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List of features you lose switching to Android
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How so many iPhone users that have no idea what Android can do, has been able to do and that in many cases, was copied by Apple. It is funny to see iPhone users think Apple invented the feature.
Things like find my phone, iCloud, purchase music and have it available on all Android devices, add contacts on one device and be available on all, spotlight search, notification customization, rich notifications, VIP inbox, etc have all been on Android and in some of the cases, long before the iPhone.
Doesn't really matter much anymore anyway. With ios8 and Android L, design and feature sets are converging. Both are great and getting better.
Things like find my phone, iCloud, purchase music and have it available on all Android devices, add contacts on one device and be available on all, spotlight search, notification customization, rich notifications, VIP inbox, etc have all been on Android and in some of the cases, long before the iPhone.
Doesn't really matter much anymore anyway. With ios8 and Android L, design and feature sets are converging. Both are great and getting better.
Yeah. I have to agree with this too.
I'm at a real cross roads this year. I'm looking at the Moto X+1 (I'm afraid to admit mostly because I love my Moto X and also because the MX+1 is still somewhat mysterious), the Nexus 6, or the iPhone 6.
You do realize the only unique feature in your list is being able to backup the phone?
1. Well I don't know if the terminology I used is correct (hardware-based encryption), but what I was specifically referring to was a chip in the phone which stores the encryption key. I would argue this offers greater functionality than having to type the encryption key every time you boot up, like you do on Android. Encrypting an Android phone basically means find my phone can't work until the encryption key has been entered. This is not the case with iPhones. Also, how do you get Android to wipe itself after 10 failed password attempts?
3. Where are the centralised notification settings?
4. How do I get Android to define a word, whilst offline, from within any app?
I didn't go through the entire thread.
Android Device manager can locate, lock and wipe your devices (http://www.google.com/android/devicemanager) There's even an app for your devices so you can use one you didn't lose to act on the one you did lose.
Google has Google Drive. I can take a picture of a receipt with my phone and it converts it to PDF and stores it in my Drive account for later retrieval, accessible using the Drive app on my Mac or any web browser.
I'll give you iTunes, though I'm using Google Music for my music. It can sync from iTunes to my Music account, then I can "pin" songs to my device for offline listening or stream as much as I want, no need to plug into a computer to sync. Google has a "backup" capability, but all it does is restore your wireless connections and apps (without data).
Continuity? I don't need it. I have a Moto X with Moto Assist. I can be across the room, listen to then respond to a text (if I'm home). I can also answer a call and have it default to speaker, or make a call (this part isn't restricted to home) without ever touching my phone.
I think people are stretching a bit when needing to make the argument that there are more cases and accessories for the iPhone. By that I mean, "I want to make my list longer, here's something else I believe or want to think is the case".
How can you beat 'Android people' over the head if you don't even have a clue of what you are talking about?
For me, aside from the fact that I just prefer the way iOS handles most everything the big things I would lose are any iOS-only sharing services. Here's why:
My family (siblings, parents, grandparents) and my wife's family (siblings, parents, grandparents) are all on iOS devices. Now some of them are tech saavy (my brothers, my mom has a corporate dropbox account) and would at least know what I was talking about if I asked them to download and signup for an additional cloud storage service so I could share pics with them or communicate via wifi.
But even if they know about it, they really don't want to have to keep track of a secondary messaging app or move files/photos into another cloud storage app (examples, you see what I'm saying). And frankly, I don't really care to do so either.
Things like iMessage, FaceTime, Photo Streams, AirDrop etc are all baked into iOS meaning my family doesn't have to do anything extra. My wife and I will be having kids soon and while our families are close and we'll be blessed to have them involved, I'm sure my grandparents who live on opposite coasts would really love to see photos.
So I can simply create a PhotoStream dedicated to pictures of our newborn (whenever it happens) and invite all my family to join. As my wife and I document our new baby's first steps, first words etc we can share those instantly across the country with our family. And if I happen to be away or my mom or wife's mom is taking care of the child, its easy for them to add their own photos.
And this all happens in the photos app without having to sync anything, or upload anything to a separate app or download any photos from a separate app.
This is just one example I've been thinking about lately as we've started talking about kids. And I can't wait to be able to share those moments with my family. That's the type of thing I just don't get using an Android device.
My family (siblings, parents, grandparents) and my wife's family (siblings, parents, grandparents) are all on iOS devices. Now some of them are tech saavy (my brothers, my mom has a corporate dropbox account) and would at least know what I was talking about if I asked them to download and signup for an additional cloud storage service so I could share pics with them or communicate via wifi.
But even if they know about it, they really don't want to have to keep track of a secondary messaging app or move files/photos into another cloud storage app (examples, you see what I'm saying). And frankly, I don't really care to do so either.
Things like iMessage, FaceTime, Photo Streams, AirDrop etc are all baked into iOS meaning my family doesn't have to do anything extra. My wife and I will be having kids soon and while our families are close and we'll be blessed to have them involved, I'm sure my grandparents who live on opposite coasts would really love to see photos.
So I can simply create a PhotoStream dedicated to pictures of our newborn (whenever it happens) and invite all my family to join. As my wife and I document our new baby's first steps, first words etc we can share those instantly across the country with our family. And if I happen to be away or my mom or wife's mom is taking care of the child, its easy for them to add their own photos.
And this all happens in the photos app without having to sync anything, or upload anything to a separate app or download any photos from a separate app.
This is just one example I've been thinking about lately as we've started talking about kids. And I can't wait to be able to share those moments with my family. That's the type of thing I just don't get using an Android device.
Yup, agreed. As much as I generally prefer iOS's way of doing things, most, if not all of the unique or best functionality involves synergies with other Apple products and services. I'd miss quite a bit of what iOS offers but most of that is because I predominantly use Apple gear and a great majority of my family and friends do as well. If you take away this particular element, there are far fewer advantages offered by iOS, at least in my opinion.
Besides the 'Applecentric' functionality, I'd miss iOS's design (I like the changes introduced with iOS 7), centralized notification settings, the control center (prefer iOS's implementation), swipe gestures to go forward or back, and the top notch hardware that uses iOS.
Yup, agreed. As much as I generally prefer iOS's way of doing things, most, if not all of the unique or best functionality involves synergies with other Apple products and services. I'd miss quite a bit of what iOS offers but most of that is because I predominantly use Apple gear and a great majority of my family and friends do as well. If you take away this particular element, there are far fewer advantages offered by iOS, at least in my opinion.
Besides the 'Applecentric' functionality, I'd miss iOS's design (I like the changes introduced with iOS 7), centralized notification settings, the control center (prefer iOS's implementation), swipe gestures to go forward or back, and the top notch hardware that uses iOS.
I completely agree. If my friends and family weren't on iOS, I may not be as vehemently an iOS fan as I am.
The consistent and beautiful design language is also a huge plus. A big reason why I'm excited about Android L....Google seems to be making a concerted effort to make vanilla Android a viable consumer option.
Yup, agreed. As much as I generally prefer iOS's way of doing things, most, if not all of the unique or best functionality involves synergies with other Apple products and services. I'd miss quite a bit of what iOS offers but most of that is because I predominantly use Apple gear and a great majority of my family and friends do as well. If you take away this particular element, there are far fewer advantages offered by iOS, at least in my opinion.
Besides the 'Applecentric' functionality, I'd miss iOS's design (I like the changes introduced with iOS 7), centralized notification settings, the control center (prefer iOS's implementation), swipe gestures to go forward or back, and the top notch hardware that uses iOS.
Yes, I think that these are really fair and unbiased reflections, I think that the two OS's are now both superb and on a par with each other, if I am honest, it all boils down to personal preference.
You can do this on android using google plus. It's a stock app and it automatically syncs your photos. You can access your photos from any android device via the google plus app. The only thing it doesn't do by default is to sync to your computer. However you can always access your photos on your computer via google plus.
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Yup, agreed. As much as I generally prefer iOS's way of doing things, most, if not all of the unique or best functionality involves synergies with other Apple products and services. I'd miss quite a bit of what iOS offers but most of that is because I predominantly use Apple gear and a great majority of my family and friends do as well. If you take away this particular element, there are far fewer advantages offered by iOS, at least in my opinion.
Besides the 'Applecentric' functionality, I'd miss iOS's design (I like the changes introduced with iOS 7), centralized notification settings, the control center (prefer iOS's implementation), swipe gestures to go forward or back, and the top notch hardware that uses iOS.
That's why it's great to have both OS's.
I know I CAN. But can I set up a shared folder with various family members who can then all post to it and all those photos show up in an album within the photos app?
I'm not even mentioning the fact that none of my family has Google+ and I don't spend any time on mine. We could all share via Facebook or some other social media avenue, but the benefit of PhotoStreams are that the photos all end up in the Photos app along with other photos.
But none of my family member uses iPhone.
And just use Instagram to share moments?
Although android lockscreen does not support notification like iPhone without using 3rd party app, it does natively support some widgets. So u can just put a Gmail widget, hangout widget, so u still know when u receive new chat or email.
Although android update slower, the individual apps for each new android version will still be updated. Like how Google keyboard, chrome, Gmail will always update itself. So it's doesn't really matter much.
One thing about iPhone that's is better than android is apps running in background. IPhone can run plenty of background apps without slowing the phone. But for Android, yr phone would start to lag if u install too many. (if we assume it's a 1gb ram anddoid) many of the apps does not close itself and keeps taking up ram and eventually when ram is less than 200mb, lags, battery drain starts kicking in. That said, Android solve this with 3gb ram.
For itune, if I nv have itune on my pc, it is too much of a hassle for me to organise my library into itune. Many of my song only consist of title. =X
For an Android lost phone, there are chances that the person who pick up yr phone being able to boot yr phone into recovery or simply deleting everything from yr phone and they can claim yr phone as theirs. This is not possible with iPhone.
This is a particular use case that I would also find beneficial. I can share photo's and albums via G+ Photo app, but I don't believe Google has the ability to allow others to add photos to my own 'photostream'. Maybe the feature is coming, no idea?
Something you'd gain by moving to Android from iOS, updates to core apps without a whole OS update. Gmail, the keyboard, G+, Drive (iCloud competitor), Maps and navigation are all in the Play Store and update independent of the OS.
Someone mentioned that notifications aren't on the lock screen on Android, some phones have it. Active Notifications is an absolutely AMAZING capability of the Moto X, and between that and touchless controls I've made a few iPhone fans a little jealous. Sure, that's one device and not the entire ecosystem, but it's a VERY under-rated device and didn't sell nearly as well as it should have.
Someone mentioned that notifications aren't on the lock screen on Android, some phones have it. Active Notifications is an absolutely AMAZING capability of the Moto X, and between that and touchless controls I've made a few iPhone fans a little jealous. Sure, that's one device and not the entire ecosystem, but it's a VERY under-rated device and didn't sell nearly as well as it should have.
If you're referring to the second part of his statement detailing how one can access the Google Play store from any computer to purchase apps, iOS doesn't have this capability and never has. You either need to purchase from the App Store on the device or from iTunes on a computer authorized to make purchases for that Apple ID, and there is no way to specify which device gets the app using the later method without having the device either plugged into the computer or synced locally on the same wifi network. Google's implementation is far more convenient. I've installed apps on my Android devices directly from my iPad--certainly can't do the reverse.
This.
There seems to be a crusade from fans of both the convince each other that the opposition are rubbish. I've used both extensively and have reached the conclusion 'I' prefer the iPhone and iOS. What really annoys me is when I am told the reasons why I have an iPhone and it is the usual Apple marketing, iSheep tripe, or apparently it is because of the look etc etc. That really does wind me up because I reached my decision based on using both and analysing the pro's and con's of each. Making the decision to buy the iPhone is not one you take lightly, especially with the cost.
I know a few people who love Android and I can see where they are coming from too. My last Android device was the S3. Its personal preference though as both are superb operating systems in their own right. I can do everything I need to do on iOS and I have to admit I am doing the same tasks I did when I was on Android, they are just done in a different way. I don't find iOS restrictive based on this and its all about finding your sweet spot. Its our money at the end of the day and we buy what we like.
I'm still pretty new to the concept there are a lot of people out there who are personally offended by others mobile phone choices. We didn't seem to have this silly debate when most people were using Nokia 3310's lol... Or perhaps I didn't notice
Does Android have an answer for Airdrop,Airplay and Hand-off/continuity that doesn't involve 3rd party software or a cumbersome setup process?
Pushbullet with its notification mirroring is the closest thing to continuity IMO (texting can be integrated into pushbullet with evolvesms or there are other 3rd party SMS options like mighty text and airdroid). They all involve 3rd party apps , but they are cross platform. Airplay can be done with allcast to apple tv's. There is native mirroring on chromecast.
Unfortunately , ios continuity does nothing for users of other nonmac platforms. I'm a sad panda
Biggest thing I want continuity for is at work and we cannot go Mac. Hopefully this IBM partnership bears some fruit.
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Android has Chromecast, which I would argue is better than Airplay for video content. It started off with the ability to hand-off playback of web content but with Android L, mirroring of local content is being added (like Airplay). Airplay is better for getting music onto speakers, but I'd be very surprised if Chromecast enabled speakers were not available soon.
I don't know about the other things. They've never interested me.
I've actually heard the opposite. I've heard Airplay on a Apple TV is a much better user experience than Chromecast.
I have both though I haven't done extensive testing of Chromecast. Can you push video content to the Chromecast and then do something else on the phone itself? The Cast button seemed inconsistent to me as it sometimes popped up in a YouTube vid and other times it didn't.