Mobile OSs What Would Make Android better (From an iOS Guy)

[Fanaticalism]

All subjective.

I have to keep orientation lock on on my iPhone. Feels like the slightest tilt and it's spinning into landscape. I'm thankful there is that option.

On an iPhone (iPad is ok) I hate the AppStore. The search sucks, scrolling one app at a time is terrible. Ugh, just hate it. Things I don't like about the play store pail in comparison.

Can't comment on the intrusive nature of Google branding. I don't have an android device on hand. I don't remember much though. Google stuff on start up like the Apple logo on an iPhone.

Agree whole heartedly.

Orientation is certainly more sensitive on iOS but I find that because it switches back so quickly to the intended orientation that it is much less obnoxious compared to android as it is the complete opposite... slow recognizing orientation and switching back.

I said orientation too many times!

 

[mib1800]

Agree whole heartedly.

Orientation is certainly more sensitive on iOS but I find that because it switches back so quickly to the intended orientation that it is much less obnoxious compared to android as it is the complete opposite... slow recognizing orientation and switching back.

I said orientation too many times!

I used the smart rotation on my note3 which prevents this. Much better than standard sensor based rotation

 

[cynics]

Agree whole heartedly.



Orientation is certainly more sensitive on iOS but I find that because it switches back so quickly to the intended orientation that it is much less obnoxious compared to android as it is the complete opposite... slow recognizing orientation and switching back.



I said orientation too many times!

I could see that being an issue. A lot of the issues I have with iOS are from me starting with Android.

I knew I had a second or so to stop the screen from rotating with Android so when I sat down or something I'd quickly orient the device to how I wanted it. Now in iOS it seems the screen just starts spinning.

Like I said, I just keep it locked so it's really a non issue.

 

[Dontazemebro]

I wish they would they would fix the orientation in iOS. If you go to landscape mode and then turn your device off, it stays the same when you turn your screen back on regardless of what orientation the phone is in. Very annoying and doesn't seem at all intelligent to me. On top of that you can literally count down how long it takes to rotate back. I guess this is how it was designed because my iPhone 5 used to do the same thing.

 

[appledes7]

I find Android's auto rotate to be quite inconsistent. It also seems to take a lot longer than I remember it taking my iPhone 4S when I had that.

And rotation of the device causes problems with the navigation bar. If I am reading something in Chrome in landscape and then turn to portrait and press the home button, if I do those things relatively close to each other Android won't recognize the home tap. I don't know why, maybe Android just can't handle both of those things at once. But it just completely disregards touch input on the home button. I also have my phone to vibrate on touches. And half the time this happens the phone still vibrates when I touch the home button. So its like "hey I know you want to go home, but I'm rotating and I'm just gonna take my sweet time and disregard what you want to do."

Also, I have Gravity Box installed on my Nexus 5 and it shows my RAM usage in the recent apps list. Even with only 70% of RAM used, sometimes it takes a good 3-4 seconds from the time I tap the multitasking button to the time the apps actually show up. My fiance's iPhone 5 is much quicker.

The same kind of delayed response happens a lot when unlocking my phone.

This all can be summed up with just "general slowness and lag throughout various parts of the OS." It doesn't happen all the time, but its there.

 

[viskon]

The most irritating thing for me on Android is the copy-paste functionality. It is just so cumbersome.

 

[Oohara]

Note 2 user here:

Scrolling - is generally smoother on iOS, there can be no doubt about that. I literally get a little shiver of joy whenever I pick up my 4S just because the screen follows my finger so precisely.

But I still prefer the sheer speed of Android scrolling. Whether I'm going up or down doesn't matter, I can get all the way in just a few quick swipes. This gives me a greater sense of being in control than what I get with iOS.

Screen rotation - this is one of the most irritating things with Android for me, at least on my Note 2. I hate waiting that extra half second (sometimes whole second or more) for the screen to rotate, compared to my 4S which seems to follow my command much better in this regard.

It's better since the 4.3 update though. At least now the screen doesn't get helplessly stuck in the wrong orientation anymore

Text selection - I use to loathe the way this was implemented on Android, but since the 4.3 upgrade I've not had those issues with the markers going haywire anymore. I actually rather like how this works on Android now, with the cursor ending up exactly where I want surprisingly often, even at the first touch when quite far zoomed out from a long text document. The markers are kind of ugly though.

Copy/paste - this is a breeze since I started using Swype. Swipe from Swype symbol to C = copy, to V = paste, etc. It works extremely well and is very fast and intuitive, and uniform across all apps. I absolutely love this, and miss it dearly whenever I use my 4S (and swipe typing in general, of course).

Keyboard bug (stays up) - this almost never happens anymore for me since the 4.3 upgrade. When it does however, Swype again comes in handy. Swipe from the symbol to Backspace = lower keyboard.

As for stuff not already mentioned:

Watching Youtube clips from other apps - this is utterly horrible on my Note 2, don't know how it is on other Android phones. Basically, I press the link and pray. Most of the time it is very slow to start, and when it does it usually refuses to rotate when I flip the phone over. Fullscreen normally doesn't work. And the whole procedure usually leads to the app crashing.

Whereas on my 4S this is remarkably smooth in all respects. Not sure how Google can just leave this in its current state. How is this on other Android phones?

Notification light - I love this in principle, but I really dislike that I have to wake up, unlock, and pull down the notifications tab before the light stops blinking. There should at least be an option to have it stop as soon as I've just woke up the phone - which should be sufficient confirmation that the user is now aware of the message/reminder.

Again, not sure how this is on other phones. Maybe TouchWiz is the culprit for these last two points?

 

[Stuntman06]

Can't comment on the intrusive nature of Google branding. I don't have an android device on hand. I don't remember much though. Google stuff on start up like the Apple logo on an iPhone.

On my Galaxy S3, there really isn't any Google branding on it. The device itself only has the Samsung brand. When you start it, it shows the Samsung logo. The only Google branding on it are the Google apps that I have such as Google+ and Google search.

 

[Skittles.]

One of my biggest pet peeves with iOS on iPhone/iPod Touch is the lack of support for landscape on the home screen like on iPad. The same applies to Siri, but in all applications. If you're in an app in landscape mode and activate Siri, she pops up in portrait orientation.

 

[appledes7]

One thing I really hate about Android is that updating apps in the background pauses whatever you are doing. For example, when I am watching a video on Plex and an app (for example Evernote) updates in the background, it will pause the video and go back to the main menu. If I am playing a game, like pinball, and in the background swiftkey gets updated, it will pause my game. This is just stupid and wasn't thought out.

 

[InuNacho]

One thing I really hate about Android is that updating apps in the background pauses whatever you are doing. For example, when I am watching a video on Plex and an app (for example Evernote) updates in the background, it will pause the video and go back to the main menu. If I am playing a game, like pinball, and in the background swiftkey gets updated, it will pause my game. This is just stupid and wasn't thought out.

I whole heartedly agree, when I'm updating a bunch of stuff the phone essentially becomes unusable while it preforms its updates.

 

[parapup]

I whole heartedly agree, when I'm updating a bunch of stuff the phone essentially becomes unusable while it preforms its updates.

That's not an Android issue. It is specific to some pre 4.3 phones with bad file system performance. Also you can easily get around it by unchecking the auto update setting in Play Store app and updating all manually (which is not as hard as it sounds).

 

[appledes7]

That's not an Android issue. It is specific to some pre 4.3 phones with bad file system performance. Also you can easily get around it by unchecking the auto update setting in Play Store app and updating all manually (which is not as hard as it sounds).

This issue is on my Nexus 5 and Nexus 7 both running 4.4..... So definitely not specific to pre 4.3....

 

[parapup]

This issue is on my Nexus 5 and Nexus 7 both running 4.4..... So definitely not specific to pre 4.3....

I am a regular Youtube user and that definitely didn't happen on any of the Samsung phones and tablets I've used so far and not even our 2013 Nexus 7. You might have a bad unit or something else going on there.

Anyway try manual update. Once a week you will have to open the Play Store and hit update all but that's not too bad.

 

[oldhifi]

Itunes app, that will load and play all your music..

 

[appledes7]

I am a regular Youtube user and that definitely didn't happen on any of the Samsung phones and tablets I've used so far and not even our 2013 Nexus 7. You might have a bad unit or something else going on there.

Anyway try manual update. Once a week you will have to open the Play Store and hit update all but that's not too bad.

Haha a bad unit? It has happened on every Android device I have owned. And someone earlier has said it happened to them too.

Even if I do manual updates, when things get updated in the background it still interferes with what I am trying to do. It will bring general lag to the device, but more important it will pause videos and stop games in the middle of them. Here is an example:

Notice the pause button in the top corner never being touched. Everytime it stops is when an app finished being updated in the background.

 

[parapup]

Notice the pause button in the top corner never being touched. Everytime it stops is when an app finished being updated in the background.

That reminds me of what happened to me on my iPad 3 - music playing, try loading a page in Safari and boom - every time the music would stutter until the page load finished. I have never experienced anything like what was shown on the video on Android though - a google search doesn't show any relevant issues so I don't know if that's a widespread issue.

Edit : Trying this out with the new Moto G. Uninstalling a bunch of App updates, doing an update all and playing a HD video. It's a weak phone but with 4.4.2 and uses F2FS which according to AnandTech is a better filesystem for this kind of stuff. Will update how that goes.

 

[Zyiros]

Interesting post!

 

[strausd]

Haha a bad unit? It has happened on every Android device I have owned. And someone earlier has said it happened to them too.

Even if I do manual updates, when things get updated in the background it still interferes with what I am trying to do. It will bring general lag to the device, but more important it will pause videos and stop games in the middle of them. Here is an example:

Notice the pause button in the top corner never being touched. Everytime it stops is when an app finished being updated in the background.

I get the same problem all the time. Definitely not a hardware problem, its an Android problem.

 

[appledes7]

That reminds me of what happened to me on my iPad 3 - music playing, try loading a page in Safari and boom - every time the music would stutter until the page load finished. I have never experienced anything like what was shown on the video on Android though - a google search doesn't show any relevant issues so I don't know if that's a widespread issue.

When I had an iPad 3 that never happened to me. A google search didn't bring any relevant issues. Maybe you had a bad unit

Ok in all seriousness, this is a consistent issue that is 100% repeatable and happens every time any app updates. It has happened on my Nexus 4, 5, and 7 (2013). It happens on all my friends devices as well. Also others on this thread have said they have had the same issue. If you haven't noticed it, maybe you just haven't had an app updating while playing a game. I don't know your usage. But I can say this happens all the time and is not a problem with my phone or tablet.

 

[parapup]

Ok in all seriousness, this is a consistent issue that is 100% repeatable and happens every time any app updates. It has happened on my Nexus 4, 5, and 7 (2013). It happens on all my friends devices as well.

Wow. Ok. I just searched google forums and youtube and I don't see even handful of complaints for such an irritating issue. By now there should have been ton of complaints and issue opened at code.google.com but I don't see any - do you happen to know if there is one? (I am researching ext4 vs f2fs performance on my old GNex that I turned into Android play ground. Thus my interest.)

BTW, in my defense I see a lot more complaints on iPad stutter on a google search compared to "Android app updates stutter" - may be Google is hiding results unfavorable to Android LOL!

 

[appledes7]

Wow. Ok. I just searched google forums and youtube and I don't see even handful of complaints for such an irritating issue. By now there should have been ton of complaints and issue opened at code.google.com but I don't see any - do you happen to know if there is one? (I am researching ext4 vs f2fs performance on my old GNex that I turned into Android play ground. Thus my interest.)

You not being able to find anything from a search doesn't take away from the evidence I put right in front of your face and the multiple other people saying the same thing.

BTW, in my defense I see a lot more complaints on iPad stutter on a google search compared to "Android app updates stutter" - may be Google is hiding results unfavorable to Android LOL!

Funny, most of those are from 2010-2012. I specifically remember the use of the term "relevant", not sure older versions of iOS count as relevant

There are only two from 2013. One ends in it being a problem with someone having too many tabs open at once. And in this thread they don't even say what device it is, so we don't know how much RAM the device has. But I am betting it has at most half that of my Nexus 4, 5, or 7. Also, that thread only has 3 other replies.

The only other thread from last year discusses a problem that is still slightly different from what you were describing. So let me repeat,

A google search didn't bring any relevant issues.

 

[parapup]

The only other thread from last year discusses a problem that is still slightly different from what you were describing. So let me repeat,

There's also this right here on Macrumors - Sep 2013.

Classify the iPad ones however you want but there aren't any search results for the Android one - neither from 2010 nor from 2014. So may be we can just leave this as it doesn't work for you and a handful others and move on. I will later post some recordings of playing video and updating apps on a Moto X, Moto G and a Note 2 - may be I will find the problem I was so missing

 

[appledes7]

There's also this right here on Macrumors - Sep 2013.

Congratulations, you found one of the two I was talking about.

There are only two from 2013. One ends in it being a problem with someone having too many tabs open at once. And in this thread they don't even say what device it is, so we don't know how much RAM the device has. But I am betting it has at most half that of my Nexus 4, 5, or 7. Also, that thread only has 3 other replies.

Classify the iPad ones however you want but there aren't any search results for the Android one - neither from 2010 nor from 2014. So may be we can just leave this as it doesn't work for you and a handful others and move on. I will later post some recordings of playing video and updating apps on a Moto X, Moto G and a Note 2 - may be I will find the problem I was so missing

You seem more interested in random searches than the actual content. You bring up iPad searches to "support" your argument when none are relevant. You then ignore evidence in your face because you can't find it in a search.

Here's another example for you (notice first the stutter while it is installing, but more importantly once the app is done installing it completely pauses the video):

 

[BenTrovato]

I like Android. The only thing that bothered me was how choppy it was but with iOS 7 they are both choppy. Maybe a re-think of the menu or how certain options are laid out. For me Android has too much customization and iOS doesn't have enough.