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Why would you pick iPhone over the Galaxy S5?
- Thread starter rockitdog
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For 1 handed use and for Touch ID which is way better than the fingerprint scanner the Galaxy S5 has.
Well the standard message app on android would be a core app. That is to say part of the OS. And would only see updates when the OS is updated. And depending on what desert that featured was included on would determine how many phone had it.
For example, if that was a KitKat feature, then only about 5 models would have it.
If it was ICS maybe 50 or so.
If it was gingerbread then, yeah maybe 10,000 models have it available.
That's my point. Android may introduce great features, but many phones will never see them since the manufactures have little incentive to up their no-longer being sold phones.
Actually Android allows you to set your default SMS app. I believe it's for Jellybean and above. So if you download the Google Hangouts app it'll ask if you want to set it as your default SMS app. Google is actually being smart and updating core services though their Play store so some key features can be updated pretty quickly.
The majority of the people I know who have android phones, have no idea that you can do that. They are pretty much running their phones as they bought them.
That's my brother in law. Had an iPhone for years, switched to the Note 3, and uses it to about 5% of its potential. 
They download the usual apps such as FaceBook but that's about it. Not one of them knows what rooting means or that they browse the file system and move things around. I learned all that in one year if using a Nexus 4 although I never rooted it.That's my brother in law. Had an iPhone for years, switched to the Note 3, and uses it to about 5% of its potential.
All my iPad and iPhones have been and are jailbroken today.
While the Hangouts thing may be a recent feature, replacing your default SMS app has been available on Android for a long time. My first Android phone was running Froyo and that was already an option back then.
Screen:
Yes, the Galaxy has a better screen unless someone wants a brighter screen, a smaller screen, screen with better "whites". Overall, it's very close. The PPI is almost the same once you factor the pentile matrix.
Camera:
The camera on the iPhone takes similar to better pictures (some reviews say they are similar, other say that the iPhone is better. No respectable source says that the Galaxy is better.) and it is way faster.
Battery life:
Similar on the same tasks besides standby.
But: The iPhone has a much stronger ecosystem, is supported longer, has unique useful features (touch ID comes to mind), is insanely faster on real world usage (even the MOTO E is faster than the galaxy), looks much better and is the only phone that is more than the sum of their parts.
Whenever I jailbreak my devices I have weird things start happening to the OS. I think there is junk code or something in those jailbreaks. YMMV though.
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The camera is heads and tails better on the iPhone than the Galaxy phones. Not sure on other Android phones though.
Nearly 100% of the people I contact on a regular basis use an iOS device. That is all that matters to me, people I don't know don't affect me.
I don't know the stats but that's a blanket statement anyway. Even if it's true it doesn't apply to everyone. My age, gender, and area I live in I'd say 50% of mobile phone users are using an iPhone or iPad (remember it can also iMessage and FaceTime), probably more. Meanwhile 90 year old women in some remote part of the world could be using mostly dumb phones, I don't know.
In the UK, iMessage is a kinda nothing feature. We all get unlimited SMS and can use email, MMS, or Whatsapp for sending photos. I don't understand the big deal about iMessage, who cares if your buddy has it? That means you can't ever buy an Android phone? WTF?
yeah, I don't know why iMessage is something that brings people to Apple. Sure, it's better than regular SMS because of uncompressed videos and photos, faster sending, ability to send from an iPad and your mac, but it's more of a hassle when you consider how difficult it is to turn it off if you ever decide to switch (like I do, often)
iMessage is cool but I see people hailing it as a huge feature, alongside "I'm entrenched in the ecosystem!", another overrated "feature". I had an iPad and iPhone for a year with a PC, what would having a mac have done to increase my enjoyment or productivity? Air drop? iTunes? Nothing. People just like saying they have all apple stuff, or all windows stuff, etc. A mac, iPad and iPhone haven't ever interacted enough between themselves to make having all 3 in a combination a must-have. The new iOS 8 and Yosemite features are changing that now, but it's never been something that actually meant much.
Anyway I'd choose an iPhone over the Galaxy S5 because Touchwiz sucks.
iMessage is cool but I see people hailing it as a huge feature, alongside "I'm entrenched in the ecosystem!", another overrated "feature". I had an iPad and iPhone for a year with a PC, what would having a mac have done to increase my enjoyment or productivity? Air drop? iTunes? Nothing. People just like saying they have all apple stuff, or all windows stuff, etc. A mac, iPad and iPhone haven't ever interacted enough between themselves to make having all 3 in a combination a must-have. The new iOS 8 and Yosemite features are changing that now, but it's never been something that actually meant much.
Anyway I'd choose an iPhone over the Galaxy S5 because Touchwiz sucks.
I have unlimited text and iMessage is a big deal for me. With 97% of my family on iPhones it's the way we all keep on touch.
So yes, this means I won't buy an android phone.
you could just as easily keep in touch via SMS. Don't prop iMessage up to be something it isn't.
I prop it, because it's better than group SMS. I don't know what you think it isn't. But coming from the glass half empty, everything isn't something. #
Why can't you keep in touch by SMS, or Whatsapp? Am I missing something here? iMessage is just like Whatsapp, it's no different!
Whatsapp is owned by Facebook, don't use either. Why use SMS when I can use iMessage which is much more flexible and secure?
(Seems like you are for the iPhone?)
The iPhone 5s has never lagged out on me--ever. The OS and hardware are designed so close together that the phone is more resource efficient and can get away with technically worse specs.
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Whatsapp requires downloading the app and signing up for an account. iMessage is typically enabled during initial device setup and doesn't usually require additional setup on the part of the user.
Also, you can't use the same Whatsapp account on multiple devices. Meanwhile, I can send/receive iMessages on whatever iOS device I'm using (assuming it's got iOS 6 or higher). Currently, that's 1x iPhone 5s, 1x iPhone 5c, 1x iPad Air and 2x iPad 4. Hangouts, however, is looking like a very promising alternative on the Android front. That said, I reckon Continuity on iOS 8 will keep me on the iOS platform. Might even convince me to buy my first Mac (to replace my laptop).
Whatsapp requires downloading the app and signing up for an account. iMessage is typically enabled during initial device setup and doesn't usually require additional setup on the part of the user.
Also, you can't use the same Whatsapp account on multiple devices. Meanwhile, I can send/receive iMessages on whatever iOS device I'm using (assuming it's got iOS 6 or higher). Currently, that's 1x iPhone 5s, 1x iPhone 5c, 1x iPad Air and 2x iPad 4. Hangouts, however, is looking like a very promising alternative on the Android front. That said, I reckon Continuity on iOS 8 will keep me on the iOS platform. Might even convince me to buy my first Mac (to replace my laptop).
I think you hit the nail on the head. With my non-iPhone peeps, we don't use SMS, because of the lag between carriers. We probably use Facebook messenger more, just because it is fairly instant and has Facebook integration and is cross platform. Some of us don't have unlimited SMS.
I would say that 15% of my friends and family own iPhones, so this iMessage thing isn't even minutely important. In fact, when I send a blue box message it's a rarity. Most of mine are sinus infection green. Plus the majority of us have unlimited SMS. You can tell a cheapskate over here because they use Whatsapp rather than SMS. Instant replies are for kids aren't they? If I want a conversation with someone I'll call them up.
You could, but my family os overseas and iMessage is free while sma would pretty expensive
Why couldn't you use Whatsapp, or any number of internet-based chat apps such as Skype messenger? iMessage is really not the dealbreaker some of you guys are making it out to be.
To be totally honest my SMS plan allows for 200 SMS messages a month. I barely break 10 a month. SMS represents the Stone Age of cellular communications where carriers were trying to make some sort of short messaging system happen. It still take sometimes a half hour or longer for SMS to be received. There are many alternatives including iMessages.