Why Android 5.0 isn't as big of a deal as you think

[thesachd]

Half the fun with the android updates is waiting to see how messed up they are after touchwiz and sense have been blended into them. Then you get to wait for the update to that update, good stuff...but it will be fantastic if and when your device gets it.

Initial videos from Samsung's TouchWiz Lollipop build seems that they have improved on their design language and may finally embrace Lollipop better.

HTC Sense, even the current HTC Sense 6 has a lot of elements from which Lollipop has been inspired. HTC Sense has never screwed up how Stock Android looks, at least visually and it performs amazingly too.

And unlike Windows Phone even phones that are abandoned do often get the latest features irrespective of what Android version that is running on them, usually through Play Services or the Google Play Store.

 

[etad putta]

If you aren't on a nexus device, it will still be messed up

 

[cbobb123]

If you aren't on a nexus device, it will still be messed up

How?

 

[Michael Alan Goff]

How?

Everyone skins it.

 

[thesachd]

If you aren't on a nexus device, it will still be messed up

Everyone skins it.

Skinning a particular device doesn't mean that it is ruined. Android's ability to be customised by manufactures has had significant advantages as manufacturers have the ability to actually "innovate."

The newer skins, especially HTC Sense can function in harmony with Material Design and don't ruin the way that it does look.

Get over this already.

 

[etad putta]

Skinning a particular device doesn't mean that it is ruined. Android's ability to be customised by manufactures has had significant advantages as manufacturers have the ability to actually "innovate."

The newer skins, especially HTC Sense can function in harmony with Material Design and don't ruin the way that it does look.

Get over this already.

All speculation. Show me a review on the touchwiz or sense versions for the sprint, att, verizon and tmobile versions of lollipop on the newest htc, samsung, and lg devices.

 

[thesachd]

All speculation. Show me a review on the touchwiz or sense versions for the sprint, att, verizon and tmobile versions of lollipop on the newest htc, samsung, and lg devices.

We can only speculate on what hasn't been released yet.

Please try to argue on the basis of what has been revealed, which is Stock Android Lollipop.

 

[etad putta]

We can only speculate on what hasn't been released yet.

Please try to argue on the basis of what has been revealed, which is Stock Android Lollipop.

Ok i guess on that basis i don't think everyone will run out and buy a nexus device to get stock lollipop. So 5.0 means a solid above average update for those that can get it. No one can answer more than that. I just GOOGLED "android phone sales skyrocket because of lollipop" and didn't come up with much. Maybe the public will be more impressed later.

 

[Michael Alan Goff]

Skinning a particular device doesn't mean that it is ruined. Android's ability to be customised by manufactures has had significant advantages as manufacturers have the ability to actually "innovate."

The newer skins, especially HTC Sense can function in harmony with Material Design and don't ruin the way that it does look.

Get over this already.

Samsung devices are some of the most powerful, and lagging, devices on the market. So, yes, it sometimes ruins it.

 

[thesachd]

Ok i guess on that basis i don't think everyone will run out and buy a nexus device to get stock lollipop. So 5.0 means a solid above average update for those that can get it. No one can answer more than that. I just GOOGLED "android phone sales skyrocket because of lollipop" and didn't come up with much. Maybe the public will be more impressed later.

The thing about Android is that even if your phone comes with a skin, Google does offer solutions directly from the Play Store.

You can get the Google Now Launcher, the Google Keyboard, Chrome, dialer, Google Messenger, Play Newsstand, Google Camera, Google Fit.

If you don't like the skinned Lollipop experience, there is always a solution on Android.

But on Windows Phone if you don't like something about the UI or launcher, too bad you are stuck with it for the most part.

Also I don't see how you come up with your logic, so you searched up that Lollipop boosted sales or not and came up with nothing.

Lollipop was meant to bring a new level of elegance and polish to Android, not to skyrocket sales specifically.

Did Windows Phone 8 skyrocket Windows Phone sales? Did 8.1? Did 8.1 Update 1 make a difference?

Samsung devices are some of the most powerful, and lagging, devices on the market. So, yes, it sometimes ruins it.

Samsung devices do lag, I agree. But they aren't the only Android devices that are offered to consumers.

And something I've noticed that Samsung devices generally lag in their own UI, as in they work pretty good in applications but work terribly in Samsung's interface.

Luckily you can do a lot to replace Samsung's UI if you want to and get Stock Android replacements for it.

 

[Michael Alan Goff]

The thing about Android is that even if your phone comes with a skin, Google does offer solutions directly from the Play Store.

You can get the Google Now Launcher, the Google Keyboard, Chrome, dialer, Google Messenger, Play Newsstand, Google Camera, Google Fit.

If you don't like the skinned Lollipop experience, there is always a solution on Android.

But on Windows Phone if you don't like something about the UI or launcher, too bad you are stuck with it for the most part.

Also I don't see how you come up with your logic, so you searched up that Lollipop boosted sales or not and came up with nothing.

Lollipop was meant to bring a new level of elegance and polish to Android, not to skyrocket sales specifically.

Did Windows Phone 8 skyrocket Windows Phone sales? Did 8.1? Did 8.1 Update 1 make a difference?



Samsung devices do lag, I agree. But they aren't the only Android devices that are offered to consumers.

And something I've noticed that Samsung devices generally lag in their own UI, as in they work pretty good in applications but work terribly in Samsung's interface.

Luckily you can do a lot to replace Samsung's UI if you want to and get Stock Android replacements for it.

Even if you go through those steps, TouchWiz is still there the instant you open up the settings or pull down the notifications.

 

[fdalbor]

My brother got it on his Nexus 10 and it distroyed it. It became unusable and he had to reset and return to KitKat. I got a notice that I could download it on my Moto G but I decided to wait and see for a week or so and see if any problems happen to people who do download it now. Only my backup phone anyway no hurry.

 

[thesachd]

Even if you go through those steps, TouchWiz is still there the instant you open up the settings or pull down the notifications.

To the best of my knowledge the notification centre on Samsung is one of the best implementations ever made, and I've not seen any lag on it so I wouldn't see a need to change it.

In fact it was so good that Windows Phone decided to copy it.

My brother got it on his Nexus 10 and it distroyed it. It became unusable and he had to reset and return to KitKat. I got a notice that I could download it on my Moto G but I decided to wait and see for a week or so and see if any problems happen to people who do download it now. Only my backup phone anyway no hurry.

I've come across reports, especially from those owning 2012 Nexus tablets about issues with Lollipop. But I believe most of those issues are resolved by either a cache partition clear or factory reset.

When an update rolls out initially, there are issues and this has happened on Windows Phone as we'll: http://www.phonearena.com/news/Nokia-Cyan-update-is-bricking-some-users-phones_id58292

 

[etad putta]

So thesachd, how does one factually determine whether 5.0 is a big deal or not? The bottom line is always money, that's why companies are in business. If 5.0 is a BIG deal it makes users of ios and all the others toss their devices and jump on board. If all it does is allow android to maintain its position it doesn't mean it's crap, it just means it's another nice move up the ladder. And of course everyone has problems with updates, but android is obviously in the worst position to do one smoothly due to the crazy fragmentation situation, and that won't change anytime soon. Unless, of course, 5.0 is so good that it causes all older android users to melt down their phones and buy the latest and greatest lollipop preloaded phones.

 

[thesachd]

So thesachd, how does one factually determine whether 5.0 is a big deal or not? The bottom line is always money, that's why companies are in business. If 5.0 is a BIG deal it makes users of ios and all the others toss their devices and jump on board. If all it does is allow android to maintain its position it doesn't mean it's crap, it just means it's another nice move up the ladder. And of course everyone has problems with updates, but android is obviously in the worst position to do one smoothly due to the crazy fragmentation situation, and that won't change anytime soon. Unless, of course, 5.0 is so good that it causes all older android users to melt down their phones and buy the latest and greatest lollipop preloaded phones.

You keep jumping from one point to another, which is something I've come to find slightly irritating.

You could easily determine how big an update is with the overhaul that it delivers, for example the update from Windows Phone 8 to 8.1 is a minor one. But the *upgrade* from Windows Mobile to Windows Phone 7 is a major upgrade(though it was on totally different hardware and not really an update in the same sense, but still a good example).

How much phones sell do not reflect on how good an update is. I would argue that Windows Phone 8 was a stellar upgrade but did it magically boost Windows Phone sales? No it didn't.

Lastly Android's fragmentation is as bad as it because of how many people still purchasing outdated devices and those that still own older devices not willing to upgrade. When there are millions, or possibly billions of devices, upgrading them becomes much much harder.

Windows Phone's fragmentation charts would have been more terrible than Android today, had it sold as many devices(especially those from the WP7 era).

Every OS has something great about it, which is why no matter how good one update from an OS maybe, not everyone will switch over.

Basically what I've deduced from your argument is that you mean to say that for an update to be "big deal" it must:

A) Make most(if not everyone) people from other OSes switch over

B) Boost sales by a huge margin.

If those two conditions aren't met, you wouldn't agree that an update is a big deal.

Windows Phone updates have never accomplished either, so would that mean that no update in the history of Windows Phone has been a "big deal"?

 

[etad putta]

thesachd you are correct, no big deal for android, no big deal for ios, no big deal windows phone. Nice steady steps forward with small regressions requiring more updates that are nice to get in a timely fashion. When the expert reviewers all stand up and run with with scorecards indicating max score on them, and when the money shifts in a large way to the competition, then you know you have something. Less than that is just an "Oh that's nice." upgrade no matter who releases what.

 

[Michael Alan Goff]

To the best of my knowledge the notification centre on Samsung is one of the best implementations ever made, and I've not seen any lag on it so I wouldn't see a need to change it.

In fact it was so good that Windows Phone decided to copy it.



I've come across reports, especially from those owning 2012 Nexus tablets about issues with Lollipop. But I believe most of those issues are resolved by either a cache partition clear or factory reset.

When an update rolls out initially, there are issues and this has happened on Windows Phone as we'll: Nokia Cyan update is bricking some users' phones

WP's action center isn't a cluttered mess.

 

[a5cent]

I would argue that Windows Phone 8 was a stellar upgrade but did it magically boost Windows Phone sales? No it didn't.

This highlights how after 5 pages, none of us yet know what this thread is really about, as I would claim the exact opposite. I think WP8.0 was a completely insufficient and insignificant update, pretty much the opposite of a "BIG deal". IMHO it failed to do anything relevant for WP users/upgraders except broaden hardware compatibility. It was important from a technical point of view, but that is all. I don't think either of us is necessarily wrong. It depends how the question is framed. Either way, it's why this thread has gone on for so long with little to show for it. Everyone and their dog has a different concept of what "BIG deal" means.

 

[etad putta]

At least we are being nice to each other. Only big deal I've seen is at the end of "Let's make a Deal"

 

[thesachd]

At least we are being nice to each other. Only big deal I've seen is at the end of "Let's make a Deal"

When reasoning does seem to have no effect on you whatsoever and we can't even agree on what a big deal is, I see no longer any point of continuing to debate.

This thread should maybe come to an end now.