Develop Bugs

30,000 Apps on the Andriod Market - Where?

I read in a few places that there are now over 30,000 Andriod Apps on the Android Market, but I don't see them here: http://www.android.com/market/
By my count there are exactly 34 paid apps and 134 free apps...
Am I missing something?

Maybe they show up when browsing from your mobile

you can access from your android mobile, or use http://www.cyrket.com/m/android/

This one is also nice. Easy to search and find the apps/games you need and just Barcode Scan them to install into you phone....
http://uk.androlib.com/
/Dudeldei

I think http://www.appstorehq.com/android-apps is very good. You can download or buy the app directly from the website, from your phone.

Andaho said:
I read in a few places that there are now over 30,000 Andriod Apps on the Android Market, but I don't see them here: http://www.android.com/market/
By my count there are exactly 34 paid apps and 134 free apps...
Am I missing something?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
android.com/market doesn't show all the apps... stupid I know
You need to use something like cyrket.com or androidlib to view all the apps on a PC.

Ha, I was wondering the same thing as the OP- will have to bookmark the links.
Just on a side note: what's the general procedure of downloading/installing apps from a PC (or for that matter on the device)?

sh500 said:
Ha, I was wondering the same thing as the OP- will have to bookmark the links.
Just on a side note: what's the general procedure of downloading/installing apps from a PC (or for that matter on the device)?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you download a application to your PC, you'll have to transfer it to your phone. Either by copying it to your SD card, or by other means. You then have to install it via a file manager like Linda, ASTRO or similar.
If you use the Android Market on your phone, you just find a program, select install and voila.

Thanks for that.
Need to have the device in my hand to really find out things about it and more importantly to me, how it's done differently than on a WinMo device!

Hi,
I just found this when visiting AndroidCentral.com:
http://www.androidcentral.com/app-overload-take-control-android-market-app-brain
With the seer number of apps (30K), I think it is a very nice tool/website to filter out junk apps!
I thought it worth to share

Hi,
I was just wondering are any of the game apps as good as the Iphone. There are many good games but what I have seen so far on android some games look taccy and kind of old.
I have not searched a lot of games. But what are the best games?

I am struggling with this too.
I've become so used to the quality of design, look and function of iPhone apps and their appstore. I am keen to move to the HTC Desire shortly, but am finding it nigh on impossible to even find the spps I will require. I spend ages searching and still come oup with stuff which looks like it was written for a PC 20 years ago. And the recommended sites to browse the apps on are so ugly and full of dross, but more importantly, are unable to present the applications in a way which gives me any confidence that I will be able to satisfy my requirements using this platform.
I thought it must just be me as I am new to it (although I had none of these problems when I moved to iPhone) so asked for pointers. but I am still at a loss as to where the good, well-designed, modern, slick apps are.
I believe the Desire will give me a great comms experience out of the box, but no-one has been able to convince me that the apps I may desire to customise the device to me requirements are actually available.
Please dont think I am having a go; I am not. I am dead keen to move to this platform, but my research is not delivering results so far.
So I ask again, where is the good stuff?

XDAgeek said:
I am struggling with this too.
I've become so used to the quality of design, look and function of iPhone apps and their appstore. I am keen to move to the HTC Desire shortly, but am finding it nigh on impossible to even find the spps I will require. I spend ages searching and still come oup with stuff which looks like it was written for a PC 20 years ago. And the recommended sites to browse the apps on are so ugly and full of dross, but more importantly, are unable to present the applications in a way which gives me any confidence that I will be able to satisfy my requirements using this platform.
I thought it must just be me as I am new to it (although I had none of these problems when I moved to iPhone) so asked for pointers. but I am still at a loss as to where the good, well-designed, modern, slick apps are.
I believe the Desire will give me a great comms experience out of the box, but no-one has been able to convince me that the apps I may desire to customise the device to me requirements are actually available.
Please dont think I am having a go; I am not. I am dead keen to move to this platform, but my research is not delivering results so far.
So I ask again, where is the good stuff?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Good stuff is in the market. To find the good stuff you need to search in the market on your phone or via cyrket.com
If you give a list of apps I'll more than hapily find ones that are as good as or better than iPhone equivalents.

I've been trying Cyrket.com but it doesnt seem to work properly for me. All I did was filter for navigation tools and it came up with a blank.

As for a list of required apps,
- Exchange Tasks (with push sync)
- Compass
- London Tube map/planner
- Tide Planner for sailing
- Office apps - Word, Spreadsheet, Powerpoint editing
- Decent dictionary/thesaurus - such as Chambers
- and some quality games with good graphics
That'll do for starters

Android really got it's start as a device platform for the more tech savvy.
Most of the first year's worth of apps were written by developers venturing into the Android app environment. As such - most were pretty rudimentary and more focused on performance (learning how to make an app work well in the Android environment) than aesthetics. Also, there were many more apps made for productivity, communication, etc and very few made for Gaming (as Gaming development is normally a LOT more involved). Finally, the G1 which for a LONG time was the only device available was so memory constricted that many custom home screen apps had difficulty running - MUCH LESS any graphically oriented game. It was a learning experience.
AND, one cannot say (as I have read many claim) that Android is just Linux on a phone so what is the big deal development wise.... I have read this forum a LOT and Android IS NOT just Linux on a phone. There are a lot of differences and a lot more restrictions with Android.
Believe it or not... The Android app scene is constantly improving. Better looking games and more polished apps are constantly coming out.
Please don't try to compare the Android apps available to the Iphone which has had over three years to improve and started out with a better device in the first place.
I really dislike the Iphone and feel it's GUI is not intuitive at all (for me). So, I never really used one at length. But, I have seen some really great games on the Iphone. However, I can definitely say - I ENVY the Iphone devs a great starter phone for development! I only wish that Google/Android had put out a really great device (not memory restricted) as a first device. It would have made it so much easier for the developers to learn and work on.
Try AppBrain.com to search for apps. That is the site I use now. They also have a companion app for the phone.

Thanks for that historical viewpoint.
The interesting thing is that I actually dont 'NEED' to add many 3rd party apps to the Desire spec in order to fill my requirements as the out-of-box experience is so good. I have over 130 apps on my iPhone, but I probably use 10 of them regularly - the rest are just a bit of fun.
At present I am just trying to assimilate what apps are available that I know I will need, and how good the quality is.
Are any of the better 3rd party apps emulating the style of the SENSE UI? That would be cool.

XDAgeek said:
As for a list of required apps,
- Exchange Tasks (with push sync)
- Compass
- London Tube map/planner
- Tide Planner for sailing
- Office apps - Word, Spreadsheet, Powerpoint editing
- Decent dictionary/thesaurus - such as Chambers
- and some quality games with good graphics
That'll do for starters
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This took me 2 minutes on cyrket.com
- Exchange
Am not going to bother searching, htc sense gives exchange functions
- Compass
http://www.cyrket.com/p/android/com.mob4.compassPro/
- Tube
http://www.cyrket.com/p/android/com.presselite.londontube/
- Tides
http://www.cyrket.com/p/android/com.atlantistech.android.tideapp/
- Office
http://www.cyrket.com/p/android/android.androffice/
- Dictionary
http://www.cyrket.com/p/android/org.freedictionary/
- Games
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LEjO9DGppo
http://www.brighthub.com/mobile/google-android/articles/62882.aspx

brummiesteven said:
This took me 2 minutes on cyrket.com
- Exchange
Am not going to bother searching, htc sense gives exchange functions
- Compass
http://www.cyrket.com/p/android/com.mob4.compassPro/
- Tube
http://www.cyrket.com/p/android/com.presselite.londontube/
- Tides
http://www.cyrket.com/p/android/com.atlantistech.android.tideapp/
- Office
http://www.cyrket.com/p/android/android.androffice/
- Dictionary
http://www.cyrket.com/p/android/org.freedictionary/
- Games
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LEjO9DGppo
http://www.brighthub.com/mobile/google-android/articles/62882.aspx
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
impressive games
why still I have a WM

Thanks for the list of apps. Some good stuff in there!
Re the Exchange on Desire, the reason I included this in my request was that all my research indicates that the Exchange implementation does not include Tasks.
I could use Moxier Mail which includes task exchange sync, but that may compromise the integration with the rest of the Sense UI, so I am looking for a good Task app with exchange sync, perhaps using WebDav.
It would be great if Tasks was included in the Sense interface as standard, but so often Tasks are omitted. Baffles me why they leave it out - same on iPhone.

Thinking of switching over to the Desire from WinMo

Hi Everyone,
I am seriously thinking about switching over to the Desire and Android but I have absolutely no clue about Android and my experience is only with Palm OS and WinMo.
Can anyone out there give me their experiences and advice about switching over to Android. How is it different from WinMo. How difficult is it to get apps (this is one reason I am hesitating, I have so many WinMo apps).
Is it an easy system to use, etc. I would welcome any feedback you have. Thanks!!!

Before the Desire, my last 3 devices were Windows Mobile (ie, Touch Dual, Touch Diamond, Touch Pro2).
The jump to Android has been a godsend for me. I no longer have to worry about RAM usage. Everything is finger optimized and there's plenty of eye-candy. Performance has been top notched. This last statement may vary from user to user but my Desire has been able to do everything my Touch Pro2 can do; it just does everything faster and prettier.
There are several things that Windows Mobile has over Android at this moment though. So you should put these into consideration.
-Exchange support. You can sync email, contacts, and calendar in Android. But not notes and tasks. (There's no native notes and tasks applications)
-Microsoft Office. You can view Office files but you'll need to spend some money if you want the ability to edit. (Docs-to-go cost me USD10 and it's quite worth it.)

Thanks for the initial thoughts. It helps.
How are the apps out there for Android? Are they limited because it is a new OS or is there a wide range?
Do you happen to know what Navi programs are compatible?

I have recently switched over from a touch hd and i have to say i am loving the desire and android. It's very obviously better adapted to finger use and a smartphone, it's faster (much faster) and doesn't have the erratic behaviour, winmo sometimes can offer.
The apps market makes it really easy to find apps (i believe there are 30.000apps on the official market plus some others out there on the web) and they are easy to install, keep updated on thier own and always offer high quality intergation with the os (say goodbye to low res icons for your apps).
Just as an example, i can tell you (and i'm sure it's the same for you) that with winmo, with every rom i included fixes, tweaks and programs that did the things my phone wouldn't allow (automatic locking, screen off in calls, perfomance boost, etc etc) and sice android, i have installed no fixes at all (and havn't needed any!!!)
As far as navigation goes there are many competent navigation programs; i'm using copilot wich has radars and works very well, sygic is also quite satisfying, i believe igo amigo is also ready for the desire's resolution now and unless i'm mistaken, i think tom tom might be floating around (and thet's only to state some, n-drive and others are also available).
On the whole, i'm very pleased with the change, apart from a better os, better screen (beautiful colours) and very senistive with good multitouch, in my case i'm glad to have the harware buttons back (touch hd is resistive buttons), very nice form factor and overall good use.

Well, before you do here are some voices of unhappiness from WinMo users.
Some of their complaints are not valid but one of them may be a deal breaker for you.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=667055
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=667265

Read my Sig
Best choice I've ever made, infinitely better than the hd2
Would recommend the desire to anyone
First Android phone and I'm loving it so much

Android is my favorite, after symbian
But im using my android phone only 1 week so my thaughts can change !

Read my Sig
Best choice I've ever made, infinitely better than the hd2
Would recommend the desire to anyone
First Android phone and I'm loving it so much

Thanks everyone, for your continued help and experiences. It makes my decision easier.
For you WinMo users out there, how expensive was replacing your apps on Android. For me this is one thing that I am finding difficult to let go of, even though it doesnt seem like a lasting excuse. I guess at some point you have to do it.
Can someone give me the address of the apps store. Does anyone know what the payment methods are? I am not a big fan of credit cards. Are there alternatives?
Thanks. my decision is coming a lot closer.

Hi ohyeahar,
I had a quick question about Syncing. You said that Outlook Calendar syncs. Do you know if all of the tweaks that you can make in Outlook such as categories and the notes field, does that also sync?
For me that is an important factor because of work. I think I can live without the tasks and notes (plus, who knows, maybe some future app will take care of that).
I think my questions are almost over and after watching a few review videos, I am also thinking that I am going to abandon WinMo forever, and take the Droid HTC Desire plunge.
Thanks for all of your comments and support.

I destroyed my HTC HD2 by shutting the back door of my estate on it. It craked the screen and smashed the camera, and it was the best thing that could have happened. I went for the Desire, and it makes the HD2 on winmo look like a calculator. Android is excellent, and will NEVER go back to Winmo. Put android on an HD2 and that might be nice.

I switched 2 weeks ago (from an oldish WinMo phone) and it was dead easy. Android with htc sense on top has some real parallels to WinMo with add-ons like SPB shell etc - except it's blindingly faster. Barely opened the user manual.
A few confusions over how the phone handles different contacts and phone lists but worked those out. Really great keyboard that does a fine job of correcting for 'big thumb syndrome'. Fabulous screen and so easy to add and remove apps directly onto the phone. Intelligent handling of WiFi when it's in range and 3G when it's not. Web browser is a dream - have had to train myself to use it rather than automatically going to a laptop given past experience with WinMo.
Seven home screens and I only use 5 'cos everything is so easily accesible from the built-in functions. One of those five only has family photos on it and one has the pretty but rather silly weather application (one area where I still use Windows - I look out of them).
Don't really feel like adding a lot of apps 'cos it does most things. Have added and paid for Nitrodesk Touchdown to get reliable sync with Exchange Server at work (email, contacts, calendar, tasks but no notes). Also added a note taker app for free (Note Everything) and Bubble (because my childish sense of humour enjoys seeing a £400 spirit level in action). Some concern that the memory may get filled up because you can't (yet) install apps to the SD card.
A few niggles but none major
- Exchange Active Sync (the native one) doesn't work with my office server, hence the Touchdown app
- Could do with an improved ability to put shortcuts to groups of contacts on the home screen
- HTC Sync (equivalent to Activesync) seems problematic. However, I suspect I won't be connecting by cable much anymore
- It's all a teensy bit too tied to Google (inevitably!). I am not a gmail fan and don't really want to sync outlook to gmail then down to the phone but am still having to do that for contacts since Touchdown contacts are not properly recognised
To date I would say 9.9/10 and when a few wrinkles get ironed out 9.95!

Hi Alex Bush,
thanks a million for the feedback. it makes my decision much easier.
Just how does the sync work with Outlook? Does it work, or is it difficult? I rely on Outlook for work so it is a must. I have all of my contacts, calendar dates in there,plus I use it both for my work & private accounts.
I hope it isn't a problem because that would be the killer for switching over.

I did it! after 8 years of windows mobile and pocket pc. Windows phone 7 series presentations made me betray the abandoned win mo and switch to Android.
support for Exchange and office viewers are better than in win mo.
performance and quality of applications are excellent.
one warning:
Be careful to choose the right device. Exchange calendar sync is not there by default!
Sent from my HTC Desire using the XDA mobile application powered by Tapatalk

Thx Rdy2go
What can you tell me about syncing the HTC Desire with Outlook (most importantly calendar,, contacts). I dont use Exchange because I work for a small company and I retrieve my email through Outlook via Pop3. However, I rely heavily on Outlook and Office for my work.

Cpt_Chaos said:
Hi Everyone,
I am seriously thinking about switching over to the Desire and Android but I have absolutely no clue about Android and my experience is only with Palm OS and WinMo.
Can anyone out there give me their experiences and advice about switching over to Android. How is it different from WinMo. How difficult is it to get apps (this is one reason I am hesitating, I have so many WinMo apps).
Is it an easy system to use, etc. I would welcome any feedback you have. Thanks!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I went from a Touch Diamond to the Desire. I was actually laughing while I was using it. Some people say that the advantage of WinMo is that it's like having Windows with you all the time. It's the exact opposite. It's bad, because it's like having Windows with you all the time. I would randomly freeze for no reason; you needed a stylus to click on crappy little boxes/menus ported from 1024x768 dev environment; the alarm clock was a joke (you needed to hunt around to turn it off - very annoying when it's 6am and you're trying to avoid waking the family; clearly it never occured to anyone at Microsoft that you might want a `Cancel`,`Snooze` choice in big buttons.
The main difference is that WinMo looks like it was designed by people who don't have to use it unless they're paid to (like my experience of Windows generally), whereas Android looks like it's designed by people who want to use it, and who make it as easy and intuitive as possible. The Desire is the best phone I've ever had, and every iPhone user I've shown it to has said that the new iPhone had better be good or they're going to consider getting an Android phone too.
Disadvantages: sometimes apps use images rather than text, and I have no idea what the image is supposed to mean. An example is Google Maps. When you are looking for directions you see an icon of a car, a bigger car and a person walking. I'm pretty sure the middle one isn't alternative directions for people who are driving a bigger car. If only text was used instead, perhaps I'd know what it meant; as it is I'm going to have to google for it. There have been a few other examples (the 'Power' widget, for instance).
Another negative point is when you install apps from the market, you agree that they can access this or that feature (phone number, gps, contact list etc). You accept everything or don't install it. I don't see why a game needs my phone number; I should be able to choose to install it but to block access to some features.
The battery lasts 12 hours if you actually use the phone (maps, email, surfing, reading PDFs etc). The standby time is amusingly quoted at 300+ hours. This is meaningless. That's not to say that it's inaccurate; it's just a little like saying that your car can last 20 years on one tank of petrol if you don't actually drive it anywhere. I'm sure manufacturers crank their devices to be on some insanely low power standby when they are literally just listening for phone calls and texts, which I guess is great if you `just want a phone` but if you're considering getting a Desire then that's not you!
The market doesn't make it very easy to explore new apps. You can choose categories, and click Free or Paid, but if you search you'll get a mixture from both. Also, however you look you'll end up scrolling down some massive list of hundreds of apps. It's annoying to find 40 crap apps by the same person; each one a book of quotes by some non-entity, or yet another set of cartoon characters turned into a "jigsaw puzzle" - there's no proper google search where you can add/remove terms with +,- etc. You'll end up searching for apps on a real computer, and just using the market to actually download it after searching for the app name (or using a QR code if one is available)
But ignore my criticisms and get the Desire. You won't regret it.

I sync using Outlook Anywhere service from Exchange servers not the desktop.
so I don't really know the answer...
Sent from my HTC Desire using the XDA mobile application powered by Tapatalk

After all I read in forums, reviews, saw on youtube and added actually newspages to my information range.
I am sadly have to say, that I will use my HD some month longer. It was a hard decission, but consider the following:
the desire is one of the first "real" android designs... together with the "test flagship" N1.
Samsung anounced super-amoled displays in upcomming smartphone, which compensating the "sun light vulnability" of amoled. snapdragon dual-core was anounced in januar and will be produced maybe in late summer. but still without considering snapdragon development: apple brings the 4g out ...round about july... I hate apple.. but what makes it so delicious is, that other manufacturers will try "to beat it down". this summer will be a king of the hill in the smartphonesector...everyone wants to be there... and everyone has the technology to do so.
android is rising to consumer market... 2.2 rumored.
the waiting will be pretty hard... but hell... I am curious what will be out in late summer.
a "desire" with super amoled is what I am waiting for... and maybe bigger ROM.
till then, I'll stay with my few, but quality build appz for winmo. the ones I will miss on android as long as everyone thinks, the reason for android ist because of the free appz.
as long as this doesn't change... there won't be many highquality appz for android.
oh and btw: I hate HTC sense too.. nearly the same amount as apple. wheres the point if I have on android the same "mobileshell" as on winmo?
sad thing these uniformations. (yeayeah, I know, I can change it)

Thanks everyone,
I guess I will be ordering my new Desire in 2 weeks. I guess it will be time to take the plunge and jump the WinMo ship.

Cpt_Chaos said:
Thanks everyone,
I guess I will be ordering my new Desire in 2 weeks. I guess it will be time to take the plunge and jump the WinMo ship.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ordering mine soon.....just searching for the best deals at min

HD2 vs. Desire - after experience

Hello guys. I had for more than half year a HD2, before that I had an iPhone for more than 2 years, and since 3 days I am a proud owner of a Desire. And I wanted to share my thoughts about it.
1. Comparing the general design of HD2 and Desire - the later feels more solid in your hands. This rubbery feeling of the back cover gives you more grip. In my opinion the build quality is better than the HD2. The bigger screen of HD2 was huge point to impress your friends, but it was too wide for use as a phone. Too big for everyday use.
2. Comparing the screens - the screen of the Desire looks awesome. AMOLED actually rules. Forget about it's not readable in direct sun light. If you enable the auto brightness, it's more than readable outside. Even in a hot day like yesterday (more than 35 degrees Celsius) and very bright sun shining, there was no problem to read whatever you want. And those 16M colors - maaan those home screens looks nice.
3. Comparing the OSs - that's actually the reason I ditched the HD2. After more than 3 days of use, I can say that I love Android. It's everything that I wanted. Windows Mobile was one ugly son of b**tch. Every single 3th party application looked like a windows 3.1. I don't want to go back to 1995, I want a good looking GUI.
The idea of home screens and widgets is brilliant. Customizing was one of things I loved with Windows Mobile, but the beautifully widgets, the nicely done icons of the applications and the awesome AMOLED screen - rules them all. The slogan of Apple "We have an app for everything" (or was everybody) should not be an advertisement. They have an app for everything, but most of the time you use 10% of the functionality of the app. Why not have a widget of that app, that only covers those 10 percent. It's more practical, fast and easy to use.
Yeah, windows mobile did have MyPhone, but compared with google way of syncing you "priceless" information - maan google is years ahead. Before I had a dozen of word documents and when I update them in my phone, I had to manually copy them to the home pc or the office one. But what happens when I update the same document on my phone and then on my pc and try to merge them... conflict. Now with Google Docs, the moment I update my documents, they are already updated on internet and I can access them from wherever pc or mac I want. The only draw back is that I can't seem to find a good spreadsheet editor to edit the online Google Docs Spreadsheet on my phone, but probably I will.
The Calendar sync also works great - you have a web calendar with all your appointments.
The Google market - wow there are a lot of great free apps. BTW, google, please enable paid apps in Bulgaria, pleeeease.
Google Goggles rules. I am a developer and I still can't understand how it works. Those google developers really know what they are doing.
I loved my iGO navigation software on the HD2, because it has a very precise maps for my country and I was worry if I am able to find a good navigation software for the Desire. Actually I found MOTONAV, an extension of the iGO that can work the the maps of the general iGO, and actually it is better experience than the HD2.
...more to come...
Sorry for the messy story, but I just wrote whatever thoughts came into my mind about the new phone and probably the it's a little bit hard to read.
I really do not miss my HD2, even a bit. I can't even think of one thing that the HD2 is better. Not one.... maybe internet tethering, but that won't be a problem when Froyo comes.

I came from the HD2 as well and I think I made the right choice too.
Wifi tethering is fully working on Eclair Android 2.1 as well. Have a look here. No need to wait for Froyo.
Edit : and regarding paid apps, search for Market Enabler.

Defy: my first Android. Very Dissapointed. Why is android so popular?

hi there,
the defy is my very first android-mobile device. I had windows mobile 4,5,6 in the past and i'm using palm pre (webos) since over a year now. I am dissapointed about the apps for webos, because they dont exist every app appears first on iphone.. somethimes for android... and never for webos. So, on amazon-cybermonday, i bought a cheap motorola defy.
But i am dissapointed.. not in the device but in the OS. This is Version 2.1 and feels like a buggy windows mobile 5 Nothing works really intuitively (?).
i installed all the cool apps in from the app-catalog, which first doesn't worked with my gmail-adress. i had to use googlemail.com adress (?). that took me about 2 hours then i installed the facebook app, which didn't told me that i have unred messages. I dont Like this app because i know the webos one.
so i tried google goggels.. cool app, indeed. But after 2 fotos, the device hangs and had to be restarted. there is no button to restart -.- ^^
ok, after the restarts, i tested other apps.. i downloaded very much apps.. there are very trashy apps in the store. Some japanese, chinese and other unreadble apps with no description.. hmm... until a message appears, that i dont have enogh memory and should close some apps. ...
and .. really.. how do you life with a OS without an ability to exit apps?? i had to download a taskmanager to kill open programs (to get 90% of the used memory back.. not 100%).. so after some opening and closing, i had no more memory and had to restart (pardon: shutdown and start) again.
my sum up: i have a mobile phone with has potential. it has a great camera (which an app had destroyed so i cannot use it anymore because blue color switched to red color, it was a filter in an crashed (or killed) app) and a good display, waterproof and long durability.. but the OS is not usable in my option. the apps are not designed well, they are mostly "ugly". i dont know what app is running without looking into another app, which is ugly too
so my question about one week of testing and finally returning to Webos. Why is android so.. unusable? i would call myself as a geek, but hey... that is too much Or.. maybe.. i am doing it wrong! what is possible with an android-phone? how many hours of customizing do you have to spend to have an android which is exactly like you want it? and where can i copy that

I think the problem with the Defy is that it's shipped with Motoblur which is by and large the cause of the "ugliness" and sluggishness of the phone.
Get Launcher Pro, I've only heard good things about it

Sounds like you have been installing a few too many apps my friend!
One of Android's stong points is it's ability for apps to customise the interface and modify the functions of the device. However, this can also be a weakness with poorly written applications bogging things down, or as you experienced with the camera app, stopping some features from working.
I would reset your device back to it's default state, and start again, choosing carefully what you install (tip: Check the reviews and comments in the market before you hit install).

LetoKynes said:
I think the problem with the Defy is that it's shipped with Motoblur which is by and large the cause of the "ugliness" and sluggishness of the phone.
Get Launcher Pro, I've only heard good things about it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think i like the motorola blur although i dont really know where this starts and ends The widgets are ok and the ability to have a connection from my pc zu the android-blur from the internet is good to know if i cannot find my device or want to upload something without moving..
But, like milesg suggested, i will reset the phone.. i have to anyway because of the camera-bug. maybe i can install this launcher.. i dont want to break the phone because it is proberbly a gift for christmas.
@milesg.. i have written the reviews on androit-pitt and have installed only the very good apps.. thats what dissapointed, too. ^^

I wouldn't worry about "breaking" the phone, as far as I know (at least from what I've read), LauncherPro is just a simple download and install app (doesn't involve any unrooting/unlocking/etc.) so I'd definitely give it a shot.

I'm surprised by the undertones of this thread. It's a phone! It's not a general computer, it's not a GameBoy, it's a portable communication device. I have not owned a smartphone before. Well, at least not for long. I tried the HD2 Pro and thought it was a device with the clunkiest interface I ever used. I tried a Blackberry (Bold 9700) and hated the walled-off ecosystem (a reason I will never use Apple devices), and now I got the Defy and after a week of playing and tinkering with the setup I'm happy as a clam. I installed LaucherPro (and paid for the plus version although the only widget I ended up using is the calendar) and PowerBar. Then I added Pure Messanger for my unified Gmail inbox. I have no Motoblur accounts, no Social services of any kind, only two home screens (one for e-mail, and one for weather/calendar/Reuters news, and a few shortcuts), and that's it! I've got a phone with good quality calls, great speakerphone, maps, navigation, e-mail, and IM on the go. I'm happy. Less (of good quality) is more.

prophil said:
Or.. maybe.. i am doing it wrong! what is possible with an android-phone? how many hours of customizing do you have to spend to have an android which is exactly like you want it? and where can i copy that
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Click to collapse
I agree with you to some extent. I just finished 2 days of getting my new phone to run, and I only persisted because I am a software developer and never give up on a computer, as small as it may be. In terms of immediate usability, my previous SonyEricsson P1 is still ahead.
just some examples: after importing my contacts through motoblur, I realized that birthdates were not mirrored in the calendar. I created a few test contacts, whose birthdates DID appear. I now decided to delete all contacts from MB and re-import through my google account. After that, the birthday events of the newly created entries were still in the calendar, even though the contacts proper were deleted. I had to root my device, install a database client app, and go directly to the Contacts/Events database to delete the entries.
This morning, the calendar widget insisted on showing yesterdays date. No way of convincing it that this was the 8th of December. Meanwhile (12:00 am) it has caught up, however.
Bottomline: if you feel this platform is still in its infancy, and it is questionable how it will ever become the platform of choice for your wife or for efficiency-oriented business purposes (in other words: non-geek usage), you have my sympathy.
chris

I installed LaucherPro (and paid for the plus version although the only widget I ended up using is the calendar) and PowerBar. Then I added Pure Messanger for my unified Gmail inbox. I have no Motoblur accounts, no Social services of any kind
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sounds like you did the right things - i will investigate this for myself. But you really just confirm what has already been said. Unless one has a clear understanding of what does not work, and what alternatives are available, the DEFY (and probably any other Motorola phone, and most other brands as well) will cause a lot of frustration.

I say exchange/return it asap and get a diff andriod device before getting stuck in a 2 yr contract....but don't let that one phone give a bad rep to all android phones...get an android that doesn't come w motoblur
*Sent from my Tmobile MT4G*

I installed launcher pro as well. Phone runs supper smooth now. Also, this thing is way better than gameboy. I play nes and snes games all day

@prophil
Windows mobile (note not WP7) is the best OS ever, so i can understand you're disappointed.
But, be realistic, development is getting poor and WM will die soon.
All the OS available today are worst than WM but you have to chose one of them if you want to do more than calls with your phone. In my opinion Android is the best choice among those OS, that's the reason it is so popular.

MarSOnEarth said:
I installed LaucherPro (and paid for the plus version although the only widget I ended up using is the calendar) and PowerBar. Then I added Pure Messanger for my unified Gmail inbox.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
can you please tell me where to find PowerBar? Cant find it in the AppStore

I felt the same way about my hero until i found xda!!
Sent from my HERO200 using XDA App

Lol you're coming from a winmo and saying that android isn't intuitive and that its ugly? Lmao ok. I've never used a winmo that i didn't wanna throw off the bridge.
Sent from my DEFY using XDA app

I love Android noobs
Sent from my defy using XDA App

disturkis4u said:
Lol you're coming from a winmo and saying that android isn't intuitive and that its ugly? Lmao ok. I've never used a winmo that i didn't wanna throw off the bridge.
Sent from my DEFY using XDA app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree. BB is too limited and win mo was probably the worst
System ever

disturkis4u said:
Lol you're coming from a winmo and saying that android isn't intuitive and that its ugly?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, i see that my poor englisch leads to a miss understanding. I'm not coming from Windows Mobile. I had owned a xda and and xda2i .. thats about 8 years ago i think?.. and i could get used to it. it was cool.. you could do a lot of things.. (while other phones still had monochrome displays).. but the feeling, that the OS and the Device were married like El and his wife in "married with children" is : that just doesn't work.. so i had putted it in my desk and forgot about it. for about 7 years or so. I thought things have changed.. but they haven't really.
I come from WebOS.. that was.. is.. my actual smartphone-OS. That is exactly like a OS should look und feel in my opinion.. <- that was my mind before i every tried iOS or Symbian or Android... i never will go to Apple, so my curiosity leads me to android. That should be the best, they all told me. (ok, like iOS is the best is what all the apple-people tells me). And.. its not
Have to ever had the chance to test webOS?
anyway, my work is done, im at home now and im just going to reset the device and try my luck again

Fact is Android might not be for you. But that doesn't mean it's a bad OS, just means it's not what you want in an OS.
Definitely need to take your time with downloading apps your first try out with the phone. Don't go app crazy. Download a few of them, test them out, uninstall those you don't like and go on, but don't do this with twenty apps at a time.
My first Android phone was a Cliq...believe me you are much better off with the Defy.

Its me again
I've been installing and testing.. configuring and uninstalling.. i think.. i made one mistake on my first run. i didn't installed the launcher Pro!
after i installed the launcher pro, the OS is becoming usable.. i can make folders instead of scrolling through a buggy endless list of apps. and if i want to scroll, it is smoothy
then, i have found very attraktiv apps, like a file-manager with bluetooth and smb support. and i can send everything from and to my dlna-devices. .. ok.. thats just funktionality, not more.. but.. i think, i just have to play some more days with the OS to get used to it..
or.. shouldn't I because i will give it away (gift^^)

I used my Samsung Soul for more than two years before I moved to Motorola Defy to increase my productivity. In 2000 I bought the HP Jornada 720 (WinCE) that I really liked but stop using it as it wasn't truly a portable device and I couldn't possibly have it with me everywhere. I kept it until 2008 as a secondary backup solution for important information such as contacts before threw it away.
Now that I own an Android OS based mobile phone for more than a week I can say that I'm kind of disappointed with the OS. Maybe I had too much expectations but I'm not disappointed enough to give up the OS just yet.
Android 2.1 out of box is hardly worth investing in my opinion when you have no use for social networking i.e. Facebook and twitter features. However, the prospect of checking emails on the road with availability of a wireless connection is very appealing to me but Android 2.1 is very poor in supporting multiple email accounts. I understand that Android 2.2 has a better email support but I have to wait up to six months for better support. It is beyond me how Google didn't see the demand of such feature in the first place. I think the lack of proper email support in Android 2.1 demonstrates that Google didn't target users like me originally.
The lack of Office Suite is another disappointing thing for me. Out-of-box I cannot even write/read a simple note in a text file. The sticky notes widget shipped with Motorola Defy does not serve my needs at all. I would have loved to be able to trasnfer a word document to my phone for later reading.
I'm sure there is an app on the market for whatever I want my smartphone to do but the cost and time I have to invest deters me even from trying.
I haven't found browsing internet on a 3.7" device a pleasant experience but having that feature in Android by default is assuring for urgent matters when a laptop or desktop PC is not available.
I'm also pleased that I can watch videos and listen to music when I left my Sony Walkman S series at home. Watching video on 3.7" device is certainly an advantage but the battery usage is always a concern on phone devices but not with PMP devices.
I was also surprised to find the lack of customisation compared to my Samsung Soul. Everything about Samsung Soul can be customised and one can build his own theme without any technical knowledge. In Android 2.1 only ring tones and wallpapers are customisable. I can't even change the background colour of system menus for instance. I'm sure there is an app for that.
Google's own services/apps are great if you have a use for them. For instance google's map comes handy for me very occasionally. I have lived without it so far while I was on the road. On the other hand, I will have a use for a proper GPS software such as CoPilot that I intend to purchase soon and I'm pleased it is available for Android platform.
Conclusion
I doubt it Motorola will upgrade Defy beyond Android 2.2 and I'm willing for the time being stick with Motorola Defy until end of 2012.
By no means I dislike Android but in terms of productivity I expected much more. All the features I use on my Motorola Defy can also be found on other mobile platforms so nothing to praise about when it come to Android. The initial ownership cost of my Motorola Defy which I like the hardware very much is much lower than equivalent/similar handsets on other mobile platforms.
In my opinion Android platform is not suited for very active business users nor power users like me out-of-box. Once out-of-box features are improved for business oriented users or power users then I do not see why I should consider what other mobile platforms are offering.

Pros/Cons of WP7 ?

I recently jumped the ship from iOS to Android, and being dissapointed by the "Android-Experience" (Overall esthetics, User-friendliness, etc etc..), I was considering changing to WP7. Would it be possible for someone to list the major pros & cons of WP7, 'cos I haven't been able to try it out yet.
Thanks in advance.
Sent via my magical HTC Wildfire S.

For me its about the user interface and the stability. To give you an idea - I have an iPad and was an iPhone user from the first until the 3GS. I then used a Nexus One for 18 months.
Windows phone offers a better interface than iOS in that it puts emphasis on the information rather than pointless Chrome and interface elements like buttons etc. Its the only mobile OS thats actually innovative in its approach to displaying info.
In terms of stability it knocks the socks off of android because the thing actually does what it says it will all of the time. With Android i always feel like its hit and miss.
However what i will say is that the quality and the reach of the apps needs to improve. now Ms has sorted out the multi tasking and notifications service with Mango it will take some decent competitive apps to keep me here as i have been flirting with Android again recently. ( for example the Twitter app has no notifications, birdsong aint bad but only polls every 5 minutes).
Hope this help!
Jay

I dont want to spam, but i am a Android Xperia Neo (2.3) and a WP7 Mango (with the HTC Trophy user) and i recomend you to see this video I made up youtube.com/watch?v=NNo13-LUlHo (if it inst allowed than i will remove the link). Well i prefer WP7 because of its estability and interface and smoothness. Sorry for my bad english

Jay_uk1185 said:
For me its about the user interface and the stability. To give you an idea - I have an iPad and was an iPhone user from the first until the 3GS. I then used a Nexus One for 18 months.
Windows phone offers a better interface than iOS in that it puts emphasis on the information rather than pointless Chrome and interface elements like buttons etc. Its the only mobile OS thats actually innovative in its approach to displaying info.
In terms of stability it knocks the socks off of android because the thing actually does what it says it will all of the time. With Android i always feel like its hit and miss.
However what i will say is that the quality and the reach of the apps needs to improve. now Ms has sorted out the multi tasking and notifications service with Mango it will take some decent competitive apps to keep me here as i have been flirting with Android again recently. ( for example the Twitter app has no notifications, birdsong aint bad but only polls every 5 minutes).
Hope this help!
Jay
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Notifications aren't a problem, I don't really use them. What really interested me was how all the "essential" stuff seemed accessible really easily, and that the whole GUI is clean/optimised.
Kim
Sent via my magical HTC Wildfire S.

omnomnomkimiiee said:
Notifications aren't a problem, I don't really use them. What really interested me was how all the "essential" stuff seemed accessible really easily, and that the whole GUI is clean/optimised.
Kim
Sent via my magical HTC Wildfire S.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You will be on to a winner with WP7 to be honest. It certainly presents the information in a far better and more innovative way than any of the competition and certainly works far more reliably.
The only caveat is that up until you have Mango - the live tile updates are terribly unreliable. (These are the widget-type tiles on the start screen)
Jay

WP7 is pleasure to use but is at an earlier stage in its life than ios or android, it has the potential to be a leading smart phones but I'd wait a few weeks to see if mango manages to push us to the forefront ?

Yeah, I was gonna wait a month or two to see how Android fares with me, and then eventually jump ship ... again
Sent via my magical HTC Wildfire S.

yup can't go wrong with wp7 everything is much faster and cleaner while android and iOS are just offering specs and graphics, wp7 is offering real usability and features.

Pro:
The performance is superb. No Android phone (even with dual-core) can match Windows Phone's. Apps rarely crash and rarely lags.
The whole WP OS UI carries a unified theme and even 3rd party apps seem to use the same theme.
The OS itself is very integrated. Many features that come build in to the WP OS are separate apps on other platform.
Con:
Lack of customization. You don't like how the WP OS looks? Too bad.

day2die said:
Pro:
The performance is superb. No Android phone (even with dual-core) can match Windows Phone's. Apps rarely crash and rarely lags.
The whole WP OS UI carries a unified theme and even 3rd party apps seem to use the same theme.
The OS itself is very integrated. Many features that come build in to the WP OS are separate apps on other platform.
Con:
Lack of customization. You don't like how the WP OS looks? Too bad.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The OS's look is the first reason I'd move to wp. The integration astounded me, we're only seeing it appear in iOS 5 (I'm a beta tester), and as for Android ...
I'd heard of the hardware stability, that'd be a definite plus+. Can't wait to try it out !
Sent via my magical HTC Wildfire S.

I look at WP7 as having the best of both iOS and Android.
On one hand you have the Android approach of different handset makers and a choice in hardware. Like Apple, Microsoft is showing tight control over the OS. So between two WP7 handsets you aren't going to see a huge difference in terms of how the OS performs. The biggest problem I have had with Android in the past is how the user experience is vastly different between two phones, especially when hardware manufacturers start skinning the OS.
You honestly can't go wrong with WP7, especially with the Mango update around the corner.

omnomnomkimiiee said:
Would it be possible for someone to list the major pros & cons of WP7, 'cos I haven't been able to try it out yet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What type of user: "consumer" or business or both?
Your level of computer skills: basic or proficient?

CSMR said:
What type of user: "consumer" or business or both?
Your level of computer skills: basic or proficient?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
User: both, private/business 30%/70%
Computer skills are rather mediocre in the ms/linux world, I'm more of an os x guy.
Sent via my magical HTC Wildfire S.

Pros:
WP7 is fast & stable
Does what it does very well
You can get in & get out fast
Integration
No "real" need for flashing custom ROM's
The UI is clean & easy to read
Cons:
If you're like me & like "hacking" your device, Mango killed Homebrew (Hopefully we'll find ways around this)
Customization (If you like the UI exactly as is, not an issue for you)
Lack of choices in certain functionality
3rd party apps are a bit immature
In the end I suggest going to your local carrier's store & playing with a display model or if a friend has one play with it. The best thing about WP7 is it's performance. Someone said that touching the screen is like touching the pixels. This is a very good analogy, because what ever you do (in most cases), the device reacts to your inputs almost instantaneously. You can't really see any lag except in maybe some 3rd party apps & especially homebrew, but with homebrew, that's performance issues of the hacks currently being used. The last couple days I've been playing with my ex's Android & it feels so slow. Granted it's a cheap no name $50 Metro PCS one, but still. When I try to scroll throw the apps list, it takes a few seconds for my touch inputs to actually be displayed. The screen has a delay of input of scroll to it actually scroll. Everything I try to do takes so long to do.
Than again, I don't understand why she even has an Android device or smartphone in general. She never setup a Google account, which i had to do to access the market for an app for her. She wants to record a couple voicemails. So, I installed a call recorder app for her. She never setup her home screen. It has 5 "tabs" or what ever their called on Android & she only has the stock icons on the main tab & a music player on another. Nothing else setup.
As for 3rd party apps on WP7, yes they're a bit lacking, but I hardly ever use any. I have a few games & 3rd party apps installed, but most of what I do is handled by the core WP7 functionality.
EDIT: Just a little correction to the person who mentioned Chrome. WP7 does indeed have the "Chrome" element of the UI. The Status Bar at the top that auto hides is Chrome & so is the Menu Bar. It just auto hides & in some apps, isn't there at all (aka fullscreen mode).

drkfngthdragnlrd said:
Pros:
WP7 is fast & stable
Does what it does very well
You can get in & get out fast
Integration
No "real" need for flashing custom ROM's
The UI is clean & easy to read
Cons:
If you're like me & like "hacking" your device, Mango killed Homebrew (Hopefully we'll find ways around this)
Customization (If you like the UI exactly as is, not an issue for you)
Lack of choices in certain functionality
3rd party apps are a bit immature
In the end I suggest going to your local carrier's store & playing with a display model or if a friend has one play with it. The best thing about WP7 is it's performance. Someone said that touching the screen is like touching the pixels. This is a very good analogy, because what ever you do (in most cases), the device reacts to your inputs almost instantaneously. You can't really see any lag except in maybe some 3rd party apps & especially homebrew, but with homebrew, that's performance issues of the hacks currently being used. The last couple days I've been playing with my ex's Android & it feels so slow. Granted it's a cheap no name $50 Metro PCS one, but still. When I try to scroll throw the apps list, it takes a few seconds for my touch inputs to actually be displayed. The screen has a delay of input of scroll to it actually scroll. Everything I try to do takes so long to do.
Than again, I don't understand why she even has an Android device or smartphone in general. She never setup a Google account, which i had to do to access the market for an app for her. She wants to record a couple voicemails. So, I installed a call recorder app for her. She never setup her home screen. It has 5 "tabs" or what ever their called on Android & she only has the stock icons on the main tab & a music player on another. Nothing else setup.
As for 3rd party apps on WP7, yes they're a bit lacking, but I hardly ever use any. I have a few games & 3rd party apps installed, but most of what I do is handled by the core WP7 functionality.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
u earned a thanks from me. I do believe that th apps will get better once the mango ones hit the marketplace. I rarely use them tho as like yourself almost everything I do can be done in the OS on its own

I am on mango, here is my list:
Pros:
Smoothness
The live tiles (I know it sounds like the windows phone catchphase but mango upped the info and style of them and made them a powerful tool)
Social network intergation (having the people and messaging hubs allow you to do 80% of the stuff that you do on it I.E. Facebook and having the cache locally instead of waiting for an app to pull it live from the site.
Search and bing vision, audio, local scout (having it all at your fingertip)
Tellme! The voice command is awesome and I sometimes use it to show off =)
Metro UI, simple and clean and easy to look at
IE it is the smoothest browser around, no checkering
Cons:
Customization
Playing app catchup (mango should fix it and see a lot of ports from iOS and android very soon)
Video scrubbing
No way to bring back toast notications
The biggest thing is once you start use wp7, it grows on you and you find ways to do what you want and most of the time it is a better way than on any other device.

hardcoreplur said:
The biggest thing is once you start use wp7, it grows on you and you find ways to do what you want and most of the time it is a better way than on any other device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is probably one of the best descriptions I've heard about WP7 & couldn't be more true. While WP7 is not perfect. It does indeed grow on your & 99% of what you need to to you can figure out how to do in some ingenious ways. It is a beautiful thought out OS.

omnomnomkimiiee said:
Notifications aren't a problem, I don't really use them. What really interested me was how all the "essential" stuff seemed accessible really easily, and that the whole GUI is clean/optimised.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
GUI and the essential smart-phone stuff (email, calendar, contacts, social media integration) work really well. I'm sure you'll be pleasantly surprised!
Bad things you'll discovered compared to iOS is lack or apps, and lack of google maps and other google services. Remember WP7 uses Bing, which is very USA-centric, and Microsoft keep regions very cut off from each other. So if you do live in France as your avatar suggests, you may find several features (such as maps and local scout) don't work, and the French app store may be pretty sparse (and no you won't be allowed to access the UK or US one).

I 2nd that. WP7 as far as services go is a worse experience outside the US, & something you should look into before making a decision.

Many people complains about the need for Zune Sync instead USB Mass Storage. I am the opposite one - I like this better. Why?
You are sure, that the phone will play the music or movie (converting 1.5 hours long movie took 3 minutes on my PC).
Also, when you are watching movie on phone, then close it somewhere during the movie, sync the phone to PC and open the movie in PC (through Zune), it will continue where you left off - that is something that without Zune Sync can't be done.
I use Zune for listening to music anyway. Just drag & drop the music on icon of your phone and once you connect it, it synces all the changes and adds music and what not.
And major PRO for WP7 is the UI. Best UI around. UI designed for phone from beginning, that is not just rows and columns of icons.