My Wishlist for Android 2.2 (FroYo) and Gingerbread
H
aving used Android for such a long period of time, there are a lot of tweaks I would love to have add to really round out and empower the Android experience. Here are a few of them that I hope will be features in future android releases Froyo and Gingerbread. If you have any additions to the list please comment below.
1. Make Gmail work more like the Browser- Gmail is a really great App for mobile but its also lacking. The android browser on the other hand, is a work of genius. It allows
- multi-touch zooming,
- word searching within a page,
- ability to bookmark pages,
- ability to copy and paste any text,
- ability to click on telephone numbers and auto dial
- ability to share content to other apps.
Replace all the above “pages” with emails and you will have the most powerful mobile email experience in the world. The mobile version of gmail (m.gmail.com) already has some amazing new improvements over the standard gmail app. If I could cache that to my telephone, already it would be a massive improvement. I think its about time we saw the some improved features rolled into our beloved “M” button.
Iphone Magnifier
2. Better cursor control. – The one really slick thing about the iphone, that Android has yet to master is the ability to simply put the cursor exactly where you need to edit. Really basic! Luckily, most android phones have the scroll wheel which makes it a bearable but a slightly fiddly endeavour. Having a user friendly text box magnification or zoom, would work wonders here, particularly for those handsets that lack the scroll button.
3. Better selection control. – Another lesson that Android can learn from the Iphone is the execution of copy and paste. Again the use of the cursor wheel gets points for effort but could do better( as my woodworking teacher used to say)
4. True unified messaging (aka Better Sharing extensibility)- One important lesson that android can learn from the work horse that is the blackberry is the ability to share any kind of data across to any other format.With android, you are limited in the way that data is treated. Email comes through onto one pile and text messaging comes through on another. If I want to share data between piles, its really difficult. With a blackberry, I can receive a text message, and share it as a facebook message, tweet or even as an email using the “forward as” function in 2 actions…done! Developers have access to apis to allow them to easily populate this menu and its a REALLY powerful feature for users. Motorola started the journey to unified messaging with Motoblur, now its a great opportunity to bring us to the destination.
5. Better Battery management- The one level criticism of Android is that it is power hungry and can chew through a battery in record time. The way that it handles poor battery power however can be improved. There are a multitude of apps( Local being one of them ) that will switch things off when the phone reaches a low battery state. this should be in the OS as a core feature. Hopefully that will stop the sudden powering down, popup that occurs halfway through that important email I was working on at the end of the day.
6. Built in task list- Google tasks exist- where’s the app for it? Astrid is a more than capable replacement, however having a task manager integrated with my google account would be a winner. Imagine if I could bookmark an email and forward it as a task to do. That would be real power. ( Evernote is great too!)
7. Built in security by default- Despite all the advances in mobile phones, it still amazes me that there is little to no built in loss or theft prevention in the os. Why not build in features like remote wipe, remote data backup, and tracking via web and then create a market place of suppliers(and ergo make some money!) Google have done it on picasa with photo printing, now just do it on Mobiles with security. The proliferation of mobile phones, tablets, computers, mp3 players, tvs (and now cars!) will create a superb income source for handset providers.Check out Wave Secure for the best Android security software to date.
8. Mobile payments- I can do just about everything with my mobile phone, why not take google checkout to the next level and remove the need for my debit card.
9. Google apps for Android- Ok we can do just about everything with our android phone, why not extend the google apps experience to mobile too? Offline caching would be a great addition along with sync support.
10. Spellchecker- We don’t always get it right when we type, why not add an extra spellcheck before sending a message to help prevent embarrassing miss steaks.
That’s the list for now- there are a few more like that are often discussed however in reality Android is already an amazing experience- I hope that Android devs keep pushing the envelope and focus on empowering the user to take control of their data and profit and enjoy the experience.
Did I miss anything??? Please let me know!
(Credit for photo Frozen Yoghurt Mix)
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One option that is overlooked on Android that would greatly help with wider adoption would be proper parental controls. Openness is great, but I don’t want the only smartphone option for my kids to be the iPhone. That’s not how I want to raise them. As of now, there are no parental controls at all on Android, and as far as I can tell, there’s nothing in the Market either.
That’s a really great point Michael. As Android is becoming increasingly mass market, the need for this will increase. There is definitely a need for some sort of parental controls in the market( or even a kid friendly standalone marketplace?) as some of the Apps coming through are increasingly “brave” with their content
Built-in Bluetooth file/contact transfer. I know there are apps to do it, but I can’t believe such a basic thing isn’t built in.
Also a big “hear hear” for the tasks, security and battery management points above.
You have missed the MOST important requirement. Ability to install apps directly to SD card and launch from SD card without installing it back to the Phone. I have 516 mb on my Desire which is already full and I have not even installed 30 Apps!!
Hi. Thanks for comment. I didn’t actually miss it off the list as its a confirmed feature. So it will definately be in. Wow 30 apps is a lot. Which ones are they?
Gmail should not be an os feature. It’s a stand alone app. No reason to have an upgraded version of android os, you just need to update the app itself. Also froyo should start the process of decoupling the os. Spell check is ridiculous. I’m guessing you ran out if enough fairs you wanted to add and just threw in spell check just to pad your list.
As for added features I would say don’t worry about it. Google is already good at what they do. They will figure it out.
Hi Amit.
Decoupling apps from android is already confirmed hence it not being included in the list.
I put my thoughts on gmail as so much of the phone is email orientated (at least in my case) hence it would be great to have an updated gmail experience. Spellcheck for me and other keyboard users a massive wishlist point. Business users rely on having a good representation hence the importance of good spelling.
The reason I mentioned the decoupling issue is because there will be less of a need to have heavy os revisions/updates. One you decouple something like gmail you can constantly update the app without having to write an entire os revision. i wasn’t recommending that you should have added it to your list.
I understand the reasons people rely on spell check. Didn’t need it drawn out for me. The reason why I consider spell check inefficient is because I’m a swype user. a swype user can not type/swype a misspelled word onto the screen.
Most of swype’s inefficiency deals with incorrect word selection which does occur every now and then. When discussing with friends and posting to blogs its an inconvenience to have a confusing sentence. Mostly friends are cool and still understand the main context of the message. If they are completely confused at worst I’d get a ‘?’ as a response.
I think if you are publishing something professionally then you should take the time to give a proofread to your content. Also messaging from the phone should be short simple and to the point.
I just finished typing out this post on my Incredible and will now go back to proofread before hitting click. Writing this post from the phone was not fun but did it anyways to show that spell check is irrelevant if you have the right tools and are willing to proofread your more intelligent content/material.
Your list is missing
Built-in voip support
Skype
Apps on SD card
Syncing call history to calendar
I use remote wipe and sim checker pro to address my security issues.
Be nice if there were rolled into phone
Couldn’t agree more. Great list!
Nice list.
I hope 2.2 fixes the inability to playback 8Khz/mono WAVE audio files. I can’t playback voice messages created on my corporate voice mail server.
I hope 2.2 enables Cisco IPSEC VPN
I hope 2.2 enables multiple Google Talk accounts.
Thanks, PLA