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I switched to Android after 7 years of iOS

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Re: I switched to Android after 7 years of iOS

#231

Post by SonicSoul »

_kp6z wrote: post #70

I did the opposite and can't believe how much better my life had gotten because my iPhone is just a simple tool that I use for communications and don't think about it as a project. With Android, I always wanted to tweak silly things and run Cyanogenmod because the handset firmware was always so bad and vulnerable. On several occasions I'd bricked my phone requiring hours of recovery, or had transient failures of cell…

yep, exactly the same experience. I've used android since beta and finally switched on iPhone 6s. never been happier. At one point (on my 2nd to last android) i found myself flashing a version of cyanogen on the subway because the phone just stopped working. I was laughing to myself about the crazy mess I was in. and flashing was never a smooth process, each version had it's own issues for which of course the only support was the forum. definitely do not miss any of that. i was shocked at how little tweaks ios needed after first setting it up and how little work there was to transition to a new phone when i changed colors. it not "just works" but works extremely well.

Re: I switched to Android after 7 years of iOS

#232

Post by criddell »

acdha wrote: post #131
Touche wrote: post #114

I'm amazed when I go to webdev conferences and see 90% iPhones, including many of the most prominent "javascript celebrities". Then I tell myself that just because you work on something doesn't mean you are passionate about it. I'm passionate about the web and couldn't imagine using an OS where all major features get delivered 4 or 5 years after creation (like IndexedDB was).

It depends on what you value – some features take awhile to show up on iOS but others are implemented relatively quickly, so there's both a question of which specific features actually benefit you and how much it's worth to have a much faster experience in general. The Android phones tend to perform much worse because the vendors chose to add multiple slow cores while Apple adds fewer faster cores — and since JavaScr…

> It depends on what you value

I'm not sure why so many people don't understand that there's no one-size-fits-all solution out there.

I have a Nexus 5x that I'm pretty happy with. However, when asked I've only ever recommended Apple phones (and tablets and computers) to friends and relatives. Having a place where you can take your device to get support is pretty valuable.

Re: I switched to Android after 7 years of iOS

#233

Post by [deleted] »

sehr wrote: post #209
oever wrote: post #181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The website about 'progressive web apps' [1] has 3 demo apps. None of them work in Firefox 43 on Linux. The apps require JavaScript but fail to use the tag to tell the user. I've an iPad 1 on which I can install web pages as web apps by bookmarking them. If the page has the right meta tags [2], the app/page will open as fullscreen. This works fine with many web APIs e.g. WebAudio. I do not know if Android or Ubuntu p…

Are they broken if js is enabled?

[deleted]

Re: I switched to Android after 7 years of iOS

#234

Post by oblio »

TheOtherHobbes wrote: post #164
untog wrote: post #24

I agree with pretty much everything in this article - I firmly believe that we're due a "post-app" world where progressively enhanced web sites provide 95% of the functionality we require. But we're not there yet - I'd love to see better WebView integration into native UI components (UINavigationController and the like), to provide things like swipe-to-go-back, which is monumentally hard to do on the web. But hey. Ma…

> I firmly believe that we're due a "post-app" world where progressively enhanced web sites provide 95% of the functionality we require. I don't think we are. Apps provide users with better performance - compiled native is going to be faster for almost everything and should also use less battery - and provide Apple + Google with control over the ecosystem. The latter makes it possible for (e.g.) Apple to claim that i…

> Of course neither Apple nor Google are likely to support something like this.

They won't when they're on top. See Microsoft, Sun, etc.

But when the cracks start to show, they will cave. Long term betting against internet technologies is almost as foolish as betting against Open Source.

And if you think about it, how much longer can the gold rush last? Especially for mobile devices. How far are we from saturation? Probably not that far. The markets that are left are much smaller and harder to enter than the existing ones.

Of course, Apple or Google could pull some tricks to create entirely new markets, but that's usually a long shot.

And when the stocks stop going up (or they go up slower than expected), that's when we'll start seeing concessions from them.

Look at Microsoft these days.

Re: I switched to Android after 7 years of iOS

#235

Post by mrcwinn »

The argument seems to be that app developers aren't doing very well on the app store, and you're looking to the free and open web as the place where vast sums of money will be made? For the vast majority of these apps, I beg to differ. The web plays by the same rules as the app ecosystem: it's very expensive to monetize, unless of course you are creating value for someone who has money and minimal friction when paying.

"Unfortunately, the web platform itself wasn’t quite ready for the spotlight yet. It was sort of possible to build web apps that looked and performed like native apps..."

Are you talking about 2007 or 2016? Native apps will always outperform non-native apps - and not because of any emotional or "political" reason - but for perfectly obvious technical reasons. Web apps have an extra layer between themselves and the hardware. Native apps do not (or, at least, the layer is much thinner). Even if web apps increase in speed another 100x, native apps will be right there too.

Look, at the end of the day, use Android or iOS. I don't care. I've used both. But don't switch for this reason.

Re: I switched to Android after 7 years of iOS

#236

Post by riquito »

S_A_P wrote: post #202

Im not sure what it is about articles like these that bother me so much. Is this guy some hacker hero that I should know? I dont care what the platform is, and this is nothing to do with iOS vs Android. I really cannot stand this "why I quit x" type of blog post. Is there a reason this guys opinion matters more than anyone elses? I know I could just ignore articles like this, but it does happen to be staring me in th…

Ignore who the guy is, read the article, form an opinion. You may find it interesting.

Re: I switched to Android after 7 years of iOS

#237

Post by harshreality »

lake99 wrote: post #185
dhd415 wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is absolutely not true of equipment with moving parts. It must either be maintained or treated as disposable. One of the hallmarks of commercial-grade equipment is its ease of maintenance and repair. You might not find it fun, but professionals who rely on that equipment for their livelihood understand the long-term TCO for well-maintained commercial-grade equipment vs. disposable consumer-grade equipment. Wheth…

> It must either be maintained or treated as disposable. While I agree with this, I understand where Swizec's comment is coming from. I have a few business acquaintances who have been automotive engineers for 30-40 years now. They have an excellent idea of how their cars work. And yet, they rue that earlier, they could open any broken car and get it to run. Now, there's not much they can do to fix their own cars. Pre…

> Pretty much all they can do when they see a blinking light is take the car to a mechanic.

Why? Don't they have OBD-2 readers?

Re: I switched to Android after 7 years of iOS

#238

Post by ergothus »

flanbiscuit wrote: post #194
lewisl9029 wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Threads like these (completely off-topic, but somehow ends up at the top and takes up 1/4 of the page) are why I wish the official HN client could collapse threads.

I love the HN-Special extension and miss it when i'm using mobile. At least HN finally a has a mobile view

I did not know of this extension, and I am now a happier person. Thanks!

Re: I switched to Android after 7 years of iOS

#239

Post by foobarian »

babuskov wrote: post #148
taesu wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These things that you mentioned, you didn't really have to do. Buy a nexus, and it's as clean as it gets. What you're saying is that you left the freedom of your device to jail yourself into simple interface...? I do agree though, that those samsung/lg/etc phone have lots crapwares + carrier crapwares.

Don't buy a Nexus. I have and it's a huge disappointment. I had a perfect Nexus 10 device running KitKat. And then it keeps nagging to upgrade to Lollipop, so I did. Ever since that, it runs every application slow as hell. If you allow the battery to run out, prepare for pain. Once you fill up the battery and it restarts it will start "optimizing" all installed applications. I have about 80 applications and this take…

Opposite experience with a Nexus 6P--it's the best phone I ever had, and my wife who has an iPhone 6 looks with envy at what I do with mine.
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