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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

#101

Post by robmcm »

css771 wrote: post #99
robmcm wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I am saying the ergonomics are worse on the iPhone 5 for me and I believe I have slightly larger than average hands.

Perhaps you have large hands, and loved the original XBox controller, but you would be in a minority.

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

#102

Post by SeripisChad »

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.

Takes about the same time to unlock in my experience(EVO 3D).

I'd really prefer for a different unlock method all together. I'd like my phone to be locked in case its lost/stolen, but I'd like it unlock faster. It's be fine wearing a Bluetooth-enabled accessory (ring,tie pin, device secured to the shoes/belt/pants/wallet in some fashion) that would bypass the lock because I'm with-in a given radius to the device.

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

#103

Post by taligent »

josteink wrote: post #61
taligent wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm confused what part bothers you. That Apple patented it. Or that it is worth a billion dollars. Because if it's the first then it is just a hypocritical position. And if it's the second then maybe you don't understand the math. Size of lawsuit = Price per patent * Number of infringing devices. It's because the number of devices sold is so large that it ends up being such a large lawsuit.

For sake of clarity, both bothers me, but it's the fact that a trivial UI implementation detail can be patented and monopolized I consider fundamentally wrong. That someone can build a 1 billion dollar beast on top of that, what any decent software engineer can do in a matter of days, just makes it so much worse. Some people have a rather mellow attitude to it all and simply say "Don't hate the player, hate the game"…

Firstly there is nothing trivial about it. The concept never existed before the iPhone and it is absolutely not intuitive that it is how list scrolling is supposed to work. It's unquestionably distinctive to the iPhone.

Secondly what a software engineer can do in a matter of days is a ridiculous and pointless measure of anything. I could build Google's original search engine once I knew exactly how it worked. It's the "how it works" part that is novel.

Thirdly you completely fail at understanding the maths here. The only reason it is a billion dollar idea is because Samsung sells so many devices.

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

#104

Post by w0utert »

jeffcutsinger wrote: post #90
w0utert wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

> That said, if you really care about customizability, you can always jailbreak your iPhone ... * Yes, you can, for now. There are no guarantees this will happen with future versions of iOS. * If you jailbreak you are forever a fugitive. You can never again just update, you have to wait and make sure it doesn't kill your setup. You can end up losing your warranty, be refused tech support, etc. * Finally, from a philo…

>> Yes, you can, for now. There are no guarantees this will happen with future versions of iOS.

[..]

>> If you jailbreak you are forever a fugitive. You can never again just update, you have to wait and make sure it doesn't kill your setup. You can end up losing your warranty, be refused tech support, etc

Well, in a sense that's an inherent risk of customizability, a tradeoff you have to make. Home screen customizations are probably perfectly safe on stock Android, but I'm not sure how more intrusive modifications will affect updating Android phones that are heavily skinned by the manufacturer (ie: most of them). Maybe I'm wrong, but I suppose you can forget about applying major updates to a Samsung TouchWiz or HTC Sense phone without either undoing or screwing up all your customizations, or in the worst case even bricking your phone to the point it needs a factory reset. If customization was at the top of my feature list, I wouldn't risk anything but a stock Android device.

>> Finally, from a philosophical standpoint, it is absolutely absurd that I should ever have to break something I have paid for to take full ownership of it.

From a philosophical point of view you can have all kinds of opinions, assertions and beliefs about anything. In reality, what you are calling absurd applies to a very significant majority of products you can buy in stores. You can tune your car, but don't expect the dealer to fix it under warranty. You can modify the OS on your desktop computer, but don't expect Microsoft or Apple to supply patches to the problems you may introduce, or even make sure stock patches don't break your setup. You can make most electronic devices do things they were never designed for, but the risk of breaking them is all on you.

Here on HN, we take customizing hardware and software for granted and think it's only natural to modify it to make it better suit our needs, but I don't think a whole lot of people around here think the same about modifying (for example) their furniture, their clothes, their kitchen appliances, etc. But I'm pretty sure their are lots of people on other websites talking about exactly those kinds of things, people who wouldn't even think about customizing their mobile phone or PC. I realize this is getting a little tangential, but the point here is that if you really want to, you can modify almost anything, but almost always the risk is on you, whether you like it (from a philosophical standpoint or otherwise) or not. I don't see what makes mobile phones so special that you should expect the manufacturer to provide you with the tools to modify them, especially when there are alternatives that allow it out of the box. No-one forces you to use an iPhone ;-)

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

#105

Post by jonknee »

zaidf wrote: post #100
ScottWhigham wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 impr…

> 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.

We're living in a post Siri, post Maps world. Apple is not concerned if software works before they decide to ship it.

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

#106

Post by taligent »

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.

> Apple's idiotic focus on skeuomorphism

I fail to see how it has anything at all to do with skeuomorphism. What object exists in real life that is comparable to a bounce back scrolling list ?

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

#107

Post by taligent »

niklas_a wrote: post #72

Can only agree with OP. I gave up my iPhone 4 for a Galaxy Nexus this summer and have never looked back. I think Google can still work on the default look, but I find Android to be very "clean" and quick to work with. Android feels much more like a real operating system. iOS is so restricted and there are many work tasks that I cannot do (e.g. mailing a dropbox file to someone). Google Now is also amazingly good. And…

I can email a Dropbox file to someone and search my mail on my iPhone.

Or am I missing something ?

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

#108

Post by RivieraKid »

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.

It's usually very fast, around 1 second. In fact, they had to slow it down, because sometimes it recognized the face immediately, making the user wonder whether there's any security check involved. But it's useless at night, which is why I don't use it.

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

#109

Post by taligent »

jonknee wrote: post #105
zaidf wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 impr…

> 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. We're living in a post Siri, post Maps world. Apple is not concerned if software works before they decide to ship it.

> Apple is not concerned if software works before they decide to ship it.

The VP in charge of iOS Software Engineering was publicly fired over Siri and Maps.

Pretty sure they do care.

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

#110

Post by vacri »

robmcm wrote: post #88
niklas_a wrote: post #72

Can only agree with OP. I gave up my iPhone 4 for a Galaxy Nexus this summer and have never looked back. I think Google can still work on the default look, but I find Android to be very "clean" and quick to work with. Android feels much more like a real operating system. iOS is so restricted and there are many work tasks that I cannot do (e.g. mailing a dropbox file to someone). Google Now is also amazingly good. And…

I have always wondered about that feature, and always think.. - What if two people are looking at it. - Does it flick on and off as I look around - Is it using a huge amount of power when ever the screen is on, not only with powering the screen but with powering the camera. - Can I still use my screen as a light, or does is power off when I face it away from me? (I have a flash light app but it's quicker some times t…

It has a normal screen timeout. When it gets close to the timeout, it looks for 'open eyes looking at me' and if it detects them, stays on. When the screen does turn off, it's like any other timeout - it won't flick back on by newly detecting eyes again.

And no, of course if you're going to use your screen as a flashlight, it's not going to detect your eyes and stay on. If you're not willing to go to the marginal effort of activating a flashlight app, what mechanism do you propose they use to have the phone detect when you're using it as a flashlight-by-screen?

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