Phones What can an iPhone do that a android phone can't? [EDIT: and vice-versa]

[helloimryan9]

Any Android phone (at least the ones running Jelly Bean and newer) can send and receive emoji's. I'm not sure about older phones running ICS and older? But emoji's is built in to Android now. I can add them to gmail, G+, this forum, etc... Using the stock keyboard, you see the enter/return key at the bottom? Hold it down and the emoji icon will pop up and be selectable to add emoji's to whatever you are typing.

And I have an iPOd 4th gen (same as the 3GS) running 6.1.3. It is a serious lag fest. It can run a lot of things smoothly, but some apps can take several seconds to register and load, some apps (Nike Running app for one) will just force close for no reason, some apps freeze and I have to hit the home button, web pages take a long time to load. (And before you ask, I don't put hardly any apps, vids or music on my iPod. It has 10GB free. And it has been reset to attempt to fix the lag by both myself and via appt at the Apple store. It is in perfect shape, just can't handle the newer OS version. Wish I could revert it to iOS4 or upgrade to iOS7 (but alas, Apple will not let us upgrade to the latest and greatest.)

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Oh cool! I wouldn't know about Jellybean phones being able to do emojis because I don't really have access to one. But that's a cool feature.
Also, my dad's old iPhone 3GS, which is still being used as an iPod, runs 6.1.3 and it works pretty well. But a year with a low end Android phone has changed my idea of lag completely, so really anything seems better by comparison.

 

[Shanghaichica]

That's a shame. I went the opposite way so perhaps the iPhone holds more appeal because I spend so long on Android? I don't know, but at least I am using something I am happy with

Yeah it is a shame.

 

[thehustleman]

The iPhone did everything I wanted it to do before I tried Android. In some ways Android has spoiled my enjoyment of the iPhone.

When you know better, you do better

 

[mattopotamus]

airplay and control airport express. Those are a few things I bought in to and I am not willing to replace. I do not have a laptop, so must have an IOS device.

random, but chromecast is good but not nearly as smooth as airplaying a video in safari to ATV.

 

[gotluck]

airplay and control airport express. Those are a few things I bought in to and I am not willing to replace. I do not have a laptop, so must have an IOS device.

random, but chromecast is good but not nearly as smooth as airplaying a video in safari to ATV.

I believe allcast does airplay. Haven't tested it yet. Not sure about airport express though.

 

[mattopotamus]

I believe allcast does airplay. Haven't tested it yet. Not sure about airport express though.

I think allcast only works with locally stored content being pushed to the appletv, so it would not work with any apps or web content. Unfortunately, Apple has locked down the airports and you have to have either a PC, MAC, or IOS device I guess that is not really locked down at all, but it will not work with an android phone/tablet it terms of managing it.

 

[gotluck]

I think allcast only works with locally stored content being pushed to the appletv, so it would not work with any apps or web content. Unfortunately, Apple has locked down the airports and you have to have either a PC, MAC, or IOS device I guess that is not really locked down at all, but it will not work with an android phone/tablet it terms of managing it.

Yes that sounds right local only, that's why I haven't bought it for chromecast use yet. That's a shame, wonder why it can't forward remote content.

 

[mattopotamus]

Yes that sounds right local only, that's why I haven't bought it for chromecast use yet. That's a shame, wonder why it can't forward remote content.

I think it is an apple thing. They will not "approve" apps that would mimic airplay.

 

[Shanghaichica]

airplay and control airport express. Those are a few things I bought in to and I am not willing to replace. I do not have a laptop, so must have an IOS device.

random, but chromecast is good but not nearly as smooth as airplaying a video in safari to ATV.

For things like casting Google play content, netflix and youtube. I'd say that it's just as good as airplaying from an ios device in my experience.

I think Apple TV works better for getting local content onto the TV. It can be quite choppy on android, but then it isn't offically supported yet.

 

[mattopotamus]

For things like casting Google play content, netflix and youtube. I'd say that it's just as good as airplaying from an ios device in my experience.

I think Apple TV works better for getting local content onto the TV. It can be quite choppy on android, but then it isn't offically supported yet.

I agree about streaming apps to the chromecast. They have all worked exactly like airplay. I know some will say it is good that it continues to play "from the cloud" on the chromecast, but I never had an issue with airplay draining my battery drastically.

 

[Shanghaichica]

I agree about streaming apps to the chromecast. They have all worked exactly like airplay. I know some will say it is good that it continues to play "from the cloud" on the chromecast, but I never had an issue with airplay draining my battery drastically.

Absolutley. I also don't see battery drain, especially when I leave the device in standby. I could airplay a whole movie in HD and it will only drain by a few % if left in standby.

 

[cynics]

I agree about streaming apps to the chromecast. They have all worked exactly like airplay. I know some will say it is good that it continues to play "from the cloud" on the chromecast, but I never had an issue with airplay draining my battery drastically.

AirPlay (not to be confused with AirPlay mirroring) within an app does the same thing Chromecast does. The URL is sent to the AppleTV and the content is being streamed from the web while the iOS device essentially turns into a remote (play, pause, fwd, etc).

It's up to the developer to implement this. I know that as fact. However what I'm not sure about is apps with AirPlay without an AppleTV channel.

For example I can AirPlay Netflix for hours on end with minimal battery usage. AppleTV has a Netflix channel. But I notice Pandora uses quite a bit of battery, it doesn't have an AppleTV channel.

From reading the way it's supposed to be programmed according to Apples dev notes it doesn't appear a channel is required. So I don't know if it's poor programming, some sort of licensing thing, maybe even the format of the content in general (h264...) or what..

 

[mattopotamus]

AirPlay (not to be confused with AirPlay mirroring) within an app does the same thing Chromecast does. The URL is sent to the AppleTV and the content is being streamed from the web while the iOS device essentially turns into a remote (play, pause, fwd, etc).

It's up to the developer to implement this. I know that as fact. However what I'm not sure about is apps with AirPlay without an AppleTV channel.

For example I can AirPlay Netflix for hours on end with minimal battery usage. AppleTV has a Netflix channel. But I notice Pandora uses quite a bit of battery, it doesn't have an AppleTV channel.

From reading the way it's supposed to be programmed according to Apples dev notes it doesn't appear a channel is required. So I don't know if it's poor programming, some sort of licensing thing, maybe even the format of the content in general (h264...) or what..

The first part about airplay being the same as chromecast. I agree with that when using apps, but there are certain websites that airplay much better to the appletv than chromecast inside their respective browsers...afdah.com being one of those. It is much much smoother via ATV than chromecast.

Interesting about battery drain with apps that also have an app on the ATV. The first thing that comes to mind is amazon instant video. When I get home I will fire it up and see if it causes more drain than hbo go would. I do not know if it will though. I have charter for cable and they do not support the HBO GO app on ATV, but they do on the iphone. The battery drain is minimal there. I know there is a HBO GO app, but I technically cannot use it on my appletv b.c charter sucks!

 

[cynics]

The first part about airplay being the same as chromecast. I agree with that when using apps, but there are certain websites that airplay much better to the appletv than chromecast inside their respective browsers...afdah.com being one of those. It is much much smoother via ATV than chromecast.

Interesting about battery drain with apps that also have an app on the ATV. The first thing that comes to mind is amazon instant video. When I get home I will fire it up and see if it causes more drain than hbo go would. I do not know if it will though. I have charter for cable and they do not support the HBO GO app on ATV, but they do on the iphone. The battery drain is minimal there. I know there is a HBO GO app, but I technically cannot use it on my appletv b.c charter sucks!

I would be interested to see your results with Amazon prime AirPlay ( I don't have it).

With Pandora is very obvious. Like 8-10% per hour. Meanwhile I can watch a YouTube video that's an hour long and only have 3% drain. The data consumption is a lot higher with YouTube obviously.

I don't have a Mac currently or Chromecast to base anything else on be it battery or quality.

 

[Todd B.]

is there anything?

im torn on my next phone

What can an iPhone do that an Android can't?

How about:
Work?
Run well?
Look good?

 

[gotluck]

the troll fest continues
there were too many legit posts in a row there..

What can an iPhone do that an Android can't?

How about:
Work?
Run well?
Look good?

 

[cynics]

the troll fest continues
there were too many legit posts in a row there..

I was thinking the same thing. It's unusual to have so many mature and well thought post on this forum.

As I'm on my laggy outdated iPad 3 typing this it kind of makes you wonder.

 

[jeffe]

On Android, I can purchase a movie/tv show on Google play and stream directly to my device using cellular data and it usually works well over 3G or Lte.

The Android iOS app doesn't allow the same. Does Itunes?

 

[Shanghaichica]

On Android, I can purchase a movie/tv show on Google play and stream directly to my device using cellular data and it usually works well over 3G or Lte.

The Android iOS app doesn't allow the same. Does Itunes?

No you need a WiFi connection to be able to stream from the app.

You also need a wifi connection to stream/download movies/TV shows you buy from iTunes. I can Stream over cellular data on android stuff I've purchased from the play store.

Some quirks I've experienced but I'm sure are not related to the iPhone/ios :

My home Internet connection is about 15 Mbs. I can never stream in HD bought from iTunes to my ipad or iPhone (when I had it). It works via my apple TV but not the ipad/iPhone. I can also steam HD content bought from the play store directly to my Android devices

Another quirk was that I couldn't stream Netflix over 4G/3G on my iPhone. I had the correct settings but it never worked. I can on Android.

 

[AppleRobert]

http://bgr.com/2014/02/06/top-5-android-apps-vs-iphone/

App related but still relevant.

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I'll have to run them side by side to see these differences that you're talking about but honestly speaking I rather browse the web on my Note 3, the size and clarity of the screen is just more enjoyable. I prefer the iPhone for a lot of things like listening to music but browsing the web isn't one of them.

Did some comparisons this past week. There is zero reasons not to get a Note 3 if one wants a larger and clear screen when it comes to browsing speed versus the iphone.

 

[Robster3]

http://bgr.com/2014/02/06/top-5-android-apps-vs-iphone/

App related but still relevant.

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Did some comparisons this past week. There is zero reasons not to get a Note 3 if one wants a larger and clear screen when it comes to browsing speed versus the iphone.

Only thing stopping me is syncing with my MBPr, i hated how BB synced and switched to iPhone 4S, 5 and now 5S and its seamless, not sure if i want to give that up, the note 3 screen size and S pen is calling me.

 

[pdqgp]

Android cannot do 3 things iOS can. And those 3 things are the ones that keep me from going to Android.

1. Android has no background audio API - Yes, a developer can code it into their app, but it is not an OS API, so the dev has to spend a lot of time on it, hence most devs don't bother with it, on iOS almost all apps that play either video or audio support background audio, including the browser.

Why is this good?

Well, sites like YouTube for example can be used not only for viewing videos but to listening to music, online lectures, etc... lots of stuff that does not really require "watching".

^^ is easy on Android. UListen is a great app and allows you do do just what you describe. Saves on bandwidth too since it's only streaming the audio.

To pause it, just simply swipe down to pull up notifications. It will display the app playing your music, etc. and allow you to control it from there. Same with the music apps available.

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It's all about the software. ITunes App store wins. Just compare top apps between iPhone and Android and you'll quickly see that Android users are accustomed to settling for less.

if you live back in 2010 perhaps, but not today. I used iOS devices for years and when I made the move to the Note 3 there wasn't one app I couldn't get and many actually offer more than on iOS.

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-sync with your iTunes, iPhoto, in a good reliable way

iSyncr is allows one to use iTunes and sync flawlessly every time. Wired or wirelessly.

-scroll smoothly, pinch and zoom smoothly, do animations smoothly... The only exception is something like the GSII. Other Android phones lag pathetically.

GSII? How about we move to the 3 or 4 vs living with an old phone. The Note 3 has ZERO lag.

-more apps, and the first to get most apps if devs are only choosing one platform

Haven't found any limitations at all with Google Play and I use both an iPad and Note 3.

-get updates. With an Android phone, buy it with the mindset that you'll never get an update. You'll need to use custom ROMs if you want to stay up to date

Depends on the phone and after 2yrs who really needs updates...just get a new phone under contract.

-long battery life. You can leave everything on all day and still get good battery life.

Spoiled with my Note 3 since it will last nearly 2 days.

-at least 16GB storage. With Android phones you may or may not have this much. Just research before you buy, obviously.

models very. My Note 3 came with 32GB and I have a 64GB card in it as well.

-iWorks. Very helpful! Pretty full document editing, and reliable.

Android prints to just about any printer via wifi. I'd be happy to embarrass iOS again with my mulitple screenshots of the two if needed.

-backups. You can back up your phone (or have iCloud do it automatically) and you'll know that if something goes wrong, you get a new phone, or whatever, you can restore it.

Android has had a far superior system in Google for years. If I lose my Note 3, I just need to buy a new one and log into Google and it will be back to my old phone OTA before I leave the store.

 

[jeffe]

Android has had a far superior system in Google for years. If I lose my Note 3, I just need to buy a new one and log into Google and it will be back to my old phone OTA before I leave the store.

Eh, Android really doesn't back up user-data very well...it will backup your contacts, calendar, bookmarks, photos, your background, etc.. and it will automatically re install your apps but it won't back up those app's data. Some app developers do enable the feature to backup your content either through google automatically or data is tied to their own services but if not you'll end up losing some data.

edit: I forget - You can do a full backup and store it on your computer too.

 

[Septembersrain]

For me the only thing is that it doesn't drop my calls. I love Androids but their radios just never work right honestly.

My experience after owning over 20+ androids and only 1 iPhone.

 

[The Doctor11]

Make you happy