Android Issues and Frustration

HnLA

Well-known member
May 31, 2012
223
8
18
Got HTC Evo 4G LTE 9 days ago, updating from tracfone (phone/text), but use Ipod touch(email/apps).
I am very frustrated with the phone/OS. Nothing seem to go right or is easy.
The big screen is really great. Main reason I got it was typing on ipod/iphone was not easy, and LOVING the voice dictation and swype.

I was as clueless about iOS 3 years ago, as I am about ICS today. But the settings in iOS make sense, I have no idea what most of the settings are in ICS. All the info online seems to be for previous versions, and ICS has no similarity to them. No + on main screen, settings/Apps is totally different, so when I keep hitting a wall, I have no where to turn. Friends that have Androids say they just went with things as they came with the phone.

I am of moderate tech ability. I do not want to spend days getting my phone to work for simple things. While I understand that many love that Android has options, I would frankly like to have a good, simple phone that works easily and elegantly right out of the box. Other than the keyboard and voice recognition, almost everything I have tried to do has been frustrating and unsuccessful.

EMAILS
1 - Emails are too big for screen, even in landscape. If you cannot read the whole email without moving it back and forth each line, it?s a major hassle. You cannot pinch them to make them fit either, I tried different font sizes in settings, same result. This might be the deal killer, as if I cannot read emails quickly whats the point? I have to spead out each email.

1a - No 2-line preview in landscape, so if you want to preview and read you are constantly rocking sideways, which is tedious.
1aa- About one in every 30 emails it says ?Cannot display this message? I can read it on my computer and on my ipod. This is really bothersome. Why are they not displaying?

1b - There seems to be only one way to delete emails. Android requires a 3 point touch to delete an email. IOS allows a left swoosh, touch to delete, very simple and quick, as well as the 3-point method.

1c - Is there a way to have the images always open in emails, instead of touching each one to open? Where is that Android flexibility?

1d - Saving as new, needs to hit drop down. On ipod just hit link. And you cannot see difference between new and saved as new on Android. Also if there are multiple emails under one Subject, deleting the second automatically opens the first, so you have to then actively save it.

1e - When I get a digest email from yahoo groups, I was able to hit a post and it would jump to that posting within the email itself. Now in ICS it says?webpage not available? but I am not going to webpage, just lower in that same email.

SYNCHING
2 - I spent over an hour to get HTC sync on my computer then it says I need an SD card to sync - huh? Apple may be a PITA with update reminders but the sync works so easily.
2a - I tried to use double twist to get my music on the phone. After downloading and trying to synch it says I have the wrong type of USB. I never knew there were more than one. Why is it so hard to connect? This should be easy. I also tried Wondershare it just got stuck trying to connect with my computer. It could not read something, so another failure and waste of time. Meanwhile no music, no contacts.

3 - Not sure if there is a way to type in contact info from your computer. If you do not have it in Outlook or gmail contacts I assume you have to enter it directly into the phone-which is harder with a small keyboard.
4 - Apps - I am having a hard time with apps. I tried to just get the ones I have on my ipod, but they do not seem to work when I download them from Play Store. They don?t open or something. Then there are so many its hard to know which ones are good, but the few I have downloaded seem pretty bad, and I have to delete them. I googled ?sudoku or backgammon?, but the ones suggested, end up not working, at least not on HTC/ICS. The clock and weather apps that are standard on the ipod work great, but seems all the comments on the Play Store are about how bad the ones for Android are, and then I try them and they are in fact bad. Also I tried to rate one, and it would not let me, the ?ok? button was no accessible?
5 - Is there a way to see the name, not just the phone number of an incoming call with caller ID? Per sprint the answer is no.
6 - Why when you download an app, it asks if you will allow it to access all sorts of info? Why is this necessary for a simple app? I assume there is no way to get apps without allowing it to access your contacts, etc?
7 - I just tried to add my photo to my profile. Instead of showing me the photos in Gallery, its showing my photos in Facebook. How did that happen? How does it access FB photos?

It seems that if you use gmail and other google things, ICS is great, but its really not so easy for other email providers, etc For instance I dont see why they make a difference between getting a gmail email or another provider email, its all the same to me (and I do not get many gmails) Then every address gets a bing when it updates. On the ipod one ding is good enough for any or all accounts.
I dont like that you have to use 2 hands to turn on the screen. You can do it with one hand on ipod. Especially if you get distracted for a minute, with the iphone, you just use your thumb to turn the screen on. And the power button on the top of the Evo seems to be asking to get turned on in a pocket. Why is the on button on the left, not good for right handed people

I got this big phone, as I do like the bigger keyboard for typing and like swype. But I have spent quite some time on trying to synch and it has not worked at all. The people in the store and when calling support are either not familiar with this new phone(as they have not seen it), or tell me that most of these things cannot be done. There are certainly issues with iOS, but it comes out of the box pretty usable. I am not finding the same thing for Android.
While it may be great for tech-savvy people can do all sorts of things, most of us want everything easy, accessible and elegant. Thanks for your help
 
Got HTC Evo 4G LTE 9 days ago, updating from tracfone (phone/text), but use Ipod touch(email/apps).
I am very frustrated with the phone/OS. Nothing seem to go right or is easy.
The big screen is really great. Main reason I got it was typing on ipod/iphone was not easy, and LOVING the voice dictation and swype.

I was as clueless about iOS 3 years ago, as I am about ICS today. But the settings in iOS make sense, I have no idea what most of the settings are in ICS. All the info online seems to be for previous versions, and ICS has no similarity to them. No + on main screen, settings/Apps is totally different, so when I keep hitting a wall, I have no where to turn. Friends that have Androids say they just went with things as they came with the phone.

I am of moderate tech ability. I do not want to spend days getting my phone to work for simple things. While I understand that many love that Android has options, I would frankly like to have a good, simple phone that works easily and elegantly right out of the box. Other than the keyboard and voice recognition, almost everything I have tried to do has been frustrating and unsuccessful.

EMAILS
1 - Emails are too big for screen, even in landscape. If you cannot read the whole email without moving it back and forth each line, it?s a major hassle. You cannot pinch them to make them fit either, I tried different font sizes in settings, same result. This might be the deal killer, as if I cannot read emails quickly whats the point? I have to spead out each email.
I'm going to assume your using the stock email client from Android. IMO, I don't bother with the stock client its too limited. Your with Android now and the standard for dealing with Android is GMail. Its your main link to syncing your email, your contacts, your calendar and settings & applications related to your account and device. I would give Gmail a try, you can within Settings have Gmail import your email from other services (Comcast, Yahoo, etc. etc.) to make things easier. A good 3rd party app that many turn to for email is K-9 Email.
1a - No 2-line preview in landscape, so if you want to preview and read you are constantly rocking sideways, which is tedious.
1aa- About one in every 30 emails it says ?Cannot display this message? I can read it on my computer and on my ipod. This is really bothersome. Why are they not displaying?
I get this on occasion too about the "cannot display message", could just be a software glitch in the email client
1b - There seems to be only one way to delete emails. Android requires a 3 point touch to delete an email. IOS allows a left swoosh, touch to delete, very simple and quick, as well as the 3-point method.
Gmail has little check boxes on the edge of each email to click. It would be nice if they did have the swipe to erase option like we have in Notifications and other areas of the OS.
1c - Is there a way to have the images always open in emails, instead of touching each one to open? Where is that Android flexibility?
Check in Settings, there should be an option to always allow images..In GMail settings the option is the last on the General Settings menu.
1d - Saving as new, needs to hit drop down. On ipod just hit link. And you cannot see difference between new and saved as new on Android. Also if there are multiple emails under one Subject, deleting the second automatically opens the first, so you have to then actively save it.

1e - When I get a digest email from yahoo groups, I was able to hit a post and it would jump to that posting within the email itself. Now in ICS it says?webpage not available? but I am not going to webpage, just lower in that same email.

SYNCHING
2 - I spent over an hour to get HTC sync on my computer then it says I need an SD card to sync - huh? Apple may be a PITA with update reminders but the sync works so easily.
2a - I tried to use double twist to get my music on the phone. After downloading and trying to synch it says I have the wrong type of USB. I never knew there were more than one. Why is it so hard to connect? This should be easy. I also tried Wondershare it just got stuck trying to connect with my computer. It could not read something, so another failure and waste of time. Meanwhile no music, no contacts.

3 - Not sure if there is a way to type in contact info from your computer. If you do not have it in Outlook or gmail contacts I assume you have to enter it directly into the phone-which is harder with a small keyboard.
You can log into your Gmail account from your computer and enter in Contacts/Calendar entries this way. Then it will sync to you device as long as you have the sync allowed on your device.
4 - Apps - I am having a hard time with apps. I tried to just get the ones I have on my ipod, but they do not seem to work when I download them from Play Store. They don?t open or something. Then there are so many its hard to know which ones are good, but the few I have downloaded seem pretty bad, and I have to delete them. I googled ?sudoku or backgammon?, but the ones suggested, end up not working, at least not on HTC/ICS. The clock and weather apps that are standard on the ipod work great, but seems all the comments on the Play Store are about how bad the ones for Android are, and then I try them and they are in fact bad. Also I tried to rate one, and it would not let me, the ?ok? button was no accessible?
5 - Is there a way to see the name, not just the phone number of an incoming call with caller ID? Per sprint the answer is no.
To my knowledge, it will only display the callers name if the number calling is someone in your Contacts list
6 - Why when you download an app, it asks if you will allow it to access all sorts of info? Why is this necessary for a simple app? I assume there is no way to get apps without allowing it to access your contacts, etc?
This is standard on all applications installed from the Google Play Store. Basically its Google and the developers covering their butts by telling you these are the areas of your device in which will be accessed/read/written to so your aware. Bottom line, they covered all the angles so you can't come back and say "Hey this application accessed my Contacts list and I didn't give it permission".
7 - I just tried to add my photo to my profile. Instead of showing me the photos in Gallery, its showing my photos in Facebook. How did that happen? How does it access FB photos?

It seems that if you use gmail and other google things, ICS is great, but its really not so easy for other email providers, etc For instance I dont see why they make a difference between getting a gmail email or another provider email, its all the same to me (and I do not get many gmails) Then every address gets a bing when it updates. On the ipod one ding is good enough for any or all accounts.
I dont like that you have to use 2 hands to turn on the screen. You can do it with one hand on ipod. Especially if you get distracted for a minute, with the iphone, you just use your thumb to turn the screen on. And the power button on the top of the Evo seems to be asking to get turned on in a pocket. Why is the on button on the left, not good for right handed people

I got this big phone, as I do like the bigger keyboard for typing and like swype. But I have spent quite some time on trying to synch and it has not worked at all. The people in the store and when calling support are either not familiar with this new phone(as they have not seen it), or tell me that most of these things cannot be done. There are certainly issues with iOS, but it comes out of the box pretty usable. I am not finding the same thing for Android.
While it may be great for tech-savvy people can do all sorts of things, most of us want everything easy, accessible and elegant. Thanks for your help
I answered things to the best of my knowledge in the areas I was sure of. You have quite a list :) Like many other former iPhone/Apple users you have a bit of a learning curve to adjust to with Android. Same would be said going from Android to Apple.. Your doing the right thing by asking questions, and as more people come along they will be able to help fill in the blanks and get your questions and frustrations resolved to where I think you will enjoy your device.

Keep in mind again, this is a new device and has the newest release of Sense 4 (HTC's UI) so things are a bit new and there are going to be questions but the answers are quickly becoming available in the forums.

You have one of the best new devices on the market and once you have the hang of things it will reward you in return.
 
Do you know on Settings where I can get it to Display Images, for all emails. I guess I will have to get an email client, which I find a huge hassle. I would like to think if you get a fancy phone, it just does all the things I mention above. They seem pretty simple and the competition has it.

Yes, Monkey I saw your post, thank you (I thought I clicked thank you ). I am trying to get basics figured out. I am sure it can do all sorts of miraculous things, like send a text via GPS, but I doubt I would ever use that. I just want to be able to read my emails easily, etc.
Thanks
 
I love my Motorolla Google Droid phone but have the following problem:
I run two businesses. The first is Insurance. I sell car and home owner's insurance. I like to save my clients money, so I always point out that if they have good alarm and security systems on their homes and cars they will save $ on their insurance.
I also own, but never show my face at the store, "Be Safe Alarms. Sales, Service, etc" boy do we make a lot of dough selling car alarms to folks.
Anyway, I have a separate email addr for each business. And I NEVER want to email my insurance clients from ron@sellyouanalarmsystem.com.
Gmail on my desktop keeps the address books and emails STRICTLY SEPARATE. This is good. But the phone does not. (This could cost me business).
What's an honest guy to do?
 
thanks... but do you know of a way to prevent one gmail account from emailing a different gmail account?? like if I wanted my separate gmails (phone only) say I have 2 john smith saved one is insurance and the other is alarm guy and their email addresses are almost identical... how can I prevent my phone from being able to email anybody from either email address or can it be done??
 

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