Why Android 4.0 on Samsung Galaxy Nexus is a shit…

...and why do I hate Google?

Samsung Galaxy Nexus phone is my first mobile device equipped with Android 4.0. I have never used that system before, so here is a bunch of my first-minute discovers and opinions. Keep in mind, that I'm using a "pure", Google-like Android 4.0. If you're using some modded version of Android or a vendor-specific version, provided by other producer than Samsung, you may not find some of these problems on your phone.

Money is everything!

1. Since we're talking about both Android 4.0 and Samsung Galaxy Nexus phone, then the biggest fuckup of all and the biggest surprise to every new user is... lack of SD-card support. Why? Quite simple. Money, is the answer. If on-board 13 GB of memory will become full you will be forced to purchase new phone, paying Google fucks 500 USD instead of 10 USD for a new, bigger SD card.

2. Going the same way, don't you ever, never let your Galaxy Nexus fall or get cracked screen in any other way. If you do, you probably will be more than surprised to find out that outer glass is combined with LCD screen and there is no other way to replace scratchy glass, except to replace entire LCD screen. Again, instead of paying 10 or 20 bucks for glass replacement, you're forced to either pay 150 USD for entire new LCD or... get a new phone.

3. Samsung Galaxy Nexus is the last phone sold by Google to have user-replaceable battery. All other products, using exactly the same logic as in two points above, have solid batter. If it goes dead or become to old to keep phone charged long enough, you will be forced to purchase a brand new phone for 500 USD instead of getting a new battery for 15 USD. This "idea" works fine in Apple products, where battery runs nearly as brand new after three years of constant device using. In case of Google products, fitted with low quality batteries, after year or two of using battery replacement is unavoidable (or else you charge your phone twice a day).

Making the phone lasting without any investments for no more than two years and being forced to actually replace it into a new phone after that period, is the main reason for which I hate Google and for which their money-oriented suckers should be fucked with a hot rod all the year round.

The biggest fuckups

1. You can set your Android to install applications updates only, when WiFi connection is turned on, to save your GPRS data plan. Which is very cool. Can someone explain me, why all this does not affects system itself? If an update to core system is available, Android will not ask you, if you want to download it! It will simply download that update, without asking you anything. And probably waste all your data plan for current month, as system update is counted in hundreds of megabytes, if not gigabytes. So, there I was, in the middle of a month, with over 200 MB of GPRS data plan free, which in most cases is enough for rest half of the month. Then I wake up next morning only to find out two messages from my carrier, that my whole data plan was wasted and that account has switched to a very limited Internet speed. All because idiotic morons, called Android creators, thought that system does not need to wait for confirmation of download huge system update.

2. If you have your SIM card secured with PIN then you must wait all the time your phone boots and enter PIN when PIN-pad appears. You can't let your phone dim-off and lock, because PIN-pad will be gone, when you un-dim phone back. And there will be no way to bring it back or enter PIN, except to restart the phone. Simply like that. If you don't enter PIN at once, as PIN-pad appears, your ass-sucked. No way to re-enter it and to use phone, Internet, calls, SMSes, etc.

Most idiotic things

A lot of things has changed since 2.3.x version and a lot of things lost possibility to change default behavior. This way Google again proves that has deeply in its ass, what you think or want. They know better, what you need! You're just a user, so you should shut the fuck up and enjoy. My general opinion about Android 4.0 is that it is better, bit faster, more beautiful, but you have even less to say how you would like to use your device or system on-board of it.

OK, let's deal with those fuckups in points:

1. They have completely removed context menu button. And replaced it with some idiotic shit, useless, pain in the ass, called Recent applications button. After using phone for five days I haven't reached any moment, when I would find using this button usable, required or reasonable. Of course, no matter, what they say or think at Google, context menu simply is required. But, because they removed default button for opening it, you'll find it in Android 4.0... anywhere and everywhere. Some apps add it in the title bar, some adds it near bottom of screen and some adds it next to Recent apps button. This is something I would call "the purity of Google stupidity". They decided to remove button that was (in 2.3.x) always in the same place and replaced it with a button that can appear in at least three different places or not appear at all. Why? To make thing better, ya know...

2. Another example is a locker screen. When unlocking your phone, you're forced to feel vibration. And, of course, there is no way to change it. You can disable vibrations all over your system, if you hate it (like me), but you have to deal with it every time you unlock phone. They "forgot" to add proper option to disable it, because they don't care you may not like this.

3. Still in the same place. Why the hell phone starts in locked mode? Why do I have to unlock it to enter PIN number? Can someone explain me this madness?

4. They have decided, that long-pressing any edit field and selecting Input method option (or using context menu) is too complicated. And proposed "easier" way. In Android 4.0, if you want to change keyboard settings or input method, you have to watch for incredibly small keyboard icon on status bar, slide bar down and select proper option from there.

Google knows better

1. New feature of Android 4.0 are "Quick answers". Pre-defined SMS messages, that you can send automatically, when rejecting incoming phone call. The only problem is that Google decided, that four is a magic number here and again there is no way, you can change it. Four and shut up!

2. You can sync your contacts with your Google Account and you can group your accounts in handy groups. The only problem is, that groups in your Google Account does not match groups in your phone, because Android 4.0 comes with a number of useless, pre-defined groups (like "Workers", "Family" etc.), which neither does not sync to your account nor can be removed.

3. They decided, that in Contacts you will always have all contacts (with or without phone number entered) and in Call Log you'll always have only contacts with phone. No way to change this, because option to display only contacts with phone number has been removed from this version of Android.

4. They have removed "Favorites" from Call Log, because they know better, that you don't need it there. It is now only available in "Contacts". And algorithm used to select contacts to "most often used" is a pure magic to me. Two of three contacts, I had displayed there for first days of using my Nexus, I haven't contacted for months, either by call or e-mail.

5. They have introduced huge contact photos, displayed when calling someone. They're enormous! Taking at least half of HD screen. In the same time, they did not updated GMail to support larger photos. They're still 96x96 pixels. So, they look awfully pixelized. No way to change it through GMail (convenient way). You have to do this via phone, which means either copying photos of your family and friends to phone (or even shooting them with camera) and manually adding them to your contacts.

6. Group view in "Contacts" (when you enter any group) always displays only six contacts per whole screen (HD, so -- again awfully pixelized!). No way to change it, as there is only one view available: the one that Uncle Google said is right.

7. When you open Call Log, you have three tabs: keypad, real call log and all contacts + most popular ones. It is so annoying that this app doesn't remember on which tab you have left it and always opens on keypad. But, Google knows better, that you don't need to have call log open where you left it and you love to see it always open on keypad!

8. In Android 2.3.x and on many devices you had very useful button for changing auto screen flip (along with others -- enable WiFi, GPS, Bluetooth etc.) integrated into status area. If you wanted to enable WiFi, change auto-flip or do anything similar, all you had to do, was to slide down status area and tap proper icon. In Android 4.0 Google decided, that such useful feature is stupid. These buttons are no longer embed into status area. You have to waste a huge area of space on on of your screens to place a huge widget for the same purpose. And even if you do this, you'll find out, that it does not include auto-flip button, but only WiFi, GPS, Bluetooth, etc. So, to summarize, Google decided for you, that (a) don't need switch buttons embed into status bar, (b) you don't need a button on widget to change auto-flib behavior and (c) it is so fun to force users to use widget only and always think, on which screen it is placed and break their fingers to slide to that screen, only to enable WiFi, right!

9. To call a number from Call Log you have to tap twice. First, an item in Call log, to see call details and then on number to call it. To call a number from Contacts you have to type... once. First tap already starts a call. This, of course, should be exactly opposite -- you use Call Log for quick calls and Contacts to see contact details. But Google hires morons, who thinks, that it should be implemented as it is now.

10. You can't delete more than one message out of a thread at once. No such mode or way. You can either delete whole thread or each of messages included in it, one-by-one. Google fucks decided, that you don't need such feature.

11. On Samsung Nexus with Android 4.0 your SMS message can only split into three standard messages (it can only have around 450 characters). Whenever you cross that limit, phone will always convert it to MMS message. Google Morons Team decided, that you won't be in need of sending longer SMS messages and you will always want to be extra charged for sending MMS, if you have more to say in one message. This is, of course, Google stupidity, as most mobile carriers out there allows a long message to span over even 10-15 single SMS messages.

Errors and strange things

1. They said, that Android 4.0 is ready out-of-the box to play any HD movie. That's a marketing bullshit! By default, without installing any third-party appication, you have to use Gallery to play wideos. It failed on playing any HD movie in MP4 and MKV formats, that I had. Installing MX Player was the only solution. Where's that out-of-the-box support for playing HD videos, you nasty Google fucks, huh?

2. Out of all my mobile devices with all Android version on board, Galaxy Nexus with Android 4.0 offers the weakest, the poorest WiFi support I have ever seen so far. It is perfectly normal to have "poor" signal strength or even have connection closed, while being two meters from access point with only one wall in between. I don't know, if this is a hardware (Nexus has cheap, weak antennae) or software problem, but reality is that 500 USD worth Samsung Galaxy Nexus offers WiFi support, not only much worse than on Samsung Galaxy Tab and Android 2.3.x, but even worse than on 150-200 USD cheap Chinese mobile craps.

3. Searching contacts in Android 4.0's Call Log is a real nightmare! It can't search numbers! Can you imagine that? You know a phone number, but don't remember, who it belongs to and you can't find that person by searching with their phone number.

4. When you find some contact in Contacts and tap it to call it, search box is... getting empty. Suppose, situation, where you search for a person with a long name. You carefully enter each letter, find that person and... tap the wrong number. Call is immediately started (see above) so you have to quickly end it. Then you go to Contacts and... must enter that long name again, because your previous entry was removed. Madness!

5. Consider following situation. You open SMS application and start writing a message. In middle of it you press Back to go back to home screen. A draft is saved. You go back to SMS Messanger, and you see that draft. You continue to edit it and finally send it to given recipient. After message is sent, you press Back to go to home screen again and... you land in a previous messenger state, with just sent message wandering around again as a draft. What the fuck?

6. The same stupid problem (of saving "stages" of current application and reverting them) comes around Google Play. Suppose you open that application and go to My apps. You see, that everything is up-to-date there so you go back to home screen. After a certain of time your phone notices you, that there are new updates to your apps. You tap that notification item and you're brought to My apps section of Google Play, which is... not refreshed and still remains in "old" state of having nothing to install. You have to go "somewhere else" and back to My apps to have that section finally refreshed and be able to install all updates.

7. If you send a SMS message to someone and would like to send exactly the same to another person, then you hit the wall of strange bug in SMS application. If you long-press just sent message and select Copy from context menu, phone's clipboard will be populated with contents not of this (pressed) message, but with previous one in current thread.

8. A very common problem of many Android-based phones: You don't see how many characters are left in current SMS message, until you reach end of it. You'll be warned only if you'll be reaching maximum length of particular message. In most mods you see all the time, how many characters you have left and on how many SMSes your message will span.

Summary

Both Samsung Galaxy Nexus is generally a great phone and Android 4.0 is generally great mobile operating system. The only problem with both of them is that, Google Fucks forgot, that this is my phone and my system on board of it. So, I'm the only person to decide, how things works, acts or looks. But, this kind of thinking is a history or even a myth right now. Android 4.0 is a first, out of long fuckup saga, that takes as much control over your own device out of your hands.

Google Fucks thinks, that entire worlds is as stupid as they're and that need to use mobile devices with everything pre-set and with as little options to change that state, as possible. Unfortunately, nerds like me, who want to be able to control everything on my own device, is a group of people, that shrinks from month to month. The majority of the worlds gets more and more stupid and thus decision to make the phone as less operable as possible are somehow correct.

Everyone wants to make as much money as possible, because money is power. But, there are certain borders, that most people and managers does not cross. Samsung and Google managers and engine's has passed that borders far to far. For making Galaxy Nexus phone without SD card extension slot, with LCD-and-glass combined viewport (and soon -- with not user-replaceable battery), both Samsung and Google fucks deserved to be honored with The Fuckup of the Year 2012!

The Android Fuckup Saga consist of following articles:

• Why Android 4.0 on Samsung Galaxy Nexus is a shit…,
• Android 4.1 on Google Nexus is also a shit,
• Android 4.2. Next child in fuckup-saga!,
• KitKat Fuck — The Fuckup of the Year 2014,
• Android and a shit called MTP.

Happy reading!