Phones There it is: I switched to the Galaxy S7 Edge

[nrvna76]

The nicest thing about having an S7 Edge with an SD card is being able to eject the card, eject the sim tray, add anything I want to the card by plugging the card into my Mac and then putting the card back into the phone with the sim card without ever having to turn the phone off.

On my Surface Pro 3, I just connect the phone to the computer with a cord and the card shows up along with the phone and I can directly drag and drop what I want without ever having to remove the SD card. They just show up in explorer.

You should try an S7/Edge and just see how you like it. It might be one of the best decisions ever.

I recently looked into their test drive, but I think that's dead. Switching my wife over will be more difficult as she waited for the SE as she likes smaller phones. Since we send kid pictures and videos a lot I figure it'd be easier on the same platform. But those are definite positives.

 

[akash.nu]

iMessage is a huge part of the ecosystem. You'll feel it more than you think.

 

[akash.nu]

Optimization in this case is a fallacy. iOS does less so it can get away with lower resources. It's a basic concept for anyone who has worked with Linux which has options for running different desktop environments with different resource requirements depending if you want more features (higher resource) or a basic experience (lower resource).

https://l3net.wordpress.com/2013/03/17/a-memory-comparison-of-light-linux-desktops/

Memory utilization by desktop environment

Apple's approach has been offering a basic experience that's why iOS has lacked things others have taken for granted such as widgets, ability to place icons anywhere on the home screen, default apps, etc. but the benefit to Apple is it's more profitable since they can get away with minimal hardware specs. To be competitive Apple has borrowed some of competitors' features for iOS 10 so the resource requirement is creeping up with the next iPhone rumored to have 3GB. That means if you're on an iPhone with only 1GB iOS 10 will just be a number change since you won't get all the features, 2GB will probably be minimum requirement but runs best with 3GB or more. Knowing this any smart consumer will want more DRAM and not less. That's why there's a backlash with 2GB iPP 9.7 since Apple got greedy again after offering 4GB on the iPP 12.9.

iOS does less?! - in what sense?! You seriously think widgets and placing icons are the ultimate features of an OS?!

 

[The Game 161]

Optimization in this case is a fallacy. iOS does less so it can get away with lower resources. It's a basic concept for anyone who has worked with Linux which has options for running different desktop environments with different resource requirements depending if you want more features (higher resource) or a basic experience (lower resource).

https://l3net.wordpress.com/2013/03/17/a-memory-comparison-of-light-linux-desktops/

Memory utilization by desktop environment

Apple's approach has been offering a basic experience that's why iOS has lacked things others have taken for granted such as widgets, ability to place icons anywhere on the home screen, default apps, etc. but the benefit to Apple is it's more profitable since they can get away with minimal hardware specs. To be competitive Apple has borrowed some of competitors' features for iOS 10 so the resource requirement is creeping up with the next iPhone rumored to have 3GB. That means if you're on an iPhone with only 1GB iOS 10 will just be a number change since you won't get all the features, 2GB will probably be minimum requirement but runs best with 3GB or more. Knowing this any smart consumer will want more DRAM and not less. That's why there's a backlash with 2GB iPP 9.7 since Apple got greedy again after offering 4GB on the iPP 12.9.

IOS is a huge reason so many are happy with apple devices and a big reason why many won't ever leave no matter how great android has become

 

[lowendlinux]

Optimization in this case is a fallacy. iOS does less so it can get away with lower resources. It's a basic concept for anyone who has worked with Linux which has options for running different desktop environments with different resource requirements depending if you want more features (higher resource) or a basic experience (lower resource).

https://l3net.wordpress.com/2013/03/17/a-memory-comparison-of-light-linux-desktops/

Memory utilization by desktop environment

Apple's approach has been offering a basic experience that's why iOS has lacked things others have taken for granted such as widgets, ability to place icons anywhere on the home screen, default apps, etc. but the benefit to Apple is it's more profitable since they can get away with minimal hardware specs. To be competitive Apple has borrowed some of competitors' features for iOS 10 so the resource requirement is creeping up with the next iPhone rumored to have 3GB. That means if you're on an iPhone with only 1GB iOS 10 will just be a number change since you won't get all the features, 2GB will probably be minimum requirement but runs best with 3GB or more. Knowing this any smart consumer will want more DRAM and not less. That's why there's a backlash with 2GB iPP 9.7 since Apple got greedy again after offering 4GB on the iPP 12.9.

The I'm not sure that you comparison makes sense heck I'd not make the comparison the author of that article did. Window managers are just that and its generally a bad idea to compare them to full desktops as you have to add stuff to most WM's to make them actually usable.

 

[ThatsMeRight]

iMessage is a huge part of the ecosystem. You'll feel it more than you think.

Nope, where I come from barely anyone uses iMessage. Everybody uses WhatsApp.

I haven't missed iMessage for even a second.

 

[vahdyx]

I agree with the iMessage talk. Here in Colorado as part of my life, 90% of my friends use iPhone and iMessage where as 90% of my co-workers use Android and SMS which sucks. SMS is killing Android for me. Why can't they just make get rid of it.

 

[mrex]

Nope, where I come from barely anyone uses iMessage. Everybody uses WhatsApp.

I haven't missed iMessage for even a second.

Same.. or skype.

I only send imessages to my bf because he is using mac all the time.. But like once a month? while many msgs is left via skype (and whatsapp) in a day.

 

[akash.nu]

Nope, where I come from barely anyone uses iMessage. Everybody uses WhatsApp.

I haven't missed iMessage for even a second.

Oh yeah I guess that depends on your geographic location. I've seen WhatsApp is a big hit in south Asian and Eastern European countries because a lot of people use Android more than iOS.

 

[Zaft]

Nope, where I come from barely anyone uses iMessage. Everybody uses WhatsApp.

I haven't missed iMessage for even a second.

I think imessage is more of a US thing, WhatsApp seems to be widely used outside of US.
It depends on you and your circle of friends/family. 90% of my friends and family are on IOS so its basically imessage since its default.

EDIT: Ill add that my 2nd most used messenger is Facebook, thats usually where we share pictures with more people who happen to be on android.

 

[MRU]

I think imessage is more of a US thing, WhatsApp seems to be widely used outside of US.
It depends on you and your circle of friends/family. 90% of my friends and family are on IOS so its basically imessage since its default.

EDIT: Ill add that my 2nd most used messenger is Facebook, thats usually where we share pictures with more people who happen to be on android.

Not really. It depends on the country and iPhone popularity / ownership. Here in Ireland the iPhone is still the most popular smartphone and therefore iMessage is common. That being said most folks tend to use a mixture of Facebook messenger (also very popular here) and WhatsApp too.

Essentially people will use whatever is convenient to them regardless of platform.

SMS Text messaging is still the king here though and pretty much every carrier offers unlimited texting on their plans.

 

[Kiezpirat80]

Here in Germany everybody is using WhatsApp no matter if iphone or Android user.

 

[Zaft]

apple should open up imessage for android.

 

[MRU]

Here in Germany everybody is using WhatsApp no matter if iphone or Android user.

But honestly don't you think it's a wide generalisation to say 'everybody' in an entire country is using a certain app, no matter what anecdotal evidence of friends and collegues that one can collect.

 

[tbayrgs]

apple should open up imessage for android.

We'd all love that but they won't. What's their incentive, financially? As it currently stands, it's a strong incentive to keep customers buying their hardware. How would they monetize it on Android? Their not an ad or data collection company and if you've ever read any of the reviews/ratings of Apple's other apps on Google Play, don't think many Android users would pay for it... definitely not enough to offset any associated loss of hardware sales.
[doublepost=1470246786][/doublepost]I'd gladly use a third party messaging app that offered the near ubiquity I have using iMessage (and embedded SMS) but nothing else comes remotely close here in the US. It's been a while but the last time I checked, a whole 3 people on my contact list had Whatsapp account and don't believe any of them actively used it. Facebook Messenger is probably the next closest option and not a fan, especially since I'm not FB friends with many of my contacts. My kids also don't have Facebook and 2 don't have phones.

Google really has the best opportunity with such an enormous user base and apps across all platforms yet they continue to have no clue how to take advantage. I have serious doubts that Allo will be any different.

 

[Zaft]

We'd all love that but they won't. What's their incentive, financially? As it currently stands, it's a strong incentive to keep customers buying their hardware. How would they monetize it on Android? Their not an ad or data collection company and if you've ever read any of the reviews/ratings of Apple's other apps on Google Play, don't think many Android users would pay for it... definitely not enough to offset any associated loss of hardware sales.
[doublepost=1470246786][/doublepost]I'd gladly use a third party messaging app that offered the near ubiquity I have using iMessage (and embedded SMS) but nothing else comes remotely close here in the US. It's been a while but the last time I checked, a whole 3 people on my contact list had Whatsapp account and don't believe any of them actively used it. Facebook Messenger is probably the next closest option and not a fan, especially since I'm not FB friends with many of my contacts. My kids also don't have Facebook and 2 don't have phones.

Google really has the best opportunity with such an enormous user base and apps across all platforms yet they continue to have no clue how to take advantage. I have serious doubts that Allo will be any different.

You could look at it as a way to convert android users to IOS. They may like imessage so much that they may want the full ios experience.

 

[ThatsMeRight]

I think imessage is more of a US thing, WhatsApp seems to be widely used outside of US.
It depends on you and your circle of friends/family. 90% of my friends and family are on IOS so its basically imessage since its default.

EDIT: Ill add that my 2nd most used messenger is Facebook, thats usually where we share pictures with more people who happen to be on android.

Oh yeah I guess that depends on your geographic location. I've seen WhatsApp is a big hit in south Asian and Eastern European countries because a lot of people use Android more than iOS.

Yeah, I'm actually from Western-Europe, The Netherlands to be exact. Whatsapp came out in early 2010 I believe, while iMessage wasn't out until late 2011. I feel like we (the Dutch) moved fairly quickly away from SMS texting. iMessage didn't exist yet, so the market was there for Whatsapp to grab.

But honestly don't you think it's a wide generalisation to say 'everybody' in an entire country is using a certain app, no matter what anecdotal evidence of friends and collegues that one can collect.

Of course. But where I'm from, according to this article (in Dutch) Whatsapp is installed on 92% of all Dutch smartphones - which is a ridiculously high number when you consider the fact that it isn't pre-installed by default.

If Apple entered the market with iMessage just two years sooner, things may have looked entirely differently.

 

[Michael Goff]

You could look at it as a way to convert android users to IOS. They may like imessage so much that they may want the full ios experience.

That's not how it works. I would be more likely to ditch iOS if iMessage were on Android. Lots of people are the same way.

 

[lowendlinux]

But honestly don't you think it's a wide generalisation to say 'everybody' in an entire country is using a certain app, no matter what anecdotal evidence of friends and collegues that one can collect.

How about this..I've yet to meet someone here that doesn't use whatsapp

 

[Zaft]

That's not how it works. I would be more likely to ditch iOS if iMessage were on Android. Lots of people are the same way.

Yes it goes both ways. If facetime and imessage were on android I most likely would of had android.

 

[ThatsMeRight]

That's not how it works. I would be more likely to ditch iOS if iMessage were on Android. Lots of people are the same way.

Yes it goes both ways. If facetime and imessage were on android I most likely would of had android.

I think the argument really can go either way.

On one hand, you can argue that iMessage and/or FaceTime coming to Android might turn out bad for Apple (e.g. people switching from iPhones to Android devices). This would especially be a problem in regions where the iPhone is dominant right now.
On the other hand, you could also argue that it allows Android users to start getting invested in Apple's ecosystem and might be beneficial for iPhone sales (e.g. in regions where Android is dominant and iPhone has lots of space to grow).

 

[Michael Goff]

Yes it goes both ways. If facetime and imessage were on android I most likely would of had android.

And so you have to ask yourself the important question. If somebody is on Android, and has iMessage + FaceTime, what's the incentive to move to iOS?
[doublepost=1470249014][/doublepost]

I think the argument really can go either way.

On one hand, you can argue that iMessage and/or FaceTime coming to Android might turn out bad for Apple (e.g. people switching from iPhones to Android devices). This would especially be a problem in regions where the iPhone is dominant right now.
On the other hand, you could also argue that it allows Android users to start getting invested in Apple's ecosystem and might be beneficial for iPhone sales (e.g. in regions where Android is dominant and iPhone has lots of space to grow).

Making the iPhone have fewer differentiators will not be beneficial to sales. There are good enough cheaper Android phones. The argument can't "go the other way". Apple Music hasn't garnered switchers. Why would iMessage?

 

[Zaft]

And so you have to ask yourself the important question. If somebody is on Android, and has iMessage + FaceTime, what's the incentive to move to iOS?

The only things I can think of are security, updates and at times more polished apps, integration with mac.

 

[Michael Goff]

The only things I can think of are security, updates and at times more polished apps, integration with mac.

Security and updates? Get a Nexus. They get a monthly security patch, will get security updates for 3 years while also getting major updates for 2 years. All whole being cheaper than a comparable iPhone. The other two you got me with. Integration with the Mac is something I liked when I used a Mac. The apps thing I agree with, but of course that's not a hard and fast rule.

 

[rtomyj]

Actually, there are things in iOS that have been broken such as Safari and Mail to start. Safari has issues rendering basic sites or not render at all with spinning wheel then error with "a problem occurred with this web page so it was reloaded". Mail will just out of the blue stop receiving or sending and the only way to recover is reset and restore from iCloud. In contrast, Android's built in uptime counter easily logs thousands of hours and Chrome and Gmail never fail.

Funny thing is, I have a Nexus 5 for development purposes and whenever it try to load a site it takes FOREVER on the latest chrome. I honestly look to see if I'm connected to the internet. It's that tricking noticeable. iOS 10 has been so good to me. The page renderings are amazing (I think they've tweaked it a-la metal) and they were already great.