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An iPhone lover’s confession: I switched to the Nexus 4

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Re: An iPhone lover’s confession: I switched to the Nexus 4

#31

> While Android still doesn’t give you bouncing lists and scroll views Is that something people like so much? Whenever I've used an iOS device, it annoyed me. I much prefer the highlight in Android.

> While Android still doesn’t give you bouncing lists and scroll views It used to be in Android until Apple made it a 1 billion dollar lawsuit and banned everyone else in the universe from implementing it. Those bouncing lists. 1 billion dollar. And Apple is not a patent-troll. No siree.

They might be dicks, but it would still be dilution of the term "patent troll" to call them that. After all, they do actually sell a product with said feature.

Re: An iPhone lover’s confession: I switched to the Nexus 4

#32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Odd, I got a Galaxy Nexus and it's the best phone I've ever had. To each his own, I guess.

I have to agree with this sentiment. My wife has a 4S, but when I needed to upgrade my phone last spring, I didn't want to buy an iPhone mid-cycle. I got the Galaxy Nexus and was pleasantly surprised in all aspects. With ICS and especially JB, Android has really closed the gap to the point where I'm actually glad I don't have an iPhone because I'm a big Google ecosystem user and the better Gmail and Calendar apps tip…

> GN is clearly inferior in build quality to an iPhone

It's only inferior in visible quality (I've dropped it a lot and it barely has a scratch on it), but I'm okay with that because it costs half as much as an iPhone, which I think is very significant.

You can get a top-of-the-line smartphone for $300. That's amazing.

Re: An iPhone lover’s confession: I switched to the Nexus 4

#33

> While Android still doesn’t give you bouncing lists and scroll views Is that something people like so much? Whenever I've used an iOS device, it annoyed me. I much prefer the highlight in Android.

> While Android still doesn’t give you bouncing lists and scroll views It used to be in Android until Apple made it a 1 billion dollar lawsuit and banned everyone else in the universe from implementing it. Those bouncing lists. 1 billion dollar. And Apple is not a patent-troll. No siree.

Really? I've never seen it in Android.

Re: An iPhone lover’s confession: I switched to the Nexus 4

#34
post #3

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 thi…

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.

Comparing the iPhone to a Note 2 is probably unfair as those things are HUGE!

Re: An iPhone lover’s confession: I switched to the Nexus 4

#35
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was going to say the same things. Hopefully, there has been some serious work done on iOS 7 and it'll probably address most of the OP's concerns. However, I do hope they introduce none of these customization shenanigans. I don't care for widgets (nor do I want another icon or thing I cannot remove from my homescreen). If the base OS is sufficiently good UI-wise, there is no reason ever to need to customize its look…

I disagree - widgets are enormously important to me, and were the deciding factor in my choosing an android phone. I'm quite forgetful, and I have a tendency to focus on one thing to the exclusion of others. Widgets allow me to display important information on my home screen that will be shown to me every time I look at the phone . This means that I can have a list of (for example) upcoming birthdays on my phone that…

Upcoming birthdays and other calendar events appear on my iPhone in the lock/notification screen so no different to Android in that respect.

And as of iOS6 it automatically syncs birthdays with Facebook.

Re: An iPhone lover’s confession: I switched to the Nexus 4

#36
post #3

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 thi…

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.

Re: An iPhone lover’s confession: I switched to the Nexus 4

#37
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.

Re: An iPhone lover’s confession: I switched to the Nexus 4

#38
post #6

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…

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.

Re: An iPhone lover’s confession: I switched to the Nexus 4

#39
post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Comparing the iPhone to a Note 2 is probably unfair as those things are HUGE!

I guess any Android phone is now a days. The Razr is smaller of the two. But I think the point still stands due to replaceable batteries on phones like the S3 mini.

Re: An iPhone lover’s confession: I switched to the Nexus 4

#40
post #30
post #6

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…

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 painle…

And both of those are quintessentially Android features. I doubt you will ever see them implemented like that on iOS without jailbreaking.

I personally don't want anything like that. I would rather Apple just allow widgets in the notifications section and have live icons.

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