MOTOBLUR Firmware

[Saskadan]

I was considering this new ATRIX phone (when it finally ever comes to Canada...March is the 'teaser' release date), but I have heard some people are on the fence about the Motorola MOTOBLUR software/firmware that their phones come with. Why is this a problem and how does it affect the phone? Positive /negative? In addition, how does this software interact with Android? Will this software significantly slow the phone down and will it suck too much battery life? I am confused with why the Motorola phones need both Android & MOTOBLUR.

Someone please set me straight. Is this phone worth it, or should I perhaps wait (even longer) for something else?

[jaStrom]

Think of Motoblur, HTC Sense, and Samsung's TouchWiz as a physical case or a skin that you can't take off of your phone. It gives the phone a different look and should provide some extra functionality.

In reality, these 'skins' modify the Android code to give you the new look and features. Because these changes are embedded in the Android code, you can't just simply turn them off; they are an actual part of Android. Likewise, you can't use a Motoblur widget on a pure Android phone because pure Android phones (like the Nexus S) don't have the requisite Motoblur code embedded in them. So Motorola phones don't have Motoblur and Android -- they have a Motoblur version of Android.

Here's why some people don't like it.

First of all, many people don't like the look of the skin. Returning to the case metaphor, how would you feel if you had an incredibly ugly case stuck on your phone that you couldn't remove without power tools? You get the idea. In the case of Motoblur, if you don't like the way it looks, you essentially have to hack it off which is quite an arduous task for some users. You could use other things to change the look like LauncherPro or ADW, but they drain battery power quite a bit.

Second, these skins are notorious for slowing down the phone and increasing battery drain. Typically, pure Android phones will perform better than their Motoblur, Sense, or Touchwiz counterparts with the same internal hardware.

Third, these skins don't actually add much additional functionality. Sometimes you get cool widgets, but most of the features are found in stock Android. Sometimes, these skins actually limit the features you want such as tethering. So many people think they're useless. Can you imagine if your ugly fused-on phone case didn't even protect the phone from nicks and scratches?

Fourth, updates, UPDATES, UPDATES!!! When Google releases a new version of Android, you often have to wait for a long time to get it with a 'skinned' device. That's because they have to re-modify the Android code all over again. Sometimes the wait isn't too bad, but quite often users are left behind for a long time.

Here's why the Atrix is an exception to the complaints mentioned above:

Motoblur DOES add a lot of extra functionality in the case of the Atrix. As you know, the Atrix can dock with a laptop or monitor giving you a portable computer operating system. It's still an ugly skin, but you won't find that feature anywhere else right now. My suggestion is that if you want these features then go for the Atrix. But if you just want a really high-powered phone, I would wait for either a pure Android version or a Sense version.

The fact is, you probably don't need all that power in the Atrix if you don't want to use it as a desktop/laptop computer. The Nexus S is just as smooth, if not smoother. Personally, I hate Motoblur and I already have a laptop so I definitely don't need or want the Atrix.

Hope this clarifies things for you.

[biictorr]

Great explanation, jStorm. Said it perfectly. I was wondering something though. Maybe you'll know the answer. If you were to use a different launcher on the Atrix or if the devs could get passed the locked bootloader and flash a custom rom, does MotoBlur get killed, or does it still run in the background? And if it does get killed, would that disable all of the dock functionality?

[jaStrom]

Great explanation, jStorm. Said it perfectly. I was wondering something though. Maybe you'll know the answer. If you were to use a different launcher on the Atrix or if the devs could get passed the locked bootloader and flash a custom rom, does MotoBlur get killed, or does it still run in the background? And if it does get killed, would that disable all of the dock functionality?

If you flashed a custom ROM you'd definitely loose the dock functionality. It's possible someone could cook a ROM with the docking function added in, but something like Cyanogenmod would certainly kill the dock. I suspect Motorola built the dock system deep into the MOTOBLUR skin. The best you could probably hope for would be a modified version of MOTOBLUR.

If on the other hand you used something like LauncherPro, you might still be able to use the dock since installing launchers from the Market doesn't actually disable or replace the MOTOBLUR skin. The key is that LP doesn't modify any code whatsoever. The most it does is change your default launcher preference.

For example, you'll notice that if you have LauncherPro on an HTC device, the dialer remains the same and so does the way in which contacts are displayed. The only thing you don't get to use with LP active are the widgets, HTC LWPs, the notification bar, and the actual launcher itself.

I'm sure as soon as some developers get their hands on it there will be lots of interesting experiments.

[Saskadan]

If you flashed a custom ROM you'd definitely loose the dock functionality. It's possible someone could cook a ROM with the docking function added in, but something like Cyanogenmod would certainly kill the dock. I suspect Motorola built the dock system deep into the MOTOBLUR skin. The best you could probably hope for would be a modified version of MOTOBLUR.

If on the other hand you used something like LauncherPro, you might still be able to use the dock since installing launchers from the Market doesn't actually disable or replace the MOTOBLUR skin. The key is that LP doesn't modify any code whatsoever. The most it does is change your default launcher preference.

For example, you'll notice that if you have LauncherPro on an HTC device, the dialer remains the same and so does the way in which contacts are displayed. The only thing you don't get to use with LP active are the widgets, HTC LWPs, the notification bar, and the actual launcher itself.

I'm sure as soon as some developers get their hands on it there will be lots of interesting experiments.

I agree with you these are fantastic explanations. Although...I am now confused about the "Launchers" and what a launcher actually is? Do all phones have this and do they all need a launcher? Specifically interested in what LauncherPro is and how I would obtain and activate this? Even more confused about widgets....are these like apps? Sorry to all for my ignorance and these elementary questions. I love to read and learn about these things if you don't mind posting explanations.

[jaStrom]

Think of a launcher as the desktop of the phone.

The launcher is where you 'launch' you apps from and where you put your widgets and icons.

Here's an example:
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/9515140/Homescreen.jpg

This is a picture of the LauncherPro launcher. You'll notice there are icons, a widget at the top (it displays the time in text format), and at the bottom there is launcher bar. The launcher bar has been customized to resemble the look of the pure Android launcher from Android 2.3. When you press the grid of squares, you'll be taken to the app drawer where you can access all the apps you don't have on the homescreen above, as shown in the picture below.

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/9515140/AppDrawer.png

The MOTOBLUR launcher looks like this:
http://www.motorola.com/staticfiles/Consumers/Services/MOTOBLUR/US-EN/_ContentGroups/_Promotions/_Images/_StaticFiles/left_thumbnail.jpg
In this case, the app drawer is launched by pressing the icon between the people and phone icons.

The HTC Sense launcher looks like this:
http://images.dailymobile.se/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/htc-sense.jpg
In this case, the app drawer is launched by pressing the triangle inside the circle on the bottom left.

So yes, all Android phones require a launcher since the launcher forms the basis for how users interact with their apps and widgets. The problem people have is that many prefer the pure Android launchers. They don't like having a MOTOBLUR launcher or an HTC Sense launcher. They'd rather have some choice because as you can tell from the pictures, they radically change the look of the software on the phone.

Widgets are sort of like apps. Except instead of having to open the app, the widgets display certain information directly on the screen. The clock from HTC Sense pictured above is an example. So are the contact widgets shown in the MOTOBLUR picture.

EDIT: I forgot to answer one of your questions. You can get launchers from the Android Market on the phone. Then you just switch the default launcher, i.e. the one that activates when you turn on you phone, to the one you've downloaded. MOTOBLUR still remains, but you can't use MOTOBLUR widgets while you using the alternative launcher.

[Saskadan]

Fantastic explanation! Thank you SO much. I'm now up to date on all the tech lingo.

[jaStrom]

No problem! One last correction though: there's no such thing as being up to date on tech lingo! :)