Surface Duo Discussion Thread

I've had the update for a week or so on my Note 10. I like the improvements.

 

I think it's a very positive sign, not just for the duo, but for android in general that MS has been fairly rapidly iterating their core android apps (and not just bug fixes). The office apps are still not 100% at parity with the IOS versions, but they are closer than they have ever been.

PS: MS told our lead android engineer that they overhauled memory management with this release, and "it will perform notably better for those that push their phones hard"

 

Well, if you speak to any of these folks, please ask them to test Edge on an e-ink device. Several single-tap functions don't work. Perhaps the e-ink refresh rate is to blame.

Worst offender: if a website asks for location permission, the accept and deny buttons don't work with touch, meaning I either connect a keyboard, or navigate away from the page by hitting back. Given how small the market share is for internet capable e-ink Android devices, I fear we're in for a long wait.

 

@JoeS I'd be happy too. I'm sure they will ask which device specifically? And I suspect you are right about refresh rate as typically it's in the 10 to 20 hz range for the e ink displays we've fiddled with

 

Awesome, thanks. This is for Edge Android on a Boox Note Air with Google Play activated. I described the problems on the MS Tech community pages in this thread. You may recognize the avatar. You may also note that in the four days since that posts there have been 60 views, zero likes, and zero responses. Makes sense.. And yet, it would be great if they can address it!

 

@JoeS So the initial answer I got from our contact was that it's a bug in Webkit. No precise ETA as to when a fix is coming ,but it's a known issue.

I suspect it's not the highest priority though given the paucity of e-ink tablets so I wouldn't expect it soon.

 

Android Office Apps still have a long way to go to compare to the IOS apps and an even greater gulf to get anywhere near Windows performance. Outlook particualrly sucks and is most in need of improvement.

 

@Bronsky - I'd say it is a neck and neck race between Outlook and OneNote as to which sucks worse on Android!

 

SDuo forced me to accept that OneNote on Android is, at best, a quick and dirty jot platform to be handled again on a full PC later. Using some templates has helped as those are largely checkboxes or pointers.

 

Finally:

Surface Duo begins receiving its first firmware update for 2021 - Neowin

(Courtesy of Neowin site)