After
doing a nice little hit piece on the 10 things I hate about
BlackBerry, it's time for me to do one on Android. While I struggled
a bit coming up with flaws on the BlackBerry, I didn't have much of a
hard time with this list. Just a quick overview, Android is the new
OS on the smart phone block. It's very flashy and flamboyant. Android
is a highly customizable platform and the main competitor to Apple's
iPhone and iOS. Google's brainchild has reached mainstream status
penetrating into the top 3 smartphone OS. Some people would say,
being popular doesn't always make it good. Case in point: Justin
Bieber. Because Android has made its way to one of the top 3
smartphone platforms, people are bound to have opinions. People love
to hear the pros but lets take a minute and look at the cons.
1. Freezing/Force Close
No
time to waste, lets get started. The first thing I hate about Android
is the constant freezing and “Force Close”. Whenever an app
freezes up or doesn't respond, you are prompted to force close the
app. I wish I could say my experience was an isolated incident but
it's not. Just by browsing some Android forums, you will read of many
annoying incidents of force close. Even though Android is based on
Linux, it feels more like a smartphone version of Windows Vista.
Always crashing and freezing.
2. Terrible Keyboard
The
stock Android keyboard is terrible. I know there are plenty of better
soft keyboards out there. One of my favorites is Swype. Why can't the
standard keyboard be good? The soft keyboard on Apple's iPhone is
much better than Android's. The predictive text on the stock Android
keyboard is terrible. The point of using a soft keyboard with
predictive text is so you don't have to go back and fix all the
jumbled words.
3. Fragmentation
One
of the more serious problems with Android is their fragmented
platform. Most apps depend on a newer version of Android which means
you either have to upgrade your OS or buy a newer phone. Since most
carriers take their time to release an upgrade, you are left behind
while newer phones enjoy these cool apps. I suspect most carriers
delay their upgrades in order to provoke people to buy newer phones.
Actually, I wouldn't be surprised. Besides the different versions of
Android, you also have manufacturer specific skins on top of Android.
HTC has SenseUI, Samsung has TouchWiz, and Motorola has MotoBlur.
Each manufacturer takes Android and turns it into their own unique
version. This makes the experience on each device different. The
result? Fragmentation.
4. Accept/Reject Meetings
Accepting
meeting requests on BlackBerry is simple. After you get an
invitation, you can either accept or reject it. This is a problem on
some Android phones but not all. I don't want to dwell on #3 but this
is another example of fragmentation. For me, the problem was
specific.
5. Poor UI
The
next problem I have with Android is its user interface. At first, I
thought it was great. It felt like having a little computer in your
hand. After using it for a while, I had a chance to objectively look
at it. I found it to be very counter intuitive. After a while, it did
become like a computer. I would often times have icons littered
across my home screens. It reminded me of saving all your files to
the desktop and quickly seeing lots of “trash” that needed to be
cleaned. After I cleaned it, they were still unorganized in the huge
menu. One could say that's my own fault and it may be so. Lets move
on. Lots of Android apps function differently. When you hit the
“back” button, you would expect to go to the previous screen.
Keep hitting back and each app acts differently. Did the application
close? Some apps will close when you hit back all the way but not
all. Now you have to open up a task killer to see if this app is
closed or not. Each app behaves differently from the back button and
also the menu button. Each settings for each app is different so
there is nothing intuitive or uniform about the UI.
6. Memory Hogging Widgets
Part
of the reason I think Android has poor UI is widgets. Widgets are
like micro apps that run on the “desktop” of Android. These
widgets are memory hogs and they add to Android's messy interface.
Lots of apps comes with widgets that you can put on your home
screens. Android has some preloaded and HTC has many SenseUI widgets.
These widgets are like early HTML pages. When the web was in its
infancy, many people thought it was cool to build webpages with
flashing text and neon colors. That's how I describe Android widgets.
Some are plain, some are functional, some are ugly and some are just
stupid. All of these widgets look out of place unless you follow a
strict color scheme. Even then, consistency is still hard to achieve
unless you have a theme. I used to have tons of widgets on my home
screen until I found out they bogged my phone down, it was almost
unusable. Widgets may be cool for computers but for now, they suck
for phones.
7. Awful Battery Life
Probably
my biggest complaint with Android is its terrible battery life. It's
pretty consistent across all manufacturers. When I had an Android
phone, I would be lucky to get a full day's use out of it. I had to
buy extra chargers for work and the car just to trickle in a few watt
hours into these little lithiums. 8 hours of use is common. I would
pull my phone hot off the charge at 10AM and it would be red by 6pm.
What good is a huge touch screen and all these smartphone luxuries
when I have to turn off WiFi every time I leave my home? Why do I
have to turn my brightness down just to squeeze in an extra hour? Why
do I have to get a task killer and babysit these background apps?
Probably the biggest question that comes to mind is why do companies
make these awesome smartphones and put tiny batteries in them? All
touch screen smartphones should have at least a 2Ah(2000mAh) battery.
At LEAST! Most smartphones have at the most, a 1500 mAh battery which
is pitiful considering they're powering GHz speed smartphones. Those
that say their Android's battery life is fine is kidding themselves.
No one should expect 8 hour of real-world usage. A smartphone should
last at least a full business day. Each person has their own
requirements but suffices to say, 8 hours was not good enough for me.
8. Feels Sluggish On Good Hardware
Speaking
of GHz speed processors, I still feel new Android phones aren't
living up to their spec sheets. Back when 528MHz processors were the
standard, we should be thankful we have 1 GHz processors. The
problem is things still feel sluggish with 1GHz Snapdragons,
Hummingbirds, OMAP's, and whatever the new Arm A1000 architect
they've released. I love watching countless 'iPhone 4 vs Latest
Android” videos. The iPhone often holds its own with weaker
hardware. I'm not an iDrone by any means. I don't even own an Apple
product. However, I can appreciate Apple optimizing their software
with their hardware. This means many Android phones feel sluggish
with good hardware. Yes, the new breed of GHz speed processors are
fast but I always detect a hint of stutter here and there that
bothers me like a hangnail.
9. Shady App Opt-ins
Most
third-party Android apps have a weird opt-in that requires you to
give up your privacy. These apps often get access to your data and
location. Why does a third-party app need to know where I'm located?
The problem is you cannot install these apps without giving them
access. After a while, it becomes so common, you don't even think
about it anymore. Click next, next, accept, install. You want access
to my GPS location? Sure! Why not...
10. Illusion Of Being Open
One
of the bigger things I don't like about Android is the illusion of
open. Android is free and open-source. The phone carriers and
manufacturers lock down the OS. This isn't exactly a new thing. RIM
and Apple do it too but it's not a secret. When they install
preloaded apps like SprintNav, VZ Navigator, and other bloatware, its
not a surprise. With Android, I can't remove this bloatware unless I
root my phone. Rooting is Android's equivalent to jailbreaking an
iPhone. In Linux talk, getting “root” access means getting
administrative access. Think sudo. For example, I can't install
software unless I am root. This requires me to type in a password.
Back to Android. They market themselves as being free and open but
that is only half the story. In order to get root access, you'll need
to perform risky ROM flashing that may brick your phone if not done
properly. I had to root my Android in order to get a flashlight app
to work because it needed root access to control the LED flash. The
procedure was easy to follow but it can be intimidating for newbies.
Because Android is so “open”, cell phone carriers are capable of
modifying and locking it down. Don't believe me? Look at AT&T's
first Android device, the Motorola Backflip. They modified Android's
default Google search and replaced it with Yahoo! search. I'm sure
you can think of other examples. The point is, if Android is so open,
why do I have to Flash a different ROM in order to get administrative
access? Last time I checked, I purchased an “opened” phone.
That's their illusion. Their marketing. Sure the platform is
inherently open but the carriers lock it down. By the time it gets
into your pocket(literally), it's closed. Don't like having a Vcast
app? Too bad.
Final Thoughts
These
are the 10 things I hate about Android. While some are more serious
than others, I think its a good thing to evaluate the flaws before we,
as consumers, make expensive purchase decisions. No platform is perfect
and I don't claim that. I wrote this in order to inform consumers and
possible fanboys that Android is not perfect either. Lots of people
develop an emotional attachment to their phones in which they'll defend
it with prejudice. While being popular doesn't mean it's good, I cannot
deny the huge impact Android has on smartphones. I hope they work hard
to improve their platform for consumers. Enough about what I think. What
do you hate about Android?
