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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

#91

Post by robmcm »

w1ntermute wrote: post #70
pagliara wrote: post #10

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…

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.

I still think the iPhone 4 &The iPhone 5 compromises to make the screen bigger, but only by a little.

I don't think I could use a 4" device like a Nexus 4 (I have a Nexus S which was a good size), on my commute where I need to hold onto a handle of the train, underground with one hand, smartphone in other.

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

#93

Post by eunice »

josteink wrote: post #28
lucian1900 wrote: post #13

> 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.

are you suggesting there is a mobile os vendor that isn't a patent troll? goog spent 12bn acquiring a failing company just to patent troll

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

#94

Post by masklinn »

w0utert wrote: 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…

> 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.

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/

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

#96

Post by robmcm »

w1ntermute wrote: post #66
michael_miller wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Superficial as it is, absolutely, this is something I love about iOS. It reinforces the "manipulating real objects with touch" metaphor. If I move my finger while pressing down on a piece of paper in real life, I expect the underlying paper to move as well. The highlight on Android just feels weird and clunky with no basis in real world interaction. That's not to say it isn't usable -- it just isn't as much fun witho…

I hate the bouncing scroll - yet another example of Apple's idiotic focus on skeuomorphism. I like to scroll up when I'm at the top of a list, or down when I'm at the bottom, while reading an article or whatever. If that bouncing scroll thing existed in Android, the page would move as a result. That's not a problem with the highlight.

We all know that Android would have this if it wasn't for patents.

You can't scroll without the page moving... so I don't understand your point.

Plus if you are scrolling slowly and reading as you go, having a litte bit of background show (part of the effect) is little difference from showing a flash of colour.

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

#98

Post by vacri »

w0utert wrote: post #71
vacri wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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. Th…

Chill out and take a deep breath, because you're missing the point entirely. I was talking about the arguments the article gives that supposedly show 'Android is better in almost every aspect', not about the merits of customization itself. No one is denying you anything, like I said: it seems to be more like personal preference than objective superiority. Sure enough Android wins on customizability, but that doesn't…

You seem to think that 'allows customisation' and 'defaults that work well' are mutually exclusive for some reason. Note that I was responding to your characterisation of personalisation, which was essentially "give people the ability to personalise and they make it ugly!". Yes, to you. Not to them.

I've also never really understood the toddler argument for 'well-designed'. 'Simple', sure, but not 'well-designed'. We don't consider this for any other thing we do - board games aren't considered poorly designed if a toddler can't play them; music isn't considered poorly put together if it's not in thirds, which young kids are drawn to; food isn't considered poor just because a toddler won't eat it, and neither are the utensils to prepare it considered shoddy because a toddler can't use them easily. 'Simple' and 'well-designed' can co-exist, but 'simple' does not mean 'well-designed'.

I also don't really understand your last paragraph - again, you see to be arguing against customisation because you don't enjoy it, despite other people doing it to have fun. Besides, OS UI designers do so for a generic optimal use-case, and can't possibly satisfy all. Even if it's true that 9 times out of 10 you're making it worse, 10% is still a lot of people to satisfy.

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

#99

Post by css771 »

robmcm wrote: post #91
w1ntermute wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I still think the iPhone 4 & The iPhone 5 compromises to make the screen bigger, but only by a little. I don't think I could use a 4" device like a Nexus 4 (I have a Nexus S which was a good size), on my commute where I need to hold onto a handle of the train, underground with one hand, smartphone in other.

Oh I think it's very contestable. I use my Galaxy Nexus one handed all the time in many situations, including on public transport. Can iPhone users please stop saying that their device has the best ergonomics of all time as if the ratio came down from the heavens. I don't see how people can even think something like a perfect size exists suitable for every human being. To each their own.

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

#100

Post by zaidf »

ScottWhigham wrote: post #63
zaidf wrote: post #58

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.

The facial recognition is very cool. Does it take longer than a swipe+pin? I guess it's just a matter of the hardware - how long it takes the camera to focus, how long it takes the chip to process, etc. It's just that I can swipe+pin in probably 1 - 1.5 seconds and I'd be surprised if facial recognition is faster.

Great question but dont assume speed of unlocking is what everyone based their decision on. I can tell you my mom would rather use facial recognition than entering a pin even if the latter was faster.

She did point out quirks like if her hair isn't brushed it may not work etc. It could well be that the technology isn't polished enough for Apple's standard but I know when I see an Android user use it, I walk away impressed and questioning why my iPhone can't do that.

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