Here's a TGIF story that hints at a deep technical and business/culture problem with Android phones and Google. I don't think this problem is so bad on other phone brands, is it?
* Last December I downloaded several app updates to my "unbranded" development Nexus 5 and I didn't read (or understand) one of the screens and I accidentally downloaded a complete OS update and blew $135 in 30 seconds because I wasn't at home on the wireless. I had to ring Telstra and beg them for a discount, and luckily they gave me a $100 discount because I had never exceeded quota before. After rebooting the phone I find it has completely changed appearance to be "materiel design" and I can't find anything, and some buttons have turned into little "darts" leaving me floundering to even figure out how to send an SMS. * Two weeks ago I wanted to show some family photos on my phone to a friend. I click the usual "Photos" icon I'm presented with an unfamiliar incomprehensible screen about synching and Google+ apps. I don't have time to read this woffle, so I click crap everywhere to get out of it and back to my photos. I eventually arrive at the photos and find they have a new arrangement by date group, scroll differently and the older ones I want are missing. I scroll and click until hell froze but I could not find the photos and I was livid with rage that someone had subverted my phone from under my nose. The next day I stick the phone into my PC and eventually found the photos, and I also found an obscure "Data Folders" menu I previously missed that displays the old photos. After an hour of web searching I could not find a clear explanation for what had changed. It has something to do with the default photo app changing to Google+ (which I don't even voluntarily use). * One week ago I tried to take some photos at a concert and I suddenly find the camera app has completely changed with little preview "dots" and a weird 3D warping preview and I have no idea what the screen is showing or telling me. Once again I don't have time to sit down and fiddle around with menus and buttons to find the original phone screen, so I guess it's working and I press the button and it looks like it's taking photos. When I get home I discover I have taken no photos at all, but was actually inside some sort of panorama feature that I don't care about or need. By fiddling with the new camera screen menus I eventually find it has 4 "modes" and one of them is the plain camera. So this vital app changed under my nose and the default was something useless and confusing. You'd think the UI of a phone would be easy to navigate, but after having it for 18 months I still get completely lost trying to find some setting and often stumble into screens that I've never seen before and are incomprehensible (either because I never went there before or the OS or app has silently changed). The other day I was so f**ing angry with the phone's UI and navigation that I threw it across my desk, and it popped into a configuration screen I didn't know existed. Wonders never cease! Okay, so what the hell is happening in the Android phone world. Who's running this circus and who the hell has the right to completely change the OS and UI of vital apps secretly while I'm looking the other way? Imagine if they built aircraft like this ...who'd fly? *Greg K*
