Android VS iOS phone/mp3

[P4N1K]

So i recently had the *cough* pleasure of chatting up my co-worker about the current handheld leading OS's. fanboy gonna fan. Needless to say right now the tech industry is big on Android. however the current leading consumer device is the iPhone. I have a iPhone 4S and i really do like it. it may not have the open source and expandability of the current Android phones; but it really does deliver some nice features. I have always found the music and video playback on iOS to be much more responsive and easier to use, not to mention it has the best current GPU in any phone right now (which i'm a fan of, because of some pretty decent games in the app store.) Siri is a nice touch and an interesting conversation starter but her current availability is gimped in Canada (no GPS directions of any kind .) Jail-breaking is also a factor, seeing as i can enjoy the delicious free apps to my hearts content . I hope i don't sound like too much of a consumer dip-shtick in this post. also i normally hate apple and their crappy Operating system, but their hardware is really nice (when i'm not over paying for it.)

 

i would love to read about peoples views on the OS's and which phone they currently have/ are thinking about getting.

Edited January 4, 2012 by Flitterkill

[samurai nightling]

I currently have the Droid Incredible. It's been a nice phone up until the latest update which has tried to update 3 times on my phone with failure. Seems I'm not the only Incredible owner with this problem. I like Android, especially on HTC devices. I hate the Motorola setup of android, the way it looks and just motorola in general. HTC makes some quality looking and functioning products for Android.

 

Now do I like it so much more then iOS that I wouldn't think of getting an iphone? No, as a matter of fact I'm thinking of getting the iphone 5 when its released. Apple makes amazing hardware and some software to go with it. My major beef with them is that they overcharge for the same specs in a system as a PC thats half the price. Apple quality is amazing, Apple price is not.

 

On a side note, I found an awesome Siri video

Forwarning, NSFW for language. I about died laughing. Edited December 9, 2011 by samurai nightling

[stutters]

here's my response to friends when they ask about phones:

 

if you're the type to build your own computer (not on dell.com), like customizing your rig, or run linux, you're going to love android and hate the iphone.

 

if you don't care about that stuff and don't curse itunes, OR if you plan to use it heavily for media, get an iphone. sorry, but i'm just not impressed with android's media player or management. i'm sure you can change that with 3rd party apps, but that's exactly the point. i don't want to.

[Shazz]

I like my iPhone. Plus its a bit difficult to change when I dumped so much money into crazy apps for my kids (and myself) to play. I do like the easy way of Facetime so my kids get to chat with my Mom, Dad and cousins. Course my family is Apple crazy...Koolaid man!

[alison]

I had a Macbook and iPod Touch for several years and just a few months ago i switched back to PC. I have an Alienware now so i can play games on my laptop and after much debate got my first ever smartphone - an Android. I wanted an iPhone because i loved my iPod, but i just couldn't justify $700 for a phone. My Android cost $150 and does everything my iPod Touch could do and more. Sure, the apps don't all have a consistent UI, and the user experience isn't as seamless, but for a quarter of the price it's not even a question. On top of that, it has a few killer features that iOS doesn't - in particular, you have a task manager so you can kill apps that are slowing down your phone, and you can lock in the screen rotation. I can't even explain how big of a deal that latter thing is for me. I HATE having the display rotate on me whenever i move my phone around. So yeah, guess i'm a reverse switcher for now.

[Clueless]

I love android for the ability to customize the phone, and then do it again when my needs change or just grow bored of staring at the same thing. Widgets are a cool thing too. iphones just do nothing for me really...the thing has looked the same forever....just a very sterile,boring sea of perfectly arranged icons. But it really boils down to what you like, can't knock either one too bad no matter what side of the fence you are on because the competition drives both products forward, giving us cooler crap sooner

 

But if one of your deciding factors is jailbreaking so that you can basically get paid apps for free *cough* stealing *cough*....well, I can't get behind you on that one, I mean hell, if you can drop a couple hundred bucks,subsidized of course, for a new iphone, you can afford 3 bucks now and then for an app that you like

 

O...there is one MAJOR flaw the iproducts have....itunes....it sucks ever so badly. Can't even do OTA updates for the phone, gotta use itunes for that too....pretty restrictive.

[ZeroDamage]

Android's poor app selection and quality is no longer the case. It's about the same when people complain about ATI drivers. That was so 10 years ago. Well Android's poor apps is so 2 years ago. The apps are as good as the iPhones and sometimes better.

 

I like the iPhone and i was thinking hard about switching. I have the original Incredible and was getting bored. Siri seriously intrigued as did the amazing camera on the iPhone 4s but I've put a lot of money into my Android the last 2 years when it comes to apps. I am still annoyed that I had to buy the Android in the first place because Apple denied Google Voice way back when. That serious ticked me off; their politics may improve with a new CEO but I am not expecting much.

 

There are things that I can do with my Android that I just could not do with the Iphone. I use a specific app called "Tasker" for my Droid phone. It lets me script things depending on where I am, how loud things are, what time it is, etc etc etc. Right now I have it automatically connect to my home SSH server to tunnel my phone's data traffic when it connects to my work's Wireless. Why? Because facebook and other sites are blocked at my work and the SSH tunnel lets me get around that. When I am no longer connected to that Wifi, it shuts down the SSH connection and the app itself. If I lose connection for some odd reason, it will automatically reconnect.

 

I have it also scripted to go silence at night when I plug it in to charge. It will unsilence itself for certain people's texts and phone calls.

 

I am also running a custom ROM which lets me do more on the phone than originally intended. HTC will never update the phone to 2.3 but my ROM is 2.3 Android based. It lets me use it as a wireless hotspot. It lets me uninstall buit-in apps that annoy me. It let's me prevent certain apps from starting when the phone boots. I have a script that monitors for a bad app that is eating a lot of CPU and/or RAM and it can automatically terminate it or notify me depending on what I like at the time.

 

There is a lot of stuff you can do with Anroid that you cannot do with iPhone. With that said, the iPhone is dead simple. iCloud is cool and just does its thing out of the box.

 

I like both. I just prefer the Android to what I can do with it versus the locked down control that Apple forces on theirs.

[NOFX]

I like LG G2x, even though I have never even touched an iphone or even macbook, I suspect I have much more freedom to tinker with my phone than I would if I had picked up an iphone. I can ssh into my phone to transfer files, free RDP app, ssh tunneler to route all my network traffic through a home server when downloading torrents.

 

Plus I've used google voice for a few years now and I'm pretty sure it didn't originally work on the iphone. The free text messaging and text messages/missed calls showing up in my email is extremely convenient for me. I don't get service very well in my apartment, but if Im connected to my wifi(which it always is). I can make and receive free calls using sipdroid and google voice. This also allows me to make and receive calls anywhere in the world as long as I'm connected to wifi

 

Just curious can I do any of this stuff with an Iphone? If so, is it also free?

Edited December 10, 2011 by NOFX

[P4N1K]

I like LG G2x, even though I have never even touched an iphone or even macbook, I suspect I have much more freedom to tinker with my phone than I would if I had picked up an iphone. I can ssh into my phone to transfer files, free RDP app, ssh tunneler to route all my network traffic through a home server when downloading torrents.

 

Plus I've used google voice for a few years now and I'm pretty sure it didn't originally work on the iphone. The free text messaging and text messages/missed calls showing up in my email is extremely convenient for me. I don't get service very well in my apartment, but if Im connected to my wifi(which it always is). I can make and receive free calls using sipdroid and google voice. This also allows me to make and receive calls anywhere in the world as long as I'm connected to wifi

 

Just curious can I do any of this stuff with an Iphone? If so, is it also free?

unfortunately its $10 for the ssh app. i find it quite ridiculous myself , but honestly i am not as advanced as a lot of you guys when it comes to how i network my home pc's. heres the link to the app; http://itunes.apple....d287765826?mt=8.

thanks a lot of all your guys views on this its really been quite helpful. I'm quite the media nerd though. I mostly just play videogames when i come home from work and hang out with friends and my partner, so it really doesn't seem all that useful for me to have all those additional features.

 

When it comes to jail breaking though; i'm a hardware hacker and i don't think games are really worth what developers are pricing them at right now. Although i do pay for loads of games when they are really worth it (skyrim, oblivion, bf3, source engine games from valve, etc..) i can't really justify to myself buying a $60 game that is just a rehash of an older version of the same game *cough* CoD *cough*. Other then that though i love what a lot of quality developers and indy developers are doing with their games and i would be happy to buy from them. (ive bought the humble bundle 3 times for over $10, and minecraft 3 times for myself and friends.)

[stutters]

I wanted an iPhone because i loved my iPod, but i just couldn't justify $700 for a phone. My Android cost $150 and does everything my iPod Touch could do and more.

 

$700 for an iphone? you're doing it wrong. they're $199 (in the us).

[alison]

They're $199 here too if you sign your life away for 3 years. I've never had a cellphone contract and didn't intend to start with my first smartphone. Pre-paid phones and month-to-month service make me happy.

[VooDooPC]

I have an Alienware now so i can play games on my laptop and after much debate got my first ever smartphone - an Android. I wanted an iPhone because i loved my iPod, but i just couldn't justify $700 for a phone.

 

Anyone else see what I see?

[stutters]

They're $199 here too if you sign your life away for 3 years. I've never had a cellphone contract and didn't intend to start with my first smartphone. Pre-paid phones and month-to-month service make me happy.

i'm surprised you can get an android for $150 on month to month...

[alison]

I have an Alienware now so i can play games on my laptop and after much debate got my first ever smartphone - an Android. I wanted an iPhone because i loved my iPod, but i just couldn't justify $700 for a phone.

 

Anyone else see what I see?

 

LOL, fair enough. I guess i saw my M11x as replacing my Macbook (similar price range) whereas my new phone was going to replace a $99 Nokia, so

 

Regarding cheap Android phones, i have the Galaxy Gio. It's Android 2.3 and can do all the stuff i want to do on it (email, Facebook, RSS etc).

[boiler]

here's my response to friends when they ask about phones:

 

if you're the type to build your own computer (not on dell.com), like customizing your rig, or run linux, you're going to love android and hate the iphone.

 

if you don't care about that stuff and don't curse itunes, OR if you plan to use it heavily for media, get an iphone. sorry, but i'm just not impressed with android's media player or management. i'm sure you can change that with 3rd party apps, but that's exactly the point. i don't want to.

I'm marking this day down on my calendar, as I am quoting stutters in agreement.

 

This is basically what I tell people when they ask me about phones, with the small modification that I also think Android can be for the "basic user" as much as the iPhone can be. I have had my Droid X since it was released a year and a half ago, and have loved it. I like to tinker with it (and apparently I need to check out the awesome sauce app ZD described above) and I hate the thought of being confined into the "Jobs experience". I also build my own computers, so I guess I fit the profile. If someone is not pre-disposed one way or the other, I tell them to find the phone hardware they like and roll with it. If they only want a phone that they won't have to screw with much and will talk to their MacBook Air, then I tell them to go iPhone.

 

Also, iTunes blows.

[P4N1K]

here's my response to friends when they ask about phones:

 

if you're the type to build your own computer (not on dell.com), like customizing your rig, or run linux, you're going to love android and hate the iphone.

 

if you don't care about that stuff and don't curse itunes, OR if you plan to use it heavily for media, get an iphone. sorry, but i'm just not impressed with android's media player or management. i'm sure you can change that with 3rd party apps, but that's exactly the point. i don't want to.

I'm marking this day down on my calendar, as I am quoting stutters in agreement.

 

This is basically what I tell people when they ask me about phones, with the small modification that I also think Android can be for the "basic user" as much as the iPhone can be. I have had my Droid X since it was released a year and a half ago, and have loved it. I like to tinker with it (and apparently I need to check out the awesome sauce app ZD described above) and I hate the thought of being confined into the "Jobs experience". I also build my own computers, so I guess I fit the profile. If someone is not pre-disposed one way or the other, I tell them to find the phone hardware they like and roll with it. If they only want a phone that they won't have to screw with much and will talk to their MacBook Air, then I tell them to go iPhone.

 

Also, iTunes blows.

 

You gotta remember the iPhone is honestly the best phone for mobile gaming right now. Currently the iPhone 4S has the best APU for graphics.

Edited December 15, 2011 by P4N1K

[akaM2]

Here I come to back up iOS.

 

Just noticed a few glaring issues in the post. The price is not 700 and if you dont take advantage of buying a phone on contract you are stupid. Sorry but its true. Plus you say your signing you life away for 3 years? Ive upgraded each iPhone within 6 months of release. First its only a 2 year contract, and second call customer service and ask, you will be suprised what they do for you when you are nice. Ive learned that from running a call center. If your getting an android off contract for 150, its not comparable to a phone within the past 2 years. iPhone is comparably price to all Android phones. If its more expensive it can be explained by the features, atleast within a hundred dollars. I agree apple products have a premium, but BMW has a premium over chevy due to the quality as well

 

Over the air updates are available on iOS. Was stated it wasnt

 

Screen orientation lock is available on iOS. Was stated it wasnt

 

Plus I really would like to hear the gripes about iTunes. I enjoy iTunes and all the features over any other music program I have tried.

 

If you team the iPhone up with iCloud and iTunes Match you will not be disappointed. I was very impressed when 8450 of my 9500 songs got "credit" from the itunes store and are available for download whenever i choose.The other 1,050 are available to download whenever i want aswell because they have been uploaded. Yes its 25 bucks, but 25 bucks for 9200+ illegal songs is fine by me.

Edited December 15, 2011 by akaM2

[boiler]

You gotta remember the iPhone is honestly the best phone for mobile gaming right now. Currently the iPhone 4S has the best APU for graphics.

I can't argue with that, although I will say the new Android devices coming out are just as powerful, if not moreso, from a pure hardware standpoint. I will also say that the gaming "experience" will be more consistent on iPhone though since developers tend to concentrate on that platform, and there isn't the fragmentation issue that is inherent with Android. I can honestly say though that despite the fact that I consider myself a "hardcore" gamer, I rarely game on my phone, and I've never given a phone recommendation to someone who cares about gaming on it.

 

Maybe I'm just not hanging out with the right people...

 

ETA: I would love to see something like the Xperia Play running ICS with similar hardware to the Droid Razr or Galaxy Nexus. Trim down a little thickness from it and still give me something resembling REAL controls, then I'll consider doing some serious gaming. The 5-minutes-in-line gaming scene just isn't my thing, I want to play stuff like Link to the Past on my phone without screaming obscenities at the on-screen d-pad.

Edited December 15, 2011 by boiler