My 30 day iPhone 5 Journey

[onthecouchagain]

We are very similar with our android experience. This year has been the longest time I have spent with android. A few thinks that irked me when trying iOS again were the keyboard, not being able to access notification drop down on the lock screen, not being able to clear notifications all at once, and badge icons are ugly.

Jail break helps a ton. I mean it's figured out iOS far faster and better than apple has. Without it I don't think i would even consider keeping the iPhone. I still might not. Nothing will change the 4" screen. :T

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This! You'll need to charge it fully and if you respring or reboot the stats are reset.

Try DietBulletin for the slimmer notification

Grolub do you have any idea how these jailbreak apps affect the battery life? Is it significant? I mainly have:

Zephyr
Auxo
Activator (with one command only. Tap hold status bar to sleep device)
Webscrollian
Password pilot
Swipe safari
Folder closer
Map opener (to make google maps default)

That's it. Just wondering if you have any idea. I will definitely test in the coming days.

 

[Grolubao]

Jail break helps a ton. I mean it's figured out iOS far faster and better than apple has. Without it I don't think i would even consider keeping the iPhone. I still might not. Nothing will change the 4" screen. :T

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Grolub do you have any idea how these jailbreak apps affect the battery life? Is it significant? I mainly have:

Zephyr
Auxo
Activator (with one command only. Tap hold status bar to sleep device)
Webscrollian
Password pilot
Swipe safari
Folder closer
Map opener (to make google maps default)

That's it. Just wondering if you have any idea. I will definitely test in the coming days.

Auxo has been reported as very buggy and indeed has impact on battery life, other than that everything you have doesn't impact on battery life what's so ever.

I'm also very conservative in what cydia tweaks I use because I don't need fancyness I need usability. I would definitely try the following:

Dashboard X - Gives widgets same as android
FakeClockUp - Speeds up animations, you wouldn't believe how much more productive you are after this.
FastClear - Removes the double click on the cross in notification center
FolderCloser - closes a folder once you open a app
Intelliscreen X - Loads of goodies, check it out.
KillBackground - button to kill all apps in one shot
PullToDismiss - Dismisses the keyboard by pulling it up
PushMail - push mail sbsettings toggle
sbsettings - no brainer
SliderWidth - configure the size of the slide to unlock. Always felt stock is too big.
SwipeNav - this one you know
Zephyr - same

 

[onthecouchagain]

Auxo has been reported as very buggy and indeed has impact on battery life, other than that everything you have doesn't impact on battery life what's so ever.

I'm also very conservative in what cydia tweaks I use because I don't need fancyness I need usability. I would definitely try the following:

Dashboard X - Gives widgets same as android
FakeClockUp - Speeds up animations, you wouldn't believe how much more productive you are after this.
FastClear - Removes the double click on the cross in notification center
FolderCloser - closes a folder once you open a app
Intelliscreen X - Loads of goodies, check it out.
KillBackground - button to kill all apps in one shot
PullToDismiss - Dismisses the keyboard by pulling it up
PushMail - push mail sbsettings toggle
sbsettings - no brainer
SliderWidth - configure the size of the slide to unlock. Always felt stock is too big.
SwipeNav - this one you know
Zephyr - same

Auxo, really? Dang. I really love that app. What about it makes it such a battery drain? I guess the "live tiles" of the app switcher tray? It's not the toggles, is it?

Anyway, great list. How does FakeClockUp make animations faster? Would that affect batt life?

 

[onthecouchagain]

FakeClockUp - Speeds up animations, you wouldn't believe how much more productive you are after this.

MOTHER OF GOD, the difference is really unbelievable.

This must affect battery aversely, no?

EDIT: It's honestly too fast. It's dizzying. Even at low settings. I have set to 2x fast. It's insanely blazing.

 

[mattopotamus]

MOTHER OF GOD, the difference is really unbelievable.

This must affect battery aversely, no?

EDIT: It's honestly too fast. It's dizzying. Even at low settings. I have set to 2x fast. It's insanely blazing.

I actually like animations =\. They are subtle and still fast

 

[onthecouchagain]

I actually like animations =\. They are subtle and still fast

I can see why the os loses some of its charms by speeding up the animation. I'm just bothered by it because its dizzying.

 

[sentinelsx]

Speeding up animations made me head hurt. I think there is a limit to how fast our eyes and brains can digest the transitions.

I tried accelerate too and it was promptly un-installed.

 

[AQUADock]

I can see why the os loses some of its charms by speeding up the animation. I'm just bothered by it because its dizzying.

I found the same thing too, it almost looks comical. About the battery life i havent found it to be much worse with those tweaks but i have an iP4.

 

[inselstudent]

I use %hook's law, a free tweak by Yephyr-creator chpwn. It speeds up only some of the animations (like opening, closing apps), but the wiggling, for instance, when you move icons on the homescreen stays the same. And it makes everything springy (name makes that a little obvious), the effects are adjustable. If you ask me, it's nice to look at and actually speeds up the slouchy animations on iOS to an acceptable extent.

 

[sentinelsx]

Have you installed nitrous yet?

Install it and see your chrome and other browsers go blazing fast like mobile safari. Breaking apple limits never felt so good

(it enables the nitro engine for other browsers and also UIwebviews opened by apps which apple only likes to keep to mobile safari).

 

[onthecouchagain]

Have you installed nitrous yet?

Install it and see your chrome and other browsers go blazing fast like mobile safari. Breaking apple limits never felt so good

(it enables the nitro engine for other browsers and also UIwebviews opened by apps which apple only likes to keep to mobile safari).

Is there a jailbreak app that makes Chrome the default browser?

After installing Swipe Safari, I'm not minding Safari so much. I can triple tap to scroll down, I can tap and hold to open a new tab, double tap hold to close tab, and swipe left/right to switch tabs (just like Chrome). And Webscrollian fixes the scrolling limitations.

It indeed feels good to break Apple's stupid barriers. I mean, they really are stupid. I'm not trying to insult them. Some of their decisions for the "most advanced operating system" make zero sense.

Jailbreaking helps tremendously.

 

[Oohara]

Have you installed nitrous yet?

Install it and see your chrome and other browsers go blazing fast like mobile safari. Breaking apple limits never felt so good

(it enables the nitro engine for other browsers and also UIwebviews opened by apps which apple only likes to keep to mobile safari).

Ok, that's it. I know it's completely irrational to host feelings towards a company and I often like to point that out myself, but this thread is really revving up my dislike for Apple. Look at all these freaking features that could have made iOS so much more versatile. They're right there, all possible and working!! And so obviously, unequivocally useful. But Apple continues to ignore them, while boasting their OS as the best. Disallowing third party browsers to use the nitro engine is the final straw.

I think my journey towards the dark side just became complete.

 

[onthecouchagain]

Regarding the animations, I thought it was just my imagination, but after you guys all brought it up, the animations are slower than Jelly Bean's, right? I just chocked it up to poor memory or my imagination, but animations do feel slower in iOS.

That's intentional, though, correct? So apps can sort of "load"?

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Ok, that's it. I know it's completely irrational to host feelings towards a company and I often like to point that out myself, but this thread is really revving up my dislike for Apple. Look at all these freaking features that could have made iOS so much more versatile. They're right there, all possible and working!! And so obviously, unequivocally useful. But Apple continues to ignore them, while boasting their OS as the best. Disallowing third party browsers to use the nitro engine is the final straw.

I think my journey towards the dark side just became complete.

I always thought the dark side was Apple?

But you really nail the point. Apple could make iOS incredibly amazing, but they choose not to for whatever reasons, good or bad.

Jail breaking is a strange double edge sword. On the one hand, it makes iOS so much better. On the other, it really brings to the surface how antiquated and unfortunate Apple's intentionally slow incremental updates philosophy is. It's very frustrating.

 

[Oohara]

I always thought the dark side was Apple?

Well, at this point I'm prepared to agree. But one year ago I was still stroking my 4S and calling people "fandroid" left and right

Jail breaking is a strange double edge sword. On the one hand, it makes iOS so much better. On the other, it really brings to the surface how antiquated and unfortunate Apple's intentionally slow incremental updates philosophy is. It's very frustrating.

Yeah, it's weird. I didn't know you could do all this with JB. But now that I know - and potentially could go on using iPhones and have much more of the versatile OS I want, while keeping the more stylish and streamlined look for core OS graphics like menus and such - I get even more enthusiastic about switching to Android. Just because it pisses me off how much Apple chooses to withhold.

Or well, I guess actually I prefer Android in any case because of availability of bigger screen phones (and S-pen on the Note 2), general customizability of homescreens etc...and the fact that you don't have to root to get all that JB brings to the iPhone

 

[onthecouchagain]

Well, at this point I'm prepared to agree. But one year ago I was still stroking my 4S and calling people "fandroid" left and right



Yeah, it's weird. I didn't know you could do all this with JB. But now that I know - and potentially could go on using iPhones and have much more of the versatile OS I want, while keeping the more stylish and streamlined look for core OS graphics like menus and such - I get even more enthusiastic about switching to Android. Just because it pisses me off how much Apple chooses to withhold.

Or well, I guess actually I prefer Android in any case because of availability of bigger screen phones (and S-pen on the Note 2), general customizability of homescreens etc...and the fact that you don't have to root to get all that JB brings to the iPhone

All too true. All too true.

 

[dojoman]

There were many changes from previous iOS to 6. I'm surprised you even have iPad.

 

[knucklehead]

Ok, that's it. I know it's completely irrational to host feelings towards a company and I often like to point that out myself, but this thread is really revving up my dislike for Apple. Look at all these freaking features that could have made iOS so much more versatile. They're right there, all possible and working!! And so obviously, unequivocally useful. But Apple continues to ignore them, while boasting their OS as the best. Disallowing third party browsers to use the nitro engine is the final straw.

I think my journey towards the dark side just became complete.

Security might not be "in your face flashy" like speed (or black and white marketing PR ...), but anyone should at least be aware of what's going on:

http://arstechnica.com/apple/2011/06/ios-5-brings-nitro-speed-to-home-screen-web-apps/

If you're not concerned about threats on the interned these days, you really need to do some research and think about it again.

 

[onthecouchagain]

So you've never used iOS before? I got the impression that you have iPad or previously own iPhone from your past post. I'm surprise why you're even posting this now? Even if you had iPhone in the past most annoyance you picked already existed in previous iOS version.

Check the OP.

EDIT: And what I wrote here:

That may be my ultimate decision but until then I currently don't have any other smartphone (you know my nexus 4 story already) and apple is the only place I can safely use a smartphone for 30 days and still be able to change my mind about it. Don't underestimate what those 30 days can do. In a single day I've seen iOS in a serious new light thanks to the concerted efforts of many here with their jail break suggestions. I can't tell you how amazed I am by the combination of zephyr auxo and activator. The only time I ever have to hit a physical button is to wake the device.

Also if you have been following my posts you'll know I am very far from thrilled with the s4 and have serious concerns about the htc one. The iPhone may be the keeper until more options come out down the pipe. If the next nexus indeed will be by lg that doesn't bode too well for me personally. Then there's the wild card googorola phone x.

Even if I decide to keep my iPhone past the 30 day policy the resale value will still help me later on.

Time will tell.

 

[inselstudent]

Is there a jailbreak app that makes Chrome the default browser?

Browser changer from the Bigboss repo lets you set the most popular 3rd party browsers as default.

And if you opt for a browser other than Safari, I recommend Nitrous, a tweak that enables the faster JavaScript engine (exclusive to Safari) for other browsers

 

[Frankied22]

It will be a cold day in hell when onthecouchagain finds his perfect phone lol. You should have just held on to your N4, waited for KLP, and then either held on to it or switched to the next nexus. If I remember right your biggest problem with the N4 was some speaker/reception issue at the beginning of calls? Is that small annoyance really enough to ditch the phone and get stuck with a subpar experience on another phone? I know the battery on my N4 could be better. The camera could be better. But for $349 and unlocked it is well worth it. And considering I switched to the $30 a month T-Mobile plan I am now not stuck in a contract with att and paying over $100 a month. THAT is more important to me than having a slightly better camera or battery. Plus I will be enjoying stock android and soon KLP.

 

[dojoman]

Check the OP.

Surprised that you're not that familiar with iOS but you do have many criticisms of it.

 

[Grolubao]

I mean I understand it's a bit frustrating that you need to jailbreak in order to get the best of your device, but c'mon, in my opinion is so much better that way than with Android. You get the best of both worlds: Fluidity, stable OS together with customization.

 

[sentinelsx]

Security might not be "in your face flashy" like speed (or black and white marketing PR ...), but anyone should at least be aware of what's going on:

http://arstechnica.com/apple/2011/06/ios-5-brings-nitro-speed-to-home-screen-web-apps/

If you're not concerned about threats on the interned these days, you really need to do some research and think about it again.

Safari web apps, mostly links to web pages. Still no dice for other browsers.

Security is such a lame defense though.

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Regarding the animations, I thought it was just my imagination, but after you guys all brought it up, the animations are slower than Jelly Bean's, right? I just chocked it up to poor memory or my imagination, but animations do feel slower in iOS.

That's intentional, though, correct? So apps can sort of "load"?

I think that is probably why I feel like using a clunkier phone now that I am using the i5, compared to when I had the nexus 4. Something just felt really "fluid" on n4, sort of like everything flowing and seamlessly zipping past. So much for the "n4 stutters" lol.

 

[onthecouchagain]

It will be a cold day in hell when onthecouchagain finds his perfect phone lol. You should have just held on to your N4, waited for KLP, and then either held on to it or switched to the next nexus. If I remember right your biggest problem with the N4 was some speaker/reception issue at the beginning of calls? Is that small annoyance really enough to ditch the phone and get stuck with a subpar experience on another phone? I know the battery on my N4 could be better. The camera could be better. But for $349 and unlocked it is well worth it. And considering I switched to the $30 a month T-Mobile plan I am now not stuck in a contract with att and paying over $100 a month. THAT is more important to me than having a slightly better camera or battery. Plus I will be enjoying stock android and soon KLP.

I really tried to make the N4 work. It wasn't just an issue at beginning of calls. It was the entire call that had sound quality issues. The other person could barely hear me. I was extremely choppy (especially when in speaker mode).

I have had zero call quality issues with the iPh5. In fact, the other party says I'm crystal clear.

I really wanted to keep the Nexus 4. Google sent me two RMAs. They, themselves, heard the choppiness right away (for all three devices) when I called in. Just unacceptable.

I later discovered at the Tmobile store that they've had a handful of people returning/exchanging their N4s for the same exact issue. My uncle, who got a Nexus 4 per my recommendation also has trouble with calls and is subsequently also exchanging. He's still waiting for his RMA last I checked.

I love stock Android, but no thanks.

 

[knucklehead]

Security is such a lame defense though.

Suitable for framing!