Database Develop

Does anybody know the intricacies of google maps?

Ive tried on the iphone and iphone 3g, when i pinch google maps on those phones it just zooms in or out, it loads the map as a single image and you navigate anywhere on that image. But when i pinch on an android phone (ive tried on the nexus, slide, vibrant g1, g2 and evo) it has to load a new image and from what i can tell, wherever i pinch to, it then loads an image of the maps at some point relatively near where i zoom. So where the iphones load the entire map and just zoom to wherever you pinch, android has to load different images and they arent where you actually pinch, like it has a number of levels it can zoom to, and when you pinch it, it just loads the image it has thats closest to where you zoom. Its disorienting and extremely not smooth, but then i might not even bring this up if i hadnt used iphones so much, so i guess thats my fault. Maybe that doesnt make sense, if you try on an iphone then an android you cant miss it. Its actually a big deal, especially since it should work better on an android phone. Does anybody know what i am describing and can anyone explain it better than me and possibly explain why and if we could expect it to get better?

Im almost positive i started this exact same thread some time ago. But im still looking for answers maybe this thread will be more productive. Google maps is the best app on android i think, it does a lot of great stuff, its so useful and the gps navigation is just awesome. But damn if it isnt almost adulterous how much smoother and coherent the zooming is on the stupid iphone version (at least the last few iphones, ive never touched the original iphone). Like you, If i wasnt aware of how well it works on the iphone this would likely be a non issue, i mean google maps on android obviously has zooming issues but i wouldnt know it could be different if not for apple so i might not care.
i am also really curious to learn the technical explanation, and whether or not we should just get used to it. But its a very blatant effect thats happening so its surprising not much is said about it, i guess the people who havent messed with google maps on an iphone wouldnt even notice it as something that could be better and more accurate in the first place.
And I wouldnt mind that it has to load a new image for every pinch if it would just load an image of the level of zoom i pinched to, but youre spot on, it seems like it has certain levels of zoomed images, and it loads the image that is nearest to the one you pinch to. I mean almost everytime i zoom in or out, i have to take time to figure out what its showing me because it really isnt loading an image of where i think its going to be. And like you ive tried it on all sorts of androids, the ones you said plus the incredible, droid, and droid x and its across the board. still love the app, and im pretty sure apple doesnt get the free google navigation although i may be wrong on that. but its embarrassing that the stupid iphone does it so much better, it just aint right.
BTW i was messing with my friends I4 the other day, and the screen looked microscopic. I mean, its the most brilliant, crisp screen in existence on a mobile device, but i have a vibrant ive been using and compared to it, and even my nexus, that I4 feels like a g1!! i dont know why they are so proud of that 3.5" form...

Google Maps has several, predefined levels of zoom. Both on mobile and on desktop. You can easily see that - look at the ruler at the lower left corner and note the ~x2 changes.
On Android it just goes from one level to another.
I've never used iPhone, so I wouldn't know, but since the levels of zoom are the same across implementations, I guess that it's something else rather than "any zoom". I'll try to take one to play with to see what's the difference and find an explanation you're looking for.

Jack_R1 said:
Google Maps has several, predefined levels of zoom. Both on mobile and on desktop. You can easily see that - look at the ruler at the lower left corner and note the ~x2 changes.
On Android it just goes from one level to another.
I've never used iPhone, so I wouldn't know, but since the levels of zoom are the same across implementations, I guess that it's something else rather than "any zoom". I'll try to take one to play with to see what's the difference and find an explanation you're looking for.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any luck finding a 3g or newer to try Google maps on?
I think that setting aesthetics aside, I'm real interested because sometimes ill have a point picked out on the map, like and address or store or whatever, and I've zoomed in and the image it loads doesn't even have the point anymore, I have to scroll around and find it. But the point is clearly front and center while my fingers are still touching the screen, after ive pinched to my desired level. But then once I remove my fingers, its like rolling the dice to see what maps image its going to load. I really like Google maps, its one of the best things about android phones, navigation is superb. But the zooming problem is on every android and since its smooth and accurate on that "other" phone I'm sure it can be just as good on android. Hell its an android app for crying out loud!!!! So I'm interested to see what you determine.

I didn't have a chance to play with iPhone, but I've checked my own Google maps again, and I believe I know the reason for the behavior you're describing. It's a known bug, if I'm not mistaken (which doesn't make it less annoying). In any case, it's worth reporting to Google.
In Google maps on Android, when you pinch to zoom, you see the zoom-in to whatever is between your fingers. But when you release your fingers, the point to which the map zooms is - dead center of the previous screen, which does or doesn't correspond to the place you were zooming to. Try to do the following - load a map on any zoom level, move it so the center of the screen will be easily identifiable, and try to zoom on any point which isn't the center. As long as you'll keep your fingers on the screen - you'll see the point you're zooming into, and when you release - note that you have this object, that was right in the screen center before, zoomed in.
It's funny that this bug appears only on Android...

http://www.google.ms/support/forum/p/Google+Mobile/thread?tid=29c21834e668f277&hl=en
Here's another guy that noted it (and wrote his own code for multitouch controller):
http://code.google.com/p/android-multitouch-controller/
I believe there's no bug report on this yet, I didn't find one. So I opened one:
http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=12259
Please star the issue.

Does anyone "write" on their Note?

Just thought I would ask the question.
Do people use their Note to draw or write?
If you write do you use a specific software or the samsung installed keypad?
Just curious to hear some input.
I use an application called graffiti pro.
Sent from my GT-N7000 using XDA

yep..... once in a while

Yup....been writing on it since i bought it to replace my notepad/business diary.
i use it to jot down meeting key points and ideas.
why wasting paper...Go Green!

BayuDroidz said:
Yup....been writing on it since i bought it to replace my notepad/business diary.
i use it to jot down meeting key points and ideas.
why wasting paper...Go Green!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1..I do the same during meetings..at least its not too obvious that I am playing with the phone instead of concentrating in the meeting
Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk

i find it difficult and disappointing to take notes in classes or in meetings using S-memo app as touching the menu and/or back button happens almost everytime unless im extra carefull and focusing not to touch them , which in one way or another , counters the idea note taking freely...
dont get me wrong , this device is awesome , and i love it , but software wise its.......meh . it only lacks a few simple points and touches on the main apps it was promoted with... (simple palm rejection!? , or rejection of finger touches with the S-pen is active in the screen!? ,2 way automatic syncing or backup!? )
i know there r some market apps that can do that , but why Samsung just couldn't just do it with the bundled s-memo app ??? its not only about sketching and pressure sensitive points , those worth nothing as a "Note" taking device in my opinion.

Why not try FreeNote from Android Market instead of S-Memo? Freenote seems to be a bigger brother of S-Memo and it can easily "share" (which means, export) its notes to any app that can accept graphic files. I hope FreeNote keeps evolving, as it seems to have great potential!

Quite handy when getting a phone number on the fly or anything in that manner. I also write my grocery lists in here. And I'm using it quite often right now because of the Draw Something game.

Skitch + evernote combo works quite well for me

loads
I do a lot now. I also use skitch as I have everything in evernote.
The feel for me is that it is 'natural' to lift the Note and write a note . It looks and feels just like a pocket notepad. My writing is probably not as good as pen & paper, but with some effort it is passable.
The alternatives are tedious and intrusive. I either hold it two-handed and thumb-type, use swype, or have a BT keyboard. All are OK, but for some reason it is harder to concentrate on other people when typing.
In a meeting or conversation, the natural note-taking wins every time, as it is less intrusive and allows you to focus more on the people you are talking to, I find. YMMV.

Alternate Library App?

I recently got my NST and I simply love it. So much lighter and easier to carry than my Nook Color... So my question is: is there an alternate library app available? Something that has a bookshelf display like the B&N app, but can launch any ereader program I specify? Reason being, Fbreader is my reading app of choice, but it does not show up as a launch option from the B&N library. But when I launch epubs from something like ES file manager, the option to use Fbreader pops up. I would love to be able to select my book from a bookshelf and launch into Fbreader if possible... any advice would be great!

I use cool reader and I am asked to choose a reader when opening a book from B&N library. Are you sure that you didn't set the stock reader as default previously?

There are a few in development, such as EpubBrowser and eBookLauncher. Both have their own problems, some are just features that have yet to be implemented, others are severe and cause the screen to flash continuously even in the screen saver. I'm thinking the eBookLauncher will go farther though.

cceerrtt said:
I use cool reader and I am asked to choose a reader when opening a book from B&N library. Are you sure that you didn't set the stock reader as default previously?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've had the same experience with cool reader, but for some reason I don't like the font quality. It doesn't look really sharp like real type to me. Also, it seemed to add big line spaces between paragraphs on some of the books I was reading. I have Fbreader, cool reader, mantano reader currently loaded, but fbreader does not show up as a choice when I launch from the B&N bookshelf.

Googie2149 said:
There are a few in development, such as EpubBrowser and eBookLauncher. Both have their own problems, some are just features that have yet to be implemented, others are severe and cause the screen to flash continuously even in the screen saver. I'm thinking the eBookLauncher will go farther though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, I like these too, the issue is that I am really happy with the customizations I made with my go launcher setup, I really just want a library bookshelf like the B&N one....

Personally I think that the native Reader.apk is just fine.
This thread started about alternative libraries.
I have a Library.apk replacement that I've been working on.
It probably only suits me, though.
I don't keep a lot of books on my Nook, just a handful.
I don't use bookshelves.
I don't care for cover thumbnails since they are not supplied with many books.
I do care about lending expiration dates for books from my library. It shows those.
How many books do you folks keep on your Nooks?

Renate NST said:
How many books do you folks keep on your Nooks?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Anywhere between 3 and 15 at a time. Not many, and most I'm never going to read, I just keep them there because I 'want' to read them.

Hi, i find standard library.apk almost perfect too, but i wish a way to incorporate the calibre description for sideload books like those purchased trough B&N site
someone has succeded?

rawos said:
Hi, i find standard library.apk almost perfect too...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, I hate Library.apk. It's Reader.apk that I can live with.
It's Shop.apk that show you the info on books.
It's responsible for that really lame screen when you hit "More" on the Reader screen.
That's the one where it can only tell you the local file path of the book that you're reading.
This is through my own Library.apk, which replaces Home.apk and Shop.apk also.
You can either long click on a book in the search list or hit "More" in Reader.
Since I play it straight with library books, I like to know when they expire.

Just to show you all the stuff going on under the hood.
Here is a diagram of all the intents used in Home/Library/Reader/Shop.
Oh! It reduced it to nothing, even when you click on it.
The full version (3000 x 1250 pixels) is attached as a zip.

Here's a better version of the intents of the B&N reader stuff.

derelict said:
I've had the same experience with cool reader, but for some reason I don't like the font quality. It doesn't look really sharp like real type to me. Also, it seemed to add big line spaces between paragraphs on some of the books I was reading. I have Fbreader, cool reader, mantano reader currently loaded, but fbreader does not show up as a choice when I launch from the B&N bookshelf.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tested quite a number of apps and I really like that Cool Reader has an incredible amount of options to configure how it looks. In the image you can see how I configured it, totally minimally.
Cool Reader does a great job of reflowing the text with justification, hanging punctuation, hyphenation, kerning... I have not found any other app that could do this. The photo is what Cool Reader made from a simple textfile. And it even supports the buttons of the NST without any hacking.
But as you said, the rendering quality of the font is not that great. You can add custom fonts, on the photo it is the Windows version of Garamond (strangely, Adobe Garamond Pro looks significantly worse).
For the moment I am sticking with the default reader app and use it on PDFs that I prepared manually on my PC. That way I get really good type (using Garamond Pro). But of course that is more work.

Was liest du?

Renate NST said:
Was liest du?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kafka_on_the_shore

Renate NST said:
Personally I think that the native Reader.apk is just fine.
This thread started about alternative libraries.
I have a Library.apk replacement that I've been working on.
It probably only suits me, though.
I don't keep a lot of books on my Nook, just a handful.
I don't use bookshelves.
I don't care for cover thumbnails since they are not supplied with many books.
I do care about lending expiration dates for books from my library. It shows those.
How many books do you folks keep on your Nooks?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So... newby here. I love my nook touch glow, but i hate the library, i wish i can see more info, (series, autor, genre), any sugestions? pretty please?

Well, my app is just a boring list of books, about 15/page, sortable a couple of ways.
A long press brings up some metadata, including when the library book expires.
I've never run into series, so it doesn't do that.
I've modified Reader.apk so that it uses the "Back" button, handy for returning directly to the library.
After seeing the screenshots of some of the nice graphical libraries folks have produced, I'm loath to oversell my app.
It's really quite minimal.

Renate NST said:
Well, my app is just a boring list of books, about 15/page, sortable a couple of ways.
A long press brings up some metadata, including when the library book expires.
I've never run into series, so it doesn't do that.
I've modified Reader.apk so that it uses the "Back" button, handy for returning directly to the library.
After seeing the screenshots of some of the nice graphical libraries folks have produced, I'm loath to oversell my app.
It's really quite minimal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the response. You are so kind. Since I dont know almost anything about android progamming, (and english isnt my first languaje) I hoping you can help me (or point me somwhere) to do this. I tried to remap the buttons but when i did replace the android.policy.jar i bricked my nook (glow) so i had to restore it.
I also wish i could have a quick way to navigate the library, (like lists) or something because a i like to read 3 or 4 books at the same time.
Any Ideas? I tried relaunch but its to slow...
Anyway, Im rambling.... thanks!

A quick response:
Yes, the android.policy.jar is incompatible between the Touch and the Glow.
I use edited smali which causes the "n" button to go directly to the launcher.
With that, the QuickNav, the buttons at the bottom never appear.
I think that you need the QuickNav to turn on the glow, correct?

Renate NST said:
A quick response:
Yes, the android.policy.jar is incompatible between the Touch and the Glow.
I use edited smali which causes the "n" button to go directly to the launcher.
With that, the QuickNav, the buttons at the bottom never appear.
I think that you need the QuickNav to turn on the glow, correct?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, well the n button also turns off/on the light, but i would like anyway to put shortcuts ther for another apps, like cool reader, because the way i have it its just to much fuss to change readers!!! any suggestions!!!

I like the look and feel of the standard library app, but I hate the way you have to search through it. I have all my metadata set up but you can't access it. FBreader does allow the reading of tags, but I'm not sure if I like the gui yet.
Which apps support metadata?

[TABLET Z COMPETITION ENTRY]Tablet Z Smart House System [Updated 7/9/2013]

July 9th Update:
Sorry for the long delay everybody, I’ve just wrapped up moving and managed to get settled in a little bit. I’ll be able to pick up the pace over the next week. In the meantime, I’ve got a quick proof of concept project and that hint towards the mini project.
Let’s start with a quick review of the tablet itself. When you first pick it up, it’s wonderfully light and the rear has a great grippy-ness to it. The display looks fantastic and the system feels smooth & responsive. The second thing everyone will want to do (or at least I did) was test the waterproofing. Filled up the kitchen sink and ‘accidentally’ put the tablet in while my roommates were around. Several seconds of panic [on their part] later and the tablet works just fine. On the software side, the Sony apps look nice and cover basic functions like gallery and music. There’s a nice level of polish to the visuals. The remote and mini-apps work nicely, as I came to expect with my other Sony tablet. Every person I’ve shown it to has been quite impressed and intrigued by it. My Apple-loving friends no longer have any arguments about their iPad’s superiority (despite my older tablets being more powerful than their iCounterparts), this tablet has the design and build quality to stop them in their tracks.
As for Sony’s Smarttags, there’s not a lot to say about them other than that they’re aesthetically pleasing, relatively unobtrusive, and work well as an NFC tag. The software on the tablet does a great job of allowing one to customize actions to work with the tags.
As for the hint, I’m going to start with two of them, as I didn’t add one last week. This project originally began as part of this prescient home and then I decided I could adapt part of it to be more fun than practical.
1. A great place to set down one’s drink.
2. Tabletop gaming.
What I’m calling the proof of concept project was put together while moving. It starts with a secret… I’m a bathroom reader. Okay, so maybe that’s not a huge secret (books and magazines strewn around the bathroom is a bit of a giveaway), but it’s not exactly a polite conversation topic. It was conceived while describing the project to a friend who pointed out that he doesn’t cook, but there was an alternate use he found noteworthy (i.e. reading the royal reports on the porcelain throne). Henceforth this will just be described as the book preparation device (or BPD to save some typing). The materials needed are superglue, a sharp knife (preferably something like an Exacto), an NFC tag, and a magazine that you don’t want to read anymore. Use the superglue to laminate a block of pages together, either the whole magazine or just a section large enough to house the NFC tag. The one I did was about a 3 inch square through the whole magazine, excluding the cover. This also left the edges loose, providing a more authentic magazine look, rather than a big mess of superglue. Once this is set and dried, outline the NFC tag on the block for the pattern to cut. Cut and remove layers until you’ve made a cavity large enough for the tag to fit. Snugness is a personal preference, I left mine so that the tag was removable, but a tight fit and some glue could make this more permanent. Sony’s native Smarttag software works well for this application. Just customize the options so that the tag (blue in this case) triggers the tablet to open Play Books. A nice feature of Sony’s application is that there are ‘end’ actions, so a second contact with the tag causes a second set of actions to occur. I set this option to return to the home screen and read the time aloud (so that I know how late I am to wherever I’m headed). Once this is set up, leave the magazine near your reading chair. Place the tablet on the BPD as you sit down and presto! Your book is opened, as if by magic. When you’re done reading, set the tablet down again, stand, stretch, and poof! Your tablet has closed the book, told you how long you were lost in it, and is ready to travel to the next project.
I’ll add some pictures and a video here before too long. Maybe even a witty/catchy acronym to rename the project.
====Old/Original Posts Below===
Welcome to my secret underground lair... I mean thread detailing my entry into the Tablet Z competition. This first post will likely be a bit brief, but will hopefully clarify the concept of this project. This project will likely be a bit different than some of the software-focused entries, as the entire system hinges upon a series of physical constructs. As such, I'm going to attempt to detail every step, with hopes that some of you may find this interesting enough to try for yourself. I'd love to hear what everyone has to say and will try to respond to as many questions/input as I can.
Concept:
To utilize NFC and other features of the Tablet Z in order to produce a system which causes the tablet to perform actions in a semi-predictive matter.
Methodology:
I intend to modify items to produce convenient and unobtrusive ways of integrating NFC tags. This will provide the infrastructure for the system. On the device, software will be used to carry out instructions specific to the tag and other variables.
To put my sciencey talk into a more tangible example, take for instance the kitchen. What function would be handy for a tablet to perform by itself? The most obvious answer to me, is for it to open up a recipe. In order to accomplish this, I intend to create a stand with an integrated NFC tag, which would trigger the tablet to open a recipe app. Depending on the software side (which I plan on mostly using existing apps, as I'm not much of a coder), I would ideally have the system cross reference a menu that's been planned out (i.e. that you had planned for meatloaf on Monday night, the tablet would open directly to a meatloaf recipe). As a starting point, it will likely open to a random recipe. For anyone following along at home, the action should be easily modified on the software side. Perhaps some people prefer to catch up with HBO or listen to some Sinatra while cooking. The idea is in the same vein as the whole home-of-the-future concept.
This concept will be extrapolated to several rooms.Other planned functionality would be to automatically turn on the TV in the living room, play music in the den, set alarms in the bedroom, and perhaps a few other tricks along the way.
Before I wrap this post up, I'd like to say thanks to XDA and Sony for holding this competition and giving me the opportunity to create this project. I'd also like to say thanks to everyone who takes the time to follow the projects in this contest and hope that everyone has a bit of fun.
PS- This first week is going to be slow (I'm moving at the end of the month), but I'll try to post a hint towards the mini-project within this one. I'm attempting to keep it as a bit of a surprise.

Kitchen
Reserving some space.

Living Room
More space.

Bedroom
Spaced out.

Other/Etc
In space, no one can hear you wait between posts...

Seems interesting
Wish you good luck for the competition

[UT]Ubuntu Touch First Look - a personal Review

Hey guys! I’m doing a personal review of Ubuntu Touch on the Nexus4 device, and I thought I could share it with you.
It’s kind of a “Pros and cons” thing, but since I tend to get off-topic easily and babble a lot I’ve divided things in sections,
so you don’t have to read everything should you not want to.
Here it goes - Ubuntu Touch on the Google Nexus 4 (mako).
Installing Ubuntu has always been a pleasant experience for me. It feels open. Feels different. Feels fresh. Feels UBUNTU.
Installing any linux distribution on any PC makes mu blood run like crazy and Ubuntu Touch makes no difference.
It’s exciting to see something new and beautiful done for phones. And it’s even more exciting when you see it’s done with taste.​
Now just to be clear – when it comes to Pros and Cons I guess the “Cons” section would be obviously much larger,
but hey: it’s a developers preview of what we should be expecting so I’m willing to suck some things up.
Pros:
1. Design.
Ubuntu Touch feels like Ubuntu in your hand. I just have to say this. I’m not sure if it’s the fonts or the wallpapers or the
transitions or the launch pad on the left or something else that I couldn’t quite grasp and understand,
but the fact is UT feels right. Feels Ubuntu.
2. Screen usage
Almost every other mobile OS has some buttons be it hardware or software (eg. Android’s software buttons on the screen + the 3-dot thingy).
Ubuntu gives you the whole screen to have for yourself and your app. It’s amazing how even the “Contacts” app feels bigger and more open.
3. Docking
I haven’t had the chance to go through the UT docking experience yet. I don’t even know if it’s quite baked yet, but what
I’ve seen on videos and ads is pretty awesome. The very idea of it makes it way cool. Chuck Norris cool.
The vision that one can have his PC in his pocket at all times is nothing but genius.
4. Compatibility
Ubuntu aims to be compatible with lots of devices. Which is good, I guess. I just hope compatibility doesn’t come
at the expense of stability or power management or something else that might come along and present itself as an issue.
5. Stability
I am yet to witness an app to crash or force-close or just close or anything like that.
I do get some strange freezes for a few seconds every now and then though.
Cons:
1. Installation
Installation can present itself to be harsh on someone who know nothing about using the terminal. There was a small step
missing in the installation tutorial which can cause some people to get confused. Mainly people with no
prior unlocking/rooting/flashing ROMs experience.
2. Boot
No boot animation. First time the phone booted it needed quite some time and there wasn’t even a splash screen indicating
something was working. The screen had the backlight on and that was it. No shutdown animation as well. And while we’re
still on the subject: there is no shutdown menu, which was kind of strange – I mean when you hold the power button the
phone just shuts down – no questions asked. I guess that might be good in some situations, but I’d rather have the shutdown menu.
3. Overall performance
Overall performance is laggy. The “use-of-edge” design is pretty neatly thought of, but in real life it need polishing. A LOT of polishing.
Swipes act strange, I move from app to app by accident.. My personal guess is that one can get used to it in a couple days
but the swipes should take a step towards being more intuitive as well.
I didn’t like the fact that the music page doesn’t stream anything, but takes you to the browser and when you hit play on some
hit you’re supposed to hear you get a message that flash is not supported or crashed or something like that. It’s kind of frustrating.
I think a native app should be replacing that page on the home screen real soon.
4. Social media
Neither Facebook nor Twitter have native apps. All you get is a mobile version in the browser. I don’t think it needs further explanation.
I hope both Facebook and Twitter do something about this. I don’t think it’s up to Canonical to make apps for those… or up to the
community for that matter. Anyway. I didn’t see a LinkedIn, Pinterest or any other social platform on the suggested apps, so
I guess I’ll just stop here.
5. Graphical glitches
Sometimes things will shift aside or up and down and text would overlap. It’s not something you can’t live with – a simple swipe one
way or another – fixes it, but I think all would agree it’s not an eye-candy feature. There are a few of these throughout the system.
It’s nothing serious in my opinion, but I couldn’t bring myself to put it in the “Pros” section.
The clock disappeared form everywhere except the clock app. I mean it – everywhere. It’s not on the homescreen,
it’s not in the “notification bar”, it’s nowhere. It happened after I rebooted the device for the first time. Also alarms don’t
seem to be working at all.
//* after a second reboot clock reappeared. Alarms still don’t work though.
Another thing is after picking up a call and finishing it – when you put the phone away from your ear the screen won’t turn on by itself.
That’s kind of odd if you ask me. It’s like it knows I’m saying “goodbye” and saves my battery or something. It’s a minor setback,
but still. I noticed that during the dialing process screen lights up if you take the phone away from your ear. I haven’t read a lot of
UT documentation, so it might be on purpose – I’m just stating what I’ve experienced.
6. Navitagion
Navigation is bad right now, I think. It looks like the OS isn’t sure how to respond to your swipe. Transitions are slow in my opinion.
They should be a tad faster. A major setback is the back button. I mean seriously – how many times do you misclick on something
and want to go right back. Think about it. It’s at least a few times a day. I think the back button should be visible the first few seconds
along with the rest of the app menu – should there be one. Or maybe just put it in the top left corner next to the search. If you think there
is no space – the search can always morph into “just a button” ... Other than that I can’t complain about navigation – it’s pretty neat,
actually. Menus are simple and understandable.
7. Hardware glitches
Everytime I wake my device up my Bluetooth is ON and I need to turn it off manually.
I can’t say I like that at all but considering that is all I have to say about hardware glitches I think it's not that bad.
8. 3G
3G is really important. AND it works! There’s just now way to shut it off.
I mean sure – you can turn off the mobile data, but when it comes to choosing whether to use 3G or 2G Networks Only – you don’t really have a choice.
You’re stuck with 3G and all the disadvantages that come with it as well as the advantages.
//* We all know what happens to your battery when using 3G and I’m the kind of guy that doesn’t like to turn his mobile data ON and OFF all the time – it just stays enabled all the time and saves me whole lotta thinking. Not having the choice of switching back to “2G networks only” sends you straight in hell in terms of battery life.
9. Syncing
Since I’m obviously new to Ubuntu Touch I just recently started using Ubuntu One, but my gosh! Syncing contacts with Google is a
real pain in the ass. Since the Gmail app is not a native app, but a HTML5 client instead, syncing appears to be impossible at this point.
Users are forced to hook their devices up to a PC running Ubuntu and write a bunch of commands in the terminal over and over again,
since syncing only works for no more than 50 contacts at a time. That being said I have over 600 so I had to run the damn thing 12 times
in a row. Aside from that should you choose to add a new contact it won’t sync with Google automatically and upload your new contact
into the cloud where you can have access to it at anytime.
//*Note: AFAIK: iOS, WM and Android have pretty easy ways to sync contacts with Google. I think this is one of the things the guys at Canonical should focus on. Slick mail application and neat contacts syncing is vital to a lot of people and is a major reason why they never switch phones.
Final thoughts:
Ubuntu Touch aims to deliver something different and really special to consumers: a PC inside a phone. I think what they are truly
missing here is an app store of some kind. The OS suggests apps but I couldn't see an app for that and I'm guessing that is somewhat of a
setback as well. They’ve been doing really well and while for now the “Cons” section is significantly larger than the “Pros”
I have hope and faith that Canonical will pull this off eventually.
Aside from the hard installation and the lack of an eye-candy boot animation… and maybe some other minor tickles - the OS looks
and feels nice and really pretty in the palm of one’s hand. They still have a lot of work to do if they ever want to catch up with Android or iOS
in terms of usability, syncing, MTP and other stuff that average consumers don’t know and don’t need to worry about but would miss a lot.
If you don’t don't mind the fact it’s a developers preview and the camera doesn’t always start off properly and you have to shut it down and run it again it’s pretty impressive!
Conclusion:
There are a lot of words one can use to describe Ubuntu Touch, but in my opinion the high order bid is “Inspiring”.
Yes, there are some glitches here and there. There is a lot to do. But after seeing it and touching it with my own eyes and fingers well…
I have to say this – I am thrilled and I can’t hardly wait to see what will they make of it.
​

littlegreen said:
Yes, there are some glitches here and there. There is a lot to do. But after seeing it and touching it with my own eyes and fingers well…
I have to say this – I am thrilled and I can’t hardly wait to see what will they make of it.
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Honestly, i think this is nothing new and nothing special ;/.
UPD: The problem is your article is too generalised, viewing stuff too objectively. Your article must show your personal opinion and vision on stuff, more than boring facts.
And don't use Pros/Cons style, when it's all about cons, not pros. Just don't.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

reqmon said:
Honestly, i think this is nothing new and nothing special ;/.
UPD: The problem is your article is too generalised, viewing stuff too objectively. Your article must show your personal opinion and vision on stuff, more than boring facts.
And don't use Pros/Cons style, when it's all about cons, not pros. Just don't.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well since I only have a few hours of experiencing the OS I don't think generalising is an option per say.
Besides - I am an optimist. I try to see the good in everything and that is why I have the "Pros" list. Thanks for the advice though.

well i find your review interesting to learn about the basics of ubuntu
Can you report about the battery performance?