Yeah I hear this a lot. I don't know what the stats are. But I use Android daily and I haven't had any issues. I have a feeling it's similar to using a pc.... like you're probably ok most of the time but if you go the seedier places of the internet you're gonna get a bug. Some of the apps in the google store are so obviously spam/malware that if you download them you deserve whatever comes your way.
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Why is it always said that iOS is boring?
- Thread starter Black Magic
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Yeah I hear this a lot. I don't know what the stats are. But I use Android daily and I haven't had any issues. I have a feeling it's similar to using a pc.... like you're probably ok most of the time but if you go the seedier places of the internet you're gonna get a bug. Some of the apps in the google store are so obviously spam/malware that if you download them you deserve whatever comes your way.
It's the age-old battle of customizability vs. simplicity. Android to the former, iOS to the latter. The older I get, the more I prefer the latter. I spent my youth customizing Linux and BeOS installations - I don't have the energy or time for it any more.
I got to use the Sony Tablet P with ICS for a while, and you could have more geegaws and widgets on it than you could shake a stick at, and customize tons of home screens with different layouts, but honestly, I was a little underwhelmed by the widget usefulness, even the official google ones. I just didn't find it very useful to have little app blobs where I would not just end up open up the full screen up anyway. I'm sure there are some good uses for it, but iOS 5.x alerts really cover my "glancable" needs and I've grown to prefer the simplicity side of the street.
That said, lots of people like to customize and optimize.
See for a personal device, it's no problem.
But when you need to look after say, 500 devices that are used by other people who may/may not care what the random crapware they install on the machine will do to it... it's a whole different ball game. Tighter control of the software in that case is a good thing.
Having one standard mail application to support, and one standard browser to support for a start is nice.
IOS remaining consistent from version to version is nice too, for the same reason.
Haha! I couldn't agree more. In the past I've been tempted to post in that thread that all the iOS homescreens look the same except for the wall paper.
Many used to post in that thread until they told us jailbreakers to go away and changed the title to "non-jailbroken" iOS homescreens only.
I agree. iOS is rock solid by far.
Digging into the weeds though, I had several Android devices before and the widgets just didn't do anything at all for me. You still end up clicking them to get more data. The HTC lock screen app launcher is nice though. That I would like to see come to the iPhone.
He made some good points though. Why look through pages and pages of apps when you can either ask Siri to launch it or use spotlight search?
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How often do you spend using the OS itself? I'd argue that the vast majority of the time spent on a smartphone is spent using apps.
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No, no, no, no and no.
Clock is in the status bar. Weather is in the notification bar if you enable the option. SMS are in the notification bar. Missed calls are in the notification bar. Stocks are in the notification bar if you enable the option.
You didn't think that through did you
He made some good points though. Why look through pages and pages of apps when you can either ask Siri to launch it or use spotlight search?
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How often do you spend using the OS itself? I'd argue that the vast majority of the time spent on a smartphone is spent using apps.
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No, no, no, no and no.
Clock is in the status bar. Weather is in the notification bar if you enable the option. SMS are in the notification bar. Missed calls are in the notification bar. Stocks are in the notification bar if you enable the option.
You didn't think that through did you
I really like how Android has your library of apps as well as a home screen/desktop. This alleviates the need to hide all those god-awful stock applications into folders in iOS, and I would much welcome this feature as it gives a cleaner look without needing to make dozens of folders. In regards to using Siri or Spotlight to find apps, Siri is not a good alternative if you are in a public or noisy environment. I had to use Spotlight to find a few of my uncommonly used apps, as I would forget which folder I placed them in. I had no trouble using Spotlight, but personally still prefer having my clean home screen, and my alphabetical list of apps as Android presents.
I could argue that having more functionality in your OS will decrease your need in using apps. Google has done a great job with Google Now-- searches, weather, traffic, sports, etc are all built into the operating system as opposed to needing individual apps for each. Ask Google now what song is currently playing or to scan a barcode, and it will tell you. A built in data meter reduces my need for an AT&T app or text to find my data consumption for the month.
I'm not too sure what the argument was on the last reply so I can't refute it.
Anyhow, I'm week 3 into using my Nexus 4 and aside from the iPhone 5 having better camera shots out of the box (I can get my pictures to look pretty nice with the editing tools, but still think the iPhone produces better shots), there's not a whole lot I miss about iOS.
Don't get me wrong, I still have my iPhone 5 and other Apple products, but I have to give kudos to Google for doing a great job on Jellybean, especially after the lack of anything special with iOS 6.
Tell me, on average, how big is the screen from an android device nowadays? An android user complaining content is almost out of thumbs reach on an iPhone (the smallest high-end smartphone on the market), what's next?
Btw those capacitive buttons on an android device (most of them have it, some have dedicated) are highly irritating:
- Did I push it...no?..oh it was just android lagging..
OR
- Dammit I accidentally pushed it again, grr..
I have widgets for my calendar, appointments, tasks, emails, etc so I can turn on my phone, quickly check for anything upcoming instead of clicking on one app, pressing the home button, click on another app, press the home button, click on another app, press the home button...
And as Mxbzz mentioned with Google now, a quick swipe and I can check weather, sports, events, news, stock, tracking info, etc all without checking separate individual apps.
The notification system on android is by far more detailed and functional. I just don't understand why apple only allows you to view appointments 24 hours ahead of time in notification center. (Jailbreak and lockinfo is a must if you want a functional NC).
Tell me honest, do you prefer capacitive buttons over a mechanical button?
Another drawback of capacitive buttons is that they usually have to make the bezel on the bottom of the device bigger so people can let their thumb rest at that place. Unlike the iPhone where you even can let your thumb rest on the button itself
I too prefer the Android method of a desktop as well as an app drawer, I just don't feel strongly about it as I find I spend the vast majority of my time using apps and not the OS itself.
I think of the OS as providing a workspace and feature set for apps to work with. I don't want sports scores and stuff built into the OS because I'm not a sports lover. That sort of thing should really be left to the apps!
The built in data metre is an awesome feature, agreed.
You can see all of that information in the notification bar on iOS, so you don't need to launch individual apps!
As for only notifying about appointments 24 hours ahead of time, that makes perfect sense to me. Why would you need to be notified of appointments that are days away? It makes sense to notify you of approaching appointments and to just view the full calendar to see everything. I wouldn't want weeks of appointments to scroll through in the notification bar because they have no need to be there.
You can turn on/off these type of notifications. Don't want sports, off it goes. Don't want stocks? Turn it off. Events? Turn it off. You have options to set it up to best fit your individual needs.
I like to be able to see my schedule and appointments for the entire work week. It's easier to plan and coordinate what I need to get done in a quicker, more organized manner. Maybe if you don't schedule a lot of things, it's not that important, but when you have appointments throughout the day, being able to see and know what's coming up ahead of time so you can plan in advance is necessary instead of it just popping up 24 hours beforehand.
Apple should at least give the OPTION to have your calendar show 1, 3, 5 days ahead.
Tell me honest, do you prefer capacitive buttons over a mechanical button?
Another drawback of capacitive buttons is that they usually have to make the bezel on the bottom of the device bigger so people can let their thumb rest at that place. Unlike the iPhone where you even can let your thumb rest on the button itself
None of the above. I prefer on screen gestures, which is what many new Android devices, Blackberry 10, and the Nokia N9 use.
And I rate the usability of the iPhone home button way underneath that of capacitive buttons. Not only are the capacitive buttons way more useful, but from my years of using iDevices, I have come to the conclusion that Apple can't make a home button that works. Click it once and it often lags or clicks twice. Click it twice and it could register as just one click. Click it again and you are all the way to Spotlight.
You will notice that people that say so (including me) are long time iOS user, with time you expect changes and improvements or else things start to get "monotonous" and thats the start of the feeling boring; sadly iOS have been the same for too long with very small changes on the core system and UI and on top of that have been very slow paced.
and thats the start of the feeling boring; sadly iOS have been the same for too long with very small changes on the core system and UI and on top of that have been very slow paced.
I had ios for almost 5 years. I was bored. I got android. I saw the light. You can do soo much with the widgets its not just checking time. Plus i want a bigger phone, i dont need a company telling me what the perfect size is for me. Plus the battery life is amazing. I love all my other apple stuff, id love them to overhaul ios completely and make bigger options, but thats not the apple way.
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There alot of ignorant iphone lovers on here.
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There alot of ignorant iphone lovers on here.
Tell me, on average, how big is the screen from an android device nowadays? An android user complaining content is almost out of thumbs reach on an iPhone (the smallest high-end smartphone on the market), what's next?
Btw those capacitive buttons on an android device (most of them have it, some have dedicated) are highly irritating:
- Did I push it...no?..oh it was just android lagging..
OR
- Dammit I accidentally pushed it again, grr..
You do realize that the capacitive buttons in android have haptic feedback when you hit them.
iOS presentation and the interface has been largely unchanged since it was introduced since 2007.
Mobile computing expectations have progressed since then.
Examples:
Apple has zero provisions for glance and go information. This is one of my bigger gripes because Apple has a completely blank lock screen that should be able to show a variety of content and live feeds instead of just being dead space.
Notification center in general needs more content. Why isnt there Full music information in notification center, or audio controls if a music app is running? Or settings toggles like brightness and blue tooth? Open up notification center to all developers and let them push the limits.
And for lord's sake, the weather icon needs to be dynamic like the calendar icon. It's not 73 and sunny so stop saying it is.
So for me the app drawer format is fine, but everything around it should be about getting me content and information faster, as well as improving interaction. Apple doesn't have to resort to widgets or live tiles, just make better use of the icon format, notification center and the lock screen
Mobile computing expectations have progressed since then.
Examples:
Apple has zero provisions for glance and go information. This is one of my bigger gripes because Apple has a completely blank lock screen that should be able to show a variety of content and live feeds instead of just being dead space.
Notification center in general needs more content. Why isnt there Full music information in notification center, or audio controls if a music app is running? Or settings toggles like brightness and blue tooth? Open up notification center to all developers and let them push the limits.
And for lord's sake, the weather icon needs to be dynamic like the calendar icon. It's not 73 and sunny so stop saying it is.
So for me the app drawer format is fine, but everything around it should be about getting me content and information faster, as well as improving interaction. Apple doesn't have to resort to widgets or live tiles, just make better use of the icon format, notification center and the lock screen
Take this for what it's worth because I own a Galaxy SIII, and a Nexus 4. But I don't really think iOS needs to change all that much. Windows, and OSX have been relatively unchanged, and the same for years with little to no complaint. I moved to Android because it's different, not necessarily because I disliked iOS. Different strokes. On an Apple Rumors sight naturally people will tend to favor iOS, it's to be expected.
This and a slight increase of the screen to say, 4.5" would seriously tempt me back to an iPhone.
Er, can't you push a lot of information to the lock screen already? That's an API I thought all developers had access to. I only let IMs, e-mails, and facebook onto the lock screen on my touch but I'm sure you could news or live feed the heck out of the lock screen if you wanted to? There's got to be an app for that.
When I had a jailbreaked 4.x touch, in the end, this is the only JB feature I kept enabled. It would be nice to see a faster toggle screen somewhere. I don't think it would be terribly useful for music controls though - you're never more than a double tap and swipe away from those at any time.
Tell me honest, do you prefer capacitive buttons over a mechanical button?
Another drawback of capacitive buttons is that they usually have to make the bezel on the bottom of the device bigger so people can let their thumb rest at that place. Unlike the iPhone where you even can let your thumb rest on the button itself
Until the home button breaks. Then all I see are iPhone owners jailbreaking their phones to create virtual home buttons. Meanwhile those capacitive buttons keep on working like day 1. Being able to create and program your own buttons, in any order you want, is why I have a custom ROM installed. I don't use any of the buttons at the bottom of the S3. But, I have that option and ability. Something you won't find even in the Cydia store. (Which doesn't matter if you have a phone on iOS6 anyway. LOL)
That is a very short-sighted view of battery life. And iOS does need that. Badly. My iPhone 4S would not last a full day if I left everything on 24/7. It didn't last a full day with some stuff turned off. The only reason I can get a full day out of it now is because the sim card is not in it and instead in my Nexus 4.
This is not even worth answering, actually. It falls under: if I have to explain, you wouldn't understand.
iOS does not have a notification "bar." Its status bar is pretty darned static, actually. Didn't see the few seconds long notification banner? Sorry, it is now buried in notification center wasteland and may or may not be forgotten.
But you get to see what carrier you are on! Yay! I would never have known I was an AT&T subscriber without that. Waste of space that could be used for something else.
One more button to worry about? Seriously?? lol
Michael