I missed my iPhone so much!

[rman726]

Agreed. I think I may have found my solution. If an updated ipod touch based on the new iphone 5 hardware is released AND it's $199, then I think i'll buy it so i can play those 150 awesome games I bought during my 7 months of ownership and not waste money on the android versions.

Since I had Appshopper I paid $0.99 for 90% of those games but when I look at them on Android they are all $1.99 to $6.99 depending. By the time I replaced all the games I would have probably spent more than the price of the Ipod Touch and I would be playing them on an inferior GPU (i'm sure whatever is in the next ipod touch has got to be better than the Adreno 225 in my SGS 3).

So yeah, 2 devices is super annoying and what our technological age is supposed to get us away from, but it's my solution for now since I don't think i want to jump back onto iOS for my phone purposes. I still love Android OS and Widgets and Customization and 4.8" screens

I have definitely considered that. Although I have my iPad already, so can I go a few hours without some of the games that I play waiting until I get home. Sure... I just would rather not.

 

[Bchagey]

I bought a galaxy tab 2 7.0 to learn the ins and outs of ICS..just to see what all the hype was about.. I sold it after about 3 weeks of straight use. The OS does not compare to IOS at all.. So many of you are saying you will switch to the latest and greatest android phone if the iPhone 5 does not suit your fancy, but I bet you will be back using the iPhone within a month..IOS is just too good.

----------

How about some people actually have lives to lead and don't want to have to waste time tinkering and figuring out how to get the most out of our phones .

I'm only being slightly serious but do take offense to statements implying you're unintelligent or not interested in learning if you choose to you an iPhone. I'd argue it's actually the other way around.

Agreed.

 

[cableguy619]

i wasn't to impressed with the 4S so I went with the Galaxy SII.. as stated cool factor went quick. big screen, great battery, fast smooth transitioning... but it just wasnt my iPhone.

I think what bugs me the most is the multiple app stores, clouds, etc. Apple has a great concept "a one stop shop." I like that approach and cannot wait until the 5 drops. I will be back an earlier adopter and even if I have to for the 1st time I will camp out for it lol... I am desperate for it.

 

[VinegarTasters]

Android and Apple

The biggest problem with Apple iPhone is the screen size. Who ever said you need to be able to put your whole hand around a mobile phone? That is the policy at apple I think. If you can't, it is too big. Which I think there is something wrong with their design process, lacking common sense. The STANDARD max size should be the size of your wallet. So anything near 5-6 inches is ok. That is the size that fits your pocket. Why do you think wallets are that size?

Games need big screens. Squinting at a small screen hurts the eyes, and is bad for business for game companies and touch manipulation. It is also bad for reading books and bad for advertisers and film and TV. The iPad is TOO BIG. So I think they came around when they finally got some rumors on the iPad mini. A good size for iPhone is near the Samsung Note (wallet size). A good size for iPad is something 7-8 inches (retina at 1080p holding in front of your face). The New iPad's resolution is great, but it is pushing the pixels too far at too great a distance to meet movie quality. At that distance when you can see individual dots the arms length is too long and your arms will tire.

The Samsung Note is getting closer to the ideal size. At close to 5.3 inches, you can get 1920x1080p display (non pentile) with coming new display technologies a little exceeding retina pixel density. Once someone gets 1080p lcd displays, and native code running on cpu/gpu, then THAT is the standard barer for competition. Its like 100meter swimming or 10meter running. That is the standard people will compete at. Android/Samsung will have problems with Android because it is Java based. Each time they use a faster processor to compensate for slow java, another company (like Apple), can simply use the same tech but run C and it will be 10 times faster. Samsung Note is using pentile matrix, so their LCD solution is basically trash. Their screen size and dedication in other areas of the hardware is ok though. Maybe Samsung Note 2 will come with 1920x1080p minimum, but then the slow java will make some people switch to Windows that supports c/C++ (unless Apple also goes the 5+ inch route).

 

[swoosh0217]

Hey, I just bought you,
Android's crazy,
But now it's got my number,
So call it, maybe?

And all the other phones,
Try to change me,
But S3's got my number,
So call it, maybe?

Before Cupcake came into my life
I missed iOS so bad
I missed iOS so bad
I missed iOS so, so bad

Lol!!!! We're all on the same boat here. No android phone in the market will surpass the elegance of an iPhone and this is why there's too many android phones.

 

[VinegarTasters]

Lol!!!! We're all on the same boat here. No android phone in the market will surpass the elegance of an iPhone and this is why there's too many android phones.

Actually, Apple is kind of lucky. There are a lot of good competition around the corner. Android's biggest problem is the slow Java language requirement. Its their handicap. Windows Phone's biggest problem was the battery requirement of Intel chips, needs too much juice, and the inability to port their power hungry and slow .NET that almost destroyed Vista to Windows Phone. Since Microsoft is now aiming for ARM with Windows 8 RT (starting afresh), real competition is coming soon.

Apple's biggest handicap is the small screen size. Once Android gets rid of Java requirement, and Microsoft releases Windows 8 Phone on a bigger screen, then history will repeat itself. Mac will linger and slowly die while Microsoft just copies it and swallows it up.

The greatest handicap in a company is unwilling to part ways with bad ideas. NeXT's decision with rewritable optical drive and high price was its handicap. iPhone's current handicap is the small screen size, and its fierce unwillingless to allow non-app centric file system. OSX's handicap is performance not being put high on their decision criteria.


This post would not be fair without stating the things saving companies. Android is being saved because it is basically free for manufactures, so anyone phone maker can just use it and save on OS development costs. If only Google make Android+ based on C and not Java, then there is serious competition.

Microsoft is being saved because they are willing to copy good ideas, try and try again. Look at XBox. It is a failure. XBox360 is also a failure. But they are learning as they keep copying Sony and Nintendo and are getting better and better. It is how they dethroned Netscape. It is how they are going to do the same with Apple's iPhone. Copy all the good things, but know when to admit a bad idea is a bad idea. I think they are going to copy Android's large screens in the next Nokia.

Apple's good is that they innovate (they are were first with Mac UI). The problem with pure innovation for its sake is that they get stuck with bad ideas and don't know when to let go. Like NeXT's rewritable optical drive. Like slow performance. Like App centric file system. Like the TINY SCREEN in iPhone.

 

[Meanee]

Windows Phone's biggest problem was the battery requirement of Intel chips, needs too much juice, and the inability to port their power hungry and slow .NET that almost destroyed Vista to Windows Phone. Since Microsoft is now aiming for ARM with Windows 8 RT (starting afresh), real competition is coming soon.

I think you have few facts wrong.

Windows Phone been running on ARM since it's release. Even Windows Mobile ran on ARM chips from mid 2000's. In fact, Windows Phone never ran on Intel chips. Even original Windows CE stuck to ARM, and another architecture, the name of which evades me right now.

.NET is just a runtime. It's not as memory hungry as people make it out to be. It's all about how developer codes the program.

.NET is slow if you are running it on ancient hardware. I am talking Pentium 4 - era Celeron chips, and 512mb of RAM. Any PC you buy in a store today won't have any issues with .net.

Since .NET is just a runtime, it has no effect on battery. You can have a developer code a program that may use up a lot of resources, but same can be done in Objective C, Java, etc.

While a lot of Windows applications require .Net, core Windows does not. And what destroyed Vista was not .Net, but a very rushed release. While service packs later made Vista a great OS to run, the damage in public's view was done, and Microsoft quickly locked it up in the same cage with Windows ME.

This post would not be fair without stating the things saving companies. Android is being saved because it is basically free for manufactures, so anyone phone maker can just use it and save on OS development costs. If only Google make Android+ based on C and not Java, then there is serious competition.

Android can and always could (well, starting at Android 1.5) run C and C++ code natively. Source: http://developer.android.com/tools/sdk/ndk/index.html

Microsoft is being saved because they are willing to copy good ideas, try and try again. Look at XBox. It is a failure. XBox360 is also a failure. But they are learning as they keep copying Sony and Nintendo and are getting better and better. It is how they dethroned Netscape. It is how they are going to do the same with Apple's iPhone. Copy all the good things, but know when to admit a bad idea is a bad idea. I think they are going to copy Android's large screens in the next Nokia.

I wouldn't call original xbox a failure. It was a very cheap PC. Very moddable, and very flexible. The heart of it was a Celeron 700-ish mhz chip, which was quickly put to use by homebrew developers. And it was the first console with a hard drive. Sony's hard drive kit for PS2 does not count. At it's generation, it had great graphics, and I believe it was the first console with proper online capabilities. In fact, there was no other console Microsoft could copy. By then, PS1 was outdated. When PS2 was released, xbox development was already very close to completion. Nintendo didn't really have much out there. Gamecube hit US in 2002, while Xbox was released in 2001. If anyone "stole" anything, it would be Sony, for their online functions in PS3.

How's xbox 360 a failure? It's still going strong. Kinect is wonderful. Media integration is years beyond PS3. It's not just a console, it's a great family entertainment device, media center, streaming "receiver". Every major game (save for exclusives) is released for 360 and PS3. If anything is a failure in current console generation is Nintendo Wii. While a great idea, it quickly fell behind.

 

[-MRB]

I did the same with the S2. Thought it was great at first but it grew older much faster than my iPhone.

I've had every iPhone bar the 'S' variants (Never saw the point)

I skipped the 4S and went with the S2. Now when the next iPhone is out I'll go back to that.


iPhones just work. That's the main thing I miss.

 

[VinegarTasters]

I think you have few facts wrong.

Windows Phone been running on ARM since it's release. Even Windows Mobile ran on ARM chips from mid 2000's. In fact, Windows Phone never ran on Intel chips. Even original Windows CE stuck to ARM, and another architecture, the name of which evades me right now.

.NET is just a runtime. It's not as memory hungry as people make it out to be. It's all about how developer codes the program.

.NET is slow if you are running it on ancient hardware. I am talking Pentium 4 - era Celeron chips, and 512mb of RAM. Any PC you buy in a store today won't have any issues with .net.

Since .NET is just a runtime, it has no effect on battery. You can have a developer code a program that may use up a lot of resources, but same can be done in Objective C, Java, etc.

While a lot of Windows applications require .Net, core Windows does not. And what destroyed Vista was not .Net, but a very rushed release. While service packs later made Vista a great OS to run, the damage in public's view was done, and Microsoft quickly locked it up in the same cage with Windows ME.





Android can and always could (well, starting at Android 1.5) run C and C++ code natively. Source: http://developer.android.com/tools/sdk/ndk/index.html



I wouldn't call original xbox a failure. It was a very cheap PC. Very moddable, and very flexible. The heart of it was a Celeron 700-ish mhz chip, which was quickly put to use by homebrew developers. And it was the first console with a hard drive. Sony's hard drive kit for PS2 does not count. At it's generation, it had great graphics, and I believe it was the first console with proper online capabilities. In fact, there was no other console Microsoft could copy. By then, PS1 was outdated. When PS2 was released, xbox development was already very close to completion. Nintendo didn't really have much out there. Gamecube hit US in 2002, while Xbox was released in 2001. If anyone "stole" anything, it would be Sony, for their online functions in PS3.

How's xbox 360 a failure? It's still going strong. Kinect is wonderful. Media integration is years beyond PS3. It's not just a console, it's a great family entertainment device, media center, streaming "receiver". Every major game (save for exclusives) is released for 360 and PS3. If anything is a failure in current console generation is Nintendo Wii. While a great idea, it quickly fell behind.

On the Windows Phone, if you read it again, you will find the main point was that intel COULDN'T make a non-battery sucking chip like ARM that could run their .NET stuff. The stuff that almost destroyed Vista. If they could, microsoft would run their windows apps and library on the Windows Phone.

The ARM versions of Microsoft Phone had sucked at that time. It was not powerful enough like the intel chips. So Microsoft was basically on a waiting game. Either ARM gets faster so they can put their .NET slowness on it, or intel made a chip that was not a battery hog that they can port their .NET slowness on it. They need a powerful chip because .NET is so slow.

.NET is a managed runtime. Slow as hell. Bloated, takes up so much memory. Interpreted stuff are bad for business, either JIT or whatever.

I touch on Java (the thing C# copied) and their weakness here:
https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/15309096/

You can interpolate from that (substituting Java with C# and .NET).

Android added C/C++ because Java is too slow. Because no one could make AAA games on their platform because of the slow Java.

You can follow up on some of that near the middle of this thread:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1383146/

As for XBox, yes it was a major failure. You can't even run XBox games on Xbox 360. Microsoft doesn't make the console anymore. While PS2, Sony is still selling. New PS2 games are still being produced. The harddrive was not a factor. Xbox360 copied Sony by not requiring harddrive (optional) in Xbox360. So it goes both ways.

Number of consoles sold:
PlayStation 2 – 150 million as of 31 January 2011 (they are still shipping)
Xbox – 24 million as of 10 May 2006 (they stopped making them)

XBox 360 is a failure because it had a year headstart, but PS3 is catching up (less than 2 million difference.) As of now every week there are more PS3 being sold than XBox360:

http://www.vgchartz.com/

It is projected PS3 will surpass XBox360 this year or next year the latest, and the momentum will keep rising. Also, the total above is a little overinflated on XBox360, because half of the total is from XBox360 owners returning, or buying a replacement from red ring of death. (close to 60% of all XBox360 broke down after extended usage). So Sony PS3 could have double the total consoles than XBox360.

http://blog.seattlepi.com/microsoft/2009/08/19/survey-xbox-360-failure-rate-is-54-2/

 

[Mr Hill]

Same here.

I went and tried the GS2 and then the HTC One S and were using them since May. Now back on the iPhone 4S and love it.

Things I missed from iOS:
- Battery on the 4S trumped both of those phones. Neither could survive the full day without charging. They would usually die a couple of hours before I got home.
- Not a knock on the phones themselves, but for Android. As far as I know there is still no feature built into Android where you can backup everything on your device and restore it and have everything (game saves, apps, messages, settings, etc.) on the phone exactly as you left it.
- The overall quality of apps. Android has improved since I had the G2 last year but their apps are still usually inferior to their iOS counterparts. Usually lacking some features.
- The iPhone media player still works better and faster than all of the media players I tried on Android. Many of them would lag or delay when trying to quickly switch between songs.
- The iPhone keyboard is perfect for typing. I can type everything much faster and more accurately. (Maybe that's just because I've been using iPhones for so long).
- iMessage and Group Messaging. Android is the only smartphone OS without built in group messaging. It's annoying as hell to receive hundreds of individual messages when my iPhone toting friends are typing in group chats and also not being able to respond to them.

Things Android had that I will miss:
- Google Maps turn by turn navigation (iOS 6 will finally address this though)
- 4G data speeds (should also be brought to the new iPhone)
- Larger screen. 4.5" and higher I think is too big, but about 4.2" would be just right.
- Android is improved a lot since 2.3, but still has some catching up to be as smooth and "out of the box" working like iOS.

Feels good to be back on the iPhone.

 

[joshwithachance]

Same here.

I went and tried the GS2 and then the HTC One S and were using them since May. Now back on the iPhone 4S and love it.

Things I missed from iOS:
- Battery on the 4S trumped both of those phones. Neither could survive the full day without charging. They would usually die a couple of hours before I got home.
- Not a knock on the phones themselves, but for Android. As far as I know there is still no feature built into Android where you can backup everything on your device and restore it and have everything (game saves, apps, messages, settings, etc.) on the phone exactly as you left it.
- The overall quality of apps. Android has improved since I had the G2 last year but their apps are still usually inferior to their iOS counterparts. Usually lacking some features.
- The iPhone media player still works better and faster than all of the media players I tried on Android. Many of them would lag or delay when trying to quickly switch between songs.
- The iPhone keyboard is perfect for typing. I can type everything much faster and more accurately. (Maybe that's just because I've been using iPhones for so long).
- iMessage and Group Messaging. Android is the only smartphone OS without built in group messaging. It's annoying as hell to receive hundreds of individual messages when my iPhone toting friends are typing in group chats and also not being able to respond to them.

Things Android had that I will miss:
- Google Maps turn by turn navigation (iOS 6 will finally address this though)
- 4G data speeds (should also be brought to the new iPhone)
- Larger screen. 4.5" and higher I think is too big, but about 4.2" would be just right.
- Android is improved a lot since 2.3, but still has some catching up to be as smooth and "out of the box" working like iOS.

Feels good to be back on the iPhone.

Have you tried using "Waze"? It's a REALLY GOOD turn by turn app.

 

[Mr Hill]

Yeah I actually have Waze on my iPhone. I don't think there's anyway to make it the default Navigation app though.

Side note: Another annoying thing about the HTC One S I had was multitasking. If you went into another app just for more than like 5 seconds then hit the multitasking button to get back to your original app, it would reload. I used to hate that when I was at a certain spot reading something on a webpage and went to respond to a text message and when I got back it reloaded the webpage and put me back at the beginning of the article.

 

[Meanee]

On the Windows Phone, if you read it again, you will find the main point was that intel COULDN'T make a non-battery sucking chip like ARM that could run their .NET stuff. The stuff that almost destroyed Vista. If they could, microsoft would run their windows apps and library on the Windows Phone.

The ARM versions of Microsoft Phone had sucked at that time. It was not powerful enough like the intel chips. So Microsoft was basically on a waiting game. Either ARM gets faster so they can put their .NET slowness on it, or intel made a chip that was not a battery hog that they can port their .NET slowness on it. They need a powerful chip because .NET is so slow.

.NET is a managed runtime. Slow as hell. Bloated, takes up so much memory. Interpreted stuff are bad for business, either JIT or whatever.

I touch on Java (the thing C# copied) and their weakness here:
https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/15309096/

You can interpolate from that (substituting Java with C# and .NET).

Android added C/C++ because Java is too slow. Because no one could make AAA games on their platform because of the slow Java.

You can follow up on some of that near the middle of this thread:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1383146/

As for XBox, yes it was a major failure. You can't even run XBox games on Xbox 360. Microsoft doesn't make the console anymore. While PS2, Sony is still selling. New PS2 games are still being produced. The harddrive was not a factor. Xbox360 copied Sony by not requiring harddrive (optional) in Xbox360. So it goes both ways.

Number of consoles sold:
PlayStation 2 – 150 million as of 31 January 2011 (they are still shipping)
Xbox – 24 million as of 10 May 2006 (they stopped making them)

XBox 360 is a failure because it had a year headstart, but PS3 is catching up (less than 2 million difference.) As of now every week there are more PS3 being sold than XBox360:

http://www.vgchartz.com/

It is projected PS3 will surpass XBox360 this year or next year the latest, and the momentum will keep rising. Also, the total above is a little overinflated on XBox360, because half of the total is from XBox360 owners returning, or buying a replacement from red ring of death. (close to 60% of all XBox360 broke down after extended usage). So Sony PS3 could have double the total consoles than XBox360.

http://blog.seattlepi.com/microsoft/2009/08/19/survey-xbox-360-failure-rate-is-54-2/

xbox 360 is still produced and development will continue to at least 2015. Failure rate figures are irrelevant now, the issue was fixed. And xbox 360 is backwards compatible with a lot of xbox games (like 500 or so). Sony's numbers are due to success in Japan. I believe USA numbers or EU numbers would be similar.

 

[nizmoz]

I am also back. I had the same issues with my S3 and today took it back after my normal 30 day grace with AT&T. Thankfully I had Best Buy and I have a 45 day with them. I swapped it out with a 4S for now till the new one comes out and will upgrade to that one on my other line. S3 is probably one of the best Android phones out, but these issues above is what kept me from keeping it. :/

So a couple weeks ago I took the plunge and decided to try out the Galaxy S III as my daily driver, and see if this phone was the better smartphone.

At first I was completely wowed and thought I would end up keeping it, but soon enough that "wow" factor wore off.

What I loved about the S III: the big screen, the amazing battery life, how light it is and how amazing it feels in the hand, and a few of the gestures (like swipe with the side of your hand for a screenshot & the ability to keep the screen on just by looking at it).

What I didn't like about the S III: the phone feels cheap overall, especially the buttons, the camera isn't that good indoors, the speaker being placed on the back, how the screen isn't bright enough outdoors and too bright indoors, the delayed response when hitting the home button (even with S-Voice turned off), it's just a bit too big, and the lack of really any way to easily sync your content with it from a Mac.

What I missed about my iPhone 4S: the quality of the apps, the high quality of the phone itself, the camera, the mute switch, iMessage, and iCloud.

All in all, I'm glad to be back to my iPhone as I feel Android isn't QUITE there yet. While I miss the big screen and amazing battery life, the S III has helped me appreciate the iPhone again for it's stellar hardware, amazing apps, and the iOS community.

Have any of you taken the plunge on a different OS recently and come back to the iPhone?

 

[jonhcox]

Returned mine today and will use a cheapo Sammy slider until the new one lands. The issues that brought me back were small to many, but big for me. I know the GS3 had a larger keyboard but I found the iOS keyboard more accurate overall. Sending pictures over MMS took forever, even when attached to wifi and full cell signal. No group messaging. Small things, I know, but just couldn't get comfortable with it. The display was great and I had no issues with the size of the phone. I though it was well made.

 

[NewYork88]

I've had a iphone since they came to Verizon but I'm always looking for a phone to try out.We have a MacBook Pro , iPad ,iPhones and iPod Touches so I'm not anti Apple. I've tried most of the Android phones on Verizon since the iPhone has been here and the S3 is the 1st one I like,I like it a lot . I'm over the tiny iphone screen and glass back that dares you to not use a case on whats already a far from thin phone. Don't get me wrong,I'll be in line for a iPhone 5 but I'll be comparing it to my S3, not my iPhone 4s.

 

[Alameda]

My wife said the same thing. Until she dropped her phone. She got another one of course, but when she asked where her music and apps were I said "with your backup".
Her response: "What backup?"

She can recover every song, movie, book and app that she purchased thru iTunes.