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Has iOS always been this boring?

D

dba415

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 18, 2011
919
1,106
I just picked up an Xr and I'm back to iPhone after 2 years of Android. My biggest impression is just how boring and bland iOS is.

As a software company Google is just way better at the software side of things and it's showing by how much Android is improving while iOS has stayed so stagnant. Google is simply doing so much more with software and as people start to own phones for longer, software then becomes much more important rather than hardware.

Just look at how much Google Assistant has improved while Siri has been lagging behind. It's a microcosm of what's been happening with Android vs iOS in general. The Call Screening feature that they have on the Pixel 3 is a great example of a killer feature. Something that apple is not close to achieving. The Night Sight feature with the camera looks to be the same and vastly ahead of what Apple is capable of right now.

In 2018 Android is the much more exciting OS. As a mobile OS I believe that Android surpassed iOS sometime between the 2 years I stopped using iPhone and on Android. Now the gap is just getting bigger.

Now Apple has its strengths too, namely the hardware. The A12 is leaps ahead of what is out there from a mobile processing standpoint. I purchased the Xr because I wanted something really fast, stable, and with great battery life. That being said, if I had known how bland iOS is right now I probably would have reconsidered switching back to iOS.
 
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dba415 said:
I just picked up an Xr and I'm back to iPhone after 2 years of Android. My biggest impression is just how boring and bland iOS is.

As a software company Google is just way better at the software side of things and it's showing by how much Android is improving while iOS has stayed so stagnant. Google is simply doing so much more with software and as people start to own phones for longer, software then becomes much more important rather than hardware.

Just look at how much Google Assistant has improved while Siri has been lagging behind. It's a microcosm of what's been happening with Android vs iOS in general. The Call Screening feature that they have on the Pixel 3 is a great example of a killer feature. Something that apple is not close to achieving. The Night Sight feature with the camera looks to be the same and vastly ahead of what Apple is capable of right now.

In 2018 Android is the much more exciting OS. As a mobile OS I believe that Android surpassed iOS sometime between the 2 years I stopped using iPhone and on Android. Now the gap is just getting bigger.

Now Apple has its strengths too, namely the hardware. The A12 is leaps ahead of what is out there from a mobile processing standpoint. I purchased the Xr because I wanted something really fast, stable, and with great battery life. That being said, if I had known how bland iOS is right now I probably would have reconsidered switching back to iOS.
Click to expand...

I've never used an Android phone and have always used iOS but I definitely agree that iOS is pretty boring overall. You can't even customize the UI on iOS without jailbreaking. That may seem trivial to many users but iOS just looks boring. At least with Android you can use customs skins and change the way the OS looks with different themes. I saw one YT video comparing Samsung Galaxy S9 with the iPhone XS and the S9 had a classic Super Mario theme. It looked like it was a level of the game. Pretty sweet. Would be nice if Apple opened up iOS more so developers could do stuff like that.
 
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You can return the iPhone Xr within 14 days and buy the Pixel 3 if you're okay with Google's operating system and a notch bigger than the iPhone's. :p
 
dba415 said:
I purchased the Xr because I wanted something really fast, stable, and with great battery life.
Click to expand...

On those counts that you made the purchase on, how exactly is the Xr not delivering? Do not change the goalposts by talking about iOS being bland. The moment you include software preferences, you would have moved to Google anyway, since you much like the Android system for that, but you wanted those three things, therefore you are trying out iOS once again.

If you are not satisfied, just return the device and get the flagship Google and you will have a great Android device. :)
 
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Pakaku said:
I don't care if an OS is bland or not if I'm spending most of my phone time in apps...
Click to expand...

I am actually OS-independent in terms of liking. I can use any OS, but there are reasons I use Apple's, and the below are two favourite reasons of mine.


Privacy Policy
For Apple, sharing is switched OFF by default and you have to choose to share. For Google, sharing is switched ON by default, and you have to choose to not share.


App Permissions Policy
For Apple, a camera app will never ask for your contacts or health info permissions. For Google, all apps usually ask for all permissions.

This philosophy by Apple is my favourite and that makes iOS endearing to me.


I use an Android device just for playing around the OS for a change, and for WhatsApp for Business. I like Android and how it works. I like iOS and how it works - more.
 
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dba415 said:
I just picked up an Xr and I'm back to iPhone after 2 years of Android. My biggest impression is just how boring and bland iOS is.

As a software company Google is just way better at the software side of things and it's showing by how much Android is improving while iOS has stayed so stagnant. Google is simply doing so much more with software and as people start to own phones for longer, software then becomes much more important rather than hardware.

Just look at how much Google Assistant has improved while Siri has been lagging behind. It's a microcosm of what's been happening with Android vs iOS in general. The Call Screening feature that they have on the Pixel 3 is a great example of a killer feature. Something that apple is not close to achieving. The Night Sight feature with the camera looks to be the same and vastly ahead of what Apple is capable of right now.

In 2018 Android is the much more exciting OS. As a mobile OS I believe that Android surpassed iOS sometime between the 2 years I stopped using iPhone and on Android. Now the gap is just getting bigger.

Now Apple has its strengths too, namely the hardware. The A12 is leaps ahead of what is out there from a mobile processing standpoint. I purchased the Xr because I wanted something really fast, stable, and with great battery life. That being said, if I had known how bland iOS is right now I probably would have reconsidered switching back to iOS.
Click to expand...

Personally, I find simple and clean design to be preferable to busy and inconsistent UI- though I will concede that the new camera Night Sight feature on the Pixel phones is quite intriguing.
I think about it in terms of car design language. An E38 BMW is far superior to an E65 BMW even though some consider the former to be "boring".
 
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dba415 said:
Nah the pixel hardware kind of sucks. I'm gonna stick with the iPhone.
Click to expand...
If you plan to stick with the iPhone, I feel it may be beneficial to take a step back and see things from a different perspective. Android and iOS are different operating systems from different companies and neither OS should be expected to work or act like the other. I have found that it is always better to unlearn the old and relearn the new when moving to a different system.. biases will more than likely skew the results.
 
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I recently moved from Android to iOS. In my opinion, iOS is not only very boring, but it's frequently ugly and it's often illogical. iOS has fallen well behind, and that gulf appears to be widening rapidly.

However, I'll take all that over Google sucking down, storing forever and manipulating every last snippet of my life.
 
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Those features mentioned are more on AI/ML than it is OS features. So yes, in terms of AI/ML, Google is way ahead.
 
Guys. You know how bad iPhones and iOS are right? I mean all of the competitors are miles ahead in every way. I mean, I’m gonna keep the iPhone even though I could return without penalty. Probably purchase way more Apple products, but c’mon.

:rolleyes:
 
Since when has an operating system needed to excite. I use the iPhone for calls, messaging, email, surfing the web and apps. The OS should do exactly what iOS does, operate the system and keep things in line so I can do all of the other stuff the device was intended for. Not to have a tricked out home screen with Super Mario theming. I thought that kind of thing went out with the Nokia 5110.
 
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Starship67 said:
Since when has an operating system needed to excite. I use the iPhone for calls, messaging, email, surfing the web and apps. The OS should do exactly what iOS does, operate the system and keep things in line so I can do all of the other stuff the device was intended for. Not to have a tricked out home screen with Super Mario theming. I thought that kind of thing went out with the Nokia 5110.
Click to expand...

Back in 2011 when rooting was fun. Android kicked ass then.
 
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