Android flaws in tablets
I began to write this article several times, but each time it came out not as planned. At first, I just wanted to dilute the identical, like twins, announcements and reviews of tablets on Android 3.x and talk about general negative impressions based on working with three different tablets on Honeycomb (not counting two on Android 2.x). Then the idea seemed not so attractive: reviews of the shortcomings of a particular gadget tend to go into a “highly intelligent” discussion of the kind “fool, everything works for me”. The subsequent versions of the article did not appeal to me as a potential invitation to the holivar, whom any criticism of Google is perceived, and I hate holivars. In the end, I decided, because I suddenly formulated what exactly I do not like about Android.
With reviews of tablets, we generally have some kind of trouble. Everything is like a carbon copy: an enumeration of the tactical and technical characteristics, marketing slogans, external examination and a couple of advantages / disadvantages, which are especially striking. It is understandable: given the average lifespan of today's gadgets, the browser has a maximum of half an hour before the appearance of the next product. But the daily use and embedding of the tablet in its own entertainment or work cycle has nothing to do with the number of cores in Tegra and their clock frequency. And even the current bugs have nothing in common (the next firmware will fix this bug and introduce two new ones), so I’ll try to draw your attention to a short list of * system * flaws of tablets on Android 3.x OS, which are inherent in the entire hardware and software system, and not specific implementation of any one. I repeat assessments of deficiencies are purely personal. The positive qualities of Android are brought to the consumer thousands of times in every possible way; I know dozens of people who do not experience a single problem in using phones and tablets, and I myself do not suffer much from shortcomings. Nevertheless, I am curious how far the habrasociety will share my conclusions.
The first hints of wake-up calls begin with technical support. Rather, its complete absence. Like a class. Not that it was needed like air, but believe me, even super-cool users can have questions. Gadget manufacturers could never really be hoped for, there was nothing new, but Google, for its part, almost ignored the issue of minimal support for Android users. Of course, the main complaint is addressed to tablet manufacturers, although official knowledge base, solutions and patches, howtos, FAQs and everything else that should accompany such a complex software product as a mobile operating system should still come from Google. Today, Google offers users only a superficial description of the interface and standard applications, and a slurred and poorly moderated forum, and there were very few people who saw the live representatives of technical support (as, indeed, with any other Google project). Yes, in the network you can probably find the answer to any question, only this is the merit of enthusiasts and artisans, and to monitor such a breakthrough of information, and even on different resources and varying degrees of reliability, is very difficult. I would like Google to take support seriously, not rely heavily on vendors.
The second serious flaw is beginning to be felt on the Market. The application is terribly slow. The Internet is still littered with user complaints: The market opens and looks for an extremely long time! Craftsmen (again, not Google officially) proposed a way out: periodically “delete” the Market from the tablet. This deletion, of course, does not happen, since Android will not allow you to delete the standard built-in application, but something is cleared somewhere, some caches are deleted, and the brakes disappear. Although the main problem with the Market is not this, and not even in the trash or malware - favorite press horror stories. The main problem is a mess with supported versions: it is never clear which version of Android the application is designed for. You buy a puzzle for a child, and he unfolds only on 1/4 of the screen, or does not start, or hangs himself.
The claim again only indirectly relates to Google: for its part, it theoretically supports filtering applications for different versions. On the other hand, it gives developers complete freedom in describing the properties of the application, and these include, without thinking, all existing versions, screen resolutions, all access rights, all to the maximum!
An amazing thing: the gadget zoo on Android is rightly called one of the biggest shortcomings of the eco-system, and at the same time, Google allows you to create software with unbearable ease.zoo! The market urgently needs mandatory certification programs (no censorship, no!) With minimal verification of the app’s manifest correspondence with reality. A mess with a resolution or, even worse, the required access rights (I saw many trivial utilities and games supposedly requiring access to telephony, network, external media, GPS, personal data and everything else that fantasy can reach) is an unacceptable nonsense these days .
Slightly departing from my own intention to speak only about global shortcomings, I will nevertheless briefly dwell on the specific disadvantages of iron in existing tablets, since they are almost identical in hardware.
Video . With all its cores and gigahertz, Tegra 2 shuts up on a high-profile 720p video. They promise to fix the hardware bug in Tegra 3 (as if it warms today's tablet owners). The way out is to transcode the video to a lower bit rate, but these are additional gestures, plus consumers should be aware that the proud line “hardware supports HD” is not 100% true.
Wifi. The wireless network driver in Android is frankly crude. In 3.1, it seems a little better, but all the same, connections to the access point can be very long, and the tablet can connect to some APs from the third time. This is extremely annoying, because the tablet is turned on for “instant” Internet in 95% of cases (it is amazing how such a trifle can create a huge negative user experience!). I really hope that in the future version of Wi-Fi they will pay close attention.
Long life. This is certainly a plus, but the reckoning for powerful batteries is special chargers that can provide current up to 2A. Just wonder how many people are suddenly surprised at the inability to charge the tablet from USB! 9-10 hours of continuous operation are compensated by the need to take a separate and no longer suitable charge with you on the road (or even buy the same for the car), and I won’t say which is more convenient: 4-5 hours and sticking out everywhere USB connector, or 8-10 hours and a specialized charger. Just keep that in mind.
For a long time I tried to find a generalization of the shortcomings of Android. Well, it can’t strain the lack of technical support (for the first time, or something) or braking applications. And then it was somehow formulated itself: “Google-style”. The style of releasing an unfinished beta product that focuses on more savvy early adopters until the development and implementation of early versions is completed. Is free? Beta? So what else do you want? First, figure it out for yourself. Secondly, we will fix / add sometime next time, if hands reach ...
In the general case, I personally do not like the style of rolling out the beta product to millions of consumers (this is forgivably a poor startup, and not the richest corporation with tens of thousands of employees), but I rather liked the “Release Early Release Often”. But if early releases of mail, browser and social networks can still be welcomed, especially since Google really updates them often and accurately, then with regard to the hardware this style is completely unacceptable.
In my opinion, Google did not take into account the fact that hardware (tablets) will be sold as ordinary consumer products. And like ordinary consumer products, they are made really careless: here the memory card slot does not work, it slows down, it falls. And this is not the Chinese sun-vin in the Shenzhen basement, but the world, damn it, brands, the top of the industry! And with “don’t be afraid, let's fix it!”, A slip came out too: the Google chain -> manufacturer -> the consumer was much more difficult to release a new version of the service on their own servers. Manufacturers are in no hurry. And if they are in a hurry, then release and sell a new tablet, without any desire to upgrade and maintain the old ones (who then will buy new ones?). I don’t think that consumers themselves will agree to spread $ 500-800 for new tablets with the same ease.
As an old gadgetoman, a tablet of any degree of dampness will theoretically suit me: I can also install the shell via USB debug, and generally. But in the consumer electronics market there is no place for devices that need to be doped by geeks. And since I really love Android, both on my own and as a competitive alternative, I really want him to grow up soon. Let's hope for ICS and more stringent Google policies with manufacturers.
With reviews of tablets, we generally have some kind of trouble. Everything is like a carbon copy: an enumeration of the tactical and technical characteristics, marketing slogans, external examination and a couple of advantages / disadvantages, which are especially striking. It is understandable: given the average lifespan of today's gadgets, the browser has a maximum of half an hour before the appearance of the next product. But the daily use and embedding of the tablet in its own entertainment or work cycle has nothing to do with the number of cores in Tegra and their clock frequency. And even the current bugs have nothing in common (the next firmware will fix this bug and introduce two new ones), so I’ll try to draw your attention to a short list of * system * flaws of tablets on Android 3.x OS, which are inherent in the entire hardware and software system, and not specific implementation of any one. I repeat assessments of deficiencies are purely personal. The positive qualities of Android are brought to the consumer thousands of times in every possible way; I know dozens of people who do not experience a single problem in using phones and tablets, and I myself do not suffer much from shortcomings. Nevertheless, I am curious how far the habrasociety will share my conclusions.
Technical support
The first hints of wake-up calls begin with technical support. Rather, its complete absence. Like a class. Not that it was needed like air, but believe me, even super-cool users can have questions. Gadget manufacturers could never really be hoped for, there was nothing new, but Google, for its part, almost ignored the issue of minimal support for Android users. Of course, the main complaint is addressed to tablet manufacturers, although official knowledge base, solutions and patches, howtos, FAQs and everything else that should accompany such a complex software product as a mobile operating system should still come from Google. Today, Google offers users only a superficial description of the interface and standard applications, and a slurred and poorly moderated forum, and there were very few people who saw the live representatives of technical support (as, indeed, with any other Google project). Yes, in the network you can probably find the answer to any question, only this is the merit of enthusiasts and artisans, and to monitor such a breakthrough of information, and even on different resources and varying degrees of reliability, is very difficult. I would like Google to take support seriously, not rely heavily on vendors.
Market
The second serious flaw is beginning to be felt on the Market. The application is terribly slow. The Internet is still littered with user complaints: The market opens and looks for an extremely long time! Craftsmen (again, not Google officially) proposed a way out: periodically “delete” the Market from the tablet. This deletion, of course, does not happen, since Android will not allow you to delete the standard built-in application, but something is cleared somewhere, some caches are deleted, and the brakes disappear. Although the main problem with the Market is not this, and not even in the trash or malware - favorite press horror stories. The main problem is a mess with supported versions: it is never clear which version of Android the application is designed for. You buy a puzzle for a child, and he unfolds only on 1/4 of the screen, or does not start, or hangs himself.
The claim again only indirectly relates to Google: for its part, it theoretically supports filtering applications for different versions. On the other hand, it gives developers complete freedom in describing the properties of the application, and these include, without thinking, all existing versions, screen resolutions, all access rights, all to the maximum!
An amazing thing: the gadget zoo on Android is rightly called one of the biggest shortcomings of the eco-system, and at the same time, Google allows you to create software with unbearable ease.zoo! The market urgently needs mandatory certification programs (no censorship, no!) With minimal verification of the app’s manifest correspondence with reality. A mess with a resolution or, even worse, the required access rights (I saw many trivial utilities and games supposedly requiring access to telephony, network, external media, GPS, personal data and everything else that fantasy can reach) is an unacceptable nonsense these days .
Iron
Slightly departing from my own intention to speak only about global shortcomings, I will nevertheless briefly dwell on the specific disadvantages of iron in existing tablets, since they are almost identical in hardware.
Video . With all its cores and gigahertz, Tegra 2 shuts up on a high-profile 720p video. They promise to fix the hardware bug in Tegra 3 (as if it warms today's tablet owners). The way out is to transcode the video to a lower bit rate, but these are additional gestures, plus consumers should be aware that the proud line “hardware supports HD” is not 100% true.
Wifi. The wireless network driver in Android is frankly crude. In 3.1, it seems a little better, but all the same, connections to the access point can be very long, and the tablet can connect to some APs from the third time. This is extremely annoying, because the tablet is turned on for “instant” Internet in 95% of cases (it is amazing how such a trifle can create a huge negative user experience!). I really hope that in the future version of Wi-Fi they will pay close attention.
Long life. This is certainly a plus, but the reckoning for powerful batteries is special chargers that can provide current up to 2A. Just wonder how many people are suddenly surprised at the inability to charge the tablet from USB! 9-10 hours of continuous operation are compensated by the need to take a separate and no longer suitable charge with you on the road (or even buy the same for the car), and I won’t say which is more convenient: 4-5 hours and sticking out everywhere USB connector, or 8-10 hours and a specialized charger. Just keep that in mind.
Google style
For a long time I tried to find a generalization of the shortcomings of Android. Well, it can’t strain the lack of technical support (for the first time, or something) or braking applications. And then it was somehow formulated itself: “Google-style”. The style of releasing an unfinished beta product that focuses on more savvy early adopters until the development and implementation of early versions is completed. Is free? Beta? So what else do you want? First, figure it out for yourself. Secondly, we will fix / add sometime next time, if hands reach ...
In the general case, I personally do not like the style of rolling out the beta product to millions of consumers (this is forgivably a poor startup, and not the richest corporation with tens of thousands of employees), but I rather liked the “Release Early Release Often”. But if early releases of mail, browser and social networks can still be welcomed, especially since Google really updates them often and accurately, then with regard to the hardware this style is completely unacceptable.
In my opinion, Google did not take into account the fact that hardware (tablets) will be sold as ordinary consumer products. And like ordinary consumer products, they are made really careless: here the memory card slot does not work, it slows down, it falls. And this is not the Chinese sun-vin in the Shenzhen basement, but the world, damn it, brands, the top of the industry! And with “don’t be afraid, let's fix it!”, A slip came out too: the Google chain -> manufacturer -> the consumer was much more difficult to release a new version of the service on their own servers. Manufacturers are in no hurry. And if they are in a hurry, then release and sell a new tablet, without any desire to upgrade and maintain the old ones (who then will buy new ones?). I don’t think that consumers themselves will agree to spread $ 500-800 for new tablets with the same ease.
As an old gadgetoman, a tablet of any degree of dampness will theoretically suit me: I can also install the shell via USB debug, and generally. But in the consumer electronics market there is no place for devices that need to be doped by geeks. And since I really love Android, both on my own and as a competitive alternative, I really want him to grow up soon. Let's hope for ICS and more stringent Google policies with manufacturers.
