Android

[Chainsaws]

As most of you are probably sick of hearing I have a HTC Desire Android phone and it is freaking awesome. That said, there are a few issues and various annoyances that I'm going to record here because some of you may end up with one of these phones or similar. I'll also include any awesome stuff that I think any Android user would appreciate.

The version of Android on this phone is currently 2.1 (no update to 2.2 yet). Key feature in each point in bold to make them easier to spot.

Annoyances:

Although the device supports it HTC annoyingly removed the voice-to-text button from the keyboard. This solution fixes that (and you can customise your keyboard too):
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=663608

Android just loves telling you that you have new e-mail at 3AM, then it tells you that it found updates for some of your apps and while we're on it I'll just beep again for the hell of it to make sure you're awake. An annoyance with any phone really but the Sound Manager app available free from the marketplace (search for 'Sound Manager') allows you to set schedules on each volume level (system, ringer, alarms etc.) A bit of buggering about initially but welcome since Nokia took away scheduled profiles years ago and made me hate them for it.

Awesomeness:

There are several free Xbox Media Centre remote controls available which are a-ma-zing if you have XBMC installed on anything.

Google Sky Map overlays constellations on your camera view when you point it at the sky. Doesn't get a lot of use but it's a nice app if you have time to stare at the night sky.

Shazam that mobile service that you call and play a tune to and it texts you the name of the song? There's a free app that charges you nothing to identify songs, got a few accurate hits off the radio in the car but it supposedly does harder to hear tracks as well (like in a noisy shop or club). It keeps a record of your identified tracks for later too so you can tag them and put your phone away.

Google Goggles and any of the many barcode readers will identify items and search online for prices or info. Goggles is more landmarks and works of art and the barcode is more price orientated.

Dropbox have a fairly nice Android app although it's currently missing the ability to upload multiple files at once. Good for getting a photo or video from your phone to your pc without buggering around syncing or finding a usb cable, especially if you're not at home.

[Machine]

Shouldn't this be a review?

[Chainsaws]

I suppose it does fit better here although it's more general info than a review. If you asked me to review Android or the HTC Desire my answer would be "Awesome". I seriously recommend anyone to get one (they're not the easiest for non-techies but from a phone point of view what is? the menus are no more confusing than a Sony or Bilberry). As a phone it just works and responds quickly and on top of that you've got a platform that can do all sorts of amazing stuff without the cost premium of Apple or the dripping fail of WinMo. My only large criticism would be battery life but once I stopped playing with it every five seconds and started using it sensibly I just charge it overnight now. It does need a car charger if you're using it for navigation though (which is very good, proper sat nav not just maps and all free from Google). One bonus is that you can open a menu and see what has been guzzling the power so you know if a particular app is to blame or you've been leaving the screen on too much.

Also, finally a phone where the automatic screen brightness works properly! zomg!

[Machine]

TBH if I got a new phone it would be an Andriod, the free applications are tempting and I dislike the iPhone for being an apple, biased I know but you know what I mean...

[Chainsaws]

I actually phoned up to get an iPhone before I realised the Desire was available (was going to get the model down as a second choice) but it was £10-15 extra a month for exactly the same talk plan. Considering most iphone apps are on the android marketplace now I don't see why you'd want to pay the 'Apple tax'.

[bigd]

The problem with android devices is there is some serious fragmentation with regards to updates. HTC especially has issues pushing updates out in a timely fashion as it has its sense UI that needs to be updated.

http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/02/late ... n-supreme/

Android 1.5 is over a year old at this point. Having over a quarter of all android phones still running that is pretty terrible.

Anyway, the advantage of the iphone is user experience, plain and simple. If you're a power user and don't mind tweaking things and messing around to get stuff just perfect, then android is fine for you. For most people who just want their phone to do stuff without any effort or task managers or the like, iphone is king.

The disadvantages of the apple platform are readily apparent and I'm not going to get into them here

[Chainsaws]

I'm not going to be a fanboy and defend Google but this is a new product competing with an existing phone that dominates the top end of the market. I gather that Google are taking a lesson from Apple and will soon be releasing yearly updates to Android to make life easier for developers and manufacturers. I feel like I got into the game at the right time with a 2.1 device, it feels pretty mature and I'm not lamenting the fact I could be waiting indefinitely for an update to 2.2

I recently discovered that you don't need task managers and, in fact, they cause more harm than good. The OS manages the memory perfectly well without.

If the devices were the same cost I'm not sure how I would have gone on the decision...

[bigd]

The concern, though, is that app developers will be working with the newest version and it's possible that your phone will be incompatible with some new apps until HTC releases "their" android update.

Google says they're dealing with the fragmentation head-on, so that's good. I'm not convinced it's entirely in their control, though.

[Archie]

Hi.

I also have HTC Desire and find it an exellent phone. I'm not using HTC's own sense system, but instead I've installed LauncherPro which I find great.
Other apps I use Handcent SMS, google goggles, sky map, imdb etc.

The only downside is that marked's pay apps have yet to arrive in scandinavia. I've heard you can buypass that by using a english simcard. Anyone volunteer to help me out ? I'll pay you, I'd rather do that, than root the phone and loose my warranty.

*Froyo (2.2) is confirmed around christmas, I think.

[Chainsaws]

Can it be a pay as you go simcard? Those things are given away free everywhere.

Can't wait for 2.2 so I can save my apps to sd card!

I didn't know you could replace the sense system, I like it so I hadn't bothered to look. I'll check out LauncherPro though. What's the advantage to Handcent?

[Archie]

I was thinking about a pay as you go simcard yes.


I think handcent is a better sms app. It lets you customize about everything you like, try it out, just delete it, if you don't like it!:)

2.2 adds better flash support, makes your phone even faster and apps on sd is gonna be good