The Mess That Is Android: A Google-Powered Object Lesson
, April 09, 2012 Google's Android is a great OS, but it has significant problems that must be addressed before it becomes irrelevant. Here are 10 of them.
Keep those users on their toes. Randomly move UI components around, end users like that a lot. The upper image is Google's Gmail app in Portrait mode (I edited out the middle to shorten the image). Notice the menu that runs along the bottom? Turn the phone sideways (lower image) and the menu moves to the header bar.
The menu placement isn't consistent even among Google's own apps. On Play Store and Google Docs, the menu is at the top while on Contacts and Voice, the menu is at the bottom in portrait and the top in landscape, like Gmail. On other apps, the menu moves around as well. I am constantly looking for the menu! Gmail takes menu's ridiculousness to new levels with a menu for the app and a menu for each email. Ugh.
