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Stupid Android UI strikes again

W

Wheresatom

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Mar 20, 2007
Messages
1,390
I have seen several articles today mentioning an exploit found in specifically the Touchwiz implementation in the Galaxy S II.

http://www.theverge.com/2012/9/25/3403928/samsung-touchwiz-reset-vulnerability

I think the case against manufacturers proprietary user interfaces is mounting further and further. With the release of ICS and even moreso, Jellybean, Android really doesn't NEED a manufacturer's interface overlay. How much longer does anyone think it will take before these things like Touchwiz, or Motoblur or Sense just become an app that you can optionally enable, but that they will come out of the box without all that nonsense automatically turned on? Is it a hopeless dream?
 
They won't ever be disabled by default.... It's the only way for the manufacturers to differentiate themselves in the eyes of most consumers
 
It seems to me that being able to dial your phone into oblivion isn't a particularly wise design decision anyway.

I just bought one of these instead of an iPhone, and the first thing I have to worry about is a vulnerability.

Figures LOL
 
TechLarry said:
It seems to me that being able to dial your phone into oblivion isn't a particularly wise design decision anyway.

I just bought one of these instead of an iPhone, and the first thing I have to worry about is a vulnerability.

Figures LOL
Click to expand...

bring it back and get a nexus from google store :eek:
 
Bring your phone to the carrier, don't let the carrier bring it to you!
 
I've been running stock android since I rooted and modded my HTC Hero a few years ago. I hope that future "skins" are limited to widgets otherwise I'm sticking with Nexus devices or at least devices with unlockable boot loaders.

Also, why does every manufacture change the button layout order on the capacative buttons? I can't stand how the S3 has the "back" button is on the right instead of the left.
 
I actually like Motoblur.

The portal software for moving music/movies from your PC to your phone is very non intrusive and sometimes I forget I have it installed. Its also very quick at converting (as well as checking it will work on the phone) prior to moving to your phone.
 
TechLarry said:
It seems to me that being able to dial your phone into oblivion isn't a particularly wise design decision anyway.

I just bought one of these instead of an iPhone, and the first thing I have to worry about is a vulnerability.

Figures LOL
Click to expand...

Better than worrying about buying an iphone.
 
You can say whatever you want but android is going to have custom UIs for some time perhaps for a long time. Even with windows some OEMs would make docks and a bunch of junk running. Each company needs to differentiate to keep customers hooked on them and not allow them to just jump ship to any other android maker. This is why both MS and Google are learning they have to get into the game of hardware themself.

If it is not enabled by default why would companies even ship it? They are going to enable it by default, or not ship it at all.

The most likely way that custom UIs would be killed is if google either totally wins the smartphone race then tells OEMs thats how it has to be, or they kill everyone but say apple and decide that is needed to finally kill apple.
 
W.Feather said:
They won't ever be disabled by default.... It's the only way for the manufacturers to differentiate themselves in the eyes of most consumers
Click to expand...

I think that's what manufacturers believe. It's entirely false.

There's probably about -2 people in the world who ever bought a phone for its UI overlay (although plenty of us that bought for the lack of a specific one, or all).

The majority of smartphone buyers look at the casing, price, and brand of a phone (i.e. is it Apple or not). That's it. Most don't comprehend or care about the UI, let alone the UI overlay.

Especially in the US, a customer either goes online and chooses a phone, which means he or she won't even see the overlay until they're using it. OR they go into a shop and look at meaningless spec numbers for about two seconds, then stare at the case for a minute, then touch an icon and open up an app and possibly play around in the app. Again, majority of time spent looking at the phone's form, not function.

Go ahead into any Sprint/Verizon/ATT/TMo store. Watch the people in there. You'll see them pick up a phone and tilt it this way and that, look at the back, feel its heft. You're not going to see people play around with the adjustable brightness on TouchWiz's notification bar or dissect how much screen space Sense's homescreen wheel wastes.

All they know about a UI is: push-square-thing-get-fart-app.
 
Your argument could also be an argument for UI customization. I can tell you the UI is part of the equation not the biggest part, for android right now that is hardware, IE fastest CPU, and best / right screen. But its more than 2 people who pick a brand because they are used to it. For whatever percent of people that is the companies want to hold those customers. If others value other things then the UI may not be seen as a negative. That said the UI matters to me, if all things are equal I take a nexus or HTC phone specifically due to software and UI.

I also think you are thinking about it wrong, first of all in the greater scheme of things smart phones for the masses are very new. So it is actually really critical to carve out the need for your product now. Second while you may say the UI does not matter tell that to the millions of people who buy apple products for which the UI is the driving force and has been for decades. Other companies may put too much weight on this but apples success is driving everyone else to try to get that addiction to product be it right or wrong. This is especially true when you consider the fact that most phone makers with the exception of samsung have very little control over hardware because they don't make much or any of it. Apple makes nothing hardware wise and so the UI is their only point of distinction, the same with many others like LG who might make displays but little else and HTC who might put phones together but has no control over SOCs, displays etc... All these players are forced to compete with each other to negotiate the prices and availability of parts like SOCs, and displays which pretty much decide the quality of the phone.

People get used to finding things in certain places or specific widgets and apps that come with a phone. And then they don't want to change I have seen this in many of my family members who ended up picking a different brand on my recommendation.

I think I like many others here would prefer a standard UI, we are just explaining why in reality that wont happen for a while, if at all.
 
The only major phone manufacturer right now that has a skin that tries to stay true to the original aosp apps is motorola with their android 4.0 skin. Almost every app is based on the original aosp with a few added features (actually useful believe it or not) or a darker skin, many of which I actually like. The only thing they should do is ditch the goofy app icons.
 
blackhand1001 said:
The only major phone manufacturer right now that has a skin that tries to stay true to the original aosp apps is motorola with their android 4.0 skin. Almost every app is based on the original aosp with a few added features (actually useful believe it or not) or a darker skin, many of which I actually like. The only thing they should do is ditch the goofy app icons.
Click to expand...

You find them goofy?
 
Trimlock said:
You find them goofy?
Click to expand...

They are strange looking compared to the stock android icons and don't fit the aesthetic of the rest of the icons. If they switched them it would be so close to aosp I think most people wouldn't complain about skinning. They actually added some nice features to the email app like swipe to delete. You can actually configure that gesture to do other actions. Unlike touchwiz and sense they didn't rewrite the entire email app and just added the features to the stock email app. This significantly reduces the number of additional bugs/incompatibilities added by manufacturer skins.

I have a galaxy nexus and nexus 7 so I have aosp stock, but I am glad to see that someone isn't completely bastardizing android with their skin. Samsung in my opinion does that.
 
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