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hardcore IOS user tries android my thoughts

blindpcguy

blindpcguy

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Mar 4, 2016
422
93
Bald Knob Arkansas
So my iPhone 6 plus broke on me would not get cellular service and instead of turning it into insurance I bought a google nexus 5x used off eBay to try android. so far I like android but am missing IOS not having iMessages is a big thing I miss. didn't realize how much it would bother me not getting texts on my Macs lol. another thing is the quality of apps are noticeably lower then on iPhone. there is some positives though emulators are nice to play a retro game on the go like some Pokemon lol. the google specific apps are nice and well integrated I love google already knowing my passwords from chrome made setup a breeze. but honestly Iwill use the phone for a few more months then I'm going back to iPhone as I help other people with their devices it was a good experiment to stay up to date on android as I haven't used it in 3 years, but I enjoy the app.le ecosystem to much to not go back to my iPhone. but this is just my opinion
 
jdasikainen said:
So my iPhone 6 plus broke on me would not get cellular service and instead of turning it into insurance I bought a google nexus 5x used off eBay to try android. so far I like android but am missing IOS not having iMessages is a big thing I miss. didn't realize how much it would bother me not getting texts on my Macs lol. another thing is the quality of apps are noticeably lower then on iPhone. there is some positives though emulators are nice to play a retro game on the go like some Pokemon lol. the google specific apps are nice and well integrated I love google already knowing my passwords from chrome made setup a breeze. but honestly Iwill use the phone for a few more months then I'm going back to iPhone as I help other people with their devices it was a good experiment to stay up to date on android as I haven't used it in 3 years, but I enjoy the app.le ecosystem to much to not go back to my iPhone. but this is just my opinion
Click to expand...

Not going to lie, but the Nexus 5X used isn't the best phone to use because the processor sucks and the RAM is too limited. I would've tried out a Moto G brand new to see if you like it and return it if you do not.
 
Michael Goff said:
I've always wondered what people mean by "the quality of apps are lower on Android". Can somebody explain it to me?
Click to expand...
Apps on iOS feel and look more polished because they seamlessly integrate with the iOS UI (Apple Guidelines), on Android most Apps don't need to follow Google UI guidelines so they usually just make a mess when it comes to App design and feeling. Personal preference also comes to account here.
 
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apppen1 said:
Apps on iOS feel and look more polished because they seamlessly integrate with the iOS UI (Apple Guidelines), on Android most Apps don't need to follow Google UI guidelines so they usually just make a mess when it comes to App design and feeling. Personal preference also comes to account here.
Click to expand...

So it's just UI preference and consistency?
 
While it's true that there are some horrible looking, badly designed, apps on Android, the standard has improved in recent years and I've found the quality of the major apps to be as good as or better than their iOS equivalents
 
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apppen1 said:
Apps on iOS feel and look more polished because they seamlessly integrate with the iOS UI (Apple Guidelines), on Android most Apps don't need to follow Google UI guidelines so they usually just make a mess when it comes to App design and feeling. Personal preference also comes to account here.
Click to expand...


I never ran an Android app and said to myself, this doesn't fit with the Android OS.

Probably the exception is some outdated apps that never updated for years.
 
thats right the apps feel like part of the os and other things i like better on ios is the multi tasking switcher and things like that but honastly the biggest thing i miss is imessages syncing with my mac and ipad lol
 
jdasikainen said:
thats right the apps feel like part of the os and other things i like better on ios is the multi tasking switcher and things like that but honastly the biggest thing i miss is imessages syncing with my mac and ipad lol
Click to expand...

Speaking of task switcher, I like the new Oreo task switcher list view so much better than card view. Now I can see 12 apps at once without wasting time flipping.
 
apppen1 said:
Apps on iOS feel and look more polished because they seamlessly integrate with the iOS UI (Apple Guidelines), on Android most Apps don't need to follow Google UI guidelines so they usually just make a mess when it comes to App design and feeling. Personal preference also comes to account here.
Click to expand...
I would argue we are running into the same issue with iOS right now. There are so many apps that look like garbage right now on my iPhone X because the developers don't fill the entire screen (lack of updating to the X's screen). Additionally, iOS was notoriously slow to scale apps properly in the past, causing pixelization on larger devices. Google resolved the scaling issue long before Apple because of the numerous screen sizes.

99% of popular apps though are near identical on both platforms.
 
Lloydbm41 said:
I would argue we are running into the same issue with iOS right now. There are so many apps that look like garbage right now on my iPhone X because the developers don't fill the entire screen (lack of updating to the X's screen). Additionally, iOS was notoriously slow to scale apps properly in the past, causing pixelization on larger devices. Google resolved the scaling issue long before Apple because of the numerous screen sizes.

99% of popular apps though are near identical on both platforms.
Click to expand...

The only real advantage is that sooner or later, Apple is going to force everyone to update to support the notch or their update gets rejected.
 
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I have been an iPhone user since the 3GS, and Android user since the Nexus One.
I was mainly an iPhone user, but then slowly shifted to Android as my main platform. Android is quite irresistible (especially in the days of Nexus phones), having a lot of handset choices and prices that are getting more attractive by the day (especially with OEMs like Xiaomi).

However, I got to see the behind the scenes of some Android developers, and was shocked/amazed at the amount of data they can siphon out of an Android phone. And many of these devs are foreign devs (eg. China), who are not as obliged to follow the expected privacy laws that are in place in western countries (of course, it's not like the other side is good either, aka Facebook). While I keep using Android (there are governmental/banking/etc apps in some regions that are Android only due to their marketshare), I use iPhone as my primary platform now.

Having said that, as a geek, it is always exciting to see the plethora of Android handsets being released, especially when they are competing at low to mid-range segment in emerging markets. It is amazing what one can get on a phone now for $100-$200.
 
apppen1 said:
Apps on iOS feel and look more polished because they seamlessly integrate with the iOS UI (Apple Guidelines), on Android most Apps don't need to follow Google UI guidelines so they usually just make a mess when it comes to App design and feeling. Personal preference also comes to account here.
Click to expand...
Sorry for a slight derail here, but do Android apps use fingerprint reader unlock to the same degree as iOS apps? I'm asking because my last Android phone was the Note 3 and I'm considering going back. iOS drives me crazy in many respects but I do enjoy my main banking, airline, data provider etc apps all letting me log in with the fingerprint and not having to fuddle around with passwords, so I'm hoping for that to be the case on Android these days.
 
Oohara said:
Sorry for a slight derail here, but do Android apps use fingerprint reader unlock to the same degree as iOS apps? I'm asking because my last Android phone was the Note 3 and I'm considering going back. iOS drives me crazy in many respects but I do enjoy my main banking, airline, data provider etc apps all letting me log in with the fingerprint and not having to fuddle around with passwords, so I'm hoping for that to be the case on Android these days.
Click to expand...
Chase/Discover/Citi/Amex and my bank allow log-in by fingerprint. My password manager, Safeincloud, does the same.
 
Oohara said:
Sorry for a slight derail here, but do Android apps use fingerprint reader unlock to the same degree as iOS apps? I'm asking because my last Android phone was the Note 3 and I'm considering going back. iOS drives me crazy in many respects but I do enjoy my main banking, airline, data provider etc apps all letting me log in with the fingerprint and not having to fuddle around with passwords, so I'm hoping for that to be the case on Android these days.
Click to expand...
It’s on a case by case basis. Most of the financial services apps and some of the banking apps my husband uses still do not allow for fingerprint authentication. That’s one of the reasons he isn’t fully on his S9+. iMessage is another reason.
 
GrumpyMom said:
It’s on a case by case basis. Most of the financial services apps and some of the banking apps my husband uses still do not allow for fingerprint authentication. That’s one of the reasons he isn’t fully on his S9+. iMessage is another reason.
Click to expand...
Hm that's less great to know. Do you know if that's the case on the Pixel too? I mean, is there any disparity between Android phones when it comes to this point?
 
Oohara said:
Hm that's less great to know. Do you know if that's the case on the Pixel too? I mean, is there any disparity between Android phones when it comes to this point?
Click to expand...
Unfortunately no disparity at all. Same situation on the Pixels. I’m not sure what banks you’re with and what apps you’re using so go ahead and see if you can find out somehow if they allow authentication via the fps. Some of my husband’s apps do.
 
GrumpyMom said:
It’s on a case by case basis. Most of the financial services apps and some of the banking apps my husband uses still do not allow for fingerprint authentication. That’s one of the reasons he isn’t fully on his S9+. iMessage is another reason.
Click to expand...

My feelings as well. Seems like most of the bigger institutions have cross platform FP functionality but there are a few of mine that don’t have it on Android.
 
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pika2000 said:
I have been an iPhone user since the 3GS, and Android user since the Nexus One.
I was mainly an iPhone user, but then slowly shifted to Android as my main platform. Android is quite irresistible (especially in the days of Nexus phones), having a lot of handset choices and prices that are getting more attractive by the day (especially with OEMs like Xiaomi).

However, I got to see the behind the scenes of some Android developers, and was shocked/amazed at the amount of data they can siphon out of an Android phone. And many of these devs are foreign devs (eg. China), who are not as obliged to follow the expected privacy laws that are in place in western countries (of course, it's not like the other side is good either, aka Facebook). While I keep using Android (there are governmental/banking/etc apps in some regions that are Android only due to their marketshare), I use iPhone as my primary platform now.

Having said that, as a geek, it is always exciting to see the plethora of Android handsets being released, especially when they are competing at low to mid-range segment in emerging markets. It is amazing what one can get on a phone now for $100-$200.
Click to expand...

That's probably the biggest reason why I went back to an iPhone. Not only the privacy issues, which you should expect of a company that makes it's money off your data, but the security issues as well. What sealed the deal for me this year was the data being siphoned from kid's apps. http://fortune.com/2018/04/17/google-android-apps-track-kids/ I did a search to find an article on it, and was shocked to see articles dating 4+ years ago also complaining about the same. Couple that with some of the questionable foreign oems like ZTE and Huawei really makes one worry. Who knows what others piggybacking on Android are doing as well, such as Facebook.
 
Oohara said:
Hm that's less great to know. Do you know if that's the case on the Pixel too? I mean, is there any disparity between Android phones when it comes to this point?
Click to expand...

Ever since Android added native fingerprint support, OEMs have switched to that API instead of their own custom ones they had to use, so with regards to fingerprint sensor compatibility it's the same story on Pixel as any other fingerprint enabled phone. You can pay for anything in the Google stores with fingerprint (apps, movies, etc). Certain apps allow it (like my bank app).
 
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jdasikainen said:
..so far I like android but am missing IOS not having iMessages is a big thing I miss. didn't realize how much it would bother me not getting texts on my Macs lol. another thing is the quality of apps are noticeably lower then on iPhone. ...
Click to expand...
apps like "airmore" or "airdroid" or "mysms" lets you send/receive sms and much more - like file transfer without wires on any computer. send sms even when your phone is at home.

not sure what you mean by app quality. can you name a specific app and describe what is low quality on android vs ios?
 
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