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Played with some Android devices, just a few things I wish iPhone had

T

Tom359

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jul 13, 2007
134
26
I've had every iphone and I got my I4 on launch day. Since then, the two big Android devices came out (Evo/Droid X). I've always been a gadget geek, so I went and checked them out. For the most part, they are both pretty impressive. I'm not ready to give up my iPhone...yet, but there are a couple of things that I really liked that I wish the iPhone would incorporate:

1- widgets
I get the feeling that the droid desktop is "alive" and some of the widgets are really useful. I know it's cliche'd, but the weather widget is really cool. If a storm is approaching, the desktop clouds up. This type of stuff isn't for everyone, but it would be nice to have the option. It makes the standard iPhone desktop feel a little stale.

2- bigger screen
I thought the Evo would be way too much of a slab, but it really didn't feel too big to me. I absolutely love the I4 Retina display, but after playing with the Evo, I really think that Apple needs to offer two options in the future. The "standard" iPhone screen and a slightly larger version for those of us that want that.

All that being said, I just can't give up my iPhone. I love the build quality and elegance of the software.

What do you think?
 
I hate widgets and I don't think the iPhone needs to be bigger (although it probably wouldn't be a negative thing). Not being a fanboy about it, I just don't really agree with the two points.

Edit: Two different sizes would actually be kind of cool the more I think about it. But I feel like that would never happen (although they would be the first to have such an option and they do like firsts).
 
Messed around with a droid x. I have to admit I loved the extra real estate! I hope apple considers a larger screen next year. Also I like the dedicated camera button.
 
I wouldn't need a bigger screen, I'm not sitting down and watching full length movies on my phone, just some streaming multimedia and things.

Widgets on the lock screen would be sweet, I'm so surprised we are without this after 3 full OS revisions. Hopefully 5.0!!
 
I agree with both points, although I do think the Evo is a smidge too big. I think about 4" is the sweet spot for me.

However, I sorely miss widgets from my brief time with the Evo. I liked being able to see the weather and my appointments for the day just by glancing at the home screen. That's about all I miss about the Evo though. Oh, and the Android notification bar.
 
Iphone users don't even know the half of what they're missing from android... widgets, notifications, and bigger real estate on the screen is just the beginning.
 
Tom359 said:
I've had every iphone and I got my I4 on launch day. Since then, the two big Android devices came out (Evo/Droid X). I've always been a gadget geek, so I went and checked them out. For the most part, they are both pretty impressive. I'm not ready to give up my iPhone...yet, but there are a couple of things that I really liked that I wish the iPhone would incorporate:

1- widgets
I get the feeling that the droid desktop is "alive" and some of the widgets are really useful. I know it's cliche'd, but the weather widget is really cool. If a storm is approaching, the desktop clouds up. This type of stuff isn't for everyone, but it would be nice to have the option. It makes the standard iPhone desktop feel a little stale.

2- bigger screen
I thought the Evo would be way too much of a slab, but it really didn't feel too big to me. I absolutely love the I4 Retina display, but after playing with the Evo, I really think that Apple needs to offer two options in the future. The "standard" iPhone screen and a slightly larger version for those of us that want that.

All that being said, I just can't give up my iPhone. I love the build quality and elegance of the software.

What do you think?
Click to expand...

Widgets are fun. But you're smoking something if you think Steve Jobs would ever offer two different versions of their iPhone simultaneously (3GS doesn't count since it's just an older version).
 
I was checking out the new samsung that has a larger screen and I was liking the screen but not the size. It seems apple could make the screen itself larger while keeping the phone the same size by just shrinking the "dead space" above/below the screen. Of course the internal design would have to change a bit and I don't know if that's possible with the current size. Widgets meh.... I had an Htc theme on my 3GS that had the animated weather, it was kinda cool yet such a small part of my phone experience that I don't really see the need for it. I can look out the window and see live weather, don't need it on my phone.
 
never really played with one... i'be seen one of the droid devices though and the widgets are kind of cool
 
Tom359 said:
2- bigger screen
I thought the Evo would be way too much of a slab, but it really didn't feel too big to me. I absolutely love the I4 Retina display, but after playing with the Evo, I really think that Apple needs to offer two options in the future. The "standard" iPhone screen and a slightly larger version for those of us that want that.

What do you think?
Click to expand...

this made me think about how awesome custom building an iPhone on Apple's site would be.

Now I want to be able to custom build cellphones (memory, proc clock, battery size, camera, screen)
have it be affordable, but give us the option to splurge and go all out. That way you don't have to tone down your hardware (not that apple does, just thinking in general here) in order to make an affordable product.
 
Widgets are a must-have IMO.

It's ridiculous that the clock and weather app icons don't update in real time like the calendar, at least.
 
I'd like the ability to customize the lock screen a little, a widget or two. Like the dashboard weather gadget our Macs have. I like how the wallpaper is wider than the phone's screen and it moves a little as you go page to page.
 
anonymous guy said:
Widgets are a must-have IMO.

It's ridiculous that the clock and weather app icons don't update in real time like the calendar, at least.
Click to expand...

The clock updating realtime is pointless seeing as though the time is already displayed on the homescreen or lockscreen. The weather app on the hand should update realtime by now.
 
Is it not possible to write widget apps for iPhone 4?

If not, then that is REALLY surprising. My guess is that Apple will include/add it within a year's time.
 
Although i can see the appeal for a larger screen, the size now doesn't bother me, nor would I be opposed to the idea of 2 size models, the normal 3.4 and the larger one.

Also widgets would be nice! but Jailbreaking it and getting them are fine for me too.
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_0_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/532.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Mobile/8A306)

I currently have the Samsung Vibrant and iPhone 4. I really like the 4in screen on the Vibrant and wish next iPhone would have 4in Retina display. Anything bigger is too big for a phone IMHO. I also like the widgets, but I feel that it's mostly eye candy. Sure calendar widgets and such can be useful, but most are for show and can drain battery when frequently updating. Also with fast switching on the iOS 4, widgets are less of an issue.



One thing I noticed about Android apps are that they look horrible compared to even the crappiest iPhone apps. I can't understand why they have nice beautiful widgets, but crappy looking apps.
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_0_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/532.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Mobile/8A306)

Tarzanman said:
Is it not possible to write widget apps for iPhone 4?

If not, then that is REALLY surprising. My guess is that Apple will include/add it within a year's time.
Click to expand...

There are some widgets you can install when you jailbreak the phone. It's on the lock screen and not on home screen so it can be even more useful since you don't need to unlock the phone before using it.
 
actually the dimensions of the phones might be larger than the iphone but the iphone has, by far, the higher resolution. To me that's more important. Yeah, I guess a choice of widgets would be a good idea, however, they do drain battery and can conflict. I used a nexus one for two months and I prefer the way the ios4 is compared to android, but i can see that some people would want widgets.
 
The EVO and Droid X are too big for me. I much prefer the size of the iPhone.

Widgets would be nice, but I'm not pressed about it.

I would like to have location-aware and time-specific settings, though. That would be more useful to my daily life.
 
I completely agree. The Iphone is too small for me. I would love more real estate. I played with the Evo and the Droid X yesterday, interesting. I didn't like the more elongated feel of the X, but I thought the Evo was a real comfy size.

Maybe Jobs will follow the trend and give us a large Iphone option. :D
 
I completely disagree with the larger screen thing and I honestly would not be happy if they made the screen larger (especially as large as the EVO's which one of the two reasons i wouldn't consider the EVO is size).

To use as a phone, it would make it just way too awkward. I had an ipaq once and while I liked the larger screen one reason I was skeptical of a phone/PDA cross was because I didn't like the idea of using something sized like my ipaq as a phone but I didn't think I'd like a smaller screen. And the Ipaq was not a bulky PDA by any means.

The iPhone (Bought after my first laptop pretty much replaced my ipaq but I missed having a PDA for a few functions) proved to me the smaller screen is quite usable and it's sized just small enough to be a decent phone.
 
BadMoon said:
Messed around with a droid x. I have to admit I loved the extra real estate! I hope apple considers a larger screen next year. Also I like the dedicated camera button.
Click to expand...
I tried a Droid X, and it's not bad. It fits pretty easily in my hand, but I don't think I want an iPhone with a screen size similar to it. 3.5" to 4" is big enough for me! :)

Minimoose 360 said:
Widgets on the lock screen would be sweet, I'm so surprised we are without this after 3 full OS revisions. Hopefully 5.0!!
Click to expand...
Yes, please! :D

toxictrix said:
I don't want either of these things. All I want is a better notification system.
Click to expand...
+ 1. :cool:

Phokus said:
Iphone users don't even know the half of what they're missing from android... widgets, notifications, and bigger real estate on the screen is just the beginning.
Click to expand...
Like what? Widgets, better notifications and live wallpapers about do it for me. :D

101AirAssault said:
Widgets meh.... I had an Htc theme on my 3GS that had the animated weather, it was kinda cool yet such a small part of my phone experience that I don't really see the need for it. I can look out the window and see live weather, don't need it on my phone.
Click to expand...
+ 1. Haha! :D

anonymous guy said:
Widgets are a must-have IMO.

It's ridiculous that the clock and weather app icons don't update in real time like the calendar, at least.
Click to expand...
Live icons?

Drag'nGT said:
I'd like the ability to customize the lock screen a little, a widget or two. Like the dashboard weather gadget our Macs have. I like how the wallpaper is wider than the phone's screen and it moves a little as you go page to page.
Click to expand...
Me too.

suss2it said:
The clock updating realtime is pointless seeing as though the time is already displayed on the homescreen or lockscreen. The weather app on the hand should update realtime by now.
Click to expand...
It would still look cool though... (the animations that is). ;)
 
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