Caught in the Apple hype machine (iPhone 6s)

[Zwhaler]

That can be said for any new phone especially at release date prices. An Edge plus is not worth the premium over the Note 4 if you are looking for new features.

However, I would never use a Note 4 at any price over an expensive Edge plus (mainly because of the cheap build of the Note 4).

Ha, I upgraded from Note 4 to edge+ and man what a difference. The exynos chip is way faster, that is the main thing that I noticed plus the display is really nice.

 

[geoff5093]

Hmm I can some of these being problems but some of them don't quite match what I experience on my phone.
1. I have never seen an app where you swipe down to go back. Generally, swiping down refreshes a view. Swiping from the left to go back is more or less standard system-wide. And there is almost always a back button in the top left. Maybe someone can give an example of a different design but I am certain Apple apps, and apps that are properlycoded according to the HIG, will never have this problem.
2. Notifications can be hectic. Use the settings to pare them down, most are useless anyway, such as Bob is typing.
3. Again, not my experience. I just got a text. I opened Messages manually, read the message, and the notification is gone. Properly coded apps should behave themselves.
4. My camera remembers this setting. Is your maybe on Auto? Tap "HDR" on the camera screen to set it On or Off manually.
5. Again, strange that you have trouble here. I can long press a photo in Mail or Safari and save it to the photo roll. In the Dropbox app, I just use the standard action menu button to save an image.
6. You can. Look in Settings> Mail, Contacts, Calendars> tap your mail account> tap advanced> look for "Move Discarded Messages Into:"
7. This is a design decision/trade-off. I imagine the thinking is that people better remember where they spatially place something, rather than where it should be in a sorted list. I'm not saying you're wrong, just looking at it from another point of view. As for hiding apps, that would be nice. I don't let it bother me, but my wife gets POed.

Google Play Music requires you to swipe down to go back from the screen showing you the current song, to get to your library. Swiping from either side changes songs. Snapchat also has you swipe right to left to go back from the chat view I believe.

I agree they are useless such as the "is typing" notification, which is my complaint. Android removes this when they finish typing and send you a chat, it also doesn't show multiple identical notifications, but would say you have X number of new chat messages.

Maybe Apple apps are different, but when I open Instagram, Snapchat, or Twitter, the notifications are still there after I view them.

I change the camera from auto to HDR ON, but when i re-open the camera it's back to auto.

 

[grkm3]

Happy that you have found what is right for you. I spent 10 months with a Note 4 and I have not been pleased. Probably the worse part, by far, was Android. The convoluted upgrade procedure was bad enough. But on top of that, Lolipop has been nothing but a problem for me, including constant Bluetooth issues. I am eagerly awaiting my return to IOS and iPhone. I believe there is a lot to be said for one company controlling the hardware and the software equation. With Android, you have three parties involved -- phone manufacturer, software designer, and the carrier. Not a recipe that went down well with this consumer.

So what about the mess ios 9 is with phones lagging and locking up?

 

[maxsix]

Picked up an iPhone 6s plus on launch day. Been playing around with it for the past few days trying to justify the cost, and have come to the conclusion that i just can't do it. It's a lovely phone, don't get me wrong. But it's just not worth what it costs.
Back to my more than acceptable Note 4.
Apple,you almost had me.

Kudos for your honest thoughtful post.

 

[tbayrgs]

I've been on Android for 6+ years, and decided to see what all the fuss was about with the iPhone so I pre-ordered the 6s 64GB. The phone is designed beautifully and feels great in hand. The display, while small, is fantastic.

Android and iOS are certainly quite different in many regards. Among your list are some very valid complaints, while some of the others I'd just chalk up to unfamiliarity with a new OS or just not quite true.

My issues are with the OS itself and just some oddities in general.

• App navigation is horribly inconsistent. I find myself having to swipe down to go back to the previous page, then swipe left to go to the menu. I'm always swiping in different directions as each app seems to have their own preference which way to get back to where you were. Snapchat and Google Play Music are two that I use a lot which cause lots of confusion

The individual differences within specific apps are not directly the fault of iOS--blame the devs who designed it that way--however, the lack of a universal back button certainly is an indirect cause as those apps cannot rely on it and must build in a back guesture/button.

• Duplicate notifications! When people like my Instagram photos or Snapchat me, my lockscreen and notification shade are filling up with tons of individual notifications like "such and such liked your photo", or "bob is typing". Do I really need to see a notification for when someone was typing to me in snapchat and when they sent it? Instagram is the worst where it lists them all out individually. Android is far better in this regard where it will say for example "Bob liked your photo" with a 25 in the corner letting you know how many people liked it, basically it combines all similar notifications together so you don't have to scroll through them all.

This sound like it's how you've configured the notification within these specific apps. You can manage how your notifications appear (banner, pop-up, lock screen, how many, etc) but the content of those notifications is determined by the app itself.

• Notifications don't go away on their own. If I get a notification, why does it remain if I open the app manually and check it? If I get an email, read/delete it, then open my notification shade it's still there.

This I believe is also app specific. A majority of mine disappear after either selecting them to jump into the app or after just going into the app---just went into FB Messenger and the 6 notifications I previously had in the drop down shade were gone when I checked again. But it's clearly not universal as I had a few lingering from other apps that I'd already opened. Again, if it's apps specific, devs need to fix this issue but I'm honestly not 100% certain.

• The camera won't remember my settings. I want HDR to be on all the time, why do I need to enable it manually every single time I open it up? And why can't I set photos to use 16:9 instead of 4:3?

Not sure what's going on here...my settings are the same whenever I open the camera as they were the last time I accessed it.

• You can't save a simple photo. I'm used to Android where you can have a photo in Dropbox, Email, a website, anywhere and just long press and save/download it. On iOS the only way I found to get a photo from a computer to my phone without plugging in is to upload it to the iCloud website and then connect to WiFi so it will sync.

Not true at all. I can select any photo of mine in Dropbox, click the share button and select Save Image--boom, it's now in my photo library. Copying images from the web is even easier--just long press on an image and a box pops up with options to Save Image or Copy it. Same goes with an image in an email, though a long press here with automatically bring up the share menu seen in the first image I included.

• No back button kills me. I hate having to figure out which way to swipe to go back, or hit the top left of the screen. So much easier especially when one handed to hit the back button next to home.

Completely valid complaint. Considering how long you've been on Android, the muscle memory is obviously strong for you.

• I can't change Mail to change from archive to delete. I just want to delete emails I don't need dammit!

Are you talking about when you swipe messages? What mail service are you using? For all my accounts (2 Yahoo and 2 Gmail, by default, swiping right to left fully will delete a message while swiping part way give more options (options can be configured in Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > Swipe Options). You can also select the action that occurs for swiping left to right.

UPDATE: Just read the post a few above mine and see I'm duplicating some of what he said. His directions into the 'Move Discarded Message Info' setting is spot on.

• The homescreen layout is so cluttered with useless apps that Apple even has an "extra" folder by default. Either let us hide/disable apps we don't need, or change the way apps are displayed. Also, why can't I simply organize apps on all other pages alphabetically? I hate how it puts them in by default in order of when they were installed, it's so much easier to find apps on Android when everything can be sorted.

Totally valid complaint. Would be a great 3D Touch option on the home screens to at least be able to organize alphabetically, but in truth, I'd be happy it Apple just got rid of the damn 'snap to the top' icon locations. Why can't we have a row of icons on the bottom?

Again, not being critical of your assessment because a lot of this is valid, and some is based in your preferences, but rather offering some suggestions on how to address some of the issues you are having.

 

[tbayrgs]

I would add to your list, the Settings menu is a mess and is inconsistent as well. Sometimes settings are within the app; sometimes the settings is in the main Settings menu.

This really isn't the issue it once was. Within the Settings App, for the most part, the only settings for 3rd party apps are system wide--Location, Notifications, Cellular Data, Background App Refresh, Privacy and they are also redundant to the settings section for that specific setting (i.e. a duplicate of what you have in Location settings, Notifications settings, Privacy settings, etc). Anything beyond that and you need to take it up with the app developer.

 

[boast]

Where did you get $750 for a Note 4? You can get an unlocked Note 5 for $600

Bestbuy.com

Funny, they have the Note 5 cheaper at $700.

 

[Fanaticalism]

So what about the mess ios 9 is with phones lagging and locking up?

In fairness, messy software updates aren't exclusive to iOS.

 

[I7guy]

In fairness, messy software updates aren't exclusive to iOS.

And, there are just as many "iOS 9 is the best release in years" posts.

 

[geoff5093]

Bestbuy.com

Funny, they have the Note 5 cheaper at $700.

Never look at Bestbuy for retail prices, most are $100 over MSRP.

 

[ucfgrad93]

Good for you for doing what's best for you. Doesn't mean it's best for everyone, and certainly doesn't mean anyone is caught up in any "hype machine"...it just means that others are also doing what's best for them.

Well said, and I completely agree with you.

 

[Septembersrain]

Right now I'm using an iPhone 6s. However I've got love for my Note 3. It has all my music on it. I love the equalizer my ROM has. ^.^

I've also got a Lumia 640 and a BlackBerry Z10. You know, just so I can enjoy the flavors of the rainbow in OS land. It makes me happy to try everything, to be a part of technology as it's constantly improving. I sign up for betas, use bootloaders, be an insider, root and ROM, etc.

Not everyone is like me but oh man it's fun for those who are.

 

[kasakka]

I just ordered the Sony Z5 Compact after reading about the pricing of the iPhone 6S 64 GB over here. While the Z5 Compact is expensive at 599 euros, the iPhone 6S 64 GB at 870 € is just absurd for what it is. It's a lovely phone for sure but having to pay extra because the default 16 GB model has too little space even for the average user after you install apps and take a bunch of photos or videos is not a plus by any means. When I factored in the need for a case (since the phone is slippery) which would nullify the benefits of a smaller size compared to my current Galaxy S4 (I have small-ish hands and prefer one handed use so anything bigger is a no go), the 6S didn't feel like a good idea anymore.

I really wanted to go back to full Apple. MBP for work, Hackintosh on PC, got an iPad Air 2 so having an iPhone would fit in well but the 6S is not THAT impressive to warrant the hefty premium. With US prices I wouldn't mind really and could see myself buying one should I take a trip to the US.

I doubt the iPhone 7 will be any cheaper, I just hope that it has a better design and more features to really make it worth the price. A 32 GB base model with a less slippery case would be a good start. Alas, most likely it will just be thinner as manufacturers are so obsessed with that.

 

[Savor]

One of the reasons why I don't want to upgrade is because I don't like where Android is heading. I saw Lollipop's slow adoption at 23%. Since KitKat is my favorite chocolate bar, I may stick to it for as long as I can. KitKat is basically the 3rd gen of Holo/Roboto font that Ice Cream Sandwich introduced in 2011. Just refined to be stable and take up a smaller footprint. Engineers were given a Nexus 4 with only 512 MB RAM to make it work. When Lollipop got released laat year, it had to reintroduce new things to us. So it was like Android went back to beta with all sorts of issues that we saw from ICS and Jelly Bean. Perhaps Marshmallow can stabilize and refine Lollipop but I really don't care to find out anytime soon. Material Design may never be for me and Google may not stabilize it after two years from Lollipop which should be by Android N.

Add the reason that wasting money on newer hardware by losing key features like removable battery and micro-sd slot, and you can tell a Note 4 can be ideal for many, many years to their owner. My Stepdad upgraded to a 2013 Note 3 just THIS year. I think Android is going backwards with software and Samsung wants go Apple's way and go backwards too by eliminating key hardware features. KitKat is like the Windows XP of Android while Lollipop is like Vista. Stay content with 2013-2014 smartphones. The newer stuff is just to get you on software versions you don't want or wished to downgrade or get on hardware with omissions you don't need. To me, 2015 is easily the most boring year in cell phone tech since 2006 when I saw people carry a Motor RAZR, Sidekick, or BlackBerry Pearl or Curves. Only the S6 edge brought some fresh excitement but the luster went away like Titanic, Avatar, or Avengers: Age of Ultron after a few months once people realized the battery sucks and fell for the aesthetic gimmicks.

2013 and 2014 > 2015 in smartphones hardware and Android software

Will stick to KitKat 4.4.2 or 4.4.4 for a very long time. My last three digits is like that too. 444 and I was born on the 4th. Lucky numbers and favorite candy. So KitKat 4 life.

 

[Mildredop]

I've been on Android for 6+ years, and decided to see what all the fuss was about with the iPhone so I pre-ordered the 6s 64GB. The phone is designed beautifully and feels great in hand. The display, while small, is fantastic.

My issues are with the OS itself and just some oddities in general.

• App navigation is horribly inconsistent. I find myself having to swipe down to go back to the previous page, then swipe left to go to the menu. I'm always swiping in different directions as each app seems to have their own preference which way to get back to where you were. Snapchat and Google Play Music are two that I use a lot which cause lots of confusion.
• Duplicate notifications! When people like my Instagram photos or Snapchat me, my lockscreen and notification shade are filling up with tons of individual notifications like "such and such liked your photo", or "bob is typing". Do I really need to see a notification for when someone was typing to me in snapchat and when they sent it? Instagram is the worst where it lists them all out individually. Android is far better in this regard where it will say for example "Bob liked your photo" with a 25 in the corner letting you know how many people liked it, basically it combines all similar notifications together so you don't have to scroll through them all.
• Notifications don't go away on their own. If I get a notification, why does it remain if I open the app manually and check it? If I get an email, read/delete it, then open my notification shade it's still there.
• The camera won't remember my settings. I want HDR to be on all the time, why do I need to enable it manually every single time I open it up? And why can't I set photos to use 16:9 instead of 4:3?
• You can't save a simple photo. I'm used to Android where you can have a photo in Dropbox, Email, a website, anywhere and just long press and save/download it. On iOS the only way I found to get a photo from a computer to my phone without plugging in is to upload it to the iCloud website and then connect to WiFi so it will sync.
• No back button kills me. I hate having to figure out which way to swipe to go back, or hit the top left of the screen. So much easier especially when one handed to hit the back button next to home.
• I can't change Mail to change from archive to delete. I just want to delete emails I don't need dammit!
• The homescreen layout is so cluttered with useless apps that Apple even has an "extra" folder by default. Either let us hide/disable apps we don't need, or change the way apps are displayed. Also, why can't I simply organize apps on all other pages alphabetically? I hate how it puts them in by default in order of when they were installed, it's so much easier to find apps on Android when everything can be sorted.

And how about no notification light or active display? That's the one major thing stopping me from trying iPhone.

 

[nickchallis92]

I think generally speaking Android is just more logical. Menu controls are often where you expect them to be and not where Apple thinks they ought to be. You can also just save stuff to the phone's memory. None of this saving to the cloud nonsense.

One of my favourite things about Android is the sharing options. Apple simply does not have a solution as comprehensive as the system built into Android.

 

[Razeus]

I think Apple is marketing it's iPhone as a high end device, but with mid-range parts. Genius.

 

[HiDEF]

Good article on the making of Steve Jobs. Boyle also expresses how Apple has too much power.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/danny-boyle-terrifying-tech-giants-830214

 

[I7guy]

I think Apple is marketing it's iPhone as a high end device, but with mid-range parts. Genius.

The sum of the parts is greater than the whole.

 

[I7guy]

Good article on the making of Steve Jobs. Boyle also expresses how Apple has too much power.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/danny-boyle-terrifying-tech-giants-830214

You know it's easy to knock Apple of its throne; don't buy it's products...hit them where it hurts.

Ps love my new 6s.

 

[HiDEF]

You know it's easy to knock Apple of its throne; don't buy it's products...hit them where it hurts.

Ps love my new 6s.

True. But hearing it from Boyle, someone who worked closely with them, you kinda have to hear him out.

How come the 6S and not the plus?

 

[I7guy]

True. But hearing it from Boyle, someone who worked closely with them, you kinda have to hear him out.

How come the 6S and not the plus?

Apple is such a monster there is an entire industry of bloggers, pundits, and the like. I tend not to religiously follow these bloggers and pundits.

When I looked at the 6s+ I thought it was bigger than what I wanted. As it is the 6s from my 5s takes a lot of getting used to.

 

[spacemnspiff]

Picked up an iPhone 6s plus on launch day. Been playing around with it for the past few days trying to justify the cost, and have come to the conclusion that i just can't do it. It's a lovely phone, don't get me wrong. But it's just not worth what it costs.
Back to my more than acceptable Note 4.
Apple,you almost had me.

This thread needs a reality check. Here is one. http://www.theverge.com/2015/9/23/9381325/apple-bias-iphone-reviews-day

Apple is the hype machine, get used to it.

 

[I7guy]

This thread needs a reality check. Here is one. http://www.theverge.com/2015/9/23/9381325/apple-bias-iphone-reviews-day

Apple is the hype machine, get used to it.

get "used to it" is correct. The motto should be if you can't beat them join them.

 

[Atomic Walrus]

But it's just not worth what it costs.

This is how I'm feeling about flagship smartphones in general right now. Since browser performance and screen quality reached an acceptable level I haven't seen much that would make me want to upgrade. Recently (well several months ago) picked up a used Note 4, but only because I wanted a pocket Cintiq. Haven't even put a sim card in it, probably never will. Much more interested in what's going on in the tablet space right now.