enz)
8. Market.
AOSP roms automatically reinstall all your apps after a reset/flash, samsung disabled it?
9. Power saving feature.
Apps dont keep running, they just keep in the RAM so they don't need to reload. They only keep running if they have ongoing processes, and then you probably want them to keep running.
10. Google maps.
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10charsoutsideaquote
RambJoe said:
They probably do back up your call history and SMS messages lol.
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Click to collapse
Lol yeah you never know but atleast they should give users an access to that
I agree with every point.
I think a major advantage of the Nook is being able to go for 2 or 3 weeks on a single charge, if correctly setup after rooting. That however, relies on being offline as WiFi drains the battery so fast. I tend to keep the Nook for offline things because of this and use a phone for online things.
Most of the apps I have are related to reading and reference. However, I've found a few that don't need connectivity that often and so makes most sense on the nook rather than a phone.
Here's my list of apps in order of unusualness:
- Google Authenticator; doesn't need connectivity and without QRcodes you can configure it manually. Bit of a pain to do but it works.
- "Simply Do"; simpler to use than evernote. lighter and won't screw the battery
- Opera Mobile; can browse local files offline. Just use "/" as the address to get started. I save webpages in myfiles, bookmarl my files and then read it later. I find this simpler than "Read it later" or whatever the latest thing is
- Photos for reference; can be useful to be able to see your photos this way; battery lasts longer than on the mobile phone. Can have photos of reference docs this way. You can save a QRcode of a Bitcoin address or private key. Probably scope here for more possibilities
- KeePassDroid; keep your passwords here
- AGP encryption; it can actually encrypt local files with your PGP key or use a passphrase so this too can
- NewsRob, gReader, Instafetch and even syncing things like email only need intermittent connectivity so you can get your articles and then carry them elsewhere when offline. Need a better offline article sync app: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1811873
- Maps. I use MapDroyd with about 4gb of maps but it's a bit basic and only there in case my phone battery runs out. I wonder if there's a better alternative? Of course it's a bummer without GPS but that's how maps were in the old days right? edit: see Orux Maps
- "Calculations"; this app has a calulator but also remembers your unit conversion rates for you
Things I haven't yet tried:
- Dictionaries; which do you recommend?
- offline translation; I only know of dictionaries to look up individual words, nothing that works offline but can do sentances
Semi offline things:
- connect to a laptop VNC via USB networking to save screen power
edit:
Generally my focus here was offline apps or apps that don't need much syncing and so can save the battery the most. I figured games aren't essential so won't include. See rest of thread of these things.
Notes from replies ->
Reading & notes:
-Goodreads
-Mantano
-Instafetch
-Speed Reader
-Evernote (screws the battery but you can put a freeze & refreeze widget on your desktop with Titanium backup or App Quarantine)
-gReader
-Documents to Go (paid office docs app)
Syncing:
-DropSync
-k9mail
Photos:
-Quickpic
Maps:
-Orux Maps
Reference:
-Colordict (does translation and thesaurus)
jago25_98 said:
Things I haven't yet tried:
- Dictionaries; which do you recommend?
- offline translation; I only know of dictionaries to look up individual words, nothing that works offline but can do sentances
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try colordict, it really is useful and simple. And is compatible with many of 3rd party readers.
Yep, ColorDict is awesome.
I'm currently trying to optimize my rooted Nook (MinimalTouch) by disabling features that I don't use:
- I've started with a Barnes&Noble services. I've frozen them all (like ~10 of them). STR works perfect.
- Then I've frozen few Google apps - Talk, Calendar and Gmail. It happend that without them I can't use Search Market (downloading files not starting). Does anyone know which Google services I can remove in order to keep Market working?
It's really hard to keep track of what causes what in battery drain problems.
Some of the problems can be intermittent.
I seen to have less (no?) problems since disabling most of the B&N stuff and never installing any Google stuff.
I also disabled all the unnecessary receivers in the stock Reader.
I had seen problems in the past where the touch panel did not turn off in sleep mode.
In android 2.1 it is required to have google talk working in order to make market work.
NookSimpleTouch/Tapatalk 2
domi.nos said:
In android 2.1 it is required to have google talk working in order to make market work.
NookSimpleTouch/Tapatalk 2
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Thanks! Indeed problem was with GTalk.
BTW: Does your Tapatalk2 works correctly on Nook? I can browse catalog of recommended forums (post, login etc. works) but I can't find my own forums (which I'm sure they support tapatalk). Is this normal?
Rafsen said:
Thanks! Indeed problem was with GTalk.
BTW: Does your Tapatalk2 works correctly on Nook? I can browse catalog of recommended forums (post, login etc. works) but I can't find my own forums (which I'm sure they support tapatalk). Is this normal?
Click to expand...
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thanks for the colordict tip but its only a dictionary. can't do multiple words a t a time and have to click search on each word.
agreed that its best to avoid gapps if possible and find an alternative way to getting the .apks off market.
I didnt have much trouble with b and n apps? I disabled a few things but can't remember now. certainly phone.apk helped removing.
I'm with Renate here, I find that rooting and then sideloading the apps I want rather than having the market running seems to do my battery a lot of good.
Unlike Renate, I'm not able to simply write my own apps
I'm surprised that Amazon's appstore doesn't seem to be equally as much work for the battery as google's is, but it doesn't seem to be, even though many of the Amazon appstore-linked apps do check to be sure the appstore is available.
thank you guys alot. any recommendations for game
Rafsen said:
Thanks! Indeed problem was with GTalk.
BTW: Does your Tapatalk2 works correctly on Nook? I can browse catalog of recommended forums (post, login etc. works) but I can't find my own forums (which I'm sure they support tapatalk). Is this normal?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, as a standard NST issue, it cannot search using default method. But I did it by setting Tapatalk on my phone, making a backup using titanium backup, or go backup, then just restore it on Nook. Searching is still a problem but it takes 3 minutes.
GT-I5700/Tapatalk 2
my apps
Evernote
Dropbox
Instafetch
K9 mail
Opera
Remote for iTunes
QuickPic
Mantano reader
Speed Reader
ezPDF Reader
IM+
Seesmic
DropSynch
Orux maps
Real Calc
Root explorer
mSecure
Goodreads
gReader Pro
airdroid
colordict
document to go
chess free
On my to do list for the Nook at the mo:
- finding lineart wallpapers that fit the screen... what is the screen res?
- finding a less animated launcher
- finding a way to share files without dismounting the sd card (checking out SwiFTP)
- an alterative to astro with working filenames (checking out estrong)
- wondering how to link a vncserver on windows to a separate desktop rather than simply sharing what is seen
jago25_98 said:
On my to do list for the Nook at the mo:
- finding lineart wallpapers that fit the screen... what is the screen res?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
600x800. Some grayscale images work very well (Ansel Adams photos, for example). Between Google image search and Deviant Art, you should find plenty of line art!
- finding a less animated launcher
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use ADW EX with the animations turned down, but I rarely see my launcher, so it doesn't bother me much.
- finding a way to share files without dismounting the sd card (checking out SwiFTP)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
SSH Droid works very well for both command line and SFTP access. I use it with WinSCP in SFTP mode.
- an alterative to astro with working filenames (checking out estrong)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ES File Explorer allows both root access, and direct access to networked (e.g. Dropbox) folders in the same interface, which is very handy. It suffers the "too colorful" experience on the NST that a lot of apps do, but it's definitely usable.
Hello everybody,
last year I bought a Kindle 4 (non-touch) and I liked the eInk reading experience so far. The main reason for me: I am travelling a lot for business and I prefer packing light.
But at the same time I am an avid Android user (Galaxy Nexus at the moment) and love taking a break checking my newsfeeds with Google Reader throughtout the day, while sending longer articles to the App "Pocket" (formerly Read It Later).
This was the main thing missing on my kindle...as it just didn't work natively. The detour sending the articles reformated with e.g. Istapaper to my kindle-whipsernet mailadress is just uncomfortable.
I was searching through the forum and kept watching YouTube Videos about the rooted Nooks and other ebook readers with Android on it, because I wanted to find out if it works flawless with apps such as:
Dropbox (keeps loads of work related pdfs in there)
Pocket (formerly Read It Later)
Evernote
What is your experience with it?
The nook so far seems to be the best solution for my requirements.
And I actually like the glow feature and that the buttons now work with custom Roms. Or did I get that wrong?
Thank you very much in advance!
I hope I am not asking too much. If I was just too stupid to find information please give me a hint Thanks!
Leo
My personal experience
Evernote works, sometimes it Force Closes, I think Dropbox works perfectly, and Pocket currently is not supported; maybe you should try an older version, when it was still Read It Later.
I'm pretty satisfied with my Nook, I don't know if the new Kindle Paperwhite is based on Android, but if it is I'll consider getting one.
I can confirm that Read It Later (previous version of Pocket) works perfectly.
I got the apk out of one of the other threads, but I should be able to dig up what version it was later.
For Dropbox I'm using app called Dropsync which support two way synchronization - so far I'didn't have any problems with it. Works fast and easy.
Instead of Pocket u can use Instafetch (supports Instapaper.com).
alejandro.lopezavila said:
Evernote works, sometimes it Force Closes, I think Dropbox works perfectly, and Pocket currently is not supported; maybe you should try an older version, when it was still Read It Later.
I'm pretty satisfied with my Nook, I don't know if the new Kindle Paperwhite is based on Android, but if it is I'll consider getting one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you very much
I can live with force closes from time to time, as long as I would have access to notes that I can just leave open on a screen that doesn't consume any energy!
Ramides said:
I can confirm that Read It Later (previous version of Pocket) works perfectly.
I got the apk out of one of the other threads, but I should be able to dig up what version it was later.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is fine enough
Thank you very much!
As I am not the biggest fan of the new blown-up pocket interface anyways
Rafsen said:
For Dropbox I'm using app called Dropsync which support two way synchronization - so far I'didn't have any problems with it. Works fast and easy.
Instead of Pocket u can use Instafetch (supports Instapaper.com).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I am a paid user for dropsync by myself. I love it!
Great to hear that it works flawless Thanks!
Thank you all for your comments!
(Sorry, was absent over the weekend and last days.)
Now I am trying to get a Nook in Germany :victory:
Yesterday I finally received my Nook Simple Touch Glowlight and love it so far.
The feature of sideloading custom android Launcher and being able to use apps is just phenomenal.
I rooted using NookManager and installed the gapps package. That so far works flawless!
But, however, I am still missing Pocket / Read it Later
Does anyone still have a working apk?
There are around 1000 articles saved in my pocket and I can't just switch to Instapaper.
Furthermore...does anyone have a apk of the stock Google Reader?
Thanks
Okay...there we go:
http://www.apktops.com/read-it-later-pro-1-3.html
Read it Later Pro v.1.3 :good::laugh:
Found it an old Lifehacker article, called "Turn your rooted Nook into the ultimate ereader with these 10 apps"
http://lifehacker.com/5926798/turn-your-rooted-nook-into-the-ultimate-ereader-with-these-10-apps
Anyways...worth a read
Getting all set up.
Dropbox, DropSync, Evernote, Gmail, Calendar, Read It Later, Opera Mobile, Maps, Google Drive, Google Reader, Amazon Kindle, AnkiDroid, Translate, Urban Dictionary, Dict.cc Plus
:victory:
Odp: Rooted Nook: Problems using Dropbox / Pocket (Read it Later) / Evernote?
You may want to check using your own RSS feed from pocket. Just add it to e.g. RssDemon, which works great on nook.
Wysłane z mojego GT-I5700 za pomocą Tapatalk 2
Oh thanks!
I didn't know that there is an RSS feed!
But I can't imagine that there is a synchronisation?
Because RSS doesn't allow any feedback from the client if I am not mistaken.
(I am not home right now...so I can't test it )
spaboleo said:
Oh thanks!
I didn't know that there is an RSS feed!
But I can't imagine that there is a synchronisation?
Because RSS doesn't allow any feedback from the client if I am not mistaken.
(I am not home right now...so I can't test it )
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I works just as standard RSS, if there is something new to download detected, it is downloaded. But only once app perform time based checks (every hour for example). So it is not a push service, like in mails ( right the time one comes it is downloaded, i presume)
Ah...hmm...yeah then I could just read them directly in my RSS reader I guess
The temporary storage of articles that I want to read later is what comes in handy
Well the Read it Later APK from above still works, even though the scrolling is a bit odd on the nook. I have to perform quite long strokes on the screen to get it to move forward.
Anyways...better than nothing :good:
Too bad that Google will discontinue the service for Google Reader...it was such a convenient webapp
Evernote has stopped working for me - the screen always just blinks for a second when I'm trying to open the app. I tried deleting the cache, deleting the dalvik cache, reinstalling the app and rebooting - nothing helped. I wonder, if this is related to the latest update 5.0.2? Has anybody elso got similar isues? Thanks!
schlozi23 said:
Evernote has stopped working for me - the screen always just blinks for a second when I'm trying to open the app. I tried deleting the cache, deleting the dalvik cache, reinstalling the app and rebooting - nothing helped. I wonder, if this is related to the latest update 5.0.2? Has anybody elso got similar isues? Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had the same issue, i didn't find any solution for the newest version, had to install Evernote 4.5.6.2 which works fine.
Available from Android Drawer Repositary.
https://play.google.com/books/uploads
Google now allows you to upload up to 1000 epubs to you Google Books account.
Anyone have any thoughts on how that'll work in practice? I don't use Google Books because I never rooted my Touch. I've rooted every other nook and android device I've owned, but left the Touch alone because I didn't want to be tempted to have it do anything other that be an ereader. I actually have a couple hundred epubs, but don't keep very many on the Touch because it's hell trying to browse through the library when you can only see a handful of titles at a time.
The nook simple touch runs 2.1 android and google play requires 2.2 or higher so that wont work. Just transfer thru usb.
Baka no Kami said:
https://play.google.com/books/uploads
Google now allows you to upload up to 1000 epubs to you Google Books account.
Anyone have any thoughts on how that'll work in practice? I don't use Google Books because I never rooted my Touch. I've rooted every other nook and android device I've owned, but left the Touch alone because I didn't want to be tempted to have it do anything other that be an ereader. I actually have a couple hundred epubs, but don't keep very many on the Touch because it's hell trying to browse through the library when you can only see a handful of titles at a time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
damn, i was really hoping to have an easy and sleek method for getting books on my nook w/o cables. the syncing would've been a huge plus too.
i suppose there's still dropbox...
I just keep the master library on my desktop.
I use adbsync.exe (see signature) to sync my Nook over WiFi (can also do USB).
My latest Library.apk (ditto) will filter the books by an entered word fragment.
I can usually find what I'm looking for with just a few letters.
I use dropbox and the android app dropsync to sync between my pc and my NST, works really well
Hi everyone. I am getting an SM-G975F with the Exynos chipset. I was planning on flashing LineageOS on it but now I have stumbled upon MicroG for LineageOS and been doing a little reading up on it. Now I am not clear what the best choice would be from a privacy perspective.
My intention with LineageOS was to *not* install GApps and see how much I can make do with the default apps (i.e. the stock mail app, etc.). If that is my intention, then am I better off with LineageOS? or MicroG?
I don't really care about Google Apps. The only thing I can see myself struggling without is without some kind of semi-decent mapping application like Google Maps. Is there a decent alternative? Do I need MicroG for that? If I do cave and find I need Google Maps, then would I be better off with MicroG or LineageOS?
Also, is there a way to get Office apps (Word, Excel, etc.) on LineageOS? Or is that undesirable from a privacy perspective?
Lastly, is there a way to enable LTE bands 29, 30, and 46 on the SM-G975F model? These are enabled on the SM-G975W (Canadian) model, and I will be using the phone in Canada on Bell Mobility.
If these questions have been asked/answered elsewhere, can you please just drop a link?
Thanks,
The Fish
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Moved to Questions and Answers.
Hi XDA’ers
I thought I would provide an update on my experience thus far with LineageOS 19.1 on my Exynos SM-G975F and answer some of my own questions which I asked above. Maybe some of this is obvious stuff or maybe not. Maybe it will be helpful for others in the future.
The operating systemI installed LineageOS from the official lineageos.org website. I did not install GApps so I am operating without the Google Play Services.
While Android itself is open source, the “Google Play Services” are not. They are a proprietary library from Google that are included with most (all?) Android devices and provide a number of services, APIs, etc. to apps running on Android. It's not part of the operating system per se, but lots of apps require it. So, I am operating with LineageOS only without the Google Play Services.
As a side note, there is an open-source re-implementation of Google Play Services called microG. MicroG cannot be installed as an app but needs to be installed as part of the OS. There are basically two flavors of LineageOS that include microG. They are “LineageOS for microG” and /e/OS. Both of these include microG. Pure LineageOS on its own however includes neither Google Play Services (unless you install GApps bundle) nor microG.
I was surprised how small the download file was for LineageOS. It weighs in at just 777 MB. I am used to Samsung firmware that weighs in at about 6 GB. So, this seemed really small to me.
Upon first boot up I was impressed with how clean the operating system was. Not only is there no bloatware but there is basically almost nothing at all. There is a dialer app, an SMS app, a camera app, a calculator, and a mini browser. There is also a local-only address book (no link to cloud services) and a local calendar app. The browser is fairly limited but gets the job done. Notably there isn’t a mail app (although I understand that there used to be one on previous versions of LineageOS). So, I set about seeing what I could do.
AppsI installed the F-Droid app store but there are not any mainstream apps in there. Some of the apps in there might be good (I still need to explore it more) but I needed a solid email app. My company is on Office 365 so Outlook would be my first choice.
I stumbled upon APKPure and APKMirror. Both are very ad-filled spammy looking website that seems to be a web-based front end to the Google Play Store. Using these sites website, you can download official APKs for mainstream apps like Outlook, Word, Excel, etc. Be very careful where you click. Lots of the ads on the site include "Download Now" type buttons that you can click on thinking you are downloading an APK but instead are clicking on a spammy ad. So, navigate carefully on these sites.
I was able to install Word, Excel, OneDrive and Outlook. This was huge because I needed a decent mail app. Being able to install OneDrive meant I could now sync my camera with OneDrive. All the Microsoft apps worked flawlessly on LineageOS even without Google Play Services. The one thing I noticed however is that Outlook does not give me notifications when I get a new email. I have to go into Outlook and swipe down to refresh. I believe this is due to the lack of Google Play Services. Maybe using microG would eliminate this problem (not sure). I can live with this for now but would obviously like a way to resolve it.
Installing Outlook synced the local Calendar and Contacts apps with my Outlook contacts and calendar so that worked great.
Bible AppsBoth the Olive Tree Bible Reader app and the ESV Bible app installed no problem from APKPure. Both of these are offline Bible apps (they download the whole Bible and can be used offline). I like Olive Tree because I have several translations (including the SBLGNT) and Olive Tree lets me switch between them. The ESV app is great because they have recordings and so you can hear Kristyn Getty or David Cochran Heath read the Bible to you in natural non-synthetic voices.
SignalI installed Signal directly from their website (they offer the APK directly on their website). Signal detects that it is being installed on a device without Google Play Services and so registers itself as a service and consequently I do get notifications for new Signal messages (unlike Outlook). I wonder if there is some way to make Outlook run the same way. I tried installing Microsoft Teams which we use at work but don't get any notifications when people send me messages. So that makes Teams pretty useless.
BrowserThe build-in default browser renders HTML/CSS just fine but is very limited in terms of features. When you install a progressive web app as an app on the home screen it works but launches in the full browser with the address bar visible which breaks the app-like experiance which is really the whole point of a PWA. So I set about trying to fix this. To my surprise I was able to install Microsoft Edge without ANY issues whatsoever. It works great and web apps pin to the home screen the way they should (and open as apps). So I made Edge my default browser.
KeyboardsThe default keyboard in LineageOS does not have stickers or GIFs. That is as it should be I think for a default built-in keyboard. But it does not support swipe typing either. This surprised me. It seemed like a huge step backwards to have to tap out every letter with my thumbs. Do people still type like that on their phones?!?! Oh, the humanity!
There is a microphone icon at the top of the keyboard for speech-to-text transcription. I used this all the time before on my Samsung S8+. But tapping it did nothing. Apparently I am missing a speech-to-text engine. This surprised be because Outlook has dictation built-in using Microsoft's engines and works well. But it only works in Outlook and not universally throughout the phone as it would if it was built-in on the keyboard.
I installed the Microsoft SwiftKey keyboard and that gave me stickers, GIFs and... swipe typing! Woo Hoo! But I was really hoping it would give me speech-to-text since I dictate almost all of my text messages. I figured it would use Microsoft's engine like Outlook does since it was a Microsoft app. But tapping the microphone on the SwiftKey keyboard promptly tells me that I need to download "Google Voice Search".
Microsoft AuthenticatorI installed the Microsoft Authenticator app for 2FA and it installed just fine. But it was impossible to add any accounts by scanning the QR codes. I think this is due to notifications not working properly, probably also due to the lack of Google Play Services or microG.
Outstanding IssuesSo, the outstanding issues I have right now are:
Microsoft Authenticator is non-usable. This is a huge issue for me
No speech-to-text transcription from keyboard
No notifications in Microsoft Teams
No notifications in Microsoft Outlook (this I can live with).
What I LikeWhat I like about LineageOS is the clean, minimalistic design of the operating system. I am not pushed into any particular "ecosystem" be it Google, Samsung, Microsoft or Apple. I can decide which ecosystem I want to participate in and to which extent. For example, I could download Outlook without downloading Edge and I don't need to backup my photos to OneDrive unless I want to. You can do this, to some extent, with OEM versions of Android, but it requires ignoring and disabling things. Come to think of it, that is really what an operating system should be - a platform for running apps, not an on-ramp into an ecosystem.
What irritates me is that not all apps work as they should. It seems like Google Play Services is an important part of the mix and many apps fail to function properly without it. Signal seems like one exception. It detects that you are not using Google Play Services and adapts the functioning the app accordingly.
Just a minor update. I tried several diffrent TTS engines (Pico TTS, Flite TTS, RHVoice) and none of these gave me text typing.
I ended up installing Speech Services by Google and it worked. I was surprised that it worked considering I do not have GApps (and thus no Google Play Services) and no microG on my phone.
So, I guess I can live with a little Google on my phone, but I would have preferred to find an open-source alternative or, barring that, a Microsoft alternative.