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I'm not just ranting or trying to make a point, I'm legitimately interested in Google's strategy.
Obviously, google cant argue with the fact that htc has widgets that blow googles widgets out of the water. Google cant say theyve worked hard on their widgets and they cant honestly suggest that they are satisfied with them.
Are there any articles or official satements by google/android regarding their refusal to develop Widgets that are more attractive and elaborate? I'm google faithful and wont switch on principle but I can't imagine more than 10% of those people who've tried HTC's subsequently preferring Googles. Its a very strange angle that google has taken.....or maybe its not I'd like to know their view/opinion...does anyone know it? thanks
Incidentally, its not that Google's Widgets are horrible its just that they could be infinitely better at what I would assume to be relatively little effort... off the top of my head if the power widget was broken into single widgets and more options were included that would great and presumably pretty damn simple, and google emphasizes the customizable desktop which I'm all for yet they neglect wiidgets which could really be a draw for potential customers. thank you
Have to agree with you there. They need to add more stock/easy ways to change the look. It would go a long way in selling more phones. People simply think nicer looking things are "cooler" devices. Some of the metamorph's prove the changes aren't exactly difficult. I'm sure they could code a minimal program that had the ability to change the status bar to black, white, gray... A few nice widgets.. Small changes that the XDA community already offers the rooted phones.
If you watch Googles initial press release for the Android launch youll get your answer, they made Android for developers. Instead of going Apples route where you have to use their stuff and if they have something similar no one else can, they went the other way. They said they would provide the function necessary for a smart phone and leave the rest to the developers and provided the open source operating system and api's necassary for that to happen. And honestly id say its worked. I dont use their messenger, I use Handcent. I dont use their browser, I use Dolphin Browser. I dont use their clock I use Weather Widget donate or Beautiful Widgets. I often see reviews on apps that say, "this should have been included" blah blah but thats not what Androids all about, its about the devs. I think Android blows everyone away in that category, we may not have the amount of apps that other phones have but we do have more options for the things we use everyday and thats something I can appreciate, its only going to get better as Android grows and its definitely getting there. I'd rather have open development any day than, "Here, this is what you need."
i do agree with you, but those not wanting to void warranty are alittle more limited, i very much want to root but don't want to void warranty to find a month from now something is wrong and theres still no bootloader relock option. i think theres a lot more customization for rooted vs nonrooted and that's where people feel limited and have the "this should have been added" attitude
You have to keep in mind, Google is just providing a basic operating system. They leave it up the the developers to customize it. You can kinda compair it to what microsoft does, loosly. You can build your own computer, buy windows and customise it to your liking. Or you can buy one from Dell that comes pre-loaded with windows and various other applications. Google just really provides the base level OS.
@psylink you dont need root for most widgets. With exception to like the overclock widget and such, or if you are trying to run a widget that was part of a different rom.
JoshHart said:
If you watch Googles initial press release for the Android launch youll get your answer, they made Android for developers. Instead of going Apples route where you have to use their stuff and if they have something similar no one else can, they went the other way. They said they would provide the function necessary for a smart phone and leave the rest to the developers and provided the open source operating system and api's necassary for that to happen. And honestly id say its worked. I dont use their messenger, I use Handcent. I dont use their browser, I use Dolphin Browser. I dont use their clock I use Weather Widget donate or Beautiful Widgets. I often see reviews on apps that say, "this should have been included" blah blah but thats not what Androids all about, its about the devs. I think Android blows everyone away in that category, we may not have the amount of apps that other phones have but we do have more options for the things we use everyday and thats something I can appreciate, its only going to get better as Android grows and its definitely getting there. I'd rather have open development any day than, "Here, this is what you need."
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That's a fantastic stance to take when you're providing just an OS.
However, when you release a branded phone under your own name, you need to provide substantial content to that brand.
As it stands the only thing setting the nexus apart from other phones is hardware. In a few months when numerous phones have the same hardware whats putting the nexus ahead of the pact? They same way motorola has motoblur, htc has sense, etc., Google needs their own "style" for their own handsets.
There are a few home screen redesigns on the market that (AFAIK since I've never tried any of them) don't require rooting and significantly change the "look" of the standard phone. Most of them are heavily theme-able as well. On the Behold II forums a lot of people were touting these apps as ways to get rid of the Touchwiz interface that they didn't like (Samsung pouts).
Also, Google created this OS as a platform both for developers to fill with apps, but also for manufacturers to customize to differentiate themselves. If they didn't leave room for manufacturers to customize then the platform would be far less attractive to them and they'd have more adoption problems. If they create too strong of a core UI then they might either be in the position of competing against the manufacturers on that "differentiation" ground, or they might remove any need/desire to customize and the manufacturers would have to consider producing another "me too" phone which they may not like as much, or Google might spend a lot of time on work that will be discarded by the manufacturers during their differentiation. Most of these manufacturers are members of the "alliance" that collaborated on the platform so I'm sure these points were hashed out during that planning phase.
If they don't promote adoption then they lose the win for developers in having a widely adopted platform. Note that even though HTC heavily customizes with Sense and Motorola heavily customizes with Blur and Samsung with Touchwiz, a developer can still write an app that runs on all of those and so everyone is happy.
muncheese said:
That's a fantastic stance to take when you're providing just an OS.
However, when you release a branded phone under your own name, you need to provide substantial content to that brand.
As it stands the only thing setting the nexus apart from other phones is hardware. In a few months when numerous phones have the same hardware whats putting the nexus ahead of the pact? They same way motorola has motoblur, htc has sense, etc., Google needs their own "style" for their own handsets.
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True, they could do that, but I don't think they are putting the Nexus One out so much to enter the brand market heavily as they are to put out the canonical reference version of the phone, at least initially. In my mind, the N1 was never to compete with the manufacturers head to head, it was more to have a phone out there that was as open and pluggable as their vision has always been so that if all the manufacturers/carriers decide they are going to take the base OS, lock it down, make people buy ringtones through a carrier market and cripple the browsing so you can't download anything - customers would have an alternative open solution to turn to. In the past there have been classic examples of a given model/brand of phone available from some carriers where you could download any customization file to it that you wanted and then on other carriers it was crippled and locked you in. In those cases you had to buy the crippled versions because there was no independently available canonical "open" version. The N1 fights that tendency not by force or contract, but by simply being. It doesn't have to be the coolest, hippest incarnation, it just has to be pretty and usable and so open that everyone will start to get a distaste for anything closed.
What we are seeing so far with Android isn't so much of this "carrier locking" as it is "carriers customizing so heavily that they threaten the upgrade paths for their customers". I don't think they are doing it intentionally, they just aren't familiar with working on a platform that evolves so quickly. Without the N1 being a bare bones example of the platform they would only be competing with other manufacturers that are similarly locked in by their own lack of upgrade foresight and so the drive to release upgrades wouldn't be so compelling. But, if there are alternatives available that will be keeping up on a much more aggressive pace, like the N1, then they are more likely to fix their differentiating software so that it can move to newer OS versions in a more timely manner. Imagine in a year or two when we can all own Blur or Sense phones and get our OS updates within a month or two of a new OS release.
It's the "reference fully open Android example" and, as such, is less in need of customization as it is to simply stand as an option to keep the others honest. It's meant to be as "close to the raw OS source" as it can be.
muncheese said:
That's a fantastic stance to take when you're providing just an OS.
However, when you release a branded phone under your own name, you need to provide substantial content to that brand.
As it stands the only thing setting the nexus apart from other phones is hardware. In a few months when numerous phones have the same hardware whats putting the nexus ahead of the pact? They same way motorola has motoblur, htc has sense, etc., Google needs their own "style" for their own handsets.
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When have widgets been the only way to add content to the phone? I mean there are plenty of replacement widgets already on the market if you dont like the stock ones. Me I would rather they provide more features then pretty widgets. They have provided plenty of content for the phone. Live wallpapers, google goggles, factory bootloader unlock, sim unlocked, mutible exchange account management, updated gallery, multi touch maps, ect
MonkySlap said:
When have widgets been the only way to add content to the phone? I mean there are plenty of replacement widgets already on the market if you dont like the stock ones. Me I would rather they provide more features then pretty widgets. They have provided plenty of content for the phone. Live wallpapers, google goggles, factory bootloader unlock, sim unlocked, mutible exchange account management, updated gallery, multi touch maps, ect
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Those are all implementations for the OS, something that would happen regardless of a "Google's phone", and things that get rolled out to other devices.
They have to walk a fine line because they are Google, and having exclusivity for one thing almost goes against their entire paradigm.
Maybe the "advantage" is getting stuff first? If so, that's kinda meh.
muncheese said:
Those are all implementations for the OS, something that would happen regardless of a "Google's phone", and things that get rolled out to other devices.
They have to walk a fine line because they are Google, and having exclusivity for one thing almost goes against their entire paradigm.
Maybe the "advantage" is getting stuff first? If so, that's kinda meh.
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but its still content non the less, correct? Doesnt need to be exclusive to be considered content. Me personally I really didnt buy it for stock os or content. I bought mine to tweak, mod, and play with, and it is more then fulfiling that for me . Love the desire rom running so smooth so early in the port.
muncheese said:
Those are all implementations for the OS, something that would happen regardless of a "Google's phone", and things that get rolled out to other devices.
They have to walk a fine line because they are Google, and having exclusivity for one thing almost goes against their entire paradigm.
Maybe the "advantage" is getting stuff first? If so, that's kinda meh.
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Click to collapse
Or maybe their philosophy is that any and all "enhancements" should be optional add-ons available to all phones of the breed. As it stands you can only get Sense or Blur if you buy a phone from those manufacturers (or if you root and someone scavenges a semi-compatible ROM from one of them for you). I don't think they want to be in the game of "you have to get your phone from us to get XYZ" and so they provide a reasonably attractive basic package, they set it up so that others can come in and provide openly available enhancements (see the various replacement "home screens" on the market for example) and then the customer gets the benefit of both choice and of an open environment.
I think they view branding as more of an obstacle than as a sales/owner satisfaction tactic.
JoshHart said:
If you watch Googles initial press release for the Android launch youll get your answer, they made Android for developers. Instead of going Apples route where you have to use their stuff and if they have something similar no one else can, they went the other way. They said they would provide the function necessary for a smart phone and leave the rest to the developers and provided the open source operating system and api's necassary for that to happen. And honestly id say its worked. I dont use their messenger, I use Handcent. I dont use their browser, I use Dolphin Browser. I dont use their clock I use Weather Widget donate or Beautiful Widgets. I often see reviews on apps that say, "this should have been included" blah blah but thats not what Androids all about, its about the devs. I think Android blows everyone away in that category, we may not have the amount of apps that other phones have but we do have more options for the things we use everyday and thats something I can appreciate, its only going to get better as Android grows and its definitely getting there. I'd rather have open development any day than, "Here, this is what you need."
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Click to collapse
All good points. Now that I think about it I bought this phone for stock google stuff, which in hindsight may have been a mistake. With the g1 and mytouch 3g the google software was often the closest thing to stable available and I've grown to trust mainly them and reputable companies. Its kind of embarrassing to look thru the market and have to sift through countless apps that serve virtually no purpose, have terrible icons, and aren't even close to stable, but perhaps this is a product of androids relative immaturity, though I'm unfamiliar with winmo, palm, and apple. I just haven't been impressed with many third party apps or Widgets, save a select few very impressive ones. 90% of the apps look and feel very amateur. I stick to apps and Widgets produced by real companies because those have the best chance of being usuable. That was quite a gamble by google to go largely hands off and let all software be driven by development. Xda has spotlighted many excellent devs as far as rooting goes but for the average user the options are unimpressive. Maybe google will give in and start developing more usuable/stable/useful apps/widgets
I think that there are two schools of thought on this, yet we are all agreeing on the same concept.
While Google did create Android to be a stock type OS that they could distribute to multiple handset makers (in order to increase their ability to produce smartphones with only minor increases in developmental costs aside from those related to hardware - ultimately getting more people using the mobile web resulting in more ad revenue -whew! ), they also have in a sense slightly abandoned those of us who took the direct to consumers path. This is why they didn't put much into the release of the phone (look up the launch stats - or lack of accessories). While they don't have the responsibility to create widgets, programs, animations, etc. for us (the D2C crowd). I believe that they should have worked out a deal with HTC where we are allowed to unlock the bootloader and tinker/mod/play with/customize, etc as much as we want to without penalty or breaking the warranty. We don't have the funding to purchase a few hundred phones in case we brick them testing out various configs., nor do most of us have the expertise to repair the device if it gets bricked. The only other possibility is that a contract clause is created whereby we are allowed to download ROMs from Android manufacturers (or at least just HTC) and put them on our phones - doesn't that give us the MOST number of options to customize our phones? And isn't the ability to customize an Android phone the original intent of the OS?
By giving us either an allowance to unlock the bootloader or the allowance to download (and maybe play with other manufacturer customized ROMs) or preferably both I think that it would be a win-win situation.
Hello Everyone!
Let me start off by reaching out to the XDA Administrative staff. I would like to thank you for keeping this awesome place in operation. Without you, and the XDA community, I'm not sure Android development would be as vibrant. Also, if this thread is in the wrong location, please shift it to where you would like it.
I am an Android user, not a developer, and I feel the future of the Android OS is not headed where I want it to. I'm writing this post to see if anyone has any further thoughts on the matter.
Google is marketing Android as an Open Source OS. You are able to download the source, modify it as you wish, and then build it. If you are running a vanilla build of Android (i.e. Nexus S) you are able to alter your experience as you see fit. The issue I foresee isn't the fragmentation of the Android versions (which is still debated as an issue), but rather the fragmentation of the user experience.
When an end-user purchases a handset from most major carriers, they receive an Android device. Between different handsets, and carriers, the features that are available to a single user can vary exponentially (i.e. the inability to install APK files, bypassing the market, on AT&T devices). This device is still based on Android, but is it still Android?
I have no problem with manufacturers adding their own code to the Android system, as long as the core functionality is kept the same. When you begin to alter the basic functionality of the system, at what point is it no longer Android? Linux Mint is derived from Ubuntu, but it is no longer Ubuntu. The system is a derivative of Ubuntu. If the base of the OS is going to be altered drastically (by manufacturer or by request of carrier) it needs to be known that the device is not Android.
As I am most familiar with HTC Android devices, I will use HTC SenseUI as an example (although, as I think about this more it may not be the best example). The core functionality of the HTC devices is similar, but not entirely the same. Most of the default applications (Browser, Contacts, Dialer) have been altered to what HTC feels is more atheistically pleasing. However, these features are additions. They are not removing functionality from the device.
With my HTC Evo (by default) there are core functionalities removed. Without rooting my device, I am unable to tether via WiFi. Even when rooting, if I want to keep the 4G experience, I need to install a third party application to tether instead of simply using the functionality that was supposed to be built in to Android. Why? Sprint has decided to bake their own hotspot functionality into the core of the OS. Yet to use it, I am required to pay an extra $30 fee on top of my [i/unlimited[/i] data plan. I am not knocking Sprint, here. As long as I have used their service, I’ve had nothing but stellar performance and the price point is perfect.
I feel with this core functionality removed, my Evo is no longer Android. It’s simply Android-based, an Android derived OS. The problem with these manufacturers, and their Android-derived operating system, is the lack-luster experience the consumers get with the product.
I started my Android experience on an HTC CDMA Hero. It took me eight months to get any major software upgrades (The device ran Android 1.5 from factory). Why? Because it was taking so long for manufacturers to bake their Features into the OS. If I was not a techie, I feel this experience would have pushed me away from the Android platform. I fear this fragmentation that is occurring could be the downfall of the Android platform.
I want to be able to buy a device. I want to be running the newest version of Android. If I do not like the ROM that came on the phone, I want to be able to change that. But I do not want to purchase a phone with all of this baked in garbage, or aesthetic features that require me to wait long periods of times for my device to be upgraded to the newest version of Android. And, I hope that I am not the only person to feel this way.
So here is my idea, pending input from the Android community of course: An open letter, with a petition, to all members of the OHA requesting for Android devices to be Android! Unadulterated Android OS from Google (With minor modifications to ensure specific hardware is working properly). Requesting that we are given access to the entire device, that we paid for, without having to exploit the operating system to obtain the ability to modify it as we see fit. If a manufacturer, or carrier, does not wish to comply with this, they will not be able to market the device as being Android. Rather, the device is based on Android.
Honestly, I’m not sure what I am looking to accomplish. Maybe, just so they know we are just as interested in Android as they are. And that we want nothing but for Android to succeed. Or maybe, that we support Android being open source, but not being heavily modified to the point where it’s a bastardized.
What do you think?
Tim, I support you in your belief that carriers, not manufacturers, are taking the wrong turn by messing with the full functionality that people pay a hefty price to OWN!
Do we truly OWN what we paid for, or are paying for? I don't believe so, for example, the SAMSUNG Vibrant t959, aka the Samsung Galaxy S i9000, same phone but the carriers decided to have certain features removed from the phone, not be MADE without these features, the FM radio HW and the FFC. Many people know these features were REMOVED, due to the leftover molding and other " skeletons"! Would anyone want to have a carrier when they know that they don't want there customers to have the FULLEST experience, like it was meant to be?
Sent from my HTC MyDesireHD 4G!
I would also like to share with you that MANUFACTURERS creating these "skins", I'm going to use HTC Sense for my example, is actually NOT a bad thing at all!
HTC Sense has opened a huge amount of rich content and functionality to there users immensely! HTC Hub, HTC Locations for example! All these add ons are very useful to users and does NOT restrict the full functionality but yet BOOSTS its functionality!
Unfortunately though, carriers decide to take these hearty and supreme names and totally rip it apart by taking away functionality, features, and the most...a good user experience! For example, my phone..the HTC MyTouch 4G aka the HTC Glacier. I received it with something called Sense on it, but any owner knows that is NOT Sense! That is not HTC Sense! After burying myself in the bowels of my new phone, I now have a HTC Desire HD Rom on it that will stay on it until I get the new HTC Sense 2.3 update! The full HTC Sense is a good thing and I strongly believe its worth waiting for!
Sent from my HTC Glacier
I agree, but believe Android is a growing mobile OS. If Google did not push their mobile OS (and let manufactures do what they want). Android probably would not have last against the competition. Its all a survival of the fittest situation. Some people are going to make use of their phones others aren't. Too bad bloatware has been the success for some Android phones. Glad someone else noticed this. Thank you for your thread.
The fact that Android is open source will inevitably have benefits and downfalls.
Benefits being that carriers and manufacturers can add cool stuff. Downfalls being that they can remove good or add awful stuff.
However Google can't have double standards. If it's open source, it's open source, for better or for worse.
An advantage of OEMs participating is that more parties are contributing to coding for android. More innovative ideas are potentially contributed.
For techies this is particularly awesome as we can port awesome features that perhaps weren't designed for our phone and disable lame restrictions. By this way we potentially can have all software benefits of more than one company brand etc.
Being an ordinary consumer in this context can suck.
Tim, while I understand your frustration (trust me, I've felt similar over the past few months), I don't fully agree.
The heart of Android is that it is Open. Open Source is a part of the openness that envelops Android, but what is meant by "Android is open" is so much more. OEM's skinning their devices is part of it; carriers stuffing devices full of their crapware is part of it; heck, even manufacturers/carriers limiting devices' use in one form or another is technically part of it. I think that Google's model with Android is that people can use in whatever way they see fit (except, you know, literally stealing it and claiming that they made and own it) and adapting it to be the OS that they want. Android gives people the freedom to do with it what they like.
I think that Google hopes that carriers, OEMs and everyone else will use it for the better and add to the functionality and maybe even contribute to the Open Source project and thus to the greater Android community and the vision thereof. Sadly, it is not always the case and then you get situations where a carrier or an OEM will limit a device in some way for a quick buck (your example of tethering on the EVO being a good one). I think that what AT&T did/does on their Android devices is as a final product a good example of what Android is not intended to be, but their actions are, technically, still in the spirit of Android.
The way I see Android, it is about the freedom to do whatever you like. Android is then also more for the thinking person as there are literally hundreds of devices to choose from and each one has strengths and weaknesses when compared to the rest. You as a user need to consider what it is that you want from your device and then select the device that is the most suited to your needs.
I want to be able to buy a device. I want to be running the newest version of Android. If I do not like the ROM that came on the phone, I want to be able to change that. But I do not want to purchase a phone with all of this baked in garbage, or aesthetic features that require me to wait long periods of times for my device to be upgraded to the newest version of Android. And, I hope that I am not the only person to feel this way.
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You are not the only person that feels that way, I feel the same, which is why I've decided to get myself a Nexus S. It's tricky to get it to this country, but it'll be worth it. I realise that you're on Sprint which means that a Nexus device won't work, correct? A better petition IMO, would be to petition Google to release CDMA versions of their devices.
Sorry to say, but 4G is not derived from android. The phone itself will always support it, harware wise. So, what are you saying? /: Who are you complaining to? ROM chefs for not managing to make the 4G fully functional?
totally agree with you
he is complaining about gimped devices being marketed as android devices. to sum up what i think his messages is; a device should not be called an android device if it is not fully capable of all it's natively supported features, wireless tether, root access etc. but rather should be called android based device.
Good idea but never going to happen. This is driving me away from this platform...
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
I'm curious as to what functionality we can get by simply rooting. I'm not seeing the huge deal I may be missing something so I'm asking
Sent from my Incredible using XDA App
To me, they should just change the launcher and add their own apps in (NOT replacing) and not touch other stuffs already. If totally not changing the OS makes them look alike. To me, thinking about Windows phone 7 in the future. Imagine seeing so many people holding a phone that has the totally same UI, its like seeing a Sony Ericsson X10 and a HTC Desire totally same except that the casing is different.
Technically, the fact that its open source is supposed to help the majority of OEMs, and in turnfilter down to end users as price cuts/ feature enhancements.
But premium features are premium features. You want some kind of 4g? You wont be getting it from end users at xda - it will come from manufacturers who build the radios and APIs into the device.
Android is a very modular os... if you want something all you have to do is a bit of research and buy the device that fits you best. If you go with one of the other systems you will simply have less choice. That is why android is cool.
aint gonna happen guys, doesnt make good business sense to make a device that does everything, why sell one model when you can sell two!
you can pick up any device out there and say, "wouldnt it be cool if it had VGA out or HD camera or x y z", they wont do it, and the same goes for the OS as well.
Open source has an inherant flaw, and that is its fragmentation, everyone believes it should be going in a direction they would like (including yourself). at the moment its not suffered as much as its desktop cousins probably because of its market place keeping one common aspect through all devices but give it time and you will be right, it will lose its "android" identification
If you want an alternative and a device that keeps its personality then get an Iphone or a new WP7 device at least until they crack that wide open too. Its a bit ironic really that WM may well suck but its very customizable and has been consistant throughout the ages
evo4gnw said:
he is complaining about gimped devices being marketed as android devices. to sum up what i think his messages is; a device should not be called an android device if it is not fully capable of all it's natively supported features, wireless tether, root access etc. but rather should be called android based device.
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But that's just the thing isn't it? Android can probably support ANYTHING. But because of that, you aren't supposed to release hardware that isn't as flexible? That to me.. is just looney.
Just wanted your opinions on which dev has the best Onskreen Cornerstone build right now. I have installed both CM9 and Eos i personally prefer Eos' build they are doing a great job with the dev so far. Great job on both roms though. And are there any other roms with OSCS built in these are the only two im aware of.
I can deal with the minor bugs I really couldn't see my TF without OSCS now im spoiled
I'd personally love a completely stock with cornerstone and stock buttons. I like the Asus quick panel and soundset
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using xda premium
I like the Team EOS better.
After using Cornerstone for a day, you cannot imagine life without it. I know the feeling.
jinsoku3g said:
I'd personally love a completely stock with cornerstone and stock buttons. I like the Asus quick panel and soundset
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using xda premium
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This is pretty much what I'm holding out for, a nice stock rom with cornerstone.
st0nedpenguin said:
This is pretty much what I'm holding out for, a nice stock rom with cornerstone.
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Which can't happen right now because we ain't got no source code yet.
i flashed back to ARHD to many bugs for me to use as daily (especially now with the dock) waiting for a good solid CS build screen swapping would be cool if they release the source for that (not likely soon)
Here is some important information from the CEO of Onskreen directly to Diane Hackborn of Google, I've not read this on this site, I was directed here after an email with consumer relations with Onskreen while asking if the window-swappng option was going to be re-implemented..their reply was basically "no, and here is why; read this comment" so here is what they said..
(my emphasis)
hansmeet sethi - I am the CEO of Onskreen and felt it was about time we weighed in on the public discussion. To start off with, we have been impressed by the level of discussion on this thread on the topic of compatibility. We take it very seriously and are glad that the rest of the community do as well.
+Dianne Hackborn - Thanks for sharing specific concerns and we can appreciate their gravity and the need for a dialogue. However, outside of the implementation details perhaps some background will help. Onskreen saw an obvious need in the UX of Android on larger screen devices (that is our business after all), and we worked to address that with Cornerstone. During the process, we have invested heavily to respect Android's intentions and compatibility of the Frameworks you helped build. When you get a chance to review the code, you will see that we went out of our way to not introduce app requirements, leverage the patterns already used, and treat running Applications in a way that they are oblivious to the Cornerstone experience. We rejected many features along the way to optimize for compatibility. The result is a product that we are proud of, respects the Android project, that the user and mod communities are excited about, and OEMs love. And frankly, once you use a tablet with multi-tasking there is no going back. We are the first to admit the product is not perfect, but was at a point where we felt comfortable sharing with the community to use, help improve and polish. We see the goal of this conversation as a way to come to an agreement on some of the aspects of Compatibility and deliver multi-tasking on Android.
Now - a few of your concerns:
- Orientation - Good points, and we spent a ton of time thinking through the UX here. Cornerstone adheres to the desired orientation of the Application running in the Main Panel (and rotation of the device). Cornerstone restricts the user from opening an app that won't support all orientations in the Cornerstone panel, so there is not a case where an app running there is forced into an orientation the app developer did not intend to run in (try opening Angry Birds in the Cornerstone and you will see this). There is more here but I will leave it at that for the time being.
- Screen size changes - You point out the complexity of a changing screen size on an app. We agree and this is the reason that swapping panels (applications moving from the main area to the cornerstone or vice versa) was removed from the product. Apps at this point just aren't enforced to consider this, so Cornerstone imposing it on them would be incompatible and we don't (although we all sorely miss the feature). One area we are still considering is the Config of the main app. Logically this should change when the user minimizes/maximizes the Cornerstone, however the implementation is not doing that because of compatibility issues it would introduce. To be fully compliant we are aware that we will may have to remove the ability to minimize/maximize the Cornerstone (we will miss that feature too). Perhaps you have some suggestions here?
- ProcessRecord/ActivityThread Configurations - As you mentioned, while the ActivityStack was refactored out during your exploration, other inherent dependencies on a static Configuration do still exist. Some interesting features could be enabled by expanding this, but we didn't make these changes so that the Cornerstone codebase could more easily be used in customized Android trees of OEMs and others, as well as perhaps in upcoming Android releases.
- CDD Compliance - We take this one very seriously and you bring up good points. However, our intention is that each area (the main panel and cornerstone panels) be designed as CDD compliant sizes. That is not fully the case in the .85 release that was open sourced. As we made the switch to v4.0.3_r1 and the 1280x800 reference device (Xoom), we haven't made all these changes yet. It may require that some of the panels in certain orientations run in a pseudo compatibility mode similar to how the Android OS supports legacy apps already so that their config is CDD compliant and the UX is optimized.
- CTS - One test in CTS calls for any Activity that doesn't have the focus to be moved to the paused state. This is obviously not the case in Cornerstone as Activities do stay resumed when not having the focus and still are visible on the screen. Google could ding Cornerstone for that and in truth they would be technically correct. However this would be silly considering the nature of the test when applied to a real multi-tasked environment. That is not our call however.
In short, we think about the same problems you do and we believe in the product as well as maintaining the integrity of Android applications and devices. You of all people can appreciate the complexity in working with the Android framework in the way we have to get Cornerstone built, and to call it a fork is doing the design and engineering effort that went into it a disservice. We see the point of AOSP and contributions like Cornerstone to create a dialogue, come to agreement and add great features to the platform. To that end, we are more than happy to continue this conversation. Some of us are in the bay area and happy to drop by Google if you prefer.
hansmeet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thats pretty cool but i will miss having the features im sure the community will implement our own twist on it though. to bad for the screen swapping though .
on a different note CM9 with cornerstone is moving along quite well a lot more stable ROM can i vote again lol
Cornerstone is just a placeholder for me until Windows 8 is released for tablets.
Definitely switching to Windows 8 unless Google adds to Android a comparable multitasking capability.
Just stock, I like stock ICS on TF101 (after reboot and pc connection issue removed...) and don't see any pro's in any other ROM for me...
Pretty much all of the concessions that they have or are discussing making to cornerstone are quickly removing the reason for having it at all. There are plenty of apps that already are not compatible with many devices and resolutions. Crippling a feature because you "can't" create new app requirements is silly. This is the area where google(and cornerstone) have the potential to destroy apple. As these devices get faster and bigger, you can't stick with the one app at a time paradigm.
I understand google is trying to remove the "fragmentation" but your OS can't evolve if that outweighs everything else.
gottahavit said:
Pretty much all of the concessions that they have or are discussing making to cornerstone are quickly removing the reason for having it at all. There are plenty of apps that already are not compatible with many devices and resolutions. Crippling a feature because you "can't" create new app requirements is silly. This is the area where google(and cornerstone) have the potential to destroy apple. As these devices get faster and bigger, you can't stick with the one app at a time paradigm.
I understand google is trying to remove the "fragmentation" but your OS can't evolve if that outweighs everything else.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Google will add better multitasking to Android. They have to or they will lose to Windows 8.
Cornerstone is just not Google's answer to multitasking on Android. I bet Google has something better.
horndroid said:
Google will add better multitasking to Android. They have to or they will lose to Windows 8.
Cornerstone is just not Google's answer to multitasking on Android. I bet Google has something better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The problem with windows 8 is that a windows tablet will always cost 100 dollars more than the same android tablet. Add to that the fact that you'll have to re-buy all your apps for ARM or Metro and they have a tough battle ahead in the consumer market.
Personally I Find Metro totally annoying on my 17" laptop, I think Microsoft is having an identity crisis with windows 8. The last thing I want on my laptop is forced full screen apps. Honestly Metro is a little to Android(ish) for what I would want on a tablet once they get a little more powerful and have better rez.
EDIT: I should qualify this with the fact that I am a die hard windows fan, I LOVE windows 7, prefer coding for windows over any other OS EVER, and absolutely hate MAC OS.
gottahavit said:
The problem with windows 8 is that a windows tablet will always cost 100 dollars more than the same android tablet. Add to that the fact that you'll have to re-buy all your apps for ARM or Metro and they have a tough battle ahead in the consumer market.
Personally I Find Metro totally annoying on my 17" laptop, I think Microsoft is having an identity crisis with windows 8. The last thing I want on my laptop is forced full screen apps. Honestly Metro is a little to Android(ish) for what I would want on a tablet once they get a little more powerful and have better rez.
EDIT: I should qualify this with the fact that I am a die hard windows fan, I LOVE windows 7, prefer coding for windows over any other OS EVER, and absolutely hate MAC OS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't care. All that matters is that Windows 8 will motivate Google to add some real multitasking capability to its Android OS. We all know how competitive Google is. They will do it, and it won't be Cornerstone. It will be something better.
horndroid said:
I don't care. All that matters is that Windows 8 will motivate Google to add some real multitasking capability to its Android OS. We all know how competitive Google is. They will do it, and it won't be Cornerstone. It will be something better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Kinda, my point. have you used Windows 8 Multitasking? it looks too much like Honeycomb except they keep apps actually running. This is of course Metro, native apps are still good old windows. This isn't Microsoft putting out something for google to steal or envy, it's Microsoft going "OHHH everybody love android and IOS, they must all want "one app at a time" style OS.
I currently have two tablet: ASUS Transformer and new iPad. I am writing an article on the Android vs iOS (only the operating system).
I would like to hear users' opinions about why you chose Android, or do you own both? What is good or bad is in Android/iOS. What Apple/Google is doing better than Apple/Google. If your answer is, Apple is crap, do not bother to comment.
Andoid: Open source
iOS: closed source with limited functionality.
Enough said.
People hold strong opinions so watch out because this article will flame like hell. I will say that Apple is crap, but I will explain why I say this. Given the freedom of Android, I'd choose nothing else. Given the advanced level of control over your device, I'd choose nothing else. Given the open source availability of our beloved OS, I'd choose nothing else. Given the diverse choice of apps on the Play Store and the larger amount of free apps, I'd choose nothing else. Aside from that sort of stuff, Apple's BS just plain ticks me off. How these a-holes can actually try to monopolize the technology industry and file all of these lawsuits against their competitors (not to mention the fact that they are being goddamned hipsters and trying to claim that they invented the slide-to-unlock and face unlock features... I'm truly surprised they haven't dug up the inventor of the wheel and tried to sue him). Samsung, Google, and all of their competitors are forking out an arm and a leg to lawyers. Sorry if I seem like I'm pissy, I just don't like the fact that Apple is trying to ruin Android, when it's so beautiful.
This is my Tapatalk 2 signature. Rockin' the app on my Nook Color running ICS 4.0.4, courtesy of Dalingrin, Fattire, and our other beloved XDA weenies (nemith, keyodi, arcee, hacdan, etc.)
Hi!!,
I currently have iPad 1stGen and TF101
I just decide to change to Android becouse of many mods and tweaks i can do (open source), it's very funny for me, and with patience and read, you can play withot kill your data.
I have to say that iOS (Without jailbreak) is boring for me. But iOS have a year of advantage versus android, in terms of quality and performance hardware-software, and they sell more devices, and more, and more, so they have more customers, more potential buyers and much more money to spend.
Both are similar, a store... a developer community... the fact is that in a future, I think one cannot survive without the other. And android is growing too!.
rjarl
Goatshocker said:
Andoid: Open source
iOS: closed source with limited functionality.
Enough said.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure if that's a benefit to the end user.
Some would argue that android is buggy and has low quality apps because it's so "open", while apples tight reign over the iOS ecosystem ensures a reliable, consistent and high-quality experience for the user.
Honestly, the "average person" doesn't give a damn about open or closed source. They just want something that works with minimal fuss, and that's why Apple can sell more iPads in a week than all Android manufacturers can in a quarter.
I love android because it can do everything I need it to do. My wife loves iOS because it allows her to do everything she wants it to do. The difference is that I'm always maintaining my Android devices, that is, I'm always monitoring the battery or checking for excess wake locks or apps that don't play nice, which she doesn't have to worry about those things at all.
Both are around to suits difference preference in term of functionality, design and fashioned for end users like us..
Some really like to customised, root, flashing and all those freedom you would get in Android world but some doesn't bother and use what the gadget has to offer officially and some just follow others or the latest technology without knowing what best..
I have a friend who just follow and get what others have. Everybody in the office bought iPad and so does she but all she knows and do is playing the build-in facebook mini games.. Jailbreaking an iPad/iPhone wouldn't be as good as rooting an Android devices ..
I choose Android both phone and tablet for the easy customise(root, CWM and custom roms) and the ability to connect to PC as removable drive without needing another program to run..
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using XDA Premium HD app
I love my android tablet. The flexibility is key for me. Maybe the average user doesn't care about open source, but the average user could care about things like, widgets, different keyboards, customization of the homescreens. For me I like, and pick my android products based on the development community around it. I had a G-tablet first, now an asus slider. And I own an HTC incredible, running ICS, something it was never thought it would be able to do, and its all because there is a great community around it.
farsight73 said:
.... the ability to connect to PC as removable drive without needing another program to run..
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Click to collapse
+1 to that, one of his greats features!!!! just like a removable disk
Need to ask question in other venues. Asking here is like asking if you should buy a chevy truck on a ford truck forum.
I use both. The IOS platform is largely an application launcher. As such it has some limitations on it's functionality. This is by design to make it easy for new users to learn and use, and most of all remember. The ISO interface is very clean and simple and was built by some amazing designers. Given the numbers of IOS users it is obvious this strategy of clean design and simplicity has worked.
Android looks very much like what I see in a lot of application designed by developers. It has a lot of developer centric features such as extensive settings and customizations. The UI has some behaviors that must be learned and remembered to operate effectively. One example is press and hold to get to additional functionality.
Because it was developed by developer instead of UI designers, Android is more feature rich. It makes extensive use of multi-tasking and multi-threading. Also, Intents makes functionality sharing and extensions to the UI such as different keyboards very easy. But, this also increases the complexity
At the end of the day neither system is right or wrong. They are just right for different sets of users.
- IOS is easy to learn and remember. Everything works by apps and you can press one button to get back to familiarity of home. This restricts the options you have in apps which is perfect for a more casual user.
- Android allows for complex UIs which can let users interact with apps in complex manners. This can result in a very powerful app, or a complex mess. But, this is the type of apps and Android is the type of OS that power users want.
Jerry
The question Android vs iOS is same Linux vs Windows...
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using xda premium
I've owned both iOS and Android devices. I'm currently using an iPad2 64GB 3G. Android has the potential to be a great tablet OS, but as it stands currently it's just too much of a mess IMHO. In order of importance (too me) I feel that display, followed by OS stability, functionality, developer support, and customization are the deciding factors in choosing a device. The custom ROMS within the Android camp are nice (I primarily used the Revolver ones), however all the goodness that ICS was suppose to bring about fizzled. Perhaps the communities expectations were high. The TF201 (which i tried and returned) was rushed to market for bragging rights (Quad Core and Ice Cream), while overlooking so many design flaws (MicroSD Slot, WiFi performance, GPS, colour saturation, and most importantly OS Stability). In addition ASUS position on locking the unit down means that those wishing to try a Developers ROM are forced to void their warranty. So what do I miss now in iOS? Well widgets are the biggest thing. Those and live wallpapers tho I'd bet chew into one's battery.
One thing that nagged at me was the disparity of data plans. I use an older Palm Pixi Plus (cell phone). On that I pay $10 for 100MB. When I was living with the TF101 I could tether it to the Palm (but it was slow), so I looked into the portable hotspot solutions. The problem I saw was the huge price differences (data regardless of the device accessing it should be priced the same IMO) 5GB on a Flex Plan costs $70, whereas 5GB on the iPad costs $35.
Prior to the iPad I've never owned a single Apple device and a despised iTunes for all it's bloatware and autostart services, I've ran Windows (since 3.11 ) and Ubuntu (since Hardy) on my systems.
There are alot of biases between these 2 camps, frankly I just want a device that works as advertised, doesn't crash and force me to reboot or cold start. The first time any of us pick up a device to complete a task while wondering if the device will work as we hope, is the time we should be asking ourselves is that device honestly meeting our needs
It should be noted that while we have the option of customizing Android to our hearts content, customizing can lead to a drop in stability and poor battery life. Custom ROMS can often break basic functions of the OS and make apps incompatible or just plain unstable.
What Apple users miss from android, they gain in device stability, app compatibility, amazing battery life, consistent app experience and a simple "pickup and go" experience. This is what most people are looking for. Even the average android user won't take advantage of widgets, custom keyboards, custom ROMS and kernels , etc. That stuff is often reserved for the power users who like to tweak and control everything on their device... And power users make up a small percent of the total user base.
worldindo1 said:
People hold strong opinions so watch out because this article will flame like hell. I will say that Apple is crap, but I will explain why I say this. Given the freedom of Android, I'd choose nothing else.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What kind of freedom are you talking about? I can't even root this thing, so it might as well be IPad in my hands right now..
I haven't used any apple device and probably won't. Because of the price. That's what makes difference between Apple and Android devices before I even have got any
EP2008 said:
It should be noted that while we have the option of customizing Android to our hearts content, customizing can lead to a drop in stability and poor battery life. Custom ROMS can often break basic functions of the OS and make apps incompatible or just plain unstable.
What Apple users miss from android, they gain in device stability, app compatibility, amazing battery life, consistent app experience and a simple "pickup and go" experience. This is what most people are looking for. Even the average android user won't take advantage of widgets, custom keyboards, custom ROMS and kernels , etc. That stuff is often reserved for the power users who like to tweak and control everything on their device... And power users make up a small percent of the total user base.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed the vast majority of users have no interest is hacking their device. They want it to simply work!
Further someone mentioned that price is a factor. Yes however now that we've seen a price drop on the iPad2 it's a moot point
hairpower said:
What kind of freedom are you talking about? I can't even root this thing, so it might as well be IPad in my hands right now..
I haven't used any apple device and probably won't. Because of the price. That's what makes difference between Apple and Android devices before I even have got any
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To answer your question simply. Without jailbreaking an ios device you cannot:
1ownload roms or any emulators, this includes all SNES,n64,psx etc etc
2:You cannot run freeware music software like grooveshark ( my favorite), it was banned from appstore, and now only resides in cydia (jailbreak + montly fee is required)
3:You cannot download torrents. Jailbreak is required, even then it is a not a good experience.
4: you cannot transfer files directly to folders, an SHSH connection is required, which requires jailbreak.
All these things you can do without rooting, so you are not holding an ipad device my friend, you would have notice it.
The best thing about android is that developers can make their own apps and spread them for free to the community, that experience can be obtained with iOS and cydia, but It can cause some real problems in your phone, and decrease its battery time.
When you use cydia apps, sometimes you will notice very unstable behavior from your idevice, like winterboard or dreamboarder, which caused my phone to brick itself.
in more simple words, To get an android experience on an apple device, you will make the iOS more unstable than applefanboys claim android to be.
EP2008 said:
Not sure if that's a benefit to the end user.
Some would argue that android is buggy and has low quality apps because it's so "open", while apples tight reign over the iOS ecosystem ensures a reliable, consistent and high-quality experience for the user.
Honestly, the "average person" doesn't give a damn about open or closed source. They just want something that works with minimal fuss, and that's why Apple can sell more iPads in a week than all Android manufacturers can in a quarter.
I love android because it can do everything I need it to do. My wife loves iOS because it allows her to do everything she wants it to do. The difference is that I'm always maintaining my Android devices, that is, I'm always monitoring the battery or checking for excess wake locks or apps that don't play nice, which she doesn't have to worry about those things at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I completely agree, ios is for the simpler person, who do not care about reaching the full potential of their device, they just want it to work.
Sent from my HTC_A510c using xda premium
worldindo1 said:
People hold strong opinions so watch out because this article will flame like hell. I will say that Apple is crap, but I will explain why I say this. Given the freedom of Android, I'd choose nothing else. Given the advanced level of control over your device, I'd choose nothing else. Given the open source availability of our beloved OS, I'd choose nothing else. Given the diverse choice of apps on the Play Store and the larger amount of free apps, I'd choose nothing else. Aside from that sort of stuff, Apple's BS just plain ticks me off. How these a-holes can actually try to monopolize the technology industry and file all of these lawsuits against their competitors (not to mention the fact that they are being goddamned hipsters and trying to claim that they invented the slide-to-unlock and face unlock features... I'm truly surprised they haven't dug up the inventor of the wheel and tried to sue him). Samsung, Google, and all of their competitors are forking out an arm and a leg to lawyers. Sorry if I seem like I'm pissy, I just don't like the fact that Apple is trying to ruin Android, when it's so beautiful.
This is my Tapatalk 2 signature. Rockin' the app on my Nook Color running ICS 4.0.4, courtesy of Dalingrin, Fattire, and our other beloved XDA weenies (nemith, keyodi, arcee, hacdan, etc.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
totally agree on all points!!!
---------- Post added at 01:01 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:36 PM ----------
from what i gather, iOS is simple whereas android is sophisticated!!!
A year ago I bought an iPad to replace my laptop. I did this because I used my android phone more then my laptop to place things on internet. For example on auction sites.
It wasn't what I expected. iOS is too secure. Something simple like searching a foto in your filesystem and upload it isn't possible. Even when iOS is jailbroken!
Now I have an android tablet, which can replace my laptop completely.
An iPad is nice for internet or reading your mail. Or for an electronics noob.
I can understand if people like iOS more for its stability, but for the generation that's under 35, how can anyone be too stupid to use Android? It's honestly not more complicated (I got my first tablet, TF101, last year in the summer, then my first smartphone about a month ago, SGi777) and you can do so much more. I've used my girlfriend's iPhone a lot (waiting at the bus stop, hanging around her place without anything to do.. etc.) and it's really hard to believe that anyone would want an iOS product for its "simplicity" because I'd say that it took me maybe two hours to understand how to manipulate Android as much as you can manipulate iOS (and of course, I learn more ways to manipulate Android as time goes on because it has so many possibilities that open up as you root and gain more control..).
Now, I'm a physics major, and I work with some computer programming languages, but none of which would really help for my learning experience with Android. I play games, but not much since early high school, so that wasn't it either. I use my computer, but not really for anything that requires super knowledge about computers. I've used iOS on a computer before, I've used Windows on a computer before, and I've used Ubuntu (really awesome, except it doesn't play certain Windows games which made me not completely switch over).
I guess the real difference between the two is the perception held by the masses. Yeah, Android is also cheaper (kind of, I mean, the good phones cost as much as iPhones but go on sale sometimes) so that kind of fuels the perception in lots of places. I know that in China, many of the wealthier folks like to buy things that are superfluously expensive for the reason that they are more expensive (my postdoc mentor being an example), and that's probably one thing that keeps this "iOS is the elite, Android is the poor man's choice" kind of thing going.
Sorry for the rant.
tl;dr: Android is as simple as iOS if you want to do only what iOS can do, but Android gives the user the potential to go farther. The main difference is the perception in the eyes of the masses, and that perception is tied to marketing and prices.
Hi all developers,
We released our EvolutionUI research project as open source. In this project we are experimenting with integrating gamificiation (experience points, achievements, etc) into Android. This should make the phone easier to use and a lot more fun.
Feel free to have a look at the open source project and contribute to make it even better!
https://github.com/sonyxperiadev/EvolutionUI
Get the full story on Developer World.
/Pál Szász
SW developer at Sony
Hi
pal.szasz said:
Hi all developers,
We released our EvolutionUI research project as open source. In this project we are experimenting with integrating gamificiation (experience points, achievements, etc) into Android. This should make the phone easier to use and a lot more fun.
Feel free to have a look at the open source project and contribute to make it even better!
https://github.com/sonyxperiadev/EvolutionUI
Get the full story on Developer World.
/Pál Szász
SW developer at Sony
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting! A very good initiative how can I put the file in my rom?
I actually like the idea a lot. Brings simple 'Fun' to the Android system. For some users it won't be though because there have been times where myself just wanted to dive into my Brand New Android device when I received it. However once I get used to it I get somewhat bored?! Lol, I'm a phone whore so that's definitely why. This might actually help me not want to move on to the 'Next Best Thing' once I get used to my current device.
I like it!:good:
Sound great....
i love the idea!!
Great idea, I actually think this is a great concept. Some users I've noticed find it white hard to get used to Android phones.
With this, they can explore and find out more things about their device yet figure out more about what they can do on it.
So great concept, I'll take a peek at the source
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
Marília de Oliveira said:
Interesting! A very good initiative how can I put the file in my rom?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you are making/building your own ROM, then I guess you need to include the two projects into our repo and create Android.mk files for them.
If you just want to install it on your already flashed phone, there are precompiled binaries here: https://github.com/sonyxperiadev/EvolutionUI/releases
In each case note that this is not a finished product
This reminds me of app Android achievements
Used a lot then lost after factory reset and got lazy enough to not install it
Press thanks :good: if I've helped :highfive:
great job,, nice sound quality on sony
Good stuff! I'm trying to convince family to ditch iPhones since they're getting worse and worse on build quality under Mr. Cook. Their only real concern is learning a new phone. This would be extremely useful!
This has been already been done in form of an app. Been available for some time too!
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pixelmark.phonechievements
Awesome work
Currently you can get achievements by :
1) Add 5 Shortcuts to Home Screen (Told by OP).
2) Open any app 5 times (Told by OP).
3) Add 5 Widgets to Home Screen (Discovered by me).
4) Add 10 Apps to Home Screen (Discovered by me).
pal.szasz said:
If you are making/building your own ROM, then I guess you need to include the two projects into our repo and create Android.mk files for them.
If you just want to install it on your already flashed phone, there are precompiled binaries here: https://github.com/sonyxperiadev/EvolutionUI/releases
In each case note that this is not a finished product
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks !
Thanks for the feedback, both for the positive and the negative!
Btw, you should be able to adjust other applications to work with achievements. The launcher is just an example.
Any application can publish it's own set of features and achievements. I started to write some more detailed explanation, but it's not finished yet: https://github.com/sonyxperiadev/EvolutionUI/wiki
However you can always look at the launcher patches: https://github.com/sonyxperiadev/an...mmit/71460e8441066b3dfc1a796b05f196d7edab8ba8
honestly, this is a bad idea. let me explain why.
the main idea behind this concept is to make it easier to the user to get familiar with the user interface. The user is slowly understanding the "game mechanics" of one "level" (i. e. reduced interface) and once he mastered them, he's ready for the next level. This process repeats until the user has all the skills needed to use the phone fully.
Ideally, the user should have full access to all functionality. The user interface should be polished and user friendly enough that any user doesn't experience any steep hills on the learning curve.
like someone said, Everything Should Be Made as Simple as Possible, But Not Simpler.
The average user has changed since the first smartphone. Back then, the idea of interact with a machine was very new. Arguably nowadays people are being brought up surrounded by technology, making it easier for them to understand how a computational device work.
Hence the achievements system is purely a steep hill that every single user has to do, even an experienced user. More computation machines are owned by the average user: tablet, phone, watches. What I fear is that the user has to go through a little game every time he has a new device. An idea to be successful has to be widely implemented, and I don't see this happening.
One could argue that every device may have a different interface and new "skills" have to be learned in order to fully use the device. True, but where the problem really lies is within inconsistency across multiple devices.
Consistency across multiple devices. This is what the aim of a good designer should be. As mentioned, this interface should be clean and intuitive. It's not easy, Microsoft is trying to do it and even with all the skilled people and resources available they ain't quite there yet.
With what it is available at the moment, a AOSP look with a theme engine (and an advanced menu unlocked it via a semi hidden command, like tapping multiple times the build number to get to Dev options) is a very very good concept.
Sony is almost doing so with the recent devices and I'm really happy about their decision. Continue down this way you guys. This surely was a fun little project to do, hopefully it has taught you something on the way.
p. s.
I love Android and its ability to change interface when I feel like it. But once I found an interface I'm happy about, I'm sticking with it between flashing and phones. The interface is device agnostic. This idea is shared among my friends and personally it is shared across xda as well. Hopefully this could serve as a proff of the above.
pps
I really like the professionality of the latest Sony interfaces, it doesn't look like it was designed for teens. Thank you!
I hope I have expressed my ideas in a clear way without offending anyone. I have open to further discussion on this topic.
hrockh said:
honestly, this is a bad idea. let me explain why.
the main idea behind this concept is to make it easier to the user to get familiar with the user interface. The user is slowly understanding the "game mechanics" of one "level" (i. e. reduced interface) and once he mastered them, he's ready for the next level. This process repeats until the user has all the skills needed to use the phone fully.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's only one of the main ideas. Another important idea is to make it fun, to make a positive feedback to the user. I understand that some users don't need, but some do, some like an extra little bit of challenge, or simply a reward. For example my parents were very happy when they managed to find out how to merge two word documents, and they were eager to tell everybody
hrockh said:
Ideally, the user should have full access to all functionality. The user interface should be polished and user friendly enough that any user doesn't experience any steep hills on the learning curve.
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I don't think this is possible. There is no way to make a user interface, which is easy to use both for beginner users and contains all the features required for advanced users. You mention the hidden developer options as an example. For me that's a good example why it doesn't work: it took me some time to find out what happened with the developer menu. The same with the offline map support in google maps. They removed the feature from the menu (to make it easier to use for the beginner users), and they added it as a hidden feature (type "ok maps" in the search?!). I also used an iPhone for 2 weeks, but didn't liked. And I liked the UI of the old UIQ phones. I also think the new trend of using more hidden gestures is also confusing for some users (especially the new swipe-sideways-to-delete-but-sometimes-to-show-more-options thingy).
Btw, we thought about advanced users, they can switch profile and disable the achievement system. Or switch profile only, but keep the achievement notifications just for fun. In many comments I saw people look at this as something they HAVE TO do. That's not the case. The point is to track what they are doing, and enable more and more. And of course there are not and there will never be microtransactions involved.
hrockh said:
Hence the achievements system is purely a steep hill that every single user has to do, even an experienced user.
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Like I mentioned before, this is not something the user HAS TO do. You can skip it by changing profiles.
hrockh said:
What I fear is that the user has to go through a little game every time he has a new device.
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We actually thought about this as well (but was not mentioned in the article for time/size reason)
We actually think this can help the user to switch to a different phone even if he used a smartphone already. Smartphones have new features compared to the previous one, so there is always something new to learn. The idea is the following:
* if switching from a phone which already supported EvolutionUI, we can copy the state (experiences, features, achievements obtained) and continue from the same point. This is rather easy to do, we already store this information locally (obviously, in case the user reboots the phone), so the only thing we need to do is transfer it to another device (probably via a cloud service). (NOTE: this is still in the concept phase, not implemented yet).
* if switching from a phone which did not support EvolutionUI, we can have a small builtin database, which maps the previous phone to an achievement state. For example if the previous user had an iPhone, we can set the medium profile instead of the beginner profile. It would be possible to even have customized profiles for certain phones (i.e. a small xml file describing all the features which needs to be enabled by start, since it was available in the previous phone)
hrockh said:
Consistency across multiple devices. This is what the aim of a good designer should be. As mentioned, this interface should be clean and intuitive. It's not easy, Microsoft is trying to do it and even with all the skilled people and resources available they ain't quite there yet.
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NOTE: the following is just my personal opinion:
Of course we cannot guarantee complete consistency, since we control the Sony phones only. But to be honest, I don't think consistency is that important: imagine, if all android phones would look and behave like the iPhone. Of course it would be nice for many users, they could switch to android easily. But what should those users who don't like the iPhone UI do? They could not buy any phone. And I also want to mention again, that IMHO there is no such thing as perfect UI. UIs evolved a lot, but it's still a matter a fashion: a couple of years ago everybody liked the real-life-looking apps on the iPhone. Now they like the new modern, simplified look. It's always changing, and just like with fashion, not everybody has the same taste.
hrockh said:
I hope I have expressed my ideas in a clear way without offending anyone. I have open to further discussion on this topic.
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Thank you, and I appreciate it!