Android v IOS, Discuss

Wetbench4

Which one would you go for?

3DataModem

So we are just listening to a guy give his opinion while he mucks around with a phone?

mad muffin

If not for ios I would go for wp7. Even after all these years Android is still a mess.

I also don't use any of Google's other offerings beside search.

Deep Thought

Discuss...

Yes that is defo a video of a discussion

Zascar

I've used both extensively, I had two iPhones for several years and last year switched to Android. I have a Macbook, and I use an iPad a lot (my flatmates). I find Android miles better. Apple's over simplification drives me nuts. The advantages that Android's more open nature brings is far better. So many simple tasks are frustrating on iOS. If someone asks me which to get - I will usually recommend Apple if they are totally not tech savvy - but if they are a bit techy I'll show them how Android is just better and more fun to play with.

Apple needs to swallow their pride and get with the times - abandon the 'One Button' - go full screen with in screen buttons (3 or 4 of them) and get widgets - I just do not understand why Apple do not have Widgets after so many years of having them on Android. Their development seems to have slowed. They bring out a couple of small features each year and call it 'Revolutionary'. Android has accelerated significantly in the last few years, I have not used ICS 4.0 yet but I hear it is way better again. Oh also iTunes has to be one of the worse pieces of software ever.

Apple has some advantages because of it's simplicity - but not nearly enough to sway me - and a lot of other people also as Android are now out selling iOS phones significantly. Apple are an incredible marketing machine and I have massive respect for what they have achieved, but if they don't seriously step up the game with their development soon they are going to be left quite far behind.



P.S. OP this is the wrong forum for this thread - you are not going to get much support here. I suggest the "Computers and Technology" forum if you want some unbiased ground.

Deep Thought

Actually the screen shots are incorrect...

The new iOS does not have iPod icon, its a Music Icon and Video is separate

IF you are gonna mock it...get it right

Solair

I have to agree the iOS is grossly over simplified in many respects.
I have an iPad and I find it a very frustrating experience.

It won't do many of the things I would expect from a device like this and there are far too many restrictions on its functionality.

I'm very nervous that apple might iPad-ise mac os x desktop too. I'm seeing too many unnecessary simplifications and iPad like tweaks in Lion.

I'd far rather have an iPad that behaved more like a touch screen mac than a giant iPhone !

murpho999

Mmm all I ever hear from Android users is that it's better because of looks and widgets which to me is not what makes an iOS better.

Just because your phone lock screen will tell you the latest weather or stock price doesn't make it better.

Also don't see why Apple have to change look of the screens.

Windows, the most successful PC OS has had many versions in the last 25 years but it's still has icons that you click on which hasn't really changed, but it's under the hood that's really important.

For me iOS is smooth, works, never crashes and has the best apps available compared to any other OS, I also don't have a problem with iTunes either.

Quazzie

I prefer IOS simply because whenever I've used an android device, I've been told to do something you have to install such and such and then do this before doing that, whereas IOs just does it. Fair enough if you really got down into it, the Android could probably do more, but that is achievable if you jailbreak the iPhone. Plus everything the iPhone does is smoother and simpler than Android. The quality of IOS is far superior to Android in every aspect imo.

I go agree though that the next releases of both will be defining as Android do appear to be progressing at a faster pace.

Also I hate to be pedantic but Steve Jobs died in October 2011, so how could he comment on the 2012 layout of IOS?

murpho999

Quazzie wrote: »

I prefer IOS simply because whenever I've used an android device, I've been told to do something you have to install such and such and then do this before doing that, whereas IOs just does it. Fair enough if you really got down into it, the Android could probably do more, but that is achievable if you jailbreak the iPhone. Plus everything the iPhone does is smoother and simpler than Android. The quality of IOS is far superior to Android in every aspect imo.

I go agree though that the next releases of both will be defining as Android do appear to be progressing at a faster pace.

Also I hate to be pedantic but Steve Jobs died in October 2011, so how could he comment on the 2012 layout of IOS?

Through his iGhost app of course (not available on Android!)

biko

Hmm, I don't see your "Android v IOS, Discuss" thread in Android forum OP?
But since you asked and posted in Apple forum, I'd prefer the iphone of course.

1ZRed

Zascar wrote: »

I've used both extensively, I had two iPhones for several years and last year switched to Android. I have a Macbook, and I use an iPad a lot (my flatmates). I find Android miles better. Apple's over simplification drives me nuts. The advantages that Android's more open nature brings is far better. So many simple tasks are frustrating on iOS. If someone asks me which to get - I will usually recommend Apple if they are totally not tech savvy - but if they are a bit techy I'll show them how Android is just better and more fun to play with.

Apple needs to swallow their pride and get with the times - abandon the 'One Button' - go full screen with in screen buttons (3 or 4 of them) and get widgets - I just do not understand why Apple do not have Widgets after so many years of having them on Android. Their development seems to have slowed. They bring out a couple of small features each year and call it 'Revolutionary'. Android has accelerated significantly in the last few years, I have not used ICS 4.0 yet but I hear it is way better again. Oh also iTunes has to be one of the worse pieces of software ever.

Apple has some advantages because of it's simplicity - but not nearly enough to sway me - and a lot of other people also as Android are now out selling iOS phones significantly. Apple are an incredible marketing machine and I have massive respect for what they have achieved, but if they don't seriously step up the game with their development soon they are going to be left quite far behind.



P.S. OP this is the wrong forum for this thread - you are not going to get much support here. I suggest the "Computers and Technology" forum if you want some unbiased ground.

What's so great about widgets? I don't understand. You say android can do more and there's more to play with but you should really give examples.
I switched from android to iPhone 4 in 2010 and it was miles better.
Granted android is better than it was back then but I never see the improvements I only just hear about them when people like you rant against ios.
What I think is the most sorely over looked "feature" is apple's support for all their devices. Day one software updates for everything whereas android is months between.
I like the who one iPhone per year because I don't have to worry about apps/features not working.

siobhanoh

I used to have an Android and a Blackberry. I was always anti-apple until I got an iPad. I wanted to get a top of the range phone but I didn't want to get an iPhone because I had the iPad. I researched for a long time all the options I had. Really I was looking for a phone that did everything an iPhone did but wasn't an iPhone. The Android I had always crashed and while theoretically it did everything an iPhone does it just didn't measure up and I was worried a new Android would also have these problems. I ended up getting an iPhone and I have never been happier with it. I have this phone 4 months now which is a record for me! (The iPhone was my 8th phone in 8 months!)

Personally I think that the Android seems to be changing too fast for me. I know if I had gotten the HTC Sense I was looking at, I would be raging when the next "Most amazing Android" comes out two weeks later. At least with iPhone on my two year contract I will just have to try and get through the iPhone5 without the urge to upgrade.

whiterebel

Zascar wrote: »

I've used both extensively, I had two iPhones for several years and last year switched to Android. I have a Macbook, and I use an iPad a lot (my flatmates). I find Android miles better. Apple's over simplification drives me nuts. The advantages that Android's more open nature brings is far better. So many simple tasks are frustrating on iOS. If someone asks me which to get - I will usually recommend Apple if they are totally not tech savvy - but if they are a bit techy I'll show them how Android is just better and more fun to play with.

Can I ask how your Android works with the Macbook?

Zascar

Fine really, I have no dependency on a computer at all for my phone. I transfer files to it over the network with a file browser - or now I just use dropbox for many things also. I do all my backups to the cloud, and my contacts are all updated and sync'd from my gmail account.

Deep Thought

my one and only soiree into the Android World and this is what i felt


Always had Iphones, recently decided to try android with the Galaxy Nexus

Some issues could be how samsung configure the phone

Apps - not all work with ICS

I had to install extra apps to allow me to hear the phone ringing as its very low

App needed to change the vibration settings

Does not like sync with my Macbook.

Does not seem to like audiobooks like M4P

I have to install seperate Auido book App

I have to install seperate Music Player App

Complex process to kill apps - had to get another app to really kill em

The whole process of having multiple widgets of varying sizes to apply something is stupid.

Notifications dont stay on you homescreen..I need another app for that

Setting wallpaper - you have to crop image, then it applies it across all screen which scroll, so you never see the whole picture

I needed another app to stop wallpaper scrolling

I have been advised to get AV Software ??? - another app

You have to do a lot of tweaking

I just want a phone I can plug into the dock and it does everything

My 0.02 worth

srsly78

siobhanoh wrote: »

I used to have an Android and a Blackberry. I was always anti-apple until I got an iPad. I wanted to get a top of the range phone but I didn't want to get an iPhone because I had the iPad. I researched for a long time all the options I had. Really I was looking for a phone that did everything an iPhone did but wasn't an iPhone. The Android I had always crashed and while theoretically it did everything an iPhone does it just didn't measure up and I was worried a new Android would also have these problems. I ended up getting an iPhone and I have never been happier with it. I have this phone 4 months now which is a record for me! (The iPhone was my 8th phone in 8 months!)

Personally I think that the Android seems to be changing too fast for me. I know if I had gotten the HTC Sense I was looking at, I would be raging when the next "Most amazing Android" comes out two weeks later. At least with iPhone on my two year contract I will just have to try and get through the iPhone5 without the urge to upgrade.

Only apple users rage about their product suddenly turning obsolete btw.

Comparing some cheap old android phone to an iPhone 4s is hardly fair. Anyone could make such an invalid comparison: "I upgraded from an iphone 3GS to a Samsung Galaxy 2 and it is SO MUCH BETTER".

@ poster above: You are obviously holding it wrong or something. Basically every point you listed is nuts. You installed a task killer app, therefore the problem is the user.

srsly78

Ok, deserves a point by point explanation.

Deep Thought wrote: »

Apps - not all work with ICS - Not seen any that don't work myself.

I had to install extra apps to allow me to hear the phone ringing as its very low - What the hell? Just turn the volume up

App needed to change the vibration settings - Is the "app" called "settings" by any chance?

Does not like sync with my Macbook - There is no sync. Just mount it like a usb stick (select mount from notification when you plug it in). If you want to use an app for syncing music then that's up to you..

Does not seem to like audiobooks like M4P - Proprietary format - guess who owns it :P

I have to install seperate Auido book App - You don't have to, you can choose to. The builtin app supports most open formats. See above point about propriety formats. Don't use proprietary formats if you want your media to be interchangable.

I have to install seperate Music Player App - See above.

Complex process to kill apps - had to get another app to really kill em - You don't actually need to kill apps, so just stop worrying about it.

The whole process of having multiple widgets of varying sizes to apply something is stupid. - You don't need to use widgets if you don't want to. Stop complaining about choice.

Notifications dont stay on you homescreen..I need another app for that - Notifications are always there in the notification bar you can drag down. If you want to change this by installing an app then you are free.

Setting wallpaper - you have to crop image, then it applies it across all screen which scroll, so you never see the whole picture - Just add black sections to side of image :P Or get an app to do this for you.

I needed another app to stop wallpaper scrolling - Complaining about choice again.

I have been advised to get AV Software ??? - another app - You do not need antivirus software since there are no viruses. There is malware but it gets nuked off the market quickly.

You have to do a lot of tweaking - Entirely your choice, device works fine out of the box. If there was NO CHOICE then this would be much much worse - as with the iphone.

I just want a phone I can plug into the dock and it does everything - No dock needed, just use bluetooth or usb. You have a phone that does everything.

edit: I tried to italicise the responses but it doesn't seem to show up inside the quote.

siobhanoh

I think everything about iOS is just slicker, cleaner, easier to use. IMO.

jester77

I like both and each have their positives and negatives. But what I really don't like about android is how fast a handset becomes out of date with no new software updates. Plus when an update hits the market unless you have vanilla android, then you will be waiting a long time to get an update.

Deep Thought

srsly78 wrote: »

Ok, deserves a point by point explanation.



edit: I tried to italicise the responses but it doesn't seem to show up inside the quote.

A I stated, some of teh issues are due to the configuration set up by Sansung

But...the phone could not be plugged is as USB - I needed to download an Android app to the mac to allow me to trx music etc..

All you other answers seem to be complaining about choice....

I had no choice but to install apps to play music and books as this did not happen out of the box...like wise a lot of the other stuff I chose to do to make the phone usable....

Its not choice..its the way the phone is configured....

I also chose to get rid of it to an Android fan for a crazy amount of money ..who then emailed me asking how do I get the music onto it

Blazer

Could never get this thing with widgets either...I always hate them in Windows and even more on my phone...
I can always use lockinfo on my ip4 anyway for any information I need to glance at (needs to be jailbroken as it's a cydia app).
Have a Android tablet (xoom) and while I loved the actual hardware honeycomb was sluggish compared to ios and extremely few apps for HC on the market.
Google really need to get their act together on the market.

Another thing I hate about Android is the crap updates by manufacturers for their phones...12 months later on you're lucky to get the latest update for you phone.

Lastly...I just do not trust Google with any of my information and the less they have belonging to me the better.
I love chrome and think it's definitely the best browser out there but I refuse to sign into it anymore since they updated their privacy docs.

1ZRed

"Another thing I hate about Android is the crap updates by manufacturers for their phones...12 months later on you're lucky to get the latest update for you phone"

I think the reason for this is because they keep pumping out new phones every two weeks. I don't blame them for being slow if they release 30+ phones a year.
If they slowed down a lot they could support their hardware instead of dividing energy making new phones while trying to update the old.
That's why I notice android hardware ages faster than iOS because the support just isnt there after a year and a half, whereas my iPhone 4 is still perfect and up to date.

DubDJ

Being posted in the Apple forum probably will make this a very one sided debate. But anyways....

For me i'll always pick iOS. Most of my friends have Android phones. And i've yet to see one to impress me. I don't like the OS and i always find the look and feel to be overly-complicated. Comparing my iPhone 4 to my friends Galaxy SII and just don't see how his is better. He installs custom ROM's and then his phone crashes so he reverts back to the default setting. But he's always raving about how great it is that he can customize it and I can't.

I like having all my iDevices in sync. Even when I had a Windows laptop I loved running iTunes and having it as a centre for my iPod Touch, iPhone and iPad. It makes it so much easier for me. Main reason i'd prefer iOS is due to the fact that I love simplicity. Thats what keeps me upgrading to new Apple stuff. Also the new release of updates for Apps and iOS iterations and I get them day one. But on Android you can be waiting weeks - months and sometimes not getting them at all. For me this really is a deal breaker.

Most people hate iOS because of the locked-in thing Apple have going on. But for me I spend maybe €5 max on Apps every 1-2 months. I've yet to be let down by anything Apple so I don't see the downside.

I'd really like to see Android users offer some examples of advantages Android has over iOS. And i'm not saying this in confrontational way i'd literally like examples. And not generic terms like saying I can customize it and widgets. I mean precise examples. Because that's all I ever hear from my friends.

Solair

Well, it depends what you want to do.

I'd compare Android OS to something more akin to a full desktop operating system in many ways. You can customise it, it's very powerful, yet it's still easy to use.

While iOS is more like what you'd expect on a hard-coded device like a PlayStation or some other consumer product i.e. you can't do anything other than what it can do. It does what it's supposed to do, slickly and with style, but it's rather limited.

Honestly, almost all of the problems that you see quoted about Android are where someone does something really radical to the OS like install a custom ROM. That's equivalent to jail-breaking an iPhone/iPad and you cannot guarantee the results or stability of the system afterwards.

Out-of-the-box Android devices generally work extremely stably in my experience.

It very much depends on what you want.

The major issue I have with iOS is the interface. I find the grid of icons is insufficiently sophisticated to deal with the number of apps that one is likely to have on a smart phone / pad and sorting them is like trying to solve some kind of infuriating puzzle.

Android allows you to keep your apps in an apps folder, organised in alphabetical order and you can put whatever apps you want on one of several home screens. So, you can keep the stuff you rarely use off your desktop.

iOS on the other hand forces you to just have endless random icons scattered across multiple homescreens.

The foldering / stack system is also utterly infuriating. I can't see what's in the folders/stacks and I cannot change their icons so I can't see the point of them!

Other drawbacks :

Mail.app is not customisable in iOS so, for example, it can't handle multiple email signatures which is vital for a corporate user / small business user. Android's Gmail App and Mail apps do that no problem.

To be honest, the lack of Flash isn't a total deal breaker to me, but at the same time it is restrictive. Later versions of Android do handle Flash very well. You have a button to start the Flash applet, so it doesn't screw up your browsing experience unless you want it to, but at least you can play it if you like.

As for killing apps. You generally don't need to, but when something does go haywire ... Facebook is the usual culprit, all you have to do is hold the home key and you can go in and kill the app without any difficulty.

For some reason Facebook's dire on both Android and iOS. They really need new developers!

siobhanoh

Solair wrote: »

For some reason Facebook's dire on both Android and iOS. They really need new developers!

This is true! Probably one of the most used apps on both OS and its awful!

Grayson

I prefer android. Apple is far too locked in. I have the options of 4 browsers on my phone for example. On apple you just get two (and it was a fight to get opera there).

I am looking forward to seeing windows 8. Windows 7 was a very nice UI. Smooth and uncluttered. If I wanted a phone that was more locked down than the iPhone, I'd move the windows. The only problem is the lack of apps for it. Hopefully by the time windows 8 comes out, that will change.

griffdaddy

Apple is better because when I'm in Dundrum Town Center I don't feel right pulling anything except an Iphone out of my pocket. Plus the Apple ringtone makes a real statement about who I am. Android might be cool if you're into hacking or whatevs but that's not really my scene

Sad Professor

Grayson wrote: »

I prefer android. Apple is far too locked in. I have the options of 4 browsers on my phone for example. On apple you just get two (and it was a fight to get opera there).

That's not true anymore. There's loads of iOS browser apps available now.

120_Minutes

griffdaddy wrote: »

Apple is better because when I'm in Dundrum Town Center I don't feel right pulling anything except an Iphone out of my pocket. Plus the Apple ringtone makes a real statement about who I am. Android might be cool if you're into hacking or whatevs but that's not really my scene

whilst in starbucks, of course....

ZENER

120_Minutes wrote: »

whilst in starbucks, of course....

You mean "Buckeys" of course ?

Self confessed Apple fanboy here but the one thing in that video I did have to agree with is the "back" button and the lack of consistency between certain categories of apps.

I used Android (2.2) for a while and was impressed with it but always felt it was unpolished and amateur for some reason.

I've played with the various Android Tabs on sale and just found them very messy and easy to screw up !! iPad and iOS all the way for me.

Ken

murpho999

Android v iOS, PS3 v Xbox 360, Mac v PC , Diesel v Petrol, Ahern v Mahon.

All just unwinnable , unprovable and endless battles that will surface from time to time.

Can we not just let people make their own choices and leave it that, no need to convince people that one is better than the other.

tallus

I have to say I like the feel of Android over Apple. The last iPhone 4 I had couldn't even find gps satellites when I installed Navigon software. Never had that trouble with an Android device. Love my iPad tho best tablet ever.

On the issue of updates, there are so many different manufacturers with Android devices that there will always be delays with software updates, and at least when android does get an update the look of the OS changes which sadly does not seem to be the case with Apple.

I suppose that both systems have their good and bad points, but for me I like the way Android changes constantly, and also I root my devices and install custom roms, which usually add functionality and remove manufacturer bloatware in a lot of cases.
IOS works well but I have always found it to be boring. That's why I always change back to Android.

biko

There has to be some reason Android fanboys keep making videos like that?
Why can't they just leave Britney Steve alone?

Btw, discuss

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNLy7-eazfA

waynegalway

Just in reply to the OP video....

I disagree with the guy that made the video on the widgets things versus the iOS icons:

I actually like the iPhone icons and I have mine arranged in a manner that seems logical to me. When I watched that video, I actually thought the Android screens looked far too messy and confusing. I don't see the advantage of the widgets at all, I think they clutter the experience: where he thinks the iPhone is cluttered. Crazy. The iPhone seems WAY cleaner.

srsly78

You can set android up to have simple icons exactly like the iphone if you want. Indeed you can just install the fake iphone app if you like it that much. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bb.iphone&hl=en

Zascar

I have a simple small time & weather app on the top of my home screen, and then just lots of app shortcuts on the rest of the screen. Scroll right I have more pages of app shortcuts, but scroll left and I have great widgets like 5 day weather forecast, stocks, twitter, calendar & tasks etc etc. Also the very small widgets are really handy like one click to turn on and off certain settings like data, wifi, torch, hotspot, gps, rotate etc etc. However I believe iOS has that from the pull down menu now. Something Android had years ago. There are plenty more really handy features iOS should just incorporate and make it better and nicer to use.

Sad Professor

Apple have always been slow to implement certain features. They like to take their time and see if they can find a better and more intuitive way of doing them. Often times they don't, but when they do it's worth the wait. I don't have much experience with Android handsets, but other phone and tablet manufacturers are certainly no strangers to slapping half-arsed features that don't work properly onto their devices. Apple's focus and extra attention to detail is the reason they have such a loyal user base.

Fighting Irish

Android, for a few reasons, but mainly because i hate how Apple operate! All the same, fair fooks to them for the money they make off materialistic people!

Stainless_Steel

Fighting Irish wrote: »

Android, for a few reasons, but mainly because i hate how Apple operate! All the same, fair fooks to them for the money they make off materialistic people!

Materialistic is a bit harsh no? Their products are well built, good hardware, clean and stable software, and good product support.

Kensington

Stainless_Steel wrote: »

Materialistic is a bit harsh no? Their products are well built, good hardware, clean and stable software, and good product support.

Quite a few people do buy an iPhone just because it's an iPhone though...

I use an iPhone myself but that's purely because there are apps that you either have to faff around with rooting and fiddling with settings to get it to work, or simply aren't available on Android playstore full stop. And then if you switch to a different handset there are no guarantees that all of the apps you had got working will continue to work (or work the same) on the new handset.

srsly78

Like the way apps won't work on the older iphone models?

Kensington

srsly78 wrote: »

Like the way apps won't work on the older iphone models?

I've yet to come across one - high resolution graphics element of games aside

srsly78

Same story with android.

Kensington

srsly78 wrote: »

Same story with android.

Three apps that immediately spring to mind:

Sonicwall SSL-VPN Mobile Connect:
Android - root access needed for < v3.2 (so very recent models only)
iOS - works on native iOS 4.2 and above (iPhone 3G and later)

VNC Viewer:
HTC Hero - painful, just painful
iPhone 3G - works pretty OK
(both phones of roughly the same generation)

Viber:
Android - select models only
iOS - Requires iOS 3.1 and greater (so works on every single iPhone ever made)

srsly78

Apps that require root are a very special case, the same as cydia stuff for jailbroken phones. I was using vpn with first android phone out, did need root tho.

The stuff you have listed is down to the app publisher, not down to android. Viber does work on many uncertified phones, you just gotta install it yourself. Viber have chosen not to bother supporting some old phones it seems.

Can pick loads of counter examples, like game emulators etc that aren't available on apple at all unless you jailbreak. Again down to politics/marketing really.

Can you even jailbreak (untethered) the latest ios yet?

Kensington

srsly78 wrote: »

Apps that require root are a very special case, the same as cydia stuff for jailbroken phones.

The stuff you have listed is down to the app publisher, not down to android. Viber does work on many uncertified phones, you just gotta install it yourself. Viber have chosen not to bother supporting some old phones it seems.

Can pick loads of counter examples, like game emulators etc that aren't available on apple at all unless you jailbreak. Again down to politics/marketing really.

Can you even jailbreak (untethered) the latest ios yet?

Well the devs can release the iOS version without rooting/fragmentation which is why I'll stay with iOS over Android for the time being. Most people couldn't be bothered rooting and self-installing, they just want the bloody thing to work with the minimum of effort.

Likewise, I don't see game emulators having mass market appeal and can't imagine it to be up to much on some of the lower end handsets. If you're into that sort of thing then obviously go Android - it really only boils down to what you want out of the phone at the day as to which OS you choose.

I don't believe there is a jailbreak at all for the most recent iOS release.

srsly78

Lots of companies release android stuff without fragmentation problems. It's only when they start to go "off-piste" by using non-official stuff that problems arise. Also the mobile carriers are a big source of the problem, something that apple with it's strict lockdown has avoided. Also developers are very quick to blame "fragmentation" for problems rather then admitting they never read the manual

There is a "tethered" jailbreak for ios5 I think, but that isn't much use really.

jeromeof

Watched this video and in general its shows some of the great features of Android and if every Android phone was like this I wouldn't hesitate in recommending it, but unfortunately this is a very limited set of Android phones have the full capabilities shown in this video.

Its a general problem with Android that the high end, latest version promises lots but people get tempted to buy a cheap crappy Android phone or even a nearly high end one that doesn't get the next upgrade because the device manufacturer wants to sell his shiny new version rather than spend time upgrading one that he has already sold. This unfortunately leads to having to "root" and put custom ROM's on, which can be fun in a 'wild west' type of way.

I have used lots of Android phones (and iPhones) over the last few years and in general, I always found the Android experience to be good for a few weeks (lots of fun configuring widgets - generally playing around) but then I notice things like battery life or a lack of decent applications to get what I want done, then I get even more frustrated when I see new versions coming out and I can't upgrade and I wait patiently for some sign of an upgrade. So, Android gets worse as you use it (unless you are anal about configuring widgets on various screens).

While the iPhone experience is often the opposite, starting off there is probably less to do (hey its simple), but you start to notice how well things work, the battery last all day (without fail), you start to appreciate some of the apps available and they actually help you do things, then when when Apple release an update, you get it immediately and can try it at the same time as everyone else. So, overall a consistent experience that certainly doesn't get worse and mainly gets better over time.

Solair wrote: »

Well, it depends what you want to do.

I'd compare Android OS to something more akin to a full desktop operating system in many ways. You can customise it, it's very powerful, yet it's still easy to use.

I agree Android is great at customisation but as for it being like a full desktop operating system, its much more akin to Ubuntu (or some other Linux variant). Lots of potential but a bit ugly and lacking in professional "business" applications. While iOS (and even more so with WP7) is much more like a polish professional OS (Windows 7 or OSX), where things work as expected (you are not worrying about filling up mounted partitions), lots of good support, lots of professional applications available.

Solair wrote: »

Out-of-the-box Android devices generally work extremely stably in my experience.

Except when it doesn't, one example (and I have many), is a HTC desire I bought my son. He thought it was great for a while until he noticed it getting slower and slower and then getting lots of errors with Apps, turns out the 8GB model really only had about 512MB for apps, so I suggested he move some of the to the SD card, but it turned out that lots of apps don't like that (its getting better), so I suggested getting he install some of the upgrades (thinking possible HTC would care and maybe solve this problem with their device), but amazingly after reseting every (removing all apps), installing the latest updates from HTC the phone had less memory available. HTC seemed want to push more crapware that we couldn't uninstall onto the phone, e.g. crappy twitter and facebook clients he didn't want. So, he was in a worse situation, I suggest I would root it for him (put something like link2sd on it then) but he didn't like the sound of that so now he just has a basic few apps that he uses and knows not to install any new ones.

Solair wrote: »

It very much depends on what you want.

Completely agree with you!!

Solair wrote: »

The foldering / stack system is also utterly infuriating. I can't see what's in the folders/stacks and I cannot change their icons so I can't see the point of them!

I honestly don't know what you are talking about here, the IOS folder implementation is very elegant and very efficient. Just drag one icon on another and a folder is magically created with the name auto-suggested from the apps metadata??? I have 2 screens on my iPhone and I find it incredible efficient (much more so that 5-6 screens of icons + widgets). My main screen has the apps that I use on a daily basis (with some really important ones in the tray) and the second screen has folders in the same place as the main screen for alternative apps for the same activity. E.g. Photo on the top right corner of the main screen, a Photo folder on the top right of the second screen with iphoto, instagram, Camera+. Same for news (RTE News on the home screen, BBC News + AP News + others in the same position in a folder on the second screen). Once you get bored with Widgets you find its actually the applications and their data/information/logic you want to get too and in general iOS allows that faster, though I do admit that some of the ICS features shown in the video do actually help.

Solair wrote: »

Mail.app is not customisable in iOS so, for example, it can't handle multiple email signatures which is vital for a corporate user / small business user. Android's Gmail App and Mail apps do that no problem.

Not sure what you are talking about, the mail app on Android is completely rubbish, the GMail app is good, but then Google released an GMail app for the iPhone also. Can't tell you how long I waited in frustration for android 2.3 to come out with multiple exchange account support.

Solair wrote: »

To be honest, the lack of Flash isn't a total deal breaker to me, but at the same time it is restrictive. Later versions of Android do handle Flash very well. You have a button to start the Flash applet, so it doesn't screw up your browsing experience unless you want it to, but at least you can play it if you like.

You do know that Adobe have now admitted that they can't really get flash to work correctly and I even noticed on my ICS device that Chrome for Android does not (and will not) support Flash.

Solair wrote: »

As for killing apps. You generally don't need to, but when something does go haywire ... Facebook is the usual culprit, all you have to do is hold the home key and you can go in and kill the app without any difficulty.

Except when you have too!! I have had too many experience with an Android app completely killing my battery such that I wake up on the morning with a dead battery.

So, in summary, the video does show some very nice Android customization but in my opinion and in my personal experience, Android rarely lives up to the promise beyond these customization, though occasional I am surprised by some quality apps, i.e. the google apps are better in Android if you live in a complete Google world.

Jerome

Zascar

This says a lot...
http://www.buzzfeed.com/katienotopoulos/iphone-users-disgusted-by-android-instagram

lee_baby_simms

Zascar wrote: »

This says a lot...
http://www.buzzfeed.com/katienotopoulos/iphone-users-disgusted-by-android-instagram

Yet so little...