Thanks for #1. That may be a tipping point in iPhone’s favor. I’ll look into it.
I’m surprised by #2. A lack of vetting process by the Droid I thought allowed for a huge number of apps to be available on that OS.
The Facebook app gets updated whenever there’s an update and it always seems to get slower and crappier with each update.
Don’t forget, Apple had a HUGE head start. Anyone out there making apps was making it for iOS first, slowly adapting it to Android later. Apple hit 500,000 apps last October. As of December, Android claimed 380,000+ apps. I don’t think it’s a major win for Apple at this point - going forward any major app that comes out will be out for both platforms.
BUT, I think one area in which Apple wins is the confusion surrounding firmware upgrades on Android. Because there are so many options out there, it’s difficult to market which app is available for which phones (since some apps require certain OS versions to be downloaded). Not an issue for those who pay attention to such things, and it’s something that pops up only extremely rarely. But I do remember a great deal of frustration and angst among the android community when Froyo and Gingerbread came out and weren’t being distributed to some of the more major phones in a logical or timely manner.
Honestly, Enderw24, if everything else you use is Apple, I think an Android phone will cause you much frustration. For me, part of the whole point of dumping my iPhone was to also be able to uninstall iTunes (oh, what a happy day that was) because it was the only Apple thing I had, but if everything else you’re used to is Apple based, you really should go ahead with the phone, too. It will play nicer, and you already have the proprietary crap that goes along with it.
If the Android phones hadn’t gotten to the point they are now, exceeding specs over iPhone in many areas, I’d have gone with the 4s, too, when I upgraded in October.
I’m a user of both platforms: I own an iPhone 4S (and have owned the 3Gs and 4 before that), and I own an Android Tablet (running CyanogenMod, so close to a pure Android experience).
After extensive use with both operating systems here are my observations:
Android:
- Much more customizable, obviously…can get a layout of home screens however you like.
- App selection is good.
- Widgets can be nice, though I am not a huge fan of having a lot of widgets, as I feel it makes the device ugly and actually harder to use, but a few are quite nice.
- I love live wallpapers…especially high color ones…makes the device feel really cool.
- The interface is a bit clunky. Yes, you can do everything you need to, but since developers don’t really have a consistent UI that they work with, it can be a pain sometimes dealing with general apps. I also generally dislike how the ‘back’ button needs to be used for so many things where a tap outside the focus area should work. (if you follow me).
- Battery life is generally abysmal. With so many programs running in the background, and no really easy way to kill them (I have a good task killer, but many services just restart right after you kill them), there is a noticeable drain.
- The Android Market is weak compared to the iOS App Store. While the big players are all there, and there are outstanding Android apps out there, many with functionality you can’t have on iOS, there is also a LOT of crap. A lot. And you have to wade through it to get to the decent apps. And you have to be very wary of app permissions when installing, as it’s pretty easy for malware and keyloggers and such to be installed if you don’t pay attention to permissions.
- I know ICS fixes some of the interface clunkiness, so I’m excited to try that out, and hopefully I’ll have an ICS ROM to load in the next few months.
- Even with stock Android and high profile apps, there are a bit too many force closes for my taste.
iPhone / iOS
- Consistent UI throughout the devices and apps. Makes it very easy to use most any app without poking around too much (though developers can get creative here as well, it’s not as fragmented as Android is in this department)
- Generally faster feel to the OS. Things are more fluid, open more quickly, and multitasking works better in my opinion for a mobile device (only keeping threads running that need to be kept running rather than keeping the whole program running in the background even when it doesn’t need to be).
- Much less tweaking is needed for really solid device operation. Crashes are much less frequent, and reboots are almost never needed (I think my last reboot on my iPhone was sometime in November).
- Overall better app selection, though the big developers make the same apps on both platforms
- I much prefer Apple’s more restrictive App Store to the Market. While some apps and features aren’t available as a result (many of which are due to legal issues), I don’t have to worry about apps destroying my phone or installing keyloggers. Also the overall app quality is significantly higher, especially for the smaller developers. There is not nearly as much garbage to sift through.
- Performance and battery life are much better optimized for the device.
- Software updates happen across all devices at the same time (provided it’s not ancient and is capable of running the newest software). You aren’t left with an old OS on a one year old phone while the manufacturer’s all race to add their bloatware to it before releasing to your specific phone, often months after the OS is released.
- Siri is pretty awesome.
My Conclusion
Both platforms can basically do the same things, and so it really comes down to personal preference. On my phone, I don’t think I could ever really switch to Android, unless the Market gets cleaned up and the experience gets a bit smoother. Mainly this is because the customization and widget stuff holds less interest for me on a phone…there’s limited screen real estate, and on my phone I want quick access to everything, not a bunch of widgets clogging the screen. On iOS I feel that the overall fluidity, speed and ease of use for most everything is most important for me in a phone. I also quite like the iPhone’s screen size. I would be fine with going to a 4" screen, but I honestly don’t ever want any larger. If I were to go to any Android phone, it’d be the Galaxy Nexus, but the thing is so darn huge I don’t think I could do it (I have stubby thumbs and can’t operate a 4.3"+ screen with one hand…which sucks).
On a tablet, I’d honestly prefer Android as the OS because the customization I think is a lot nicer to have on the larger screen. I love the customizations and live wallpapers and pretty widgets on the big screen. However, with the current App state specifically for tablets, I’d trade mine for an iPad if I could, just because the iPad apps are a lot better (and more plentiful) than the Android tablet specific apps, though that may change. I didn’t bring it up as a con for Android since you’re concerned about phones, and so it’s pretty irrelevant.
All else aside, you can VERY easily set up your iPhone calendar to sync to a google calendar. We bought iPod Touches about 18 months ago and set them up to do that - in fact it was a tremendous help, as we set them up to sync to the same Google calendar (so I put in an appointment, and it “automagically” showed up on Typo Knig’s iPod).
So when I later got a Droid, I just pointed it to that calender (as well as my own personal one), and all the events appeared on my phone. And when Typo Knig got an iPhone, ditto.
So all in all, the calendar shouldn’t be a deciding factor at all.
Or, if you don’t have an AppleTV, you get an HDMI interface cable for the iPhone. It’s not “out of the box” but then, how many people want to play HDMI video out of an iPhone? Not too many; but those who want to, can, for the price of a cable.
[QUOTE=Munch]
Don’t forget, Apple had a HUGE head start. Anyone out there making apps was making it for iOS first, slowly adapting it to Android later. Apple hit 500,000 apps last October. As of December, Android claimed 380,000+ apps. I don’t think it’s a major win for Apple at this point - going forward any major app that comes out will be out for both platforms.
[/QUOTE]
iPhone developers tend to make a lot more money than Android developers, because (a) iPhone got there first, and (b) statistically, iPhone users are more likely to pay for an app. As a result, while major apps usually appear for both platforms, a significant number are iPhone-only or iPhone-first.
FTR:
I’ll never understand the ridiculous Android v iPhone sniping. Both offer amazing devices beyond our wildest dreams from a decade ago. Pick one, use one, don’t call one crap and belittle those who use it.
It’s like people squabbling over whether their Hotpoint washing machine is better than a Bosch. They’re just tools to do a job.
STOP USING A TASK KILLER!!!
That has to be the biggest myth foisted upon Android users by sales reps (it seems to be mostly carrier sales rep telling everyone the first thing they need to do is install a task killer.)
Android is better at managing programs and memory than you. Trust me, it is…a lot better. Phenomenally better.
In fact, I’d wager that the reason you have a poor battery life is because of the task killer. You said yourself some programs/apps/services start right up again after you “kill” them…it takes more CPU cycles and RAM to restart a program than to just keep it way in the background, where all it does is wait for a push notification for a new email/text/whatever. And more CPU and RAM means more battery.
On Windows, do you go into the task manager and kill all those random processes you see in the background? Of course not! Because you know that, even if you don’t see an active program running for it, it’s (probably) doing important things in the background. And if you stop it, it will just restart, or at worse, cause a system crash. In fact, you mention getting a lot of force closes, and I wouldn’t be surprised if that was caused by the task killer, too.
So, in summary:
NEVER USE A TASK KILLER FOR ANDROID.
I hvae an iPhone 4s…I had the use of a Galaxy S for about a week to handle my curiosity. There are little, single-percent, differences between the devices, but for the most part, they are 100% functionally complete.
There is nearly nothing you can do with one that you can’t convince to cajole the other to do.
It’s the Camaro vs. Mustang for the 21st century.
Or at all.
My HTC Desire runs Android 2.2. It is all HTC has offered me and all other attempts (both unofficially official, like HTC’s own “try at your own risk” 2.3, and completely unofficially) seem to cut down a LOT of 2.3, never mind 3.0 or 4.0.
The Phone was bought in April 2010, which is pretty much when it was released in Europe, so it is almost two years old and yet it can only officially run a version of the OS that came out in May 2010 (although there have been some bug fixes since then). 2.3 (December 2010), 3.0 (February 2011) and 4.0 (October 2011) are no-nos. So, basically, I got eight months until versions of Android were being released that my “new” phone could not run.
In contrast, the iPhone 3GS, released June 2009, runs the latest version of iOS, 5.0.1 (December 2011).
This is a major factor in why I will never again buy an Android device.
There’s a great big, precipitous, shelf of support on Android. If you buy a Samsung Galaxy product, the chances are good you’ll stay up to date, as that’s what current version Android is developed on (one of the big reasons a Cow-orker held his breath until the Galaxy Nexus came out.) I expect the Motorola purchase by Google will mean those phones will have good support going forward.
But after you get past the one or two stellar, gotta-have, phones…how on earth do you make a decision when there are, literally, two-dozen also-rans? Is the Bufu Sensate better than the Xygel HJ4760? Or the Nikkelson SportsTurbo R?
Will they SELL enough Nikkelson SportsTurbo R’s to produce replacement batteries 8 months from now?
Where can I find a waterproof case for my Nikkelson SportsTurbo R?
This has been my experience with Android phone owners. There are the people who buy the ones that are on the high end of the scale, and talk a lot about how Android is pretty much equivalent to iPhone. (Because in their case, it is.)
Then there are people like my mom, who buy an El Cheap phone running Android, and wonder why their phone looks and runs like complete shit compared to an iPhone. I mean, I have an iPhone and I’ve still tried to explain to my mom that her issue isn’t with Android, it’s with her cheap shitty handset. But she still now thinks, “Androids are shitty phones.” The market fragmentation is good because it means that there are lots of choices and lots of price points for consumers. But the negative side of that is that you can wind up with a completely shit product running the Android platform, and that colors some consumers’ perception of the operating system as a whole.
In my opinion, anyway.
I think for the vast majority of users, either platform works fine.
I myself prefer Android, but since I’ve never user an iPhone I cannot say what the advantages/disadvantages are between the two, beyond what I’ve read.
I’m a software professional, so I like to do things like gain root access to the phone, and maybe slap a new ROM onto it. That means Android. But what percentage of users are like me? 5%? 1%?
Like anything else, you usually break it down by how much you’re willing to pay, a given brand, size, etc. Prior to people convincing themselves that one size fit all, they got along fine with the various choices which were available to them. In fact, they still get along fine with the various choices (again, highlighted by Androids market share).
I like the fact that after I was disappointed with Moto’s products, I was able to switch to another brand, while still being able to use the same OS. I like that I had options for a larger display or a certain thinness. For those who don’t like too many choices, there is an alternative approach which works, too, but it’s just an alternative (in itself a choice, but not better or worse).
Personally, I’d much rather have too many choices, as opposed to too few.
Yep, and that’s really the bottom line. At the end of the day, both Android and iOS are doing things right, proving that there is more than one effective method for building and proliferating an OS. In a perfect world, Blackberry would get its act together and we’d see Windows mobile gain some traction, as I believe the more competition, the better. The best thing that happened to iOS, is that Android grew in popularity, and the same is true in the reverse-- Android is a better OS, thanks to iOS.
Unfortunately, enough that some carriers see it necessary to encourage the locking of bootloaders. :mad:
I recently switched from a 3Gs to a Samsung Galaxy SII. I really like the Galaxy. Loved the iPhone but it was past it.
I’m not saying I’d never go back, but on my Galaxy a) the screen is huge (regretting not holding out for the Galaxy Note, which is nearly a pad, though you’d look a bit of a plum making a call on it), b) it’s way more flexible in its unbroken state than an unbroken iPhone, c) it is equivalent in performance to a 4s but way cheaper, d) I can expand the memory, and e) I can carry spare batteries with me and switch them around.
The disappointing thing is that OS upgrades aren’t as slick, or even guaranteed, though the latest buzz is that it will get 4.0 this month.
Yeah, that sucks a LOT. But I think that’s easing up a bit.
You think that, but really probably not so much.
I was a huge fan/supporter of Android. I had what I think was the first Android phone and two others after it, including the Evo (which is a beast of a phone - in a good way).
I rooted my 2nd one and ran a custom ROM, so I feel that I have a good grasp of the Android platform.
I got an iPad a couple years ago as a gift and since then I was impressed by the OS and kind of started wanting an iPhone. I finally got one a few months ago and do not regret the switch.
While there are definitely some things that I wish the iPhone has that the stock Android (EVO) does, for the most part, I don’t think I’ll ever go back - the iPhone is just too solid a product, and like a poster mentioned above - I won’t ever have to play the “am I going to get the latest OS upgrade” game. Which for me makes all the difference.