techcrunch: Surprise! Google unexpectedly announced the Android...

techcrunch:

Surprise! Google unexpectedly announced the Android N Developer Preview early. And to make things even easier for developers — and adventurous users — the preview is available as an over-the-air update.

Check out the early preview here. 

It looks *so* *bad*. It’s like Google hired Samsung designers to influence material design. Step backwards for sure.

via Tumblr http://bit.ly/23cB0sh

techcrunch: Google’s next version of Android is called...

techcrunch:

Google’s next version of Android is called “Marshmallow.” Google has made it a thing to name its Android OS versions after food, letter by letter in the alphabet ;) The new “marshmallow” statue was unveiled today on Google’s campus in Mountain View.

Check out video of how the statue was made and how they got it into place with nobody seeing.

It’s a cute statue, but I’m not the biggest fan of the name. Definitely not the biggest fan of the feature set.

via Tumblr http://bit.ly/1NDeqkm

Samsung Galaxy S6 Reactions

I just published this story on Medium. Please check it out. There are all sorts of photos and cool formatting things on the original post, which is why I've just chosen to embed it, rather than copy the content over.

Samsung Galaxy S6 Reactions

Let me know what you think in the comments, and please leave a recommendation on the Medium post if you liked it.

Thoughts on Galaxy S6 Rumors

Rumors are finally rampant regarding Samsung's next flagship phone. The three main rumors are that it will have (some varying degree of) a special, curved display, cleaner software, and a housebuilt processor. Here are my thoughts about it.

Lots of people are pointing to the Galaxy S6 coming in an edge variant, not unlike the Note Edge that was released in the fall. Some suggest that the main S6 will have two curves on it, covering both the left and right sides. Others, however, are suggesting that Samsung will look to mimic YotaPhone and put a screen on the back of the phone as well as a curve on the side.

If Samsung decides to put curved displays on the Galaxy S6, I will not be terribly impressed. It'd be yet another use impaired gimmick from the king of gimmicks, which is exactly what they don't need right now. But, if they do decide to go the way of the YotaPhone, they could create a really compelling success. The dual screen display could be useful, if implemented well, and Samsung is probably the only major company that could actually succeed in the implementation of this idea.

Will Samsung drop TouchWiz in the Galaxy S6? If so, would their phone be compelling? There is certainly a huge market for stock Android on more phones, particularly Samsung phones, but I'm not sure that I believe Samsung would be willing to do this. Also, most mainstream users actually like Samsung's TouchWiz, so I'm not entirely sure that it's a good idea to get rid of it.

Samsung is rumored to be using a home brewed processor instead of a Snapdragon. This would essentially knock us back to the pre-2013 Android roots of a dysfunctional app store where nothing was universal. This is a bad thing. Snapdragon is the reason for so much success in Android recently.

I remember the days when Android apps weren't universal in any definition of the term. Trying to download anything was a nightmare, because it was almost always guaranteed to not support my processor. The beauty of the dominance of Snapdragon processors is that recently, apps have run basically universally on all ~2013 and later devices. This is one of the biggest advantages of competing platforms: if you can download it, it runs. Dividing the ecosystem is a bad move, even if Samsung has the biggest market share in US Android.

In the end, I think the Galaxy S6 is going to be a really telling device for Android going forward. It may start a trend, and change the entire mobile industry, or it may create division within Android, rotting away the ecosystem, or it could totally flop and kill Samsung. We'll see what happens.

Quick charge vs wireless charging

There seems to be this move towards quick charging in the Android OEM world, and almost to the complete sacrifice of wireless charging. This misses the point of why wireless charging is great, though.

I will refer to quick charging as such, but also fast charging, and it goes by turbo charging as well. It's a Qualcomm technology, but every Android OEM that implements it has their own name for the tech. Know it's the same thing.

Don't get me wrong, quick charge is actually really cool. It's also not any worse for the battery than wireless charging, or so says Qualcomm, maker of the technology.

The real advantage of quick charge surfaces for the people that don't charge their phone every night. In my experience, there's a siginificant group of people who drain a battery near dead, and then charge it whenever that ~10% or lower battery occurs, and stop charging when they have to move from the power source. Alternatively, there are the super power users that simply have to charge their phone whenever possible, because they burn 30% battery an hour. In either case, though, they want to spend as little time tethered to the wall as possible, but they still want/need to get as much battery as they can. Especially with today's ~2900 mAh average flagship battery capacity, we need fast charging. Even Apple supports fast charging on their new iPhones by using an iPad charging brick.

So quick charging is great, and definitely has its purpose. But so does wireless charging.

Yes, wireless charging is a little bit slower than charging with a 1A charger. But it's a brilliant technology for the people that do charge their phones overnight. For example, the Nexus 6, with its 3200 mAh battery, takes around 4-5 hours to fully wireless charge from 0-100%. But that's not a problem for overnight. The advantage of wireless charging, then, is that it doesn't require plugging anything in. Especially with non-reversible USB connections in Android phones, this can be a challenge in the dark at night at the bedside. Wireless charging just requires the placing of the device on a pad. Done.

So, why aren't more OEM's supporting it? Well, there are still two major competing methods, those being qi and powermat. Qi is by far the most popular, but it isn't the industry standard, by any means. Also, carriers generally force manufacturers to not include wireless charging out of the box on US models, so that consumers have to buy accessories to support the feature. And consumers don't really know it exists, let alone that they should buy certain cases for it. Also, Apple hasn't chosen to support it on iPhone, yet, which is how most technology goes mainstream now-a-days.

And the biggest problem facing wireless charging right now is that it's still finicky if done poorly (which is likely why Apple hasn't decided to mess with it yet). It is incredibly convenient when done well, and I love it. But it's incredibly frustrating when it doens't work. The Nexus 6 is a perfect example of wireless charging done poorly. It starts with poor advertising of the feature, certainly. But it extends beyond that; the curve of the phone causes it to not sit well on many flat qi chargers, which happens to be the most common form that they take. This leads to it being hard for the coils to line up for the charging to occur, It's far too finnicky. It's especially surprising being that the Nexus 6 is the successor to the Nexus 5, which had a brilliant magnetic system with its OEM made charging pad that made lining up the charging coils fool proof. To be fair, the Nexus 6 charges great with the Tylt Vu wireless charging stand, but that's an expensive charger that not everyone will want.

Consumers just don't care about wireless charging enough for manufacturers to bother trying to include it. They'd rather focus on charging features that every consumer can understand and use as they always have. That's why we're seeing the quick charge push.

OnePlus has another new product that you can't buy yet

OnePlus is the OEM behind the One, which is a relatively cheap off contract phone running Cyanogenmod 11s on flagship level specs that has been a huge hit in the Android geek community recently. The phone started sales on an invite system, meaning that not everyone who wanted the phone were able to purchase it. There have been other issues associated with the phone, but that's another post for another day.

The first bit of good news is that the OnePlus One will be available for purchase by anyone, with or without an invite, "while supplies last" according to OnePlus' official website. This is about 5 months too late, but at least they've finally gotten around to letting people buy their phone. Do note, though, that this is clearly stated as "while supplies last" so I recommend buying a device as soon as you can if you're interested. I have a feeling that the supply isn't huge.

The thing about OnePlus and the OnePlus One is that the phone is being sold for so cheap ($300 for the base model off contract, which is less than half of the average flagship phone off contract) that OnePlus is essentially making no money on the sales of their devices (although, I mean, I'm sure they're making some money...). This is problematic for a business, since the whole point of a business is to make money, and it needs money to survive.

Part of OnePlus' strategy to make money, then, is to sell themes and other software to OnePlus One owners. But that can only take in so much money at $1-2 per download on an extremely limited user base.

OnePlus had initially planned to sell back cover replacements for the phone, but it now appears that that plan has been scrapped, and that the company is focusing on back covers for the next generation of their phone.

So how else is OnePlus going to make money, you ask? Well, we're seeing the strategy unfold now, and it looks like accessory sales are the name of the game.

As reported by AndroidAndMe.com, OnePlus announced today a portable external battery pack made to match the two existing OnePlus One models, those being the "silk white" and "sandstone black" models. They appropriately call the product the OnePlus Power Bank. The battery pack carries a charge of 10,000 mAh, which is more than enough to give any modern smartphone at least two charges.

Now, battery packs aren't new by any means, and while I am a sucker for matching items, I wouldn't buy a new battery pack just to match my phone. But the real beauty of this battery pack is that it's dirt cheap compared to the competition. OnePlus has announced the price as $14.99. That's an incredible deal if you've ever looked into purchasing external rechargeable battery packs on Amazon.

But, of course, the usual OnePlus comes back, and this product isn't yet available for purchase. AndroidAndMe.com reports that OnePlus will have the power banks available "soon." However, as we've seen with the One, "soon" might mean a couple months.

Are you excited for this ultra cheap battery pack? Are you buying the OnePlus One as you read this? Do you hate OnePlus as a company? Personally, I'm really looking forward to this battery pack actually hitting the market, but I'm not buying a One, because it isn't supported by my carrier.
 Let me know what you think in the comments.

Hearthstone is (finally!) available on Android

Source: http://toucharcade.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/hearthstone.jpg

One of my favorite games on iPad is now available for Android powered tablets.

That's right, as of right now, you can download Hearthstone from the Google Play Store to your Android tablet. The game is free to play, and offers in-app purchases. Let the downloading ensue.

There is talk that the game may come out for phones (Android and iOS) as well, being that current phone hardware is more than up to the challenge. I'm personally curious as to how they plan on implementing the game on a phone screen. I'm also curious as to whether or not anyone would want to play the game on their phone.

If you haven't heard of Hearthstone, it's an electronic trading card game based loosely on the mechanics of Magic the Gathering. It's been simplified from Magic's physical card game roots, but it retains all of the fun play-ability and strategy of the inspiration.

The game has been available on PC for over a year now in beta form and full release, and has been on iPad for a little less than a year. One of my friends was in on the beta, and he actually got me hooked on the concept. It's really quite addicting.

It's sad that in 2014 we still see Android launches lag behind iOS launches, but hopefully Lollipop and Google's recent developer focused efforts can remedy this.

King of the Tablet Market, If the Market Even Exists...

So, here's a thought:

iPad is the undisputed tablet king. No, that's not the thought, I just needed to lay that out as a bit of exposition.

iPad is the best tablet on the market today. But perhaps that says more about the industry than it does Apple's own design and marketing prowess.

Perhaps iPad is the best because tablets are not the future. Perhaps tablets existed to help us transition to larger screen phones. Apple capitalized on this the most. Other manufacturers, meanwhile, realized that this wasn't part of the long term tech end game, and put out half-hearted attempts or nothing at all.

Think about it, though: what were the best non-iPad tablets? The Nexus 7 lineup were the only good selling flagship tablets. Why did these devices sell well? Primarily, they sold well because they were (are?) cheap, but still work well enough. Google and Asus didn't build the Nexus 7 to radically alter what a tablet is or what we could/should do with it. The Nexus 7 is/was simply a device designed for content consumption.

I think size is relevant as well to this idea. Non-iPad tablets have never really been successful in the ~9-10" range, but sell acceptably in the sub-8" category. This is reflective of the idea that the tablets are for media consumption; these tablets are for doing things on the couch or in bed. iPad, on the other hand, tries to be more with its 9.7" screen. There's room to do more than just read and watch videos. Sure, the Surface Pro 3 has succeeded (on a curved grading scale) at being a "productive" tablet, but I would argue that particularly because of its unoptimized operating system, it's actually a touchscreen laptop, not a tablet.

One of the biggest problems with iPad, though, is that despite Apple's best efforts to make the tablet useful, and despite excellent efforts from developers, iPad is still not the *best* tool for a lot of jobs that I do. There are CAD apps for iPad, but my computer is better for that. There are video editing apps, but a Mac would be better for that. I can bang out a paper, blog post, or long email on my iPad, but my laptop is better for that.

I'd say there are only two areas where iPad is equal or better in experience to a laptop/computer, and those would be photo editing and music making. The caveat here is that I'm talking about photo editing for people who have insufficient experience with Adobe Lightroom, Aperture, and/or Photoshop for the desktop. User-friendly photo editing (you know, for amateurs) is excellent on iPad. Music making follows the same line, in that powerful composing apps like Logic Pro are only available, or just far better on a laptop/desktop. Even some of the more serious elements of Garage Band are just better with a mouse than with a touchscreen. That being said, there are some excellent composing apps like Novation Launchpad, Beatwave, and Figure for just goofing around with music, or composing amateur electronic beats. I imagine apps similar to Finale would work pretty well on a touch interface.

In any case, where tablets are great is reading, web browsing, and watching video. But really, for these things the best device for the task is the one that you have with you. And as a culture, we always have our phones with us. This is why Samsung is putting heart rate monitors on their flagships, and Apple, HTC, and LG are putting motion trackers in theirs (but that's a post for another day).

Because of this, our phones have been steadily growing in size, to the point where the 5.7" Samsung Galaxy Note 4 no longer seems like the giant it once did. I can definitely image a world and a day where the value of the tablet is miniscule. With proper interconnection between large phone, computer, watch, and television, there would be little need for the tablet.

So here's my thought: perhaps Google recognized this, and that's why they didn't make a more serious play at the market. I mean, they literally didn't update the Nexus 10 for three years. And the Nexus 7's were always meant as budget devices. Perhaps Google saw the long haul even as well all held out with our 3.5" iPhones claiming superiority. Perhaps Google was willing to watch the tablet market slip to Apple, because they knew it wouldn't matter in the long run.

And look, they may be starting to be right. Apple's iPad sales are slipping. Consumers aren't upgrading their iPads.

And sure, Google released the new Nexus 9 with HTC, but by most reviews and impressions, the tablet is a very budget device released at too high of a price point. I also think it's worth noting that the tablet only comes in 16 or 32 GB, which seems to place it in a less serious light than iPad, which you can get in 16, 64, and 128 GB.

Samsung hasn't been so willing to surrender the market, but I really hope that their tablet releases (up until the Galaxy Tab S) have not been an honest effort at winning the market, because they've been terrible across the board. The latest tablets from Samsung are only notable because of the thinness, light weight, and excellent (if oversaturated) screens.

This is just my thought, though. Let me know if you agree, disagree, or your feelings are more complicated than that in the comments. Do you think tablets have a future? Do you do awesome things with your iPad?

Innovation, Iteration, Adoption, and the Nexus 6

"Nexus 6 is too big for right now, but right sized for the future"

Image Source: http://i-cdn.phonearena.com/images/articles/
146377-image/Google-Nexus-6-unboxing.jpg

That's what Darrell Etherington at TechCrunch said of the 6" screen phone from Google and Motorola. It's a decent article (and it's short), so I definitely recommend you check out his insight. I linked it above for your convenience.

As for me, I think that this same basic idea is the problem that Android has always had to deal with.

One of the beauties of Android is that there are multiple OEM's that use it as an operating system on their devices, so we see many iterations of devices every year. Manufacturers compete with their own previous models and also with each other in order to produce the best devices (or the ones that sell the best). This leads to a much more rapid rate of improvement over companies that control the hardware and the software of their devices (Blackberry, Apple). I attribute the rapid rate of improvement in Android since Gingerbread to this rapid iteration of devices.

The problem, though, is that this rapid iteration doesn't always end up like manufacturers intend. For example, NFC has been essentially standard in Android phones for years, but only now are we starting to see the potential of a real mainstream roll-out or adoption of the technology. Qi wireless charging has been available on many Android phones for years, and it still isn't really being adopted on the mass market. I fear the same thing will happen with the recent quad-HD screen trend as well; we won't have mainstream quad-HD content for years, if we get it at all.

It's great to be on the bleeding edge of technology. As a geek, I love this kind of stuff. But you have to also be able to see that adaptation and change take time.

This is what Apple has been good at since the launch of the iPod. Apple doesn't invent that much new technology (although they like to make it seem like they do, if you watch their keynotes). What Apple does is adopt technologies at the right time so as to make an impact. Their slow iteration approach has worked better for them to this point (I feel that they are suffering from this, now, but that is a post for another day).

This is what ties us back into the article that I started with at the top of the page; the Nexus 6 is too big for today. Yes, there is a "but," but it remains to be seen how important that will be. The question comes down to how soon will society change so that the Nexus 6 is perfect?

The OG Samsung Galaxy Note was ahead of its time. Samsung's strategy of throwing everything at the market and seeing what sticks payed off with that device, and as a result, they essentially own the "phablet" market. The thing is, though, that until last year (and more so this year than last) did the large Note size phone really hit the mainstream. It was too ahead of its time, and most people weren't ready for it.

Meanwhile, Apple didn't make the jump to the larger screen phone until now. And while they didn't make the best optimizations for their device, you cannot say that they are too early to the large device market. A 5.5" phone is no longer the weird monster phone that the OG Note was in 2011.

In case you're not an Apple fan, I also think that Android Wear was an execution by Google that was actually timed appropriately. I think Google waited long enough for companies like Pebble to drum up support and awareness for smartwatches, and then launched a product that just works better (with Android).

So, yes, I think the Nexus 6 captures the current track of technology. I can definitely imagine a future where we return to having a smartphone and a laptop. I can especially imagine this as the current movement towards ecosystems continues (smart homes, Android TV w/ chromecast, Continuity + Handoff, etc). Or perhaps the future is one where tablets still exist, but they're more of a one per family media consumption device, or only used for specialized artistic (or otherwise) tasks.

Again, the question is: is that future coming soon, or is that future a year or more off?

Because I can say that right now, the Nexus 6 is just too darn big.

Large Screen Optimizations

It's interesting to see Apple finally battle Android OEM's in the giant phone space.

To my perceptions, Apple's strategy to justifying the larger screen is to fit *more* of whatever content you're working with on the screen at once. This can be seen in the two columned landscape view. This can also be seen in the Messages app, for example, where contacts' photos are displayed. This is really smart, especially considering that the brain can't actually multitask. There is some argument for more than one window, but I'm not convinced of the user experience of that on a phone screen: A laptop, yes, a tablet, maybe, but not a phone.

On the other hand, Samsung and LG have opted for putting more apps on one screen as the justification. Samsung has opted for windowed apps on their Note devices, which are their truly "large" screen devices. This "true multitasking" is more reminiscent of traditional desktop operating systems, and thus sits better with the "windows types" as I refer to them. Sony and LG support certain apps working in small windows, but they are not nearly as well developed as Samsung's offering, and honestly I'm okay with that. LG and Samsung also support a split screen function, which I actually think works okay, though I argue that given proper app store support a la Apple, this split screen wouldn't be necessary.

Google, in partnership with Motorola, on the other hand (yes, I have three hands) seems to have made no justifications for the big screen. Stock Android 5.0 is as Lollipop on the Nexus 6 as it is on, say, the Nexus 4, 5, or 7. This is not the right strategy for a truly consumer device, but the argument could be made that the Nexus program has always, and still is, about developers and OEM's not consumers.

How do you want your large screen to be used? Do you even want a large screen phone? Let me know in the comments.

Thoughts on Nexus and Android Lollipop

I felt like compiling my thoughts on Android Lollipop and the latest Nexus devices. Here they are: 

Nexus 9:

I really like the size decision for the Nexus 9. As I've stated previously, I think the size was more of a necessity for Google rather than a conscious decision of the perfect size for a tablet. That being said, I think that for me, it would be the perfect size. I often find that my iPad Air feels too large for what I'm using it for, by iPad mini's in the past have felt too small for what I want to do with them (and again, as I said previously, the mini size [~8"] is rather too small when modern phones are ~5-6").

Related to size, but not the same, is the aspect ratio. I know a lot of Android fans were unhappy with the decision to forgo the 16:9 aspect ratio in favor of the 4:3 aspect ratio. I, however, am a fan. Yes, this does make the tablet less space efficient for video watching, but it arguably makes it better in every other respect. I think the biggest advantage of the different ratio is that it truly differentiates the tablet from just being a big phone, something that Android tablets have struggled with traditionally. The disadvantage, though, is that the more tablet-like aspect ration will make the lack of true tablet apps for Android more of a glaring issue. 

That being said, I don't think this is the tablet to compete with, or beat, the iPad. The biggest advantage of the iPad is more and better apps. I really appreciate Android's far superior scaling abilities, meaning that phone apps will at least work without being  the disgusting iOS blown up what have you. The problem, though, is that most apps have a true, dedicated iPad layout, or even separate app on iOS, which just leads to a better experience. Until developers back Android as a tablet platform, OEM's will never be able to compete with Apple, even if they were to make superior hardware (which, based on early reviews, the Nexus 9 is not). 

Nexus 6:

The Nexus 6 looks like a crazy awesome phone. Basically, if there's a spec that you are looking for in a phone, it has it. But I'm not looking for the biggest, baddest specs, I'm looking for a great experience. 

The Nexus 6 is too big. Google's big arguing point recently is that they fit a 6" screen in the footprint of iPhone 6 Plus. But iPhone 6 Plus is too big as well, so I'm not really sure why they want to use this as a defense. The larger screen also makes one-handed use harder, even if the footprint is that same, because the finger has to cover more real estate. 

I would also argue that the quad HD (2K) screen is unnecessary. Something higher than 1080p might be necessary just because of the screen size, but there's not a real benefit to full 2K other than padding the specs. This is one thing that I appreciate Apple for doing, which is refusing to continue with the pixel race. 

I don't really the overall look of the phone either, even though I think the design is pretty solid. This is definitely going to be a more durable phone than the Nexus 4 and Nexus 5 before it. But, then again, it should be given the cost. 

I'm up in the air about the phone. I am more than ready to eat my words once I feel the device in hand, but I'm also not holding my breath. 

Nexus Player:

I feel like the idea of the Nexus Player is what Apple TV should have become already. But that's just it, it's an idea, not a full execution, and Apple likely is working through a similar idea, and they're just waiting to reveal it until the idea is fully fleshed out.

Games are a great idea. There are so many wonderful, console like games on mobile platforms, and I really want to play them on a TV with a controller. A potential problem is that the power in the box could be very fragmented, making the gaming experience poor. The voice search is also an incredibly good feature. I honestly think it's the best feature available on the Amazon Fire TV. I love the feature, and it definitely will make the intentional search process better than what's currently available on Apple TV. 

Even though the interface is borrowed from the Fire TV, it looks great. Google successfully made an interface that's easy and intuitive enough to navigate on the television. This is surprising to me, honestly, because Google isn't exactly known for making great interfaces, especially on the first iteration. But perhaps this is a sign of the new, post-material design Google. If that's the case, I am very hopeful for the future.

The biggest issue that faces the Nexus Player is whether or not developers will support Android TV. The device and operating system has great potential. But it's just that: potential. Google TV had great potential, too, but the support just wasn't there. Gaming on Android TV will only be as good as the support for games from developers is. Apps will only work as well as developers make them work. I really hope the developers jump on this great new platform, because the potential is truly amazing. But I remain skeptical.

Android Lollipop:

I think the design has grown on me. Initially, I really hated the new look of the OS, and was left wishing for the return of Holo. However, like with iOS 7, I now quite like the design, or at least am used to it enough that I don't hate it. And the features are certainly nice, and absolutely worth it. 

The most important thing about Android Lollipop and its look is that finally we have a cohesive design on Android. Google tried in the past, but they never fully succeeded in making an OS that looked like it was truly designed together, not as separate pieces. Arguably, they finally did a better job than Apple at making a cohesively designed mobile operating system. Like it or not, I think material design is one of the most important updates to Android. Material design is the reason we got Android 5.0, and not Android 4.5.

The new multitasking looks great. I like the card approach, and I think that having chrome tabs and Gmail emails (and other things as supported by developers) open as separate multitasking cards is going to be really useful. I don't want to say that it'll be huge, but it'll be nice. Someone else had argued that this was Google attempting to better tie Chrome OS into Android. I'm not sure on how I stand on that point, besides to say that it'll make switching back to the right page easier. 

Google Now is probably my favorite part about the Google ecosystem. And that's understandable, considering that it's essentially the main driving force behind a lot of their products. The more I use it, the more it does things "auto-magically" for me, and I absolutely love it. The nice thing with Android is that Google Now just does more on that platform. 

I love the lock screen notifications on Android Lollipop. It is absolutely a feature taken straight from iOS, but that's not a bad thing. It's a useful tool, and a great use of the lock screen. For me, it's more useful than lock screen widgets. Google's implementation isn't the most elegant, but it's the best that they could do given the existing notification paradigms that exist on Android. 

One thing that I love about Android in general is developer support for interactive notifications, widgets, etc. While these features now exist on iOS, I haven't seen the adoption that I have on Android. There are literally widgets for anything and everything on Android. There are only a few widgets on iOS, and most of them aren't that good, in my opinion. I also haven't seen many developers take advantage of interactive notifications on iOS, and those that have haven't really done it that well. Apps like GroupMe just launch you into the app if you press "reply" from the notifications actions.

These are my thoughts on the Nexus and Android Lollipop announcements, but I'm interested in hearing yours. Let me know what you think in the comments. 

iOS 8 is what sold Android to me

iOS 8 is what really sold me on Android. And I'm not talking about the bugginess of iOS 8, or some of the debacles with the software launches (iOS 8.0.1). Hear me out:

iOS 8 turned me on to Android because it helped me realize what I've been missing.

Now, Apple fans, hold onto your hats, because I'm not saying that iOS is bad, nor that Android is perfect. For me, Android 5.0 is doing a lot of things right, and is the better ecosystem for me. But that doesn't take away from the Android ecosystem and what it has to offer.

The Apple ecosystem is great. I really appreciate how much the operating system thinks for me, and makes my usage seamlessly good. I originially jumped into the Apple ecosystem because I didn't *want* to think about my phone.

Over my two years of using my iPhone, though, I came to realize that it is something that I would think about no matter what. And as I did think about it, the lack of customization started to bother me. Some of Apple's decisions bothered me - they worked, but I felt like something else might be better (swype typing, for example). I also wanted to change my default apps.

The thing was, though, that I could still justify Apple's decisions being that I couldn't make customizations and experience them all day every day (I tested Android devices every time I could, but that was for short periods of non-real-world use).

iOS 8 changed this for me. I have widgets in my notifications center. I have SwiftKey enabled as my default keyboard. I can (more so than before) use my own apps instead of Apple's apps through extensibility. And it actually works, and improves the experience.

And I want more.

Android does all of this customization, but it does it smoother and better. Additionally, I haven't seen the developers on iOS support widgets the way that they do on Android, which is unfortunate.

I haven't had major problems with iOS 8, so again, don't read this as one of those "iOS sucks now, so I'm switching" kind of posts. The third party keyboard support isn't perfect (it's pretty laggy to load) but other than that, I haven't had major issues. It's been as Apple-y (smooth and thought free) as ever.

But even more than the customization is just the reality that I will think about my phone, and that's not going to change. I manage my RAM on my iPhone, even though iOS can and will do that for me. I manage the storage on my device, even though iOS can do that for me. I manage battery life, even though Apple does a lot to make me not have to.

iOS 8 wasn't the only factor in my desire to switch, as I will detail soon in a future post, but it was a factor.

Let me know what you think in the comments below.

Is the Google Now Launcher Actually Android Silver in Disguise?

In case you hadn't already heard, the Google Now Launcher is now available to all Android devices running 4.1 and newer. Details are included in Google's official video below.



My question is: could this be the Android Silver program that everyone was talking about?

For those of you that don't know, for a couple of months before Google I/O, there were lots of rumors surfacing about the end of the Nexus program, and the start of launching flagship devices from OEM's with stock Android.

I haven't been putting much stock in the rumors, because I don't feel that's an approach that Google would take. The Nexus program has been growing and shows strong sense of life, and I think it would be stupid for Google to kill that. Likewise, OEM's would not be happy with Google, I would think, releasing Google versions of their devices sold mainstream, not just through Google Play. Android skins are how OEM's feel like they differentiate themselves from the competition. Not to mention the fact that they would sell a lot fewer devices that weren't running stock software.

My thought is, though, that the release of this launcher to the Play Store is actually what Google was doing, and that this is the rumored "Android Silver." It fits with Google's assertion that they aren't killing the Nexus program any time soon. It also gives non-stock devices a more Googley feel.

I think this is one of the best things to happen to Android since project butter, by the way. But I'm interested to know what you think. Do you think this is "Android Silver?" Do you believe the Nexus line is dying? Let me know in the comments.