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SomeGuyDude

macrumors 6502a
Mar 19, 2011
730
2
NEPA
Mobile OSes are app centric, and while widgets can have advantages on specific cases, no one cares about them and the homescreen, most of the time users don't even change the default disposition of apps and widgets, just the wallpaper. It's all about the app drawer.

LOL god I love the insane "this is my opinion therefore everyone thinks this way" nonsense people spew.
 

jeremiah256

macrumors 65816
Aug 2, 2008
1,444
1,169
Southern California
I think the title says it all. How are Android apps compared to iOS apps? Should I expect similar quality or not? What I have seen so far on the Internet isn't that much encouraging..
I am getting an HTC One M8 tomorrow and I plan to test it for a week and compare it with my iPhone 5S....
I will probably sent it back, but I am interested to see what Android is doing and how it has evolved. App quality and availability is important, so this will be one of the things that I will be checking this week..

I’m going to concentrate on app availability and ignore quality, since that is more subjective. My math is: Vast majority of app developers develop for both platforms + Google provides the same core apps to both iOS and Android - Apple does not reciprocate = iOS better out of the box since Google is more platform agnostic than Apple.

My house is majority Apple (computers, shared iPad, iPhones, Apple TVs), some Google (my tablet, a Chromecast). Other devices include a PS3 and the ISP’s DVR. Services include Netflix, Amazon Instant Streaming via Prime membership, Google Play (uploaded my music), Google Video (a few movies) and iTunes (a lot of movies).

In out of the box, home entertainment, iOS applications win. Apple’s Remote and Airplay applications work beautifully with iTunes via our Apple TVs and with streaming media from Amazon’s Instant Streaming. Grab the iPad and you’re good to go. In addition, Google’s iOS media apps (YouTube, Play Music ,and Play Movies) on my iPhone work wonderfully with my $35 Google Chromecast. It can turn on my 2008 era tv, switch to the proper HDMI port, and start pulling down (vice streaming from the phone) whatever I’ve queued up. Apple does not allow (out of the box) an Android device to manipulate my Apple TV and Amazon does not have Instant Video for my Nexus 7 (but it does for my iPhone).

The same is true of productivity applications. I’m very much invested in Google as a cloud service. Google provides iOS versions of every service I use. Apple does not even allow the Chrome browser on my Nexus 7 to access iCloud services nor apps to access them.

TL;DR - iOS devices win because Google has the superior strategy with regard to users accessing their services.

Communication wise, my iOS Google Voice app is my most important stand alone communications app. I use my Google Voice number as my primary number and that allows me to block anonymous calls, dual ring depending on the time period (if you call my Google Voice number when I’m at work, both my cellphone and work phone will ring), and have both a voice message and text transcript of any missed or ignored calls.
 

pedromcm.pm

macrumors 6502
Mar 23, 2014
483
0
Porto, Portugal
LOL god I love the insane "this is my opinion therefore everyone thinks this way" nonsense people spew.

I'm just saying that even "knowledgeable" users do not care about the homescreen and widgets because it is all about apps.

I don't know anyone that finds widgets important, especially since Google Now became so good. Maybe I'm wrong...

Fortunately, Google listens.
 

SomeGuyDude

macrumors 6502a
Mar 19, 2011
730
2
NEPA
I'm just saying that even "knowledgeable" users do not care about the homescreen and widgets because it is all about apps.

I don't know anyone that finds widgets important, especially since Google Now became so good. Maybe I'm wrong...

Fortunately, Google listens.

Yeah the one thing people hate about Google is the ability to decide how their phone looks and acts. You know what would be awesome? Removing that flexibility. That'd sure help.

LOL "knowledgeable users". I got my Nexus 5 rooted and customized and the one thing I really missed when I had an iPhone was the ability to get rid of all the extra home screens. iOS's biggest problem is that you're stuck with all your apps just thrown onto screens. Android lets you clear the screens and put whatever you want on 'em. Suggesting that it's a good thing Google would force everyone into one method instead of leaving the option available for both? Well...

But anyway, as for the whole rumor mill flying around, it's pretty much a given that it's not an Android feature, it's likely going to be "Google Silver", which will remain (GASP) an optional idea. If you want to use the plain-ass "here's all of your stuff in a grid" then you can. Me? No thank you.
 

coldjeanzzz

macrumors 6502a
Nov 4, 2012
655
17
The people who tell you there is no difference are simply biased. I use an M7 and have used the 5S quite a bit, there is without question a difference. The iOS apps are smoother and more refined in almost every case. Android apps have come a long way but they still are not at the level of iOS.
 

SomeGuyDude

macrumors 6502a
Mar 19, 2011
730
2
NEPA
The people who tell you there is no difference are simply biased. I use an M7 and have used the 5S quite a bit, there is without question a difference. The iOS apps are smoother and more refined in almost every case. Android apps have come a long way but they still are not at the level of iOS.

How am I biased when I say they're equal? I had a 5s for a while. Currently have a Nexus 5 and an iPad. I use both on a regular basis. Right off the top I can say none of iPad's Twitter apps are as good as Android's. Twitterrific and Tweetbot can't hold a candle to Talon or Falcon. Reddit readers are terrible on iOS. The alternate SMS apps are fantastic on Android. Trillian, the awesome cross-platform IM program, is CRAP on iOS but wonderful on Android. It's a case by case basis.

I can't even think of a reason I'd be biased either way. I actually don't even use my iPad that much now.
 

KurianOfBorg

macrumors member
Jul 23, 2013
54
3
App quality is the same, period. They aren't the SAME apps always, but the app quality is the same.

This is the biggest lie I've read in a while. The first thing I noticed when moving from years of Android to the iPhone 5S was that the apps weren't buggy crap anymore. The iOS version is made with tremendous care and beautiful animations while the Android version is junk as if it wasn't even made by the same people. It was a real eye-opener. Developers don't remotely give a damn about Android.
 

flameproof

macrumors 6502a
Jan 14, 2011
615
18
I switched 6 month ago from iPhone to Nexus 5. All apps that I used on iOS are also available on Android.

Some comments:

Android app speed is much, MUCH faster then on iOS
Siri works nice on Android i.e. to switch Wifi on or off
Dropbox works better, I can edit text files on Android, can't on iOS

For what I use I find the app quality better. Sure there are crap apps out there, but there where many iOS apps too that I deleted Minutes after installing them.

But one major, major plus point for Android: no iTunes.
 

KurianOfBorg

macrumors member
Jul 23, 2013
54
3
But one major, major plus point for Android: no iTunes.

No iTunes is the biggest DISADVANTAGE of Android. I didn't think much of iTunes when I had an iPhone 4. After moving to Android, I found it was impossible to transfer music to the phone. MTP is broken. It just does not work. Half the files will fail to copy. It'll try to create folders based on the tags on its own and will fail for tags that have brackets. The file system just locks up and stops responding while writing to MTP. Apps like Winamp were also useless as they also failed on brackets and the syncing was buggy.

After moving back to the 5S and flawlessly organizing and syncing all my music with iTunes, it was obvious that music was a complete freaking joke on Android.

Now someone will quote this and lie that their phone works fine with MTP. It doesn't work for most people and that's a fact, especially since USB mass storage partitions are being abandoned in favour of the internal filesystem that requires MTP.
 

petvas

macrumors 603
Original poster
Jul 20, 2006
5,479
1,808
Munich, Germany
No iTunes is the biggest DISADVANTAGE of Android. I didn't think much of iTunes when I had an iPhone 4. After moving to Android, I found it was impossible to transfer music to the phone. MTP is broken. It just does not work. Half the files will fail to copy. It'll try to create folders based on the tags on its own and will fail for tags that have brackets. The file system just locks up and stops responding while writing to MTP. Apps like Winamp were also useless as they also failed on brackets and the syncing was buggy.

After moving back to the 5S and flawlessly organizing and syncing all my music with iTunes, it was obvious that music was a complete freaking joke on Android.

Now someone will quote this and lie that their phone works fine with MTP.

iTunes is great and I like it a lot. I have used Google Play Music Manager to put my iTunes music to my HTC One. The Music Manager uploads your iTunes library to the Google Cloud. RM protected files cannot be uploaded, and dynamic playlists do not work. Everything else gets uploaded. It works really well and that is how I got my music on my HTC.
MTP mode to sync music is not the problem. The problem is the lack of a proper sync client for Android.
People will tell you though that it's not needed, and that everything should be accessible in the cloud...

----------

I switched 6 month ago from iPhone to Nexus 5. All apps that I used on iOS are also available on Android.

Some comments:

Android app speed is much, MUCH faster then on iOS
Siri works nice on Android i.e. to switch Wifi on or off
Dropbox works better, I can edit text files on Android, can't on iOS

For what I use I find the app quality better. Sure there are crap apps out there, but there where many iOS apps too that I deleted Minutes after installing them.

But one major, major plus point for Android: no iTunes.

I don't see any speed difference.
Dropbox works indeed much better on Android..
 

KurianOfBorg

macrumors member
Jul 23, 2013
54
3
iTunes is great and I like it a lot. I have used Google Play Music Manager to put my iTunes music to my HTC One. The Music Manager uploads your iTunes library to the Google Cloud. RM protected files cannot be uploaded, and dynamic playlists do not work. Everything else gets uploaded. It works really well and that is how I got my music on my HTC.
MTP mode to sync music is not the problem. The problem is the lack of a proper sync client for Android.
People will tell you though that it's not needed, and that everything should be accessible in the cloud...

Expecting me to upload 20GB of music when I have everything on my PC in front of me is ridiculous. Syncing is a hard problem. It may very well never be solved again in the future of mankind.
 

petvas

macrumors 603
Original poster
Jul 20, 2006
5,479
1,808
Munich, Germany
Expecting me to upload 20GB of music when I have everything on my PC in front of me is ridiculous. Syncing is a hard problem. It may very well never be solved again in the future of mankind.

I uploaded about 13GB and it didn't take that much time. It is something you do once..
 

flameproof

macrumors 6502a
Jan 14, 2011
615
18
No iTunes is the biggest DISADVANTAGE of Android. I didn't think much of iTunes when I had an iPhone 4. After moving to Android, I found it was impossible to transfer music to the phone.

I don't have music on my Nexus, so I can't comment. But I am recalling getting eBooks back from my iPad to the PC was a major task.

When I plugin my Nexus to the PC (what I rarely do) I get the immidiate directory tree. That is something iOS totally lacks. I also checked for any file browser app, similar to explorer on Windows so you can move files around - no such thing on iOS.

Here is one major app only available for Android that I totally love: keep


I don't see any speed difference.

Depends on your hardware I guess. Nexus 5 - no lack at all. iPhone 4 - it can take 3-10 Seconds till an app is fully open.

4s and 5 will certainly be faster. But I will not update my iPhone to iOS 7.
 

KurianOfBorg

macrumors member
Jul 23, 2013
54
3
I uploaded about 13GB and it didn't take that much time. It is something you do once..

I don't spend 2 days uploading music after I buy a new phone. I don't spend another 2 days downloading it! What if I immediately want a collection on my phone? I'm not going uploading and downloading 1GB.

With iTunes, I can just copy and paste music from anyone's computer into my phone. It will stay on the phone until I move it to my main library and tag & sync it properly.
 

petvas

macrumors 603
Original poster
Jul 20, 2006
5,479
1,808
Munich, Germany
I don't have music on my Nexus, so I can't comment. But I am recalling getting eBooks back from my iPad to the PC was a major task.

When I plugin my Nexus to the PC (what I rarely do) I get the immidiate directory tree. That is something iOS totally lacks. I also checked for any file browser app, similar to explorer on Windows so you can move files around - no such thing on iOS.

Here is one major app only available for Android that I totally love: keep

iOS doesn't need that, because you use iTunes and iCloud for everything.
I agree on the file manager though, but it will never happen.
 

KurianOfBorg

macrumors member
Jul 23, 2013
54
3
When I plugin my Nexus to the PC (what I rarely do) I get the immidiate directory tree. That is something iOS totally lacks. I also checked for any file browser app, similar to explorer on Windows so you can move files around - no such thing on iOS.

This feature is BROKEN. It doesn't work. If you copy and paste a bunch of stuff it will hang or crash or corrupt the files. It's utterly useless. Only USB Mass Storage like on Samsung phones work, not MTP.

iOS does have a user accessible filesystem. You just access it with iFunBox or any number of other apps. It's not natively accessible because it's HFS+. You can access all your apps, their data, and copy out or in anything you need.
 

IFRIT

macrumors 6502a
Oct 15, 2012
840
137
This feature is BROKEN. It doesn't work. If you copy and paste a bunch of stuff it will hang or crash or corrupt the files. It's utterly useless. Only USB Mass Storage like on Samsung phones work, not MTP.

iOS does have a user accessible filesystem. You just access it with iFunBox or any number of other apps. It's not natively accessible because it's HFS+. You can access all your apps, their data, and copy out or in anything you need.

MTP works fine so you're talking crap. All because you have a crap computer don't blame the eco system, do you honestly think that MTP would'nt work after Android has been out for 4+ years.. Who are these "Most" people that MTP supposedly does not work for?
 
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IFRIT

macrumors 6502a
Oct 15, 2012
840
137
I don't spend 2 days uploading music after I buy a new phone. I don't spend another 2 days downloading it! What if I immediately want a collection on my phone? I'm not going uploading and downloading 1GB.

With iTunes, I can just copy and paste music from anyone's computer into my phone. It will stay on the phone until I move it to my main library and tag & sync it properly.

You have heard of a little thing called streaming right? You upload your collection once then stream from the cloud or selectively download tunes you want to keep on a device. I for one would rather stream my music rather then clog the storage.
 

KurianOfBorg

macrumors member
Jul 23, 2013
54
3
MTP works fine so you're talking crap. All because you have a crap computer don't blame the eco system, do you honestly think that MTP would'nt work after Android has been out for 4+ years..

It doesn't. That's the joke. Pathetic software quality. Even if it works without crashing, the tag conflicts are still an issue. Music gets renamed and sorted into folders automatically when you paste it and the folder names get truncated, replaced with underscores, conflict on brackets in album names, etc. Similarily named tracks and albums will fail.

I dont stream. I want instant access to all my data. I don't compromise with substandard solutions because basic functionality like copying files is broken.
 

pdqgp

macrumors 68020
Mar 23, 2010
2,131
5,460
iSyncr is an EASY solution.

No iTunes is the biggest DISADVANTAGE of Android. I didn't think much of iTunes when I had an iPhone 4. After moving to Android, I found it was impossible to transfer music to the phone.

Syncr is a flawless both USB connected or wifi way of syncing iTunes to Android. NOTHING changed in the way I use iTunes or my phone except installing a basic app on both my phone and desktop that runs in the background. When I install new music in iTunes, I add it to my playlists and click iSyncr in the taskbar. All is then transferred. Easy.

TL;DR - Like iTunes and Android phones, get iSyncr and life goes on as you have always known it between iTunes and your phone.

----------

With iTunes, I can just copy and paste music from anyone's computer into my phone. It will stay on the phone until I move it to my main library and tag & sync it properly.

You can do that with an Android too.

----------

I don't spend 2 days uploading music after I buy a new phone. I don't spend another 2 days downloading it! What if I immediately want a collection on my phone? I'm not going uploading and downloading 1GB.

Sounds like you have a serious bandwidth issues on your network if it takes you that long to upload anything.
 

IFRIT

macrumors 6502a
Oct 15, 2012
840
137
You can do that with an Android too.

According to him no one can do that because MTP is broken on all phones appart from Samsung phones so it's impossible to transfer files to an Android device... :rolleyes:
 

SomeGuyDude

macrumors 6502a
Mar 19, 2011
730
2
NEPA
This is the biggest lie I've read in a while. The first thing I noticed when moving from years of Android to the iPhone 5S was that the apps weren't buggy crap anymore. The iOS version is made with tremendous care and beautiful animations while the Android version is junk as if it wasn't even made by the same people. It was a real eye-opener. Developers don't remotely give a damn about Android.

LOL yeah it's a lie. For no affixed reason I opted to trade my 5s for a Nexus 5 despite the apps being "buggy crap".

Oh hey remember when Skype randomly would decide not to load any of my messages? Yeah that was fun on the iPhone. How about Spotify not actually playing a next track when I hit next? What about the terrible Twitter clients? I also really enjoyed how there wasn't a single decent IM client. Oh wait, I forgot about the wonderful keyboard app... right, there aren't any.

You guys just see iOS's emphasis on animations and go "OMG IT'S SO PRETTY IT MUST MEAN IT'S BETTER." It'd be sad if it wasn't hilarious.

----------

It doesn't. That's the joke. Pathetic software quality. Even if it works without crashing, the tag conflicts are still an issue. Music gets renamed and sorted into folders automatically when you paste it and the folder names get truncated, replaced with underscores, conflict on brackets in album names, etc. Similarily named tracks and albums will fail.

I dont stream. I want instant access to all my data. I don't compromise with substandard solutions because basic functionality like copying files is broken.

Literally nothing you said is true. This entire post is false. Everything you said you can't do on Android can be done on Android and I have DONE it on Android, and have had none of the problems you've described. One of the BIGGEST benefits of Android is that you can access the filesystem directly and drag and drop stuff.

You're just making crap up now.
 

KurianOfBorg

macrumors member
Jul 23, 2013
54
3
Syncr is a flawless both USB connected or wifi way of syncing iTunes to Android. NOTHING changed in the way I use iTunes or my phone except installing a basic app on both my phone and desktop that runs in the background. When I install new music in iTunes, I add it to my playlists and click iSyncr in the taskbar. All is then transferred. Easy.

TL;DR - Like iTunes and Android phones, get iSyncr and life goes on as you have always known it between iTunes and your phone.
Still has the same problem of incompatible tags names to folder / file names. It will fail on similarily named albums or tracks from the same artist. You have to then go and edit the tags just so that it successfully transfers to the phone without conflict. I don't tolerate ANY bugs in basic features like this.

You can do that with an Android too.
Only if it has USB Mass Storage mode. The new ones all have MTP which is broken. They either crash / hang or fail to copy muiltiple files or the device stupidly attempts to auto-organize the pasted files into folders based on the tags and fails again. Even in USB Mass Storage mode you'll still have file name conflicts.

Sounds like you have a serious bandwidth issues on your network if it takes you that long to upload anything.
Most of the world has slow upload speeds of < 512 kb/s. I have one of the fastest connections in my country (16 Mb/s down and 1 Mb/s up). Android is ubiqutous in poor countries with slow Internet.
 
Last edited:

Savor

Suspended
Jun 18, 2010
3,742
918
About the same except Apple has alot more fun and also useless apps.

I actually was using with my Mom's iPhone 5 today with iOS7 and installed Pocket. I didn't realize there is an extra step to save articles on Pocket while browsing the web. With Android, it is just click on share and instantly I can store it into Pocket.

Also I'm trying to improve my Stepdad's experience with his Samsung Galaxy Tab 2. I use double tap gesture via Nova Launcher Prime for a full screen Flipboard. Very slick. Gesture swipes alone is what keeps me with Android along with an excellent launcher, TubeMate, Bluetooth transfer, etc. Apps aside, Android has more ability.
 
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