VonGeekenstein » android

Android’s Customizability Continues to Astound Me

Brian Rubin — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 21:43:57 +0000

I’ve been spending a lot of time — besides looking for full-time employment, of course — tweaking the heck out of my HTC EVO 4G phone, which, if you’re unaware, runs on Google’s Android platform. Once you have rooted an Android phone, you can access to a whole plethora of capabilities. Lately, besides being able to do a full backup of the phone’s software, I’ve been playing with the look of the software.

I’m currently running the latest nightly build of CyanogenMod, which is based not Google’s pure Android Open Source Project, or AOSP. The EVO comes with a version of Sense, their overlay onto Android which they hope makes it more user friendly, and it does. As a tinkerer, however, I needed more. Lately I’ve not just been playing with wallpaper, but a new launcher, as well as whole theme and font packs as well. I think I’ve got it now to where I actually want it. Take a look…

Neat, huh? Especially when you compare it to the stock look of the device, as shown below:

As you can see, while HTC’s original Sense overlay is simple and effective, it’s not really eye catching. Thanks to the customization options present in Android, however, that can all be changed. If you have an Android phone, and haven’t rooted it yet, I’d seriously consider it. This sort of stuff, plus free WiFi tethering and other features, really make it worthwhile.

Diving Into Android Rooting

Brian Rubin — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 19:44:54 +0000

I’ve not written in a spell because I’ve been totally submerged in the culture of Android rooting. Rooting, if you’re unaware, is similar to jailbreaking an iPhone. It gives the user root access to their phone, allowing much more control over their device in new and exciting ways.

On Android, rooting allows you to do many things. This includes:

Overclock the CPU for more speed, or underclock it for better battery life.
Do full ROM backups of your phone
Flash new ROM’s for a different user experience
Enable free USB tethering and WiFi hotspot connectivity
And ton’s more.

Rooting isn’t without its risks, of course. I’ve read some folks have bricked their phones as a result, but this is few and far between, as the risks are relatively low. I’ve also run into some issues while rooted, such as freezes and boot loops when trying to flash certain ROM’s and such, but thankfully they were fixable. I’ve been spending hours trying new ROM’s and kernels for better battery life

So if you have an Android phone, should you root it? It depends. How comfortable are you with technology? If you’re pretty comfy with learning new stuff and tinkering, then there’s a ton you can read to get started on various forums and websites. If you’re not comfortable with the idea, then don’t even think about it.

So what say you, Android users? Have you rooted yet? If so, what do you like about it? If not, do you plan to or not? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Why I Switched to Android and Away from the iPhone

Brian Rubin — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 02:16:03 +0000

So remember a little while back that I said I was sticking with the iPhone? Yeah, well, things change, and about two weeks ago, I took the plunge away from the iPhone and AT&T (a limited phone with an awful carrier…yeah, I said it) to go to Sprint and the HTC EVO 4G. Why do I call the iPhone limited, and why did I switch? Keep reading to find out.

Two years ago, when I got the iPhone, there was little to nothing like it. The streamlined OS, the apps, and so on were all very appealing to me. The iPhone 3G was my first smartphone, and for the most part it served me well except for a few niggling things, at least at first. However, the more I looked at Android, and the more I learned about the flexibility of the platform, the more intrigued I became. However, as my two-years with AT&T approached, I figured I’d stick with whatever iPhone came out next.

Then the iPhone 4 was announced, and I was…underwhelmed. Sure it was pretty and had a front-facing camera, but it didn’t seem that much different than the previous iPhones before it. Sure, software updates brought things like folders and multitasking, but Android already had those features. The more I researched, the more I realized I wanna tweak my hardware and software to work the way I like it…and the iPhone doesn’t let one do that. I was also turned off by the forced obsolescence of my iPhone 3G once I upgraded to iOS 4.0, which basically made my phone unusable. I was also getting really bored with the iOS, honestly.

Then, “antennagate” happened. This issue (which hasn’t occurred with my new EVO no matter how I hold it, by the way) got me concerned about the iPhone 4′s performance, which was bad enough, but when die-hard, kool-aid drinking Apple apologists dismissed my concerns by telling me just to buy a case and so on. So wait, I’d say to myself, these folks are telling me to spend money to fix a design flaw on something I just spent money on? How does that logic work?

Finally, I was fed up with AT&T. I was tired of calls dropping every few minutes, getting no reception in a lot of places — especially my apartment — and paying through the nose for what essentially is half-assed service. With all of this in mind, I decided I was done with Apple, AT&T and the iPhone, and knew it was time to move onto something different.

So, after doing mountains of research and talking to friends who are on all of the other carriers, I decided to give Sprint a try, and go with one of the most advanced Android handsets on the market today, HTC’s EVO 4G. So after two weeks, how do I feel about my purchase?

Let me say that I think the EVO is the best phone I’ve ever had, based on a combination of the flexibility of the Android OS and the sturdiness of HTC’s hardware. The Android OS is amazing. You can do so much with it and change so much it’s ridiculous. Don’t like the built-in text messaging program? Download a new one. Want a new dialer? Fine! Don’t like the email program? There are several to try on the Android Market. This is why I call the iPhone limited, now that I’ve tried something else? Don’t like the messaging program on the iPhone? Too bad. Want to use another email program? Oh well.

Android also does a ton of little things I love that the iPhone didn’t or wouldn’t. For example, putting an address into your calendar entry was next to useless on the iPhone, as this didn’t actually DO anything. It didn’t even link to Google Maps, for chrissakes. However, in Android, clicking an address in a calendar entry gives you a choice of which navigation program you would like to use, either Google Maps (of which their built in turn-by-turn directions, Google Navigation, is AMAZING) or Sprint Navigation. This feature ALONE helps propel Android over iOS, in my mind.

Sure, Android isn’t as pretty or as streamlined as iOS, but I don’t think it’s meant to be. This is an OS, it seems, for people who want as much control over their software and hardware as they can handle. However, as a PC user…I like to tweak. Forgive the blatant generalization, but from what I’ve noticed about Apple users…they just want their stuff to be shiny and work well, to hell with tweaking anything to make it better. PC users, on the other hand, like to tweak, like to build their own PC’s. These differences are the crux of what separates iOS and Android. The first is a walled garden wherein you have to play things by Apple’s rules; the second is a lot more open and free.

Now sure, there are downsides to Android. As Android uses full-on multitasking, the battery life can be drained rather quickly compared to Apple’s more controlled approach to multitasking. It can also be less secure since it’s a more open system, but there are easy ways to protect yourself from this. The battery life on the phone isn’t the greatest either, since the screen is so big, bright and pretty.

Also, I have to say I’m thrilled with Sprint’s service. I’ve not had one dropped call in two weeks, as opposed to tons of dropped calls with AT&T. I also get reception EVERYWHERE in my apartment. This is something neither AT&T nor Verizon could accomplish. My phone bill will also be $40 cheaper a month with Sprint, so thus far, I’m a very happy camper with my service as well as my phone.

Overall, though, I am damned happy I switched. The iOS was becoming too limiting for me and the culture surrounding Apple plus other factors pushed me away, and I’m in a much happier place now. This phone does everything I could want and more, and if I don’t like how it does something, I can change it.

So what about you? I’d love to hear your thoughts on your current or future smartphone. Are you an iPhone devotee who’s sticking with the platform no matter what? Have you switched to something new recently? Tell me your thoughts in the comments. Thanks for reading.

Library of Congress Alters Digital Millennium Copyright Act

Brian Rubin — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 21:02:05 +0000

According to an article on Ars Technica entitled, Apple loses big in DRM ruling: jailbreaks are “fair use”, the Library of Congress has added a bevy of new exceptions to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act altering the way we’re allowed to use much of the digital media and devices we have.

The biggest loser in all of this, of course, is Apple. For a long time, Apple claimed that the process of “jailbreaking” their iPhone was illegal. However, now it’s covered under “fair use,” and therefore can be now done legally. This should make a lot of people who jailbreak their phones really happy. The same is true for Google Android users who wish to “root” their phone legally, though Android phone manufacturers didn’t make as big a stink about it as Apple did.

Other new exemptions apply to DVD’s and ebooks. Now you can legally use portions of a film on DVD if it’s being used for documentary or non-commercial purposes, so maybe we’ll see all those “Downfall” parodies come back to YouTube. Ebooks can now also be hacked to be allowed to be read with a voice synthesizer, where before many complained this would eat into their ebook sales (which is very doubtful).

There are other little tidbits, but those above are the most notable. How long will these exemptions last? That’s something we don’t know, but for now, people should enjoy their new exemptions as much as possible.

Why I'm Sticking With the iPhone

Brian Rubin — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 16:00:04 +0000

Sorry about not updating in a while folks, had some real life crap take away the brain space I usually use for writing, but now things are looking totally up, so I’ll be back on a regular basis bringing my (hopefully interesting) opinions and such on geek stuff. Today I’m going to talk about why, in the face of design flaws, bitchy PR responses and more viable competition than in previous years, I’m sticking with the iPhone platform. I current have a iPhone 3G I got back in August, 2008, and I’ve been pretty happy with it. Sure, there are some things I wish it did better (like it’s awful, awful notification system for one), but it’s been two years, and the poor thing has started to get glitchy — like having to turn off the phone and back on to get a good GPS signal more and more often — so it’s time to upgrade, especially since my contract is up with AT&T next month.

So, of course, I’ve been doing a ton of research. Back when I got the 3G in 2008, there wasn’t anywhere near as much competition for the iPhone as there is today, especially from the Android platform. I’ve played with my friends’ Android phones, as well as played with them in the stores, as there are some things I do like on them more than the iPhone, such as widgets and a much, much better notification system. However, what I don’t like about the Android platform is the fragmentation. Different handsets from different carriers have different versions of the Android OS, and different capabilities, so this means apps that might work on one phone might not work on another. They also keep coming out with new phones, I think, way too fast. I could get a phone next month, and in a few weeks it’d be made obsolete by the next lineup of phones.

There are also the apps. I’ve purchased literally hundreds and hundreds of apps for my iPhone (I’m kind of an app whore), and am therefore kind of invested into the iOS platform at this point. I think it’d be like switching from the PC to the MAC and not being able to play all the classic PC games I have now (yeah yeah, I know that MAC’s can run Windows now, but they apparently have even more compatibility issues with the older games I love to play, like Freespace 2 and such, than PC’s running modern operating systems). I’d also have to purchase new accessories as well. I also like the standardization of the iPhone platform. Sure, they only release one phone a year, but the iPhone line is pretty much standardized so apps will run on a 3G, a 3GS or a 4 unless they have model-specific features.

The iPhone is also a simpler and easier to use platform. While I like the ability to tweak nearly everything on an Android phone, I think it’s a bit of overkill, especially when it comes to app usage and battery life. Apparently apps need to be constantly monitored and killed with a task manager app in order to preserve battery life. Now I don’t mind tweaking stuff like that on my PC, but on my phone, I want things to just work, and this is what the iPhone offers. The simplicity, elegance and power of the platform to do nearly everything I want without constant monitoring or tweaking is a big bonus, in my book.

So yes, even in the face of noted design flaws and a bitchy attitude from Apple, I’m going to be getting an iPhone 4 in the coming weeks. The combination of simplicity, elegance, application support and so on have pretty much sold me. Sure, it’ll still be on AT&T’s shitty network, but I can mostly live with that as long as the phone is awesome. I’m sure I’ll get flak from my Android friends about this article, but I say bring it.

What about you? Are you an iPhone user that’s going to stay, or are you moving on? Are you looking to switch to the iPhone from another platform? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments. Thanks for reading.