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Mobile OSs I Tried Android Again… Why Does It Feel Like a Group Project That Never Ends?

capamac said:
Re swap: https://web.archive.org/web/20260324133649/https://chrisdown.name/2018/01/02/in-defence-of-swap.html

Lotta great things about swap.
Click to expand...
www.howtogeek.com

What Is Extended RAM in Your Android Phone, and Is It Just a Gimmick

You (probably) don't need it.
www.howtogeek.com www.howtogeek.com

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Android Extended RAM Analysis: Why It Slows Performance & Degrades Storage Life

Lab tests reveal the real impact of Android Extended RAM (RAM Plus). Review our data on gaming stutters, battery drain, and UFS storage wear. Learn why disabling virtual memory often improves speed on modern devices.
www.faceofit.com
 
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iOS apparently also uses swap space according to this article (which admittedly looks dated) https://developer.apple.com/library...tual/ManagingMemory/Articles/AboutMemory.html

It states: "Both OS X and iOS include a fully-integrated virtual memory system that you cannot turn off; it is always on"

As an aside, in pretty much every BSD or Linux install I've done, I've been asked to configure swap space. Swap seems to be pretty much standard for Un*x-like operating systems such as macOS and iOS et al.

Another link: https://www.macrumors.com/2022/06/08/ipados-16-storage-as-virtual-memory/
 
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capamac said:
iOS apparently also uses swap space according to this article (which admittedly looks dated) https://developer.apple.com/library...tual/ManagingMemory/Articles/AboutMemory.html

It states: "Both OS X and iOS include a fully-integrated virtual memory system that you cannot turn off; it is always on"

As an aside, in pretty much every BSD or Linux install I've done, I've been asked to configure swap space. Swap seems to be pretty much standard for Un*x-like operating systems such as macOS and iOS et al.
Click to expand...
This isn't traditional swap for use as a dumping place when you run out of ram, though. This is used as "extended" memory, constantly writing and reading. I don't have problems with traditional swap, even small amounts on an SSD, as long as it's not constantly in use.
 
capamac said:
As an aside, in pretty much every BSD or Linux install I've done, I've been asked to configure swap space. Swap seems to be pretty much standard for Un*x-like operating systems such as macOS and iOS et al.
Click to expand...

Windows does it too. Pretty sure there it's called something like virtual memory or page file.

artifex said:
This isn't traditional swap for use as a dumping place when you run out of ram, though. This is used as "extended" memory, constantly writing and reading. I don't have problems with traditional swap, even small amounts on an SSD, as long as it's not constantly in use.
Click to expand...

Pretty sure the system remains smart enough to avoid hitting it as much as possible as there's still a performance penalty.
 
artifex said:
The OnePlus website says the Pad 2 has 12GB, so if you're seeing 16 it's probably using swap. Ick, turn that off. It may be under system settings as "memory extension" or something similar.
Click to expand...
12GB only was available in the USA and some other markets. I got the Indian version and this one has 16GB of RAM and 512GB storage.
 
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The OP has only two posts and those are about how awful Android is. A little bit suspicious.
I've got no issues with Android. The last main Android phone I was using was some Huawei phone for $80 and it did the job. It didn't have the best camera and had 2GBs of RAM and it received only 4 security updates, but I used it for a year and it was fine. I was able to order Uber, surf the web and use WhatsApp and Instagram. It was on Android 9. Most importantly I was able to use Duo, Microsoft Authenticator etc.
It's unfair to compare it to the iPhone 14 I have now, but I gotta say, I was pretty disappointed when I realised that it was no longer supported and won't be receiving Android 10.

Most people just want a phone.
 
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Use both an iPhone and a cheap Moto G Power 2024 I bought to play with. Purely anecdotal, but I like having swap enabled. Get much less unloading than I do with the iPhone. Both have 8 Gigs RAM. And if I explicitly allow background process on an Android app, it usually keeps running. Almost desktop-style multitasking. I like that too. Wish I could have that on my iPad.

Anyways, the Moto is my project phone. I was curious how un-googled I could get without needing a 3rd party ROM. Turns out, can get fairly far on this. Never logged into Google. Get almost all apps via either Obtanium or F-Droid. Needed Dropbox so used Aurora as a Play frontend to get it. Use a firewall, NetGuard, on whitelist mode to keep almost everything from phoning home. With the exception of Dropbox, all apps are open source, non-commercial. It's been a great experience.

Since I convinced most of my family + friends to use Signal instead of iMessage, I could almost use the Moto full time. The one app I'd miss terribly from Apple is Notes. I have Joplin with a mirror of my notes on the Moto but it's just not quite as nice to use.
 
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The gold standard of Android phones now is Samsung... only drawbacks are Samsung preinstalling its own stock apps in addition to what's already included in Android by Google, and Samsung doing an 'unholy alliance' with Microsoft and preinstalling Office, Onedrive etc on Samsung phones.

One UI is better than stock Android, if you can look past the preinstalled bloat mentioned above.

Google the company as a whole is a group project that never ends. It always changes company direction, features, discontinue products (e.g. Google Plus), and adding 'experimental' or 'beta' features so the users help to test them.

P.S: I would avoid all Chinese brand Android phones. Even the smarter folks in China are getting an iPhone, refer to the new iPhone launches in China's Apple stores.

P.S #2: If you really want a Chinese Android phone, get a Motorola one. But expect disappointing cameras. That may or may not be a dealbreaker for you.
 
BSDnostalgia said:
How does that affect battery life?
Click to expand...
Good question. I've run NetGuard (my firewall) on background for the entire time I've had the Motorola. With light usage, the thing gets around 3-4 days between charges. Not sure how much the constantly running firewall affects it but I'm pretty happy with that battery life from a $125 device.

Of course the firewall might be saving me more battery than it consumes. Only essential apps are allowed to connect to the internet. That might save me a little battery life with all sorts of things not being allowed to phone home. Just a theory.
 
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You can run background processes without issue on android. When your battery wears after 3 years of heavy use like my pixel 8 pro, then you will see some battery drain happening, but it's no worse than what happened after 3 years of use on my iPhone 13. After 3 years of use the battery on my iPhone 13 tanked very quickly. I replaced the battery in it and my mother is using it now without any issues.

I am going to be putting my Pixel 8 pro in for a battery replacement soon. It's starting to show signs of battery degradation after 3 years of HEAVY use.
 
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BSDnostalgia said:
How does that affect battery life?
Click to expand...
Just to give you a tiny bit more information, I took a look at battery stats this morning. NetGuard was less than 1% of power usage. Same with Obtanium (a app updater tool) which also runs in the background. So not bad at all at least for small programs that do only one thing.
 
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BSDnostalgia said:
It doesn't? Isn't that a $1200 phone?

I'm actually wondering what the minimal pixel would be that runs GrapheneOS and would be expected to work on cell networks for the next 3-4 years (GSM/2G/Edge etc doesn't cut it anymore in most locations).
Click to expand...
Compared to other flagship phones yeah the Pixel falls behind in a couple of areas. The CPU, GPU, and UFS 3.1 storage on the 128gb models. For average daily use none of these matters. The only game I play on my cell phone is Retro Bowl. I went back to Pixel for the software experience and timely updates. May security update just installed as I am typing this.

As for GrapheneOS I have no experience with that nor do I have interest (yet). But from what I've seen you need to have at least the Pixel 8 for the ideal experience.

grapheneos.org

GrapheneOS Frequently Asked Questions

Answers to frequently asked questions about GrapheneOS.
grapheneos.org grapheneos.org

I'm eyeing the new TCL Nxtpaper 70 Pro since I already have T-Mobile service and it's only $199 at full price. It has a feature nothing else has with its screen tech. It has a 5200mah battery and SD card slot. Android 16 out of the box and allegedly 2 years of updates. I personally haven't seen a better deal for $200, that's insane. I will *try* to use it as a daily driver and see how I get along with it. I can see myself using it exclusively at home after work / at night to ease the eyes.
 
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MacInTO said:
I just switched back to Android as my main phone. My backup/second will be my iphone and I couldn't be happier. It was a four and a half year experiment with iOS.

I like the transit passes in Apple wallet but didn't like how Apple pay worked so I never paid for goods with it. Paying with Google wallet is much easier for me - I only have to present an unlocked phone and tap - no buttons to press and I can unlock with face, fingerprint or pattern. The dual e/SIM functionality started off well until I switched to iOS 26. After that, whenever I crossed a border, iOS would turn off one of my SIMs. I couldn't figure out what was happening for a while. I found out from apple support that was expected behaviour which was not present in iOS 18. I used almost all Google apps on the iPhone because I still have Android device. Regardless, I couldn't use Apple cloud because it won't back up photos from Android devices. Google happily backs up any device regardless of OS.

My number one reason for switching is the calendar app that I use, aCalendar, it is the most intuitive app I've used. They don't make an iOS version but I tried to find a similar one and it seemed like all calendar apps on iOS work exactly the same - I know because I probably downloaded 50 calendar apps on iOS. Three taps to get anywhere whereas aCalendar is one swipe.

My new phone, a Xiaomi 17, can accept two physical SIMs or two eSIMs or one of each. The switch very smooth - Android copied my data, including 20k songs and downloaded the equivalent apps from the play store that were on my iPhone. The battery capacity is almost double that of iPhone 17 - I've already gotten three days of use from one charge.
Click to expand...
Yes the Xiaomi 17 model lineup is excellent.

I chose the 17 Ultra for its advanced 200MP / 75mm-100mm telephoto camera. It’s been an amazing experience.
 
Shared my honest experience, a little surprised how much my absence affected a few who could've decided not to comment or join the conversation at all. Yes, I used ChatGPT to draft the post, something very usual nowadays, but the opinions were only mine. Gave an honest try to Android, everything from iCloud to Google Drive etc. (the sync on Google is way, way, way better, for files and photos), but the app optimisation as well as the crazy heat generated using Android Auto were deal breakers. So happy the conversation was civil and social, and genuine points were put forwards.
 
steelslicerx said:
Shared my honest experience, a little surprised how much my absence affected a few who could've decided not to comment or join the conversation at all. Yes, I used ChatGPT to draft the post, something very usual nowadays, but the opinions were only mine. Gave an honest try to Android, everything from iCloud to Google Drive etc. (the sync on Google is way, way, way better, for files and photos), but the app optimisation as well as the crazy heat generated using Android Auto were deal breakers. So happy the conversation was civil and social, and genuine points were put forwards.
Click to expand...
Must be your device as I use Android auto all the time and my devices never generate excessive heat. And I love the "app optimization" comment. What does that even mean? that was a thing in 2010 maybe. Back then Apple's "app optimization" was the same.
 
Galaxy Z Fold7, S26 Ultra, my Pixel 10 Pro XL, all get extremely hot in an AC car with Android Auto in any car (wireless, I must add). Apps like Varlens doesn’t properly detect the camera on my Pixel, Blackmagic Camera is all over the place depending on device, apps like Mood don’t exist. Any photo edited on Google Photos needs to be saved as a copy, cluttering the library.
 
fzJNotIBOxgnbqejSeVCvJScL said:
The gold standard of Android phones now is Samsung... only drawbacks are Samsung preinstalling its own stock apps in addition to what's already included in Android by Google, and Samsung doing an 'unholy alliance' with Microsoft and preinstalling Office, Onedrive etc on Samsung phones.

One UI is better than stock Android, if you can look past the preinstalled bloat mentioned above.

Google the company as a whole is a group project that never ends. It always changes company direction, features, discontinue products (e.g. Google Plus), and adding 'experimental' or 'beta' features so the users help to test them.

P.S: I would avoid all Chinese brand Android phones. Even the smarter folks in China are getting an iPhone, refer to the new iPhone launches in China's Apple stores.

P.S #2: If you really want a Chinese Android phone, get a Motorola one. But expect disappointing cameras. That may or may not be a dealbreaker for you.
Click to expand...
What about the likes of Oppo etc?
 
fzJNotIBOxgnbqejSeVCvJScL said:
The gold standard of Android phones now is Samsung... only drawbacks are Samsung preinstalling its own stock apps in addition to what's already included in Android by Google, and Samsung doing an 'unholy alliance' with Microsoft and preinstalling Office, Onedrive etc on Samsung phones.

One UI is better than stock Android, if you can look past the preinstalled bloat mentioned above.

Google the company as a whole is a group project that never ends. It always changes company direction, features, discontinue products (e.g. Google Plus), and adding 'experimental' or 'beta' features so the users help to test them.

P.S: I would avoid all Chinese brand Android phones. Even the smarter folks in China are getting an iPhone, refer to the new iPhone launches in China's Apple stores.

P.S #2: If you really want a Chinese Android phone, get a Motorola one. But expect disappointing cameras. That may or may not be a dealbreaker for you.
Click to expand...
I have both, plus others and I kindly disagree. Pixel and stock android is much better than OneUI.
 
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