I had anticipated starting an Android project at work in the next few days (those plans have since changed). With that in mind, the fact that AT&T just dropped their first Android device, and the fact that I was eligible for an upgrade, I decided to buy the Motorola Backflip. After a week of using it, I have now returned it and switched back to my iPhone 3G.
Why Android?
Truth be told, I’ve been interested in the Android platform for awhile. I just needed some half-assed reason to buy an Android device. A potential project did the trick. Ashley wanted to upgrade her phone anyway (her original iPhone was dying a slow and painful death) and while we were at the AT&T store, I played with the Motorola Backflip for a while. I thought the hardware was kind of different. I thought the OS was very different. So after a day of playing Hamlet, I decided to buy it, with the understanding that I could take it back within the first 30 days for a refund (with a restocking fee).
A Week is Enough
What did I think about the Motorola Backflip and it’s version of Android? Obviously I didn’t think enough of it to keep it as my device. The Backflip runs Android 1.5 (and for those of you keeping count out there, you’ll know that Android is currently at 2.1, 2.0 on most devices), which isn’t a bad thing, just an outdated thing. Why was the Backflip running 1.5? Because Motorola wanted to skin the OS with their Motorola Blur theme, which is focused around social networking. It supposedly integrates you into your Twitter, Facebook, and Gmail accounts (amongst other services that I do not use). This is a cool concept, except for the fact that it puts all of this on the home screen which if you lend your phone to someone, they would have access to. On top of that, the interface for connecting with your social life is a little clunky and not exactly smooth.
Once you get past that, you realize that you’re still on Android. I think Android is a great OS with a lot of potential, but it definitely does not have the application magic that the iPhone has. By that, I mean there aren’t as many developers on the Android platform which ultimately leads to less choice, less quality, etc. Because the iPhone is so popular to develop for, there is a lot of evolution on that platform, which is constantly making software better and better. Android just doesn’t have that right now. The most exciting game I found for Android was a chess game that was pretty basic in interface (so much so that I could maybe knock it out in a week or two of development).
Not only does the device use an older version of Android, it also carries sub-par hardware. The processor is slower than other Motorola handsets, which causes the interface to feel sluggish and unresponsive at times. I accidentally called people when I was just trying to select a contact. I would touch the contact’s name and wait. Nothing would happen, so I would touch it again. All of a sudden, the call screen is up and I am calling that person. This was incredibly frustrating.
Another part that surprised me about the device is how frustrating the physical keyboard was to use. I was so slow using the physical keyboard. I tried to use it, but I found myself using the onscreen keyboard more often (which was better, but a little frustrating because the Backflip’s screen is smaller than the iPhone’s).
When using the touchscreen, I found this experience lacking as well. Surfing the web with the built-in browser was painful. So much so, I wanted to snap the damn screen every time I tried to read through my Google Reader on the device. You can’t pinch to zoom on the Backflip (as of now with it running 1.5) and the zoom button doesn’t always show up (and I’m not sure of how to make it show up consistently). I also accidentally clicked the wrong thing more times than I actually clicked the thing I wanted to click. I would put my finger over the top of the link I wanted to click. All of a sudden, the link a few rows down would flash and a new window would be opening up. It was infuriating to have to go back and close the erroneous window and try my luck again.
I know many people complain about how the iPhone doesn’t allow you to run multiple applications at the same time. They love that the Android lets you run applications in the background. I understand the allure of that, but in practice, it’s actually a negative in my book. I found that the Backflip’s battery drained incredibly fast because of it. You don’t think about it, but you open an application and you go back to the home screen. It’s now running in the background (or at least most of the applications function in this manner). Without downloading a task manager application, you would have no idea the application you thought you closed out of is now running in the background. On top of that, you now have another application running all the time in the background (your task manager) just to see all the applications you have running in the background.
Switching Back
All of these little frustrations eventually totaled more than I wanted to deal with. Today I switched back to my iPhone and it feels good to be back. I kind of felt that going to the Backflip was a downgrade in many ways. I think that the Android platform will become more interesting, but for now, I’ll stick with my bread and butter device.
