iPhones biggest strength is also it's weakness

[rtomyj]

1) Devs have nothing to do with it. It's by design. iOS uses native code to run applications which usually takes more storage, while Android uses something called bytecode which is compiled on-demand the first time application is run.

2) You kept telling me that iOS doesn't need more RAM, but I just proved to you that it indeed does. You obviously failed to understand that.

That makes no sense bud. Test it with a phone that has 2 gigs of ram with the iPhone that has 2 gigs of ram then open the same apps on both devices. Then come back after findings.

 

[Elisha]

As a former Android user, I agree with most of what the OP is saying
But I'm at a point where I don't want to tinker anymore so I switched over to iOS.
A file manager would be super useful. No need for root level access, just the data storage aspect. I would love to be able to stream torrents to my Chromecast and Roku again but I don't want to jailbreak.
Also the settings really should be within apps and not a general settings screen which makes it very unproductive.
SwiftKey needs to release a keyboard that's equivalent too their Android release. Hate having to hit the numbers button to get to numbers and symbols. Loved the long press for numbers on the top row and symbols on the first 2 rows on Android.
Overall I'm enjoying the simplicity otherwise.

 

[chekz0414]

Here we go again; stating things without comparing even the latest devices. Saying Apple slows down devices purposely has already been debunked, iPad Pro, iPhone 6s, and 6s Plus all lag on iOS 9. However when I updated my 6s Plus to 9.2 I already saw that I was outperforming iPad Pro in animations. <_< Why can't people simply enjoy their phones without attacking the other party? Android has been laggy too, I work for a phone company and all I get are customers confused as to why their androids randomly shut off or can't store apps despite having an SD card, or why such and such problems aren't fixed or why their phones lag after a day or two of owning them. Both parties are guilty and this glorification of one side or the other is pointless, and it's like it never gets old. Let's not forget that both sides inspire the other, Material Design wasn't a thing before iOS 7, and Android 1.0 was NOTHING like iOS 1.0, the two grew together, iOS came first and the two bounced ideas off of one another via competition.

 

[CTHarrryH]

Gee only the 10001 thread about how bad Apple is an how they purposely do things to make money. Don't buy Apple. The other 10002 threads are about no new features and ... So you want the phone to do more and more but don't like the fact that it takes more resources to do it. You can't get more without paying somewhere.

I'd bet that most people's problems with their phones are due to applications and not the native IOS. No one made such a big deal about Facebook which everyone including Facebook admitted it was a resource hog. No screaming and yelling about that.

My 6s on IOS9.1 is the fastest best running iPhone I've had. Great battery life - no hesitation. I'd bet money that if you could poll all the millions of IOS9 users on all phones most would say they have no real problems with it. If most had issues it would be the front page on every news outlet.

I'll also guess a lot of people have no issue with 16GB phones. I certainly could - my wife probably could do with a 8GB phone.

Greed - remember Google's business is selling what you do and how you do it. They track and sell everything they can about you and you get nothing from them. Yes Apple sells hardware and makes profits - last I heard that is what capitalism is - making money and returning money to stockholders. I'd rather pay Apple money than let Google and Facebook sell information about me.

 

[Elisha]

Here we go again; stating things without comparing even the latest devices. Saying Apple slows down devices purposely has already been debunked, iPad Pro, iPhone 6s, and 6s Plus all lag on iOS 9. However when I updated my 6s Plus to 9.2 I already saw that I was outperforming iPad Pro in animations. <_< Why can't people simply enjoy their phones without attacking the other party? Android has been laggy too, I work for a phone company and all I get are customers confused as to why their androids randomly shut off or can't store apps despite having an SD card, or why such and such problems aren't fixed or why their phones lag after a day or two of owning them. Both parties are guilty and this glorification of one side or the other is pointless, and it's like it never gets old. Let's not forget that both sides inspire the other, Material Design wasn't a thing before iOS 7, and Android 1.0 was NOTHING like iOS 1.0, the two grew together, iOS came first and the two bounced ideas off of one another via competition.

Material design aka the flat look was ripped off from Microsoft's Metro Design.
Neither Apple nor Google came up with it.

 

[MRrainer]

Well, it is slower, yes.
And I can say that, because I have a 4S. That's much slower than anything Apple sells today ;-)
OTOH, if I disable animations etc, it's not unusably slow.
Of course it lags. Starting twitter is a pain. But once it's loaded, it actually works quite OK.
Same with WeatherPro, email, various news apps etc.

I wouldn't say the slowdown is on purpose. It's rather a side-effect of growing the code-base, making new features available on older hardware.
I don't even know what original iOS-version I ran, when I got mine. And I'm as unsure if I really wanted that back.

You can't have iOS upgrades and keep everything the same.

Does the iOS-version of back then actually still work with iCloud?
Would people be happier with being shut out of iCloud?

Apple does (IMO) a reasonably good job of keeping the devices updated while striking a balance between speed and usability.

The lack of a filesystem-browser is on purpose. The vast majority of Apple's user base does not know anything about filesystem-hierarchies, filetypes etc - they know as much about the inner workings of a computer as I know about repairing a car (I can replace fuel). That clientele is much more worth to Apple than the few geeks who drool about making the most out of their phone.
And the numbers proof them right: most of the geeks at my place of work have switched to Android or WP. Hasn't really affected their quarterly earnings.

 

[The.Glorious.Son]

I get a new phone every 12 months so can't speak to older phones slowing down, nor do I care. My 6S is blazing fast with zero lag. My brother got the Nexus 6P last week. Poor guy. My phone runs laps around his and despite his tendencies to not admit to the contrary, he recognizes it. But facts are facts, lmao.

 

[Elisha]

I get a new phone every 12 months so can't speak to older phones slowing down, nor do I care. My 6S is blazing fast with zero lag. My brother got the Nexus 6P last week. Poor guy. My phone runs laps around his and despite his tendencies to not admit to the contrary, he recognizes it. But facts are facts, lmao.

Highly unlikely. There's are already a few speed tests out there that show that they are pretty much neck in neck except for game launching times.
The Nexus 6P has a solid OS and it takes advantage of the hardware it runs on. Google always finds ways to speed up the OS to the hardware in runs on especially in Nexus devices. Every new version runs faster on older Nexus devices than the version they were released with.
And that's what the OP is referring too!
My iPad 2 became slower on iOS 7 and annoyingly slow on iOS 8 onwards!

 

[Abazigal]

Open your picture in Camera+ app, modify the file. Then try opening the same file in Retrica. You can't do that, unless you save the modified file back to camera roll, then import that file into Retrica, then save that file to camera roll again. You will end up with 3 different copies of the same picture in camera roll. Additionally you will have a copy of each file in both Camera+ and Retrica apps. In the end you will end up with 5 copies of the same picture. There's no justification for this poor design. It's a nightmare!!! There's just no way you guys can't see that this is a huge flaw.

I guess this scenario just doesn't apply to me.

There are photo extensions which allow me to edit photos from within the photos app without creating multiple copies. For instance, I use Screenshot to annotate on a photo I just took, or scanner pro to crop an image of a document, all from the camera roll. Even apps like Instagram's Layout save the photo back to my camera roll rather than creating another copy (at least I think it doesn't). I am not really a photo-editing kind of guy, so I guess I simply have not had to contend with this problem.

Either way, here's the thing. iOS and Android are both package deals, in that you have to take both the good with the bad. You don't get to cherry pick what you like about each platform and combine them to make your own utopian software. Just like it seems myopic to simply fixate on a few specific flaws of iOS and claim that it is screwed because of that. iOS isn't doomed just because of those problems you stated, nor is Android the saviour of smartphones just because it happens to do those things in the manner you prefer.

Is iOS flawed? Definitely. But for me at least, the benefits of iOS far outweigh its drawbacks compared to the rest of the competition. I appreciate ios's improved security model, its ease of use and its better power management. I like how iOS is so tightly integrated with the rest of the Apple ecosystem and and wide selection of apps in the app store.

If I were to switch over to Android, I would simply be trading one batch of problems for another. I doubt I would necessarily be better off in the latter case.

 

[I7guy]

Highly unlikely. There's are already a few speed tests out there that show that they are pretty much neck in neck except for game launching times.
The Nexus 6P has a solid OS and it takes advantage of the hardware it runs on. Google always finds ways to speed up the OS to the hardware in runs on especially in Nexus devices. Every new version runs faster on older Nexus devices than the version they were released with.
And that's what the OP is referring too!
My iPad 2 became slower on iOS 7 and annoyingly slow on iOS 8 onwards!

Take a phone from 2011, like the Samsung Galaxy S II. Do you think this phone might be "annoying" slow in 2015. Is is receiving any updates? Do you think the Nexus One, released in 2010 has fared well 5 years later? Comparing your 2011 ipad 2 in the same post as a current phone is apples to bananas; at a minimum the ipad 2 is getting updates.

 

[The.Glorious.Son]

Highly unlikely. There's are already a few speed tests out there that show that they are pretty much neck in neck except for game launching times.
The Nexus 6P has a solid OS and it takes advantage of the hardware it runs on. Google always finds ways to speed up the OS to the hardware in runs on especially in Nexus devices. Every new version runs faster on older Nexus devices than the version they were released with.
And that's what the OP is referring too!
My iPad 2 became slower on iOS 7 and annoyingly slow on iOS 8 onwards!

Speed tests...those are fun aren't they? Ya know, reading on random tech and blog sites and watching 3rd party videos from people you'll never meet, nor know their agenda, telling you what phone is faster. Yeah those are great for some. I prefer two phones in my own two hands running side-by-side to see which handles what, better and faster. So while it might seem highly unlikely to you, for whatever reason you have, I had the pleasure of witnessing it with my own eyes. Did I rip the Nexus 6P? No I did not. I don't care who uses what phone. I shared my experience and you took exception. End of story.

 

[Retired Cat]

I don't think the iPhone 6 being slow is proof of Apple slowing down their phones. Until ios9 every iphone started suffering only on their third major update! IOS 9 problem is probably bad coding.

My suspicion is that the iPhone 6/6+ will show slowdown effects more quickly than other iPhones because the are hit with having 64-bit architecture and higher resolution screens, but stuck with 1GB of RAM.

My iPhone 5 (32-bit A6, 1136x640 screen) with 1GB of RAM runs perfectly smoothly on iOS 9.

I don't think Apple is intentionally writing software to slow down older iPhones. I rarely see iOS 9 complaints from 5/5S users. Apple screwed iPhone 6/6+ users by being stingy with 1GB of RAM! That's even more unforgivable IMO than the 16GB base model storage capacity.

 

[Elisha]

Speed tests...those are fun aren't they? Ya know, reading on random tech and blog sites and watching 3rd party videos from people you'll never meet, nor know their agenda, telling you what phone is faster. Yeah those are great for some. I prefer two phones in my own two hands running side-by-side to see which handles what, better and faster. So while it might seem highly unlikely to you, for whatever reason you have, I had the pleasure of witnessing it with my own eyes. Did I rip the Nexus 6P? No I did not. I don't care who uses what phone. I shared my experience and you took exception. End of story.

I played with the 6P side by side as well and the 6S doesn't smoke it in anyway whatsoever. The 6P flies. The only time it is slower is when you launch bigger games.
Even my Galaxy S6 is just as fast other than the fact that Samsung screwed it with TouchWiz and sucky ram management.
When the Android multicores kick in, the difference is negligible. The iPhone wins hands down in single core usage which is most of the time.

 

[The.Glorious.Son]

I played with the 6P side by side as well and the 6S doesn't smoke it in anyway whatsoever. The 6P flies. The only time it is slower is when you launch bigger games.
Even my Galaxy S6 is just as fast other than the fact that Samsung screwed it with TouchWiz and sucky ram management.
When the Android multicores kick in, the difference is negligible. The iPhone wins hands down in single core usage which is most of the time.

lol....ok

 

[Elisha]

lol....ok

I see that ignorance is bliss! Carry on.

 

[Elisha]

Take a phone from 2011, like the Samsung Galaxy S II. Do you think this phone might be "annoying" slow in 2015. Is is receiving any updates? Do you think the Nexus One, released in 2010 has fared well 5 years later? Comparing your 2011 ipad 2 in the same post as a current phone is apples to bananas; at a minimum the ipad 2 is getting updates.

There's a reason why Google commits to an update period of 36 months or whatever is is currently for their Nexus program. They realize after a certain time, the hardware itself won't be able to run the OS they way it was intended without compromise.
Unfortunately other manufacturers abandon updates after 12-18 months even if their hardware is still capable.
Most OEMs are realizing how pissed the users are getting and are now only lightly skinning their UI so they can provide updates faster like Moto, Sony and HTC.

 

[I7guy]

There's a reason why Google commits to an update period of 36 months or whatever is is currently for their Nexus program. They realize after a certain time, the hardware itself won't be able to run the OS they way it was intended without compromise.
Unfortunately other manufacturers abandon updates after 12-18 months even if their hardware is still capable.
Most OEMs are realizing how pissed the users are getting and are now only lightly skinning their UI so they can provide updates faster like Moto, Sony and HTC.

I personally would rather have the updates and deal with the other "stuff". I'm happy the way my ipad 2 runs on IOS 9 and the new functionality over IOS 8.

 

[The.Glorious.Son]

I see that ignorance is bliss! Carry on.

Can't convince the inconvinceable sweetheart. But then again, I would have to care what you think in order to try convincing. Cheers!

 

[cbobb123]

Speed tests...those are fun aren't they? Ya know, reading on random tech and blog sites and watching 3rd party videos from people you'll never meet, nor know their agenda, telling you what phone is faster. Yeah those are great for some. I prefer two phones in my own two hands running side-by-side to see which handles what, better and faster. So while it might seem highly unlikely to you, for whatever reason you have, I had the pleasure of witnessing it with my own eyes. Did I rip the Nexus 6P? No I did not. I don't care who uses what phone. I shared my experience and you took exception. End of story.

Well that's strange.... I own a 6S+/6P and they are both extremely fast.

 

[C DM]

There's a reason why Google commits to an update period of 36 months or whatever is is currently for their Nexus program. They realize after a certain time, the hardware itself won't be able to run the OS they way it was intended without compromise.
Unfortunately other manufacturers abandon updates after 12-18 months even if their hardware is still capable.
Most OEMs are realizing how pissed the users are getting and are now only lightly skinning their UI so they can provide updates faster like Moto, Sony and HTC.

Isn't Android also on about a 12 month update cycle?

 

[Elisha]

Isn't Android also on about a 12 month update cycle?

Google made OEMs to commit to 18 months but it's really not enforceable. For Nexus, it's 24-36 months. The Nexus 4 from 2012 is getting Marshmallow.

 

[Elisha]

Can't convince the inconvinceable sweetheart. But then again, I would have to care what you think in order to try convincing. I will take seriously however the first ounce of wisdom you've finally shared in this thread by carrying on. Cheers!

We have benchmarks for a reason and that is because it is objective. I'll take those over ******** opinions and personal bias.
I've used both and not one is noticeably better than the other!

 

[maxsix]

Apple has lots they could improve but the competition for the most part is far worse.

It's statements like this that prove Apple has successfully programmed the masses to believe Apple knows best.

Currently the 800 lb. Gorilla in the room, they are free to do or not do, anything they want.

Apple could almost eliminate the display without nary a word from the believers.

 

[C DM]

It's statements like this that prove Apple has successfully programmed the masses to believe Apple knows best.

Currently the 800 lb. Gorilla in the room, they are free to do or not do, anything they want.

Apple could almost eliminate the display without nary a word from the believers.

Or most of their typical customers are essentially more than fine with what they provide.

 

[convergent]

iPhones have long had a strong side that iPhones get iOS updates fast compared to Android. But now I see this as a weakness. Apple as a company makes money selling new hardware, so it has incentive to slow your old device down with each iOS update so that you eventually buy new hardware from which Apple makes money.

Now whether the slow down of old devices is intentional or not is a different question. Maybe Apple only optimizes the new iOS releases for the newest hardware essentially making old devices slow. It's quite possible that Apple doesn't intentionally change the code for old devices to make them slow, they just leave them unoptimized. The outcome is the same.

Whether it's intentional or a side effect doesn't matter, the FACT is a FACT and they do slow down your iPhone each year, despite Apple's claim that iOS 9 makes my iPhone 6 Plus faster.

The FACT is that Apple doesn't slow down anything. I'm pretty sure that the clock speed on all my iPhones has remained the same the whole time I've owned them. If Apple was able to slow it down then I suppose that would be quite the class action suit. Apple makes updates available and its your choice if you want to install them or not. If you don't go to a new version, then you have exactly what you bought and it runs just as fast as it always did. That is a FACT! Many Android devices never get an upgrade, and if they do, then adding a bunch of stuff would likely slow them down to. Be happy you have upgrades. And by the way, my wife is running my old 5s and it runs just fine with the latest OS.

I have been Apple fanboy since the original iPhone and have always loved Apple as a company, because I saw it as an underdog and less evil than it's competitors. Now my opinion of Apple has changed completely, I have gone from loving Apple to disliking it. My reasons are as follows:

1. There's absolutely no justification to release 16gb iPhone ($650) other than pure greed.

First of all, wanting to make money is what any for profit company is going to do. Its not greed, its why for profit companies are in business. And if people weren't buying their entry model, then they wouldn't be selling them. My wife can get by fine with 16G. She has used an iPhone for years and never been into the App Store and never loaded music to her phone. Most of her friends are the same. Just because its not enough for you doesn't make it not enough for others. As I said, if people weren't buying them then they wouldn't sell them... and they have 3 storage options... choice is a good thing.

1. They still include only 2gb of ram, probably to make your iPhone's lifespan shorter so that you will buy a new one sooner (Remember Apple makes money selling hardware).

What problem are you having that 2GB is not enough RAM to handle... just curious. I use my iPhone quite extensively and didn't really have any trouble with 1GB... 2GB and I hardly ever even close an app. This is just whining for the sake of whining.

1. Apple copied Microsoft's idea by releasing iPad Pro and claiming to invent a Pencil and still managed to mock Microsoft for making toaster-fridge.

What the heck are you talking about? Microsoft and Apple have two competing tablets that do very different things and they both seem to be doing quite fine. I'm pretty sure they are both big boys and can handle the other's marketing. Apple and Microsoft have been mocking each other for about 30 years. You new to this stuff?

1. Apple have become too arrogant, always laughing at competitor's ideas and releasing half-baked, bug infested software themselves.

Once again... what the heck are you talking about? I rather enjoy watching healthy competition. I'm pretty sure I've seen Samsung running ads mocking Apple customers. As I said, these guys are big boys and don't really need you trying to protect them from the big mean Apple. And I'll take Apple's "half baked, bug infested software (NOT)" over the kludgey hot mess that is Android any day. I spent 6 months early this year with a Samsung Galaxy and it was one of the most frustrating unproductive periods of my technology life.

1. Apple's PR machine influences most tech blogs by making them favor Apple regardless of what they release and downplay every single major flaws of its products.

Here we go again with the conspiracy theory about Apple controlling the media. Are you from China or something... I feel like I just had this discussion a couple weeks ago with a guy from China that thought the US media was controlled by Cupertino and all Americans were mindless sheep. I've ready plenty of negative media about Apple, so not sure what you are reading.

1. Apple tries to portray itself as less evil by always mentioning in keynotes that Google sells your data. On other hand Apple slows down your devices to make you buy new iPhone. No Google doesn't sell your data and for all intents and purposes Google is much less evil than Apple. In fact Google's moto is "Don't be evil"

As I've said, Apple doesn't slow down your machine... it runs at the same speed as when you bought it. I'll say again, are you new to this technology stuff? Ever own a Windows computer? Talk about slowing down and having to buy new hardware over time. I've gotten more longevity from my Apple purchases than any other technology products I've ever owned. AND, on top of that the resale value stays pretty high. Apple products have the lowest total cost of ownership of anything else.

Also, show me where anyone at Apple during a keynote has called Google "evil". Its never happened. Google's primary business is advertising and exploiting user data. You do know that this is how they make money right? If anything, Apple is much more consumer friendly because they make and sell you hardware and software. That is their primary means of income. Google on the other hand basically gives away their software and then makes money on exploiting their users. Personally, I'd rather have a transaction where I pay with cash and get something in return, vs. paying with my data and getting something back. Apple's model is much cleaner.

There is nothing wrong with either model if you are smart enough to understand them. I use plenty of Google products, but don't believe I'll use Android again... tried it and done with it. I don't think I'll go waste my time bashing it on Android user forums though.

I have since moved to Nexus 6P, because I would hate to own iPhone 6S and have Apple slow it down next year by releasing iOS which supposedly makes it "faster".

Its nice that you are happy with your Nexus. This stuff you posted here is just pure nonsense.