Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

What does Android have that iOS doesn't

The main reason why I stick with android phones rather than iPhone is the keyboard. I think the iOS keyboard is really crap and there are no good third party options available. On Android I use Swift Key which makes my typing so much more efficient.

The second issue for my has not been about android in particular but about screen size. I've found the iPhone to be a bit small and I don't really like the new stretched version, either.
 
One thing for me is access to a file system just like a desktop machine has

I know that however I store my eBooks, Word Files, Music Files etc, whatever app I chose to open them with will just see them like my desktop

I recently wanted a new eBook reader on my tablet as the one I was using wasn't very good
looked on the play store, downloaded it, ran it and my books where there
 
paulsalter said:
One thing for me is access to a file system just like a desktop machine has

I know that however I store my eBooks, Word Files, Music Files etc, whatever app I chose to open them with will just see them like my desktop

I recently wanted a new eBook reader on my tablet as the one I was using wasn't very good
looked on the play store, downloaded it, ran it and my books where there
Click to expand...

That comes at a price. Apple segregates all the files and hides the file system, but one benefit is that you get better control over what apps access which parts of your data. And in an ecosystem where not all apps are trustworthy that can be a good thing.
 
Favorite things on Android are: custom launchers, weather widgets, SwiftKey X, custom SMS (Hand center, GoSMS), quick toggles for WiFi, GPS, etc., quick reply pop-ups, and of course Google maps.
 
Last edited:
spblat said:
That comes at a price. Apple segregates all the files and hides the file system, but one benefit is that you get better control over what apps access which parts of your data. And in an ecosystem where not all apps are trustworthy that can be a good thing.
Click to expand...

I agree locking things up can be a lot safer

for me personally I prefer the file system way, the same as I have done for 20+ years and never had an issue
 
onthecouchagain said:
Screen toggles truly is a beautiful thing. This is just left of my home screen:

Image


I love being able to toggle my lock screen off when I'm at home and don't want to constantly input my security to unlock it. When I go out, I toggle it back on. Ditto for sound profiles. At work? Toggle it to Vibrate only. When I get home, toggle it back to Loud. Not to mention toggling WiFi, etc. It takes a second, literally, to do these things.

Widgets are, in my opinion, a bit overrated, but toggle widgets are great.
Click to expand...

that looks pretty sweet,I would want my home screen to look like that, what phone do you own if you don't mind me asking
 
ChazUK said:
For me, unparalleled Google integration.

Using Google services I can move between Android, iOS, Windows Phone and all my data comes with me, it just happens that Android has the best integration so it is my primary platform.

Google Now sticks in my mind most recently. It prevented me from being late to a doctors appointment around a week ago, alerting me to leave 10 mins earlier than I'd scheduled due to traffic. I arrived to my appointment in time and would have definitely been late had I not left when Google Now had advised. Powerful stuff.
Click to expand...

Wow, that's awesome.
 
The multi-task window feature is my favourite, being able to run 2 apps side by side is stupidly useful.
 
onthecouchagain said:
Screen toggles truly is a beautiful thing. This is just left of my home screen:

Image


I love being able to toggle my lock screen off when I'm at home and don't want to constantly input my security to unlock it. When I go out, I toggle it back on. Ditto for sound profiles. At work? Toggle it to Vibrate only. When I get home, toggle it back to Loud. Not to mention toggling WiFi, etc. It takes a second, literally, to do these things.

Widgets are, in my opinion, a bit overrated, but toggle widgets are great.
Click to expand...

Nice. Which app are you using for those toggles? I don't know if I'll use widgets much, but toggles are a big selling point for me. Android in general is just so much more open for use on a phone.
 
whoknows87 said:
I have no idea what launcher is
Why would I need access to file system?
Click to expand...

You have the choice of how you manage your files. For instance, let's say you have notes, Word Documents, PDF's, pictures, sound file, etc. all related to say the same project. You can choose to put them all in the same folder. Then when you want to send your project, just select the folder and send everything.

another thing that bothers me big time, why cant I block a call , create a blacklist etc I believe it's a built in feature on some androids
Click to expand...

That is nice for spam callers. I have used it a number of times for this purpose.

Here are some other features I like on my Android:

One thing that I do is when I go to bed, I like to turn off notification sounds (from email and text messages, for example) while leaving my ringer and alarm on. With Android, I can do this with a single tap on my home screen. I have a widget for this. When I wake up, I tap the widget again to turn on my notification sounds.

Android also has multiple phones and form factors available. I personally prefer landscape keyboard sliders. Although they are getting rarer now, my last phone was one.

By default my phone has an app dock at the bottom of my home screen. When I page between home screens, the dock remains in place. I don't like that. Instead, I installed a new launcher that allows me to remove this dock of icons. I have an extra row of icons as I prefer it over the dock. My home screen actually has 6 rows of icons by 4 columns. I have the option of increasing it up to 7 x 7 if I choose.

I also installed a different on screen keyboard. I don't like the default one. I installed one where the portrait keyboard keys are bigger, so it makes it easier for me to type. My landscape keyboard is also customised. I have a layout where it resembles the iPad split keyboard. I have a 4.8" phone and find that hitting keys in the middle of the keyboard is cumbersome. My landscape layout is split so the keys are closer to the edges and makes it easier for me to type. The keyboard I use (Thumb Keyboard) also has a number of features I like, namely turning off auto-spacing (that other keyboards I tried cannot do).
 
PDFierro said:
Nice. Which app are you using for those toggles? I don't know if I'll use widgets much, but toggles are a big selling point for me. Android in general is just so much more open for use on a phone.
Click to expand...

Power Toggle. And the weather app is Beautiful Widget (tons of weather skins to choose from. Too many, really).


And y'all know what's another beautiful thing about Android? Direct dialing icons. You can create a direct dial (or direct text) icon of your most frequent contacts and it's just a little icon with whatever picture you put on that contact on your home screen.

I have a page dedicated to 8 or so of my most frequented called/texted friends. Swipe to that screen, pick, and boom.

Once again, usability... higher on an Android despite iOS being "simpler."
 
paulsalter said:
I agree locking things up can be a lot safer

for me personally I prefer the file system way, the same as I have done for 20+ years and never had an issue
Click to expand...

I can see that. Go with what is comfortable for you. That is why we have choice .

----------
onthecouchagain said:
And y'all know what's another beautiful thing about Android? Direct dialing icons. You can create a direct dial (or direct text) icon of your most frequent contacts and it's just a little icon with whatever picture you put on that contact on your home screen.

I have a page dedicated to 8 or so of my most frequented called/texted friends. Swipe to that screen, pick, and boom.
Click to expand...

I'm going to give direct dial icons a try ...thanks
 
onthecouchagain said:
I'm using the most basics of toggle. With many apps, you can actually select specific apps you want to toggle. It's a very useful tool.

For example, the lightning looking toggle on my screen cap is the flashlight. Instant-on from the camera's flash. Great for in the dark. And the one on the left is brightness slider.

There's so much one can do.
Click to expand...

Yep some toggles are useful for sure - just not the standard settings toggles (at least on iOS) as battery life is great anyway. Used to have a flashlight toggle my S2, really useful.
 
Just when I decided to get an iPhone, I found this thread. Now once again, I don't know what I want.
 
stroked said:
Just when I decided to get an iPhone, I found this thread. Now once again, I don't know what I want.
Click to expand...

LOL funny thing is if anyone who knows me reads this , I will never ever hear the end of it, I've been defending iPhones since forever, I really do love the Phone , but I do feel left out on some features, Yes iOS runs smooth,but the Phone is your Phone you should have some control over a few things, I like widgets, themes, the fact that installed apps are can be integrated with the running OS, for example sharing via whatspp, Facebook , If i want to share a picture on iOS I have to do it from the App itself ( if it's even allowed) with a few androids you can simply do that from the picture itself it gives you the option to share via multiple apps, one thing that I feel some Android Phones lack ( some manufacturers ) is the Retina Display on the iPhone, the icons it's just fantastic , looks smooth, and of course the Camera I take lots of pictures with my iPhone and I do feel the camera is just perfect, funny thing is those features I mentioned can be available to iOS but only if its' jailbroken which I've found makes your phone runs a bit slower in comparison to stock.... I have the iPhone 5 now and sometimes I wonder the 4S could've done just fine... I had the 4 before and held out when the 4S came out so the 5 is somewhat of an upgrade but still..........

----------
onthecouchagain said:
Galaxy Nexus.
Click to expand...

funny thing that is a Phone i actually liked, it looks smooth, I'm really considering it , not sure if I should wait for the new nexus or just go with the older one, I'm sure the new one would be $$
 
stroked said:
Just when I decided to get an iPhone, I found this thread. Now once again, I don't know what I want.
Click to expand...

I use both. The iPhone has a lot going for it too. There is no right or wrong answer to which you prefer and why....

Even though I use a love Android tablets I prefer an iphone as my daily phone. But I don't tinker with my phone as I use it for business....
 
onthecouchagain said:
Screen toggles truly is a beautiful thing. This is just left of my home screen:

Image


I love being able to toggle my lock screen off when I'm at home and don't want to constantly input my security to unlock it. When I go out, I toggle it back on. Ditto for sound profiles. At work? Toggle it to Vibrate only. When I get home, toggle it back to Loud. Not to mention toggling WiFi, etc. It takes a second, literally, to do these things.

Widgets are, in my opinion, a bit overrated, but toggle widgets are great.
Click to expand...
What phone and Toggles are you using?
 
jojoba said:
The main reason why I stick with android phones rather than iPhone is the keyboard. I think the iOS keyboard is really crap and there are no good third party options available. On Android I use Swift Key which makes my typing so much more efficient.
Click to expand...


This 110%. So incredibly accurate.

----------
Mr. Incredible said:
What phone and Toggles are you using?
Click to expand...

Galaxy Nexus.

Power Toggles: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.painless.pc&hl=en
 
You know what's another great thing about swype over the iOS keyboard? It's that when you edit something that's in mid sentence it still knows to autocorrect and show suggestions. Whereas I noticed on my iPad if I tap the middle of a sentence to edit something it no longer auto corrects.

Anyone else notice this too?

Btw, I wrote this post with my iPad and good lord there were so many missed letters. The iOS keyboard is abysmal. Had to edit so much.
 
onthecouchagain said:
You know what's another great thing about swype over the iOS keyboard? It's that when you edit something that's in mid sentence it still knows to autocorrect and show suggestions. Whereas I noticed on my iPad if I tap the middle of a sentence to edit something it no longer auto corrects.

Anyone else notice this too?

Btw, I wrote this post with my iPad and good lord there were so many missed letters. The iOS keyboard is abysmal. Had to edit so much.
Click to expand...

I think my favorite thing about the stock keyboard is that you can tap twice to remember a word. And even better is you can goto the user dictionary and edit/remove a single autocorrection.

I hate how with iOS it will learn to remember errors. Currently mine is remembering ill when it used to autocorrect to I'll. I'll have to delete the user dictionary every couple months.
 
onthecouchagain said:
Screen toggles truly is a beautiful thing. This is just left of my home screen:

Image


I love being able to toggle my lock screen off when I'm at home and don't want to constantly input my security to unlock it. When I go out, I toggle it back on. Ditto for sound profiles. At work? Toggle it to Vibrate only. When I get home, toggle it back to Loud. Not to mention toggling WiFi, etc. It takes a second, literally, to do these things.

Widgets are, in my opinion, a bit overrated, but toggle widgets are great.
Click to expand...

Which toogle widget are you using? I got the Nexus 7 aswell :)
 
torana355 said:
Which toogle widget are you using? I got the Nexus 7 aswell :)
Click to expand...

Power toggles.

----------
cynics said:
I think my favorite thing about the stock keyboard is that you can tap twice to remember a word. And even better is you can goto the user dictionary and edit/remove a single autocorrection.

I hate how with iOS it will learn to remember errors. Currently mine is remembering ill when it used to autocorrect to I'll. I'll have to delete the user dictionary every couple months.
Click to expand...

Yup. The totally smart and simple auto correction of iOS is actually dumb and obtrusive.

I've always said the iOS keyboard was abysmal. And it hasn't changed much in years.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back