The ONLY thing I don't like about Google/Android

[PereDroid]

The zero motivation that Google has to improve basic features.
Like the Music Player. We all know that is one serious weak spot of the Android OS. The default music player just sucks donkeys. But they won't put any effort into fixing it when you can just download an app for that!
Or the Messaging app.... Or the dialer... or the *insert thing here*

Am I alone here?

 

[BayouFlyFisher]

You're alone there!! Just kidding. The whole idea is that they will provide basic service apps so the phone will at least have that ability. But this system was always meant to rely on the market to supply better and better apps for services, music, video, surfing, etc. And it is working exactly like it was designed. There are wonderful, even spectacular apps for pretty much anything you want to do. Remember that not all Android users have interest that match yours and therefore do not need a phone that will, for instance, have the best video player in the world of phones. But for the folks to whom that is vital, they can spend a few seconds and download one of several different video players that suits their needs. Custom designed phones based on your specific needs/wants. What could be better than that??

 

[BayouFlyFisher]

Oops, meant to say that what I want from Google is for them to constantly improve the framework within which all the custom apps operate. And they are doing an extremely excellent job of doing that. I've had my phone for 13 months so far and there have been 4 (?) major updates to the OS so far. How much better could that be??:icon_ banana:

 

[dezymond]

yes each feature of those apps are very basic, but at least we have them.

Luckily, there are other developers out there making betters apps such as ChompSMS or Handcent for texting. I know there are some quality music players out there, but i don't use the 3rd party music apps since i dont use my phone for music

 

[Mister Moo]

...Luckily, there are other developers out there making betters apps such as ChompSMS or Handcent for texting...

+1 Concur. I find Handcent is a solid text/image messaging app; Google Listen is a fantastic app for podcatching/queing and playing; Astro is the thing for file management; and music is no worries (if somewhat imperfect) with MixZing. Great free stuff that all works quite well, I think.

I am new-ish to this class of mobile device but old enough to know when something works. Perhaps, never having had an iPhone or Blackberry I arrived with low (or no) expectations but I am in mobile heaven with a Droid and market apps. There's always gonna be an, "...if only it had..." this or that but that's life.

 

[PereDroid]

Don't get me wrong fellaz. I am a huge fan of the architecture and the idea behind it.
I am Handcents #1 fan.
My main gripe is really the music player. I was beyond disappointed in that. It's junk. Like Google, one of my favorite companies, put about zero thought into it.
Then we got Froyo and I couldn't wait to see what was new with the music player........ nothing.
So I used it. Then I used Mixzing. Not bad. Then Winamp. Better.
Then PowerAMP. Best yet, but not free. Another update or two and I may pay for that one.
Now I know this is exactly what you guys are talking about: PowerAMP surprised me because he added support for FLAC files. Now I never thought that could happen without Google updating the codecs on the phone. Amazing, right?

I guess it really only annoys me because I would like to see Google put some kind of update/effort into the base apps and not rely completely on the community. It's as if they are saying "here. Take this. Don't like it? We know it's crap. Too bad, go find something else".

 

[dezymond]

Don't get me wrong fellaz. I am a huge fan of the architecture and the idea behind it.
I am Handcents #1 fan.
My main gripe is really the music player. I was beyond disappointed in that. It's junk. Like Google, one of my favorite companies, put about zero thought into it.
Then we got Froyo and I couldn't wait to see what was new with the music player........ nothing.
So I used it. Then I used Mixzing. Not bad. Then Winamp. Better.
Then PowerAMP. Best yet, but not free. Another update or two and I may pay for that one.
Now I know this is exactly what you guys are talking about: PowerAMP surprised me because he added support for FLAC files. Now I never thought that could happen without Google updating the codecs on the phone. Amazing, right?

I guess it really only annoys me because I would like to see Google put some kind of update/effort into the base apps and not rely completely on the community. It's as if they are saying "here. Take this. Don't like it? We know it's crap. Too bad, go find something else".

2.3 is rumored to be released not too far from now so maybe they improved it there? I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't, they're happy their OS handles music already, imo. Which is why i suggest a 3rd party music app.

 

[wierdo124]

Google really needs to make a better SMS app..or SOMEBODY please.

Messaging won't run for me, i have many thousand texts. It FCs.
Chomp is decent, it's faster than Handcent, but still not great
Handcent has good features, but the dude can't seem to speak english well enough to make sentences understandable. Not to mention it's pretty slow...

I would pay good money for a GREAT SMS app with GOOD support.

 

[Backdraft]

Let's face it, Google has never been at the forefront of providing userability and out-of-the-box functionality. Their strengths lie in modability and advertising. I just wish there was more solidarity and consolidation among some of the "core" apps though in order to properly compete with Apple's "one product" model.

What I mean is, for example, Apple products are all tied intuitively and simply together, for better or worse. iTunes handles music, podcasts, audiobooks, etc. and is tied pretty much seamlessly with the iPhone.

On Android however, I need to look at maybe at 3-4 different apps, both on the PC/webapp side and Android side, weigh the pros/cons of each and/or try them out, tune the (often numerous) settings to my liking, and then finally decide how I can make them work seamlessly across both platforms. Yeah, I get that this multitude of choice is what alot want, but sometimes you just want something to work without intense tweaking sessions.

Basically Google needs to buy some good app companies out there, ie. Appbrain, Beyondpod, DoubleTwist, etc. and "Captain Planet" them.

 

[LtKen]

Handcent has good features, but the dude can't seem to speak english well enough to make sentences understandable.

I dont understand this one at all. Could you elaborate?

 

[wierdo124]

Handcent has good features, but the dude can't seem to speak english well enough to make sentences understandable.

I dont understand this one at all. Could you elaborate?

"This message has sent fail. Please try again."

 

[LtKen]

Basically Google needs to buy some good app companies out there, ie. Appbrain, Beyondpod, DoubleTwist, etc. and "Captain Planet" them.

I fear that there's not a good way to do this without fundamentally losing some of the freedom we have. Maybe they could provide a secondary software system, but the moment they make something mandatory, we've started to lose the freedom we like.

I hope I'm wrong and the wizards at Google prove it.

 

[LtKen]

Handcent has good features, but the dude can't seem to speak english well enough to make sentences understandable.

I dont understand this one at all. Could you elaborate?

"This message has sent fail. Please try again."

Got it -- I cant remember the last time I had an error message, so I've never seen that. -- Send in a bug report, help the guy out. Offer to proof read his Englishes for him -- maybe he'll cut you in.

 

[bmchan]

fantastic[/I] app for podcatching/queing and playing;

Just want to disagree with you on this one. I want my D1 to replace my iTouch and podcasts are very important to my listening habits. Google listen just could not catch and/or play podcasts. Buffering---> Error. Buffering----> Error. Over and over. Finally bought Doggcatcher and I am now closer to bricking my iTouch. I will look into your music app recommendation.

 

[wierdo124]

I dont understand this one at all. Could you elaborate?

"This message has sent fail. Please try again."

Got it -- I cant remember the last time I had an error message, so I've never seen that. -- Send in a bug report, help the guy out. Offer to proof read his Englishes for him -- maybe he'll cut you in.

That's not the only thing...poke around the settings and handcent.com and most of the stuff doesn't make much sense.

I would, but he won't respond to any emails.