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