General: Android, just wow.

[hyteckit]

Originally Posted by blackhand1001

What tablet do you have anyway. If you bought some no name tablet or something I am not surprised it can't run them. By a nexus or an asus transformer next time.

Acer Iconia with Tegra 2 running ICS.

[blackhand1001]

Originally Posted by hyteckit

Acer Iconia with Tegra 2 running ICS.

The 10 inch version or the 7 inch.

[hyteckit]

Originally Posted by blackhand1001

The 10 inch version or the 7 inch.

7"

Why?

[assfeis]

If someone prefers iOS over Android or vice versa, so what? Seems that there's something fundamentally wrong in having opinions.

****ing idiots.

[Dave.UK]

I do love all the chat about widgets! Unless you've really used widgets, I honestly dont think you understand how great they are! Below is a post I made on another thread, but thought I would share it here

_______________________________

Here's just a couple of things that I can do with Android but cant with ios. Please note that this is how I have my phone set up and its the way I like it. What appeals to me might not appeal to others.

Screen 1



This is my main home screen. I love having the time/date and weather automatically update. If I click on the time it takes me straight through to my alarm setting screen. Click on the weather and it gives me a 7 day forecast.

Ive then got my countdown app telling me how long till my next race. Gives me motivation everytime I unlock the screen.

Ive then got 4 apps that I use pretty often - Camera, Gallery, Flashlight and the Play store. Underneath I have links to Contacts, Email, App Draw, SMS and Internet.

Im also using a beautiful live wall paper - Which despite what people may say, dosent drain the battery!

Screen 2



Calendar/Appointments app at the top
Juice defender toggle and prop points widget
Runtastic widget

If I click on any of the widgets, it takes me through to the app. However its nice to see the info I want on the screen without having to load the app.

Screen 3



Shiftworker widget so I can see what shifts ive got coming up. Quick click on the widget brings up the entire month.

Video player and below that my music player.

I personally could never move over to a phone that dosent have widgets. Having all the information I want on different screens, so it only takes a swipe to see it. Of course some people dont need or want widgets, but its not until you use them that you realise how useful they really are.

Then theres the notification bar!



You can slide the notification bar across and it shows more settings, but its nice and easy to get to.

[technowar]

Originally Posted by marc11

Let me ask you a few questions about your post, if you do not mind:

1) Fragmentation - If you buy a new Nexus 4, 7 or 10 sold directly from and supported directly by Google where you get the latest OS updates directly from Google, how does fragmentation effect you?

2) If you customize any OS to the point of it not being useful, how is that the OS's fault? Isn't that the users fault for not knowing exactly what they want? Why would anyone customize to the point that its useless? Wouldn't you stop once you reached the point of satisfaction?

3) So, its more productive to say, open the cal app to see your appointments next week, open your reminders app to see your to do list, then open your mail app to see your recent emails, then open your Podcast app to listen to a pod cast, then open your music app to listen to music, of then open Pages to look at a document...of and you want to know the weather, then go to notification center, and press the date to OPEN THE WEATHER APP...

Isn't it nicer to have all that information, assuming that is important to you, on a screen or two, nicely summarized and then, if needed open the related app to work with the data, instead of opening apps only to decide if you need to do something?

The above are just examples; but you get the idea; I could go on and on how widgets make the OS far more productive over opening apps over and over again.

1. Uhm, how does these devices compete with iDevices? How does these devices delivered the apps? Can you use some apps from NX4 to NX7 to NX10 and vice versa?

With regards to Widgets - there are some people that doesn't really like having one. Let's just respect them for that. I personally like having a widget but since I'm with iOS, I don't mind opening apps over and over again. Just my 2 cents.

[Dave.UK]

Originally Posted by technowar

With regards to Widgets - there are some people that doesn't really like having one. Let's just respect them for that. I personally like having a widget but since I'm with iOS, I don't mind opening apps over and over again. Just my 2 cents.

That's the great thing with Android -You get the choice on whether you want to use widgets or not.

[white4s]

how about this, who the **** cares!? buy what you want

[sviato]

Not going to watch an hour of video about this. Yes, Android has a lot of customization options and you can root, flash roms etc. Bottom line is that you can do a lot with Android but a small number of people actually use these features.

I've met a bunch of people recently who have their Galaxy S3s and have no idea about rooting, XDA forums, or even about how to kill background apps. This is not why these people bought an Android device, yet this seems to be the main advantage that people present in Android vs iOS.

Personally, I love customization. I've customized and built UIs for various games that I've played and often like things to be very specific to my preferences.

I actually don't have a problem with the Android OS, and I'm sure many people don't either. The issue is with the handset manufacturers. There are several Android OEMs making a dozen identical phones per year. If I buy the best thing now, a few months later something better will be out, and my device might not even get the software update that the new device comes with. Of course I can wait for my carrier to maybe release it for my phone, or go to forums and hope that someone had figured out a way to get this on my phone and hope that my phone's specs can support it without issues. How do I know my phone will even be supported next year? Fragmentation exists in Apple's ecosystem too, but isn't nearly as bad.

Warranty is another issue. If I have a software issue do I contact Google? Do I send my phone to Samsung? Where can I go to talk to a person and get live help? Is there an out of warranty replacement option without having to pay full price for a new phone?

One thing that I do not like about the actual Android OS though is that it just isn't as smooth as iOS. You can try to tell me that I'm wrong but I've played with my friend's GS3 for an hour and have seen this and it even shows up in OP's first video. Just by swiping across icons there is a stutter, and doing that isn't really an intensive task so it's worse when it happens elsewhere.


All that said, I can weight the benefits vs. the "faults" all day but none of that matters. The only thing that does is preference. If something works for you, then that's good for you. A bunch of my friends who use Android keep trying to push it on me while I never push my Apply devices on them. Why? I have nothing to prove, my iPhone does everything that I need it to as of now so should I really change to Android just for the sake of having more features? Maybe if the iPhone was no longer usable in my day-to-day activities then I would look for something new. People's preferences are different, I know your egos require whatever you use to be "the best", but people really need to leave this issue of Android vs iOS alone - just use what you like.

[hyteckit]

Originally Posted by Dave.UK

Im also using a beautiful live wall paper - Which despite what people may say, dosent drain the battery!

I bought a bunch of live wall paper.

After playing with it for a few days, end up turning it off.

Not only does it drain the battery, it slows down the device by a lot.

[cmChimera]

Originally Posted by marc11

Let me ask you a few questions about your post, if you do not mind:

1) Fragmentation - If you buy a new Nexus 4, 7 or 10 sold directly from and supported directly by Google where you get the latest OS updates directly from Google, how does fragmentation effect you?

Inconsistent app experience because developers aren't designing an app specifically for that device. Resolution and screen sizes make a difference. Software optimization is also an issue, both for the app and the OS.

[donrsd]

Originally Posted by Dave.UK

I do love all the chat about widgets! Unless you've really used widgets, I honestly dont think you understand how great they are! Below is a post I made on another thread, but thought I would share it here

Screen 2

Image

Calendar/Appointments app at the top
Juice defender toggle and prop points widget
Runtastic widget

If I click on any of the widgets, it takes me through to the app. However its nice to see the info I want on the screen without having to load the app.

Good ol Juice Defender.
Nothing like having an app to kill your apps or an app to save the battery life on apps that never stop running.

I had a Sprint EVO when it 1st came out. Worst 8 months of my cell phone life until I got out of the contract.
I hacked the crap out of the phone, customized everything & even installed every 'free' app I could get for free
Went to an iPhone 4 and never looked back.
Had an iPhone 4S and now an iPhone 5.

I do like the SG3 screen size, but thats where my love for anything android end.

[lunaoso]

Originally Posted by mib1800

- How about auto switching your ring profile based on time/appointment (instead of tediously remembering to flip the silent switch on iphone?
- How about having a multi-clipboard (last X number of clippings + predefined ones)
- How about tapping a NFC tag and have phone automatically change settings/start up apps/etc.
- How about auto-upload or download photos/podcasts/files/content/log/sms/links to ANY share providers (without needing to manually start apps one-by-one)?
- How about creating "shortcuts" to any apps/predefined sms/contacts/files/links/content anywhere in the phone and needing just one tap to activate action.
- How about having information in widgets that auto-refresh?
- How about having phone performance actions automatically based on events (e.g. auto-send sms for birthday, on-off settings or run apps based on time/location, block calls based on rules)

I got rid of the ones in that list that don't help productivity at all. And of those that are listed above, I would probably only use maybe one or two. And really flipping the silent switch is tedious?

[AlyseM]

I had a lot of performance issues with my android. I think it will be a long while before I give them another chance.

[jsw]

Originally Posted by lunaoso

And really flipping the silent switch is tedious?

No, but remembering to flip it back off silent can be a problem.

I was able to set timed profiles on Nokia phones in the 1990s. The fact I can't on my iPhone remains a sore point. I work roughly the same hours every weekday. I am supposed to keep my phone on silent at work. It would be really great to not have to remember twice a day, five days a week, to flip the switch. Most days, I remember, but I'm embarrassed at work when I don't remember in the morning, and I miss calls in the evening if I forget to switch back.

There is absolutely no reason whatsoever to not have this capability in iOS. None.

[cynics]

Originally Posted by lunaoso

I got rid of the ones in that list that don't help productivity at all. And of those that are listed above, I would probably only use maybe one or two. And really flipping the silent switch is tedious?

You and I can't use ANY off that list though. Having a list of stuff the iPhone can't do then saying "I'd only use one or two" is a moot point isn't it? You could want everything there or only one thing there, the result will still be the same.

[lunaoso]

Originally Posted by cynics

You and I can't use ANY off that list though. Having a list of stuff the iPhone can't do then saying "I'd only use one or two" is a moot point isn't it? You could want everything there or only one thing there, the result will still be the same.

Yes I agree with that. As I said above, I believe Android is a very capable OS. The things I took out were having the wallpaper change every once in a while. That doesn't improve productivity. Some of those things on that list I thought were kind of useless, such as Using NFC chips for settings, considering the limited amount of NFC chips.

[matttye]

Used Android for three years. Formed my own opinions; don't have to view someone else's on YouTube. Prefer iOS.

Next!

[blesio]

Originally Posted by jsw

No, but remembering to flip it back off silent can be a problem.

I was able to set timed profiles on Nokia phones in the 1990s. The fact I can't on my iPhone remains a sore point. I work roughly the same hours every weekday. I am supposed to keep my phone on silent at work. It would be really great to not have to remember twice a day, five days a week, to flip the switch. Most days, I remember, but I'm embarrassed at work when I don't remember in the morning, and I miss calls in the evening if I forget to switch back.

There is absolutely no reason whatsoever to not have this capability in iOS. None.

But you do have this option, although its been introduced in iOS 6, a little late, it's still there and working fine

[jsw]

Originally Posted by blesio

But you do have this option, although its been introduced in iOS 6, a little late, it's still there and working fine

Ah, I did not know that! However, until there's a decent jailbreak, I'm stuck on iOS 5.

[iEvolution]

Apple works on the concept of KISS (keep it simple stupid), they keep their products simple instead of seeing how many features they can shove in there.

Not saying it is right or wrong but this is what Apple has been doing the last 8 or so years that has been making the company a killing.

I prefer android myself but I would definitely be giving Apple products to those less technically inclined.

[marc11]

Originally Posted by cmChimera

Inconsistent app experience because developers aren't designing an app specifically for that device. Resolution and screen sizes make a difference. Software optimization is also an issue, both for the app and the OS.

However, unless you own several devices, running several different versions of Android, this does not really apply. The app is the app is the app; if it isn't a good app for what ever reason, then that is different. Again, if you buy a new generation of Nexus product from Google, fragmentation is a non issue IMHO.

[technowar]

No fragmentation, yes. But how does these devices outperformed the iDevices.

[jsw]

Originally Posted by technowar

No fragmentation, yes. But how does these devices outperformed the iDevices.

In any real sense, each company's flagship phone is fast enough. Performance of all of these is, in normal use, roughly equivalent. It comes down to the OS and ecosystem and your personal preferences, because the fact that Phone A is twice as fast as Phone B in SpecTest 1 and 0.75 times as fast in SpecTest 2 is usually irrelevant.

I know people who are perfectly happy with iPhone 3s - which are, what, 8x slower than the iPhone 5? For tablets, speed matters more. For phones? It just has to be fast enough, and they all are.

[cmChimera]

Originally Posted by marc11

However, unless you own several devices, running several different versions of Android, this does not really apply. The app is the app is the app; if it isn't a good app for what ever reason, then that is different. Again, if you buy a new generation of Nexus product from Google, fragmentation is a non issue IMHO.

I'm apps are subpar because of the fragmentation. I'm also saying that the OS and the apps suffer from a lack of optimization because it's impossible to optimize for hardware due to the fact that the hardware configurations are sporadic. Games and apps almost uniformly look better on iOS. Higher quality games are on iOS. This has a direct effect on any Android user because it is their experience. You can have a Nexus device all you want, but if a fragmented ecosystem is subpar then it is subpar.