Android users: how does App quality compare to iOS?

[Max(IT)]

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.

Android faster ? In your dream maybe .... Or if you were using an iPhone 4

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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.

You are right but it doesn't matter: they are going to deny.
I'm an android user, and not with low end devices (Samsung s4 and nexus 7) so I know what you are saying, but some users are in denial ....

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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...

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

Dropbox actually is the only app I use that is slightly better on android ...

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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




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.

Here we are .... So you basically compared a four years old iPhone 4 with a nexus 5 and realized that "apps are faster" .... well done indeed

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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.

There are people with a real life, you know, people traveling a lot, in many countries, whee streaming just isn't an option ...

 

[TheAppleFairy]

Most of the apps that I have on my Galaxy S3 and on my iPhone are about the same. A few of them seem to be a little more polished on my iPhone than on my Android.

The only app that I use on my S3 that drives me nuts is the SiriusXM app. For some reason the entire time I use the app my phone vibrates. It's like the haptic feedback is used as bass or something. Even though haptic feedback off it still vibrates and drives me crazy. I usually listen to SiriusXM on my galaxy because I have unlimited verizon data on it and my iPhone and iPad is on AT&T 10GB shared plan.

I am not sure why SiriusXM hasn't fixed this app.

 

[Max(IT)]

App quality in ART mode is great. Otherwise not so good

App QUALITY has nothing to do with the runtime used ...

OMG ... people talk for the sake of talking without even know what they are talking about

 

[taedouni]

App QUALITY has nothing to do with the runtime used ...

OMG ... people talk for the sake of talking without even know what they are talking about

So an App being compiled before runtime has nothing to do with quality? The default run time is JIT (just in time), compiles on the fly. It's like comparing C++ to Python. I think that you do not know what you're talking about. For me app quality includes performance, not just design.

I never said that the Apps are superior than iOS (in performance or design, but they are in functionality), all I said was that in ART, third party apps are greatly improved.

 

[Max(IT)]

So an App being compiled before runtime has nothing to do with quality? The default run time is JIT (just in time), compiles on the fly. It's like comparing C++ to Python. I think that you do not know what you're talking about. For me app quality includes performance, not just design.

I never said that the Apps are superior than iOS (in performance or design, but they are in functionality), all I said was that in ART, third party apps are greatly improved.

No, absolutely, NOTHING to do with quality.
Performances could changes, but quality isn't affected. And performance is a totally different thing that quality ....

Said that, all this speaking about ART being better is just BS at this stage. Like people reporting Safari to be snappier after every iOS update

Art is the future, maybe, but at this point it is largely incomplete and it shows performance gain only in some tasks, with performance loss in other tasks ...

http://www.androidpolice.com/2013/1...ormance-wont-blow-away-today-will-get-better/

 

[taedouni]

No, absolutely, NOTHING to do with quality.
Performances could changes, but quality isn't affected. And performance is a totally different thing that quality ....

Said that, all this speaking about ART being better is just BS at this stage. Like people reporting Safari to be snappier after every iOS update

Art is the future, maybe, but at this point it is largely incomplete and it shows performance gain only in some tasks, with performance loss in other tasks ...

http://www.androidpolice.com/2013/1...ormance-wont-blow-away-today-will-get-better/

Posting an article from November, nice find....
Benchmarks are not that important, it improves performance by eliminating lag in certain apps that are optimized for ART. Precompiled vs JIT is a big deal. If you don't notice the difference then that's your problem, but I do notice. It's not going to improve performance that much in old crappy android devices. It won't make opening or closing apps any faster. One of the more noticeable things are scrolling in as such as Facebook.

Quality depends on what you see as quality. It's your opinion. In my opinion performance is part of quality. That's why quality control people analyze performance of apps and not just make sure that everything works.

Safari performance may increase if Apple made optimizations to it, but yes a lot of people tend to fool themselves after incremental updates are released.

I'm not sure what you're arguing about. I never said that android apps are superior in quality compared to iOS. You're just a troll. Have a nice day.

 

[Max(IT)]

Posting an article from November, nice find....
Benchmarks are not that important, it improves performance by eliminating lag in certain apps that are optimized for ART. Precompiled vs JIT is a big deal. If you don't notice the difference then that's your problem, but I do notice. It's not going to improve performance that much in old crappy android devices. It won't make opening or closing apps any faster. One of the more noticeable things are scrolling in as such as Facebook.

Quality depends on what you see as quality. It's your opinion. In my opinion performance is part of quality. That's why quality control people analyze performance of apps and not just make sure that everything works.

Safari performance may increase if Apple made optimizations to it, but yes a lot of people tend to fool themselves after incremental updates are released.

I'm not sure what you're arguing about. I never said that android apps are superior in quality compared to iOS. You're just a troll. Have a nice day.

I'm not even speaking about iOS ....
And surely I didn't say Art is something bad, at all.

You said that ART improved apps' quality, and that is just plain false, no matter how hard you try to shuffle your words.

originally Posted by taedouni
App quality in ART mode is great. Otherwise not so good

And, btw, art performances didn't change a bit since November, when that comparison was made.

Am I a troll ? Dude, I was here well before you ....

 

[IFRIT]

Android faster ? In your dream maybe .... Or if you were using an iPhone 4

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You are right but it doesn't matter: they are going to deny.
I'm an android user, and not with low end devices (Samsung s4 and nexus 7) so I know what you are saying, but some users are in denial ....

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Dropbox actually is the only app I use that is slightly better on android ...

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Here we are .... So you basically compared a four years old iPhone 4 with a nexus 5 and realized that "apps are faster" .... well done indeed

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There are people with a real life, you know, people traveling a lot, in many countries, whee streaming just isn't an option ...

Then download the music you want for the trip before you go on the trip...

 

[Dr. McKay]

I had an iPhone 4S with iOS 7 before I switched to Android on a Motorola Moto G. Can't say the cross-platform apps on Android are of less quality in comparison.
Games run very well, too. Only one exception : I used to play Tiny Death Star on my iPhone quite a lot, but it runs like crap on Android. Pity.
Other games run just fine, though...

 

[gotluck]

App QUALITY has nothing to do with the runtime used ...

OMG ... people talk for the sake of talking without even know what they are talking about

What even is quality? I would argue it is functionality. As far as quality and apps are concerned, seems to be subjective to me. You speak like we are arguing based on strictly facts here. This whole thread is just a bunch of opinions.

 

[flameproof]

Dropbox actually is the only app I use that is slightly better on android ...

I can edit text files, that's a major plus.

Naturally Maps and all google related apps will work better on Android. And KEEP is totally missing on iOS. KEEP is one I very often use.

BTW, the absolutely brilliant Nexus 5 is cheaper then the lowest entry iPhone (4s now). Leave alone Moto G or E.

And I get wireless charging with the N5! Battery life is maybe 50% of the iPhone though (and I even don't use LTE).

 

[tcc1]

The tweaks are available within the settings of all recent Android phones in a section called “Developer options.”

This section might be hidden on some phones, but it’s very easy to access. On many phones, you just have to open a certain page in the settings and tap a button seven times. Use Google to figure out how to enable Developer options on your phone if it’s currently hidden (for example, search “enable developer options HTC One”).

Once you have access to Developer options, simply scroll until you find the following three settings, which may be located on the main screen or within an “Advanced” subsection:

Window animation scale

Transition animation scale

Animator animation scale

Tapping each of the three aforementioned settings will reveal that it’s set to “1x” by default. If you want to speed up your phone or tablet dramatically, simply change each of those three settings to “.5x” — that’s it...restart your device

 

[tcc1]

Android apps has changed dramatically since 2012.android apps now (2014) are on par with most of ios high quality apps including design,functionality,perfomance etc.when your in the google play store look for editors choice or top developer under the apps title obviously youll see that the android apps are being updated frequently and developers have improved their work. google/android is trying to close the gap between ios in app quality and I believe they are there now.(non tablet apps).and btw android 4.1+ apps crash way lesser than ios 7 apps .

 

[Internaut]

Only thing is that I think iOS apps are more elegant. See: Tumblr, Facebook, Spotify.

Even Google's own apps look nicer on iOS than they do on Android.

That said, for phone there's nothing in it; for tablet, Android still lags, with less tablet specific apps.

 

[TacticalDesire]

I don't have much issue with the quality of android apps. I find the ones I use to be on par with their iOS counterparts and the android version will often do more.

 

[Stuntman06]

I don't have much issue with the quality of android apps. I find the ones I use to be on par with their iOS counterparts and the android version will often do more.

I had an opportunity to really try a few apps that are on both platforms. I was surprised to find that the functionality isn't the same. In general, the Android version had some functionality that wasn't available on iOS. I only tried a few apps that I use often.

The iOS versions tend to perform better whenever it has to render web pages. Pulse is a reader that I use. The iOS version is more responsive when viewing a web page. I can start scrolling immediately. The Android version isn't as responsive while the web page is still loading. There is a delay when trying to scroll before the entire web page is loaded.

The phones I compared them on are the iPhone 5S and the Galaxy S3.

 

[SpoonCody]

I had an opportunity to really try a few apps that are on both platforms. I was surprised to find that the functionality isn't the same. In general, the Android version had some functionality that wasn't available on iOS. I only tried a few apps that I use often.

The iOS versions tend to perform better whenever it has to render web pages. Pulse is a reader that I use. The iOS version is more responsive when viewing a web page. I can start scrolling immediately. The Android version isn't as responsive while the web page is still loading. There is a delay when trying to scroll before the entire web page is loaded.

The phones I compared them on are the iPhone 5S and the Galaxy S3.

I don't know how to describe it, but I also find apps on Android just communicate better with each other. Whereas on my iPhone 5C, I find I'm exiting and entering other apps constantly in order to share to them or have them communicate with each other. DropBox sort of comes to mind.

I really wish iOS would let you set default apps or at the very least, let you share to any app you want including third party apps that you have installed.

 

[flameproof]

BTW, Android has torrent apps - they work really well!

I think iOS has no torrent apps at all.

 

[beosound3200]

BTW, Android has torrent apps - they work really well!

I think iOS has no torrent apps at all.

Why would anyone want a torrent app on their mobile phone?

This is a rethorical question and a statement of the nebulosity of the modern mobile phone usage

 

[mib1800]

Why would anyone want a torrent app on their mobile phone?

This is a rethorical question and a statement of the nebulosity of the modern mobile phone usage

It is just another data download option.

 

[AustinIllini]

Interactions are better. The marquee apps are indistinguishable from a UI standpoint, but some of the lesser ones have crappy ads in them.

 

[flameproof]

Why would anyone want a torrent app on their mobile phone?

Example: I was in Dubai, hotel had really internet, and I really wanted to get one movie.

Normally I don't watch movies on my phone, but I do watch most on my iPad - which again, has no torrent app.

 

[0dev]

For tablets, iOS has better quality apps. Hard to argue otherwise.

For smartphones, Android and iOS are on par for quality, but as others have said, Android allows apps iOS doesn't. And I think the fact Android allows you to install apps not in the Play Store without rooting is a big plus too.

 

[beosound3200]

Example: I was in Dubai, hotel had really internet, and I really wanted to get one movie.

Normally I don't watch movies on my phone, but I do watch most on my iPad - which again, has no torrent app.

Downloading torrents to mobile devices is the same as watching movies on a 10 inch screen, out of place

 

[0dev]

Downloading torrents to mobile devices is the same as watching movies on a 10 inch screen, out of place

I torrent on my phone all the time, it's a useful feature to have.