Rant time

Well, I'm not usually the type to rant -- oh wait, I am! Hah...

Today, it's about Android. I love my Android phone, the T-Mobile myTouch 3G.

I received the phone as a replacement for my G1, which I had ongoing problems with. It was August 2009, right after the myTouch came out. For the most part, it was a trusty phone. Come November I had quite a few replacements, and after the 1.6 Donut update came through, it had a ton of problems. So I tried out a Cliq (returned it 2 days later due to all kinds of issues with it) and ended up with the BlackBerry Bold 9700. That has been my phone since then. I love my BlackBerry, it's the best phone I've ever had.

But recently, I've had the itch to go back to Android. 2.2 FroYo is now trickling out through the AOSP (Android Open Source Project for those unfamiliar) and most importantly, through CyanogenMod (cyanogenmod.com). It prompted me to finally update my myTouch to the new builds. I've settled with some nightly builds, but my issues are rather persistent.

My first issue is lack of memory. It's long-plagued the myTouch and G1 phones. They have a very small amount of runtime memory (RAM), the original myTouch has 192MB (IIRC) and the updated myTouch 1.2 with a 3.5mm headphone jack, has 256MB I've heard. The biggest problem I've found with the myTouch I have (the original), is that it's fast out of the box, runs great, but when you start loading up the ~230MB of application/phone storage, it slows down. More and more, it begins to crawl. I have around 50 apps installed, and I realize that's a lot. I have 130MB of free space, so I know it's not overloaded.

I've installed Apollo Software's Task Manager. With it, I can close apps much faster than trying to run through the built-in task manager (since it's buried under Settings/Applications/Manage Applications).

So, what am I getting at? Well, prior to upgrading to CM 6.0 (and previously CM 5.0.8), I noticed the phone was slow, and kinda dealt with it for as long as possible. It would make trying to type a text message impossible some days. The BlackBerry was so instant, it made me rather mad going back to the myTouch and not being able to blaze through a text message. I know that I shouldn't expect a miracle, but 2.2 has made it much better trying to text, etc. But why is it that some applications are still running after I close them?

An example (and a main reason for why I'm ranting) is Loopt. I love Loopt, it's really neat. But I try to keep it as an application I only open when I need it. In the settings for the app, I even set it to not update my location unless I have the app open.

Here's the fun part-- I check my Task Manager every 30 minutes or so, and I find Loopt running. Why? Please, tell me, why the hell you feel like the app needs to run anyway? I know it's not trying to update my location, because the GPS indicator doesn't pop up, and like I said, I don't have it set to do anything unless I have it open. Do you REALLY think I want it running in the background all the time? Do you think I'm addicted to it like a FarmVille addict needing their fix on their iOS device??

This is my call out to the Loopt developers; I became a Loopt leader last year, and did my best trying to get my friends to join. I don't have enough friends with compatible phones (Windows Mobile being the most popular platform in use by my friends), and those that do, don't use it all that much. Facebook and Twitter are the main means for people to see "what's up?" and Loopt is just a perk for using in metro areas so you can see where your friends are. Google Latitude and Foursquare have become my main location-based sharing services. I haven't checked into Foursquare in 2 months, but Latitude runs all the time because of how it's nicely integrated into Google Maps. I still keep my Loopt account obviously, and sign in every once in a while. But the fact that it chooses to launch on its own is enough reason for me to uninstall the app permanently, and only use it on either my BlackBerry or iPod touch.

Now onto T-Mobile. I want to know why you guys haven't pushed the FroYo update out yet? Or at least give us an idea. I know that after the G1 Cupcake debacle, and the outcry from customers over the promise of an update that was late coming out. Sure, back then we didn't know how the update process works. Now we've realized that the source code must hit AOSP to be widely available, but even on the Android Project site, it states at the bottom of one of the pages that large OEMs and carriers are privy to the updated source well before the public unveiling. I remember last summer that The Weather Channel was working on a 2.0 compatible version when 1.6 was just starting to roll out. I'm not saying I don't agree with it, because we all get access to the source code eventually, but what irritates me is that these companies should have enough headway before the AOSP code drop to produce the updates for their devices so that when the AOSP code comes out, HTC/Google/T-Mobile (or other combinations like Moto/Google/VZW) can be like "Oh, by the way, these updates have been tested in-house and will be rolling out to customers in a just a few weeks". Sure, they pulled that with the Nexus One, it was a matter of days after Google I/O when the "beta" updates were rolling out. But that's because the N1 is Google's baby, that was their follow-up Dev phone after the ADP1 and Ion.

I would gladly pay for a Nexus One if Google would finally just toss their cards on the table and give the device to T-Mobile for them to sell directly, since they already provide support for it. It was a great phone, and just this past week they got their "last shipment of them". Wonderful, I have no chance of picking up that device. If it would have hit T-Mobile, I could have gotten it on my Even More Plus plan and paid it off over 20 payments. But no, Google didn't even think about doing it. That sucks, seriously. It would have been a great opportunity to leave my myTouch behind.

But I digress... this post has gotten long enough. It's a lot of rambling and ranting about things my closest friends really don't care about. So let me just sum it up real simply:

Google: Work with device manufacturers to get these updates out more timely. HTC promising that FroYo will hit all devices by Christmas isn't timely. By then Gingerbread will be out. Seriously now...

T-Mobile: I love you guys, your network has been awesome for 5 and a half years now, and it only gets better. I just pulled 4 MB/s the other day on a speed test with the myTouch.

And finally, Loopt: Guys, whatever you're doing that causes Loopt to continually launch (and eat up the small amount of memory I have available) even when I tell the app to not open unless I ask it to, please change that and issue an update to Loopt! Not everyone wants their battery drained to nothing by GPS apps.

Good night kids.

Matty