Flicking through lists is awkwardly random, as the scrolling never stops where you expect. Keyboard and scrolling problems, but at least Cut the Rope is thereīizarrely, scrolling and finding new wallpaper on the ZTE Open requires you to learn a new skill. Time to try something else … what about wallpaper? Checking and changing them involves scrolling around the menus, which presents problems of its own. So, this supposedly modern smartphone OS had so far made me manually enter contacts, didn’t let me see all my emails, and the first app I downloaded didn’t work properly. But, because Firefox OS doesn’t support notifications, I had to keep checking the app itself, but that just refused to sync properly, and thus the deleting/reinstalling pattern began. When I installed it, I was in the middle of a conversation and on the look out for replies.
So how was the HTML5 Twitter app? Well, it looks a little like the Android Twitter app, but slower, and more annoying. Not because I gave up, but reinstalling it helped cure the crashes for a while. Twitter was first on the list, and coincidentally, last on the list.
Step 3, install everyday apps: On to the apps.
I’m sure there are good games out there somewhere, but there are many which would be an embarrassment on a “10,000 Great Games” CD for Windows 95. I would have preferred it to be left out until it was ready, so I didn’t waste my time. Annoyingly, there’s the option to add IMAP accounts, but after several failed attempts to set one up, I Googled for advice and found it doesn’t work yet. Step 2, set up email: Email is similarly simple, provided you only have a Gmail, Yahoo or another web-based account. Step 1, add contacts: It’s easy, if they’re stored on your SIM card or in Facebook, but impossible if they’re anywhere else. That means adding contacts, setting up email, and downloading everyday apps. Right, so I have in front of me an unspoiled phone, ready to be manipulated to my liking. Not only is this confusing to newcomers, but it’s also a knock against the supposed convenience of HTML5 apps. However, Mozilla also has an app store called the Firefox Marketplace, so the phone effectively has two app stores. Instead Firefox OS uses the HTML5 open Web standard, where apps as we know them don’t exist, and dynamic platform agnostic programs take their place. Except what you get aren’t really apps because Firefox OS is designed to move away from the app structure with which we’re familiar. This is the heart of Firefox OS – where you search for apps. Swipe to the left and you’ll find icons for all the installed applications swipe to the right and it takes you to the Adaptive Search page.
You have a basic home screen with a few shortcuts to the dialer, email and messages, plus a pull down notification drawer. On the surface, Firefox OS looks and functions a lot like Android. So, what could possibly drive me to kick my smartphone habit? Well, it’s important to say it’s not solely Firefox OS’s fault ZTE’s hardware should also take some of the blame. The operating system is backed by networks such as Telefonica, and manufacturers like ZTE and LG, with the hardware primarily aimed at the low-cost end of the market. The Open is one of the first, widely-ish available smartphones running Mozilla’s new mobile OS, which is optimistically being pushed as an alternative to Android. Designed to take on Androidīefore we get into it, here’s a quick memory refresher on the pair. After a while I tried to avoid using the phone entirely. Unfortunately, instead of weeks filled with psychedelic wonder, the Open was so unpleasant that it forced me to go cold turkey. It was with considerable excitement, then, I unwrapped the ZTE Open a month or so ago, ready to snort some Firefox OS and enjoy the rush of discovering a brand new mobile OS. Ask my significant other, and she’d probably tell you something very different. I wouldn’t say I’m addicted, but then addicts rarely understand they have a problem. I know, shocking for someone who writes about them. Here’s something which shouldn’t come as a surprise, I like playing around with smartphones.