UI changes up next for Android

I agree with you on that John. When I rooted my Nexus... I almost felt like I was abandoning Google in the process... once I ran sense... I felt like going right back.. and that is exactly what I did... I no longer feel the need to use other custom UI interfaces ... 2.1 was enough and faster than anything else that was out there... now I like my android Vanilla flavored.. cant wait until qtr 4.. Gingerbread will be so good!

I agree with you on that John. When I rooted my Nexus... I almost felt like I was abandoning Google in the process... once I ran sense... I felt like going right back.. and that is exactly what I did... I no longer feel the need to use other custom UI interfaces ... 2.1 was enough and faster than anything else that was out there... now I like my android Vanilla flavored.. cant wait until qtr 4.. Gingerbread will be so good!

Looks like Ill be waiting till q4 to get rid of my g1 then....lol

Not only is the UI heavy, but it also creates severe fragmentation such as that which we are seeing now. It's nice to customize the look of the OS, but handset manufacturers are going so far off-path that it takes up to 6 months for them to upgrade to the latest OS (example: my Motorola CLIQ). Unfortunately, they are now clinging to their fancy UIs so much that I doubt they'd actually ship a phone closer to vanilla, ala Nexus One style.

I picture a unified Android OS coming to less handsets while manufacturers begin to dev their own OS. Namely Moto, HTC, LG, Samsung. That would be exciting

Still got a G1 running 1.6 and love it to bits! It is feeling underpowered now but with 2.2 handsets on the way, hopefully, we will definitely have a tastier vanilla android. Sense is great but definitely heavy. Like these devices needed more software to suck the, most often inadequate, battery juice! Keep it familiar Google and your onto a winner. (^_^)

I love the current UI, so I hope they don't change it much. There are a few things I'd improve, like the stock media player, but overall it's a great user experience. I think they should focus on more connectivity with other devices like they have been lately. And it would be nice to have the official build of Froyo soon!!!!

I was a fan of Sense for a long time, but Froyo changed that for me. I also feel weighed down by it at this point. Besides a few minor hardware issues, I think the Nexus is still one of the top Androids on the market. I am optimistic that Google will keep the UI light and transparent. There is new talent on board though, so who knows?

I would heartily agree with that statement. I just moved from a G1 over to an EVO and I find myself continually frustrated at SenseUI's bottom panel and thoroughly envious of the N1's 2.2 bottom panel, with the phone and browser buttons built onto the sides of the app drawer/cube. I find SenseUI to be obstructive in it's lack of landscape layout and feel it does not add to, but rather retracts from, my experience. After the nigh-infinite customisation of my G1's setup (I have owned a G1 since launch and have used almost every flavour of android on it), I feel constricted by the current dearth in the EVO development community and utterly envious of the N1's wealth of options. Certainly, this will be fixed at some point - probably when HTC releases the source or whatnot, but until then I shall loudly proclaim to Google, "It's not broke! DON'T fix it!"

I'm thrilled that Google is focusing on UI almost exclusively in Gingerbread. I just hope that those little tidbits that we saw at I/O that weren't in Froyo make it in with Gingerbread, such as music streaming and online marketplace. And if the music app was a taste of things to come, I'm definitely looking forward to this UI refresh.

Great point, but I think Google recognizes that a large chunk of users think that customized flavors of Android, like HTC's Sense, feel heavy and obstructive. If they go too far with the candy (which I kind of doubt will happen), I'm sure launcher replacements will resolve the issue with a Froyo-like or otherwise bare-bones UI. Maybe ROM cookers will bring stripped down versions of Android to phones that ship with Gingerbread, like they do now with Sense phones!

I'm somewhat disturbed by the idea of focusing so totally on the "user experience." From what I've seen of Nexus Ones running FroYo, they got it nearly perfect as-is in 2.2. Users, I would argue, love Android for it's blank-slate simplicity, able to be customised in almost every conceivable way to the user's liking through the use of widgets, homescreens and shortcuts. There are still functionality features I would like to see before we tear down the look of Android and start afresh on the UI.