Android has finally disappointed me
I Just got my Galaxy S5. Already did the water test by dumping it in a bowl of water for a few minutes. That was fun and shocked coworkers. I love the phone except.....
My S4 was running Jelly Bean and the new phone is running KitKat. I am very disappointed.
I'll start with the UI and other aesthetics. Google has decided to, not only copy Apple, but Microsoft as well. In copying Apple, the icons have moved from having depth and color to flat and featureless icons that are more cartoon-like. I can't stand that. It makes it look way less sophisticated. It feels like something you would hand to a child. In copying Microsoft, almost every menu has a two-tone basic flat color scheme with moron-friendly icons, just like the failure that is Windows 8. Change is inevitable but if there is one thing I can't stand it is when a company changes simple things without giving the customer the option of selecting what THEY want on the product THEY purchased. This is simple aesthetics that don't affect operation, why shouldn't this be customizable?
The UI change has also rendered the power-saving idea behind the AMOLED display useless. LCD: At full brightness, if the screen is on, even displaying black, it is using 100% power. AMOLED: If the screen is on, displaying black, it is using <1% power. White text/black background on AMOLED means the only power being used is by the pixels that are on. Google's brilliant idea is to have black text/white background. This uses way more battery and also heats up the phone. Not to mention the fact that AMOLED still suffers degradation over time. Some people may like the new menus and brightly colored UI. I don't and I'm sure I am not alone. Why not give the user the control of customization. Android used to be known for its open-source-like customization. Slowly, it has become more locked down. It has become more like iOS. Sure, I could root the phone but in all my years of using Android, I have never had to, whereas most of the iOS users that I know have had to jailbreak their phones to get it on par with the customization prowess of Android.
There is a myriad of other things that bug me but I am too tired to get into it.
Not trying to start a holy war of iOS vs. Android, I am mainly just venting my disappointment in Google's choices.
BTW, what is up with all the new UIs looking like cartoons??? Do the software companies think we are too stupid to understand things all of a sudden? This is why I love Linux, 23 years and still the same UI... command line! (and yes, I know, Android is built off Linux). As far as the new UIs, quoting Crow T. Robot "Just because it's futuristic doesn't mean it's practical".
[/RANT]
If you're the smartest person in the room, then you're in the wrong room.