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I am sort of new to Android, and I was a bit disappointed with the physics (I guess you can call it that) of the scrolling motion. It's not nearly as fluid as I've used on an iPhone or Palm Pre. When you flick and move or pan a window or menu up and down and it doesn't do it in a very natural, fluid movement. It seems to jump around and almost appears to accelerate to its final point and then abruptly stop as opposed to more gradually decelerating to its final point. Is this something I just need to get used to and something that affects all Android phones? I have to say though, that I'm not a fan and I think they need to improve on this. Hopefully someone can offer me a fix for this. Thank you.
and I don't think this is a performance issue or a problem with the 30fps cap. even when scrolling in a simple menu with no apps running it behaves like this. I think this is a fundamental problem in the way the folks at Google have coded the scrolling kinetic engine or physics engine.
I know exactly what you mean.. and it actually has to do with the android platform.. Ive had 3 Android phones (Motorola cliq, HTC hero, and now EVO) and all three have had the same kind of jerkiness (not very smooth scrolling) as youve mentioned.. Ive always wondered about this since i had my first android phone. I had and Iphone right before and noticed it right away when i got my first droid phone. Even though i love the android OS much better... It doesn't have the same smoothness and natural scrolling as others.
I've seen a few posts of people asking what it's like coming from an Android device. I've been a hardcore android fan for years, infact I had a G1 as soon as it was released and then upgraded to a Desire. I recently took a chance and went and bought a HD7 so here are my opinions on what's great and what's not compared to android.
Just to mention, I don't have an unlock code yet, the phone is locked to o2 and I'm in a T-Mobile contract so I haven't been able to test any phone functions (Phone and SMS/MMS).
What's Good
Zune
OMG Zune is awesome, It's never been available in the UK before but the whole experience is great. People put down Zune syncing as a negative but imo it's a much nicer and better way of syncing music/pictures/videos to your phone than having to connect, mount and then drag and drop.
The application itself on the phone is great, certainly better than the iPod app on iPhones. It's nice seeing your last played artist as the background in the app and the live tile, when playing music you can see what's coming next, swipe left to right to skip tracks and there's a now playing type feature that will come up regardless of where you are just by pressing the volume button.
Zune Pass is awesome, it's slightly cheaper than Spotify which is what I was previously using but the best bit is rather than just streaming (and then adding to a playlist and making it avaliable offline) you actually download the music from the store like you would do if you were buying it, it becomes part of your library with all information, tags and cover art. You can also, like spotify, stream.
The Apps
Microsoft have totally reinvented mobile apps and, while there aren't many of them, the majority of WP7 apps are 1000x better than the same or alternative app on Android, iPhone, WebOS and any other platform you can think of. Apps look sexy, there's no more going in and out of sections to do a specific action, you simply swipe left to right.
If you're reading this, you've probably seen examples before and know what I'm on about but if you don't... Take twitter for an example. With the android app, once it's loaded up i'm presented with a load of options... Tweets, Mentions etc. I need to go in and out of these if I want to view more than 1 thing. With WP7 you're presented with everything, your timeline loaded first, swipe to the left to see mentions etc... There's no jumping in and out of different sections.
Apps are also graphically rich, there's little to no plain black backgrounds (apart form in general apps like messaging and calendar where you wouldn't really want anything else).
Gaming
The games on this platform blow away anything else I've seen on a mobile device. They're pretty much xbox live arcade games but there are other great non-xbox games aswell. It ties in with Xbox Live pretty well, you earn achievements and games go in your played list. Each game has a "trial" option where you can download a demo version before buying.
The UI
Anytime I read Android Fanboy's comments about WP7 they always point out how the interface is rubbish and tiles are too simple. I disagree. Tiles are basically widgets just like in Android. Some are live, they display information which are pushed to them or they show some sort of animation... just like how in Android widgets can show information. Some aren't live, these would be the equivalent of taking an app from your app drawer in android and putting that on the home screen. Instead of swiping left to right to see more, you swipe up and down. Instead of pressing a button to view apps, you swipe to the left. They're pretty similar when you think about it.
Scrolling is silky smooth and the whole experience is Much quicker compared to android (and I'm comparing to Cyanogenmod with Launcher Pro, not Stock). The interface and Typography is consistent throughout and the typography is awesome.
Battery Life
I have a HD7 and don't know weather this is device specific or OS specific (however the phone does seem to have a smaller battery than my desire). Today I got 12 hours use. 4 Hours of those I was playing music. The phone is constantly being turned on, new things being downloaded, wifi is on all the time due to me not being able to put my contract sim in yet. On android I averaged about 7 hours, this was with 1 hours worth of music.
What's not good compared to Android
Multitasking
There IS multitasking, to some sort of degree. I don't really know the specifics but what I do know is that Last.FM can play music in the background and Twitter seems to update itself in the background. However what it is hard to get used to is switching between apps. There's no kind of "running applications" menu or anything like that, when switching you need to go via the home screen and load the app. This isn't a biggie but it can take some getting used to when you're used to holding down the home button.
App Prices
Games are quite pricey, they're better than any other games I've seen on a mobile but nevertheless, pricey. They range between £2.50 and £6.00 from what I've seen. Apps aren't pricey but there certainly seems to be more paid apps than free apps which coming from android is weird. However, this may be down to the fact that it's a new platform and there aren't that many apps yet.
Closeness and Customisation
The fact that the device is closed doesn't bother me that much however there are a few things which are annoying like the fact that you can't load custom ringtones. Customisation also doesn't bother me that much but it might be a biggie for some people. You can chose between a light (white backgrounds) and dark (black backgrounds) theme and then choose between a set list of about 6 colours for tiles. That's about as customisable as it gets, you can't set individual colours for tiles or anything like that.
Apps
This is not really a negative, it's a new platform and there aren't many apps, this is acceptable imo. But to some people, they might not like this idea. If you're an "App Whore" and can't live without having 10s of thousands of apps to chose from then windows 7 phone isn't ideal for you yet.
Bugs
There are a few bugs to be ironed out, sometimes apps wont launch. Having said that, it's not like Android doesn't have any bugs even now...
Conclusion
IMO, WP7 has more positives over Android. There are a few niggles but I await to see how Microsoft deals with them and how the future of this platform shapes up. It certainly beats any version of android pre 2.0 hands down. I hope Google bring out something impressive with Gingerbread!
Thats some good insight for users who are planning or thinking of switching from Android.
The battery life is poor because of the big and power hungry screen and the fact that HTC put a small battery in that device.
Other phones like the Samsung Omina 7 will last much longer.
Although Zune pretty much covers my music needs I do love last.fm - Glad to hear it can play in the background.
I knew certain third party devs were/are developing with Microsoft to enable background tasks but nice to have it confirmed for last.fm specifically
Phone Titan said:
Thats some good insight for users who are planning or thinking of switching from Android.
The battery life is poor because of the big and power hungry screen and the fact that HTC put a small battery in that device.
Other phones like the Samsung Omina 7 will last much longer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't think the battery life was poor, I think it's quite good compared to my Desire.
Just to add something that I just noticed:
Status
There is no kind of status screen, you cant find out what percentage the battery is and all you have to go by is the battery icon. This is frustrating coming from android where you could find out exactly what percentage the battery was at.
Very nice review/comparison. Thanks!
yes very nice interview some of the android fanboys ned to read this!!!
How's the display on the HD7? I've heard some mixed reviews.
Phone Titan said:
Thats some good insight for users who are planning or thinking of switching from Android.
The battery life is poor because of the big and power hungry screen and the fact that HTC put a small battery in that device.
Other phones like the Samsung Omina 7 will last much longer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, that's incorrect.
The Omnia 7 has a bigger battery capacity, but as most of the backgrounds on apps such as email, webpages etc are white, the AMOLED chews the battery up just as bad if not worse if you use these resources, where as the HD7 chews up battery on blacks, so the opposite of eachother.
In general use, they work out about the same, with omnia 7 slightly better. Use the Omnia for web browsing and lots of email and it's worse than the HD7.
I have both handsets and I've tested this.
risq said:
Actually, that's incorrect.
The Omnia 7 has a bigger battery capacity, but as most of the backgrounds on apps such as email, webpages etc are white, the AMOLED chews the battery up just as bad if not worse if you use these resources, where as the HD7 chews up battery on blacks, so the opposite of eachother.
In general use, they work out about the same, with omnia 7 slightly better. Use the Omnia for web browsing and lots of email and it's worse than the HD7.
I have both handsets and I've tested this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Those white backgrounds you refer to are the "Light" theme. You can change it to Dark in the settings.
Thanks for the review. I'm waiting for the HD7 to arrive. I've been waiting for a revamp of messenging and mail and WP7 has delivered them. What I really will miss is 3G video call capability.
brummiesteven said:
Just to add something that I just noticed:
Status
There is no kind of status screen, you cant find out what percentage the battery is and all you have to go by is the battery icon. This is frustrating coming from android where you could find out exactly what percentage the battery was at.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As long as the Battery Icon is accurate, that's fine.
On my Vibrant the Battery Icon estimates ~25% higher than your actual battery level, so it'll show full when you're 75%, and ~30% when you're about to get a warning about your battery level.
As long as it's accurate, I can care less about a status screen.
Thanks I was still being stubborn as I saw the 4g, but this reassured me that I will not regret the switch
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
Took delivery of my HD7 yesterday, coming from the HTC Desire - no problems so far apart from 1 random reboot - but then I had that on the Desire in its first week as well, maybe it's a "feature" that HTC include.
I have used WM6.5 (for years), WebOS, IOS, Android and now WP7. I would say WP7 has the most promise.
Reasons:-
-The whole Zune thing - knocks Itunes into a cocked hat - it looks delightful and works beautifully - Zune Pass is what Spotify should be!
-Simplicity of the UI - Android is extremely customisable but gets cluttered and simply ain't as pretty as WP7 (IMHO).
- Social network integration excellent (bear in mind I do not use twitter)
- Info displayed on lock screen useful
- Ability to use camera when device locked
- Kindle app is coming - big thing for me as I am an avid reader.
- Everything so fast and fluid!
- Did I say it looks beautiful?
Things WP7 needs:-
- A bar code reader app/ google goggles type app
- An Ocado app (UK readers will know what I mean)
- Turn by turn nav
- Cut-n- Paste- HTML 5.0, Flash, silverlight
- Text reflow/ wrapping in the browser - the Android browsers I have used are still the best.
BTW, I fervently hope that the WP MArketplace does NOT get filled up with 300,000 useless fart apps/ tip calculators etc. quality not quantity is what is required!
Just to expand on Copy and Paste... There are some scenarios where you need it.
At the moment I'm dealing with an eBay seller. I received a message from him in my GMail Inbox. So I go ahead and type a reply. I get an error back telling me that my address isn't recognised (I recently changed from @googlemail.com to @gmail.com). So I then have to go and type the message out again in the Ebay app as I can't copy and paste what I wrote earlier in the email.
i, too, will be switching from android, but my case is different: for a year i've been stuck on 1.5 (galaxy i7500) so i didn't get the taste of even 1.6 not to mention 2.1, so i had to draw the line. i got bored with android ui and wp7 ui blew my mind, plus the incredible smoothness and speed were enough to convince me to switch. i'll be getting the mozart because it has the best dimensions among other wp7 phones, it's not a huge monster. 8mpx camera is also a treat
zard said:
Thanks for the review. I'm waiting for the HD7 to arrive. I've been waiting for a revamp of messenging and mail and WP7 has delivered them. What I really will miss is 3G video call capability.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When I reached home this morning, picked up the papers, I saw the HD7! I was so happy and the rest was history. I'm enjoying my HD7 reading the posts in XDA and typing this response. I've not set up my emails and contacts, but the browser is a joy to use. It loads so much faster now than my Td2 with my same WiFi speed.
Is there backgrounds? I really like that from Android, all I have seen is white and black backgrounds...
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
Smokexz said:
Is there backgrounds? I really like that from Android, all I have seen is white and black backgrounds...
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are no background options at this current time but you can change the colours.
JEEtoP said:
Although Zune pretty much covers my music needs I do love last.fm - Glad to hear it can play in the background.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
JEEtoP,
I love LastFM too. Is there already any way/app to get LastFM scrobbling the music I'm listening with Zune?
Thanks.
Its simplicity is incredible. And the response time is great. Back to the basics and I'm loving my new HTC Surround.
I'm really diggin the simple look. I just came from Android and its homescreen(s) were kinda cool but just not for me. I only used one screen with no widgets and like 4 apps on the homescreen. It was so laggy when swiping from screen to screen I just didnt want to use that many.
I like how on WP7 when you swipe through stuff it feels like you are actually moving it. It's browser is also insane. I'm loving WP7.
you know you can theme Android and iOS to look and act just like Metro right?
orangekid said:
you know you can theme Android and iOS to look and act just like Metro right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No you cant. The Metro themes are totally crap. People Hub, Pictures hub, Music/Video hub all sections in WP7 are part not only the Live Tiles. There is no good metro theme out there.
I find the UI to elegant and classy. Simple yet stylish. Highly responsive and smooth. It's unique in this world of cookie-cutter smartphone UIs.
I think it looks better than iOS, but worse than WebOS. WebOS just looks really good, IMO.
Can't wait til HP releases a phone with a 4.0" screen (SLCD or AMOLED). I'm definitely going to get it. That platform is more finished and if they update it at a decent pace I have high hopes for it.
As long as they move away from the whole "Palm Profile" bullcrap.
orangekid said:
you know you can theme Android and iOS to look and act just like Metro right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah but maybe we can cook up a WP7 based Android ROM then?
N8ter said:
I think it looks better than iOS, but worse than WebOS. WebOS just looks really good, IMO.
Can't wait til HP releases a phone with a 4.0" screen (SLCD or AMOLED). I'm definitely going to get it. That platform is more finished and if they update it at a decent pace I have high hopes for it.
As long as they move away from the whole "Palm Profile" bullcrap.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think the entire internet world is screaming for this(not literally) . The pre is just too small.
N8ter said:
I think it looks better than iOS, but worse than WebOS. WebOS just looks really good, IMO.
Can't wait til HP releases a phone with a 4.0" screen (SLCD or AMOLED). I'm definitely going to get it. That platform is more finished and if they update it at a decent pace I have high hopes for it.
As long as they move away from the whole "Palm Profile" bullcrap.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sadly, I believe the Pre3 is 3.5" screen(correct me if I'm wrong) I don't think I can settle for anything under 4"
What I like about WP7 is the simple yet fast In-&-Out factor.
Crimson Lotus said:
Sadly, I believe the Pre3 is 3.5" screen(correct me if I'm wrong) I don't think I can settle for anything under 4"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sadly you are correct. Here are the Pre 3 specs:
http://www.phonearena.com/phones/HP-Pre-3-GSM_id5200
orangekid said:
you know you can theme Android and iOS to look and act just like Metro right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can theme iOS and Android to have a Tiles look but that is pretty much it. Correct me if I am wrong but in iOS the tiles are not live, and I think neither are the Android ones. Also missing are the animated transitions, and the hubs.
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
What makes WP7 UI good is a result of several factors:
1. It is new and different.
2. It has a minimalist design which is popular nowadays.
3. It is efficient with space and effective in delivery of information.
I suspect that this is where Apple needs to take iOS 5. And funny enough, clean is what best describes Apple products, so to see Windows have the cleanest OS is surprising. Metro UI really works and works well without visual overload.
Is it the best? Depends on who you ask. But it is different and works well. I think it is far better than the rest.
there are iOS themes where the tiles are indeed live and the theme is still evolving every day, it's not 100% like WP7 but better IMO because you can actually change aspects that you can't change on WP7, you can also theme it like Android with actual Sense weather animations and other cool things like video wallpapers, any video you want, you can actually make your own, or like the Nexus LWP (although touching the screen doesn't do anything sadly).
iOS is very much able to be themed and IMO comparing the UI of a system that is admittedly smooth and sleek but unchangeable to 2 others that can be themes almost exactly like it and about a thousand other ways makes them look better.
orangekid said:
there are iOS themes where the tiles are indeed live and the theme is still evolving every day, it's not 100% like WP7 but better IMO because you can actually change aspects that you can't change on WP7, you can also theme it like Android with actual Sense weather animations and other cool things like video wallpapers, any video you want, you can actually make your own, or like the Nexus LWP (although touching the screen doesn't do anything sadly).
iOS is very much able to be themed and IMO comparing the UI of a system that is admittedly smooth and sleek but unchangeable to 2 others that can be themes almost exactly like it and about a thousand other ways makes them look better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Androids rendition, despite my respect for the developers, is not a very thorough attempt. The animations are bad, there are no live tiles, it's laggy (of course that's all UIs on android), most of the apps are just terrible as icons(not that that's their fault either, the apps weren't made to be put on a tile) and once you break the skin it's just android... iOS did a fairly good job of it, it's smooth, it's pretty, but every time I see one of the basic iOS menu pop-ups I die a little inside and as good as iOS can be I just wish they'd put it out on a phone that's big enough for those of us with big hands. WM did an awesome job recreating it though, you can even get a few of the hubs to come up though none of the integration is really there.
Basically it's this
The other Oses look like plasticky candy. They remind me of Linux on the desktop.
Windows uses a phrase "authentically digital".. it means the content is actually just digital content and they don't try to make it look like wood or glass or chrome or other real-world objects like that. Typography is what's used to communicate concepts and tasks, and sets the UI apart.
The result?: Everything feels breezy, light, airy, clean. Apps can be very very slick (colorful like Flickr or Cocktail Flow or DailyMotion). They can also be very basic, nothing but text on a blank background, and yet somehow still be beautiful (I think Weatherbug's simple UI looks better than Weather Channel with it's backgrounds and gradients). This is good for developers.
orangekid said:
there are iOS themes where the tiles are indeed live and the theme is still evolving every day, it's not 100% like WP7 but better IMO because you can actually change aspects that you can't change on WP7, you can also theme it like Android with actual Sense weather animations and other cool things like video wallpapers, any video you want, you can actually make your own, or like the Nexus LWP (although touching the screen doesn't do anything sadly).
iOS is very much able to be themed and IMO comparing the UI of a system that is admittedly smooth and sleek but unchangeable to 2 others that can be themes almost exactly like it and about a thousand other ways makes them look better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I stand corrected then on the Live Tiles with iOS. They also have animated transitions? They definately do not have hubs though.
Live Tiles are nice, but only a part of the experience. I would imagine with enough effort you could get relatively close but not identical.
nicksti said:
I stand corrected then on the Live Tiles with iOS. They also have animated transitions? They definately do not have hubs though.
Live Tiles are nice, but only a part of the experience. I would imagine with enough effort you could get relatively close but not identical.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
true enough, but the point is the versatility of iOS and Android in comparison with WP7, you can't 100% emulate, but to come that close and then have 1000 other options when you get bored of Metro in two weeks.
I think the fact that the emphasis is on how "smooth" the UI is (and it is smooth) is kind of like saying
"well this car looks just a little like yours but not quite 100% the same, but hey it flies and makes tacos and time travels while yours only drives in one direction on the street"
Metro to me looks like a Tetris game for the visually impared.
But maybe that's just me.
orangekid said:
iOS is very much able to be themed and IMO comparing the UI of a system that is admittedly smooth and sleek but unchangeable to 2 others that can be themes almost exactly like it and about a thousand other ways makes them look better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol...but who has the time, energy, and desire to do all the jailbreaking, downloading, and updating that would require? The Metro UI is by far my favorite, and all I had to do to get the best, original version of it was to open the box of my WP7 and turn it on. I'm pretty sure most consumers are going to buy a phone based on what it IS rather than what it could be.
orangekid said:
"well this car looks just a little like yours but not quite 100% the same, but hey it flies and makes tacos and time travels while yours only drives in one direction on the street"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What a brilliant point. If I'm driving a car, I only want it to drive in one direction at a time on a street. If it does all that other stuff, it isn't for the majority of folks looking to buy cars.
If this theme:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=11150134&postcount=1
would be released, it´s the perfect harmony between the simple stuff of the tiles and an elegant look with a little individuality.
z33dev33l said:
Androids rendition, despite my respect for the developers, is not a very thorough attempt. The animations are bad, there are no live tiles, it's laggy (of course that's all UIs on android), most of the apps are just terrible as icons(not that that's their fault either, the apps weren't made to be put on a tile) and once you break the skin it's just android... iOS did a fairly good job of it, it's smooth, it's pretty, but every time I see one of the basic iOS menu pop-ups I die a little inside and as good as iOS can be I just wish they'd put it out on a phone that's big enough for those of us with big hands. WM did an awesome job recreating it though, you can even get a few of the hubs to come up though none of the integration is really there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's cause the developers are bad. But if you don't think a company like SPB Mobile can't replicate Metro on Android I dunno what to say.
There would probably be patent issues with that, though. Microsoft has Patents on elements of the Metro UI, so those rip-offs may not even be legal...
I put together a little video comparing the Galaxy Nexus' browser to that of the iPhone 4S. Decided I'd share it with you guys. Hope you enjoy it.
Browser Comparison - Galaxy Nexus vs iPhone 4S - YouTube
nice video i thoroughly enjoyed it.
RogerPodacter said:
nice video i thoroughly enjoyed it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. I appreciate it.
Great Job on the video.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
So what was the point?(edit: never mind, for some reason the first time I watched it there was no audio on the video) I didn't watch the whole thing but find the iPhone browser is still better even with the smaller screen. The scrolling is actually better on the iPhone because majority of the time when you are reading a page you don't want to accidentally scroll all the way to the bottom. I'm not sure if you did this but iOS does scroll faster the longer the page is. Also I noticed you had some issues with the double tap to zoom in on the Nexus like I do where things get formatted weirdly or it doesn't zoom in on the correct part of the page. Also, I believe the GN renders every page in Roboto font? I want the actual font that the website designer decided was the best font on their page. I'm still keeping the GN for now but the update situation is really annoying me with this phone as I was planning to stay stock.
Great video though!
I'm impressed with the 4s performance. Faster loading times, more responsive pinch to zoom and better layout of webpages when they first loaded. I'll keep my GN but it sux to see it's not as polished as iphone/ios yet. Thanks for the video.
Was this with 4.0.3 or 4.0.2?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App
jhuynh said:
So what was the point?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Point was to show the differences between usability between the two browsers and demonstrate as ICS browser being more usable than iPhone alternative.
jhuynh said:
The scrolling is actually better on the iPhone because majority of the time when you are reading a page you don't want to accidentally scroll all the way to the bottom. I'm not sure if you did this but iOS does scroll faster the longer the page is.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I personally prefer if the scrolling does not have a stopper like iPhone has. When I am on a website I frequently visit, I tend to know how much I need to flick to scroll to specific part of the page. It is more intuitive and doing multiple flicks in a row and is especially useful to get to comments quickly on articles and news. Same applies to tab switching, which is much better on ICS.
jhuynh said:
Also I noticed you had some issues with the double tap to zoom in on the Nexus like I do where things get formatted weirdly or it doesn't zoom in on the correct part of the page.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ICS browser improves zooming quite a bit. Finger-zooming and double-tap have different functionality attached. Double-tab re-formats paragraphs to fit the screen while finger-zooming does not. This is really useful for many cases in my opinion.
jhuynh said:
Also, I believe the GN renders every page in Roboto font? I want the actual font that the website designer decided was the best font on their page. I'm still keeping the GN for now but the update situation is really annoying me with this phone as I was planning to stay stock.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No it does not, where is that coming from? ICS has a different 'default' font than what is on Windows (where it is Times New Roman, instead of Roboto), but if designer assigns a custom font that exists on Android, it is shown as such. Of course certain Windows-only or Mac-only fonts are not supported by default (there is no Comic Sans on Android, for example), but that has been an issue with all multi-platform web's ever since browsers other than Internet Explorer gained some market share.
Also, you can't get the actual font the web designer intended unless the software that runs the website takes this into account. A lot of websites are built Windows-only and look different on Mac's. Fonts are even more different for a devices that run Android, since Android does not incorporate proprietary and copyrighted fonts by default.
But with proper web software, if the website is coded right, then ICS browser supports all the possible fonts out there.
edit: Ok I just watched the video again and getting the audio now. I'm not sure why I didn't have audio the first time.
ICS improves zooming but it's still not at the level of the iPhone. Just admit it is better on the iPhone instead of hiding behind the fact that it is better than gingerbread. I'd have to find the article but one review mentioned the page rendering was weird and when they compared to an iPhone they realized it was using Roboto which messed up the website design. It might have just been one website that had that issue so I'm not 100% sure since Roboto looks a hell of a lot like Helvetica.
jhuynh said:
Yes the point was to show the differences but the OP never gave his own opinion unless for some reason I wasn't getting audio on the video. ICS improves zooming but it's still not at the level of the iPhone. Just admit it is better on the iPhone instead of hiding behind the fact that it is better than gingerbread. I'd have to find the article but one review mentioned the page rendering was weird and when they compared to an iPhone they realized it was using Roboto which messed up the website design. It might have just been one website that had that issue so I'm not 100% sure since Roboto looks a hell of a lot like Helvetica.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
theverge.com is an example of that - the correct font doesn't display on the GN.
back on topic, Great video.
I'd say that the overall browser experience of the GN is quite a bit better than my 4s, despite the rendering and scrolling issues et al - the 4.65 + 720p combo really is killer for the web. Fantastic experience BUT it comes at a price which sacrifices its reliability - battery life
that's why the 4s is still the go-to browsing device for me - i can browse the web for around 7-8 hours on my before the battery drains while i can barely go 2-3 hours on my GN.
omersak said:
theverge.com is an example of that - the correct font doesn't display on the GN.
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This is because developers of theverge.com have not taken into account Android. They are using an OpenType format for fonts which is supported in Android, but apparently not the inline-base64-css way that The Verge does it.
jsntrenkler said:
Great Job on the video.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
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Thank you
kangxi said:
Was this with 4.0.3 or 4.0.2?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App
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4.0.2
Sharp75 said:
I'm impressed with the 4s performance. Faster loading times, more responsive pinch to zoom and better layout of webpages when they first loaded. I'll keep my GN but it sux to see it's not as polished as iphone/ios yet. Thanks for the video.
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I'd have to disagree with you. I've had a chance to do a lot of side by side and the Galaxy Nexus consistently loads faster than the 4s. Of course in the video I wasn't really trying to do a speed test since there are already many of those videos out. But in doing side by sides in my own time I can tell you the GNex almost always loads pages faster. It isn't a night and day type of difference. On some pages it does load significantly faster and on others just a hair faster.
As for the layout of the pages, I don't really have an issue with how either phone does the layout. I'd have to give the nod to the Galaxy Nexus however, for the fact that it shows more content, and that content is readable. On the iphone when it first loads a page, it can be very difficult to read what is on the page without squinting due to screen size issues.
Polish wise, I'm pretty impressed with the GNex's browser. I find it to be more polished and complete than that of the iphone. Yes the iphone's browser is a tad bit smoother, but that's due to it limiting what it has to render when scrolling. It doesn't allow you to scroll how you'd like. That annoys the heck out of me. I'm used to being able to manage my scrolling myself and scroll to where I want to. Instead the iphone will only allow you to scroll a predetermined amount which in turns delivers that oft mentioned "smoothness".
I own both a 4S and a Nexus.
I found stock for stock, the 4S was faster at pulling up webpages, etc. over wifi. Faster rendering on 4S basically. Scrolling mechanics are better on iPhones (as usual).
After a custom fresh rom and an overclock to the CPU at 1350mhz and the GPU oc'd to 384mhz the Nexus begins to out-speed the 4S in rendering. Scrolling mechanics still remain better on 4S of course.
It's hard for Android to compete with iOS since Apple's OS is so highly optimized for their own hardware. Google is optimized on a more global scale... Leaving not much room for an Apple-level amount of optimization.
The browser in ICS is still the best browser on Android this far. iOS' browser is amazing and hard to really topple in terms of speed and quality.
The A5 clock for clock will outright smoke the OMAP4460.
Go to any flash website, instant android win
Sent from my Google phone
Diversion said:
I own both a 4S and a Nexus.
I found stock for stock, the 4S was faster at pulling up webpages, etc. over wifi. Faster rendering on 4S basically. Scrolling mechanics are better on iPhones (as usual).
After a custom fresh rom and an overclock to the CPU at 1350mhz and the GPU oc'd to 384mhz the Nexus begins to out-speed the 4S in rendering. Scrolling mechanics still remain better on 4S of course.
It's hard for Android to compete with iOS since Apple's OS is so highly optimized for their own hardware. Google is optimized on a more global scale... Leaving not much room for an Apple-level amount of optimization.
The browser in ICS is still the best browser on Android this far. iOS' browser is amazing and hard to really topple in terms of speed and quality.
The A5 clock for clock will outright smoke the OMAP4460.
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My experiences have been almost the complete opposite of yours. 9 times out of 10 the GNex loads web pages faster than the 4S. As for the scrolling, I really am not impressed at all by the 4S' scrolling due to it being highly controlled (meaning it scrolls a predetermined distance). That is incredibly annoying to me. I hate having to swipe and swipe and swipe just to get to the bottom of a page, when on my Nexus I can get there in one swipe. Also, I don't find the iOS browser to be amazing at all. I find it to be lacking in several areas. For example, you can't even download or upload from the browser...that isn't very amazing at all. It doesn't reformat text, which means to read articles, often times you're going to have to scroll side to side in addition to vertically...that isn't very amazing either. Then of course there's the lack of flash, so you can forget about going to a site like cnn and clicking on one of the video links. All in all I find the iOS browser to be average on a good day.
How did you get the GN browser to open WITHOUT refreshing the page?? Custom rom? Having the pages reload every time I open the browser is a huge annoyance .
hahaha @ 7:58 on the video the preview image on the nexus is almost the same size as the 4s' screen . [chuckle]
To the OP, you should run this test again using the browser from 4.0.3. It has Bern further optimized and performs better.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App
EP2008 said:
How did you get the GN browser to open WITHOUT refreshing the page?? Custom rom? Having the pages reload every time I open the browser is a huge annoyance .
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Mine behaves like OP's. It doesn't reload unless I've been playing a game or something in between.
kekspernikai said:
Mine behaves like OP's. It doesn't reload unless I've been playing a game or something in between.
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Could this be a difference with 4.0.2? I'm on 4.0.1 and the browser reloads no matter what... In fact all the browsers I've used do the same thing in ICS. It doesn't reload like that in Honeycomb.
Using L7 to replicate my beloved Metro. The extra space is phenomenal for the interface.
I used to do it with my Galaxy S. launcher, sms app, twitter app... everything I could find on metro, I would use.
Then I got the Lumia and believe me, there's no styling on Android that will ever make it resemble the actual thing. It's way more than just a theme.
guilhermedsx said:
I used to do it with my Galaxy S. launcher, sms app, twitter app... everything I could find on metro, I would use.
Then I got the Lumia and believe me, there's no styling on Android that will ever make it resemble the actual thing. It's way more than just a theme.
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I agree with everything you said.
Launchers aren't a good representation of another OS, specially not WP7.
Obviously a launcher can't reproduce an ecosystem...however I'm pretty sure that this fall we'll be able to see some huge Apollo device with an HD screen, basically a WP Note. I doubt that Samsung will drop the ball on that after Win8 and Apollo launch, assuming that it will look promising. Oh well, just wait and see
Sent from my Lumia 800 using XDA Windows Phone 7 App
DarkSeL said:
I agree with everything you said.
Launchers aren't a good representation of another OS, specially not WP7.
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It actually is. You should try both out at the same time. Aside from metro not carrying through all the L7 apps, its very similar.
ohgood said:
Aside from metro not carrying through all the L7 apps, its very similar.
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Heh, I know but that's what WP UI is all about IMHO...
Also the way everything is rendered is quite different, apparently Android and WP run in a very different way. What I really like about the WP UI is how everything "flows" in a very natural way, and how the apps (at least most of em) feel like melting into the OS when you open or close them. It feels kinda like a "living being" more than a software thing, if you get what I mean. I'm not really talking about fluidity here, because probably a GS3 is more fluid and operates way faster than any WP device, it's the whole experience as it's packed that gives you overall a different, warmer feeling. That's what I think out of my broken mind at least
ohgood said:
It actually is. You should try both out at the same time. Aside from metro not carrying through all the L7 apps, its very similar.
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Do you have the people tile and its cool animations all the time? Can you pin specific people to the screen? do their tiles animate? Does the gallery app keep changing pictures?
Or is it just a frozen picture of WP7?
DarkSeL said:
Do you have the people tile and its cool animations all the time? Can you pin specific people to the screen? do their tiles animate? Does the gallery app keep changing pictures?
Or is it just a frozen picture of WP7?
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Some of that does work, yes. But for myself, right now, I need to use Android. This is a nice reminder of one of my favorite OS and a proof of concept on a high resolution large screen WP seriously rocks.
vnvman said:
Heh, I know but that's what WP UI is all about IMHO...
Also the way everything is rendered is quite different, apparently Android and WP run in a very different way. What I really like about the WP UI is how everything "flows" in a very natural way, and how the apps (at least most of em) feel like melting into the OS when you open or close them. It feels kinda like a "living being" more than a software thing, if you get what I mean. I'm not really talking about fluidity here, because probably a GS3 is more fluid and operates way faster than any WP device, it's the whole experience as it's packed that gives you overall a different, warmer feeling. That's what I think out of my broken mind at least
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yep, got it. guess it depends on just how deep into the UI / app interactions one goes. on the surface, very similar. as soon as an app is opened, they fall apart in similarities.
then again, alllll the apps are different on android/ios.