Phones 11 simple reasons why I dumped Android for the iPhone 4S/iOS

[BaldiMac]

iOS, at is core, is essentially as it was when it first launched on the 3GS. No, I am not talking abouttweaks and toggles that Apple has added over the years, I am just talking the core operations of the OS. The notifications center and "widgets" were the biggest addition in that time.

This argument can only be made if you ignore all evidence to the contrary. If you can't even come up with "multitasking", you haven't given your claim much thought.

Ooooohhhhh the good old fragmentation issue...

Again: iPhone 4 only 1 year old and doesnt get Siri. 2 years old and it doesnt get turn by turn navigation or 3D maps or Flyover or 3G FaceTime.

iPad 2 one year old and no Siri.

No such thing as fragmentation on iOS, right?

This is the kind of argument that labels Apple fanboys as irrational. You equate the horrible fragmentation of Android as a development platform that has been acknowledge as a huge problem by the platform developer with the addition of new features to new iOS devices.

 

[The iGentleman]

This argument can only be made if you ignore all evidence to the contrary. If you can't even come up with "multitasking", you haven't given your claim much thought.

I think what he means is, underneath it all, the OS still runs the same way. For example, the OS still doesn't support actual multitasking. In my opinion I think the simplicity of iOS is its biggest strength and it's biggest weakness at the same time. It's great because there's less to be concerned with, it's not so great because it's programmed to do less. I mean that to say, it's a conscious decision by Apple to not have the OS very sophisticated. The phone is going to be completing several processes at the same time. Your news isn't going to be updating while you're doing something else. I'm sure you get my drift. In the end, it allows for the OS to run smoothly, have decent battery life, and run on slower hardware because it doesn't have to process several things at one time.

 

[DodgeV83]

This argument can only be made if you ignore all evidence to the contrary. If you can't even come up with "multitasking", you haven't given your claim much thought.



This is the kind of argument that labels Apple fanboys as irrational. You equate the horrible fragmentation of Android as a development platform that has been acknowledge as a huge problem by the platform developer with the addition of new features to new iOS devices.

Exactly. There are thousands of Android devices out there, each and every Android user and developer has to deal with the consequences of that in every app they use. if the best comparison you can make, is that the iPhone 3GS, released in mid 2009, is getting full iOS6 minus two features (maps and Siri)...then you've failed. Out of all the apps in the AppStore, none of them can exclude a phone released in 2009 on the basis that it doesn't have the latest OS, this is the antithesis of fragmentation.

The 3GS can run Google Chrome, while 90% of Android phones can't. In order to analyze the fragmentation issue, you have to look at the apps.

The following articles explain pretty well why developers hate Android fragmentation, and have given their support has overwhelmingly on Apple's side:

The shocking toll of hardware and software fragmentation on Android development

iOS v Android: why Schmidt was wrong and developers still start on Apple

Quotes from the articles:

This was highlighted by the recent release of Temple Run on the Android platform. A previously (very) successful game on iOS, it was brought over to Android in order to take advantage of the huge number of devices that run the OS. And it has already hit 1 million downloads in just 3 days, good, even for a free app. But very quickly, the developers of the app discovered the pitfalls of fragmentation:

"99.9% of support emails are complaining their device isn’t supported. We currently support 707 devices. Mindblowing."

Smith confirmed for us that his Audiobooks app has been run on 1443 different Android devices by its users. This makes it absolutely impossible to determine whether an app will run without problems for all of your customers. To drive home how ridiculously shattered the Android landscape is, check out this list of the most used single devices based on 1.3M downloads of his app:

Droid X (7.8% of users)
Samsung Galaxy S2 (4.3%)
Droid (4%)
HTC Desire HD (4%)
HTC Evo 4G (3.7%)
Droid incredible (2.3%)
This is insanity when you look at it from the standpoint of an iOS developer, who has to support only a handful of hardware varietals. Of course, Android’s very nature causes this.

Current estimates peg the AppStore as having sold about 20x more than the Google Play store. I've read that some developers have actually had to hire additional support staff just to handle the onslaught of emails which came in after deciding to support Android, the majority of which were handset specific complaints. The developers are deciding to put their resources towards a second iOS app, instead of porting their existing app to Android.

One specific dev complained their Android app had 1/4th the revenue as their iOS app, while costing 4x to support. He ended up dropping Android altogether once he realized it was costing him 16x more to bring his apps to market.

 

[BaldiMac]

I think what he means is, underneath it all, the OS still runs the same way.

That's what he said. I think to make that statement you have to ignore all the changes that have happened since the 3GS was released (iOS 3). The most obvious being third party multitasking APIs.

For example, the OS still doesn't support actual multitasking.

Of course it does. iOS has supported actual multitasking since it's initial release. What it didn't support was third-party background processes or "unlimited" multitasking. With the release of iOS 4, it added support for limited third-party background processing.

In my opinion I think the simplicity of iOS is its biggest strength and it's biggest weakness at the same time. It's great because there's less to be concerned with, it's not so great because it's programmed to do less. I mean that to say, it's a conscious decision by Apple to not have the OS very sophisticated. The phone is going to be completing several processes at the same time. Your news isn't going to be updating while you're doing something else. I'm sure you get my drift. In the end, it allows for the OS to run smoothly, have decent battery life, and run on slower hardware because it doesn't have to process several things at one time.

I understand and agree with your larger point to some extent, but I disagree with your classifications. I don't consider designing the OS to the limitations of the device to be a weakness. (I consider that to be Apple's job. Google seems to think that it's my job.) I don't know what scale you are looking at to say the iOS is "not very sophisticated." And you are grossly understating reality when you say it "doesn't have to process several things at one time."

 

[Merkie]

The OP is right on the money, exactly the reasons why I switched back to iOS two years ago after a short spell on Android. However, I also acknowledge that a lot of people simply don't care about the points brought up by the OP, so I can understand why people aren't bothered.

 

[vikingjunior]

There are people still out there using. Nexus one? LOL

 

[tekno]

I'd like some relevant info for iPhones.

I think there's a lot of disquiet in the forums because a lot of people are switching to Android and those that aren't are getting restless at the lack of a new iPhone.

New Android phones from various manufacturers come out every month, each with some new feature to shout about. The iPhone is a year old and the rumours (simply a longer iPhone 4, iOS 6 etc) aren't particularly exciting.

Bottom line is this forum is full of a lot of bored people sitting in front of their computer who want to bitch and moan about something.

 

[whodareswins]

anyone that says Android apps look like IOS apps need to be bitch slapped. I can give two examples for anyone that has ios and android. The Big Oven and TWC look completely different on my ipad and my Asus Tablet. They are ugly compared to ios. Android still doesn't even have a Gametime courtside app which is a must have for NBA fans that have a tablet. People need to understand it's really true when ppl say android apps look like garbage compared to ios counterparts. I didn't believe it until I bought my first IOS device.

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actually it can't cope. I have siri on my iphone 4 and when I have to many apps open siri is fawking slow to work. I have to make sure not to many apps are open. Apple wants everything to run smooth.

Too many apps open? Don't be fooled into think iOS multi tasks! When you close an app it simply saves the state of it. Ever had one closed for more than a few minutes and theres a pause when opening it?

 

[cynics]

How many different resolutions do you have to code for on iOS?
How many variations are there on Android?
Just Sayin...

For Android devs there is one resolution. Its not a concern when coding. Screen size however there is four categories, small, normal, large, extra large. Some apps look crappy because Android will scale and if you don't code for say a tablet (extra large) then it could look bad.

Its not the reason for what I consider fragmentation (apps simply not working on particular devices). This is cause by manufactures modifying the source because its open source. Google doesn't want this to happen but its open source so there is not much they can do. ICS should fix a lot of this but it will obviously be a while before all/most Android devices are running ICS.

 

[The iGentleman]

That's what he said. I think to make that statement you have to ignore all the changes that have happened since the 3GS was released (iOS 3). The most obvious being third party multitasking APIs.

In the end though, the OS from a systematic standpoint is the same. The state of an app is saved when you leave it. It isn't going to be processing a lot of different things at one time. In the end that's what it comes down to at its core.

Of course it does. iOS has supported actual multitasking since it's initial release. What it didn't support was third-party background processes or "unlimited" multitasking. With the release of iOS 4, it added support for limited third-party background processing.

Not really it doesnt. For example, when you go into something like newstand, you have to wait for your content to be downloaded when you open it. If it were truly multitasking, it would do it on it's own (at whatever interval), and the content would already be there when you open the app. If you're downloading something and leave that app, your download would continue if it was true multitasking at work, but instead it stops. With true multitasking, you would be able to download and go watch a movie on the phone, and the download should continue until completion.

I understand and agree with your larger point to some extent, but I disagree with your classifications. I don't consider designing the OS to the limitations of the device to be a weakness. (I consider that to be Apple's job. Google seems to think that it's my job.) I don't know what scale you are looking at to say the iOS is "not very sophisticated." And you are grossly understating reality when you say it "doesn't have to process several things at one time."

I don't think it's fair to call it a strength without acknowledging that it is also a weakness. The reason it is a strength to you, is the same reason it is a weakness to someone else. Everyone doesn't see limitation as being a positive. I for one, am capable of managing my own device and like the idea of having more control over what does or doesn't run.
As of right now, iOS seems more like an app launcher than an operating system. I say that to say, it is less about functionality and the emphasis is placed more so on apps. There's nothing wrong with that, it's just a different philosophy of how an OS should run. With iOS, it isn't about having a sophisticated OS, it's about running an app. On Android, it's about using the apps to supplement the OS.
As for what I said about iOS not having process several things at one time, what I meant is in comparison to Android. iOS doesn't have to run nearly as much at once as Android does. This is especially true with a user that utilizes multitasking heavily. This is why iOS can run on slower hardware than Android. Android needs the horsepower to be able to run various processes simultaneously, whereas on iOS that isn't necessary because it saves the state of an app instead of allowing it to run.

 

[Wrathwitch]

I thought you always preached about this being a iPhone forum. Why make another vs thread?

All this does is further prove my point that only iphone users start threads about Android on this forum. There are currently 0 threads related to the iPhone on the nexus section of android central.

I'm glad you are happy with your iPhone I am with mine too but it feels like you are trying to justify it with the the particular examples you gave. Some are just opinion anyway (widgets).

I suspect that the OP was merely trying to return MacRumours back to Apple. There have been VERY many threads of late going on about switching and Android. More than there have ever been since I have been on these forums.

I agree with a lot of the OPs points. I myself have switched and am enjoying the change, but I can't argue with a majority of his points. He is just as free to post his love and reasons of staying with Apple/iOS as others here have been posting about switching etc.

 

[lordofthereef]

This argument can only be made if you ignore all evidence to the contrary. If you can't even come up with "multitasking", you haven't given your claim much thought.

Multitasking? It freezes, in available memory, what I was doing before? Hardly a rewrite, but I will give you that. But we got this what, three years ago (as it so happens it is launched with the very phone, the 3GS, that is still supported by iOS6 - yes I am aware it has been IMPROVED since 3.x and is what it is since 4.x). Alright, what else?

And again, since this is obviously a touchy thing, I mentioned before there is nothing wrong with this. It's just a little silly for people to be tooting the "efficient and optimized" horn when hardware has come alot farther than software has in iOS over the last three years. If you want my opinion, Apple is actually developing for their older hardware rather than the newer stuff, which is a bit disappointing.

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It's simple: Such posts are likely to occur in iOS vs others threads in an iPhone forum.

I stopped right there, because they occur everywhere (though I will admit in a notably higher dose within "vs" threads). Discuss a feature of iOS, and you are likely to find people talking about how it is done differently, for better or for worse, on another platform.

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I suspect that the OP was merely trying to return MacRumours back to Apple. There have been VERY many threads of late going on about switching and Android. More than there have ever been since I have been on these forums.

I think people are getting tired of Apple regurgitating virtually the same old stuff year after year. Most of the few new and exciting features that aren't regurgitation require a new device buy in.

 

[onthecouchagain]

OP, it's interesting that you find it so revolting that there are Android devices that aim for the lower and mid-tier markets (which, I think, hardly affects you if you're on a Nexus or higher end Android device?), but are completely okay with how Apple dumbs down iOS to the lowest common denominator of users (a philosophy which does affect you).

So Android offers hardware on varying levels and prices, and that muddles and cheapens Android, but Apple offers software on the lowest (you can use the word 'simplest' if you prefer) level to capture more users and that makes Apple geniuses.

EDIT: Also, just curious to know what your thoughts are on Apple continuing to sell the 3GS, or possibly selling a more affordable iPad mini? Heck, what about the iPod shuffle and mini?

 

[BaldiMac]

In the end though, the OS from a systematic standpoint is the same. The state of an app is saved when you leave it. It isn't going to be processing a lot of different things at one time. In the end that's what it comes down to at its core.

"From a systematic standpoint"? "At its core"? I suppose these were meant to be so vague that you can just dismiss any argument against them.

Not really it doesnt.

Really. Unless you can't understand the difference between "actual multitasking" and allowing "unlimited" third-party background processes.

For example, when you go into something like newstand, you have to wait for your content to be downloaded when you open it. If it were truly multitasking, it would do it on it's own (at whatever interval), and the content would already be there when you open the app.

Newstand does download content in the background.

If you're downloading something and leave that app, your download would continue if it was true multitasking at work, but instead it stops. With true multitasking, you would be able to download and go watch a movie on the phone, and the download should continue until completion.

And the iPhone allows this.

I don't think it's fair to call it a strength without acknowledging that it is also a weakness. The reason it is a strength to you, is the same reason it is a weakness to someone else. Everyone doesn't see limitation as being a positive.

That's why I said "I don't consider..." Some people like to tinker with their phones. I don't.

I for one, am capable of managing my own device and like the idea of having more control over what does or doesn't run.

And Android is great for that.

As of right now, iOS seems more like an app launcher than an operating system. I say that to say, it is less about functionality and the emphasis is placed more so on apps. There's nothing wrong with that, it's just a different philosophy of how an OS should run. With iOS, it isn't about having a sophisticated OS, it's about running an app. On Android, it's about using the apps to supplement the OS.

Again, you are being dismissive of the actual functionality of iOS through your over-simplification of its function.

Multitasking? It freezes, in available memory, what I was doing before?

Except for the times when it doesn't.

And again, since this is obviously a touchy thing, I mentioned before there is nothing wrong with this.

What's so touchy about it? I just consider it a vague, unsupported claim that didn't consider the most obvious example to the contrary.

 

[Doombringer]

The OS fragmentation is what is frustrating me the most. I have a Droid X, still a pretty great phone, but I am stuck on Gingerbread, forever, thanks to Motorola. I could probably finagle something with jailbreaking/rooting, but I also do not want to brick my phone.

Also, performance. I like how Google has to form a special "task force" called Project Butter to make their OS smooth and responsive. If that isn't a passive acknowledgement that Android has been clunky, I don't know what it is.

 

[terminatorp]

Too many apps open? Don't be fooled into think iOS multi tasks! When you close an app it simply saves the state of it. Ever had one closed for more than a few minutes and theres a pause when opening it?

Sure iPhone might not "background" third party applications, minus the background API's which Apple allows like VoIP, GPS, Audio Streaming, and so on, but saving the state of the app consumes some ram. When you have say 30 apps in the multitasking bar, most likely, 10 of those apps later in the bar are not really saved at all. They got purged due to lack of memory. iOS functions like this. It saves as many apps as possible in the 512/256mb of ram there is, and purges apps when needed.

Siri takes a lot of RAM when ported to the iPhone 4 or 3GS. In my experience, Siri alone takes around 100 mb of ram on both devices. This means that there is less breathing room for "multitasking" apps on the phones. It especially is a problem for the 3GS, but iPhone 4 suffers too when too many apps are in the multitasking bar.

Apple optimized Siri to work with the 4S, so Siri takes about 40 mb of RAM on the 4S. Ironically, this means that the 4S has slightly less RAM to work with than the iPhone 4 does in real time usage.

 

[Shanekarpi251]

I agree with you completely & I probably will never go back to an android ever again for some of those same reasons.

 

[Exio]

Why isn't this thread deleted? Where the hell is the discussion value here? It's just the OP "justifying" his purchase.

 

[rockyroad55]

Why I stick with iPhone? iTunes.

 

[ugahairydawgs]

Pretty much. Sometimes I just don't understand how some people don't think that having information on the homescreen can be useful.

When you need it, sure it is useful. The rest of the time it is just sitting there cluttering up your screen.

 

[Rooftop voter]

You do know as part of Jelly Bean's development google has come out and officially stated that they are let me quote "At war with lag" to enhance the user expierence. I have a transformer prime tablet and a ipad 3 and I can tell you first hand there is a huge diffrence between the two with UI lag and stuttering.

I find it funny that Google can admit this but the android fanboys can't come to terms with this.

I've found that my galaxy S3 has less lag than my iphone 4 or my soon to be brother in laws 4s. As far as speed goes the s3 was either as fast or faster than the 4s.

 

[Want300]

Why I stick with iPhone? iTunes.

VERY TRUE...

My smart phone history: iPhone, 3G, 3G, 3GS, 4, 4S (Current, 32 Gb, Personal), Galaxy SII (Work), 4S (Current, 16 Gb, Work).

(I dropped and cracked my first iPhone 3G... Convinced Apple to give me the upgrade price to get a new one... and sold my cracked one on eBay for $450, and made $100 profit... Best phone "disaster" ever, I got paid to break my phone essentially)

I agree with the original poster's points. When I had the Galaxy SII, I liked it, but I couldn't get over how much better the apps seemed to be on my iPhone, so I never used the SII even though its screen was way bigger. So when an iPhone became available, I switched my work phone.

EDIT: I switch back and forth between my upgrade and my girlfriends upgrade to get each new phone, it works out well.

 

[Technarchy]

When you need it, sure it is useful. The rest of the time it is just sitting there cluttering up your screen.

Eating power, eating process cycles, affecting stability...

When it comes to providing information at a glance, Windows Phone did it right.

 

[Mac.World]

Eating power, eating process cycles, affecting stability...

When it comes to providing information at a glance, Windows Phone did it right.

Not all widgets function like this. You are only describing the onesthat actively pull information either all thetimeor at close intervals, like some weather widgets.

Other widgets only engage when activated, either through touch, by long interval or through other app interaction.
I have 3 traffic alert widgets for my drive to work, to home and to a place up near SanFran. These widgets only come alive when I open traffic on GOogle Nav or if I click on them.
News and tech tickers are useful, in fact iOS has it in its NC. This is a widget. But as long asthe pulls aren't every 5 minutes, it doesn't eat battery.

I know you want to show extreme examples to make your point, but not all widgets or even live wallpapers are the same. Some can be very lightweight and not be the battery hogs of their ancestor programs.

 

[Technarchy]

Not all widgets function like this. You are only describing the onesthat actively pull information either all thetimeor at close intervals, like some weather widgets.

Other widgets only engage when activated, either through touch, by long interval or through other app interaction.
I have 3 traffic alert widgets for my drive to work, to home and to a place up near SanFran. These widgets only come alive when I open traffic on GOogle Nav or if I click on them.
News and tech tickers are useful, in fact iOS has it in its NC. This is a widget. But as long asthe pulls aren't every 5 minutes, it doesn't eat battery.

I know you want to show extreme examples to make your point, but not all widgets or even live wallpapers are the same. Some can be very lightweight and not be the battery hogs of their ancestor programs.

If a widget does nothing than sit there until triggered, it's nothing more than an elaborate app icon taking up screen space, so what's the point.

Android in general is a very "busy" OS. It has a mind of its own half the time and stuff just launches and hides in the background, and the user is wondering what the hell that is.

As for widgets, the execution on android still sucks compared to Windows Phone. They were not a "force multiplier" for the user experience by any means based upon my 3 years with android.

If ever I want "widgets" or bolstered information at a glance, I'd get a windows 8 device, which not only does it better than anyone else, but it's hard baked into the OS itself, so stability should be much better than your typical brand X android phone.