Related
Is anybody's working to satisfactory? Or am I the only one?
I never really used GPS till I got this device and only from the complaining here had it really got me interested . Although I use GPS maybe 3 times a year, I've made it a point to use it every drive I take to see if its still working.
I always get a lock within 5 seconds to at most a min. Stationary or moving don't matter. I've never had my phone say location not available.
My phone always sees 11 or more and only locks on to 3 or 4 once it locked 7...
When I hit navigate to then a destination it instantly finds me and routes me. While driving it every now and again has a blue circle but that's usually during lots of overpasses turns on freeways and etc. For the most part it has no circle ...
I will admit every now and again it'll lose route and not reroute so I back out and hit navigate again and back to navigating.
Its even found me in portland Oregon in the city.
So my question is, although GPS could be better I.e. faster lock, more birds to lock on and tracking while moving, it still has served its purpose and found me my way a few times when I'm lost.
On the way home I will use it again and it will find me almost instantly and navigate me all the way home...
Am I lucky? Or do others work good enough to get around, yes could be better, but is yours good enough like mine to where even if they don't fix it, its not that big of a deal cause for the most part for me it works?
Another thing is I'm beggining to think its hardware and software. Reason is messing with the settings does improve or have different results, but on the other hand the gps fixes seem to give everyone different results and why would Samsung release them all with poor GPS just to supposedly fix it in a few weeks/ wouldn't it have been easier to fix then ship em out?
Who knows, no one is for sure, but I just want to know who's is atleast satisfactory like mine? Maybe I just don't have high GPS standards cause I don't use it to get 1 meter off. If I'm atleast 50 meters away I think my eyes and brain can help me find the other 50 meters.
So are you satisfied even though it needs improvements? I am. I don't think it needs fixed, but as Samsung says "optimized".
Please no there are many GPS threads comments this is a little different ...
Is your GPS useless, or does it get the job done, not how you wish, but gets it done?
Edit: this is no gps fixes. Pure stock.
Mine isn't as terrible as some people say on here, but there are definitely problems. Latitude, for instance, often falls back to network location even with a clear view of the sky. Driving, it will randomly drift far enough that the GPS goes to rerouting mode, trying to bring me back on course. And there are times that it just refuses to get a lock for 10-15 minutes, though luckily that doesn't happen too often. Definitely worst GPS performance than my G1.
But, all that being said.. Not so bad that I'm really stressing about it. I'll give Samsung/TMO a few more weeks for an update and hopefully they patch up the issues with Froyo. If not, or if the update gets delayed, I'll start tinkering with the fixes from the forums.
mine works fine too. quick to lock, navigation works perfectly. i was locking on 3-4 satellites last time i tried.
it's not very good indoors, and often has trouble determining location, but outdoors it has been completely satisfactory.
this is all with gps on, and use wireless networks off, btw. completely stock, and the compass works fine too.
Is anybody's working to satisfactory? Or am I the only one?
I never really used GPS till I got this device and only from the complaining here had it really got me interested . Although I use GPS maybe 3 times a year, I've made it a point to use it every drive I take to see if its still working.
I always get a lock within 5 seconds to at most a min. Stationary or moving don't matter. I've never had my phone say location not available.
My phone always sees 11 or more and only locks on to 3 or 4 once it locked 7...
When I hit navigate to then a destination it instantly finds me and routes me. While driving it every now and again has a blue circle but that's usually during lots of overpasses turns on freeways and etc. For the most part it has no circle ...
I will admit every now and again it'll lose route and not reroute so I back out and hit navigate again and back to navigating.
Its even found me in portland Oregon in the city.
So my question is, although GPS could be better I.e. faster lock, more birds to lock on and tracking while moving, it still has served its purpose and found me my way a few times when I'm lost.
On the way home I will use it again and it will find me almost instantly and navigate me all the way home...
Am I lucky? Or do others work good enough to get around, yes could be better, but is yours good enough like mine to where even if they don't fix it, its not that big of a deal cause for the most part for me it works?
Another thing is I'm beggining to think its hardware and software. Reason is messing with the settings does improve or have different results, but on the other hand the gps fixes seem to give everyone different results and why would Samsung release them all with poor GPS just to supposedly fix it in a few weeks/ wouldn't it have been easier to fix then ship em out?
Who knows, no one is for sure, but I just want to know who's is atleast satisfactory like mine? Maybe I just don't have high GPS standards cause I don't use it to get 1 meter off. If I'm atleast 50 meters away I think my eyes and brain can help me find the other 50 meters.
So are you satisfied even though it needs improvements? I am. I don't think it needs fixed, but as Samsung says "optimized".
Please no there are many GPS threads comments this is a little different ...
Is your GPS useless, or does it get the job done, not how you wish, but gets it done?
I'm the same, I don't use GPS that much, but when I do it works fairly well. Its not the best I've used but it gets the job done. Only once when I was driving on the freeway could it not lock on.
I remember reading that a GPS fix leaked for the Captivate and it seemed to fix the issue. And the new SGS phones coming out for Verizon and Sprint seem to have better luck with GPS.
For me too GPS locks 95% times. However Navigation is the only application that crashes my phone once in a while....and I dont like that
Mine seems OK, with the light use I've given it. Haven't tested it out with route-tracing software like some have -- but for just getting an accurate lock, it seems on par with other phones I've used. (Maybe a little slower to lock.)
I had tested my GF's Samsung Moment alongside my Vibrant many times and the Moment hooks to GPS quickly and consistently. I cannot think how Samsung could implement an inferior GPS in their flagship phone!
My gps works flawlessly, when I read all these threads its hard to remaster because everyone I use gps it takes a matter of seconds to lock in and route me to my destination. Even in my area of living which is outside of the city it is very vet close to where I actually am and even right on. I would be frustrated if it didn't work as I do use my gps every so often but it is precise in my experience and I'm very happy with the final product.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
I now have two GPS's in two of our cars. The primary reason for buying a GPS a while back was so I could meet up with guys that I often 4wheel with in various locations. I would get lost when somebody told me to meet them in a city that I didn't know very well. My wife saw how handy my GPS was and took it. I finally got a G1 and it was used as a backup in case the wife wouldn't let me use "My GPS".
Anyways fast forward a year or so. We bought a second GPS for her car. Why because she got the new one of course.
Now that I have 2 GPS's in my cars my phone has been well a secondary or I should say hardly ever used. However when I'm on foot and I get backwards its always been nice to know I could fire up my GPS and find my way somewhere. Lord knows I've been lost a few times in down town Seattle. Wandering around and firing up maps and then using the by foot option has saved me many times. Sure it didn't have to be accurate since all I needed to know was do I walk 3 blocks north then 1 to the west or is it 3 blocks to the west then 1 block to the north?
The Vibrant GPS works when I need it, but honestly I really wish it was a bit more like the G1. Its nearly useless when I use CardioTrainer and a few more apps.
I have had my Vibrant for about 45 days and the GPS has been awful since day one. I have tried some of the fixes which did help a little bit but I still have problems. The GPS cuts on and off so much that Cardio Trainer is pretty much useless most of the time. It has started to freeze on me while attempting to use Cardio Trainer today, which necessitated pulling the battery. The GPS normally shows me about 2 of 3 miles from where I actually am. The compass is just about totally useless. This is a wonderful phone and would be a fantastic phone if the compass and GPS just worked normally. I am starting to be concerned with the phone starting to freeze up as it has not done that in the past.
Mine worked great for a few weeks. Even though it wouldn't lock more than 3 or 4 satellites the performance was completely satisfactory. Then it got a little quirky with accuracy and my position started jumping around a lot. Then it started positioning me miles from where I actually was sometimes, causing Maps to lock up, causing the entire phone to lock up, and generally being unreliable.
Over the past week or so I've had to reboot the phone half the time I try to use the GPS in order to get it to work. I can usually get it to work at a satisfactory level eventually, but it's far from painless. I haven't tried any of the "fixes"...my GPS settings are stock.
On my first phone the GPS and phone in general was a disaster.
Once returned, my second phone is "ok" for driving assistance use, it takes awhile for a lock but it works. But I otherwise leave GPS turned off or else my phone will randomly shut down/reboot.
With trepidation I applied a no lag fix and it has turned my opinion of the phone from "meh" to wow (even though I was not even sure I had a lag problem, but little did I know).
So if GPS gets fixed and 2.2 deployed, and assuming 2.2 solves lag or a no-lag fix is implemented for 2.2, then I will be very happy. But it sure seems like a bit of grief to get to that point. Anything goes wrong down that path, and I'll focus on HTC or other devices... cause for similar past issues with hardware I never buy HP
mjpacheco said:
So if GPS gets fixed and 2.2 deployed, and assuming 2.2 solves lag or a no-lag fix is implemented for 2.2, then I will be very happy. But it sure seems like a bit of grief to get to that point. Anything goes wrong down that path, and I'll focus on HTC or other devices... cause for similar past issues with hardware I never buy HP
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Click to collapse
Add a compass fix to that list and I'm there with ya.
After applying the gps fix I haven't had a problem since. I use the gps daily and have only had 1 restart. Had my vibrant since day 1. Maybe I just got lucky.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
I completely understand the need to get the GPS fixed, but I have to honestly ask...why do so many people seem so worried about the compass?
Are there that many of you out there that wander around using the compass all the time ? Is it because of apps like Layar ?
Using a smartphone as a compass/gps on a hike is useless if you plan to be out more than a few hours so that can't be it.
Is it just the principle of the thing ... that they provide the feature so it should work properly out of the box?
I'm not trying to be a wise ass here...I'm honestly curious.
Sent from Samsung Vibrant
Stresa said:
I completely understand the need to get the GPS fixed, but I have to honestly ask...why do so many people seem so worried about the compass?
Are there that many of you out there that wander around using the compass all the time ? Is it because of apps like Layar ?
Using a smartphone as a compass/gps on a hike is useless if you plan to be out more than a few hours so that can't be it.
Is it just the principle of the thing ... that they provide the feature so it should work properly out of the box?
I'm not trying to be a wise ass here...I'm honestly curious.
Sent from Samsung Vibrant
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In a word: yes.
While I don't use Layar much, it would be great if it worked. I've tried to use Google Skymaps several times and gave up due to the compass completely freaking out when I hold the phone up to, you know, look at the sky. It's nice the have a working compass for Google Maps...even if it's just for street view. Yelp taunts me with directional functionality that doesn't work, and I could go on. In general I'd like to know that apps that use the magnetometer to detect orientation (and who knows what will come along that will use that functionality) will work. I don't think that's too much to ask.
Now, I also do a lot of city navigation on foot, and having a compass to figure out which way to walk when I come up from a subway on my way to a meeting is a huge help. Seriously. At that point I don't have a GPS because I've been underground.
I've used Android devices (like the G1) that are old-ish, and I've used Android devices that are not considered high-end devices with working compasses, so yeah, on principle I expect my high-end $500 device to work at least as well as they do. Had I known about the worthless compass before I purchased the phone it would have given me pause...I probably would have at least considered another device. It bugs me that such a simple piece of functionality being broken will prevent me from using apps and features that I'd otherwise find useful on my expensive device.
Now I have a Swiss Army knife with a broken saw blade. Yeah, it's just the saw blade, but I paid for one with a working saw blade, dammit, and it wasn't cheap.
dex1701 said:
In a word: yes.
While I don't use Layar much, it would be great if it worked. I've tried to use Google Skymaps several times and gave up due to the compass completely freaking out when I hold the phone up to, you know, look at the sky. It's nice the have a working compass for Google Maps...even if it's just for street view. In general I'd like to know that apps that use the magnetometer to detect orientation (and who knows what will come along that will use that functionality) will work. I don't think that's too much to ask.
Now, I also do a lot of city navigation on foot, and having a compass to figure out which way to walk when I come up from a subway on my way to a meeting is a huge help. Seriously. At that point I don't have a GPS because I've been underground.
I've used Android devices (like the G1) that are old-ish, and I've used Android devices that are not considered high-end devices with working compasses, so yeah, on principle I expect my high-end $500 device to work at least as well as they do. Had I known about the worthless compass before I purchased the phone it would have given me pause...I probably would have at least considered another device. It bugs me that such a simple piece of functionality being broken will prevent me from using apps and features that I'd otherwise find useful on my expensive device.
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that sucks dude. i just noticed what you were saying about google sky map, mine was tripping out for a little while but then it finally settled down. can't really tell if it's pointing in the accurate direction because it's daylight
my compass has worked just fine on maps though. it always points me in the right direction, and even the compass on the "gps status" app is correct, birds locked on or not
lolcopter said:
that sucks dude. i just noticed what you were saying about google sky map, mine was tripping out for a little while but then it finally settled down. can't really tell if it's pointing in the accurate direction because it's daylight
my compass has worked just fine on maps though. it always points me in the right direction, and even the compass on the "gps status" app is correct, birds locked on or not
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If I hold the phone "just right" I can usually get the compass to work ok in things like Maps where accuracy isn't terribly important. It's still painfully slow compared to other Android devices I've used, though. Most I've seen have nearly instantaneous compass updates when you turn...on my Vibrant (both of them) I have to wait a while for it to settle down before I can tell how it's reading. When I hold it in an odd position...like you do for Skymaps...it's all over the place. Sometimes it works, but it's hard to tell unless you're manually keeping track of which way is North, which kinda defeats the purpose, eh?
dex1701 said:
If I hold the phone "just right" I can usually get the compass to work ok in things like Maps where accuracy isn't terribly important. It's still painfully slow compared to other Android devices I've used, though. Most I've seen have nearly instantaneous compass updates when you turn...on my Vibrant (both of them) I have to wait a while for it to settle down before I can tell how it's reading. When I hold it in an odd position...like you do for Skymaps...it's all over the place. Sometimes it works, but it's hard to tell unless you're manually keeping track of which way is North, which kinda defeats the purpose, eh?
Click to expand...
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true
hopefully samsung releases a fix baked into some froyo here soon. they had better do SOMETHING this month anyway
Problems I've got with the Acer A500:
GPS is very weak. I get the best reception with the back of the unit facing the sky but in normal orientation I'm lucky to get 5 sats.
Compass doesn't work, always 90deg off
Digitizer unresponsive 3 times, had to power off each time. Strangely enough, the last time this happened the buttons at the bottom (home, menu, etc) still worked but nothing responded when tapped on the main screen area.
Have to be careful about plugging and unplugging items while the device screen is off. The headset icon is still showing in the tray after having disconnected a cable last night when the screen was off. Have seen problems where external USB devices aren't scanned if the screen is off.
System shut down 1 time after showing a low power notice. I was at 80%. Haven't had this happen again.
Market, Maps, Firefox crash a lot. The latter is probably Mozilla's fault but the core apps shouldn't be this crash-happy.
Bluetooth sharing only shows visible devices and not paired devices. What's the F-ing point of pairing if I have to make a device visible before I can send a file to it?
No media scanner notification. It takes a while to scan external USB media and there's no indication the scanning is going on. The only indication that it's done is when media starts appearing in apps like gallery. On older revs of the OS there is a notice that scanning is ongoing.
Copy/paste annoying. Especially that you can't paste if there's no text in your editor!!! In 2.2 you tap once to bring up the picker/caret (don't know what the google term is) and you tap that to get a popup menu for copy/paste/delete. On the Acer you have to double-tap to select text and only then do you get a menu on the top of the screen. Trouble is, if you have no text in your document you can't paste because there's no text to select!
Can't turn the d**n sound off on the camera.
Have to drill down into the settings turn the "ringer" off to mute the system. Why isn't there a dropdown icon for that?
Some of these are certainly Acer's fault and are related to hardware specific to this device. The UI elements I'm left wondering about. This is the only Gingerbread device I've really used and I can't tell how much is default behavior and how much Acer messed with the OS and borked it.
It's possible I've become spoiled by the devs on XDA. I'm coming from a Vibrant and the dev action is furious with that device. I've regularly upgraded my device with new ROMs on the order of every 2-3 weeks since October and I'm currently using 2.2.1 on my phone.
Given that the bootloader is locked (and encrypted?) I'm thinking dev action isn't going to happen real soon and I'm further thinking about returning this. I hate the idea of doing that because in a lot of ways this is a really nice tablet. It's got the form factor and weight I want. It's responsive. wifi is good enough for my purposes and I can carry it throughout home and work with no connection problems. I've found ways to make it part of my device chain (doc markup, blogging, reading, music playing) and the price was was low enough for me to give it a try. For the most part I like the device.
Trouble is, the bugs are like having someone standing next to you randomly poking you in the ribs. It's not enough to call the police but if he doesn't stop I'm going to punch him in the nose. With the Acer the bugs aren't bad enough for me to throw it out the window but they're getting bad enough that this thing may get returned.
For those in the know, how much of what I've complained about is normal Gingerbread and how much has Acer likely borked?
For reference my kernel is 2.6.36.3-00001-g9b3ce2b and build is Acer_A500_1.104.02_COM_GEN1
michaelh99 said:
Problems I've got with the Acer A500:
GPS is very weak. I get the best reception with the back of the unit facing the sky but in normal orientation I'm lucky to get 5 sats.
Compass doesn't work, always 90deg off
Digitizer unresponsive 3 times, had to power off each time. Strangely enough, the last time this happened the buttons at the bottom (home, menu, etc) still worked but nothing responded when tapped on the main screen area.
Have to be careful about plugging and unplugging items while the device screen is off. The headset icon is still showing in the tray after having disconnected a cable last night when the screen was off. Have seen problems where external USB devices aren't scanned if the screen is off.
System shut down 1 time after showing a low power notice. I was at 80%. Haven't had this happen again.
Market, Maps, Firefox crash a lot. The latter is probably Mozilla's fault but the core apps shouldn't be this crash-happy.
Bluetooth sharing only shows visible devices and not paired devices. What's the F-ing point of pairing if I have to make a device visible before I can send a file to it?
No media scanner notification. It takes a while to scan external USB media and there's no indication the scanning is going on. The only indication that it's done is when media starts appearing in apps like gallery. On older revs of the OS there is a notice that scanning is ongoing.
Copy/paste annoying. Especially that you can't paste if there's no text in your editor!!! In 2.2 you tap once to bring up the picker/caret (don't know what the google term is) and you tap that to get a popup menu for copy/paste/delete. On the Acer you have to double-tap to select text and only then do you get a menu on the top of the screen. Trouble is, if you have no text in your document you can't paste because there's no text to select!
Can't turn the d**n sound off on the camera.
Have to drill down into the settings turn the "ringer" off to mute the system. Why isn't there a dropdown icon for that?
Some of these are certainly Acer's fault and are related to hardware specific to this device. The UI elements I'm left wondering about. This is the only Gingerbread device I've really used and I can't tell how much is default behavior and how much Acer messed with the OS and borked it.
It's possible I've become spoiled by the devs on XDA. I'm coming from a Vibrant and the dev action is furious with that device. I've regularly upgraded my device with new ROMs on the order of every 2-3 weeks since October and I'm currently using 2.2.1 on my phone.
Given that the bootloader is locked (and encrypted?) I'm thinking dev action isn't going to happen real soon and I'm further thinking about returning this. I hate the idea of doing that because in a lot of ways this is a really nice tablet. It's got the form factor and weight I want. It's responsive. wifi is good enough for my purposes and I can carry it throughout home and work with no connection problems. I've found ways to make it part of my device chain (doc markup, blogging, reading, music playing) and the price was was low enough for me to give it a try. For the most part I like the device.
Trouble is, the bugs are like having someone standing next to you randomly poking you in the ribs. It's not enough to call the police but if he doesn't stop I'm going to punch him in the nose. With the Acer the bugs aren't bad enough for me to throw it out the window but they're getting bad enough that this thing may get returned.
For those in the know, how much of what I've complained about is normal Gingerbread and how much has Acer likely borked?
For reference my kernel is 2.6.36.3-00001-g9b3ce2b and build is Acer_A500_1.104.02_COM_GEN1
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not sure if you know this or not, but tablets and Honeycomb are pretty new.
rorytmeadows said:
I'm not sure if you know this or not, but tablets and Honeycomb are pretty new.
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Yeah, I'm aware. How does that apply to my questions & issues with the A500?
michaelh99 said:
Yeah, I'm aware. How does that apply to my questions & issues with the A500?
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Click to collapse
Well, I think your thread is misleading. Tablets are new and there are going to be flaws in new products. That's why you don't buy the first new model of a car. But if you're going to, then understand there is always risk.
1. I have had no problems with the GPS.
2. I have had problems with the compass, but nothing unusual for a digital compass.
3. Unresponsiveness happens with pretty much every device. Mine has been unresponsive like 5 times already, but a power down and then up again fixes it beautifully. It's like a nice reminder to clear the system and make it run faster. This doesn't necessarily have anything to do with Acer. It could be Honeycomb.
4. Apps crashing. Happens. I'd think that it's Honeycomb, rather than Acer.
5. I've seen the headset icon on when I didn't have any headphones in. Oh no! Stop the presses! This occurs, sure, but that could be Honeycomb, not Acer. Also, are we sure it's not the music icon?
6. Bluetooth profiles are limited. Sure. But maybe that's a reminder to us all that Bluetooth is awful technology. This one is probably Acer.
7. Copy and paste, although annoying, isn't Acer.
8. Right now, it's not proper to open the bootloader for everyone. Don't hold that against any company.
Most of the things you mentioned really might have to do with Honeycomb rather than Acer. So don't trash the wrong company.
Now given that it's Honeycomb instead, it's new. It will have bugs and problems. Sit and wait or learn the trade and get in there and fix it.
Or wait until a future generation product.
Problems I've got with the Acer A500:
Digitizer unresponsive 3 times, had to power off each time. Strangely enough, the last time this happened the buttons at the bottom (home, menu, etc) still worked but nothing responded when tapped on the main screen area.
NEVER OCCUR for me
Have to be careful about plugging and unplugging items while the device screen is off. The headset icon is still showing in the tray after having disconnected a cable last night when the screen was off. Have seen problems where external USB devices aren't scanned if the screen is off.
NEVER OCCUR for me
System shut down 1 time after showing a low power notice. I was at 80%. Haven't had this happen again.
NEVER OCCUR for me
Market, Maps, Firefox crash a lot. The latter is probably Mozilla's fault but the core apps shouldn't be this crash-happy.
Just restore to factory default or clear the data in "manage application" can solve the problem
Can't turn the d**n sound off on the camera.
Root the device and remove the sound using root explorer
Have to drill down into the settings turn the "ringer" off to mute the system. Why isn't there a dropdown icon for that?
when you press vol +/-, there is a small icon on the right and you can adjust 3 volume settings
....
Ya, I'm pretty much in the rorytmeadows and ardatdat camp. Considering Acer did very little to their OEM copy, I'd place the blame for a lot of the issues on HC.
The compass is definitely finicky. I've only ever got a solid read when my GPS was tracking - when it's not, the compass is definitely off (using GPS Essentials here which could also be an app issue). If there is a common degree variance, this can be coded in/out. Also, orientation matter - whether you have it in portrait, facing you, landscape facing up... There's a difference and the gyro checks.
I understand where some of you guys are coming from re. new releases having bugs. I can't accept that viewpoint. I paid for this device and while a few bugs are to be expected these days, some of the problems amount to beta level bugs that should have never left the factory.
If there were going to be regular releases of updates I'd feel differently but it seems clear that releases will likely only come from the devs and only after jumping through the hurdles and hoops that Acer has put in their way.
I think the A500 was worth trying but I'm still not sure it's worth keeping.
A BETA bug is something that is consistent (across all testware) and repeatable. Nothing you listed falls near that.
gammaRascal said:
A BETA bug is something that is consistent (across all testware) and repeatable. Nothing you listed falls near that.
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I think we'll have to agree to disagree. The general level of bugginess shown by the complaints in this forum alone cause me to classify this (and many other android devices) as beta.
With so many people willing to be paying testers, the manufacturers don't have any incentive to behave differently.
michaelh99 said:
I think we'll have to agree to disagree.
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Ya, but... Nothing you listed is consistent and repeatable... Where exactly is the disagreement?
The general level of bugginess shown by the complaints in this forum alone cause me to classify this (and many other android devices) as beta.
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I don't see it. Maybe I'm biased *shrug* The majority (not all, of course) complaints or issues with the a500 (be them HW, SW or HC related) on this (and other) forum are sporadic and inconclusive. Not a lot of serious testing happening and a complaint like 'my gps can't see any satellites' doesn't mean a whole lot without more granular info. It doesn't help and it certainly shouldn't be used as part of a rationale. You gotta take those kinds of half-thought out complaints with a grain of salt.
With so many people willing to be paying testers, the manufacturers don't have any incentive to behave differently.
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I read this all the time - with games mostly, but the argument is the same.
How when a new game is released (pick your poison) you're bound to get a very small, thought vocal, minority who dig their nails into the support section complaining about 'players are paying to be testers' - or - 'their computer should be able to play it' etc. The argument being, 'it's suppose to act the way I want it to act' when in fact, that is never the case. With games, with hardware - software. 'It's suppose to act the way they want it to act' - We're just consumers. We consume. They create, we consume.
Now, I'm not trying to discount the importance of your view (I know it reads like I am but I'm not trying too - just trying to further the discussion). You're obviously having issues with the a500 and far be it for me to make lite of them. I think what is key here is that, for the majority of us, there aren't any of these kinds of issues and that, of the ones you listed, few are consistent and repeatable.
So I chalk it up to one of two things - you got a bum tablet or it's user error.
gammaRascal said:
Ya, but... Nothing you listed is consistent and repeatable... Where exactly is the disagreement?
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Most of the problems are very repeatable on my machine. In the end, that's the only one I care about and the only one that matters to me.
Not a lot of serious testing happening .. You gotta take those kinds of half-thought out complaints with a grain of salt.
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You're mistaking brief descriptions for incomplete testing or "thoughts.". I haven't described my testing methodology nor put down all the tests I've done because I'm not game for writing a paper on the subject.
I've been around quite a while and have been in development for decades and done my time in QA. I know how to test. Which is part of the point. I'm not running into these problems while doing things that qualify as something a user shouldn't do and I'm really not interested in helping Acer or Google iron out the bugs in their system.
Hell, I just did a factory reset and without installing any apps I had the Market crash twice while just browsing my paid apps list.
The argument being, 'it's suppose to act the way I want it to act' when in fact, that is never the case. With games, with hardware - software. 'It's suppose to act the way they want it to act' - We're just consumers. We consume. They create, we consume.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, know where you're coming from. My complaint isn't the same.
I want it to behave the way it used to
My UI complains stem from behavior that was present in 2.2x and is very different but harder to use in 3.x. They futzed with the UI for no good reason IMO.
So I chalk it up to one of two things - you got a bum tablet or it's user error.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, it's not user error
I've just factory reset the thing and I'm going to spend a few hours using just the apps I can't live without and leave off the questionable utilities that might be destabilizing the system (widgetlocker, stuff like that) and see where that gets me.
So far it's not good though. 2 market crashes with a stock system.
All very fair and understandable. I've had my share of freezes/lockups and FC. There is no doubt that updates are needed. I'm just not convinced the majority of the issues are Acer related, but rather, Honeycomb related.
Hey Michael do us a favor and return it. I am having none of the issues you have listed with mine with the exception of some FC apps, but I attribute this to the apps not being optimized for HC since the tablet specific apps work perfect.
Sounds like you got a bum tablet, so you have 3 options. 1) keep it and keep complaining and hope you or another dev can fix your problems. 2) exchange it for a new 3) return it and wait a year or so til HC is more stable and out of this "beta" phase.
Sent from my Droid using XDA Premium App
michaelg1030 said:
Hey Michael do us a favor and return it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you a favor? In other words, stfu?
BTW michaelh99, I appreciate the fact that you're not flying off half-cocked and taking anything I (or others) have said out of context. It's important for mature and focused discussion to stay calm and proactive - with the goal being, resolution - not argument.
If bugs were completely out of technology before it was released to the public then we wouldn't have technology.
gammaRascal said:
BTW michaelh99, I appreciate the fact that you're not flying off half-cocked and taking anything I (or others) have said out of context. It's important for mature and focused discussion to stay calm and proactive - with the goal being, resolution - not argument.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks.
I'm not really expecting people to supply resolutions to the problems I've seen. It looks like most of them are problems with the first release. Some could be due to my personal usage patterns (apps I have installed) but others are clearly out of box bugs.
It may be that I need to bite the bullet and get a larger version of my phone (Samsung), which I've been very happy with. Like many people I wanted to pay as little as I could. May be that I went too low for my expectations.
rorytmeadows said:
If bugs were completely out of technology before it was released to the public then we wouldn't have technology.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If I can crash the market by browsing my paid apps after having done a factory reset and without having installed anything I would say they haven't met the minimum necessary to release the device.
The market is a core component of the system. If that's unstable, the whole device is suspect.
Why did you start this thread knowing that no matter what good things are said about the tablet, nothing would change your mind. If you are not happy with the device then return it and go on. The majority of the owners here are very satisfied with both the hardware and software of the Acer. I don't think anyone was expecting HC to run as smooth as apple os and if these were your expectations then you will never be happy for the time being.
Again, I'm assuming you started this thread hoping someone would agree with you, but the fact is that most of us do not. Your problems are way out of the ordinary and for all intended purposes unacceptable in this device. So again, return it. Your not doing yourself any service by keeping a faulty product.
Sent from my Droid using XDA Premium App
Good point michaelg1030.
michaelh99 said:
If I can crash the market by browsing my paid apps after having done a factory reset and without having installed anything I would say they haven't met the minimum necessary to release the device.
The market is a core component of the system. If that's unstable, the whole device is suspect.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
michaelh99 have you considered posting a bug report to Google? For what it's worth, it may at least bring the issues you're having to their attention. It's placating but it can't hurt.
http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/list
I received my Google Nexus 7 tablet in the mail a few days ago. While I believe it's a good step forward, I couldn't help but to be annoying by the many little problems I've had with it so far. Below is a partial list of problems I've had with it. I'd love it if someone could give an explanation why Google decided to ship the Nexus 7 with these problems and hope Google fixes them or changes their priorities to address problems like these in the future.
My unformatted list of Nexus 7 problems:
Cannot use Google Voice to make phone calls without downloading a fix from third party software makers. What’s the point of the Google Voice app if by default it doesn’t allow you to make/receive phone calls?
Cannot place custom makers such as “girlfriend’s house” or “grandma’s house” or “picnic spot” in the Navigate app. You cannot say “navigate to grandma’s house” to Google Now.
The Navigate app seems to have enough deficiencies that I question whether it is actually a working app meant to help you navigate. First, you must preload an area if you ever plan on using it to navigate. Second, you must ask to navigate before you leave home while you still have a wireless signal. Third, if while navigating you make a wrong turn the navigation stops working because it tries to recalculates the route then stops when it tries to find the new route and determines the data connection (your wireless network) is no longer available. It also seems to be missing many common navigation features like estimating your speed, miles traveled, or helping to calculate gas mileage (allowing you to input gas amount at fill ups).
When opening search results from Google Now in Chrome two tabs are always opened at the same time. Also, loading pages in Chrome after a Google Now takes too much time. While on my home broadband connection it take 8, 9, or 10 seconds to load a page. It seems like more is going on than simply loading a web page (maybe a few redirects for Google to record/register the search result you picked in order to improve Google Now?).
The main screen, your desktop, does not orient itself based on how you are holding the tablet, while apps can and do. As far as I know, you have to root the tablet and edit some files to get this behavior. This leads me to ask, why didn’t Google just include an option/setting to give the user a choice?
In Google Music the track position slider is placed too close to the next/prior/play/pause/stop buttons. Attempting to move the position regularly results in a pause/stop instead. This is a big pain for resuming audio books when the place marker gets lost if you ever switch tracks (listening to music before the 6 hour audio book is complete). The position slider is also too small (again consider seeking in a 6 hour audio book file). When in landscape mode Google Music splits the controls on one side of the screen and cover art on the other. The net effect is there is no configuration to provide a large track position slider.
Google Play does offer a way to search or browse all widgets. You can see a list of “top widgets”, but when you search it searches for everything, that is all apps and not just for widgets.
Some apps which include widgets are not showing as available for for placement on my desktop. They don’t appear in the list of available widgets. Specifically I downloaded an FTP app with a desktop widget to quickly enable/disable the FTP server. This widget is not to be found in my availble list of widgets.
The “My Library” widget is awkward and hard to use. I am not even sure if it works correctly. I have several podcasts and audio books, but when click their tiles in the “My Library” widget, nothing happens.
Options are a mess. My eyesight is really poor and getting worse. I can use options in one place to increase the fonts size, and that same option is missing or moved somewhere else in another application. Even the options buttons move around from app to app. Regarding text size, on a PC at least I can change the font size system wide by changing display properties in one place.
While the voice search in Google Now, there are certain chinks in its voice recognition which become frustrating very quickly. I tried to send my friend an email about the “olympics day one”, and it kept thinking I saying “olympics they want” even though I was speaking cleanly and clearly with a mid west american accent. Similar misunderstanding have happened occasionally, and when I try to correct them by speaking again and again, the voe recognition gets it wrong every time. Eventually I give up and manually type out my words.
Literally none of those are at fault of the N7. These are all software issues.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
OP here.
Yes, I am not specifically having problems the hardware. I am finding annoyances with how the software works on the hardware. When I say Google Voice doesn't allow allow phone calls, yes that's a software problem.
It's a quad core 7 inch tablet for $199...stop nitpicking!!!
Seriously? Do you use tablets on a regular basis? Do you use android extensively? Because anyone who does, realizes that, in comparison, Jellybean on nexus 7 is pretty damn decent for a first release. So giving feedback on issues is great and will help Google improve-but saying you are annoyed that a tablet(any kind) has issues a couple of weeks after being on the market with brand new software...clearly shows how unrealistic your expectations actually are. Furthermore, to address some of your comments more specifically: (1)This tablet is wifi only-mainly to save on cost. That means you cannot really use GPS in the same way as a 3G enabled device. (2) Voice recognition is rarely precise and Siri has a ton of issues(I Have the new iphone and ipad) (3) Please do not compare font rendering to a PC-this is a 7 inch tablet-not something10 times bgger (4) Finally...what on earth are you doing with a 7 inch tablet if your eyesight is failing so much?
sysrpl said:
I received my Google Nexus 7 tablet in the mail a few days ago. While I believe it's a good step forward, I couldn't help but to be annoying by the many little problems I've had with it so far. Below is a partial list of problems I've had with it. I'd love it if someone could give an explanation why Google decided to ship the Nexus 7 with these problems and hope Google fixes them or changes their priorities to address problems like these in the future.
My unformatted list of Nexus 7 problems:
Cannot use Google Voice to make phone calls without downloading a fix from third party software makers. What’s the point of the Google Voice app if by default it doesn’t allow you to make/receive phone calls?
Cannot place custom makers such as “girlfriend’s house” or “grandma’s house” or “picnic spot” in the Navigate app. You cannot say “navigate to grandma’s house” to Google Now.
The Navigate app seems to have enough deficiencies that I question whether it is actually a working app meant to help you navigate. First, you must preload an area if you ever plan on using it to navigate. Second, you must ask to navigate before you leave home while you still have a wireless signal. Third, if while navigating you make a wrong turn the navigation stops working because it tries to recalculates the route then stops when it tries to find the new route and determines the data connection (your wireless network) is no longer available. It also seems to be missing many common navigation features like estimating your speed, miles traveled, or helping to calculate gas mileage (allowing you to input gas amount at fill ups).
When opening search results from Google Now in Chrome two tabs are always opened at the same time. Also, loading pages in Chrome after a Google Now takes too much time. While on my home broadband connection it take 8, 9, or 10 seconds to load a page. It seems like more is going on than simply loading a web page (maybe a few redirects for Google to record/register the search result you picked in order to improve Google Now?).
The main screen, your desktop, does not orient itself based on how you are holding the tablet, while apps can and do. As far as I know, you have to root the tablet and edit some files to get this behavior. This leads me to ask, why didn’t Google just include an option/setting to give the user a choice?
In Google Music the track position slider is placed too close to the next/prior/play/pause/stop buttons. Attempting to move the position regularly results in a pause/stop instead. This is a big pain for resuming audio books when the place marker gets lost if you ever switch tracks (listening to music before the 6 hour audio book is complete). The position slider is also too small (again consider seeking in a 6 hour audio book file). When in landscape mode Google Music splits the controls on one side of the screen and cover art on the other. The net effect is there is no configuration to provide a large track position slider.
Google Play does offer a way to search or browse all widgets. You can see a list of “top widgets”, but when you search it searches for everything, that is all apps and not just for widgets.
Some apps which include widgets are not showing as available for for placement on my desktop. They don’t appear in the list of available widgets. Specifically I downloaded an FTP app with a desktop widget to quickly enable/disable the FTP server. This widget is not to be found in my availble list of widgets.
The “My Library” widget is awkward and hard to use. I am not even sure if it works correctly. I have several podcasts and audio books, but when click their tiles in the “My Library” widget, nothing happens.
Options are a mess. My eyesight is really poor and getting worse. I can use options in one place to increase the fonts size, and that same option is missing or moved somewhere else in another application. Even the options buttons move around from app to app. Regarding text size, on a PC at least I can change the font size system wide by changing display properties in one place.
While the voice search in Google Now, there are certain chinks in its voice recognition which become frustrating very quickly. I tried to send my friend an email about the “olympics day one”, and it kept thinking I saying “olympics they want” even though I was speaking cleanly and clearly with a mid west american accent. Similar misunderstanding have happened occasionally, and when I try to correct them by speaking again and again, the voe recognition gets it wrong every time. Eventually I give up and manually type out my words.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
While the Nexus 7 has alot going for it, I still agree with the OP. There are still some basic hardware (unchangable) shortcomings that should have been addressed in this product. I am not a tablet expert and the Nexus 7 is my first android device. Don't hold this against me. As someone who shouldn't yet have the skills to push the boundaries of the device here is my list of deficiencies:
-Back-side hi-res camera. Yes, you look odd taking pictures with a tablet but you look weirder taking pictures over your head facing the wrong way. Tablet cams have their place and are useful for a number of things. They are especially handy in the smaller format 7" tablets.
-4 conductor headphone/microphone jack instead of the 3 conductor headphone jack. The Nexus 7 tablet has poor accoustic performance for making VoIP calls with the builtin speaker and mic. By including this style of jack they would have overcome this issue. One of the main reasons for travelling with a laptop or tablet is to use Wifi hotspts to make free VoIP calls home. With the poor acoustics of the Nexus 7 and no way around them, this tablet is a poor solution for the traveller and I would recommend something else.
-ability to connect with the mic of a bluetooth headset. While the Nexus 7 has Bluetooth, it will not connect to a Bluetooth headset and allow the mic to work. The mic of a bluetooth headset could offer another way around the lousy acoustical design. This would not mean that the 4 conductor jack should be excluded as when you are travelling it is nice to not have another device to power.
- micro SD slot. This one is big. The absence of this slot is the one thing that really made me think twice about buying the product. With no way to add memory, I'm boxed in and I don't have the easy trasfer or files that the SD card brings. While 16 G seems enough now, add some movies, music and offline maps and quickly the memory is full. This is 2012. Memory is cheap and will become cheaper. So why pin me down?
Some might wish for the HDMI port but this is not too important for me.
LttrX said:
-Back-side hi-res camera. Yes, you look odd taking pictures with a tablet but you look weirder taking pictures over your head facing the wrong way. Tablet cams have their place and are useful for a number of things. They are especially handy in the smaller format 7" tablets.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seriously, your Nexus 7 can be configured to have the best camera experience BAR NONE, even the latest Apple iPhone 5 will be totally lame in comparison (disclaimer, it's more expensive, but what the heck, it's really darn cool!!!)
Nexus 7 used as HD monitor and controller with ultra-high-resolution DSLR camera
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4X6olWN3-g
Of course this is tongue in cheek, I'd also really like a single device to carry that does a much better job of taking pictures. However, for a little more I could have gotten a tab that had the camera, but half the processor/graphics performance. I purchased it knowing it didn't have the back-side camera.
LttrX said:
-4 conductor headphone/microphone jack instead of the 3 conductor headphone jack. The Nexus 7 tablet has poor acoustic performance for making VoIP calls with the builtin speaker and mic. By including this style of jack they would have overcome this issue. One of the main reasons for travelling with a laptop or tablet is to use Wifi hotspts to make free VoIP calls home. With the poor acoustics of the Nexus 7 and no way around them, this tablet is a poor solution for the traveller and I would recommend something else.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is this just a three conductor jack? Or is it possible that it is a 4 conductor and the software support is just absent? The tear downs don't show the solder pads, so it's difficult to tell. But the traces indicate more conductors than a 3 conductor jack would require.
LttrX said:
-ability to connect with the mic of a bluetooth headset. While the Nexus 7 has Bluetooth, it will not connect to a Bluetooth headset and allow the mic to work. The mic of a bluetooth headset could offer another way around the lousy acoustical design. This would not mean that the 4 conductor jack should be excluded as when you are travelling it is nice to not have another device to power.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Confirmed this with my Plantronics BackBeat 903 Stereo bluetooth headset. I suspect that this is a software issue, as that is simply more content to stream via bluetooth. Perhaps this will be in 4.1.2? Let's add this to the Google requests... http://support.google.com/nexus/bin/request.py?contact_type=contact_policy
LttrX said:
- micro SD slot. This one is big. The absence of this slot is the one thing that really made me think twice about buying the product. With no way to add memory, I'm boxed in and I don't have the easy trasfer or files that the SD card brings. While 16 G seems enough now, add some movies, music and offline maps and quickly the memory is full. This is 2012. Memory is cheap and will become cheaper. So why pin me down?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not a perfect solution and no where the same in functionality, but I use a MicroSD to MicroUSB adapter. Using an app allows me to access content from the SD, but not to install apps there. Google could write code to allow native mounting from the USB port, but will they?
I'm not sure they left this out due to cost, as the parts are supper cheap. I'm more inclined to think it's a way to enforce us to embrace their Cloud architecture vis-a-vie Google Play and streamed movies/music. But Wi-Fi isn't ubiquitous enough to really pull that off yet. Strongly wish a MicroSD was present, but I purchased knowing this was the case.
LttrX said:
Some might wish for the HDMI port but this is not too important for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Perhaps we'll see Miracast? HD via Wireless. Apparently the Tegra3 SOC used supports it, so it may be a matter for Google to code for it.
Wow, I've had my N7 since July 21st and never realized how crappy it is!!!!!!
Holly crow!!! "Nexus 7 used as HD monitor and controller with ultra-high-resolution DSLR camera" :cyclops:
That was gay. err Funny and weird. err puzzling and stupid. emm okay just really gay. (no offence intended)
I’ve always been an early adopter…whether it was audio equipment, computers, mobile phones, software and most recently, smart watches. I’ve been researching and monitoring the progress of these devices since they first started to hit the market. My first smart watch was the Sony Smartwatch, which I returned after about a week…a move I would later question. My second attempt was the Basis Carbon Steel and then I finally got the Samsung Galaxy Gear. None of these did everything I wanted and quite frankly, I’m not sure any single watch ever will…because I want features that conflict with each other. On one hand, I want a stylish metal watch that is classy looking with a suit and provides me with notifications at a glance. On the other hand, I want a fitness watch that has every sensor known to man, has built in gps and will let me listen to music through my Bluetooth headphones without having to lug my phone around. I realize that means I’m going to have to own two distinctly different smart watches. However, there is one feature that EVERY smart watch should have…but none do, as yet. The one thing that I’ve found to be lacking on every smart watch is a sensor that tells it when it’s being worn…and when it’s not. When I’m wearing my watch, I love having it notify me of a new text or email. However, when I put it on my nightstand every night, right next to my smart phone…I don’t need it to vibrate across the surface every time my phone notification goes off…it’s redundant and unnecessary. Additionally, on some models when you finally do put your watch back on the next morning, you still have to clear all the notifications that came through overnight…even though you’ve already cleared them on your phone. So, in my humble opinion, no smart watch is truly smart unless it knows when it’s being used and when it’s not! If I'm wrong and one exists, please let me know.
edwmsjr said:
I’ve always been an early adopter…whether it was audio equipment, computers, mobile phones, software and most recently, smart watches. I’ve been researching and monitoring the progress of these devices since they first started to hit the market. My first smart watch was the Sony Smartwatch, which I returned after about a week…a move I would later question. My second attempt was the Basis Carbon Steel and then I finally got the Samsung Galaxy Gear. None of these did everything I wanted and quite frankly, I’m not sure any single watch ever will…because I want features that conflict with each other. On one hand, I want a stylish metal watch that is classy looking with a suit and provides me with notifications at a glance. On the other hand, I want a fitness watch that has every sensor known to man, has built in gps and will let me listen to music through my Bluetooth headphones without having to lug my phone around. I realize that means I’m going to have to own two distinctly different smart watches. However, there is one feature that EVERY smart watch should have…but none do, as yet. The one thing that I’ve found to be lacking on every smart watch is a sensor that tells it when it’s being worn…and when it’s not. When I’m wearing my watch, I love having it notify me of a new text or email. However, when I put it on my nightstand every night, right next to my smart phone…I don’t need it to vibrate across the surface every time my phone notification goes off…it’s redundant and unnecessary. Additionally, on some models when you finally do put your watch back on the next morning, you still have to clear all the notifications that came through overnight…even though you’ve already cleared them on your phone. So, in my humble opinion, no smart watch is truly smart unless it knows when it’s being used and when it’s not! If I'm wrong and one exists, please let me know.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Check A.I Watch it have almost all the features that you are describing
TL;DR
Would you mind having some line-breaks in your post please?
edwmsjr said:
I’ve always been an early adopter…whether it was audio equipment, computers, mobile phones, software and most recently, smart watches. I’ve been researching and monitoring the progress of these devices since they first started to hit the market. My first smart watch was the Sony Smartwatch, which I returned after about a week…a move I would later question. My second attempt was the Basis Carbon Steel and then I finally got the Samsung Galaxy Gear. None of these did everything I wanted and quite frankly, I’m not sure any single watch ever will…because I want features that conflict with each other. On one hand, I want a stylish metal watch that is classy looking with a suit and provides me with notifications at a glance. On the other hand, I want a fitness watch that has every sensor known to man, has built in gps and will let me listen to music through my Bluetooth headphones without having to lug my phone around. I realize that means I’m going to have to own two distinctly different smart watches. However, there is one feature that EVERY smart watch should have…but none do, as yet. The one thing that I’ve found to be lacking on every smart watch is a sensor that tells it when it’s being worn…and when it’s not. When I’m wearing my watch, I love having it notify me of a new text or email. However, when I put it on my nightstand every night, right next to my smart phone…I don’t need it to vibrate across the surface every time my phone notification goes off…it’s redundant and unnecessary. Additionally, on some models when you finally do put your watch back on the next morning, you still have to clear all the notifications that came through overnight…even though you’ve already cleared them on your phone. So, in my humble opinion, no smart watch is truly smart unless it knows when it’s being used and when it’s not! If I'm wrong and one exists, please let me know.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's a very good point. It would save battery life too as it's using less processing when it's not worn.
A smart watch should have as much useful sensors as they can pack in it to make it smart.
A notification LED like the one in the Sony and other mobiles would be useful for saving battery life, you don't have too keep turning the screen on.
As smart watches become more popular they will need Apps without adverts due to the screen size.
Five likely solutions.
Contact switch (requires physical skin contact to work)
Pressure switch (if pressure on back of watch is above X = on)
Heart rate sensor (if detect heart beat then on)
Temperature Sensor (If temp is greater than X = on)
Magswitch in clasp (when clasp is closed device is "On")
Only the Pressure and Heart Rate and Magswitch are viable and would provide the fewest issues. First four would eat battery, the fifth would run into issues if near a magnetic source.
Everything else is doable, and with a transflective or E-Ink/Mirasol display, a notification light is not needed but can see where it would be nice.
Also think that this cam craze is stupid. A 480P front facing would be of far more use than some tiny um 5MP sensor camera mounted elsewhere. It could then also be used as an ambient light sensor facilitating auto brightness.
edwmsjr said:
I’ve always been an early adopter…whether it was audio equipment, computers, mobile phones, software and most recently, smart watches. I’ve been researching and monitoring the progress of these devices since they first started to hit the market. My first smart watch was the Sony Smartwatch, which I returned after about a week…a move I would later question. My second attempt was the Basis Carbon Steel and then I finally got the Samsung Galaxy Gear. None of these did everything I wanted and quite frankly, I’m not sure any single watch ever will…because I want features that conflict with each other. On one hand, I want a stylish metal watch that is classy looking with a suit and provides me with notifications at a glance. On the other hand, I want a fitness watch that has every sensor known to man, has built in gps and will let me listen to music through my Bluetooth headphones without having to lug my phone around. I realize that means I’m going to have to own two distinctly different smart watches. However, there is one feature that EVERY smart watch should have…but none do, as yet. The one thing that I’ve found to be lacking on every smart watch is a sensor that tells it when it’s being worn…and when it’s not. When I’m wearing my watch, I love having it notify me of a new text or email. However, when I put it on my nightstand every night, right next to my smart phone…I don’t need it to vibrate across the surface every time my phone notification goes off…it’s redundant and unnecessary. Additionally, on some models when you finally do put your watch back on the next morning, you still have to clear all the notifications that came through overnight…even though you’ve already cleared them on your phone. So, in my humble opinion, no smart watch is truly smart unless it knows when it’s being used and when it’s not! If I'm wrong and one exists, please let me know.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You need a Pebble bro.
Has DND settings for night time, syncs to phone notifications. I'm using mine on jailbroken i5 and smartwatch+ lets me reply to notifications from the watch, call people. Has massive battery life. Pebble Steel is stylish and functional. I have a Pebble (original) with a wide leather band, looks sweet.
Only thing it can't do is prevent you lugging your phone about, but the BT range on the pebble is about 20-30m in my experience, so you may get away with it at the gym/home/office. I know i can walk to the printer and such at work without my phone, or make a coffee. And at home i can leave the iphone in a dock to play, and change songs and volume while doing the dishes. (yep. pebble is waterproof.)
Got mine second hand for $80. what have you got to lose :victory:
Talking about sensors... http://m.europe.wsj.com/articles/apple-plans-multiple-designs-for-smartwatch-1403245062?mobile=y
Apple's rumoured watch packed with sensors. Wonder if it'll be truly smart. Even if it's the 'best watch' you'll need to buy an iPhone to use it until they find a hack for it.
... how about a pebble like watch but with WiFi, GPS and packed with sensors. The battery wouldn't 't last as long if you use the WiFi. But if you don't then it should last just as long. And an option to have a cam in the strap or no cam at all.
As mentioned above the perfect watch is not one watch, but perhaps two.
1. A non sim pebble like with better battery life with IP67. With loads of sensors!
2. Sim watch transflective colour screen packed with features but shorter battery life and not IP67. With loads of sensors!
Either way the traditional way of opening an app for a specific need will be replaced with a totally new way of accessing info. An ambient service that automatically brings info to your screen as you change your environment. Morning + at home = daily schedule, traffic news, work email only, weather... Etc. At home at evening = personal emails only, audio player, instagram... Etc. Opening an App will be phased out.
Google glasses is doing it already. Android wear is aiming for it.
And when these 'hyperaware' wearable start sensing and working with other hyperaware wearables... that's when the fun really begins.
---------- Post added at 05:47 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:41 PM ----------
Off topic slightly, I've asked the Moderators to make a forum or thread for general smartwatch discussion, I thought to have it next to where the Sony, pebble, Samsung and other Smart watch is... At the uppermost level. I've asked them to let me know if they agree or not. Let's see what they say.
Well, there doesn't seem to be a generic smart watch thread, so I thought I would post this here. If there is a better place for it, mods may feel free to move it if they wish.
So, i am looking for a recommendation on a smart watch. I was a pebble time user for a long time, but after the announcement that they will stop supporting it thus summer, i am a bit concerned its gonna stop working, so I have started my search. So far I have been through and returned a Fossil, and am getting ready to return my Zen Watch 3 because of all the bugs and problems (see my post yesterday) so I came here for a recommendation. If needed, I have a 6P running Android 8.0.0 rooted.
So here are my needs. please keep in mind that the needs listed may (I don't know) be common to most/all smart watches, but figure I should probably include them in case.
1) It must work reliably 99.9% of the time. 15 seconds before the watch notifies me of a phone call isn't acceptable. (Hence why I am thinking about ditching my Zen. The Zen Watch 3, as least as it is working for me is a horribly unreliable piece of junk, and Asus tech support is a total joke.)
2) It must notify me of phone calls, and text messages, and include the contact name in the notification.
3) I must be able to reply, at least by voice, to text messages I receive.
4) Must get at least 24 hours out of a charge with light use, and have some battery to spare. EG. My Zen watch, I use it occasionally, and after 24 hours, I usually have 25-%-35% life left. Thats why I got rid of the Fossil. Battery life was horrible.
5) Sub $500 Canadian (For our US people out there, thats about $400)
6) Must be available in Canada, and be purchasable from a retailer that permits "I didn't like it" returns. (Such as big box stores, etc, where you can return an item because it didn't suit your needs. After the nightmare I have been though with these watches, it has to be able to go back if its junk IMO)
7) IF it runs android wear, it must run 2.0+, however I am not insisting it be an android wear watch.
8) If it doesn't run android wear, there must be a google authenticator app available for it.
9) It must either have at least one programmable button (programmable button to launch an app) OR have a way to launch an app very quickly. Lets say with less then 2 seconds of work. I map this button to my authenticator app (see #8) because I use it often.
10) Must run at a decent speed. I find the zen watch crazy slow. I am not used to it taking at times 5-10 seconds to open an app.
Things I would like:
1) I kinda like Android wear. The selection of apps seems quite nice, and having google assistant right on the watch seems pretty awesome.
2) An extended battery life. Maybe I was spoiled by my pebble, and my 5-7 day battery life, but I would really like that, if its even available.
3) Color screen. Not really a need, but would be nice to have.
4) Decent selection of apps.
5) The ability to use my watch to take/receive calls, and actually use the watch as a speaker phone. Via bluetooth of course, I am not expecting it to work standalone without a phone.
So maybe I have been spoiled by my Pebble, and ran into a decent watch that just works, and works for my needs. I understand its possible that a watch that meets my needs (other then the pebble) just doesn't exist, and if thats the case, just tell me so. I am willing to accept that an an answer.
Before I end, I want to thank those of you that actually took the time to read my post, as it is a rather long one. And I want to thank those that took a few seconds to think about my needs and what may be available/useful to me. And a special thank you in advance to those that take the time to actually reply.