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So back in November, I bought the new Motorola Droid about a week after it was released. I’ve never owned a smart phone before, much less an Android platform device. The closest thing I had was an iPod Touch, which is essentially an iPhone minus the phone. Little did I know what I was getting myself into!
When I originally received the device, I knew absolutely nothing about Android except that it was an open source OS created by Google and that the phone would be heavily tied in to my Gmail/Google account, which was a good thing because I absolutely love the services Google provides and I use most of them every day (Gmail, Calendar, Reader, Voice, Picasa, etc.). I came in knowing that the App Market would not nearly be as strong as Apple’s App Store, but I did know that programming for Android was done in Java and that there was no “walled garden” preventing me from writing and immediately releasing an application without having to jump through a series of policies, rules, or waiting for approval. I was excited and looking forward to trying my hand at Android development since I already had Java experience from college.
The original 2.0.0 OS loaded onto the Droid was quite remarkable, but somewhat buggy. My biggest problem was with a weird bug with folders. Being used to the iTouch’s multiple-screen layout and organizing my apps by screen, I instantly started organizing my apps on my Droid into folders such as “Social”, “Music”, “Games”, etc. However, sometimes these folders simply wouldn’t open when I tapped on them unless the Android.Home process was restarted (or the phone was rebooted, which would essentially restart the Android.Home process). The release of the 2.0.1 update, for the most part, fixed this slight annoyance with increased OS stability and sped up performance tremendously. I was quite satisfied with my initial user experience with the phone and the quick patch response time to these minor quirks. The 2.1 OS update provided even more features, such as Picasa integration, live wallpapers, multitouch in Google apps, voice input on any input field, etc. But it left me hungering for more as the stock Droid has only 3 screens, even with Android 2.1 (on the plus side, a Home replacement app called Helixlauncher has resolved this problem for now).
Things that I love about Android:
- Application integration: I love the model of how apps work on the Android system. If you are not happy with the stock browser, then simply replace the entire app with another browser, such as Dolphin. And this replacement happens across the board. Whenever any other app requests for a web browser app to open, you can choose which browser app (stock or Dolphin) you want it to open and you can even set the Dolphin browser as the default (meaning you’ll never see the stock browser app again unless you explicitly run it). This model also makes it incredibly easy for apps to integrate with each other. If your app needs to pull up the camera and take a picture, you can call the camera app, take a picture, and then pass the data back to the original app. Or similarly, if you want to share a piece of information (a url, email, whatever) to different social networks, then each social network app just needs to have a hook/listener for a share event.
- Application development: Integration with the Eclipse IDE is awesome. Setting up the environment doesn’t take that long and is not that difficult. I’m still learning how to program for my phone, but the advantages of an open-policy App Market just can’t be beat.
- Multitasking: Once you start multitasking, you can’t easily go back to a non-multitasking device (like the iTouch or iPhone). Never again does Pandora have to stop playing music because I wanted to check my email or Facebook. The pull-down taskbar at the top of the Android’s OS and long press on the home button (an alt-tab like effect) makes multitasking between programs a snap.
- Navigation: I’ve never owned a GPS device before. And now I still don’t need to own a GPS device with Google’s FREE Navigation app.
- Google integration: The Gmail and Google Calendar apps sync up very nicely to the cloud, along with Google Voice and Picasa.
- Physical keyboard: Some people don’t like the physical keyboard. But I never had a QWERTY keyboard before on my old phones and therefore I love it. I usually do text input via the physical keyboard instead of the virtual keyboard. I wish the physical keyboard would allow you to use auto-correct like the virtual keyboard because the auto-correct on Android is very nicely done. You are given a list of words that you can choose as you type. I was often frustrated with Apple’s auto-correct on my iTouch, especially because of the lack of options (or to cancel auto-correct you had to go so far away from the virtual keyboard). Aside from the stock virtual keyboard, Swype is an amazing replacement. The idea is that you simply slide your finger across the letters to “type” the word and the application also provides autocorrection and improves its guessing as you keep using it.
- Social integration: The Facebook app pulls in statuses and profile pictures of contacts from Facebook into the contact directory on the phone. I thought that was a nice integration. It also pulls in Google profile picture / gTalk statuses into contact information. And the recent official Twitter for Android app also pulls in contact information and status updates.
- Widgets: Interacting with apps without launching apps! Plus, Beautiful Widgets is… well…. a beautiful widget! These can be resource hogs, but their benefits (hopefully) outweigh that.
- Google Voice: This application alone receives its own bullet because I love it so much. The phone and Google Voice integrate together extremely well. When you make a call you can have the application completely take over and send your calls through your Google Voice number, or you can have it present you an option to choose to send the call via Google Voice or your actual number. This has been immensely helpful for me because for some reason I cannot connect to my girlfriend’s phone via Verizon in Mount Airy (an area without Verizon cell towers or 3G), but the call will connect through Google Voice. This puzzles me because Google Voice doesn’t work through your data plan, it still uses cell towers to connect the call and it will still use up my minutes. Despite the fact that Google Voice uses minutes, you can set it up as a Verizon friends and family number and save minutes when talking to a non-Verizon number. The unlimited texting through Google Voice is also wonderful and you will receive text messages instantly. With Google Voice on an Android device, you can easily abandon your mobile carrier’s number and embrace your Google Voice number fully and take advantage of all of its features (transcribed voicemail, record calls, screen callers leaving voicemails, etc.) so long as you force everyone else to call your Google Voice number instead of your carrier’s number.
Things that I dislike about Android:
- Battery life: This really goes for any smart phone device, but the Droid seems to drain the battery quite a bit. Really this depends on what all sorts of apps, notifications, widgets, etc. are running, but I can hardly get through a day without having to charge my battery. One of the first accessories I purchased was a spare battery for my phone. I highly recommend one (along with a car charger and dock).
- Application updates: Apple blows this out of the water. Android can only update one app at a time, with up to two concurrently. There is no update all button. Because of this, I often have 10-20+ apps always needing updating. I feel like I’m playing whack-a-mole 24/7.
- Contact management: Google could have done a better job at this. The web interface for contacts in Gmail just isn’t that great. But it sure as hell beats typing in contacts on the phone only. It also does quirky things like merging contacts who share first names, even though you might have two separate entries. The quick fix is to make sure you include their first AND last name.
- Facebook app: Compared to iTouch/iPhone it is incredibly lacking, despite the nice social integration features into contacts.
- The lack of screens: three screens is all you have to play with. This makes it difficult in deciding what apps, folders, shortcuts, and widgets to place on your home screen. Or if I want to check out a new widget and all three of my home screens are full, then I have to shuffle things around. But I have alleviated this problem with Helixlauncher.
- Stability: Sometimes the OS/Android.Home can be completely unresponsive for rather long periods of time (30 seconds or so). It’s usually fine if you are patient, but occasionally you just have to re-start the Android.Home process. Again, though, stability depends on what apps and widgets are running, so your mileage may vary.
- The Nexus One/OS updates: After the hype-machine built up the Motorola Droid, hardly a couple of months later the Nexus One makes it’s debut. Google showers it with their love and affection of Android 2.1, neglecting the fact that the Droid just came out running Android 2.0 (not to mention other devices still chugging along on Android 1.5/1.6). We’re still waiting on the “catch up” game from Motorola and although I know that yes, the Droid will eventually get the 2.1 update, I still feel that the Google exclusivity over their new phone is going to cause some unrest from Droid and other Android device users. Update: the Droid finally received the 2.1 update, but it lacks some of the features that the Nexus One received (more homescreens, the new app drawer) and it took awhile for Motorola to get it out.
- Fragmentation:Application development is difficult because you have to support Android 1.5/1.6/2.0/2.1 if you want to reach the entire Android market, therefore limiting your apps to the 1.5 API. Hopefully a lot of the older Android devices will get the boost up to Android 2.0/2.1 this year to help alleviate these problems.
- Lack of Flash: Not really that big of a gripe, but watching videos besides Youtube would be nice (hello Hulu?). Supposedly we’re getting Flash sometime this year.
- Music app: The stock music app is incredibly lacking. I’m quite surprised few developers have really tried to take a stab at replacing it (or I haven’t looked hard enough)
I’ve actually been meaning for quite some time to put my thoughts down on the Motorola Droid. I hope to continue to write about my experiences with Android and thoughts on apps that I really enjoy (a list can be found here).
Plus, I will have plenty to write about the first application I currently am developing: TippyTipper, a tipping calculator. So stay tuned!
Saturday, May 1st, 2010 at 4:00 pmand is filed under android. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
