Crashes and freezes: Android’s growing pains

My love affair with Android has been… tumultuous, to say the least.

I have a first-gen Samsung Vibrant, a Galaxy-S device bought at launch. It currently runs Android 2.2 (FroYo).

The first problem is Android 2.2 itself. Where is my Gingerbread update, Samsung? Should I ask T-Mobile instead? Maybe being stuck on 2.2 is my main issue — and I’m not willing to root/install a different OS.

My phone, as much as I love it, will crash for no reason from time to time. Usually it starts with a freeze, followed by the screen going to sleep. Soon enough the phone won’t let me “wake it up,” forcing me to pull the battery. Ouch.

(I feel like a BlackBerry Bold owner, ha ha. Yes, I’ll be here all week!)

The browser will force-close every couple days. The Audible application usually force closes on start, but it works on the 2nd try.

I still have the nasty wi-fi bug where once disabled, wi-fi might never come back (a reboot is required).

In short, I have an undying love for Android but Google needs to address these issues if they want to beat Apple. An iPhone is infinitely more reliable — and stable — than any Android phone so far.

Come on, Google. You don’t want to be the Windows Millennium of the smartphone wars!

Android 2.2 bugs driving me nuts

I’m one of the biggest Android fanboys there is. I created not one but TWO blogs to talk about Android, bought a G1 two weeks after launch and my current Samsung Vibrant at launch — the first to do so at T-Mobile’s Santa Monica store.

Here’s what I’ve had to deal with in the last 3 months. My phone has Android 2.2 stock, Kernel 2.6.32.9, with LauncherPro.

• “Camera failed” error
• Nook for Android refreshes every 1 minute (rendering the page again for no reason)
• Google Voice stops working
• Stuck when trying to re-enable Wi-Fi
• Music player won’t play MP3s
• YouTube won’t play videos

I was able to fix all with a mix of reboots and deleting the cache for each application (except for the Nook app). Needless to say, these bugs are really pissing me off.

FYI, I know doing a system reset is recommended to “fix” all of the above, but I’m not willing to go through it. I’d rather wait for 2.3.

Questions:

• Does anyone else have to deal with similar issues?
• Is this a Galaxy-S thing?
• Is this an Android 2.2 thing?

p.s. I hear the official Twitter app might cause some of those (YouTube/MP3 issue). Uninstalled it just in case — let’s see what happens next

Who Killed the Android Launcher?

Android users often rely on 3rd-party home screen replacements to:

(a) Get rid of clumsy GUI customizations (Samsung’s TouchWiz, Motorola’s Motoblur)

(b) Escape Vanilla Hell (or Heaven!)

(c) Get a performance boost

LauncherPro, ADW, Zeam and the recent SPB Shell 3D and Regina Launcher are the popular choices among Android users, especially LauncherPro and ADW. Most are paid, some are free, but all share the same fate: to be eventually killed by the OS with no advance warning.

It’s a familiar sight. Happily multitasking the way God intended (not faux-tasking like on iOS or WP7), we suddenly feel the urge to get back to the home screen. That’s when it happens — unbeknownst to the user, the phone or tablet has run out of memory. It can be 10-15 seconds before the launcher fully recovers.

Now, this will never happen to Apple. Both iPhone and iPad only have the native launcher to worry about. I don’t know what happens on WebOS or BlackBerry OS either. But on Android, the kernel always manages to kill the launcher when you need it the most. I don’t need to explain why there’s something wrong with this picture. If we want non-geeks to truly appreciate Android, we need to fix it. Fast.

Since Little Green Bastard is all about making Android better, here are a couple of suggestions:

(a) Google could make sure to have 3rd-party launchers in mind on the next version of Android. Let’s avoid having the launcher automatically killed, shall we?

(b) Android devs need to anticipate the issue. LauncherPro has a special menu setting to keep it in memory at all times. However, due to (a) it eventually makes the phone or tablet unstable (not enough room to move things around)

(c) Increase the minimum amount of RAM for all future devices. Yes, 1 GB should be the minimum. Memory is cheap now — there’s no reason why a phone should ship with less than 1 GB — or even 512 MB.

How about you? Did you ever have to deal with a moribund launcher? Share your thoughts in the comments :)

He eats launchers for breakfast

Android malware: Google is forced to deploy the Kill Switch once again

Google recently admitted that 50-plus applications found in the Android Market were infected by the Droid Dream malware. The scary discovery — partly ameliorated by the deployment of Google’s Kill Switch tool — underscores the platform’s vulnerability to such attacks.

Yes, Android is as open as a mobile OS can be. Developers have unmatched freedom to upload and update their apps, unlike Apple’s App Store. Most (if not all) welcome it, but even Android fanboys like me admit that this much openness can backfire sometimes.

The sad truth is that Android’s openness is an “open” invitation to malware authors. Mobile malware started life with Symbian and Windows Mobile in the early 2000s, but Android’s explosive growth makes it an ideal target for cybercriminals:

• Worldwide reach: check
• Volume installs: check
• Open platform (i.e. not a walled-garden): check

Android phones can give them access to:

• Personal info to be used in social engineering (contact list, memos, etc)
• Passwords to social networks
• Personal data that can be used for blackmailing attempts (photos, videos)
• Financial info

Kill Switch or not, Google needs to step up their game. Right now, Apple can absolutely hammer Google on security, which could scare potential smartphone owners. If we lose this war, it can’t be because we are an unsafe platform. That would be just… Sad.

Google needs an automated malware scanning system, one that would go over each submission and refer positives to an Android Engineer. That’s the only way to keep bad guys at bay — and our little green friend healthy for the next Apple showdown at the O.K. Corral.

Did the news on new Android malware change your opinion of Android? Let’s hear it in the comments!

Motorola Owners’ Forum Details H.264 Limitation on Xoom

It seems the Xoom has a hard time playing high-profile encoded video. Worse yet, it’s a limitation of the Tegra 2 chipset.

Galaxy-S devices like the Galaxy Tab support high-profile encodes via hardware, showing no sign of stuttering. Historically, Samsung has supported high-profile codecs out-of-the-box.

This thread on the official Motorola forums details the whole thing.

Making Android better by pointing out its flaws

Tuesday at 12:20 a.m., my Android phone seriously pissed me off.

An application, now rogue-ish but usually well-behaved, interfered with the legendary DM service. The result was an unrecoverable freeze after each boot.

After 25 minutes of tinkering I figured what was wrong with it — but who says I should have to? NO WAY this would have happened with an iPhone. I can’t imagine what a less geeky individual would have felt, but I KNOW they would would need to get help. Maybe they’d even return or sell the phone.

I love Android. I’m what you may consider a fanboy. But I can’t ignore its flaws — little annoyances that keep the platform from greatness. That’s why this blog was created: to take Android to the next level by chronicling, daily, the little things that could be better.

Hopefully, you’ll enjoy each post as much as I enjoy writing them :)