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Those who own or bought an iPhone over Android why?

daneoni said:
-If you have an old phone, it's the same thing with Apple. You can't upgrade older versions and miss some features from the new releases. If the phone is two years old or more or you own an iPod touch. If your phone is a year old or the current shipping device then you're pretty much guaranteed two generations worth of updates as and when released. Not so with android. Recently shipped phones have to wait weeks or months which is what irks me. Some even ship with older OS versions on purpose. Ask if they're planning to release the latest update for it soon and you get 'we're still considering"
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In bold above is the reason for me.

Android uses the same-ole same-ole model when it comes to updates. Google will code it, but you're totally at the mercy of whoever made your phone, and then your carrier, as to if they'll ever port/release that update for your specific device.

With an iPhone, I know I get at least two solid-years of free OS updates.
 
The most basic reason is that there has yet to be a compelling reason for me to abandon the iOS platform or Apple's hardware.
 
Melrose said:
Closed is better. So it's not democratic, not for the people. So what? You want a quality piece of software, you can't have a million and one corporate nuts tinkering around with it. Uniform design by a single entity with a clear vision based on customer feedback is always better.
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-Melrose

Hmm. You raise an interesting point.

When the Mac was introduced, not only was it - by today's definition, "closed", but it was proprietary as hell (some here may recall). I mean, proprietary Monitor connectors? ADB? Even frikken spcially designed SIMMs!!!

Then, upon the return of 'ol Jobso, the proprietary began to disappear. Standard DIMMs, IDE bus, Intel, USB, Firewire (IEEE1394 - even though they invented it), and on...

It is entirely arguable the proprietary, and therefore expensive - as there were no economies of scale for Apple parts in the Dark Days - were one factor that nearly killed Apple in the '90s. And it is the standardization of Apple parts, and softwares that has contributed equally to their current ascendancy.

Sure, the Dock connector is proprietary, but I have difficulty of thinking of anything else proprietary about Apple.

Which brings me back to the point: Sure their environment is "closed" by today's definition, but unlike the Mac of the Classic times, it isn't incompatible. Choosing Apple is not a sacrifice.
 
I looked long and hard at Android (I was with Verizon until this past week) and here's what made me decide to go with iPhone.

  1. iPhone's user interface was miles ahead of Android for me, probably because I had an iPod touch before the iPhone, but the iPod touch was a breeze to learn to use. Also, my wife put it best when she said (with respect to Android) "I don't like it when one product is trying to be another product". To me it seems as though Android is failing miserably at hiding the fact that they just want to be a linux version of the iPhone.
  2. I feel much more comfortable with the quality of the iPhone vs any other phone (with the possible exception of the HTC flagship on Sprint). I also know how good Apple is at standing behind their products, and that's comforting for me. If I wasn't buying an expensive smartphone, I probably wouldn't care much, since the device would be destined for an upgrade in a year or two, but the iPhone is expensive and I need it to hold up. I'm confident it will, and Apple will take care of me if it doesn't.
  3. iPod built in. This was huge since I'm a huge iPod user. I've got an extensive library and I was growing tired of carrying a phone and an iPod in my pockets all day, plus now all the apps I was using on the iPod touch work when I'm away from my WiFi networks.

That's a pretty good start to why I chose iPhone over Android. The recent update is what got me off the fence and made me pick a smartphone. I'm really happy with the product so far.
 
patrick0brien said:
Sure, the Dock connector is proprietary, but I have difficulty of thinking of anything else proprietary about Apple.

Which brings me back to the point: Sure their environment is "closed" by today's definition, but unlike the Mac of the Classic times, it isn't incompatible. Choosing Apple is not a sacrifice.
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I heard a radio report the other day stating that in Europe most cellular phone manufacturers (Including Apple) had agreed to make a standard power input for all phones. Seeing as how the dock connector is also the power intake for the iPhone, could we be seeing the end of that with the iPhone as well? Or will they simply just put a separate power jack on the iPhone?
 
SLC Flyfishing said:
I heard a radio report the other day stating that in Europe most cellular phone manufacturers (Including Apple) had agreed to make a standard power input for all phones. Seeing as how the dock connector is also the power intake for the iPhone, could we be seeing the end of that with the iPhone as well? Or will they simply just put a separate power jack on the iPhone?
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Not hard, all Android phones use usb with an adapter like this:

41jOIUzcp7L.jpg


All apple would have to do is supply the users with this kind of adapter.
 
waloshin said:
Not hard, all Android phones use usb with an adapter like this:

41jOIUzcp7L.jpg


All apple would have to do is supply the users with this kind of adapter.
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Well we get that already, there is a USB power adapter that comes with the iPhone. I was under the impression that all the phones themselves would have uniform power adaptor input, not a proprietary input that has a USB at the other end so as to be useable elsewhere.
 
SLC Flyfishing said:
Well we get that already, there is a USB power adapter that comes with the iPhone. I was under the impression that all the phones themselves would have uniform power adaptor input, not a proprietary input that has a USB at the other end so as to be useable elsewhere.
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Well then the iPhone will have a microusb.
 
When i got my iPhone 4, it was either that or the Samsung captivate. I had both in hand at the Att Store, and coulnt make up my mind. I was in there for like an hour choosing. I did research on both, and in the end, it was the few fatal flaws that the sammy had that got me to the iphone 4. The lack of good gps, and honestly, the lack of a flash (i know it doesnt do much, but still) on the sammy got me to go apple.

So, it wasnt really the software, but more hardware that got me to go apple.
I could honestly care less about antennagate, got my free case and im good to go.
 
Rooted my Droid months ago and haven't looked back.
Stock Android UI is indeed rather drab, but the beauty of an open device is that I can completely change the look of it in mere moments. I could have a different UI every day if I wanted.

Android marketplace is a very different experience than it was a year ago. There are more apps than I could possibly look at, which isn't necessarily a good thing. Huge quantity with waning quality. Hopefully this isn't a growing trend. Many gems remain on the Market, but it seems like I have to do more digging lately.

Finally, Verizon. My friends with iPhones have on many occasions sheepishly asked to borrow my phone since they had no signal. AT&T can spin it however they like, but in the USA Verizon's network coverage remains superior.
(GSM vs CDMA is a debate for another day) ;)
 
I went with the droid x, giving up my iPhone 3Gs.

In the end for me, I liked the choices and options that I have with the droid as opposed to being locked in on what apple thinks is best for me.

I think at the end of the day, it comes down to personal preference. People like what apple has to offer, and they buy an iPhone.

Others prefer what android has to offer and they buy android.
 
I bought my first iPhone in JUly 6, 2007. For me there was and has not been another phone that I could become interested in. I am buying an iPhone every year until Apple stops making iPhones. I don't even want to look at any other phone. I have only had one dropped call on my iPhone 4 since launch.
 
SpaceKitty said:
I bought my first iPhone in JUly 6, 2007. For me there was and has not been another phone that I could become interested in. I am buying an iPhone every year until Apple stops making iPhones. I don't even want to look at any other phone. I have only had one dropped call on my iPhone 4 since launch.
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Steve
-sent from my iPhone
 
For me, it's mostly about the seamless integration with Macs and the App Store. If the iPhone is the market leader, it attracts developers and since the hardware is standardized, they can put all their effort into maximizing one platform which I think leads to some really incredible app innovations. (see: Epic Citadel)

Additionally, I've had great experiences with apple products. They emphasize ease of use and intuitive design. I think people are getting over the hype and realizing that gadgets that come with a laundry lost of features tend to be complicated. Apples approach is a well conceived balance between simplicity and function that is severly lacking from other manufacturers.

Also, on a more fundamental note; say what you will about Apple and their policies, but they make their platform for the users. Google is a marketing analytics company, not a software company. Their OS might be free to use, but their business strategy is about collecting marketing data and advertisements. They want to be part of your phone so they can grab all of that precious search data for themselves. I personally feel that approaching products like this puts the companies priorities over the users. Apple makes a gadget that lives or dies based on the reception it gets from users, making user satisfaction the primary incentive.
 
Melrose said:
Not necessarily. Fragmentation is a big issue for developers... iOS is closed and carefully managed and designed by Apple in order to keep a high level of quality in the software that on the whole Android can't match.

Closed is better. So it's not democratic, not for the people. So what? You want a quality piece of software, you can't have a million and one corporate nuts tinkering around with it. Uniform design by a single entity with a clear vision based on customer feedback is always better.
Click to expand...

My thoughts exactly. Closed and standardized means a simple standard. Especially for a phone, I want my apps to behave similarly and predictably when doing common things so I don't have to think about a new interface whenever I'm performing different tasks.

Apple gets a lot of bad press brcause of what their policies COULD allow them to do, but IMO, they've never flexed that power in any way that isn't in the users best interests
Open platforms may have the advantage of comparative pricing and options, but it tends to encourage the bare minimum.
 
For me the primary reason for using and staying with the iPhone is it's ability to be jailbroken. This allows apps that make the phone work in a way that is important to me.
 
brunetmj said:
For me the primary reason for using and staying with the iPhone is it's ability to be jailbroken. This allows apps that make the phone work in a way that is important to me.
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If you can do it on a jailbroken iPhone, you can do it on a stock Android phone.

I have an iPhone at the moment but may switch to a Dell Streak or HTC Desire HD. I'm leaning more towards the HTC due to better specs, newer software, more support, and the fact it isn't made by Dell :D
 
Main things:
- common apps with my iPad (which is now my most-used "computer")
- a couple of my most-used apps aren't available on Android (eg Memory Map), and there are no alternatives (in my MM example due to needing support for existing - and expensive - mapping i already own)
- Android is too fragmented at the moment, i'm hoping Google have noticed and are planning to change the OS so that Android phones aren't at the mercy of the manufacturer as to when / if you can upgrade to the next version
- i have an iPod dock cable in my car, intergrated with the radio that allows control from the standard in-car controls - nothing similar is available for Android, and i suspect would be difficult to ever provide because they don't have a standard docking interface
- iPhone just works seamlessly with iTunes, will soon be able to play audio directly to my Airport Express, and if i decide to get an Apple TV it sounds like i'll be able to use it effectively as a wifi-TV-out interface

But hoping Google start to address some of the standardisation / fragmentation issues, and i know companies are working on Android apps, so maybe in a year or two it'll be better. Got to remember that Apple has a significant head-start, and it's perfectly possible that Google will catch up or overtake Apple. But they're not there yet, for the things i want in a phone.

David
 
Yes, the iPhone's OS is simple to use. However, that's my problem with it.....I can't configure it to do what I want. OS X has an nice UI right out of the box, but that doesn't mean I don't want to make it even more useful for my needs.

Like OSX, the iPhone is very nice out of the box; however, it's not as useful as it could be. I'm sure I'd get that extra 1% from an Android phone. In all honestly, they're 6 of one, half dozen of the other.

The only thing you'd lose by going with Android is that seamlessness when connecting to your Mac. I don't need great compatibility between the two systems. I don't need my photos to interact with iPhoto. The only thing I need is compatibility between iTunes and my phone. That's it.
 
Heilage said:
I just like to use the iPhone more than I like to use Android phones.
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And isn't that really the biggest reasons why people choose any product. I think we make things way too complicated at times. You like/want the iPhone get that. You want android/winmo/symbian then get one of those.
 
Abstract said:
Yes, the iPhone's OS is simple to use. However, that's my problem with it.....I can't configure it to do what I want. OS X has an nice UI right out of the box, but that doesn't mean I don't want to make it even more useful for my needs.

Like OSX, the iPhone is very nice out of the box; however, it's not as useful as it could be. I'm sure I'd get that extra 1% from an Android phone. In all honestly, they're 6 of one, half dozen of the other.

The only thing you'd lose by going with Android is that seamlessness when connecting to your Mac. I don't need great compatibility between the two systems. I don't need my photos to interact with iPhoto. The only thing I need is compatibility between iTunes and my phone. That's it.
Click to expand...

The new Sense UI phones sync with iTunes apparently, and you can always use DoubleTwist.
 
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