What do I mean by this? For me it started with the ability for user apps to clear the missed call status (and thereby the notification that went with it). I believe in Gingerbread, Google decided that only system apps should have the capability. Suddenly, my preferred dialer (aTAKEphONE) could no longer clear the missed call status. When I tapped on the notification, aTAKEphONE would show me my call log, but the notification wouldn't clear. I wrote a Tasker profile to open the native call log each time I loaded aTAKEphONE *and* I had a missed call, and then reload aTAKEphONE, but this shouldn't have been necessary, and was really undesirable from a UI experience. Eventually aTAKEphONE built in this same method to clear the missed call status, and my Tasker profile was no longer necessary. At one point I think I used Titanium Backup to convert aTAKEphONE to a system app, which eliminated the problem entirely.
Also in Gingerbread, Google decided that apps should not be allowed to enable or disable GPS. I know that GPS doesn't actually use any power unless an app is using it, but I've seen misbehaving apps use it while I didn't intend them to, almost completely draining my battery, and besides that, I just prefer to decide for myself when it's enabled. But with Gingerbread, I could no longer control my GPS as I wanted with Tasker; I was forced to either leave it enabled all the time, or go through the UI to enable/disable it as desired.
Then came ICS. My ringer and notification volumes were inexplicably linked, and there was nothing I could to about it? The check box for changing this (that used to be under Settings > Sound) was gone? What if I want my ringer loud in the event of an emergency call, but don't want to be disturbed by SMS or email arrival? Must I manually change my default notification sound to silent? What if I use different sounds in each app? Must I change them all individually? Then change them back again later? What if I'm on call for automated system alerts but don't want to be disturbed by calls?
Then came Jelly Bean. Now Takser has no control over whether my phone vibrates with the ringer or notifications. When in a noisy environment during the day, I often set my phone to ring AND vibrate for calls and notifications. Now I can't do this without changing the call settings in Android, and then changing the vibrate setting in every notification-producing app I use, and then changing everythign back again when I'm done.
While each of these things by itself could be considered minor, the overall trend shows me that Google is taking steps in a direction I don't want to go. While this is somewhat of a rant, I really do want to know...what (if any) logic is behind these changes, and how do they benefit anyone?
Also in Gingerbread, Google decided that apps should not be allowed to enable or disable GPS. I know that GPS doesn't actually use any power unless an app is using it, but I've seen misbehaving apps use it while I didn't intend them to, almost completely draining my battery, and besides that, I just prefer to decide for myself when it's enabled. But with Gingerbread, I could no longer control my GPS as I wanted with Tasker; I was forced to either leave it enabled all the time, or go through the UI to enable/disable it as desired.
Then came ICS. My ringer and notification volumes were inexplicably linked, and there was nothing I could to about it? The check box for changing this (that used to be under Settings > Sound) was gone? What if I want my ringer loud in the event of an emergency call, but don't want to be disturbed by SMS or email arrival? Must I manually change my default notification sound to silent? What if I use different sounds in each app? Must I change them all individually? Then change them back again later? What if I'm on call for automated system alerts but don't want to be disturbed by calls?
Then came Jelly Bean. Now Takser has no control over whether my phone vibrates with the ringer or notifications. When in a noisy environment during the day, I often set my phone to ring AND vibrate for calls and notifications. Now I can't do this without changing the call settings in Android, and then changing the vibrate setting in every notification-producing app I use, and then changing everythign back again when I'm done.
While each of these things by itself could be considered minor, the overall trend shows me that Google is taking steps in a direction I don't want to go. While this is somewhat of a rant, I really do want to know...what (if any) logic is behind these changes, and how do they benefit anyone?
