The comments below are being said so that a programmer somewhere may hear and improve the phone. Don't get me wrong... I love the Droid. I think it’s one of most impressive phones I have seen. I have never owned an iphone but it is just about as cool. I have owned a blackberry and this wins - for the most part. With that being said I must comment on the
Top 10 Failures of the Droid
(These are in no particular order)
1. Exchange email (Moving items) - I don't understand how this feature was left out. You cannot properly manage your email because there is no option to move a message from one folder to another. I was previously a blackberry user. This is a must fix.
Recommendation: Allow users to move mail between folders for Exchange email.
2. Physical Keyboard - Now I know what you are thinking, "he is going to say the same thing as everyone else". Nope. I actually kinda sorta liked the keyboard. I LIKED it until I put a case on the phone. There is no room no between the top row of the keys and the top portion of the phone that slides out. Utilizing the top row of the physical keyboard can be a little frustrating. I must say though the virtual keyboard isn’t too shabby.
Recommendation: In the next model give more room for the physical keyboard, improve the physical button shape and increase the size of the physical return key.
3. No verify for message functions - This is mostly for exchange users. Already I have prematurely sent and discarded a number of emails when typing with physical keyboard. The Send and Discard button are wayyyyyyyyy to easy to hit. I would have liked the option to have a verification message say "are you sure you want to send/discard?” Now, this message does appear in Gmail when you want to discard an email but not send. There needs to be an option to on to prompt the user for some input prior to any touch command when writing an email.
Recommendation: Add an option let the user decide if there is a verification notice to send/save as draft/discard.
4. Exchange Folder Management - Like most other exchange users I have a lot of folders in exchange. When you go to view your folders there is a huge list that pops up that is a pain to go through. You don't even get the big scroll button option like you do when you view your contacts. It’s just a big ass list. If I send an email I shouldn't have to scroll forever to go find it.
Recommendation: There should be a way go to a window to view "favorite folders".
5. Exchange Email Navigation - When I sent an email or created a draft of an email at 3pm, on my blackberry I could just browse my email at 3pm and find that sent or drafted email. This is nowhere to be found and is frustrating.
Recommendation: Please create a function that replicates the blackberry function to easily view your drafts and sent items.
6. Exchange Search Nonexistent - You can't search through your email if you are on exchange. Not Cool. You can do it through Gmail but not through exchange. This is also a feature commonly used on my blackberry that I found very useful.
Recommendation: Add search to exchange email.
7. Gmail's Reply, Reply to, Forward - Here is one area the exchange email wins against Google Gmail. When I open an exchange email I am present with an option to reply, etc right away. In Gmail I have to scroll all the way down to find those buttons. They are not even in the options menu.
Recommendation: Add the reply, etc options to Gmail from the moment you view the email - like they do with exchange email.
8. Password - Right now the password can only be based on a pattern you draw with your finger. For cooperate users this does not fit the bill. There are too many policies being created that require a certain lengthen password. I have to admit it is an amazingly quick way to unlock your phone but there should be other options.
Recommendation: Give the option for the user to input an actual password prior to unlocking their phone.
9. Calendar integration with email - I have not tested this out enough but I was send multiple calendar invites to meetings and such. The Droid would not recognize the attachment and allow me to put the item on my calendar. A little inconvenient.
Recommendation: Allow exchange calendar invites to be posted onto the calendar.
10. Exchange Folder refresh - When you are going through your folders in exchange you see nothing by default. At first one would think that there aren’t any messages in the folder. You must first refresh the folder before the messages come in. I think it is implied that if I open the folder I would like to see what is in.
Recommendation: Just tell the Droid to go fetch the mail from the folder when a folder is accessed.
Again these were mentioned to aid in the development of the software. I love my Droid but there are just some frustrating aspects to the phone. With these improvements the Droid would be sitting alongside the iphone and blackberry in email management and "cool".
Just my 2!
