superchunk said:
I love the negative common statements regarding Android and how in almost every case the issues are due to users and their choice of apps.
Battery life and speediness (or lack there of) for Android will 98% of the time be traced right back to the apps you have on your phone.
1) NEVER install task killer apps. They don't need to exist on a Linux based system. All they do is prevent phone sleeping and simply add another constant task running in the background.
Instead look at the apps you have chosen to install and especially look at their settings for notifications. Do you really need to be notified every 5mins that your words with friends game is ready? Leave crap like that turned off and just run the app when you are ready to actually look at it. Only notifications you should really need/have are for messaging and emails.
2) Anti-virus programs are also useless. Don't give me that crap about the open market causing issues and so much mal-ware. For fuck's sake read what the app does and the permissions YOU ARE AGREEING TO. A widget that is supposed to toggle 3g/4g should not need SMS and address book access. A dynamic wall paper app does not need network access, etc. Also, quit trying to rip people off. Stick to Android Play store or Amazon Market, i.e. legitimate sources.
3) I can't stress how much you really need to look at your new apps settings. Especially sync and notification intervals. This stuff causes you to use data, keeps phone from sleeping, and gravely affects battery life as well as CPU since all these services will be running in the background. Android has the best notification system there is, reason why Apple copied it. So app makers utilize it freely. But, you have control over all of it, thanks to Android, so use that control to really only have things you want running.... running.
4) Yes, upgrades take time and that is especially more complicated due to OEMs various UI tweaks over vanilla Android. Guess what? There's an easy fix for that. BUY A DAMN NEXUS PHONE! Not only are these typically the best or nearly best hardware out anyways, but they get upgrades in timely manner. (especially if its a GSM based Nexus) If we all start doing that in mass, guess what will happen? OEMs will quite making their stupid tweaks and instead focus on packaged apps. A win-win for everyone.
5) The Display high % in battery is not a bug. Its a freaking large ass display that clearly is eating up the juice. It is the primary culprit and the main reason iOS is better at battery than Android. Take an Android with a 3" screen and is battery life is very similar. Sure you are doing something while the screen is on, but the Draw Something app is not a cpu killer. However the large white backed canvas that the screen is displaying is. Thus the display is always the biggest killer. That leads me to another simple option... utilize the auto brightness feature. Don't force it to be always its brightest. Its easy to have a nice widget on your home screen that allows you to easily change brightness. So there is no reason to force it to max all the time.
6) The Play store is fine. Its easy to navigate and best of all you can even shop and add stuff to your phone from ANY computer while the phone is just in your pocket. It does have a two list options for your apps. The first and default is ONLY the apps installed on your phone and that list is alphabetical. The second is a full list of any app you've used. That second app comes in handy if you delete an app and want it back. However, I am also perplexed as to why its not alphabetically ordered.
I'd like to close this with... if you're having issues with your Android phone there are really only two possibilities.
1) Its actually defective and you need to get it replaced.
2) Its an app or a set of apps causing your issues. Check the settings for new apps and simply delete the crap like soundboards, live wallpapers, task killers, anti-virus, etc. If you try out a few different apps, uninstall the losers.
Android's flexibility and extreme personalization is its best feature and for those who are lazy or don't time to read what they are doing, its also its greatest defect.
Also, show me any WP tile and I can show you a widget that blows it away in every way.
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