On Fri, Jul 3, 2015 at 9:22 AM, Greg Keogh <gfke...@gmail.com> wrote:
> 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. > There's an option that prevents this from happening. Also, you can set cell data monthly limits... > 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? > My sympathies. Microsoft are usually the ones that do this to me with inter-version changes in UI design in Office, OS, and VS. I hate that for similar reasons.
