Android has developed over time. It was as soon as a nerdy tinker’s dream system with modding, overclocking, and customized ROMs. Whereas that’s nonetheless doable, the working system has develop into a mature platform. Options we used to need to shoehorn into the telephone have develop into normal choices. At this time, Android smartphones are overflowing with so many options that it is simple to miss them.
I like the range within the Android ecosystem, however with so many selections and Google’s allowance for OEMs so as to add brand-specific aptitude to units, there are sure to be misses. I narrowed down the software program options throughout the handfuls of smartphones I’ve used that bug me probably the most. Some are restricted to particular producers. Others are frequent throughout all Android telephones. Regardless of the annoyances’ broad or restricted scope, I need them squashed earlier than they develop into normal apply.
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Consistency, please
Android launched an app lengthy press shortcut function in 7.1 Nougat in 2016, and I take advantage of it practically each day. Relying on the app icon you lengthy press, you get totally different choices. For instance, when you lengthy press chat apps like Messages, you get a listing of current conversations and a button to begin a brand new one. With Spotify, I get a search possibility and a current playlist.
The one I take advantage of probably the most is with the Google Play Retailer to test for app updates. I wish to lengthy press and faucet My Apps to go to the replace display. Whether or not it’s a quirk in a software program model that removes some choices just like the My Apps or through an OEM selection, these long-press menus differ between telephone manufacturers.
Google Pixel 9 Professional Fold on the left & center, OnePlus Open on the precise
The inconsistency is irritating. Even with my Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold, Google’s long-press menus differ throughout its apps. The variety of variations grows when evaluating system manufacturers. The opposite long-press possibility I take advantage of extra recurrently than I would like is the App Data. That is helpful for leaping to that app’s settings menu to power shut it if it acts up or to regulate permissions. Nonetheless, some telephone manufacturers do not have that possibility on the menu. My OnePlus Open did not have it till the Android 15 replace.
No, the long-press menu is not a serious function, and many individuals most likely do not realize it is there. However whenever you do and bear in mind to make use of it, the function turns into ingrained in your system utilization habits. Google has tweaked the long-press menu since its launch, and that is superb. Please standardize the menus and do not ditch the function.
3 Cut up notification shade
Please, no
After I power myself to make use of an iPhone for some time, it is an experiment to see if I can perceive the draw. I do not, and probably the most irritating and annoying function is the cut up notification shade. I do not wish to swipe on totally different components of the display to entry what I need. The upper-left nook for notifications and the upper-right nook for fast controls or one thing like that.
Some Android manufacturers are adopting this function, and it must cease. Honor applied it in its MagicOS, and OnePlus additionally launched it. OnePlus means that you can follow the usual, appropriate approach of swiping down from the highest that will get you every thing or go along with the cut up variation.
I can see how there could be a profit to the cut up possibility, however I do not suppose there is sufficient to justify its frustration. I am positive that, like most the rest, when you use it sufficient instances, you possibly can practice your self to recollect the place to swipe robotically, however that is not one thing I am eager about studying. So, cease this function from rising, or take the OnePlus route and permit customers to decide on.
2 Apps on the homescreen
Cease making it an iPhone
The app drawer is considered one of Android’s finest and most longstanding options. Till iOS 18, iPhone customers had been caught with pages of apps organized in a grid, and also you could not select the place apps may very well be specified by that grid. At this time, iOS means that you can choose the place within the predetermined grid dimension you possibly can place your apps, and there’s a makeshift app drawer to cut back muddle. Android OEMs are beginning to carry a few of that disorganized chaos to our beloved OS.
I’ve had a couple of telephones that I needed to reset. After I restored the units, all of the apps had been within the drawer and on the homescreen. Possibly this was as a result of I had carried out a restore, although the apps weren’t initially on the homescreen. So, I reset and began from scratch. After I put in the apps, every thing went to the homescreen. After clearing the information from the house launcher, the apps left the homescreen, and I needed to deactivate new apps going to the homescreen. This apply is beginning down a path I do not like.
I like Android for its personalization throughout all points. This features a clear homescreen if I need and permits me to place my apps the place and the way I need. The iOS-like strategy some Android OEMs are taking is a cluttered one which I wish to finish.
It should not be so troublesome
After I wish to open an app I haven’t got on my homescreen or in a folder, I wish to discover it in my telephone’s app drawer shortly. Looking within the app drawer is sweet, however generally, even that takes extra faucets than I like. Some Android telephone manufacturers, like OnePlus, put the alphabet alongside the precise aspect of the app drawer so you possibly can faucet a letter and go to apps beginning with it. This feature is not too unhealthy. However not all OEMs provide this.
Some telephones provide a kind of sensible app drawer that places the apps it thinks you may need on the prime of the drawer for fast entry. Nonetheless, it does not at all times work effectively and is not on all Android units. Google has develop into good at it, although. On Pixel units, the app drawer has 5 often opened apps ready for you on the prime. As well as, when looking, it is aware of what apps you typically use which have the letters you typed and brings these first.
In an ideal world, I would desire a mixture of how Google and types like OnePlus deal with the app drawer. Convey the AI of the auto-app solutions and the search on Pixel telephones with the alphabet fast buttons of different manufacturers.
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Nitpicking as a result of I care
None of those annoyances are dealbreakers and will not make me go away Android, at the least not but. I like utilizing my Android telephone and experiencing merchandise from totally different manufacturers. I additionally acknowledge that many individuals choose up a telephone and use it for a couple of years. Then, when it’s time for a brand new telephone, many follow the identical model, so the utilization expertise is basically the identical.
Nonetheless, even with the identical model, the expertise can change primarily based on OS variations. Nonetheless, the best way you utilize a tool can change between manufacturers. Once more, I am all for individuality and selection, however these 4 Android quirks want some decision.
