My HD7 - Initial thoughts, please tell me yours! - HD7 General

I picked mine up yesterday, within 2 minutes I had it unlocked....I'm coming from an iPhone 4.
I have to say, coming from the iPhone 4 I've been spoilt to an extent. But what I have to keep reminding myself is the fact that iOS4 is pretty much in the autmn of it's lifespan and is going to need a massive update at some point.
Before the iPhone, I had a couple of Android devices and on paper, Android is the ultimate geeks phone. The only issue I have with it, is how it looks. It just seems so "Raw" and non-pleasing on the eye and the fragmentation of builds is a problem for me. one or two different versions is semi-acceptable but with Gingerbread soon to come out, We'd still have modern handsets scattered between at least 3-4 builds of the OS and that to me is just "Messy". Half the problem is the network providers stupid roll-out phases, which are pretty much worthless as we saw what a POS the O2 2.1 Eclair was like for the Streak (If you didn't, it was a disaster)
I've been following WP7 since it's very first announcement, so the 23rd has been a date in my calendar for a while now. I managed to pick up my HD7 this weekend and so far, I'm a little bit on the fence. The UI is exceptional, I love the vector styling with the Metro UI. I like the whole contemporary text off the screen, I truely love it. WP7 does some things really well, but others are just lacking. The lack of the custom Ringtone is really, REALLY annoying. The fact that it seems impossible to delete an email address you add to the phone seems outright ridiculous....for instance, I incorrectly entered an email address, so it won't sign in. I can change the password, but not the email. I look under the settings and I see no option to remove the account. The manual only shows you how to add them as well, not remove.....???
That is unacceptable in my opinion.
The best way to describe it is I feel this is more a pre-release version of the handset. Having come from a test / QA background I'm just not sure how certain parts of this were signed off. I knew the phone was never going to be "Open" like android, but some of the restrictions are frustrating. Just as I think "God, this is going back!" I then find something I like, which totally changes my mind. I think I'm going to continue using it over the next few days and see how I get on.
What is everyone else's overall opinion so far?

risq said:
I picked mine up yesterday, within 2 minutes I had it unlocked....I'm coming from an iPhone 4.
I have to say, coming from the iPhone 4 I've been spoilt to an extent. But what I have to keep reminding myself is the fact that iOS4 is pretty much in the autmn of it's lifespan and is going to need a massive update at some point.
Before the iPhone, I had a couple of Android devices and on paper, Android is the ultimate geeks phone. The only issue I have with it, is how it looks. It just seems so "Raw" and non-pleasing on the eye and the fragmentation of builds is a problem for me. one or two different versions is semi-acceptable but with Gingerbread soon to come out, We'd still have modern handsets scattered between at least 3-4 builds of the OS and that to me is just "Messy". Half the problem is the network providers stupid roll-out phases, which are pretty much worthless as we saw what a POS the O2 2.1 Eclair was like for the Streak (If you didn't, it was a disaster)
I've been following WP7 since it's very first announcement, so the 23rd has been a date in my calendar for a while now. I managed to pick up my HD7 this weekend and so far, I'm a little bit on the fence. The UI is exceptional, I love the vector styling with the Metro UI. I like the whole contemporary text off the screen, I truely love it. WP7 does some things really well, but others are just lacking. The lack of the custom Ringtone is really, REALLY annoying. The fact that it seems impossible to delete an email address you add to the phone seems outright ridiculous....for instance, I incorrectly entered an email address, so it won't sign in. I can change the password, but not the email. I look under the settings and I see no option to remove the account. The manual only shows you how to add them as well, not remove.....???
That is unacceptable in my opinion.
The best way to describe it is I feel this is more a pre-release version of the handset. Having come from a test / QA background I'm just not sure how certain parts of this were signed off. I knew the phone was never going to be "Open" like android, but some of the restrictions are frustrating. Just as I think "God, this is going back!" I then find something I like, which totally changes my mind. I think I'm going to continue using it over the next few days and see how I get on.
What is everyone else's overall opinion so far?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The feelings mutual.
I like the HD7 but a couple of things annoy me:
1) I cant import my sim contacts..
2) i cant stop it from syncing my hotmail contacts.
But i dont see any issue that an update cant fix which is a good sign.
I think its early days, developers and updates will iron out all the problems eventually.

rafter_01 said:
The feelings mutual.
I like the HD7 but a couple of things annoy me:
1) I cant import my sim contacts..
2) i cant stop it from syncing my hotmail contacts.
But i dont see any issue that an update cant fix which is a good sign.
I think its early days, developers and updates will iron out all the problems eventually.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Am I insane or is it actually impossible to remove a LIVE email account....as I mentioned above, I incorrectly entered the address (Missed a letter) and now, for love nor money I cannot amend the address nor outright delete the account and start over. It's horrible, as It just stands out "Your attention is required" Just let me DELETE THE ACCOUNT!
Looked through all the manuals, HTC stuff, Windows site....simply cannot see an option.
any idea?

Can you add a Google Account (EAS) and have it sync contacts and calendar from there. What it you have no or some contacts in your Live account, will they overwrite or integrate the Google contacts.
Does WP7 display and sync shared calendars or only the primary?

Mujja said:
Does WP7 display and sync shared calendars or only the primary?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Only the primary calendar currently but you can have it display multiple live account calendars and gmail calendars I believe.
risq, it doesn't look like you can delete the main live account you entered when you set up the phone initially (I might be wrong though). You CAN remove other email accounts in the Settings > Email & Accounts screen. Press and hold the account you want to remove and you get a 'synchronise' or 'delete' option.
I haven't tried it but maybe for the main account, try adding the correct live account, then it may allow you to remove the one that doesn't work?

Thanks for your review it really helps, i currently have an iphone 4...thinking of selling it to get an hd7...do you think it is currently worth doing or should i wait so they can iron out the bugs??...As i understand you cannot tether as well also whats the keyboard like vs the iphone?...i had an hd2 and hated the keyboard...

Theguru1 said:
Thanks for your review it really helps, i currently have an iphone 4...thinking of selling it to get an hd7...do you think it is currently worth doing or should i wait so they can iron out the bugs??...As i understand you cannot tether as well also whats the keyboard like vs the iphone?...i had an hd2 and hated the keyboard...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i can tell you one thing, the keyboard is amazingly quick and responsive on the HD7. My mate has a IPHONE4 and he thinks HD7 keyboard is awesome...

To delete an account
goto settings
goto accounts and email
long press on the account you want to delete

rafter_01 said:
The feelings mutual.
I like the HD7 but a couple of things annoy me:
1) I cant import my sim contacts..
2) i cant stop it from syncing my hotmail contacts.
But i dont see any issue that an update cant fix which is a good sign.
I think its early days, developers and updates will iron out all the problems eventually.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I thought you could import sim contacts, I've not put a contact on a sim for a couple of years now but...
Go to settings,
swipe the screen from system to applications
tap People
there is a import sim contacts button there, it's not useable on my handset but then I know there aren't any sim contacts there, you may get more mileage.
As to annoyances, my biggest gripe is volume control, who thought it was a good idea to have one central volume setting, have the ring tone high to be able to hear the tinny rings, start using Zune with a set of headphones, take the volume down to a listen-able volume and then when finished have to put the volume back up for the ring tones ARGGHHH /rant sorry

I agree, the volume setting is a bit annoying and slightly unusual. Like I say, it's almost like they've chucked WP7 to the angry mob to rip it to bits and provide feedback on how to improve it..
at least that's what I hope they've done. Like a Commerical BETA.

interesting comments.
I still feel that WM7 is more rounded then the first version of iOS or Android
Sure MS have had some time to develop it but broadly the biggest pain to me is no removable SD card.
Everything else will be fixed by firmware. I understand the Q1 firmware release will be hugh (cut & paste, etc.)

thanks
so jump ship or stay with iphone 4 until the bugs are sorted and more features are added?

Theguru1 said:
thanks
so jump ship or stay with iphone 4 until the bugs are sorted and more features are added?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey,
If your an App whore and cant stand not having them....stick with the iPhone4
I have the HD7 and there are some things which really have peed me off, however coming from a 6.5windows mobile phone I have the biggest smile on my face
its a matter of time until Microsoft iron out these small little bugs, but overall an awesome phone/OS which will get better over time

lol i'm kind of an app whore but there is too much crap on there...300,000 apps and more than likely 90% of them is utter rubbish...
i have an ipad so i think have an ipad and iphone is too much wp7 seems to be a fresh approach on the OS and lets face iOS 4 needs a face lift its kind of boring now...and wp7 exactly does that...i'm just worried about bugs i had an hd2 before iphone because there were alot of things that bugged me about it...thats why i questioning wp7...

Initial thoughts
Been lurking around these forums for a very long time, only now decided to make an account so this is my first post i guess!
back on topic;
brought my HD7 this morning from o2 (pay and go)
It feel and looks brilliant, screen is quite sharp and looks very pretty regardless of what youre doing on the phone.
Sound quality isnt anything to drool over, you can hear things, it does its job but could be better.
Sound quality during phone calls is a bit better, but again, could be better.
Performance is great, UI is quick and pretty and works like a charm.
Charged it from close to empty to full within 2 hours, although the battery got quite warm which worried me, as ive never experienced that with a phone before.
Physical buttons on the device are are good, camera button works really well as do the volume rockers. However the power button up top has a VERY soft feel to it, (No click as you press it). not sure if this is how its meant to be, or if its the way it was designed. (Anyone confirm if there power button is the same?)
I think as the market store matures, the device will get even better along with firmware updates, and i look forward to experiencing them.
Obviously these are just my own personal opinions~

will hd7 work on att network?
I have the hd2 on att now and i know htc is releasing the srrond for att, but the 3.5 screen seems to be a step backwards, so more interested in the hd7.. Anyone know how hd7/windows 7 plays with exchange?

how would you compare the speakers quality comparing to an iPhone 4 or Nexus One ?

Finally made a decision and pre ordered from letstalk. Got tired of waiting on info from dell about the Venue. May get it later but know I will love the Hd7. Just hope the screen is better than my Evos

I think you need to Reset the phone to remove the main Windows Live Account (and all data!)
Ian

cjindustry said:
I have the hd2 on att now and i know htc is releasing the srrond for att, but the 3.5 screen seems to be a step backwards, so more interested in the hd7.. Anyone know how hd7/windows 7 plays with exchange?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The HD7 works well with my Exchange 2010 server. Some things missing that are present in iPhone 4 which frankly surprised me ..
1 - No content search of email
2 - No Search on server option
In its defence though the HD7/WP7 works well in offline mode - something that really frustrates on iOS
ian

Related

YAY! Finally got the NoDo update...

Really Microsoft?? The much awaited, much anticipated "NoDo update" and all we basically got was copy & paste?? Aside from that I don't see much difference in the performance of my phone. My phone is stock with minimal apps installed on it and it is still a piece of **** and missing some features that would've made me keep this phone. I was holding off getting rid of it to see what this NoDo update had in store and it was pretty much a waste imo. NoDo sucks, Windows Phone 7 sucks, good thing I still have all my Android phones to fall back on. I don't even think the recent news of Android possibly being ported to the HD7 is gonna keep me from not getting rid of this phone. Craigslist, here I come. Let's see what kind of trade I can get for it cuz I don't even want money for it.
P.S. Microsoft, the C&P ain't even that great!
I'll Give you a +1 regarding the NODO update being not as much as we would like it to...
But with regards to the OS itself I personally love WP7 having Come from android and having flashed hundreds of ROMs on my Hero
I think MS has done a brilliant Job with WP7 ( Yeah we still dont have a lot of Apps)
But It comes with the ones one would normally use in daily life
like Facebook, ebay, live messenger etc and not to mention the brilliant email system which lacks in android (For me the email part is the best I have seen) and the ability to pin to start my favourite apps or even websites.
I am sure the MANGO update will solve our woes and am seriously looking for a NOKIA Branded WP7 as that definitely be a killer phone.
As of now I am pretty happy with the phone as it serves my daily purpose.
But I Guess Its a Personal Choice
julez456 said:
Really Microsoft?? The much awaited, much anticipated "NoDo update" and all we basically got was copy & paste?? Aside from that I don't see much difference in the performance of my phone. My phone is stock with minimal apps installed on it and it is still a piece of **** and missing some features that would've made me keep this phone. I was holding off getting rid of it to see what this NoDo update had in store and it was pretty much a waste imo. NoDo sucks, Windows Phone 7 sucks, good thing I still have all my Android phones to fall back on. I don't even think the recent news of Android possibly being ported to the HD7 is gonna keep me from not getting rid of this phone. Craigslist, here I come. Let's see what kind of trade I can get for it cuz I don't even want money for it.
P.S. Microsoft, the C&P ain't even that great!
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mr8820 said:
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Found an error in your picture so I thought I'd fix it for ya real quick.
Your welcome
March 2011
OS version: 7.0.7390.0*
*
•
Copy & paste. You asked for it—now it's here. Just tap a word and drag the arrows to copy and paste it on your phone. You can copy text from emails, text messages, web pages, and Office Mobile documents, and paste it anywhere you can type. To learn more, see Copy & paste.
*
•
Faster apps and games. Nobody likes to wait. That's why we've whittled down the time it takes for apps and games to start up and resume. It's all part of our focus on getting you to the things you love, easier and faster.
*
•
Better Marketplace search. We've streamlined Marketplace search to make it easier to find specific apps, games, or music. Press the Search button in the Apps or Games section of Marketplace and you'll see only apps or games in the results. Press Search in the Music section of Marketplace to search just the music catalog.
*
•
Other Marketplace improvements. We've improved the stability of Marketplace while you download apps. We've also improved the experience of downloading apps larger than 20 megabytes, upgrading from trial apps to paid apps, sharing links to apps via email, sorting Xbox LIVE games by release date, and creating an Xbox LIVE account from within the Games Hub.
*
•
Wi-Fi improvements. We now display your phone's Media Access Control (MAC) address in Settings. (You might need this info if you try to connect to a Wi-Fi network that uses MAC address filtering. To learn more, see Connect to a Wi-Fi network.) We've also removed the limit on the number of Wi-Fi profiles that you can store and reduced the time it takes to start your phone if you've stored lots of Wi-Fi profiles.
*
•
Outlook improvements. We've improved the experience of viewing iPhone photo attachments you receive from a non-Exchange-based email account (such as a Google Mail, Hotmail, or Yahoo! Mail account), using the Global Address List (GAL) when connecting to Exchange Server 2003 using Exchange ActiveSync, and working with email display names that contain brackets (for example, "David Alexander [Contoso]").
*
•
Facebook integration. We've improved the experience of syncing Facebook accounts.
*
•
Camera improvements. We've improved the stability of switching between camera and video modes.
*
•
Audio improvements. We've improved the experience of using a Bluetooth headset to make calls when you're playing music or videos.
*
•
Other performance improvements. This month's update also includes software from several phone manufacturers that improves the performance of specific models. Naturally, if you don't have one of the affected models, we won't install this portion of the update on your phone.
This list has been available long before the update. Have fun with Android.
julez456 said:
Really Microsoft?? The much awaited, much anticipated "NoDo update" and all we basically got was copy & paste?? Aside from that I don't see much difference in the performance of my phone. My phone is stock with minimal apps installed on it and it is still a piece of **** and missing some features that would've made me keep this phone. I was holding off getting rid of it to see what this NoDo update had in store and it was pretty much a waste imo. NoDo sucks, Windows Phone 7 sucks, good thing I still have all my Android phones to fall back on. I don't even think the recent news of Android possibly being ported to the HD7 is gonna keep me from not getting rid of this phone. Craigslist, here I come. Let's see what kind of trade I can get for it cuz I don't even want money for it.
P.S. Microsoft, the C&P ain't even that great!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why don’t you look for a job at engadget if you want to rant about how terrible this OS is. Your profile shows you as a member since 2008 with 169 posts mostly about android. You describe yourself as "android enthusiast, other OS curious" and looking through your posts all I can find recently is stuff pertaining to Android; which is why I will call you a fandroid troll.
So kick rocks fandroid troll. Go play with your phone in the Android forum
TechJunkiesCA said:
Why don’t you look for a job at engadget if you want to rant about how terrible this OS is. Your profile shows you as a member since 2008 with 169 posts mostly about android. You describe yourself as "android enthusiast, other OS curious" and looking through your posts all I can find recently is stuff pertaining to Android; which is why I will call you a fandroid troll.
So kick rocks fandroid troll. Go play with your phone in the Android forum
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly..Android enthusiast, other OS curious. I've had Windows phones in the past but didn't like them much. (T-Mobile Dash, the silver T-Mobile phone with the slide out keyboard-can't remember the name, the Touch Pro 2) The phones themselves were fine, especially my Touch Pro 2 that I regret selling to this day but Windows Mobile was never my cup of tea so I switched to Android when the G1 came out. I was curious about WP7 when it first came out which is why I bought the HD7 but Microsoft has not been able keep my curiosity with this new OS. It is boring to me. Once again the phone itself is dope but the OS isn't kicking it with me..it gets boring rather quickly. The reason most of my post recently are Android is because I have 5 Android phones and only one WP7 phone that I ain't liking much right now. I wouldn't consider myself a fandroid troll like you labeled me because I try other OS's and try to like them and don't live by Android completely. You think I like dishing out $400-500 for a phone just so I can come into these forums and talk **** about the OS on it?? I also own an iPhone 4, a Macbook Pro and all 4 generations of the iPod Touch which is something I'm sure you wouldn't hear an iOS enthusiast say. WP7 sucks IMO..that's my opinion and its not coming from an Android troll.
how can i download the NoDo update for my hd7
magicalan said:
how can i download the NoDo update for my hd7
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Use the wifi toggle method. I kept waiting and I forced it to update to nodo.
Toggle on airplane mode. Then turn on wifi. Plug into zune and let it update. Find the average time it takes to say no updates available. Then do it again and turn off wifi on your phone 1 or 2 seconds before it finishes searching for an update.
Took me about 15 tries or so but it finally worked!
magicalan said:
how can i download the NoDo update for my hd7
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Blue1k said:
Use the wifi toggle method. I kept waiting and I forced it to update to nodo.
Toggle on airplane mode. Then turn on wifi. Plug into zune and let it update. Find the average time it takes to say no updates available. Then do it again and turn off wifi on your phone 1 or 2 seconds before it finishes searching for an update.
Took me about 15 tries or so but it finally worked!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With almost 2000 posts and that big cheezy smiley I'm pretty sure magicalan already knows how to download NoDo if he hasn't done it already. I'm pretty sure he was being sarcastic when he asked that question.
Lol. Didn't even notice that.
tfn said:
I'll Give you a +1 regarding the NODO update being not as much as we would like it to...
But with regards to the OS itself I personally love WP7 having Come from android and having flashed hundreds of ROMs on my Hero
I think MS has done a brilliant Job with WP7 ( Yeah we still dont have a lot of Apps)
But It comes with the ones one would normally use in daily life
like Facebook, ebay, live messenger etc and not to mention the brilliant email system which lacks in android (For me the email part is the best I have seen) and the ability to pin to start my favourite apps or even websites.
I am sure the MANGO update will solve our woes and am seriously looking for a NOKIA Branded WP7 as that definitely be a killer phone.
As of now I am pretty happy with the phone as it serves my daily purpose.
But I Guess Its a Personal Choice
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am sorry but I have to disagree with you and agree with the original poster, i have had this paper weight around since November to see what this update will do and its crap, nothing important changed.
You say great email? The HD2 email system was fifty times better for two main reason: Select All, and ability to view many email addresses on one place.
You praise that you can pin it to your home screen? hell any phone u can do that, and it will even tell u how many emails you got on the home screen.
But for a real email user who has several accounts to track with over 100 emails per day per account, WM7 version is crap, I have to go back to the home screen every time to access the diff account ( should be able to select which account I want to view when in email reader, basic feature, HD2 had it, why not HD7? this is a newer OS with lack of common features? makes no sense.
Then I have to tap and open the selector and then manually select any where from 30 to 100 emails to delete? manually? i mean comon windows 3.1 had select all, 15 years ago. Same for SMS, u cant select all to get rid of lots of emails.
Our color options of the live tiles are still designed for a 5th grader school girl.
The Hard ware is great, no doubt, typing is much better and the way you interact with the phone, but the OS is just bleak.
One of my biggest ? for Microsoft... In what century did man develop the rational that placing data in a table vs one verticle row makes more sense? I wanna say some time in BC?
when you open up my programs on you desk top, yes u can select to have them all lined up in a row and be long as hell, but u can also place them in tables so you fit more data on one screen since were dealing with a smaller screen. why do we not have that option here? every phone even before touch screens displays programs and data that way. ....???
Im sorry guys, ive said this before and will say it again. this phone has one great feature, you can spy on your friends via face book faster cuase your home tab will tell you when they are taking a dump.
other then that, is a great piece of hard ware, running a strip down windows3.1
and the more you look into the Nokia and Windows working on a phone together announcement will show you that MS realized that this phone flopped, and that they need to do something drastic now to get back in the game.

Is turn-by-turn nav part of Win8..or just Nokia Lumia?

As per title, i cant figure this out. My carrier seems to only be getting the Samsung ATIV S, and i use turn-by-turn alot on my Android device. Im worried about losing too many features such as Turn by turn, and a proper notification center?
Second question, how do WP8 users see notifications, do they have to open the app to check?
Rekzer said:
As per title, i cant figure this out. My carrier seems to only be getting the Samsung ATIV S, and i use turn-by-turn alot on my Android device. Im worried about losing too many features such as Turn by turn, and a proper notification center?
Second question, how do WP8 users see notifications, do they have to open the app to check?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nokia announced that they would provide Nokia Drive for other OEMs as well but it is up to those wether they will deploy it through the Marketplace. Currently we don't know for sure bit I guess the feature will show up.
For Notifications there are PopUp Messages at the top of the screen (Toast-Notifications) but unlike Android they vanish from there after a set time (a few seconds). Aside from that there are Tile notifications. Depending on the App that can range from simple counters (which can also be configured to be shown on the Lock screen (but a limit numberbpf apps can reside there at the same time)) to textual representations or full images. Those show up on Tiles that are pinned to the start screen.
Concerning the Turn-by-Turn functionality I would suggest to wait until we have a statement by HTC and Samsung on the situation.
No voice turn by turn on any WP8 device except Nokia.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Nokia Drive is coming to all Windows Phone 8 devices if other manufacturers/carriers choose to offer it.
Nokia Drive+ is exclusive to Lumia devices and has some fancy features and enhancements.
prjkthack said:
Nokia Drive is coming to all Windows Phone 8 devices if other manufacturers/carriers choose to offer it.
Nokia Drive+ is exclusive to Lumia devices and has some fancy features and enhancements.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This
Sent from my One X using Tapatalk 2
On the Nokia Drive + BETA app as it is listed, I went to download the USA map, and it was 2.4GB. I cancelled the download and just got Indiana instead. That was 140MB. It does warn/maybe require to download maps over WiFi rather than using cell data.
There are several turn by turn GPS apps in the marketplace. None of them really stack up to Google Maps on Android - or Nokia Drive on Lumias for that matter. But as other have said, Nokia is making Drive available to others.
As far as a notification center goes, thats a questions that always makes me grin. Your entire homescreen is a notification center really. If youd like a more centralized place for all of your social media updates and such, you can pin yourself to a tile. Then your "me" tile will auto update with all of your personal notifications.
I don't understand how OEMs get a say in what you can install from the Windows Phone Store. Either Nokia Drive goes in the store or of doesn't. What am I missing?
Cant we grab the XAP file. I have the xap for drive 3 but it is having issues with the signature but could we not resign it with a test one?
Rekzer said:
As per title, i cant figure this out. My carrier seems to only be getting the Samsung ATIV S, and i use turn-by-turn alot on my Android device. Im worried about losing too many features such as Turn by turn, and a proper notification center?
Second question, how do WP8 users see notifications, do they have to open the app to check?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nokia Drive is good, and you should be happy with it when it goes live for other devices. It's not as good as Google Maps, but I expect it will be getting better quickly. The only two real drawbacks to Nokia Drive is that it does not show an mage of your destination when you arrive, and the blocks are empty of buildings. Other than that it gives timely notice of when to turn, runs happily when gps signal drops, warns you when you speed, and is responsive when you pan around on the map.
The notification center is sadly missed. Hopefully something like it will be quickly implemented. What is even more missed is the quick setting in the notifications menu, or a quick settings tile.
Love comments about the lack of a notification being a good thing because the main screen is a notification centre. What nonsense. What is the point of toast notifications if you don't have a notification centre? There isn't one.... Its a major omission and yet ms find time to add rubbish like kids corner that is good for how many people? Microsoft really need to get a grip.
Sent from my Windows Phone 8X by HTC using XDA Windows Phone 7 App
DoogieDC said:
I don't understand how OEMs get a say in what you can install from the Windows Phone Store. Either Nokia Drive goes in the store or of doesn't. What am I missing?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are carrier- and OEM-specific subsections of the store, where they can release their own apps only to users of their phones. Nokia could, if they chose, let other OEMs offer Drive in their sections of the Store as well, rather than releasing it in the public area.
---------- Post added at 04:19 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:15 PM ----------
Dr.Paul said:
Love comments about the lack of a notification being a good thing because the main screen is a notification centre. What nonsense. What is the point of toast notifications if you don't have a notification centre? There isn't one.... Its a major omission and yet ms find time to add rubbish like kids corner that is good for how many people? Microsoft really need to get a grip.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Kids Corner is a distinguishing feature that will sell phones. A notification center is a nice touch that people won't notice until after they've been using it for a while. Microsoft is prioritizing the former.
A notification center would be quite welcome - I will be quite happy if they add it. But I will say that all my messages/emails/etc. show up on tile counts anyway, so the point of a toast there is just instantaneous notification of what's going on right now. Once it's not immediate any longer, I'll still see the tile count/lockscreen notification. That doesn't apply to things like Foursquare checkins via 4th & Mayor, but that's about the only app I can think of that pops up toasts at me without also throwing a tile count on there, and I don't necessarily need a log of all my friends' past checkins. That's not to say I don't want to see a notification center, but it's really at the level of an extra that would be nice to have, but that I only rarely miss not having.
Dr.Paul said:
Love comments about the lack of a notification being a good thing because the main screen is a notification centre. What nonsense. What is the point of toast notifications if you don't have a notification centre? There isn't one.... Its a major omission and yet ms find time to add rubbish like kids corner that is good for how many people? Microsoft really need to get a grip.
Sent from my Windows Phone 8X by HTC using XDA Windows Phone 7 App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I for one am very pleased with the lack of a notification center. It was unnecessary on Android with counters, and I find it unnecessary on WP7 and WP8.
There are other phones that offer it and if you need it then you go with one of them. I left Android after 3 years to get away from the clutter, the flash-a-holic I became, constant adjustment of my home screen, etc. I just wanted clean and usable - exactly what WP is. My favorite part...all the apps look like they belong! Android apps were all over the map in design.
WM 6.5
LudoGris said:
I for one am very pleased with the lack of a notification center. It was unnecessary on Android with counters, and I find it unnecessary on WP7 and WP8.
There are other phones that offer it and if you need it then you go with one of them. I left Android after 3 years to get away from the clutter, the flash-a-holic I became, constant adjustment of my home screen, etc. I just wanted clean and usable - exactly what WP is. My favorite part...all the apps look like they belong! Android apps were all over the map in design.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dear Ludogris, I think you should have stuck to Windows Mobile 6.5....
the windows phone team has admitted that a notification center is on their list of things to implement but they simply ran out of time with wp8, it will probably come in an 8.5 or similar update. while the system works okay without one, a catch all would be nice to be able to glance at in case you miss a toast.
as for the OP, like others have stated, nokia has stated they will release their drive app to the whole ecosystem with some extra features in the drive+ app being exclusive to their lumia line.
i love the addition of the tts for street names they added to the new app, and the new speech in wp8 is so much nicer than the siri sounding one in wp 7.5, more like the natural speech that is in google now.
how did a Nokia Drive thread turn into a notifications request thread? Seriously, though, i got HTC8x for family members to replace their HD7 (tmobile upgrades, I thought they'd be more familiar with HTC instead of the lumia810, wrong choice?). I myself am using Android/HD2, and know nothing about WP7/8, and just rely on threads like this to update my other phones. nevermind, somebody wake me up when the htc 8x gets nokia drive or some flavor of it... subscribed.
on a side note, anyone know how to move the SMS Texts and call history from WP7(HD7) to WP8(htc8x) ? stock phones, no dev unlock, so I'm relying solely on the marketplace and whatever free desktop sync MS has to offer. doesn't seem possible via skydrive either. oh, i don't have outlook on the desktop, if that matters. wish I could just use PIMbackupCAB like on my trusted hd2... why did microsoft have to mess with a good thing? pardon me, i digress. carry on... so, how did you guys migrate your SMS?
Bad news: you don't - not from WP7.
Good news: starting in WP8, the phone will back them up to the cloud, so it'll be seamless going forward.
I like this one:
http://www.windowsphone.com/en-us/store/app/navigon-europe/da8734ed-666a-4227-81ea-8fc937752d98
all the others have ****ty maps where i live (including google, nokia and bing maps) compared to garmin...

What I miss the most about my Galaxy S2, and some rants

I just got the Nexus 4. Needless to say, it arrived the day the S4 was announced, but whatever. It's cheap, relative to what I paid for the S2 I had from T-mobile.
I bought it to get away from bloatware. After updating my S2 to ICS I could type faster than the characters showed up on the screen. Reminded me of my days pushing the limits of a 386.
I've had the Nexus 4 for exactly one day. Immediately I notice some nice things:
1. Definitely feel snappier. This is a big plus.
2. The auto-correct is less intrusive. If I hit backspace after auto-correct does something, it will revert the entire correction. That is nice; in the S2 I had to turn it off because it was driving me nuts (texting in different languages; not to mention it insisted on capitalizing Work but not wednesday).
And then the bad:
1. Can't bcc myself on every email. How lame. No, I don't use gmail and I don't want you. And I am used to doing things this way and don't want to change my email handling on umpteen computers to deal with sent folders. So I had to download K9, and the fact that you have to go into a menu to find the compose function is just plain stupid.
2. Wow, I miss the dialer on the S2. I would just start typing in digits. It would search my contacts by digits *or* by the equivalent letters. Just beginning to type someone's name and I could find them. Now I have to hit the magnifying glass and type in the name to find someone.
3. I also miss the toggles on the slider (whatever you call that thing you pull down from the top of the screen). Takes several clicks to turn Bluetooth on and off now.
These things may not seem like a big deal, but for those of us who don't want to spend our days watching laughing pandas, the little things in software can make or break the experience. That is how Apple got ahead (and still is, in many cases).
Generally I think Google (and possibly all smartphones) missed a few things. Or else I'm old and stubborn. One of them is the utter lack of control over what's going on. Not being able to "quit" an app is annoying. And then you get an app to kill apps---but someone works around that. Happened with AirDroid. Had to uninstall it! Couldn't kill it, and couldn't figure out how to not keep this connection "open" all the time. So I feel like I can't use it.
And my biggest pet peeve is keyboard layout. If you know the history, you know where QUERTY came from. Then came Dvorak, which took off only with a handful of nerds, but is a smart concept. Now we take something that looks nothing like a typewriter and shove QUERTY into it. Look, I understand the need to keep things familiar, but from what I understand, it's extremely difficult to customize the keyboard layout. I hope someone can point me to an app that allows me to do that, but I haven't found one. The world's idea of "customizable keyboard" is to have a Japanese schoolgirl dancing behind semi-transparent keys. Sorry, but no. In the English language you should have the apostrophe on the main keyboard and for most languages the comma should be there, too. I don't use the "speak" key or the smiley face one. Hell, take the space bar, which is 5 keys wide and make it 2.
The keyboard layout without punctuation is a big problem. Already kids can't spell worth a damn. Now I find myself not using commas in emails, etc. either. It's really disturbing.
There's no angry old man post icon?
***EDIT***
Opera just downloaded 1600 messages by POP. Now, because of something K9 or the Nexus email client did, Opera lost track of which emails were new and I got 1600 duplicates. Am I doing things that wrong or does it just not work?
pelesl said:
I just got the Nexus 4. Needless to say, it arrived the day the S4 was announced, but whatever. It's cheap, relative to what I paid for the S2 I had from T-mobile.
I bought it to get away from bloatware. After updating my S2 to ICS I could type faster than the characters showed up on the screen. Reminded me of my days pushing the limits of a 386.
I've had the Nexus 4 for exactly one day. Immediately I notice some nice things:
1. Definitely feel snappier. This is a big plus.
2. The auto-correct is less intrusive. If I hit backspace after auto-correct does something, it will revert the entire correction. That is nice; in the S2 I had to turn it off because it was driving me nuts (texting in different languages; not to mention it insisted on capitalizing Work but not wednesday).
And then the bad:
1. Can't bcc myself on every email. How lame. No, I don't use gmail and I don't want you. And I am used to doing things this way and don't want to change my email handling on umpteen computers to deal with sent folders. So I had to download K9, and the fact that you have to go into a menu to find the compose function is just plain stupid.
2. Wow, I miss the dialer on the S2. I would just start typing in digits. It would search my contacts by digits *or* by the equivalent letters. Just beginning to type someone's name and I could find them. Now I have to hit the magnifying glass and type in the name to find someone.
3. I also miss the toggles on the slider (whatever you call that thing you pull down from the top of the screen). Takes several clicks to turn Bluetooth on and off now.
These things may not seem like a big deal, but for those of us who don't want to spend our days watching laughing pandas, the little things in software can make or break the experience. That is how Apple got ahead (and still is, in many cases).
Generally I think Google (and possibly all smartphones) missed a few things. Or else I'm old and stubborn. One of them is the utter lack of control over what's going on. Not being able to "quit" an app is annoying. And then you get an app to kill apps---but someone works around that. Happened with AirDroid. Had to uninstall it! Couldn't kill it, and couldn't figure out how to not keep this connection "open" all the time. So I feel like I can't use it.
And my biggest pet peeve is keyboard layout. If you know the history, you know where QUERTY came from. Then came Dvorak, which took off only with a handful of nerds, but is a smart concept. Now we take something that looks nothing like a typewriter and shove QUERTY into it. Look, I understand the need to keep things familiar, but from what I understand, it's extremely difficult to customize the keyboard layout. I hope someone can point me to an app that allows me to do that, but I haven't found one. The world's idea of "customizable keyboard" is to have a Japanese schoolgirl dancing behind semi-transparent keys. Sorry, but no. In the English language you should have the apostrophe on the main keyboard and for most languages the comma should be there, too. I don't use the "speak" key or the smiley face one. Hell, take the space bar, which is 5 keys wide and make it 2.
The keyboard layout without punctuation is a big problem. Already kids can't spell worth a damn. Now I find myself not using commas in emails, etc. either. It's really disturbing.
There's no angry old man post icon?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are tons of keyboards, toggle apps and widgets and dialers in Google Play and XDA. Stop wining and start looking mate
Samsung packaged their apps such as dialers, keyboards, email clients and all the other stuff you like into the bloat called touchwiz. The vanilla android is lean without those bells and whistles. Like what the previous post said, explore the playstore. There are better apps there than what samsung packaged in the s2. You just need to explore..
Sent from my Nexus 4
2 and 3 are both 'fixed' in CM 10.1 - might be worth giving it a go...
im assuming your still on stock???
1. Not sure about the BCC...but there's a general email that you can use for non-gmail accounts....
2. can be easily solved with dialer mod....most roms comes with this feature
3. i havent been on stock for a while...but im sure Bluetooth toggle would be under quick pull down in the new 4.2.2. If not you can always flash another rom, which is better in my opinion since there are more toggle options.
Bottom line is...
Welcome to the forum (i see that your a new user)
and minor issues like these that can easily be solved on if you took the time to look on nexus 4 development section
Yes I agree with the post above. Try cm10.1 it's a way better alternative than stock. If you want more customization go with paranoid android or aokp rom. Nexus 4 is meant to be rooted! There's a sticky on how to root and unlock your bootloader. Very easy. Check out the screen shots in the post your screen shot section and see what other nexus 4 users have done with their phones. It's really an open playground
On stock 4.2.2 you can long press on Bluetooth and WiFi to toggle them on and off in the quick settings menu.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
gee2012 said:
There are tons of keyboards, toggle apps and widgets and dialers in Google Play and XDA. Stop wining and start looking mate
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Congratulations on post number 3,245. Why don't you say something else useless and see if you can hit 3,230 by the end of the day.
EddyOS said:
2 and 3 are both 'fixed' in CM 10.1 - might be worth giving it a go...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know what CM is, but it strikes me as some third party firmware (or is it just a collection of changes to Android)? Is there a "tutorial" page that explains the layers and what they are called?
ugotproblemz said:
... if you took the time to look on nexus 4 development section
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You mean on this forum?
3. Just download "widgetsoid" app, which implements quick toggles in your notification bar much like Samsung's touch wiz feature.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Premium HD app
pelesl said:
Congratulations on post number 3,245. Why don't you say something else useless and see if you can hit 3,230 by the end of the day.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
pelesl said:
I don't know what CM is, but it strikes me as some third party firmware (or is it just a collection of changes to Android)? Is there a "tutorial" page that explains the layers and what they are called?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
pelesl said:
You mean on this forum?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. Look at what I'm magically doing here. It's called multi-quote. Learn how to use it.
2. You came here essentially asking for advice. When someone gives you some advice (even if it's not what you wanted to hear) you don't start being rude to them with no valid reason.
3. Hey, here's an idea. If you don't know what CM is (seriously? ) then Google it. There is a 'tutorial' page, it's the first Google result for cyanogenmod.
4. Where else would he be talking about other than on this forum? It doesn't take a genius to navigate to the dev section and check out some of the available ROMs.
5. As for the bluetooth toggle, it takes a swipe down then a click. No more than was needed on TouchWiz.
6. There are tonnes of third party dialers available with T9, pick one and install it. You can almost certainly get a Holo theme for whichever one you choose as well. If you're really that desperate and need it to be within the stock app, flash a custom ROM.
The key is that stock Android is about as lean as you can get. Rather than give you every conceivable bell and whistle, you get a blank slate and the ability to customize everything to YOUR desire, and not Samsung's or HTC's.
Everything you're asking about is available through various apps that are easily installed and just as easily reversed if you don't like them.
Ignore the people telling you to flash roms and stuff like that, those are options for the hobbyists. If you decide to start playing around with the Android system you can make a lot of fun changes, but it's not necessary on the Nexus.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
pelesl said:
Congratulations on post number 3,245. Why don't you say something else useless and see if you can hit 3,230 by the end of the day.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This was useful, you have to try and find answers for your question on your own initialy. This is not kindergarten where people hold your hand and tell you everything you want to know. If after searching well enough you can`t get an answer or solution to your problem, then you post your question in the Q&A thread.
Thank you for wasting my time. And btw it is post 3425 and not 3245.
gee2012, I thought your initial reply was pretty rude too. You seem to have a zillion posts which would indicate you have been here for a while but you must have been a noob once yourself and asked questions. Yes I know the search function is our friend but sometimes just asking a question is the best way to go because it also generates other things. I, for example, didn't know about wigitsoid until I hooked into this thread.
To the original poster, I have the following advice. Read up averything you can on what can be done with this phone. I, like you, came to one from a Galaxy S2. Had it 2 days and sold it. I was disappointed that the so called 4.7 inch screen was in fact smaller than that of my S2 because of the soft buttons. The colour saturation was gash and the camera really was a disappointment. I then went for an S3, Note, Note 2, Lumia 920 and chopped my company Blackberry SIM into an iPhone 4S. I was changing phones faster than most people change underwear....... But all the while I hung out here and read what was going on. Couple of weeks ago I sold the Note 2 and bought another 16GB Nexus 4.
I have flashed the Paranoid Android contrasty kernel and the screen is now 'alive". I installed the Full Screen Toggle app and Button Savior app and now I have the full glory of the 4.7 inch screen. I'm running Launcher8 which gives me and even better live tile system that WP 8.
Got a nice leather flip case which I had to hack and slash to invert as everything seems to open down instead of up like in the old days (think of how the "Beam me up Scotty" communicator flipped open).
Tried most of the enhanced camera apps but sadly the camera still doesn't meet my expectations, but other than that, the Nexus 4 went from a cheap..Meh!!!! phone to being the "Dogs Bolloxs"
Hang in there fella and get flashing
pelesl said:
The keyboard layout without punctuation is a big problem. Already kids can't spell worth a damn. Now I find myself not using commas in emails, etc. either. It's really disturbing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you long press the full stop (period) key, a comma will appear. Now you can use commas again
That said, all you need is an empty day and a few hours to play around with the phone to get yourself familiar with it. Then you'll love it more than your S2.
pelesl said:
I just got the Nexus 4. Needless to say, it arrived the day the S4 was announced, but whatever. It's cheap, relative to what I paid for the S2 I had from T-mobile.
I bought it to get away from bloatware. After updating my S2 to ICS I could type faster than the characters showed up on the screen. Reminded me of my days pushing the limits of a 386.
I've had the Nexus 4 for exactly one day. Immediately I notice some nice things:
1. Definitely feel snappier. This is a big plus.
2. The auto-correct is less intrusive. If I hit backspace after auto-correct does something, it will revert the entire correction. That is nice; in the S2 I had to turn it off because it was driving me nuts (texting in different languages; not to mention it insisted on capitalizing Work but not wednesday).
And then the bad:
1. Can't bcc myself on every email. How lame. No, I don't use gmail and I don't want you. And I am used to doing things this way and don't want to change my email handling on umpteen computers to deal with sent folders. So I had to download K9, and the fact that you have to go into a menu to find the compose function is just plain stupid.
2. Wow, I miss the dialer on the S2. I would just start typing in digits. It would search my contacts by digits *or* by the equivalent letters. Just beginning to type someone's name and I could find them. Now I have to hit the magnifying glass and type in the name to find someone.
3. I also miss the toggles on the slider (whatever you call that thing you pull down from the top of the screen). Takes several clicks to turn Bluetooth on and off now.
These things may not seem like a big deal, but for those of us who don't want to spend our days watching laughing pandas, the little things in software can make or break the experience. That is how Apple got ahead (and still is, in many cases).
Generally I think Google (and possibly all smartphones) missed a few things. Or else I'm old and stubborn. One of them is the utter lack of control over what's going on. Not being able to "quit" an app is annoying. And then you get an app to kill apps---but someone works around that. Happened with AirDroid. Had to uninstall it! Couldn't kill it, and couldn't figure out how to not keep this connection "open" all the time. So I feel like I can't use it.
And my biggest pet peeve is keyboard layout. If you know the history, you know where QUERTY came from. Then came Dvorak, which took off only with a handful of nerds, but is a smart concept. Now we take something that looks nothing like a typewriter and shove QUERTY into it. Look, I understand the need to keep things familiar, but from what I understand, it's extremely difficult to customize the keyboard layout. I hope someone can point me to an app that allows me to do that, but I haven't found one. The world's idea of "customizable keyboard" is to have a Japanese schoolgirl dancing behind semi-transparent keys. Sorry, but no. In the English language you should have the apostrophe on the main keyboard and for most languages the comma should be there, too. I don't use the "speak" key or the smiley face one. Hell, take the space bar, which is 5 keys wide and make it 2.
The keyboard layout without punctuation is a big problem. Already kids can't spell worth a damn. Now I find myself not using commas in emails, etc. either. It's really disturbing.
There's no angry old man post icon?
***EDIT***
Opera just downloaded 1600 messages by POP. Now, because of something K9 or the Nexus email client did, Opera lost track of which emails were new and I got 1600 duplicates. Am I doing things that wrong or does it just not work?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For number 3, swipe down the notification tray with 2 fingers at the same time, which takes you to "quick settings". Then long press on the bluetooth icon to turn on or off. For punctuation, long press on the period key and a little pop up will appear with several frequently used punctuation marks. slide to the one you one and let go. easy peasy
pelesl said:
And my biggest pet peeve is keyboard layout. If you know the history, you know where QUERTY came from. Then came Dvorak, which took off only with a handful of nerds, but is a smart concept. Now we take something that looks nothing like a typewriter and shove QUERTY into it. Look, I understand the need to keep things familiar, but from what I understand, it's extremely difficult to customize the keyboard layout. I hope someone can point me to an app that allows me to do that, but I haven't found one. The world's idea of "customizable keyboard" is to have a Japanese schoolgirl dancing behind semi-transparent keys. Sorry, but no. In the English language you should have the apostrophe on the main keyboard and for most languages the comma should be there, too. I don't use the "speak" key or the smiley face one. Hell, take the space bar, which is 5 keys wide and make it 2.
The keyboard layout without punctuation is a big problem. Already kids can't spell worth a damn. Now I find myself not using commas in emails, etc. either. It's really disturbing.
There's no angry old man post icon?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use Swiftkey from the Play store. Great keyboard, I can even have arrow keys. It has a comma left of the space bar, a full stop to the right.
Its autocorrect even gets apostrophes right pretty much all of the time (without the need to type them!). It has a British English dictionary available. Mind you, it is QWERTY not QUERTY in British layout.
I've got emoji (extended smileys) in Handcent, my texting app, but even that only has a smiling old man. Sorry can't help there.
Don't these people ever watch that YouTube video when they signed up at xda-devs?
/sage
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
Quote needabottle:
gee2012, I thought your initial reply was pretty rude too. You seem to have a zillion posts which would indicate you have been here for a while but you must have been a noob once yourself and asked questions. Yes I know the search function is our friend but sometimes just asking a question is the best way to go because it also generates other things. I, for example, didn't know about wigitsoid until I hooked into this thread.
If i would be ranting in all my posts i would be banned 20 times allready. What irritates me is that some users don`t even make an effort to look in Google Play,XDA or on Google search and just post a question for an easy service. You can check all my posts and see i try to help users, And yes i was a noob too when i started with android, but searching and trying gets you a long way. If you are realy stuck or don`t know whta to do then you post a question.

[UT]Ubuntu Touch First Look - a personal Review

Hey guys! I’m doing a personal review of Ubuntu Touch on the Nexus4 device, and I thought I could share it with you.
It’s kind of a “Pros and cons” thing, but since I tend to get off-topic easily and babble a lot I’ve divided things in sections,
so you don’t have to read everything should you not want to.
Here it goes - Ubuntu Touch on the Google Nexus 4 (mako).
Installing Ubuntu has always been a pleasant experience for me. It feels open. Feels different. Feels fresh. Feels UBUNTU.
Installing any linux distribution on any PC makes mu blood run like crazy and Ubuntu Touch makes no difference.
It’s exciting to see something new and beautiful done for phones. And it’s even more exciting when you see it’s done with taste.​
Now just to be clear – when it comes to Pros and Cons I guess the “Cons” section would be obviously much larger,
but hey: it’s a developers preview of what we should be expecting so I’m willing to suck some things up.
Pros:
1. Design.
Ubuntu Touch feels like Ubuntu in your hand. I just have to say this. I’m not sure if it’s the fonts or the wallpapers or the
transitions or the launch pad on the left or something else that I couldn’t quite grasp and understand,
but the fact is UT feels right. Feels Ubuntu.
2. Screen usage
Almost every other mobile OS has some buttons be it hardware or software (eg. Android’s software buttons on the screen + the 3-dot thingy).
Ubuntu gives you the whole screen to have for yourself and your app. It’s amazing how even the “Contacts” app feels bigger and more open.
3. Docking
I haven’t had the chance to go through the UT docking experience yet. I don’t even know if it’s quite baked yet, but what
I’ve seen on videos and ads is pretty awesome. The very idea of it makes it way cool. Chuck Norris cool.
The vision that one can have his PC in his pocket at all times is nothing but genius.
4. Compatibility
Ubuntu aims to be compatible with lots of devices. Which is good, I guess. I just hope compatibility doesn’t come
at the expense of stability or power management or something else that might come along and present itself as an issue.
5. Stability
I am yet to witness an app to crash or force-close or just close or anything like that.
I do get some strange freezes for a few seconds every now and then though.
Cons:
1. Installation
Installation can present itself to be harsh on someone who know nothing about using the terminal. There was a small step
missing in the installation tutorial which can cause some people to get confused. Mainly people with no
prior unlocking/rooting/flashing ROMs experience.
2. Boot
No boot animation. First time the phone booted it needed quite some time and there wasn’t even a splash screen indicating
something was working. The screen had the backlight on and that was it. No shutdown animation as well. And while we’re
still on the subject: there is no shutdown menu, which was kind of strange – I mean when you hold the power button the
phone just shuts down – no questions asked. I guess that might be good in some situations, but I’d rather have the shutdown menu.
3. Overall performance
Overall performance is laggy. The “use-of-edge” design is pretty neatly thought of, but in real life it need polishing. A LOT of polishing.
Swipes act strange, I move from app to app by accident.. My personal guess is that one can get used to it in a couple days
but the swipes should take a step towards being more intuitive as well.
I didn’t like the fact that the music page doesn’t stream anything, but takes you to the browser and when you hit play on some
hit you’re supposed to hear you get a message that flash is not supported or crashed or something like that. It’s kind of frustrating.
I think a native app should be replacing that page on the home screen real soon.
4. Social media
Neither Facebook nor Twitter have native apps. All you get is a mobile version in the browser. I don’t think it needs further explanation.
I hope both Facebook and Twitter do something about this. I don’t think it’s up to Canonical to make apps for those… or up to the
community for that matter. Anyway. I didn’t see a LinkedIn, Pinterest or any other social platform on the suggested apps, so
I guess I’ll just stop here.
5. Graphical glitches
Sometimes things will shift aside or up and down and text would overlap. It’s not something you can’t live with – a simple swipe one
way or another – fixes it, but I think all would agree it’s not an eye-candy feature. There are a few of these throughout the system.
It’s nothing serious in my opinion, but I couldn’t bring myself to put it in the “Pros” section.
The clock disappeared form everywhere except the clock app. I mean it – everywhere. It’s not on the homescreen,
it’s not in the “notification bar”, it’s nowhere. It happened after I rebooted the device for the first time. Also alarms don’t
seem to be working at all.
//* after a second reboot clock reappeared. Alarms still don’t work though.
Another thing is after picking up a call and finishing it – when you put the phone away from your ear the screen won’t turn on by itself.
That’s kind of odd if you ask me. It’s like it knows I’m saying “goodbye” and saves my battery or something. It’s a minor setback,
but still. I noticed that during the dialing process screen lights up if you take the phone away from your ear. I haven’t read a lot of
UT documentation, so it might be on purpose – I’m just stating what I’ve experienced.
6. Navitagion
Navigation is bad right now, I think. It looks like the OS isn’t sure how to respond to your swipe. Transitions are slow in my opinion.
They should be a tad faster. A major setback is the back button. I mean seriously – how many times do you misclick on something
and want to go right back. Think about it. It’s at least a few times a day. I think the back button should be visible the first few seconds
along with the rest of the app menu – should there be one. Or maybe just put it in the top left corner next to the search. If you think there
is no space – the search can always morph into “just a button” ... Other than that I can’t complain about navigation – it’s pretty neat,
actually. Menus are simple and understandable.
7. Hardware glitches
Everytime I wake my device up my Bluetooth is ON and I need to turn it off manually.
I can’t say I like that at all but considering that is all I have to say about hardware glitches I think it's not that bad.
8. 3G
3G is really important. AND it works! There’s just now way to shut it off.
I mean sure – you can turn off the mobile data, but when it comes to choosing whether to use 3G or 2G Networks Only – you don’t really have a choice.
You’re stuck with 3G and all the disadvantages that come with it as well as the advantages.
//* We all know what happens to your battery when using 3G and I’m the kind of guy that doesn’t like to turn his mobile data ON and OFF all the time – it just stays enabled all the time and saves me whole lotta thinking. Not having the choice of switching back to “2G networks only” sends you straight in hell in terms of battery life.
9. Syncing
Since I’m obviously new to Ubuntu Touch I just recently started using Ubuntu One, but my gosh! Syncing contacts with Google is a
real pain in the ass. Since the Gmail app is not a native app, but a HTML5 client instead, syncing appears to be impossible at this point.
Users are forced to hook their devices up to a PC running Ubuntu and write a bunch of commands in the terminal over and over again,
since syncing only works for no more than 50 contacts at a time. That being said I have over 600 so I had to run the damn thing 12 times
in a row. Aside from that should you choose to add a new contact it won’t sync with Google automatically and upload your new contact
into the cloud where you can have access to it at anytime.
//*Note: AFAIK: iOS, WM and Android have pretty easy ways to sync contacts with Google. I think this is one of the things the guys at Canonical should focus on. Slick mail application and neat contacts syncing is vital to a lot of people and is a major reason why they never switch phones.
Final thoughts:
Ubuntu Touch aims to deliver something different and really special to consumers: a PC inside a phone. I think what they are truly
missing here is an app store of some kind. The OS suggests apps but I couldn't see an app for that and I'm guessing that is somewhat of a
setback as well. They’ve been doing really well and while for now the “Cons” section is significantly larger than the “Pros”
I have hope and faith that Canonical will pull this off eventually.
Aside from the hard installation and the lack of an eye-candy boot animation… and maybe some other minor tickles - the OS looks
and feels nice and really pretty in the palm of one’s hand. They still have a lot of work to do if they ever want to catch up with Android or iOS
in terms of usability, syncing, MTP and other stuff that average consumers don’t know and don’t need to worry about but would miss a lot.
If you don’t don't mind the fact it’s a developers preview and the camera doesn’t always start off properly and you have to shut it down and run it again it’s pretty impressive!
Conclusion:
There are a lot of words one can use to describe Ubuntu Touch, but in my opinion the high order bid is “Inspiring”.
Yes, there are some glitches here and there. There is a lot to do. But after seeing it and touching it with my own eyes and fingers well…
I have to say this – I am thrilled and I can’t hardly wait to see what will they make of it.
​
littlegreen said:
Yes, there are some glitches here and there. There is a lot to do. But after seeing it and touching it with my own eyes and fingers well…
I have to say this – I am thrilled and I can’t hardly wait to see what will they make of it.
[/I]​
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Honestly, i think this is nothing new and nothing special ;/.
UPD: The problem is your article is too generalised, viewing stuff too objectively. Your article must show your personal opinion and vision on stuff, more than boring facts.
And don't use Pros/Cons style, when it's all about cons, not pros. Just don't.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk
reqmon said:
Honestly, i think this is nothing new and nothing special ;/.
UPD: The problem is your article is too generalised, viewing stuff too objectively. Your article must show your personal opinion and vision on stuff, more than boring facts.
And don't use Pros/Cons style, when it's all about cons, not pros. Just don't.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well since I only have a few hours of experiencing the OS I don't think generalising is an option per say.
Besides - I am an optimist. I try to see the good in everything and that is why I have the "Pros" list. Thanks for the advice though.
well i find your review interesting to learn about the basics of ubuntu
Can you report about the battery performance?

Things I don't like so far

In order from most annoying:
Cannot whitelist k9 mail (and other things) from power saving (this is a deal breaker, I'm taking it back)
Long press to select text instead of double click (vanilla android allows both) (almost a deal breaker)
Media volume cannot be increased without acknowledging warning when BT connected
Can’t disable bixby button without samsung account
No root (needed to run webserver on 80 and change iptables)
Fingerprint sensor hard to find, hard to touch (compared to nexus 6p)
Default phone app sucks and can’t be changed
-Notifications for blocked numbers calling
-Hard to block numbers
-Hard to add recent calls to contacts (uses wrong account or something)
Volume buttons hard to find, on wrong side of phone
Samsung sms app is ugly and horrible (replaceable)
Samsung calendar app does not allow multiple default reminders (replaceable)
Lock screen time is on multiple lines with no way to change it
Thats nice. Enjoy.
swooperstar said:
bleh bleh bleh
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where is the question? Wrong forum, maybe you should tell someone who cares?
Um, what phone is this, half the things you complain about can be done by the note 8, so must be another phone. Maybe he got the wrong forum...
Sent from my Galaxy Note8 using XDA Labs
Incorrect, but whatever. Pixel2 XL coming next week to replace this samsuck. This site used to be more help less fanboy.
...more help less fan boy
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not about fanboys, you didn't ask for any help, just listed complaints. No one cares about personal complaints.
lol once again the user is the problem not the device... you can do all of those things either with an app from the play store or with root. maybe stick to something more simple? try iOS.
Not sure how moving to another Android device will help you. :laugh:
Being that the OP has a total of 9, count them 9 posts and is a junior member, I'm guessing he's referring to the old days on the site when we were more help and less fanbois
Mr.Ash.Man said:
lol once again the user is the problem not the device... you can do all of those things either with an app from the play store or with root. maybe stick to something more simple? try iOS.
Not sure how moving to another Android device will help you. :laugh:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He is already using IOS!
Ryland
Now we know from authoritative source that volume button is on the wrong side all those years, imagine that.
There are ways to adjust pretty much all of these points. Some are android specific - assume you are new to Android??
Did you even review the phone/play with it before spending on something you have chosen to dislike? To be fair you've come to a forum where 99.9999% of people are note enthusiasts so you will be whacked with a great big stick with a post like this :silly:
Ok how do you whitelist from power saving in a way that actually works? The settings interface for that is much different than stock android and doesn't actually let stuff run all the time like it does on my 6p. k9 always says syncing disabled (and works fine on 6p with stock nougat or oreo).
How do you get double-tap to select a word in text? Works by default in stock android.
After asking twice before to confirm increase volume while BT connected, it didn't ask this last time I increased it. I guess it is magically ok now.
How do you disable bixby button without creating a samsung account? There is an app that used to work using accessibility but no longer works in latest update.
How do you get root? The rooting page itself says "2.Enable OEM Unlock from developer option (Currently no workaround for those who doesn't have this option)" and I don't have this option.
How do you change the phone app? I tried downloading and installing one from apkmirror and got an error when installing.
How do you prevent notifications when blocked callers call?
How do you get normal time on the lock screen? Not the always on screen.
swooperstar said:
Ok how do you whitelist from power saving in a way that actually works? The settings interface for that is much different than stock android and doesn't actually let stuff run all the time like it does on my 6p. k9 always says syncing disabled (and works fine on 6p with stock nougat or oreo).
How do you get double-tap to select a word in text? Works by default in stock android.
After asking twice before to confirm increase volume while BT connected, it didn't ask this last time I increased it. I guess it is magically ok now.
How do you disable bixby button without creating a samsung account? There is an app that used to work using accessibility but no longer works in latest update.
How do you get root? The rooting page itself says "2.Enable OEM Unlock from developer option (Currently no workaround for those who doesn't have this option)" and I don't have this option.
How do you change the phone app? I tried downloading and installing one from apkmirror and got an error when installing.
How do you prevent notifications when blocked callers call?
How do you get normal time on the lock screen? Not the always on screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A respectful suggestion if I may.
Your first post was..... confrontational? Not the way to have your teething problems answered or supported.
Many of us, in all forum's, experience teething problems. I suggest you ask questions preferably one at a time so a peer can offer you some advice.
I have yet to ask for help here and not receive it. You will find there are some amazingly smart guys and gals here who will help IF you ask a palatable question. I am afraid what you have done is cause bad feeling and that's not the way to get help with your problems. Just food for thought. :good:
Ryland
I agree with the fingerprint sensor placement, for me being left handed, I have ot align it perfectly for it to work. Luckily the iris scanner is fast.
One issue I am coming across is my phone would random reboot and some settings would be changed to stock. For example, the font size would be change to default instead of everything tiny. My quick shortcuts layouts are stock and I have to re-login into some apps.
It happened about 3 times since i got the phone the first week of September. Hopefully I'm not alone. Sucks if I am though...lol
There is no help for those issues. That is why there is no response, and why the phone is going back. I am surprised anyone can stand the samsung interface and that is why it might sound confrontational. The apps that samsung replaces default apps with are really awful.
swooperstar said:
There is no help for those issues. That is why there is no response, and why the phone is going back. I am surprised anyone can stand the samsung interface and that is why it might sound confrontational. The apps that samsung replaces default apps with are really awful.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The only issue or possibly even an advantage is Samsung is edging it's own ecosystem in more and more. , basically it encourages one to buy another Sammy device and stay on board with them.
Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
UberPishy said:
Where is the question? Wrong forum, maybe you should tell someone who cares?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I care. Thanks to the original poster for critical analysis.
Anybody can fan-boy and circlejerk, that takes no skill.
It takes skill to spot issues and courage to speak out on them.
Every phones has its issues, these do not make Note 8 useless, but buyers can more easily decide if it is for them, when they know its particular failings.
vasra said:
I care. Thanks to the original poster for critical analysis.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So which of the OP's claims do you really care about, because most are false, many are non issues for the majority and a few are valid. But the point remains that they were posted in the wrong forum.
vasra said:
I care. Thanks to the original poster for critical analysis.
Anybody can fan-boy and circlejerk, that takes no skill.
It takes skill to spot issues and courage to speak out on them.
Every phones has its issues, these do not make Note 8 useless, but buyers can more easily decide if it is for them, when they know its particular failings.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not a critical assessment...it's a misleading one.
A few observations.
The volume button on the left side is the more ergonomic position and also makes it less likely you will drop the phone while changing volume making it an objectively better placement. The fingerprint scanner? Yeah, it's poor ergonomics at best and your complaint there is well justified.
Root is something you knew going in you wouldn't have, if it mattered you should have bought something else. I do agree in general that the trend toward taking root access from us is one I hate. That's why I bought an international version and rooted it.
The Samsung calendar app is less well featured than the stock app but it uses no resources when not used and you can always use the google app or one of the several better than stock google calendar apps on the play store. You don't get to complain about not having an app you can put on you phone in seconds which isn't even close to the best app of its kind anyways. I BTW didn't use the stock app on my 6P, didn't meet my needs.Samsung's stock SMS app is awful, IMO someone should be fired there because it falls below even a minimum level of functionality. But then while Googles does manage to get to at least a minimally functional feature set it isn't much better and both are a long way from what can be had in seconds for free that work better than either on the market. You don't get to complain about this one either though, the stock google app is a few clicks away and a few seconds will give that stock google experience if that is your preference.
Same number of clicks with Samsung to add a recent callers to contacts. Hard to do so is dismissed.
Hard to copy because you have to long press instead of double tap? Seriously? lol That's a fairly lame complaint without even taking into consideration the S-pen which opens up a whole world of options that you don't have on the 6P, one of which is using the S-Pen in the first place.
I like the default dialer and it has features which Google's does not. Regardless it can be changed as well as which dialer is the default, where did you get the idea you couldn't change dialers?
I don't have the media volume warning with my phone unless I'm on headphones, not sure why you do?
The Bixby button can be disabled, it can be disabled without signing into Samsung. Just an FYI, it can also be slaved to another function. All without root.
You can white list any app from power saver, just takes a few clicks, assuming of course you know which clicks. You have in an oblique way a real gripe here, Samsung's menus are getting better but they are still too bloated. The search menu function is your friend in pursing hard to find settings.
Who uses lock screens in this day an age? You've get bio-metrics and AOD, leaving the lock screen as an artifact of what was once the best we could do but isn't anymore. Think of it this way, I'm a pathetic old man and I've been able to understand that lockscreens are now just an extra step. Your complaint in this regard reminds me of my friends who cant handle new tech and are still trying to hang on to their flip phone.
At this point you probably think I'm busting your balls a little bit and you're right. On the other hand your complaints are largely groundless. The only real objective gripe you have is the fingerprint sensor location. Your assessment of the volume button location is subjective, not objective, and objectively is incorrect. Your complaints about the stock apps can be applied to google apps in the same way and most of which I changed on my 6P just as I have here. The impression I get is that the main problem you have is you need to learn how to shop better. There is no reason to buy a phone that does not have root if you know you want root. There is no reason to buy a phone well known for it's rather overbearing GUI and menu bloat if you know you are going to hate it. Why do that to yourself?

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