I'm just going to leave this right here....
http://blog.iangclifton.com/2013/03/30/the-negative-impact-of-ios-on-android/
http://blog.iangclifton.com/2013/03/30/the-negative-impact-of-ios-on-android/
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
iOS app quality and Android app quality?
- Thread starter Tarzanman
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I find it so annoying when apps on my Android phone doesn't behave properly. It wasn't until later when I had some experience with iOS devices that I realised that those apps are mimicing iOS apps. It seems to me that app developers don't bother building Android apps to work like Android apps. Instead, it they make them look like a cheap version of the iOS app.
I read this a few days ago and I find it very enlightening. The problem is worse than I thought. It seems that they are trying to purposely not building Android apps to their potential. It's like iOS acts as a glass ceiling on what developers are allowed to do on Android.
I read this a few days ago and I find it very enlightening. The problem is worse than I thought. It seems that they are trying to purposely not building Android apps to their potential. It's like iOS acts as a glass ceiling on what developers are allowed to do on Android.
Lazy developers probably love this link. It allows them to blame iOS for their lack of desire to do a good job on two completely different mobile platforms. The fact that iOS handle things one way and Android handles it a different way is totally expected and understood I thought by at least quality developers. But I guess lazy people are always going to look for someone else to blame.
While he had some good points overall, he did veer off into the whole widgets are better than notification Center on iOS and icons should be able to be different colors shapes etc. which really is just some of the same old song.
Maybe soon Android will be driving the majority of the developers and then the iOS developers will have issues. Personally I think as phones and tablets become the dominant platforms this whole argument will go away because people develop for both and users need quality apps on both, so the user will go to quality apps and leave the poor quality ones behind.
While he had some good points overall, he did veer off into the whole widgets are better than notification Center on iOS and icons should be able to be different colors shapes etc. which really is just some of the same old song.
Maybe soon Android will be driving the majority of the developers and then the iOS developers will have issues. Personally I think as phones and tablets become the dominant platforms this whole argument will go away because people develop for both and users need quality apps on both, so the user will go to quality apps and leave the poor quality ones behind.
Doubtful. Developers will always follow the money and that's with iOS. Lot more users for Android, but they don't pay nearly as much as iOS users for apps. For that reason alone apps will almost always (or at least until the above changes) originate on iOS and then an Android version with similar functionality will make its way to market.
Sometimes development teams aren't given the money to develop apps properly on Android.
My favorite story is a CEO who wanted to prioritize Blackberry development over Android because he was using a Blackberry still.
Interesting article. I find that 3rd party apps on Android are usually on par with their iOS counterparts, and at times better. What's interesting to me is that first party apps, from Google and Samsung are worse than Apple first party apps, much worse in some cases IMO, it's in these cases that Google would do well to copy Apple.
GMail, Google Maps, Google Wallet, Google Docs, Google Keep, Google Voice, Google Drive, Google Translate and YouTube... Do you think any of these are better on iOS? Some of them aren't even available on iOS.
Apple maps is better than Google maps on android IMO. Siri is MUCH better than the atrocity that Google now is IMO. Those are the programs installed in every Android phone by default, the rest are programs you have to install. Apple has apps available also that Google as a 1st party developer doesn't, for example find my iPhone.
Note that I put in my opinion, I'm sure many prefer Google maps and Google Now, but personally I find them rather lacking in functionality.
Last edited:
Well, lets see. There are 3 resolutions for the iPhone and 2 screen sizes. Apple app developers are paid, on average, more for apps on iTunes than Google Play.
How many screen sizes and resolutions are there for Android?
Which one do you think i develop for?
How many screen sizes and resolutions are there for Android?
Which one do you think i develop for?
But on Android you don't have to use separate elements for separate resolutions though. It scales.
Lol, archaic? Come on now. Sure, Android has a lot of cool features, and it's more complex for that very reason. But it still could grow, and it's still very much a seedling.
I haven't seen anything on Android that actually justifies paying for a $80/mo smartphone plan on AT&T. Like honestly, I feel ripped off every month because my usage on Android when it comes to the internet, is completely different to that of when I was using an iPhone 4.
Curious to know what you think both those apps are lacking?
Imo, both are far and away more functional than their ios Counterpart, and I'm sure quite a few people would agree.
Siri vs. Google Now, now there's a topic that's never been discussed here before.....
I'll save everyone some time and a few hundred "Well with X, I get Y result which is totally wrong" and "X in my area sucks, it doesn't even report/show Y" posts.
Some like Apple, some like Google is what it all boils down too.
Each has their strengths and weaknesses, I doubt any poster is going to post that "holy grail" of a post that leads to mass conversions of one side to the other....
Generally, the apps that are the same between devices are no different. I have an iPhone 5 and Galaxy Note II and I have the same apps downloaded on both (Facebook, twitter, documents to go, some games). Apps that are found on the play store, but not on the App Store may be not as perfect as the ones found on the App Store.
Google navigation isn't bad at all, I've just found that Apple maps is more accurate in navigation, especially when dealing with congested multi highway areas. It also has some weird issues that I don't understand how they make it through Googles QC, like the speaker and/or bluetooth guidance voice not muting during a phone call, kind of a duh feature IMO. It's also not as good in picking alternate routes IMO as Apple maps. But no, the difference isn't great and I'm mostly happy with Google navigation.
As for Google Now that's a different story, I've found it fairly useless for most of my functional tasks, things that Siri handled with aplomb. Google Now just seems like a google internet search shoved down my throat, if I wanted to search the internet I would do that, but I would rather my voice app helped me to do things like navigate to a contacts address. But instead if I said "navigate to Joe Schmoe's house" Google now would actually do a search for Joe Schmoe on the internet and display those results, Siri would know exactly what I wanted and would put me into navigation right away, no questions asked. Google now does some Siri stuff, but it always seems like an afterthought kind of hidden inside the big google internet search. I'm sure always having that internet search works for some users, I'm really just talking about MY functionality and what I need in a phone. If I'm careening down the highway at 90 mph and need to navigate to a contact, I'm not going to want an internet search. But once again that's my functionality, others might like that particular pattern of behavior.
Last edited:
You find Google maps/navigation lacking in functionality compared to Apple maps?
I can understand if you prefer Apple maps but I'd hardly say its more functional. From the beginning you get more transportation options. You get more layers. You can set avoidances. Its dark so you don't notice the lack of night mode which is Apple choosing form over function to begin with. As soon as the address is set navigation starts, not Directions here clicking and selecting a route blah blah. You CAN select different routes if you wish. And although this is location based Google maps are much more up to date then Apples, there has been two ways out of my neighborhood forever yet Apple has only one. That said Garmin is the same way, Google is up to date however...
I never really used Google Now and only use Siri for making calls and reading text so I can't really compare. I do find online dictation to be very annoying however. In a weak signal area Siri can't even compose a text...I wish they would change this. Google Now doesn't need data to compose email/text/etc...
Don't get me wrong, Google maps is super nice and I like using it. I'm on the road a LOT so I use my navigation every day and IMO Apple maps are more accurate, and also more helpful in guidance when routing through confusing areas such as highways with several branches and confusing merges. I've also found that Apple maps gives better alternate routes, Google has given me some weird far fetched alternate routes before. Extra features are nice, but I'd rather have the core technology work better, eg the guidance part of it.
I'm also still throwing out the lack of navigation voice mute on Google maps as a MAJOR negative, it takes away a huge amount of functionality when you need to navigate and talk on the phone, which for me is pretty much all the time.
My Google now frequently tells me it can't reach Google, not sure if it was in low signal areas as I didn't check.
On my way back from Charlton vs Leeds last night, apple maps suddenly demanded I drive off a bridge to my death.
Siri is clearly a Leeds fan...
Siri is clearly a Leeds fan...
I find that Google Maps does a subpar job when it comes to picking a good route through traffic in my city. I ended up switching to Waze as Waze seems to be a lot better at picking better routes when there is a lot of traffic. Google Maps seem to very rarely offer me any alternative routes when traffic is heavy where as Waze does seem to offer many different ones or picks better default ones more often.
Google maps just let me down again this weekend, planning a new route and it was directing me down some goofy back road instead of a highway. If I took the suggested route it was estimating 38 minutes, but since I knew the general direction I took the highway and forced it to re-estimate at 18 minutes.
I've been using Waze also, it's pretty freakin awesome. The map portion isn't necessarily incredibly better than google, but the other features are insanely nice. Waze is definitely on to something, what a cool and incredibly functional navigation program it is. For those that don't know it's a crowdsourced navigation where you get real time updates from other users on the road on things like traffic, accidents, cops, etc. It works better in dense areas, in NJ it's insanely useful and I've very quickly become addicted to it and have it on all the time when driving.
Best part of Waze; letting you know where cops are hiding or if an accident is in front of you (assuming someone plugs it in, that is).
I like Google Now and maps, because once I set an appointment in Google Calendar or DigiCal or acalendar+ or any app that integrates with Google, I am auto-notified by Google Now if there are delays, when I should leave and the best route. I don't use iDevices anymore, so can't do a hands-on with Apple Maps, but I haven't heard very positive reviews, especially outside the U.S. I do travel a lot via car, and Google always gives me the shortest route and has never failed me. And Street View... If a Map app doesn't have this feature, it is simply not a complete app IMO. Apple knows this and that is why they are going to be adding the feature at some point in the future. (All we have right now is a patent that looks very much like Google's Compass Mode in Street View.) I really think Apple needs that or I think Apple Maps will turn into a North American only app.
That article seemed to be mainly oriented at features.
But in reality, features aren't everything. Someone can try and use that to argue app quality all they want. But that doesn't change the fact that apps run better on my iPhone than on my Android.
I have an iPhone 4S, about a year and a half old now, and a Nexus 4, the latest and greatest from Google that will always get the speediest updates. My iPhone 4S has 1/4th the amount of RAM, 1/2 the amount of cores, and 1/2 the clock speed on those cores. In terms of raw hardware, the 4S is no match for the Nexus 4. But the problem is that those things really don't matter. Because in the end Plex, Amazon, Evernote, Slice, Feedly, Bible, Facebook, and so many more of my daily apps run SOOOOOO much smoother on my iPhone 4S. Which in every way should be much slower, but it isn't.
I am not saying this to bash Android. I love Android. I haven't touched my 4S in months. I barely ever use my iPad anymore because my enjoyment level for iOS is going down. But if we are talking about pure quality of apps, not feature quantity, then iOS surely wins.
Of course, customization and openness are another story. And ultimately these two things, along with a bigger screen, have won me over.
But in reality, features aren't everything. Someone can try and use that to argue app quality all they want. But that doesn't change the fact that apps run better on my iPhone than on my Android.
I have an iPhone 4S, about a year and a half old now, and a Nexus 4, the latest and greatest from Google that will always get the speediest updates. My iPhone 4S has 1/4th the amount of RAM, 1/2 the amount of cores, and 1/2 the clock speed on those cores. In terms of raw hardware, the 4S is no match for the Nexus 4. But the problem is that those things really don't matter. Because in the end Plex, Amazon, Evernote, Slice, Feedly, Bible, Facebook, and so many more of my daily apps run SOOOOOO much smoother on my iPhone 4S. Which in every way should be much slower, but it isn't.
I am not saying this to bash Android. I love Android. I haven't touched my 4S in months. I barely ever use my iPad anymore because my enjoyment level for iOS is going down. But if we are talking about pure quality of apps, not feature quantity, then iOS surely wins.
Of course, customization and openness are another story. And ultimately these two things, along with a bigger screen, have won me over.
changing apps to from iOS to android.
how much is the transfer cost of changing an app to android from iOS? im currently exploring this option and would like some insider knowledge.. if you wanna check out the app to get more information about presenting on android..
https://itunes.apple.com/app/id581109627
how much is the transfer cost of changing an app to android from iOS? im currently exploring this option and would like some insider knowledge.. if you wanna check out the app to get more information about presenting on android..
https://itunes.apple.com/app/id581109627
