Got an Android tablet and it’s a F@CKing NIGHTMARE

KF6GPE · 2023-06-05T02:58:32.858Z

I have had mixed results with my Samsung Fold (the one that came out last year, is that the 4?) and my Galaxy Tab S8. ZenBeats runs well, (although I don’t like it) and I’m setting up Koala to trigger samples for a jam session tomorrow (nothing performative). Those seem to work well. I’ve tried other apps and not been pleased. I bought Cubasis when it was on sale once, and to be honest I don’t think I’ve done anything with it besides play whatever sample it came with. But it seemed OK.

Google put a great deal of effort a few years ago in working on the audio issues; I was at Google at the the time (but in a different team; I just know one of the guys who worked on it). Unfortunately, a lot of the manufacturers didn’t pick up the changes — it was an optional part of Android. I think Samsung may have on just some of their products. So the whole audio pipeline is still really hit-or-miss.

ViolentMeals · 2023-06-05T05:35:01.080Z

williohm:

Google Play Store is treating me like a 12yr old girl who wants to join the Freemasons.

that is pretty funny…

williohm · 2023-06-21T19:08:45.870Z

I have since returned that Samsung tablet and shall never betray my Apple overlords ever again. I got a great deal on an iPad from a website called Unclaimed Baggage. Much recommended for lightly used electronics.

In hindsight I truly cannot even justify or explain my idiotic decision to try to switch to Android OS. If you or someone you know are having these idiotic thoughts, please seek help immediately. All hail Apple, our only real choice.

thermionic · 2023-06-21T19:41:47.298Z

williohm:

All hail Apple, our only real choice.

Haaahhaaah. It’s like, I don’t necessarily want to be in Apple’s ecosystem, but when everyone’s shitting the bed on utterly worthless bells and whistles to differentiate themselves, I end up back in their embrace.

alexwasashrimp · 2023-06-21T20:00:49.073Z

And that’s why I’ve always been a proponent of an iPad combined with an Android phone, best from both worlds. There’s no real competition to iPads, especially when it comes to music.

bodymechanics · 2023-06-21T20:08:19.637Z

I work on PC’s all day for work.
It’s infuriating how broken they feel vs apple.
Just installing a simple Bluetooth keyboard can become a massive headache of things not working as they should.
Terrible documentation as well.

williohm · 2023-06-22T02:13:55.623Z

david_hays:

really i am just waiting for the Polyend mini to be on the market

I owned a polyend tracker for a while and it was sort of fun but I eventually sold it because of its many shortcomings and frustrations. Actually, it functioned about as well as a shitty Samsung tablet. (Elektron would be Apple in this scenario.) And although it is a tracker like SunVox you won’t be able to build your own complex synths and effects and arrangements. You just get 8 mono tracks and a feeble amount of sample memory and a useless granular synth and even more useless “wavetable” synth which you have to manually interpolate the waves and constantly battle with the gain stages and overloading the terrible filter. Atleast that’s how I remember it.

KF6GPE · 2023-06-22T02:26:27.734Z

I’ve got the Tracker, and will agree that It has limitations compared with Sunvox, but I love the Tracker anyway.

If you can figure out Sunvox, it’s awesome. Unfortunately, after installing it and trying four or five times and then deleting it, I realize that I have about half the IQ required. It’s amazing, though, and incredible that it still runs on ARM-based Windows CE devices. It’s clearly a labor of love, and I’m glad it’s around.

williohm · 2023-06-22T08:34:11.296Z

KF6GPE:

realize that I have about half the IQ required

It can be very overwhelming at first to grasp all the functions of the modules in SunVox, but just in case you were unaware, there is a manual on the developer’s website and the SunVox forum is very active, and it’s filled to the brim with amazing meta modules of instruments and effects and utilities designed by other people (who actually are geniuses), the depth of some of these modules is astounding. Not to mention Kiarchive xi format tracker instrument collection : A. Vaneev : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
for a huge download of xi tracker sample instruments.

CitizenJ · 2023-06-22T09:16:11.252Z

Obligatory…

alechko · 2023-06-22T10:41:43.218Z

tbf apple maps has improved a lot lately

CitizenJ · 2023-06-22T12:27:45.749Z

Agreed. As brilliant as the scene is, that specific gag hasn’t aged particularly well.

FreddyUnreal · 2023-06-22T20:49:02.515Z

I haven’t read much of the thread, but as an android user I had the same reaction trying to help my parents download and find a video my wife had sent them on their Iphones. The lack of a “home” button really irked me, and I ended up finding out that you have to download “files” as an app in order to access the files they’ve downloaded onto their phones. I was baffled to be honest. I searched for “files” or “downloads” on the phone only to be led to the app store. I thought it was something I was doing wrong, but no, downloading the “files” app allowed me to view the recently downloaded files with ease. I was incredulous that this wasn’t already accessible from the outset. I am admiteddly not very techy, but I think it should be easy to find some files you’ve downloaded and get to the home screen quickly without pressing back for everything. old man yelling at cloud

Mister_Wood · 2023-06-22T21:09:00.854Z

The Files app is native and installed on every iOS from factory, they probably just deleted it.

thermionic · 2023-06-22T23:49:12.840Z

Files comes stock so it was removed on whatever phone (verified it was possible to do so.)

The reason why “downloads” aren’t exactly the same may be a legit gripe still coming from Android since Apple is really more about iCloud than local storage (let alone removeable!)

I get that complaint, but with a few gripes I don’t have to do nearly as much tech support as I did with Android, let alone shitty hardware and unnecessarily shitty UI forced by most manufacturers just so that it doesn’t look anything like the just-fine generic Android.

(As someone who spent way too many decades supporting consumer hardware from phone jockey to product engineer, god I hate bells and whistles.)

muied_lumens · 2023-06-23T08:50:54.119Z

For what it’s worth (not much?) I’ve had no issues with Android on midrange Samsung phone and tablet. Running Sunvox and Koala.

Bought a Tascam field recorder and plugged it in to see if it would act as an audio interface; it just worked out of the box. Stereo input to both Sunvox and Koala! So I’m happy with Android.

Even tried updating to the latest OS to see if I could break it… still works.

FreddyUnreal · 2023-06-23T12:37:23.477Z

My parents are in their 70s. I don’t think they would know how to delete a “files” folder let alone on both their devices.

alechko · 2023-06-23T13:26:55.664Z

maybe they deleted it by mistake but Files most definitely comes with every ios device by default

en.wikipedia.org

Pre-installed iOS apps | Files

Files is a file management app for devices that run iOS 11 and later. Files allows users to browse local files stored within apps, as well as files stored in cloud storage services, including iCloud, Dropbox, Google Drive, and OneDrive. It allows for the saving, opening and organization of files, including placement into structured folders and sub-folders. Further organization can be done through the use of color-coded or custom-named tags, and a persistent search bar allows for finding files

Mister_Wood · 2023-06-23T13:35:41.212Z

It’s pretty easy to delete an app by mistake on iOS, as you just hold an app til it jiggles and tap the X in the corner. I deal with this regularly in work, happens with older people all the time.

FreddyUnreal · 2023-06-23T15:12:35.037Z

Thanks for the clarification. I still find the UI clunky tbh, but it’s an opinion of course. I am a former MacBook user and it’s not that I don’t have gripes with android or windows devices, but the iPhone in particular I find more annoying than convenient whenever I use one.