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Comment by cryptoz | Hacker News Reader

It's because Android keyboards are apps. It's part of being an open ecosystem; UI and utilities are not controlled by a central agency making decisions for everyone. There's so much typing innovation happening on Android that it's really amazing; Swype, SwiftKey, 8pen, that new one-line keyboard, and probably 50 projects I've never even heard of.

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But then you get all of the baggage that comes along with an open system. Android is not stable in the slightest, which is odd as it does use the Linux kernel, but it still is; even on 4.2. I still get hangs, freezes, and crashes. The system-wide lag is gone, but there are many instances I can name where the system will arbitrarily crash an application:

- Trying to open Google Now - Typing an address into Firefox's URL bar - Trying to Swype - Trying to open a new tab in the Android browser

And there's many more. Granted, it's CM10 running on a Nexus 7, but there's still so many kinks to be worked out.

When I switch back to an iPad, it's such a relief. Full stability. I have NEVER had an application crash on an iPad.

Can't say the same about the N7, unfortunately.

Interesting you blame Android that all your apps crash, when it is most likely CyanogenMod. I'm still running stock on my Nexus 7 and I don't get any crashes.

This is a good point and I'm not arguing for-or-against an open ecosystem. I'm just saying, if Apple wants to stick with the closed keyboard system, then they really need to put some resources into making the default -- and only -- choice as good as it can be.

I'm currently just using iOS (on the iPad), thanks to losing my Android phone to a robber. I haven't bought a new smartphone yet but whenever I think of making the decision -- and I've been using iOS exclusively for years until my recent Android purchase -- the flawed typing in iOS makes the decision easy.

But I'll also concede that's because I'm not a technophonbe...the default keyboard selection on Android seems to be good, but configuring and installing new ones is probably not straightforward for many casual users.

> The default keyboard selection on Android seems to be good, but configuring and installing new ones is probably not straightforward for many casual users.

I think you're missing the point. What features does the default Android 4.2 have that make it so awesome? It has the excellent three-word prediction which is a direct copy from SwiftKey. It has the one finger swipe typing which is a direct copy from Swype. The only reason the Android's default keyboard is so good is because they opened the ecosystem and let hundreds of developers experiment and play with keyboard apps until they got really, really amazing.

Edit: And "configuring and installing new ones is probably not straightforward for many casual users"?! Do you think "Apps" are a difficult concept? Keyboards are apps; they're found in Google Play for download just like Angry Birds is. Anyone who can install Angry Birds can install a keyboard.

I don't disagree with you...I do prefer an open ecosystem. However, for the scope of the argument, I'm just leaving it as: "Android keyboards are far, far superior to iOS's seemingly left-behind keyboard". Whether iOS's keyboard problem stems from a closed ecosystem or not is somewhat orthogonal, because iOS has some pretty amazing features despite the closed ecosystem.

As for the difficulty in configuring the keyboards...well, part of it is that you need to configure them all. As an experienced systems user, it didn't take me long to figure out where the config menu is and what the implications were...but that's not going to be the case for a lot of users. As for the difficulty in installing apps: well, again, it may not seem hard. But I'll point to the awkward history of the Google Play/App store as an example of how yes, even app purchasing/updating is hard, which is why Apple and Google spend a significant amount of time on the workflow of buying and installing apps.

I agree that Swype on a Nexus 7 is disaster, it certainly was on mine. However, at my most frustrated, I started poking around the Swype Beta forums and learned that the Swype I was using (and all of the betas available at the time) targeted ICS and weren't expected to work on Jelly Bean. So I sadly gave up Swype, but ended much happier with my Nexus 7. And now I'm thrilled that there are good alternatives like the 4.2 keyboard and SwiftKey Flow.

Sigh. Don't confuse CM stability with android.

I would think these issues are more to do with CM. For additional anecdotal evidence, I have had my Nexus 4 since it came out and I have not had the issues you described and I have never had to reset it.

I can count on one hand the number of crashes I've experienced with CM (both 10 and 10.1) over the past few months on my Galaxy S 3. Have you tried updating? I did have a few issues with a stable version that were fixed in newer nightlies. Plus, fact is, it's an understaffed volunteer project; you can't expect it to be perfect or base your opinion of all of Android on it.

I'll add my data point:

Stock nexus 4, haven't had a crash in a month of use.

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