Why iOS 7 is simply better than Android

Naor · Oct 18, 2013

Hey guys, I had considered moving to android for a while, friends started to sell their iPhone 4 (which sucks IMO) and bought a shiny new android (galaxy 4, HTC one)... They all obsessively talked about how lame ios is, and I started believing them. Seriously, on Android you can do so many cool things, you can customize so much, their notification center is awesome, and the HD displays look gorgeous.

I had never had a good friend with an android until recently, he has a Galaxy S4. At first, I was astonished by this phone... It looked so beautiful and fun, and WhatsApp on this phone is really awesome, but the more I used it I realized how bad it performs against my iPhone 5.
Many apps LAG, they stutter, they don't feel natural and smooth, there is no bounce back scrolling... Even browsing on this phone is a nightmare, I knew that I would regret switching so badly if I actually did it.

I am so in love with the new ios 7 apps, everything gets so beautiful and clean, so much consistency that never existed on ios apps. Did you realize the notification alerts less interfere with what you're doing thanks to the new guidelines? And the new Facebook app, isn't it beautiful? Android users can only look from the side and feel jealous.

I know this OS still lacks so many things compared to android, but nothing compares the experience...

I'm not a fanboy nor I care much about which phone is better, I just wanted to share with you guys why I realized that Android is not ready yet for me to switch. I am using my iPhone 5 for a year and it's amazing what can I do on it, never lags, always fun!

Sorry about my bad English, sorry if you felt this thread was stupid and unnecessary, I'd like to hear your opinions

emseven · Oct 18, 2013

I fully agree. The hardware and customization will lure you in but there is very little to keep you around. Oh, and terrible resale when you want iPhone back.

Nanasaki · Oct 18, 2013

If you want lag free Android, you probably want Nexus phone or tablet or rotor your phone and flash pure android

Naor · Oct 18, 2013

Nanasaki said:
If you want lag free Android, you probably want Nexus phone or tablet or rotor your phone and flash pure android

I won't know until I find a good friend with a nexus

I still think the real problem with android is the apps, android lacks unified guudelines and it doesn't let developers build fun apps like on ios. On android Facebook app you can't even swipe to reveal chat, that's just terrible experience. Now on ios 7 you can swipe back from most apps, that really improved my experience with the phone.

Nanasaki · Oct 18, 2013

Naor said:
I won't know until I find a good friend with a nexus I still think the real problem with android is the apps, android lacks unified guudelines and it doesn't let developers build fun apps like on ios. On android Facebook app you can't even swipe to reveal chat, that's just terrible experience. Now on ios 7 you can swipe back from most apps, that really improved my experience with the phone.

I would not call Facebook on Android is terrible experience. The phone version is pretty comparable. The tablet version however is terrible on Android. There are plenty good Android apps and we are saying more and more iOS only app moves to Android. I am pretty sure there is a guide line for Android app development, it just not as restricted as iOS.

sarcosis · Oct 18, 2013

Naor said:
I won't know until I find a good friend with a nexus I still think the real problem with android is the apps, android lacks unified guudelines and it doesn't let developers build fun apps like on ios. On android Facebook app you can't even swipe to reveal chat, that's just terrible experience. Now on ios 7 you can swipe back from most apps, that really improved my experience with the phone.

There actually are design guide lines but they aren't enforced. With ICS, more and more developers are starting to use them since the user base is shifting towards post ICS devices. The Facebook Android app isn't too bad, just super choppy for who knows what reason. As for the swipe to reveal chat, I'd rather have the system wide Chat Head feature. That to me is far more useful than with it being in only the app on iOS. I also wouldn't recommend judging Android solely based on the experience with the S4. As an Android Experience, it's not that great since they just pile the features on with little optimization.

Heavy Fluid · Oct 18, 2013

Having used both an iPhone 4S on 6, and my Galaxy S4, there is no way I would go back to iOS. I have not used 7, but have seen it, and am less than blown away by it.

For someone like me, who no longer uses Facebook, the conversation above is meaningless. I use my phone for calls, email, SMS, browsing, and for meaningless tasks like an alarm clock, calender, reminder/tasker, etc. The lack of customization on iOS is a HUGE turn off for me. I like to tinker with the homescreen, and to be honest, the ability to only change the wallpaper on iOS is an absolute joke. Oooooh, I can change the lock screen also? Wow. That's it? No thanks. I will stick to my homescreen, which is how I want it, not how my OS wants it.

THE JUICEMAN · Oct 18, 2013

I've been an iOS uses since the beginning and still am today. But you are conflating samsungs crap layer of software on top of android to iOS. The true comparison as someone above said, is between iOS and pure unadulterated android straight from google.

Now I realize that a whole bunch of phones use skins on top so I see why the comparison is made but I just wish people would think iOS vs touch wiz or iOS vs HTC sense. iOS vs stock android is a completely different story. ;-)

fredaroony · Oct 18, 2013

Basically you came into the alternative to iOS section to proclaim how great iOS is?

Smells like a troll bait thread...

ChazUK · Oct 18, 2013

Naor said:
I am so in love with the new ios 7 apps, everything gets so beautiful and clean, so much consistency that never existed on ios apps. Did you realize the notification alerts less interfere with what you're doing thanks to the new guidelines? And the new Facebook app, isn't it beautiful? Android users can only look from the side and feel jealous.

Did you actually use the thing or just swipe around the (horrid) TouchWiz interface?

I use some superb apps on both my iPhone and HTC One on a daily basis.

Press (Feedly reader)

TuneIn Radio Pro:

Dropbox:

Pocket:

Netflix:

Twitter:

Its very rare I use an app that looks out of place on my HTC One and the vast majority of them follow the Android guidelines rather well

sarcosis · Oct 18, 2013

fredaroony said:
Basically you came into the alternative to iOS section to proclaim how great iOS is?

Smells like a troll bait thread...

To be fair, I think one of the mods moved it. When I looked earlier, I could have swore that it was in the iOS forum.

Dr McKay · Oct 18, 2013

So iOS 7 is better than Android because "It wooks pwetty"?

To each their own. I'll handle a choppy Facebook app because at least I can still browse Facebook. If I went back to iPhone and tried to do half the things I do on android, the iPhone flat out wouldn't let me. No way around it.

Dave.UK · Oct 18, 2013

Naor said:
On android Facebook app you can't even swipe to reveal chat, that's just terrible experience.

Yes you can. In the FB app, swipe to the left to bring up contacts and FB chat.

Lloydbm41 · Oct 18, 2013

Naor said:
I won't know until I find a good friend with a nexus I still think the real problem with android is the apps, android lacks unified guudelines and it doesn't let developers build fun apps like on ios. On android Facebook app you can't even swipe to reveal chat, that's just terrible experience. Now on ios 7 you can swipe back from most apps, that really improved my experience with the phone.

I would not agree with your portrayal of Android, although I think your issue lies more with Touchwiz. Touchwiz is not what I would call the smoothest of UI's nor the least bloated. On the S4, Touchwiz eats up about 9GB's of space. When you replace it with Vanilla Android you get 5GB of that space back.

I made a video of my Nexus device running the latest OS of 4.3.1. Rubber band effect can be replaced with custom overshoot interpolators and scalable animation scale speeds. What you see here is my list scrolling using this interpolation.

This is just my setup and you may still find it ugly. (I'm sure I will get some hateful replies regarding my setup, but it does not matter. Just thought I would show you what I have and the possibilities with a Nexus phone running the latest Android OS.) Good luck to you. And by the way, your English is great.

Link to video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZ1ksSQA9q8

T5BRICK · Oct 18, 2013

Naor said:
I had never had a good friend with an android until recently, he has a Galaxy S4. At first, I was astonished by this phone... It looked so beautiful and fun, and WhatsApp on this phone is really awesome, but the more I used it I realized how bad it performs against my iPhone 5.
Many apps LAG, they stutter, they don't feel natural and smooth, there is no bounce back scrolling... Even browsing on this phone is a nightmare, I knew that I would regret switching so badly if I actually did it.

TouchWiz is the problem here. I'm not saying Android doesn't have "lag" it honestly, truly does. But so does iOS.

I am so in love with the new ios 7 apps, everything gets so beautiful and clean, so much consistency that never existed on ios apps. Did you realize the notification alerts less interfere with what you're doing thanks to the new guidelines? And the new Facebook app, isn't it beautiful? Android users can only look from the side and feel jealous.

Flat Facebook is nice. I'm really only interested in the content. The app, as long as it works correctly, is just the interface. I've had issues with Facebook on both Android and iOS, but it seems to work fine right now on either device.

I know this OS still lacks so many things compared to android, but nothing compares the experience...

I absolutely HATE the iOS keyboard. It really hasn't gotten any better recently. Widgets aren't a big deal, but the option is nice. I can use a different launcher and customize many parts of the UI to fit my personal preferences.

It all boils down to options and personal preferences. They just aren't there on iOS.

SnowLeopard2008 · Oct 18, 2013

Dr McKay said:
So iOS 7 is better than Android because "It wooks pwetty"?

To each their own. I'll handle a choppy Facebook app because at least I can still browse Facebook. If I went back to iPhone and tried to do half the things I do on android, the iPhone flat out wouldn't let me. No way around it.

Yea, one of the amazing features of Android is the abundance of malicious software. I'm so jealous my iPhone doesn't have as much of that as Android does.

Honestly, this entire thread is opinion-based. And it will start a flame war sooner or later.

For the record, I dislike Android but that's just one person's opinion amongst billions of people who use smartphones.

Technarchy · Oct 18, 2013

Nanasaki said:
If you want lag free Android, you probably want Nexus phone or tablet or rotor your phone and flash pure android

I was using a Moto X today and while not raw android it is pretty close. It's very responsive and lean with no lag that was not perceptible to me in the time that I used it.

It's also ugly software with lots of wasted screen space on status bars and soft buttons. Yes it's lean and more memory efficient than Touchwiz but it's also blander and not as feature rich. I don't just mean useless finger hovering either.

I'm so looking forward to 4.4 and a end of that nasty design language of ice cream sandwich. The 4.4 home screen looks like Touchwiz actually, and that's not a bad thing. It's makes the GPE S4 a very enticing prospect for me in fact, and a potential replacement for my ATT branded S4.

Explicitic · Oct 19, 2013

SnowLeopard2008 said:
the abundance of malicious software

You have got to be kidding me. *facepalm*

Vetvito · Oct 19, 2013

Am I the only one that hates all apps to look the same? I like apps to be different.

Lloydbm41 · Oct 19, 2013

SnowLeopard2008 said:
Yea, one of the amazing features of Android is the abundance of malicious software. I'm so jealous my iPhone doesn't have as much of that as Android does.

Other than 'security software' peddlers and Apple-centric websites saying that this malware is out there, I have yet to see a single person report they have ever found any on any of their devices. I personally have yet to find any and I have been using Android for a couple of years now on several phones and tablets. I also have never gotten any from Cydia on my jailbroken devices. Windows on the other hand...

I will admit that a couple of years ago, you really were taking a risk downloading anything outside of Google's app store, but there are several new security enhancements that have assisted in protecting the user from malicious software that you can download from nefarious websites located in China, Russia, Pakistan or wherever. This is on top of the user having to approve an apps permission requests. And I do think Google is making a concerted effort to clean up the Play Store, so it is more curated and swept clean of 'clone' apps or malicious apps. It may not be to the level seen in Apple's sandboxed app store, but it is hardly what I would an "abudance of malware" app store.

viskon · Oct 19, 2013

SnowLeopard2008 said:
Yea, one of the amazing features of Android is the abundance of malicious software. I'm so jealous my iPhone doesn't have as much of that as Android does.

You must have looked pretty hard to find the " abundance of malicious software" . I've never had a single "malicious software" experience, and I've been using Android since 2.1.

fredaroony · Oct 19, 2013

viskon said:
You must have looked pretty hard to find the " abundance of malicious software" . I've never had a single "malicious software" experience, and I've been using Android since 2.1.

Clearly that post was a lame attempt at trolling much like this thread.

roadbloc · Oct 19, 2013

Naor said:
[a load of opinionated stuff dictating why one OS is better than another]

Sorry about my bad English, sorry if you felt this thread was stupid and unnecessary, I'd like to hear your opinions

Now that is rare. Most people here don't appreciate that there is no definite better OS and that it is mostly opinionated based on what you need out of your phone.

When I got my iPhone 4 (back when they were new), I liked iOS 4. It was certainly ahead of the competition, smooth, easy to use and plenty of apps. I was a little gutted at the lack of customization, but I could live without it. iOS 5 and iOS 6 brought on nothing but extra icons I couldn't delete and made my phone slower with every update. My iPhone then eventually broke and I replaced it with a Windows Phone.

To be honest, I love the look of iOS 7 (looks so much fresher than previous versions), but now I have a much more customizable phone I don't think I could go back. I need flexibility and stability, something that Windows Phone 8 surprisingly caters for excellently.

G-Force · Oct 19, 2013

After many years using iPhones I've tried Android before on an Xperia S from Sony, I can honestly say I did not like the experience at all. I've switched back to an iPhone 4S and used it for a year. However, now with iOS 7 it was time again to try something new.

I now use a Nexus 4 and the overall experience is MUCH better than it was on the Sony. Pretty much all the stock apps are really smooth, though not as extremely smooth as the iPhone is. A lot of third party apps look fine, are smooth and respect Holo guidelines, but there are still a lot of ugly Android 2.x era apps which are laggy and look like crap. To be fair, iOS 7 also has this looks problem with a lot of apps at the moment due to the extreme makeover.

Guess what I want to make clear, stock Android looks really good and runs much better than manufacturer skinned versions like TouchWiz. I am really looking forward to KitKat.

I don't even feel the need to customize it, it looks fine as is and runs great.

Brittany246 · Oct 19, 2013

Explicitic said:
You have got to be kidding me. *facepalm*

The first or second day that I used my Nexus 7 last year, I downloaded this emulator app from the play store that spammed my tablet with notifications. The app was even in the top 25 free apps, and it appeared to have good (fake) reviews. When I tried to filter the reviews later on, that's when I saw people mentioning spam. When I used my N7 through out the year sometimes I'd have random ads show up in my picture gallery, and I even had random websites being bookmarked on chrome that would show up on my home screen. I'm not even sure which apps they came from. I mostly downloaded apps in the top 100, so it's not like I was looking for suspicious apps. With Android, I have to look at reviews and permissions closely before downloading any apps from the play store to avoid spammy apps. I don't have to worry about that **** with iOS, and I guess I was used to that.

Why iOS 7 is simply better than Android

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