"The application process com.mail.google has stopped responding" Or at least it was something like that. Why is it, that when you get something set up just how you like it, it goes and breaks or stops working? Most of my night/morning so far has been taken up with rebuilding my Nexus One's OS. Now, don't get me wrong, I love the hardware, the minimal design, the colour, etc. But even when throwing a 1ghz processor and 512mb of ram at Android, it's crap. Anyway, story time!
I moved from my Gen 1/2.5G iPhone on O2 (which I had from UK launch, costing £269 with a £40 per month, 18 month contract) to a G1 on T-mobile because when prompted to upgrade for free to an iPhone 3G on O2, they lied and wanted over £200. If my 'free upgrade' was indeed 'free' then I would probably have an iPhone 4 right now (ok, I'd be waiting for a white one). My G1 was free, it was the right price, gave me a touchscreen, 3G, GPS, etc and T-mo in the UK is one of the best networks. I love my tariff (unlimited text messages, unlimited internet) and I love the T-mo network, it has never failed on me. I will be sticking with T-mobile for as long as I can.
The G1, with Android 1.0 was shit. With 1.1, it was shit. With 1.5 and 1.6, it was shit. The phone was only decent when rooted and flashed with a custom build of Android, it showed promise and for a while I felt happy with my choice. Custom builds of Android improved and improved and I am amazed at what the developers have pulled from the G1, but it was getting too sluggish for what I wanted. The hardware was old when it came out and Android was being pushed on faster and faster devices.
Google announced the Nexus One. At the time of release, it had the greatest specs for a mobile phone and a brand new build of Android "the version to end all versions", 2.0. The N1 was a smaller phone than the G1, had a bigger screen, was faster and was actually Google branded. It was, in my mind, perfect. Considering my hands had started to get worse, I wanted an easy to use phone that did the work for me, so I ordered one.
The design is stunning, I love the design of the N1. Even now with the Desire being quite popular over here, the N1 still stands out. What lets it down is Android. Even with CyanogenMod (the Android Open Source Project), what lets the phone down is Android. Like tonight, the Gmail app broke, that was it. So the usual, permission fix, restore Google Apps, restore OS, then restore backup. Now wait a second, I just had to run a permission fix and a restore on my phone. It's getting ridiculous. Fair enough all modern smartphones have issues, but my iPhone was great and iOS evolved at a consistent rate.
I updated my phone to the latest CyanogenMod version, wiping and starting again from scratch to see if that would fix the problem. It didn't. I eventually got it working (I don't know how) but this is the last annoyance. The ideas behind Android are fantastic, the N1's hardware is fantastic (even though it's thoroughly destroyed by Samsung's new Galaxy S class phones and the new iPhone 4) but for some reason, together they just don't work. Even now Android 2.2 "Froyo", with things such as JIT and ARM NEON enhancements, Android feels sluggish compared to my iPad and it's almost painful to use. It feels bloated and wasteful.
The sad thing is, I wouldn't have noticed this at all if it hadn't been for one thing. The iPad. The iPad has made things easier for me in so many ways and it's made me realise how much I like iOS. Sure, it's not for everyone and it's getting a bit "2007 cliché" now, but I'm convinced that my next phone will be an iPhone. Android isn't unifying and evolving anywhere near as I hoped. I had such high expectations for it and Google even severed their partnership with Apple over it. Maybe over the coming months, with Android 3.0 on the way, if it can be simplified and less fragmented it might still win me back.
Android/AOSP, you have until October to win me back. Even with the reception issues, I will pick an iPhone 4 as my upgrade when it comes around unless there are some serious changes! Now I know I'm ranting into thin air (as hardly anyone reads this!), and one person won't make a difference to anything, but after hours of getting my phone back to how I like it, I realise that It'd rather have it do it all for me. I like the 'closed' ecosystem of iTunes, it's simple, hassle free and easy.
Maybe I'm just lazy, or relying too much on technology, who knows. I envy people who still use ageing Samsung phones with 4k colour displays or Nokia 3310s, because they don't need the things I do. If only my iPad could make calls using a bluetooth headset...
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