Apple: iPhone 4 isn't a lemon, but comes close. The guy was pretty accurate on everything. The Apple boys are pissed and making excuses on the forums about this guys review, but I even told them I have a 3GS and I agree with the guy. He didn't say anything wrong.
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I'm porting an iPhone app to Android and I'm having trouble designing an interface that looks and feels "Android." I've read all of the design documents in the Android Dev Guide and looked through all the Google-designed apps, but I feel like the layout of activities is largely undefined. Are there any resources that could help me transition my iPhone design to the Android platform? Here's a quick example of one of my issues. On the iPhone, every view that presents user generated content gives the user a "+" button in the upper right hand corner of the screen to add an item. It's consistent across the built in apps, and it's *mostly* standard among third-party apps.
I don't know what to do with the "+" button on Android. The guidelines say important actions should be present on the screen and not hidden within a menu, so let's say I put it on the screen. It shouldn't go at the bottom of a long list of items, because the user shouldn't have to scroll down every time they want to create a new item. That leaves me with a static button. But there are no standard toolbars, so I'm going to design my own iPhone-esque bar at the top of the screen with a "+" button? I know this probably sounds like a rant, and I'm sorry. I feel it would be worthwhile for someone to sit down and document how common iPhone UI practices should be transitioned to Android apps. I care a lot about UI design - I think it's one of the most important factors in app development -- and I'd hate to see every transitioning developer approach this differently. At any rate, does anyone know of existing resources that might help me out? What's the best designed app you've used for Android? A few examples of great "Android" interfaces would go a long way.
Is it me or is the facebook app for android not half as good as for bb or iphone...r there any better apps i cud download?
View 1 Replies View RelatedShock, horror, iOS4 has brought something unpleasant, wait for it, that unholy word that has never been associated with the iPhone. Yes, the iPhone has LAG. Gizmodo, the Gadget Guide My brother in law has already been complaining that his 3gs is way too slow. My heart bleeds.
View 48 Replies View RelatedI just got a Captivate on Tuesday and I thought I'd give my initial impressions and review of it. I noticed I couldn't find a lot of information about users going from the iPhone 3GS to the Captivate, and I'm sure I'm not the only one in this situation, so what the heck. Here goes:
Why I Switched:
I'm no noobie to the iPhone/iPod touch OS. I was a 1st gen owner of an iPod Touch, and then I bought a 3GS last August. For starters, I was never "disappointed" in my iPhone. Everything worked as advertised: it was relatively quick, very reliable; it basically did whatever I wanted it to do. It was also one of the most polished devices I've worked with. However, being the power user that I am, it got boring. I jailbroke it, and while that was fun, I just wanted something more. Little things like changing my icons, or making my iPhone look different than everyone else's were things Apple didn't want me to do. iTunes was a PITA overall. I want to drag and drop stuff, not sync this and sync that and lose everything else that it overwrites. Quite simply, the phone was just too watered down for my likings. One of my biggest pet peeves about it was the home screen. You have the app icons and your dock. That's all. It was TOO simple.
I've been drooling over these high-end Android phones since mid summer when I realized how much more I could do with an Android phone. Too bad ATT didn't have any of them, that was, until the Captivate. Sure, touchwiz didn't look all that appealing (why on earth would I want to move from an iPhone to an Android, only to be greeted with an iPhone-like interface?), but overall, it still looked quite promising.
First Impressions:
AMOLED. Enough said. It is a gorgeous screen. The colors pop, it's perfect sized, I love it. The build quality was respectable too. It felt solid in my hand. I love the low profile look of it to be honest. Very sleek. After admiring the outsides, I delved into the beauty of Android customization. Finally, I could chose which apps stayed in my Application menu and which went to my homescreen. No more clutter, pure organization to MY tastes. I can put Widgets? This is great! Within 20 minutes of playing with my phone, I called my friend (who kept telling me to dump the iPhone for an Android phone) and said "Why didn't I get this phone earlier?". It was clear, I'd been converted. I knew that this phone was going to satisfy all the hungers that the iPhone had left me with. Needless to say, I've been converted. Goodbye IOS, hello Android
The Switch from IOS to Android:
The switch wasn't perfect though. It took time to get used to the Menu/Options capacitive button. I kept forgetting that I had to press that within each app to see that app's specific settings menus. The keyboard also felt a bit different, but I soon was typing close to the same speed. Also, Android doesn't feel as polished as IOS in some ways. Things are a tad clunkier, less smooth and fancy animations, etc. The browser is very "featureless" compared to Safari also. I miss the tabs style and overall fluidity of Safari. It seems to take 5 clicks to do what I could do in one in Safari. Most noticeable though, what's up with the stock SMS app? IMO, it's garbage. It felt so unpolished and undeveloped. By my second day, I downloaded Handcent SMS and configured that to my likings. That's what I love. I don't like something? Change it. It's Android, you can do that Despite these minor annoyances, I've grown accustomed to the phone in a matter of 2 days.
Last Words:
Am I happy with my decision, despite the road bumps? I certainly am. The phone is an eye-popper. I pulled it out to show my friends and they are like "Oh hey that's pretty coolOMG" as soon as I turn the screen on. I've certainly impressed quite a few people, Droid owners, and even some iPhone owners. There are still some things I prefer about my iPhone, but after using this phone, the pros of it definitely outweigh the cons. There is always room for updates and improvements to fix the minor annoyances.
Within the last two days, I've really fine tuned the phone to my tastes, something the iPhone wouldn't let me do. I've downloaded LauncherPro (which is fantastic), put some new widgets on my screen, downloaded the right apps. It's the little things that count, especially for me.
Change the scroll speed between screens? Check
Change app icons on the dock? Check
Change the amount of docks? Check
Fine tune the look of the phone to your preference? Check
The list goes on and on. It's these little things, along with the big things, of course, that drew me towards the Captivate (Android) and away from the iPhone.
Is the Captivate for you:
Very simple:
Do you want a powerful phone with games and apps that you can customize to nearly any way you want it? Get the Captivate
Are you a power user? Get the Captivate.
Do you want a phone with games and apps, but didn't understand half of the stuff I talked about in the previous sections and don't want to deal with all the technical mumbo jumbo? Get the iPhone.
Last, I thought I'd finish it off with a list of pros and cons if you don't feel like digging through all of the information above. Also, I missed some smaller stuff that I figured I'd just toss on this list.
Pros
The AMOLED screen is amazing
Customization
Very open (compared to the iPhone)
Camera is very good for a cell phone (video and pictures)
Feels solid in hand
Customization
Battery life is close to my 3GS (with a couple of hours of "hard" usage, I'me at 20% by the end of the day)
Customization (getting the hint?)
The notification bar is awesome
Lockscreen (I like the puzzle pieces and music integration)
Cons
Some parts feel unpolished compared to the iPhone (browser, SMS)
Touchwiz (it's good for what it is, but it's a bit sluggish and much too iPhone-like)
Facebook (the app is very underdeveloped coming from the iPhone)
Phandroid's Extensive Droid Review with Video Review
View 1 Replies View RelatedHey any good multi-player poker apps like the Zynga one for iPhone you could reccommend?
View 1 Replies View RelatedBBC News - Users report "fault" on iPhone 4. That is all.
View 22 Replies View RelatedI'm just getting started with mobile development, and after considerable searching I'm still confused about sending a message from my iPhone to another or an Android.For instance, in building a simple Tic-Tac-Toe game, if I want to notify the other phone of a move, what is the best way to do so? Wifi, bluetooth, 3G? And how? Many methods seem to point to communicating through a web server, but I'd rather send them directly from phone to phone if possible.
View 4 Replies View RelatedI've seen a lot of people mentioning some sites in passing, but to be frank they are underwhelming and/or not content rich. I'm looking for a much more comprehensive app review website.
View 23 Replies View RelatedWe are looking for a few people to post one or two or however many they want application reviews. Basically all we ask is that you review an application in the same way that we do and in return you can place a link to your blog, website, forum etc (as long as its appropriate or linked to a competing application reviewing site). You can review any application as long as your not bias and own the application. We get thousands of visitors and so it is good exposure for you and your website.
View 1 Replies View RelatedI know you can get to the android market via the app on your phone and search through them all. There has to be an easier way to review the apps on the web I have looked at adrolib.com and I know of android.com/market where you can see the most popular. What I am wondering, is there a web site that lists all of them that are on the android market on your phone to look at? It would be faster to look at the apps on my computer than using the slower speed of my phone.
View 3 Replies View Relatedok, its the Apple Fanbois turn to try and outdo the funniest video on the web..check out their lame attempt to copy it. Code...
View 12 Replies View RelatedInfo on the review procedure followed by Google to publish an App in Android Market.
View 3 Replies View RelatedI am developing an Android application for a customer. I want to be able to provide them (no one else) incremental updates but I am not clear what the procedure should be.I don't want them to have to install development tools or root their phone. These are non technical folks who would have no idea how to accomplish root a phone or use a command line interface.When I develop iPhone applications for them this was easy. They just give me the device UDID and I send them a binary that can be drag and dropped into iTunes.How is this done on Android. I have tried loading the application from a web server but the devices says it is not allowed to be loaded because of security reasons. In setting->Applications there is no menu option to "Allow Unknown sources".
View 6 Replies View RelatedI was wondering what app or widget Bonnie Cha used on the CNET review of htc evo to show a tabbed menu at the bottom that lets you filter messages based on status, attachment, meetings, invite, etc. Another one app or widget shows a nice display of google services. I wonder if it was part of the phone apps or third party apps.
View 1 Replies View RelatedI was surfing for this apps and I found twitter feed where Firefox and Adobe AIR review was their! I am very happy with Firefox on my Computer and would love to see it on Android Phone. I found information here:2 Recently Released Cool Android Apps You Have To Check Out I am looking for experts view on it! Is it ok with Beta use or we shall need to wait for further development as 3.0 OS is also coming soon for us.
View 3 Replies View RelatedApplication Review of DocumentsToGo + Full Version Key.
View 24 Replies View RelatedI just switched to Android (Motorola Droid) after several years of using uBook on the Win Mobile platform. That powerful e-reader can view virtually any format you throw at it, is full-featured, and highly configurable. But it's anything but pretty.
So with that experience in mind, I tried to find an Android e-book reader which had similar features. The three which seemed most widely-used are:
FB Reader 0.5.27 (FBReader: FBReader for Google Android)
Aldiko 1.2.5 (Aldiko - eBook Reader Application for Android)
Books WordPlayer 11.0.1 (WordPlayer:Reading Released)
Each of them open epub files, but only FB Reader would open any other formats (oeb and fb2). However, thanks to the genuis of calibre (calibre - E-book management) a free e-book management and conversion application which can convert between almost any format invented, having a reader which can read a specific format is less important - simply use calibre to convert it to epub.
Each of the readers has the following features:
-- Configurable fonts (color/style/size)
-- One button toggle for day/night mode
-- Bookmarks
None of them has annotations/highlighting, which is the feature I miss the most from uBook (Word-Player apparently does, per its home page, but per the devs, that feature is not working in Droid).
FB Reader
This is the oldest of the ebook readers, with versions available for multiple platforms. It is also butt-ugly, with an interface that makes my trusty uBook seem spiffy by comparison. (e.g. you have to select books from a list, not icons). And the cover displays in only 1/3 of the screen, in the top left corner (presumably FB Reader is not yet designed for the hi-resolution Droid).
FB Reader was also the buggiest of the three readers. It crashed frequently when trying to change font size, only curable by rebooting the phone, and froze up randomly. Also the Table of Contents was faulty - it would only show one chapter. Another quirk - the menu system appears to be in flux - the font settings was buried in a menu called "Settings (Old)".
Two pluses - (1) the FB Reader's bookmarks feature was the easiest to use of three. Selecting "Bookmarks" brought up one screen at which you could both see a list of recent bookmarks, and add one with one-touch. But the ease of use comes with the loss of flexibility - the bookmark is named after the first few lines of the page, w/o the ability to override it, and (2) it has the option to show/hide the status bar while reading.
WordPlayer
This one seemed promising at first, if only because it interfaced with calibre directly. It was also the only ereader to have text-to-speech, but with a voice that not even a mother could love that also read formatting, it was too distracting to use. One other plus - you could point it to any folder on your SD card to find an book, and it would import it.
This reader was the slowest of the three - chapters took forever to load, and switching between day/night modes was just as painfully slow, as if the entire chapter had to be reloaded.
A couple of other quirks/bugs - a single italiziced letter would often not display, and it added several white blank pages to the end of each chapter.
Aldiko
This is certainly the prettiest of the three ebook readers. It also has agreements with various download sites to enable downloading of something like 10,000 ebooks, but the selection was poor, seeming to consist primarily of sex stories (or erotica). However, since I simply use the reader to view my own epubs, this feature didn't matter to me. And it also was easy to download epubs from the web - clicking on an epub file would import it into Aldiko.
This was my favorite of the ebook readers - the devs put a lot of thought into the interface and usability, and I found no bugs. Chapters loaded quickly, it was the only reader which supported css (though not the @font-face attribute), has fully-configurable gestures, and even an option to brighten/dim the screen by swiping the screen w/o leaving the page you're on.
The bookshelf has to be seen to be believed - beautiful icons, intuitive, and the ability to sort by author, tag. Finally, you can share books via facebook, twitter, e-mail, or even SMS(?).
This would be the ideal ebook reader, and a great replacement for uBook if only it had annotations & highlighting (dev says "we will definitely add in the near future", though there have been two updates in the month since then, and still no dice). And I miss the customized status bar that uBook has, with page number / total pages, and the time.
We know Google Android phone is best phone where we can use different application without paying anything and here again I come with 4 quality application review for you.
View 2 Replies View RelatedSoftware Reviewed: Titanium Backup
Version: 2.7.2
Date of review: 22/FEB/2010
I was looking for an application that would allow me to:
1)Migrate to another phone easily.
2)Backup my applications (with ease)
3)Backup my DATA (with ease)
After some playing around with the market of available applications to backup applications/data, I found some very interesting applications which allowed scheduled backups (which I believe is a must have..) well thats my opinion anyway but out of all the applications I tried, titanium was the only application which after restoring the applications, also restored the links into the marketplace under downloads which allowed me to then receive further updates in the future..! Most backup applications will restore the application, no problem, but what about future updates? You WONT get them.!
Just recently, the developer of Titanium released the market doctor feature (only for donate users) which will attempt to fix any applications that dont show up in the marketplace after a restore (before this feature you had to restore, sometimes twice before it would show up) GREAT WORK !
I am abit (personally) disappointed with the GUI of titanium I believe that it should have an option (wizard) when you first startup the application which asks you, are you an advanced user or beginner, and if youre a beginner it shouldnt show you all the advanced information (that half the people wont understand anyway)
What Id like to see added?
1)beginner / advanced view of home page
2)shortcut options (or widget to run defined backup)
3)Scheduled backups
4)Backup of (SMS, call logs, bookmarks, system settings?)
5)Option to move most recent backup to remote location (i.e. network share over wifi, ftp over data etc)
When a group message is sent between my co-workers, who are all iphone users, and myself (Note 3), one person in the exchange does not receive the text. This is not the common iMessage issue that was plaguing me when I made the switch from Apple to Android. This is specifically affecting one iphone user. When I send her a text individually it is not a problem. The other iPhone users don't have a problem receiving or sending to me.
View 3 Replies View RelatedA few small bubbles, 'prolly my fault. No biggie, can't really see them when the screen is on.
Although the standard Verizon screen protectors don't cover the whole face,I seemed to be able able to squeegee them all out. Also, the feel of the screen wasn't as slick as with the VZ protectors, it was more sticky/resistant when sliding.
I'll hope protection will be what sells me on the Steinheil
App review: Finger Race (Android) -- Engadget
just downloaded, havent played yet, but if its like the Iphone one, very simple amusing game.
For those looking to see what Android 2.1 brings to the Hero, I just spent about 6 hours compiling this with full details: Detailed Mega Review Of Android 2.1 On Our HTC Hero Discover All The New Features (With Lots Of Screenshots)
My favorite new feature is probably the speed-to-text but the absence of lag is a close 2nd.
With the iPhone, Apple has a system of free codes you can send to reviewers so they can install the app for free. Is there a way to do this with paid Android apps?
View 3 Replies View RelatedPandora has been around on PC?s for years. There?s also news that Pandora will be available in new Ford automobiles. Now Pandora has come to the Android platform. Pandora Radio is a free service that lets you stream your favorite music to your Android phone. All you have to do is type in the name of a favorite artist and Pandora does the rest. The app will create a ?station? based on the genre of music. It then plays the music of your favorite band and anything similar. What I love most about Pandora is it finds new music based on what I already like. Therefore I?m discovering new bands.
Pandora saves your information with your account so you can access your music preferences from any device. If you love discovering new music this is the app for you. Pandora is a must have app for any Android phone including the Motorola Droid and Google Nexus One. You can download this app direct to your android phone. Just scan the QR code below with Barcode Scanner application from Android Market: Check out more Android reviews on GigaDroid.com
We published an interesting article on what screen resolutions, CPU and RAM are most popular by the users. Background:
On October 12 TweetDeck published statistics for Android devices and OS versions gathered from their users. They collected the information about more than 35 thousands Android devices which run their twitter client. You can see their extremely interesting statistics here: http://blog.tweetdeck.com/android-ecosystem. We decided to continue their investigations and fulfill the statistics with some data regarding screen resolution, memory and CPU timing of the devices listed. We gathered detailed information about top 50 devices with the highest number of users. We get the information about mobile devices from
http://pdadb.net.
You can see the details below:
Screen resolution breakdown
The table and chart below shows the share of each resolution based on user number. In the chart labels you can see three lines: screen resolution, number of users who use this resolution and the percent of this resolution. You can see that the most of devices has 480X800 and 480X854 screen resolution and only 16% has 320X240. Other resolutions are insignificant.
Android Screen Resolution Breakdown:
Resolution User #
480 x 800 18585
480 x 854 9235
320 x 480 5373
240 x 320 837
960 x 480 99
Total 34129
CPU Breakdown
Most devices have 1GHz processor however there are still 30% of them with 500-600MHz.
Android CPU Breakdown
CPU (MHz) User #
1000 23025
600 5731
528 4422
800 885
720 66
Total 34129
RAM Breakdown
Ram size has much more varieties than CPU and Screen resolution. It varies from 192 Mb for T-Mobile G1 to 576 Mb for HTC Desire. There are also some models with no information about RAM size (marked blank).
Android RAM Breakdown
RAM (MHz) User #
512 15346
256 5924
576 5152
288 3178
384 2547
326 1259
192 521
448 103
(blank) 99
Total 34129
Conclusion
This statistics is limited by the data provided by TweetDeck and may not reflect the whole market. However it is rather completed to represent the situation on the US market. It may be used by Android application developers or mobile web site designers. We used it to plan the most possible configuration for future Android projects by Enterra, Inc. Finally I'd like to thank TweetDeck Team for sharing their statistics. It's really useful.
Sprint 4G Phone Hits New Speeds, but Battery Disappoints - WSJ.com
What an horrendous piece of work. Apparently the article is not intended as a review of the EVO 4G but rather Sprints 4G network. The actual phone itself is barely touched upon except to say that "a full day use on 4G drains the battery" being alarmingly fast (obviously not compared to any other smartphone on a full day use, especially the iphone 3GS and it's poor battery life). What a joke, somebody please tell me as a layperson knowing nothing about the EVO and happening upon this article, what opinion do you have of the EVO 4G now? What features did you learn about? How about the Android OS and any new updates to it?
Nope, instead you would think "Oh a big, heavy phone with bad battery life".
First if you had problems flashing over this ROM such as being in the sprint 4g boot loop, heres the fix. Take the battery out and boot into recovery . Wipe cache and Dalvik Cache then wipe data. Yes its painfull but this a very nice ROM. Anyway back to the review.
This is a pretty basic rom and not much is changed. Its basically a ROM that removes Bloatware and adds some nice Root apps such as wifi tether. This ROM is on a stock kernel. The one big thing I noticed is the good battery life. I unplug my phone at 7 am and goto school, at school I send 30-40 text messages and check my phone frequently.
By the end of school, 3:15,I was at 80% Now my bus ride is 45 mins long, so to the pass the time I normally play a game or am on phone texting and what not, now before root and rom , by the time I got home i would be around 20-30% but after playing a game for 30 mins (Angry Birds) and texting for the rest. I was at 67% which is MUCH better than the previous Stock ROM i was on. If your looking for a non changing ROM with good battery life and Bloatware removed, I reccomend OMJ 2.2 Froyo ROM