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Android v. Apple

S

sydney1994

Lurker
Hi, I am relatively new to the android forums and I love my Android but i dont know if I'd like apple iphone more. I will be able to upgrade my phone soon and I'm debating on going to an iphone. I have a EVO 4G currently and love it. With that said I also like the iPhone but what I'm mainly worried about is boredom. I love that theres more than one button on my evo to get to different things but sometimes its annoying as well. Has anyone went from an evo to iPhone? Or any android phone for that matter? I've played with iphones but its different owning one and playing on your friends for an hour. All opinions help. I have read that EVO will be getting eol status in october and I don't know what phone to get if I stick with android or if i should just keep my evo. Thanks for your help!
 
Get yourself an iPhone, then.

Android is not for everyone.

I had an iPhone, and after this Galaxy S, I'm not returning to Apple any soon.
 
Well, I don't want to waste money on an iphone if its going to bore me. Why wouldnt you return the apple? Because ive never had an iPhone and I do find it easy to use my evo, but I'd like to know why you wont go back to apple.
 
sydney1994 said:
Well, I don't want to waste money on an iphone if its going to bore me. Why wouldnt you return the apple? Because ive never had an iPhone and I do find it easy to use my evo, but I'd like to know why you wont go back to apple.
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You're right, the iPhone is easy to use, but that's not a good thing if you're a power user. If you want your phone to do what YOU want it to do, then the iPhone is definitely not for you. There is no way to customize anything on the iPhone. Everyone's iPhone looks and functions the same; the way Apple intended it to look and function. I find the simplicity to be very inconvenient. I like to be in control of my electronics, and I just can't get that feeling from an Apple product.
 
My dad never even used a computer before his first smartphone, a mytouch 4g slide. He loves it and now mom is getting a galaxy S 2!
 
If you truly want to know if the iphone is for you, just go and get one. You have 30 days to play with it and see if it is the phone for you.
 
sydney1994 said:
Hi, I am relatively new to the android forums and I love my Android but i dont know if I'd like apple iphone more. I will be able to upgrade my phone soon and I'm debating on going to an iphone. I have a EVO 4G currently and love it. With that said I also like the iPhone but what I'm mainly worried about is boredom. I love that theres more than one button on my evo to get to different things but sometimes its annoying as well. Has anyone went from an evo to iPhone? Or any android phone for that matter? I've played with iphones but its different owning one and playing on your friends for an hour. All opinions help. I have read that EVO will be getting eol status in october and I don't know what phone to get if I stick with android or if i should just keep my evo. Thanks for your help!
Click to expand...


I had an Evo 4g through my work as well for quite some time and liked it. The battery life was terrible but adding an additional battery, while it made the phone quite thicker and heavier, made battery life a non-issue for me. I think the Evo 4 is a great phone. My work switched me to an iPhone 4s and I've been happy with that as well. At first getting used to the new location settings was a bit of a change. Not bad, but a change. I was also very confused looking for my task manager app to kill apps. Once I found how to do it on the iPhone I was killing apps ritualistically until a coworker told me not to worry about it. Apparently having apps active doesn't appreciably affect battery life on the iPhone. Very cool! So I thought that was an advantage. Overall the main difference I've seen besides the battery life was the overall polish and smoothness of the iPhone over the Evo/Android. That and a few more apps that I've found that I couldn't, at least at the time, get on my Android phone.

That being said, I think you should stick to what you feel you want. With an Android phone in general you can customize more on your phone to make it look more how you want it. On the other side you may find like I did that the "polish" and overall function is smoother on the iPhone. If you're curious and what you've seen of the iPhone makes you want to try it, I think you should. I don't think you'll be disappointed since you already have a good idea of what it will be. If you're not that curious from what you've seen, get another Android phone. I really don't think there's any right or wrong answer to this question. Both products have pros and cons, both are really good products. I think those who view the question as some type of holy war are really misguided. It just comes down to what you individually prefer. So go with that and I don't think you'll be disappointed either way. Oh, and in most (I think) places you can return your phone within 30 days, so if you're really not sure about the iPhone give it a try and you can return it if you're not happy with it. Again, I don't think you can go wrong either way.

Have fun!
 
I came from an iPhone to GSII. I haven't missed my iPhone because I can still do everything I want. Additionally, I don't constantly check my phone for messages, etc. because someone near me has the same notification sound.

However, only you know what features you want in a phone. My best suggestion is to make a list of the features you want the phone to have. Then find out what the phone does and doesn't do (the way you want it to or not). Finally decide what you can live with and without.
 
The iPhone is great. A few things keep me on Android, though:
  1. 4G speeds are amazingly fast--faster than my home DSL connection. I have a Juice Defender-esque profile in Tasker to help me on battery life, so no worries on keeping those top speeds enabled.
  2. I can send certain contacts straight to voicemail without jailbreaking.
  3. I can change my default web browser without jailbreaking.
  4. Google Voice integration with the phone is better than on the iPhone.
  5. More cost-free apps (I don't mind ads).
  6. Bigger screen. Okay, my Galaxy Nexus phone is slightly too monstrous, but even a normally large (but not that large) screen is still better than the tiny iPhone 4/4S screen.

That said, I think "real" multi-tasking is overrated and definitely negatively affects battery life in Android. I also use iTunes, and DoubleTwist and all the other Android "sync" applications are just bad workarounds. I've tried Google Music, Amazon Cloud Player, and other solutions. Nothing on Android can match the integration and functionality iTunes and the iPhone offers.

Ultimately, I think it's what matters most to you. To most people, I'd recommend the iPhone. Most people I know don't care about fast speeds, changing the default browser, having flexibility in customization, large screens, etc. All they want is a phone that works and works well with iTunes. The iPhone is that phone.
 
I currently use the iPod, switching to android when my upgrade is available. I like iOS a lot, but there just arnt enough features in iOS. iPhone screen is far too small however I like the shape of the phone.

I like iOS "not real" multitasking. Androids multitasking is kind of pointless IMO because you can only have 1 thing opened on screen at a time.

Widgets are the number 1 seller for me. In ICS Widgets are resizable, which adds a whole layer of customization.

Then there's the lack of Micro SD slot iPhone doesn't have.

I'm not concerned about iOS not supporting flash. I prefer YouTubing on my laptop then my iPod.

Also you have to sync the iPhone with iTunes which I find a huge pain in the butt. And my playlists won't even sync.

In addition of you plan on developing apps (which im learning to do) even as a hobbiest, you need a Mac to dev on iOS.

So overall the only things stopping me from getting iPhone over Android is Widgets, Micro SD slot, and the size of the screen.
 
Nothing wrong with wanting an iPhone. It's your money so follow your heart. Be happy :) .

Contrary to how I come across in some of my posts, I'm part apple fan-boy. I have a mac & various ipods. To be honest if I didn't have any ipods then I may have considered iphone for my main phone. But:

  • I already have an ipod that syncs flawlessly with my mac
  • To me, iOS feels kinda "fisher-price" & patronising
  • For whole days out, having a phone & separate music player saves battery
  • I consider apple products "boutique products" & as such, are overpriced
  • I find apple marketing to be abnormally smug & patronising
  • Often struggle to connect public wifi on itouch, no problem with android
  • Apple is not the only attractive brand or product out there

The list goes on. I think apple are mostly victims of themselves by having their own hardware. They're totally in denial that people can be swayed by other peoples hardware. Ironically, android is popular because it's based on Unix. iphone is popular because it's shiny.
 
Yes & just to echo Javasirc's points, I need a "normal phone that I can pop out the battery, cards etc.
 
What exactly are you planning on doing with your phone? What features do you want?

If you want a small, simple phone just to make phone calls, text, do basic web browsing, listen to music, play bejeweled on the toilet, iPhone will work.

If you want to store lots of movies and games on your phone via Micro SD, you'll want a Micro SD slot. Razr Maxx has the slot on the outside which is a huge plus for me. Most Androids have the slot under the back cover.

Does screen size matter to you? Would you rather sacrifice some pocket comfort for a larger screen? How about pixel density? iPhone has high pixel density while most Androids don't.

Do you want to use widgets? In ICS, widgets are resizable (as well as interactable as they already are) meaning you can scroll through your recent emails directly on the home screen, and tap an email to open it in the email app. This is functionality iOS does not support.

Would you like software that comes with the phone such as the new Smart Actions on the Motorola Razr? That adds a lot of costomization.

How would you prefer to link your phone with your computer? Sync? Drag and drop?

If your going to be out for a long time and use the phone heavily, you may want a phone with a changeable battery.

Do you download random apps without checking into it? iOS apps are much safer because of how they look over the apps and add them to the App Store. Android on the other hand, you can download malicious apps, get an app that has the infamous Air Push and spend hours of frustration figuring what's going on with your notification bar, or download an app that practically takes over your phone.

Android has so many phones, it's hard to choose what you may want. I recommend watching reviews on YouTube about all the new phones. This will let you understand what the phones are capable of, where each button is located, storage space, processor, screen size and display quality, software, and the list goes on.
 
The small screen on the iPhone 4 is the only thing keeping me from switching now. After 18 months with my HTC Desire, I've reached the point where constantly hacking, installing aftermarket apps, or customizing a phone to make it do what it was supposed to do out of the box, well, it's pointless. Android battery life sucks. Period. Get used to that & never stray far from a wall outlet or car charger. Also the screens on most Android phones are utterly unusable in sunlight (as "in a car"). I dunno if the driving risk is from actually talking on the phone or hunkering under the dashboard trying to see enough of the screen to dial a number. YMMV with voice dialing/search. It didn't solve any problems for me, but it did result in a shipload of wrong numbers...
 
djeaux said:
Android battery life sucks. Period. Get used to that & never stray far from a wall outlet or car charger.
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I admit the battery life on Android sucks, but there are things you can do to ameliorate that. Since using Juice Defender and then later a Juice Defender-like Tasker profile, my phone's battery life still isn't as good as my wife's iPhone's, but it does last through the day at least, so I don't have to carry a charger with me. I can go 7:00 AM to midnight and still have battery left.

Also the screens on most Android phones are utterly unusable in sunlight (as "in a car").
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As for brightness, maybe that's just an HTC Desire thing? My wife's iPhone actually can't be read in direct sunlight, but my phone (Galaxy Nexus) is fine in it, and the latest update (to 4.0.4) fixed autobrightness so that it's actually correct (it used to be too bright even in darkness--now it's actually dim in darkness and appropriately bright in the sun).

After 18 months with my HTC Desire, I've reached the point where constantly hacking, installing aftermarket apps, or customizing a phone to make it do what it was supposed to do out of the box, well, it's pointless.
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Especially now with the 4.0.4 update (which fixed the autorotate slowness, among other things), I'd highly recommend you take a look at the Galaxy Nexus before switching over to the iPhone.
 
I've got an S2 my dad's got an iPhone 4s and is switching for android.
The iPhone is all linked together very well but I think they have over looked some very basic things like auto send text when you haven't got any signal for instance.

The iPhone's screen doesn't seem to get as many finger prints on it as mine (if that is relevant even slightly to you)

The other thing to consider is battery life, although the iPhone isn't a bad battery and lasts as long as mine you cant extend it without buying a power pack etc. also to change the battery it has to be shipped off. the other thing that would worry me is if it froze you can't rip the battery out.

We are both on orange but I usually have better signal when we are in the same place, also he has been connected to a random persons conversation on 3 ocations when placing calls, which is great if your nosy :)

iPhone has no signal boost so no phone calls in the house if you have no signal, just internet browsing over wifi.

I didn't really understand what people meant by the iPhone is smoother until I used my dad's for a few days, it is hard to explain but it just is.

I personally didn't like looking around to find how to go back to the previous thing you were looking at on the iPhone, it's really nice knowing where your back button is without looking for it.

Also I don't know about anyone else but i like having a picture as my home screen rather than a load of apps.

Wow didn't realise I how much I didn't like about it in only 3 days of use. Don't let this put you off though as I have had to put a bit of thought into this and was just trying to be a detailed as poss. plus there seems to be a lot of prestige with owning an iPhone.
 
Sometimes people get hung up on battery life of these devices. What you have to remember is that there devices are no longer simple cell phones. They are now mobile handheld computers. It takes more power to run them.

From a manufacturing standpoint, Apple has an advantage over Android. Apple lives in a closed architecture. Apple decides exactly what components they want to use in the iPhone and those are the only components that Apple allows it's manufacturing partners to use. By doing this they can optimize the OS to run on this hardware most efficiently. Android, on the other hand, allows the handset manufacturers to follow more general guidelines. This means that the manufacturers have a say in what components are used. It also means that the manufacturers have to contribute to Android development by providing drivers for the OS to use these components. So with 5 different manufacturer handsets you likely have 5 different sets of drivers which are written by 5 different programming staffs. It's much more difficult to optimize your OS to variables like that. ;)

Neither way is necessarily better... but closed architectures have the advantage of fewer variables. Personally I prefer Android because I have more say in what I want my Android experience to look like. I had an iPhone for a short period of time. My complaint with it was simply that I did not like the interface. There was not a lot I could do to alter the interface to suit my wishes. I returned it and got an Android phone instead. And I've been happily using Android phones ever since... :cool:
 
Apple is better in some ways and android in others. I love both! No point in bashing Apple but we all know iTunes is the golden standard for entertainment. iCloud is another great and useful thing. If you have owned a Mac you'll know once you go Mac you'll never go back to PC and lulWindows. My Macbook Pro has never crashed or froze. Apple is also better at delivering updates and if you own an iPad or a Mac getting the iPhone makes sense. A company doing one thing will always be better than a company doing a thousand things. It's kinda stupid and immature saying this is better than that. See what fits YOUR needs. The iPhone is kinda small unless you have justin bieber fingers. I mainly use my main android device and use the iPhone for iTunes and iCloud but that's about it. I don't own any apple/android shares so I'm not a fanboy of either. Did I mention Blackberries are awesome for texting? Good luck.
 
Kokothemonkey said:
No point in bashing Apple but we all know iTunes is the golden standard for entertainment.
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iTunes is one of the worst pieces of software I have ever installed on my computer. From a technical standpoint, it's a poorly coded resource hog that is prone to crashes and other unintended behavior (at least on PCs). From a philosophical standpoint, I could never convince myself to buy DRM protected music. I'm just fundamentally opposed to the concept, not to mention that it's inconvenient. Besides, iTunes doesn't carry most of what I listen to anyway (Beatport fills that need).

My Macbook Pro has never crashed or froze.
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Neither has my 3 year-old $500 Gateway laptop. :) In fact, there was a survey a little while back that showed that Asus and Toshiba laptops are more reliable than Macbooks.
 
UssjTrunks said:
iTunes is one of the worst pieces of software I have ever installed on my computer. From a technical standpoint, it's a poorly coded resource hog that is prone to crashes and other unintended behavior (at least on PCs). From a philosophical standpoint, I could never convince myself to buy DRM protected music. I'm just fundamentally opposed to the concept, not to mention that it's inconvenient. Besides, iTunes doesn't carry most of what I listen to anyway (Beatport fills that need).

Neither has my 3 year-old $500 Gateway laptop. :) In fact, there was a survey a little while back that showed that Asus and Toshiba laptops are more reliable than Macbooks.
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Wow, do the majority of people not realize that there only is DRM free music for sale now largely BECAUSE of Apple? They wanted DRM free from the start and the record companies would not agree to that. Once they won the battle to allow SOME DRM free music (for a premium through iTunes Plus) and the companies got to see increased sales of DRM free music THAT finally broke down resistance. Most of the music you get through iTunes now is DRM free for that reason.

Now, if only they could successfully do that for movies, because THAT drives me nuts. Not being able to play back a movie I "own" on another device is something I don't like. I'm hoping that Apple, Amazon and the other major providers of these services can make a similar move to DRM free video in the future. Frankly it's the only thing that keeps me buying disks for movies rather than being purely digital like I am for music.
 
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