Android sw stability vs "that other phone"

[AndroidSPCS]

I have used 5 Android phones, 2 iPhones. I currently have 4 Android phones. Android has been amazingly stable, at least as stable as Blackberry.

iPhone, on the other hand, constantly gives me "springboard has crashed" errors. I would never go from a great phone "Android" to a dumb smart phone "iPhone", ever.

 

[jroc]

Someone mentioned in another forum about not having to go thru 2 iPhones for one that "just works"

I show them this forum:

iPhone Tips, Help and Troubleshooting - MacRumors Forums

I never got a direct response to it...lol

Like some have posted, go hang out in an iPhone, Blackberry, Win Mo, etc forum and you would think ALL phones were unstable, buggy, had bad hardware, etc.

 

[Benjie]

Wow. One brings up a deficiency and the world takes it as damning the device. I hate the on-screen keyboard, but a replacement keyboard has worked wonders for me. I do not care for the Bluetooth implementation, but it works. Every device I have had from the Kyocera/Palm device, the Treo 300, 600, 650, 700P, Centro, 800W, Touch Pro, Touch Pro 2, to the Evo and bunches between, have had issues. I really enjoyed the TP2 with its occasional issues, though for one thing, it never, ever, ever reset on me. Never. The Bluetooth implementation was great and I did not hate the on-screen keyboard. The Evo has never, ever, ever reset on me, though twice it has slowed to a crawl after the transferring of files (Bluetooth transfers) and that required a battery pull. An occasional application force closes, but really, with the updates out there, with the various flavors out there and the bunches of developers out there, not every thing is going to work perfectly.

Am I glad I made the move to Android? yeah. I wish the TP2 lived in the environment of an Evo - that would be an awesome device.

 

[takeshi]

Okay, I don't like "A vs. B" threads but hopefully this one's slightly different because it's not about nebulous and subjective issues.

Unfortunately it is a nebulous and subjective issue. If you don't use the same apps (or even the same OS build on the same device) that I do then your experience can be completely different.

I realize coming into the 'Droid Church and saying this could cause an uproar, but my purpose is to hear from actual users about how flakey Android sw really is. I realise only unhappy people complain so it gives a very biased view of how bad things really are - or aren't. If 1% of Android buyers are making 90% of the complaints, that's one thing, but if the poor code really is that poor, that makes Android a no-go.

As stated above, forums exaggerate problems as people rarely bother to post that everything is working without any issues. There are definitely buggy apps with Android. Is it truly a problem? Not in my experience but YMMV. I reboot my Droid about as much or less than I rebooted my BB 8310 (which was rare).

 

[kb58]

Unfortunately it is a nebulous and subjective issue. If you don't use the same apps (or even the same OS build on the same device) that I do then your experience can be completely different....

I'd agree in just about any other case, but *if* Android phones reset or hang up, that's a fact that everyone can agree on. I purposely stayed away from asking it it's buggy when saddled with a bunch of apps for that very reason. I'm reading that, if left alone, Android phones are no less reliable than any other phone, and that's good enough for me.

 

[OfTheDamned]

I'd agree in just about any other case, but *if* Android phones reset or hang up, that's a fact that everyone can agree on. I purposely stayed away from asking it it's buggy when saddled with a bunch of apps for that very reason. I'm reading that, if left alone, Android phones are no less reliable than any other phone, and that's good enough for me.

If you by "left alone" you are referring to rooting and/or installing custom ROMs then that can be true. However in some cases when they are done right, the custom ROMs that developers create actually run better than anything the OEM ever came up with.

 

[Stevessvt]

I just switched from an iPhone 4 to an Android phone. My experience with Apple is I went from a 3G, to 3GS to a 4. And until the 4 I was content. But I had issues with my 4. I ordered it at 4am on release day and got it the day it came out. My four at first had very yellow pictures indoors and the proximity sensor issue. I got a replacement that fixed the camera, but not the prox issue. I waited until 4.1 with its cure was released, but it didnt work. I even tried 4.2 beta 1-2-3, but they didnt work. It was also dropping calls. Fed up, I ebayed it, and got great $$ (This is one thing where apple kicks everyones ass, resale value) and bought a Captivate. Didnt like it, so jumped ship to Verizon and got the Droid X and love it. Great machine. So far so good.

 

[lunatic59]

I'd agree in just about any other case, but *if* Android phones reset or hang up, that's a fact that everyone can agree on.

Usually I am not the grammar police (and I do believe it's frowned upon in general) but the phrase "that's a fact" is fairly inflammatory even in the context of your sentence. The sentence should read "...but *if* Android phones reset or hang up, that would be a fact that everyone could agree on." The general consensus in these forums is that Android is a very stable platform, but can be made unstable by excessive configuration and questionable apps.

I purposely stayed away from asking if it's buggy when saddled with a bunch of apps for that very reason. I'm reading that, if left alone, Android phones are no less reliable than any other phone, and that's good enough for me.

Is it me or do some of the phrases tend to be a bit backhanded? I know what you are trying to say KB58, but I've read over that last sentence several times and it still comes across rather pessimistically. If I could use an analogy, it's as if you were to say to your neighbor about the new teacher in the school "he's no more likely to be a pedophile than any other teacher, so he's okay in my book." It's not much of an endorsement. It may also be why others have jumped to the , albeit erroneous, conclusion that you've already decided against Android as a platform.

Now, all that said, and my apologies if it's out of line ... are you going to give Android a go?

 

[kb58]

<Shrug> not going to get into it. I'm leaning toward a 'Droid type phone because of useful positive comments posted by owners.