Essential Official Android Thread

[Kartel13]

Just got my 6p. Frost, 128gb. Phone capability not setup yet, but initial thoughts:

PROS
- feels good in the hands, build quality looks and feels like its "premium" Lol had to put it in quotes cuz lots of reviewers use it
- screen brightness is really good, at work indoors I can dim it down to almost the lowest and its plenty bright
- speakers are godlike! Playing music at max volume, I was able to drown out the television speaker (my tv speaker ain't all that though)
- charge time is about 1% per minute (not the fastest, but an upgrade for me)
- no lags navigating through phone apps and using apps
- camera takes really good photos
- okay google. Works fine for me, though I know some people reported their's didn't work
- clock/calendar lights up when you pick up phone. Handy.

CONS
- I'm confused on whether its a Google thing or an Android thing, but its missing little features that I thought were universal "Android" features. Little things like, if you have 3 tabs on your homescreen, you can select the middle one to be the main one. So its one swipe left or one swipe right to access all three. With the 6p, the main screen seems to be only far left. So if I have 3 tabs, its two swipes to get to that third tab. Maybe I just don't know how to do it yet. I'm coming from Xperia, so maybe the cool features I liked weren't "Android" features at all, they were Sony Xperia features. The 6p widgets are super basic. Again, the Xperia had a amazing stock clock and weather widgets that had animation and was just nice to look at in general. 6p doesn't have weather widget, so I downloaded it from Google Play. Interface is great, but had ads running at the bottom. Xperia allowed you to uninstall multiple apps from the Apps tray. On the 6p (or Marshmallow), you can't. Again, I'm nitpicking, but these are just initial thoughts.

- phone gets warm. I haven't used any of the popular Samsung/Apple flagships, but I'm guessing they all get a little warm too? But just as quickly as the phone got warm (for reasons unknown), it also cooled off. I wasn't watching video or doing heavy usage really. No zillion apps running in the back either.


Initial thoughts conclusion:
I haven't tried calling or gaming yet so can't speak on those. Coming from Xperia Z Ultra, I will be missing some of the cool Sony Xperia apps like Album, Video and Sketch apps and other features. But those aren't deal breakers at all. The 6p has a superior camera/video and speakers. The battery charging is fast. Those three alone are worth the upgrade already. With time, I'm sure I'll discover more things I like (and hate).

The tabs thing pertains to the Google launcher. Normally swiping left takes you Google now. Not sure if u can adjust it, I just left it alone. But nova launcher gives you more options

 

[ExodusNirvana]

LG G5 vs Samsung Galaxy S7...winner receives my love in the form of dollars come February

 

[Amestafuu (Emeritus)]

Yea that's what I'm talking about. I like the freedom of android, but some things need to be integrated as a standard so the consumers can have a united experience

Android doesn't also have one phone model so there you go...

I mean iPhone users with contacts that are on non Apple phones also gotta have an app for those people. I don't see how this is exclusively and Android problem unless everyone you communicate with is using the same phone lol

 

[1thouwow]

Android doesn't also have one phone model so there you go...

I mean iPhone users with contacts that are on non Apple phones also gotta have an app for those people. I don't see how this is exclusively and Android problem unless everyone you communicate with is using the same phone lol

Let's not act like apple doesn't have a strong hold on its percentage of phone users.

Let's not do that.

What I'm talking about is altering a minor thing for a bigger cause. If u don't understand then

 

[Amestafuu (Emeritus)]

Let's not act like apple doesn't have a strong hold on its percentage of phone users.

Let's not do that.

What I'm talking about is altering a minor thing for a bigger cause. If u don't understand then

There can't be an integrated standard until every Android phone maker lets Google handle the OS exclusively like apple does. Hence why I buy nexus products which are well integrated. That freedom comes at a cost of having a fragmented user base due to the OS being reskinned by manufacturers.... Pretty basic shyt to understand

 

[1thouwow]

There can't be an integrated stsntsnd until every Android phone maker lets Google handle the OS exclusively like apple does. Hence why I buy nexus products which are well integrated. That freedom comes at a cost of having a fragmented user base due to the OS being reskinned by manufacturers.... Pretty basic shyt to understand

Just bc it's easy to understand doesn't mean it doesn't need to be fixed

 

[Amestafuu (Emeritus)]

Just bc it's easy to understand doesn't mean it doesn't need to be fixed

What's the fix? Stop manufacturers from reskinning phones so they have a uniform look and feel? Even then not all phones have the same specs.... This is what your failing to get. That's not on Google or Android but rather the manufacturers.

 

[1thouwow]

What's the fix? Stop manufacturers from reskinning phones so they have a uniform look and feel? Even then not all phones have the same specs.... This is what your failing to get. That's not on Google or Android but rather the manufacturers.

Idc who it's on. Have a standardized text messaging system.

 

[Amestafuu (Emeritus)]

Idc who it's on. Have a standardized text messaging system.

Hangouts.

Can't force people to use it

 

[Golayitdown]

What's the fix? Stop manufacturers from reskinning phones so they have a uniform look and feel? Even then not all phones have the same specs.... This is what your failing to get. That's not on Google or Android but rather the manufacturers.

It is on Google to a certain extent. If they standardize the core phone functionality (messaging, contacts, phone, etc.) and lock down that part of the system, they could easily get a more uniform experience across all Google Android phones. They literally write the guidelines for what it takes for manufacturers to be allowed to use Google apps and the Play Store (the real draw of Android). That will never happen though. There's no real incentive for that for Google since they don't sell an experience. Plus, like you said they have the Nexus series exists for purists.

 

[R.E.N. Spells Ren]

It is on Google to a certain extent. If they standardize the core phone functionality (messaging, contacts, phone, etc.) and lock down that part of the system, they could easily get a more uniform experience across all Google Android phones.

Exactly. Google would just need to create a protocol for messaging so that whenever Android sends messages, if it's Android-to-android communication it takes advantage of that (so it will use the most effective means, be it Wi-Fi, cellular data, sms, mms) and could have the benefits of other things like read receipts. The mfgs could still build their own messaging apps on top of that protocol so they can go further with customizations and ancillary options.

iMessage is a VERY vanilla program. It's missing a lot of options. But it works well and because it's ingrained in the OS everyone uses it and they take advantage of that fact

 

[Golayitdown]

Exactly. Google would just need to create a protocol for messaging so that whenever Android sends messages, if it's Android-to-android communication it takes advantage of that (so it will use the most effective means, be it Wi-Fi, cellular data, sms, mms) and could have the benefits of other things like read receipts. The mfgs could still build their own messaging apps on top of that protocol so they can go further with customizations and ancillary options.

iMessage is a VERY vanilla program. It's missing a lot of options. But it works well and because it's ingrained in the OS everyone uses it and they take advantage of that fact

Exactly. I'm a developer and usually hate this term, but it's just software. Make that shyt work how you want it to work. It's not hard as long as it's well thought out. If they wanted to do better, they could, especially after iOS has set an example that can be improved upon.

After switching to iOS and using iMessage, it's too dope. It does everything the vast majority need it to do, plus it's not only ingrained In the OS, but also the whole Mac, iPad, iPhone ecosystem. It's very basic at its core, but does exactly what it was created for extremely well.

 

[Brooklynzson]

I've been clamoring this for years. It amazes me those nerds in Mountainview haven't figured this out yet. They'd be killing the game if they did.

Messaging woes drove me to trying iOS for the first time. Android does so many things better it's not even funny. I've been ripping out my hair trying to figure out how to add photo albums to my iPhone in order...for some dumb reason Apple adds them in some random order...why do people claim this phone is easy

Its madd easy. Photos>Edit> then hold the 3 lines on the right next to the album you wanna move. You just can't move the default folders. I think apple adds folders in the order that you created them.

 

[R.E.N. Spells Ren]

Its madd easy. Photos>Edit> then hold the 3 lines on the right next to the album you wanna move. You just can't move the default folders. I think apple adds folders in the order that you created them.

That's my problem. If I have hundreds of pics in a folder, I need them ordered. Create date is often not a good way to do it. Say it's family pics and I want all mom's pics one after another. Since that post, I've found a convoluted way to do it. Tag the photos on my MacBook, and just import from there. Keeps the order Photos has them in.

However, importing gifs from my MacBook using Photos/iTunes causes them to lose their animation

 

[Brooklynzson]

That's my problem. If I have hundreds of pics in a folder, I need them ordered. Create date is often not a good way to do it. Say it's family pics and I want all mom's pics one after another. Since that post, I've found a convoluted way to do it. Tag the photos on my MacBook, and just import from there. Keeps the order Photos has them in.

However, importing gifs from my MacBook using Photos/iTunes causes them to lose their animation

To move pics around in a folder, go in the folder, hit select then you can drag the pics around to rearrange. You can also rearrange via Photos on your Macbook. (Easier since you can select multiple pics to move at the same damn time)

As far as gifs, i just save them from my phone or drag and drop on my mac and they work good. You don't see them animate on the phone, but if you send them to someone they animate...