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0 pointsbuymorechuck15y ago0 comments

Perhaps, but for me, it's absolutely about usability. Whenever I see new Android phones or builds, the first thing I try out is how responsive the scrolling or zooming is. Often times, I'm waiting for Android to respond to my touch, other times my touches are missed completely. These issues cause unpredictability for me and make the phone harder to use.

As phones got faster, the situation improved, until a larger screen was added, which brought things back down again as the CPU burns to keep up. The milliseconds latency here and the stuttering FPS there decreases the usability significantly in my opinion.

I think that there is a group of users who don't notice these latency and animation issues. But I do, and I think many users still unconsciously attribute their dislike for Android to these issues. (example: my brother in law, used several Android Froyo phones extensively before settling on a BlackBerry because it felt "faster".)

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jrockway15y ago· 2 in thread

I have never noticed any latency. I blame the manufacturer-specific Android "improvements", as I use plain AOSP and don't have any trouble.

My EVO 4G gets about 24 hours battery life, with moderate usage during the day. (But again, this is because I don't use HTC's build. With their build, the battery life is barely long enough to boot the phone.)

potatolicious15y ago

I've used vanilla Froyo on the Nexus One. It's dog slow. I don't think this problem is isolated to OEM-specific Android modifications (though they certainly don't help).

Responsiveness and framerate-wise, even a simple cursory examination will tell you: WP7 and iOS run laps around poor old Android. I got to play with a Nexus S recently, and the responsiveness is greatly improved over Froyo on N1... but is still noticeably less smooth than either Apple or MS's platforms.

It's an odd day when MS's UX is more polished than somebody else's...

One area where Android's lacklustre performance really hurts usability is diving into menus. iPhone came up with the novel idea of sliding menus - a simple animation that communicates a lot of context to the user (A belongs under B triggers modal window C, all based solely on the direction of the swipe animation). On Froyo+N1 this animation is jerky enough, frequently enough, that this relationship can easily be missed, resulting in more user confusion and worse UI comprehension overall.

Google needs to realize that we are in the year 2011, not 1995. "UI design" is no longer about placing the right buttons in the right places, and animation is often now the defining line between an easily comprehensible user experience and an obtuse one. IMHO graphics/animation performance is the #1 obstacle in Android's way, and the main advantage everyone else seems to have on it (and it's a huge advantage).

When I use a 2.2 phone, my impression is one of annoyance. I don't know if my touches will be detected, and even if they are, I don't know how long I'll have to wait for the phone to respond. Heck, I enjoy using WP7 phones more than Android because of the performance, despite the fact that WP7 is significantly less featureful than Android! Navigating WP7 is a pleasure, and it never feels like the phone stands in your way. I have yet to get this feeling from Android.

jrockway15y ago

I turn animations off. Useless eye candy that just wastes the battery.

Also, is it really fair to compare the N1, a phone that's over a year old, to brand-new WP7 phones?

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