Ok. An Evo for a day coming from webOS: here is my $.02 verdict

[estebancam]

The phone is great. The hardware is amazing, my favorite part.

I love the level of customization that Android has right out of the box, i really enjoy that. Also, I love HTC Sense, and I strongly believe I would hate this phone without it.

Me and my girlfriend just got Evo's, and we have different opinions. I love almost everything about it, while she on the other hand..... is almost rethinking her purchase and thinking of returning to her Palm Pre.

Now, I am very tech savvy, so I get used to operating systems very quickly. She, on the other hand, is not and does not; so a lot of the things listed below will be her complaints mixed along with mine.

1. Clunky system. It takes so many steps just to do one thing. Sometimes, the step you are trying to take is inside a very illogical menu. Like there are things under "privacy" that I would have thought to be somewhere else.

2. I don't like the fact that I cannot easily close an application. I have to go through menus or apps in order to close anything. I truly dislike that. Note that I am coming from a system that all you had to do to close it was flick up on the screen.

3. Apps crash too much. I have owned an Android phone for one day, and have had 2 apps crash on me. I don't think that ever happened to me on webOS.

4. Having to download apps to a class 2 SD card is too slow. I have a 16GB and I think that was expensive enough, don't wanna pay $100 for a class 6. This is not THAT big of a deal for me, but hey, these are my $.02

5. I hate the launcher (emphasis on HATE). Look, I love the widgets, and that means limited space for my apps on the 7 pages I have. So for the rest, I have to use the dumb launcher. First of all, why only one loooong scrolling down page? Second of all, it doesn't make sense that I can customize almost EVERYTHING on Android, yet I cannot do such a simple thing as put the apps where I want on the launcher, only alphabetical! Thirdly, give me more launcher pages, or at least folders to put groups of apps in! I cannot say how much I dislike the launcher.


For now, thats about it. I really like everything else. WebOS is much more polished in terms of user interface, but I enjoy the more 21st century look to Android, especially with sense.

Also, I can't say how AWESOME all of the features of Android are. I love all the little apps like Goggles, Shopper, YouTube HQ (Evo only), and more. I never realized how much I missed being able to do all these cool things until I had them again. The selection of apps is also great!

 

[storino03]

There is an app called multitasking manager that you can download for free that when you long press the search key, a list of running programs pop up. very convenient

 

[tkanavy]

You know you don't HAVE to use the launcher, right? You can just universal search (like webOS) and pop up the application you are looking for. That might be an easy solution for your girlfriend. Just have her hit her mag button at the bottom and type the first letters of what she wants and poof there is it

http://forum.androidcentral.com/htc-evo-4g/15937-suck-up-phone-magical-maybe.html

 

[estebancam]

You know you don't HAVE to use the launcher, right? You can just universal search (like webOS) and pop up the application you are looking for. That might be an easy solution for your girlfriend. Just have her hit her mag button at the bottom and type the first letters of what she wants and poof there is it

http://forum.androidcentral.com/htc-evo-4g/15937-suck-up-phone-magical-maybe.html

True.... but on webOS you just start typing. Android, you have to go to the page that has the search box, then click on that search box, type on the search box, then go through a bunch of choices to find the right one. Universal search was best on webOS.

 

[Auzo]

Being new to Android and coming from a Pre myself I can understand that you are not yet familiar with all the ins and outs. With that said it is clear from your post that a lot of your issues are because of that. It really does help to read the manual when you are new to an OS. For example:

1) you can make folders that you can place on your home screens that each will hold a "page" worth of apps.

2) Search is at worse one step more than on webOS and imo its the same length seeing as I have to slide the keyboard out on the Pre which i count as a step. Just press the dedicated search button right next to the back button and start typing!

I have already started getting used to the idiosyncrasies of Android, but I understand that not everyone can.

 

[ElCartelDR]

True.... but on webOS you just start typing. Android, you have to go to the page that has the search box, then click on that search box, type on the search box, then go through a bunch of choices to find the right one. Universal search was best on webOS.

You can just click the search button on the bottom right of the Evo.

 

[kinster02]

I'm also a former Pre owner and all I want to say is all you ex webos users need to stop comparing this to webos and just move on. I personally can't imagine going back to that tiny screen no matter how much I thought I liked the OS.

 

[masbirdies]

True.... but on webOS you just start typing. Android, you have to go to the page that has the search box, then click on that search box, type on the search box, then go through a bunch of choices to find the right one. Universal search was best on webOS.

There is a magnifying glass icon on the search soft key (the bottom right one). Just press that from anywhere and start typing. It's a one-button solution since we don't have a physical keyboard to pull out to being typing.

 

[Darth Mo]

I'm also a former Pre owner and all I want to say is all you ex webos users need to stop comparing this to webos and just move on. I personally can't imagine going back to that tiny screen no matter how much I thought I liked the OS.

The problem is people sometimes don't take the time to read the manual or do a little research. You can't get a new device and expect to instinctively know how to do anything. So you complaints that a feature is missing because they don't know where to find it or how to do it.

That said, I do believe the settings layout in WebOS (separate app for each group of settings) was better laid out. Even consulting the manual for EVO it's still difficult to find some settings in the cavernous menus.

 

[Rudementry]

By the way, If you enjoyed webOS then try out taskOS. It works really well. Hold search to pull it up (like flicking up from gesture area) then flick up an app to kill or click on it to switch to. You can also add it to the ignore list, like HTC launcher or universal search.

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk

 

[gabbott]

I too came from a Pre and it sounds like the OP just needs to get a little more versed with android navigation and customize their layout. You can get everything you need without having to use the launcher once you setup all your homepages for how you use the phone.

Also, here is a tip if you haven't tried it yet... hold down the home key. That'll help with multitasking and switching apps.

 

[xandrake]

Being a recent Pre owner I really understand where OP is coming from. WebOS is one of those super easily used OSes. Good thing the interface and user experience VP from Palm is at Google now.

Overall, I love this phone -- it just takes some getting used to with the little quirks here and there.

 

[Yourdogsdead]

There is always a learning curve, no matter the jump. You will get used to it.

 

[gabbott]

There is always a learning curve, no matter the jump. You will get used to it.

Exactly. In alot of ways I don't think WebOS is any more intuitive (we have to remember back when we first got a pre). There was a learning curve and we had to learn how to use it. It seems easy now with the cards and swiping and whatnot, but we didn't just pick up the phone and begin doing those things. I remember it took me a while to learn all the things I could swipe in order to accomplish something. Same goes for android, it is just different.

 

[Jupiter600]

*delete

 

[gabbott]

How do u add a folder full of Alps on the homescreen?

Hold down on a blank spot on your homescreen and then chose 'Folder'

 

[Jupiter600]

Hold down on a blank spot on your homescreen and then chose 'Folder'

thanks. How do you rename the folder

 

[modern]

thanks. How do you rename the folder

Launch the folder and long press "folder".

 

[Gigity]

Launch the folder and long press "folder".

I've never owned an Android phone before, but I can already tell I'm going to love it. What you're describing just sounds intuitive to me.

 

[Septro]

Funny thing about the pre's launcher is that you have the exact same functionality on android right off the main homepage - you have seven pages you can totally customize and put whatever apps you desire. Make one page nothing but
folders for your apps and already have more than the pre ever had.