Another one back to iPhone after trying Android..

[Belmont31R]

This is why I switched back to IOS from Android. Specificially from an iPhone 4 to a SGS3 to an iPhone 5.

1. Support:

Samsung Kies sucks. I have never been able to get it to backup my phone. On two computers, running two different operating systems, I got an error every time I tried to backup the phone.

Supposedly have a Google account the phone is backed up there but I was never able to figure out how to backup there, and as I can best figure it’s more of a ‘Google saves’ what purchases and downloads you have made so you don’t have to rebuy apps if you’ve already purchased them.

Can’t get the latest OS, and no idea when it’s coming, if ever, to the SGS3 on ATT. I learned being dependent on the carrier to get updates sucks, and who would you complain to? ATT? Samsung? Google?

2. Screen:

No matter who says what or what some website says there is easy to see pixels on the SGS3 screen. The SAME apps on iPhone 5 are BARELY there. Holding both phones at a normal operating distance I can’t see pixilation on any apps with the iPhone. On the SGS3 I can.

3. Speed:

My wife now has the SGS3, and opening up quite a few apps we both use the 5 I faster on all the time. Put both phones side by side, hit the buttons at the same time, and with everything we use the 5 is faster. Weather Channel, Twitter, browser, settings, ect. Everything is faster on the 5. Even once in the apps, and hitting the home button the 5 is always faster.

4. Camera:

Much like the ‘speed’ section the camera on the 5 is faster to open, and faster to take pictures. Low light performance is better using the default settings. If you need to whip the phone out, and take a picture in low ambient light the 5 is much better. The SGS3, with the default settings, absolutely sucks when it’s not bright out. Yes I know you can set different settings to do better in low light on the SGS3 but I don’t want to go through menu’s just because it got dark out.

5. What I like about Android (on the SGS3 ICS 4.0.4):

Downloading app’s is easier on Google Play. I hate having to input my Apple ID to do everything. Get a free app? Put in the PW. 5 minutes later you download another app, and insert your PW again. The Play Store doesn’t require password’s nearly as often, and it’s easier to navigate over the phone. The descriptions are also more detailed, and show’s you what the app is going to be able to access before you download it. Lot’s of people use Facebook. Both app’s for both OS’s will get access to GPS data off the phone yet IOS won’t tell you that right away. I don’t use FB anymore but I do like how detailed the Play Store is in telling you what the app is going to access. I don’t like giving apps access to information they have no business getting into. Do you want a app getting into your call logs or getting constant GPS data of where you are?

I really do like the back button and settings button on the SGS3. I would not like something like the Nexus 4 which has those buttons on screen so it take’s up more screen estate. Both the iPhone and SGS3 have actual home buttons so it’s a wash there.

I do like the pull down menu on Android, and how many quick setting’s it has to turn thing’s on and off. Easy to turn BT off or WiFi or most other common settings.

Going into setting’s Android is pretty easy to navigate, and you get a bit more detail in thing’s like app usage and can set limit’s on data over cellular.

Haptic Feedback…love it when used right.

SwiftKey 3 (paid) keyboard. Love it!

Widgets…Loved the WunderGround weather widget which displayed the current (push) weather, and 3 day forecast. Widgets can be good for certain things but are often limited to take up a certain amount of space, and I found several that would otherwise be useful really aren’t as widgets. Would rather just click on the app itself and get a full screen version.

6. What I don’t like about Android:

I hate the coloration of things. Everything is these dark grays, blacks, mustard yellow, and blue. After a while I got sick of how dark everything is. IOS is all lighter colors, and Android is dark colors.

I may post screen shots later…but I compared something like the text messaging app on both phones, and with the huge space the Android keyboard takes up the difference in the amount of space the already sent messages takes up is rather minute.

To illustrate the point I bought the paid Weather Channel app for IOS and compared it to the free version on Android (there isn’t a paid WC app for Android). With the ad space on the free Android version you get just as much usable screen space on the 5. Things would be different if there was a paid (ad free) Android app but there is not one as of current. So that extra screen space on an app I use a lot was taken up with advertising.

Kinda mentioned widget’s above but most of them aren’t very good.

WunderGround was excellent on the home screen but others like stock ticker take longer to get the information than just clicking on the app itself. So in the end a couple widgets worked well while most were just dressing that don’t do much.

7. What I liked about the SGS3 itself:

Removable battery and Micro SD card slot. If you travel a lot popping in another battery instantly gives you a full charge, and the Micro SD card slot instantly gives you a ton more storage space for very little money. I bought a 32GB Micro SD card for $20. Apple would charge somewhere around $150 to go up to the total level of storage I got.

But I don’t travel a lot, and never bought a 2nd battery. I don’t have a ton of music or video’s so I never ended up using the on board memory. So both those ‘features’ didn’t do anything for me.

Screen size is good, and with the button’s for settings and ‘back’ the screen size isn’t really a burden. It’s also very good for watching youtube video’s and surfing the web with Chrome. Speaking of Chrome…love the back and forward buttons as well as the refresh button which is always displayed, and due to the screen size you still have a good amount of space. For things like web forums, which can get busy, having a refresh button in the browser, which is always displayed, works very well.

8. What I like about the iPhone 5:

The design is excellent, and even with the finish issues of the ‘slate’ version it just feels like a lot of work went into the phone. The button’s are metal, and of good quality. I love the toggle button for muting the phone so I can do that without turning the display on.

The screen IS better than the SGS3. Comparing the visuals of the same apps and font on both phones the 5 is clearer, and you have to look VERY close to see the smallest amount of pixilation. Looking at my home screen everything looks clearer and the font’s of the app names is clearer.

Kinda going to expand into IOS here but I find the apps to run smoother, and overall look better. Don’t get the settings button like the SGS3 has how often do you go into settings in an app? Maybe once to initially set it up and then rarely after that.

The camera, with the stock app and settings, is fast and take’s better pictures.

iCloud….seamless and easy to use. My MIL is an Apple user, and I was able to setup a iCloud photo folder just for sharing pictures with her that I take of our kids and family. Then I can put a description of the picture, and we can both leave comments. Works really well, and native to IOS so no 3rd party apps or anything. So easy to use!

iCloud also does wonders for restoring or backing up a phone. I put in my Apple ID when I got the 5, and I still had contacts and few pictures in there. I only had to load and update a few contacts, a new email address, and apps. Today, if I lost or broke my phone, and got a new one I could, within about 10 minutes, have a phone that was exactly the same as I had before down to texts, pictures, apps, ect.

9. iTunes Vs. Kies:

One of the reasons I wanted to try Android was I hate iTunes, and thought it sucked. That was until I tried Kies. As mentioned earlier on 2 computers running 2 different OS’s I never got Kies to backup the SGS3 and I ended up having to use the Window’s file explorer to add pictures and music to ‘sync’ my phone. For all you iTune’s haters out there iTune’s, even in the current iteration, is far better than Kies or Zune. Zune is better than Kies by far (my wife had a Nokia Windows phone for a week or so).

10. Final Impressions:

While I do enjoy the larger screen, and additions like Swift Key 3 the overall experience on iPhone is better for me. I figured out Widget’s aren’t all they cracked up to be, and whatever the blogs or unboxer’s say look at both screen’s side by side. Like I said I can easily see pixilation on the SGS3, and it take’s me a lot of strain to see any on the 5. I have very good eye sight, and don’t have any issues there.

There is also little things I noticed like the anti-fingerprint coating the 5 has where the SGS3 would get streaks all over it within no time just from using it. I can use the 5 ‘all day’, and don’t notice any streaks across the screen.
Battery life…kinda not impressed on the 5. Doesn’t use a lot during standby but as soon as I do use it the percentage left goes down quickly. Worth note here that I live on the edge of a LTE to HSPA+ area, and I think my phone is switching between the two often, and LTE is a known battery eater. I almost want to turn LTE off, and stick to ‘3G’. When I do get the LTE signal at home (when I turn WiFi off) I’m only getting two bars, and that means the radio has to work harder to get data out.

I live in Texas, and that mean’s many time’s throughout the year we get storms and checking the weather here is important. I can’t say it’s Samsung’s fault but I LOVE the paid Weather Channel app on IOS. It’s so smooth, and the background reflects the current weather in very good quality animations. It kinda does (on the free Android version which is the only version out there) but swiping between locations on the Android version sucks. I might feel different if there was paid Android version of the WC app out there but there isn’t. Again, as mentioned, the ad space takes up screen space so the actual usable area of the app is very similar. Kinda just one of those thing’s where lot’s of little things make you do thing’s like buy a different phone…lol

Mentioned support earlier…but this is kinda where things matter. Jelly Bean was supposed to be out for the ATT SGS3 in Sep, and then Oct, and now end of Nov and nothing. I did get some minor update notification which I have no idea what it was. I’ve tried to get it done on that phone over 5 times, and it always fails when I get to the Android loading screen. I’ve never had a single problem updating an iPhone. Go to Kies, and it says updates are up to date. So can’t update through there. It’s pretty much an over the air thing (over WiFi).

This, in my opinion, is the REAL issue with Android. Have no idea when or if the SGS3 is going to get JB and at this point I would not be surprised if the phone never get it…or if it does never gets updated again. I know Apple drop’s support of updates past certain generations, and some of them are questionable like no Siri for iPhone 4….but SGS3 is the ‘best’ or at least of now, one of the best Android phones, and doesn’t get the newest Android OS quite a few other devices are running. This is because with Android things are too fractured. You get the carrier involved in the phone (ATT in our case), the manufacturer (Samsung), and the OS creator (Google). So you have 3 players involved here vs. just 1 for the iPhone.

This also translates the software to sync and run the phone from the computer. Buy app’s from the Play Store, play the music with another app (Google Music), another to sync the phone (Kies), and get updates from ATT (or whatever carrier). If I could do all that with Google it would be a lot better. This is what iTune’s does. All in one.

I have noticed quite a few apps on the 5 which are still at the old 3.5” screen size, and it’s annoying. For all the stuff they say in the Apple event’s about Android tablets having scaled up app’s theres a lot of iPhone apps which are still scaled for the 3.5” screen. This will most likely be fixed as time goes on just think it’s bit of the pot calling the kettle black.

Last thing for now…after trying Win 8 on this laptop (Samsung Series 9) I’ll likely be getting a rMBP early next year or at least an Air. Overall, what Apple does really well at, is synchronizing programs and creating an environment for everything to work well together. I love the idea of being able to text (other Apple users) over a computer, and not have to do it over the phone. I’m not going to say Apple is good at the enterprise side of things…but for a social and consumer user I think Apple is so far ahead of everyone else there’s no reason to deal with Window’s anymore. Not sure, even why after using an iPhone from the 3G to 3GS to 4 I never thought to buy an Apple computer or even an iPad. May seem like a sale’s ad right now but I always thought phones = iPhone and computers = Windows. This year alone I bought this laptop, and built a complete desktop both with Windows. I kinda got on an anti-Apple streak for a few months when I bought/built both and now wish I had bought that rMBP and an iMAC.

In conclusion….do a side by side comparison if you are still on the fence between phones, and don’t just look at screen size or whatever. I realized I’d rather deal with one company when it comes to support, and one company when it comes to getting updates. When my wife and I still have iPhone 4’s (not 4S) she washed hers, and the Austin Apple Store gave her a free replacement even though we didn’t have AppleCare. She just went in, said she washed it, and they said you were honest and haven’t had any issues. Here’s a new phone.

Enough for now. Sorry for any grammar issues. Late, and a lot to go back over. 1st post here so go easy, and not trying to be redundant. Want to add more tomorrow with regards to rooting and all that on Android. Been reading a lot in the Mac forum’s on here, and just waiting til I can get the money together to go buy a rMBP.

 

[ChazUK]

Kies is really the worst piece of syncing/update software I've ever used. My short tenure with it was nothing but a pain.

Good too see you tried something else and that you more have something that does what you need.

Android and the galaxy s3 certainly isn't for everyone. Enjoy your new iPhone!

 

[Technarchy]

I agree that the dark color pallet and theme of android can be a bit depressing.

I think the lighter colors and softer shapes of iOS elements is easier on the eyes and disposition of the user.

The dark "silent hill" look really came about with gingerbread, which was clearly optimized for an AMOLED display; lots of black, and no light colors

 

[daveathall]

I think that is a very good review, it seems like you had it for a while, gave it a chance and found that it wasn't for you, as Chaz says above, it's not for everyone. I have to concur with regards to Kies, it is absolutely atrocious, sometimes it worked with my MBP, other times it just didn't. Thank you for your review and enjoy your new iPhone 5, it is a superb phone.

 

[Explicitic]

People actually use Kies? ._.

 

[Oletros]

The meaning of suck was totally redefined when Kies was released

 

[theluggage]

Samsung Kies sucks.

Don't think you'll get much argument on that point. This was nearly a dealbreaker for me until I found some alternatives and workarounds (Like uninstalling Kies from my Mac so that Android File Transfer worked).

Unlike iOS, though, there are 3rd-party alternatives like iSyncr (haven't tried it yet) and EasyPhoneSync (which seems to do music simply and well).

The other thing to bear in mind for Android is that you might want different solutions for different kinds of data: contacts and calendar are sewn up nicely by Gmail. Dropbox and similar services are perfect for exchanging documents - or there's always Android File Transfer. I'm also planning to check out Airdroid at some stage.

iTunes does a very good job of 'one stop shop' syncing (apart from documents, where it sucks) - but that monolithic design and lack of choice is also why people criticise it.

Supposedly have a Google account the phone is backed up there but I was never able to figure out how to backup there, and as I can best figure it’s more of a ‘Google saves’ what purchases and downloads you have made so you don’t have to rebuy apps if you’ve already purchased them.

It's a bit more than just what apps you've bought - it sounds like most of your settings: see http://support.google.com/android/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1663708

Can’t get the latest OS, and no idea when it’s coming, if ever, to the SGS3 on ATT. I learned being dependent on the carrier to get updates sucks, and who would you complain to? ATT? Samsung? Google?

I think with Android I'd recommend going unlocked/SIM-free, which at least takes the carrier out of the 'upgrade loop' (although I understand that might be easier said than done for people in the US).

If I hadn't been seduced by the Note 2, I'd have gone for a Nexus device to cut another party out of the loop. I know from a friend that the previous Galaxy Nexus was a damned good phone - the dealbreaker for me was 16GB and no SD card, and the Nexus 4 leaves me a bit cold.

 

[RetepNamenots]

This sounds more like 'back to an iPhone after trying a Samsung' rather than after Android. It may be an Android phone, but most of your gripes were with the Samsung side of things. 1–4 are all issues related to either the hardware or Samsung software/Touchwiz.

I'm not denying the problems, they're definitely there, but your experience would be much better with a Nexus 4, for instance.

 

[sineplex]

there's no comparison to SG3. Nexus 4 is the smoothest Android experience there is.

 

[dalbir4444]

People who don't like the dark coloration schemes in stock Android or Touchwiz would probably love MIUI. Not saying that you should be expected to flash that ROM, but it has a light color scheme somewhat like iOS.

And do people prefer using a software like Kies or iTunes to sync your music? Isn't it just easier to drag and drop your music from a file explorer?

 

[mattopotamus]

One of the best things about iPhones is the way icloud backs EVERYTHING up. There is currently no single android solution to this

 

[Belmont31R]

Understood theres other ways to 'sync' stuff to an Android phone. I used Airdroid for a while, and I did root the phone to use TitaniumBackup Pro to make backups of the apps, settings, ect. However using all these alternatives becomes a hobby to find what works, and what doesn't, and I think for some of these devices being the flagship phones on the Android side it's pretty sad the support for these phones just sucks, and you end up spending hours just getting somewhat of the same functionality that IOS and iTunes has.

iCloud backups and iTunes to manage music + manage the phone works really well for me, and has the App Store embedded in it. Not sure what to say other than I prefer this setup than using multiple programs, file explorer to drag drop, and having to root the phone to get good backups I can store locally.

Obviously if someone whats to turn using their phone into hobby, and flash all these different ROM's and such onto their phone then Android is the way to go. Personally I thought it would be cool to do that then discovered it's not something I want to mess with. Rooting was fine (and needed to run TitaniumBackup) just didn't want to mess with anything else.

The dark color scheme was pretty drab after a while. I'd like to play around on a Nexus 4 but as I said I have no interest in owning anything LG.

 

[cynics]

When I restored my iPhone it downloaded the apps from the App Store the same way Google does from the Play Store at least when using iCloud back up. I know this because all my apps were up to date and apps no longer on the App Store were not redownloaded (AVPlayer).

I found both to be a pretty seamless experience. I just got a Nexus 10 and when I logged into my google account everything was loaded like my old tablet (including pictures).

 

[ChrisTX]

This is why I switched back to IOS from Android. Specificially from an iPhone 4 to a SGS3 to an iPhone 5.

1. Support:

Samsung Kies sucks. I have never been able to get it to backup my phone. On two computers, running two different operating systems, I got an error every time I tried to backup the phone.

Supposedly have a Google account the phone is backed up there but I was never able to figure out how to backup there, and as I can best figure it’s more of a ‘Google saves’ what purchases and downloads you have made so you don’t have to rebuy apps if you’ve already purchased them.

Can’t get the latest OS, and no idea when it’s coming, if ever, to the SGS3 on ATT. I learned being dependent on the carrier to get updates sucks, and who would you complain to? ATT? Samsung? Google?

2. Screen:

No matter who says what or what some website says there is easy to see pixels on the SGS3 screen. The SAME apps on iPhone 5 are BARELY there. Holding both phones at a normal operating distance I can’t see pixilation on any apps with the iPhone. On the SGS3 I can.

3. Speed:

My wife now has the SGS3, and opening up quite a few apps we both use the 5 I faster on all the time. Put both phones side by side, hit the buttons at the same time, and with everything we use the 5 is faster. Weather Channel, Twitter, browser, settings, ect. Everything is faster on the 5. Even once in the apps, and hitting the home button the 5 is always faster.

4. Camera:

Much like the ‘speed’ section the camera on the 5 is faster to open, and faster to take pictures. Low light performance is better using the default settings. If you need to whip the phone out, and take a picture in low ambient light the 5 is much better. The SGS3, with the default settings, absolutely sucks when it’s not bright out. Yes I know you can set different settings to do better in low light on the SGS3 but I don’t want to go through menu’s just because it got dark out.

5. What I like about Android (on the SGS3 ICS 4.0.4):

Downloading app’s is easier on Google Play. I hate having to input my Apple ID to do everything. Get a free app? Put in the PW. 5 minutes later you download another app, and insert your PW again. The Play Store doesn’t require password’s nearly as often, and it’s easier to navigate over the phone. The descriptions are also more detailed, and show’s you what the app is going to be able to access before you download it. Lot’s of people use Facebook. Both app’s for both OS’s will get access to GPS data off the phone yet IOS won’t tell you that right away. I don’t use FB anymore but I do like how detailed the Play Store is in telling you what the app is going to access. I don’t like giving apps access to information they have no business getting into. Do you want a app getting into your call logs or getting constant GPS data of where you are?

I really do like the back button and settings button on the SGS3. I would not like something like the Nexus 4 which has those buttons on screen so it take’s up more screen estate. Both the iPhone and SGS3 have actual home buttons so it’s a wash there.

I do like the pull down menu on Android, and how many quick setting’s it has to turn thing’s on and off. Easy to turn BT off or WiFi or most other common settings.

Going into setting’s Android is pretty easy to navigate, and you get a bit more detail in thing’s like app usage and can set limit’s on data over cellular.

Haptic Feedback…love it when used right.

SwiftKey 3 (paid) keyboard. Love it!

Widgets…Loved the WunderGround weather widget which displayed the current (push) weather, and 3 day forecast. Widgets can be good for certain things but are often limited to take up a certain amount of space, and I found several that would otherwise be useful really aren’t as widgets. Would rather just click on the app itself and get a full screen version.

6. What I don’t like about Android:

I hate the coloration of things. Everything is these dark grays, blacks, mustard yellow, and blue. After a while I got sick of how dark everything is. IOS is all lighter colors, and Android is dark colors.

I may post screen shots later…but I compared something like the text messaging app on both phones, and with the huge space the Android keyboard takes up the difference in the amount of space the already sent messages takes up is rather minute.

To illustrate the point I bought the paid Weather Channel app for IOS and compared it to the free version on Android (there isn’t a paid WC app for Android). With the ad space on the free Android version you get just as much usable screen space on the 5. Things would be different if there was a paid (ad free) Android app but there is not one as of current. So that extra screen space on an app I use a lot was taken up with advertising.

Kinda mentioned widget’s above but most of them aren’t very good.

WunderGround was excellent on the home screen but others like stock ticker take longer to get the information than just clicking on the app itself. So in the end a couple widgets worked well while most were just dressing that don’t do much.

7. What I liked about the SGS3 itself:

Removable battery and Micro SD card slot. If you travel a lot popping in another battery instantly gives you a full charge, and the Micro SD card slot instantly gives you a ton more storage space for very little money. I bought a 32GB Micro SD card for $20. Apple would charge somewhere around $150 to go up to the total level of storage I got.

But I don’t travel a lot, and never bought a 2nd battery. I don’t have a ton of music or video’s so I never ended up using the on board memory. So both those ‘features’ didn’t do anything for me.

Screen size is good, and with the button’s for settings and ‘back’ the screen size isn’t really a burden. It’s also very good for watching youtube video’s and surfing the web with Chrome. Speaking of Chrome…love the back and forward buttons as well as the refresh button which is always displayed, and due to the screen size you still have a good amount of space. For things like web forums, which can get busy, having a refresh button in the browser, which is always displayed, works very well.

8. What I like about the iPhone 5:

The design is excellent, and even with the finish issues of the ‘slate’ version it just feels like a lot of work went into the phone. The button’s are metal, and of good quality. I love the toggle button for muting the phone so I can do that without turning the display on.

The screen IS better than the SGS3. Comparing the visuals of the same apps and font on both phones the 5 is clearer, and you have to look VERY close to see the smallest amount of pixilation. Looking at my home screen everything looks clearer and the font’s of the app names is clearer.

Kinda going to expand into IOS here but I find the apps to run smoother, and overall look better. Don’t get the settings button like the SGS3 has how often do you go into settings in an app? Maybe once to initially set it up and then rarely after that.

The camera, with the stock app and settings, is fast and take’s better pictures.

iCloud….seamless and easy to use. My MIL is an Apple user, and I was able to setup a iCloud photo folder just for sharing pictures with her that I take of our kids and family. Then I can put a description of the picture, and we can both leave comments. Works really well, and native to IOS so no 3rd party apps or anything. So easy to use!

iCloud also does wonders for restoring or backing up a phone. I put in my Apple ID when I got the 5, and I still had contacts and few pictures in there. I only had to load and update a few contacts, a new email address, and apps. Today, if I lost or broke my phone, and got a new one I could, within about 10 minutes, have a phone that was exactly the same as I had before down to texts, pictures, apps, ect.

9. iTunes Vs. Kies:

One of the reasons I wanted to try Android was I hate iTunes, and thought it sucked. That was until I tried Kies. As mentioned earlier on 2 computers running 2 different OS’s I never got Kies to backup the SGS3 and I ended up having to use the Window’s file explorer to add pictures and music to ‘sync’ my phone. For all you iTune’s haters out there iTune’s, even in the current iteration, is far better than Kies or Zune. Zune is better than Kies by far (my wife had a Nokia Windows phone for a week or so).

10. Final Impressions:

While I do enjoy the larger screen, and additions like Swift Key 3 the overall experience on iPhone is better for me. I figured out Widget’s aren’t all they cracked up to be, and whatever the blogs or unboxer’s say look at both screen’s side by side. Like I said I can easily see pixilation on the SGS3, and it take’s me a lot of strain to see any on the 5. I have very good eye sight, and don’t have any issues there.

There is also little things I noticed like the anti-fingerprint coating the 5 has where the SGS3 would get streaks all over it within no time just from using it. I can use the 5 ‘all day’, and don’t notice any streaks across the screen.
Battery life…kinda not impressed on the 5. Doesn’t use a lot during standby but as soon as I do use it the percentage left goes down quickly. Worth note here that I live on the edge of a LTE to HSPA+ area, and I think my phone is switching between the two often, and LTE is a known battery eater. I almost want to turn LTE off, and stick to ‘3G’. When I do get the LTE signal at home (when I turn WiFi off) I’m only getting two bars, and that means the radio has to work harder to get data out.

I live in Texas, and that mean’s many time’s throughout the year we get storms and checking the weather here is important. I can’t say it’s Samsung’s fault but I LOVE the paid Weather Channel app on IOS. It’s so smooth, and the background reflects the current weather in very good quality animations. It kinda does (on the free Android version which is the only version out there) but swiping between locations on the Android version sucks. I might feel different if there was paid Android version of the WC app out there but there isn’t. Again, as mentioned, the ad space takes up screen space so the actual usable area of the app is very similar. Kinda just one of those thing’s where lot’s of little things make you do thing’s like buy a different phone…lol

Mentioned support earlier…but this is kinda where things matter. Jelly Bean was supposed to be out for the ATT SGS3 in Sep, and then Oct, and now end of Nov and nothing. I did get some minor update notification which I have no idea what it was. I’ve tried to get it done on that phone over 5 times, and it always fails when I get to the Android loading screen. I’ve never had a single problem updating an iPhone. Go to Kies, and it says updates are up to date. So can’t update through there. It’s pretty much an over the air thing (over WiFi).

This, in my opinion, is the REAL issue with Android. Have no idea when or if the SGS3 is going to get JB and at this point I would not be surprised if the phone never get it…or if it does never gets updated again. I know Apple drop’s support of updates past certain generations, and some of them are questionable like no Siri for iPhone 4….but SGS3 is the ‘best’ or at least of now, one of the best Android phones, and doesn’t get the newest Android OS quite a few other devices are running. This is because with Android things are too fractured. You get the carrier involved in the phone (ATT in our case), the manufacturer (Samsung), and the OS creator (Google). So you have 3 players involved here vs. just 1 for the iPhone.

This also translates the software to sync and run the phone from the computer. Buy app’s from the Play Store, play the music with another app (Google Music), another to sync the phone (Kies), and get updates from ATT (or whatever carrier). If I could do all that with Google it would be a lot better. This is what iTune’s does. All in one.

I have noticed quite a few apps on the 5 which are still at the old 3.5” screen size, and it’s annoying. For all the stuff they say in the Apple event’s about Android tablets having scaled up app’s theres a lot of iPhone apps which are still scaled for the 3.5” screen. This will most likely be fixed as time goes on just think it’s bit of the pot calling the kettle black.

Last thing for now…after trying Win 8 on this laptop (Samsung Series 9) I’ll likely be getting a rMBP early next year or at least an Air. Overall, what Apple does really well at, is synchronizing programs and creating an environment for everything to work well together. I love the idea of being able to text (other Apple users) over a computer, and not have to do it over the phone. I’m not going to say Apple is good at the enterprise side of things…but for a social and consumer user I think Apple is so far ahead of everyone else there’s no reason to deal with Window’s anymore. Not sure, even why after using an iPhone from the 3G to 3GS to 4 I never thought to buy an Apple computer or even an iPad. May seem like a sale’s ad right now but I always thought phones = iPhone and computers = Windows. This year alone I bought this laptop, and built a complete desktop both with Windows. I kinda got on an anti-Apple streak for a few months when I bought/built both and now wish I had bought that rMBP and an iMAC.

In conclusion….do a side by side comparison if you are still on the fence between phones, and don’t just look at screen size or whatever. I realized I’d rather deal with one company when it comes to support, and one company when it comes to getting updates. When my wife and I still have iPhone 4’s (not 4S) she washed hers, and the Austin Apple Store gave her a free replacement even though we didn’t have AppleCare. She just went in, said she washed it, and they said you were honest and haven’t had any issues. Here’s a new phone.

Enough for now. Sorry for any grammar issues. Late, and a lot to go back over. 1st post here so go easy, and not trying to be redundant. Want to add more tomorrow with regards to rooting and all that on Android. Been reading a lot in the Mac forum’s on here, and just waiting til I can get the money together to go buy a rMBP.

I applaud your efforts here, and I understand this took a long time to type out, but the SG3 is a better smartphone than the iPhone 5.

 

[mattopotamus]

Understood theres other ways to 'sync' stuff to an Android phone. I used Airdroid for a while, and I did root the phone to use TitaniumBackup Pro to make backups of the apps, settings, ect. However using all these alternatives becomes a hobby to find what works, and what doesn't, and I think for some of these devices being the flagship phones on the Android side it's pretty sad the support for these phones just sucks, and you end up spending hours just getting somewhat of the same functionality that IOS and iTunes has.

iCloud backups and iTunes to manage music + manage the phone works really well for me, and has the App Store embedded in it. Not sure what to say other than I prefer this setup than using multiple programs, file explorer to drag drop, and having to root the phone to get good backups I can store locally.

Obviously if someone whats to turn using their phone into hobby, and flash all these different ROM's and such onto their phone then Android is the way to go. Personally I thought it would be cool to do that then discovered it's not something I want to mess with. Rooting was fine (and needed to run TitaniumBackup) just didn't want to mess with anything else.

The dark color scheme was pretty drab after a while. I'd like to play around on a Nexus 4 but as I said I have no interest in owning anything LG.

Totally agree. Customization is nice, but not when it gets to the point where it feels like a chore. Like you, it was very refreshing going back to an iPhone.

 

[sviato]

I applaud your efforts here, and I understand this took a long time to type out, but the SG3 is a better smartphone than the iPhone 5.

"better", get out troll

I'm thinking of getting an S3 myself, thanks for the interesting analysis OP.

 

[onthecouchagain]

The S3 is really an amazing piece of device to hold. It's so comfortable. That's all I have to add.

 

[mattopotamus]

The S3 is really an amazing piece of device to hold. It's so comfortable. That's all I have to add.

B.c it is so thin, I think it feels better in the pocket than a 4S

 

[onthecouchagain]

B.c it is so thin, I think it feels better in the pocket than a 4S

Very much agree. It feels like it just disappears into your pocket, in fact.

 

[ChrisTX]

"better", get out troll

I'm thinking of getting an S3 myself, thanks for the interesting analysis OP.

Haha come on now, maybe a trollish post, but I'm hardly a troll. Apple has gone extremely stagnant with the iPhone, that's why so many of us here have switched to the dark side. I hate to think that if Steve Jobs was still around I wouldn't have switched, but these minor upgrades with the iPhone are getting ridiculous. You will love the SIII, the transition was seamless.

 

[IFRIT]

Haha come on now, maybe a trollish post, but I'm hardly a troll. Apple has gone extremely stagnant with the iPhone, that's why so many of us here have switched to the dark side. I hate to think that if Steve Jobs was still around I wouldn't have switched, but these minor upgrades with the iPhone are getting ridiculous. You will love the SIII, the transition was seamless.

As i said before Apple won't change things too much as they would be scared that they would kill their cash cow.

 

[ChrisTX]

As i said before Apple won't change things too much as they would be scared that they would kill their cash cow.

Which is sad because I really love iOS, and would love an S3, or Note 2 sized phone from Apple. Now that the S3 is the number one selling phone in the world, they need to realize that people want more screen real estate on their phones.

 

[ReanimationN]

I agree with a lot of what you've said OP, especially this in one of your next posts:

Understood theres other ways to 'sync' stuff to an Android phone. I used Airdroid for a while, and I did root the phone to use TitaniumBackup Pro to make backups of the apps, settings, ect. However using all these alternatives becomes a hobby to find what works, and what doesn't, and I think for some of these devices being the flagship phones on the Android side it's pretty sad the support for these phones just sucks, and you end up spending hours just getting somewhat of the same functionality that IOS and iTunes has.

Backing up an Android device is a terrible experience. It's a total joke that you need to root your device to make a decent backup. It really does become this massive time wasting hobby, needing to mess with and tweak a device to get functionality that should be there out-of-the-box. And then you get people telling you to get this app, or that app to get basic functionality that you want, then you get them, find they do what you were looking for... but then do other things terribly. For example, I had people on here tell me to replace Chrome on my N7, as it was really laggy, jerky etc, with Boat Browser, saying that it would be much smoother- it was a lot better than Chrome (thanks to those who suggested it). Then I was getting incredibly frustrated with the stock Jelly Bean keyboard. If I ever mistyped letters early in a word and it autocorrected the word to something incorrect, but close enough that I'd only need to change the last one or two letters of the word, I'd then backspace over those last couple of letters... and it would revert to the incorrect typing I'd written earlier. This happened so often that I'd avoid using the N7 for anything longer than a few words. Then I tried Swiftkey, which was slightly better, but isn't the godsend from typing heaven that people make it out to be, and found that it wouldn't autocorrect anything when used in Boat Browser.

Also the colour scheme is nasty, I agree. iOS, Windows and OS X are so much easier on the eyes. I thought I'd like Holo, but after a while I really got over how dark and muddy-looking everything was (I don't think the N7's washed out screen helped here). Dark grey keyboards on black backgrounds, white letters on black backgrounds, grey buttons, sickly shades of green in the Play Store... yeah I wasn't a fan. I much preferred the light Holo theme that popped up from time-to-time in certain apps, although the bright blues on white backgrounds could get hard to read on the washed-out N7 screen.

Before I get attacked, some parts of iOS look pretty bad too- e.g. the skeuomorphic apps like Game Centre and Find My Friends (shudder), but on the whole, I find the lighter colours and themes of iOS much easier on the eyes.

 

[725032]

Now that the S3 is the worlds most popular selling phone, it will be interesting to see how Apple adapts.

If the android platforms up their game just a little bit then Apple would be in trouble.

 

[tmoney82]

I agree with a lot of what you've said OP, especially this in one of your next posts:


Backing up an Android device is a terrible experience. It's a total joke that you need to root your device to make a decent backup. It really does become this massive time wasting hobby, needing to mess with and tweak a device to get functionality that should be there out-of-the-box. And then you get people telling you to get this app, or that app to get basic functionality that you want, then you get them, find they do what you were looking for... but then do other things terribly. For example, I had people on here tell me to replace Chrome on my N7, as it was really laggy, jerky etc, with Boat Browser, saying that it would be much smoother- it was a lot better than Chrome (thanks to those who suggested it). Then I was getting incredibly frustrated with the stock Jelly Bean keyboard. If I ever mistyped letters early in a word and it autocorrected the word to something incorrect, but close enough that I'd only need to change the last one or two letters of the word, I'd then backspace over those last couple of letters... and it would revert to the incorrect typing I'd written earlier. This happened so often that I'd avoid using the N7 for anything longer than a few words. Then I tried Swiftkey, which was slightly better, but isn't the godsend from typing heaven that people make it out to be, and found that it wouldn't autocorrect anything when used in Boat Browser.

Also the colour scheme is nasty, I agree. iOS, Windows and OS X are so much easier on the eyes. I thought I'd like Holo, but after a while I really got over how dark and muddy-looking everything was (I don't think the N7's washed out screen helped here). Dark grey keyboards on black backgrounds, white letters on black backgrounds, grey buttons, sickly shades of green in the Play Store... yeah I wasn't a fan. I much preferred the light Holo theme that popped up from time-to-time in certain apps, although the bright blues on white backgrounds could get hard to read on the washed-out N7 screen.

Before I get attacked, some parts of iOS look pretty bad too- e.g. the skeuomorphic apps like Game Centre and Find My Friends (shudder), but on the whole, I find the lighter colours and themes of iOS much easier on the eyes.

You know what, you just describe why people like Android better than IOS. You had the "ability" and "freedom" to change what you didn't like! I mean you was forced to like what IOS gave you so you think that how thing "suppose" to be!