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Phones Debating between the 5S and a Galaxy 4...what will the 5S have to close the gap?
- Thread starter dvdchance
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That is fair enough and I wasn't saying Siri is useless as I'm sure many people find a use for it. Personally I couldn't use it in many of the situations I am in. I could speak to it in my own home when nobody was around, but couldn't walk around the office, sit on a train, sit in the canteen, or walk down a street speaking commands to my phone. It wouldn't feel right, not to mention I'd look a little silly doing it too. It has its use, but I would rather do things the alternative way.
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It isn't poor on my iPhone. If the Google music app has been vastly improved since my S3 days then excellent. If it hasn't, I am glad I can comment from experience.
For me at this stage, it's really about staying within the Apple ecosystem.
I own mostly Apple products, so yes, features like airplay, shared photostream, imessage and facetime are dealbreakers for me.
I *might* be better off with a larger screen, but I know I would be comfortable with the iphone5's 4" screen. With my use case, I won't really need removable batteries, NFC or sd-cards, and you know what they say about not missing what you don't need.
I own mostly Apple products, so yes, features like airplay, shared photostream, imessage and facetime are dealbreakers for me.
I *might* be better off with a larger screen, but I know I would be comfortable with the iphone5's 4" screen. With my use case, I won't really need removable batteries, NFC or sd-cards, and you know what they say about not missing what you don't need.
It is. At least, Google's offering is far more cluttered - and why is saving songs to the phone called "pinning" them. I still don't understand what constitutes saving a song to the phone versus not and streaming.
Hence why I use my iPhone for music, not my GS4.
You can sync all your music and playlist from iTunes to your iPhone and S4. Just install iSyncr on the S4 and then email a link to your Mac or PC and install it there as well. Then hook it up to your S4...it will add any music/playlists you choose from itunes to your S4. This way both phones will have the same music. You can also sync wirelessly as well. Oh and i don't use the built in music app on my S4...there are a ton of good ones out there. I like Rocket Music player but there are a ton of good ones....
I use Play music to sync. The syncing isn't the problem - simply the layout of Google's music app and the functions of saving songs to the device.
I prefer to not go searching for decent default apps. Apple's Music app suits me fine.
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Ha it's funny - in the thread talking about 4.4 KitKat I read multiple posts about how they hoped for a complete overhaul and redesign.
Consumers are too demanding and fickle. It's always about the next new shiny thing. Too bad the smartphone industry is maturing. These updates will continue to slow until some new innovation happens (perhaps in the battery-life area?).
I think if you actually read about ALL the new stuff in iOS 7 (things like iBeacons that I bet many of us had no clue about - http://www.forbes.com/sites/anthony...-may-be-apples-biggest-new-feature-for-ios-7/) AND kept an open mind, I think people would be pleasantly surprised by what the 5S is going to offer.
But alas, it's all "If I can't change the default keyboard, its crap" talk. Talk about boring....
Hey man - freedom is a pretty big feature!
(check out rocket player too for an audio app)
Ehh - there's all kinds of internal upgrades that happen to iPhones - even in the "S" years - but it's all ignored because people complain about preferential things like that.
I said this on another thread - because most comsumers haven't got a clue what goes into each update of the line, Apple should completely refresh the iPhone line by offering the iPhone #C, iPhone # and iPhone #L and update ALL of them EVERY year.
That way, regardless whether the #C has last years' internals in it, Apple can market it as the 2013 version of the #C or the 2014 version. Think it'd give them a boost.
Anyways - maybe you're finding out why I prefer Apple. I don't want to search the Play Store for apps/ways to do default tasks (like playing music) well. I want a GREAT default option. Apple gives me that 99% of the time. Android requires extra leg work on my part.
And as I said, no need to search and try out different music player apps - my iPhone's Music App/iTunes Match works perfectly for me.
I agree it's maturing, but that doesn't mean it's impossible to get excited about the industry.
I'm extremely excited about the Xperia Z1. Better camera, home-screen buttons, power button on the side? Just a few things that I wish my HTC One was. This is without mentioning the full water-proofing, new screen, new stereo speakers, etc. The camera accessory that everyone's going crazy over. Plenty more to be excited about if there's a GPE.
GPE in general is exciting. Will Sony join the fray? Will Motorola? If Google can get nearly every OEM to release a GPE of their flagship for that year, that'll be amazing.
Nexus 5.
Nexus 4 2013?
Xperia Z1 Mini (aka Honami Mini / aka Itsuki)? Very interesting.
Android 4.4 KitKat is exciting to me because I'm, at this point in time, obviously pretty dedicated to the Android platform. Unified Hangouts/Voice, potential new look (I'd love for Android to adopt a more "cards" look like Google Now and YouTube), user accounts, better security, etc.? In the mean time, Google's individual apps are updating (Chrome Beta got an update recently, as did Maps, as did Hangouts, as did Gmail a while back).
In that same vain, I'm not saying iOS can't be exciting for dedicated iOS users. Like I said, iOS 7 is a nice step for them. But for others who have moved on, iOS and the iPhone 5S and 5C offer little to nothing exciting. The potential fingerprint scanner is interesting, but not enough to make up for all the shortcomings of everything else. Even though I've been using Android, I used to still always get excited about an iOS/iPhone event. This excitement has dwindled significantly for me. The slow game just isn't doing it for me.
Apologies, in general, for derailing the thread. I'll leave it at that.
Wow....you pretty much wrote what I was thinking! Now get out of my head!
Thanks Couch very well said.....
What? Isn't the App Store and its millions of apps and wonderful exclusives precisely what makes iOS special? Even I admit (and have done so before) that it's one of the last few major things iOS has over Android and you're actually back peddling on the idea that more apps allowing the user for more options is a chore ("requiring extra leg work")? Fair enough, but last I checked, having tons of alternative options was a wonderful thing.
But, good for you (I mean that sincerely).
It's not like Android's default apps suck. It's just that there are even better options that cater to different users. Big difference. And those that find the default versions good, don't have to switch. What happens to the people that find iOS' default version of a particular app not satisfactory? They're stuck.
I'd also argue that if you could switch iOS' default apps for better options, you would. One of those cases of "you don't know what you're missing." Apple Maps, anyone? The odd thing, I know you're an Android user as well. I know you know the benefits of choice. It's a shame you can't bring yourself to admit iOS could benefit from some while not interrupting the choice to remain default (crucial point).
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Wow....you pretty much wrote what I was thinking! Now get out of my head!
I didn't even mention the Moto X which doesn't interest me anymore but has its own share of exciting features and characteristics.
Ditto LG G2 and all its unique features. I really hope double-tap (I hate the term "knocking") to wake and sleep the phone catches on. It's brilliant.
Check out the article I posted on iBeacons and look into them a little more. THAT is real innovation. In a few years we could be talking about an entirely different store front/in-store shopping experience because of a technology/implementation like this.
Try to get away from the hot-button "all the iPhone 5S is offering is a fingerprint sensor". ACTUALLY read about what iOS 7 is offering. There's way more to it than what they announced at the initial keynote. It's easy to simply dismiss this stuff as "features Android has had" but the reality is completely different. Similar features DIFFERENT implementations = different ballgame.
Lol, I find it ironic that things like a better camera (the 5S will have), a home button on the side and home screen buttons excite you. Yet you'll let the lack of changing the default keyboard cause you to miss all the other things iOS 7 and the iPhone 5S will offer (which we really have little clue about IMO).
To each his own I guess.
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Nope wrong - I'm talking about two separate things here.
(1) Default Smartphone functions = apps that come bundled on the phone. These are things expected of smartphone nowadays. Camera App, Music app, Messaging, Call app, Contacts etc....
(2) App Store/Play Store = extra functions/features. Apps that ADD to the experience. There is no default app for reading about Biology or for playing a Candy Crush like game or for Fantasy Football. These apps are additional and a place where, IMO, iOS shines.
I think you're illustrating a key different in philosophy and viewpoint as well and maybe a reason why Apple has yet to allow default changing. Apple sees the App store as ADDITIONAL. They want to offer their services and core apps and do so as well as they can (IMO offering across the board, better defaults than Google).
On the other hand, Google throws together a pretty big mess of default options IMO because in the end, 99% of Android users go to the Play Store to switch them anyways. For Google, the Play Store is the source of both base and added feature functions. But they very well can't ship a blank smartphone with no apps installed at all! So they throw in their defaults, which work for a small portion of people without change.
Both appeal to different people - hence iOS crowd and Android crowd. I just happen to understand and like aspects of both, but my preference lies still with iOS.
EDIT: As for the bolded, as I use both phones side-by-side I have the opportunity to use both Google Maps and Apple Maps and I have to say, I actually prefer Apple Maps, especially lately. Took a trip to NC to move my little brother in at Duke Law and Google Maps consistently overestimated the time it would take to get places (it was an hour different than Apple Maps, which was more accurate to the time it actually took).
I also prefer the POI implementation within Apple maps. But hey, I'm sure I'll get called a fanboy for this because NO ONE in their right mind could prefer Apple Maps right?
Maps also illustrate one of my biggest pet peeves with Android - when I click for Navigation in Google Maps, I get sent to a separate app.....whereas Apple Maps handles the Nav right in app. Multiple apps for the same functions.....UGH!
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Ultimately I'm not explaining WHY Apple SHOULDN'T allow default changing. Simply a possibility as to why they haven't yet, and reasoning behind my continued preference of iOS despite the lack of "FREEDOM".
If Apple added the ability to switch defaults, more power to them. But I won't be one clamoring for it.
If Apple added the ability to switch defaults, more power to them. But I won't be one clamoring for it.
I happen to know about iBeacons and do find it an interesting. Enough to switch to and then deal with the shortcomings of iOS and the 5S hardware? No. Far from it. Whether it's innovation or not is debatable. I won't bother getting into it, but I don't see how this isn't a progression on NFC tags or location based set ups based on other sources. If this is innovation, why is wireless charging not? Weren't you part of the side that argued wireless charging is just a different way of doing the same thing? I don't remember exactly, but were you part of the side that argued wireless charging is actually worse than a cable? Anyhoo, I won't dive into it. Again, iBeacons is neat.
Why would I not get excited about features that I want on my Android device? I never called better camera, on screen home buttons "innovations" or anything. I specifically said those are things that are missing to get my Android experience even more buttoned up and closer to completion. And again, this is without mentioning everything else that the Xperia Z1 has to offer. The Xperia was also one of many things I find exciting from the Android world.
And you speak as if the lack of changing the iOS keyboard is the only thing keeping me away from iOS... I wish.
Nope wrong - I'm talking about two separate things here.
(1) Default Smartphone functions = apps that come bundled on the phone. These are things expected of smartphone nowadays. Camera App, Music app, Messaging, Call app, Contacts etc....
(2) App Store/Play Store = extra functions/features. Apps that ADD to the experience. There is no default app for reading about Biology or for playing a Candy Crush like game or for Fantasy Football. These apps are additional and a place where, IMO, iOS shines.
I think you're illustrating a key different in philosophy and viewpoint as well and maybe a reason why Apple has yet to allow default changing. Apple sees the App store as ADDITIONAL. They want to offer their services and core apps and do so as well as they can (IMO offering across the board, better defaults than Google).
On the other hand, Google throws together a pretty big mess of default options IMO because in the end, 99% of Android users go to the Play Store to switch them anyways. For Google, the Play Store is the source of both base and added feature functions. But they very well can't ship a blank smartphone with no apps installed at all! So they throw in their defaults, which work for a small portion of people without change.
Both appeal to different people - hence iOS crowd and Android crowd. I just happen to understand and like aspects of both, but my preference lies still with iOS.
EDIT: As for the bolded, as I use both phones side-by-side I have the opportunity to use both Google Maps and Apple Maps and I have to say, I actually prefer Apple Maps, especially lately. Took a trip to NC to move my little brother in at Duke Law and Google Maps consistently overestimated the time it would take to get places (it was an hour different than Apple Maps, which was more accurate to the time it actually took).
I also prefer the POI implementation within Apple maps. But hey, I'm sure I'll get called a fanboy for this because NO ONE in their right mind could prefer Apple Maps right?
Help me understand how the Play Store isn't an "addition" to all the experiences of stock Android. If anything, it's an addition AND it can be a replacement. It's up to you. Again, why is the concept and benefit of choice so lost on you? You can choose to add to the experience and/or replace the default app or you can choose to keep the default app as is. You speak as if Google's default apps suck. They are far from it. If there happens to be even better options, I have the choice to switch to it.
Is it that you want to argue iOS default apps are better than Google's default apps? That's highly debatable (mail, keyboard, Play store -- I can't stand that I have to be asked my password every time I download something from the App Store. This is but one example) but even if so, even if that's the case you want to make that iOS defaults are better than Android defaults, who cares? Seriously, who cares when Google offers the choice of alternative apps that are often times better than both iOS and Android defaults? Swiftkey owns both the iOS keyboard and the Android keyboard. At the end of the day, the user who can use Swiftkey is in a better position. I should put it more accurately, the user who can choose to use either Swiftkey or the default keyboard (or any other keyboard) is in a better position.
But iOS default options work better for you and you don't have to go fishing for better ones like all Android users have to. Okay.
EDIT: Good for you regarding Apple Maps. Isn't it beautiful that you can choose what you want to use? <-- Which is the entire point of my post.
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Fair enough.
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Maps has been updated. It's all built in. I no longer have a "Navigation" app anymore. And it's not the last thing Google needs to combine. Google Voice/Hangouts needs go get together, too. Nope, Android isn't perfect.
Fair enough. Though I think the fact that iBeacons being based on a more robust and flexible tech (BLE) makes it it's own monster versus NFC and such. Implementations could get fuzzy - sure NFC has been a payment option for years now and was "first" but the possibilites with iBeacons are MUCH farther reaching than that.
For the record - TRUE wireless charging would be EXTREMELY innovative. I just don't believe the current iterations constitute as wireless charging. Instead of my phone being plugged in, a pad/orb is. Still wired. And on top of it, there's the added cost of the orb/pad.
Witricity is INNOVATION. That ish is cool and I hope it becomes a reality at some point in the next decade. Being able to walk into a room and charge your device - just like it automatically connects to wifi (hell, that could be the transfer mechanism). THAT is WIRELESS charging.
Taken from my post:
"For Google, the Play Store is the source of both base and added feature functions."
So I agree.
And read my last post here. I'm not saying Apple should never allow default-changing. Simply explaining possibilities and reasons for why so many of us stick with iOS and prefer it, in spite of the lack of "FREEDOM".
As I said, if Apple allows default-changing, more power to them. But given their default options are plenty robust and work well (IMO), I don't feel the need to cry for the options.
Whereas on Android, I'm constantly wanting to switch the defaults because I find they are lacking in many areas.
Opinions. But please stop assuming I'm arguing AGAINST Apple implementing default-changing. I'm not.
That's the problem. It works well for you, but may not work well for the next person. That person is then stuck.
I know you know this already, so I'll leave it at that.
Both platforms are excellent. I am satisfied with my iPhone and have no desire to bash Android just to "prove" iOS is better. My friends Galaxy S4's are very impressive and most definitely more advanced. But I have no reason to switch just to have the latest. I'm not even interested in iOS 7 because my iP5 is just fine.
There is no even gap. The Galaxy S4 or even the Galaxy note 3 is a massive step up. The 5S will be a PR nightmare for Apple. Probably the worst un-innovative product of 2013. The Samsung Galaxy S IV, is a massive step up from the Galaxy S III. Design, software, hardware. All on point. Some compare contrast between iPhone 5S, Galaxy Note 2 & Galaxy S IV
IPhone 5S
Same Body & same 4" screen size
no HD display
1500 mAh battery
IOS 7
Physical home button (fingerprint sensor)
Apple A7
Samsung Galaxy S IV
Design overhaul from GSIII with 5" display at 1920x1080 @441 PPI
Android 4.2.2
Replaceable Li-Ion 2,500 mAh battery
Touch sensitive buttons
Samsung Galaxy Note II
5.5" 1280x720 display at 226 PPI
Android 4.1.2
S-Pen Stylus
Replaceable 3,500 mAh battery
True Multitasking with Multi-Window
IPhone 5S
Same Body & same 4" screen size
no HD display
1500 mAh battery
IOS 7
Physical home button (fingerprint sensor)
Apple A7
Samsung Galaxy S IV
Design overhaul from GSIII with 5" display at 1920x1080 @441 PPI
Android 4.2.2
Replaceable Li-Ion 2,500 mAh battery
Touch sensitive buttons
Samsung Galaxy Note II
5.5" 1280x720 display at 226 PPI
Android 4.1.2
S-Pen Stylus
Replaceable 3,500 mAh battery
True Multitasking with Multi-Window
Lol yes - I don't pretend to speak for others. Only giving you my views and pondering that perhaps others who like and prefer iOS feel the same or a similar way.
One can only ever speak to their own preferences. Forums like this allow various people to post their opinions and preferences and someone like the OP reads them and decides which his thoughts and preferences most align with. The OP would then take a similar course of action to the one with whom he/she most agrees with.
That is what I aim to do. Provide my viewpoint and we all have something unique to offer. Mine being that I am one of the very few here who use both daily, actually like both but still prefer iOS.
And of course, as always I appreciate the banter back and forth Couch
Lol yes - I don't pretend to speak for others. Only giving you my views and pondering that perhaps others who like and prefer iOS feel the same or a similar way.
One can only ever speak to their own preferences. Forums like this allow various people to post their opinions and preferences and someone like the OP reads them and decides which his thoughts and preferences most align with. The OP would then take a similar course of action to the one with whom he/she most agrees with.
That is what I aim to do. Provide my viewpoint and we all have something unique to offer. Mine being that I am one of the very few here who use both daily, actually like both but still prefer iOS.
And of course, as always I appreciate the banter back and forth Couch
Likewise.
OP, please recognize this post for what it is....
Spec sheets mean next to nothing when comparing smartphones. Especially a spec sheet from a phone that hasn't even been announced yet.....
My two cents fwiw:
I used to own the iP4 and now have a GS3.
It took me several months to get used to the phone and OS. Regarding music, I just use iSynchr Wifi to sync my playlists from iTunes ( I have an iMac as my main machine for computing needs).
The larger screen suits my needs quite well for ANYTHING that requires me to look at the screen longer than 3 minutes. Currently I am using it as an ereader, internet surfer, main phone line (only phone line actually) alarm clock, note taker, RSS news reader etc. In the next year my needs will change dramatically and I no longer wish to tote around a large phone. I really liked my iPhone, but once I got used to Android, I find myself reluctant to go back to Apple, although they do have nice devices.
I would miss the customization, back button, notification light, change how the OS looks when I want by downloading various skins and launchers. Google now works really well! Oh and for my first time with a Samsung phone, it has been consistent and reliable, go figure!
The only issue is that I really feel that the phone is too damn big to use as a casual phone. Apple could stand to be a bit more generous with their screen size no doubt, but I am really hating the bigger is better with no smaller phones with flagship specs in Android flavor. Apple is the last bastion of flagship specs in a smaller phone.
There WILL be a steep learning curve, but the total key is to keep an open mind or you will likely hate it at first, everything different takes some getting used to. The phone comes with one of those switches that disables a lot of features if you just want basic phone useage now it seems.
Good luck with your decision.
PS it wasn't that hard to make my iMac/iTunes/iCal etc play nice with my Android phone. The only pita was when I had to convince my friends' iphones that even though I had a apple ID that their devices needed to stop trying to send imessages and start sending them as text messages.
Actually you mention something thats kind of important. Probably for another thread, but maybe you can help.
My daughter traded in her iPhone for the Galaxy over a month ago. She still has a few friends who cannot send her texts, they send them she never receives them. She has contacted both apple and at&t and neither has been much help.
What solution has worked for your contacts to successfully send you messages?