PETITION: Oust OEM Skins!

[dominiej]

Look, I like OEM skins, but the problem is they really get in the way of Google rolling out updates. Just look at Gingerbread and the waiting that will be required unless you have a Nexus 1 or Zexus S.

I love my Evo, but who knows when HTC will get around to rolling out their Gingerbread version of Sense??

I say all Android phones should come with stock Android with options to get OEM skins (of course Sense couldn't get onto Motorola phones and vice versa) but it's come time that people like myself try and make a push for this!

So what do you say? Should OEM skins be offered in the Marketplace just as ADW Launcher and Launcher Pro is?

Your thoughts are more than welcome

 

[igotsanevo4g]

It will never happen, besides if you want stock android, root and throw cyanogen on it

 

[dominiej]

Why won't it ever happen? You mean if enough people get behind it, you don't think Google woulnd't take notice?

I really hate having to jump through hoops to get something that could easily be changed at the manufacture level. Does it have to be so difficult??

 

[Nexus Rannic]

I think the manufactures should a option to just turn them off, that way they are happy and we are happy.

 

[potatoho]

After playing around with 2.3 I'd vote to oust Google skins

It's going to need a massive makeover to look as good as Froyo does now. I wish they would not have touched the UI between 2.2 and 2.3.

 

[Jerry Hildenbrand]

You didn't know the Evo would have HTC Sense on it when you bought it? You already voted, with your wallet, and that's all that matters.

 

[igotsanevo4g]

Why won't it ever happen? You mean if enough people get behind it, you don't think Google woulnd't take notice?

I really hate having to jump through hoops to get something that could easily be changed at the manufacture level. Does it have to be so difficult??

Google has no say in the matter and SHOULDNT have a say in the matter.
Android is open sourced, meaning manufactures can do whatever they want to it (mostly), including skins and bloat from carriers too.

Android is not hurting for business, so if it aint broke dont fix it.

If you really want stock android get a "google experience" phone, that is if youre not willing to take the rooting route (which may seem intimidating but its really not).

 

[terpitude71]

custom UI skins are here to stay; its one of the things that makes android what it is: open for the manufacturers, and to an extent the end-user, to do what they want with it. if you dont like sense on your evo, you can root and flash a custom rom and essentially make it disappear. or just download a new launcher and hide it. yeah, updates take a little longer to roll out. if you want quick updates, you can buy an unsubsidized nexus one from google.

bootloaders should be unlocked; let people to what they want to their devices. but custom UI's are fine with me, considering all the ways you can work around them.

 

[Chris Kerrigan]

Custom UI skins are not all bad, either. Sure, we come across a bad one here and there and some features we wish we didn't have, but the truth to be told is that a lot of the custom UI's add some very useful features and widgets. It's what makes Android well, Android. If we ousted UI skins, what would be the point in having several manufacturers make what would essentially become a very boring line of Android devices. It's what helps set apart each Android phone.

Not to mention I'm sure Google has picked up a thing or two over the past couple years from things HTC, Motorola, Samsung, and etc have added on top of Android.

 

[Kevin OQuinn]

If google controlled whether or not custom UI skins were allowed they would be no different than Apple, or Microsoft now for that matter.

 

[DroidXcon]

Even if we got every single person in our forums to sign this petition there are millions of more people who bought phones regardless of the skins...so until you can get a 30million signatures they wont bat an eye at it.

 

[corydunbar]

You didn't know the Evo would have HTC Sense on it when you bought it? You already voted, with your wallet, and that's all that matters.

Maybe the other 80% of the world. But i'd bet 20% probably would notice that HTC sense looks different than what is on the Motorola Droid/2/X even if they didn't know the difference from Blur/TouchWiz/Sense/LG.

. The only reason a lot of us are unhappy is simply because Verizon an Sprint never got Nexus Offerings. I'm staying with Verizon no matter what. So that leaves me with "Droid" Brand or Fascinate/Continuum. Google should make it part of the Android licensing that Android is free, but Google Must be allowed to offer The Nexus Brand on your Carrier. Does that seem like to much to ask for? Nexus will never be a huge market share hit until it goes to Verizon.

 

[BSG75]

I prefer Sense over 2.2 and over what I am seeing from 2.3.

It would be nice if we could upgrade to the 2.3 stock code and let HTC and Verizon (in my case) get out the 2.3 Sense update when they are ready. People who want to stay with Sense can remain on 2.2 and the rest can upgrade and wait for Sense to catch up.

 

[Kiserai]

I do think that some skins (Sense in particular) are pretty cool, but they really should give us the option to run stock Android if we want. When you first boot it up, it should give you the option to run stock android or download and install the custom skin (that way you don't have to worry about space on your /system partition if you don't end up using the skin). That would give everybody what they want and the manufacturers could push out a stock update quickly to keep their customers happy until they can push out the updated version of their skinned OS.

 

[EggoEspada]

They can't do much. But what they can and should do is team up with manufacturers to release Pure Google phones on each carrier. We can have stock and get timely updates by Google themselves instead of manufacturers and carriers going back and forth, holding up updates.

 

[milominderbinde]

The OEM's put on more than skins.

It's launchers, themes, keyboards, apps, and more. They also have the right to strip out free Google apps like Google Search and put Bing in it's place.

The OEM content is more than a topping that can be just scrapped off.

Car makers share the same chassis and drive trains among their different product lines. Then each product line customizes them out. The real cost differences between the "value" product and the "luxury" version is not that great. Android is the chassis and drive trains that each OEM customizes.

Andy Rubin was specifically asked how he felt about his free content being stripped out and replaced by other apps. He said that the OEM's should be allowed to do that. The customers will vote with their dollars what they want.

We are moving toward all the phones having bright HD displays, lots of memory, and fast processors. Rubin has to give them the customizations to let them have something to differentiate their products.

It's fragmentation by design.

 

[BenSWoodruff]

Carriers are the ones that will react and change things if their customers complain enough. Also, if Samsung loses sales because their version of Android is crap in the eyes of the customer, they will eventually change it. If enough customers show demand for nexus' "pure" experience, it will be supplied. Maybe not tomorrow or the next day, mind you.
I think the real problem is a lot of these first time smart phone buyers who have no idea what the difference is between one model or another. The Evo vs. iPhone spoofs illustrate this well. Even I couldn't have known that sense was considerably faster loading the home screen and widgets than moto Droid 2. I switched just to get on vzw for the network, but now the phone makes me regret my choice and I have to wait to change it up without incurring fees.
One last thing to consider is all of the random services that each manufacturer supports through different models. Each manufacturer has to make the services work with Android and the hardware of choice, so it's not like the UI is the only custom addition that adds time to upgrades.
Basically, if you want timely upgrades on a consistent system, find a different platform ;-)

 

[KCphotog]

Android needs these skins and add ons to be enticing and worth looking at to the average consumer. Without its just a bland, boring and ugly OS. For the people that do not like the UI enhancements, they have options as well. Besides....your gripe is more with the carriers then with skins laid on top by the manufacturer. Your carrier is to blame for slow updates and tweaks.

 

[Chris Kerrigan]

Not to everyone, though. A lot of people really like the look and feel of Stock Android. Surely, you're completely entitled to your opinion. But bear in mind there is a very sizable chunk of people out there who do like the look of stock.

 

[netninja]

I don't see the ouster of OEM skins happening unless Android becomes more locked down like iOS. Being "Open" has its disadvantages as many in the media have commented on recently and that is carrier's/OEMs get to have their way with Android piling on skins and bloatware.

That said, while I do prefer stock Android, I have to admit that HTC Sense is a very good skin and I don't see them giving up on it anytime soon. They're really putting a lot of effort into improving the Sense experience with their new app store etc.