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Have you used an Android device?
- Thread starter gc15
- Start date
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Yes, since 2011.
Owned about 3 smartphones and 1 tablet.
Gingerbread 2.3.6
Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0.4
Jelly Bean 4.1.2
My Android phone is setup with a SINGLE page of apps. The rest I open it with gesture swipes like double tap for Flipboard widget. The icons I find ugly, I hide them. The ones I don't use, I disable them. The ones I think I might want to go back using, it is uninstalled but have App Backup & Restore to save an apk (copy) of it. I can go beyond what Apple tells me of doing.
All In One Gestures
DynamicNotifications
AcDisplay
Power Button To Volume Button
TubeMate
SwiftKey 5
Screen Off & Lock
Nova Launcher Prime
Holo Launcher Plus
Swipe Home Button
ES File Explorer
DU Battery Saver
Wakelock Detector
App Backup & Restore
TouchPal Contacts
Zedge
Nexus Revamped Live Wallpaper
Notification Toggle
QuickPic
MovieTube 2.3
MoboPlayer (with mini-player)
ConvertPad Unit Converter
UberMusic w/ Metro Skin
SMS Wakeup
Smoked Glass Digital Weather
Flipboard widget opened via double tap from Nova
^^All excellent and useful apps.
Plus...
A back button (not just home)
Some with OTG
Some with removable battery
Some with expandable memory
Bluetooth transfer
FM radio apps
Drag and drop files
Sideloading apps
Share button with many options
Ability to open apps by default
And whatever other gimmicks from each Android OEM like water-resistant, KnockOn, Air Shuffle, Smart Stay, S-Health, BoomSound, Active Display, etc.
Use Slide animation from Nova Launcher and under Developer Option/Advanced, set all animations to 0.5x and it goes FAST. Apple did the same thing with iOS 7.1. Use Screen Off & Lock's Z-Shaped & Zoom animation and link it to swipe up gesture from Nova. Booooom! Screen flies and zooms out. Much better than damaging a power button to turn off screen. And All In One Gestures has a BACK action. Much better than the awkwardly placed iOS' Assistive Touch to go back home once the physical home button wears out.
What did Louis CK say again? "Is the speed of light not fast enough for you? It's going to space, can you wait a second? Can you just wait?"
Technology wasted on the worst generation out there. People complaining about smartphones, OSes, ecosystem, polish, animations when most people only know or need like 20% of its capability and might use 20 apps per week on average. Most people spend their time online checking Facebook likes and Twitter feeds. Like 20MP, QHD, 64-bit, octa cores, or whatever mobile OS you prefer is really going to make a big difference.
Owned about 3 smartphones and 1 tablet.
Gingerbread 2.3.6
Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0.4
Jelly Bean 4.1.2
My Android phone is setup with a SINGLE page of apps. The rest I open it with gesture swipes like double tap for Flipboard widget. The icons I find ugly, I hide them. The ones I don't use, I disable them. The ones I think I might want to go back using, it is uninstalled but have App Backup & Restore to save an apk (copy) of it. I can go beyond what Apple tells me of doing.
All In One Gestures
DynamicNotifications
AcDisplay
Power Button To Volume Button
TubeMate
SwiftKey 5
Screen Off & Lock
Nova Launcher Prime
Holo Launcher Plus
Swipe Home Button
ES File Explorer
DU Battery Saver
Wakelock Detector
App Backup & Restore
TouchPal Contacts
Zedge
Nexus Revamped Live Wallpaper
Notification Toggle
QuickPic
MovieTube 2.3
MoboPlayer (with mini-player)
ConvertPad Unit Converter
UberMusic w/ Metro Skin
SMS Wakeup
Smoked Glass Digital Weather
Flipboard widget opened via double tap from Nova
^^All excellent and useful apps.
Plus...
A back button (not just home)
Some with OTG
Some with removable battery
Some with expandable memory
Bluetooth transfer
FM radio apps
Drag and drop files
Sideloading apps
Share button with many options
Ability to open apps by default
And whatever other gimmicks from each Android OEM like water-resistant, KnockOn, Air Shuffle, Smart Stay, S-Health, BoomSound, Active Display, etc.
Use Slide animation from Nova Launcher and under Developer Option/Advanced, set all animations to 0.5x and it goes FAST. Apple did the same thing with iOS 7.1. Use Screen Off & Lock's Z-Shaped & Zoom animation and link it to swipe up gesture from Nova. Booooom! Screen flies and zooms out. Much better than damaging a power button to turn off screen. And All In One Gestures has a BACK action. Much better than the awkwardly placed iOS' Assistive Touch to go back home once the physical home button wears out.
What did Louis CK say again? "Is the speed of light not fast enough for you? It's going to space, can you wait a second? Can you just wait?"
Technology wasted on the worst generation out there. People complaining about smartphones, OSes, ecosystem, polish, animations when most people only know or need like 20% of its capability and might use 20 apps per week on average. Most people spend their time online checking Facebook likes and Twitter feeds. Like 20MP, QHD, 64-bit, octa cores, or whatever mobile OS you prefer is really going to make a big difference.
Yea had a 4S but switched to the Xperia Z and have it until my contract expires in September. I will be returning to iphone though.
Switched mainly for the big screen although find the overall phone is just a fraction too big for my liking. Liked android a lot more than I anticipated and certainly glad I tried it out. Although kitkat is giving me serious lag issues. All of my family and my girlfriend have iPhones so iMessage and FaceTime are quite a miss. Find some apps don't quite have the same polish as they do on ios. The battery life is absolutely amazing though. Never have to worry about lasting the day, usually lasts closer to do with heavy enough usage. Really like google now integration, far and above Siri in my opinion. Overall a good experience but I find ios just suits me more, they are both very good platforms it's down to which one suits your needs more. I'm not very big into customising or anything so that doesn't effect me
Switched mainly for the big screen although find the overall phone is just a fraction too big for my liking. Liked android a lot more than I anticipated and certainly glad I tried it out. Although kitkat is giving me serious lag issues. All of my family and my girlfriend have iPhones so iMessage and FaceTime are quite a miss. Find some apps don't quite have the same polish as they do on ios. The battery life is absolutely amazing though. Never have to worry about lasting the day, usually lasts closer to do with heavy enough usage. Really like google now integration, far and above Siri in my opinion. Overall a good experience but I find ios just suits me more, they are both very good platforms it's down to which one suits your needs more. I'm not very big into customising or anything so that doesn't effect me
IMO, it's not that Android devices are bad, it's just a different interface and different mode of operation. There are pros and cons to both. I just happen to have used an iOS device first and that's what I'm used to. Could I use an Android device as my daily driver? Yes. But I just don't want to because I'm used to iOS and iOS so far does everything I need it to do.
I've owned:
EVO
EVO 3D
Samsung Galaxy S3
Back in the day, I used to be a big fan of Google. Loved Gmail and most of the other Apps they came out with. They even sent me a free ChromeBook back in the day. I started realizing though that most of their products were incomplete and never had full commitment from Google to polish or finish. Google Voice is one such example. It really started to sour me.
Android phones (the ones I had/have) are nice to a degree but the user experience is lacking big time in my eyes. Like others have said, the OS seems cobbled together with no clear vision or direction. Tons of little annoyances that add up too. Putting in your pin code and having to hit the OK button to unlock is one such annoyance. Just little things that you realize are dumb after having an iPhone. I'm thinking Android L will change this but it's late in the game to win me back. I also would never ever considered spending money in the Google Play store. The apps just don't seem as polished or stable as the iOS counterparts. Force closing occurred a lot in my limited engagement.
Fragmentation was a pain in the ass too. Some of my devices never got updates to patch bugs or glitches and it pissed me off that the carriers tried to push to get you to buy a new phone just to get the updated OS. My Galaxy S3 just got 4.4.3 so things are getting better I guess. Still not impressed.
Battery life was a major pain in the ass too. Charge would last a few hours and that required turning off features that I liked to get more battery life. I thought it was ridiculous.
Once I got my hands on my first iPhone (iPhone 4S), I realized that there was a better user experience. The OS felt polished and the apps you buy do as well. It just seems and feels like a professional product where as Android feels like a Geek Project thrown together over time. The iPhone was a gateway product for me so then I started seeing how seamless and wonderful there other products are. The stuff is simple and just works. No tinkering or troubleshooting. Just what I like. I'm a systems engineer and the last thing I want to do is come home troubleshooting systems and phones.
Apple has shown me there is a better product out there if you are willing to spend a little for it.
EVO
EVO 3D
Samsung Galaxy S3
Back in the day, I used to be a big fan of Google. Loved Gmail and most of the other Apps they came out with. They even sent me a free ChromeBook back in the day. I started realizing though that most of their products were incomplete and never had full commitment from Google to polish or finish. Google Voice is one such example. It really started to sour me.
Android phones (the ones I had/have) are nice to a degree but the user experience is lacking big time in my eyes. Like others have said, the OS seems cobbled together with no clear vision or direction. Tons of little annoyances that add up too. Putting in your pin code and having to hit the OK button to unlock is one such annoyance. Just little things that you realize are dumb after having an iPhone. I'm thinking Android L will change this but it's late in the game to win me back. I also would never ever considered spending money in the Google Play store. The apps just don't seem as polished or stable as the iOS counterparts. Force closing occurred a lot in my limited engagement.
Fragmentation was a pain in the ass too. Some of my devices never got updates to patch bugs or glitches and it pissed me off that the carriers tried to push to get you to buy a new phone just to get the updated OS. My Galaxy S3 just got 4.4.3 so things are getting better I guess. Still not impressed.
Battery life was a major pain in the ass too. Charge would last a few hours and that required turning off features that I liked to get more battery life. I thought it was ridiculous.
Once I got my hands on my first iPhone (iPhone 4S), I realized that there was a better user experience. The OS felt polished and the apps you buy do as well. It just seems and feels like a professional product where as Android feels like a Geek Project thrown together over time. The iPhone was a gateway product for me so then I started seeing how seamless and wonderful there other products are. The stuff is simple and just works. No tinkering or troubleshooting. Just what I like. I'm a systems engineer and the last thing I want to do is come home troubleshooting systems and phones.
Apple has shown me there is a better product out there if you are willing to spend a little for it.
I moved to Android phones having SGS4 and 5 and Nexus 4 and 5 and would not return to an iPhone (I have had iPhone 3GS, 4, 4S and 5) I have had an original iPad and now have an iPad mini and have no desire to go Android when it comes to tablets. I also have a MBP from 2010 and that is going no where. Period. I find it to be that good.
Owned every single iPhone until the iPhone 4, switched to the Galaxy S4 after that and never looked back. The S4 is better than any iPhone in my opinion. It's got a bigger and higher resolution screen, it's more customisable, it has very cheap expandable memory (£20 for a 64GB micro SD vs £200 extra for a 64GB iPhone), it has apps iOS just will never have without jailbreaking, a process that's becoming harder and harder with each new iOS update (I got torrent clients, "adult" apps, system utilities, etc), and to top it off even the latest S5 is cheaper than the iPhone on most contracts (in the UK at least), and the Note 3, as it's about to be replaced, is a lot cheaper, despite still being a complete beast. It's even cheaper than the 5S. And the Nexus 5 will give you a device comparable to the S4 for just £300 new with stock Android.
And if you don't like any of those phones? Cool, there's like 10 more flagships to choose from. Maybe you dislike the plastic on Samsungs? Buy the One M8 instead. Maybe you want a smaller screen? Samsung, HTC, Sony, Motorola, and more all do smaller Android phones. You have a plethora of choice. Apple gives you three choices: the iPhone, the cheaper iPhone with the specs of last year's one, or the one that's two years old.
Quite frankly after owning my S4 for a year I can't help but feeling I've just let Apple con me all these years I got iPhones. I could easily keep the S4 for another two years and still have a perfectly good phone in my hands. I have it underclocked to half the stock speed to boost battery life (because Android lets you do that) and it's still blazing fast. In fact I'm only looking to upgrade not out of necessity but because I feel like copping a phablet. And it will likely come from Sammy because overall the S4 has treated me very well (only one serious problem but that was a CynogenMod bug, not Sammy's fault). There is just absolutely no way I could ever justify another iPhone after enjoying what Android has to offer.
And with Android L dropping in a few months there's never been a better time to jump into Android. L is as refined as iOS but with none of the downsides.
I feel like I go back and forth constantly on the whole iOS or Android thing. The Nexus 5 is solid and vanilla android is, in most ways, better than iOS. The Nexus 5 is a better phone than the iPhone 5S for the price, but I think the iPad is just all around better than any tablet. As a result, I am between the two OS's.
I was really excited about the continuity feature in iOS which pushed me heavily towards the next iPhone, but it won't be supported on my Macbook Pro, so maybe not.
So yeah, I have no idea. I installed L on my device and it is quite good so far, so I might just hold off than go for the 6.
I was really excited about the continuity feature in iOS which pushed me heavily towards the next iPhone, but it won't be supported on my Macbook Pro, so maybe not.
So yeah, I have no idea. I installed L on my device and it is quite good so far, so I might just hold off than go for the 6.
The note 4 maybe the only phone this year worthy of Android L, none of the latest flagship phones are.
And by then there will be iPhone 6.
There's no reason current flagship hardware won't run it and Sammy is a bit slow with updates but they are very consistent with them. They even updated the S2 to Jelly Bean. And even if official updates don't push Android L out, CyanogenMod sure will, and I'll be getting it as soon as it's suitable for daily use.
I'm an S4 owner too, and do like it overall. But the hassle of managing two storage locations (due to only 16gb internal storage on the S4) is annoying me. My next phone will have 32-64gb internal storage so I don't have to deal with sd cards.
Or go the Windows Phone route and set it up so apps go to the sd card and pics/vids to the phone. Or vice versa. With a phone like the Lumia 635 or 1520, you can have a 128gb sd card to handle all of your needs.
Or go the Windows Phone route and set it up so apps go to the sd card and pics/vids to the phone. Or vice versa. With a phone like the Lumia 635 or 1520, you can have a 128gb sd card to handle all of your needs.
Just had a look at a YouTube video about Storage Sense on Windows Phone. It does seem easier to manage the SD card from this centralized location than on Android where data storage location seems to handled on a per app basis and sometimes seems to continue to default to internal storage even after an app is moved to the SD card.
Does anyone know if SD card management is something that is being improved in Android L?
I haven't had hassle with this, granted I probably have more free storage because I'm using CM, but I just put music, movies, photos, etc on the SD and only use the internal storage for apps. Never had problems with that. Sometimes it says its full so I move some files I downloaded to the SD (since downloads automatically go to the internal) and it's fine again.
Sammy do a 32GB S5 though so it shouldn't be hard to get one.