Rene has a Nexus 4!

[Rene Ritchie]

My Nexus 4 arrived on Thursday, right before we started recording the Android Central podcast. I've been using it ever since, thanks to a handy nano- to micro-SIM adapter, and enjoying the experience quite a bit.

I've had a Nexus 7 for a couple of months, and it never clicked with me. I need tablet-optimized interfaces and apps on a device that big. I like Jelly Bean *much* more on the Nexus 4.

I'm going to keep using it over the holidays and try to get a good feeling for the state-of-the-art-of-Andoid.

Some quick thoughts so far:

1. Google Now *crushes* Siri
2. I miss not having my non-Gmail accounts in a unified inbox with my Gmail accounts (I have 2 of each)
3. Intents are fantastic. The flexibility of apps in general is fantastic.
4. Google Play is much better than the Android Market I remember (and the App Store sucks worse than it used to in terms of search and curation -- too many scam and junk apps)
5. Android scroll views are still terrible. Worse than iOS 1. Keyboard lags like iOS 4. I think Butter was a failure and Google needs to re-write UI prioritization from the ground up. (Like Apple needs to re-write multitasking and inter-app communication -- both were bolt-on solutions)
6. Animation is way better and the overall look is way, way better than pre 4.x versions
7. Icons are still inconsistent and poorly designed. Hire the Iconfactory already.
8. I have no use of widgets. Data should come to me no matter where I am. I shouldn't have to go look for it. Actionable notifications are the near-future of UI.
9. Settings in notification center are awesome, but the two-finger swipe is awkward.
10. Call quality is fantastic.

AND I HAVEN'T BROKEN ANY GLASS YET!

I'll be posting a bunch more on the N4 here, and on iMore.com so any tips/tricks/feedback/suggestions are welcome.

In between posts, I'll be chatting about it on Twitter, so feel free to yell at me http://twitter.com/reneritchie

Now I'm off to figure out how to take a screen shot!

 

[PWC Realtor]

Holding the power button and volume down button simultaneously takes a screen shot.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Android Central Forums

 

[PWC Realtor]

Oh and in response to item 9 custom ROMs especially CyanogenMod make the quick settings panel actually useful with REAL toggles and the ability to add/delete/reorder the tiles.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Android Central Forums

 

[hodan]

I can't think of anything remotely snarky to say because you are spot on.

Great to see you post here and I'm excited for any follow up.

Also, it's extremely cool that you've been on TWiT so much lately (end man crush).

 

[Rene Ritchie]

Haha, thanks! It's amazing to see how far smartphones in general have come in just the last few years. Google Now is like magic.

And glad you're enjoying TWiT, I'm a regular on MacBreak weekly now, so you'll see/hear me almost every show. Leo has a Galaxy Note 2 on his desk next to the iPad mini, and I have trouble telling which one's which sometimes. (Joking!)

 

[Rene Ritchie]

Holding the power button and volume down button simultaneously takes a screen shot.

Got it. Took me a few tries to get the coordination down. I kept muting or bringing up the power off/airplane mode panel!

The trick seems to be to hit them both at exactly the same time and hold them down for a second or two?

 

[badbrad17]

Great to have you here Rene. I am in agreement on the project butter thing. IOS is superior on the touch screen front and I can't for the life of me figure out why this has not been fixed. Windows phone 8 is also much smoother.

As for icons, try installing Go launcher. There are lots of themes and styles to choose from. The stock UI is great and has a nice library to choose from. You should also check out Go SMS for texting. There is an iPhone theme that you can change in the preferences.

And last but not least, give Swiftkey keyboard a try. The predictions are amazing.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Android Central Forums

 

[bbdub]

Thanks for your thoughts, Rene. Good stuff. Please keep us updated on what you like/dislike over the next few weeks.

 

[HolidayJesus]

Rene owning a Nexus 4 and the world isn't ending? Just playing, hoping to join the Nexus 4 party in January.

 

[swarlos]

As for the icons I agree with badbrad17 use ADW or Go Launcher then download DroidIcon - Icon Pack (paid) it has a ton of cool customized icons. I used it quite a bit when I had my Galaxy Nexus.

 

[Dens21]

And last but not least, give Swiftkey keyboard a try. The predictions are amazing.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Android Central Forums

I can only second that, try Swiftkey for the Keyboard Rene... it is amazing! There is no comparison to the stock keyboard.

 

[Rene Ritchie]

Thanks for the tips guys! I'm going to use everything stock for a week, just so I give it a fair shake and get to know it well, then I'm going to spend a week with every pimped out launcher and keyboard you guys recommend.

 

[Rene Ritchie]

Rene owning a Nexus 4 and the world isn't ending? Just playing, hoping to join the Nexus 4 party in January.

Ha! It's my 4th Android device. I had a G1 (Magic or Dream, whatever they called it in Canada), Nexus One (which I loved), and and Nexus 7 (which I didn't like so much). So far I'm liking the Nexus 4 quite a bit.

 

[Mike Dupp]

Google Now is like magic.

Just curious what GN is doing for you that has you so impressed. Mine seems kind of empty, but maybe I am using it wrong. Or I am just a boring person...

 

[donm527#IM]

Yes I don't like the fact I am using 3 different apps for mail... the stock mail app for my exhange email, gmail app, and yahoo app
The yahoo app to get push email but even with the latest version I am not getting consistent push.
I liked with my iPhone 4S that I had a unified email app that could handle all that and that apple did a good job of getting push email to work consistently.
Not sure if you are aware though that you CAN get gmail pushed on the stock mail app...
just set it up as an exchange account and (I believe) use m.google.com and it will push.
My problem is that my main email personal email is Yahoo so I am forced to rely on Yahoo Mail app and hope they fix the push.

btw, this is my first android after a 2G, 3GS and 4S... liking the N4 myself too.

 

[darkoman4]

It's great to listen to you, Andy, Alex and Leo on MacBreak weekly. Really enjoying the show.

 

[PWC Realtor]

Not sure if you are aware though that you CAN get gmail pushed on the stock mail app...
just set it up as an exchange account and (I believe) use m.google.com and it will push.

That method won't work for most Google users when Exchange ActiveSync goes away next month.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Android Central Forums

 

[andr0idralphie]

There's SwiftKey to replace stock, soon will be SwiftKey Flow (now in beta) to replace SwiftKey.

Enjoy your Nexus 4! As for me, its the smartphone experience I've been waiting for.

 

[Hubertsng]

I hate the appstore update, whenever i search something up it loads up so slowly and when i try to scroll before its done it crashes on me... finding something you want from scrolling is all inefficient. You only see one at a time.

 

[mzanette]

What do you think of the swipe keyboard? I was skeptical at first but I use it exclusively now and can't imagine typing without it.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Android Central Forums