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iPhone Why is the iPhone better than Android phones?
- Thread starter raptorstv
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I'm curious too actually.
I love Android. But I prefer Apple's hardware design.
I have used Android for past 3 years and the iPhone 5 (once it arrives) will be my first iOS phone. I really like how easy the iPad is to use so I'm sure I'll like it. My Android device definitely is more customizable though.
I love Android. But I prefer Apple's hardware design.
I have used Android for past 3 years and the iPhone 5 (once it arrives) will be my first iOS phone. I really like how easy the iPad is to use so I'm sure I'll like it. My Android device definitely is more customizable though.
Problem with android is fragmentation. That is indisputable. It is difficult for amateur developers and even companies to develop for android. Imagine how many devices with android oS there are, imagine the idea of having to test your app on every android device to see if it works, now imagine only the top 3 phones are chosen to develop for because it is infeasible to test the app on every phone. You run into issues where app works for phone x but not for phone y. The app will probably crash for phone z. Now imagine that phone X, Y, and Z all run on different hardware. Good luck debugging.
on iOS you have one hardware software platform to develop for similar to developing apps for windows. It's a lot more intuitive so that is why the apps for iOS are a lot better than android. Also runs faster because it's native coding. At least most apps are native. Some companies try to develop in HTML 5 and that is just a bad idea.
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Also to note on android a lot of companies take shortcuts and develop using XML. XML is interpreted like HTML is. Android is a virtual machine that runs on top of JIT. Just in time compilation. In layman terms all you need to know is that it is slower. SO you have XML code that is interpreted on top of a virtual machine that uses JIT. It's double interpreted and that is why you need such high powered hardware to run android efficiently. In android 4.1 jelly bean they sped up the OS by over-clocking the processor in order to interpret all that garbage so it doesn't appear sluggish. Completely inefficient operating system that will eventually choke itself to death.
on iOS you have one hardware software platform to develop for similar to developing apps for windows. It's a lot more intuitive so that is why the apps for iOS are a lot better than android. Also runs faster because it's native coding. At least most apps are native. Some companies try to develop in HTML 5 and that is just a bad idea.
edit:
Also to note on android a lot of companies take shortcuts and develop using XML. XML is interpreted like HTML is. Android is a virtual machine that runs on top of JIT. Just in time compilation. In layman terms all you need to know is that it is slower. SO you have XML code that is interpreted on top of a virtual machine that uses JIT. It's double interpreted and that is why you need such high powered hardware to run android efficiently. In android 4.1 jelly bean they sped up the OS by over-clocking the processor in order to interpret all that garbage so it doesn't appear sluggish. Completely inefficient operating system that will eventually choke itself to death.
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It has the best screen quality on the market, best CPU and GPU, the smoothest, most performance-efficient, most stable OS on the market. It has a premium feel and it's super compact and light yet has a very good battery life.
It has more and better apps than the competition. The OS is updated for 4 years, is easy to use, virus-free and has good design (both easthetically and functionally). It's simple and trouble-free enough to let you focus on the tasks you want to do without messing around too much.
That's more personnal but I think screen size is ideal (a phone should be easy to use one-handed IMO) and I like that it integrates seamlessly with my other Apple products/services (OS X, iTunes, iPad, iCoud, iTunes Match, iPhoto).
I may be interested in Android phones if there was a flagship phone that wasn't monstrously big yet had top of the line performance with a good battery life and a good screen, and ideally a Nexus so that it stays updated and has no crappy skin. Unfortunately "small" (less than 4.5") Androids are often slow budget phones and even the big powerful models have bad PenTile OLED screens, an undesired skin and a cheap plastic construction.
The postive keyword I hear to describe Android is often "customizable" but honestly I don't care about those things. Most of my devices still have their original backgrounds and I haven't ever changed default app icons placement, ringtones or the few things I can customize in iOS. When stuff works well I don't play with it.
It has more and better apps than the competition. The OS is updated for 4 years, is easy to use, virus-free and has good design (both easthetically and functionally). It's simple and trouble-free enough to let you focus on the tasks you want to do without messing around too much.
That's more personnal but I think screen size is ideal (a phone should be easy to use one-handed IMO) and I like that it integrates seamlessly with my other Apple products/services (OS X, iTunes, iPad, iCoud, iTunes Match, iPhoto).
I may be interested in Android phones if there was a flagship phone that wasn't monstrously big yet had top of the line performance with a good battery life and a good screen, and ideally a Nexus so that it stays updated and has no crappy skin. Unfortunately "small" (less than 4.5") Androids are often slow budget phones and even the big powerful models have bad PenTile OLED screens, an undesired skin and a cheap plastic construction.
The postive keyword I hear to describe Android is often "customizable" but honestly I don't care about those things. Most of my devices still have their original backgrounds and I haven't ever changed default app icons placement, ringtones or the few things I can customize in iOS. When stuff works well I don't play with it.
I deal with blackberry's at work and when someone switches from blackberry to iphone I feel like i have one less person that is going to call and complain about their phone not working.
Night and day - literally. People only use their blackberry's at night because they're embarrassed to show it compared to iphone where you will use it during the day and show it off lol
Night and day - literally. People only use their blackberry's at night because they're embarrassed to show it compared to iphone where you will use it during the day and show it off lol
At the end of the day, Android or iOS is user preference. You can't say one is better than the other, it's like comparing BMW to Mercedes.
It isn't. I've used both and they're honestly just different. For web browsing, I prefer Android by leaps and bounds. Text resizing and screen size play a huge factor in that. If I'm playing a game, I like that screen real estate as well. I can't type well on any touch screen due to large hands, so anything extra helps. Notifications and the LED indicator are superior and make life a lot easier.
On the other hand, build quality on the iPhone is better, and the screen is second to none. Apps are released quicker/some are exclusive to the iPhone. If you always want the latest operating system, then the iPhone won't steer you wrong. Copy and paste is less frustrating. There is slightly (almost imperceptibly) less lag on an iPhone.
In the end, you should really just try both for yourself. I'd wager you'd be happy with either one.
On the other hand, build quality on the iPhone is better, and the screen is second to none. Apps are released quicker/some are exclusive to the iPhone. If you always want the latest operating system, then the iPhone won't steer you wrong. Copy and paste is less frustrating. There is slightly (almost imperceptibly) less lag on an iPhone.
In the end, you should really just try both for yourself. I'd wager you'd be happy with either one.
Not disagreeing with you but some of your "facts" are wrong.
1. I honestly can't tell, but the SIII does in fact have a better screen than the iPhone 5 http://socialbarrel.com/galaxy-s-iii-screen-trumps-iphone-5-screen/44823/
2. While iPhone has a 1.3 Ghz dual-core processor with triple-core GPU, its still not A15 (neither are current Android devices) but not quad-core (which tons of Android, Windows, etc. devices are)
3. For battery life, while the iPhone 5 has good battery life, the iPhone 4 still has the best followed by the iPhone 5 and then iPhone 4S. Perphaps its because of the LTE, but I iPhone 5 and the SIII both have about the same battery life.
4. Android OS is also virus free. Google never adds viruses into their OS...which would just be dumb. If your talking about the Android market, yes there's malaware but if your not stupid and download some random app your safe. Your not going to get a virus for downloading Angry Birds or Twitter on Google Play. Plus the App Store isn't malaware free either...I think several apps that had malaware acciendently got approved.
5. Honestly I hate when people say that something is ideal. Pretty sure when the iPhone was just 3.5 inch you were like "this size is ideal." Apple comes along and changes it to 4 inches and your now "this is ideal." Goes with any other phone, OS, manufacturer, etc. Its annoying.
6. If you ever actually used a Galaxy Nexus, its actually extremely fast and smooth just like iOS thanks to Project Butter. It also has just as good of battery as the iPhone.
7. As far as your customizationphobia, I guess thats normal if you own Apple devices. However I prefer to make my iPhone, productive so I arrange stuff based on my own needs. Just feel that sticking with everything normal is basically like dictatorship.
I can say that iOS is better than Android because I know how they work. If you study the iOS it's actually very smart and very powerful operating system based on mach unix.
Android is ran on JIT. It's like running your operating system on the .net framework. Then add in the inefficiencies of java and xml. Garbage collection = dumb concept.
Android is ran on JIT. It's like running your operating system on the .net framework. Then add in the inefficiencies of java and xml. Garbage collection = dumb concept.
It isn't better, and it isn't worse. Of course its subjective on the devices you compare them too (obviously a free Android phone is going to be a different experience than the Samsung GSIII), but as operating systems they're both pretty equal, and each surpass the other in different ways.
Android phones are profoundly terrible, why?
1. Because Apple has patented many interface shortcuts Android phones do not implement most of the easy of use features that iPhones do. iPhones are so intuitive to go kids can use them BEFORE they learn to speak. This is important because it just makes doing everything easier and smoother and it takes less concentration. When I'm on the go, distracted or out at night I don't have to think about using the iPhone. I've tried both Android and the iPhone and this is a huge difference.
2. Absurd fragmentation. There are less than a dozen i-devices. There are tens of thousands of android devices all with different specs. This creates several sub issues:
a. Lack of optimization. The iPhone can in effect do twice as much with the same hardware as an Android phone because programs are optimized for a few devices, where with Android they are not. This means you can really push the hardware on an iPhone and get amazing tripple A games.
b. Compatabiliy. Everything works. This is a big deal, I do not need to be wasting time using things that do not work with 9342 devices and only work with 2341 devices.
c. Easy to program for. Developers push programs for the iPhone out much faster. They have to test things less and there are fewer variables. This means iPhones get the best apps first.
3. Usability and ergonomics. Apple very carefully thought out the usability and egronomics of the phone. Never have I asked myself "why the ******* would they put a screen on a phone that is just a tiny bit too short to reach with one hand", "why the ******* do they have 4 buttons which I can't reach while using the phone with one hand normally" even the volume, lock connector etc is well thought out "why the ******* would you not use a reversible dock connector?"
4. Quality, iPhones are built like $10,000 Breitling watches. All other phones within financial reach of normal consumers are made of absurdly cheap Toys 'R' Us materials that are mind bogglingly lame. You're buying a $600+ device, and they can't put $30 of nice material on the outside? This is just insulting.
5. Service, Apple has some of the best service in the world, and that service is LOCAL, you can walk into any Apple store and get it, no going online. I've had iPhones and their accessories replaced for the most minor things. Apple welcomes nitpickers. HTC basically told me "tough" when they sent me a physically deffective phone and made me sell it on eBay for another one while it was under warranty. It is also almost impossible to reach these Android manufacturers, Apple is always there for you.
6. iPhones are seamless, they automatically sync with my Mac without having to do anything, which is immensly useful, and your whole phone with all it's settings is constanty backed up to the cloud. You can restore an iPhone at the slightest whim. Which makes upgrading and swapping warranty replacements super easy.
7. Smallness and lightness. iPhones are more portable.
8. Accessory support. It's undeniable that the iPhone supports more unique accessories. Macro lenes for the camera, docks, cases, external speakers, external DJ aplifiers, extended batteries, wireless chargers etc.
9. Resale/trade in value. iPhones have better resale value.
The real question is, why wouldn't you get an iPhone 5? The only answer I can find is because you're A. Cheap B. Uninformed or C. Need some feature unique to Android. (such as a 4.7 in screen)
You wouldn't go with an Android because of:
1. Screen quality, the iPhone has the best screen quality of any phone:
http://www.displaymate.com/Smartphone_ShootOut_2.htm
2. Performance. The hardware of the iPhone scores higher in benchmarks than any US android phone (except for special quad core non LTE Galaxy S3's and Galaxy notes).
http://gizmodo.com/5943988/the-iphone-5-is-more-powerful-than-the-fastest-powerbook-ever-made
3. Cool apps like emulators. You can just jailbreak the iPhone and get those, and they work much better. Don't even try to tell me that it's finecky to jailbreak your iPhone. With Android it's finecky to instal ANY app, and is much worse overall.
So in conclusion there are many reasons why the iPhone is better and Android is not.
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I'll share with you my experiences, coming from the Android platform for years, and this is my FIRST iOS / iPhone ever.
I believe it's the efficiency of the iOS that outdoes the Android.
Why? I had a Rezound from VZW with extended battery. I have it rooted, S-Off and on the most battery conserving ROM.
Exchange push from work, Hotmail Push, GMail Push, social network updates every 15 minutes, bluetooth music streaming during LA traffic commute, text, browse, at least half hour video viewing (YouTube/Sling) at the gym and 10-15 minutes of talk on a daily basis, even the extended battery on the Rezound would be pretty much dead by the time I go to bed.
On the iPhone, SAME usage, background, foreground, network connection (50/50 LTE&Wifi daily) and whatever you have, by the time I go to bed it'll have at least a third of juice left.
This pretty much applies to the OS X as well. Ever wonder why a copy of Windows make your MacBook / Pro runs hot and drains battery fast? While on OS X it can last at least 6 hours?
It's simply the efficiency of the OS, and I'm glad I made the move.
I believe it's the efficiency of the iOS that outdoes the Android.
Why? I had a Rezound from VZW with extended battery. I have it rooted, S-Off and on the most battery conserving ROM.
Exchange push from work, Hotmail Push, GMail Push, social network updates every 15 minutes, bluetooth music streaming during LA traffic commute, text, browse, at least half hour video viewing (YouTube/Sling) at the gym and 10-15 minutes of talk on a daily basis, even the extended battery on the Rezound would be pretty much dead by the time I go to bed.
On the iPhone, SAME usage, background, foreground, network connection (50/50 LTE&Wifi daily) and whatever you have, by the time I go to bed it'll have at least a third of juice left.
This pretty much applies to the OS X as well. Ever wonder why a copy of Windows make your MacBook / Pro runs hot and drains battery fast? While on OS X it can last at least 6 hours?
It's simply the efficiency of the OS, and I'm glad I made the move.
Those benchmarks either use an overclocked CPU or unofficial (less stable) ROM. Most people will have a stock (stable build) OS and stock clock speed.
Maybe it's smooth enough for you but you can't deny that iOS is more power efficient. An iPhone 4S has terrible specs on paper compared to a GS3 yet most reviews I've seen say it's smoother than the GS3 even with JB. The iPhone 5 is even smoother in comparison, again with what appears as worse specs on paper. I have a iPhone 5 and compared with my friend's GS3 with JB (CM10) and the difference in smoothness is quite big, even he agreed.
It has a higher capacity on paper but doesn't last as long in real word usage. See the Anandtech GS3 review, even the iPhone 4S beats it.
The iPhone is light because it's thin and made out of aluminum, not just because it has a screen size that's appropriate for a human hand. Samsung makes big phones because it's easy to crank up specs like number of cores/clock speed when you have a huge battery to compensate, which itself needs a big casing. Try to find a powerful Android phone the size of an iPhone 5. That's a real challenge to design.
A lot of AA games are iOS only. What's the point of having big specs if you have much less console-quality games? A lot of Android apps are also pretty amateur and wouldn't have been approved in the App Store.
Source? AFAIK there has never been virus on either iOS or OS X.
You might like one or another more in the long run, but iOS' learning curve is still much lower than Android's. You can judge by how tech-illiterate people like very young kids and old people adapt to it.
I don't know, I just moved up to 4.0" and I'm not even sure if I like it better yet. I find the back button a little hard to hit at times. Maybe slightly smaller (3.8") would be ideal for me, but that's just me, some have larger hands. I however haven't seen people with hands big enough to hit all portions of a 4.8" screen with a single hand without moving its palm on the back of the phone.
Sure a large screen looks good when viewing content but for what I use my phone for it would be putting form over function and I think easy one-handed operation is more important.
The link you posted about the screen doesn't state much specs and doesn't consider real-world results either. Take a look and Anandtech's or DisplayMate comparisons. Those are real display specialists and come to totally different conclusions. iSuppli usually estimate costs of components, they're not reviewers. They didn't talk about most important specs and focused mainly on physical dimensions for some reason. The GS3 has a blue tint, PenTile matrix, over vibrant color and much lower sRGB color accuracy.
My personal ideal screen size would be around 3.8", but I do have small hands. I did state that was personal.
A Galaxy Nexus, even with JB, is much less fluid than an iPhone 4S, let alone a 5. It also has outdated specs and a terrible camera. I heard from owners it has a very bad battery life and it was its weakest point, along with the camera. It however is well priced I must admit. Given that's it's fairly old tech it's more of a mid-range phone right now and should more be compared with the iPhone 4/4S (which are also still for sale at a lower price) IMO.
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There are many OSX Virsues/Trojans, but you don't really know about it if you won't install an antivirus.
Source for Kaspersky OSX and iOS:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-57433761-37/kaspersky-apple-needs-to-face-up-to-mac-threats/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/15/iphone-malware-kaspersky_n_1515074.html
http://thenextweb.com/apple/2012/05...scaremongering-over-apples-ios-antivirus-ban/
They don't talk about a single virus in any of these articles. Kaspersky is worried for the future of OS X since the Flashback Trojan and other malwares that aren't viruses.
Funny I hear people saying OS X and Macs get viruses but in the 15 years of owning a Mac, I've never encountered a single virus, nor any spyware/malware for that matter. Yes I'm aware it exists, but to me personally I never had an issue.
To me what sets the iPhone far apart from any Android device is Apple's ecosystem.
To me what sets the iPhone far apart from any Android device is Apple's ecosystem.
for me:
im coming from a samsung epic 4g on sprint, and this is why i chose iphone 5:
1)its a guarantee based on apple's history i will get at least 2 full years worth of software updates, where as my epic 4g was last upgraded 8 months ago to gingerbread. sprint has said they will not be releasing an update for ICS, so im basically forced to get a new phone if i want an updated OS with android.
2)the quality of the hardware and detail is much better this this cheap tacky plastic samsung uses in thier phones.
3)got tired of having a laggy ass OS
4)my phone kept doing the weirdest things like alarm going of in the middle of the day, screen not turning when opening up slider, id get a phone call but my phone wouldnt ring or vibrate. i attribute this to the OS.
5)love the fact that i can take a pic on my iphone and have icloud push it to my devices.
6)higher resell value
7)better quality apps
8)everything is just easier to do in the OS, where as with android i have to customize it for at least a couple of hours out of the box.
9)superior customer support and service
im coming from a samsung epic 4g on sprint, and this is why i chose iphone 5:
1)its a guarantee based on apple's history i will get at least 2 full years worth of software updates, where as my epic 4g was last upgraded 8 months ago to gingerbread. sprint has said they will not be releasing an update for ICS, so im basically forced to get a new phone if i want an updated OS with android.
2)the quality of the hardware and detail is much better this this cheap tacky plastic samsung uses in thier phones.
3)got tired of having a laggy ass OS
4)my phone kept doing the weirdest things like alarm going of in the middle of the day, screen not turning when opening up slider, id get a phone call but my phone wouldnt ring or vibrate. i attribute this to the OS.
5)love the fact that i can take a pic on my iphone and have icloud push it to my devices.
6)higher resell value
7)better quality apps
8)everything is just easier to do in the OS, where as with android i have to customize it for at least a couple of hours out of the box.
9)superior customer support and service