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posted by martyb on Monday September 12 2016, @11:56AM   Printer-friendly
from the avoided-Betteridge's-Law-of-Headlines dept.

I've been an Android user since Froyo, over several devices. I'm beginning to think that there must be a better way.

First, although I liked Android, especially the part that was Open Source, I'll suggest that the whole Android ecosystem represents a dead end.

At a minimum, it seems like madness to rely on two or more layers of outside partners to deliver software patches and updates. It's just not reasonable or safe for end users to wait for months or years until device makers and wireless carriers deliver patches from Google - if they ever do.

That there's no way a user can update their system without their cooperation is just not acceptable today.

Second, even if an update or patch does arrive, it brings with it the likelihood that some feature or application that you have been using will be hobbled, eliminated, or just plain be made unusable by Google. Services provided by Google are subject to changes that, depending on your circumstances, make them significantly less usable. (Gmail being a prime example) Standalone apps like Reader or MyTracks may just stop working one day if Google loses interest.

Finally, there's the Play store, and the millions of apps available to users. I think that most people would agree that trying to find a usable app for a specific purpose is an exercise in frustration.

[Continues...]

The current system pretty much requires you to guess on a search term to find an app, then wade through dozens or hundreds of possible results.

App ratings are filled with obvious astroturf, or one word disses - neither of these help you tell if an app actually works. Without someone actually moderating the ratings system it is pretty much of no value.

There's no practical way to tell if an app is a finished product, or an abandoned half-baked pastime. Our only option, even with paid apps, is to install it and find out if it works.

There is speculation that Google may be preparing to abandon Android, but will a new Google OS really be any better for end users?

The problem is that Android has more or less become the only game in town, so what alternative will we see emerge?

Obvious notes:

a) Cyanogenmod - been there, done that. Not a realistic option for the vast majority of end users. And honestly, I just don't have the time and inclination to root and install it these days.
b) iPhone - actually owned a Powerbook for three years as my primary machine. Gave it my best go, but just don't like the way Apple machines do things. YMMV.
c) BlackBerry - actually really loved the BlackBerry, except that it REALLY didn't play well with Google contacts, and they refuse to support either Linux, or individual end users.
c) Linux - yup. Guess I'm spoiled. Stuff generally doesn't break, and if I need a specific tool or function — someone, somewhere has almost always created it.


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  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 12 2016, @12:13PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 12 2016, @12:13PM (#400651)

    Former power user got lazy and became an end user. Now end user is whining about needing to depend upon the work of others.

    Shut! Up! Leech!

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  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by coolgopher on Monday September 12 2016, @03:20PM

    by coolgopher (1157) on Monday September 12 2016, @03:20PM (#400750)

    I must disagree with you on this. I mean, have you looked at what's available on the (smart)phone front these days? It's slim pickings, that's for sure. With Apple you get a pretty, walled garden with prison wardens looking after you. With Android you get a wild-growing field with scarecrows monitoring your every move. If you look to Windows Phone, you find a small Japanese rock garden that someone stopped decorating halfway through, and somehow all the rocks have eyes. These are your choices. None are for powerusers. In fact, all of them actively try to prevent you from power-using your device.

    On the periphery I've heard rumors about a Mozilla Firefoxy type phone device, but have never seen such a beast. Same with Jolla/Sailfish, which is a pity because Maemo was the open-source light on the horizon for a while, and really nice to use as well.

    • (Score: 4, Informative) by Nerdfest on Monday September 12 2016, @03:45PM

      by Nerdfest (80) on Monday September 12 2016, @03:45PM (#400765)

      You can run Android with no interaction from Google whatsoever, and install software only from open-source providers like F-Droid. You can root Android phones quite easily from many hardware providers, and most also have alternative versions of Android firmware available for them. The only reason anyone would be "monitoring your every move" is if you choose that to be the case.

      • (Score: 2) by everdred on Monday September 12 2016, @06:53PM

        by everdred (110) on Monday September 12 2016, @06:53PM (#400869) Journal

        This precisely. Android is really good about allowing third-party applications to provide what would be considered core system functionality on another OS... without having to even root the device.

        • (Score: 1) by letssee on Monday September 12 2016, @07:21PM

          by letssee (2537) on Monday September 12 2016, @07:21PM (#400883)

          Except that a lot of functionality you'd consider 'core os functionality' is moved from aosp to google apps. So if you use just the open source parts you get rather a second rate experience.

          • (Score: 2) by everdred on Monday September 12 2016, @07:49PM

            by everdred (110) on Monday September 12 2016, @07:49PM (#400897) Journal

            You know, I've been hearing comments like this for years and I'm not sure I understand which niceties I'd personally be missing out on if I chose to go AOSP-only. (For one thing, I know about the "Google Now" combination home screen/launcher/voice search, which I've replaced with an open-source local-search-centric launcher.) My usage may not be typical, though.

      • (Score: 2) by Capt. Obvious on Tuesday September 13 2016, @07:14AM

        by Capt. Obvious (6089) on Tuesday September 13 2016, @07:14AM (#401169)

        If I wanted to play with a toy, sure. But I don't wanna do that much work to remove the spyware. It's easier just to get a flip phone. No Google Spyware to remove.

    • (Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Monday September 12 2016, @08:04PM

      by MichaelDavidCrawford (2339) Subscriber Badge <mdcrawford@gmail.com> on Monday September 12 2016, @08:04PM (#400904) Homepage Journal

      It makes and receives calls, and sends and receives texts. I don't text a whole lot except for one friend who's heavily into texting.

      I used to have an iPhone. If I got another I would develop apps for it but otherwise I wouldn't use it.

      --
      Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 12 2016, @11:05PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 12 2016, @11:05PM (#400999)

      > I mean, have you looked at what's available [...] These are your choices

      Well I mean... Apple sells its phone for $1000. You might as well consider the 'secure' options in that price range. Blackphone is open sourced. There are other options.

      Maemo can still be installed on some HW but support and app environment are null, so yes, that distant lighthouse has extinguished.

    • (Score: 2) by Kilo110 on Tuesday September 13 2016, @04:18AM

      by Kilo110 (2853) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday September 13 2016, @04:18AM (#401118)

      What are your thoughts on blackberry. The OS is virtually EOL but it's quite capable. I've been using iphone since its release and moved to android around 2013. I've switched to a blackberry passport about a month ago and I've been surprisingly happy.

      The native app selection is admittedly poor but the Android 4.3 runtime with Google play services sideloaded goes a long way to increasing the utility.

      • (Score: 2) by coolgopher on Tuesday September 13 2016, @07:00AM

        by coolgopher (1157) on Tuesday September 13 2016, @07:00AM (#401159)

        I've never used a Blackberry. It seemed to be the padded-room with constant camera surveillance option back when it was popular though. My understanding was that they've gone Android these days.

      • (Score: 2) by DECbot on Wednesday September 14 2016, @02:28AM

        by DECbot (832) on Wednesday September 14 2016, @02:28AM (#401593) Journal

        I have a blackberry classic from work and I hate it. Keyboard keys are in the wrong spots, screen is too small, virtually no apps in the market.... And I'm still miffed by the work/personal security. I've had blackberries for more than 3 years and still can't figure out how to copy text from my email to a work browser. The only good feature is the battery. It lasts forever because I don't want to use that phone. About the only thing I actually use it for is a wireless hotspot so work can pay for my data.

        --
        cats~$ sudo chown -R us /home/base