5 Things Google Still Needs to Fix in Android

Any day now, the Evo 4G is going to get an over-the-air update to Android 2.2 (aka Froyo), complete with marquee features such as the ability to play Flash video and share contact details over Bluetooth. But after spending every day with a Motorola Droid, now running Android 2.1, we can think of plenty of smaller things we wish Google would work on instead.

High on our list, for instance: Make spellcheck work consistently across the platform and sync with business-grade Google Apps calendars. If Flash support won’t even allow you to watch Hulu videos on your phone (Hulu cruelly blocks mobile access), what else can Google do to make Android a more polished, user-friendly platform?

Push for More Consistency

It’s the small things that add up. For us, one of the most annoying things is the fact that if you make a spelling mistake while searching for an app in Android Market, Android doesn’t correct you.

For Andy Castonguay, Director of Mobile Device Research for the Yankee Group, it’s the fact that on certain devices, the accelerometer only works if you tilt the phone to the left. What makes it worse, he says, is that the Android experience is even inconsistent across manufacturers, as each phone maker layers their own interface on top (think HTC Sense and Motorola’s Motoblur) as a way of making their Android phones stand out. And these extra layers, of course, make it especially hard to update a phone to the latest version of Android, creating an even larger disparity between what Android phones can and can’t do.

“The great thing for the manufacturers is they can create that brand affinity with the consumer on the back of Android, instead of having Android be front and center,” Castonguay said. “That results in idiosyncracies and discrepancies.”

Google can’t wean itself off these skins entirely, lest it alienate the very OEMs that have made Android so ubiquitous. But Google can, and will have to, work harder to develop more and better widgets, so that it’s not up to the likes of HTC and Motorola to decide what information you can see at glance, and what you can’t.

“HTC and Motorola have adapted to reflect consumer needs in a very positive way. Android as a platform will need to adopt some of those characteristics,” said Castonguay.

Read More http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/08/5-android-fixes/#ixzz0vx9wvXLz