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Comment by kolev | Hacker News Reader

Anybody using Android L? I've been using it on my primary phone for a month and I'm not impressed. It freezes too often needing a reboot, Hangouts Dialer often cannot complete or receive calls, the screen lock is buggy requiring a workaround how to get in without having to reboot, the bright theme is a step back when a dark one is not available. Many basic apps don't work or misbehave (Swarm, Square Cash, etc.). Worst of all, there are no frequent updates (if any), no autoupdate either.

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> Worst of all, there are no frequent updates (if any), no autoupdate either.

Is a little odd. Didn't you install the L developer preview by manually downloading the ROM from here: https://developer.android.com/preview/setup-sdk.html and then flashing it yourself? Then you're strangely shocked there isn't a consumer-orientated auto-updater?

I can absolutely see that criticism if the auto-updater didn't exist, wasn't working, or there were no updates upon the retail release of L. For a developer preview you personally installed knowing full well it was a developer preview that criticism is hard to take at all seriously.

Apple's been supporting this for the last couple years. This year, for instance, I upgraded to iOS 8 when Beta 3 shipped. I then received OTA updates for each subsequent Beta until the final release, which I installed manually. It's unfortunate that Google doesn't offer OTA beta updates, too.

I got a gazillion updates from Yosemite and Xcode.

Yes, but Google's goals was never to run a semi-public beta. The L developer images were provided so that developers can develop/test their apps on L.

Well, that's fine, but then Google failed. Delivering some dated and possibly insecure copy is not how everybody else does it in 2014. There are high standards for prelease software today - other Google projects follow them, so, Android shouldn't be an exception.

This is the first time they're offering a peek into a pre-release of their OS, ever. Apple has done multiple times with a track record of auto-updates, so yes, that can be expected of Apple, and Apple only.

Google never promised updates, never promised stability, it's not a beta, it's not a GM, it's not even alpha. It's simply a preview. You get what they say you get. Don't set iOS's standards on Android, they're completely different products, with completely different cultures, release cycles, everything.

There are a lot of products, Google and otherwise, that go straight to release without any prereleases. If anything Android has has a very strict record of that, so I think your expectations of much more from them on such a large release like L is simply unfounded.

So, because it's first time, but in contrast with their other teams and with other companies, I should be satisfied? You guys are a bunch of low-standards fanboys, especially those who take pleasure in downvoting every single comment I made here as a punitive action against daring to state the obvious. Android prerelease process should improve, I'm not satisfied and I don't care that some people are okay with everything and don't bother to demand more! Even Play Store now has the concept of prelease software that autoupdates! And they have a completely separate static build for Android Fit. Just ridiculous!

> You guys are a bunch of low-standards fanboys, especially those who take pleasure in downvoting every single comment I made here as a punitive action against daring to state the obvious

It's more the terrible quality of your posting. You've been given reasonable answers but instead you respond with demands you have no position to be making.

"Reasonabe" according to a low-standards crowd. I'm a different breed. I demand high-standards from myself and others. There's a fierce competition today, if you haven't noticed. And Google lags behind.

It's a developer preview, which by definition is not something you should run on your primary phone.

Yes, I'm a developer, and I need to test in the real-world, not in a lab to get a real feel of it.

That's why I have more than one phone. Besides, I want to know how what I build works on more than one device.

So, I need 2? One iPhone, which doesn't have issues with prerelease versions, and two Android ones?

Android is a very diverse ecosystem

Apple iOS prereleases support more devices than Android, which only supports two: Nexus 5 and 7 (unsure if the first generation of Nexus 7 is supported).

It's fairly common to test your Android apps against a multitude of devices. There were times I had more than 5 different smartphones on my desk.

So, you're reaffirming what I said (i.e. Google didn't do a good job) as their preview works only on two devices - their own Nexus 5 and 7 (not even on Nexus 10 or Nexus 7 LTE; it's safe to assume that the first generation of Nexus 7 is not supported either).

Stability complaints while using a beta product that that is introducing big underlying changes to the platform. Classy.

Really? Most of my software is prerelease. I'm writing this on Firefox Aurora, from time to time I'm using Google Chrome Canary, and I'm on Yosemite since day one together with Fedora Rawhide. So, please, don't tell me what to expect from prerelease software as I have a pretty good base for comparison. Let's stop setting the bar too low! Edit: typos and grammar.

Alternatively, we could stop the total semantic dilution of terms like "beta" and "prerelease" that is prevalent among users who expect "beta" to mean "actually it's done completely now, there's nothing left anymore to be built."

Your approach sounds like a crappy manager who insists that because you sent something to QA, that means it's shippable RIGHT NOW LET'S GO ALREADY THE SHAREHOLDERS ARE DEMANDING IT

I'm sure you've used Gmail for years when it was beta like many other software. Dual standards!

Not sure what you're expecting from a preview released several months before release.

I've been using it as my daily driver on my Nexus 7. It's surprisingly stable for a dev preview. I only have one app that doesn't work with it, and the major freezing bugs only happen every couple weeks. It's probably not smart to use it as a daily driver on your primary phone though. If it causes problems on my Nexus 7 I'll only lose my play device for a little while.

I haven't been using Android L. I've only been using the Dev Preview of Android L which I assume you are too.

I haven't had a single problem with it, I've been using it for months and love it.

I've been using it on my main device since July and haven't had any of the problems you've metioned :S The only problem I have is the Settings app ocasionally crashes when I try to setup a new wifi connection. But I don't do that nearly often enough to be upset about it. That said, I haven't noticed any improvements. It seems the same (speed / performance) wise as 4.4 on my N5.

Yes, even on 4.4.4, there was no noticeable difference between even ART and Dalvik. Again, that's why I wanted to use it daily as labs are one thing, but real world is often quite different.

Yes, even on 4.4.4, there was no noticeable difference between even ART and Dalvik.

On what hardware? I did not notice a difference on my Moto X. My Moto X is in repair now and in the meanwhile I have been using a Moto G. On that, I definitely notice a difference - app starting and multitasking is a whole lot faster with ART.

On Nexus 5 (Android L preview is only for Nexus 5 and 7).

It's a developer preview, not a consumer preview. If you aren't running it on a second phone that contains nothing important, you are operating with a large amount of risk.

Atleast you got it..non Nexus devices can't even play with L yet :(

Did you at least like the design language they borrowed from Microsoft?

Microsoft has pseudo-3D with multiple planes and realtime-computed shadows now?

No, I think they dropped this since Vista. There is a pinch of old-school, you are right.

It's another oversold thing that will only create extra work for app developers who just finished catching up with KitKat design guidelines, I'm sure. The switch to bright is making a huge leap backwards!

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