Ya'll ever feel like ICS is a step backwards?

[greydarrah]

Not me. I'm already used to it and prefer it.

 

[Comineeyeaha]

Here's a good question: for anybody who is upset, have you ever used an AOSP build or stock Android on another phone? I used CM7 on my TB, so I knew what to expect as far as what's Android and what was added on.

 

[butchyon]

Thanks for the opinions! Now, for some of the ICS experts who post here:
I have a .pdf file on my phone for which I simply need to create a shortcut on my home page. Without having to download any third-party app or launcher. Surely, there must be a very easy, two or three click method to do it in ICS, too. It was there in GB. Anybody tell me how to do it?

 

[Comineeyeaha]

Thanks for the opinions! Now, for some of the ICS experts who post here:
I have a .pdf file on my phone for which I simply need to create a shortcut on my home page. Without having to download any third-party app or launcher. Surely, there must be a very easy, two or three click method to do it in ICS, too. It was there in GB. Anybody tell me how to do it?

This may be one feature that Google decided wasn't used as much, and decided to scrap. I personally don't see it in the widgets menu. I work for a software company, and stuff like this happens from time to time. You may end up having to find a 3rd party widget for this.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

 

[ultravisitor]

I do.

I don't.

I prefer the new method of adding shortcuts to the homescreens. All you have to do is go to the app drawer, select the app, and longpress on the icon to add it to a screen. The previous method of adding shortcuts required too many menus and too much scrolling. It's much easier this way.

I realize many people feel like "OMG CHANGE IS BAD!", but I've gotten used to it, I think it's much better, and I don't want to go back.

 

[butchyon]

@ultravisitor
Yep, ICS has a very easy method for creating a shortcut for an app. But for an individual file such as a pdf or a Word file, or even a shortcut to an individual jpg file stored on the phone, not so easy. I am beginning to think you can't even do it in ICS without some sort of third-party software. That, IMHO, was an unfortunate oversight.

 

[Comineeyeaha]

I don't.

I prefer the new method of adding shortcuts to the homescreens. All you have to do is go to the app drawer, select the app, and longpress on the icon to add it to a screen. The previous method of adding shortcuts required too many menus and too much scrolling. It's much easier this way.

I realize many people feel like "OMG CHANGE IS BAD!", but I've gotten used to it, I think it's much better, and I don't want to go back.

That was always how it has been done. When the OP talks about shortcuts, he is referring to adding a specific file to the homescreen, not an app.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

 

[j1787]

I think ICS is the best thing for Android. It may seem like a step in the other direction at the surface. Really all the functionality still exist with, in my opinion, a beautiful UI. While things are moved and a bit different, apps and mods still have the ability to restore our favorite features.

So why do I believe this is best for Android? To start, its time for Google to step up and discontinue its fragmentation. A clean and simple interface is a good start for all developers to work with. Also Android has to be simple for everyday users.

A great example is my mother in law (age 55), upgraded to an LG Revolution. It was simply to much for her and returned it. She ended up with an iPhone because of its simplicity.

I believe this is a step in the right direction for Android to appeal to the masses and not just tech geeks. Also its great for fragmentation, therefore in my opinion ICS is fantastic.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

 

[Bob61]

ICS is an evolutionary change, not revolutionary. It will be good for the future to help eliminate the fragmentation that has occurred within the Android space. Also improvements under the hood rather than just surface level changes, another step forward. It's not a lot of eye candy, but improvement in stability and such. As they say, no pain, no gain - it's good for the future of Android....

 

[bigcatman]

Complainers will always complain. ICS is different. If you can't handle change, you bought the wrong device. That doesn't mean there's anything wrong with ICS. Change doesn't equal bad. Just because it takes you a few more different steps than you're used to, doesn't make it a step backwards.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

 

[pauldroidr2d2]

I think ICS is the best thing for Android. It may seem like a step in the other direction at the surface. Really all the functionality still exist with, in my opinion, a beautiful UI. While things are moved and a bit different, apps and mods still have the ability to restore our favorite features.

So why do I believe this is best for Android? To start, its time for Google to step up and discontinue its fragmentation. A clean and simple interface is a good start for all developers to work with. Also Android has to be simple for everyday users.

A great example is my mother in law (age 55), upgraded to an LG Revolution. It was simply to much for her and returned it. She ended up with an iPhone because of its simplicity.

I believe this is a step in the right direction for Android to appeal to the masses and not just tech geeks. Also its great for fragmentation, therefore in my opinion ICS is fantastic.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

The simplicity of an Apple product is not going to happen with Android and Google licensed phones until Google begins to place limitations on manufacturers in order to use the Android OS.

 

[TabGuy]

Apple is smart, very smart. They know what every middle school girl knows from the get go. If you're pretty, easy and dumbed down you become very popular.

 

[Droid800]

I do. Case in point. I migrated here from an original DInc. To create a shortcut to a file stored anywhere on my DInc, I simply long-pressed the screen, and a drop-down menu provided a "Create Shortcut" option. Then selected Astro and navigated to that file, and presto, the shortcut to that file was created on that screen. Took about 5 seconds and 3 clicks! CREATING A SHORTCUT TO ANY FILE ON YOUR PHONE SHOULD BE THAT FREAKIN' EASY!! Now in ICS, when you long-press the screen, all you can do is select a wallpaper.
So people tell me that wasn't an Android feature, but rather a feature of HTC's Sense skin. If that's true, then HTC got it right and Google hasn't yet. The point here is that ICS was advertised as making the OS more user-friendly. I think they may have made some things a lot harder...

Having used 2.0, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3 and now 4.0 I can tell you without hesitation that this is the best version of android yet and fixes many of the fundamental problems android has had since the beginning.

Just because its different doesn't mean its worse. If you miss this functionality that much, go buy a Rezound.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

 

[JeffDenver]

Long press was a part of stock android. To add widgets or shortcuts etc.. you would long press the screen and do exactly as you said. Long press is no longer a part of android the way it was before. It is different.

Explain to me why you think the new way is easier or more intuitive than the old way.

 

[TabGuy]

Explain to me why you think the new way is easier or more intuitive than the old way.

For those, like my wife where the GN is their first smart phone, who don't know of an "old way" it works just fine.

Your old phone had an add on launcher that you got used to. If you don't like the way ICS works then get a launcher like Nova and your problem is solved. That's what i did. I agree with you and like the "old way" so I took control of the situation and installed the Nova launcher.

Google's forte is the operating system. They leave the "pretty" stuff like the UI to third parties. Google is an enabler, they're not UI experts. Never have been.

 

[Droid800]

Explain to me why you think the new way is easier or more intuitive than the old way.

There was nothing intuitive about the old way. From a UX perspective, it made zero sense. If widgets are supposed to be 'mini' applications, then they should be grouped with the applications, not with wallpapers. The long-press as a method of UI interaction, especially for hiding something as important to the android experience as widgets, was a very poor choice, which is why its being phased out.

That, and if you have a phone that has a manufacturer overlay, you end up getting an insanely long scrollable list of widgets, which is, in and of itself, a UX disaster.

 

[Droid800]

For those, like my wife where the GN is their first smart phone, who don't know of an "old way" it works just fine.

Your old phone had an add on launcher that you got used to. If you don't like the way ICS works then get a launcher like Nova and your problem is solved. That's what i did. I agree with you and like the "old way" so I took control of the situation and installed the Nova launcher.

Google's forte is the operating system. They leave the "pretty" stuff like the UI to third parties. Google is an enabler, they're not UI experts. Never have been.

Have you paid any attention at all to the development of Android over the last year?

 

[butchyon]

This has been a great thread, and I appreciate the response everyone has offered. First off, I am an Android advocate. But I wouldn’t consider myself an “Android Geek” and don’t even wannabe. All my phones have been stock and un-rooted. So I am just the “average” Android phone user.
What I have garnered from this thread’s discussion is that:
1. The ability to create a home screen shortcut to an individual file was present in previous versions of Android through long-pressing the screen.
2. Pure Ice Cream Sandwich no longer offers that function. In fact, pure ICS no longer even has the ability to create a home screen shortcut to an individual file without installing some third-party software.
Now it’s easy to shrug it off by saying not that many people even used that function anyway. But I, and many of my friends and co-workers, have a very good reason for needing this function. I’m sure there are probably thousands of other Android users who are going to miss that function, even if they’re not in this forum. Now, of course, I can still always go and open Astro, navigate to the file, and open it that way, like any good phone geek would be expected to know. But the convenience of having a shortcut to that file on one of your home screens that you could open with a single click is gone in pure ICS.
My whole point here is that with the release of ICS and future versions of Android, I thought Google was attempting to bring pure Android out of the phone geek arena and make it easier for the “average” Android phone customer to use. In this specific case, I don’t think replacing a one-click function with a more complicated several-click (and maybe even software installation) function is conducive with making the OS easier to use for the average Android phone user. Sure, an Android phone geek can do it in a minute, but grandma sure would like to have that shortcut on her screen!
For this reason, I don’t see manufacturer skins going away anytime soon…

 

[JeffDenver]

There was nothing intuitive about the old way.

I know dozens of people with Android phones...they all seemed to get the Long-press method immediately without me having to explain it to them...thats how you do it on a PC as well (Longpress = Right Click). That seems pretty intuitive to me.

From a UX perspective, it made zero sense. If widgets are supposed to be 'mini' applications, then they should be grouped with the applications, not with wallpapers.

Why could you not simply allow for both? Why does it have to be one or the other?

The long-press as a method of UI interaction, especially for hiding something as important to the android experience as widgets, was a very poor choice, which is why its being phased out.

That has not been my experience. I am sure custom launchers will correct this flaw in the OS, so I suppose I am not too worried about it.

 

[JeffDenver]

Now it?s easy to shrug it off by saying not that many people even used that function anyway.

That seems to be the answer from iOS users whenever you question them about features iOS doesnt have. It is interesting and funny to see Android users make similar arguments.

But I, and many of my friends and co-workers, have a very good reason for needing this function. I?m sure there are probably thousands of other Android users who are going to miss that function, even if they?re not in this forum. Now, of course, I can still always go and open Astro, navigate to the file, and open it that way, like any good phone geek would be expected to know. But the convenience of having a shortcut to that file on one of your home screens that you could open with a single click is gone in pure ICS.

This.

I thought the goal was to make the user experience easier.