Flame me now for being Android loyal, but I am open minded about it. No one does music better than iWhateverYouHave (it doesn't matter, it does it better) and that's why I have a touch 4g...
Anyways... I love my 4G service and Flash. Yes, there's Jailbroken Frash, but that hardly compares to Adobe Flash on my Droid. (Your ATT 4s's do say 4G, but when comparing download speeds to LTE, it doesn't measure up)
Also, I like open-source, dev friendly software. I love ROM'ing my phone and trying all the differently created options.
Many have said keyboards. Swype is great for one handed texting, but Swiftkey X has incredible prediction. The more you use it, the better it gets. I have Sywpe set up for portrait texting and SwiftkeyX for landscape two handed texting.
Screen size and NOW density on some phones (see the HTC Rezound). 720p screens look phenomenal. The HTC Rezound has a whopping 342 ppi. With screens as well, custom launchers and widgets offer a cool, differing experience.
Maybe it hasn't really been experienced on iOS yet, but as mentioned earlier, share with just about any app is nice. While on sharing as well, I like being able to mount my internal and
expandable storage via USB like flash memory. You want to add 32GB to your Droid?
It can be done for $20
Hardware is nice. Android had dual core offered first, as well as 8MP cameras. The Droid Inc1 had an 8MP cam in April of 2010! Android had 1080 capture first as well. Now the Samsung Galaxy S3 has a quad core (read overkill IMO) processor (Korean model). All of this adds to why Droid phones have lower resale values. They seem to evolve at a faster pace and have more variety.
Physical keyboards... Motorola perfected them with the Droid 3 & 4, next point.
Many have noted the iCloud. Yes, it's nicely polished, but Android requests a Google account at initial start. Yes, it can be bypassed, but I can't see many people ditching it as it enables you to sync all contacts, installed apps, calendar, etc. with the cloud. I can add my Google account to a new phone and enter the market and being downloading all of my apps and contacts without issue. I don't see the cloud as much of a deal breaker either way.
Additionally, security has been noted as an issue. As for malware and insecure apps, they really don't run rampant. It isn't a concern of mine as there are security apps out there (i.e. AVG) plus, all apps must receive user approval of requested permissions before they install. Even with this, you are able to root and revoke permissions. If you want a humorous read, see
this.
Many have mentioned support of the phone. Clearly it's easier to develop for a narrow enough range of devices to carry entirely in one pair of baggy cargo pants. Also, Android is delivered by numerous companies, each with their own repuatations for support of devices as well as skins (Blur, Touchwiz, Sense, etc.) or vanilla Android. Android relies far more on its open source roots with independent developers building ROMs from source allowing users to pick their experience. Android has more opportunities if you wish, although IMO, it receives flak because many users choose box stock over OS, many box stock ROMs are crap compared to what's available. In addition to open source is the option to overclock/undervolt the CPU and GPU. Why the 4/4S comes underclocked at 800MHz is beyond me. Apple pitched its 1GHz processor, then threw the reigns on it.
Android versions are named after desserts. Who doesn't like dessert. This is America, isn't it?
Maps on a Droid are very nice. GPS functionality is superior, yet accessories are limited, but for higher end phones, manufacturers will make a line of accessories tailored to that phone. The selection doesn't compare, but aside from funky colored cases and iHome docking options, I couldn't see many other accessories being paramount deal breakers.
Android does offer the clutz-friendly line of Casio phones. If you haven't had the chance to use (read "abuse/test") one of these phones, it's quite incredible what they can take. Granted this isn't something I'd usually do intentionally, shi+ happens.
FaceUnlock, yes, it's goofy and dumb, but kinda fun to play with. Same with the ability to boot other Linux systems such as
Ubuntu. (That is a cool page.)
Samsung's new Galaxy S3 for VZW will come with a 1.5GHz dual core CPU and 2GB RAM. Being a Galaxy phone, it'll be open source and getting that to 1.6 GHz (2x clock speed of 4S) shouldn't be of any difficulty. ***EDIT: With source code released, it's now being clocked to 1.8GHz with the GPU reaching 800MHz *** The HTC One series allows for still photo WHILE capturing 1080p video.
To summarize, the hardware offered with Android based phones, as well as open source software (leading to customization) coupled with Adobe Flash, is why I have chosen to remain with Android devices. IMO, the iPhone is the ideal phone if you want a smartphone, but don't overly care about making it yours. Try to read this next sentence as an option of mine, not a direct attack at each and everyone of you... It's the phone I'd recommend to a non-tech-savvy person (i.e. my mother). It's a great device, just not for me.
Please excuse any typos, as it's 1:50AM and I really
don't know enough to matter anyways.
Response from RootzWiki writer. Also, I joined just because I felt like expressing my opinions. Definitely the longest first post I've made on ANY forum I've joined.
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