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Four months with Android (An iOS user's exploration)

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Re: Four months with Android (An iOS user's exploration)

#31

Post by barrkel »

wccrawford wrote: post #12

I went Android because there's no need to jailbreak the phone to install third-party, and I'm a programmer. I don't have to pay $99/yr to program for it, or own a computer that runs one particular operating system. I'll admit that for a long time, the iPhone experience was way better than Android. And the browser and media functionality are still horrible. And the games... -sigh- But in general, I love the Android ex…

See, I far prefer the browser on Android because of one thing - the single most important thing in a phone browser, IMO - text reflow on zoom.

Re: Four months with Android (An iOS user's exploration)

#32

Post by mbreese »

tomkarlo wrote: post #25
jessedhillon wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a link in the very next sentence that illustrates what he's talking about[1]. Yes Android was a product before 2007, but as he says (and as the photos suggest), Android post-2007 was a much different beast. There's also this question on Quora[2]. IMO, it was much closer to the BlackBerry. [1] http://random.andrewwarner.com/what-googles-android-looked-l... [2] http://www.quora.com/Android-OS/What-did-Android-…

Basing that entirely on the UI seems like a really superficial view of what goes into both Android and iOS. If it was just a matter of ripping off the UI, Microsoft, RIM and Palm would still be in the game.

They aren't basing it off of UI as much as form-factor... and that is hardly superficial.

Re: Four months with Android (An iOS user's exploration)

#33

Post by babebridou »

nextparadigms wrote: post #16
stupandaus wrote: post #3

Your question of who the Android is meant for has a very simple answer. It's designed for people who want a smartphone, but aren't willing or capable of spending enough for an iPhone. Also Apple haters as noted.

You do realize people pay just as much for high-end Android phones as others do for iPhones, don't you?

I paid 0.20€ for my Motorola Atrix, one month ago. It comes with the same data plan as the iPhone.

It was high-end last january.

Re: Four months with Android (An iOS user's exploration)

#34

Post by blinkingled »

I recently went the other way around. After exchanging my Galaxy Tab 2 times for random hangs and unexplained slowness I thought I will check out the iPad. I still have an Android phone that I am perfectly happy with so throughout the day I go back and forth with iOS and Android.

The experience on the iPad is undeniably superior after iOS5. The UI is way smoother than Honeycombs, I haven't found any beta behavior yet.

BUT, usability wise I find iPad to be incredibly annoying and limited. I keep looking for the back button and I am yet to find the level of consistency that people claim is hallmark of iOS.

Few examples -

1) Music Player UI is inconsistent with other apps - no navigation button at top left, it doesnt cover the 'desktop' fully for reasons I don't understand. Search field is at bottom right - considering it is commonly used it should be easy to locate and access.

2) Notifications - while they are lot better with 5.0, it is still inconsistent. I still see the old modal notifications from built in apps like email - twice now I saw old interrupting notifications from exchange mail - one was on Sunday evening for a meeting request on Wednesday! Oh and the notification bar doesn't cover the full screen when pulled down on the iPad unlike iPhone.

3) Always having to hit the physical home button for app switching is annoying compared to Android

4) You cannot subscribe to a podcast using the iPad on its own! I spent 30 minutes trying to do just that. It's not PC free, yet!

5) Background apps and notifications are flaky - Vtok for example was inexplicably killed some times. And when it wasn't it did not notify me using the new notification system.

6) Google integration is poor but this part I was fully expecting.

7) Finally I found that I was still confronted with iPhone only apps that looked horrible when run on iPad. This sort of thing works way better in Google land.

But I am forced to keep it until Google and co get their act together on the tablet side. Right now the user experience on the best Android tablet is way shoddy compared to the iPad but if Google could get that fixed I am fairly certain there will be compelling reasons to switch back.

Re: Four months with Android (An iOS user's exploration)

#36

Post by zerotype »

ajross wrote: post #4

FTA: Fans of Android, let’s not tiptoe around this: Android exists because it is a rip off of iOS. Sure, it has grown into its own in a lot of ways, but its roots are decidedly placed at the introduction of iOS in 2007 While true, I continue to find it infuriating the extent to which people credit Apple with inventing things it didn't. The iPhone was not the first touch-only buttonless interface out there (depending…

It basically was the start. Yes, other devices existed before the iphone. Not a single device did what the iphone did as well as it did. He never claimed that apple invented new technology. He is just saying that apple actually made a smart phone that was better than every other smart phone, did a touch screen right, and changed smart phones.

Re: Four months with Android (An iOS user's exploration)

#37

Post by mbreese »

babebridou wrote: post #33
nextparadigms wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You do realize people pay just as much for high-end Android phones as others do for iPhones, don't you?

I paid 0.20€ for my Motorola Atrix, one month ago. It comes with the same data plan as the iPhone. It was high-end last january.

And the iPhone 3GS is now free on contract too... You really can't compare the two. The top-of-the-line Android phones are competing with the top-of-the-line iPhone, and they are roughly the same price.

Re: Four months with Android (An iOS user's exploration)

#38

Post by ajross »

mbreese wrote: post #32
tomkarlo wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Basing that entirely on the UI seems like a really superficial view of what goes into both Android and iOS. If it was just a matter of ripping off the UI, Microsoft, RIM and Palm would still be in the game.

They aren't basing it off of UI as much as form-factor... and that is hardly superficial.

Nor, as was pointed out, is it an Apple invention. You could just as easily claim that Apple and Google ripped off the LG Prada: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LG_Prada_(KE850)

Re: Four months with Android (An iOS user's exploration)

#39

Post by jessedhillon »

tomkarlo wrote: post #25
jessedhillon wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a link in the very next sentence that illustrates what he's talking about[1]. Yes Android was a product before 2007, but as he says (and as the photos suggest), Android post-2007 was a much different beast. There's also this question on Quora[2]. IMO, it was much closer to the BlackBerry. [1] http://random.andrewwarner.com/what-googles-android-looked-l... [2] http://www.quora.com/Android-OS/What-did-Android-…

Basing that entirely on the UI seems like a really superficial view of what goes into both Android and iOS. If it was just a matter of ripping off the UI, Microsoft, RIM and Palm would still be in the game.

I think it's pretty clear that the article is written from the perspective of a user, and the critiques are mainly about user experience. At that level of use, it doesn't matter if they have original kernels or innovative dev environments (except that they create greater availability of high-quality apps)

Re: Four months with Android (An iOS user's exploration)

#40

Post by woobar »

blinkingled wrote: post #34

I recently went the other way around. After exchanging my Galaxy Tab 2 times for random hangs and unexplained slowness I thought I will check out the iPad. I still have an Android phone that I am perfectly happy with so throughout the day I go back and forth with iOS and Android. The experience on the iPad is undeniably superior after iOS5. The UI is way smoother than Honeycombs, I haven't found any beta behavior yet…

2) this is configurable, i.e. you can choose what apps should use modal alert, banners on top or nothing.

3) you can try 'four-fingers' gestures as a replacement. They are useless on an iPhone, bu on iPad they make Home button obsolete.

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