iPhone vs Android - why I came back

[Mike225]

I went Droid X from 3G and I like the switch. iOS/iPhone still has its pluses though. (Better games if youre into that, and less hassles)

I get up to 3 days of battery life on my Droid X (2.2) if Im not using it a lot to surf the web and things (using the screen essentially). My iPhone never went a night without a charge. I average every other day on my Droid X.

Overall I wouldn't recommend Android at this point to most of my non tech friends, but that said my GF, dad, mom and my GF's whole family have Droid X's, are not techie and are fine with Android.

Best part of the switch was Verizon over AT&T though

 

[Apple...]

I'm back too. Tried Sprint and the EVO, but the battery life and overall "me too" feeling of Android irritated me.

Two ETFs later (one for leaving ATT and one for leaving Sprint) and I'm back.

Annoying saga. Don't recommend it.

I went Droid X from 3G and I like the switch. iOS/iPhone still has its pluses though. (Better games if youre into that, and less hassles)

I get up to 3 days of battery life on my Droid X (2.2) if Im not using it a lot to surf the web and things (using the screen essentially). My iPhone never went a night without a charge. I average every other day on my Droid X.

Overall I wouldn't recommend Android at this point to most of my non tech friends, but that said my GF, dad, mom and my GF's whole family have Droid X's, are not techie and are fine with Android.

Best part of the switch was Verizon over AT&T though

Verizon iPhone?

 

[daneoni]

Snip

So wait, Mr Informed-Consumer-who-isn't-a-fanboy, your entire argument is that i needed to wait till Samsung came out with the premier Galaxy S line of phones or even more so, continue to wait till the next iteration of the Android OS comes out on even higher end hardware before i can get a non-lag experience

So in essence, all that SuperPhone talk by Google just a few months ago was all BS. Google's own anointed phone is a nice Android phone but isn't 'specd enough' to run the latest version of it's OS properly and i should've ignored it and waited for the Galaxy S to debut or even better wait for Gingerbread or Ice Cream which will run on 1.5GHz or Dual Core processors. THEN i'd get a refined Android performance.

Yet the complaints about issues tend to span across Android devices from every generation. For example...

Samsung. They have a solid line up of handsets, but after prolonged use of the Galaxy S phone for T-Mobile (Vibrant, from my experience) it started giving me force closes errors for just about any task I threw at it. I’ve heard very similar reports from co-workers and other Galaxy S devices, and I can only hope the TouchWiz UI is to blame. If for some reason it’s the hardware, I won’t be jumping out of my seat to get one of these things, even if it does hit the US.

Meanwhile every iPhone OS/iOS device that has shipped has ran its debut OS generation (and the next one at least), regardless of hardware specs, with the same relative performance. iPhone 3GS hardware wasn't required to run iOS 2.x properly, iPhone 3G hardware was more than sufficient. The again maybe its all down to homogeny as someone said.

PS- You possibly had me going here...

The NexusOne isn't the latest and greatest.

...Other manufacturers have been using last-generation processors (like that in the Desire and NexusOne) which aren't as fast.

...but then you lost me when you spewed this nonsense

If you want a second phone, then I suggest the motorola Defy. It isn't the fastest or latest android device... but the phone will be water-proof and shock proof, so you'll have something to fall back on after you crack your iScreen

 

[Tarzanman]

So wait, Mr Informed-Consumer-who-isn't-a-fanboy, your entire argument is that i needed to wait till Samsung came out with the premier Galaxy S line of phones or even more so, continue to wait till the next iteration of the Android OS comes out on even higher end hardware before i can get a non-lag experience

No, that isn't what I said. The Incredible, Droid X, Droid 2, Captivate (etc) and EVO all offer lag free function. The Desire does not. If you were looking for a superior Android experience, then you chose the wrong phone. What you did would like me buying a 3GS and running IOS 4.x on it.... a very mediocre experience.

So in essence, all that SuperPhone talk by Google just a few months ago was all BS. Google's own anointed phone is a nice Android phone but isn't 'specd enough' to run the latest version of it's OS properly and i should've ignored it and waited for the Galaxy S to debut or even better wait for Gingerbread or Ice Cream which will run on 1.5GHz or Dual Core processors. THEN i'd get a refined Android performance.

I have no idea what it is that google said that you have a problem with. The official Google phone (the Nexus One) came out in January and 3 months later the Droid Incredible came out (which is a faster phone).

That is how Android works right now. One phone only stays "king" for ~3 months before HTC/Motorola/Samsung/LG/etc matches or beats the specs. Similarly, google keeps piling the features into Android (widgets, live wallpapers, etc). The Desire can be configured to run fast or lag free, but you have to get through HTC's interface they have overlaid on top of android.

Yet the complaints about issues tend to span across Android devices from every generation. For example...



Meanwhile every iPhone OS/iOS device that has shipped has ran its debut OS generation (and the next one at least), regardless of hardware specs, with the same relative performance. iPhone 3GS hardware wasn't required to run iOS 2.x properly, iPhone 3G hardware was more than sufficient. The again maybe its all down to homogeny as someone said.

PS- You possibly had me going here...

...but then you lost me when you spewed this nonsense

Dude, I have no idea what you're talking about. You (was it you?) complained about the Desire being laggy and surmised that all Android phones must therefore be laggy. That is incorrect, hence my post.

Truth be told, the top android phones are already more powerful than the iPhone 4, which makes sense because most of them came out after the iPhone 4... and in 3 months there will be another crop of phones that outdo those.

As for backwards compatibility... developers have ported Eclair (android 2.1) to the G1.... the very first android phone ever. Let me know when someone figures out how to shoehorn IOS 4 onto an iPhone 2G?

I don't get where all your anger is coming from. If you don't want to be corrected, then get your facts straight before you put them in a post.

 

[daneoni]

If you don't want to be corrected, then get your facts straight before you put them in a post.

Ironic

No, that isn't what I said. The Incredible...and EVO all offer lag free function. The Desire does not. If you were looking for a superior Android experience, then you chose the wrong phone. What you did would like me buying a 3GS and running IOS 4.x on it.... a very mediocre experience.

I have no idea what it is that google said that you have a problem with. The official Google phone (the Nexus One) came out in January and 3 months later the Droid Incredible came out (which is a faster phone).

The Incredible, Evo and Nexus one (clone of the Desire) have the same Processor, GPU and RAM. You clearly have no idea what you're talking about, so i'm done arguing with you.

 

[George Knighton]

The best thing about Android Froyo is that it has given the iOS people a little shove in the right direction.



Except for the two big newsworthy items, Flash and Java. And I'm with Apple as far as those go. I think they're inherently too time consuming, perhaps even evil in the hands of some developers, and we should move in another direction inasmuch as it is possible to do it.

 

[Phil A.]

The best thing about Android Froyo is that it has given the iOS people a little shove in the right direction.



Except for the two big newsworthy items, Flash and Java. And I'm with Apple as far as those go. I think they're inherently too time consuming, perhaps even evil in the hands of some developers, and we should move in another direction inasmuch as it is possible to do it.

Ironically enough (seeing as how Android apps are developed in the Java language), Android doesn't actually support Java apps either (there is a J2ME runner available I believe but there is no native support, nor support for J2SE)

 

[ozzyman500]

Since I've had an iPhone I've always had one. I can relate to this story with iPods though. I was so sick of them back in the day about 2007 or so. So I went and got a Zune and tried the Zune software, wow was that horrible. I had been using iTunes for so long I couldn't use the Zune so I returned it. I haven't looked past iTunes, iPods, and iPhones since.

 

[Tarzanman]

Ironic

The Incredible, Evo and Nexus one (clone of the Desire) have the same Processor, GPU and RAM. You clearly have no idea what you're talking about, so i'm done arguing with you.

I must be missing your point so, spell it out for me.
Even with similar hardware, not all phones are identical. Different screens, different options (cameras, radios, etc). Unlike an iphone, they are not the same device down to the buttons, trackpads and flaws.

However, my mistake regarding the clock frequency of the Nexus One. I read a page that listed it at 800 MHz instead of 1 GHz, but here you go:

http://www.greenecomputing.com/apps/linpack/linpack-by-device/
This is a listing of people who strip all the bloat off of their phones and test how much power they can eke out of the processor.

If all of those phones were identical then:
1. The same exact ROM from one phone should work on the others (they don't)
2. All the scores should be identical (the Incredible and Nexus One are similar, but a stripped down Desire without the Sense overlay is noticeably faster)

Either way, since the OP was presumably running a stock phone, the bundled services and software colors the experience of the device (and goes a long way to explain why the Desire exhibits noticeable lag compared to other phones).

Since you are done arguing with me, I eagerly await you not replying

 

[Phil A.]

Either way, since the OP was presumably running a stock phone, the bundled services and software colors the experience of the device (and goes a long way to explain why the Desire exhibits noticeable lag compared to other phones).

I was (using a stock Desire), but I never said I experience lag (because I never did), so please don't try and put words into my mouth.

If you read my original post, I said I loved the Desire and I didn't get fed up of it and decide to go back to an iPhone: It got broken and I went back to an iPhone because I had one lying around. It was only then that I realised that Android wasn't as smooth an experience as the iPhone with iOS 4.1. This has nothing to do with lag and everything to do with the polish of the interface, and things like how the keyboard works, layout, etc.

I have used a lot of Android phones and find that the Sense UI is pretty much the best there is, but it still falls short of the whole iPhone experience (and remember, my realisation of this was with iOS 4.1 on a 3GS, which you have already said you consider to be slower than a Desire!)

Just to clarify, I am NOT talking about raw horsepower, or whether you get juttery scrolling or delays on the browser or other parts of the OS (because I have never experienced that with an Android phone or an iPhone), but rather how the UI feels to use, and the overall experience of using the phone.

On those criteria, my completely subjective view is that iOS is streets ahead of Android and all the Ghz in the world aren't going to change that

 

[Apple...]

I must be missing your point so, spell it out for me.
Even with similar hardware, not all phones are identical. Different screens, different options (cameras, radios, etc). Unlike an iphone, they are not the same device down to the buttons, trackpads and flaws.

However, my mistake regarding the clock frequency of the Nexus One. I read a page that listed it at 800 MHz instead of 1 GHz, but here you go:

http://www.greenecomputing.com/apps/linpack/linpack-by-device/
This is a listing of people who strip all the bloat off of their phones and test how much power they can eke out of the processor.

If all of those phones were identical then:
1. The same exact ROM from one phone should work on the others (they don't)
2. All the scores should be identical (the Incredible and Nexus One are similar, but a stripped down Desire without the Sense overlay is noticeably faster)

Either way, since the OP was presumably running a stock phone, the bundled services and software colors the experience of the device (and goes a long way to explain why the Desire exhibits noticeable lag compared to other phones).

Since you are done arguing with me, I eagerly await you not replying

What phone do you own, then, troll?

 

[Apple...]

I was (using a stock Desire), but I never said I experience lag (because I never did), so please don't try and put words into my mouth.

If you read my original post, I said I loved the Desire and I didn't get fed up of it and decide to go back to an iPhone: It got broken and I went back to an iPhone because I had one lying around. It was only then that I realised that Android wasn't as smooth an experience as the iPhone with iOS 4.1. This has nothing to do with lag and everything to do with the polish of the interface, and things like how the keyboard works, layout, etc.

I have used a lot of Android phones and find that the Sense UI is pretty much the best there is, but it still falls short of the whole iPhone experience (and remember, my realisation of this was with iOS 4.1 on a 3GS, which you have already said you consider to be slower than a Desire!)

Just to clarify, I am NOT talking about raw horsepower, or whether you get juttery scrolling or delays on the browser or other parts of the OS (because I have never experienced that with an Android phone or an iPhone), but rather how the UI feels to use, and the overall experience of using the phone.

On those criteria, my completely subjective view is that iOS is streets ahead of Android and all the Ghz in the world aren't going to change that

Nice post!

 

[LIVEFRMNYC]

Android is progressing pretty quickly, and news/information from 8 months ago is obsolete.

That statement is getting pretty old. Devices with today's average specs should not lag.

 

[kenypowa]

That statement is getting pretty old. Devices with today's average specs should not lag.

I'm proud to say Nexus One running Cyanogen Mod is faster than iPhone 4. I have a brand new iPhone 4 right beside me and it will be sold later this afternoon. Not that I hate iOS, I think it is more suitable on a tablet. But Nexus One is by far the best phone I've had.

 

[kenypowa]

Ironic



The Incredible, Evo and Nexus one (clone of the Desire) have the same Processor, GPU and RAM. You clearly have no idea what you're talking about, so i'm done arguing with you.

Technically, the Desire has a bit more RAM than Nexus One. And for some reason Incredible is indeed smoother and more responsive than Evo. It's bewildering.

 

[robanga]

I really want to buy an Android phone to play with as a backup phone, because i like Google services and it would be fun. I want however the stock Android experience like the Nexus one had. As I understand it, there are almost no phones that have this?

I do not want all the changes from Sprint, Verizon, HTC, Motorola etc. I want an unlocked Android phone with the OS straight from Google.

 

[LIVEFRMNYC]

I'm proud to say Nexus One running Cyanogen Mod is faster than iPhone 4. I have a brand new iPhone 4 right beside me and it will be sold later this afternoon. Not that I hate iOS, I think it is more suitable on a tablet. But Nexus One is by far the best phone I've had.

How do you compare the speed?

On the iPhone 4, I tap what I want and "poof" .... instantly does what it suppose to. How can something be faster.

Unless your talking about bandwidth speed which varies depending on location and time.

 

[Apple...]

That statement is getting pretty old. Devices with today's average specs should not lag.

Agreed.

I'm proud to say Nexus One running Cyanogen Mod is faster than iPhone 4. I have a brand new iPhone 4 right beside me and it will be sold later this afternoon. Not that I hate iOS, I think it is more suitable on a tablet. But Nexus One is by far the best phone I've had.

Whatever suites you best, I guess... at least you have an iPad.

I really want to buy an Android phone to play with as a backup phone, because i like Google services and it would be fun. I want however the stock Android experience like the Nexus one had. As I understand it, there are almost no phones that have this?

I do not want all the changes from Sprint, Verizon, HTC, Motorola etc. I want an unlocked Android phone with the OS straight from Google.

Sign up as an Android developer ($25), create a Gmail account and buy an unlocked Nexus One from Google. I think that should be simple enough.

 

[deeesea]

it seems that I must be the opposite of a lot of you guys here (obviously, it's a mac forum lol).

I've been waiting to jump ship back into Android. I've had the iphone 3G, 3GS, and various other devices in between (the 3G was one of the worst phones i've ever used primarily because it was so slow). The notification system is the number one biggest dealbreaker for me on ios. I also find it stupid to switch from one app back to the settings just to change a setting, and sometimes it's not always that intuitive. For example, the weathereye app has some settings within the app itself, but then there are always other apps which have their settings (like facebook) placed within the "settings app" on the phone. I found that to be quite irritating sometimes, especially when i need to change a setting to see how something behaves/looks, but I'm relegated to switching back and forth between apps (mind you, it's easier with ios 4.X, but still...).

I like Android for it's notification system,WIDGETSSS, it's support from XDA-Developers, and definitely it's ability to customize, OC-ing the processor, and various other tinkerings that you can do with the device is just so much fun. I'll agree with a lot of you who said the nexus one with stock OS was piss slow. Somehow, it just isn't as polished as ios (it's true I won't deny it). That being said, with one or two tweaks you really speed it up, and my nexus one was just as fast/smooth as my current iphone 4. I like the notion that you can tweak the phone to make it run how you want it to run, I like the support of XDA and how Google supports Rooting unlike Apple...whose constantly battling to remove the ability to root your phones.

I'm trying to love the iphone 4, and everyonce in a while I think it's not that bad, and I grow to like it a bit more, but then I start playing a game and get a bunch of texts and all that love goes out the window .

I'm waiting for the new year to jump ship back to android, primarily because there will be new phones out...and also because I promised to keep a phone for at least 1 year...I've had about 7 phones in the last 2 years, and as a student constantly switching phones every 6 months (or less) is a bad financial decision lol.

 

[Lamarak]

Only thing I miss from using the incredible for a few weeks was the wonderful integration of google and the speech to text without jumping through hoops in my texting. If the iphone ever got speech to text without using an app, then the system would be perfect to me. ( I have limited use in my hands so texting can be a challenge sometimes) But I am an Iphone holder and probably will be for a long time.

 

[Compile 'em all]

WHy is it that laggy though, this has been a common complaint same for me when i tried the HTC Hero. Everyone says it lacks polish and is often laggy.

I mean iPhone uses 600-800MHz CPUs and still manages to be more responsive/faster than its Android counterparts which are on 1GHz processors and up to 768MB of RAM.

Does Android not implement GPU acceleration for its UI? is it just clunky programming or is just badly developed apps that drag down performance?

This is Apple for you. When you control every aspect of a product, you can provide a very very tight experience. Apple builds the phone, decides what goes inside, and writes what runs on top of the metal. Not a single company will manage to match that unless they do the same.

 

[Apple...]

it seems that I must be the opposite of a lot of you guys here (obviously, it's a mac forum lol).

I've been waiting to jump ship back into Android. I've had the iphone 3G, 3GS, and various other devices in between (the 3G was one of the worst phones i've ever used primarily because it was so slow). The notification system is the number one biggest dealbreaker for me on ios. I also find it stupid to switch from one app back to the settings just to change a setting, and sometimes it's not always that intuitive. For example, the weathereye app has some settings within the app itself, but then there are always other apps which have their settings (like facebook) placed within the "settings app" on the phone. I found that to be quite irritating sometimes, especially when i need to change a setting to see how something behaves/looks, but I'm relegated to switching back and forth between apps (mind you, it's easier with ios 4.X, but still...).

I like Android for it's notification system,WIDGETSSS, it's support from XDA-Developers, and definitely it's ability to customize, OC-ing the processor, and various other tinkerings that you can do with the device is just so much fun. I'll agree with a lot of you who said the nexus one with stock OS was piss slow. Somehow, it just isn't as polished as ios (it's true I won't deny it). That being said, with one or two tweaks you really speed it up, and my nexus one was just as fast/smooth as my current iphone 4. I like the notion that you can tweak the phone to make it run how you want it to run, I like the support of XDA and how Google supports Rooting unlike Apple...whose constantly battling to remove the ability to root your phones.

I'm trying to love the iphone 4, and everyonce in a while I think it's not that bad, and I grow to like it a bit more, but then I start playing a game and get a bunch of texts and all that love goes out the window .

I'm waiting for the new year to jump ship back to android, primarily because there will be new phones out...and also because I promised to keep a phone for at least 1 year...I've had about 7 phones in the last 2 years, and as a student constantly switching phones every 6 months (or less) is a bad financial decision lol.

Do this for me: hang around until iOS 5. If it still doesn't meet your needs when it's released, then feel free to jump ship. It's worth a try, and it will teach you to stick with one phone longer than six months.

This is Apple for you. When you control every aspect of a product, you can provide a very very tight experience. Apple builds the phone, decides what goes inside, and writes what runs on top of the metal. Not a single company will manage to match that unless they do the same.

 

[LIVEFRMNYC]

This is Apple for you. When you control every aspect of a product, you can provide a very very tight experience. Apple builds the phone, decides what goes inside, and writes what runs on top of the metal. Not a single company will manage to match that unless they do the same.

That's kind of true. But being jailbroken I have the same instant like experience with plenty of jailbroken stuff. And most of the time when a jailbroken app, settings, or mod is added and chokes, it's usually just contained to what you just installed and easy to completely uninstall.


Apple does seem to have some control even when jailbroken being that there are plenty of things developers can't seem to make yet. Like full use of Bluetooth. I know nothing about programing though.

 

[kevinof]

That's what people said about ios4 a year ago. Wait for it to be released and it meet all your needs.

Do this for me: hang around until iOS 5. If it still doesn't meet your needs when it's released, then feel free to jump ship. It's worth a try, and it will teach you to stick with one phone longer than six months.

 

[Apple...]

That's what people said about ios4 a year ago. Wait for it to be released and it meet all your needs.

That may be true, but in his case his biggest need is an overhauled notification system and maybe widgets. They seem like likely candidates for iOS 5.

iOS 4 brought multitasking and folders, didn't it?