Showing posts with label What’s better?. Show all posts
Showing posts with label What’s better?. Show all posts
Almost
every online citizen abreast with the latest in the mobile technology
scene knows that the flavor of Android known as Jelly Bean is the latest
and the smoothest to date. But, which Jelly Bean?
Two varieties
exist for this sweet treat: Android 4.1 (which debuted with the Google
Nexus 7) and Android 4.2 (which came out with the Google Nexus 4 and the
Google Nexus 10).
Should you be gravely concerned that the phone
that you’re longing to buy runs only Android 4.1? Or, should you just go
ahead and buy an Android 4.2 device such as the Nexus 4 or Nexus 10?
Which mobile OS version is better? Is it even worth your envy to look at
another’s Android 4.2 device?
To
help you take such decision-making burden off your shoulder, we
compared pure Google Android 4.1 Jelly Bean against pure Google Android
4.2 Jelly Bean on four Nexus devices:
- Galaxy Nexus (running Android 4.1.2 build JZO54K),
- Nexus 4 (running Android 4.2.1 build JOP40D),
- Nexus 7 (running Android 4.1.2 build JZO54K), and
- Nexus 10 (running Android 4.2.1 build JOP40D).
In
this comparison, find out how the two Android versions differ, and
whether they differ greatly and significantly. You may also skip ahead
to the end of this post to watch our comparison video.
Interface
Navigation
Navigation
in both Android 4.1 and Android 4.2 remain exactly the same. On the
Nexus devices, particularly, you will find virtual Back, Home, and
Recent Apps buttons instead of physical capacitive buttons commonly
present in most other Android phones. These virtual navigation buttons
reorient themselves when switching between landscape or portrait
orientations. At times they hide as three gray dots, such as when you’re
viewing a photo, or auto-hide, as when you’re watching video.
Lockscreen
The
lockscreen layout and elements on both Android 4.1 and Android 4.2
remain mostly the same, with a few cosmetic and several significant
functional changes.
| Android 4.1 | Android 4.2 |
|
|
Switching
from Android 4.1 to Android 4.2 won’t get you a drastically revamped
and completely new lockscreen at all; rather, you’ll get the same
lockscreen with expanded functionality. You’ll still get the Clock and
the lock/unlock icon. Unlocking is still done by dropping the lock icon
over the unlock icon on the outer ring.
But,
in Android 4.2, you do get new ways to view content and launch apps
(e.g., email, SMS, calendar events, etc.) directly from the lockscreen,
thanks to lockscreen widgets.
Homescreen
There’s
not much perceptible change on the homescreen either, save for some
rearrangement in the default app shortcuts and default folders, as well
as the difference in default wallpapers.
| Android 4.1 | Android 4.2 |
|
|
The default Analog Clock widget on the main Android 4.2 homescreen has also changed, although not necessarily for the better.
Status Bar, Notifications, Toggles
| Android 4.1 | Android 4.2 |
|
|
Android
4.2 brought some new and exciting changes to the Status Bar pull-down
mechanism. The Notification Shade is still the central place for
notifications. Only very little has changed there. I didn’t see any
change in the status icons on the right side of the Status Bar either.
But,
there’s an additional Quick Settings pull-down from the Status Bar.
This new pull-down menu is also accessible via the Quick Settings button
on the upper-right corner of the Notification Shade. On phones, you can
also access Quick Settings by swiping down from the Status Bar with two
fingers.
Text Input and Keyboard
Text input on Android 4.2 is pretty much the same as in Android 4.1:
- Supports multiple languages
- Text-to-speech output usable both online and offline
- English dictionary installed as default
- Multi-language dictionaries for word suggestions
- Personal dictionary to add and save one’s own word list
- Next-word Selection feature (similar to SwiftKey)
- Voice input
But,
Android 4.2 also ushers in Gesture Typing to its stock Android
keyboard. It’s like the swipe input method which Swype is known for.
Some people actually input text faster this way than through tap-typing.
Accessibility
The two Android versions have the following accessibility features in common:
- Voice feedback
- Enlarging font size
- Auto-rotating screen
- Power button to end calls (for phones only)
- Speaking passwords
- Setting text-to-speech output
- Setting touch and hold delay
- Enhancing Web accessibility
In
addition, Android 4.2 adds a new set of accessibility features,
specifically aimed to help the blind or those with low vision. Such new
features include the following:
- Magnification Gesture — for zooming in and panning around the screen
- Explore by touch — for navigation through touch and swipe gestures coupled with voice feedback
- Accessibility Shortcut — for quickly enabling accessibility features by holding the Power button then hold down two fingers on the screen until you hear a voice confirmation.
Communication Features
Contacts
Both
Android versions still use the People app for managing and organizing
contact information. Although the People app versions differ, their
features and functions are exactly the same in both Android 4.1 and
Android 4.2:
- Backs up contacts data to Google Account
- Can also sync contacts from Google+ account
- Can store contact info locally on phone
- Has separate tabs for Groups, Individual Contacts, and Favorites; swipe to switch tabs
- Contacts can be imported, exported, or shared
- Different ringtones can be assigned to different contacts
- Contact page has shortcuts for dialing, composing SMS, or composing email
Phone
For
phone functionality, both Android versions use the stock Android Phone
app. The two versions are similar in the following ways:
- Has separate tabs for Dialer, Call Logs, and People; swipe to switch tabs
- Simple Dialer interface; tapping Dial button without entering number brings up last called number
- Dialing screen shows contact info and call control buttons (e.g., hangup, loudspeaker, mute, hold, conference call)
- Call Logs tab shows all call logs, including missed, outgoing, and incoming calls
But, Android 4.2′s Phone app is slightly different:
- Call Logs tab can be filtered to show all calls, only missed calls, only outgoing calls, or only incoming calls.
- Incoming call screen also shows Google Now shortcut (dotted circle).
Messaging
The
stock Messaging app handles sending, receiving, and managing both SMS
and MMS messages. It is usually available only on phones. Both Jelly
Bean versions retain the following similarities in their respective
stock Messaging apps:
- Displays SMS and MMS messages sent and received
- Can send messages to multiple contacts
- Character count indicator appears when message nears the 160-character SMS limit; message is split into multiple SMS if character limit is reached
- Can attach photos, videos, audio, or slideshows to MMS
- Messages displayed as conversation threads; cannot lock conversation threads
- Messages shown inside text bubble with contact’s picture beside it
- Hold down message balloon to copy, forward, lock, delete, or view details of single message
- Can auto-delete old messages when defined limit is reached (default of 500 SMS per conversation and 50 MMS per conversation); maximum limit for either SMS or MMS is 5,000
- Direct Message widget for frequently messaged contacts can be placed on homescreen
- Messaging widget on homescreen shows list of SMS and MMS messages
- Limited message deletion option: either individually or all messages at once; cannot select multiple messages/threads for deletion
The Android 4.2 Messaging app, however, has a few more new and extra goodies:
- Cell Broadcast option for receiving emergency alerts (e.g., threats to life or property, child abduction emergency bulletins, etc.), as well as test broadcasts from the Earthquake Tsunami Warning System and the Commercial Mobile Alert System
- Gesture Typing (more about this in the section on Text Input and Keyboard ((hyperlink)) section)
- Messaging widget for lockscreen; shows list of SMS or MMS messages received on lockscreen
For
email, Gmail is the default client app. And, for those who have POP3,
IMAP, and/or Exchange accounts, there’s the stock Email app for Android.
This will need some setting up, of course. Both Jelly Beans use exactly
the same version (4.1) of the stock Email app for Android.
Apps and Widgets
App
installation and management stay essentially the same in both Android
4.1 and Android 4.2. The Google Play Store, of course, is still the main
source of apps but not necessarily the only source, as one can sideload
apps from “unknown sources.”
As
in Android 4.1, app installation in Android 4.2 requires granting
permissions to the app before the device installs it. This is a security
feature in Android. I see great improvement in this mechanism in
Android 4.2, too. The permission requirements are now grouped and are
easier to understand compared to how they were in Android 4.1 or
earlier.
Android 4.2 takes security several notches higher by
including a built-in malware scanner, which scans an app for bad content
and alerts the user before app installation.
| Android 4.1 | Android 4.2 |
|
|
Android 4.1′s Clock app only has a clock function, but Android 4.2 adds two tabs for Stopwatch and Timer in its Clock app.
The
Analog Clock widget gets a different design from the Android 4.1 Analog
Clock widget. It’s not necessarily better-looking — just different.
The Digital Clock widget is new in Android 4.2. This one is not available in Android 4.1.
Web Browsing and Search
Web Browsing
Android
has finally and completely shied away from the stock Android Browser in
favor of Google Chrome, which is now the default Web browser in Android
4.2. The complete disappearance of the stock Android Browser is not all
too shocking for users of tablets such as the Nexus 7, since Chrome has
been the default browser for tablets since Android 4.1.
A
comparison between Chrome and the stock Android Browser deserves a more
in-depth article. But, to give you an overview, here are some major
feature highlights of the two browsers:
| Features | Google Chrome | Android Browser |
| Multiple tabs | more than 16 tabs | can only handle 16 tabs |
| Tab list | yes; tab thumbnails shown as deck of cards | yes; tab thumbnails shown as scrollable tiles |
| Dismissing tabs from tab list | swipe gesture or tapping on X button | swipe gesture or tapping on X button |
| Private Browsing | incognito tab | incognito tab |
| Offline Reading | preloaded content can still be accessed even if offline | saves pages for offline reading |
| Text scaling | yes | yes |
| Plugins | not supported | supported |
| Inverted rendering | none | yes |
| Reader mode | none | none |
| Syncing open tabs to or from other device (e.g., desktop, another phone) | yes | no |
| Add Bookmarks | Yes | Yes |
| Sync Bookmarks from other devices | Yes | gets synced/saved bookmarks from your Google account |
| Full screen view | none | not active on phones by default; can be toggled in Labs menu on phones; |
| Quick controls | none | not active by default; can be toggled in Labs menu; |
| Mobile version of page | yes; default | yes; default |
| Desktop version of page | yes; can be toggled | yes; can be toggled |
Search
Both
Jelly Bean versions use Google Now as the default search app. The app
integrates Google Voice Search, Google Goggles, and Google’s other
search services into just one app that shows search results on
flashcards.
You can access Google Now similarly in both Jelly Bean
versions: by tapping the Google Search bar on any homescreen or by
swiping the virtual Home button upwards from any screen.
Lockscreen
access to Google Now differs, however, in the two Jelly Beans. In
Android 4.1, quickly launch Google Now from the lockscreen by dragging
and dropping the lock icon over the Google Now icon on the outer ring.
In Android 4.2, launch Google Now from the lockscreen by swiping its
dedicated icon (dotted circle in the middle of bottom screen edge)
upwards.
Camera
The Camera
app in either of the Jelly Bean versions can be launched in the usual
way: by tapping on the Camera app on either the homescreen or in the App
Drawer.
Quick launching from the lockscreen, however, differs in
both Android 4.1 and Android 4.2. In the earlier Jelly Bean, you can
unlock the device and launch the Camera by drag-dropping the lock ring
on top of the Camera icon on the outer ring. In Android 4.2 phones,
swipe the right edge of the screen to the center to open the Camera
widget and launch the Camera. Android 4.2 tablets don’t have a camera
shortcut on the lockscreen.
If
you’re used to the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich Camera app, using the
Android 4.1 Camera app will be a similar ride: The elements and
features are similar to those in the ICS camera. The only new change in
Android 4.1′s camera is the transition effect when taking a photo and
the swipe gesture to view images taken.
In contrast, Android 4.2′s
Camera app has a simple and less-cluttered layout. Elements found here
are the camera mode options, virtual shutter button, and the circle icon
for the camera’s settings — only these three. You can also long-tap on
the viewfinder to open the camera settings menu.
| Android 4.1 | Android 4.2 |
|
|
In
addition, Android 4.2′s Camera app also has new features such as Photo
Sphere and support for HDR Mode for compatible devices. Both Camera apps
have similar camera options and effects, however, Android 4.2 decides
to get more serious by removing the Silly Faces and Background effects.
Photo and Video Gallery
Photos
Photos
captured are saved in the Gallery app. Although the two Android’s
Camera apps differ slightly from each other, most functions and features
stay similar, such as the following:
- Thumbnails sortable according to album, location, time, people, or tags
- Photo thumbnails viewable in either Grid View or Filmstrip View
- Zooming out on photo activates Filmstrip View
- Swiping image up or down deletes image in Filmstrip View
- Gallery app does not allow moving images from one album to another
- Images can be set as homescreen wallpaper
- Basic image transformations (e.g., rotate and crop) can be performed within Gallery app
- Photos can be shared via Bluetooth, Google+, Picasa, Gmail, or NFC
To
enter Filmstrip View in Android 4.1, you’d need to zoom out on an
image. Android 4.2′s Gallery app, however, provides a drop-down list to
make switching between Grid and Filmstrip Views easier.
Also, in
Android 4.2, scrolling past the leftmost photo in the Photo Viewer or in
Filmstrip View will launch the Camera app. This feature is not
available in the earlier Jelly Bean.
The built-in Photo Editor in Android 4.1 already allows you to do much to your photos:
- adjust BW balance and contrast,
- apply photo effects,
- apply color filters (Warmth, Saturation, B&W, Sepia, Negative, Tint, Duo-tone, or Doodle), and
- choose photo transformation options (Crop, Red Eye, Face Glow, Face Tan, Straighten, Rotate, Flip, or Sharpen).
But,
the Android 4.2 Photo Editor not only is easily accessible with a tap
on its icon at the corner of the screen but also allows you to do much
more:
- new filters and effects (punch, Vintage, B/W, Bleach, Instant, Latte, Blue, Litho, or X Process),
- custom frames,
- photo transformation options (Straighten, Crop, Rotate, or Mirror), and
- image colors and values adjustments (Autocolor, Exposure, Vignette, Contrast, Shadows, Vibrance, Sharpness, Curves, Hue, Saturation, and BW Filter).
Videos
Captured
or downloaded videos are stored in the Gallery app, too. They are
organized and sorted in the same manner as photos in the Gallery app.
There is only one difference between Android 4.1 and Android 4.2′s Video
Gallery: you can trim your videos right within the Gallery app in
Android 4.2. This is not possible in Android 4.1.
Media Playback
Photo Slideshow
If
you grow tired of scrolling through different pictures one-by-one, view
your photos as a slideshow. Both Android versions let you run photo
slideshows. In Android 4.1, just tap on the Slideshow button at the
upper-right corner of the Gallery app. In Android 4.2, the Slideshow
option is under Menu while viewing an album.
You can also display
your photos as a live slideshow wallpaper through the Daydream feature
that activates when the phone is charging or docked.
Playing Movies and Videos
The
Gallery app in both Android versions also doubles as a video player — a
straightforward and simple one. There is no other difference in the
video player in either Android version apart from Android 4.2′s support
for the Miracast standard, allowing wireless display sharing to
supported displays.
Playing Music
For
playing music, the default app in both Android 4.1 and Android 4.2 is
the Play Music app, which provides the following features:
- Stores downloaded songs from Google Play Store
- Songs can be copied from PC to phone/tablet via USB connection
- Songs displayed according to playlist, artist, album, songs, genres, or recently added
- Includes 5-band equalizer and equalizer presets
- Create, edit, rename, and delete playlist
- Can plays music in background
- Mini music player appears on Notification Shade and lockscreen
Security
Security features that we appreciated in Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich are still present in both Jelly Beans:
- Slide, Face Unlock, Pattern, PIN, and Password lockscreen types
- Owner information displayed on the lockscreen
- Device encryption
- SIM card lock (on phones only)
- Preventing installation of apps not from Google Play Store
In
addition to those, Android 4.2 tightens security further with new or
improved security features, including the following (source: Android Developers):
- Always-on VPN
- Application verification
- Certificate Pinning
- ContentProvider default configuration
- Cryptography
- FORTIFY_SOURCE
- Improved display of Android Permissions
- init script hardening
- installd hardening
- More control of premium SMS
- Security fixes
I
greatly appreciate the application verification feature, which examines
and checks an app before it is installed, warns the user of potential
harm, and can prevent installation of the app if the potential harm is
great.
The list of Android permissions has also improved a lot.
The permissions are now displayed in groups and are described in
language that is easier to understand. A description of each permission
can also be viewed by tapping on the permission. In Android 4.1, I get a
bulleted list of a mix of technical and not-so-technical language.
Other New or Improved Features in Android 4.2
Despite
being just a minor update to Android 4.1, Android 4.2 does bring along
several features that are entirely new and not available in Android 4.1.
These include the following:
- Changes to Developer Options menu
- Multi-user feature for tablets
- Daydream
- Wireless display screencasting via Miracast
Changes to Developer Options
Unlike
in Android 4.1, the Developer Options menu is not visible in the
Android 4.2′s Settings menu by default. To activate the Developer
Options menu, tap the device’s model number 7 times to make it appear.
The Developer Options menu also has new options, such as the following:
- Take bug report
- Power menu bug reports
- Verify apps over USB
- Show hardware layers updates
- Show GPU overdraw
- Force 4x MSAA
- Simulate secondary display
- Enable OpenGL traces
Multi-user Feature for Tablets
Android
4.2 optimizes tablet functionality by allowing users to create multiple
accounts. On the lockscreen of an Android 4.2 tablet such as the Nexus
10, you will find user icons below the lock icon. Tap on the icon of the
user profile that you want to load before unlocking the tablet. If the
profile is protected by a password lock, you’ll need to enter the
password first before the tablet will unlock.
Each user account
can be personalized so users can safely download files or apps, save
images or attachments, and leave their settings without worrying about
the next user changing or viewing data.
Daydream
With
the new Daydream feature in Android 4.2, you can display the latest
Google Currents trends, a photo slideshow, a photo frame, an analog or
digital clock, or a colorful background on your device’s screen when
your device is charging or docked. It’s actually a customizable
screensaver feature. You can also manually activate it, if you want.
Wireless Display
Not
possible out of the box in Android 4.1, wireless mirroring is now
possible in Android 4.2. You can screencast your device’s display to an
HDMI device (e.g., HDTV) that supports the Miracast standard. This means
that you can wirelessly stream your slideshows, movies, videos, and the
like (your device’s display, in fact) to a supported HDTV.
Unfortunately, only the Nexus 4 has this feature.
Conclusion
So
many of the goodies that you love from Android 4.1 Jelly Bean have been
carried over to Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. Most of the stock apps and
widgets are similar in both Android versions. To the eyes, there’s no
big change in Android 4.2 at all.
But, some new significant
features and some minor alterations make Android 4.2 sweeter and fun.
Here is a brief list of new features from Android 4.2 Jelly Bean:
- Support for multiple users (for Android tablets)
- Multiple lockscreen pages with widgets
- Wireless display
- Revamped Camera app
- Photo Sphere
- HDR Mode (for supported devices)
- New Clock app
- Quick Settings pull-down menu
- Daydream
- Gesture typing
- Additional options in Developer Options
- Magnification Gestures and Explore by Touch accessibility features
- Security enhancements
- UI design changes
Placed
side by side, Android 4.2 Jelly Bean shows a slightly modified and
slightly upgraded version of Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.
Some says the Korean Manufacturer has designed this device to resemble
like Samsung Galaxy SIII or Note II, while others say it is the Samsung
Galaxy SII packed in a bigger form.Imagine
a world where Samsung and LG made nearly identical devices. Weird,
right? Think of your Android world without manufacturer skins on the
device. What would life be like without HTC Sense? What if carriers
didn’t add bloatware? If everything was pure Android, would you still be
interested?
Let’s ponder a world where all Android devices were the same OS; no skins, no bloatware, no fun?
Customization is why Android is open source. Android not only accepts customization, it encourages it. If every phone looks and acts the same, why not just give up and get an iPhone? Manufacturer skins are important and add a layer of functionality to the device, and carrier apps exist to make your experience as best it can be.
If the argument that skins are somehow wrong is being made, then the argument for skins enhancing a device can also be made. Samsung is the most prolific Android manufacturer on earth, and they skin every one of their devices with TouchWiz (save for the Nexus devices). 100 million Galaxy devices have been sold, and all have Samsung’s take on Android. If a skin is so terrible, why do so many have devices with them?
Having the same look and feel to Android for all devices is important to success. Fragmentation is a huge problem, and skins only complicate the matter. If we get rid of the skins, we get rid of a lot of fragmentation. The ability to go into a store and decide on a device based on look and feel rather than the interface would be huge for Android. If customers knew they would be getting the Verizon network without all the Verizon bloatware, they would be over the moon about it.
While manufacturer skins are a kind of overlay, the Kindle Fire took customization to the next level. Amazon took an open source platform and made it proprietary. Nearly everything about a Kindle Fire points to you spending money with Amazon. You only have access to their store, and their list of products. You don’t even have Google Chrome!
The Fire gave us many great things, but not a crafty OS in which to hold on high as an example of how good customization can be is not one of them. Many people consider Amazon to have stolen something that was free, and that speaks to how offensive their OS is to Android fans. Let’s not confuse the matter by saying it’s a skin, or even an iteration. They created an entirely new OS from Android, and that was probably taking it too far.
Any skin, like Sense, has a few useful bells and whistles. As an example, when I went to use a calculator on my Galaxy Nexus for the first time, there wasn’t one. At first, I thought it silly to leave that out. People use calculators all the time! In objectivity, however, it made sense not to have Sense. I was now free to download any calculator I liked without having to negotiate my way around the stock calculator. What was once a handy set of on-board tools now seemed like wasted space.
Having the same device is also not a bad thing, necessarily. I have a Nexus 4 and a Nexus 7. I have both set up the exact same, making it easier to switch between devices. If I want to read a story on Google Currents, I know where that app is on each device. I don’t have to pause and consider where it is each time I switch devices. Wake the screen, swipe right, open the folder, select the app. Each time, each device. For those of us who have multiple devices, especially multiple phones, a unified OS could be helpful.
Let’s take that one word, “device”, and define it a bit for this discussion. In talking about a mobile device, we’re talking about the actual nuts and bolts of a piece of hardware. We’re not concerned with who makes it, or when it came out. If we think about what we have now in a device (dual core, 16GB RAM, 380dpi, etc.), we know those specs exist in the interest of keeping up with us and how we navigate our day.
If we all had a stock Android experience, it may improve your device. If an HTC or Samsung didn’t have to focus energy, time, and money on developing how the OS was used, they could focus a bit more on other problems. Things like battery technology, processor speed, touch interface… those things can always improve. If those companies who utilize an overlay for Android no longer did, the wait for what’s next in terms of hardware could be much shorter.
We can damn manufacturers all we like for altering the way Android is presented on their devices, but innovation is undeniable. TouchWiz is important in that it does much more than change the device appearance and interface. Its got many features and functions that improve your productivity and enjoyment, and that’s what a skin should be about. The concern is that in doing so, Samsung is making TouchWiz a bit too proprietary, and that is something we’d rather not see.
Stock Android is what all those custom ROMs are based on, so in a way… a custom ROM is a skin, too. Many consider a ROM, which is usually open source with a ton of bright people working on it, better than a skin a few dudes locked away in some office at HTC came up with. The rooting community embraces and encourages everyone to pool their intellect and write for a ROM, so what you’re getting is a collective thought. Is that a better concept than being fed a skinned Android?
Another trump card rooting and flashing a ROM has is the ability to choose a theme. Not only can you have a ROM that may improve your device’s utility, but you can also choose (or even design) a theme. You choose the way your device looks and acts, and that is the true brilliance of rooting. A unified Android may encourage more people to take control of their devices.
We’d also be privy to manufacturers really pushing the envelope with hardware design and function, and that could be great. We may always have the same touchscreen interface, but we may also get phones that blow us away. A more dynamic device lets developers stretch their legs a bit, and a developer with nearly unlimited resources is a wonderful thing.
source
Let’s ponder a world where all Android devices were the same OS; no skins, no bloatware, no fun?
Bad angel
If Android loses its customization, where is the character? What distinguishes one phone from the next? When we say “pure Android”, it’s like saying “vanilla ice cream”. We need toppings! We need something that differentiates from one device from the next! Having one iteration of Android across the board is just silly. The founder of Android has even said we need more customization from device makers.Customization is why Android is open source. Android not only accepts customization, it encourages it. If every phone looks and acts the same, why not just give up and get an iPhone? Manufacturer skins are important and add a layer of functionality to the device, and carrier apps exist to make your experience as best it can be.
Personality
It’s worth mention that some people buy HTC because they love Sense. It could be said that HTC simply enhanced the Android experience with their take on it, so dismissing it really isn’t all that fair. If a manufacturer is putting all that hardware together, and has a better method for making it work, how is that wrong?If the argument that skins are somehow wrong is being made, then the argument for skins enhancing a device can also be made. Samsung is the most prolific Android manufacturer on earth, and they skin every one of their devices with TouchWiz (save for the Nexus devices). 100 million Galaxy devices have been sold, and all have Samsung’s take on Android. If a skin is so terrible, why do so many have devices with them?
Good Angel
Android is the personality. Each Android iteration gets us closer to a better experience, and putting a skin over it only takes away from what Android really is. The open source nature of Android is simply meant to lend itself to manufacturers making devices for the platform, and should be left at that.Having the same look and feel to Android for all devices is important to success. Fragmentation is a huge problem, and skins only complicate the matter. If we get rid of the skins, we get rid of a lot of fragmentation. The ability to go into a store and decide on a device based on look and feel rather than the interface would be huge for Android. If customers knew they would be getting the Verizon network without all the Verizon bloatware, they would be over the moon about it.
Fixing a problem
We touched on fragmentation a bit, and that deserves to be extrapolated a bit. The reason fragmentation is a problem is due in large part to support of devices by manufacturers and carriers. When a new iteration of Android comes out, manufacturers are left to retrofit it to their devices. On the same token, carriers feel the need to run it through their tests before supporting it. Just about any device that is released will have different hardware and specs, making the retrofitting process time consuming and difficult. It’s a bit like translating a book into 10 different languages, and doing it all at the same time. The task of supporting older devices is hard enough, and adding a skin or bloatware to the process makes it that much harder.Firestarter
Oh, that pesky Amazon Kindle Fire. It seems to encompass all we hate about things like skins and open source. While brilliant, the Kindle lineup fails miserably in some areas. A severely altered Android experience that hijacks the status quo. It’s seen as something otherworldly, even though it’s Android at the core.While manufacturer skins are a kind of overlay, the Kindle Fire took customization to the next level. Amazon took an open source platform and made it proprietary. Nearly everything about a Kindle Fire points to you spending money with Amazon. You only have access to their store, and their list of products. You don’t even have Google Chrome!
The Fire gave us many great things, but not a crafty OS in which to hold on high as an example of how good customization can be is not one of them. Many people consider Amazon to have stolen something that was free, and that speaks to how offensive their OS is to Android fans. Let’s not confuse the matter by saying it’s a skin, or even an iteration. They created an entirely new OS from Android, and that was probably taking it too far.
How would a unified Android affect you?
The answer to that depends in large part on what device you have and how it’s used. For many, a pure Android iteration experience is the best. Personally, I enjoy it much more than a skinned device. Prior to my first daily-use Galaxy Nexus, I used an HTC Evo with Sense. I enjoyed Sense quite a bit, and getting used to a seemingly stripped-down version of Android took a little getting used to. Once I navigated the changes, it was heaven for me.Any skin, like Sense, has a few useful bells and whistles. As an example, when I went to use a calculator on my Galaxy Nexus for the first time, there wasn’t one. At first, I thought it silly to leave that out. People use calculators all the time! In objectivity, however, it made sense not to have Sense. I was now free to download any calculator I liked without having to negotiate my way around the stock calculator. What was once a handy set of on-board tools now seemed like wasted space.
Would we all have the same device?
In a very interesting way, yes. We’d all have the same version of an OS, so each device would look the same at the core. That’s not to say Android doesn’t have its obvious personalizion options like wallpaper, widgets, etc. The array of personalization options on the Play Store are amazing, and it seems like each day brings a cool new app or widget for us to try out.Having the same device is also not a bad thing, necessarily. I have a Nexus 4 and a Nexus 7. I have both set up the exact same, making it easier to switch between devices. If I want to read a story on Google Currents, I know where that app is on each device. I don’t have to pause and consider where it is each time I switch devices. Wake the screen, swipe right, open the folder, select the app. Each time, each device. For those of us who have multiple devices, especially multiple phones, a unified OS could be helpful.
Is a unified OS really better?
That’s a good question. While we can debate the merits of skinned versus stock Android all day long, that’s the end user experience as we see it now. What we can also consider is how those skins came to be, and why dropping them from devices would lead to better hardware.Let’s take that one word, “device”, and define it a bit for this discussion. In talking about a mobile device, we’re talking about the actual nuts and bolts of a piece of hardware. We’re not concerned with who makes it, or when it came out. If we think about what we have now in a device (dual core, 16GB RAM, 380dpi, etc.), we know those specs exist in the interest of keeping up with us and how we navigate our day.
If we all had a stock Android experience, it may improve your device. If an HTC or Samsung didn’t have to focus energy, time, and money on developing how the OS was used, they could focus a bit more on other problems. Things like battery technology, processor speed, touch interface… those things can always improve. If those companies who utilize an overlay for Android no longer did, the wait for what’s next in terms of hardware could be much shorter.
What are we losing by having a unified Android?
Samsung is doing some very interesting things lately with their devices, which also means their Android skin. Let’s take the very popular Galaxy Note 2 as an example. In that device, there is a function to basically split the screen and have two things open at once: right next to each other, on the same screen, you can work on two separate documents. Search the web and email at the same time… on a mobile device. That’s pretty revolutionary, and only available on the Note series. More to the point, only available on a Samsung device as a result of them modifying Android with TouchWiz.We can damn manufacturers all we like for altering the way Android is presented on their devices, but innovation is undeniable. TouchWiz is important in that it does much more than change the device appearance and interface. Its got many features and functions that improve your productivity and enjoyment, and that’s what a skin should be about. The concern is that in doing so, Samsung is making TouchWiz a bit too proprietary, and that is something we’d rather not see.
Root access
With a unified Android universe, we would still have ultimate control. We want personality, and that’s why we don’t have iPhones or iPads. We like all the little quirks that come along with Android. Rooting is one of those quirks that push Android ahead of any other OS, and is a great equalizer among devices.Stock Android is what all those custom ROMs are based on, so in a way… a custom ROM is a skin, too. Many consider a ROM, which is usually open source with a ton of bright people working on it, better than a skin a few dudes locked away in some office at HTC came up with. The rooting community embraces and encourages everyone to pool their intellect and write for a ROM, so what you’re getting is a collective thought. Is that a better concept than being fed a skinned Android?
Another trump card rooting and flashing a ROM has is the ability to choose a theme. Not only can you have a ROM that may improve your device’s utility, but you can also choose (or even design) a theme. You choose the way your device looks and acts, and that is the true brilliance of rooting. A unified Android may encourage more people to take control of their devices.
Conclusion
If we had a pure Android experience, with no manufacturer interference, it would change the landscape very little. Even if you liked the skin your phone has, and could never get it again, there would undoubtedly be a custom ROM mimicking it. You’d simply have to do a little work to get it onto your device. It would also be nice to be able to have some functions available on a device that didn’t have a company protecting it’s intellectual property. If these manufacturers would embrace the open source aspect of Android and let some of their functions go free, we could experience a truly collaborative OS.We’d also be privy to manufacturers really pushing the envelope with hardware design and function, and that could be great. We may always have the same touchscreen interface, but we may also get phones that blow us away. A more dynamic device lets developers stretch their legs a bit, and a developer with nearly unlimited resources is a wonderful thing.
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