Apple's got me hooked

[macingman]

1. * icloud sync: emails, notes, reminders, bookmarks, calendars, photos, apps, all between my Mac OS X and iOS devices

2. * photo stream. The most useful feature ever

3.* iTunes/iBooks: easily drag and drop or sync everything effortlessly. Includes metadata to organize all media


4.* FaceTime. No 3rd party app needed. Works 100% of the time and has no competition. At least quality wise.


5.* battery life. Best thing compared to everything else out there sans replaceable high mAh battery.

1. iCloud is much more slower and difficult to set up than services like Gmail in my experience.

2. Photostream transfers images in much less quality than if you were to actually sync them via iTunes, perhaps not that bad for mobile use but when enlarging the images etc. it is a huge problem.

3. However you are locked down in Apple's ecosystem and can't take the stuff you bought a licence to whichever device you want, no complaining just making the point and I know Apple does this internationally.

4. Every time I have used Facetime the call takes over a minute to connect after being accepted by the other person. Using two very good wifi networks sometimes even on the same network.

5. My iPhone battery life is woeful when compared to some of my other phone's. It does last one school day most of the time.

I'm not complaining just saying what I have experienced. And yeah, I agree with the OP's other points.

 

[tbayrgs]

It will take these items to get me to go full android or even windows mobile. I am so hooked into this ecosystem, there just isn't this cohesive ecosystem offered on android nor windows.

Missing features:

* imessaging. Send 100MB images, videos, contacts, nearly anything encrypted. Built in no configurations needed. Works with my OS X between my wife's iPhone, my iPads, and iPods.

* icloud sync: emails, notes, reminders, bookmarks, calendars, photos, apps, all between my Mac OS X and iOS devices

* photo stream. The most useful feature ever

* iTunes/iBooks: easily drag and drop or sync everything effortlessly. Includes metadata to organize all media

* AirPlay. The best wireless feature bar none. I can stream from my Mac OS X or iOS device to my atv effortlessly and works 99.9% of the time. No hassles at all

* FaceTime. No 3rd party app needed. Works 100% of the time and has no competition. At least quality wise.

* Unicode support and handwriting has no equal. No other platform does this as superbly as iOS.

* battery life. Best thing compared to everything else out there sans replaceable high mAh battery.

Possible equal features that are better on other non iOS devices: iTunes Match, restrictions, camera app, maps, multitasking.


So you see it's hard to leave this ecosystem. Especially when the device performs so smoothly at everything. And is damn stable without much issues.

Can't believe I'm going to do this but I'm going to play devil's advocate for just a moment, from an Android user's point of view:

1. No benefit if you don't have other friends/family living in the Apple ecosystem.

2. Can do nearly everything here (photo's excluded, would need third party app) via Google account.

3. Again, outside Apple ecosystem, not a benefit and can be replicated with third party apps.

4. Google Play syncs wireless to all computers, Android devices.

5. No argument from me--nothing in Android world compares (though Microsoft might be onto something with 'SmartGlass.')

6. And limited to Apple only devices, where as a bunch of third party apps (Skype, Qik) can work across multiple platforms.

7. Couldn't say myself so I'll take your word for it.

8. I think this really is device dependent. I've only used a couple of devices besides iPhones (currently using a GNex while I wait for the next iPhone) and the battery life of my Nexus is comparable to my 4s.

Let me qualify this by saying I'm fully immersed in the Apple Ecosystem (iPhones, iPads, iPods, Macs, TVs) and love exactly what you're describing because it all applies to me as well. However, I also think these points are more relevant to CURRENT Apple users, thus my counterpoints. If you don't already live in an Apple world, most of these are lost on you. And this is a perfect example of the genius of Apple. Once they suck you in, it becomes that much more difficult to leave. I really truly understood this when I start using the Galaxy Nexus. It's a very good device and Jelly Bean really is pretty good but it's just that it's a PITA to try to set everything up to replicate the functionality in an Apple ecosystem.

IMO, it's not that most of those features aren't available on Android devices, it's that they demand considerably more time & effort to utilyze, which is great for many Android users b/c they love tinkering, customizing, etc. Me? I just want my crap to work when and how I need it to, and I don't need live wallpapers, 1 less click to turn on blue tooth, root access, tons of folders, etc., so Apple works for me. NOT b/c I'm blindly following a cult and drinking the Koolaide, but b/c it's best for my needs.

Couldn't have said it better myself. I've noticed a few features that I'd love to see integrated into iOS but on the whole, it's just more work to get everything functioning nearly as well and IMO, just not as polished as iOS.

 

[saving107]

lol and yet your still here

Then why would u still troll around in an iPhone forum?

I didn't realize that the MacRumors Forum was included in the "Apple Ecosystem" that I chose to leave, maybe I should email Arn to let him know that I now use a Windows Mobile device and that my account here should be revoked for being the only non-iphone user on an iPhone forum

 

[Anti-Lucifer]

Sorry guys, did not mean to stir up any arguments;

I own a galaxy S2. My wife and household all use iPhones. I have ipads, ipods, and mbps. I recently rid all iphones because we are moving to verizon (awaiting the new iPhone).

Let me just say that it's not easy or pleasant to use an android device daily. The first week of owning the S2, I was hugely favoring google's platform. About 2 weeks into it, it gets really annoying to use because there is no ecosystem like apple's. I do not use gmail because I don't like google's tracking system. I don't like 3rd party apps for stuff everyone around me has built in. I'm not about to ask people to sign up with chaton or skype or whatsapp to do messaging either.

You see, it was a mistake for me signing up for the 2 year deal for an S2 but this next 2 years, I'm not going to make that mistake again. The phone is nice with a large screen but wipe away all the widgets and useless features that I really don't care for (live wallpapers, clocks, launchers, etc) - I'm not gonna lie, I don't like updating roms to improve the device when my other fellow family member's devices all run perfectly without these rom updates frequently.

I tried to get my wife to switch to an S3 - but I'm not going to get my arse handed to me when she figures the frequent connection drops (data) and verizon's LTE/3G switching pains. Not wanting to knock on the S3, but seriously, there is no match for apple's ecosystem. Just sending messages is dumb on the S2 because my family can just send via imessaging and voila, it works and the videos don't get all compressed either. It's just easy to use.

 

[Chrisg2014]

It will take these items to get me to go full android or even windows mobile. I am so hooked into this ecosystem, there just isn't this cohesive ecosystem offered on android nor windows.

Missing features:

* imessaging. Send 100MB images, videos, contacts, nearly anything encrypted. Built in no configurations needed. Works with my OS X between my wife's iPhone, my iPads, and iPods.

* icloud sync: emails, notes, reminders, bookmarks, calendars, photos, apps, all between my Mac OS X and iOS devices

* photo stream. The most useful feature ever

* iTunes/iBooks: easily drag and drop or sync everything effortlessly. Includes metadata to organize all media

* AirPlay. The best wireless feature bar none. I can stream from my Mac OS X or iOS device to my atv effortlessly and works 99.9% of the time. No hassles at all

* FaceTime. No 3rd party app needed. Works 100% of the time and has no competition. At least quality wise.

* Unicode support and handwriting has no equal. No other platform does this as superbly as iOS.

* battery life. Best thing compared to everything else out there sans replaceable high mAh battery.

Possible equal features that are better on other non iOS devices: iTunes Match, restrictions, camera app, maps, multitasking.


So you see it's hard to leave this ecosystem. Especially when the device performs so smoothly at everything. And is damn stable without much issues.

Well see if someone else tried to put that on there product Apple would do what they did to Samsung...

 

[TG1]

Apple's ecosystem is top notch. No doubt there. When I switched to Android several months ago, I was very worried. Here are some of the things that I've found that work very well for some of your items.

* imessaging - WhatsApp, Viber, Voxer, Vonage are just a few of the options available for data-based SMS/MMS service. These apps have bonus options like sharing location and audio clips too. Many also allow for internet-based phone calls as well. And they work cross-platform! This is huge for those of us who have family and friends on different operating systems.

* photo stream - Dropbox camera upload. Works just as well and will upload video to the cloud too!

* iTunes/iBooks - The Kindle app will sync between devices as well.

* FaceTime - Tango or Skype work great (over cellular too!)

* battery life - I got a Droid Razr Maxx. Absolutely incredible battery life.

 

[Anti-Lucifer]

Apple's ecosystem is top notch. No doubt there. When I switched to Android several months ago, I was very worried. Here are some of the things that I've found that work very well for some of your items.

* imessaging - WhatsApp, Viber, Voxer, Vonage are just a few of the options available for data-based SMS/MMS service. These apps have bonus options like sharing location and audio clips too. Many also allow for internet-based phone calls as well. And they work cross-platform! This is huge for those of us who have family and friends on different operating systems.

* photo stream - Dropbox camera upload. Works just as well and will upload video to the cloud too!

* iTunes/iBooks - The Kindle app will sync between devices as well.

* FaceTime - Tango or Skype work great (over cellular too!)

* battery life - I got a Droid Razr Maxx. Absolutely incredible battery life.

That list is exactly the reason there is no cohesive ecosystem on google's platform! Think about how many of those apps people will install? I'm talking about if you bought an iOS device, you are all covered. If you buy anything else, you have to download all this to get it to work like iOS devices. What's worse is do you really think you can tell people to install these apps so you can communicate with them? The chances of anyone installing these is nil because 100% of the people I know who have iOS devices are just happy to be able to use everything built in.

I'm not being condescending to any android owners but unless google comes out with imessaging, there is no way to even compare. Even then, you would have to get every device to install that android version which is will not happen.

Facetime is amazing for both voip and being able to see your family/friends from far away - especially when they don't own an iOS device, but a mac, you can still FaceTime them. It's truly marvelous. Without facetime you are stuck with Skype and the like. Who will go thru the trouble to install skype, create an account with them, then give out your account name? That's another item to pass around! With facetime, you just hit your contact's name or number and voila, it works flawlessly. Over 3G, yes handicapped but that's not apple's fault.

No matter how powerful your device is, how fast it is, how big your screen is, how thin it is, it means nothing if you can't even do these things because these things are what matters. Not viewing widgets for weather, news tickers, clocks, live wallpaper, LED lights, etc. Those are all features that are just cool gimmicks that are afterthoughts.

 

[makotoisle]

You're very misinformed.

Google has FaceTime built in. And you can use it over cellular. It's called Google+ Hangouts, and comes preinstalled on all new Android devices. I use it every night to video chat with my partner who is out of town but has an Android phone (I have an iPhone 4S). Or I can use it from my browser. I simply choose him from my gmail contact list (or iPhone Google+ App) and he gets a pop up on his phone saying that I want to video chat.

Google also has iMessages built in. It's called Google Talk. Sure, it doesn't show up in the same field as your regular text messages, but it's still there with the added benefit that people can respond to your Google Messages from their web browser on any computer. And again, if I Google Message him from my web browser, (I don't think there is a Google Talk iPhone app) he gets a pop up just like any other text message. If I had an Android phone, we could Google Talk back and forth from phone to phone.

Oh, and Photo Stream is built in through Google+, too. You take a picture, and it's immediately uploaded.

I'm pretty sure his email, calendars, bookmarks, etc all sync with Chrome on his browser, as well.

I'm pretty sure that you have him beat on AirPlay. But then he has two-factor authentification and Google Maps. *shrug*

We have "Find My Friends", he has "Google Latitude" - again with the added benefit of it syncing through the browser.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, at this point, it's really the same, only you're setting up a Google Account and not an iCloud account. And Android Apps seem to sync not only with the Android environment, but on any computer via the web browser. I have lots of expensive apps that make me want to stay with Apple, but otherwise, I don't see too big a different between the platforms at this point. Especially since Google has done a good job of bringing many of their Android apps cross platform that I can use them to communicate with him from my iPhone.

 

[TG1]

That list is exactly the reason there is no cohesive ecosystem on google's platform! Think about how many of those apps people will install? I'm talking about if you bought an iOS device, you are all covered. If you buy anything else, you have to download all this to get it to work like iOS devices. What's worse is do you really think you can tell people to install these apps so you can communicate with them? The chances of anyone installing these is nil because 100% of the people I know who have iOS devices are just happy to be able to use everything built in.

I'm not being condescending to any android owners but unless google comes out with imessaging, there is no way to even compare. Even then, you would have to get every device to install that android version which is will not happen.

Facetime is amazing for both voip and being able to see your family/friends from far away - especially when they don't own an iOS device, but a mac, you can still FaceTime them. It's truly marvelous. Without facetime you are stuck with Skype and the like. Who will go thru the trouble to install skype, create an account with them, then give out your account name? That's another item to pass around! With facetime, you just hit your contact's name or number and voila, it works flawlessly. Over 3G, yes handicapped but that's not apple's fault.

No matter how powerful your device is, how fast it is, how big your screen is, how thin it is, it means nothing if you can't even do these things because these things are what matters. Not viewing widgets for weather, news tickers, clocks, live wallpaper, LED lights, etc. Those are all features that are just cool gimmicks that are afterthoughts.

Again, I will never disagree with the ease and simplicity of iOS. However, I have about a 50-50 split among friends and family between iOS and Android. I might as well choose options that can keep EVERYONE connected. If ALL your pals are on iOS, more power to you.

 

[Anti-Lucifer]

You're very misinformed.

Nope. I'm well informed. google+ you might as well say I can use the facebook app to chat with everyone.

This is a personal choice because the people who I wish to communicate with all have iOS devices. It's also a personal choice that the SG2 I have was not worth it. This may not work well for others, but my thread title just says apple has me locked because there is nothing comparable to the list from apple.

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Again, I will never disagree with the ease and simplicity of iOS. However, I have about a 50-50 split among friends and family between iOS and Android. I might as well choose options that can keep EVERYONE connected. If ALL your pals are on iOS, more power to you.

Thank you - it's way harder to get the ones you know to download an app just to do something that has it built in. iOS is not perfect for all, but it's damn near perfect for most.

 

[makotoisle]

Nope. I'm well informed. google+ you might as well say I can use the facebook app to chat with everyone.

This is a personal choice because the people who I wish to communicate with all have iOS devices. It's also a personal choice that the SG2 I have was not worth it. This may not work well for others, but my thread title just says apple has me locked because there is nothing comparable to the list from apple.

I don't understand how Google+ on and Android phone and FaceTime on an iPhone are any different. Both come preinstalled on the device. Both allow you to video call a person directly from your contact list. Both have apps that you can use to call people from.

The ONLY difference is that you can use Google+ to call people from a web browser as well as from your phone; with FaceTime you have to be on a relatively newer Mac if you want to use the computer. Oh, and currently, FaceTime has to be used on WiFi (subject to change in iOS6, depending on your carrier).

Boggle.

You are misinformed when you say that Google doesn't have a cohesive ecosystem for the examples you listed, when it clearly does have preinstalled apps that sync with a Google account and function exactly the same as iOS counterparts.

I'm not saying your preference for iOS is wrong or anything; like I said, I prefer it myself. But to say that it does the things that you listed while the competition does not do them, is a misstatement. They work exactly the same.

 

[Cod3rror]

I agree,

Apple's ecosystem is just too damn good, and while they say Android is functional, etc... it still does not have iOS' polish, the same on both platforms always performs better on iOS and is nicer, more elegant looking too.

Lots of great iOS apps are still missing on Android.

And if you've got Apple's other devices, like a Mac, iPad, etc... the synergy between them is amazing.

EDIT: Forgot to mention, for me personally, iOS is more functional than Android. On Android, you cannot open YouTube in your browser and make a video play in the background(handy for just listening to documentaries, music, lectures, etc...), while you do something else, how is that functional?

 

[tbayrgs]

Nope. I'm well informed. google+ you might as well say I can use the facebook app to chat with everyone.

This is a personal choice because the people who I wish to communicate with all have iOS devices. It's also a personal choice that the SG2 I have was not worth it. This may not work well for others, but my thread title just says apple has me locked because there is nothing comparable to the list from apple.

----------



Thank you - it's way harder to get the ones you know to download an app just to do something that has it built in. iOS is not perfect for all, but it's damn near perfect for most.

So what you're saying is if someone doesn't use iOS, they can't be your friend?

I'm sorry but you're missing everyone else's point--these tools work great WITHIN Apple's ecosystem, but that's the limit. Most of the solutions available to Android users via Google will work across multiple platforms, which mean they actually offer MORE options/function than those with iOS/OS X. Are they as well done or as polished as Apple's options? Personally I don't think so but at least they don't limit their users nearly as much.

 

[SprSynJn]

This thread was going so well too. Until all these people came in to justify their move.

IMO, it's not that most of those features aren't available on Android devices, it's that they demand considerably more time & effort to utilyze, which is great for many Android users b/c they love tinkering, customizing, etc. Me? I just want my crap to work when and how I need it to, and I don't need live wallpapers, 1 less click to turn on blue tooth, root access, tons of folders, etc., so Apple works for me. NOT b/c I'm blindly following a cult and drinking the Koolaide, but b/c it's best for my needs.

Another person to agree with this point. It's the reason I've always stuck to Mac OS, and now, iOS.

 

[Sital]

 

[TheRealPorkchop]

Well for me, I came over to the iPhone camp from a Crapberry Storm 2... yea. In my opinion, switching to just about any Android device would have been an improvement over RIM, am I right or am I right?

I first switched from a PC to a Mac by first trying the whole hackintosh thing, that did it for me. Then I got an iPod Touch and that made me really want the iPhone but I was still a little wary about the iPhone because it's something all to itself. I keep seeing iMessages throughout this thread... I personally kinda dislike iMessage because of how it receives MMS messages. Video and audio don't play together, GIF's aren't animated full-size and forget sending a ringtone cause of Apple and their DRM support or whatever. I'm not a huge fan of iTunes but it's growing on me, I'm figuring more out about it the more I mess with it.

Other than that... I agree hands down that Apple has an awesome ecosystem for their products and I don't see how any other device on the market can compare to that. I do wish my iPhone had a bigger screen, why I don't know.

 

[randy98mtu]

I'm in the ecosystem. I think Google does have alternatives, but it's not as simple to find them and just use them. If it was, more people would and we wouldn't have this discussion in this thread about the different ways you can do what the Apple ecosystem does, out of the box, with the push of a button. You get logged into your iTunes account and everything works. Period.

Thanks for starting this thread. I keep getting tempted by a few of the other smartphones out there (One X and SG3 mostly) and just have to realize they are just a grid of icon's just like the iPhone. I do think I prefer the 4.3-4.8" displays, but aside from that, I don't believe they can compete with the seamless user experience you get with Apple. I do wish Apple would offer a few choices of phones; a legacy 3.5" for those who want "small", a larger ~4.5" model (I don't even care if they still have the same 960x640 res) One or both could also have choices for thin with a smaller battery or standard thickness with larger battery/more storage.

 

[mcdj]

I just don't understand why every droid phone I've seen has a weird purple-green screen.

 

[Anti-Lucifer]

Image

Tastes great!

 

[greytmom]

I'm happy in my Apple world. Have never been tempted by other phones or tablets. Or computers, since i switched. I started with an iPod, then an iPhone. Thereafter, my PC died. After much anxiety about leaving the PC world, I bought a MacBook Pro in 2007, and was thrilled with it.

Since then, I've upgraded iPods, iPhones, MBPs, and I've had all three iPad versions as well. I have an Apple TV and I LOVE it.

Call me a sheep or koolaid drinker or whatever the hell you want, it doesn't matter. I know what I like and what works for me, and that makes me a happy camper.

 

[M87]

I love Apple, but some of this stuff is available elsewhere. Google lets you upload 200,000 songs for free, Skype is pretty much ubiquitous so in a sense better than FaceTime, Google Voice lets you text as much as you want for free, Dropbox and Google+ will automatically upload all the pictures AND video you take on your phone/iPad (I don't think there's even a limit to how many Google+ will store and it's pretty easy to get 20GB of free dropbox space), etc. I use all the Apple services, but some of the alternatives are actually better IMO.

 

[aleni]

I'm happy in my Apple world. Have never been tempted by other phones or tablets. Or computers, since i switched. I started with an iPod, then an iPhone. Thereafter, my PC died. After much anxiety about leaving the PC world, I bought a MacBook Pro in 2007, and was thrilled with it.

Since then, I've upgraded iPods, iPhones, MBPs, and I've had all three iPad versions as well. I have an Apple TV and I LOVE it.

Call me a sheep or koolaid drinker or whatever the hell you want, it doesn't matter. I know what I like and what works for me, and that makes me a happy camper.

Well said! I hate when android user tellin me im stupid because iphone has small screen, no quad core like s3. Who the hell cares? It runs beautiful with only dual core and can play games that not available in android.

Who needs a quad core if what you do is benchmarking and woo ahhh over that but when u want to play games, it's usually time management and puzzle games that flood the google's playstore.

 

[greytmom]

I will add that I am thrilled Apple isn't drastically changing the form factor. From the moment I saw the keynote for the 4, I thought it was the most beautiful phone design I had ever seen, and I still feel that way.

 

[lilo777]

It will take these items to get me to go full android or even windows mobile. I am so hooked into this ecosystem, there just isn't this cohesive ecosystem offered on android nor windows.

Missing features:

* imessaging. Send 100MB images, videos, contacts, nearly anything encrypted. Built in no configurations needed. Works with my OS X between my wife's iPhone, my iPads, and iPods.

* icloud sync: emails, notes, reminders, bookmarks, calendars, photos, apps, all between my Mac OS X and iOS devices

* photo stream. The most useful feature ever

* iTunes/iBooks: easily drag and drop or sync everything effortlessly. Includes metadata to organize all media

* AirPlay. The best wireless feature bar none. I can stream from my Mac OS X or iOS device to my atv effortlessly and works 99.9% of the time. No hassles at all

* FaceTime. No 3rd party app needed. Works 100% of the time and has no competition. At least quality wise.

* Unicode support and handwriting has no equal. No other platform does this as superbly as iOS.

* battery life. Best thing compared to everything else out there sans replaceable high mAh battery.

Possible equal features that are better on other non iOS devices: iTunes Match, restrictions, camera app, maps, multitasking.


So you see it's hard to leave this ecosystem. Especially when the device performs so smoothly at everything. And is damn stable without much issues.

While some points might be valid you clearly tried too hard to come up with some bogus claims. iPhone 4S has quite average battery life time by modern standards. More powerful LTE phones (like SGS 3) these days have same or better battery life time. Unicode support and handwriting? Good luck explaining to most people what this even means and why they should care.

I am not aware of any modern smart phones that come without FaceTime-like applications. There is absolutely nothing special about Face Time (in addition to the fact that few people really care about this one either). Google's cloud services are probably a bit better than the ones iOS offers. Android Jelly Bean is just as smooth and stable as iOS (perhaps even a little better at both aspects in part because of more powerful hardware).

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Well said! I hate when android user tellin me im stupid because iphone has small screen, no quad core like s3. Who the hell cares? It runs beautiful with only dual core and can play games that not available in android.

Who needs a quad core if what you do is benchmarking and woo ahhh over that but when u want to play games, it's usually time management and puzzle games that flood the google's playstore.

Playing games on 3.5" screen is a rather sorrow experience, is not it?

 

[LongSticks]

[/COLOR]

Playing games on 3.5" screen is a rather sorrow experience, is not it?

No most of us, if we love that game as much as you imply, download that game again from the Cloud on our iPad and use that LARGE screen. If we really love it we upload the iPad version on an iPad 3, retina....or at least we have the option too and that this point of this post......not so sorrowful experience!