Since the introduction of Android, there have always been particularly high expectations for Google’s popular operating system to deliver one of the best mobile phone experiences. Google offers an unique open-source platform that allows manufacturers and to a lesser extent, users, to customize their phones’ software. With frequent, and sometimes rather extensive, updates, Google has made sure that Android always continues to stay a modern and convenient platform.
Yet, the same issues have plagued Android since its debut. The words “lag” and “stutters” have consistently ended up in Android smartphone reviews to this day. Earlier, many people blamed the sluggish interface on the hardware optimization with software, an area where some of the hardware vendors that use Android may have been dropping the ball. Another common explanation was a lack of “hardware acceleration” in the Android user interface (UI). In other words, there was not enough GPU contribution to home screen animations.
Android’s 3.0 Honeycomb software was meant to change all of this. However, even with Android’s newest Honeycomb or Nvidia’s first dual-core CPU, called the Tegra 2 SoC, Google was unable to eliminate Android’s sluggishness in the UI. The Honeycomb project turned out to be a huge tech flop for Google, and the project was soon shelved.
Then, a year later, Google again claimed to have finally eliminate Android’s lag with Project Butter, which was delivered in Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. The project focused on users’ complaints with regards to choppy animations and response lag. Google even demonstrated Jelly Bean’s speed by releasing a side-by-side video of Jelly Bean’s performance against Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.
It was true — Android 4.1 was leaps and bounds ahead of its predecessor’s performance. However, compared to the smooth scrolling and animations of iOS, the operating system used by Google’s competitor, Apple, Android could still not compete on the same playing field. Now, even after the release of Android 4.4 KitKat, the notorious stutter between home screens and the scrolling lag in Chrome still persist. It is certainly a bewilderment that Android cannot fix these issues with the full force of Google behind its back, especially when Microsoft’s Windows Phone can.
This brings up another problem for Android: While Android has been updated with useful features every year, its competitors are quickly catching up and even surpassing them in some aspects. Windows Phone 8 epitomizes this tight competition. Though a relatively new platform, it’s catchy UI, fluid animations and increasing number of available apps have been quickly gaining attraction worldwide. Windows Phone’s unique combination with top-notch hardware has made it an appealing option, especially in the lower-end smartphone market.
Even Apple has come back with both arms swinging against critics rebuking its stale platform and lack of productivity. With its iOS7 update, Apple added Control Center and updated its notification center, multitasking, web browser and Siri. Apple has also increased iWork compatibility between iOS and desktop OSX for better productivity — definitely better than the free OpenOffice suite preinstalled on Android KitKat. Even Siri is arguably better than Google Now, which was a major selling point of the KitKat platform. It’s voice search is perhaps still more capable than Siri’s, but Apple’s Siri has more utility due to its support from third-party companies. For example Chevrolet, Ford, Toyota and Honda have introduced Siri compatibility with their future vehicles.
Has Google’s innovation come to a plateau? Certainly, Google must find a way to improve its sloth of an operating system, but otherwise Android is a fully capable mobile platform with many useful functionalities that other platforms do not offer. Google should focus on refining its experience, such as on the widely criticized new Message application on 4.4 KitKat. One area of innovation that Google must emphasize is productivity. As tablets and phones take advantage of laptop-like processors and memory, the software will have to deliver a corresponding experience. The mobile platform that can deliver the most easy-to-use and yet powerful user experience will succeed.
