Andriod UI - what are they thinking?

[EarlyMon]

We've all got strong opinions on this one - while everyone's been pretty ok so far, let's just all agree to keep polite and non-personal so it doesn't get out hand, per the links in my sig, with my many thanks in advance.

Best we try to keep it all UI-centric from this post forward, yes?

 

[Caloy]

Just close (exit) skype. Problem solved. You don't have to kill it (in windows terms ending a process) to conserve battery.

 

[Guamguy]

Hello all,

I received my first Android phone this week - Nexus S. I work in graphic design and UI, I charge clients $500 an hour for my services.

Android, as far as I'm concerned, is a UI disaster. I'm still new to it so if I make any mistake here let me know.

First off - example - gmail app. I received a new email. Cool. I read the email. Now I want to go back to gmail inbox. I need two clicks for it. For something so simple. The message even shows the tag "inbox" but I cannot click on it.

Huh? Just press the <- button and you go back to inbox.

I want to kill an app, something I would need to do every 15 minutes. How many buttons do I need to click? Home -> Running App widget (if you put it there) -> click on App -> "stop". That's 4 clicks for something as simple as killing an app.

Wrong. It takes ZERO clicks. The app will be killed by itself sometime after you leave it.

I received a text message, I receive a notification. I click on it and it takes me to it. Now I go back to home but 5 minutes later I want to reply. How many clicks do I need to use? Phone -> search contact (why a search bar is not there by default??) -> contact -> messages icon. Again 4 clicks.

Wrong. Click on the Messages app, which by default is in the homescreen. The last message is there and you can immediately reply to it.

I'm using an App, any App. I want to go back to the "home page" of that App. Something I would normally want to do every other minute. Can I do this in any way??? I still didn't figure it out.

Geez man, all you need is to keep hitting the <- button on the bottom of the screen.

A wifi hot spot is available. How many clicks do I need to get connected to it?

One. After you install a wifi widget or the Power widget on your homescreen.

This is just mind boggling. So many people are using these phones, there is so much money in this industry, so much effort is put into it, it would have been so easy to fix these issues... but the bottom line is that the UI is a disaster, as if they just don't care. It seems like the UI is developed by the programmers. I would volunteer 100 hours to make Android a better experience.

Do people here agree with me on this one?

What's mind boggling is you complaining about the simplest things that Android could accomplish in a mere click or two. It just seems to me you never really bothered to try the OS at all and you're just here to troll.

 

[UIexpert]

Thanks EarlyMon!

I love my Nexus S, I just want it to be even better...

 

[mapaaa]

ui expert, i have a question, which platform do you think looks better designed, wp7 or android:

Spoiler

 

[mapaaa]

Did it occur to you that we're maybe happy enough with it? I understand, you have your opinion and nobody here is trying to take that away from you but why do you have the need to force others into agreeing with you?

no offense, but most people who are not android fans would see that android is "ugly" compared to modern phone OS like iphone or wp7 r web OS. its easily the ugliest and least intuitive of the bunch.

 

[EarlyMon]

Welcome to the forums!

I wrapped your images with a show/hide button so as not to make those viewing with smaller screens crazy.

To see mapaa's images, press the Show button in his post.

mapaaa - I'm curious - which do you think is better?

 

[EarlyMon]

no offense, but most people who are not android fans would see that android is "ugly" compared to modern phone OS like iphone or wp7 r web OS. its easily the ugliest and least intuitive of the bunch.

Curiously, I think your image simply shows an HTC app drawer.

That's the little-used repository of apps available in the phone's rom - it is not at all the primary user interface.

HTC Sense is quite attractive and is used on many Windows phones - as well as Android.

In addition - unlike a Windows phone or an iPhone or webOS (arguably considered the prettiest and friendliest in many circles) - there is no single appearance for an Android phone.

Your image and this assertion makes me ask the following question:

Have you ever actually used an Android phone?

PS - Leave the Show tag in place - I put it there for the good of the site. Your linked images will wreak havoc on small screens, popular to many users, and this is a kind of standard policy, having only to do with size, not content - thanks for your understanding.

 

[IOWA]

Did it occur to you that we're maybe happy enough with it? I understand, you have your opinion and nobody here is trying to take that away from you but why do you have the need to force others into agreeing with you?

Curiously, I think your image simply shows an HTC app drawer.

That's the little-used repository of apps available in the phone's rom - it is not at all the primary user interface.

HTC Sense is quite attractive and is used on many Windows phones - as well as Android.

In addition - unlike a Windows phone or an iPhone or webOS (arguably considered the prettiest and friendliest in many circles) - there is no single appearance for an Android phone.

Your image and this assertion makes me ask the following question:

Have you ever actually used an Android phone?

PS - Leave the Show tag in place - I put it there for the good of the site. Your linked images will wreak havoc on small screens, popular to many users, and this is a kind of standard policy, having only to do with size, not content - thanks for your understanding.

No, he probably hasn't. And seeing TWO new users with under TEN posts each out of LEFT FIELD agreeing with each other, chances are, they are the same exact person, who is also MOST LIKELY a PREVIOUSLY BANNED member.

*cough* mcatdtDROID *cough*

 

[EarlyMon]

Here's a few sample home screens submitted by our users as their primary interfaces - fully customized.

Each shows the power of the user to craft an interface for their needs - and this is done rather easily, I might add.

More than just wallpaper - you can see various users prioritizing their interface to match their primary needs and goals with their phones.

All of these screen shots were taken from a SINGLE MODEL of an Android phone, showing a desktop screen, all from different and various users (not me).

Tap the show button to see:

Spoiler

The Android primary user interface is as varied as their owners.

My particular phone has seven desktop screens - I perform a pinch action to see all, then a tap to select and zoom into one of them. This is actually done with one fluid motion - and with it, I'm in my work space, my play space, my science space, my internet space, my special tools space and so forth.

In addition, I have a single long-press action to bring up a translucent overlay of essential apps and features that extends the multitasking apparent to me, not terribly unlike webOS.

I access my app drawer once every blue moon.

Hope this illustrates a subtle point when comparing to other interfaces.

 

[EarlyMon]

No, he probably hasn't. And seeing TWO new users with under TEN posts each out of LEFT FIELD agreeing with each other, chances are, they are the same exact person, who is also MOST LIKELY a PREVIOUSLY BANNED member.

*cough* mcatdtDROID *cough*

Don't sweat the small stuff - that's our job.

 

[Bnice]

No, he probably hasn't. And seeing TWO new users with under TEN posts each out of LEFT FIELD agreeing with each other, chances are, they are the same exact person, who is also MOST LIKELY a PREVIOUSLY BANNED member.

*cough* mcatdtDROID *cough*

^^This

 

[EarlyMon]

Ok, moving on...

 

[BeLiEvE0101]

I was lurking every Android forum I could find, and upon reading this thread and the responses, I immediately registered (and cited EarlyMon as the user who referred me haha).

The sheer amount of trolling on this forum (and subsequent restraint shown in the replies) is simply stunning. I commend the mods and admins for holding down a very well-maintained fort here, and lol at people like our self-proclaimed UI expert here, though he seems to be coming out of new-phone-shock quite nicely after being talked down by EarlyMon.

I'm posting here so once the G2 I ordered on Saturday arrives finally, I can cannibalize EarlyMon's recommendations and try to minimize my confusion. Cheers!

-A very excited ex-dumbphone user of 6 years

 

[EarlyMon]

Welcome to the forums!

If you need help navigating our site, you can send a private message to any mod or guide.

At AndroidForums we like to attack problems and not people.

 

[AndroidSPCS]

Threads like these should be locked. They inflame others and serve no purpose.

 

[t0Msha]

no offense, but most people who are not android fans would see that android is "ugly" compared to modern phone OS like iphone or wp7 r web OS. its easily the ugliest and least intuitive of the bunch.

First of all, I'm not an android fan. I'm an android user and I may even agree with you if we're talking only about pure looks but I don't understand why are you quoting me since this topic primary raises question of android functionality, not design.
My views on aesthetics specifically are somewhat different from what I said about functionality, and I agree with you, design needs a lot of work to keep up with competition.
However, if we're talking about functionality of UI, and again, we are in this topic, I have no bigger complaints in that department and I stand by what I said earlier - I'm happy enough with it.
I also stand by another point I've made earlier - I really think that we're all entitled to are own opinion, that's why we're here I guess, to exchange opinions, but if someone's trying to force others into believing that his point of view is the only right, that's when I have a problem. In this specific case, why would I complain to Google if I'm overall happy with my android phone? On that note, I would always choose Android with its endless right out the box possibilities over any limited OS, even if it's prettier.

 

[Xyro]

No, he probably hasn't. And seeing TWO new users with under TEN posts each out of LEFT FIELD agreeing with each other, chances are, they are the same exact person, who is also MOST LIKELY a PREVIOUSLY BANNED member.

*cough* mcatdtDROID *cough*

Actually, you were correct about mapaaa; he's another regular.

He's not mcatdtDROID though.

 

[UIexpert]

I perform a pinch action to see all, then a tap to select and zoom into one of them.

How can you do that?

I think many of you really misunderstood me. I hate MS and I hate Apple, I wouldn't use a Windows 7 phone if you would give it to me free. I just want to see a better Android.

What you are saying is this: Android is an OS, a platform, and it comes stripped down from many functionalities, including many basic ones like "profiles" or pin protection. It's not very easy to use, BUT, it's flexible. You are saying that every person should and can easily customize his Android with all that good stuff and more, and that you can do anything you want as long as you customize and tweak the settings.

I have a question - do you think your mother, father, grandmother or 8 years old sister can or WANT to do all of that stuff? Go to market, download an app, fiddle with the settings, etc etc etc and spend god knows how many hours to make his/her phone include something basic as "profiles"? Do you think this is a good strategy to make Android popular? Of course that a phone shouldn't come pre loaded with every function in the world but people... come on... profiles??? pin protection? being able to close apps easily? Do you want to see Android popular and easy to use, or a "geek only" platform that makes people turn to other systems?

Please, give your mother an Android phone out of the box and ask her to add pin protection. Let me know how many hours it takes her. She needs to realize its not there. She needs to realize she can add it. She needs to learn how to download apps.......... etc etc.

People want to be able to use their phone (or anything else) intuitively and out of the box... if you can later customize it and make it even better - that's great.

Why is Android like that? Because Google is not a consumer products company, it is an engineering company. They probably didn't have the foresight to involve many consumer product and UI specialists on what is a "platform" or "OS". But guys, 90% of the people who buy phones don't know what a "platform" is. They are buying a phone. They think in terms of "I like my phone" and "my phone is easy to use" or "my phone is hard to use". So it's very cool that Android is a platform, but the real goal here is to sell as many Android phones as possible. So it's not enough that it is flexible... it needs to be intuitive for the average user and preloaded with all the basics. Right now this is not the case. That's it. If you like Android and want to see it as popular as possible, I'm not really sure why would you argue with that.

 

[Jethro10]

But I guess you all just want to say how great it is and that nothing needs to be changed.

what's your beef?
It works perfectly fine for me, and yes, it also has problems.

but My TV remote after a while, feels a bit wrong, my car driving positions isn't perfect but it's ok.
Nothing in this world was designed directly for me, so Nothing is perfect for me -well except for my wife if she's reading this ;-)

but hey, it's all ok.

so link us some of your top websites then? And hey, a million people will have a million perspectives.

I bet your a great chap to know personally ;-)

J

 

[UIexpert]

but My TV remote after a while, feels a bit wrong

It does come with an "off" button, right?

But wait, you don't really need to shut your TV off... you can just mute it. It's just like putting an App to sleep.... I guess they can remove the off button then.

You are the ones arguing for the sake of arguing. Not me. I'm pointing to some errors I wand fixed, that's it.

 

[reinbeau]

I was very frustrated at the lack of information available when I came to Android. I am a long time Palm user. It has taken me two months or more haunting forums and browsing websites to begin to get a good grip on things. If you want an easy out of the box 'pretty' experience then an iPhone is probably where you should be. If you want supreme customization then keep your mind open and hang in there, ultimately I think you'll be very pleased.

As for grandma or dad, help them out. You can use it out of the box, you don't have to get all techie about it.

(edited due to some pretty bad mistypes - using the app, in a rush!)

 

[Jethro10]

It does come with an "off" button, right?

But wait, you don't really need to shut your TV off... you can just mute it. It's just like putting an App to sleep.... I guess they can remove the off button then.

You are the ones arguing for the sake of arguing. Not me. I'm pointing to some errors I wand fixed, that's it.

If you want an off button for an app then you need to learn a bit more about Android. It's not necessary.
And no, my remote doesn't have an OFF button. It has a standby button that is nearly off, but not quiet. Hmm, thats so wrong. I need it off, off. Proper off. Those bloody idiots who built my TV..... ;-)

My point was and still is that if something is not made personally for me, then it will always be a compromise - but usually more than amply good enough

Oh, and technically it's not broken, so it can't be fixed ;-)

I'm off now, no point hanging around in this thread!

J

 

[UIexpert]

My point was and still is that if something is not maded personally for me, then it will always be a compromise - but usually more than amply good enough

A phone should be made for "the masses". Not for you and not for me. Android is not made for the masses. It is made for people with higher technical skills and more free time. Yes, you are very funny to be arguing with me on something so obvious.

 

[lunatic59]

A phone should be made for "the masses". Not for you and not for me. Android is not made for the masses. It is made for people with higher technical skills and more free time. Yes, you are very funny to be arguing with me on something so obvious.

The problem is that opinions are like ... keeping it clean for the innocent youth ... everyone has one. What you think Android should be or not be may have some merit, but in the end it is ultimately Google's decision to make their product the way they want to and live with the market repercussions if it is the wrong (financial) decision. So far it seems to be working in their favor.

What is obvious is that Android's flexibility offers both the technical users the ability to tweak and customize where other platforms restrict us, but also offers basic functionality that the non-technical user can embrace. Perhaps you might consider sending your resum