Loving IOS - Just wish it incorporated a few things from Android

[tonybarnaby]

It's been less than a week, but I'm happier with my 8 plus that I have ever been with any phone. There are a few things I am scratching my head on, though. Hopefully someone can explain why these things are how they are.

1. No expandable storage option. Is this just purely a move on Apple's part to make people either buy the higher storage phone or to pay for cloud storage? 64,128,256 would be ok, but the fact they took away 128gb option just stinks of greed to me. Am I missing something?

2. No notification led. This one boggles my mind. My brother in law has an iPhone 7 but no Apple watch, so if he gets a text but doesn't hear it, it can take hours before he looks at his phone again. A simple notification led would solve this. I think it's a big selling point for Apple watches. The iPhone isn't great at notifications already, but no led is really confusing to me. If you're never had one it may sound dumb. On my old s8+ I can tell whether or not I missed a call or a text based on if the led is green or blue. If I missed 10 calls on an iPhone it wouldn't tell me until I open it. I know Apple watches didn't exist when the iPhone launched, but I think sales of them definitely go up because of no led.

3. Small battery sizes. Is Apple really using all the space they have available inside the phone? Apple battery life crushes Android when it comes to efficiency and especially standby. You get far more per mah on Apple than most Android phones. My 8 plus is shocking me with it's incredible battery performance. Nearly every battery drain test on YouTube sees Android phones like the v30, s8+ and oneplus 5 crushing the 8 plus. In real life, it's better to me than any Android phone I've ever had, except of course the battery life goat Moto z play. I just wonder if Apple is holding back or if they really can't fit a bigger battery. If they included the same 3500mah as my same sized s8+, an 8 plus would last a casual user for DAYS. I'm not complaining, but it can always be better.

Just wondering your thoughts.

 

[eyoungren]

It's been less than a week, but I'm happier with my 8 plus that I have ever been with any phone. There are a few things I am scratching my head on, though. Hopefully someone can explain why these things are how they are.

1. No expandable storage option. Is this just purely a move on Apple's part to make people either buy the higher storage phone or to pay for cloud storage? 64,128,256 would be ok, but the fact they took away 128gb option just stinks of greed to me. Am I missing something?

It's about profit. If you get a smaller capacity iPhone and buy iCloud storage Apple profits. If you get a higher capacity model and no additional iCloud storage Apple profits.

Either way, Apple profits.

2. No notification led. This one boggles my mind. My brother in law has an iPhone 7 but no Apple watch, so if he gets a text but doesn't hear it, it can take hours before he looks at his phone again. A simple notification led would solve this. I think it's a big selling point for Apple watches. The iPhone isn't great at notifications already, but no led is really confusing to me. If you're never had one it may sound dumb. On my old s8+ I can tell whether or not I missed a call or a text based on if the led is green or blue. If I missed 10 calls on an iPhone it wouldn't tell me until I open it. I know Apple watches didn't exist when the iPhone launched, but I think sales of them definitely go up because of no led.

This subject is controversial and has spawned more than several multi-page threads.

There are two camps and no real middle ground. You either think it's a good idea or a bad one. Both sides have justifications.

I think it's a great idea, but a lot of people here do not.

The common response to you will be one or the other…

- Get an Apple Watch
- Pick up your phone and check the screen, it doesn't take but a moment.

Number 3, I don't really have a comment for.

 

[inkahauts]

Awh you can have the flash go off for notifications.

Settings ...General...accessibility..... hearing section under led flash for alerts.

Memory is of course for profit and well 256 isn’t easy to fill for normal people.

The battery being bigger would make the phone larger and heavier. I have no issue with today’s size and weight and battery life. If it lasts a full day with ease what more do you need?

 

[eyoungren]

Awh you can have the flash go off for notifications.

Settings ...General...accessibility..... hearing section under led flash for alerts.

Which is great if…

– You happen to be one of the many Apple users who place their phones face down (I am not one of those)
– You happen to be looking in the general direction of the phone when a notification comes in (it goes off once and does NOT repeat)
– Has no benefit at all if you happen to be out of visual range when a notification comes in

This is always a suggested option and great that Apple has it. But it's pretty useless if you don't see it.

 

[tonybarnaby]

It's about profit. If you get a smaller capacity iPhone and buy iCloud storage Apple profits. If you get a higher capacity model and no additional iCloud storage Apple profits.

Either way, Apple profits.


This subject is controversial and has spawned more than several multi-page threads.

There are two camps and no real middle ground. You either think it's a good idea or a bad one. Both sides have justifications.

I think it's a great idea, but a lot of people here do not.

The common response to you will be one or the other…

- Get an Apple Watch
- Pick up your phone and check the screen, it doesn't take but a moment.

Number 3, I don't really have a comment for.

I can’t believe anyone wouldn’t want an led. These bezels are huge, so space isn’t an issue. It benefits everyone and hurts no one.

 

[eyoungren]

I can’t believe anyone wouldn’t want an led. These bezels are huge, so space isn’t an issue. It benefits everyone and hurts no one.

Trust me. There are plenty of people here who think this idea is about the most stupidest and non-Apple (ugly) idea ever thought up.

I'm with you, but I came to iPhone from a WinMo HTC Touch Pro which had an LED so that is where I'm different. That and laying my phones down on their backs.

There is some speculation that eventually with always-on OLED screens, Apple might add a live section of the screen where you could see notifcations, but an LED. Not ever going to happen I think, as much as you and I may wish for one.

 

[LarryNyquil]

You didn't mention 4) the notification system on android is about 6000x better than iOS.

If there's one thing I miss about android it's the notifications. The stacks of notifications for one app, the ability to clear all of them with one button press (instead of having to force touch on a tiny X that sometimes isn't even there), way better than what we have now, or had in the past.

 

[geoff5093]

Trust me. There are plenty of people here who think this idea is about the most stupidest and non-Apple (ugly) idea ever thought up.

Probably the same people who said that normal wireless charging was stupid, but now think it's the greatest and most convenient thing ever. If Apple put an LED notification light, iPhone users would love it.

 

[C DM]

It's been less than a week, but I'm happier with my 8 plus that I have ever been with any phone. There are a few things I am scratching my head on, though. Hopefully someone can explain why these things are how they are.

1. No expandable storage option. Is this just purely a move on Apple's part to make people either buy the higher storage phone or to pay for cloud storage? 64,128,256 would be ok, but the fact they took away 128gb option just stinks of greed to me. Am I missing something?

2. No notification led. This one boggles my mind. My brother in law has an iPhone 7 but no Apple watch, so if he gets a text but doesn't hear it, it can take hours before he looks at his phone again. A simple notification led would solve this. I think it's a big selling point for Apple watches. The iPhone isn't great at notifications already, but no led is really confusing to me. If you're never had one it may sound dumb. On my old s8+ I can tell whether or not I missed a call or a text based on if the led is green or blue. If I missed 10 calls on an iPhone it wouldn't tell me until I open it. I know Apple watches didn't exist when the iPhone launched, but I think sales of them definitely go up because of no led.

3. Small battery sizes. Is Apple really using all the space they have available inside the phone? Apple battery life crushes Android when it comes to efficiency and especially standby. You get far more per mah on Apple than most Android phones. My 8 plus is shocking me with it's incredible battery performance. Nearly every battery drain test on YouTube sees Android phones like the v30, s8+ and oneplus 5 crushing the 8 plus. In real life, it's better to me than any Android phone I've ever had, except of course the battery life goat Moto z play. I just wonder if Apple is holding back or if they really can't fit a bigger battery. If they included the same 3500mah as my same sized s8+, an 8 plus would last a casual user for DAYS. I'm not complaining, but it can always be better.

Just wondering your thoughts.

Most of these things aren't really iOS vs. Android (as in OS) type of things, but hardware design type of things.

 

[mrvirginia]

Will be interesting to see if Apple makes base storage 128gb next year...

 

[tonybarnaby]

Will be interesting to see if Apple makes base storage 128gb next year...

With 4K video becoming more popular I think they just might.

 

[thesaint024]

It's been less than a week, but I'm happier with my 8 plus that I have ever been with any phone. There are a few things I am scratching my head on, though. Hopefully someone can explain why these things are how they are.

1. No expandable storage option. Is this just purely a move on Apple's part to make people either buy the higher storage phone or to pay for cloud storage? 64,128,256 would be ok, but the fact they took away 128gb option just stinks of greed to me. Am I missing something?

2. No notification led. This one boggles my mind. My brother in law has an iPhone 7 but no Apple watch, so if he gets a text but doesn't hear it, it can take hours before he looks at his phone again. A simple notification led would solve this. I think it's a big selling point for Apple watches. The iPhone isn't great at notifications already, but no led is really confusing to me. If you're never had one it may sound dumb. On my old s8+ I can tell whether or not I missed a call or a text based on if the led is green or blue. If I missed 10 calls on an iPhone it wouldn't tell me until I open it. I know Apple watches didn't exist when the iPhone launched, but I think sales of them definitely go up because of no led.

3. Small battery sizes. Is Apple really using all the space they have available inside the phone? Apple battery life crushes Android when it comes to efficiency and especially standby. You get far more per mah on Apple than most Android phones. My 8 plus is shocking me with it's incredible battery performance. Nearly every battery drain test on YouTube sees Android phones like the v30, s8+ and oneplus 5 crushing the 8 plus. In real life, it's better to me than any Android phone I've ever had, except of course the battery life goat Moto z play. I just wonder if Apple is holding back or if they really can't fit a bigger battery. If they included the same 3500mah as my same sized s8+, an 8 plus would last a casual user for DAYS. I'm not complaining, but it can always be better.

Just wondering your thoughts.

Yes on all points. iOS isn't perfect, but no reason it shouldn't strive to be.

1) I had to bend over and just take the 256 that was given to me. I wanted 128, but no option. But in using another Android device, I realized it isn't ALL bad. SD card speed is slower, and apps still need to load parts onto the actual onboard RAM. So it's not exactly as dreamy as it sounds. But yeah, I wouldn't mind it. If there was a trade-off though, it would be debatable.

2) This is an awesome feature of Android. It wouldn't take much either since there is an OLED screen now. Can just be a few pixels flashing once in a while. WTH is so hard about that Apple? It's a cool feature regardless of who did it first.

3) Not sure what I would take at this point, bigger size and more battery or the way it is now. This battery is great so far, and I'm already used to the drill at those times when I do HEAVY use for 24 hours without access. We've all made due, but they aren't every day use for me. I don't think this will ever happen, but if they had 2 models of each existing model, that adds a plus size battery? Not sure how well each would sell. I'm personally fine with the existing form and battery life.

 

[inkahauts]

Which is great if…

– You happen to be one of the many Apple users who place their phones face down (I am not one of those)
– You happen to be looking in the general direction of the phone when a notification comes in (it goes off once and does NOT repeat)
– Has no benefit at all if you happen to be out of visual range when a notification comes in

This is always a suggested option and great that Apple has it. But it's pretty useless if you don't see it.

I leave my notifications for calls and texts set to repeat 10 Times, so if it’s facing up, which mine usually is, I’ll see the screen light up... I haven’t used the flash since I tested it a few years ago, I found it annoying because it flashed so bright in the room. I can see how some would like and need it. I don’t see why they can’t simply incorporate it into the current flash to flash more often. And maybe flash the main screen in just the middle once in a while. Not sure why with the new oled screen at the very least you’d even need a dedicated led light.

 

[C DM]

I leave my notifications for calls and texts set to repeat 10 Times, so if it’s facing up, which mine usually is, I’ll see the screen light up... I haven’t used the flash since I tested it a few years ago, I found it annoying because it flashed so bright in the room. I can see how some would like and need it. I don’t see why they can’t simply incorporate it into the current flash to flash more often. And maybe flash the main screen in just the middle once in a while. Not sure why with the new oled screen at the very least you’d even need a dedicated led light.

How are you getting repeated notifications for calls?

 

[funinhounslow]

I used a cheap Android as a stop gap between my 5s and 8+ and was pleasantly surprised. The LED light, widgets on any screen and the ability to create shortcuts to frequently called numbers are three things I miss. Overall though I just find iOS experience more satisfying - but the gap has certainly narrowed.

 

[C DM]

I used a cheap Android as a stop gap between my 5s and 8+ and was pleasantly surprised. The LED light, widgets on any screen and the ability to create shortcuts to frequently called numbers are three things I miss. Overall though I just find iOS experience more satisfying - but the gap has certainly narrowed.

You can sort of do shortcuts to numbers through a widget that offers that. Not quite being able to have them on a particular page somewhere, but fairly accessible from almost anywhere.

 

[funinhounslow]

Yes I've done that, I just liked the ability to have a couple of shortcuts to numbers on my home screen. Like you say iOS's solution is pretty much the same, just a little less convenient...

 

[44267547]

I used a cheap Android as a stop gap between my 5s and 8+ and was pleasantly surprised. The LED light, widgets on any screen and the ability to create shortcuts to frequently called numbers are three things I miss. Overall though I just find iOS experience more satisfying - but the gap has certainly narrowed.

I was android user years ago and it had features that I certainly liked with the LED notification and overall, it was just much more customizable. But in the sense of how I like iOS, I like the simplistic and non-bloated operating system. I know others find iOS boring, but Boring works for me coupled with five years of iOS support and Apples security.

 

[juanmaasecas]

What I love from iOS
- The camera have the perfect balance in Colors and contrast. Skin tones are the best In these phones, even with the front camera. It makes apple phones be miles ahead the competition. Even if less mpx, more noise, worse low light, etc, the exposure, contrast and color in the iPhones are unmatched.
- Same for the screen. I'm using a 6s Plus, and even if there are newer and better even in iOS, I feel this screen just perfect. The Android phones I've tried have blueish screen, or yellowish, and everything looks off compared to the iPhone.
- The OS is simply smooth. It's not as fast as the top android phones when multitasking, but the experience is super super smooth all the time.

What I hate from iOS
- The notification system is horrible. Simply horrible.
- The keyboard is slow. I type much, much, much faster in Android using Swiftkey. I'm using Swiftkey in iOS and is quite a lot better than the standard one, but still in Android Swiftkey is much faster and has a lot of more options. I tried gboard and is not as good as swiftkey.
- The battery charges suuuuuper slow (this is fixed in the new iPhones).
- I feel like I don't own my phone, but it owns me. I feel like I need to ask for permission to apple to do thing with my phone. I feel like it's a rented phone. I can't just drop some music, pictures or video simply connecting the phone to the computer. In my Android, I can just put inside the micro SD from my a7rii and voilà, I have all my raws from my camera quickly in the phone, and I can edit them just there. In the iPhone... maybe the jpg, and synchronising via iTunes. Same for the movies/videos. Is is still necessary to even recode the video in iTunes (I didn't try recently).

I'm still thinking whether I should buy an iPhone 8 Plus/X or continue in android. I really love the color management in iOS (and in my Mac compared to windows) and the camera, but there are things that I can't stand...

Pd* In super big screens, you usually can't reach the top left of the screen with 1 hand. In iOS you need to use the other hand or be constantly using reachability (which is a pain in the butt), but in Android you have the navigation bar at the bottom. So even if the Screen in the Note 8 is much bigger than in the X, you can use the Note with one hand much easier than the X.

 

[skillwill]

- The notification system is horrible. Simply horrible.

This is what I hear most often from Android users/ people familiar with Android - that the iOS notification system is just awful. Having only really ever used iOS, I'm in a sort of "don't know any better" position, but I do find they are badly organised. What's SO bad about it and do you think Apple sees it as a problem - it's been pretty much the same way for a while now so it makes me think not.

 

[juanmaasecas]

This is what I hear most often from Android users/ people familiar with Android - that the iOS notification system is just awful. Having only really ever used iOS, I'm in a sort of "don't know any better" position, but I do find they are badly organised. What's SO bad about it and do you think Apple sees it as a problem - it's been pretty much the same way for a while now so it makes me think not.

- Most of the time you need to delete them one by one. If I swipe a little, I need to press again in the delete button. If I swipe longer, I find myself going to the camera a lot of times instead of deleting the app. In Android you can delete all notifications at once, always, just pressing a button or separately, swiping without problems.
- The notifications in Android are organised by apps. You'll have all messages from WhatsApp in the same notification. Sometimes it's big if you have a lot of chats and messages, but still, from the notification, you can reply to every conversation easily, and all the messages are shown very compact. In iOS, every message is a different notification, and the notifications occupy A LOT of space.
- I feel in Android I have much less notifications from ****** apps than in apple. But I know I can configure apps for not to send notifications, so it's not a real issue.
- In Android, in every screen you can see the notification logos at the top bar, so you know when you have unread WhatsApp for example even without swiping down the Notification Center.
Maybe I'm forgetting about more things, but that's basically it.

 

[skillwill]

- Most of the time you need to delete them one by one. If I swipe a little, I need to press again in the delete button. If I swipe longer, I find myself going to the camera a lot of times instead of deleting the app. In Android you can delete all notifications at once, always, just pressing a button or separately, swiping without problems.
- The notifications in Android are organised by apps. You'll have all messages from WhatsApp in the same notification. Sometimes it's big if you have a lot of chats and messages, but still, from the notification, you can reply to every conversation easily, and all the messages are shown very compact. In iOS, every message is a different notification, and the notifications occupy A LOT of space.
- I feel in Android I have much less notifications from ****** apps than in apple. But I know I can configure apps for not to send notifications, so it's not a real issue.
- In Android, in every screen you can see the notification logos at the top bar, so you know when you have unread WhatsApp for example even without swiping down the Notification Center.
Maybe I'm forgetting about more things, but that's basically it.

Agreed, would be good to see a lot of that in iOS then.

 

[Mildredop]

It's been less than a week, but I'm happier with my 8 plus that I have ever been with any phone. There are a few things I am scratching my head on, though. Hopefully someone can explain why these things are how they are.

1. No expandable storage option. Is this just purely a move on Apple's part to make people either buy the higher storage phone or to pay for cloud storage? 64,128,256 would be ok, but the fact they took away 128gb option just stinks of greed to me. Am I missing something?

2. No notification led. This one boggles my mind. My brother in law has an iPhone 7 but no Apple watch, so if he gets a text but doesn't hear it, it can take hours before he looks at his phone again. A simple notification led would solve this. I think it's a big selling point for Apple watches. The iPhone isn't great at notifications already, but no led is really confusing to me. If you're never had one it may sound dumb. On my old s8+ I can tell whether or not I missed a call or a text based on if the led is green or blue. If I missed 10 calls on an iPhone it wouldn't tell me until I open it. I know Apple watches didn't exist when the iPhone launched, but I think sales of them definitely go up because of no led.

3. Small battery sizes. Is Apple really using all the space they have available inside the phone? Apple battery life crushes Android when it comes to efficiency and especially standby. You get far more per mah on Apple than most Android phones. My 8 plus is shocking me with it's incredible battery performance. Nearly every battery drain test on YouTube sees Android phones like the v30, s8+ and oneplus 5 crushing the 8 plus. In real life, it's better to me than any Android phone I've ever had, except of course the battery life goat Moto z play. I just wonder if Apple is holding back or if they really can't fit a bigger battery. If they included the same 3500mah as my same sized s8+, an 8 plus would last a casual user for DAYS. I'm not complaining, but it can always be better.

Just wondering your thoughts.

Regarding the notification LED, I totally agree.

I had an iPhone for a period and found I was constantly checking my phone for any missed calls/texts.

But the thing that made me return the iPhone was after a long journey when I was using the iPhone as a Sat Nav. I had the radio on so didn't hear the many times it pinged with emails and texts. I didn't see the drop downs which disappear after a few seconds. I had no idea I'd missed loads of emails and texts.

If you don't hear the phone, see the drop down or go to the homescreen to see the badge, you have no idea you've missed things.

 

[eyoungren]

If you don't hear the phone, see the drop down or go to the homescreen to see the badge, you have no idea you've missed things.

This is one of the reasons I jailbreak. I'm not using this thread as a platform to promote jailbreaking, but without jailbreaking I wouldn't have notification icons in my status bar and I would definetely miss quite a few things.

When I am at work my iPhone is on my desk and I walk away from my desk quite a lot. It's irritating to have to check my phone every time I'm out of visual/audio range.

 

[147798]

It's been less than a week, but I'm happier with my 8 plus that I have ever been with any phone. There are a few things I am scratching my head on, though. Hopefully someone can explain why these things are how they are.

1. No expandable storage option. Is this just purely a move on Apple's part to make people either buy the higher storage phone or to pay for cloud storage? 64,128,256 would be ok, but the fact they took away 128gb option just stinks of greed to me. Am I missing something?

2. No notification led. This one boggles my mind. My brother in law has an iPhone 7 but no Apple watch, so if he gets a text but doesn't hear it, it can take hours before he looks at his phone again. A simple notification led would solve this. I think it's a big selling point for Apple watches. The iPhone isn't great at notifications already, but no led is really confusing to me. If you're never had one it may sound dumb. On my old s8+ I can tell whether or not I missed a call or a text based on if the led is green or blue. If I missed 10 calls on an iPhone it wouldn't tell me until I open it. I know Apple watches didn't exist when the iPhone launched, but I think sales of them definitely go up because of no led.

3. Small battery sizes. Is Apple really using all the space they have available inside the phone? Apple battery life crushes Android when it comes to efficiency and especially standby. You get far more per mah on Apple than most Android phones. My 8 plus is shocking me with it's incredible battery performance. Nearly every battery drain test on YouTube sees Android phones like the v30, s8+ and oneplus 5 crushing the 8 plus. In real life, it's better to me than any Android phone I've ever had, except of course the battery life goat Moto z play. I just wonder if Apple is holding back or if they really can't fit a bigger battery. If they included the same 3500mah as my same sized s8+, an 8 plus would last a casual user for DAYS. I'm not complaining, but it can always be better.

Just wondering your thoughts.

#1 -- profit is nice, and Apple is certainly generating cash, but their ethos has also been pretty tightly closed system. To allow after-market memory cards is to invite slower storage, or possible issues with plugging in. I think it's also why they dropped the jack -- fewer failure points. But the cash is a nice touch, too, as they historically overcharge for larger memory sizes. If their memory options were cheaper, then you could buy it's a pure ecosystem play, but it's clear a little ecosystem, and a lot of cash.

#2 -- didn't know that was a thing on Android. That would be cool.

No idea on #3