What features does Android have that iOS does not?

zbarvian · Feb 18, 2013

SlCKB0Y said:
Because this characteristic of iOS is an antiquity of when Apple needed to artificially slow the scrolling of the webpage in order to allow the webpage to render smoothly. It was one of the tricks used in order to maintain UI fluidity.

The current hardware is past the point where that is required but they have still maintained this.

This is totally erroneous. You really don't know what you're talking about. iOS renders everything as essentially a 2D OpenGL game to achieve the fluid manipulation across the board. That means in long lists like the iPod, to images (technically webpages are all manipulated as images). The physics of browser scrolling are not related to the fluidity/scrolling performance. It was a deliberate choice. The iPad has a different scrolling speed, apps can set their own inertias, and since iOS 4 (I think), the scrolling physics have been more responsive. The faster and longer you scroll now, the faster the browser scrolls.

Also, launch screens are not "tricks" to make things appear to load faster. You guys are amusing.

spinedoc77 · Feb 18, 2013

siiip5 said:
And with Samsung's Note2 and new phones this year, you can simply do a pinching finger gesture at the front sensor of a phone that is in sleep mode and it will wake for a few seconds to show you your missed notification.

Can you tell me where to enable this? I've got a Note 2 and can't get that to work.

alent1234 · Feb 18, 2013

mattopotamus said:
The major thing I need out of maps is accuracy. I have to check the apple maps location compared to google maps before I feel confident it's right.

I rarely use maps anyway so it's not a big deal
I usually know where I am going

SlCKB0Y · Feb 18, 2013

zbarvian said:
You guys are amusing.

No, clearly you're just back to your old ways, only this time using big words you don't understand.

/ignore list

Sounds Good · Feb 18, 2013

I have a hard time reading white text on a black background -- and it looks like Android is pretty big on this. Can it be reversed to black text on a white background?

TacticalDesire · Feb 18, 2013

I'm not someone who's constantly playing around/looking at my homescreen. I customize how I like my phone once to achieve the highest amount of efficiency possible. From then on it's about the Apps.

Tinmania · Feb 18, 2013

spinedoc77 said:
Can you tell me where to enable this? I've got a Note 2 and can't get that to work.

Settings->Motion->Quick Glance.

I use it. But I just reach my hand towards the proximity sensor to trigger it.

Michael

siiip5 · Feb 18, 2013

Sounds Good said:
I have a hard time reading white text on a black background -- and it looks like Android is pretty big on this. Can it be reversed to black text on a white background?

It isn't Android. App developers usually make two themes for an app. One being dark and the other light.
Additionally, some developers on XDA forums have created inverted Google apps, so it is a black background with white lettering, but Android straight from Google does not utilize this.

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Tinmania said:
Settings->Motion->Quick Glance.

I use it. But I just reach my hand towards the proximity sensor to trigger it.

Michael

Thanks for answering Michael. I've been driving the last 4 hours up here to Mountain View. Gotta stop by and see my little Droid buddies... before the rain hits.

BTW, I use the pinch motion only because it seems to work better for me.

TheMTtakeover · Feb 18, 2013

Sounds Good said:
I have a hard time reading white text on a black background -- and it looks like Android is pretty big on this. Can it be reversed to black text on a white background?

If you are asking whether or not you can invert the colors like you can on iOS then no. That's the thing that bugged me most about my Nexus 7.

siiip5 · Feb 18, 2013

TheMTtakeover said:
If you are asking whether or not you can invert the colors like you can on iOS then no. That's the thing that bugged me most about my Nexus 7.

Sure you can.

Settings -> Accessibility -> Negative colors

TheMTtakeover · Feb 18, 2013

siiip5 said:
Sure you can.

Settings -> Accessibility -> Negative colors

In Vanilla Android? I have no such setting.

spinedoc77 · Feb 18, 2013

Tinmania said:
Settings->Motion->Quick Glance.

I use it. But I just reach my hand towards the proximity sensor to trigger it.

Michael

Hmm I enabled it but can't get it to work. I do see a red light which I assume is the sensor.

Edit: pretty cool, it works sometimes, mostly though it doesn't work, and when it does the screen goes on several seconds after I reach my hand.

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siiip5 said:
Sure you can.

Settings -> Accessibility -> Negative colors

I never found this on my N7 on 4.22, this is one of my biggest gripes with android. To my pleasant surprise my note 2 does have this feature, though its not anywhere as nice as windows tablets which invert color without inverting pictures.

siiip5 · Feb 18, 2013

TheMTtakeover said:
In Vanilla Android? I have no such setting.

Vanilla Android, doesn't mean much without knowing which version. It may not be an option for stock Nexus devices, I am not near my Nex7 to investigate. Currently using my S3 on 4.1.1 Canadian (Rogers) based stock ROM.

However, if you are looking to surf the web with a black background and light text, XScope works wonderfully. Assuming you choose not to root your device.

Tinmania · Feb 18, 2013

spinedoc77 said:
Hmm I enabled it but can't get it to work. I do see a red light which I assume is the sensor.

Edit: pretty cool, it works sometimes, mostly though it doesn't work, and when it does the screen goes on several seconds after I reach my hand.

Once you see what triggers it best it should work every time. It takes a moment to come on, but I think that is by-design. It kind of fades in, at least that is how it looks to me.

I mainly use it, say, in the kitchen if doing something and my hands are wet or I don't otherwise want to touch the screen. Of course the LED usually will already tell me what kinds of notifications I have, now that I have them pretty much set how I like.

Michael

sentinelsx · Feb 18, 2013

Does that quick glance gesture work on a GS3? or can it be ported?

Tinmania · Feb 18, 2013

sentinelsx said:
Does that quick glance gesture work on a GS3? or can it be ported?

No... there was/is a thread on XDA about it but it went nowhere.

Mike

ChazUK · Feb 18, 2013

zbarvian said:
You really don't know what you're talking about. iOS renders everything as essentially a 2D OpenGL game to achieve the fluid manipulation across the board.

LAWL.
Reading those two bits of text beside each other has made my morning.

I take it by "2D OpenGL game" you are referring to the hardware accelerated GUI which (when tasked with doing anything else) will take priority over other processes?

Here's a little test for you. Open a lovely gif in Safari.

Here is a kitten gif, aww http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_me98fjdnin1ri63dso5_500.gif

See how it's lovely and animated. Now pinch to zoom on it & pan around. What happens? All animation is stopped and the pan/zoom animation has priority over rendering the actual gif. Now let go, magically, our gif starts moving again.

Lets try the same on Android. The image pans and zooms but still renders the animation at the same time. Similar tactics are employed when rendering big websites on iOS. Let it load some elements then start scrolling, all page rendering stops until you stop scrolling again. Then try the same on Android and not only does it scroll/pan, it still downloads and renders the page whilst doing so.

Apple have employed some very clever methods to keep things smooth on iOS. The hardware accelerated UI is only a small part of the ways they keep thugs smooth.

Still, it's all about the "2D OpenGL game" that is iOS. Nothing else.

mib1800 · Feb 18, 2013

ChazUK said:
LAWL.
Reading those two bits of text beside each other has made my morning. I take it by "2D OpenGL game" you are referring to the hardware accelerated GUI which (when tasked with doing anything else) will take priority over other processes?

Here's a little test for you. Open a lovely gif in Safari.

Here is a kitten gif, aww http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_me98fjdnin1ri63dso5_500.gif

See how it's lovely and animated. Now pinch to zoom on it & pan around. What happens? All animation is stopped and the pan/zoom animation has priority over rendering the actual gif. Now let go, magically, our gif starts moving again.

Lets try the same on Android. The image pans and zooms but still renders the animation at the same time. Similar tactics are employed when rendering big websites on iOS. Let it load some elements then start scrolling, all page rendering stops until you stop scrolling again. Then try the same on Android and not only does it scroll/pan, it still downloads and renders the page whilst doing so.

Apple have employed some very clever methods to keep things smooth on iOS. The hardware accelerated UI is only a small part of the ways they keep thugs smooth.

Still, it's all about the "2D OpenGL game" that is iOS. Nothing else.

Very interesting.

So that's why there seems to be something off when panning and zooming in IOS. It is like using a screen shot image to pan/zoom instead of actual rendering the window like Android.

An extension of the trick that shows an screen shot image of the app main window first to give the impression of speed.

cynics · Feb 19, 2013

mib1800 said:
Very interesting.

So that's why there seems to be something off when panning and zooming in IOS. It is like using a screen shot image to pan/zoom instead of actual rendering the window like Android.

An extension of the trick that shows an screen shot image of the app main window first to give the impression of speed.

You'll find user input its highly prioritized in iOS. If you open a busy webpage in safari or any 3rd party browser then start scrolling everything is suspended until you stop, it not only stops loading the webpage it stops downloading it.

Tapatalk is another example but the more annoying opposite. When its loading user input is halted so you have to wait for the app.

I use iOS and Android daily so it gets pretty easy to notice things like this. It's not that bad in practice (except tapatalk) because typically I can't browse a webpage or whatever faster then it can load. Regardless it is a way of doing less but giving the perception of speed.

TheMTtakeover · Feb 19, 2013

siiip5 said:
Vanilla Android, doesn't mean much without knowing which version. It may not be an option for stock Nexus devices, I am not near my Nex7 to investigate. Currently using my S3 on 4.1.1 Canadian (Rogers) based stock ROM.

However, if you are looking to surf the web with a black background and light text, XScope works wonderfully. Assuming you choose not to root your device.

Stock 4.2.2. Thanks, never understood why stock didn't have what seems like a basic feature. *shrugs*

cynics · Feb 19, 2013

TheMTtakeover said:
Stock 4.2.2. Thanks, never understood why stock didn't have what seems like a basic feature. *shrugs*

Curious why that option is important to you so much? I don't use it on iOS so it never dawned on my to look for it in Android.

TheMTtakeover · Feb 19, 2013

cynics said:
Curious why that option is important to you so much? I don't use it on iOS so it never dawned on my to look for it in Android.

I have my colors inverted about 90% of the time. On my all my devices. It's a lot easier on my eyes.

mattopotamus · Feb 19, 2013

This may not belong here, but I did not want to start a new thread. Do you guys know if I were to use nova launcher on the note 2 would I lose S pen?

sentinelsx · Feb 19, 2013

mattopotamus said:
This may not belong here, but I did not want to start a new thread. Do you guys know if I were to use nova launcher on the note 2 would I lose S pen?

Not in apps, not sure about the launcher interactivity (smart hover etc?)

TheHateMachine · Feb 19, 2013

mattopotamus said:
This may not belong here, but I did not want to start a new thread. Do you guys know if I were to use nova launcher on the note 2 would I lose S pen?

I use a launcher and can still use S Pen to cut things out of the homescreens. My guess would be that it is a background process running regardless of what you are in.

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Tinmania said:
No... there was/is a thread on XDA about it but it went nowhere.

Mike

sentinelsx said:
Does that quick glance gesture work on a GS3? or can it be ported?

Samsung is prepping a "Premium Suite" Upgrade for the GS2 and GS3 that will port down all the new stuff that came with the Note 2's version of Touchwiz. Including a new host of other features... like the ability to take a burst shot of multiple people and it will find best picture and then stitch in all the best faces from the others. Will be interesting to see how that turns out.

What features does Android have that iOS does not?

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