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Android features that the iPhone should have
- Thread starter matttye
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You totally missed the pun
, went over your head.. but I digress. You still didn't explain what's so hideous, which is plain laughable. There are different themes for the center that are well matched to the theme I'd have on the phone. If you want to go through various menu's and settings to do what can be done in one swipe, well that's your thing, rest of us that don't drink the koolaid want easy access to various settings. Look how my notification center is setup 1) I can access all primary settings in a swipe easily and scroll them in the center, 2) I can re-spring, power off etc right from it, no holding a button for 10 seconds or anything 3) access task'd apps vs double pressing home button and scroll left and right in the center for them. Theory??? lol... yeh all the numerous threads across various forums and boards online about wanting toggles is imaginary. I'd bet you cold hard cash in escrow that if you were to poll each forum about whether they'd want toggles like I showed integrated into the center.... the people who would want it would far outweigh the ones who don't. It's easy, simple access, and Apples all about "simpleness" right.....
here's another disgustingly terrible theme for the settings icons:
you talk about design and lack of and post up a basic generic lockscreen and homepage? lol.... It's like every other iphone out there, which nothing wrong with that and I'm not going to call disgusting.
but here's some I have:
this lock screen is animated to the weather, time of day etc... and no battery drain really over stock iOS so there goes that theory about drain:
some diff hs themes, only problem I had was you can't turn off the status bar clock with SBS on iOS5:
it's ok to be different
, even though I know you won't like any of those lol, no hard feelings.
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And a great place to keep these buttons would be the search page. I'm one who still believes Apple has something planned for the search page
Funny how my GSII (AT&T version) last about as long as my iPhone 4 in use (except standby where the 4 beats all), maybe an hour here and there, but it's still better then the 3GS or 4S so far in battery life ... a lot of people don't know how to setup these phones nor calibrate the battery, just like my Macbook Pro so the % is read correctly and doesn't die sooner.
yeh that would be useful
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I think those themes look awesome!
Toggle widgets in the notification bar would be great. Widgets are one of the only things I miss about Android, and they really don't drain the battery as much as some people say they do. Unless you're using them like a tard and have them update every 5 minutes haha
It's almost a sure bet the next iPhone will have a bigger screen. Do you think Apple will wait until then to implement things like stand alone Widgets, and maybe even include toggles?
Nice try, but guessing or listening to the uniformed has led you wrong.
My SGS II returns battery life as good or better than my iPhone 4, and significantly better than my iPhone 4S.
This is one excellent Smartphone
The widgets I don't really see happening for the home/app/lock screens, development for them in Cydia yeh... but Apple, pry not, I trade and don't even have the stock widget running in the center nor anything similar like that on my GSII. However the toggles I would hope Apple would do, but this is Apple were talking about, watch them do it but only put like 2 toggles on, then another 2 for the next update/os, and another 2 for the next one lol.
There's rumors of them working on widgets for Facebook and Twitter to auto-feed them, you never know, but again I wouldn't be surprised if they never bring those out for the notification center.
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I don't see the big fuss. I don't want my 4s to look like a Android or work like one.
There may be a reason they haven't added all these droid-ish features.
I had a Samsung Galaxy s and I used 1 widget. It was a calendar widget. Its really one of the only widgets that was really beneficial. I get my daily schedule in a PDF. I copy those to my gmail calendar and the widget allowed me to just see daily where I was right on the screen all the time. Without it, I had to open the calendar, and without that, I had to open each PDF.....which because Android wont allow us to put my schedule folder on home screen, I had to nav through Files>Data>Schedules 2011>Find PDF, then open.
So that particular widget was useful. I had it on the first screen, then home screen(2), then screen 3 was more apps I used.
So a simple swipe left and my week was there.
Now, these clock and weather widgets are BS. Its just toys for people to feel good about. What the hell do you need a clock widget for when iPhone.....hell most phones for that matter have the date/time on the unlock screen and the home screen anyway.
I hit the home button....BOOM, date/time right there easy to see. Unlock it, boom there again the time. So why oh why is it such a big deal for people to have these cluttered, battery draining widgets for clock. Its something that makes people feel their device is doing more for them.
"Oooooh look how cool" , but its not.....its superficial.
And weather.....REALLY. Look outside. Ive made it 32 years without knowing weather each and every second of my life. I get up, stick an arm outside, if its cold I dress warm, if its hot I dress cool, if its raining I grab an umbrella. Its not that big a deal. Id trade a damn weather widget for more cell strength.
Not that mine is bad, its good, but if we're asking for more, how about more battery or cell strength....something useful
And BTW, iPhone has weather data pushed right to notification bar as default.......so there you have it.
I turned it off. We get enough weather on nightly news every night, I don't need it constantly on my screen, draining my battery.
There's also 100's of weather apps. Knock yourself out.
Listen, I'm not so sure that the reason so many Androids have all the Vista like problems isn't because they allow too much.
I don't feel short changed at all coming from Android. My phone for once does exactly what its supposed to all the time. Its fast, snappy/smooth and it just works.....ALL the time.
My Galaxy DID NOT. Its jittery, buggy, hangs up, apps conflict with the phone....IT SUCKS.
Maybe Jobs was so insistent about keeping the iOS the way it was because that's how to keep things stable. Sure they could add all these things.....are you kidding. Look at what they do.
But buy allowing certain things, it opens the door for others and then there's whole lots more issues to chase down.
The way Apple works, it works because they lock it up and keep the issues to a minimum.
I like the app security. Knowing that the apps are good and will work with my phone the right way.
Yes, you can pretty much customize an Android to pretty much no end.
But then its not the phone you bought. So why was it so great to begin with.
I don't want too much changed with iOS. Especially in the direction of copying Android. Thats why I left them.
Id like a couple changes, not additions. Id like to have quicker access to WiFi on/off or Bluetooth on/off. Either via adding shortcut to screen or buttons at top. But, its not that big a deal.
As for email attachment, OK, maybe there might be a use for it.
But stop and think for a minute.
If I decide after shooting a pic, "Oh, Id like to send this to my mother", then just tap it and share via email, then add to who. You have to do it anyway.
Then there's those Ive seen say what about multiple.
OK, in the camera roll, tap share icon, select all you want....then hit email.
The only difference is, if you start an email then decide later you want to add an attachment. But really, you'd still have to nav each image, the wait for it to attach.
I say, if you want all those things Android does, go get it tiger. They'll sell them to ANYBODY and I mean ANYBODY.
I hope Apple doesn't change much, I like it the way it is.
And sorry for the novel, it got away from me
There may be a reason they haven't added all these droid-ish features.
I had a Samsung Galaxy s and I used 1 widget. It was a calendar widget. Its really one of the only widgets that was really beneficial. I get my daily schedule in a PDF. I copy those to my gmail calendar and the widget allowed me to just see daily where I was right on the screen all the time. Without it, I had to open the calendar, and without that, I had to open each PDF.....which because Android wont allow us to put my schedule folder on home screen, I had to nav through Files>Data>Schedules 2011>Find PDF, then open.
So that particular widget was useful. I had it on the first screen, then home screen(2), then screen 3 was more apps I used.
So a simple swipe left and my week was there.
Now, these clock and weather widgets are BS. Its just toys for people to feel good about. What the hell do you need a clock widget for when iPhone.....hell most phones for that matter have the date/time on the unlock screen and the home screen anyway.
I hit the home button....BOOM, date/time right there easy to see. Unlock it, boom there again the time. So why oh why is it such a big deal for people to have these cluttered, battery draining widgets for clock. Its something that makes people feel their device is doing more for them.
"Oooooh look how cool" , but its not.....its superficial.
And weather.....REALLY. Look outside. Ive made it 32 years without knowing weather each and every second of my life. I get up, stick an arm outside, if its cold I dress warm, if its hot I dress cool, if its raining I grab an umbrella. Its not that big a deal. Id trade a damn weather widget for more cell strength.
Not that mine is bad, its good, but if we're asking for more, how about more battery or cell strength....something useful
And BTW, iPhone has weather data pushed right to notification bar as default.......so there you have it.
I turned it off. We get enough weather on nightly news every night, I don't need it constantly on my screen, draining my battery.
There's also 100's of weather apps. Knock yourself out.
Listen, I'm not so sure that the reason so many Androids have all the Vista like problems isn't because they allow too much.
I don't feel short changed at all coming from Android. My phone for once does exactly what its supposed to all the time. Its fast, snappy/smooth and it just works.....ALL the time.
My Galaxy DID NOT. Its jittery, buggy, hangs up, apps conflict with the phone....IT SUCKS.
Maybe Jobs was so insistent about keeping the iOS the way it was because that's how to keep things stable. Sure they could add all these things.....are you kidding. Look at what they do.
But buy allowing certain things, it opens the door for others and then there's whole lots more issues to chase down.
The way Apple works, it works because they lock it up and keep the issues to a minimum.
I like the app security. Knowing that the apps are good and will work with my phone the right way.
Yes, you can pretty much customize an Android to pretty much no end.
But then its not the phone you bought. So why was it so great to begin with.
I don't want too much changed with iOS. Especially in the direction of copying Android. Thats why I left them.
Id like a couple changes, not additions. Id like to have quicker access to WiFi on/off or Bluetooth on/off. Either via adding shortcut to screen or buttons at top. But, its not that big a deal.
As for email attachment, OK, maybe there might be a use for it.
But stop and think for a minute.
If I decide after shooting a pic, "Oh, Id like to send this to my mother", then just tap it and share via email, then add to who. You have to do it anyway.
Then there's those Ive seen say what about multiple.
OK, in the camera roll, tap share icon, select all you want....then hit email.
The only difference is, if you start an email then decide later you want to add an attachment. But really, you'd still have to nav each image, the wait for it to attach.
I say, if you want all those things Android does, go get it tiger. They'll sell them to ANYBODY and I mean ANYBODY.
I hope Apple doesn't change much, I like it the way it is.
And sorry for the novel, it got away from me
You probably work for Microsoft. Or Google.
"A setting", will be in front of everyone. Those who want this feature and those who don't. You see, ANYTHING you add complicates things. It adds burden. Both on the user and on the software itself. Instead of scrolling through a list of 10 items in settings, I will scroll through 11 or 12. More work. Makes finding what you are looking for also more difficult. A feature, no matter how small it looks to you, adds complexity. More code = more complexity.
Things aren't that simple.
How is that a burden or more complicated having toggles in the center to access settings? I can swipe the center down and quickly go back and forth for any primary setting faster then going through iOS itself. If that's too much to handle for someone then they shouldn't even use the notification center anyway, or a smart phone lol. Apple should just get rid of the app store and everything else and leave just the phone icon, it'll be less complicated
It's not that more complex as far as coding, SBS was almost immediately ready for iOS5, your telling me that a single developer can handle more coding and work then all of Apples tech team?? And btw there's no burden on the software, it works and run's perfectly as smooth as before even on an older phone like the 3GS.
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Widgets? No thanks, I don't want pointless doodads constantly draining my battery.- widgets. If not full blown widgets then at least toggle widgets for settings such as wifi, 3G/2g, Bluetooth etc. these could also be shown in the notification bar for quick access. I would prefer full widgets.
- the ability to access numbers and symbols more easily by long pressing on keys.
- some kind of gesture to access a menu with advanced options in some apps. The browser for example. There's no "find on page" options or anything like that, which can make browsing awkward. I'm not suggesting that iOS should become more menu based, just that menus are sometimes useful for less used options.
- third party apps should be able to integrate with the os. For example, the Facebook app should be able to add an option to the gallery to upload to Facebook. Other providers like Flickr should be able to do this too.
- Being able to attach files to emails from the email app itself.
- being able to mount the iPhone as a hard drive and add your music/images/etc that way. There's no reason this can't work alongside the current implementation.
I prefer the way iOS is managed; in that you're more likely to get a software update as its not fragmented, no malware in the app store etc, but there are a lot of features that iOS could borrow from other OSes to bring it more up to date!
Any other features people think it should adopt?
Discuss
Long presses for some symbols? Already can do that.
And please no more Facebook crap, I'm loathe attention whore sites. I want less exposure, not more.
In my dream land:
-huge 5" hi-def screens
-no animations
-Flash
-real filesystem
-a GOOD Gmail app
-a GOOD YouTube app
-Google Maps app (not an Apple app with Google Maps. I'm talking about the real Google Maps app on Android)
-ability to remove lock screen
-better viewing of browser tabs
-notifications that work JUST like Android (ICS)
-ability to use the browser in "desktop" mode. You know, changing the user agent.
-widgets. They aren't always too helpful, but sometimes they can be.
Just because some widgets do too much and hog battery, it doesn't mean ALL of them are bad.
Examples of good widgets: toggles (tethering, bluetooth, wifi, ect), word of the day, weather, Facebook status updater, icon showing number of apps running, today's agenda from your calendar, today's date in a large font, a "new note" button for Evernote or something...
You see what I mean. Obviously those things could be useful. Even if they wouldn't be useful for you.
And about Facebook, that's totally relative to you.
-huge 5" hi-def screens
-no animations
-Flash
-real filesystem
-a GOOD Gmail app
-a GOOD YouTube app
-Google Maps app (not an Apple app with Google Maps. I'm talking about the real Google Maps app on Android)
-ability to remove lock screen
-better viewing of browser tabs
-notifications that work JUST like Android (ICS)
-ability to use the browser in "desktop" mode. You know, changing the user agent.
-widgets. They aren't always too helpful, but sometimes they can be.
Just because some widgets do too much and hog battery, it doesn't mean ALL of them are bad.
Examples of good widgets: toggles (tethering, bluetooth, wifi, ect), word of the day, weather, Facebook status updater, icon showing number of apps running, today's agenda from your calendar, today's date in a large font, a "new note" button for Evernote or something...
You see what I mean. Obviously those things could be useful. Even if they wouldn't be useful for you.
And about Facebook, that's totally relative to you.
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My Iphone 4s is my first Iphone and my first apple product. I'm stumped why I can't customize volume. It seems to me I should be able too.
You misunderstood what a "settings toggle widget" is I think. Perhaps read the thread and you might get it, then make a post that makes sense.
Thanks
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A calendar widget or settings widget wouldn't drain your battery. It's widgets that constantly update with info like weather, Facebook, etc, and AGAIN, nothing would force you to use a widget if you didn't want to, but they would be there for those who do.
No you cant. You can long press for foreign letters such as à and ß, but you can't long press for numbers or symbols such as brackets: () {} [].
Facebook was only an example of the way the feature could be utilised. It could just as easily be used by something useful such as photobucket.
A+ post mate, but you won't find any sympathetic ears here. It seems common sense runs counter to the hacker ethos and the fetishist desire for ultimate customization.
Hm...sounds like maybe you should get a Droid phone.
You can get it. Its readily available. They sell any Droid phone to anyone. You walk into a Verizon store today and one of those goofy sales guys will make your dreams come true.
Cause that's what they love to push, those Droids. You gotta beg for them to grab an iPhone for you, and then they try to convince you the entire time they are ringing you up that every Droid they have is better than the iPhone.
Its gross how they do.
I had one actually look at me and shake his head and say, "I cant believe you'd choose the iPhone 4s over the Rezound, something must be wrong with you"
I said, "If I were as big a dick as you, Id have you fired for that comment you just made, but its your lucky day"
"Can you just get me the phone so I can get back to reality"
Only to have him come back and say, sorry, all sold out, not one within 150miles.
I went 45miles down the road to Best Buy and grabbed one that night.
So go ahead, they'll hook you up, I guarantee it.
Galaxy Note?
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Hit the nail on the head. Exactly what i was thinking.
However, a little deviation would not be so bad. Apple's motto is "Think Different" after all. Just not "Think Android"
If anything, a nicely executed increase in screen real estate with about half the bezels compared to the current ones on the top and bottom will not hurt so much as long as the phone it self doesn't grow very wide or tall.
THIS: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLy7gN3Okc4&feature=related
There are so many ways iOS can improve, inspired by Android, or just in general.
There are so many ways iOS can improve, inspired by Android, or just in general.
The point of this whole debate is that Apple could completely kill Android if they just took some of these features and added them to iOS. The fact there are so many threads on this topic in THIS forum shows that there is a demand for these features amongst iPhone users.