[Android] Android M - Thoughts?

I am glad its a release with a focus on refinement and bug squashing. I was going to give it a try but then remembered that I use my phone for work.

 

From the MKBHD video I saw, the new layout for the all apps screen looks like crud going vertical, I hope they keep it horizontally scrolling. Using the Google Now in any app is pretty cool, kinda creepy though. And I hope the Doze makes a real difference for standby time for phones. The fingerprint and Google Pay looks gimicky, and I don't care for it. The individual app permissions is LONG overdue IMO. The USB C charging support doesn't make a huge difference, my 801 SoC in my Z3V already supports Quick Charge.

 

I don't care for the auto app selection... I actually use different apps for the same file type depending on what I'm doing and that's going to make life miserable for me if it can't be turned off.

Outside of that, I would be happy with some bug fixes and performance fixes but on XDA they are saying that M runs really hot on the Nexus 6 which would seem to imply it's hitting the CPU harder than Lollipop.

I don't know. I think my interest in phones is finally waning. Maybe I'll keep my Nexus 6 for a long time so I can stop paying 28 bucks a month for my phone addiction... Just seems like innovation has stopped for now.

 

I mean what specific bug fixes and performance fixes did it list?
You know with all the little "issues" with the Nexus 6, I'm sort of glad I didn't buy it.
28 bucks a month for phone addiction is cheap, only 1 dollar a day approx.

 

Nobody really knows what all Google has done thus far. Although they broke root. I haven't checked today to see if they found a new exploit or not.

As for my phone addiction, I'm just getting irritated because I have a Jump credit available (been there since February) and there hasn't been a new phone that meets my expectations. Doesn't look like there will be either. Google is rumored to be shrinking the screen to the same 5.7 inches that the Note uses and the Note is rumored to go back to Qualcomm for the processor and may or may not have front facing speakers. HTC is just an Uber fail. Sony is throwing in the towel on the US market (and breaks their camera if you root the phone anyway). And I won't ever own another LG phone after the G2x disaster.

 

I feel it will only be a matter of time before an exploit is found. They said the Verizon Galaxy S 3 was unbreakable, well that didn't last very long.

Where did you hear the rumor the next Nexus will be 5.7 inches? Also why can't Google partner with another OEM to make 2 different Nexus phones to cater to the large and smaller phone sizes (like iPhone 6/6 Plus). I always thought the Note was offered in Exynos flavors (usually for Asia, European markets though, unless you want to live without US LTE connectivity, and that would be an uber bummer), as well as Qualcomm.

http://www.phonearena.com/news/HTC-...hen-pushed-new-thermal-image-confirms_id67526

Does the M9 still overheat? I remember using it like a month ago and it was so hot, I could not hold it (it was idle). I don't foresee Sony staying in the US market (given how hard it is to find overall, sales numbers, and limited carrier availability). The Z4 doesn't bring to the table a whole lot over the Z3, just the 810 but also a decrease in battery size to 2900 mAH. Same 5.2" 1080p display, same 20.7 MP shooter. And I read initial reports of the Z4 is Japan only for now. I will say Sony's image is pretty optimized, but probably not to Nexus level. Verizon put alot of crapware on the phone, but overall the experience is very smooth, I have yet to see any lag with the 801 and 3 GB of RAM. What is wrong with LG? The G4 seems to be a pretty good smartphone overall, the 808 is a little bit of a disappointment, but it has a removable battery and microSD storage, something that is becoming a rarity in flagship phones.

 

Unlike Apple, Google isn't on a mission to break root. They already implemented phone theft protection in Lollipop (if your phone is factory reset, it will not let you use it until you log in with the Gmail account last used on it - this even goes for direct NAND flashes as Google forces your phone to go online for activation) so they won't remove superuser altogether, its just a matter of getting a new binary that works with the new kernel.

As for the phone rumors, current rumors say two models. A 5.7" Huawei and a 5" LG. It's all rumor though so I guess we will have to wait and see.

My issue with LG goes back to how they literally abandoned the G2x. They should have recalled them and fixed them. Instead they buried them under the rug and all of us who bought them were forced to either deal with the incredible lag, heat, poor battery life, busted GPS, dropped calls, and a whole host of other issues or buy a new phone.

The M9 worked around its heat issues... Because HTC throttled the processor down to like 1.6GHz on the A57 cores. Not really a fix since now the 805 beats the 810.

I would be willing to get another Motorola though... I have to say that I have had no real issues with this Nexus 6 and that's really a first.

With the S6, Samsung used the Exynos on every version. I honestly hope they do that with the Note as well unless the Snapdragon 820 is out in time and not overheating.

 

I like the selectable light and dark themes. While the light theme of Lollipop looks good artistically in my opinion, I use my phone a lot in the dark and it's blinding. User choice on this is good, and I'm surprised they waited until now to offer a simple light/dark toggle for things like settings menus (hell, Windows Phone 7.5 had one four years ago when I had an HTC 7 Pro).

I hate the grouped widgets in the widgets menu, and the alphabetical grouping in the drawer. If you don't have many apps, you end up with a single line of apps on the left side. That said, I prefer the vertical scroll to horizontal swiping (it takes one hard vertical swipe to send it scrolling to the last few widgets, instead of twelve horizontal swipes). But I tend to use Nova instead of Google Now Launcher, so I can and do already set those drawers to vertical.

I don't like the idea of Google Now On Tap, but I don't use Google Now generally, so no skin off my back.

 

Do you not have auto brightness enabled? I normally keep my phone pretty low, and my Sony screen can get pretty bright.

I really wish Google would...restrict Android a little. I really hate how fragmented it is, and the US gets shafted even worse due to all the carrier crap.

 

Overall I liked what I saw in Android M. Now on Tap seems pretty cool and useful, but we'll see how well it's actually implemented when it's released.

Even with auto-brightness, many phones' minimum brightness is still blinding at night when displaying a screen that's mostly white. Definitely the case on my GS3, but as I understand it, most newer AMOLED displays can go much dimmer.

 

That's exactly it. My Moto X has auto-brightness that adjusts a certain amount up or down, but you still set a slider for where the "average" is. If the "average" is set at 50% brightness, auto-brightness doesn't make it dark enough for a dark room when the screen is 80% white (though it's perfect for, say, video or a dark-themed page). If the "average" is set to minimum, auto-brightness doesn't make it bright enough to read the screen outdoors during the day.

 

Ah see I hate auto-brightness. I just manually change mine (completely dim at work as I'm usually in my office). Once I'm outside turn it to half. Go home, dim it back down to like 20%.

 

I do the same thing. Adaptive brightness really does agitate me. I love how easy it is to adjust in M... But I keep Nexus 6 down to the absolute minimum and it still hurts my eyes.

 

I feel auto-brightness was a good idea, just not well executed. I feel it should learn the patterns and then do the auto-brightness (if it sees a pattern of you dimming around 8 am, it will auto dim it then etc). Also auto-rotate also irks me, it is always disabled for me lol.

 

I do use auto brightness, but also EasyEyes with aggressive settings.

 

So I tried M this morning... And promptly flashed to LYZ28E. It is impressively fast for boot time and use but unfortunately it breaks Titanium Backup and my Google Authenticator app is a must have.

Looks promising though.

 

You can't SU Android M? I was thinking about flashing 5.0.2 on my Galaxy Note...until KNOX. >:[

 

Root works. But Titanium Backup does not. I went back to LYZ28E and kept the M boot loader and radio.

 

Hrm is it maybe Titanium Backup? I'm not 100% sure about TB, I haven't used it since Android 4.2.2.

 

It is a TB issue but I don't have an alternative. Google doesn't let you backup your keys or export them (smart security practice really but inconvenient for me) so I have to have the app on both my Nexus 6 and 7 in case something happens with one I have the other. My Facebook, Microsoft, and Google are all on 2 factor.

 

CM let you set the auto brightness curve manually. For a good reason I guess.

 

On a Samsung phone/tablet at least from v4.4.2 you can set auto brightness from + or - 5 points, I always keep mine at -5 to save my battery.

John.

 

My Nexus 6 is so bright that I have to set it at 0 or its too bright... And I've seen brighter AMOLED... That won't go as low. People complain about it but like my roommate handed me his N6 the other day with the brightness on max and I was like, what are you doing this is killing your battery. Not me mention my eyes. "well I'm always home so it's never died but I sure do have to put it on the charger a lot"

Face. Meet palm.

 

I use an free app called Screen Filter to darken the screen beyond it`s lowest brightness point, otherwise it`s just too bright at for me at night, plus it saves a bit more battery life if you have an oled display.

John.

 

I just want performance and battery life optimizations. All Lollipop really did for me was reduce my battery life and make my phone overheat a lot.

 

That's because Lollipop actually has optimization to use all cores... Something android should have had from the get go... You should have noticed performance increases, especially in turning the screen on. If not, you have a bad OEM

 

Performance is fine, but my battery life is definitely worse and overheating happens frequently. I'm using an HTC One M8. Pretty sure in the future I'll go with a Samsung Exynos chip, the Snapdragon 810's issues aren't exactly filling me with confidence. I haaate an overheating handheld device.

 

Ethrem, you can use Easy Eyes to reduce brightness (and adjust color temperature as well!).