User:JodyBruchonFan/Google software sucks: Difference between revisions
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One would expect Google to be a company of world class developers. While they create good software in some categories, they sometimes don't implement basic features one would expect some other categories of software to have. This page collects various failures and bad decisions by Google's "world class developers". Everyone is welcome to contribute. | One would expect Google to be a company of world class developers. While they create good software in some categories, VP9 and AV1 and Google Earth being examples, they sometimes don't implement basic features one would expect some other categories of software to have. This page collects various failures and bad decisions by Google's "world class developers". Everyone is welcome to contribute. | ||
== Android file manager == | == Android file manager == | ||
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Both "Files by Google" and Android's built-in file manager (DocumentsUI) lack basic features one would expect from a file manager. They lack features that ES File Explorer already had in the early 2010s, in its golden days before becoming adware and when Android was friendly to third-party file managers. | Both "Files by Google" and Android's built-in file manager (DocumentsUI) lack basic features one would expect from a file manager. They lack features that ES File Explorer already had in the early 2010s, in its golden days before becoming adware and when Android was friendly to third-party file managers. | ||
For example, there is no scrollbar. On DocumentsUI, you can not see the total size and recursive file/folder count of one or more selected directories. You can not limit searching to one specific folder but you have to search the entire storage. There are no search filters like date range. The search feature only returns up to 24 results, an arbitrary limit. In list view, the last modified time and number of items within a folder are not shown. The detail view only shows the last modified time in minutes, not seconds, and does not show the exact file size in bytes. You can not jump from a search result to its parent directory. It does not remember your sorting preference. You can not select all items inbetween two items (like shift+click does on desktop and ES File Explorer does with a dedicated button). There is no "open with" feature. There is no address bar that would let you enter a file path. It doesn't even make use of Android's built-in recycle bin feature. Tapping on "More information" removes the selection. Going back to the parent directory will open the top of the list, not the last scroll position. The ZIP file creator does not memorize the date and time of directories, only files. | For example, there is no scrollbar. On DocumentsUI, you can not see the total size and recursive file/folder count of one or more selected directories. You can not limit searching to one specific folder but you have to search the entire storage. There are no search filters like date range. The search feature only returns up to 24 results, an arbitrary limit. In list view, the last modified time and number of items within a folder are not shown. The detail view only shows the last modified time in minutes, not seconds, and does not show the exact file size in bytes. You can not jump from a search result to its parent directory. It does not remember your sorting preference. You can not select all items inbetween two items (like shift+click does on desktop and ES File Explorer does with a dedicated button). | ||
There is no "open with" feature. There is no address bar that would let you enter a file path. It doesn't even make use of Android's built-in recycle bin feature. Tapping on "More information" removes the selection. Going back to the parent directory will open the top of the list, not the last scroll position. The ZIP file creator does not memorize the date and time of directories, only files, and refuses to generate archives from <code>Android/data</code> and <code>Android/obb</code>. And you can't copy or move files <em>to</em> these two directories, only <em>from</em> them. | |||
It doesn't even preserve the date and time attribute of copied files, something Windows had in the 1990s and Windows Mobile 6, released in 2009, had too. | It doesn't even preserve the date and time attribute of copied files, something Windows had in the 1990s and Windows Mobile 6, released in 2009, had too. | ||
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Earlier versions even had a bug where cancelling a file move operation would cause source files to be irrecoverably deleted without having been moved to the destination.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://support.google.com/photos/thread/106201?hl=en |title=Photos disappeared after moving to another device folder - Google Photos Community |author=Gökhun Güneyhan |date=2018-04-24 |access-date=2026-06-08 }} ([https://megalodon.jp/2023-0228-0023-32/https://support.google.com:443/photos/thread/106201?hl=en archive])</ref> | Earlier versions even had a bug where cancelling a file move operation would cause source files to be irrecoverably deleted without having been moved to the destination.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://support.google.com/photos/thread/106201?hl=en |title=Photos disappeared after moving to another device folder - Google Photos Community |author=Gökhun Güneyhan |date=2018-04-24 |access-date=2026-06-08 }} ([https://megalodon.jp/2023-0228-0023-32/https://support.google.com:443/photos/thread/106201?hl=en archive])</ref> | ||
But hey, at least they implemented Google Drive integration. To their credit, they implemented the ability to browse ZIP and even TAR and 7z | But hey, at least they implemented Google Drive integration. To their credit, they implemented the ability to browse and extract selected or all files from ZIP and even TAR and 7z archives, create ZIP files, a built-in EXIF viewer, the ability to open multiple instances, selection by tapping the file icon (faster than holding), a large grid view suitable for image seeking, and the file transfer progress indicator is displayed as a notification, which is better than a pop-up that blocks interacting with the file manager, like in Samsung's file manager. | ||
== Android text editor == | |||
Let's have a look at Android's text editor. Oh wait... '''Android doesn't have one!''' | |||
Since the dawn of personal computers, a text editor was a basic part of the "scope of delivery" of operating systems. Something you'd simply expect to be... <em>there</em>. Even Windows 1.0, even MS-DOS had a pre-installed text file editor. But Android? Nope. | |||
Now, you'd say "can't you get a text editor from the Play Store"? Well, the Play Store is a mine field of adware. Text editors from there are usually filled with advertisements that require <s>piracy</s> payment to remove, or risk breaking with the next Android update because Google makes changes to file access once again that "make life more difficult" for third-party apps because Google considers all third-party apps untrustworthy. | |||
If Google considers third-party apps untrustworthy by default, how come they haven't bothered making something as simple as a text editor for Android? | |||
== Android screenshot blocking == | == Android screenshot blocking == | ||
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For this reason, Google should have provided a built-in option that lets the device owner override screen capture blocks at their own responsibility. An app deciding whether you should be allowed to take screenshots on your device is comparable to a guest in your home telling you how to behave. | For this reason, Google should have provided a built-in option that lets the device owner override screen capture blocks at their own responsibility. An app deciding whether you should be allowed to take screenshots on your device is comparable to a guest in your home telling you how to behave. | ||
== Android power management == | |||
Battery saving is less of a concern while charging, so the user might want to set a longer timeout until the device goes into stand-by mode automatically. Unfortunately, Android has no option to set a different screen timeout based on an external charger being connected. | |||
The closest thing is the "Stay awake" option in the "Developer options", which keeps the screen on indefinitely if a charger is connected, but this might not be what the user wants. The user might opt for 30 seconds while not charging, and 2 minutes while charging. | |||
Windows had such a feature since at least Vista (Control Panel > Power Options > Edit Plan Settings). | |||
As of 2026, all known smartphone vendors have implemented a battery charge limiting option, which reduces battery weardown by limiting charging to 80 or 85 percents, which is made necessary by batteries not being replaceable, at least not without difficulties. Another option that would help extending the battery life expectancy would be limiting '''fast charging''' to 50%, then charging slow and gently to 80%. Fast charging is most urgently needed at low battery percentages, and also generates less heat at lower percentages. | |||
Also, the user should be able to manually pick a charging limit, such as 70% to extend the battery life expectancy even more, or 90% to make more use of the available capacity while still extending the life noticeably compared to a full 100% charge. But given that Google Nexus smartphones were among the '''earliest''' smartphones to have non-replaceable batteries (see Nexus 4, Nexus 5), this is something Google probably won't care about. | |||
Given how much smartphone batteries have grown during the past years, 70% are usually enough to get through the day. Even some entry-level smartphones like the lower Galaxy A series have a solid 5000 mAh. This is not 2017, where Samsung released a flagship phablet with a 3300 mAh embarrassment. | |||
== GBoard (Google Keyboard) == | == GBoard (Google Keyboard) == | ||