Regarding Nexus S update - http://www.androidcentral.com/nexus-s-ics-update-reportedly-restarting-few-weeks

Like I said initial update was unstable and was pulled. AT&T and Sprint got the update few weeks ago only. I don't know what you side loaded on to your Verizon Nexus S but official update is nowhere in sight. This is 5 months after release of ICS. Not sure I'd call that timely... Google really needs to step up and lead by example here. There should have been an ICS update ready for all Nexus phones in 2 weeks after ICS release.

As far as hardware, I said that Android has the best hardware so there is no disagreement there.

And finally about personalization...Android sure has a lot of customization and personalization available, but you most likely don't realize (and majority of the populationas well)  how personal WP7 device becomes after you use it for a while and how effortlessly it does it. All of the tiles are related to you in some way and diplay information and images that aren't just cosmetic. So much so that iOS looks dead and boring to me when I use it.

In any case, I am not saying Android doesn't have great qualities. The 23 year old in me would get an Android device for sure. But at this day and age I can't see its appeal as it seems more work than its worth.

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.

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.

Blaming apps is crazy. Its googles fault for not having a vetted system.

Apps are NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOTTTTTTTTTTTTTT the cause of all the issues. How come on our 2nd phone we didnt download anything for 1 month and still started to have problems on a brand new pone that won pone of the year.

Check this out. 1 of hundreds of issues relating to speed and battery not to do wit apps.

http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=3453

While there are bugs in any software (antennae-gate anyone), note I did say 98% of the time its apps and your settings. Also, I'm betting that bug from 2009 has been resolved. I know my Gnex doesn't experience anything of the sort. In four months I've only rebooted twice. I simply attribute that to the fact that I have a fully computer in my hand and I'd think any computer needs to be shut down occasionally. I know this same thing happens on iOS as well and I'm sure WP.

However, I never see slowness or fore closes... well when I first got the phone, one of my apps was not working. But, a short time later it was updated to fix ICS related issues... I don't remember which app it was though.

The system is vetted just fine. Is it perfect, no. Is it progressing and improving by leaps and bounds at every iteration, hell yes. But so was iOS and WP7 still is. That's the nature of a new OS. Google is also cracking down on how much OEMs are allowed to muck with. For instance, with ICS and going forward they cannot change the structure of the menu system. They also have to agree to upgrade paths that are much more realistic for any phone up to two years. i.e. matching most people's natural upgrades.

Gingerbread was already really good. ICS is damn near perfect. Eitherway, the advice I give to pay attention to your apps is still golden and proven to solve most issues.

That forum I posted was originally opened in 2009. The last post for the same issue was July 2011. Thats a significant ongoing issue. To be honest its 1 of hundreds of android slow threads on the internet in loads of forums. Its hugely common and Id say most slow issues are nothing to do with apps. I know people who had Android and didnt even use the appstore. They just used what the phone came with. Yet had so much trouble with their phone OS speed.