If Android is so much more customisable that iOS;why does it always look the same?

I couldn't disagree more. I think that modern Android looks great with the stock "Holo" theme, but manafacturer and third-party themes can be almost anything. And it is actually very neat for an open platform.

Compare that with "the new iOS", where your only option is tasteless neon and pastel, reckless translucency and white and mid-2000s-Flash-style animations.

MartinAppleGuy said:

Well? Everyone's Android device I see; they all look the same and clunky. It appears Android users use this to try to come to the conclusion that their device is better; but why do majority never actually customise it? It just looks crap; animations are either too fast, or have dropped frames...

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Yes this seems to be the case for almost everything be it cars, computers etc... People like to defend their choice of products and see it as the superior choice, gives them comfort. Also wrong forum?

OP you do have a problem with your eyes I guess, but looking at your nick name it could be trolling instead.

Yea android is much more customizable. Don't know what your talking about. There's been some beautiful android home screens I seen. On ios you can't change these bright neon colors. On android you would've been able to. I love ios but to say that it's just as customizable as android is laughable

Who gives a flying ****? It's a phone! A PHONE! Do whatever the hell you want with it.

Even though I'm using iOS, I have to highly disagree with the poster. It almost seems like at attempt at trolling, I mean the original intent of the word "troll".

What I miss most about Android is EXACTLY that ability to customize. Especially things like widgets, which provide all the information I need at just a glance. A great example is a calendar widget, which has a list of appointments with the ability to customize what, how, etc is displayed. It's not as great since the advent of the pull down quick screens, but it's still formatted and displayed better IMO.

I think the op has a point in that the unwashed masses probably don't customize their android phone, but just leave it stock. But at least you have the choice to do so.

MartinAppleGuy said:

Well? Everyone's Android device I see; they all look the same and clunky. It appears Android users use this to try to come to the conclusion that their device is better; but why do majority never actually customise it? It just looks crap; animations are either too fast, or have dropped frames...

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Just because they look the same means nothing at all. Customizing goes much deeper than what you see. Like being able to set default apps. My home screen may look the same as the next guy here but, maybe i use a different sms/mms app, different browser, and open my documents with a different app than he/she does. Don't judge a book by its cover.

The problem is the OP is judging a platform based on his limited experience. You cannot judge android because a couple friends of yours does nothing their the android phones.

Just look at the custom rom cottage industry that has sprung up with Android, or the customized launchers that you can install. The customization options are boundless and many of those extend beyond the home screen from which you judge the platform from.

The simple fact exists, you have more flexibility and choices in android then iOS.

I was one of those people who completely changed the look of their phones.

Also android from moto will look behave different then from Samsung, or HTC so again this is a huge difference then from what we see from Apple.

I'm on an iPhone and love my iPhone 5 but that doesn't negate the fact that Android is different from maker to maker, it also offers the consumer almost limitless customization

Smh @ man babies and their insecurities

They all look the same because most people don't take the time to customize them.

Not to mention, most of these customizable themes and stuff really slow the device down.

MartinAppleGuy said:

Well? Everyone's Android device I see; they all look the same and clunky. It appears Android users use this to try to come to the conclusion that their device is better; but why do majority never actually customise it? It just looks crap; animations are either too fast, or have dropped frames...

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Go to http://mycolorscreen.com/ and tell me that they are all the same.

MartinAppleGuy said:

This is that I mean up here - the complain about iOS not being customisable; yet they don't bother going all that deep on their own devices any way.

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I don't like speed limits even though I don't always want to drive as fast as possible. You need new fiends

MartinAppleGuy said:

This is that I mean up here - the complain about iOS not being customisable; yet they don't bother going all that deep on their own devices any way.

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Who cares, Android is more customizable, and so what if many people choose not to do that. Enjoy your device and ignore the people who complain about it

MartinAppleGuy said:

What I mean is the following;

I know of several people that bash me for having an iPhone; and use the excuse that it is crap compared to an Android phone due to the lack of customisation. When I look at their phones though; the only thing that differentiates on from another is the wallpaper; and some widgets. iOS has widgets in notification centre; so what's the problem. Are you telling my an iPhone is crap to use just because you have to swipe down; how straining. I am not complaining about Android; I'm just complaining about the idiotic users I know.

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Yeah, I do kind of agree with you. While customizing Android is VERY cool, it's highly overrated IMO. As I mentioned I love widgets, but I think their importance has gone down quite a bit since the notification pulldowns were incorporated and as they are refined. I think on my last Android phone, the nexus 5, I didn't bother to set up half the widgets I used to because they were on the pulldown.

Using androids customization features is a bit of a weak argument IMO. It might be a good argument for between technophiles, but for the unwashed masses of consumers I don't think it is. I know it's kind of sacrilege to state so on this subforum, but the vast majority of users use their phones to make phone calls, check calendar, mundane things like that and not necessarily test their technological barriers like us techies do.

For the other guys, I do understand his point. He' s not bashing the customization abilities of android, he's bashing people who use it as an argument against iOS.

MartinAppleGuy said:

Well? Everyone's Android device I see; they all look the same and clunky. It appears Android users use this to try to come to the conclusion that their device is better; but why do majority never actually customise it? It just looks crap; animations are either too fast, or have dropped frames...

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What do these people say when you ask them why they haven't customised theirs after they have come to the conclusion that theirs are better after customisation?

AutoUnion39 said:

They all look the same because most people don't take the time to customize them.

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This and most people don't know how to customize their devices. With the exception of the small minority enthusiasts, majority of smartphone users are your mother, father grandparents, etc.

I gave my Mom my iPhone 4 when I upgraded to a 4s at release. She txt'd me yesterday on the same 4 and asked me how to remove an app. I've had thousands of similar encounters when I was a genius @ an apple store. And the same with Blackberries when I was @ VZW.

It's easy to sit inside a bubble such as an enthusiast forum like MacRumors and be confused by the ignorance of those outside the bubble. However, the people outside the bubble far outnumber those of us inside.

This goes for any technology. Has anybody never experienced a Windows or Mac OS desktop littered with garbage shortcuts, downloads and unmounted drives?

OP... Worry less about everybody else and open your mind. It's not 1992 anymore when we were justified when we made fun of people who didn't know how to use Usenet or IRC. XD

Do some research before posting nonsense...

The customization options in Android are almost limitless.

You can change ROMS + launchers + icons packs + widgets + live wallpapers + tweaks like on screen buttons + etc

You just have no idea what it is like.

I have a SGS3 and I have Apex launcher installed with weather and calendar widgets plus live wallpaper and on screen buttons for multitasking.

MartinAppleGuy said:

This is that I mean up here - the complain about iOS not being customisable; yet they don't bother going all that deep on their own devices any way.

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What you're missing and probably many iPhone users is what customization means. It can mean anything from the type of background you use to the type of ROM you're running.

For example, one way in which EVERY Android user customizes their experience, which you probably wouldn't notice, are the apps and widgets available on their home screen. In iOS you just have every single app and you can organize it by folders. In Android you have an app locker which contains all of your apps and only those that you use most often can be on your home screen.

We can use the same phone and the same app and our home screens may LOOK similar to the unsuspected eye, but the utility we get out of our platform will be custom tailored to us.

For example, let's take the ever so commonly used weather apps. On iOS you have a million different options, just as you do in Android. However, in Android I can put a widget on my desktop which will display the info that I want to see at all times and it may be different than the info that you want to see. For example, I just care about the current temperature where I'm located and at my house. My friend on the other hand doesn't care about such things, but has a radar that he looks at all times.

Here's a screenshot of widget choices for one random app as an example:


Here's one with a radar:


Let's say you and I are both big-time YouTube freaks... in iOS you have a YouTube icon which will take you to the app, but in Android we can put a widget on our desktop (the same one, mind you), except yours will show you information important to you and mine will do the same for me.

Customization is a a vague term as it doesn't define what you can customize. On Android the answer is "everything." What do YOU want custom?

MartinAppleGuy said:

"But I can when I want to" is the answer I normally hear. Not much of a "must have" over iOS then. That is what I'm talking about.

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Surely it's better to have the choice than to not have.

Likewise the must haves are far greater than just customisable screens, it boils down to a myriad of other factors including...

Customisable apps in the sense that YOU can choose the default programme. Don't like the stock gallery, keyboard or SMS application - you can choose to use another as DEFAULT ... On iOS no.

Greater choice of hardware and form factors. After using larger devices I find the 4" screen on the iPhone too restrictive.

Expandable storage and replaceable battery for some users.

Clever and intelligent peripherals and smart cases where you can utilise your phone whilst it's inside a case.

These are just a few aspects that make Android a much better and a greater user configurable experience than just a simple launcher or icon pack.

Likewise your opinion that animations are too fast or choppy - we'll again at least on android you can choose to turn off animations. Please tell me where I can do this on iOS 7 which is universally acknowledged by even die hard iOS users as having excessively slow and overblown animations. Likewise turn on 'reduce motion' in iOS accessibility options and then tilt your home screen from portrait to landscape and back again and you can see very choppy performance on display there too.

I don't use Android right now, but it's way beyond the home screen.

For example, my setup used to be Glovebox. With Glovebox, I can have shortcuts to every app within a swipe. This was nice to switch between apps, while being able to make a call, look at a widget, etc, with a swipe and a tap.

Easy enough to do a similar setup with AOKP and virtual soft keys.

I alo had it setup so it would open up a music app the moment I plugged my headphones on, have different notifications and and off when I was asleep, in class, etc.