Apple needs a "Competitive Update" to iOS4

[Vegastouch]

What exactly is iOS 4 missing that it could add to give it some competitive advantage? Is someone touting awesome features on the Android that iOS 4 doesn't have something similar to? I'm not aware of anything myself. My take is that Android is in the news because Android-based phones are finally becoming decent alternative to iPhones. So their primary competitive feature is newness.

I personally would be perfectly happy with fixes and tweaks. I'd like multi-tasking to work more intelligently. I'd like my apps to be fast again. I'd like better low-light imaging on the iPhone 4's camera. Etc. These aren't major changes, though.

Well again, Androids are very customizable while iPhones arent unless you jailbreak then it is better but still not close to Androids in that department. Not sure why teh OP made a thread on this. Seems maybe he doesnt like that iPhone is head above everybody else like they used to be.

Why does that matter?

iPhones are good phones and so are Androids who are fast becoming great devices. Not everyone wants to have AT&T. I know i never will.
And i keep reading that Android needs to slow down their updates.

WHAT?

2.1 came out in March and 2.2 i wont get til the end of Sept unless i Root the phone though N1 has it already. iPhone has had three updates since June (4.0,4.0.1,4.0.2)

Gingerbread 3.0 is supposed to be by the end of the year but we'll see.

 

[jcole31]

The only updates I want are wireless syncing and the ability to change the email and voicemail alerts without jailbreaking.

I know the wireless syncing is in the works, but not being able to change the sounds of certain alerts has always been a WTF issue with me.

 

[marddin]

Android doesn't seem "crammed" to me at all. Also, people said that about copy and paste before it was added to the iPhone OS/iOS and then suddenly everyone here loved it. I remember, I read those threads you know.

Then just switch to android.
If you don't like the iPhone 4 or its new and old features. Get a different phone. No one is stopping you.

 

[Mr Bigs]

Then just switch to android.
If you don't like the iPhone 4 or its new and old features. Get a different phone. No one is stopping you.

Did he ask you for your advice ????

 

[barkomatic]

Then just switch to android.
If you don't like the iPhone 4 or its new and old features. Get a different phone. No one is stopping you.

You see, every time someone criticizes iOS 4 in any way they get this type of response. It's as if I don't like *everything* about the iPhone then one can't like anything and should switch to Android. I think you should emerge from your black and white world.

 

[Apple...]

You see, every time someone criticizes iOS 4 in any way they get this type of response. It's as if I don't like *everything* about the iPhone then one can't like anything and should switch to Android. I think you should emerge from your black and white world.

Example:

Complaint - I don't like the iPhone's push notification service. Apple needs to fix it.

Automated answer - Switch to Android. Yay!

 

[cambookpro]

What exactly is iOS 4 missing that it could add to give it some competitive advantage? Is someone touting awesome features on the Android that iOS 4 doesn't have something similar to? I'm not aware of anything myself. My take is that Android is in the news because Android-based phones are finally becoming decent alternative to iPhones. So their primary competitive feature is newness.

I personally would be perfectly happy with fixes and tweaks. I'd like multi-tasking to work more intelligently. I'd like my apps to be fast again. I'd like better low-light imaging on the iPhone 4's camera. Etc. These aren't major changes, though.

The point is that even though Android has no big features better than iOS, neither does iOS have any big features over Android. If apple want to dominate the market, there OS has to be a lot better than Android/RIM.

 

[AZREOSpecialist]

The point is that even though Android has no big features better than iOS, neither does iOS have any big features over Android. If apple want to dominate the market, there OS has to be a lot better than Android/RIM.

You don't think iOS is vastly superior to RIM/Blackberry? Are you being serious?

 

[Apple...]

The point is that even though Android has no big features better than iOS, neither does iOS have any big features over Android. If apple want to dominate the market, there OS has to be a lot better than Android/RIM.

I'm pretty sure Android and iOS are better than RIM. Just sayin'.

 

[AZREOSpecialist]

Apple won't be able to keep pace with Android. They simply don't have the man power.

Hmm... the last time I checked Apple was worth more than Google. What information do you have to back up your statement?

Samsung, Motorola, HTC and now Sony & Dell are all throwing the newest hardware they can as fast as they can into handsets and pushing them out to manufacturing as soon as the devices pass testing.

That is 3 very large, very skilled international corporations (some of whom have their own chip fabs) that only have to worry about the hardware. They download the OS, optimize it for their particular handset and then sell it

Which leads to confusion and platform fragmentation. It also means that the hardware manufacturers, not Google, will determine whether you get the next Android update or not. As an Android customer, wouldn't you be upset if the Droid you just bought won't be getting the next update simply because the manufacturer who made your phone is not on the ball?

Also, each hardware manufacturer puts their own UI on top of Android. How is that good for the platform when each "Droid" looks and functions differently? With all of this fragmentation, the hardware manufacturers will end up battling each other instead of being one big happy "Droid" family.

Then there is the fact that Apple has been restricted to 1 of 4 major networks which has slowed the roll out of features to their OS.

Actually the choice of network has nothing to do with the "roll out of features" on iOS. iOS is largely network agnostic. And early next year we will see iPhone on Verizon and possibly T-Mobile and Sprint as well.

The iPhone4 wasn't even the most advanced phone by time it released.

I'm glad you said that, because you contradicted your earlier point about the fact that Apple can't compete with five different manufacturers on features. Well, it didn't do that with iPhone 4 and look how well it's selling. Let's use the iPhone 4's camera as an example. While it's "only" 5 MP compared to some Droid's 8 MP, it takes much better quality photos. All Apple needs to do is to continue doing what it's doing, which is to make the most desirable and effective combination of hardware and software features.

You also neglect to mention that if you compare any one of those manufacturers' smartphone sales to Apple, they wouldn't compare to Apple. In fact, Apple sells more smartphones than HTC and sells almost as many smartphones as Motorola sells smartphones + other cell phones combined! Dell is a joke and will continue to be a joke. Motorola's sales have dropped 40% from the same time last year while Apple's have increased by 60%, which should tell you something. Apple's iPhone sales need to improve by approximately 30% in order to pass RIM on units shipped per quarter.

Get your facts please. The devil is in the details.

 

[Apple...]

Hmm... the last time I checked Apple was worth more than Google. What information do you have to back up your statement?



Which leads to confusion and platform fragmentation. It also means that the hardware manufacturers, not Google, will determine whether you get the next Android update or not. As an Android customer, wouldn't you be upset if the Droid you just bought won't be getting the next update simply because the manufacturer who made your phone is not on the ball?

Also, each hardware manufacturer puts their own UI on top of Android. How is that good for the platform when each "Droid" looks and functions differently? With all of this fragmentation, the hardware manufacturers will end up battling each other instead of being one big happy "Droid" family.



Actually the choice of network has nothing to do with the "roll out of features" on iOS. iOS is largely network agnostic. And early next year we will see iPhone on Verizon and possibly T-Mobile and Sprint as well.



I'm glad you said that, because you contradicted your earlier point about the fact that Apple can't compete with five different manufacturers on features. Well, it didn't do that with iPhone 4 and look how well it's selling. Let's use the iPhone 4's camera as an example. While it's "only" 5 MP compared to some Droid's 8 MP, it takes much better quality photos. All Apple needs to do is to continue doing what it's doing, which is to make the most desirable and effective combination of hardware and software features.

You also neglect to mention that if you compare any one of those manufacturers' smartphone sales to Apple, they wouldn't compare to Apple. In fact, Apple sells more smartphones than HTC and sells almost as many smartphones as Motorola sells smartphones + other cell phones combined! Dell is a joke and will continue to be a joke. Motorola's sales have dropped 40% from the same time last year while Apple's have increased by 60%, which should tell you something. Apple's iPhone sales need to improve by approximately 30% in order to pass RIM on units shipped per quarter.

Get your facts please. The devil is in the details.

Wow. I'm impressed. Nicely argued and well thought out. Thanks.

 

[firewood]

Apple's competitive advantage is having less features than the competition, not quickly adding random updates. Leaves a more polished and less junked up user experience.

Let the competition play the big specs list game, which seems to lead them to lower profitability, leaving them less money for future R&D.

 

[DirtySocks85]

2. Voice-to-text. Being able to speak emails, text messages, Universal search, etc would be huge. There should be API's available to devs to bring these feature into their apps so we can speak tweets, Facebook updates, Yelp searches etc. Also, I think that Voice Control is starving for an update.

3. Widgets. I wouldn't want iOS to go widget-crazy, but it would be great to have a weather app who's icon shows the current weather conditions, clock app with the right time, etc.

4. WiFi Syncing. Cables need to die.

That's my iOS wish-list.

While I understand your desire to have these as native features from Apple, might I suggest a few workarounds and comments to help you get by until this happens.

2. Dragon Dictation - I often use this to compose voice SMS while I drive, while not safe per say, it is safer than texting while driving.

3. Of course there are a few jailbreak competitors out there in this arena (Intelliscreen, LockInfo, etc), but the one example I want to note on for a moment is your request for a clock that shows the right time.... Take a look at your iPhone, wake it up... see that big time on the lock screen, very good. Go ahead and unlock it, take a look a the status bar, there you go.


4. Requires jailbreak, but... have fun: http://www.getwifisync.com/

 

[thedarkhorse]

I think the one thing that needs to be improved first is notifications for messages. There's got to be a more elegant solution than those blue popups for everything. Perhaps when we double click for the home button for multitasking all that empty space up top can be used to display latest emails/sms/calls/etc. Or maybe it has an expandable tray like the notifications in the facebook app. Or since I can count the number of times I've used universal search on one hand, maybe we can swipe to the left screen to get a list of our notifications (uni search bar can stay at the top I guess)

 

[barkomatic]

You and many others are seeing this as an "Android vs. iPhone" thread. Go back and read my initial post. I am saying that it might be a good idea if Apple released an update with features that could compete with features recently released by Google.

 

[admanimal]

You and many others are seeing this as an "Android vs. iPhone" thread. Go back and read my initial post. I am saying that it might be a good idea if Apple released an update with features that could compete with features recently released by Google.

Can you be more specific about what these features are that Android has and iOS doesn't that are so critical and/or awesome that iOS needs them immediately?

 

[marddin]

You and many others are seeing this as an "Android vs. iPhone" thread. Go back and read my initial post. I am saying that it might be a good idea if Apple released an update with features that could compete with features recently released by Google.

Actually that's the only response needed. You've been trolling since the original post. What other ******* features do you want. Like I said, if you dont like iOS then switch to Android. This thread is pointless, and you've contradicted yourself countless times already.

 

[kdarling]

I'm pretty sure Android and iOS are better than RIM. Just sayin'.

Depends on what you want/need.

For instance, has anyone been able to crack a Blackberry OS to get around security permissions?

 

[lilo777]

Actually that's the only response needed. You've been trolling since the original post. What other fu**ing features do you want. Like I said, if you dont like iOS then switch to Android. This thread is pointless, and you've contradicted yourself countless times already.

And if he or she has already switched to Android what would your next wise advice be?

 

[kas23]

What other ******* features do you want.

Setting your iPhone up as a WiFi hotspot (like the Evo). Tell me you wouldn't want that?

 

[GamecockMac]

And if he or she has already switched to Android what would your next wise advice be?

How about, quit trolling MacRumors and go celebrate your Fandroid status on a more appropriate forum?

 

[barkomatic]

Actually that's the only response needed. You've been trolling since the original post. What other ******* features do you want. Like I said, if you dont like iOS then switch to Android. This thread is pointless, and you've contradicted yourself countless times already.

I really don't see how you could think I'm "trolling". I asked a specific question from the beginning which some can agree or disagree with and then list reasons why. It's a discussion and its not meant to be as emotional as you are experiencing it.

Apparently, you are unable to even entertain the thought that something you own isn't the absolute best device available, or that it may be a great device but could be improved. Perhaps you should take a break for awhile.