Anybody else switching to iOS until they stop ruining Android

Lloydbm41 said:

Some people simply refuse to call apps what Apple forces upon you (and you can't delete or even put inside of a folder to hide it) bloatware. They believe that since it doesn't come from a carrier that it is okay. I would counter that the pre-installed apps from Apple are actually worse, since iOS prevents you from deleting or even disabling those apps. No matter what, those apps like Newstand will always and forever take up not only storage space, but also precious screen real-estate in the form of an ugly icon.
I hate this about iOS. For f#$ks sake Apple, at least let me hide or disable these apps. I don't need a mandatory calculator app!

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+100. It's the same thing. I was just thinking of the Verizon bloatware on my Moto X, and frankly, the fact that I have to deal with Newstand, Stocks, Notes, Reminders, etc. when I don't use them. Even Maps when I want to use GMaps.

At least Android lets me hide/disable things I don't want to see on a regular basis.

My problem with Android that is going to lead me back to IOS is that their phones are too big. I prefer 1-handed use and I think 4.7 inches is basically the max I can do. I picked up the HTC One and the Galaxy S at the store and couldn't one hand either.

If next year, my only option for a screen under 5 inches is the iPhone 6, that's the inevitable path I'll take.

khha4113 said:

It's not the point!

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so you bought a Nexus phone, which comes unlocked and can be easily rooted, and you'll complain about it, but you won't take 10 minutes to install Cyanogenmod? You know how easy it is?

Lloydbm41 said:

Please read my post more carefully. Matter what you do, you are forced to keep Apple bloat as an eyesore on your screen. Be it the app icon or a folder of those app icons. And then there is New stand that Apple won't even let you put in a folder. It must remain as an eyesore forever.

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Not disagreeing with you but correcting one inaccuracy. Not certain exactly which version of iOS made the change but you are now able to at least place the Newsstand app inside a folder--have done so on my iPad.

tbayrgs said:

Not disagreeing with you but correcting one inaccuracy. Not certain exactly which version of iOS made the change but you are now able to at least place the Newsstand app inside a folder--have done so on my iPad.

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Thank god! At least Apple allows that now. I knew I was gonna have to hide all the other apps in a folder icon when I got my iphone 6, but still have that stupid newstand icon sitting there. At least now, that eyesore is gone.

thanks for the correction and info.

Sanchez25 said:

You guys are saying Android is being ruined, then you've never seen iOS 7-8. Never used Android but the new iOS's design is terrible sadly. Function wise it's an improvement however.

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I think Android is great.

My issue is mainly with the ever growing sizes of android phones. I'm pretty happy with my Nexus 5. Personally I get great battery life for what I use a smartphone for (checking the web constantly, texting and sending emails). But if there isn't a decent flagship quality (and supported) phone the same size or smaller than my current nexus 5 when it is time to upgrade I will seriously have to consider the iPhone, and of course pray that Apple sticks with 4.7 inches for a while. Everyone talks about the joys of choice on Android but it really isn't all that great. I say this as someone who really likes android and would love to stay in this ecosystem if shear ergonomics will let me.

I also agree with the OP that a HUGE benefit of the iPhone is you never have any nasty carrier specific surprises. This is one of the main reasons my last two phones have been Nexus.

Bacong said:

so you bought a Nexus phone, which comes unlocked and can be easily rooted, and you'll complain about it, but you won't take 10 minutes to install Cyanogenmod? You know how easy it is?

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Who said I didn't? Like I said, it's too "vanilla" for my taste, and that's why I rooted and modified it.

I dont live in America, so im asking.. Cant you buy your phone from a store without carrier stuff? And then take a contract from the carrier you want? Do you need to buy it from a carrier or some kind of relation to a carrier? I have been always wonder why people buy phones that are binded to some some phone company. Is it because you cant buy it without making a contract or because you get it for "cheaper" and paying it on every months?

I'm probably still NOT switching to iOS anytime soon though. Love the iPhone hardware. Dislike the forced upon restrictions/ecosystem traps from iOS.

As each day passes, I'm starting to like my Xiaomi Mi 3 more than my HTC One! True it isn't quite as stable with weird icon glitches here and there. But I love the battery life! I decided to use this as my daily driver for a week keeping the M7 inside its box for a little R&R on battery. Mi 3 screen usage is 5.5 hrs doing varying activities and batt life is still at 50%. Usually the HTC would be under 20% (or 30-45 min more screen time) with a faster drainage by that point.

I can't really see myself going back to a battery backup under 3000 mAh for a 1080p screen. And most Snapdragon 800 and higher have efficient battery life compared to the S4 Pro and 600. The larger dimensions don't really bother me that much. Note 3, G2, Z1, Mi 3, and many others with a SD800 + minimum 3000 mAh battery all have excellent battery life. Also themes and security/battery optimization settings are great. Moto X, Moto G, and Nexus 5 are no-buys for me. OnePlus One is a better choice and read it has excellent battery life as well over 10+ screen time.

But I'm curious once the iPhone 6 goes bigger, how improved the battery life would be? Esp between the 4.7 inches vs 5.5? I felt iOS was always more battery efficient for what it had. If it happens to leapfrog over 15-20 hr screen time, then I will heavily consider it again. I don't think Apple has ever reached the battery efficiency since iPhone 4/iOS4. Ever since the faster dual-core SoC came along with the heavier iOS5 and above, batt life generally is only above average (6-8 hrs) for me. The bigger Androids with a 3000+ mAh is surpassing them already. I realized shorter battery life bothers me more than bigger dimensions. I can now finally understand why so many Note 3 owners love their Note 3 so much.

dumastudetto said:

That's ludicrous. Daniel is one of the most respected tech writers in the business today. To call him biased and a shill is revolting.

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Lol. Just what I would expect from you.

mrex said:

I dont live in America, so im asking.. Cant you buy your phone from a store without carrier stuff? And then take a contract from the carrier you want? Do you need to buy it from a carrier or some kind of relation to a carrier? I have been always wonder why people buy phones that are binded to some some phone company. Is it because you cant buy it without making a contract or because you get it for "cheaper" and paying it on every months?

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Yes, you can buy phones direct from places like Microsoft, Amazon, Apple, and so forth at full unsubsidized prices. Problem with the U.S. is there are 2 competeing networks (Verizon and Sprint is CDMA) and (AT&T and T-Mobile are GSM). So if you buy a Verizon HTC One, it won't work on AT&T, or if you can get it to work, there are limitations, like no LTE, no visiual voicemail and the like.

Most people in the U.S. buy on contract, so they pay less up front. They then pay off their phone over 12-24 months, depending on the contract. This is why the iPhone sells so well in the U.S and U.K., but very little everywhere else in the world. (You can get an iPhone 4S for free on a 2 year contract and an iPhone 5S for $99 up front on a 2 year contract.) If the iPhone was not subsidized in the U.S., Apple wouldn't sell nearly as many phones, because very few people would be willing to fork out $600-$900 for a phone. In fact, iPhone sales figures worldwide would probably look exactly like iPad sales figures. Same goes with flagship Android and Windows phones, although they are less effected since there are flagship phones that are as little as $300 unsubsidized.

Thanks for clarifying...

I've never had a stock ROM on any of my Android phones due to my hatred of bloatware. I won't buy an iPhone for the same reason.

Lloydbm41 said:

Yes, you can buy phones direct from places like Microsoft, Amazon, Apple, and so forth at full unsubsidized prices. Problem with the U.S. is there are 2 competeing networks (Verizon and Sprint is CDMA) and (AT&T and T-Mobile are GSM). So if you buy a Verizon HTC One, it won't work on AT&T, or if you can get it to work, there are limitations, like no LTE, no visiual voicemail and the like.

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A bigger issue, with Verizon and Sprint, you have to get a Verizon or Sprint phone. At least with AT&T or T-Mobile, any unlocked GSM phone will work (even if some will only work on 2G). There are plenty of areas with only Verizon coverage so for folks living or working in those areas, it's not like they have much of a choice.

Another consideration, prior to T-Mobile shaking up the industry, plan prices were the same regardless of whether you get your smartphone subsidized or buy outright. Carriers imposed a mandatory "data" plan for all smartphones so you're paying for the subsidy either way (granted, the same loophole allowed folks to buy an iPhone for just $200 if they switch it out with a dumb phone). If you're going to have to pay your carrier $80 per month or $1,920 for 2 years for the privilege of using an iPhone on their network regardless, might as well just pay $200 (plus activation/upgrade fee) instead of $650 for your iPhone. Besides, GSM factory unlocked iPhones weren't officially available in the US until the 4S and most of the Android options around the time were junk anyway.

That doesnt sound customer friendly at all.. how about travelling to another area, roaming doesnt work if you are under differend protocol... How did they manage to get an approval to build a mixed network like that in the first place?

I appreciate both Apple and Google, so I have a Nexus 5 and iPad Air. Best of both worlds. Absolutely ZERO bloatware on my N5 and I absolutely love the direction Google is taking Android (only complaint would be that they don't demand enough control, this whole carrier/OEM bloat and fragmentation system should have LONG ago been eliminated)

mrex said:

That doesnt sound customer friendly at all.. how about travelling to another area, roaming doesnt work if you are under differend protocol... How did they manage to get an approval to build a mixed network like that in the first place?

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This is the U.S. dontcha know? Land of government waste and mismanagement. The U.S. should be on the metric scale completely, but still holds on to SAE and Imperial measurements. Many road signs are in both MPH and KPH, the mechanical industries have to work in both metric and SAE. It's pretty ridiculous.

GSM should be the worldwide standard and utilize common freqs/bands, so no matter where you go in the world,,your phone can pop a local SIM and off you go. but that makes to much sense to work.

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Bloatware?

There's none on my phone. The joys of unlocked devices, which is the rule rather than the exception in my country.

This is no different to the days when Symbian and Nokia dominated. Back then every phone had some kind of horrible branding. This is nothing new, the majority of the Android owners ( not all ) want cheap phones and this is one way of subsidising.

Now before anyone jumps on my back and says that is bollox, I can provide some pretty hard evidence. Fact of the matter is that if price was not an issue with Android owners, then branding would never happen.....

http://www.phonearena.com/news/Aver...-iPhone-and-the-price-gap-is-widening_id52693

It's simple to debrand. I just got my first Android phone and did it a day after picking up with flashtool.

Risco said:

This is no different to the days when Symbian and Nokia dominated. Back then every phone had some kind of horrible branding. This is nothing new, the majority of the Android owners ( not all ) want cheap phones and this is one way of subsidising.

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Dont you want to have cheaper phones? I do have an android but no bloatware. I have bought my all phones from local tech-stores. Like one of the writer said, also we dont have bloatware problem in my country in europe even if you buy it from some of the phone companies and would like to pay it monthly.

mrex said:

Dont you want to have cheaper phones? I do have an android but no bloatware. I have bought my all phones from local tech-stores. Like one of the writer said, also we dont have bloatware problem in my country in europe even if you buy it from some of the phone companies and would like to pay it monthly.

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I believe you get what you pay for. You buy cheap and you usually end up sacrificing something. I buy my phones either new or mint condition second hand. What I am trying to say is that you can't have both.

Risco said:

I believe you get what you pay for. You buy cheap and you usually end up sacrificing something. I buy my phones either new or mint condition second hand. What I am trying to say is that you can't have both.

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Nexus 5

nexus4life said:

I appreciate both Apple and Google, so I have a Nexus 5 and iPad Air. Best of both worlds. Absolutely ZERO bloatware on my N5 and I absolutely love the direction Google is taking Android (only complaint would be that they don't demand enough control, this whole carrier/OEM bloat and fragmentation system should have LONG ago been eliminated)

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i do agree. I think google had it this way with hands off control so android could blow up. looks like it worked.

SlCKB0Y said:

Nexus 5

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Close, but not quite. You sacrifice on camera and build quality. That's where Google cuts value on that device.