How did I get here... Moving from webOS to Android

I've been thinking for a long time that someone should put together an article on moving from webOS to Android. I've decided that I might as well do it seeing as I'm a former Palm Pre owner who recently made the move to Android (Samsung Epic 4G). I'm hoping to provide some useful information for those webOS fans left to wither on the Sprint vine who need new hardware but are not willing to leave Sprint (you know who you are). I will discuss some of the main issues experienced by webOS users including myself that have migrated to the green robot. Finally I'm hoping I can give you some useful apps to try if you have already made the move or when you do make the move.

Multitasking FTW!
For webOS fans/novices there's simply not a more visually pleasing or easy to grasp experience than multitasking on the webOS platform. The card metaphor for seeing all open apps and being able to swipe between them and swipe up to close them is currently not replicated on any viable platform (sorry Playbook fans). How a user multitasks on Android is easily the biggest paradigm shift for a former webOS user. Android's solution is neither as elegant or intuitive as webOS, as it requires users to press and hold the Home button, and even then they will only see the 6 most recently used applications (currently open or not). Android does somewhat make up for this shortcoming through it's use of onscreen widgets that can be placed on the homescreen for those apps you most use and provide relevant information or quick actions. Understandably this multitasking limitation can be a make or break issue for some individuals and that's OK. Many people though can get used to Android's method of app switching and some will find the other capabilities of Android do far outweigh this problem. There are also some applications out there to help ease the transition such as Wave Launcher (it replicates the wave launcher in webOS) that can show both static and currently running applications from within any app.

Gestures (You know, the finger...)
The gestures area is another core strength of webOS that is not currently matched in either it's depth or breadth in any other mobile platform. The back swipe becomes almost second nature in webOS and having to use a back-button in Android is a difficult change to make at first. I won't belabor this issue however, as all appearances are that HP will be doing away with the gesture area altogether in most newer devices so webOS fans will need to get used to it either way. There are also some gestures/actions that webOS does not typically use that are used quite extensively in Android such as tap and hold. Many hidden options or actions can be accomplished in Android by simply tapping on an item and holding it. What makes this so difficult for not only webOS users but most of those new to Android is that it is not always apparent this is an option. I cannot tell you how many times I have had to experiment within an application by tapping and holding to see if any further actions were available. This ability does become quite handy though for implementing actions without requiring a soft menu button.


Sharing (like your Momma taught you)

Application sharing done right

One of my favorite features of webOS was "cross application launching", the ability to take a piece of data from one application and share it with another, or use that other application to perform some specialized action. This meant developers of say a "note" application could allow users to take snippet's of notes and Tweet them to the world without having to authorize his application with Twitter or use their API. This solution was ingenious in my eyes and I loved it's functionality, however there was an issue with this implementation. Developer's have to provide their information for each application that wants to use another applications services and if say your Twitter application wasn't supported by another developer in his application at that moment you were out of luck. As anyone who follows me on Twitter will attest this is one area where I believe Android has not simply bested it's rival OS's but literally beat the pants off them. Android implements sharing at the OS level and all that is required of developers is to utilize Android's "intents" system to plug in. Sharing within Android doesn't require individual developers to map every other user-desired application into their own code. They simply (that's easy for me to say) build the ability to both share and receive from other applications and Android does the rest. I know that I have simplified this process quite greatly but that is mainly because to me it's like magic and how does one explain magic? All I know is that when I am in my gallery and want to share a photo I get this... beautiful isn't it?

Applications... who needs'em anyway?

I hear the constant refrain from folks on the webOS side, some of whom have made their way onto Android that both webOS and iOS applications are better looking, or at least have a more consistent interface. I can agree with this statement as far as consistency goes but beauty is in the eye of the beholder, I have personally used many webOS applications I could only describe as having a nice personality and I find most iOS apps to be boring and uninspired. I realize that many fans of Apple's design cues would claim I am an idiot and that Apple's has the prettiest applications by far. What can I do? 

Google Maps for Android (Hey, I didn't make the map!)

The key thing I have found in my transition though is that application looks can only get one so far and that for me webOS was missing some very important applications, and their depth in other applications and categories was seriously wanting. Take an application that is shared across many platforms Google Maps, and compare the Android version to it's webOS brother (or redheaded stepchild depending on your perspective). On Android, the application is both beautiful (as much as a map app can be), fast and intuitive, and offers a plethora of useful features. It's webOS counterpart is slow, buggy and hasn't been updated since George Lucas made a decent movie (I kid, sort of...). Now it could be rightfully said that part of the blame lay with Google for not updating the application, but in the end blame doesn't get you from point A to point B. Further I have found single categories of applications on the Android Market that more than triple/quadruple the entire HP webOS app catalog. In the words of President Obama... "Let me be clear" I am not one who believes you must have 100K apps available to be viable, but options need to be there to satisfy end users. Sadly, the only area of the webOS app catalog that could be described as robust is in Twitter applications (I love them but for most you would find a big sigh), of which there are many great choices. My point is that if you are looking for great applications you needn't be turned off by the naysayer's who claim Android apps are ugly, most of them aren't and at least with Android you can choose between them. So for those of you who have made the move or are thinking about making the move let me present just a few(yeah right) apps that I have found make Android downright enjoyable...

Rather than bore my readers (Do I have any readers?) I am going to split this into multiple posts over the next few weeks... continuing tomorrow with Productivity apps on the Android platform. Please feel free to leave me any comments as I would really appreciate the feedback.

To be Continued....