The only thing I miss is the blinking light when I had a notification...but this 4S is sick.
You can make the 4S' LED flash blink under settings, General, Accessibility. "LED Flash for Alerts".
The only thing I miss is the blinking light when I had a notification...but this 4S is sick.
I went from a rooted/customized Nexus One running Cyanogenmod 7 to an iPhone 4S.
I absolutely regret it.
I'll say this - the hardware: build quality, speaker volume, ergonomics, display, etc destroys anything else on the market (and I test phones for a living, I've literally seen them ALL). The amount of refinement in iOS is also quite stunning. My problems are things that iOS simply lacks. Here's.. well.. some of my laundry list. Maybe some of these are my stupidity.. who knows//
1 - I CANNOT prevent the phone from lighting up when you get a notification. Even face down, at low brightness the phone has woken me up in the past few weeks. Guess I'm a light sleeper.
2 - There is no way to have a completely silent mode without manually disabling vibrate. I like vibrate on when the speaker is up loud, just in case I'm in a loud area.
3 - Attaching photos to e-mail goes against anything I've learned in 20 years of using a computer. There is no option to attach a file into an e-mail after you've began writing it, or into a draft. If I start writing an e-mail, I have to copy the body, THEN go to Photos, then attach and re-paste what I've copied. This is a difficult habit to break, given every other experience I've had with e-mail allows me to attach files after I've begun writing.
4 - There is NO METHOD to attach files to a reply e-mail. I have to send a new message, copy the whole body, and again, leave Mail, go to Photos, attach and then re-paste.
5 - No method to use multiple signatures. My company's policy states that outgoing mail from the Exchange server needs to have a specified signature. Using multiple accounts this way isn't an option, I don't want to have to delete a signature or copy/paste a signature when I switch accounts. Every Gmail or Email account in Android could have its own settings.
6 - There is no method to specify ringtones per app. Many apps use Tri-Tone and many people when I'm out and about have iPhones. I hear a Tri-Tone, and 5 people around me all reach for their iPhones. Not intuitive. Android allowed me to specify any app's notification tone. At least I CAN change some of them, and I have.
7 - I knew this going into an iPhone since I have an iPad, but I can't download media from the web and use it with the default player. This winds up being far more of a pain in the ass for a phone than a tablet. I DJ on weekends, and when someone wants to send me a track, I don't want to launch it from the e-mail EVERY TIME. I want to save it and use it within the default Music app.
8 - Many apps WILL NOT use landscape mode, which in turn means I can't use the landscape keyboard. That falls on the app developer, but I really would like Spotlight to at least use it since I use that to search the Web and Wikipedia. The App Store also suffers from this. Given that I CAN use landscape mode in these apps with my iPad, this was an unexpected disappointment.
9 - Poor integration of accounts. On Android, when you grab a new app that requires sign-in, it can be used all over the device. For instance, when you grab Facebook or Twitter on Android, they show up in the "Share" portion of the Gallery or the Share portion of the Browser, etc. They also assume that since I hold the device, that I won't need to re-authorize Facebook for EVERY SINGLE app that uses it. Apple pulled Twitter into the OS, why not do it for Facebook, Google, etc?
10 - Notification Center is awful. If I have a notification, and I slide the icon to launch to the app from the lock screen, why does the notification persist in Notification Center? I'm USING NC to check it. A master clear option should also exist. A toggle switch to prevent notifications from appearing in full screen apps should also be an option. Watching my framerate or timing take a dump within a game because someone texted me feels like poor refinement. I also can't tell you how many time I've accidentally pulled the NC tab down during a game. A two-finger pulldown within full-screen apps would had worked better. There's also no way that I know of to clear badges without entering the apps that have them. Google+ is NOTORIOUS for not clearing badges when I'm in the app.
11 - A nitpicking thing, but the damn Weather app icon should really update dynamically.
12 - 12/16 app limit for folders is HILARIOUS. Page the folders a la Infinifolders. Being able put all my games in a single paged folder worked wonders on my 4.1 iPad when it was jailbroken.
I can't think of any more at the moment so we'll leave it at this... I haven't ruled out putting my phone on eBay.. I wanted to like this phone, I really did.. the functionality just isn't there for me. Hopefully when the 4S is jailbroken I can mitigate some of it, otherwise it's back to the little green man for me.
All legitimate beefs about iOS but there's no arguing that Apple still has the more polish OS.
Question about Cyanogenmod 7 root; How reliable is it?
CM7 on its own was rock solid. There were times that I was able to record over one MONTH of continuous uptime, which may had been much longer if the phone hadn't had the battery die. The extra features on CM are fantastic, especially the built in, system-wide equalizer. Themes are also fun to play with.
My main beef with it was that for whatever reason, possibly including root or CM7, my Nexus One began to have issues where it could not read the SIM. I tried getting a new SIM, which fixed the problem temporarily, but after a while I had the same issue (although less often). I also had an EXT4 partition hack on my Nexus One, since using Android existing apps to SD option was still very limited and would still max out the internal device storage within about 80 apps. Not very usable that way, but the EXT4 method was very buggy. When I hit that roadblock, I knew it was time for a new device. Stability wise, I never used stock Gingerbread or anything so I can't compare, but I never had issues with the phone behaving strangely aside from the SIM issue.
Agreed! CM7 is rock solid. It's so much better than Gingerbread (I ran both on my Droid Incredible). That being said, I've moved from the Incredible to the 4S and am loving it. Sure, there are things I miss about the rooted Droid, but the ease of use, choices of apps, and polish of iOS are what I like most.
Very VERY well said. This sums up my experience with Android. When I bought my EVO 4G it was also universally lauded as the best that Android had to offer. I expected to absolutely love it. And just as an aside the EVO was not my first Android phone.If you ever experience the nagging feeling that the grass might be greener on the other side you will completely understand how I felt.
Over the course of the next few days I begin to experience random moments of lag, hangs, stalls and crushes, worst of all the touch screen would become unresponsive for no apparent reason sometimes for as long as 30 seconds. To top it all off, if and when I get to use the phone, mere mins of usage would cause the phone to heat up. Its not unbearable, but it was uncomfortable.
Over the course of the next few months I just about tried everything to get the HTC sensation to work. I wasnt expecting miracles but I had hoped that it would at least work as well as my pervious phone, the apple Iphone 4. S-off? Checked. Superuser? Checked, Countless ROMs switches in an attempt to find a good user experience? Checked. Kernel pairing with countless ROMs in an attempt to find a good user experience? Checked. Flashing of radio for better network connectivity? Checked. Yet the whole user experience drastically pales in comparison to the Iphone.
It almost seems like I was serving the HTC sensation instead of having it serve me. I had to cater to its wimp and fancy. It dictated how, when and where I am allowed to use it with its constant, heating up, slow downs, crushes and such.
As if these HTC based problems were not enough. Here are some generic android issues.
Apps on the marketplace do not work on all phone. Yes. I know. Sounds unbelievable but it is true. So every time you buy an app it may or may not work with your phone. Every time the app is updated, it may or may not work with your phone.
Battery life is abysmal, yes I got everything turned off. Only turn them on when I use it. It will last a whole day as long as it is on standby most of the time. On a good day I can get about 4.5 hours of actual USAGE time.
Accessories are so hard to come by. I have tried for weeks on end to find an extended battery for the HTC sensation from a mortar shop. Yes I am old skool that way. I do prefer buying from an actual brick and mortar shop. There is none that caters for the HTC sensation where I live. So the only solution was to buy a regular battery and switch batteries when one runs out of juice. Charge 2 batteries at night, use one till 3p.m. Switch battery at 3p.m. Use second battery till you are home. Charge second battery till it is full. Switch out second battery, insert first battery charge till full. Rinse and repeat. With the Iphone there are so many different options available from so many different shops. When I got the Iphone 4S it took me less than 10mins to get a mophie juice pack plus(in a bright yellow color band, absolutely beautiful). The problem with the Iphone is not finding the accessory you need but choosing the most suitable among so many different options.
The only thing I miss is the blinking light when I had a notification
LED camera flash ≠ LED notification lightYou can make the 4S' LED flash blink under settings, General, Accessibility. "LED Flash for Alerts".
I got rid of my 3GS in August after listening to the hype surrounding the Galaxy S2, it was the same price as an iPhone 4 but a more modern device. I am very disappointed with it.
First thing the hit me was the bright screen, but then if I turned screen brightness up full on my old 3GS it was the same difference, I really didn't see what all the fuss was regarding the screen.
Next thing I noticed was just how weak the WiFi was, I literally had to be standing beside the router to get a full signal and a web search revealed loads of complaints about this.
Then we went onto the camera 8MP WOW, but it reality it was OK, I have taken photos on par with my 3GS, it also has 1080p HD recording which will chew your memory at a disastrous rate, 10 secs = 100mb
I'm a music fan and iTunes love it or hate it was a fantastic system, getting my iTune playlists onto the phone was a disaster but got it on with iSyncr only to discover the SGS2 doesn't read AAC files, well it will read them but all meta tags are unknown. There are work arounds that half solve the problem but in the end I had to convert all my music to MP3, then comes listening to music, disaster, at full volume its about half that of an iPhone meaning you can clearly hear ambient noise, I tried various work arounds non of which really worked.
Then onto battery life, My 3GS could easily last a day and a half, 2 days on Airplane mode. This has to be put on Airplane mode just to get through the day.
A month after getting it I said enough was enough and went to sell it, While both the SGS2 and iPhone 4 are the same price retail for resale the SGS2 = same price as a new 3GS or a poor condition iPhone 4, I put it on Gumtree not 1 phone call, Put it on eBay my 3 week old 32GB SGS2 went for the same price as a new 32GB iPhone 3GS or an old used scratched iPhone 4 and in the end I had a none paying bidder.
So it looks like I am totally stuck with this phone, I am hoping maybe the price of the iPhone 4 drops after the 5 is released but in my opinion the SGS2 is vastly over rated.
I made the switch from Android to the iPhone 4S and I'm not impressed. I will likely switch to the Motorola Droid 4 which is coming out soon.
My main issues with the iPhone 4S:
- no 4G LTE
- no LED notifications
- nothing comparable to Android's free Google Navigation (tried Waze, but it often gave strange out-of-the-way directions and can't avoid tolls)
- no free wireless tethering
- inability to install non-Market apps
- poor Gmail integration
- no physical keyboard
- no home screen widgets
- aesthetic form factor, but way too delicate
I did think the iPhone 4S camera was excellent though, and way better than anything Motorola has done.
Short list of things I'm not totally sold on:
-Glass + aluminum = slippery. I tend to have cold hands so I'm a little nervous handling it without a case. Working on fixing that.
-12 apps max in a folder. I like my screens clean and efficient, so the fewer folders the better. I keep maxing my folders out.
-Notification light. Not really a big deal, but it would be kind of nice to have. I'm a face-up phone person so the flash thing isn't an option.
Hope this helps, OP!
Speaking only for myself, but what I got bored with was the need to tinker, which seems to be a key inherent characteristic of Android. When I decided that I was through playing, and that I wanted a smartphone instead of a gadget, moving to iOS was an easy choice.![]()
I can help you out on these points.3 - Attaching photos to e-mail goes against anything I've learned in 20 years of using a computer. There is no option to attach a file into an e-mail after you've began writing it, or into a draft. If I start writing an e-mail, I have to copy the body, THEN go to Photos, then attach and re-paste what I've copied. This is a difficult habit to break, given every other experience I've had with e-mail allows me to attach files after I've begun writing.
4 - There is NO METHOD to attach files to a reply e-mail. I have to send a new message, copy the whole body, and again, leave Mail, go to Photos, attach and then re-paste.