Ranadok …doesn't have much better to do

Android Updates

I've updated my previous lists of good and bad aspects of Android to add a few items to each. Some of the changes are due to the Donut upgrade, and some are just due to time and more experience with the phone. The changes are replicated below, so there is no need to go back to the original posts. The situation does seem to be improving in Android's favour, though. Two good items added, two bad items removed, and only one new bad item added. Not too shabby.

The Android Goods:

• (Added Oct 26) Voice Search. It's faster than typing, creepily accurate (so long as you are looking for something it knows), and feels like the future. I don't know why it wasn't in the stock Rogers ROM, but that's no longer my problem.
• (added Oct 26) System-wide Search. It's fast and seems to find everything I use it for. Very handy, and it replaces a for-pay application that did the same thing before.

The Android Bads:

• Most third party programs are poorly made. Removed Oct 26  - There are a lot more good quality applications than I gave the Market credit for. Not to say there aren't lots of garbage ones, but there is usually a well-made alternative to the truly bad ones.
• Not everything supports the virtual keyboard. Removed Oct 26 - There are really only one or two left that don't work properly, and as I mentioned earlier, there are better alternatives for them anyway.
• (Added Oct 26) Widget list cluttered with size options. Widgets need one entry in the add widget list for ever possible size available. This means that the list is full of pages upon pages of a single widget. I appreciate the choice, but the implementation is really sloppy. Here, have a particularly egregious example: