Thinking of leaving Windows Phone for Android? - Windows Phone 8 General

Holy $#!^ don't do it! I had some issues with the WP8 upgrade that upset me enough to try out the competition. I left the Lumia 920 for the HTC One 4 months ago. I will say that having apps for everything and the ability to flash Rom's is cool, but that's about it. The OS sucks. I have jotted down some of my personal grievances in case anyone who thinks like me is thinking of switching. This will hopefully prevent a ton of wasted time and money.
• Overall OS is buggy and a total resource hog. It requires premium hardware specs to deliver an experience close to the smoothness and fluidity found in Windows Phone and iOS, but still doesn’t achieve that. And don’t even think about matching performance of budget Android phones vs. budget Windows Phones, not even in the same league.
• It requires almost daily reboot’s to keep performance from suffering or the OS from completely crashing. This usually depends on how many apps I use on any given day but is still far, far lower in performance reliability than Windows Phone.
• It is the most virus prone mobile OS available. This is pretty huge. In addition, Google data mines every account you set up on the phone. As soon as I set up my company IMAP account, and I mean, next day, I started receiving junk for the first time in 4 years. Absolutely unforgivable.
• Touch responsiveness is a joke. The delay on the keyboard response, for example, when you’re used to iOS or WP is unbearable for me and feels super low quality
• The graphics and icons are kind of toy which requires a launcher and icon pack to remedy. Even then, most packs I tried only covered half the apps I needed and the remaining app icons looked stupid. So I had to individually edit icons to get something acceptable to me.
• Communication apps are horrible. Mail, Contacts, Messaging and Dialer apps can all be replaced by better alternatives, but you run into issues when using one Dev’s dialer, another’s contacts app because the contacts app has a dialer that sucks and vice versa but when both are installed...... Forget it. It’s all a confusing mess that forced me back to the stock applications experience, which sucks.
• Most Android users and developers will tell you that the only way to get the best performance out of Android is to flash a custom ROM. In other words, Google has done such a rookie job on this OS that a community of non-paid hobbyists (Who are incredibly talented and people who help others to seemingly no end) are the go to guys when you want to achieve today’s standards in smartphone performance! Only, not all ROM’s are created equally and aside from the pains of flashing until you find something you like, you risk bricking your phone and voiding the warranty. Google should hire these Dev's and release something quality from the gate!
• Music library management is so painful for me. I, like many people have used iTunes for years and also used Zune and Xbox Music. Apple is the obvious winner here as iTunes works seamlessly with iOS. Windows Phone has a clean little desktop app that syncs my iTunes playlists and songs, but it’s an extra step. Android requires a desktop app and Android app combo. There are a bunch and the one I found the least annoying was TuneSync but I couldn’t get it to work via USB so it took an eternity to sync a few playlists. And, the stock music player is ****.
Honestly, I don't understand how Android has the explosive market share it's enjoying today, I hate it. When I compare it to Windows Phone or iOS, it's like a cheap knock off of what a smartphone OS is supposed to feel like. They have apps, lots of apps and some of which I will really miss. But the OS? When comparing straight up performance, integration of services, stability and reliability, polish, fluidity and built in communication suite, for me it's no contest and I can't wait to get back to Windows Phone!
Hope this helps someone!

You just dun get ride in Android OS for my opinion...lol
For me Android is great, not so like Windows Mobile, iOS still ok if for daily use.
Of course if in smoothness Windows phone and iOS are more smooth than Android, but that's got something Android can found but other OS can't found one; and also in Android 4.3 this problem is finally solve (by using my Nexus 7 2nd gen)
For my opinion, Android is more to those engineering ppl, Windows phone is more to business ppl

nahh, its just you.
1) I dont have to reboot my phone. my uptime is like 100 hrs, and no lag or bugs or anything like tat.
2) what are you doing.. seriously? two questions. did you install porn? -virus+spam and how many instant messaging apps do you have? -lag
3) icons are smth i complain about as well. android and iOS is the same type of icons. windows give a sense of class.
4) itunes, seriously?? i stop using my ipod coz of itunes, i threw away my iphone coz of itunes. music syncing is a piece of crap, especially on a home computer.
5) touch responsiveness? i tink you got to send ur unit to the service centre, probably got a faulty unit
6) custom roms are there for a reason. Google provide a vanilla rom: smooth and minimal. All the other manufacturers are making their own rom=lag/useless. So custom rom are made for ppl to give variety, like PA having hybrid prop, and aokp having lots of stuff to customise.
7) Communication app problem? its coz ur used to ur WP. when i use WP, i feel like throwing it away too.
8) music app really kinda sucks tho, i just stream.
Windows phone really look classy, and i like the feel. but with the limitation, it obviously show why the market share keeps dropping.
iOS-getting outdated. iOS 7 looks cool, but usability is so last decade
WP- classy, for non-tech people who is so lazy to make their phone look special
Android- too much customization, but everyone's device is unique. well except those non-techie again.
Ubuntu- cool, but still buggy.

Wp class for no tech people ok but no file manager, no manual network setting....nooo

sss2sssss said:
You just dun get ride in Android OS for my opinion...lol
For me Android is great, not so like Windows Mobile, iOS still ok if for daily use.
Of course if in smoothness Windows phone and iOS are more smooth than Android, but that's got something Android can found but other OS can't found one; and also in Android 4.3 this problem is finally solve (by using my Nexus 7 2nd gen)
For my opinion, Android is more to those engineering ppl, Windows phone is more to business ppl
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Android for engineer people? What exactly has android that helps "engineer" people?

jacktay94 said:
nahh, its just you.
Windows phone really look classy, and i like the feel. but with the limitation, it obviously show why the market share keeps dropping.
Ubuntu- cool, but still buggy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually Windows Phone's market share is increasing... Blackberry is the one that's slowly dwindling.
Agree with you on Ubuntu... I'm interested to see the "final product".
Sent from my GT-P3113 using Tapatalk 4

I made the mistake of getting a WP8 phone after being an Android fan for some time. I currently own a Nokia Lumia WP8, an iPhone 5 for work and the Galaxy S and Galaxy S2 in a drawer at the house.
No phone is perfect, Android has it's share of issues, as does iOS as does WP8. It's just that Android and iPhone can at least do the things they do and do it well. WP8 still doesn't have a decent facebook app or decent map app, the data speeds are significantly slower than other android/ios phones that are on the same network, push notifications sometimes don't come through until far after the notification was originally pushed. Battery life is sub-par, little customization of the OS, even the larger and more popular applications that actually do manage to make it to WP8 end up having their gui re-written and tailored to look like the rest of WP8 which actually becomes pretty boring and mundane after a while, you can't even get any decent browser options like Chrome, Firefox or even Opera for that matter. Instead, what you end up finding are a bunch of knock-off applications written by little-known dev companies or freelance programmers with all sorts of Chinese, Indian or Russian sounding names that are garbage and do who-knows-what in the background.
I could go on, but suffice it to say, this will likely be my last Windows Phone purchase. The WP8 gui looks decent and is snappy and smooth but beyond that, it doesn't do a whole lot.

really i am in the other site i dont like the sandbox of windows mobile 8 i came to windows mobile from somewhat more easily customized oses symbian and android.
as of now i am going back to android
i ve had a nexus 4 and i had no lag
also an os that doesnt let you do anything with it is not really working as a smartphone at least ios has been jailbroken for a while and some things can be used as they should have been used .
in my opinion windows mobile must rid of locks on it.it is sure that if it doesnt let you do anything it would be lag free but what is the gain then?.
and by that i say that i may come back when a jailbreak is near my phone (ascend w1)....

ericdude said:
I made the mistake of getting a WP8 phone after being an Android fan for some time. I currently own a Nokia Lumia WP8, an iPhone 5 for work and the Galaxy S and Galaxy S2 in a drawer at the house.
No phone is perfect, Android has it's share of issues, as does iOS as does WP8. It's just that Android and iPhone can at least do the things they do and do it well. WP8 still doesn't have a decent facebook app or decent map app, the data speeds are significantly slower than other android/ios phones that are on the same network....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would disagree with most of this except push notifications . I have done a few data speed tests because I was suspicious that the One was actually slower but apps like speedtest reflected comparable results for my wife's Lumia 920 vs. my One. Nokia's Maps are really nice, better experience than Apples but I do like Google's offering the best. More points:
Battery: My phone is off the charger at 7 a.m. and back on at 10 p.m. I operate a small business so tons of talk time tons of navigation, I notice no difference in battery performance from my 920 to the One
OS Customizing: Don't really care about this but its true. I have tried 10 to 15 launchers and God knows how many Rom's trying to customize an experience that Android can't deliver. I like the WP OS and really have no desire to make any changes to it with the exception of a few features I would like MS to add.
Apps - I think I already addressed this
Browser - I would go heads up with any browser vs. IE 10 mobile. To say its not decent is just old school MS bash talk to me. Its fast & fluid like everything built in to the OS
But, I defend Windows Phone because I like it and feel like the experience it offers is superior to what I get from Android. You obviously feel the same about Android. I'm only writing this because I think people can tell when someone thinks the way they do, so for people who think like I do and love the Windows Phone OS, my advice is that you stay put unless you can afford to play around with competing devices.
BTW I bashed Android without pointing out what I love about Windows Phone:
People Hub – deep social integration with Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Skype and offers superior groups and room’s options
Search – Instant results for local eating, shopping and events. Integrated music DNA search, integrated vision search supporting barcodes, QR, MS Tags, CD, DVD and book covers.
Groups – Offers users the ability to share group calendar, group OneNote notebook, group pictures and group chatting
Messaging – Facebook chat integration and integrated location sharing etc.
Dynamic Icons – Instead of a static image Live Tiles provide live updates and can be pinned in 3 different sizes
Deep App Pinning – Instead of just an eBay icon, users can pin an eBay item tile to the Start screen and view updated information right from that tile. Or, pin an actual TuneIn station.
Microsoft Office – Free and complete Microsoft Office mobile suite
Kid’s Corner – Cool to keep the kids in a sandbox
Online Backup – SkyDrive integration offers backup features for photos, instant photo upload, music, documents, phone app list and phone settings. The SkyDrive capabilities on Windows OS makes sharing and using data across smartphone and tablet or PC seamless and better than any competing option

jacktay94 said:
nahh, its just you.
Windows phone really look classy, and i like the feel. but with the limitation, it obviously show why the market share keeps dropping.
iOS-getting outdated. iOS 7 looks cool, but usability is so last decade
WP- classy, for non-tech people who is so lazy to make their phone look special
Android- too much customization, but everyone's device is unique. well except those non-techie again.
Ubuntu- cool, but still buggy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nah, it's not just me bud:
1) "my uptime is like 100 hrs, and no lag or bugs or anything like that" - Seriously!? You can keep your phone on for 4 whole days without bugs or anything! Bravo, thanks for making my point.
2) "what are you doing.. seriously? two questions. did you install porn? " I'm operating a small business. No porn and I didn't say I personally got a virus. I said the Android is the most susceptible and that I DID get data mined to a private work email that was never spammed in the 4 years since I created it. Until Android
3) I obviously agree.
4) "iTunes, seriously??" Yes seriously. For starters I purchase all of my music and iTunes has a massive catalogue. Also, this music is for me and my family. I have to send it to multiple devices (PC's and mobile devices) and multiple OS's. Android is the biggest problem child in that mix.
5) "touch responsiveness?" I have had 3 HTC Ones actually. Press a key on the keyboard and watch how long it takes the keyboard to respond. Then try it on a Windows Phone. Pretty clear
6) "custom roms are there for a reason" your reasons are nonsense. Here is a quote from the about of my favorite ROM "a stock ROM experience with the ability to choose the features and functions they want, demand performance and expect stability!" NOTE THE STABILITY AND PERFORMANCE PART
7) "Communication app problem? its coz ur used to ur WP." No it's not. I think the iOS communications suite is superior as well.
8) "music app really kinda sucks tho, i just stream." I do that too but I have a massive music collection I love to listen too
Bottom line is that I just don't like Android. I know that there are a lot of people who Android works well for I mean them no disrespect. I am not trying to talk them in to moving to my favorite OS and would never do that. I am sharing my experience for people who like the same kinds of thins I do and thought about trying the competition, even though they like Windows Phone. Many would be disappointed and for them, I say don't waste your time or money

TechJunkiesCA said:
Nah, it's not just me bud:
1) "my uptime is like 100 hrs, and no lag or bugs or anything like that" - Seriously!? You can keep your phone on for 4 whole days without bugs or anything! Bravo, thanks for making my point.
2) "what are you doing.. seriously? two questions. did you install porn? " I'm operating a small business. No porn and I didn't say I personally got a virus. I said the Android is the most susceptible and that I DID get data mined to a private work email that was never spammed in the 4 years since I created it. Until Android
3) I obviously agree.
4) "iTunes, seriously??" Yes seriously. For starters I purchase all of my music and iTunes has a massive catalogue. Also, this music is for me and my family. I have to send it to multiple devices (PC's and mobile devices) and multiple OS's. Android is the biggest problem child in that mix.
5) "touch responsiveness?" I have had 3 HTC Ones actually. Press a key on the keyboard and watch how long it takes the keyboard to respond. Then try it on a Windows Phone. Pretty clear
6) "custom roms are there for a reason" your reasons are nonsense. Here is a quote from the about of my favorite ROM "a stock ROM experience with the ability to choose the features and functions they want, demand performance and expect stability!" NOTE THE STABILITY AND PERFORMANCE PART
7) "Communication app problem? its coz ur used to ur WP." No it's not. I think the iOS communications suite is superior as well.
8) "music app really kinda sucks tho, i just stream." I do that too but I have a massive music collection I love to listen too
Bottom line is that I just don't like Android. I know that there are a lot of people who Android works well for I mean them no disrespect. I am not trying to talk them in to moving to my favorite OS and would never do that. I am sharing my experience for people who like the same kinds of thins I do and thought about trying the competition, even though they like Windows Phone. Many would be disappointed and for them, I say don't waste your time or money
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) yupp, i just switched my phone off ystd, coz i changed the battery. after like one whole week of being on.
2)You probably registered your email in some website tho. Android didn't give me spam
3) yeahh
4) dont you find it a hassle when you sync ur family members playlist when u just wanna charge your ipod? your from the states, so i understand, coz we in malaysia dun buy much music, especially on itunes. hehe wat i do is just copy+paste, no need to complicate things, back to basics.
5) hmmm, i probably need to post a video of me typing then. hahaha! but really, was it on custom rom?
6) the most stable rom: vanilla, pure android is most stable man. performance is overclocking, google wont endorse that.
7) coz both are simple. too simple. hahaha!
8) like play music app, whole library free for a month, wat other collection do you want?
nahh, just making conversation. planning to get a lumnia 600+ series as a for fun phone, just wanna check out the real feel of using WP, when i get the budget. hehe

I have both Android and WP. What I like in Android is that I can do pretty much anything with it like on a PC, but that's where it stops. I have a Samsung Galaxy S which is a pretty old phone and I have a custom rom with Android 4.2 on it. The phone came with android 2.3 and Samsung just decided it did not have enough RAM to run 4.x well and stopped updating it. Well, it is much less laggy on the custom ROM with 4.x than the stock ROM with 2.x. I would never trust an Android device as a phone, it just is too crashy and buggy OS to do anything important. With the stock ROM it rebooted many times when I tried to answer a call etc, and web browsing exprience just sucks. This has to do with the low memory but 512MB should be enough for a phone. When I browse the web on Android, other apps that run in the background get killed and eventually the browser stops working too (Just like on good old Symbian ). My WP7 (Samsung Omnia 7) has nearly identical specs and I have no memory problems, I have several hundred megabytes of free RAM no matter what I do and browsing is very smooth. Also it's annoying when you need to take a quick pic of something important and the Camera app crashes on Android... One thing Android does better than WP is scrolling long lists - it takes ages to scroll a long list on WP, but on Android the scrolling accelerates when you scroll..

OP keeping WP circlejerk alive as always

Taurenking said:
OP keeping WP circlejerk alive as always
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seriously? Grow up
Edit - and go away. This is a WP thread. Why droid people are here making negative comments never ceases to amaze me. I don't read your threads let alone comment in them.

ericdude said:
I made the mistake of getting a WP8 phone after being an Android fan for some time. I currently own a Nokia Lumia WP8, an iPhone 5 for work and the Galaxy S and Galaxy S2 in a drawer at the house.
No phone is perfect, Android has it's share of issues, as does iOS as does WP8. It's just that Android and iPhone can at least do the things they do and do it well. WP8 still doesn't have a decent facebook app or decent map app, the data speeds are significantly slower than other android/ios phones that are on the same network, push notifications sometimes don't come through until far after the notification was originally pushed. Battery life is sub-par, little customization of the OS, even the larger and more popular applications that actually do manage to make it to WP8 end up having their gui re-written and tailored to look like the rest of WP8 which actually becomes pretty boring and mundane after a while, you can't even get any decent browser options like Chrome, Firefox or even Opera for that matter. Instead, what you end up finding are a bunch of knock-off applications written by little-known dev companies or freelance programmers with all sorts of Chinese, Indian or Russian sounding names that are garbage and do who-knows-what in the background.
I could go on, but suffice it to say, this will likely be my last Windows Phone purchase. The WP8 gui looks decent and is snappy and smooth but beyond that, it doesn't do a whole lot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't really care about a "decent" FB app so I'll give you that one. But if you think that Google Maps is anywhere as good as Here, you have no idea what a good map app is. Or maybe you don't have a Lumia. Nokia's mapping software is going to be the industry standard soon now that it's available for iOS. You know those fanboys are having a hard time without a usable map app.
MS Office + SkyDrive - 'nuff said.
People Hub - only webOS Synergy was better
Nokia Cinemagraph - best stock animation and GIF creator
The fact that WP8 can be as fluid and lag-free as any other OS without needing 20 cores and 4 GB of RAM speaks volumes about the OS itself. PalmOS was probably the only other OS that was as resource-friendly as WP, Symbian a close second.
I don't dislike Android, or iOS for that matter, I just find WP8 to be the best all-around combination of phone and OS. MS has stringent rules about how their OS is to be presented and that might not be such a bad thing.

Windows phone 8 isn't windows mobile. They're two different os.
Sent from my Nokia 521 using XDA Windows Phone 7 App

Taurenking said:
OP keeping WP circlejerk alive as always
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ahh look I'm blushing! Hey, trolling forums of devices or operating systems you don't use speaks volumes of how engaging your platform must be, not to mention your personal life. Hope things pick up for you!

I'm considering getting a lumia 925 or 1020 to replace my HTC One. I've become bored with android and ios. What're everyone's thoughts and anything I should know before making the switch?
Sent from my HTC_PN071 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Amrut223 said:
I'm considering getting a lumia 925 or 1020 to replace my HTC One. I've become bored with android and ios. What're everyone's thoughts and anything I should know before making the switch?
Sent from my HTC_PN071 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
wait for the snapdragon 800 nokia phone if you can; if you're gonna buy an old phone instead of a new one, make sure you don't have a not for resale phone(demo unit).
Many apps won't work, you'll have to make do for a while... what is your typical phone use?

Why wait for the new soc. From what I've been reading wp runs smooth on almost anything. I have no interest in benchmark scores. I simply want to get decent battery life.
Speaking of which. How does the lumia 925 hold up in that respect?? Reviews seem to have mixed feelings about it.
Sent from my HTC_PN071 using Tapatalk 4

Related

Jumping ship to the new iPhone?

You don't have to read this, you can just vote.
Ok, we have all heard about OS 3.0.
Faster, multi - tasking, A2DP, other bluetooth improvements such as file transfer, MMS, video capture, onboard video editing software included, etc..
The new iPhone to be released end of June is also going to have a few hardware changes. Have heard that it is 16 to 32 gb, that there is a 5mp autofocus camera with a quality lens on back, and a 3mp on the front (compared to our VGA), thinner (of course, pretty much a guarantee), possible bigger and sharper screen, etc...
It seems to me as if Apple has really (unlike MS) done what a company should...analyze the competition (primarily Android but also webOS and RIM), and redesign and improve their product accordingly. They have gotten rid of pretty muh all of the stupid annoyances, made it faster and smaller, and given developers much more access to different system level things for their apps, along with about a million other changes and improvements that you can and probably have read about. I am also really thinking that they will have good integration with things such as facebook, gmail, and outlook.
I really think there will be no question and that it truly will be the #1 device really without any competition. The only competition I can see is maybe something such as the HTC Magic that is thinner, has a larger, higher res screen, and comes stock with unbranded Android 1.5 (such as some of the HTC line up we have seen).
I just DESPERATELY hope that Apple isn't so stupid and naiive as to not put on MORE BUTTONS! Buttons are always better...always having to quit what you're doing and go back to the home screen to do ANYTHING would drive me insane...I love texting on my HD, then pulling up the phone and calling someone, sticking it on speaker, then going back to texting...that's not too much to ask I don't think.
So vote!
As for what I'm doing. I am jumping ship to the new iPhone. If I find it doesn't satisfy me, I will sell it and get the best Android handset I can find. Hopefully something like the Magic, but thinner, having a bigger, more high res screen, and comes stock with unbranded Android 1.5. If no new non - keyboard Anroid handsets are out by that time...Magic it is! (if it is ever released)
im gonna have to see the official specs and the actual device before i decide anything,if what is mentioned is true then perhaps. but im looking more at the Palm Pre than the iPhone, we will see
Ok, firstly MS is doing something about it, they are working on two new OSs at the moment, secondly its not MS that makes the phone, this is the problem and the holy grail with WM phones, firstly its a problem because MS has no say what hardware is used with its OS, this means like its desktop cousin it needs to support many things well and i believe to an extent it achieves this, but it doesnt excel at any of them. Its the holy grail because with the Iphone, you get 1 phone, 1 set of gear, 1 design for every possible usage, with WM devices you get exactly what you want because you have the choice to choose different phones, different specs and design for your needs.
Im leaving out Android here for 1 reason, it sucks, no no hear me out, apple has a HUGH following with its iPods which translate in to potential iPhone sales, android has a "bunch of Hippies" style of following, they are not classy, they are not even that good but its an alternative to the evil of Microsoft and ties of Apple which makes then appeal to others and thats fair enough, its a market as good as any.
But here is the reason ill be sticking with my Microsoft Windows Mobile based PDA, it works, it works fairly quick, it looks as good as an iPhone and i can install pretty much anything i want on it. Weres Tomtom for android or the Iphone? where is memory Map? where is the ease of use when syncing with Outlook? wheres Igo8? core player? world card mobile? the various language programs? all my security and tracking programs, the million and 1 apps available on the net, free or paid that have a propper support base if it all goes wrong, data retrivel?
some of those i use every day, i use many others every day, and yes there may be alternatives for some, but unless i can get them ALL working on one of the other two devices ill not change because i need them all and thats as simple as it gets.
With a desktop OS you can dual boot or virtual PC it, an thats fine if thats your thng, but you cant do that at the moment on the PDA and even if you could i doubt i would because its a hassle i can do without, WM works and works well enough and im sure its only going to get better.
And what will be the screen resolution of new iPhone?
Current iPhone is a no go for me - with such low screen resolution reading eBooks and surfing the internet is really, really bad.
Waiting eagerly for the new iPhone so definitely jumping ship...
I've got a Mac and syncing is nearly impossible. I've tried all sort of apps but none worked perfectly. I really need to sync address book and calendar and I've had enough of transferring mp3 files one by one, artwork not working etc etc.
the mp3 function is very important for me and the iPhone is perfect for that.
only problem I've got is I don't like the iPhone's current design. It's so 2 years ago. Hopefully they'll come up with a nice sleek design.
Why are Windows Mobile Apps falling behind IPhone ones?
One of the things that has always interest me when making such a decision is: What do developers think? How do they view developing for iPhone versus for winmo platform?
To gain insight into the thinking of developers, including some rather big names in winmo application development, you guys might want to read these extremely interesting threads:
http://www.4winmobile.com/forums/ed...s-mobile-apps-falling-behind-iphone-ones.html
and
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=6481405#post6481405
dazza9075 said:
Ok, firstly MS is doing something about it, they are working on two new OSs at the moment, secondly its not MS that makes the phone, this is the problem and the holy grail with WM phones, firstly its a problem because MS has no say what hardware is used with its OS, this means like its desktop cousin it needs to support many things well and i believe to an extent it achieves this, but it doesnt excel at any of them. Its the holy grail because with the Iphone, you get 1 phone, 1 set of gear, 1 design for every possible usage, with WM devices you get exactly what you want because you have the choice to choose different phones, different specs and design for your needs.
Im leaving out Android here for 1 reason, it sucks, no no hear me out, apple has a HUGH following with its iPods which translate in to potential iPhone sales, android has a "bunch of Hippies" style of following, they are not classy, they are not even that good but its an alternative to the evil of Microsoft and ties of Apple which makes then appeal to others and thats fair enough, its a market as good as any.
But here is the reason ill be sticking with my Microsoft Windows Mobile based PDA, it works, it works fairly quick, it looks as good as an iPhone and i can install pretty much anything i want on it. Weres Tomtom for android or the Iphone? where is memory Map? where is the ease of use when syncing with Outlook? wheres Igo8? core player? world card mobile? the various language programs? all my security and tracking programs, the million and 1 apps available on the net, free or paid that have a propper support base if it all goes wrong, data retrivel?
some of those i use every day, i use many others every day, and yes there may be alternatives for some, but unless i can get them ALL working on one of the other two devices ill not change because i need them all and thats as simple as it gets.
With a desktop OS you can dual boot or virtual PC it, an thats fine if thats your thng, but you cant do that at the moment on the PDA and even if you could i doubt i would because its a hassle i can do without, WM works and works well enough and im sure its only going to get better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. We all know MS is doing something about it. But we also all know that virtually all MS products suck. We also all know that MS is SLOOOW...therefore (like I said), by the time winmo 7 is released, it will already be behind. It will be released around 3rd quarter 2010...that's ridiculous. Another year from now Android will no longer be so new, and Apple will have put out something entirely new as they know ppl will be getting tired of iPhone by then. Not to mention what RIM and Nokia will be doing.
2. Where is the basis that Android sucks? It is faster than WM, that much is for sure. It is also more customizable. It is more modern. 3rd party app support does not make an OS good or bad....your argument that they suck cuz they don't have apps is no good to me. Sure it can make or break the success of the OS but...that's got nothing to do with the OS itself. Android has a LOT on WM and WM has...virtually nothing on Android. It looks ancient, it runs ancient, and it's that simple. I think we can all agree on that last line there.
3. "android has a "bunch of Hippies" style of following, they are not classy, they are not even that good"
- Gotta admit that you really lost me there.
4. Windows Mobile is in fact rather slow, even on good hardware with good drivers.
5. Windows Mobile crashes all the time even fresh after a hard reset, no apps installed, on an official ROM (just like the desktop Windows!)
6. iPhone has better syncing solutions that ActiveSync and Outlook.
7. Just FYI to all reading this...I am a Windows user and have been for years (all my life). I am not an outsider looking in and criticizing Windows w/o due reason and experience. I recently installed OSX86 on my PC however and...it truly is really nice. MS sucks. Bottom line, and there is really no avoiding it.
8. All OS's have pro's and cons. There are just as many if not more arguments against all your arguments for Windows Mobile. My point is simply that the new iPhone truly is a lot better than any Windows Mobile device running the latest WM 6.5.
MrYdude said:
And what will be the screen resolution of new iPhone?
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Click to collapse
No kidding. Couldn't agree more. Coming from a Touch HD and having looked at a lot of friends iPhones...their screens look terrible when reading text (altho they do have 16 million colors compared to our 65,000. Side note: Android also has 16 million colors).
Sadly though I have read that they plan not to change the resolution in order to keep all apps usable. I reallly hope not.
It's true, MS does not have any influence on the phone hardware.
However, an operating system's success is not about hardware potential or software potential or about a combination of both: it's about a tangible offer of potentially attractive software which can be easily obtained via a single entry point, i.e. an APP STORE. That's currently the BIGGEST drawback of the WM platform. I love the customization part of WM but it took me ages to get there. Many users won't take that road and therefore go for the iphone.
There's also a lock-in effect to this -> More users to an OS platform means that developing for that platform gets attractive, thus attracting developers and making the apps offer even more powerful. That in turn increases the chances of attracting new users to the platform, etc.
Honestly, considering all this, do you really a 50 megapixel camera or a nVidia Geforce 8800 GTX in your phone ?? What about all the already hidden potential in your phones which never gets explored because developers and users do not get a realistic chance to discover all of its limitations ?
I'm pretty sure that the new iPhone does not support multi-tasking, you're still stuck to doing one thing at a time. I believe Apples official unofficial stand on it is that they spent way too much time and money on their failed push notifications, and they're not going to allow multi-tasking. (Apple does not like to say it's wrong...and if they would release multi-tasking, I'm sure they'll call it something else, and put a patent on it for no reason).
You know what...
I just love the WM and WM based devices.
They have ALL i need
They are fully customizable and have fully multitasking support.
With iPhone, you will get what it is, and you will get stucked with iTunes and online store
Many iPhone apps (though looks amazing) are not so usable
I just need functionality much more then a great user interface
Peace all
Well i won't go for the Iphone i have my HD and i'm stuck on it to change something that good you need to buy something "special" and from the looks of it the new Iphone will be a bit better than the last one so why do i give a great amount of money to switch to something "a bit" better.Let's see Palm Pre and other Android devices now the market will be devided not only for WM an Iphone but Android and Palm OS also so i won't hurry to go for the new stuff as you can never know which one is better until you try them for at lesat 4-6 months maybe even more....so let's wait and see "newer" is not the same as "better" .
andes83 said:
Well i won't go for the Iphone i have my HD and i'm stuck on it to change something that good you need to buy something "special" and from the looks of it the new Iphone will be a bit better than the last one so why do i give a great amount of money to switch to something "a bit" better.Let's see Palm Pre and other Android devices now the market will be devided not only for WM an Iphone but Android and Palm OS also so i won't hurry to go for the new stuff as you can never know which one is better until you try them for at lesat 4-6 months maybe even more....so let's wait and see "newer" is not the same as "better" .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I really think it is going to be more than "a bit better".
As you saw there are hundreds of features and fixes in the new OS, plus new hardware changes such has considerably better CPU, double the RAM, better camera, thinner etc..
iori said:
You know what...
I just love the WM and WM based devices.
They have ALL i need
They are fully customizable and have fully multitasking support.
With iPhone, you will get what it is, and you will get stucked with iTunes and online store
Many iPhone apps (though looks amazing) are not so usable
I just need functionality much more then a great user interface
Peace all
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
iori,
There are lots of misconceptions about iPhone, so I don't blame you for having incomplete or wrong information.
iPhone is extremley customizable too, and you too can have multitasking once jailbroken. Therefore, you do not get what it is - you get what you want it to be. You don't get stucked with iTunes and online store. You get the benefit but you can also get things outside iTune and online store.
Whoever gives you the idea that the iPhone aplls are not useable does not know what he is talking about. When app store was first available, many low quality applications did get listed. Not anymore. Whether you're an advanced IT network adminstrator, sales executives, finance director, web site marketer, shipping agent, there are really nice applications for you. Trust me on this one. Don't just anyhow believe people who tells you that iPhone is just a toy and winmo is for corporate use. iPhone can be as corporate as you want it to be.
Cheers.
Anyway, iPhone is still quite poor on the GPS domain.
6 or 7 apps (park lane, radar, around me, traffic, etc) to do all that my iGO can natively do... and still no turn-by-turn soft buyable on the iPhone.
I want a real all in one, and neither the actual iPhone or the next one won't be a real one. My friends who own an iphone have all get a specific GPS, and well, everything's said...
Roupette said:
Anyway, iPhone is still quite poor on the GPS domain.
6 or 7 apps (park lane, radar, around me, traffic, etc) to do all that my iGO can natively do... and still no turn-by-turn soft buyable on the iPhone.
I want a real all in one, and neither the actual iPhone or the next one won't be a real one. My friends who own an iphone have all get a specific GPS, and well, everything's said...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, that's tue still. If you're in US, there is an application called G-Map, which on the surface looks quite decent, but nothing outside US yet. However, this is expected to change with Firmware 3.0. The reason why there was none in the past was because Apple did not allow any such application, thanks to their stupid policy. Respectable company like Tom Tom would of course refuse to release it into the "underground" cydia store. With the policy change by Apple, TomTom is expected there soon.
I'm all for having everything in one device too, and GPS has been a sore point for me. The other sore point is the fixed battery, but that I can accept because iPHone's battery life is not bad.
1, im sorry but your statment about everything MS produces are rubbish, is in fact rubbish, i cant comment what you do with your PC / Mobile but i rarely have system crashes, on my mobile i cant even remember the last time i was forced to do a hard reset, on my desktop im using one of the most stable OSs ive ever used and its BETA! I do agree it takes them time to produce the software and i do agree that in the past SOME of their projects are flakey but not all.
"2. Where is the basis that Android sucks?"
You miss the point of an OS here, if nothing good works on an OS NO ONE will use it, its that simple, If i cant use the programs i need then that OS is useless to me, it may have a place in the linux following groups who challenge everything MS and claim to be better than everything else but in the real world if i cant use what i want to use its useless. MS also has a massive software base including various distribution sites, some free some not, everything is cated for. Android looks no better than my WM device with Touch flo, its no quicker, i know this because i have both of them sitting in front of me.
Because something is more modern doesnt make it good, take the Pentium 4 over Pentium 3 as an example. but i agree android IS more customizable
"Android has a LOT on WM and WM has...virtually nothing on Android"
Really? a LOT is a big statement that i bet you cant quantify with factual information and not hand back subjective reviews and "feelings" about things.
"It looks ancient,"
The core OS does yes, but tell me, is android not a Shell over a command line? i believe it is, So technically the core OS on android looks crap too but thats just nit picking!
"it runs ancient"
that makes no sence, only and new programs work on it fine, quick and responsive so what makes an OS ancient?
3. "android has a "bunch of Hippies" style of following, they are not classy, they are not even that good"
- Gotta admit that you really lost me there.
Ah yes i was refering to Linux and its intresting cult of followers but i retract that statement as it was below the belt.
"4. Windows Mobile is in fact rather slow, even on good hardware with good drivers."
nope, it isnt to me, graphics wise its slow compared to hardware excelerated devices, whats bizzar is that the phone can still pump out ok graphics on its CPU and still multi task, if qualcomm released graphics drivers for many of the 7xxx based chipsets i think you will find a near perfect device. but even without that it works....just!
"5. Windows Mobile crashes all the time even fresh after a hard reset, no apps installed, on an official ROM (just like the desktop Windows!)"
I really cant comment, since WM2002 ive not had that on a multitude of different devices. and Windows doesnt do that either, perhaps the common denominator here is the user.
"6. iPhone has better syncing solutions that ActiveSync and Outlook."
quantify please?
"7. Just FYI to all reading this...I am a Windows user and have been for years (all my life). I am not an outsider looking in and criticizing Windows w/o due reason and experience. I recently installed OSX86 on my PC however and...it truly is really nice"
I too have used Linux, OSX and all the different versions of Windows and they have there places i do agree that in different markets different OS's suit different people. but tell me which one of those is the best for all markets all be it perhaps not as good as the other OS's designed for those markets?
"MS sucks. "
you lose all credibility with that statment attact a spacific product if you choose but to say Apple sucks or MS sucks is crazy and wrong.
"Bottom line, and there is really no avoiding it.
8. All OS's have pro's and cons. There are just as many if not more arguments against all your arguments for Windows Mobile. My point is simply that the new iPhone truly is a lot better than any Windows Mobile device running the latest WM 6.5."
You started off well there, but lost it at the end, PROVE to me that the new OS is better on the Iphone? without using speculation and subjective views an opinions.
I believe MS will be increasing the colour depth on the new devices but i doubt it will make any significate difference, except in its speed. what the WM based devices need is some new tech that uses resistive screens without the 70% (about that) loss of light, that in turn would increase battery life. Dont say capacitive screens, a stylus can be very useful, but definitely a combination of the two somehow.
there are 3 killers for me with the iphone
1. no gps (it has a chip but nothing other than gimmickey apps for it)
2. resolution too small
3. no multi tasking - if I can't listen to mp3's while driving on my bluetooth stereo whilst having TomTom tell me where to go its no good.
Now we know that the new iPhone is gonna ship with TomTom but unless they sort the other 2 issues I wont even be looking at it, let alone ditching my beloved HD.
lancemate said:
there are 3 killers for me with the iphone
1. no gps (it has a chip but nothing other than gimmickey apps for it)
2. resolution too small
3. no multi tasking - if I can't listen to mp3's while driving on my bluetooth stereo whilst having TomTom tell me where to go its no good.
Now we know that the new iPhone is gonna ship with TomTom but unless they sort the other 2 issues I wont even be looking at it, let alone ditching my beloved HD.
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Click to collapse
Hi Lancemate,
How do we know that the new iPhone is gonna ship with Tom Tom? I must have missed that information somewhere.
I'm too disappointed with Steve Jobs for not providing multitasking. So, looks like we still have to jailbreak to get that.
HD's resolution is very nice. No doubt about it. Although vast majority of the applications (phone, weather, music player for example) would not really miss this. Web surfing is in my mind a leading exception, as it would be nice to be able to clearly read the font without zooming in. It is for me a compromise, although an acceptable one for myself. I guess one has to take everything into account (multitouch vs resistive, number of applications available, speed, smoothness, stability, user interface, etc) and decide for oneself if such a compromise is worth it.
its all over the internet mate and has been for a while
example
http://www.appleinsider.com/article..._0_app_highlights_tomtom_gps_line_6_more.html
lancemate said:
its all over the internet mate and has been for a while
example
http://www.appleinsider.com/article..._0_app_highlights_tomtom_gps_line_6_more.html
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm aware Tom Tom and Navigon will be available, but as separate purchase rather than being shipped with the phone. Guess I misunderstood what you said. Thanks anyway.

Is the Androind OS and the N1 overrated? I think it is!

FIRST: the intention of this post it not to flame. These is just my point of view and I would love to hear some other people’s point of view.
This is just an observation from a real cell phone junkie who is coming from WinMo and iPhone to android and is a bit disappointed.
It just feels like the Android platform is overrated and half baked. While it has its “Google apps” advantage, most of the other parts of it are seriously lacking.
Coming from an iPhone(which I hated because of apple’s dictatorship and because it feels like a dumbphone) and the HD2, which is a brilliant device with a very capable OS which has stability issues and lack of new useful apps development, I wanted to try something new with Android. It should have been the prefect mix between openness and development of new useful apps (which WinMo lacks). So far I have been nothing but disappointed.
Some of the issue I noticed and why I think Android is really overrated are:
- Very low end apps. Most of them are poorly designed and unstable. There are a few good apps but none from the major players.
- BUGGY apps!!! One of the reason WinMo was failing is because of cross device support for apps. Apps that would work on one device would not work on another because of different hardware chipsets. I was sure that Google would see this is a point of failure and will make sure this won’t happen with Android. WRONG: almost every app I downloaded has bugs and is not working properly with the N1 and if you just read the comments for the various apps you see the horror. So many people complain about FC’s and instability of the apps. This means that Google simply failed in this area and there is no real cross device support. Each app needs to be tweaked to work on each hardware set to get it right. This is going to be a huge point of failure for the platform.
- Crippled copy and paste. Seriously? You can’t copy and paste from everywhere in version 2.1??? didn’t they learn from apple?
- No built in Tethering. Again this is OS version 2.1 and there is no tethering option unless you root you phone.
- Feels sluggish at time: even on a 1Ghz processor the phone does feel sluggish at time (and yes I close my apps with task manager). Some say it is because the RAM was not fully utilized in this OS. Why have Google released a phone that suppose to have 512MB RAM with only half active? Didn’t they think it would cause bad experience?
- Very poor multimedia support: and I mean VERY poor. Even the built in YouTube Video player will not rescale the video to show on the entire screen if the video was not encoded specifically to the N1 resolution, not to mention other video apps who will NEVER show videos at full screen as they were designed for lower resolutions. There is really no way to watch DIVX or XVID and everything needs to be converted. There are dozens of media players on the market and NONE can do either tasks! And yxflash, the only player that can supposedly play DIVX is doing such a poor job it is a joke. WinMo has ONE player that beats all dozens on the android market. I read somewhere it isrelated to the SDK being very limited in Multimedia. I find it hard to believe that Google is trying to compete with apple witch such a poor Multimedia support. I even purchased OrbLive and the picture quality is extremely poor because they were forced to use the only codec that Android can support for streaming which is 3gp and has very poor quality.
- No big brand name apps: Skype, Sling and many other big brands are simply not there. I know you can use Fring as an alternative (or Nimbuzz) but both are very buggy and have delay when using skype calling. You also can’t turn off the screen when you use the VOIP apps as it is causing the sound to break.
- VPN: very poor support. I can’t get the connection to stay connected while it works just fine on the HD2 and iPhone. The latest software update from Google completely broke VPN support and now it won’t connect at all.
- There is no real way to backup all you apps AND settings of the apps unless you have rooted your phone. If you want to upgrade your ROM or change ROM’s you need to reinstall everything (unless you are rooted and then you can backup your apps settings as well). This is something that should be implemented out of the box. WinMo has exactly the same problem.
- Failure in the gaming area. There are maybe 20 good games on the Market that actually use OpenGL 3d. other games look like they are from the mid 90s. I was hoping to see better games on Android than on WinMo. I guess I was wrong here as well.
I wanted to like Android, I really did, and maybe it will get better with time, however currently it has exactly the issues as WinMo phones has (buggy apps mainly, some OS slowdowns ) and if Google is not going to address these issues they will find themselves in the same position as Microsoft is finding itself now.
For now I’ll have to go back using my HD2 and just wait until Android gets a little better and more usable for me. I just really don’t understand people hate WinMo so much if Android is not much better (at least from my consumer standpoint).
Thanks for reading.
Number one reason and the only one I need to hate WinMo is Internet Exploder. It's broken badly. They had better fix this in 7 or they are done. The fact that you have to use a third party browser to do anything useful is total BS.
I think for most people, who don't want to think to hard, Iphone OS is probably a better choice. The interface is dead simple and there are a ton of apps. Most people won't realize that they are being fenced in.
The majority of your rambling is about apps. I don't think anyone overrates Android's app catalog. Everyone knows it's much smaller than the iPhone's.
It's not overrated in the way that people tend to praise it, which is openness and customization.
I agree on IE but like the fact that you can chose various browsers.
App support is dreadful compared to the Iphone but you have to look at the sales figures in ITMS vs. Market; $ = incentive. Yes right now it's apples and oranges but when someone is researching what device to buy and what carrier to swear allegiance to for 2 years, there are certain variables considered.
Take a heavy facebook user. The iphone fbook app is solid. Yes it has issues, but compared to the android solution, there is no contest. The fact that you have to use m.facebook.com when linking from your notifications panel in android is quite unacceptable (just one of many issues people have brought up). Pandora on the iphone is also quite a bit better than on android.
I disagree in regards to your comment about the phone being snappy. I have my old iphone 3g and my nexus 1 sitting side by side and real world feel says that the n1 wins in performance.
For me there are two things I wish were present with the nexus one/androidOS that are present on the iphone.
1 - app support. That is targeting android.
2 - the keyboard. For some reason I can type far more accurately and with greater speed on the iphone than on my n1. Not a deal breaker at all
You bring up tethering. There is no native tethering on the iphone without jailbreaking or paying for an app (pdanet) for the official stateside carrier (att). Your nexus one has the ability to install pdanet and you can tether all you want at a small price. Of course, you can root your phone and suddenly this ask is satisfied; just like jailbreaking and updating your carrier file.
If you want to talk about setbacks; how about the lack of MMS for the first gen iphones while the 3g/3gs both have this. No reason whatsoever to not include the functionality in the 2g other than slow deprecation of support for the phone...that just sucks.
There are plenty of solid games in Market for your device. I had to watch a video "50 android games" to be made aware of quite a few of these tiles.
For me, nothing you wrote kept me from migrating back to android after spending a year with an iphone (g1->iphone->n1; the entire time I had the iphone I missed my g1) But I am not the target audience device manufs are going after...almost nobody here is.
All your points are valid and are what the atypical customer thinks about, cares about and bases their monetary decisions on.
Good post
deprecate said:
App support is dreadful compared to the Iphone but you have to look at the sales figures in ITMS vs. Market; $ = incentive. Yes right now it's apples and oranges but when someone is researching what device to buy and what carrier to swear allegiance to for 2 years, there are certain variables considered.
Take a heavy facebook user. The iphone fbook app is solid. Yes it has issues, but compared to the android solution, there is no contest. The fact that you have to use m.facebook.com when linking from your notifications panel in android is quite unacceptable (just one of many issues people have brought up). Pandora on the iphone is also quite a bit better than on android.
I disagree in regards to your comment about the phone being snappy. I have my old iphone 3g and my nexus 1 sitting side by side and real world feel says that the n1 wins in performance.
For me there are two things I wish were present with the nexus one/androidOS that are present on the iphone.
1 - app support. That is targeting android.
2 - the keyboard. For some reason I can type far more accurately and with greater speed on the iphone than on my n1. Not a deal breaker at all
You bring up tethering. There is no native tethering on the iphone without jailbreaking or paying for an app (pdanet) for the official stateside carrier (att). Your nexus one has the ability to install pdanet and you can tether all you want at a small price. Of course, you can root your phone and suddenly this ask is satisfied; just like jailbreaking and updating your carrier file.
If you want to talk about setbacks; how about the lack of MMS for the first gen iphones while the 3g/3gs both have this. No reason whatsoever to not include the functionality in the 2g other than slow deprecation of support for the phone...that just sucks.
There are plenty of solid games in Market for your device. I had to watch a video "50 android games" to be made aware of quite a few of these tiles.
For me, nothing you wrote kept me from migrating back to android after spending a year with an iphone (g1->iphone->n1; the entire time I had the iphone I missed my g1) But I am not the target audience device manufs are going after...almost nobody here is.
All your points are valid and are what the atypical customer thinks about, cares about and bases their monetary decisions on.
Good post
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for all the replies.
However please keep in mind that in my original post, i was hardly making any comparison to the iPhone and at the end of my post i stated that i am going back to the HD2 . The iPhone is the last platform i am going back to, even with all the apps. i Just cant keep with the Apple / Jailbreakers game and all the limitations.
You do have native tethering on the iPhone, only it is disabled because at&t does not want you to have it. in other countries it works out of the box. no Jailbreak needed.
I agree that market share = incentive for developers however i am a bit worried that with the current state of the SDK, we will see the same old issues with cross device support for apps, and this is exactly where WinMo failed and the iPhone won (because there is only one device to support (chipset wise), so far)
If only the apps that are in the market now would work better, my point of view will be much different.
I want to use Skype, OK there is no real skype app so i tried to use Fring...DELAY on the call. unusable. I tried to use Nimbuzz, it is better but you cant turn off the screen so the battery dies fast.
I want to watch a movie > need to convert.
I want to watch live TV > there is still not a single app that can actually do this. ORB's app is really bad at the current version.
I want to tether > need to root (i am ok with this) but wireless tether never connected to my laptop. unusable. Wired tether worked fine.
I did watch the 50 best games on Android Video and the are in par with WinMo's games and so far WinMo is giving better usability. but the OS is not so stable hehe...
I guess there is no perfect phone.
Overall is the lack of actual functionally is what killed it for me. I hope it will get better in the future and then i can give it another try
as you said, there is no perfect phone. but give it a little time, android is only a year old after all. i for one have little to no problems with FCs from any of the apps i'm using, so it also depends on what you like to do with your phone.
my main issue atm. is the lack of good bluetooth enabled voice dialing (and lack of any voice dialing at all for non-english users).
and the pet peeve would be the missing framework for the trackball colors.
other than that i'm really enjoiying the relative openess of the platform, and having cyanogen as a developer
Tether without root with PDAnet. This program works great.
Looks like the OP need's to have a read over yonder
There's also been a great deal of talk in the development forum regarding new openGL support in 2.0.
App space has been limited in android and thats a factor, but this is being resolved and we will start to see more 'pretty' applications, but I would argue that android has just as many useful and good applications as the iPhone.
The ONLY windows mobile device that I would trade my Nexus One for is an HD2. It'd be a tough decision though. My touch pro 2 was fun from a customization stand point because I seemed to flash a new rom at least once every couple of days. However, it was painful to use, it was slow, required frequent restarts, work-arounds galore, etc etc. Android may have some bugs, but I have far less trouble with day to day use with my Nexus than I did with my TP2. The hardware power of the HD2 would probably alleviate the thing that killed the TP2 for me and that was the annoying speed (or lack thereof).
Iphone OS is boring, but it works reliably. Safari mobile on my Ipod touch is a great browsing experience (nexus is better though, simply due to the power).
The only major problem I have with Android 2.1 on my nexus is its lack of full exchange support. However, if I really cared that much about it I would drop the $20 to get Touchdown and be done with it. Oh, and I would really love it if a full version of Epocrates made its way to android sometime soon.
This is of course for my uses, and in my experience. Therefore, I am just adding my opinion to the bunch...
Firstly, how can you say the N1 is laggy? Seriously? Especially compared to a WinMo device, and even the iPhone 3GS. The N1 is hands down the fastest smart phone I have ever used, whether it be my own personally owned smart phone, or one I was testing for work. Most actions are instant or near instant in their result, and the only time I find myself waiting at all is when data transfer from the network is involved, and it does that faster on my N1 than any other phone I have tried! Actually, I can load some websites faster than my computer, and I am not talking about sites that use flash either.
Secondly, yes a 1 year old OS platform does not have the same level of app support that a 4 year old platform has(iPhone/iTouch) or a decade old platform (WM). However, it is an open source platform that is growing quickly. While not all 15K apps are perfect for every device, this is true of the WM platform and the iPhone platform. There are plenty of great apps, that don't reqiure root.
Thirdly, the Android OS supports the same media playback functions as the iPhone OS... and actually can handle more in some regards. The N1 will have native flash support someday(hopefully very soon), where as Apple has picked a fight with Adobe, and likely never will have flash support. To say the Android OS, and the N1 falls short in multi-media compared to the iPhone is ignorant, to say the least. WM does support more formats, but at the same time that is a result of a OS in developement a lot longer than Android, as well the current Android OS can support Divx, et al, but companies like CorePlayer do not want to make an app until this support is in the SDK natively, and CorePlayer has pointed out they are working closely with Google, and it looks as though Android 2.5(Froyo).
Fourthly, as someone that sells cell phones for a living, the Android OS is the best smart phone OS for me to sell to consumers by a long ways. It is much more functional than the BB OS, yet maintains the ease of use. iPhone OS lacks most of the top smart phone functions, and WinMo is too slow and buggy. While 3rd party apps are not perfect, this is true of any platform, and at least with Android it will force close instead of freeze the phone. As well, the apps that are quality work very well and blow most other stuff out of the water, ie CameraFX. I have yet to have a customer complain that a free app wasn't working right... nor complain that the phones were buggy.
I was someone that came from winmo.
Android is much more polished than wimo, but it's barebones out of the box.
Winmo is much more packed with utilities out of the box, but lacks the polish of android.
That has alot to do with the timeframes of when these things derived. Android thrives on the "there's an app for that!" ecosystem.
Up until winmo (6.1?) there was no place to just get a quick app, so MS had to implement more things to give a better out of box experience. Too bad they lacked cleanliness.
Yes, Android has bugs and Yes, Market is poor compared to iPhone. But if you sum things up, I think Android wins. And Nexus wins as well, since I has the best hardware on the market today (or one of the best) 1Ghz CPU + AMOLED display + big resolution
Sorry, double post.
- There is no real way to backup all you apps AND settings of the apps unless you have rooted your phone. If you want to upgrade your ROM or change ROM’s you need to reinstall everything (unless you are rooted and then you can backup your apps settings as well). This is something that should be implemented out of the box. WinMo has exactly the same problem.
Give the market a closer look, and download MyBackup - it does indeed backup apps and settings, along with other things like bookmarks, contacts, the usual. This is the only point I could point out from your post without having to go into extensive detail ._.
As well, to add to my last post, there is multi-phone support with the apps and the Android OS... if this wasn't so, why would the Moto apps work on the Nexus One? While an app written for Android 1.0/1.5/1.6 might not work on 2.1 perfectly, this does not change the fact an app written with the 2.1 SDK will work on any phone running 2.1(actually, SDK 2.0+ will work with any 2.0+ phone, minus live wallpapers.)
But that is to be expected, just as an app written for iPhone OS 1.0 won't work properly with 3.1.3, or WM5.0 apps won't work with WM6.5 properly.
Isn't this a pointless debate.
It like like trying to debate good vs evil, butter vs margarine, pro-choice vs pro-life?
He seems to have come up with his own very logical, sound reasons why and why not android is over rated. There are countless arguments for both sides and I've read all 15 post of this. Android like the iPhone OS like Windows, like symbian all have their strong and weak points. No perfect phone OS out there. But rather whiny and complain of this and that maybe improve it, like some of the really great developers here which advances Android OS and make it great for all of us users.
In the end do I care if you move to Window mobile...not really. Hope you are happy. Move on. Have a nice life.
amen sir
this thread is only worthy of a one line reply. ...
Well... Having never used a WinMo device. I can't argue that side of things... I owned a Blackberry (NEVER again!!!!), and I own an iPod Touch. Sure, the iTouch isn't the phone, but they're certainly one in the same. My iTouch is jailbroken btw.
With that said, I've never owned a better overall device than the N1. Don't get me wrong, it has its quirks and issues. But man, this thing IS my Media Player, my GPS, my overall entertainment "finder" (Where/Places/Aloqa), Grocery Lists, Forum browser (I'd say I'm 50/50 with Phone and PC while surfing web and forums now).
Sure, the apps could use some work... But, with quality devices being placed on the market, the apps WILL follow. Realize that the main reason the apps market isn't bigger, is because of the strangle-hold that Apple currently has on the market. Many Devs have invested into Apple development and have customers there. It's hard to talk them into changing their ways. In time, they'll sure move over to Android though.
With that said, the apps I get... Work for me. Just the basics: Handcent, Meebo, Car Home, Where/Places, "OurGroceries", Mixzing (Still not my ideal choice, but it gets the job done for now... And yes, I've tried Meridian, nemoPlayer, Stock, and TuneWiki), "Listen", and so on.
Yes, I've deleted as many apps as I still have on my phone (Many more than listed above)... But I've stuck with some that get the job done. If I could ask for only 2 other apps, it'd be Mint.com and Audible.com... Otherwise, I can be content in knowing I have my ideal communication device, with some GPS goodness, and it plays through my car speakers wirelessly.
So no... I don't consider it overrated, but rather too young. It'll mature in time.

May be switching from Android to WP8

My contract is over soon, and it is a great time to get a new phone because I have so many choices being a Verizon owner. When I saw the HTC 8X i fell in love with the design. It apparently fits great in the hand, feels thin, and is silky smooth in terms of hardware.
However, I knew i needed more options, so, being a current Android user and loving its software, I started to anticipate the HTC DROID DNA, a 5' 1080p beast of a phone supposedly coming out around the same time as the 8X (end of November). I continued to do research on both and found out that I like the WP8 Start Screen a lot more than I like Android's homescreens.
But I am afraid of the software of WP8. It's great and all, but I may miss the PhotoSphere, live widgets, quick settings, apps (!!), and outstanding developer support that Android offered. I'm afraid I will need those features down the line and not be able to use them with my WP8 device. I have a Surface and a Zune and want integration. However, Android has SkyDrive and Xbox Music available in Google Play.
So I'm kind of in a pickle right now. I want integration and functionality, but Android has everything and then some. Help guys! What do you suggest I do? Stay on Android or switch to WP8? Personal experiences would be helpful; however, blanket statements/generalizations will not be tolerated because I hate them very much. Also because there are always two sides to those statements, and I want this to be a friendly thread, not one that I am going to regret posting. Thanks in advance for your help, guys!
I suggest you start using paragraphs.
You have a lot of apps in the windows phone marketplace. Probably not with the same name, but if you need something, you usually find that something.
IMO, Windows Phone is vastly superior to android in many, many ways. They give you a lot more control over your devices (apps can't do things behind your back without your approval unlike on android), the system is a lot more stable, the battery life is usually better due to hardware optimizations, and much more smooth. I suggest you pick a nokia instead though, they have great apps in there, including free music downloads through nokia music.
mcosmin222 said:
I suggest you start using paragraphs.
You have a lot of apps in the windows phone marketplace. Probably not with the same name, but if you need something, you usually find that something.
IMO, Windows Phone is vastly superior to android in many, many ways. They give you a lot more control over your devices (apps can't do things behind your back without your approval unlike on android), the system is a lot more stable, the battery life is usually better due to hardware optimizations, and much more smooth. I suggest you pick a nokia instead though, they have great apps in there, including free music downloads through nokia music.
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Click to collapse
I would've wanted the L920, but I'm not waiting 6 months for it to come to Verizon. Nokia apps aren't necessary for me; I don't drive and don't really use Maps too often.
Drive and maps aren't the only things nokia has. In fact, these two are available to all windows phones 8.
I don't need them, tbh. However, I'd be happy to take them if a high-end Nokia phone came out on Verizon. Anyway, off-topic. What about Xbox Music and SkyDrive? They are on both Android and WP8.
i really like the new devices. im sure once microsoft sees how they sell apps and such will be growing. im on the same boat although im not ready for an upgrade for another year and a half these new phones will be plenty caught up with development and should be pretty similar to all these new phones coming out within the next few months.
I'm due for an upgrade with Verizon in December. I was looking at Nokia 920. Too bad it's not Available Until 6 months.
Sent from my DROID RAZR using xda premium
So you guys are saying that i won't miss out on all the features of Android?
Sent from my PIMPED OUT MIUI 4.1.1 Fascinate
You physically cannot tell the difference between 720p and 1080p on a small screen that is found on a phone (think like 26 to 32 inches is where you can start seeing it)
Just so the screen resolution isn't what sways your final choice.
However I find myself missing my WP a lot ever since it broke and I got stuck with the GS3. For me WP is just better. Specifically the keyboard is way better in WP.
As for applications WP has all the ones I use anyways. Fun fact I find I use my android less than I used my WP. I think its because for me it seems to take longer to get to the application I want to use and it feels that android has less smooth scrolling than WP. Of course I'm on stock which is probably why its slow, but my WP was stock too.
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Dadstar said:
I don't need them, tbh. However, I'd be happy to take them if a high-end Nokia phone came out on Verizon. Anyway, off-topic. What about Xbox Music and SkyDrive? They are on both Android and WP8.
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Click to collapse
Both of them will obviously be on WP, since they are microsoft's creation. You will also like Nokia Music -> free unlimited music.
PhotoSphere seems to me to be very similar to Microsoft's Photosynth which has been available for iOS and Windows Phone for a long time.
Concerning Apps I would suggest you ask around the forums for particular Apps that you need, so people can tell you wether they exist or if there is a viable Alternative. XBox Music will be coming to additional platforms but as far as I know it currently isn't available and following Microsoft's track record with those things you will have it available on iOS months before it arrives on Android.
SkyDrive is available as an App on Android. The difference in usage is in the integration. SkyDrive Images show up in the Pictures Hub pretty much the same as if they were on the device itself. I just drop an Image into the according folder on my PC and it shows up where all my pictures show up. It's the same with office documents (if you use those).
So while the functionality itself is there on Android the experience of using it is superior on Windows Phone. But this works the other way round as well. While GMail works reasonably well on WP it simply works better with the GMail App on Android.
Wow. I'm getting really excited for my 8X now. Thanks guys!
Sent from my PIMPED OUT MIUI 4.1.1 Fascinate
I'm kinda in the same boat as OP. Currently enjoying my Galaxy Nexus but I'm mad that it's got VZW's taint all over it. Does Microsoft handle the updates for WP8 and doesn't take BS carriers when it comes to pushing them out? I like constant security updates, and Android just can't seem to handle that.
I want a Nokia because I've heard they're great but the 822's display won't cut it with it's resolution for me if it's anything like PenTile. I'm thinking about ditching VZW when my contract is up if it doesn't get the Nexus 4 (doubtful it will) so I don't know if I'd use my upgrade on any of VZW's WP8 lineup. The Nexus 4 still has these beat when it comes to unsubsidized pricing.
The only other thing keeping me from WP8 is that I heard there was a lack of a good turn-by-turn app and no notification center. Both of these are kind of turn-offs. But the UX, fluidity, Start, and Microsoft-handled updates are quite enticing.
Same dilemmas for me guys. I'm working at Nokia and have tested both new Lumia devices and they really are awesome. While I like the design of the 820 and how it feels in the hand, the display of the 920 is far superior. The 820 has just an average display imo, it is bright but not very sharp, given the low res and poor pixel density (217 lol..). Other than that it is quite the smooth operator and really a pleasure to handle. The thing about it's big brother is that it is kind of uncomfortable to hold and I don't like the rather sharp edges.
I am now debating with myself if I should go for a WP8 device since the OS is just awesome or get one of these http://android-sale.com/xiaomi-phone-2.html as soon as it becomes available. You cannot deny the bang for your buck with these, though I am a bit afraid when it comes to warranty and customer support + you cannot really play with the device beforehand. I was waiting for the new Nexus but I think it is disappointing and especially fragile with that glass backcover. I was even considering an iphone because of the smoothness since I've really grown to hate the android lag which is present even on latest quad cores....But after using a 4S for a whole evening I cannot imagine myself doing this daily, it is just too limiting and I fail to see how people say it is so 'easy' and it 'just works' - well it just works with more steps than android or wp...But that is another topic of course.
As for the apps, I am currently using around 40-50 apps on my droid and all of them (EXCEPT DROPBOX, mind you..) are available on WP. The development frameworks for WP8 and the support for DirectX, and also the shared core with windows 8 will surely attract alot of devs and app number will grow in the coming year. I have to say that the windows phone store might not have so many offerings, but the design, fluidity and and general look is just stunning. So is the whole WP8 ui. For example, I think the so much praised iOS app store looks terrible and is a pain to navigate throug. Play Store on the other hand is very functional and easy to use but looks plain and boring.
Well well, this is my pov, I think I will be getting a WP after all but let's see. Maybe I will buy the xiaomi device if it is possible, simply because of the price/spec ratio + I love MIUI, since it is as if you are not using android.
You don't need dropbox, you have skydrive.
mcosmin222 said:
You don't need dropbox, you have skydrive.
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Click to collapse
I have to disagree with you, dropbox is very light and useful, also a lot of users have quite some storage space on dropbox and would like to have it available. Not to mention that I know a friend of mine has a small company where they run 100Gb+ shared dropbox folders full of working data. They sure cannot force all employees to go windows phone because of skydrive or the other way around. So yeah, lack of dropbox IS a big minus.
You still have dropbox on WP. just checked xD
mcosmin222 said:
You still have dropbox on WP. just checked xD
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Isn't it some 3rd party app? Btw I think I'm fully converted now, just played around with the city lens app and tried some offline maps. **** is ca$h
Dadstar said:
Wow. I'm getting really excited for my 8X now. Thanks guys!
Sent from my PIMPED OUT MIUI 4.1.1 Fascinate
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Hi Dadstar, I recently switched from a Lumina 710 (Windows 7.8) to a Samsung Galaxy Note II (Android-Jelly Bean) and I will give you some of my perceptions.
1. Note II is a remarkable phone, unbelievable screen, and some really cool apps.
2. Lumina 710 was a solid phone, but after the screen size of the Note II, I could never go back and settle for a small screen.
That being said, the Lumina 710 is way ahead of the Note II in voice dialing over bluetooth. I would never have to get my Lumina out of my pocket to make a call (I have about 1200 contacts in Outlook with multiple listings for each), but with the Note II, it is a constant battle of it being slow to decide who it thinks I want to call and then gives me multiple choices on the screen. So it really defeats the role of voice dialing over bluetooth and that is a deal breaker for me and I am sending the Note II back within the 14 day trial period. Hopefully, Tmobile will come out with a new Windows 8 phone soon. Ken B.
Google announced Nexus 4 for 350$! Thats a steal..but as the dust settled, and the picture became clearer, it is for anything but that price..So, I am with the OP on this one too...
8X or N4??
On one side, you have a large display, quad core processor et all...and on the other you have a dual core, with the same sized screen as I have now. Also, with Android, there are tons of apps and games I can get (sometimes for free).
SO, Will i sacrifice a smoother OS for an OS that may not be that smooth but has tons of other features...?

Windows Phone 8 and What it Means to the Competition

The Write Up
Windows Phone 8 has now been out about two weeks and with its eye-catching hardware, beautiful UI, and plethora of new features; has captured the hearts of more people than even I expected. Nokia's Lumia line has been consistently sold out all over the world and is still in high demand while HTC is certainly pulling out all of the stops in bringing their most beautiful device to date into the Windows Phone market. Huaweii seems to be ready to innovate for the first time in quite some time and Samsung is bringing up the rear with the same ol' stuff they've been putting out since the Samsung Behold days but there's a market for everything.
As a student developer, I try to keep a very clear mind about phones as a whole. At present I own a Tegra HTC One X, an AT&T Galaxy Note II, an iPhone 4s, and the AT&T Nokia Lumia 920. It could simply be a honeymoon period but for the past two weeks the Lumia has been my daily driver. I have also been frequenting the forums of numerous tech blogs and news articles, scouring the web for any complaints and praise for both the Note and the Lumia. As it stands, the Lumia seems to be the more sought after of the two with the Note being slightly underwhelming compared to its predecessor. The Lumia is not without its flaws though, the battery life has been subpar on a number of the devices, there is a bug in the NFC usage that causes immense battery drain, and the photos could be slightly sharper. However, for every shortcoming, most of which Nokia says will be repaired with a software update, there are more than enough selling points to justify it. After two weeks, I finally felt it was just to do a review comparing Windows Phone, iOS, and Android.
User Interface
First, I'll start with what you see upon powering on, the UI. The common complaint with Windows Phone, is the lack of a dedicated notification center like the ones you would see on Android or now, iOS. I was truly concerned on coming from using the One X as my daily driver and HTC's amazing Friendstream that the Lumia's activity simply would not be enough. Let me be the first to tell you that not only does the live tile system work, it's removed so many swypes and taps from my typical use that I'm probably saving an hour of battery life a day on that alone. Unlock the screen, swype down, check anything I want, done. It's very simple and very straightforward. I believe Windows Phone's initial marketing statement was, "Get in, get out, get on with your life." It's simple to do just that however it's also easy to get immersed in the live tiles. The customization available despite the lack of backgrounds is quite amazing and sometimes I'll spend half an hour deciding on a particular tile layout that suits me and my present color scheme. The OS is simply aesthetically pleasing, plain and simple. You might be able to download a dozen apps to kick your android UI into gear or Dreamboard your phone but in terms of usability I would have to give the cake to Windows Phone. That said, Android's notification system is right on par with Windows Phone and is certainly no slacker. iOS simply lags behind.
User Interface:
Android: 6
iOS: 7
Windows Phone: 9
Notifications:
Android: 9
iOS: 4
Windows Phone: 8
Camera
With our phones being an extension of our arms, it's only viable that it replace that big clunky camera on a laniard that we were once forced to tote around if we wanted to capture the moment. Now, it's as easy as pulling your phone out and snapping a picture. Windows Phone tried simplifying this further by allowing access to the camera directly from a sleeping phone, a feature imitated and executed well by the competition but born of Windows Phone and the original still seems to execute it best. Each OS aside from iOS has a variation of cameras on a variation of different phones and each have their strengths and weaknesses. My personal preference, hardware aside, is Windows Phone strictly because of the requirement of a hardware camera button. Each OS has it's own photo editing options as well, iOS being the birthing place of instagram, a photo-social network. Android having a ton of applications with filters and editors, and at least Nokia's Windows Phones implementing lenses with work amazingly well. If you haven't gotten to toy around with cinemagraphs then you simply haven't gotten to enjoy a camera on a phone. Overall, I'd say it's safe to give tens across the board on software alone as the hardware preference is just that, a preference.
Camera
Android: 10
iOS: 10
Windows Phone: 10
Hardware Choices
Your general consumer has an idea of what they want but will not be particularly picky. It has to be eye-catching but practical, it has to have screen real-estate but be pocketable. Your phone has to fit you better than you fit it. iOS in this area, is awful. You get one device that most recently has rendered a lot of games ugly due to the screen's aspect ratio shifting drastically. Overall, the iPhone 5 may be the worst in the series despite slightly improved hardware. Android of course has the broadest range of specs, 600 mhz processors making up the low-end of the spectrum and pushing into the quad-core monsters at the higher end. Until Android's most recent iteration, it suffered from a discernible lag that, while not a deal breaker, certainly offered a bit of a low-end feel. However, android is now about up to par with the competition and is finally, "Buttery smooth." on all different kinds of hardware.
Windows Phone devices are also found on a variety of hardware, however what sets it apart and really makes it pull ahead is the availability of many color options. No other OS before it has offered such an array of high end devices in such a wide variety of colors. The Lumia 920 alone comes in five different colors, 3 of which are rare to find on any other quality device. Due to the color variations, I'd have to give this one to Windows Phone as it's proven time and again that it doesn't need the ridiculous hardware to run as fluid as the competition.
Hardware
Android: 9
iOS: 2
Windows Phone: 10
Social
What are our phones for if not communication? Sure, they all make calls with varying quality, they all connect to Facebook, they all send texts and picture messages, they all get the job done. However, who gets it done best? For this comparison, I'm using stock Android. Had I chosen to use HTC's Sense then it likely would've been more favorable for Android but, spoiler alert, stock android doesn't fare too well.
iOS basicaly reinvented the smartphone and have thus created an immeasurable ecosystem spanning across millions of users. Due to this, they are able to have their own video chat that doesn't work with other devices, their own messenger client that only works on their devices, even their own social networks of sorts. They have an ecosystem, but what about the rest of us? Both iOS and Android sync your facebook contacts as well as contacts from other email clients and social networks without much fail and with the installation of third party applications have no issue notifying you of your facebook notifications. However, this isn't about the applications, just the OS itself and aside from what's mentioned, neither have a whole lot to offer. With Windows Phone, I have felt no need to install a facebook application as everything I need is built into the OS. I have facebook chat that sends me all my messages through the same messaging system that my texts come through, I can update my status from my Me tile on a number of different social networks simutaneously, I can take a picture and have it on facebook faster than any other OS, shown clearly in the Smoked by Windows Phone videos and I can do it all without installing anything additional. Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn being baked into the OS has accelerated my social networking to a whole new degree.
The most important aspect of a social network though, the keyboard. I mean sure you can Speech to Text everything but that seldom works out as well as you want it to. android has an excellent keyboard layout by default but the response time on it is notably slower than either other and the predicted text never quite gets me to where I want. It seems as though it doesn't know higher English and any bigger words I use are quickly transformed into two or more little words. iOS is again, a joke. The keyboard layout forces you to go to a separate page to use a period, the auto-correct has spawned numerous sites about how terrible it is, and it's very ill responsive. The first thing you notice about using a Windows Phone is the tactile responsiveness, it seems as though the button is hit maybe even a millisecond before you touch the screen it's so fast and the words are only corrected when it's actually needed. Overall, in terms of the general social networking, I have to give it to Windows Phone here as everything is so deliciously baked in. I should mention though that Android has a plethora of keyboards better than the default at your disposal.
Networking
Android: 5
iOS: 6
Windows Phone: 10
Keyboard
Android: 6
iOS: 4
Windows Phone: 8
Apps and Software and Features, Oh My!
Well, it's not all rainbows and butterflies in the Windows Phone world. The application store isn't 1/10th of the competition yet and the games we do get are often crippled versions of their Android and iOS counterparts. Not only that, we often pay more strictly for the fact that we can get Xbox Live gamer points. However, Xbox live on the phone is amazing and a selling point in itself, it still doesn't justify the sometimes ridiculous price of our games and apps.
iOS is the clear winner as far as games and apps go. Sure, Android has more games and applications but they are never as polished as those on iOS and oftentimes won't work on a good portion of the devices due to fragmentation. Both trump Windows Phone with their high def, 3D games and form fitting applications.
Android and Windows Phone now utilize NFC, iOS's only real shortcoming in this area. Windows Phone has pushed it a step further offering wireless charging on most of their higher end devices which, while gimmicky, is one hell of a gimmick. If you pick up the JBL Charging Speakers then your Nokia will absolutely blow you away.
I would like to clarify, of the 40 or so apps that are must haves on my phones, I can easily find an alternative to 36-38 of them on Windows Phone but those 2-4 apps I can't find really do seem to jump out at me a lot of the time and are a thorn in the side of WP8. That said, with access to native code this will hopefully change.
Goodies
Android: 8
iOS: 9
Windows Phone: 5
Wrap-up
Well, after owning my first long term Windows Phone device I can say that this is as unbiased as I can get aside from a possible honeymoon phase with this pretty little device. This is of course from a basic user standpoint and not a developer standpoint as so many of us like to brag about having. The final score tallied up is:
Android: 53/70
iOS: 42/70
Windows Phone: 60/70
None of the OS's are bad and each could certainly suit you and will vary with your needs. As far as the most generic needs go, Windows Phone pulled out just ahead of Android with iOS trailing behind, left in the dust. If you haven't picked up a Windows Phone and have only gone off of the rumors, I suggest you at least give it a try. Thank you for reading and I hope you all have a happy Turkey Day.
-Poecifer
Thanks for sharing! One thing that interests me about the Windows Phone is editing Microsoft Office files on the go. Currently I have many formatting and compatibility issues trying to do this with my Android device. Have you experimented much with this yet?
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buffjam9011 said:
Thanks for sharing! One thing that interests me about the Windows Phone is editing Microsoft Office files on the go. Currently I have many formatting and compatibility issues trying to do this with my Android device. Have you experimented much with this yet?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mainly just wordpad documents, I'll look more into the others and get back to you afterwards. Word files are epic though.
Strangely enough I agree with almost quite everything you say, but your scoring seems to be a little wonky. Your user interface scores were as follows:
Android: 6
iOS: 7
Windows Phone: 9
Very subjective if you ask me. You could ask ten different people what they believe that order should proceed in, and I'm willing to bet their answers will vary greatly. I don't understand how IOS could possibly have a higher interface score than Android if its simply a grid of icons with a horrendous notification system. If you wanted to replicate that on Android you very well could with a launcher, MIUI, etc. Android essentially IS iOS with flexibility; customizable grids on the homescreen, widgets, more intuitive lockscreens, etc. Giving iOS a higher score doesn't seem to make sense to me.
Hardware
Android: 9
iOS: 2
Windows Phone: 10
I'd like to think the massive range of Android phones would overcome the simple fact that Windows phones come in several new colors. I think it's fair to say Android should hold top dog in this regard.
Android: 5
iOS: 6
Windows Phone: 10
Above are the scores for social networking on each mobile OS. Again, if Android by default has every third party application installed automatically integrated, how can you justify giving it not only that low of a score, but below iOS? (While iOS only has facebook/twitter integration).
Also, I'm curious as to which keyboard you used for Android.
But great write up, honestly I don't mean to try and dismantle everything you said, I just don't entirely agree with the scoring. But good work, I gave ya a thanks )
MultiLockOn said:
Strangely enough I agree with almost quite everything you say, but your scoring seems to be a little wonky. Your user interface scores were as follows:
Android: 6
iOS: 7
Windows Phone: 9
Very subjective if you ask me. You could ask ten different people what they believe that order should proceed in, and I'm willing to bet their answers will vary greatly. I don't understand how IOS could possibly have a higher interface score than Android if its simply a grid of icons with a horrendous notification system. If you wanted to replicate that on Android you very well could with a launcher, MIUI, etc. Android essentially IS iOS with flexibility; customizable grids on the homescreen, widgets, more intuitive lockscreens, etc. Giving iOS a higher score doesn't seem to make sense to me.
Hardware
Android: 9
iOS: 2
Windows Phone: 10
I'd like to think the massive range of Android phones would overcome the simple fact that Windows phones come in several new colors. I think it's fair to say Android should hold top dog in this regard.
Android: 5
iOS: 6
Windows Phone: 10
Above are the scores for social networking on each mobile OS. Again, if Android by default has every third party application installed automatically integrated, how can you justify giving it not only that low of a score, but below iOS? (While iOS only has facebook/twitter integration).
Also, I'm curious as to which keyboard you used for Android.
But great write up, honestly I don't mean to try and dismantle everything you said, I just don't entirely agree with the scoring. But good work, I gave ya a thanks )
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not a problem at all, friend. I love criticism regardless and constructive is my favorite flavor. I gave UI to iOS over android because I'm trying to use vanilla android opposed to sense or touchwiz and sadly it still suffers from minute hickups. Had I been reviewing Sense, android and Windows Phone would have certainly been neck and neck.
As far as my hardware statement, as much as the hardware for android differentiates under the hood, they do little to differentiate themselves cosmetically and that seldom makes for a beautiful device even when the power under the hood is insane. It's often left looking like a bunch of generic Samsung phones.
In social networking, I ignored the existence of third party applications and only gave the bonus point to iOS for the ease of setup as both are essentially the same in that regard.
When I use android, I've been using swype since the HTC Dream days and don't feel a need to switch. Swiftkey isn't terrible though.
Again, there may be some bias as I'm still in the honeymoon phase but I made an attempt to be unbiased that at least beats out what you'll get at cNet.
Poecifer said:
Not a problem at all, friend. I love criticism regardless and constructive is my favorite flavor. I gave UI to iOS over android because I'm trying to use vanilla android opposed to sense or touchwiz and sadly it still suffers from minute hickups. Had I been reviewing Sense, android and Windows Phone would have certainly been neck and neck.
As far as my hardware statement, as much as the hardware for android differentiates under the hood, they do little to differentiate themselves cosmetically and that seldom makes for a beautiful device even when the power under the hood is insane. It's often left looking like a bunch of generic Samsung phones.
In social networking, I ignored the existence of third party applications and only gave the bonus point to iOS for the ease of setup as both are essentially the same in that regard.
When I use android, I've been using swype since the HTC Dream days and don't feel a need to switch. Swiftkey isn't terrible though.
Again, there may be some bias as I'm still in the honeymoon phase but I made an attempt to be unbiased that at least beats out what you'll get at cNet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Most definitely ahaha, cnet is one of the most Apple centric tech sites I've ever seen. And I really do appreciate this write up, I always told myself if I had to move to a locked down OS Windows 8 looked like a viable choice, and now it seems I have a third party to back it up reasonably. It's sad really, most people glance at Windows phone and ate immediately turned away because of how strange the ui is initially. I think it's a beautiful design personally, and they're innovating in their own way.
One thing however. Do you really find sense more appealing then stock android? I've found the last three versions on android (4.0 - 4.2) to be wonderful. Honestly, everything from the notification bar to gapps with the blue tint looks great. I always thought sense was overrated, but more now than ever it seems to be riding on the tailcoat of its gb days. Maybe then I might've thought it sleek and edgy but lately sense hasn't seem to have changed at all, it looks dated. Everything from the app drawer to the notification panel is rather stale looking, I'd go as far to say that the touchwiz nature ux is much preferable, but that's just me.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda app-developers app
MultiLockOn said:
Most definitely ahaha, cnet is one of the most Apple centric tech sites I've ever seen. And I really do appreciate this write up, I always told myself if I had to move to a locked down OS Windows 8 looked like a viable choice, and now it seems I have a third party to back it up reasonably. It's sad really, most people glance at Windows phone and ate immediately turned away because of how strange the ui is initially. I think it's a beautiful design personally, and they're innovating in their own way.
One thing however. Do you really find sense more appealing then stock android? I've found the last three versions on android (4.0 - 4.2) to be wonderful. Honestly, everything from the notification bar to gapps with the blue tint looks great. I always thought sense was overrated, but more now than ever it seems to be riding on the tailcoat of its gb days. Maybe then I might've thought it sleek and edgy but lately sense hasn't seem to have changed at all, it looks dated. Everything from the app drawer to the notification panel is rather stale looking, I'd go as far to say that the touchwiz nature ux is much preferable, but that's just me.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From a purely aesthetic perspective, I completely agree. Sense looks stale. However, it brings to the table a plethora of built in apps and widgets that I find more useful than anyone else's offerings and for that I will choose Sense over Touchwiz or stock any day. I liked the way Sony was going, too bad they can't quite get their software right.
I think you overreacted when you said iphone has score 2 as far as hardware is concerned. Just because they do not take the route android does (make up for poor software with overkill hardware) doesn't mean their hardware ain't good. They basically do just like Windows Phone: pick up a nice platform, then base everything on that so it can be optimized.
mcosmin222 said:
I think you overreacted when you said iphone has score 2 as far as hardware is concerned. Just because they do not take the route android does (make up for poor software with overkill hardware) doesn't mean their hardware ain't good. They basically do just like Windows Phone: pick up a nice platform, then base everything on that so it can be optimized.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They still only release one device a year with severely dated hardware and ridiculous fragility. They often have next to no real selling point aside from habit. I'd say it was justified.
dont agree with you about the keyboard. check out swiftkey.... i miss it so hard on wp8 :S
Love the write up, and I agree with most of what was said. I can support the lower hardware score for iOS because it is a gradual improvement of an existing design, as opposed to every year the hardware is cutting edge. That does have something to do with the fact that the OS doesn't require such boundary pushing hardware...
That's why I gave up on iOS. After a while you really get tired of the apps as the only attraction. Heck, jail breaking took off merely for the fact that it was a way to unlock the phone for usage on other carriers. Based on the hardware limitations, once you started to add the custom add-ons to change the looks and performance of the phone, iOS starts to lag. I'm sure things have improved with the iPhone 5, but I've got no interest in trying Apple.
It still boils down to taste. I do enjoy using WP7, and so far WP8 is a nice upgrade. As far as Android goes, I prefer stock over any other skin other there. Yes, stock used to be atrocious and not as friendly visually, but 4.0 has changed much of that. Still, I like Sense as the best skin out there, even though it has gotten bloated. sense 4 is a right step, but I won't use anything HTC Android wise until Sense gets much lighter (that's why my Galaxy Nexus will back up my Lumia 810 for the foreseeable future).
I like the WP idea of letting some customization in the form of apps and amps and hardware tweaks. But the consistent UI is my biggest draw to the platform. Now, if only MSFT can make Windowsphone.com easier to use and add a few more apps and tweaks...
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
Poecifer said:
They still only release one device a year with severely dated hardware and ridiculous fragility. They often have next to no real selling point aside from habit. I'd say it was justified.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're not talking about Apple are you? If so, this just ruins everything you typed Severely dated hardware? Seriously ?
Don't get me wrong, everyone is entitled to their opinion; but dated hardware? ?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
vetvito said:
You're not talking about Apple are you? If so, this just ruins everything you typed Severely dated hardware? Seriously ?
Don't get me wrong, everyone is entitled to their opinion; but dated hardware? ?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1.3 GHz processor, underwhelming screen, no NFC, no wireless charging, nothing that sets them apart hardware-wise. At what point as of late have they innovated?
Poecifer said:
1.3 GHz processor, underwhelming screen, no NFC, no wireless charging, nothing that sets them apart hardware-wise. At what point as of late have they innovated?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You said severely dated hardware, didn't you? Name one phone that beats the iPhone 5 in graphics and performance? Underwhelming screen? Do people even legitimately know what the iPhone is clocked at?
NFC? Seriously, what is windows phone doing with it now besides pairing speakers?
Wireless charging, now thats palm pre innovation. Wow.
I know you can come with something better than that.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
vetvito said:
You said severely dated hardware, didn't you? Name one phone that beats the iPhone 5 in graphics and performance? Underwhelming screen? Do people even legitimately know what the iPhone is clocked at?
NFC? Seriously, what is windows phone doing with it now besides pairing speakers?
Wireless charging, now thats palm pre innovation. Wow.
I know you can come with something better than that.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Graphics is a matter of the software and developer interest, neither of which have been called into question. The screen was cool when it was introduced 2-3 years ago, now it's certainly not top tier. The iPhone 5 is clocked at 1.3 GHz which does prove we don't need ridiculous specs with optimized software. It simply hasn't been top of the line in a long while.
^ but no other chip is beating the iPhone 5 in graphics or performance right now. Not even the S4 Pro(quad core). If that isn't top of the line, then I don't know what is.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Poecifer said:
Graphics is a matter of the software and developer interest, neither of which have been called into question. The screen was cool when it was introduced 2-3 years ago, now it's certainly not top tier. The iPhone 5 is clocked at 1.3 GHz which does prove we don't need ridiculous specs with optimized software. It simply hasn't been top of the line in a long while.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Genuine question, where do you find a graphics test that ignores the OS software as a whole? I want to know for personal testing.
Poecifer said:
Genuine question, where do you find a graphics test that ignores the OS software as a whole? I want to know for personal testing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You don't really. Every test in SOME way is going to be more optimized for one gpu then another; you can't say "well this game runs smother on this phone thus making this gpu better". Benchmarking isn't realistic at all. To be honest I'm not sure of a great way to judge graphics card performance other then a long term
Overview of how it handles games. I could be wrong though, if someone wants to correct me feel free
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda app-developers app
"hardware choices"
you gave more credit to one _software_platform_ (your definitions of competitors) for choice of colors....
yes, that makes sense.
ohgood said:
"hardware choices"
you gave more credit to one _software_platform_ (your definitions of competitors) for choice of colors....
yes, that makes sense.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Average consumer perspective. How much do cores matter to your mom or dad?

[Q] My thoughts on Android vs iOS apps

I recently got myself a Nexus 4, my first Android phone, and had been using it as my main phone for the past five days. I come from the iOS world (keen jailbreaker) and my initial reactions were very positive:
Love widgets and how convenient they can be
Love the extent of customisation
Love the big screen and clean UI in general
Love the hardware (camera and speed)
Love Google service integration (maps, contact, calendar) = just works
However, there is one aspect that really bothers me and I wanted to hear what other people think.
APPS.
iOS apps are often more polished than their Android equivalent, in another word they contain less bugs. I find Android apps crash more often and some of the functions don’t always work. Example: I found a bug in Skype that the ringing tone continues to sound even after the call is connected. Skype has been around for so many years and yet there is a bug?
.
Android don’t always get the newest or most updated apps because it is easier for developers to create apps on iOS. This can lead to some core function of an apps missing compare to their equivalent on iOS. Example: I have a Synology NAS at home that acts as my media hub, which can be remotely accessed by Synology-made streaming apps on the iOS. On Android, the video app isn’t available and the music app is very buggy and lacks some very core functions.
.
Due to the ever increasing range of Android devices, that is at a pace faster than iOS devices, I feel there is a greater chance of an Android device becoming unsupported by an app than an iOS device. This means potentially one has to upgrade to a new Android device sooner than they can afford or wish to.
.
There is a greater range of apps, including games, on iOS. Example: I really would like a decent photo editing app, such as Snapseed, on my Android but can’t seem to find one that I like. Official Simplenotes app is also unavailable on Android.
I suspect the defragmentation of the Android ecosystem is, in part, responsible for the problems I mentioned and it’s something I don’t see Google can do much about anytime soon. Therefore, in my mind, the situation is likely to remain the same for a while which makes Android less appealing to me. Understandably, it is a complex and widespread issue that is inherent in the Android world.
Sorry about my boring post but I have two days left to refund my Nexus 4. Should I keep it or refund it?
Thanks guys
hankdu said:
I recently got myself a Nexus 4, my first Android phone, and had been using it as my main phone for the past five days. I come from the iOS world (keen jailbreaker) and my initial reactions were very positive:
Love widgets and how convenient they can be
Love the extent of customisation
Love the big screen and clean UI in general
Love the hardware (camera and speed)
Love Google service integration (maps, contact, calendar) = just works
However, there is one aspect that really bothers me and I wanted to hear what other people think.
APPS.
iOS apps are often more polished than their Android equivalent, in another word they contain less bugs. I find Android apps crash more often and some of the functions don’t always work. Example: I found a bug in Skype that the ringing tone continues to sound even after the call is connected. Skype has been around for so many years and yet there is a bug?
.
Android don’t always get the newest or most updated apps because it is easier for developers to create apps on iOS. This can lead to some core function of an apps missing compare to their equivalent on iOS. Example: I have a Synology NAS at home that acts as my media hub, which can be remotely accessed by Synology-made streaming apps on the iOS. On Android, the video app isn’t available and the music app is very buggy and lacks some very core functions.
.
Due to the ever increasing range of Android devices, that is at a pace faster than iOS devices, I feel there is a greater chance of an Android device becoming unsupported by an app than an iOS device. This means potentially one has to upgrade to a new Android device sooner than they can afford or wish to.
.
There is a greater range of apps, including games, on iOS. Example: I really would like a decent photo editing app, such as Snapseed, on my Android but can’t seem to find one that I like. Official Simplenotes app is also unavailable on Android.
I suspect the defragmentation of the Android ecosystem is, in part, responsible for the problems I mentioned and it’s something I don’t see Google can do much about anytime soon. Therefore, in my mind, the situation is likely to remain the same for a while which makes Android less appealing to me. Understandably, it is a complex and widespread issue that is inherent in the Android world.
Sorry about my boring post but I have two days left to refund my Nexus 4. Should I keep it or refund it?
Thanks guys
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure, it's easy to develop a "polished" app with no bugs when your consumer audience is using a handful of IOS-based devices. The reason Android apps SEEM more buggy is that there are hundreds of different devices that use the Android OS. Problems are going to arise due to differences in hardware, but a good developer nails these problems and their app will evolve into a polished, bug-free work of art.
---------- Post added at 01:05 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:03 PM ----------
hankdu said:
Sorry about my boring post but I have two days left to refund my Nexus 4. Should I keep it or refund it?
Thanks guys
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To answer your question, though, you should keep it. There's not a WHOLE lot going on with the nexus yet because of availability issues, but bugs will be squashed. Have patience. As more devs get their hands on it, it will get a lot better.
Refund it - that is one more device available for us on the play store ?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I won't tell you that you're a fan boy, or that you're stupid for thinking the way you do. It's clear.
Ask yourself this: are apps what you need to make your phone productive and useful?
I asked myself this question and found out, no. I use core apps like chrome, power amp, twitter and they're all well polished apps.
The freedom of the OS matters more to me than the apps, then again android apps are that bad.
Good luck
Return it. You want to just use the phone, as a phone.
ios is for you.
Photo apps
hankdu said:
I recently got myself a Nexus 4, my first Android phone, and had been using it as my main phone for the past five days. I come from the iOS world (keen jailbreaker) and my initial reactions were very positive:
Love widgets and how convenient they can be
Love the extent of customisation
Love the big screen and clean UI in general
Love the hardware (camera and speed)
Love Google service integration (maps, contact, calendar) = just works
However, there is one aspect that really bothers me and I wanted to hear what other people think.
APPS.
iOS apps are often more polished than their Android equivalent, in another word they contain less bugs. I find Android apps crash more often and some of the functions don’t always work. Example: I found a bug in Skype that the ringing tone continues to sound even after the call is connected. Skype has been around for so many years and yet there is a bug?
.
Android don’t always get the newest or most updated apps because it is easier for developers to create apps on iOS. This can lead to some core function of an apps missing compare to their equivalent on iOS. Example: I have a Synology NAS at home that acts as my media hub, which can be remotely accessed by Synology-made streaming apps on the iOS. On Android, the video app isn’t available and the music app is very buggy and lacks some very core functions.
.
Due to the ever increasing range of Android devices, that is at a pace faster than iOS devices, I feel there is a greater chance of an Android device becoming unsupported by an app than an iOS device. This means potentially one has to upgrade to a new Android device sooner than they can afford or wish to.
.
There is a greater range of apps, including games, on iOS. Example: I really would like a decent photo editing app, such as Snapseed, on my Android but can’t seem to find one that I like. Official Simplenotes app is also unavailable on Android.
I suspect the defragmentation of the Android ecosystem is, in part, responsible for the problems I mentioned and it’s something I don’t see Google can do much about anytime soon. Therefore, in my mind, the situation is likely to remain the same for a while which makes Android less appealing to me. Understandably, it is a complex and widespread issue that is inherent in the Android world.
Sorry about my boring post but I have two days left to refund my Nexus 4. Should I keep it or refund it?
Thanks guys
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here comes a list of photo apps I hope you will like. I have them all installed on my Note 2 and am often forced to use more than one of them to get the results i wish. This does not however bother me. Nor does it bother me that some cost over a whole $1 to buy.
PicsPlayPro + great for making basic adjustments - no sharpness or fine rotation
Pixlr - this is brand new and very promising. Has both fine rotation and sharpness - no historgram or curves like PicsPlayPro
TouchRetouch +fantastic at removing annoying objects or people from plain backgrounds - you must know it's limits
Afterfocus + the best I know of for getting that shallow portrait depth of field.
Aviary
SketchBookPro - this is more of an art program but you can import pictures add layers, text and paint to retouch. - you need the S-Pen
PicSayPro: lots of gimmicky filters and effect +++layer masks!!
The following are a collection that are both camera and filters or just cameras
Vignette
LittlePhoto
MagicHour
HDRPro ProHDR? +++very good for landscapes, interior architecture -don't try photo people
Picturesque + some amazing effects can be achieved with this app. Check out #picturesque on Instagram
Lastly Cymera needs to be mention for its 5 different cameras, its fun filters
Hope this helps. Welcome to android.
Oh, I almost forgot my favourite camera FV-5. Silly name great camera.
I would never get an Android tablet because of the lack of premium quality apps. I would want apps like Garage Band which Android has nothing remotely close to. Like on a PC the app selection for a tablet is the most important aspect of the device, and iOS crushes Android in that department.
I can live with the limited premium app selection for a phone because I dont use my phone as a computer or for doing serious tasks.
dankoman said:
Sure, it's easy to develop a "polished" app with no bugs when your consumer audience is using a handful of IOS-based devices. The reason Android apps SEEM more buggy is that there are hundreds of different devices that use the Android OS. Problems are going to arise due to differences in hardware, but a good developer nails these problems and their app will evolve into a polished, bug-free work of art.
---------- Post added at 01:05 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:03 PM ----------
To answer your question, though, you should keep it. There's not a WHOLE lot going on with the nexus yet because of availability issues, but bugs will be squashed. Have patience. As more devs get their hands on it, it will get a lot better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
After some thoughts and insightful opinions from other android users - I have decided to keep the device. You are right, the availability is an issue at the moment and I believe android apps are only going to be come more polished as time pasts.
qwahchees said:
I won't tell you that you're a fan boy, or that you're stupid for thinking the way you do. It's clear.
Ask yourself this: are apps what you need to make your phone productive and useful?
I asked myself this question and found out, no. I use core apps like chrome, power amp, twitter and they're all well polished apps.
The freedom of the OS matters more to me than the apps, then again android apps are that bad.
Good luck
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You've made some very good points and I seemed to have forgotten the key here is how I intend to use the device. All the core apps I use are all very polished on Android and, in fact, I like them more than on iOS because of all the available customization options. iOS at the moment has no jailbreak for many of their new devices and I foresee jailbreaking becoming more and more difficult. I enjoy the freedom on Android. Thanks for your advice :good:
Dmwitz said:
Here comes a list of photo apps I hope you will like. I have them all installed on my Note 2 and am often forced to use more than one of them to get the results i wish. This does not however bother me. Nor does it bother me that some cost over a whole $1 to buy.
PicsPlayPro + great for making basic adjustments - no sharpness or fine rotation
Pixlr - this is brand new and very promising. Has both fine rotation and sharpness - no historgram or curves like PicsPlayPro
TouchRetouch +fantastic at removing annoying objects or people from plain backgrounds - you must know it's limits
Afterfocus + the best I know of for getting that shallow portrait depth of field.
Aviary
SketchBookPro - this is more of an art program but you can import pictures add layers, text and paint to retouch. - you need the S-Pen
PicSayPro: lots of gimmicky filters and effect +++layer masks!!
The following are a collection that are both camera and filters or just cameras
Vignette
LittlePhoto
MagicHour
HDRPro ProHDR? +++very good for landscapes, interior architecture -don't try photo people
Picturesque + some amazing effects can be achieved with this app. Check out #picturesque on Instagram
Lastly Cymera needs to be mention for its 5 different cameras, its fun filters
Hope this helps. Welcome to android.
Oh, I almost forgot my favourite camera FV-5. Silly name great camera.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
WOW! THANK YOU! That has saved me so much time and they all look very intriguing! One of the positive things about Android is that there seems to always be a lite version to try out before one decides to upgrade to the full version. I may be wrong with what I said earlier about couldn't find a good photo editing app. Again, much appreciated for your recommendations :good:
idividebyzero said:
I would never get an Android tablet because of the lack of premium quality apps. I would want apps like Garage Band which Android has nothing remotely close to. Like on a PC the app selection for a tablet is the most important aspect of the device, and iOS crushes Android in that department.
I can live with the limited premium app selection for a phone because I dont use my phone as a computer or for doing serious tasks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know what you mean - i got an ipad and that is what I use if there is an iOS app that I really want to try out. Its very hard to give up ios completely.
After reading the responses I got from this thread, I have decided not to return my N4. Here goes why:
None of the android apps is buggy to the extent that they are unusable. I suspect since JB has only just been released, bugs will be ironed out gradually. Android apps may not have all the functions as their iOS equivalent but the missing functions are not absolutely vital to me. There are usually some work around for the missing feature, such as use another app or just simply use a laptop. Many of the core apps I regularly use on my phone are polished on Android. In fact, I actually prefer the experience of these core apps on Android more than on iOS. The amount of tweaking I can do is simply too much to give up after having enjoyed the freedom of doing so. When I first unzipped a file on the N4, oh my, I was like “sweet!”.
I had forgotten that the key to my choice between iOS and Android was how I intended to use my phone. Having recognized this the choice between the two systems was an easy one - Android was clearly better (for me):
gmail and youtube apps were both better
video playback supported more format
reading experience was amazing thanks to the amazing screen
web browsing was wayyyyy smoother
apps were better integrated into each other
Looks like the N4 is here to stay
Thanks everyone for your input!
idividebyzero said:
I would never get an Android tablet because of the lack of premium quality apps. I would want apps like Garage Band which Android has nothing remotely close to. Like on a PC the app selection for a tablet is the most important aspect of the device, and iOS crushes Android in that department.
I can live with the limited premium app selection for a phone because I dont use my phone as a computer or for doing serious tasks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am exactly the opposite. I can't really do anything on iPad since what I do need jailbreak at least. I need a Tab that could run Linux, or access one. I'm waiting for the day it comes to some Android Tablet and then buy 1. I now have an iPad that is sitting somewhere. Ever since I received my Nexus 4 I have never touched the iPad again. I don't have an Android tab to compare, but my friend's tab are pretty bland. It's pretty much a blown up version of the phone.
You can run Ubuntu on N7.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
I would defiantly agree with you. iOS apps are more polished on the whole. While this isn't 100% true, I feel like many apps on iOS are more trustworthy and more likely to just work. Android on the other hand you have to filter through a ton of crap...
But then a polished Android app is just as functional as a polished iOS app. There is no reason why a well made app for iOS would be better than a well made Android app.
hankdu said:
I
[*]Due to the ever increasing range of Android devices, that is at a pace faster than iOS devices, I feel there is a greater chance of an Android device becoming unsupported by an app than an iOS device. This means potentially one has to upgrade to a new Android device sooner than they can afford or wish to.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you feel this way because you come from the Apple ecosystem. As a quick and dirty Apple developer I find myself getting increasingly frustrated with our newer OS updates breaking things. Even pulling sysinfo seems to be different with every OS they release.
Google as well as their app developers are both well aware that most of the android community is still running on Gingerbread, so I don't think you'll see your Nexus 4 go out of style anytime soon. Keep in mind that you also have a Nexus device, and will in all likeliness be one of the first to taste Key Lime Pie whenever it's released.
Warrior1975 said:
You can run Ubuntu on N7.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know. Thats why i said that. Wait until the day you can run Ubuntu on iPad.
sent from my straight out of limbo 2 Nexus 4 using XDA-premium
wngmv said:
I know. Thats why i said that. Wait until the day you can run Ubuntu on iPad.
sent from my straight out of limbo 2 Nexus 4 using XDA-premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I must have misunderstood your post. It seemed like you were waiting for Ubuntu to come to an android tab from the way you worded it.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app
You chose well. I had every iPhone from the original to the 4s and I do agree with you that apps seem more polished, but that's not everything. I've actually read articles where iOS apps crash more than android, but apple's way of programming will hold a still of the last image on the screen until the app restarts, all without the user knowing... Now, I have no proof of this, it's just something I read.
As for android, there's just more that can be done even without rooting. I was so tired of the jailbreak cat and mouse game with apple, but everything that I couldn't get on iOS, is all right there on android.
My last point in beating this dead horse I'd that this entire response was easily written by using Google's stock swiping keyboard! Nothing like that with apple....
Sent from my De-Sensed HTC Vivid using xda premium
I consider myself lucky to have a jail broken ipad 3. Jailbreak is declining and it's a pity.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

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