I was really itching to try Android and having a hard time waiting until the fall, so I bought a Galaxy S3 a week ago. Now that the honeymoon has worn off, I find myself getting frustrated with some things and missing the iPhone. I'm not against Android, in fact, I love some aspects of it. But both sides represent a trade off, and since I'm slightly torn between the two, I think the iPhone might be better. Android users, feel free to add any suggestions, as I am new to the system and perhaps don't understand it fully.
1. A general gripe - I accept a certain amount of tinkering with my phone, and I certainly enjoy it more than the average person. But beyond a certain level of tinkering I just get frustrated and expect things to work. That's what I miss most about the iPhone. For example, I have my music uploaded to google, so I thought I'd just use the Google Play app. First, this doesn't work with voice control. Second, it had glitches like repeating songs over and over in a playlist in no order (repeat wasn't on; shuffle was). Or I was in a random playlist, and it hit a Beach Boys song, and then would only play Beach Boys after that. So then I have to look for a third party music player. This situation has happened over and over with different things. I need 3rd party apps on iOS for a few things, but I feel like the apps are more polished and work better.
2. Notifications - After hearing how much better Android notifications are, I was surprised that I hate this the most out of everything. Notifications do not show up in the lockscreen unless I manually pull down the notifications screen, which obviously doesn't work if there's a security lock on the phone. The screen also doesn't light up when I get a notification. I know there's an LED, but if I have 50 apps with notifications, one blinking light isn't a good solution to help me know what's going on (Morse code anyone?). So I now have to turn the phone on and swipe down to find out the notification instead of just looking at the phone. Also, I want to be able to know instantly what app is notifying me, AND what it is saying (e.g. the first line of the email and sender, sms message, etc.). Also, I want to be able to control what apps give me notifications. All of this was so nicely done on the iPhone.
3. Text Selection - I loved how iOS did this. Double tap on a word to select it, double tap and drag to select a larger selection. Option for copy, paste, etc. comes right up. On android I am unable to select a larger selection without just first selecting a word and then dragging the handles. On iOS it was just one gesture to do that. I'm sure android has this too. Also, I used the touch + hold for the magnifying glass to place the cursor all the time on iOS, and I don't know how to get similar functionality on android. I can get that blue handle and drag it around (after several tries), but it just seems less elegant.
4. Keyboards - I don't care if you can change your keyboard out, I still hate typing on the ones I've tried. Maybe I just need to get used to it.
5. Complexity - I thought I would like having a file system and things like that, but it is a marginal benefit and in some cases makes things worse. Much harder, for example, to add a kindle book from dropbox to the kindle app. I guess I underestimated the usefulness of the "open in..." on iOS.
6. Miscellaneous - Some of the photos I take will be out of order in the camera roll. Not having them in chronological order bugs me. I spent 20 minutes trying different apps to get a scrolling wallpaper from a nice panoramic photo I took, and was unsuccessful (which is a GS3 issue I think). I miss the silent switch on the exterior of the iPhone, and knowing that when you have that switch flipped, no sounds will come out of the phone (unless you play media directly). I was in "silent" mode on Android and pulled up a game thinking that it would be muted but it was not (got me in trouble
. While battery life is better now than when I first got it, the GSii3 still has under 15% at the end of a normal day. Sometimes I run out. My iPhone 4 always has more than 50% at the end of a day (yeah yeah it doesn't have a big screen, but I don't care. If you sell a phone, make sure it lasts). Temple run is sometimes skippy. WTH, I get a brand new dual core phone and it can't handle Temple Run? I want the graphics to blow my mind if it's a two year newer phone. I also like the Mail app on iOS. I like how gmail works on android, but again, I need another app if I want exchange accounts and such. Last but not least, there are a few apps that aren't available on android, like Cyclemeter and Carcassonne.
Now for the things I like about android:
Nice screen - I definitely wish Apple would put out at least a 4.3 incher. Browsing is nice. Doesn't feel awkward, and fits nicely in the pocket.
Widgets - marginally useful. I could live without them, but it's fairly nice.
Chrome as default browser - I wish I could change the default on iOS. Not a dealbreaker though.
1. A general gripe - I accept a certain amount of tinkering with my phone, and I certainly enjoy it more than the average person. But beyond a certain level of tinkering I just get frustrated and expect things to work. That's what I miss most about the iPhone. For example, I have my music uploaded to google, so I thought I'd just use the Google Play app. First, this doesn't work with voice control. Second, it had glitches like repeating songs over and over in a playlist in no order (repeat wasn't on; shuffle was). Or I was in a random playlist, and it hit a Beach Boys song, and then would only play Beach Boys after that. So then I have to look for a third party music player. This situation has happened over and over with different things. I need 3rd party apps on iOS for a few things, but I feel like the apps are more polished and work better.
2. Notifications - After hearing how much better Android notifications are, I was surprised that I hate this the most out of everything. Notifications do not show up in the lockscreen unless I manually pull down the notifications screen, which obviously doesn't work if there's a security lock on the phone. The screen also doesn't light up when I get a notification. I know there's an LED, but if I have 50 apps with notifications, one blinking light isn't a good solution to help me know what's going on (Morse code anyone?). So I now have to turn the phone on and swipe down to find out the notification instead of just looking at the phone. Also, I want to be able to know instantly what app is notifying me, AND what it is saying (e.g. the first line of the email and sender, sms message, etc.). Also, I want to be able to control what apps give me notifications. All of this was so nicely done on the iPhone.
3. Text Selection - I loved how iOS did this. Double tap on a word to select it, double tap and drag to select a larger selection. Option for copy, paste, etc. comes right up. On android I am unable to select a larger selection without just first selecting a word and then dragging the handles. On iOS it was just one gesture to do that. I'm sure android has this too. Also, I used the touch + hold for the magnifying glass to place the cursor all the time on iOS, and I don't know how to get similar functionality on android. I can get that blue handle and drag it around (after several tries), but it just seems less elegant.
4. Keyboards - I don't care if you can change your keyboard out, I still hate typing on the ones I've tried. Maybe I just need to get used to it.
5. Complexity - I thought I would like having a file system and things like that, but it is a marginal benefit and in some cases makes things worse. Much harder, for example, to add a kindle book from dropbox to the kindle app. I guess I underestimated the usefulness of the "open in..." on iOS.
6. Miscellaneous - Some of the photos I take will be out of order in the camera roll. Not having them in chronological order bugs me. I spent 20 minutes trying different apps to get a scrolling wallpaper from a nice panoramic photo I took, and was unsuccessful (which is a GS3 issue I think). I miss the silent switch on the exterior of the iPhone, and knowing that when you have that switch flipped, no sounds will come out of the phone (unless you play media directly). I was in "silent" mode on Android and pulled up a game thinking that it would be muted but it was not (got me in trouble
Now for the things I like about android:
Nice screen - I definitely wish Apple would put out at least a 4.3 incher. Browsing is nice. Doesn't feel awkward, and fits nicely in the pocket.
Widgets - marginally useful. I could live without them, but it's fairly nice.
Chrome as default browser - I wish I could change the default on iOS. Not a dealbreaker though.
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