I've has my Galaxy Nexus for a couple of days now, on the Three network in the UK.
I hate how most people in reviews rave about phones when they have just forked out for them, and fail to mention any real negatives - presumably because they refuse to accept that something they've spent £500 on might be less than perfect. When you buy one and it's missing features or isn't quite what you expected, it's very annoying.
Here are my thoughts so far. I consider myself a power-user, and have tested almost everything. Overall, people are right. This is the best phone I've touched. I think once devs start optimising their apps to work properly on ICS it'll be even better. Fingers crossed that Cyanogen will address lots of the annoyances below.
I hope this is useful for someone
The Good:
Feels much more complete and unified.
It's lightening fast.
Most of the best bits of Android have transferred.
Screen looks great.
Face unlock works much better than I thought. Even in low light.
I've only had one crash despite installing a tonne of apps and testing every feature. [EDIT: a few FCs today. Mainly from the pre-installed Google Earth).
Radio seems to work fine on Three UK, unlike the SGS II which has data issues due to fast dormancy. Data speeds are great.
Browser generally much better.
Text input much better, but editing is a little confusing and seems to vary depending on app. [EDIT: This is actually phenomenal. I've always had a hardware keyboard or Swype before so no practice on these keyboards. After only 48 hours, I can literally type without looking. It is very good at correcting mistakes.]
Screen size is great for me, as I use my phones as mini-tablets. Doesn't feel bulky in my pocket at all.
BLUETOOTH STEREO FINALLY DOESN'T DISTORT - I can hear hi-hats again instead of just distortion. There is a bit of constant crackling though.
Screen remains responsive when charging. I have had an issue where it wasn't registering touch properly when charging on my Milestone, Desire and SGSII so this is really nice.
The Bad:
EVEN THOUGH I'M SUPPOSEDLY IN AN UNAFFECTED BAND, IF MY PHONE DROPS TO 2G, AND SOMEONE WALKS NEAR ME MAKING A PHONECALL IT PUTS MY PHONE ON SILENT.
The 'menu' button is unpredictable. For example, in most apps it appears at the bottom with the softkeys. In Market it's up at the top, near the search button. In some apps, it has gone. Seems to vary and is confusing.
You're stuck with the Google search box on you home screen. I hate this.
Now the button has gone, if an app doesn't have a search icon, you've lost the ability to search.
Also means no long press search, so you have to go back to the home screen for voice commands. This also means that regardless of what launcher you use, if you want voice search, you NEED to have the Google search widget on your home screen.
No USB Mass Storage – they've opted for media device profile instead. My Xbox recognises it but can't play any content. It doesn't work with my car stereo. It doesn't work with my TV. My laptop will see it, but I can't see certain hidden folders. This has just removed a huge aspect of flexibility from Android. It's no longer universal, and more like an iPhone now in that respect.
Icons are as ugly in real life as everyone expected.
Blue theme clashes with everything except blue. Blue icons on blue background feels very bland.
There is a huge problem with speech to text, whereby it is very slow, and seems to just write a list of names out of my contacts directory rather than writing what I say! Video here: http://youtu.be/qHVptz2EtMk
No longer accepts certain file formats over Bluetooth.
Camera seems buggy when reviewing photos. It works confusingly.
Gallery is not very intuitive at all.
Browser doesn't display Javascript animations properly.
Dropped a few calls.
Wifi range isn't as good as my other Androids
Front facing camera doesn't aim inwards towards your face. It points straight forward at 90 degrees, but it's positioned on the right of the device, so your face isn't central unless you hold the phone at a bit of an angle facing away from you. [EDIT - this is getting very annoying now. You have to have the phone screen pointing almost away from you to video call]
Bluetooth calls don't seem to work. Caller can't hear what I'm saying. [EDIT - I'm told it works on newer kits. Mine is a Jabra stereo receiver]
Bluetooth music has a constant crackling behind it, but it's barely noticeable in loud music.
All albumart appears in the phone gallery.
Google Talk seems to sign out after a while. It's showing all of my contacts as away even though I know they're online. Signing out and in again fixes this temporarily, but I'm guessing I would miss video calls whilst offline.
Phone has gone to permanent sleep about 3 times in 2 and a half days now. Requires a battery pull to get it back on.
Apps - If you can't live without these, I'd recommend waiting to buy until they're fixed
No menu button is shown on Facebook, so there's no way to set it up to sync contacts or notifications. This means no contact photos for now.
Twitter on the other hand syncs all my contacts, despite me telling it not to.
Doesn't support Swype as yet.
Doesn't support MX Video Player.
iPlayer not available in the Market.
Grooveshark app doesn't work due to lack of flash player. You can use Dood's music streamer for a functional but unattractive alternative.
Thanks for the review and honesty. It would be nice if you kept this updated as either your opinion changes or things are fixed from either Google or app developers.
Is web browser as smooth (scrolling, pinch to zoom) as one on the galaxy s2?
I really beginning to wonder if Verizon is going to put these out there in two weeks without some fixes/improvements in place. I mean, if December 8 is real, these phones have got be in sealed boxes already. People will be returning them faster than they sell them.
hrcro said:
Is web browser as smooth (scrolling, pinch to zoom) as one on the galaxy s2?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It feels a lot smoother than my Galaxy S II did.
I'm about to test the bluetooth quality, as crackling audio was my biggest pet hate from previous Android versions.
Can you resize the search widget? If we are stuck with it maybe something smaller will help minimize that particular drawback.
have you got an otg usb cable? can you hook up a thumb drive?
Sent from my Google Nexus S using Tapatalk
suomaf said:
have you got an otg usb cable? can you hook up a thumb drive?
Sent from my Google Nexus S using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes, please test it. whole forum with owners GN but nobody had test this opportunity yet
I hope yopu don't mind but I am going to hijack this thread and also post a quick review from a similar nerd is maybe over critical. Saves starting a new thread.
The Good
ICS is very polished, much more so than any other version of android, it tries to stay consistent through the whole phone where as in previous versions it was one of my main annoyances.
The device looks fantastic.
The speed is very good, I wouldn't say it is any faster than a SGS2 with a custom rom IMO but it is a lot smother in animation etc. so it feels a lot faster.
The screen is very nice, playing videos when the screen is set up to an acceptable brightness are amazing with colours a lot more natural than the SGS2 or the yellow tint of the iphone 4.
Radio is very good also, getting full signal in my house where as before i would only receive 2-3 bars.
Text input is a lot better although i have found it is unable to keep up with my typing, although it is putting the letters down it almost seems like there is a little delay in the animation of them magnifying.
Notification light is back and I am glad, as I missed that feature on my SGS2.
Has everything, NFC, noise cancelling mic, 720p display and ICS. Its pretty much future proof (in terms of the next few years)
Zero shutter lag is a very good feature
Bad Points
The screen although very nice on full or half brightness is not very good on auto brightness. It is so much lower compared to all my other smart phones it is almost unusable I find so I have had to manually set the brightness.
Auto rotate as I have mentioned in another thread is very inconsistent, very fast in some apps nearly non existent in others.
Sound quality is quiet, not poor quality but very quiet. My SGS2 and iPhone 4 over power it when playing videos.
The browser is fast but it is not as fast as my SGS2 running Check Rom Revolution HD. It is deffo faster than the iPhone 4.
The camera is not great, its not bad but the quality feels like it is from a year old device. Quite grainy, not as good as the SGS2 or the iphone 4s unfortunately.
And lastly a few quirks which I am sure will be sorted out with an over the air update, occasional stutter when opening app draw, gallery doesn't seem terribly smooth when going through photos and the auto rotate is just annoying me.
Other than the above I don't want people to read this and think it is doom and gloom because it isn't. This is a very very good device, I am glad I purchased it because it is still the best phone on the market in my opinion.
Every phone has its niggles but that is why this forum is so great, I am looking forward to the community baked roms which always make a device go from very good to just awesome.
To answer some question, you can't resize the search bar. Its not really a widget its sort of like the controls at the bottom, permanently there.
when typing does it type well, what I mean is it off when typing and you keep getting bad letters up, I had that problem with the SGS2 someone mentioned it was a screen problem that it kept jumping
thanks
bmstrong said:
Can you resize the search widget? If we are stuck with it maybe something smaller will help minimize that particular drawback.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope, can't resize it. It's there permanently. You'd have to install another launcher.
Added a few more to the list, mainly to do with Bluetooth.
Is FM radio working with Spirit FM Radio app?
justabrake said:
when typing does it type well, what I mean is it off when typing and you keep getting bad letters up, I had that problem with the SGS2 someone mentioned it was a screen problem that it kept jumping
thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah it types really well, I don't think I have mistyped once on there and I type real fast.
Good lord. That's a lot of negatives. Thanks for the honest review for undecided minds like me. Just two questions. If you use a 3rd party launcher (for example adw) will the google search bar still be present? Secondly, how does the GPS perform in terms of fix time and accuracy? Does barometer really help GPS fix time? Thanks
luffyp said:
Secondly, how does the GPS perform in terms of fix time and accuracy? Does barometer really help GPS fix time? Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The GPS fix for me is very fast, easily within a second or so. Much faster than my Desire was, that's for sure.
A lot of those negatives either will be resolved soon by Google or they won't be a problem for the majority of people
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk
OP > when typing does it type well, what I mean is it off when typing and you keep getting bad letters up, I had that problem with the SGS2 someone mentioned it was a screen problem that it kept jumping
thanks
mike freegan said:
You're stuck with the Google search box on you home screen. I hate this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ugh.
This is going to be problematic with my live clock wallpaper that is displayed at the top of the screen. Anyone else use WP Clock?
Here's an example of the live wallpaper I'm talking about:
luffyp said:
Good lord. That's a lot of negatives. Thanks for the honest review for undecided minds like me. Just two questions. If you use a 3rd party launcher (for example adw) will the google search bar still be present? Secondly, how does the GPS perform in terms of fix time and accuracy? Does barometer really help GPS fix time? Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well you have to bare in mind that ICS is a big over haul, so if we were to list all the positives it would be a pretty big list. I am just venting my negatives of the device, but when you compare them to how good the device is they really are small and I would rather have this handset than any other. I forked out for both my SGS2 and the Galaxy Nexus sim free and i am not dissapointed with either. If you are undecided on whether to upgrade you have to look at the fact that this phone does have everything, is a developer phone and has ICS written specifically for it. I would say go for it.
If you use a 3rd party launcher the Google search will not be present, my GPS has been excellent, I have used it for a few car journeys and it is just as good as my SGS2 which was superb.
jms.flynn said:
Well you have to bare in mind that ICS is a big over haul, so if we were to list all the positives it would be a pretty big list. I am just venting my negatives of the device, but when you compare them to how good the device is they really are small and I would rather have this handset than any other. I forked out for both my SGS2 and the Galaxy Nexus sim free and i am not dissapointed with either. If you are undecided on whether to upgrade you have to look at the fact that this phone does have everything, is a developer phone and has ICS written specifically for it. I would say go for it.
If you use a 3rd party launcher the Google search will not be present, my GPS has been excellent, I have used it for a few car journeys and it is just as good as my SGS2 which was superb.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep I know, ICS seems to be the biggest change among the previous Android versions. Together with Google & developers' support, it's why I want to jump ship to the Nexus line. At the moment I'm leaning towards it, just wanna read more reviews. Although the volume adjusting problem that many people are having is a bit of a concern. Hopefully it will be fixed by a software update.
Related
Ghost volume button issue on most devices
No micro sd card support
Confusing user interface
No Facebook contacts sync
No native social network widget
Can't add more home screens
Fuzzy speaker
Lock screen vibration can't be switched off
No digital clock only analog widget
Quadrant benchmark only 1500 score
Lag in many areas
No Facebook events calendar sync
Only 5m camera
THE VOLUME BUG HAS REALLY PUT ME OFF AND SAMSUNG ARE STILL TO ACKNOWLEDGE
Ghost volume button issue on most devices - Valid Concern
No micro sd card support - Shouldn't be a surprise
Confusing user interface - Seriously?
No Facebook contacts sync - Facebook's fault, not Google's
No native social network widget - Again, look at the social networks for blame
Can't add more home screens - Never been more than 5 in stock android
Fuzzy speaker - valid concern
Lock screen vibration can't be switched off - Don't have one, so can't comment
No digital clock only analog widget - Never been one in stock android
Quadrant benchmark only 1500 score - Don't have one, so can't comment
Lag in many areas - Don't have one, so can't comment
No Facebook events calendar sync - Never been in stock android OR from facebook's app
Only 5m camera - Shouldn't be a surprise
Most of this is your own fault for not knowing in advance, or isn't a valid point.
"Massive"??...thats a strong term to use. Most of your points are either things we already knew or there are other ways to circumvent, so therfore a non-issue. I think you just wanted to make a thread just to be making a thread.
+1 to the other comments.... it is in the best interest to your homework before you purchase, not the day after
The ghost volume and fuzzy speaker are the only real concerns......... and Really. . . . . How many here are going to keep this stock ??? hmmmm???
My guess the sound and volume will be eliminated when either Voodoo is adapted to this phone or some other equal
And, as far as all those other issues custom roms solve all of them
As for me, I always try to get something that has great hardware the software doesn't matter, we here in XDA will customize, make, kang or just create what we need.
Seems to me that this threads are becoming typical every time a new device hits the market more so in this case with all the hype of the Nexus. Buyers remorse, lack of due diligence? Or something else…
Other than the low volume problem, this post only proves how ignorant you are.
Previous post sums it up.
UI is fine - blame the user not the tech!
I don't have the volume issue but that would be the only concern I would point the finger at.
Making a deal about vibrate on a lock screen - what next??
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
knut150 said:
Seems to me that this threads are becoming typical every time a new device hits the market more so in this case with all the hype of the Nexus. Buyers remorse, lack of due diligence? Or something else…
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Saying that there has been a "lack of due diligence" implies that people have just gone out and bought the phone with no knowledge of it whatsoever. This isn't true. I read every single hands on, preview, and article I could find on the Nexus before I bought it, and not a single one mentioned any of the problems or small annoyances we have been having. So, tell me - how has showing "due diligence" made any difference to me?
Buyers remorse? Sure, that could factor into it - but only because of the problems.
These threads are becoming more typical because the devices are getting more expensive, and we are becoming to rely on them more for our day to day life. If problems are happening, they become more of an issue to us
viniturb0 said:
Lock screen vibration can't be switched off
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This can be turned off in Settings -> Security -> Vibrate on Touch
Shodney said:
This can be turned off in Settings -> Security -> Vibrate on Touch
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure that setting is in Security - think its in display - and deselecting it in display has no effect on lockscreen
Then again - maybe I'm remembering incorrectly.
kindiboy said:
Other than the low volume problem, this post only proves how ignorant you are.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This post only proves that for some people being polite is only an optional feature.
And also that is a lot easier to insult someone behind a monitor rather than face to face in real life.
Oh and Quadrant is one of the worst benchmarks available. Try some others like linpack / antutu / cf-bench. Eventho those are probably not optimized for ICS, they at least use multithreading etc.
Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using xda premium
I actually agree on the interface/UI. Menu key appears on some apps at the bottom some at the top some dont have it at all. Also there's no menu key on the main android screen which Paul O'Brien has modded to show that its there in the code to be used. Not sure what Google were thinking there? Same old Google for me, rushing out updates. ICS needs some polishing in my opinion. Battery life sucks still on the OS too which I would have thought they would have addressed this time around. That volume bug is a pain too, BIG ONE!
This is my opinion mind, hope Google sort these things out.
recklesslife85 said:
I actually agree on the interface/UI. Menu key appears on some apps at the bottom some at the top some dont have it at all. Also there's no menu key on the main android screen which Paul O'Brien has modded to show that its there in the code to be used. Not sure what Google were thinking there? Same old Google for me, rushing out updates. ICS needs some polishing in my opinion. Battery life sucks still on the OS too which I would have thought they would have addressed this time around. That volume bug is a pain too, BIG ONE!
This is my opinion mind, hope Google sort these things out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you're talking about what i think you're talking about then that is actually intended to be like that.
Apps that use the keyboard (Such as messaging, gmail, maps, etc.) all have an action bar where, amongst other things, the menu is that the bottom. When you start using the keyboard, the action bar is removed, and the menu button is then moved to the upper right side of the corner.
Of course, any other app developer can put this wherever they like, and for the apps not currently compatible with this type of menu they have the "compatibility" menu in the software buttons.
As for, what i assume you mean the launcher, it's possible that there is still code for it in ICS to be compatible with older phones that may be upgrading to ICS but will have the 4 capacitive buttons instead, including the menu button.
lamecake said:
Oh and Quadrant is one of the worst benchmarks available. Try some others like linpack / antutu / cf-bench. Eventho those are probably not optimized for ICS, they at least use multithreading etc.
Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You mean my 4500 score in Quadrant using my tweaked kernel is meaningless???!?!? I don't think I can live any more...
viniturb0 said:
Ghost volume button issue on most devices
No micro sd card support
Confusing user interface
No Facebook contacts sync
No native social network widget
Can't add more home screens
Fuzzy speaker
Lock screen vibration can't be switched off
No digital clock only analog widget
Quadrant benchmark only 1500 score
Lag in many areas
No Facebook events calendar sync
Only 5m camera
THE VOLUME BUG HAS REALLY PUT ME OFF AND SAMSUNG ARE STILL TO ACKNOWLEDGE
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if that is your case, i don't see a point you complaining, might as well go get another make handset.
fdm1 said:
Can't add more home screens - Never been more than 5 in stock android
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm looking at my Motorola Milestone, which I believe is stock Android, with an option for seven and nine homescreens. But I don't use more than five anyway.
GiveMe2Beers said:
This post only proves that for some people being polite is only an optional feature.
And also that is a lot easier to insult someone behind a monitor rather than face to face in real life.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Am stating a fact, ignorance is not an insult. dumbass is.
WhiterThanWhite said:
I'm looking at my Motorola Milestone, which I believe is stock Android, with an option for seven and nine homescreens. But I don't use more than five anyway.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if that's the case, it isn't stock.
WhiterThanWhite said:
I'm looking at my Motorola Milestone, which I believe is stock Android, with an option for seven and nine homescreens. But I don't use more than five anyway.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, the Milestone is not fully stock Android but it's close. The launcher is slightly different as you've seen.
Obvious troll is obvious. Let the thread die, the OP doesn't care about your replies anyways - hence the lack of any sort of reply.
There is no denying that ICS is a major step forward for android phones (and it is awesome!) but what feature etc. do you feel should be included in the next major update?
One thing I would like is a quick access button to toggle the auto-rotate screen on and off! I use my phone a lot in bed and it`s imposable to use the phone with auto-rotate on (as with many smartphones I have tried).
GN_ICS said:
Another is the ability to stop, pause, fast forward music from the lock screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ICS already has this
oscillik said:
ICS already has this
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are right, after a restart is now there on the top... interesting!
download a widget app like Widgetsoid. You can make yourself an auto-rotate on/off widget
USB host OTG (promised but not delivered).
Syncing of the default browser with Chromium or Chrome.
I'd like to see some Siri competition.
Onboard external storage with ssd speeds. Even tighter and consistent integration with hardware and software. Methinks there is still going to be a clusterfuck of hardware and software still to come. Oem overlays should be optional and/or pick and choose what you like from their launcher. Still boggles my mind people buy a samsung or motorola phone and want sense on their rom. No sense if you ask me.
Sent from my samsung gt i9250 which is in the wrong country.
Clancy_s said:
USB host OTG (promised but not delivered).
Syncing of the default browser with Chromium or Chrome.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Syncing already works for bookmarks with chrome.
PS: Didn't mean to thank you - wrong button, but oh well!
I want the stock Gallery App to be as smooth and as quick just like the rest of the OS. How come when you flick through photos and do pinch to zoom it's still sluggish just like on Android 2.2? Can't it be fast like the Browser?
Cannot think of much anything major yet, but here some minor ones:
The Google search bar is really unnecessary.
A disable option for the shutter sound would be nice but I guess they don't have it for legal reasons.
Maybe a pre-loaded plain black wall paper.
I would like to see integration with google talk throughout the device. I woild love for it to be like bbm/imessanger. I use it a lot and feel like it has great potential.
Sent from my PG86100 using xda premium
spunks3 said:
I would like to see integration with google talk throughout the device. I woild love for it to be like bbm/imessanger. I use it a lot and feel like it has great potential.
Sent from my PG86100 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Will never happen.
BBM and iMessage work because the only devices that can communicate via those methods are the mobile phones themselves.
Google Talk works with computers too. Meaning that there is a large margin for disjointed conversations where part of the conversation is completely lost and unable to be referenced without getting the other person to repeat themselves.
New2Houston said:
A disable option for the shutter sound would be nice but I guess they don't have it for legal reasons.
.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It better be silent on vibrate! Would be great if on vibrate the flash didn't go off either lol
Id like to see the ability to copy and paste pics, rather than having to save them and then send them
jdhommert said:
It better be silent on vibrate! Would be great if on vibrate the flash didn't go off either lol
Id like to see the ability to copy and paste pics, rather than having to save them and then send them
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd be surprised if they took that out - where when the phone is in silent/vibrate there is no shutter sound. That's how it's always been on my OG Droid, especially back when it was stock.
oscillik said:
Will never happen.
BBM and iMessage work because the only devices that can communicate via those methods are the mobile phones themselves.
Google Talk works with computers too. Meaning that there is a large margin for disjointed conversations where part of the conversation is completely lost and unable to be referenced without getting the other person to repeat themselves.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Or simply have it do exactly what it does now, and sync conversations across devices? All that needs to be done is have Android device detection, like iMessaging, so that sms conversations automatically switch to Talk (or a rebranded version of Talk).
Regarding shutter sound: Can't we just rename/delete the soundfile, so it cannot be played? What's the filename and where do I find it?
oscillik said:
Will never happen.
BBM and iMessage work because the only devices that can communicate via those methods are the mobile phones themselves.
Google Talk works with computers too. Meaning that there is a large margin for disjointed conversations where part of the conversation is completely lost and unable to be referenced without getting the other person to repeat themselves.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't quite understand. Why is it that when you bring computers into this equation, part of the conversation is liable to being lost?
GN_ICS said:
One thing I would like is a quick access button to toggle the auto-rotate screen on and off! I use my phone a lot in bed and it`s imposable to use the phone with auto-rotate on (as with many smartphones I have tried).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is an app called Smart Rotator which I use to only allow certain apps (ie Gallery) to autorotate. Very handy.
i wonder how ICS's keyboard is like.. Particularly, the horizontal keyboard. For some reason, in many of the text fields when using (practically) any type of keyboard, default, swiftkey, (and i don't remember the names of the other ones that i've tried in the past), the horizontal keyboard does not show the background at all. It makes a big text field of the field that you are typing and the touch keyboard takes up the rest with the "next" or "done" at the top right.
It's extremely un-user friendly. I want the apple style keyboard where regardless which orientation you are in, you can still see half of the keyboard, AND add a row to show all of the corrections/suggestions.
Hope that's in ICS, if not, please make it happen in the next update!
The hardware and design of this phone are top notch - most features work really well except anything in regards to multi-tasking. I am very disappointed that its missing basic functionality I thought should be pretty standard these days especially on a flagship device. Case in point - Usa today app, its always been really nice while traveling since I can sync it before flying and read all the articles while in-flight on my iPhone during airplane mode, with the One X any open browser page or related app becomes a useless blank page when airplane mode is switched on. Heck even the picture I had open in the gallery section closed and took me back to the main gallery (picture) folder and of course this does not need an internet connection.
It looks like Sense 4.0 has eliminated multi-tasking, as much as I like the device otherwise I just cant give up so much basic functionality that I have been enjoying for years on other phones... Will probably have to return and go back to my iphone 4 for now.. Bummer -
It does not appear that HTC recognizes this short-coming as a problem and considers this normal functionality so I cant just wait for an update/fix...
Anyone else feel this way ?
Srgsx said:
The hardware and design of this phone are top notch - most features work really well except anything in regards to multi-tasking. I am very disappointed that its missing basic functionality I thought should be pretty standard these days especially on a flagship device. Case in point - Usa today app, its always been really nice while traveling since I can sync it before flying and read all the articles while in-flight on my iPhone during airplane mode, with the One X any open browser page or related app becomes a useless blank page when airplane mode is switched on. Heck even the picture I had open in the gallery section closed and took me back to the main gallery (picture) folder and of course this does not need an internet connection.
It looks like Sense 4.0 has eliminated multi-tasking, as much as I like the device otherwise I just cant give up so much basic functionality that I have been enjoying for years on other phones... Will probably have to return and go back to my iphone 4 for now.. Bummer -
It does not appear that HTC recognizes this short-coming as a problem and considers this normal functionality so I cant just wait for an update/fix...
Anyone else feel this way ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
multitasking is a bit of a joke on this phone. I hope HTC addresses this in a future update.
sent from my HTC One X
Since Sense + OS alone consume most of the ram (> 80%) on the device, I suppose integrated Android task killer is configured in some paranoid mode and is killing backgroups apps like crazy.
If this bothers you, I would install one of senseless ROMs on your HD2 and be happy Possibly there is also a way to make task killer more civilized in custom Sense ROMs.
Sadly, Sense 4.0 is quit bloated and One-X should have at least 1.5GB of RAM to begin with.
Yup, I agree, multitasking is really bad... All my dolphin browser pages reload if I click the home button and try to go back.
Sent from my HTC One X on Leedroid's ROM v5.1.0.
It will addressed with uopdates after all you bought a quad cote for multi tasking, some of xda chefs are communicating with HTC dev and we reported the very aggressive memfree values, also if you are rooted you can control them with supercharger script
Srgsx said:
Case in point - Usa today app, its always been really nice while traveling since I can sync it before flying and read all the articles while in-flight on my iPhone during airplane mode, with the One X any open browser page or related app becomes a useless blank page when airplane mode is switched on.
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When I change the wireless state on my i9100 the same thing happens so it's Android, not HTC or the One X. Even if the USA Today home page was retained clicking on any of the stories would result in an error because there's no wireless connection available. Get an app like Pocket that allows you to save articles from across the web for offline reading. The CNN app also gives you the option to save stories offline.
The multitasking on this phone sucks period. There is not justification. I should not be here looking for an answer. XDA devs should be enhancing the phone not trying to fix basic functionality. I hope HTC solves this problem before my trail period.
mgfjd said:
The multitasking on this phone sucks period. There is not justification. I should not be here looking for an answer. XDA devs should be enhancing the phone not trying to fix basic functionality. I hope HTC solves this problem before my trail period.
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Do any of you understand how multitasking in Android even works? Even if a task is killed by the OS, apps developed that follow the published standard will re-launch in their last state in less than a second. And the better XDA devs should know that. So while HTC's memory management may be aggressive, there's more to it if individual apps aren't behaving correctly.
http://android-developers.blogspot.com/2010/04/multitasking-android-way.html
Srgsx said:
The hardware and design of this phone are top notch - most features work really well except anything in regards to multi-tasking. I am very disappointed that its missing basic functionality I thought should be pretty standard these days especially on a flagship device. Case in point - Usa today app, its always been really nice while traveling since I can sync it before flying and read all the articles while in-flight on my iPhone during airplane mode, with the One X any open browser page or related app becomes a useless blank page when airplane mode is switched on. Heck even the picture I had open in the gallery section closed and took me back to the main gallery (picture) folder and of course this does not need an internet connection.
It looks like Sense 4.0 has eliminated multi-tasking, as much as I like the device otherwise I just cant give up so much basic functionality that I have been enjoying for years on other phones... Will probably have to return and go back to my iphone 4 for now.. Bummer -
It does not appear that HTC recognizes this short-coming as a problem and considers this normal functionality so I cant just wait for an update/fix...
Anyone else feel this way ?
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If you're not happy w it, return it ASAP. Why do you have to care about what others think? It's your money, your experience.
Case closed. Meetings adjourned lol
louis.b said:
If you're not happy w it, return it ASAP. Why do you have to care about what others think? It's your money, your experience.
Case closed. Meetings adjourned lol
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Its called a forum, in which I can and will reach out to others to get feedback on what I consider a situation with a very flawed segment of Sense which is making me contemplate returning an otherwise very nice device.
Look Apple has been doing this puesdo multi-tasking, app-pausing just fine since 4.0 what the heck is HTC thinking ? Browser tabs store just fine for days WITHOUT an internet connection. I geuss I am just expecting too much.
Sorry to interupt move along nothing to see here - lol
If you really want to pile-on, head over here. The XL'rs are far more up in arms than the X'rs.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1646409
I've asked the same questions of people that say the way multitasking is implemented is a real hardship but no one's answered. What's the harm? Of "X" hours a day using the phone, what percentage of your time is actually spent active in two (or more) apps simultaneously? And with a powerful processor it shouldn't matter whether a background app is in state or has to be restarted based on the way Android works (see below). I'm not trying to pick a fight I'm trying to understand the depth of the issue.
And since no one's read the article I linked to, here's the cruxt...
Once Android determines that it needs to remove a process, it does this brutally, simply force-killing it. The kernel can then immediately reclaim all resources needed by the process, without relying on that application being well written and responsive to a polite request to exit. Allowing the kernel to immediately reclaim application resources makes it a lot easier to avoid serious out of memory situations.
If a user later returns to an application that's been killed, Android needs a way to re-launch it in the same state as it was last seen, to preserve the "all applications are running all of the time" experience. This is done by keeping track of the parts of the application the user is aware of (the Activities), and re-starting them with information about the last state they were seen in. This last state is generated each time the user leaves that part of the application, not when it is killed, so that the kernel can later freely kill it without depending on the application to respond correctly at that point.
And based on this, the SGS3's handling memory managment just like the One X so there don't appear to be a lot of options for those with special multitasking needs.
greyhulk said:
The GS3 has the same multitasking "issue" as the One X. I have tested it. That's all the more reason why I don't expect HTC to fix it in an update. I believe it's how the manufacturers intend it to work, for better or worse.
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Try to install Apex launcher free version and set it as default launcher. Reboot and see is situation get better. If works for you then it is sense problem.
It works like a charm on my X. No any problem for multitask.And it is so smooth.
Of course if you do want sense launcher then have to live with issue. But no harm to try Apex to see at least multitask can wrok or not
BarryH_GEG everything looks nice when you write it down like that but i remember SGS did better multitasking then my new double ram HTC One X, on daily basis it kills everything when i9000 never killed my GG chatting app or music player - both just should be ON all the time i was using them thats only 2 apps to handle
At a co-workers urging I installed Go-launcher today in hopes of a quick fix. yeah nothing, still re-renders everything fricken thing it touches.
Should I stil try Apex ?
Apex so far is best launcher for one X. I used it for 1 month. If it is not work for you I will post another solution which may help.
Apex- ok you might be on to something !
Can still hold app data while in airplane mode...
Srgsx said:
the One X any open browser page or related app becomes a useless blank page when airplane mode is switched on.
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Click to collapse
If your rooted then flash Jan's Advance Notification toggle to enable Airplane Mode it will retain the webpage because you're not going into a different app.
Srgsx said:
At a co-workers urging I installed Go-launcher today in hopes of a quick fix. yeah nothing, still re-renders everything fricken thing it touches.
Should I stil try Apex ?
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Click to collapse
I dont think this is caused by sense taking up too much resources. Seems to be an ics inherent thing. The sgs3 was just reported to behave the same way.
Oh yes i tried the ipad3 the other day. The display was perfect but what surprises me is it multitasks amazingly well. I can have 5 - 6 apps open including youtube and browser with multiple tabs and it switches between them smoothly without once quiting the browser. Really sad to see android/ ics regressed to this state that ios significantly beat it.
if it is ics problem why I can use mutlitask on my one X?
Raider0001 said:
BarryH_GEG everything looks nice when you write it down like that but i remember SGS did better multitasking then my new double ram HTC One X, on daily basis it kills everything when i9000 never killed my GG chatting app or music player - both just should be ON all the time i was using them thats only 2 apps to handle
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Click to collapse
I keep asking the question "what does it mean?" and everyone keeps replying "it shouldn't be this way." If a doctor says "there’s something wrong with your liver," there's a big difference between hepatitis A and stage 3 cancer. Other than the perceived loss of something you had how does the way that the One X handles multitasking affect what you do every day? And how often is it a problem?
I had a i9100 and in practical use I don't notice a difference. The exception being the browser that stupidly reloads itself every time it restarts but it does that regardless of whether launched from recent apps or directly from the app drawer or a shortcut.
And if this is true it doesn't really matter what a Desire, HD2, or SGS did.
greyhulk said:
The GS3 has the same multitasking "issue" as the One X. I have tested it. That's all the more reason why I don't expect HTC to fix it in an update. I believe it's how the manufacturers intend it to work, for better or worse.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello everyone!
Hopefully you guys gonna understand that I just got this phone 2 days ago and been a iPhone user since Iphone 4! (Went from Iphone 7 to P2 XL) So I hope I don't get too much hate because hey, after all. I bought the Pixel 2 XL 128 GB
Anyways where to start.. It's been very hard to go from iOS to Android but luckily I studied abit as a software dev. where we learned few things with Androids so I did know some stuff atleast but there is quite good benefits with Pixel 2 XL that made me go :highfive::silly::victory:
The camera, I can just say Holy crap.. I never seen so good camera in my life on a small device like this! No doubt about it, The customization on Android where you can enable bluetooth, locations and all that is a really good one too and the screen is also really beautiful, There is so much stuff that I like with it but also some stuff I still need to learn and that's why I am here, and hopefully I can get the help I want and also hope it's not gonna be very long text aswell.
Problem:
[*]Adaptive brightness
This one goes banana, hopefully im not the only one but I have never seen anything more sensitive brightness as Google's, Changes every page / app you use and feels quite annoying as it goes up and down all the time and it just kills your eyes slowly. I did find an app called Lux Lite that helped me quite abit but with lower brightness takes me to the next point which is...
[*]Black crush
Black crush, For those who maybe doesnt know what it is, basically you can follow it up by watching this youtube clip: youtube[DOT COM]/watch?v=CYMRRn2Fu1s (Yes, im a newbie and joined today )
- Simply showing when you reduce your brightness, the dark color disappears and becomes totally black - The reason I want to use it is just against the night when very strong brightness kills your eyes just at bedtime. I usually check NBA and Twitch Just before I fall asleep, and now maybe it will sound racist but that's just love! Basically basketball players that are dark-colored and make them completely black and you only see their matchwear and it ruins a small part of the match.
I have looked into other videos and found that the issue is not only with Pixel 2 but also coming now to Samsung phones and basically the new Oled where the company gives a bad calibrations. Im not sure what Iphone uses if its AMOLED but look etc. at iPhone X, probably one of the best
detailing in dark areas of all phones that I have tried and sure I could have bought that phone but also i'm surprised this is not anything is talking about in any youtube reviews so I don't know whatsup with this but this is slowly making me go back to my iPhone 7... I hope im not the only one?!?!?!
I did find an app called Screen balance that helps it abit but I mean... 945$ for a Phone that I need an APP that I NEED to buy to make it look good?! Come on?!
But please, don't take this offensive now. It still gives a really good picture at high brightness! no doubt about it.
[*]Notification
Well, This might be a fix that someone that as more experience than me in Android now so basically I will make a construction of what I want and maybe someone can help me out?
Basically on Iphone there is a button on the left where you toggle to turn on or off the sound and what's happends basically is it just kills all sound if the toggle is on and what I did is that I turned off vibrations so basically I get everything notifications just without sound and vibrations AND thats what I want to make on the Pixel 2 XL now, What I have done so far is to hold the volume down button until it changes to Do not disturb and in the settings I turned on everything but now on the Screen "Where you just see the clock" it just sometimes gives me like small icons AND sometimes it gives me like a big notification like iPhone did.. but however, Is there another way I can do this like so its more instead of just the small icons (Search on Google - android 8.1 always on display) and to check? Because etc when Iam at work I can usually see if something pops out on the screen (Can even be a pop out for 10 sec) but now it can be very hard if it's only a small icon adding. Hopefully you understand ish what I mean!
[*]Email Hotmail issue?
This is a combination of notification and not, basically what I have seen this is not as fast response as Gmail, basically if I get a email from Gmail, the notification usually pops out instantly BUT when it comes to Hotmail, this can take over 15minutes until the email even comes to the Gmail app (Where I connected it with my Hotmail since it had that option). and I sometimes can't risk it when im waiting for a important email to come where I wait too long so I need to check pretty often manually to see if I get one.. Now the issue is I don't know if that is a issue when Don't distrub is on or if its the Gmail application, Does anyone have any solution for me here?
[*]Snapchat
Well what to say here, Im not sure but I do think this isn't a issue coming from the phone itself but Snapchat, The quailty is just awful, Im sure my Nokia 3310 would make a better picture than that on Snapchat :fingers-crossed: but anyways the quailty is horrible and maybe there is a way to make it atleast abit better or something, I know that Snapchat is alot better with iPhone and also this isn't a big issue, like its not end of the world to get this worked nownownow but I do feel like it could be atleast at the same level as Samsung quailty atleast?!
Now I think im done and hopefully I did not overkill and I do hope from bottom of my heart that I could get all the answers of my questions and hopefully it's not hard to read since my English isn't the best one but I did try my best and hopefully I could love my Pixel 2 XL as much as I did on my iPhone! Help me newbie out! (Also I posted this on Pixel 2 post which is wrong so I created a new one here and hopefully I can remove somehow on the Pixel 2 Thread)
I thought it might be useful to have one thread for bugs and issues in the bets itself, that Samsung can read and hopefully fix. This is not for issues installing the bets, but for issues in the bets itself. Suggest people try to keep it short and not repeat what others write.
Some things I have found so far:
Can't change the location shown on clock widget location by swiping up/down on it when on home screen
BOSE 700 Bluetooth headphones lose connectivity with sound after 10-25 seconds (on Netflix and Spotify, even native video app). Doesn't happen on Samsung buds
Goodlock doesn't work
Both Netflix and Amazon Prime would not access previously saved (prior to beta update movies) and had to have clear data and cache
Sometimes gets stuck on lockscreen, the one that just shows the clock with seconds too, that I never understood where it came from. Need to touch power off and on to get to regular lock screen
Active2 watch won't unlock after encrypted mail is activated. Pin won't work [OK that's a gripe with the Active2 bit I figured if Samsung is reading this... Please fix this l!!!]
The new gestures, while much better than before, are closer to the iPhone, but they are...well... Heavy to use. It's just more laborious and less instant than the buttons are. This isn't an iPhone. I really want to like it but it's just heavy. Still not as natural as on the iPhone.
For reasons I cannot pinpoint, I find Google keyboard less accurate at fixing my mistakes, when touch typing. Swiping if the same.
I know it's a beta, but battery life feels worse. 25% in a little.over an hour. I find the new battery stats much less useful than before. Just not as clear, as if changed for the sake of change.
ekerbuddyeker said:
I thought it might be useful to have one thread for bugs and issues in the bets itself, that Samsung can read and hopefully fix. This is not for issues installing the bets, but for issues in the bets itself. Suggest people try to keep it short and not repeat what others write.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
While sharing here is fine. Samsung is using the members app to gather feedback.
So yeah an issue may be found to be repairable via community interaction. But don't expect samsung to formally address any issue you don't send bug reports in on or post about in the members app...
I doubt samsung is looking for forums to weed through to gather information on how their beta is performing.
Probably you are right. But hopefully they do look at xda!
One thing that I find very annoying is the Battery usage statistics. They're gone.
I can't find proper statistics showing my battery usage since last full charge. I also can't find proper statistics containing power draw for things like the OS itself, the screen, modem standby and all the otehr things that deal with OS or hardware draw.
Would be great if they would add proper statistics again.
You can use galaxy labs, although I think that there is some redundancy, if ui 2.0 lost the batt usage, galaxy labs has it, is is "battery tracker"
winol said:
You can use galaxy labs, although I think that there is some redundancy, if ui 2.0 lost the batt usage, galaxy labs has it, is is "battery tracker"
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Click to collapse
Seems kinda pointless to upgrade your UI, remove a key feature that a lot of people use then put out a 3rd party app, that doesn't come stock, to fix it....
Just saying...
I agree. The d battery stats were clearer. Can't see clearly how many hours since last charge
I can't install any apk from any explorer of the phone. That's wierd.
Concur app doesn't work
Google Pay doesn't work. Says it's not authorized when I tried to use it.
ekerbuddyeker said:
Probably you are right. But hopefully they do look at xda!
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Click to collapse
You can copy and pasted in Samsung members and that way is sure they'll see.
BTW thanks for your post...
I'm not a beta fan so I'll just wait and also I won't even upgrade until Goodluck is available. Also feel like android 10 takes more then is gives
ATT Visual.voicemail.app doesn't work properly. Doesn't see the Sim on 975f/DS for me