Phones What can an iPhone do that a android phone can't? [EDIT: and vice-versa]

blkjedi954 · Sep 20, 2012

redsox985 said:
Familiarity is definitely a selling point for many going to an iPhone IMO. Many people like the comfort of not having to learn a system that's entirely different; completely understandable. I don't really see how fragmentation is a problem (assuming you mean diversity of devices, system versions, etc.). It gives more options and allows the user to choose what they wish exactly. If you want a cost efficient phone with a good camera, you can have that. If you want a pocket computer, you can have that. Options, to me, aren't bad.

To me, "fragmentation" is a keyword that gets tossed around a lot, but never receives much in depth consideration.

If customizing didn't matter, would there be jailbreaking and theming??

Next point... Can I take your narrow minded comments of "We don't care!", in which you are speaking for the ENTIRE community, and categorize all iOS loyal users as **********? No. That would be silly of me, yet you speak for everyone.

The OP is asking for advice on Android vs. iOS, that's what people here are doing... When they aren't personally attacking each other *ahem!*

^^^^^
Holy crap! A rational Android lover?! That simply can't be!

Jailbreaking and theming, in the grand scheme of things offers more functionality in what again?? Apps don't matter? You've obviously bumped your head if you think content in the App store is irrelevant. Get that noggin looked at by a certified professional and offer something of substance next time you troll the Apple boards. Oh, Android boards don't do it for you anymore?? Find a lake and cool off. You're Welcome.

BrianPex · Oct 31, 2012

Battery last longer, much smoother OS, apps that don't FORCE CLOSE CONSTANTLY. Superior hardware design - solid, not like a pile of credit cards wrapped together, apps, apps, apps, very rigid control of software developed. Geeks that like to customize the hell out of their stuff love android and put up with the buggy system. Neat freaks that like order and stuff that works like Apple. I'm the latter. Had android last two years and got new iphone5. Miss google maps app. That's it. Period. Android is a fragmented mess

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typeadam said:
wow old thread is old...

BUT... if there is one HUGE thing that I miss from Android is the 'integrated global sharing system'
Basically, even going back to Android 1.5, any app can share anything with any other app.
To me that was huge and I used it probably more than any other feature of the OS.
I don't have this on my 4S and there are multiple times throughout the day that I wish I had it.

For those unfamiliar w/ this, it allows an app, an image, a file, pretty much nearly everything to be shared with any app or system function that allows input (most apps do (except apps like games, etc)).

Example: I use SoundHound or Shazam to get a song I like and I want to share the results. My options are: SMS, email, Twitter. With Android's global sharing system, I can share it w/ sms, email, twitter (ANY CLIENT INSTALLED like TweetDeck, etc.), facebook, Evernote (<--THIS WAS HUGE FOR ME), any ToDo app, any email client, and the list goes on.
I used Shazam as an example but this also applies to images, files, selected text, audio recording, videos, pretty much anything.
It was basically like the 'open with...' dialog in Finder or Win. Explorer...

There's not even a JB app I found that can duplicate this.

I know hardcore iPhone fanbois that even liked this and have never owned an Android so anyone that shoots this down either has blind hatred for Android or doesn't understand what I'm saying.

Another thing is being able to set default apps such as camera or email client...

IOS 6 has better sharing now. Default apps choice is a good one too.

Vegastouch · Oct 31, 2012

BrianPex said:
Battery last longer, much smoother OS, apps that don't FORCE CLOSE CONSTANTLY. Superior hardware design - solid, not like a pile of credit cards wrapped together, apps, apps, apps, very rigid control of software developed. Geeks that like to customize the hell out of their stuff love android and put up with the buggy system. Neat freaks that like order and stuff that works like Apple. I'm the latter. Had android last two years and got new iphone5. Miss google maps app. That's it. Period. Android is a fragmented mess

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IOS 6 has better sharing now. Default apps choice is a good one too.

Cant agree with much of what you said here. I don't know what kind of Android phones you had but im not experiencing any if that.Android does more stock than an iphone does jailbroken. Then when you root one its no contest.

ChazUK · Oct 31, 2012

BrianPex said:
IOS 6 has better sharing now.

I just wish it would integrate with third party apps.

I don't use Facebook but the Twitter option is nice on iOS, I just wish other apps could hook into the share screen.

Perhaps iOS7 will bring this.

onthecouchagain · Oct 31, 2012

ChazUK said:
I just wish it would integrate with third party apps. I don't use Facebook but the Twitter option is nice on iOS, I just wish other apps could hook into the share screen.

Perhaps iOS7 will bring this.

I find it so frustrating I can't share to DropBox on my iPad.

cynics · Oct 31, 2012

onthecouchagain said:
I find it so frustrating I can't share to DropBox on my iPad.

I do too (on my 4S) it is so annoying. That is the only app that I wished worked. It's so simple on Android it's mind numbing, on iOS it's a process.

plymouthbiker · Jan 31, 2013

Obviously some of this thread is a little out of date at the first few pages. But feel free to look at my blog that I've been writing on Android vs iPhones. I've been forced to use an iPhone as my Samsung galaxy S3 has had a hiccup and had to go to Samsung for repair. Therefore I've been given a iPhone 4 so I can use my micro sim card inside it. I've never used Apple products before, and so far it's been an interesting experience.

Feel free to have a good read at what I've found so far.

Regards.

(link)
http://androidsandapples.blogspot.co.uk/

Stuntman06 · Jan 31, 2013

plymouthbiker said:
Obviously some of this thread is a little out of date at the first few pages. But feel free to look at my blog that I've been writing on Android vs iPhones. I've been forced to use an iPhone as my Samsung galaxy S3 has had a hiccup and had to go to Samsung for repair. Therefore I've been given a iPhone 4 so I can use my micro sim card inside it. I've never used Apple products before, and so far it's been an interesting experience.

Feel free to have a good read at what I've found so far.

Regards.

(link)
http://androidsandapples.blogspot.co.uk/

I found your blog to be a good read. I have also found the "it just works" saying doesn't seem to apply to certain things that I tried to do on both Android and the iPhone. For me, the issues I had was moving contacts from an old phone to an Android vs. an iPhone and using a sound file on my PC as ring tone on an Android vs. an iPhone.

With regard to copying and pasting text, I had some difficulty positioning the cursor in the middle of the word. Someone then told me I had to do a long tap and get the magnifier before I can do that. I was pulling my hair out. The same thing when deleting an item from a list. I'm used to long tapping and bringing up a menu where I can select delete on Android. On iOS the long tap menu does not have a delete option. You have to swipe to get the delete button. I can understand the reason why iOS was designed this way and it does have some advantages. It is just these subtle things that really frustrated me those few times I had to use an iOS device as I am just so used to Android.

cnev3 · Feb 1, 2013

Can't read 17 pages of posts, so some of my reasons may have already been mentioned.

I'm a musician, I need to be able to plug my guitar, bass, or electric piano into my tablet and cell phone to record tracks, use effects, and do amp modeling. Android doesn't have a stereo jack adapter, nor the apps to do what Amplitube, and Garage Band does, a long with dozens of other music production apps.

Instrument manufacturers such as Fender, Korg, Moog, and Propellerhead don't release their products on Android.

I haven't found an app that is equal to iTunes U on Android, which is something I use a lot since I am a history buff and enjoy lectures and courses.

iMessage, all my texts with all my friends is synced between all my devices (tablet, phone, and desktop). Same with notes, calendar entries, and tasks.

I have found facetime to be faster, easier to use, and more stable than Skype. Plus more of my friends and family have facetime than skype, so it's ideal for communicating with them.

iMovie and iPhoto are integrated with my desktop, and I havent found photo managing and video editing apps on android that are as good.

I don't have to run a virus scanner on my phone or tablet.

Gestures are done better, and screen scrolling is very smooth and not janky looking.

Street Fighter Volt is one of my favorite games, and I can't play it on Android. A long with countless other games.

A lot of apps on Android are ported from iOS, and are not native to Android. For example, if you have a Nexus 7 with its very sweet tegra GPU, and you download a very graphic intensive game from say Gameloft, like Modern Combat, it's not going to take advantage of the Tegra.

A lot of my apps are universal, so after buying them once, I get it for no extra charge on my second device. If I had both iOS and Android, I would end up having to double dip a lot, and that sucks. I would also lose the advantage of iCloud saving. I like being able to play Vice City on my iPad, then pick up where I left off on my iPod Touch when I am on the go.

Apple devices have better resale value than Android. This is beneficial for people who like having the latest and greatest and end up flipping their devices on eBay or Craigslist when a new model comes out.

Of course Android has a handful of benefits over Apple, and i've owned both and weighed the pros and cons before making my decision on what platform to stay with. I think everybody should do the same.

flameproof · Feb 1, 2013

What can an iPhone do that a android phone can't?

Get iOS apps.
Experience the joys the iTunes.
Be protected from what Apple things is 'porn'

Vegastouch · Feb 1, 2013

cnev3 said:
Can't read 17 pages of posts, so some of my reasons may have already been mentioned.

I'm a musician, I need to be able to plug my guitar, bass, or electric piano into my tablet and cell phone to record tracks, use effects, and do amp modeling. Android doesn't have a stereo jack adapter, nor the apps to do what Amplitube, and Garage Band does, a long with dozens of other music production apps.

Instrument manufacturers such as Fender, Korg, Moog, and Propellerhead don't release their products on Android.

I haven't found an app that is equal to iTunes U on Android, which is something I use a lot since I am a history buff and enjoy lectures and courses.

iMessage, all my texts with all my friends is synced between all my devices (tablet, phone, and desktop). Same with notes, calendar entries, and tasks.

I have found facetime to be faster, easier to use, and more stable than Skype. Plus more of my friends and family have facetime than skype, so it's ideal for communicating with them.

iMovie and iPhoto are integrated with my desktop, and I havent found photo managing and video editing apps on android that are as good.

I don't have to run a virus scanner on my phone or tablet.

Gestures are done better, and screen scrolling is very smooth and not janky looking.

Street Fighter Volt is one of my favorite games, and I can't play it on Android. A long with countless other games.

A lot of apps on Android are ported from iOS, and are not native to Android. For example, if you have a Nexus 7 with its very sweet tegra GPU, and you download a very graphic intensive game from say Gameloft, like Modern Combat, it's not going to take advantage of the Tegra.

A lot of my apps are universal, so after buying them once, I get it for no extra charge on my second device. If I had both iOS and Android, I would end up having to double dip a lot, and that sucks. I would also lose the advantage of iCloud saving. I like being able to play Vice City on my iPad, then pick up where I left off on my iPod Touch when I am on the go.

Apple devices have better resale value than Android. This is beneficial for people who like having the latest and greatest and end up flipping their devices on eBay or Craigslist when a new model comes out.

Of course Android has a handful of benefits over Apple, and i've owned both and weighed the pros and cons before making my decision on what platform to stay with. I think everybody should do the same.

Lot of sentences just to say you like Apples stuff better, and thats fine. I have a few Apple products myself but only use the laptop a lot. My phone is a GS3 and i have a Mini and a Nexus 7 and like the Nexus 7 much more.
Agree facetime is better than Skype for video calls but its not like Skype is bad, and it does more things than Facetime and can be used as a free texting service instead of paying for texts on your carrier.

Anyways, i dont get why many here say you dont have to run a virus scan on your iPhone like owning a Android is some big virus risk. Just dont get that. Ive never run a virus scan on my Androids and have never had a problem or had a virus. Not sure who is filling your heads with that stuff but it just isnt true that there is a problem. I dont have a virus scanner on my PC either and there is a MUCH bigger risk of catching something on that than there is on my phone.

Like anything else, if your smart you wont get a virus on any of your electronics. Also, once buy an App from the Google play store, you dont have buy them again and there are many more free apps in the Google play store than there are in iTunes for the same Apps. Not trying to discourage or even have a debate, just saying some of your reasons arent real valid reasons.

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flameproof said:
Get iOS apps.
Experience the joys the iTunes.
Be protected from what Apple things is 'porn'

Interesting....im not a fan of iTunes at all. Prefer NOT to use it if i can help it and you really cant help it with a Tablet or a iPhone. There is no joy in iTunes for me.

jrswizzle · Feb 1, 2013

onthecouchagain said:
I find it so frustrating I can't share to DropBox on my iPad.

What can't you share/put into DropBox? (besides music)

onthecouchagain · Feb 1, 2013

jrswizzle said:
What can't you share/put into DropBox? (besides music)

If I come across a photo I want to put into DropBox, I have to leave the Photo app, tap into DropBox, then hit upload, find the picture, then hit okay. I can't share it directly from Photo (unless it's to either Twitter or Facebook).

Whereas if I come across a photo I want to put into DropBox on Android, I can hit the Share icon at the top of the photo, and pick DropBox (or any other third party app, including Twitter/FB) and click okay.

matttye · Feb 1, 2013

plymouthbiker said:
Obviously some of this thread is a little out of date at the first few pages. But feel free to look at my blog that I've been writing on Android vs iPhones. I've been forced to use an iPhone as my Samsung galaxy S3 has had a hiccup and had to go to Samsung for repair. Therefore I've been given a iPhone 4 so I can use my micro sim card inside it. I've never used Apple products before, and so far it's been an interesting experience.

Feel free to have a good read at what I've found so far.

Regards.

(link)
http://androidsandapples.blogspot.co.uk/

Some good points on your blog, but I have a bone to pick with some of it

"With Android it gives you a massive list of apps that you can share your pictures with but on the iPhoneit gives you Mail, Facebook, print and copy.... ??? So how does the typical Apple fanboy, base the saying "it just works", on this? It clearly doesn't."

You would be expected to go to the app you want to share with on iOS rather than the gallery as it stands at the moment. Whether to go to the app or the gallery is just a matter of preference.

I would prefer being able to share to everywhere from the gallery and I think Android has a much better sharing system, I'm just saying that it's usually still possible to share to whichever service you want in iOS, as long as you have the app. You just have to go to said app.

jrswizzle · Feb 1, 2013

onthecouchagain said:
If I come across a photo I want to put into DropBox, I have to leave the Photo app, tap into DropBox, then hit upload, find the picture, then hit okay. I can't share it directly from Photo (unless it's to either Twitter or Facebook).

Whereas if I come across a photo I want to put into DropBox on Android, I can hit the Share icon at the top of the photo, and pick DropBox (or any other third party app, including Twitter/FB) and click okay.

Gotcha.

siiip5 · Feb 1, 2013

onthecouchagain said:
If I come across a photo I want to put into DropBox, I have to leave the Photo app, tap into DropBox, then hit upload, find the picture, then hit okay. I can't share it directly from Photo (unless it's to either Twitter or Facebook).

Whereas if I come across a photo I want to put into DropBox on Android, I can hit the Share icon at the top of the photo, and pick DropBox (or any other third party app, including Twitter/FB) and click okay.

Yep. Just like this. Open a webpage (Washington Post in this case) and I see a photo I want to share. Easy and right from the page to all sorts of apps, email, cloud storage... And of course easily attachable to a web forum, because Android has file management.

Awakener · Feb 1, 2013

vikingjunior said:
That is the reason a day doesn't go by that an Android thread doesn't get created here. If it was really a piece of junk there wouldn't be these debates.

People who don't know any better or who want to justify their choice will defend anything.

cnev3 · Feb 1, 2013

Vegastouch said:
Anyways, i dont get why many here say you dont have to run a virus scan on your iPhone like owning a Android is some big virus risk. Just dont get that. Ive never run a virus scan on my Androids and have never had a problem or had a virus. Not sure who is filling your heads with that stuff but it just isnt true that there is a problem. I dont have a virus scanner on my PC either and there is a MUCH bigger risk of catching something on that than there is on my phone.

My Samsung Exhibit II 4G had some persistent software issues. It would freeze up, icons would disappear, keyboard input lagged, apps crashed. I had a whole sequence of troubleshooting steps. Power cycling it, doing a factory reset, installing any new firmware updates, and running a virus scan.

Running a virus scan was just part of the troubleshooting step, and something I needed to do to eliminate the source of the problem being a virus.

Besides that, virus scans would run automatically when I would restart the phone, or reinsert my SD card, and thats not something I miss.

My preference for facetime, and imessage may be personal preferences, but the majority of my points listed are indeed things that are not available on android, and not preferential.

matttye · Feb 2, 2013

What can an iPhone do that a android phone can't? [EDIT: and vice-versa]

Vegastouch said:
Anyways, i dont get why many here say you dont have to run a virus scan on your iPhone like owning a Android is some big virus risk. Just dont get that. Ive never run a virus scan on my Androids and have never had a problem or had a virus. Not sure who is filling your heads with that stuff but it just isnt true that there is a problem. I dont have a virus scanner on my PC either and there is a MUCH bigger risk of catching something on that than there is on my phone.

Like anything else, if your smart you wont get a virus on any of your electronics. Also, once buy an App from the Google play store, you dont have buy them again and there are many more free apps in the Google play store than there are in iTunes for the same Apps. Not trying to discourage or even have a debate, just saying some of your reasons arent real valid reasons.

You say you don't see why people say you have to run a virus scanner, then later on in the same post you say "if your smart you won't get a virus on any of your electronics." Well lots of people aren't smart when it comes to technology and that's exactly why virus scanners are important on Android.

Smartphones often contain lots of sensitive information that you wouldn't want to get into the wrong hands, so it's important that they're secure.

I developed a test app for Android and submitted it, and when I refreshed the page after submitting it it was available for download. No checking whatsoever. I could've written a horrendous virus and published it immediately.

The logic that because you have never had a virus, virus scanners are not needed, is extremely flawed.

FYI: I didn't use one either, but I understand their importance.

surjavarman · Feb 2, 2013

matttye said:
You say you don't see why people say you have to run a virus scanner, then later on in the same post you say "if your smart you won't get a virus on any of your electronics." Well lots of people aren't smart when it comes to technology and that's exactly why virus scanners are important on Android.

Smartphones often contain lots of sensitive information that you wouldn't want to get into the wrong hands, so it's important that they're secure.

I developed a test app for Android and submitted it, and when I refreshed the page after submitting it it was available for download. No checking whatsoever. I could've written a horrendous virus and published it immediately.

The logic that because you have never had a virus, virus scanners are not needed, is extremely flawed.

FYI: I didn't use one either, but I understand their importance.

I submitted a test app for iOS too and it got accepted. I could look in the contacts and steal thousands of names, phone numbers and other sensitive information. I could submit an app that has access to all the phone functions and it would still be accepted by apple. Apple has tons of malware

At least with android you will see the permissions that you need to give to an app. Thats why if I download some obscure app and it wants to read my phonebook, internet access or wants to use services that could cost me money... I won't download it at all. Its called common sense.

matttye · Feb 2, 2013

surjavarman said:
I submitted a test app for iOS too and it got accepted. I could look in the contacts and steal thousands of names, phone numbers and other sensitive information. I could submit an app that has access to all the phone functions and it would still be accepted by apple. Apple has tons of malware

At least with android you will see the permissions that you need to give to an app. Thats why if I download some obscure app and it wants to read my phonebook, internet access or wants to use services that could cost me money... I won't download it at all. Its called common sense.

You say you could do that, but how do you know that if you had actually submitted an app that stole information that it would have been accepted? They probably check where any data is sent to.

If your app was a wallpaper app and uploaded contacts to some random website, obviously that would probably be flagged as malware, but if it was an app like Facebook then accessing contacts wouldn't necessarily be stealing information, as the user would expect such an app to access contacts.

It's worth noting that you can turn on/off access to your contacts/calendars/etc at any time under privacy settings, and you will be asked whether you wish to allow access the first time an app tries to do so. . So it can't just happen invisibly, unlike on Android, where lots of people ignore the permissions screen!

cynics · Feb 2, 2013

surjavarman said:
I submitted a test app for iOS too and it got accepted. I could look in the contacts and steal thousands of names, phone numbers and other sensitive information. I could submit an app that has access to all the phone functions and it would still be accepted by apple. Apple has tons of malware

At least with android you will see the permissions that you need to give to an app. Thats why if I download some obscure app and it wants to read my phonebook, internet access or wants to use services that could cost me money... I won't download it at all. Its called common sense.

You still have to "allow" an app to access functions in iOS. That's why you get messages constantly after downloading a new app "Camera+ Would like to access the camera roll" then you can say OK or cancel. Same with location services and contacts etc...

I feel its much better then Android. Every time I download and android app I glance at the permissions. Then if something doesn't seem right I weigh how much I want the app lol. If you made a camera app that stole my location in iOS I could allow it access to the camera roll but deny it access to location services, with Android its all or nothing without rooting...

At the same time I'm typing this from my Nexus 10 and have never had a problem with malware on Android.

RandomKamikaze · Feb 2, 2013

matttye said:
You say you could do that, but how do you know that if you had actually submitted an app that stole information that it would have been accepted? They probably check where any data is sent to.

If your app was a wallpaper app and uploaded contacts to some random website, obviously that would probably be flagged as malware, but if it was an app like Facebook then accessing contacts wouldn't necessarily be stealing information, as the user would expect such an app to access contacts.

It's worth noting that you can turn on/off access to your contacts/calendars/etc at any time under privacy settings, and you will be asked whether you wish to allow access the first time an app tries to do so. . So it can't just happen invisibly, unlike on Android, where lots of people ignore the permissions screen!

Actually there have been several documented cases of rogue apps being approved by Apple that have gone on to access and take data they weren't supposed to. Pretty sure they have all been reported on this site as well in the form of news articles

matttye · Feb 2, 2013

Chris.L said:
Actually there have been several documented cases of rogue apps being approved by Apple that have gone on to access and take data they weren't supposed to. Pretty sure they have all been reported on this site as well in the form of news articles

I should have made it clear that I'm not suggesting for one moment that there is no malware/spyware on the iOS app store, merely that it would be harder to publish as there IS an approval process to get past, whether that be massively effective or not.

Vegastouch · Feb 2, 2013

matttye said:
You say you don't see why people say you have to run a virus scanner, then later on in the same post you say "if your smart you won't get a virus on any of your electronics." Well lots of people aren't smart when it comes to technology and that's exactly why virus scanners are important on Android.

You dont need a virus scanner on Android anymore than you would on an iPhone. What im debating is those who are saying it is a neccessity on Android phones and it isnt.
You need to be smart with your iPhone too so that was just a general statement. Much like you have to be smart when using eBay. The Google play store has reviews of every App for instance. Just do a little reading. Maybe saying you need to be smart is not th right word. Common sense is more like it.

Smartphones often contain lots of sensitive information that you wouldn't want to get into the wrong hands, so it's important that they're secure.

I developed a test app for Android and submitted it, and when I refreshed the page after submitting it it was available for download. No checking whatsoever. I could've written a horrendous virus and published it immediately.

Maybe they did a simple virus scan of it. How long do you think that would take? A couple minutes at most? Maybe it is an automatic thing after submital? I really dont know but it could be. I do know they have caught some apps that were bad and have shut down those for rooting phones.

The logic that because you have never had a virus, virus scanners are not needed, is extremely flawed.

They arent "needed" on a Android phone and i know no one that has had a virus on their phone or tablet. Id say they arent needed anymore than the iPhone or iPad is. There have been reports of malware in the App store.

Phones What can an iPhone do that a android phone can't? [EDIT: and vice-versa]

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