Android Apps quality

[mattopotamus]

nope. for more infos xda

damn. The major thing I miss about the iphone is facetime. I have 3 or 4 people that I regularly facetime, and the alternatives are no comparison.

 

[LorPGDL]

damn. The major thing I miss about the iphone is facetime. I have 3 or 4 people that I regularly facetime, and the alternatives are no comparison.

i got no real knowledge of that since i dont video chat, but im sure there are alternatives to facetime that work just as well on android. what about skype? i did that once and it worked fine with my mothers ipad.

 

[mattopotamus]

i got no real knowledge of that since i dont video chat, but im sure there are alternatives to facetime that work just as well on android. what about skype? i did that once and it worked fine with my mothers ipad.

skype and google+ hangout are still choppy and the video quality is not as good. I know it is on the apps end since the quality and performance was clear and flawless when using facetime.

 

[LIVEFRMNYC]

stutter and fluidity is what I mean by polish. Also, the functionality within the apps. I would pin that more on the apps and not the IOS.

In that case I just don't agree. I suspect users have differ experiences with differ devices though.

 

[cynics]

I suppose I'll never stop reading this nonsense, but every now and then when I see it I feel the need to edumacate you people....

Apple moved from a 3:2 aspect ratio in the iPhone 4S to the more standard 16:9 that literally every other flagship phone is on. There is no "bizarre half-measure". If the GS3 was 4" it would be about the same size and shape. The Droid Razr M is 4" and the exact same size.

The idea that Apple has concocted some Frankenstein phone size frustrates the hell out of me because its complete nonsense and spouted over and over again.

Regardless of whether 4" is too small for you or not, the size of the iPhone 5 is NOT odd or out of the ordinary. It's simply a 4" 16:9 smartphone - just like any other 4" 16:9 smartphone in size and shape.

I completely agree with you about aspect ratio but there is just something "off" about the iPhone 5 (IMO).

The Razr M has a 4.3" screen btw. But here's a picture.

The Razr M is only .08" wider (wider screen, same aspect ratio).

Maybe because it has less bezel or something.

Maybe because everyone was so used to the original iPhones too. I heard once you use the 5 for a while the 4S and prior feel short and stubby.

I don't feel like Apple did a very good job adding a larger screen (my opinion). Just stuck a larger screen on it but didn't try to reduce the bezel sides or bottom. I was expecting a 4" screen in a 4/4S size body or a 4.3" screen in an iPhone 5 size phone. If Motorola can nearly make a iPhone 5 size phone with a 4.3" screen then Apple should be able to make a smaller 4" screen phone.

 

[Tinmania]

I completely agree with you about aspect ratio but there is just something "off" about the iPhone 5 (IMO).

<snippage occurred>

Maybe because it has less bezel or something.

Bingo!




Michael

 

[jrswizzle]

I completely agree with you about aspect ratio but there is just something "off" about the iPhone 5 (IMO).

The Razr M has a 4.3" screen btw. But here's a picture.

Image

The Razr M is only .08" wider (wider screen, same aspect ratio).

Maybe because it has less bezel or something.

Maybe because everyone was so used to the original iPhones too. I heard once you use the 5 for a while the 4S and prior feel short and stubby.

I don't feel like Apple did a very good job adding a larger screen (my opinion). Just stuck a larger screen on it but didn't try to reduce the bezel sides or bottom. I was expecting a 4" screen in a 4/4S size body or a 4.3" screen in an iPhone 5 size phone. If Motorola can nearly make a iPhone 5 size phone with a 4.3" screen then Apple should be able to make a smaller 4" screen phone.

I picked the wrong Razr - there is a 4" Droid Razr phone....same size as the iPhone.

 

[knucklehead]

I completely agree with you about aspect ratio but there is just something "off" about the iPhone 5 (IMO).

The Razr M has a 4.3" screen btw. But here's a picture.

Image

The Razr M is only .08" wider (wider screen, same aspect ratio).

Maybe because it has less bezel or something.

Maybe because everyone was so used to the original iPhones too. I heard once you use the 5 for a while the 4S and prior feel short and stubby.

I don't feel like Apple did a very good job adding a larger screen (my opinion). Just stuck a larger screen on it but didn't try to reduce the bezel sides or bottom. I was expecting a 4" screen in a 4/4S size body or a 4.3" screen in an iPhone 5 size phone. If Motorola can nearly make a iPhone 5 size phone with a 4.3" screen then Apple should be able to make a smaller 4" screen phone.

They need a good bezel saw in Cupertino!

The main reason for choosing a smaller screen is to have a smaller device to carry around - why work against that with big stupid bezels?

Whatever tendency the iPhone5/Touch may have to bend, is only aggravated by it's needlessly excessive length.

 

[Assault]

Interesting that Android apps have this stigma about bad looking apps. Sure there are some, but Apple's app store does as well. I have a feeling that most of the negative language comes from when Android started out and the hardware and software were both lacking compared to iOS hardware and apps. Google's Android was a mess with no official way to create apps or minimum hardware boundaries set. Google has now moved the AOSP members into a more unified appearance.

I use a Nexus 7 for everything, primarily because I can use an external drive, mouse and keyboard with it for light laptop duties.
Additionally, I prefer some of my apps to be inverted, so it is more black than white. I hate all white screens for things like twitter, messenging, emails, and the like. Just a drain on resources. Anyway, I pulled a few common apps and games for comparison.

I like the fact that I can use a mouse for apps like Photoshop and a wireless PS3 controller for all of my games. Makes playing much more enjoyable and working on graphics a lot easier with a mouse over a stylus or finger. Your hand just gets in the way trying to do things that require you to see the screen.

Start with Photoshop Touch for tablets:

Next is Falcon Pro (a Twitter app) using the now standard Android Holo theme and also a tablet specific app:

Dropbox using Inverted colors (great for dark rooms or bright sunlight):

Now for a couple of graphic intensive games:

Wild Blood for Android using the same Unreal Engine tech as on iOS:

Modern Combat 4:

Dead Trigger:

And some old school Pac-Man by Bandai/Namco (this is the original game with online tournament play added):

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^^^^ Sorry that was long, but I simply do not see the difference between iOS apps and Android apps. I think the graphics are great and I have no issues with stutter or lagging in the games. I am rooted running CM10.1, but no over clocking or manipulation of the Kernel. CM10.1 is literally the unofficial version of plain Vanilla Android, just updated daily with more features.

 

[F123D]

Pocket Informant comes to mind.

Does this sync your icloud or replace it?

 

[zbarvian]

Interesting that Android apps have this stigma about bad looking apps. Sure there are some, but Apple's app store does as well. I have a feeling that most of the negative language comes from when Android started out and the hardware and software were both lacking compared to iOS hardware and apps. Google's Android was a mess with no official way to create apps or minimum hardware boundaries set. Google has now moved the AOSP members into a more unified appearance.

I use a Nexus 7 for everything, primarily because I can use an external drive, mouse and keyboard with it for light laptop duties.
Additionally, I prefer some of my apps to be inverted, so it is more black than white. I hate all white screens for things like twitter, messenging, emails, and the like. Just a drain on resources. Anyway, I pulled a few common apps and games for comparison.

I like the fact that I can use a mouse for apps like Photoshop and a wireless PS3 controller for all of my games. Makes playing much more enjoyable and working on graphics a lot easier with a mouse over a stylus or finger. Your hand just gets in the way trying to do things that require you to see the screen.

Start with Photoshop Touch for tablets:
Image

Next is Falcon Pro (a Twitter app) using the now standard Android Holo theme and also a tablet specific app:
Image

Dropbox using Inverted colors (great for dark rooms or bright sunlight):
Image

Now for a couple of graphic intensive games:

Wild Blood for Android using the same Unreal Engine tech as on iOS:
Image

Image

Image

Modern Combat 4:
Image

Image

Image

Dead Trigger:
Image

Image

And some old school Pac-Man by Bandai/Namco (this is the original game with online tournament play added):
Image

Image

----------

^^^^ Sorry that was long, but I simply do not see the difference between iOS apps and Android apps. I think the graphics are great and I have no issues with stutter or lagging in the games. I am rooted running CM10.1, but no over clocking or manipulation of the Kernel. CM10.1 is literally the unofficial version of plain Vanilla Android, just updated daily with more features.

I think Holo makes apps look too generic. Not many Holo apps have their own flair. If you think Falcon is nice design, look at Tweetbot. Photoshop Touch looks more polished on iOS, I'm not sure if MC4 does real-time shadowing or the blur effects on Android (could be wrong), and there just aren't apps like GarageBand or Paper (probably the best tablet app I've seen). iOS very often gets the games/apps/updates first and the apps are often better designed and optimized. I've used both stores extensively, and I can certainly notice a difference. I'm not sure if others might, but it's a huge sore point for me.

 

[b166er]

Labeling iOS apps as more "polished" has more to do with iOS than the apps. iOS is a pretty looking mobile OS. So being that iOS apps look and feel like apart of iOS as if they were default apps, I can understand why some would think they are more polished.

Other than that I don't see any other reason why anyone would say iOS apps are more polished.

So other than all of them looking that way, you don't see any other reason. Roger.

Dude they look that way because the devs made them look that way. It's not a requirement. There are some serious junk apps for the iPhone that look terrible. iOS doesn't pretty up an app for you, you need to put in the time to code it that way.

 

[LIVEFRMNYC]

So other than all of them looking that way, you don't see any other reason. Roger.

Dude they look that way because the devs made them look that way. It's not a requirement. There are some serious junk apps for the iPhone that look terrible. iOS doesn't pretty up an app for you, you need to put in the time to code it that way.

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/04/easier-design-apps-ios/

And I think this post from the link describes it perfectly.

It's the difference between play-doh and legos.

You can do more with play-doh, but it requires more work. You aren't working with a finite number of pieces, so you can make it exactly how you want.

You can do a lot with legos, but everything is made of the same pieces, so the options while vast, are not truly limitless, and end up looking similar.

Sure explains why damn near every app has basically the same style of buttons that basically iOS itself uses.

 

[Bahroo]

App quality i really dependent on the App developer. I've seen some really nice Apps on my Nexus 7 that are just as good as the iPhone version. Of course, I've seen some real crappy ones on both platforms as well.

I have found the app quality is not as big a deal as lots of people make it out to be but I am not hyper-critical of those types of things anyway.

I view it as one more nit that people like to use hyperbole on to make their side look better. (And yes, there are many here who do the same thing for/against iOS and Apple)

Alot of apps are actually noticeably better on iOS, no ones making that part up lol

----------

Labeling iOS apps as more "polished" has more to do with iOS than the apps. iOS is a pretty looking mobile OS. So being that iOS apps look and feel like apart of iOS as if they were default apps, I can understand why some would think they are more polished.

Other than that I don't see any other reason why anyone would say iOS apps are more polished.

What he means by polished is smoother performance, smoother performing apps that run good, like Appy Geek and Engadget on Android dont run as smooth its iOS versions

 

[mib1800]

Alot of apps are actually noticeably better on iOS, no ones making that part up lol

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What he means by polished is smoother performance, smoother performing apps that run good, like Appy Geek and Engadget on Android dont run as smooth its iOS versions

what does this prove? opera mini and dropbox work faster and look better on Android. Same with all Google apps.

so the generalization that ios apps are more polished holds no water. but one thing I am certain is that the same mainstream apps usually have more capabilities on Android due to more powerful os.

 

[Jessica Lares]

Those are also apps that use their own APIs and backends for design. Sorta like TweetDeck uses Adobe Air. Except Falcon and Dropbox.

Same usefulness, but varied design on the eBay app:

And the only reason they create those darker color scheme choices is to deal with people's battery drain on certain screens. Not a big issue on iOS, where it only comes in for better readability.

 

[naddie]

stutter and fluidity is what I mean by polish. Also, the functionality within the apps. I would pin that more on the apps and not the IOS.

I would pin that more on the OS than the apps. The transition animations, scrolling, and touch response is part of the OS. These creates that "polished" feel.

Android's transitions, scrolling, and touch response were not prioritized as highly as other processes, which is why they feel a bit sluggish. "Project Butter" does help a bit, but there are still many times where transition animations stutters. It happens on IOS too, but more often in Android.

I own a S3, N7, TF300T, and iPad (used to own IP3G and IP4).

 

[Bahroo]

what does this prove? opera mini and dropbox work faster and look better on Android. Same with all Google apps.

so the generalization that ios apps are more polished holds no water. but one thing I am certain is that the same mainstream apps usually have more capabilities on Android due to more powerful os.

Yeah but its commonly known iOS apps are still more polished, get updates first and get new apps first.

Alot of Android apps still dont have Jelly Bean code in them and so alot of apps performance suffers from it, whether the app is choppy or slow

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I would pin that more on the OS than the apps. The transition animations, scrolling, and touch response is part of the OS. These creates that "polished" feel.

Android's transitions, scrolling, and touch response were not prioritized as highly as other processes, which is why they feel a bit sluggish. "Project Butter" does help a bit, but there are still many times where transition animations stutters. It happens on IOS too, but more often in Android.

I own a S3, N7, TF300T, and iPad (used to own IP3G and IP4).

Exactly, the animations and just system wide smoothness on all apps

 

[cynics]

Yeah but its commonly known iOS apps are still more polished, get updates first and get new apps first.

Alot of Android apps still dont have Jelly Bean code in them and so alot of apps performance suffers from it, whether the app is choppy or slow

----------




Exactly, the animations and just system wide smoothness on all apps

I think that's a generalization. It really depends on the app. There are quite a few apps on Android that are slow and that stutter when scrolling but that's based on the app itself because a lot are really smooth.

Like still even now when you open Facebook for the first time and swipe right or left it stutters on iOS. Once you do it once its fine. The dev has acknowledged the issue. But even though I use Facebook a lot I wouldn't say all iOS apps are slow and stutter.

 

[Irishman]

What apps on Android aren't as good compared to iOS? Every app I've downloaded so far have been the same experience on both platforms.

On phones? That's probably true.

On tablets? It's still being found that most Android tablet apps are simply screen doubled versions of their phone counterparts, with little to no optimization for the extra screen space.

 

[cynics]

On phones? That's probably true.

On tablets? It's still being found that most Android tablet apps are simply screen doubled versions of their phone counterparts, with little to no optimization for the extra screen space.

I agree. Googles apps look and work great. A lot of apps that I use are optimized like tapatalk HD. And some that are just stretched look pretty good, wifi analyzer, GPS essentials, nearly all games etc.

But some apps look like crap. I generally just delete them and find an app that is optimized. I don't have anything on my Android tablets that isn't optimized for tablets except speedtest.net which isn't stretched its just a lot of wasted space. That doesn't bother me though because there isn't a reason for me to think I could use more screen space for that app. The worst is Facebook though, its just stretched and looks terrible.

iPad is still pretty far ahead in that aspect. But not worth the trade off IMO. I just use a browser like I would on a Mac or PC for most things. Usually have more functionality that way anyway.

 

[nickchallis92]

I see Android now has the newest Twitter and Whatsapp updates whereas iOS seems to be using the old interfaces

just saying...

 

[Assault]

I see Android now has the newest Twitter and Whatsapp updates whereas iOS seems to be using the old interfaces

just saying...

Twitter appears to be heading into Android OS as an integrated app and will be updated for Android first. And as of today, Facebook as well

 

[nick_elt]

Yip, twitter is def better on android. I havent come across any android apps that I use that isnt as good as ios. I really find my ipad is lacking a menu and back button at times too.

 

[mib1800]

Yeah but its commonly known iOS apps are still more polished, get updates first and get new apps first.

Commonly known to iSheep?

For me, I just find most of the major iOS apps lacking compared to Android version. Usually there are more capabilities in the Android version (incl. data sharing, app interaction with other apps/OS, app can run in the background, app can response to events like incoming calls/sms/location/etc. and many more)

Maybe I should clarify what you meant by "more polished". Is it just refering to UI consistency only? With iOS limited UI elements and system wide color/theme control, iOS apps give a more uniform/consistent feel. Personally I hate the limited color and "greyish" color tone of iOS UI.

Alot of Android apps still dont have Jelly Bean code in them and so alot of apps performance suffers from it, whether the app is choppy or slow

JB "project butter" improves UI responses in the underlying OS. It doesnt have anything to do with app (which are just java bytecode) and runs in the DVM. I didnt see anything in the JB API function calls that relate to accelerating UI in the application code.