Android UI Fail

Below is a set of screens that occur often on the Android phone. Entitled “Complete action using”, their purpose is to have the user select a program for opening a link or file.

Screenshot_2014-12-19-15-58-42

For a new user, this screen is unexpected, thus it deserves a basic explanation and there is plenty of room for one. The screen is followed by the following screen, which is also unexpected. I think its purpose is to inform the user of where they can clear the preference that they just set. Not sure about that though.

Screenshot_2014-12-19-15-58-50



Switching from iPhone 4 to Android

My iPhone 4 was running out of space and was starting to feel older. I read that Apple discontinued support for the iPhone 4. The T-Mobile $30/month/line deal was a good deal, so I went with it and acquired the Samsung Galaxy Avant phone for around $90.

My initial feeling is that I like the hardware, but the Android OS is a lot more difficult to configure than iOS. There are lots more options and the MetroPCS phone comes with bloated software and a MetroPCS wallpaper.

A real difficulty came when I expected the phone to sync music and pictures with my Mac. It seems you need software for it. I tried Samsung Kies, but it doesn’t help you sync playlists – it seems to only sync all songs from your library. So, a lifehacker article recommended iSync Pro for $4.99. I got that and it works much better than Kies.