Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

after 3.5 years of iphone use, went to android

1rottenapple

1rottenapple

macrumors 601
Original poster
Apr 21, 2004
4,981
3,045
but came running back to my Iphone 4!!!! LOL

Well here is my complaint about the iphone. I really wished the podcast system on the iphone OS allowed the user to automatically download new content, and I also heard great things about the android OS notification system where with the iphone, you got a text that totally interrupts what you are doing at the moment with a huge message. Also, yes, apple sacrificed the "antenae issue" infavor for the large battery life, but it has advantages, but I really prefered not having a case. Sooo Last last friday, I went to the At&t store and brought the htc inspire 4g off contract for 399.99.

after tweaking the Phone to make it fit, I've come to the conclusion, man the UI is a mess!! :eek: Its all over the place. The internet and the music app is terrible. the camera crashed on me 4 times trying to take a pic of my dog. LOL you need to restart the phone to clear the memory so it doesnt crash the camera. Mind you the inspire has 768mb of memory according to the forums at htc inspire4g compared to the iphone 4's 512mb (i think that's the spec)... The battery is horrible horrible horrible! According to the inspire 4g forums, you have to manually turn off syncing, turn off gps and manually turn off the brightness in order to eeek out good battery life. Then, "when you need it, use the widget to turn them off and on." WTH???? So I have to manually manage the phone just to make it last a whole day?? I guess now I'm spoiled with the iphone 4's good battery life where I no longer have to turn off wife and gps, and bluetooth just to make it last a fullday, but I don't have the patience to do this garbage no thank you.

I really really wanted to like the android OS. I LOVE the screen & LOVE how manufacturers can change screen and hardware much faster than apple, and I LOVE the notification system for texting and email. (and I used to jailbreak and unlock my iphone when I was on tmobile, but its really not worth the stability issues jailbreaking brings about that i experienced). I also love the faster hsdpa data band that was noticeable faster than the iphone's normal 3g speed... but its just too much trouble if your used to the iphone's interface. Especially when I want to capture a moment with a pic, but can't do that to needing to restart my phone.

The At&t people were like, just to let you if your used to the iphone os and go to android, we see aa lot of returns. kinda disappointing cause I really wanted to like the OS.

I just hope apple updates the OS that implements the notification system more elegantly than what android does but I the benefits of iOS outweight the mish-mash of powerful but funky android problems.
 
Good review. The iPhone is much more like a chauffeur, it takes care of all the boring bits for you and manages everything perfectly. Where as with Android you have manage everything yourself. To get the best out if the phone, you really have to work.
 
Reach9 said:
I don't think it is.
Actually, i was thinking of switching to Android, for the first time. But i've decided to wait for iOS 5 and iPhone 5, if neither end up being good then yes i will switch.
Click to expand...

I switched from the 3GS to a Captivate and I don't regret it. I couldn't stand the keyboard on the iPhone, but I'm loving Swype. It seems so effortless. Notifications are so much better as well. Sure, I made some tradeoffs, not all the apps I had are available, but I'm happy with it, and I can use the keyboard now.
 
r.j.s said:
I switched from the 3GS to a Captivate and I don't regret it. I couldn't stand the keyboard on the iPhone, but I'm loving Swype. It seems so effortless. Notifications are so much better as well. Sure, I made some tradeoffs, not all the apps I had are available, but I'm happy with it, and I can use the keyboard now.
Click to expand...

That's a nice phone. I'm really liking the choices in the market for smartphones, you bring up points which i also agree with.
I want an actual smartphone, not something that just looks good.
My old Nokia E63 has better notification than the iPhone, and that's pathetic.
I might just decide to take the iPod Touch + Android phone route if the next iteration fails in my eyes.
 
Last edited:
r.j.s said:
I switched from the 3GS to a Captivate and I don't regret it. I couldn't stand the keyboard on the iPhone, but I'm loving Swype. It seems so effortless. Notifications are so much better as well. Sure, I made some tradeoffs, not all the apps I had are available, but I'm happy with it, and I can use the keyboard now.
Click to expand...

Android is pretty nice, but I have way too many apps I use on my phone. I wouldn't switch. My keyboard becomes unusable at times, but noting a "reset keyboard dictionary" can't fix ;)
 
Staindsoul said:
iPhone 4 is the best, glad you came back
543.jpg
Click to expand...

This is what I expect to hear on a homer forum like this, hah.
 
Reach9 said:
That's a nice phone. I'm really liking the choices in the market for smartphones, you bring up points which i also agree with.
I want an actual smartphone, not something that just looks good.
My old Nokia E63 has better notification than the iPhone, and that's pathetic.
I might just decide to take the iPod Touch + Android phone route if the next iteration fails in my eyes.
Click to expand...

This is the model I'm working on right now. I've had a work BlackBerry for years, so no room for an iPhone. I've also had a iPod Touch for quite awhile (and now an iPad too.). I've been using a CLEAR USB modem with a hotspot, but I jumped to a Thunderbolt on VZ last Thursday.

Because of the friends and family sharing deal, I'm into VZ for $40/month. This buys me a 4G hotspot as well as al the other stuff you get with an Android smartphone. I can't say that I would choose this over an iPhone as my phone, but as a glorified PDA and hotspot it works pretty well.

FWIW
DLM
 
"They" can change hardware and screen sizes much faster because "they" are several different manufacturers. I like android, but it's not quite "there" yet for me.
 
if anyone is interested in switching, definitely try it out. I bought the htc phone off contract but of course I paid a $35 fee to return it, but it help satisfy my curiosity about the google's os.
 
I think the review is on the money overall. I was a Droid user for over a year (rooted, custom ROM, overclocked, etc). Android isn't a bad OS by any means, and it is getting better... but it's not there.

It runs into the same issue, which I've said before, as PC vs Console gaming does.

Console's can perform so well for so long because they use pretty unified hardware and Operating systems. So when you're in an environment where you can REALLY tweak your application because it's a set spec you can really make it shine even w/ less specs. Same goes for the iPhone/iOS. There's only a few iterations (1 a year) for each of the core devices so developers can really tweak their applications to perform extremely well on iOS devices.

Android, as solid as it is overall, has so many different hardware/software versions (screen/CPU/GPU/RAM and the list goes on) that as a developer they can't really get the same performance out of it so you see less solid apps and performance in Android.

That's the reason I went with my iPhone over my Droid. I just started to really like iOS in it's fluidity and constantly amazing apps you can get (the games destroy Android hands down) and I have no intention of looking back.

d.
 
Android just seems like a mess. A glorified WinMo 6.5 and an upgrade to an outdated Symbian. Like iOS' uglier twin sister. I tried liking it because I support Google, good competition, and choice. The polish and ecosystem just isn't there yet. WP7 at V1 is already better. Palm's webOS is still better. Palm, Microsoft, and Apple have software in their DNA, so they outclass Google. The Zune app is already better than any default app from Android. I would only go to it because for the PlayStation games and if it was Nexus phone. I don't trust any OEM or carrier to provide me updates. Most things iOS already does better with JB or not.

My next phone would be a WP7 or a BlackBerry OS 7/QNX phone with the PlayBook interface. The next Nexus phone has to have a slide-out gaming pad like the XPERIA PLAY for me to consider Android. With the AT&T/T-Mo merger, I can imagine the next Nexus phone having 3G for AT&T users and not be favored to the T-Mo users first. Android is popular now, but there isn't anything special about it. The real innovation come from the OEM and their hardware upgrades.

But I trust Matias Duarte (webOS mastermind) to polish up Android over time and it will get better. I prefer they go for the Honeycomb futuristic look. More green like the Android logo and Tron: Legacy. That's how imagine my theme for Android to be. Like Tron with glowing green and orange light effects. By the time we get to the Nexus 6, we get the Blade Runner look.
 
Anyway, I really like certain policies that google has with the market place, like having a refund period, and it seems a lot of the apps have time trials which is great! I wished apple insitutitued these policies....

Just bums me out cause the UI is such a mess, and no matter having high speed processors, dual core processors that android shoves, and the higher ram, the OS design definitely needs more work with its crashing and what not.

I got my two parents iphones, which they use (they are in their late 50s, and early 60s), and the intuitiveness of the iOS platform make it easy for them to operate. I can't fathom giving them the android OS cause they'd become confused by it.
 
As someone who used both a Droid X and the iPhone 4 (both for work), I can say that I had to laugh when I read the OP about having the camera crash 4 times trying to take a picture of his dog. That is the perfect summary of my droid experience.

Granted, there are tradeoffs with both, and things you prefer from one to the other.

But if you look at the big picture, my iPhone just works, and it does it all the time. My Droid is like a high maintenance girlfriend who gives me a good payout every now and again but most of the time I just sit and think about how nice it would be to get a more stable girl.

I am not an apple fanboy, and if google or dustbuster comes out with the next device that does what I need and is the best on the market, I'd switch without a single thought. I'm one of the least loyal consumers I know. But hell if the iphone4 isn't just easy to use and easy to keep using over a long period of time.
 
I left the iPhone platform and went to the Nexus (not the S version) and it was a great phone. I got spoiled using that phone. You see unlike most other android phones. This was a google phone, and so updates came out to this phone first. Secondly, it was easily rooted.

I jumped over to the Droidx due to its screen size. It was a great screen, but I was disappointed in how fast (read slow) Motorola came out with the updates and when they did. They introduced bugs. They also encrypted the boot loader to you couldn't root the phone which at first didn't bother me too much but as time went on and they weren't updating the phone, I wanted a more stable ROM then they provided.

Overall, I like the android platform as it offers a lot of ability to customize the phone as you see fit. The battery of the Nexus and Droidx were compatible to the iPhone, even though it has "full" multitasking.

I came back to the iPhone platform mostly because my company is locking down its email network. The iPhone and Blackberry support encrypted remote group policies, Android does not so.

While my company has helped make the decision for me, I've grown tired of the mess that they call the marketplace. Too many rips offs clones and such. You have to be careful of what app you buy. It may say "angry birds" but if its not from Rovio you'll either get ripped off the 2 bucks (or what ever the price) or install some malware that will steal your info.

In the end, the android platform has a lot of things going for it, and some things it needs to address.

The iOS platform has some things going for it and some things it needs to address.

You pick the platform that best meets your needs.
 
Welcome back. I also wanted android to be good but as you said the whole ui mess is really not the right for me. Don't get me wrong i am for android and i hopeit will get more popularity. But for me it's not as good as ios.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back