Android

I'm ambivalent to most of the UI changes in the Android 12 OS. The only thing I really don't like in the Android 12 UI changes is the quick toggle settings. There used to be 6 where there now are 4, yet it takes more space now.

And the internet toggle is a great example of terrible design: You swipe down, click the button on the top of the screen (with a misleading arrow on it that does nothing), then after a whole second on good hardware (SD695) a menu shows up at the bottom of the screen to disable WiFi and data, but the toggles randomly change position as WiFi networks are found. After to hit the toggle, you have to click out of the menu again. 2 extra clicks and all in totally different parts of the screen.

I have a suspicion this was designed in order to keep you connected to the internet all the time.

Surely Google did user testing… didn’t they?

They do extensive testing, but only on clowns.

Still bewilders me Google got rid of the 2 button navigation style. They hit the nail on the head with that one, it was a perfect balance of convenience and speed, and they went and gutted it for a half-baked ripoff of iOS' gesture system. Cannot explain how upset I am over that.

I love the new Android 12/13 UI. Feels playful and fun. Colorful with excellent animations.

personally i quite like it, but the quick settings menu is the one thing I don't quite like. with the Material You redesign, one handed use is improved as the app starts with more elements closer to your actual hand.

AOSP 12+ is amazing once you whip it into behaving. I only use it with custom ROMs, LineageOS or crDroid if available to be specific with all sorts of UI mods to make it usable. I replace the unified Internet toggle with WiFi and Mobile toggles, use AOSP Mods to make quick settings have 3 toggles per row rather than 2, enable pure black mode and use third party widgets. Gboard and Google Calculator with network connection disabled. I also heavily prefer the previous Roboto font rather than the new sugary Google one. The less Pixel my phone is, the better.

The end result is a nice user experience with the benefits of the color engine.

I'm thoroughly unhappy with Android and Google in general. I've been an Android user since v1.5 on the Motorola Droid.

I know it's a big jump and that Apple is far from perfect, however since the security on iphones is often better than Android phones, the updates are far more regular, and the general experience is superior, I'll be switching once my OnePlus 8T dies. My wife has always had an iphone since I've known her, and I'm often envious of the cool and free things her phone can do. Apple also isn't an advertisement company with interests that conflict with your privacy.

I'm a longtime Linux user, but Android is NOT what I wanted from a phone running on the Linux kernel and hasn't been for years.

I like the changes they did to make more apps flexible for foldables and desktop, and the animation and color engine updates.

It really annoys me what they did to the quick settings though. 4/8 toggles a page is not remotely enough.

As a Samsung user since OneUI 2, I quite dig Android 12+ looks. It helps with bigger screens. But the quick settings toggles are quite a waste of space that big, I agree. When using some ROMs you can reduce the toggles size, and it gets real better.