Stop making me mad at you, Google

Google is a company that sets standards in technology and innovation in general, there’s no denying on that. From being the leading search engine, to self-driving cars, Google has taken the lead and has managed to create an identity with which many people feel identified. I am one of those, but recent events mixed with old ones have made me question what Google is up to, and more importantly though, if everything Google is right for me.

Before I begin to explain, I still love Google and as I said, I will always give it the benefit of the doubt. There are certain services I can’t live without and therefore I won’t be leaving, but there are others that, well…

So what’s this rant about? I can’t write an opinion on every single Google product, specially because I don’t use all of them, so I will focus my attention on mobile, which is mostly what I use.

Android

I have been and still am an Android user since 2012; I have owned Sony, Huawei and Motorola phones running different versions of Google’s OS. The experience has been pretty great, but far from the best, and I would blame this to the fact that they were not Nexus phones. Why should this be the issue? Google’s Android is supposed to be great because different manufactures can fabricate their own phones while they run the “same” OS; it’s open to basically anyone, which should bring a ton of advantages and innovations. And I am not saying this hasn’t been the case in many occasions, but generally things go the opposite way. The biggest mistake I have done was buying a Huawei phone, I had it for two months before I sold it because it didn’t hold true to the experience I was looking for, it was too far from being Android-like (I accept that is fine for many people) and therefore the experience was laggy and too busy.

This brings me to the issue with OS updates, which although has been widely discussed already, keeps being the thing that angers me the most about owning an Android phone that is not a Nexus (I can’t get one, because they are not sold in my country through carriers and importing them is quite expensive). I know about Google Play Services offering new features and trying to keep everyone on the same page even if they don’t get the same OS updates, but it’s not the same as being able to run the latest version of an entire OS as soon as it launches (or if you are lucky enough to even get it). Sure, this is the price to pay for it being open to manufacturers, but that’s what makes me question if the ecosystem is right for me in the first place, because Google can’t even control if its own operating system is being adequately used and updated. So even if the comparison with iOS is unfair because Apple *only* needs to update a few devices since they are the only manufacturers, it is a valid argument for me wanting to look away to an OS in which I will get updates right away and that are mostly optimized to all the devices they reach.

I for sure appreciate how open Android is, it brings a lot of possibilities to the table (like rooting, installing custom ROMs and more), but then again I shouldn’t have to go through all that trouble if I wanted a free lag experience or whatever enhancement I want. Android is supposed to let us be different, and it accomplishes that to some (high) extent, but when I see custom ROMs like Cyanogenmod, it makes me question if Google is doing enough effort to give us right out of the box all of those possibilities and keep us updated like CM does.

Apps

But the rant doesn’t stop there. This is the top of the iceberg, because even though I don’t know if I should blame Google or not, it’s something that Android users face and is the issue with apps. It’s 2016 and although things have improved vastly, there’s still this trend in which developers bring their apps to iOS before Android or even exclusively to Apple’s OS. I have read many things about this, how iOS is an easier ecosystem to write apps for, how the App Store is supposedly a better place to get revenue and more. So although the explanations are there, I don’t think they are a justification for what it represents for Android users.

I can’t tell you how many times I have clicked a news link about a new app on Twitter just to find out in the article that the app is an iOS exclusive or that is only available at first for iPhones but “an Android app is planned for the upcoming months”. Honestly, this is even insulting for me, because I spent almost the same amount of money for my Android phone than what I could have spent for a not-last-generation iPhone that would still run the latest iOS version and therefore give me access to those apps.

This brings me to the point in which not even Google seems to be playing fair with Android. On one side is the fact that they bring apps exclusively or first to iOS (like Gboard — sure, we have Now On Tap, but it’s not the same— or Motion Stills), or even update with new features before they appear on Android (Hangouts), which would be understandable if iPhones were the only phones capable to run them; and on the other side is the fact that its Android apps don’t make sense in many cases.

I will go deeper in the second instance so let’s take messaging as an example: Google has Messenger (intended for SMS and MMS), Hangouts (for instant messaging -SMS was removed- and phone or video calls) and will soon launch Allo (which is like Hangouts less the video calls and with Google Assistant for smarter chats) along with Duo (which is like Google Hangouts less the instant messaging but with improved video calls). That’s 4 apps. 4. And I am not counting the recently launched Spaces app, but I could and should. That gives us 5 apps. So yes, it is cool to have options, but when I look to iOS I see iMessages and FaceTime (which by the way are system apps that also happen to be present in iPads and Macs) working flawlessly, integrating what Google can’t do right in 4 apps. Hangouts seemed to be the answer some time ago, but it got messed up and never actually accomplished to be the iMessages for Android. The problem seems to be that Google tries too hard, or doesn’t, because they keep putting out apps and none of them actually does things right. And the excuse of Google having different divisions working in different projects isn’t fair, it’s still Google and Android, plus there’s not an app that does it all right at least.

Also, let me mention that by the time I am writing this, it’s been more than 2 months since Google announced Allo and Duo (yes, I know they stated that the apps would launch later in the summer), and yet they haven’t been released, so I wonder how indispensable they will be and if they will become the standard. I mean, 2 apps should be enough.

I could also mention Gmail, the stock mail app and Inbox, but at least here Gmail is the one that gathers almost every feature and you can just pick something else, but not because the former doesn’t make the job.

Finally, there’s the fact that Google seems to be making apps exclusively for Nexus phones leaving the rest of Android phones on a side. For example, the Google Camera (which by the way doesn’t integrate Manual Controls even though [at least] Nexus phones have the capability) can’t be downloaded or properly run in phones that are not Nexus. Or the Phone app, which is listed as incompatible with most of the phones.

What does this all mean for me?

I am seriously thinking [again] on moving to iOS and leave Android, at least for a year. I have a MacBook Pro so an iPhone would be an ideal companion as well, taking into account for example the recent iCloud updates. Sure, an iPhone is too expensive and I wouldn’t be able to afford it right away (as I can’t afford a Nexus), but the advantage is that I can get it on contract with a carrier so I can pay it monthly. And yet, I would still use many of the Google apps like Photos, Google Drive, Calendar, Maps, Now, YouTube, Allo and Duo (if they ever launch) and more. Because Google is smart and I have built my life around it and I don’t regret it at all. I just feel like Android is not the ideal place for me, at least not right now.

Always loving you, Google. But get your shit together on Android.