What I Hate -- Buttons!

W

worldtraveler1

New member
No. I am not creating a thread to rant about buttons or debate the pros/cons of touchscreen devices, slide-out QWERTY keyboards, etc.

This thread is a rant about unstandardized buttons on Android devices!

There is absolutely no standard... AT ALL. Every device manufacturer creates their own guidelines and sometimes even breaks those guidelines for different devices. I am sure we have all noticed this and have been slightly annoyed.

I should be able to use my N1 just like a Droid X (or any Android device the same as any other device). All of the standard navigation buttons [Menu, Home, Back, Search] should be included in a standard order on every Android device.

I think Google has attempted to set a standard on the Nexus One with the following button order: Back, Menu, Home, Search

I feel that this should be standard and the order is natural and makes sense. The original Moto Droid also followed this standard, but now the Droid X and Droid 2 do not.



Does anyone else feel this way about the "standard" navigation buttons? I just wish all of the devices would follow the same practices so it is easy to switch devices.
 
I rarely use buttons. It is a touch screen phone...

With the Droid on so many carriers, being made by so many companies, there is no way to establish a standard at this point.

The fact the phones operate on an Android OS is the standard. You can't tell Motorola to make phones like HTC just because they share a common OS.

For something to be standard on that scale would have to equal one thing...It makes a crap ton of money. But since Droid is all it takes to make a few bucks manufacturers just slap together a phone and sell it as a Droid and we eat it up.

If you notice now, the software is starting to beat the hardware. So what do manufacturers do? Make better hardware (Samsung). It is the fundamentals of computing.

Because phones are personal devices that people are very attached to, it is nice that manufacturers make things different to accommodate different marketing research they have done...ALL TO MAKE MONEY...
 
I am going to have to respectfully disagree with you 100% for many reasons:
Who cares if it is a touch screen device. You still have to use the buttons how the hell else would you back out of an application or bring up the menu. There is a "soft" touch button in the launcher for home and you can use the search widget... but I also use both of those buttons. Tell me, if you are using an application, how you would get to the home screen.The "Droid" (as you put it) is only on Verizon. It is a Verizon marketing campaign, Verizon branding, etc. For everything else people actually use the real name: Android (I am not saying I do not like the Droid line... I really really do)No way to establish a standard just because many manufacturers (members of the OHA) are creating different devices for different carriers?! That is the entire point of having standards or moving towards standards! I am not telling Motorola to do anything. Motorola already used my proposed button layout on the original Droid... but then they decided to change the layout on the Droid 2 and Droid X. Even HTC does not use the same standard (compare N1 to Incredible and EVO). Google's N1 is different than the other HTC made devices. Fundamentals of computing? Thanks for the lesson I am sure "standards" aren't a part of those fundamentals either. I agree with manufacturer freedom but I do not see why having standardized button layout for navigation would be a bad thing.
 
yeah, there should be some continuity. at least within carriers. i had a g1, and now an hd2, so the button layout is exactly the same for me, so it's not biggie. i understand where you're coming from, though. unlike prophet is saying, i think it is possible to have consistency in the button placements. it's sorta like the whole deal with custom ui's--android is trying to decrease the fragmentation.
 
Standardized button layouts are a useless waste of money.

Who needs standards if you can sell without them.

I could wire up a phone, slam an Android OS on it and sell for $200 with a two year agreement. I literally paid $50 to make $150 + 2 year agreement.

If I had standards, I would have to spend the time caring about these devices I throw out on the market.

None of this is about the end user, it is the unit count. They are slamming so many different models out so fast to saturate the market and grab as many shares as possible.

The only ones at these major companies who care about your standards develop apps that allow you to change which each button does and they are already doing it. The CEO's could care less unless it makes them more money. I am sure these CEOS are using Black Berrys and IPhones anyway while their pockets fill up on Android.

Money is more important than your ideals on what technology should do. Do I hate it? of course. Would I want standards if I was a CEO? hell no. But the reality is it most likely will not happen until Android has leveled off and has the market cornered.

Until then, Get CM6 and customize your buttons.
 
I still strongly disagree about your stance on standards. Just because it does not directly make money does not mean standardizing buttons would not be beneficial. If that was the logic everyone in the world used then there would be no innovation

At any rate, I am not trying to tie standards to innovation... but your philosophy on not creating something because it does not directly make money is ridiculous.

Standards are very important for development and technology. Period.
 
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