Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm afraid you haven't really used voice commands on Android. They do lack the NLP of Siri and the witty responses, but in practice they seem much more accurate at actually understanding what the user is trying to do. Also you may believe iPhone is king in the ease of use department, but I don't. I think after using either OS for an extended period of time they become second nature and usage of the other can be grati…
Forget "voice commands", which predate both iPhone and Android. I need SMS dictation. Dictation on the iPhone under iOS 5 is shockingly better than dictation on Android ICS on my Google Galaxy Nexus. I can carry on a complete SMS conversation via voice on iOS without editing, while having to edit every other phrase on ICS.
"Android ICS already offers more than what is coming in iOS 6"
131–140 of 151 posts
Re: "Android ICS already offers more than what is coming in iOS 6"
#132I find it kind of humorous that we used to hear a lot of "but the App Store has way more apps than the Market" as a "feature" that made iOS more desirable. Hell, Apple even used the "There's an app for that" campaign for quite a while. And now we have people saying, "Well, so what if there was an app for that in ICS. Third party apps don't count". Oh how times change.
I'd be happy to allow Android users to call a 3rd party app a "feature of the operating system" like the author did, as long as he's will to include iOS 3rd party apps as features of iOS. We might as well compare oranges to oranges.
Re: "Android ICS already offers more than what is coming in iOS 6"
#133Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes and more than these aren't available on older devices, let me direct you to this post on a different thread for a breakdown: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4096633
The point remains - they're adding a bunch of features for free and most users will benefit from them. I'm far more interested in account unification and improvements to the phone app than 3D maps. Your inference that the update is a dud for older devices doesn't ring true.
I don't see the OPs point as 3GSs getting the update aren't better off than Android devices on 2.3 which still have access to many backported Android APIs.
Re: "Android ICS already offers more than what is coming in iOS 6"
#134Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's your own fault then. Android offers a variety of hardware configurations, and you opted for a low-end one. If you're in America, I have even less pity. The $200 price difference between some low-end free-on-contract smartphone and the $200 Galaxy Nexus or HTC One X is near negligible when you consider the price of the voice+data+messaging plan over the course of a 2 year contract.
Actually, no I didn't, dude. My phone's 2+ years old and was a high-end eclair-era device. But I also wasn't complaining and I don't need or want your pity.
edit: oh wait i think i misinterpreted you original comment. my condolences for coming off as an ass.
Re: "Android ICS already offers more than what is coming in iOS 6"
#135ICS ecosystem is almost vaporware, it is supposed to be the best release yet, but i actually never saw it. Maybe its the best thing since sliced bread, but if nobody uses it, what exactly is the point?! Your chances of getting ICS on your legacy device are virtually zero. whereas getting IOS 6 on the iphone 4S is assured. [EDIT] I have been an android user since it was essentially released, and have only recently swi…
> _I just want a device that works, and upgrades easily._ As a loyal TMo G2 (stock Froyo) owner, I wholeheartedly agree with that opinion. As other replies called out, TMo has a knack for luring you in and never releasing OS updates. That said, I'm very happy running my "legacy" Froyo OS: My GPS is fast and spot-on, data pipe is 4G-wide, and my bit-laggy camera app is supplemented by dedicated hardware for anything c…
Re: "Android ICS already offers more than what is coming in iOS 6"
#136Why does "third party apps" get to count as Android already having a feature that iOS currently doesn't have?
As far as I know, Android apps can add core functionality to the phone. For example, if I download the Facebook app, I can now share my photos from the Camera app via Facebook, without having to actually open the Facebook app itself. Same with Dropbox, Twitter, and the like.
iOS's design is much more dependent on Apple implementing core features and interactions (I suspect this is partly by design). The benefit of this is that when Apple does implement them, they are incredibly well done and have that glossy Apple finish that Apple does best.
Android's design allows heavy integration—or sometimes outright replacement of—all sorts of core OS features by third party developers.
Case in point: Google Maps on Android is just a regular app. It's not built into Android (though it does ship by default on basically all Android phones). It receives updates regularly from the Play Store outside of Android's infrequent OS updates. Just being a regular app, however, doesn't prevent it from connecting itself into all sorts of actions throughout Android. You click on an address in a third party and it'll open in Google Maps (or any other third party app that registers itself to handle the "map an address" intent). You speak "Navigate to Starbucks" into Voice Actions and Google Maps will open.
If you want to use a different browser on Android (Chrome for instance) you just install it and make it your default browser (which is an option you get the first time you try to open a link after you have installed it). Want to open reddit links in a reddit specific app? After installing your favorite you'll get the option to always open reddit links in that app (apps can register to handle specific url patterns).
People talk about how you can Share using third party apps on Android but that's really just the tip of the iceberg that the Android Intents system allows. The Intents aren't even just a limited set defined by Android itself. You can create new Intents that the Android developers never envisioned and now your app seamlessly integrates with any number of other applications making use of those Intents. It's a beautiful system.
So while iOS users sometimes have to rely on Apple to add functionality (like Twitter or Facebook), Android users often don't require anything but the third party developer to implement it. I believe this is why fragmentation seems to be a lot bigger of issue to some vocal iOS users than it is to many actual Android users. That's not to say that it isn't an issue, just that it isn't as big of an issue as they might expect from their experience with iOS.
Re: "Android ICS already offers more than what is coming in iOS 6"
#137Earlier quoted context omitted.
When they catch up usually means when they upgrade their phone You can pick whatever phone you want, and install whatever android you can get working on it if you want, if you want ota upgrades in a timely manner you need to pick a manufacturer / carrier that does that, which is only google devices at the moment, thats specifically because it is so open.
The only thing more open than android is the consumers anal cavity, thanks to the way handset makers and network operators treat their customers. Seriously, "install whatever android you can get working on it"?? I have a diploma in network engineering, I write web apps and I manage Linux servers. I don't want to play "guess the right Frankenstein mix" with a phone. I want to use it I really do think the "android tink…
Re: "Android ICS already offers more than what is coming in iOS 6"
#138ICS ecosystem is almost vaporware, it is supposed to be the best release yet, but i actually never saw it. Maybe its the best thing since sliced bread, but if nobody uses it, what exactly is the point?! Your chances of getting ICS on your legacy device are virtually zero. whereas getting IOS 6 on the iphone 4S is assured. [EDIT] I have been an android user since it was essentially released, and have only recently swi…
Re: "Android ICS already offers more than what is coming in iOS 6"
#139Earlier quoted context omitted.
Your chances of getting ICS on your legacy device are virtually zero. whereas getting IOS 6 on the iphone 4S is assured. Yes, but how important is this really in practice? With both platforms approaching maturity deploying major OS updates OTA is going to be less important. Google can ride the natural device upgrade cycle to get out new versions. If they can make the browser and email client and a few other key apps…
> "how important is this really in practice" It's pretty important to user satisfaction that Joe can say to Sally "You have an iPhone, right? Check out what they can do now!" And Sally be able to say "Mine does that too? Awesome!" As opposed to Android, where Joe and Sally can barely help one another through the various UI skins half the time, let alone share enjoyment in cool new software features on devices purchas…
Sally won't be able to do Turn by turn if she has a 3GS or iPhone 4, whereas even out of date Android's on 1.6 can.
Re: "Android ICS already offers more than what is coming in iOS 6"
#140Earlier quoted context omitted.
> "how important is this really in practice" It's pretty important to user satisfaction that Joe can say to Sally "You have an iPhone, right? Check out what they can do now!" And Sally be able to say "Mine does that too? Awesome!" As opposed to Android, where Joe and Sally can barely help one another through the various UI skins half the time, let alone share enjoyment in cool new software features on devices purchas…
It's pretty important to user satisfaction that Joe can say to Sally "You have an iPhone, right? Check out what they can do now!" And Sally be able to say "Mine does that too? Awesome!" Sally won't be able to do Turn by turn if she has a 3GS or iPhone 4, whereas even out of date Android's on 1.6 can.