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    Home Unlabelled Android BREAKING: (Indian) Govt bans 59 Chinese apps including TikTok, UC Browser, Shein, Helo, Likee, WeChat, Shareit

    Android BREAKING: (Indian) Govt bans 59 Chinese apps including TikTok, UC Browser, Shein, Helo, Likee, WeChat, Shareit

    June 30, 2020

    Android BREAKING: (Indian) Govt bans 59 Chinese apps including TikTok, UC Browser, Shein, Helo, Likee, WeChat, Shareit

    BREAKING: (Indian) Govt bans 59 Chinese apps including TikTok, UC Browser, Shein, Helo, Likee, WeChat, Shareit

    Posted: 29 Jun 2020 08:31 AM PDT

    I'm not tired of Android, but I'm tired of Google neglecting Android

    Posted: 29 Jun 2020 08:34 PM PDT

    After 10 years on Android, I'm tired of Google. I'm not tired of Android itself; this isn't a post about me trying to validate switching to another OS (*cough* iOS). I'm tired of the mess that Google has allowed Android to become.

    To begin, here's a list of smartphones that I've owned (or at least remember owning; a decade is a long time):

    - HTC Evo 4G - Samsung Galaxy S II (Sprint) - iPhone 4S (for like 2 weeks before running back to the S2) - HTC Evo 3D - Google Nexus S - Google Galaxy Nexus - Samsung Galaxy S III (Unlocked) - Samsung Galaxy S4 - HTC One X (briefly) - Motorola Moto X (original) - Samsung Galaxy Note 2 - Samsung Galaxy Note 3 - Samsung Galaxy Note 4 - Google Nexus 6 - Motorola Moto X 2015 - Google Nexus 6P - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge (Unlocked) - Samsung Galaxy S8+ (Unlocked) - OnePlus 6 (Still have it in my drawer) - Samsung Galaxy Note 9 (Current phone)

    About me: I'm in my late 20s and I'm in the US. I use most of Google's core products/offerings - Gmail, Photos, Drive, GPM/YTM/YT Premium, etc.

    The beauty of Android is that you have choice and, for the most part, control over what you do and what you use. For example, I'm not really sold on Pixels because I find them to be too limited for my liking (e.g. no expandable storage, no headphone jack, etc). But there are people who find the Pixel to be great, because it does fit their needs. And that's awesome. On iOS, all you've got is the iPhone, and tough luck if you don't like its features.

    I've used Android instead of iOS (for the past 10 years) because it allows me to do more and fits my daily routines better. Having real file management, and letting apps work in the background (Photos backups, Spotify downloads, etc) is great. But in terms of Google products and their image as a company, I'm just so jaded and burnt out by them. I find myself looking for alternatives to their products now more than ever.

    • One of the first times I jumped ship from a Google service was from Google Play Music to Spotify. While I had personal music uploaded, I mostly used GPM like one would Spotify or Apple Music -- for new music and curated playlists. The service was mostly great despite not having any official desktop app, but Google really let the Android app get old and buggy. Swiping through songs on the Now Playing screen, or even scrolling through playlists caused rubberbanding, unrelated to device performance. Songs would randomly not play. Etc. Most of my friends were on Spotify anyway, so switching made it easier for us to trade songs and playlists. I switched and haven't looked back. And I'm glad that I haven't, because YouTube Music is a mess. I still have a GPM/YTM subscription because of the introductory pricing, and I've tried the service. It lacks common sense features like sorting on the web interface, and overall just feels like a YouTube audio player skin because of the way it looks and behaves. But I guess that's what I should expect from "YouTube Music".

    • Another example was switching to the Outlook Android app for my Gmail accounts. What made me do it initially was Google killing Inbox (RIP) and taking their sweet time rolling out dark mode for Gmail (despite their other apps both randomly supporting and not supporting dark mode). But I found that Outlook was a lot more focused and cleaner, on top of offering a true dark (AMOLED) mode. I also don't have any ads in my inbox anymore. Everything just works, and I always get notified of important emails, unlike with the Gmail app that didn't give me any notifications half the time.

    But those are just random examples of Google apps; why am I here complaining about Google's Android altogether? Well, in my 10 years of using Android, I've seen it improve, both aesthetically and functionally. But I've also seen Google shift focus from bettering the ecosystem for everyone to making change for the sake of change, and not addressing major painpoints for both users and developers.

    Here are just some examples of things I think need addressing in Android altogether:

    • In the literal decade I've been using Android, we still don't have a proper, native, fully-inclusive backup and restore system. iOS has had this since Day 1. The best you can do is root and use Titanium Backup (which is fairly hit and miss, especially when restoring on a different device). Or you can use an OEM application which never includes app data for 3rd party apps

    • We're past the $1,000 USD mark for flagship devices with barely adequate software support. Even flagship "killers", like OnePlus are charging about as much. And for what, 2 years of support on average? If you buy a cheaper device, like a Moto G, not only do you lose common features (like NFC), but you either get 1 or no major updates. Again, I'm not advocating that people go out and buy an iPhone. But, completely separate from that, what is the point of investing in short-lived devices anymore? They continue to function perfectly fine, but they are no longer updated, which is important when Google fixes bugs or adds new APIs for common features in their version updates. And if you've got a locked bootloader (which is most major flagships sold in the US, at least), you're screwed out of aftermarket support

    • For the most part, you can either buy a Pixel for an extra (3 total) Android version updates. Or you can buy a more fully-featured device (e.g. Samsung Galaxy whatever) and put up with only 2 major Android updates, but you have most of the next version of Android's features already. You can argue that, since Google is developing the entire OS, they should be providing more than 3 years of support (and OEMs more than 2, for sure). Especially when Apple provides 5. Either way, perfectly capable devices are having their support dropped, and Google won't do anything about it. I understand that Google doesn't control Qualcomm or the other OEMs, but they're also a multi-billion dollar corporation that develops and controls and entire ecosystem. Do something impactful about it. I mean, fuck, they were able to force OEMs to add "powered by Android" on their bootscreens. One cannot claim that Android is about choice, while also saying that the Pixel is the only acceptable device for people to buy

    • The OEMs are leading in terms of common-sense features. Samsung and other OEMs have had things like scrolling screenshots, screen recording (WITH internal + microphone audio), customizable task changer, etc. Google, meanwhile, introduces these features several years later, and they're often broken, half-baked, or inferior to the ones they are derived from. I don't understand why a company with the size and resources of Google isn't leading the pack and integrating these features into the core OS from the get-go. Yeah, it's become kind of a meme at this point, where non-Pixel users say that they've had such and such feature for a while, and Pixel users argue that it's better that it comes from Google because then it's available to everyone. That last part is true, but it doesn't apply when a lot of devices are being left behind in terms of Android updates and Google takes forever to add those features

    • Collections of minor Android changes/fixes are being labeled and released as entire version changes. Once upon a time, Google used to release Android 4.4, 4.4.1, 4.4.2, etc with fixes and minor new features. Now, it's Android 8.0, 9.0, 10, 11, etc. This, combined with most flagship devices only promising two major Android updates, means that most devices will never see updated system-wide APIs (RCS?) and features because "Android 10.1" is being released as "Android 11". Even Apple does it the old school way to this day; for the most part only their major OS updates are labeled with a full number (e.g. iOS 14)

    • RCS still doesn't have an API, ~5 years after RCS was announced. You're still stuck using either Google Messages (which is just another app for most people to download) or praying that your carrier/OEM messaging app has RCS built in (99% don't). Yes, I also use Whatsapp and Facebook Messenger. But RCS is supposed to be universal and just work without needing to download any additional apps (which people in some parts of the world don't want to do in order to talk to one person). Apple is/was supposed to implement RCS, but with even Google barely doing a good job, I can see why they're hesitant/dragging their feet. This seems trivial to the rest of the world, but in the US most people you encounter have an iPhone, which will default to SMS when messaging an Android user. So most people end up inadvertently using SMS. SMS sucks for everyone, and RCS is supposed to be the new lowest-common-communication method for everyone

    • Google is still a "faceless" company in terms of support, and developers often have no idea why their apps are taken off the Play Store. Google will also randomly ban people's entire Google accounts for vague reasons, such as "being used in a way that violates Google's policies" (without explaining what happened), or simply Google associating you with someone else who has "done so." Example (and this one was resolved). So developers end up not taking Android as seriously as iOS because, while the barrier to entry is lower (e.g. no $99/year Developer Account), you're really not getting much, if any support, and your account can get shut down at any time

    • If you do own or are able to buy a Pixel, features are restricted by country. Actually, scratch that; it's not just the Pixel. A lot of Google's apps/features/products/services are simply not available outside the US. That leads to people buying other devices, which usually end up being cheaper anyway while performing the same or better. Meanwhile, if you buy an iPhone anywhere in the world, not only can you get physical, in-person support almost anywhere in the world, but the phone performs just about the same regardless of where you're located

    • We don't have a standardized IMS (VoLTE/Wifi Calling) framework, which means that you have to cross your fingers that devices brought from one carrier to another fully function on their network. This isn't an issue with iOS, even if you argue that Apple is only supporting a single OS on a handful of phones. This is really important, because you need it to work in order to call and text over LTE (and soon 5G) as 2G and 3G networks are recycled into LTE and 5G (which is currently happening)

    • Carriers are still allowed to modify/add/remove system components on devices, and still control/gatekeep the updates on many of them. This is especially bad in the US vs the rest of the world, because carriers have even more control here. So now you have multiple SKUs of the same device, meaning they're often treated as entirely different devices. Again, not an issue on iOS as a SIM lock is really all that they're allowed to do. Even Google allows this with their own phones, as Verizon and DoComo have an entirely different set of Pixel SKUs with locked bootloaders and purposely-disabled LTE bands. Verizon even disabled eSIM for the longest time because they didn't want people using other carriers

    So I'm here, stuck in the middle. I don't know what the solution is for all of this is other than Google restructuring their Android division or something. None of their app developers seem to speak with each other, and Android feels very "self-service"/"you're on your own". I don't root my phones anymore, especially because Google punishes people who do (SafetyNet / hardware attestation incoming), nor do I want to rely on XDA/homebrew apps to do the things the core OS should do. I really think that Google needs to get their shit together. Not just with Android, but this is /r/Android, and Android is supposed to be a "platter" for their services. The more I visit reddit and read blogs like Android Police, the more I see comments from people simply burnt out and giving up. Even the site authors are putting out articles praising Apple's long-term support and adding of features (because they're the only real alternative mobile OS).

    Does anyone else feel similar?

    submitted by /u/productfred
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    In a significant expansion, Spotify to launch real-time lyrics in 26 markets

    Posted: 29 Jun 2020 06:33 PM PDT

    Google appears to be caving in and bringing back Play Store app update notifications

    Posted: 29 Jun 2020 10:24 AM PDT

    Discussion: Android Autofill is still messy and incomplete

    Posted: 29 Jun 2020 11:25 AM PDT

    tl;dr: Autofill is so frustrating on my Android device, but is a breeze to use on my iPad. Google really needs to do more to improve autofill especially given the revelations about clipboard data abuse with TikTok and many other apps.

    Background:

    It's been nearly 3 years since the launch of Android Oreo, and if we account for beta, developers have had 3 years to get autofill to work properly. Moreover, Google has had time to make sure this feature works properly in Android.

    The Problem:

    What I've noticed is a lot of apps simply don't behave properly for auto fill, where either nothing fills or nothing ever pops up for an autofill prompt. Moreover, Chrome still doesn't seem to support Oreo autofill. Occasionally I do see a popup (maybe 1 in 20 tries) in Chrome, but it's pretty rare. Before everyone tells me to use accessibility autofill, I thought using Oreo's Autofill API is supposed to be a more secure method rather than relying on accessibility? So because of this, I still have to copy and paste from LastPass occasionally, which can get clunky.

    This problem is compounded by the fact that many apps still don't support Face Unlock, which necessitates the bigger reliance on auto fill for me.

    On the other side of the fence, iOS autofill has been working brilliantly. Not only does every app autofill properly, Safari also works fine. I have NEVER had to copy and paste any password manually in iOS.

    Pixel 4 experience: https://i.imgur.com/fWpWqN6.mp4

    Pardon having to resort to camera video. Using a screen recorder results in the PayPal screens being totally black (security?) so I had to resort to filming.

    iPad experience: https://i.imgur.com/uZcsHG8.mp4

    For whatever reason the iOS recording doesn't show the password autofilled (maybe security?), and neither does a screenshot, but a good old photo shows that it did autofill.

    Closing

    I really hope Google can improve on this autofill experience and at least make their browser behave more consistently. A lot of cooperation from app developers is needed, but this is a problem for EVERY new API. I don't have a good solution ready, but I really hope Google can figure out ways to get features to be adopted much faster. At the rate things are going with Autofill, I wouldn't be surprised if 3 years later i'm still struggling with apps that lack Face Unlock but can do fingerprint unlock.

    And more recently, with clipboard privacy being a huge issue, I can't see how having to copy / paste my passwords is EVER a good idea in Android.

    submitted by /u/dlerium
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    Nearby Sharing — Android's AirDrop competitor — is rolling out now in beta

    Posted: 30 Jun 2020 04:19 AM PDT

    The OnePlus 8, OnePlus 8 Pro Pro Review: Becoming The Flagship

    Posted: 29 Jun 2020 07:05 AM PDT

    DiscoverKiller is an Xposed Module that replaces the Google Discover feed with whatever you want

    Posted: 29 Jun 2020 10:04 AM PDT

    Instant Apps/App Clips are they even a thing?

    Posted: 29 Jun 2020 10:34 AM PDT

    So with apple announcing App Clips I realized that I've never seen a single instant app. Are they still a thing? Anyone knows any websites that actually use them?

    submitted by /u/FeelsGoodManWithAGun
    [link] [comments]

    Exclusive: Carl Pei on OnePlus' new beginnings and why the company is making affordable phones

    Posted: 30 Jun 2020 04:38 AM PDT

    Google is working on a bottom tab switcher strip for Chrome on Android

    Posted: 30 Jun 2020 04:31 AM PDT
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