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Have you solved any of these Android annoyances?

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  Have you solved any of these Android annoyances? Aardvarks <aardvarks@a.b.c.com> - 2016-07-17 21:18 +0000
    Re: Have you solved any of these Android annoyances? Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> - 2016-07-17 22:37 +0100
      Re: Have you solved any of these Android annoyances? Aardvarks <aardvarks@a.b.c.com> - 2016-07-18 00:50 +0000
    Re: Have you solved any of these Android annoyances? Bert <bert@iphouse.com> - 2016-07-17 23:59 +0000
      Re: Have you solved any of these Android annoyances? Aardvarks <aardvarks@a.b.c.com> - 2016-07-18 00:51 +0000
    Re: Have you solved any of these Android annoyances? tlvp <mPiOsUcB.EtLlLvEp@att.net> - 2016-07-18 00:09 -0400
      Re: Have you solved any of these Android annoyances? Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> - 2016-07-18 07:17 +0100
      Re: Have you solved any of these Android annoyances? Aardvarks <aardvarks@a.b.c.com> - 2016-07-18 23:49 +0000
        Re: Have you solved any of these Android annoyances? nospam <nospam@nospam.invalid> - 2016-07-18 21:21 -0400
          Re: Have you solved any of these Android annoyances? Aardvarks <aardvarks@a.b.c.com> - 2016-07-19 01:39 +0000
            Re: Have you solved any of these Android annoyances? nospam <nospam@nospam.invalid> - 2016-07-18 21:41 -0400
              Re: Have you solved any of these Android annoyances? Aardvarks <aardvarks@a.b.c.com> - 2016-07-19 06:05 +0000
        Re: Have you solved any of these Android annoyances? tlvp <mPiOsUcB.EtLlLvEp@att.net> - 2016-07-20 05:05 -0400
    Re: Have you solved any of these Android annoyances? tlvp <mPiOsUcB.EtLlLvEp@att.net> - 2016-07-18 00:11 -0400
      Re: Have you solved any of these Android annoyances? Aardvarks <aardvarks@a.b.c.com> - 2016-07-18 23:49 +0000
    Re: Have you solved any of these Android annoyances? "s|b" <me@privacy.invalid> - 2016-07-18 22:21 +0200
      Re: Have you solved any of these Android annoyances? Aardvarks <aardvarks@a.b.c.com> - 2016-07-18 23:52 +0000

#32013 — Have you solved any of these Android annoyances?

Here are my Android annoyances.
Have you solved any of these?

Most important top 3 Android annoyances are:
- Lack of truecrypt-like virtual-disc-mount encryption
- Lack of hands-free default to microphone keyboard
- Lack of single-point access to Google spyware settings

But the fact that manufacturers put all sorts of bloatware that you can't
remove (such as T-Mobile TV and the like) is something we'll never be able
to solve without rooting.

Likewise, the horribly complex way Google hides the dozens (yes, dozens!)
of privacy-related settings is just a mess.

Speaking of a mess, have you ever *looked* at the Android file system
organization? It's far worse than a typical Linux system out of the box,
and it rivals the idiocy of Microsoft out of the box.

Speaking of the box, why the heck can Apple put a button on all their
devices which locks the screen in position (horiz or vert) and Android
device manufacturers can't copy that good idea?

I mean, the USB standard finally copied the great idea of a cable end that
can go in either way (it always takes me *three* tries (yes, 3) to get the
micro usb into my S3!). [The S3 has a crappy microusb slot.]

And, for heavens sake, why can't Android have a setting for the microphone
to be the *default* keyboard when the "hands free" option is selected.

Speaking of the Android Hands-Free option, what the heck does it do? It's a
setting in all Android versions, but I can't figure out what it does that
is any different when I'm not on hands free.

And what's with the almost total lack of a file-encryption utility, out of
the box, such as truecrypt was? 

And, who the heck *organized* the Android settings hierarchy anyway? Even
Apple of all companies, does far better. Android settings menus seems to
have been designed by lobotomized monkeys - it's that disorganized. 

And, why do I have to install Ap Ops Starter just to get control over what
permissions each program requests (I mean, why does a flashlight app need
access to my contacts?).

Speaking of access, what's with the lie that we can use the micro SIM card
as an extension of our storage? Sure, blame it on the developers - but
really, we should be able to put anything we want anywhere we want anytime
we want and have it store data anyplace we want. 

With respect to access to data, every self respecting operating system,
yes, even the mac OS, allows access to the command line. Why the heck do I
have to root the Android device just to get real access to the command line
commands (aka, Linux). Yea, I have "Terminal", but why can't I get access
to the hosts file with it? That's the most important file on the planet to
modify, and you have to root just to edit it - but being root means you
have to root the darn device - which isn't easy for my S3 (maybe
impossible).

Speaking of rooting, why the heck is it nearly impossible (maybe even
impossible) to root the Galaxy S3 from T-Mobile (SGH-T999)? It's one of the
most common phones on the planet, and it's nearly impossible to easily
root.

The iOS guys will shoot me if I don't mention that I'm stuck on Android
4.3, which I grant them, wouldn't be the case, even for a phone I got in
2012, if I were on iOS.

And why does the GPS on the Android S3 kill the battery far sooner than teh
GPS on the iPad Air? How come Apple can design a GPS receiver that doesn't
burn up the battery, and Samsung can't?

And what's with the almost total lack of a decent Usenet client? Sure,
there's more choice, especially for free, than iOS has, but still, both
NewsGroup and Usenet Reader suck like you can't believe.

And why does Google Play nag the heck out of me to give it payment
information. At least Apple only nags once a year or so with some
cockamamie request for information like a valid zip code but Google Play
keeps popping up a form to fill out payment information when I don't even
know who I am logged in as with Google Play (since it changes monthly).

Speaking of Google Play, I'm never ever gonna pay a red cent for anything,
so, why they don't just have an option to only show free stuff is
discouraging.

That's just the stuff off the top of my head.

Most important top 3 Android annoyances are:
- Lack of truecrypt-like virtual-disc-mount encryption
- Lack of hands-free default to microphone keyboard
- Lack of single-point access to Google spyware settings

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#32015

Aardvarks wrote:

> the fact that manufacturers put all sorts of bloatware that you can't
> remove (such as T-Mobile TV and the like) is something we'll never be able
> to solve without [snip]

Buying a Nexus.

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#32022

On Sun, 17 Jul 2016 22:37:15 +0100, Andy Burns wrote:

>> the fact that manufacturers put all sorts of bloatware that you can't
>> remove (such as T-Mobile TV and the like) is something we'll never be able
>> to solve without [snip]
> 
> Buying a Nexus.

I do agree with you that the google phones are far cleaner with respect to
non-removable bloatware.

The carrier bloat is especially noxious when they use up 3GB of a 4GB
phone, which is one reason why my absolute lower limit is 16GB internal
memory nowadays (no matter how much so-called external memory exists).

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#32020

In news:nmgsms$12h9$7@gioia.aioe.org Aardvarks <aardvarks@a.b.c.com>
wrote: 

> But the fact that manufacturers put all sorts of bloatware that you
> can't remove (such as T-Mobile TV and the like) is something we'll
> never be able to solve without rooting.

Buy a Nexus.

-- 
bert@iphouse.com	St. Paul, MN

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#32023

On Sun, 17 Jul 2016 23:59:48 -0000 (UTC), Bert wrote:

> Buy a Nexus.

I bought a Nexus 5 for a kid, and a Moto G for an adult, both of which were
from Google, so I know what you mean.

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#32032

On Sun, 17 Jul 2016 21:18:20 +0000 (UTC), Aardvarks wrote:

>  why the heck can Apple put a button on all their
> devices which locks the screen in position (horiz or vert) and Android
> device manufacturers can't copy that good idea?

Don't you have Settings > Display > Auto-rotate Screen (on/off) ?
Part of stock Motorola Droid X2 Android 2.3.5, anyway :-) .
Or isn't that good enough?

Cheers, -- tlvp
-- 
Avant de repondre, jeter la poubelle, SVP.

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#32039

tlvp wrote:

> Aardvarks wrote:
>
>> why the heck can Apple put a button on all their
>> devices which locks the screen in position (horiz or vert) and Android
>> device manufacturers can't copy that good idea?
>
> Don't you have Settings > Display > Auto-rotate Screen (on/off) ?
> Part of stock Motorola Droid X2 Android 2.3.5, anyway :-) .
> Or isn't that good enough?

It's even easier as it's in the pull-down notification shade of more 
recent android versions.

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#32139

On Mon, 18 Jul 2016 00:09:47 -0400, tlvp wrote:

> Don't you have Settings > Display > Auto-rotate Screen (on/off) ?
> Part of stock Motorola Droid X2 Android 2.3.5, anyway :-) .
> Or isn't that good enough?

I can easily turn on or off screen rotation.
The problem is you can't *lock* it in landscape mode.

So, while your watching with the pone in your hands lying in bed, the darn 
thing constantly rotates on you where you have to twist and shake the darn 
thing to get it to rotate back to landscape mode.

In VLC, you can *lock* the landscape mode, so that works *great*.
But in the YouTube app, I don't know how to *lock* the phone in landscape 
mode. Do you?

Apple has a button on the iPad that locks the current mode, which is 
*exactly* the feature I want (the way VLC does it is fine also).

How do you *lock* your phone in landscape mode when you want to?

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#32153

In article <nmjptg$1eeq$2@gioia.aioe.org>, Aardvarks
<aardvarks@a.b.c.com> wrote:

> 
> I can easily turn on or off screen rotation.
> The problem is you can't *lock* it in landscape mode.
> 
> So, while your watching with the pone in your hands lying in bed, the darn 
> thing constantly rotates on you where you have to twist and shake the darn 
> thing to get it to rotate back to landscape mode.
> 
> In VLC, you can *lock* the landscape mode, so that works *great*.
> But in the YouTube app, I don't know how to *lock* the phone in landscape 
> mode. Do you?
> 
> Apple has a button on the iPad that locks the current mode, which is 
> *exactly* the feature I want (the way VLC does it is fine also).

yet another thing that iphones do that android doesn't.

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#32156

On Mon, 18 Jul 2016 21:21:15 -0400, nospam wrote:

> yet another thing that iphones do that android doesn't.

The ability to lock the device for *all* apps in landscape mode, at the
touch of a button, is a *fantastic* feature on the iPad.

I don't know if the iPhone has it though ... does it?

Also, the iPad had it on iOS 7.0.1 which I was on until about a month or so
ago, but when I moved to iOS 9, something *changed* with that hardware
button.

I think they gave it two functionalities - which - essentially, is exactly
what a user would want.

The user should be able to *define* what the outside buttons do.

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#32157

In article <nmk0d6$1lfb$1@gioia.aioe.org>, Aardvarks
<aardvarks@a.b.c.com> wrote:

> 
> > yet another thing that iphones do that android doesn't.
> 
> The ability to lock the device for *all* apps in landscape mode, at the
> touch of a button, is a *fantastic* feature on the iPad.
> 
> I don't know if the iPhone has it though ... does it?

yes

> Also, the iPad had it on iOS 7.0.1 which I was on until about a month or so
> ago, but when I moved to iOS 9, something *changed* with that hardware
> button.

no.

> I think they gave it two functionalities

long ago, i think it was ios 4.

> - which - essentially, is exactly
> what a user would want.

no

> The user should be able to *define* what the outside buttons do.

they can.

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#32202

On Mon, 18 Jul 2016 21:41:58 -0400, nospam wrote:

>> I don't know if the iPhone has it though ... does it?
> 
> yes

Thanks. It's a nice feature, especially on a phone, which is small and very
oblong so landcape is vastly different than portrait mode.

I love the iPad/iPhone feature to have a lock-rotation button.
I love that VLC has it too.
I just wish YouTube or Android had it.

>> Also, the iPad had it on iOS 7.0.1 which I was on until about a month or so
>> ago, but when I moved to iOS 9, something *changed* with that hardware
>> button.
> 
> no.
> 
>> I think they gave it two functionalities
> 
> long ago, i think it was ios 4.

Hmmm... ok. Well, the kids complained that the lock didn't work after we
switched from iOS 7.0.1 to 9.something - and we found that there was a
setting that changes what the lock button does.

Maybe the upgrade *defaulted* to a different setting than what we had
prior?

>> - which - essentially, is exactly
>> what a user would want.
> 
> no
> 
>> The user should be able to *define* what the outside buttons do.
> 
> they can.

OK. That's good to know as it's a nice feature.
I wish I could define what the volume buttons do on Android, for example.

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#32344

On Mon, 18 Jul 2016 23:49:06 +0000 (UTC), Aardvarks wrote:

> How do you *lock* your phone in landscape mode when you want to?

Only time *I* want to it's to lock portrait mode, for reading Kindle books.
There, one taps the lower right corner of the screen while *in* the desired
orientation mode to bring up a "lock/unlocked" toggled icon, and then taps
that to toggle it to the "locked" state. Done.

Likewise to toggle it back to the "unlocked" state. HTH.

Cheers, -- tlvp
-- 
Avant de repondre, jeter la poubelle, SVP.

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#32033

On Sun, 17 Jul 2016 21:18:20 +0000 (UTC), Aardvarks wrote:

> And, for heavens sake, why can't Android have a setting for the microphone
> to be the *default* keyboard when the "hands free" option is selected.

Because speech-to-text *still* is for the birds. HTH. Cheers, -- tlvp
-- 
Avant de repondre, jeter la poubelle, SVP.

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#32140

On Mon, 18 Jul 2016 00:11:48 -0400, tlvp wrote:

>> And, for heavens sake, why can't Android have a setting for the microphone
>> to be the *default* keyboard when the "hands free" option is selected.
> 
> Because speech-to-text *still* is for the birds. HTH. Cheers, -- tlvp

I think the speed-to-text on Android is pretty good (although the Apple 
microphone app seems to be more accurate).

What I like about the Android microphones is that they'll automatically 
turn off without you having to tap them. The Apple mic doesn't seem to do 
anything *unless* you tap it to stop it.

Anyway, all I'm asking for is a keyboard that *defaults* to the microphone.
Or, if it doesn't default to the microphone by default, that it has a 
*setting* to default either to the keyboard or to the mic.

With millions of people talking hands free, you'd think someone would have 
thought of that by now.

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#32118

On Sun, 17 Jul 2016 21:18:20 +0000 (UTC), Aardvarks wrote:

> But the fact that manufacturers put all sorts of bloatware that you can't
> remove (such as T-Mobile TV and the like) is something we'll never be able
> to solve without rooting.

Have you bought that Nexus yet?

-- 
s|b

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#32141

On Mon, 18 Jul 2016 22:21:47 +0200, s|b wrote:

> Have you bought that Nexus yet?

Heh heh ... yeah. I bought a Nexus 5.
In fact, that Nexus is the topic of many threads.
It *still* has most of the problems mentioned in the OP.
That's because they're Android problems.

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