I agree with what the article says about sharing data between applications, this really is one of the biggest pain points of iOS right now. Fortunately, it looks like Apple will finally address this in the future, iOS 6 already has infrastructure in place to allow for remote view controllers that (in theory) should allow any application to register itself to handle certain data and events. Right now seems to be only used privately, for example to launch the mail application from other applications, but my guess is that iOS 7 will add public API's for other applications to do the same. Whether this means you can change default applications like Maps etc. I don't know, but the way Apple handled the (lack of) public-transit directions in Apple Maps suggests they are starting to be more flexible about default application handlers.
That said, I wasn't really impressed by any of the other points the article makes. It starts out by saying 'Android on the Nexus 4 is better in almost every aspect', but besides the sharing thing it doesn't make a case for anything else. Some half-hearted observation that 'sometimes it even appears like rendering is smoother on the Nexus 4' and 'not all Android applications look like crap anymore' and that's about it. Oh and of course you can 'customize everything' and here you have 4 examples of the most ugly homescreens I have ever seen on a mobile phone.
Hardly a clear-cut case of 'better in almost every aspect'. Looks like it's more a matter of preference than an objective evaluation on which of the 2 platforms is 'better'.
Oh and of course you can 'customize everything' and here you have 4 examples of the most ugly homescreens I have ever seen on a mobile phone.
Good grief, you speak of personlisation like it's a bug and not a feature. I personally hate the iOS window-dressing. You have this sleek-looking bit of hardware, but the OS looks plastic and Fisher-Price, with safe and chunky buttons to give to your kid with no sharp edges. The way you speak, it sounds like you would deny me my preference for something different because you think it's ugly. What about those who don't think the default skins look good? Why isn't it a good feature that we can customise the way things look?
I really don't understand the Apple-spawned fanboy cult that considers personalisation to be a bad thing - especially since they once had a successful marketing campaign based around personalising your hardware with the coloured macs.
I haven't read the article but I was an iPhone3 for a year, nexus 1 for a year, nexus s for a year and now iPhone 4S for a year.
Things I still miss:
I still miss that android apps can download in the background so for example when I wake up I the morning any new podcasts I'm subscribed to are already on the phone. Contrast to iOS6 where I have to remember to manually run the app. Which generally means I only run it just as I'm about to get in the car. I then sit in my entry way for 2-6 minutes waiting for my podcast app to download
I miss that apps can register for more events and act on them. For example any app can register to get an event when a new photo is saved. It can then upload, in the background, that photo. That means I can install one Flickr app, one g+ app and one fb app and the photos get uploaded to all 3 services no matter which app I use to take the photo. Contrast to ios6 where either every photo app has to have built in uploading options for every service I could possibly want. Or, I have to manually run the specific app for each service.
I miss auto app updating. I don't have as many apps as most of my friends on my iPhone but it seems like every day or every other day there's a number on the app store bugging me to update stuff. having to manually update is a distraction, chore, and annoyance I don't need.
Of course I miss being able to choose various default apps. I want Camera+ to be my default camera. I want Google maps to be my default maps. I want gmail to be my default mail app. I want a different apps to be my default music player and video player. I want chrome to be my default browser.
I miss being able to customize my desktop and lock screen. Not just adding widgets but changing it to use other apps. See http://slidescreenhome.com as one example.
I miss geeky things like being able to run an ssh tunnel in one app and use that tunnel in another app.
That said I'm still on iPhone. There's still plenty of things I like about iPhone over Android. I don't see myself switching back for at least a few more generations.
Well, there are quite beautiful homescreens and widgets for android. You don't have to use them but i would say that iPhone users are just missing out on something.
Sure, you are used to just take what Apple gives you and praise that but i couldn't.. I want high customizability and i love to change the entire phone setup when i get bored by the current setup.. or try out a new home screen once in a while. It's painless and fun for me to do :)
But surely, what really is missing on iOS is the whole intent/sharing system. It's just painful to try to interact between several apps on my iPad.
Yes, inter-app communication is a major difference for developers. On iOS, apps will say "Supports Twitter and Facebook" and the developers have hand-written the integrations; on Android, the app integrates with whatever the user has installed and the developer does no work at all to integrate with any specific service or app. So it's a win for developers as well as users.
Launching other apps can be done by any app right now, but the app package needs some info saying the app is able to handle a certain data type or open a certain URL protocol.
I am an Objective-C developer and I love the SDKs on the iPhone, but I am just so tired of Apple's bullshit regarding using our devices the way we want to. I'm tired of waiting for them to enable basic features like phone number black/whitelists.
My next device will be a Nexus. Then I can run apps in the background other than music, share data between apps, sideload apps from third parties, run a mobile terminal, run mobile scripting languages, and basically be free to use my hardware as I'd like.
> iOS 6 already has infrastructure in place to allow for remote view controllers that (in theory) should allow any application to register itself to handle certain data and events.
As far as I understand, it doesn't provide for an application "register[ing] itself to handler certain data and events", which would probably be an extension to UIActivityView and UIActivity[0]. Remove View Controllers provide two features of interest, one of which could work with UIActivity for sharing:
* An application or framework providing views to an other one (said view could be invoked by a UIActivity of some sort, so that the Facebook application would provide a "Share on Facebook" remote view and the corresponding activity, a sharing application would invoke the activity view, then display the correct remote view upon selection by the user)
* Isolated cross-process communication between the embedding application and the embedded view, which allows different security settings (and thus things like JIT-ed UIWebView, or more simply a twitter remote viewcontroller being able to use the data the Twitter app has access to without leaking it to third parties)
Interesting. I too am an iPhone lover who recently picked up a Nexus 4 to get into Android development. This is my first experience with Android, so I didn't realize that the Nexus 4 Android experience might be different than your typical Android smartphone.
I was very impressed with the overall experience. If I wasn't so used to iOS, I could easily see myself using Android on a Nexus 4. But in the end, I walked away with the opposite impression; I saw no compelling reason to switch to Android and have decided iOS is still the mobile OS for me. Unlike the author, I do not really consider myself a power user. The customizability of Android is really enticing, but at the end of the day I find myself preferring the design/philosophy of iOS. But it really just comes down to personal preference.
After using an iPhone for so long, I became annoyed at the small design/interface differences present in the Nexus 4 (e.g. no physical home button). At times I found it difficult to use the Nexus 4 because of it's greater width. The iPhone width is optimal for my hand size and pocket size. Also, in my opinion as an app developer, the iOS app ecosystem still seems a lot stronger than Android. Browsing the Play Store was a little boring to me. Yes, most popular apps have both iOS and Android versions, but many developers still target iOS first and Android second. Until there's a reason for that to change I think iOS still has the edge in "killer" apps.
That being said, I agree that there are a lot of nice things in Android that I would love to see implemented in iOS.
Are you kidding me? The iPhone has the optimal width? You sound just like Marco, Gruber, and all those other Apple sycophants who were claiming that the iPhone size was perfect for the hand, until the iPhone 5 came out, of course.
Just like they got their thumbs surgically altered when the 5 came out, no doubt you will be getting all your pockets resized if Apple increases the iPhone width.
Agreed on the size. Nexus 4 is basically a mini-tablet, and looks incredibly retarded when someone holds it up to their ear. Reminds me of people who use their iPad cameras to take photos and videos.
Interesting - I switched from android to the iPhone 5 recently (after having the N1, NS and Galaxy Nexus). I thought this was the first iPhone that finally had the necessary hardware (LTE being required after the galaxy).
The main things I miss are better google voice integration on the nexus phones (the ability to use the web interface for texting is something I can't give up). I also used to not pay for texting this way and could actually afford to have a smart phone because of it since Tmobile has a $30 no contract 100min/unlimited data plan for unsubsidized phones.
I also needed some sort of google talk app which I finally found with the $5 version of the verbs app. A bunch of people I communicate with are on android and use google chat instead of facebook chat or imessage.
The current iPhone does some things much better. The biggest thing is battery life which is at least twice as good as any nexus phone I've used (probably even more). The difference in battery is really incredible. The new native Facebook iOS app is also great to use. The iPhone hardware is also subjectively much nicer, it both looks and feels a lot better to me - makes me wish Google had partnered with Nokia.
Really though they're both pretty equivalent at the point.
Edit: Almost forgot, the critical feature of android was turn by turn navigation which apple finally came out with in iOS6. Now that google's released their maps app as well the core differences that mattered are gone.
Battery life in Android land is a matter of choosing the right handset. I don't believe the iPhone holds a candle to my Note 2 or the RAZR Maxx if you actually use the phone heavily. Plus replaceable/extended batteries are another option.
Do you find you have problems with MMS and Google Voice? Last I checked, it was unsupported and text messages with pictures or video just went to /dev/null without any notifications to either party. That was a no-go for me.
Curious, do you actively use the power control widget? Turning off wi-fi and GPS when you aren't using them can help a lot with battery life.
Also, if you are using CyanogenMod (or many other custom builds) you can change the performance settings on your cpu governer, etc., to improve it further.
& I switched from an iPhone 4S to a Galaxy Nexus & back to an iPhone 5 , couldn't be happier. These posts are pointless. Whatever device works for you. All of these platforms have strengths & weaknesses. You can make equally cogent cases for the upcoming Blackberry 10 or Windows Phone 8. The First iPhone was a significant leap in mobile computing, since then, the way I see it, it's been mostly polish. Google & MSFT caught up to the competition, RIMM retooled. The more competition the merrier.
Google Now is amazing. iOS fluidity still has no equal. Google play automatic app updates are convenient. iOS apps polish is extraordinary. Windows Phone tiles are fantastic. BB contact integration is a thing of beauty...etc.
The Galaxy Nexus is garbage. I went from 4S to Galaxy Nexus too and it infuriated me. The screen was unusable in sunlight, microphone and speaker quality were laughable, battery life is half the 4S, not-very-sensitive touchscreen, etc.
Now on an HTC One X, which I like more than the iPhone. It doesn't have any of the quality issues of the GNexus.
I've been using the iPhone for a while before switching to a Nexus 4, and honestly there is nothing that feels more fluid on iOS than on a Nexus 4 running jelly bean 4.2.1.
They are not pointless. I found it informative. I may pick up an android at some point in the future, and since I'm currently an iphone user, I found this point of view relevant.
Unlike most people commenting here, I got a sub-200$ Android (Huawei G300). I got it a few days ago through Amazon just to try something new, and it's way better than I expected it to be.
I first had an iPhone when it came out, then moved to a BlackBerry (weird, I know), and now I'm considering staying with Android, at least for daily use. I still have to stick to the BlackBerry as it's the only phone on the market that provides international roaming at affordable prices, very good battery life (+replaceable, I have my own arsenal and can go for weeks travelling without charging the phone) and a very good keyboard, which is good when you spend your time writing awkwardly long emails.
Android, since ICS, seems to be mature enough for most users. It's snappy (its multitasking, background apps and toggles mean you can do things faster than in an iPhone), does good resource managing and has a very good integration across the whole system. And, as some people have said, it's no longer ugly!
OT: Speaking of the G300, I'd recommend moving to CyanogenMod9 on the G300 -- I think it's much better than the default ICS it ships with (CM10 and above are still quite shaky, although it's fine for my needs).
I understand if you'd prefer to not to mess with your phone and use the default install, but if you feel like getting your hands dirty g300.modaco.com is the place for alternate ROMS.
Best £70 (PAYG, but I guess there is still some operator subsidy in that price) I spent on a phone.
If a good Android phone comes to market with a keyboard like the Blackberry or Nokia communicators, it will certainly get me to consider switching away from the iPhone.
Been an Android user for a year (Galaxy Tab 8.9) and was going to get an iPhone 5 last Christmas just to try out a different device. I changed my mind and am getting a Nexus 4 instead. I was able to use one of our test iPhones at work for a primary phone and here are just 3 things I don't like about iOS:
1. Toggling settings can be difficult. In Android, you have a pull-up/pull-down menu right from the home screen where you can just turn things on/off, like Bluetooth, sounds, WiFi, etc. In iOS, you go to the Settings app and scroll through the text labels and go through one or two more screens before achieving the same thing. And this, despite Apple's marketed UI simplicity.
2. The thing can't even send files over Bluetooth. How is that not possible in 2013?
3. Boring old homescreen from way back 2007, which displays an amalgamation of all the apps installed on my phone, not the apps I use the most.
Of course, whichever phone you end up buying is nothing more than a personal preference. However, I just think that saying Android is better than iOS has become more of a fact than an opinion these days.
Can only agree with OP. I gave up my iPhone 4 for a Galaxy Nexus this summer and have never looked back.
I think Google can still work on the default look, but I find Android to be very "clean" and quick to work with. Android feels much more like a real operating system. iOS is so restricted and there are many work tasks that I cannot do (e.g. mailing a dropbox file to someone).
Google Now is also amazingly good. And the fact that mail search actually works is a "small" bonus :P
Samsung has also implemented some cool features in the SGS3, like that the screen stays on as long as you look at it. They are just much worse at marketing it. Can you imagine how much Apple would have hyped a similar feature?
I have always wondered about that feature, and always think..
- What if two people are looking at it.
- Does it flick on and off as I look around
- Is it using a huge amount of power when ever the screen is on, not only with powering the screen but with powering the camera.
- Can I still use my screen as a light, or does is power off when I face it away from me? (I have a flash light app but it's quicker some times to just use the screen).
- What if I am holding it sideways and cover the camera with my hand.
- What if I am wearing glasses (something that obstructs my eyes)
- What if I put glasses on while looking at the phone?
- What if it's too dark for the camera
I imagine there are enough facts here that made someone like Apple or Google think it's a bad idea. I expect someone in the Samsung marketing department came up with this idea.
Mailing a Dropbox file directly is only hard on iOS because Dropbox makes it that way. If they offered a "send link" and a "send file" option it would be one step like Android.
Instead I have to kick it to FileExplorer and send it from there. It's not ideal but its also not Apple's fault.
It doesn't mean all apps follow the standard, especially those naievely ported from iOS. Even some Google apps don't always meet expectations. But the convention is mostly there now and just needs more adoption.
The main issue with the back button is that devs love to mess around with how it works by default, usually to satisfy some kind of architecture that doesn't make sense in the first place on an Android device. From what I've seen of people's Android code, a lot of folks don't grok the Activity and Fragments APIs at first and end up making huge mistakes or creating excessive architectures to try and 'solve' the problem. Unfortunately, this is a kind of chicken and egg problem, since a lot of Android apps are done by hobbyists who need time and practice to get up to speed or by commercial companies that don't care for or don't have any idea on how their product should work on Android.
> It doesn't mean all apps follow the standard, especially those naievely ported from iOS.
Agreed. Amusingly, the only apps that I ever complain about (whether for the back button or for general styling and functionality) are the ones that are clearly half-baked ports of iOS apps.
No wonder it looks terrible and doesn't seem to work properly - you're following all the best practices for the wrong operating system!
Apple is increasingly making me look stupid, something I couldn't imagine happening when the iPhone first came out.
Few days ago I saw a friend of mine unlock her phone using facial recognition. I was amazed. She was surprised at my amazement. I feel lots of iPhone users have similar moments when they see their friends with android use "magical" looking features the iPhone is slow to adopt.
My huge problem with iOS (and Apple in general) is the obsession with constantly making you enter passwords. Sometimes it gets so overwhelming that I am convinced the codebase mainly consists of password entering routines interspersed with small bits of other functionality. iOS's inability to share between apps also means usernames and passwords have to be constantly re-entered there too (eg every app that supports Dropbox requires entering a username and password in each app).
This Apple disease spreads elsewhere. I had to enter my username and password on their developer site, and some web developer at Apple had gone to great lengths to prevent you from pasting your password into the password field. (I don't know that password - it is stored in a password management program.)
I can't for the life of me understand why the Apple faithful put up with this nonsense.
I've been using my Nexus 4 for one week now and I obviously love it. I think the feature that impressed me the most is the 'gesture typing', which compensates for my apparent inability to type correctly on a virtual keyboard. And it works surprisingly well in French too.
Backgraound. Happy iPhone user since 2008 (available in our country then). In december they gave me to try out Nexus 4 (unavailable in our country).
As a device Nexus 4 itself is not much better than previous - Galaxy Nexus. Display itself is much worse on Nexus 4 than it was on Galaxy Nexus.
After giving back Nexus 4 I thougth I'd try out living with Galaxy Nexus, which until now was my phone in the drawer. And, actually, though I was an iphonee for 4 years, Galaxy Nexus with Android 4.2.1 is an awesome device.
Back button is something you miss dramatically on iphone after a detour to androidland. Sharing feature, Google Now, tiny things. I do not give a damn about configurability. There is a lot of stuff that I'd welcome into android world from ios, but other than that - I'm satisfied.
Such migration would be unthinkable a year ago. 4.2.x, though not that much different from 4.1.x, is mature.
What are people's experience dealing with the migration of music from iOS to android? As an iOS user with an itch to checkout android again (had one of the first HTC "google phones"), this is one of my bigger concerns.
First things first; stop buying music and movies from a store that is tied to a particular brand device. Never make this mistake again and it won't be an issue in the future. Today Amazon is probably the best choice for cross-platform cloud music, but there are others as well.
It's my opinion that you can't make the assertion that the Nexus 4 is faster than the iPhone 5 by feel. Some people feel like their cars or motorcycles perform better after an oil change and a car wash, but it's psychological. Otherwise, I guess the rest of the article is interesting because it just proves that these "Why I switched" articles are never going to die for whatever reason.
In 2008: "Why I switched from BlackBerry to iPhone"
In 2009: "Why I switched from iPhone to give webOS a shot"
In 2010: "Why I switched to Windows Phone from iOS"
In 2011: "Why I switched to Android from iPhone"
In 2012: "Why I switched from X to X because it doesn't even matter anymore"
I get that it gives perspective on the differences between platforms and devices, but these pieces can only be so narrow because it's only one person's perspective.
I am getting frustrated with all these mobile os posts. Reminds me of the desktop OS wars people took pride in joining.
Everyone's needs are different; some people love customization and hacking their phone. Others get it to just conform to the majority. Some even get it because it's free.
Platforms evolve with different visions. The beauty of the era we are in is the fact that services like Amazon Cloud Player, Dropbox and Spotify let you be on whatever platform you wish without losing your "services".
Am I the only one who doesn't care what OS they use as long as texting/podcasting/web browsing/music is available?
I went the other direction recently, from Galaxy S2 with 4.2.1 Jelly Bean to iPhone 3GS with jailbroken iOS 6.0.1.
The iPhone feels great in my hands because it's so small and the battery seems to be lasting for ages. I don't even feel like it's that old because it still has the latest OS and apps.
I'm enjoying the iPhone for now but I think it's mainly due to getting bored with the Galaxy. The Galaxy is due an upgrade in November and I think at that point I'll get a Nexus.
I still like my iPhone and iPad, but I could see moving to Android in 1-2 generations. Apple's first-party software quality is declining, and not being able to override it is grating and limiting improvements.
The two things which keep me from moving to Android are:
1) My ~$500 or so in purchased applications. Vendors should allow a one-time return of purchased apps on one platform to get them for the other, or just give both iOS and Android licenses for the same price if there's a way to prove the phone belongs to the same human. Admittedly 99% of what I really care about is free or <$100 total (Kindle, 1Password, Facebook, web, email, ssh pretty much cover my use).
2) Lack of hardware platform security features on most Android devices (semi-supported on the S3, apparently, but I'd only ever buy a Nexus device). If Google developed a Nexus 4+, 7+, 10+ with apple or blackberry level hw security, I'd probably switch, particularly if there were a way for an enterprise to essentially replicate the Google Apps management of devices with a simple self-hosted server (i.e. root of trust being enterprise, vs. Google or Apple).
[+] [-] w0utert|13 years ago|reply
That said, I wasn't really impressed by any of the other points the article makes. It starts out by saying 'Android on the Nexus 4 is better in almost every aspect', but besides the sharing thing it doesn't make a case for anything else. Some half-hearted observation that 'sometimes it even appears like rendering is smoother on the Nexus 4' and 'not all Android applications look like crap anymore' and that's about it. Oh and of course you can 'customize everything' and here you have 4 examples of the most ugly homescreens I have ever seen on a mobile phone.
Hardly a clear-cut case of 'better in almost every aspect'. Looks like it's more a matter of preference than an objective evaluation on which of the 2 platforms is 'better'.
[+] [-] vacri|13 years ago|reply
Good grief, you speak of personlisation like it's a bug and not a feature. I personally hate the iOS window-dressing. You have this sleek-looking bit of hardware, but the OS looks plastic and Fisher-Price, with safe and chunky buttons to give to your kid with no sharp edges. The way you speak, it sounds like you would deny me my preference for something different because you think it's ugly. What about those who don't think the default skins look good? Why isn't it a good feature that we can customise the way things look?
I really don't understand the Apple-spawned fanboy cult that considers personalisation to be a bad thing - especially since they once had a successful marketing campaign based around personalising your hardware with the coloured macs.
[+] [-] greggman|13 years ago|reply
Things I still miss:
I still miss that android apps can download in the background so for example when I wake up I the morning any new podcasts I'm subscribed to are already on the phone. Contrast to iOS6 where I have to remember to manually run the app. Which generally means I only run it just as I'm about to get in the car. I then sit in my entry way for 2-6 minutes waiting for my podcast app to download
I miss that apps can register for more events and act on them. For example any app can register to get an event when a new photo is saved. It can then upload, in the background, that photo. That means I can install one Flickr app, one g+ app and one fb app and the photos get uploaded to all 3 services no matter which app I use to take the photo. Contrast to ios6 where either every photo app has to have built in uploading options for every service I could possibly want. Or, I have to manually run the specific app for each service.
I miss auto app updating. I don't have as many apps as most of my friends on my iPhone but it seems like every day or every other day there's a number on the app store bugging me to update stuff. having to manually update is a distraction, chore, and annoyance I don't need.
Of course I miss being able to choose various default apps. I want Camera+ to be my default camera. I want Google maps to be my default maps. I want gmail to be my default mail app. I want a different apps to be my default music player and video player. I want chrome to be my default browser.
I miss being able to customize my desktop and lock screen. Not just adding widgets but changing it to use other apps. See http://slidescreenhome.com as one example.
I miss geeky things like being able to run an ssh tunnel in one app and use that tunnel in another app.
That said I'm still on iPhone. There's still plenty of things I like about iPhone over Android. I don't see myself switching back for at least a few more generations.
[+] [-] buster|13 years ago|reply
But surely, what really is missing on iOS is the whole intent/sharing system. It's just painful to try to interact between several apps on my iPad.
Btw. One of the more beautiful homescreens is: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tsf.shell
Or widgets: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.levelup.be...
Those are things that i simply can't get on iOS and i'm used to it. I want that on my mobile.
[+] [-] mmahemoff|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] pi18n|13 years ago|reply
I am an Objective-C developer and I love the SDKs on the iPhone, but I am just so tired of Apple's bullshit regarding using our devices the way we want to. I'm tired of waiting for them to enable basic features like phone number black/whitelists.
My next device will be a Nexus. Then I can run apps in the background other than music, share data between apps, sideload apps from third parties, run a mobile terminal, run mobile scripting languages, and basically be free to use my hardware as I'd like.
[+] [-] masklinn|13 years ago|reply
For those who want more information on that, http://oleb.net/blog/2012/10/remote-view-controllers-in-ios-... (note: it's a 3-part series).
As far as I understand, it doesn't provide for an application "register[ing] itself to handler certain data and events", which would probably be an extension to UIActivityView and UIActivity[0]. Remove View Controllers provide two features of interest, one of which could work with UIActivity for sharing:
* An application or framework providing views to an other one (said view could be invoked by a UIActivity of some sort, so that the Facebook application would provide a "Share on Facebook" remote view and the corresponding activity, a sharing application would invoke the activity view, then display the correct remote view upon selection by the user)
* Isolated cross-process communication between the embedding application and the embedded view, which allows different security settings (and thus things like JIT-ed UIWebView, or more simply a twitter remote viewcontroller being able to use the data the Twitter app has access to without leaking it to third parties)
[0] http://oleb.net/blog/2012/09/the-state-of-sharing-in-ios-6/
[+] [-] pagliara|13 years ago|reply
I was very impressed with the overall experience. If I wasn't so used to iOS, I could easily see myself using Android on a Nexus 4. But in the end, I walked away with the opposite impression; I saw no compelling reason to switch to Android and have decided iOS is still the mobile OS for me. Unlike the author, I do not really consider myself a power user. The customizability of Android is really enticing, but at the end of the day I find myself preferring the design/philosophy of iOS. But it really just comes down to personal preference.
After using an iPhone for so long, I became annoyed at the small design/interface differences present in the Nexus 4 (e.g. no physical home button). At times I found it difficult to use the Nexus 4 because of it's greater width. The iPhone width is optimal for my hand size and pocket size. Also, in my opinion as an app developer, the iOS app ecosystem still seems a lot stronger than Android. Browsing the Play Store was a little boring to me. Yes, most popular apps have both iOS and Android versions, but many developers still target iOS first and Android second. Until there's a reason for that to change I think iOS still has the edge in "killer" apps.
That being said, I agree that there are a lot of nice things in Android that I would love to see implemented in iOS.
[+] [-] w1ntermute|13 years ago|reply
Just like they got their thumbs surgically altered when the 5 came out, no doubt you will be getting all your pockets resized if Apple increases the iPhone width.
[+] [-] beznogim|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] enraged_camel|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|13 years ago|reply
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[+] [-] gonehome|13 years ago|reply
The main things I miss are better google voice integration on the nexus phones (the ability to use the web interface for texting is something I can't give up). I also used to not pay for texting this way and could actually afford to have a smart phone because of it since Tmobile has a $30 no contract 100min/unlimited data plan for unsubsidized phones.
I also needed some sort of google talk app which I finally found with the $5 version of the verbs app. A bunch of people I communicate with are on android and use google chat instead of facebook chat or imessage.
The current iPhone does some things much better. The biggest thing is battery life which is at least twice as good as any nexus phone I've used (probably even more). The difference in battery is really incredible. The new native Facebook iOS app is also great to use. The iPhone hardware is also subjectively much nicer, it both looks and feels a lot better to me - makes me wish Google had partnered with Nokia.
Really though they're both pretty equivalent at the point.
Edit: Almost forgot, the critical feature of android was turn by turn navigation which apple finally came out with in iOS6. Now that google's released their maps app as well the core differences that mattered are gone.
[+] [-] blinkingled|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] gallamine|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] thefreeman|13 years ago|reply
Also, if you are using CyanogenMod (or many other custom builds) you can change the performance settings on your cpu governer, etc., to improve it further.
[+] [-] sami36|13 years ago|reply
Google Now is amazing. iOS fluidity still has no equal. Google play automatic app updates are convenient. iOS apps polish is extraordinary. Windows Phone tiles are fantastic. BB contact integration is a thing of beauty...etc.
[+] [-] acchow|13 years ago|reply
Now on an HTC One X, which I like more than the iPhone. It doesn't have any of the quality issues of the GNexus.
[+] [-] chunkyslink|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Mahn|13 years ago|reply
I've been using the iPhone for a while before switching to a Nexus 4, and honestly there is nothing that feels more fluid on iOS than on a Nexus 4 running jelly bean 4.2.1.
[+] [-] DigitalJack|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] adrinavarro|13 years ago|reply
I first had an iPhone when it came out, then moved to a BlackBerry (weird, I know), and now I'm considering staying with Android, at least for daily use. I still have to stick to the BlackBerry as it's the only phone on the market that provides international roaming at affordable prices, very good battery life (+replaceable, I have my own arsenal and can go for weeks travelling without charging the phone) and a very good keyboard, which is good when you spend your time writing awkwardly long emails.
Android, since ICS, seems to be mature enough for most users. It's snappy (its multitasking, background apps and toggles mean you can do things faster than in an iPhone), does good resource managing and has a very good integration across the whole system. And, as some people have said, it's no longer ugly!
[+] [-] gman99|13 years ago|reply
I understand if you'd prefer to not to mess with your phone and use the default install, but if you feel like getting your hands dirty g300.modaco.com is the place for alternate ROMS.
Best £70 (PAYG, but I guess there is still some operator subsidy in that price) I spent on a phone.
[+] [-] kokey|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Egregore|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mattquiros|13 years ago|reply
1. Toggling settings can be difficult. In Android, you have a pull-up/pull-down menu right from the home screen where you can just turn things on/off, like Bluetooth, sounds, WiFi, etc. In iOS, you go to the Settings app and scroll through the text labels and go through one or two more screens before achieving the same thing. And this, despite Apple's marketed UI simplicity.
2. The thing can't even send files over Bluetooth. How is that not possible in 2013?
3. Boring old homescreen from way back 2007, which displays an amalgamation of all the apps installed on my phone, not the apps I use the most.
Of course, whichever phone you end up buying is nothing more than a personal preference. However, I just think that saying Android is better than iOS has become more of a fact than an opinion these days.
[+] [-] niklas_a|13 years ago|reply
I think Google can still work on the default look, but I find Android to be very "clean" and quick to work with. Android feels much more like a real operating system. iOS is so restricted and there are many work tasks that I cannot do (e.g. mailing a dropbox file to someone).
Google Now is also amazingly good. And the fact that mail search actually works is a "small" bonus :P
Samsung has also implemented some cool features in the SGS3, like that the screen stays on as long as you look at it. They are just much worse at marketing it. Can you imagine how much Apple would have hyped a similar feature?
[+] [-] robmcm|13 years ago|reply
I imagine there are enough facts here that made someone like Apple or Google think it's a bad idea. I expect someone in the Samsung marketing department came up with this idea.
[+] [-] shinratdr|13 years ago|reply
Instead I have to kick it to FileExplorer and send it from there. It's not ideal but its also not Apple's fault.
[+] [-] taligent|13 years ago|reply
Or am I missing something ?
[+] [-] mmahemoff|13 years ago|reply
Android's back button used to be incredibly inconsistent and hard to predict, but now there's a fairly well established standard for this, which is supported by the API (http://developer.android.com/design/patterns/navigation.html).
There was even a full-length Google IO session on it (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwGHJJYBs0Q).
It doesn't mean all apps follow the standard, especially those naievely ported from iOS. Even some Google apps don't always meet expectations. But the convention is mostly there now and just needs more adoption.
[+] [-] king_jester|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] chimeracoder|13 years ago|reply
Agreed. Amusingly, the only apps that I ever complain about (whether for the back button or for general styling and functionality) are the ones that are clearly half-baked ports of iOS apps.
No wonder it looks terrible and doesn't seem to work properly - you're following all the best practices for the wrong operating system!
[+] [-] zaidf|13 years ago|reply
Few days ago I saw a friend of mine unlock her phone using facial recognition. I was amazed. She was surprised at my amazement. I feel lots of iPhone users have similar moments when they see their friends with android use "magical" looking features the iPhone is slow to adopt.
[+] [-] rogerbinns|13 years ago|reply
This Apple disease spreads elsewhere. I had to enter my username and password on their developer site, and some web developer at Apple had gone to great lengths to prevent you from pasting your password into the password field. (I don't know that password - it is stored in a password management program.)
I can't for the life of me understand why the Apple faithful put up with this nonsense.
[+] [-] el_cuadrado|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] sbuk|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] morphyn|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] lucian1900|13 years ago|reply
Is that something people like so much? Whenever I've used an iOS device, it annoyed me. I much prefer the highlight in Android.
[+] [-] laacz|13 years ago|reply
As a device Nexus 4 itself is not much better than previous - Galaxy Nexus. Display itself is much worse on Nexus 4 than it was on Galaxy Nexus.
After giving back Nexus 4 I thougth I'd try out living with Galaxy Nexus, which until now was my phone in the drawer. And, actually, though I was an iphonee for 4 years, Galaxy Nexus with Android 4.2.1 is an awesome device.
Back button is something you miss dramatically on iphone after a detour to androidland. Sharing feature, Google Now, tiny things. I do not give a damn about configurability. There is a lot of stuff that I'd welcome into android world from ios, but other than that - I'm satisfied.
Such migration would be unthinkable a year ago. 4.2.x, though not that much different from 4.1.x, is mature.
[+] [-] obituary_latte|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] josteink|13 years ago|reply
No cables. No sync. No fucking iTunes. No computer required. Just internet. Done.
If you feel old-fashioned, you can also just copy files to your device as a standard MTP or mass-storage device using USB-cables, or copy to SD-cards.
As long as the music files are properly tagged you should have everything auto-discovered on the device.
[+] [-] sixothree|13 years ago|reply
I am using iSync on the Nexus 4 to sync to my iTunes. But it's not quite the same. And the nexus doesn't have star ratings, just thumbs up or down.
I use star ratings to delete music from library. 1 star = delete.
[+] [-] MatthewPhillips|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Cl4rity|13 years ago|reply
In 2008: "Why I switched from BlackBerry to iPhone" In 2009: "Why I switched from iPhone to give webOS a shot" In 2010: "Why I switched to Windows Phone from iOS" In 2011: "Why I switched to Android from iPhone" In 2012: "Why I switched from X to X because it doesn't even matter anymore"
I get that it gives perspective on the differences between platforms and devices, but these pieces can only be so narrow because it's only one person's perspective.
[+] [-] stonekeeper09|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] finspin|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] sourc3|13 years ago|reply
Everyone's needs are different; some people love customization and hacking their phone. Others get it to just conform to the majority. Some even get it because it's free.
Platforms evolve with different visions. The beauty of the era we are in is the fact that services like Amazon Cloud Player, Dropbox and Spotify let you be on whatever platform you wish without losing your "services".
Am I the only one who doesn't care what OS they use as long as texting/podcasting/web browsing/music is available?
[+] [-] jamesjguthrie|13 years ago|reply
The iPhone feels great in my hands because it's so small and the battery seems to be lasting for ages. I don't even feel like it's that old because it still has the latest OS and apps.
I'm enjoying the iPhone for now but I think it's mainly due to getting bored with the Galaxy. The Galaxy is due an upgrade in November and I think at that point I'll get a Nexus.
[+] [-] rdl|13 years ago|reply
The two things which keep me from moving to Android are: 1) My ~$500 or so in purchased applications. Vendors should allow a one-time return of purchased apps on one platform to get them for the other, or just give both iOS and Android licenses for the same price if there's a way to prove the phone belongs to the same human. Admittedly 99% of what I really care about is free or <$100 total (Kindle, 1Password, Facebook, web, email, ssh pretty much cover my use).
2) Lack of hardware platform security features on most Android devices (semi-supported on the S3, apparently, but I'd only ever buy a Nexus device). If Google developed a Nexus 4+, 7+, 10+ with apple or blackberry level hw security, I'd probably switch, particularly if there were a way for an enterprise to essentially replicate the Google Apps management of devices with a simple self-hosted server (i.e. root of trust being enterprise, vs. Google or Apple).