Why I'm going back to iOS

[cynics]

I agree with op. So much so, that I came out of lurkdom to post.

I purchased the Galaxy S3 after much prodding from everyone - friends, co-workers, salespeople - about how it's so much better than the iphone. However, after a few frustrating days, I ended up returning it and made the right choice (for me).

Android has its advantages, but none of them appeal to me. To be frank, I don't give a crap if it's "open source" or that I can "flash custom roms" or any of that nerd jargon. The iphone does what I need it to do intuitively and looks a hell of a lot sleeker doing it.

Like what? I don't have a problem doing things apples way but I don't feel they are very intuitive or easy.

I think on the surface iOS is intuitive but if you need to do something other then the most basic task it can be quite complicated.

They just recently made dealing with pdf's and emails a lot easier. It's still a hassle to work with them but Dropbox helps a lot. Impossible to send more then one in a single email or any other file type.

It's pretty much impossible to use another cloud service like Dropbox since there is absolutely no integration. Even then you dont get Dropbox integration to the camera roll but you do get it if you receive a picture message. What sense does that make?

 

[indiekicks]

Like what? I don't have a problem doing things apples way but I don't feel they are very intuitive or easy.

I think on the surface iOS is intuitive but if you need to do something other then the most basic task it can be quite complicated.

They just recently made dealing with pdf's and emails a lot easier. It's still a hassle to work with them but Dropbox helps a lot. Impossible to send more then one in a single email or any other file type.

It's pretty much impossible to use another cloud service like Dropbox since there is absolutely no integration. Even then you dont get Dropbox integration to the camera roll but you do get it if you receive a picture message. What sense does that make?

Like adding music and videos, for one thing. That was one of my biggest concerns about buying the s3, how hard would it be to sync everything up since I use itunes. Well, it sure didn't disappoint.

Trying to get my media to sync to my phone (and getting it to sync to the right place) was a complete pain in the ass. And no, isyncr wasn't much help. Whereas it only took me 10 or 15 minutes to get the hang of it with the iphone.

When browsing or gaming, the s3 would get pretty hot even though I don't think I was putting it through heavy use. It crashed often too.

Battery life is also much better on the iphone.

As for the cloud issue, eh. I still prefer to handle my files manually so I can't say this concerns me...

 

[mib1800]

I agree with op. So much so, that I came out of lurkdom to post.

I purchased the Galaxy S3 after much prodding from everyone - friends, co-workers, salespeople - about how it's so much better than the iphone. However, after a few frustrating days, I ended up returning it and made the right choice (for me).

Android has its advantages, but none of them appeal to me. To be frank, I don't give a crap if it's "open source" or that I can "flash custom roms" or any of that nerd jargon. The iphone does what I need it to do intuitively and looks a hell of a lot sleeker doing it.

How's it frustrating?

Is it because you have problem transfering your contacts/message/music/data etc from your iphone to S3? Then don't blame the S3/Android. Blame it on Apple. Apple is the one that walled you in to their proprietary eco-system.

I am on Android and to me everything works easily. Transfer/share data/apps easily. PIMs info sync easily.

When I use Iphone, I really find it so extremely frustrating:-
- can't transfer data/files in-out easily (must have itunes on specific PC)
- cannot install app from the web-browser/side-load app.
- can't background sync to my preferred share provider(s). You have to open share provider apps one by one to upload data.
- can't share my data (files/calendars/contact etc) easily with other devices/PCs.
- iOS retarded email and retarded web-browser file download - need to download to dropbox wasting bandwidth and battery.

and many more than I dont feel like repeating.

 

[siiip5]

Like adding music and videos, for one thing. That was one of my biggest concerns about buying the s3, how hard would it be to sync everything up since I use itunes. Well, it sure didn't disappoint.

Trying to get my media to sync to my phone (and getting it to sync to the right place) was a complete pain in the ass. And no, isyncr wasn't much help. Whereas it only took me 10 or 15 minutes to get the hang of it with the iphone.

When browsing or gaming, the s3 would get pretty hot even though I don't think I was putting it through heavy use. It crashed often too.

Battery life is also much better on the iphone.

As for the cloud issue, eh. I still prefer to handle my files manually so I can't say this concerns me...

Why does anyone think iTunes will integrate well with anything other than an Apple product. It is one of the worst made pieces of software ever created. Why would I want to use a program that prevents me from moving files to where I want? Or wipes my ipod or iphone or pc clean of all my pics, music or vids because the program thinks I want to install from/to my new phone into/from itunes.
And ask itunes to work with windows or Android? Forget it. Waste of time. You are better off moving your files in batch (you know, click and drag) from pc to phone. Much simpler and faster, especially onto a 64gb class 10 sdxc external card. Good luck loading near 60gb of music and vids onto an iphone.

As for your last comment about manually managing your files. You are joking right? You can barely load an attachment onto an email with ios. Much less manage folders and files.

 

[onthecouchagain]

One of the best things of switching to Android is freeing my device from the reliance of iTunes. Glorious freedom.

----------

Why does anyone think iTunes will integrate well with anything other than an Apple product. It is one of the worst made pieces of software ever created. Why would I want to use a program that prevents me from moving files to where I want? Or wipes my ipod or iphone or pc clean of all my pics, music or vids because the program thinks I want to install from/to my new phone into/from itunes.

Just rereading that list recalls so much frustration and pain...

----------

I genuinely feel bad for people who think iOS is intuitive. iOS doesn't know the meaning of intuitive. The keyboard dictionary is probably the best example.

 

[indiekicks]

Why does anyone think iTunes will integrate well with anything other than an Apple product. It is one of the worst made pieces of software ever created. Why would I want to use a program that prevents me from moving files to where I want? Or wipes my ipod or iphone or pc clean of all my pics, music or vids because the program thinks I want to install from/to my new phone into/from itunes.
And ask itunes to work with windows or Android? Forget it. Waste of time. You are better off moving your files in batch (you know, click and drag) from pc to phone. Much simpler and faster, especially onto a 64gb class 10 sdxc external card. Good luck loading near 60gb of music and vids onto an iphone.

As for your last comment about manually managing your files. You are joking right? You can barely load an attachment onto an email with ios. Much less manage folders and files.

I've used itunes for years because it works for me. Nothing else, windows media, zune, etc., comes close. Could be because I'm just used to it, who knows. Doesn't matter because I like it just fine. And I have plenty of media stored on my iphone (and my ipod), not quite 60gb yet but it's a good bit, and I've been able to share pictures and emails just fine. So I'm not sure what you're talking about. All that other stuff you lot are going on about (side load apps or whatever) doesn't have any relevancy to me so it's just like I said before....

If the android is easier for you and suits your purpose, great. But that's just not the case for me and op.

Oh, and what's wrong with handling files on my own? I don't really care for all this "cloud" business, what's the big deal?

 

[onthecouchagain]

I've used itunes for years because it works for me. Nothing else, windows media, zune, etc., comes close. Could be because I'm just used to it, who knows. Doesn't matter because I like it just fine. And I have plenty of media stored on my iphone (and my ipod), not quite 60gb yet but it's a good bit, and I've been able to share pictures and emails just fine. So I'm not sure what you're talking about. All that other stuff you lot are going on about (side load apps or whatever) doesn't have any relevancy to me so it's just like I said before....

If the android is easier for you and suits your purpose, great. But that's just not the case for me and op.

Oh, and what's wrong with handling files on my own? I don't really care for all this "cloud" business, what's the big deal?

Sounds like you've happy with iTunes and that you've made up your mind. I think the iPhone forums is the other way.

 

[siiip5]

I've used itunes for years because it works for me. Nothing else, windows media, zune, etc., comes close. Could be because I'm just used to it, who knows. Doesn't matter because I like it just fine. And I have plenty of media stored on my iphone (and my ipod), not quite 60gb yet but it's a good bit, and I've been able to share pictures and emails just fine. So I'm not sure what you're talking about. All that other stuff you lot are going on about (side load apps or whatever) doesn't have any relevancy to me so it's just like I said before....

If the android is easier for you and suits your purpose, great. But that's just not the case for me and op.

Yes, i know where you are coming from. I used itunes from release date until end of last year. I had no choice, because I liked to jailbreak my devices. Once I freed myself from the Apple Matrix, I can now use any Mac or PC with my Android devices without limitations. No, 5 device limit, like with iTunes. No having to log in to do a simple thing like manage my music and videos on my phone. If I want to download any avi, mkv, mp4, mp3, etc file from the internet, I can.

If I want to email, beam, bluetooth share or whatever a mp3 file, i can. Freedom to do what I want with my phone is an awesome feeling. I could never go back to being a slave to Apple's iOS tyranical rule.

You like it and that is fine. I just couldn't deal with that sort of control over my device.

 

[onthecouchagain]

Yes, i know where you are coming from. I used itunes from release date until end of last year. I had no choice, because I liked to jailbreak my devices. Once I freed myself from the Apple Matrix, I can now use any Mac or PC with my Android devices without limitations. No, 5 device limit, like with iTunes. No having to log in to do a simple thing like manage my music and videos on my phone. If I want to download any avi, mkv, mp4, mp3, etc file from the internet, I can.

If I want to email, beam, bluetooth share or whatever a mp3 file, i can. Freedom to do what I want with my phone is an awesome feeling. I could never go back to being a slave to Apple's iOS tyranical rule.

You like it and that is fine. I just couldn't deal with that sort of control over my device.

And it's more than just the philosophy of freedom. It's simply easier to do it other ways.

 

[onthecouchagain]

Another thing: why do I have to sign in every time I have to agree to Game Center policy changes? I notice when I load Solitare by brainum I often have to reaccept the Game Center policy changes.

Is there a way to just completely turn Game Center off? I never signed up or signed into it. It jut keeps popping up when I load games.

 

[fSHAD]

Another thermo nuclear war between fandroids and apple fanboys !

Android has improved, nowa days android OS is a lot polished and its a huge come back by google

Google is continually trying new things the automated algorithmic malware defense in Play Store, They are trying to get a system to put aside the fragmentation issue !

@de end of da day its users choice I use android cuz ......... I use iOS cuz..........

THts it !

 

[indiekicks]

Sounds like you've happy with iTunes and that you've made up your mind. I think the iPhone forums is the other way.

I'm sure you don't like it when people say "this is an Apple website so why don't you go talk about android the other way," so why should I? I'm interested in this thread (for now, anyway) and as long as I'm not trolling or flaming anyone...

 

[SomeDudeAsking]

Holy crap, someone actually thinks iTunes syncing is a good thing? iTunes syncing is total crap and one of the reasons I moved away from Apple. Now, I drag and drop with what ever where ever.

 

[paulsalter]

Holy crap, someone actually thinks iTunes syncing is a good thing? iTunes syncing is total crap and one of the reasons I moved away from Apple. Now, I drag and drop with what ever where ever.

I quite like iTunes syncing, nice and simple, not a fan of iTunes as an app much nowadays and not looking forward to version 11

I have it set up so I have the same music, unwatched tv & movies and unlistened to podcasts synced to my iOS and Android devices, just use whichever device is closest to hand

all automatic so dont have to think about it

 

[mattopotamus]

btw: you can't download TouchWiz and install it to a nexus phone just like you can't download HTCSense. (they are not to be found anywhere )

I'm pretty sure there is a touch wiz launcher

 

[cynics]

iTunes killed music for me. Back in the day I had a library of about 5000 songs or so. I was given an iPod and was surprised you couldn't just move mp3's to it. Set up iTunes and I guess I did something but it took all my mp3's out of there nice organized folders and renamed them from there nice organized name. Sure they played find in iTunes lousy player but pretty much killed it for everything else.

Still not sure what I did wrong but I haven't really messed with it since (years) aside from plugging my iPhone in to restore it.

 

[dalbir4444]

I'm sure you don't like it when people say "this is an Apple website so why don't you go talk about android the other way," so why should I? I'm interested in this thread (for now, anyway) and as long as I'm not trolling or flaming anyone...

I hate it when people from any camp do that. We're all here to share experiences and it's not very nice to tell someone to "leave" when they are genuinely trying to have a discussion.

 

[ReanimationN]

I genuinely feel bad for people who think iOS is intuitive. iOS doesn't know the meaning of intuitive. The keyboard dictionary is probably the best example.

Come on Couchy, with stuff like Android lag etc. it's all going to come down to personal preference as to whether it'll affect your experience or not. You labelled it nitpicking, I simply don't think it's good enough- that's all well and good, not everyone's going to see it the same way.

But to say iOS doesn't know the meaning of intuitive? And that you feel genuinely bad for people who think iOS is intuitive? That's getting into silly territory.

Given how easy it is to lose, damage or break a mobile device, or the fact that people generally replace their device every two years and want to carry (at least some of) their data with them to their next device, there must be a super easy and intuitive backup and restore feature built-in to Android right?

Tell us how intuitive and easy it is to completely back up (apps, app data, device and app settings etc.) a stock, non-rooted Android device running Jelly Bean.

I think a few people here are forgetting what people who aren't tech enthusiasts like. If I were to tell my brother (who's competent with computers, but isn't a tech enthusiast) that to backup his new Android device, he's going to have to go dig through the XDA developers forums, find a toolkit for his device (if it exists) or unlocking+rooting instructions if it doesn't, plug his device into computer, fire up the toolkit program (or prepare the pentagram on the floor and the incantations if there isn't) from Bill + Jim Much Trusted Googlin' Developers, hold a specific button combo, use the program's options to start the root + unlock (or place the device in the middle of the pentagram and begin the incantations), wait for the root+unlock to take place, enjoy all your data being lost if you've been using the device already, install Titanium Backup/My Backup Pro once the device has come through the root+unlock and then delve through the app's settings to decide which apps are backed up, how they're backed up and where the backups are stored, I'm going to be met with a blank stare.

(Maybe there is a complete backup method for non-rooted Jelly Bean devices that I missed, but I haven't been able to find anything. Let alone anything as intuitive as backing up an iOS device, or a Mac or PC using an external harddrive and Time Machine/Windows Backup.)

I'm sure you don't like it when people say "this is an Apple website so why don't you go talk about android the other way," so why should I? I'm interested in this thread (for now, anyway) and as long as I'm not trolling or flaming anyone...

You are welcome. We're all here to share experiences, regardless of whether they're positive or not.

I hate it when people from any camp do that. We're all here to share experiences and it's not very nice to tell someone to "leave" when they are genuinely trying to have a discussion.

Exactly. Well said.

 

[ravenvii]

All the people saying the iPhone relies on iTunes must have switched to Android before iOS 5 last year.

I haven't touched iTunes in over a year now.

 

[mattopotamus]

All the people saying the iPhone relies on iTunes must have switched to Android before iOS 5 last year.

I haven't touched iTunes in over a year now.

I don't even have a computers to sync with anymore haha. I still use iTunes though and actually love it

 

[Vetvito]

Zune was great syncing software, but Microsoft killed it in favor of this new crap. Makes iTunes look real good and makes me think twice about a new windows phone.

Official computer syncing software is better than none, I'm looking at you Google.

 

[siiip5]

Zune was great syncing software, but Microsoft killed it in favor of this new crap. Makes iTunes look real good and makes me think twice about a new windows phone.

Official computer syncing software is better than none, I'm looking at you Google.

Google Music.

If you need something like 'syncing' software and want access to your music anywhere and on any type of device. If I need more than the 80gb's of storage I have on my S3, i can use Google Music, or take another external micro sd card with me. Options are a wonderful thing.

 

[Vetvito]

Google music is for the cloud. I'm more of a "directly to the phone" kind of person.

I have been using airdroid for wireless management, but not really syncing.

Something more official for Android would be great. Doubletwist is a rip.

 

[Tinmania]

Like adding music and videos, for one thing. That was one of my biggest concerns about buying the s3, how hard would it be to sync everything up since I use itunes. Well, it sure didn't disappoint.

Trying to get my media to sync to my phone (and getting it to sync to the right place) was a complete pain in the ass. And no, isyncr wasn't much help. Whereas it only took me 10 or 15 minutes to get the hang of it with the iphone.

When browsing or gaming, the s3 would get pretty hot even though I don't think I was putting it through heavy use. It crashed often too.

Battery life is also much better on the iphone.

As for the cloud issue, eh. I still prefer to handle my files manually so I can't say this concerns me...

Sounds like you did zero preparation for getting out of the walled garden.

Before my Nexus 4 arrived I at least made sure I did these three things:

1. Transitioned my contacts and calendar from iCloud to Google.
2. Switched to using Chrome entirely on my macs and PC.
3. Made sure Google Music was completely synced.

As soon as I turned on the N4 and signed into google my music was there--as well as my contacts, email, and calendar. It couldn't get any smoother than that and the setup was far shorter and simpler than on an iPhone.

As for iTunes? I always looked at it as a necessary evil and not something I would use if I didn't have to.

Good thing you do not care about the cloud stuff because despite starting the post pc way of thinking iOS is anything but. In iCloud there is no permanent storage for photos and zero for camera videos. While you can use other cloud services it is not integrated well in the OS: as mentioned you can't even upload a photo from the camera roll to even Dropbox. Sure I can go into the dropbox app and then find the photo, and then finally upload. Why should I have to do that? My N4 lets me do it from anywhere to anywhere.

That said, I realize iOS is just right for some people. And it was for me for over 4 years (then I stayed with it another year after starting to become disappointed).




Michael

 

[MonkeySee....]

Sounds like you did zero preparation for getting out of the walled garden.

Before my Nexus 4 arrived I at least made sure I did these three things:

1. Transitioned my contacts and calendar from iCloud to Google.
2. Switched to using Chrome entirely on my macs and PC.
3. Made sure Google Music was completely synced.

As soon as I turned on the N4 and signed into google my music was there--as well as my contacts, email, and calendar. It couldn't get any smoother than that and the setup was far shorter and simpler than on an iPhone.

As for iTunes? I always looked at it as a necessary evil and not something I would use if I didn't have to.

Good thing you do not care about the cloud stuff because despite starting the post pc way of thinking iOS is anything but. In iCloud there is no permanent storage for photos and zero for camera videos. While you can use other cloud services it is not integrated well in the OS: as mentioned you can't even upload a photo from the camera roll to even Dropbox. Sure I can go into the dropbox app and then find the photo, and then finally upload. Why should I have to do that? My N4 lets me do it from anywhere to anywhere.

That said, I realize iOS is just right for some people. And it was for me for over 4 years (then I stayed with it another year after starting to become disappointed).




Michael

If I restore my iPhone or get a new one, I stick my iCloud details in on start up and the whole phone is restored as it was previously.

Messages
Contacts
Photos
Documents
Mail
Reminders
Safari Bookmarks etc
Notes
Calendar

and most importantly, Apps.

I'd say that's pretty simple.

----------

Sounds like you did zero preparation for getting out of the walled garden.

Before my Nexus 4 arrived I at least made sure I did these three things:

1. Transitioned my contacts and calendar from iCloud to Google.
2. Switched to using Chrome entirely on my macs and PC.
3. Made sure Google Music was completely synced.

As soon as I turned on the N4 and signed into google my music was there--as well as my contacts, email, and calendar. It couldn't get any smoother than that and the setup was far shorter and simpler than on an iPhone.

As for iTunes? I always looked at it as a necessary evil and not something I would use if I didn't have to.

Good thing you do not care about the cloud stuff because despite starting the post pc way of thinking iOS is anything but. In iCloud there is no permanent storage for photos and zero for camera videos. While you can use other cloud services it is not integrated well in the OS: as mentioned you can't even upload a photo from the camera roll to even Dropbox. Sure I can go into the dropbox app and then find the photo, and then finally upload. Why should I have to do that? My N4 lets me do it from anywhere to anywhere.

That said, I realize iOS is just right for some people. And it was for me for over 4 years (then I stayed with it another year after starting to become disappointed).




Michael

iCloud backs up you camera roll including videos.

You can also share you photo's with someone else with the Shared Photo Stream feature.