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

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161–170 of 358 posts

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

#161

Unlike most people commenting here, I got a sub-200$ Android (Huawei G300). I got it a few days ago through Amazon just to try something new, and it's way better than I expected it to be. I first had an iPhone when it came out, then moved to a BlackBerry (weird, I know), and now I'm considering staying with Android, at least for daily use. I still have to stick to the BlackBerry as it's the only phone on the market t…

If a good Android phone comes to market with a keyboard like the Blackberry or Nokia communicators, it will certainly get me to consider switching away from the iPhone.

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

#162
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…

You sure make a good case for Android being vastly more capable. After that litany, I'm really curious what are the "plenty of things I like about iPhone over Android". Why are you sticking with the iPhone despite your compelling list of Android advantages? I ask as someone who has used iPhone but not Android, is keenly aware of iOS limitations, but likes the hardware.

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

#163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Upload to Google Music. Tag the music you want on the device as "available offline", on your phone, when you have internet connectivity. No cables. No sync. No fucking iTunes. No computer required. Just internet. Done. If you feel old-fashioned, you can also just copy files to your device as a standard MTP or mass-storage device using USB-cables, or copy to SD-cards. As long as the music files are properly tagged you…

So is DRM not an issue? Sounds promising. Thanks for the info.

iTunes DRM tracks will likely not work, but at this point iTunes hasn't sold DRM tracks in a long time. Most (all?) other tracks have had the ability to upgrade and make DRM free for awhile now.

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

#164
post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

But see, you have analyzed that you desperately needed some kind of birthday widget and that iOS didn't suit your particular needs. You switched over or went directly to Android. That's fine, you have an alternative and you seem happy with it. However, I despise such things. I've analyzed that I wouldn't stand using Android for those reasons, and that I'm better off with iOS. I go with Apple's motto: "there's an app…

See, widgets add value (maybe not for you). They don't subtract any. If you don't want to use them, you can do so.

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

#165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You can get a top-of-the-line smartphone for $300. That's amazing. Not sure why you think this. It is mid range phone by every benchmark (e.g. no LTE, battery life, screen quality) and it gets destroyed by the iPhone 5 and Galaxy S3 in every performance benchmark.

Why are you comparing it to the iPhone 5? The current top-of-the-line Google smartphone, the Nexus 4 (which is what you should compare to the iPhone 5), also costs $300.

When the phone only goes up to 16 GB of non-expandable space, it's hardly top-of-the-line. It doesn't have LTE either. Neither of these matters too much now, but will reduce longevity compared to actual top-of-the-line phones, e.g. the Galaxy S3 and iPhone 5.

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

#166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

"I haven't read the article but..." So it's come to this on HN...

I routinely read through the comments before I actually click on the link to the article. It's a quick indicator to the quality of the article and often, I learn more from the comments vs. the article itself.

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

#167
post #79

Been an Android user for a year (Galaxy Tab 8.9) and was going to get an iPhone 5 last Christmas just to try out a different device. I changed my mind and am getting a Nexus 4 instead. I was able to use one of our test iPhones at work for a primary phone and here are just 3 things I don't like about iOS: 1. Toggling settings can be difficult. In Android, you have a pull-up/pull-down menu right from the home screen wh…

1. Is Samsung specific I think. On my Nexus S pulling the notification drawer down has a button that launches the Settings app but doesn't have the settings right there. My wifes Samsung S3 does however.

If you pull down with two fingers (a bit counterintuitive, I'll admit), it'll open the settings app directly. You can also toggle the default notification drawer and the settings app by tapping the icon in the top right corner.

I chose to install Widgetsoid - it places a couple of toggles directly into the notification drawer. I never got Airplane Mode to work, though.

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

#169
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.

> I still think the iPhone 4 & Yes, I can. It's complete bullshit. All the arguments for why the iPhone 4 form factor was the best are now being used to claim that the iPhone 5 is the best by a lot of the same people. That just goes to show that you can manipulate that argument to work with whatever screen size you want.

I don't think anyone is saying the iPhone 5 is easier to use in one hand than the iPhone 4.

The argument that a smaller screen, allows for a smaller surface area, that is easier to navigate is obvious.

3.5 is easier to use than 4 which is easier than 5.

People may say a 4 inch screen is better in general (because the forgive ergonomics for real estate), but not in ergonomics alone.

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

#170

What are people's experience dealing with the migration of music from iOS to android? As an iOS user with an itch to checkout android again (had one of the first HTC "google phones"), this is one of my bigger concerns.

Upload to Google Music. Tag the music you want on the device as "available offline", on your phone, when you have internet connectivity. No cables. No sync. No fucking iTunes. No computer required. Just internet. Done. If you feel old-fashioned, you can also just copy files to your device as a standard MTP or mass-storage device using USB-cables, or copy to SD-cards. As long as the music files are properly tagged you…

I love the process, but I've been having trouble with uploading. A lot of songs simply weren't uploaded successfully, and there is no way for me to manually upload anything in order to fix that. I have no idea if the uploader application does this automatically or if I'm just stuck with a bunch of broken songs.

Also I noticed some mistakes with generic album titles, such as "Unknown Album" - selecting an artist, then their album titled "Unknown" would usually play all the titles that don't have an album title, even the ones by entirely different artists.

That being said, it beats iTunes by miles.

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