Android sux!

I wouldn't judge Android too harshly simply because Samsung sucks. HTC would be closer to an iPhone experience - the keyboard is better, they're generally more reliable, etc... The main problem with Android is there's no assurance of quality, each OEM determines that. I know many people who had issues with Samsung and Motorola, HTC and LG seem to be better. I personally went from an iPhone 3g to an HTC Amaze, which has worked out great for me.

1 year warranty? $400 dollars on contract? Damn, At&t ripped you off. And yes, Samsung quality, warranties, etc..., suck.

By comparison, I paid a hundred bucks for my phone, which I bought with Telus (Canada), and it's 650 without contract. My carrier also offers a special warranty (5 dollars monthly), which covers replacement of broken/destroyed (by any means) phones, for the entire duration of your contract.

But yes, you can't trust the Android ecosystem, but that's like saying you can't trust Microsoft because Dell or HP or someone ripped you off.

Apple is nice because they're a good manufacturer, but your choice is limited by going with them. In my case, I didn't go with Apple again because Siri is useless for location searches in Canada, and I prefer large screen devices (I also drive long distances, and the turn by turn navigation Google offers is fantastic).

I'm sorry OP about your bad experience with AT&T products. But there's nothing wrong with Android whatsoever. I own T-Mobile HTC Sensation and absolutely love it. Nothing personal. My HTC runs latest OS and really user friendly. Test selection + Copy/Paste is just amazing. I have household full of Apple products - iTouches, iPad2s, iPhones, but never owned iPhone myself sine T-Mobile never had it. For some of us ATT and Verizon - stay away zone.

You could try getting a different OS and unlocking your phone. Some of the best ROMS out there are made by Cyanogen, and I'm correct, the main dev at Cyanogen has been hired by Samsung to improve their OS.

The thing with Samsung is that it's trying to much to create an UI similar to their TouchWiz, which in turn makes the phone sluggish and unresponsive. You should definitely unlock yours and get a custom ROM.

In your dreams it does.



The instant anyone says anything about rooting and flashing ROMs it just feeds into why the iPhone is better.

Testify brother.

how long did you have your phone before your problems started?

In my experience, I too have to agree with the OP. I have a Samsung Galaxy 1G.
From what I have gathered, for the most part, most people are satisfied with Samsung if they hacked their Android, especially installed Cyanogen. I can't do so for another few months because the Galaxy is still under warranty. I have to get someone else to do it because I am not comfortorable doing it myself and the harsh comments to noobs on XDA forum makes me not want to go there at all. In fact, I don't. For an open source OS, I have no idea why it's not as easy to install Cyanogen like it is to JB and iPhone.

What problems or issues I have with Android is poor battery performance. I suspect for the most part, it has to do with the fact that apps load into resident memory on the phone even after you killed them with a task killer. Even if the app itself has a "kill switch" so to speak, it still loads. With iOS it's as simple as disabling PUSH.

With Android, you do have the use of an mini SD Card but many apps actually save on the internal memory or USB drive as Samsung calls. Some apps allow to change the location others don't. Not all non stock apps can be backed up as well for some uknown reason.

There are also lots of freezing and force closes with Android. This happens at least a couple of times a day even with the latest update and factory restore.

Spell check and text prediction is awful, imo compared to iOS. You can download keyboard apps that improve things a bit, but the app themselves create other issues like limited word options. SwiftkeyX comes to mind.

Another pet peeve of mine is the app's data is saved on the device. Twitter apps over a very short time build up and even though you can clear your cache, the app size gets bigger and bigger.

The UI as already mentioned is poor imo. I hate the app drawer. I like how I can simply create folders on my main screen, although the number of app restriction for the folders is annoying on iOS. The phone itself feels sluggish after you install apps despite the processor strength.

Increased malware on Android. One security firm has estimated that somewhere between 500,000 and a million Android users have been hit by malware — and that was from early 2011. Sure, you can install an AV app, but the app scans for malware AFTER you download and install the app. Is that insane or what?

And finally, of course, is the Android Fragementation issue which obviously concerns some but not others.

Android dont suck. Though, i agree that stock OS you get in cellphone are crappy but if you mod your cellphone with custom firmware, its really good then. Also, being a Open source, it has no limitation no boundaries. Its development will never stop i tell you.
I personally use iPhone and i love it but saying Android sucks, it absurd in my opinion.

_________________
All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.

You're making our case for us.


I can name seven hundred.


Just like the development of Flash… oh, wait.

Well, just like the development of Longhorn or Copland… oh, wait…

Its possible, considering the amount of development for his particular model (sensation). Heck, I'm running the latest android version on my HTC device right now; and mine doesn't get nearly as much attention as his.


And why is that? At worst, it won't make a difference to the people who don't care, and at best, its a huge positive for the people who do like to tinker with their devices.

I never understood why AI, a technology site, is just downright hostile towards geeks and nerds. Its pretty ironic.


Funny, as I was reading this, my phone notified me that an update to flash was released today and ready to be downloaded. Seems pretty alive to me.

Ok, now that that's out of the way; to the OP:
I highly suggest you post your issues (in a calmer manner) here.

It definitely sounds like something went wrong, or you missed a step, with the manual update process, and those people should be able to help you out much better than anyone here at AI.

This is a very common Samsung issue. The people with the highest praises of their Android usually own a true Google phone or an HTC phone. Of course, those who have custom roms supercede everyone and will defend Android to the death. For most people, they want everything to work and work well from the beginning. That's where iPhone is king, despite it's tiny screen.

I just got back my Galaxy S from the service centre and the qLawncher error keeps on popping up. The service depot was suppose to reflash the OS and repair the speaker, yet after a half an hour of loading my apps it started happening again.

I hear Android techies talk about custom ROMS and rooting and while it may seem very simple for techies or those who like to experiment, that's not for me. For an open source platform it seems illogical why a complete noob and an idiot one can Jailbreak an iPhone but even someone who is a moderate geek, can't install a custom rom onto their Android. Clear and concise instructions are lacking with Android. So many different models to choose from too. I've been told that the installing of Cyanogen will take a few hours.

Google could stand to make a lot of money if they offered and charged ppl for these custom mods from their own site after you download an app onto your PC, add a disclaimer that installing this rom will void your warranty. You then would install the rom directly from Google with a simple mouse click. They would update the rom as necessary. No fiddling, no frustration, and searching on how to install the dang thing.

I read somewhere the future of smartphones will eventually not depend so much with the hardware, rather software and UI and user experience which is what Apple has been doing with the iPhone for 5 generations.

It just means an android phone maker shipped garbage from the factory, which is something Apple would never do. That is why android loses.

How does the ability to root/install a custom ROM on an android device somehow mean that the original software on it is crap? I'm not saying it isn't crap, but that is a pretty dumb argument for it.

By that logic, does the fact that you can jailbreak iphones mean that Apple shipped garbage from the factory?

There are plenty of reasons you can use against the OEM ROM, such as carrier bloat, inconsistent UI, laggy skins on top of android, etc. But the fact that you can change the ROM says nothing about the original.

Exactly...