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Four months with Android (An iOS user's exploration)

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Re: Four months with Android (An iOS user's exploration)

#71
post #4

FTA: Fans of Android, let’s not tiptoe around this: Android exists because it is a rip off of iOS. Sure, it has grown into its own in a lot of ways, but its roots are decidedly placed at the introduction of iOS in 2007 While true, I continue to find it infuriating the extent to which people credit Apple with inventing things it didn't. The iPhone was not the first touch-only buttonless interface out there (depending…

There is a link in the very next sentence that illustrates what he's talking about[1]. Yes Android was a product before 2007, but as he says (and as the photos suggest), Android post-2007 was a much different beast. There's also this question on Quora[2]. IMO, it was much closer to the BlackBerry. [1] http://random.andrewwarner.com/what-googles-android-looked-l... [2] http://www.quora.com/Android-OS/What-did-Android-…

True... but who gives a shit. I don't know why articles like this always demand some homage be paid to Apple. Apple did a great job with certain key elements of the user experience and Android jumped on board. As somebody buying one phone or the other it really doesn't concern me who invented it. Same thing on the other side of the argument. Android had notifications first.. and now iOS5 has them too. I really don't care who "made it all possible"

If I'm buying a sexy-looking stainless steel oven made by Samsung... I couldn't care less that General Electric was the genius that made the first one.

Re: Four months with Android (An iOS user's exploration)

#73
post #4

FTA: Fans of Android, let’s not tiptoe around this: Android exists because it is a rip off of iOS. Sure, it has grown into its own in a lot of ways, but its roots are decidedly placed at the introduction of iOS in 2007 While true, I continue to find it infuriating the extent to which people credit Apple with inventing things it didn't. The iPhone was not the first touch-only buttonless interface out there (depending…

The iPhone might be considered a rip-off my SE P800 running Symbian from 2002. Touch screen with no physical buttons on front and apps displayed as rows of icons on the main screen.

Oh yeah, and it had apps too. That's 5 years before the iPhone. Apple didn't invent the concept they just made it work.

Re: Four months with Android (An iOS user's exploration)

#74
post #4

FTA: Fans of Android, let’s not tiptoe around this: Android exists because it is a rip off of iOS. Sure, it has grown into its own in a lot of ways, but its roots are decidedly placed at the introduction of iOS in 2007 While true, I continue to find it infuriating the extent to which people credit Apple with inventing things it didn't. The iPhone was not the first touch-only buttonless interface out there (depending…

I'll just leave this here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gq-e0getf4M

Re: Four months with Android (An iOS user's exploration)

#75

I recently went the other way around. After exchanging my Galaxy Tab 2 times for random hangs and unexplained slowness I thought I will check out the iPad. I still have an Android phone that I am perfectly happy with so throughout the day I go back and forth with iOS and Android. The experience on the iPad is undeniably superior after iOS5. The UI is way smoother than Honeycombs, I haven't found any beta behavior yet…

4) There are some great iOS podcast apps. I use Instacast, which does everything you'd want (allows searching, subscribing, streaming, downloading, etc.).

Yeah I came across it but it seems to be an iPhone app. Any suggestions for iPad? Doggcatcher was superb on Android side.

Re: Four months with Android (An iOS user's exploration)

#76
More often than not, when I read people saying they prefer one over the other, they almost always prefer the one they used first. I think it's a combination of people being naturally averse to change and how different the two feel in use.

Me, I started with iOS because when I was finally ready to jump the Symbian ship nobody I knew had an Android phone so I wasn't able to play with one at any length. They did have iPhones though, and iOS blew me away. After tinkering with my friend's 3GS for an hour or so, I was sold. I later had a chance to play with a 1.5 Android device and I couldn't understand why anyone would ever want to use something so slow, laggy and, to me at least, ugly. I've since played with more recent Android phones and while the performance is exponentially better, the OS still just doesn't "feel" right. Ignoring all the apps, browsers, Google integration and everything else, Android just doesn't have the feel that iOS has.

And I think that might be why a lot of people prefer the first one they use. The 2 look pretty similar, but they feel very different. If you've gotten used to Android, iOS feels wrong, and vice versa. The author spends time comparing intricate details here, but he opens with a comment about how the two feel, which I think is spot on. I'm surprised people here are so offended and so quick to jump all over everything else from the article while completely glossing over what I think is the most important part.

Re: Four months with Android (An iOS user's exploration)

#77
To my best knowledge you can't customize iOS the way you can Android, some might say you don't have to, but for me that's still a plus. I have a Nexus S and the best thing about it is that I had the ability to install a keyboard a broswer and a home screen I preferred. The browser part I agree with, I still can't wrap my head around that, it's disappointing seeing how awesome Google Chrome is, and how lame the Android browser is.

Re: Four months with Android (An iOS user's exploration)

#79

I recently went the other way around. After exchanging my Galaxy Tab 2 times for random hangs and unexplained slowness I thought I will check out the iPad. I still have an Android phone that I am perfectly happy with so throughout the day I go back and forth with iOS and Android. The experience on the iPad is undeniably superior after iOS5. The UI is way smoother than Honeycombs, I haven't found any beta behavior yet…

> 3) Always having to hit the physical home button for app switching is annoying compared to Android There's a four-finger slide for switching apps on the iPad... It may need enabling, though. The four fingers don't have to be spread out - just together is fine.

Really though, the home button design is really showing its age... Look how much screen real estate it takes up on the iPhone, or how much of the iPad's frame could be utilized if there were soft keys.

Its become the first thing I notice whenever I pick up my iPad. Just a big ol' ugly button.

Re: Four months with Android (An iOS user's exploration)

#80
post #55

How can you do a comparison of iOS / Android and not even mention Google Maps & Navigation? I used the original iPhone for 2.5 years, spent nearly 2 with a Nexus One, and now switched back to iPhone 4S. As the reviewer mentioned, Gmail integration is still very poor on the iPhone. Hopefully Sparrow for iOS will fix this. But iOS Maps is still stuck in 2007. The Android maps app has improved tremendously even just ove…

> How can you do a comparison of iOS / Android and not even mention Google Maps & Navigation? It's funny that I just bought a touchscreen phone with an UX that most will consider to be unquestionably worse than both iOS and Android - namely the Nokia E6 with Symbian Anna - for the same reason that a lot of folks here are touting Android: Ovi Maps and navigation. Or more specifically, Ovi Maps and navigation with offe…

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/07/download-map-area-add...
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