Android vs iPhone

[BigRedNole]

I have always been a dangerous techy. I know just enough to destroy the world without knowing what I am doing. In other words, I think I can do anything without knowing enough to do it. I am a tinkerer and no where near as technical as many of the people around here.

My wife was due for a new phone. She wanted an Android phone and she is tech illiterate. If it is more than pushing a button to open the garage door, it is too much. I have a hard time teaching her the controls on our washing machine.

With that said, she really like the iPhone 4. From all information I have heard and listened to, Apple is stupid user friendly (do not take any offense to that statement anyone). I had to set it up for her and sync it to her iTunes. I was surprised at how unintuitive it really was. My wife would have never gotten it going on her own. However, there were some things that were impressive that I still find issues with on Android.

Observations:
1. The scrolling on the iPhone is so smooth and quick. My Droid with CM7 and OC'd to 1.2GHz is still clunky and chunky. I even compared with the Thunderbolt last night while we were transferring data on her phone.

2. Tap typing on the iPhone virtual keyboard was far better than my Droid. However, Swype destroys the iPhone.

3. An unfair comparison but a comparison either way, the display on the iPhone is damn good. It is definitely going to be a comparison point when I get an upgrade in July.


When I am due an upgrade, I am going to have to seriously look at the Tegra 2 phones and what ever other dual core phones that come out. I will also have to think about the Tegra 3 phones that most likely will be out near Thanksgiving.

 

[bbrosen]

I have always been a dangerous techy. I know just enough to destroy the world without knowing what I am doing. In other words, I think I can do anything without knowing enough to do it. I am a tinkerer and no where near as technical as many of the people around here.

My wife was due for a new phone. She wanted an Android phone and she is tech illiterate. If it is more than pushing a button to open the garage door, it is too much. I have a hard time teaching her the controls on our washing machine.

With that said, she really like the iPhone 4. From all information I have heard and listened to, Apple is stupid user friendly (do not take any offense to that statement anyone). I had to set it up for her and sync it to her iTunes. I was surprised at how unintuitive it really was. My wife would have never gotten it going on her own. However, there were some things that were impressive that I still find issues with on Android.

Observations:
1. The scrolling on the iPhone is so smooth and quick. My Droid with CM7 and OC'd to 1.2GHz is still clunky and chunky. I even compared with the Thunderbolt last night while we were transferring data on her phone.

2. Tap typing on the iPhone virtual keyboard was far better than my Droid. However, Swype destroys the iPhone.

3. An unfair comparison but a comparison either way, the display on the iPhone is damn good. It is definitely going to be a comparison point when I get an upgrade in July.


When I am due an upgrade, I am going to have to seriously look at the Tegra 2 phones and what ever other dual core phones that come out. I will also have to think about the Tegra 3 phones that most likely will be out near Thanksgiving.

Same issues here, the user experience with android pales in comparison to iphone...but most posters here of course will say we are the only 2...android should be better than it is now..it has been out long enough. still sorely dissapointed with android

 

[Mostly Harmless]

Are we really comparing an original droid to an iphone 4? I am not an apple fan but even I know there isn't even a comparison between the too.

 

[PSkeptic]

I have always been a dangerous techy. I know just enough to destroy the world without knowing what I am doing. In other words, I think I can do anything without knowing enough to do it. I am a tinkerer and no where near as technical as many of the people around here.

My wife was due for a new phone. She wanted an Android phone and she is tech illiterate. If it is more than pushing a button to open the garage door, it is too much. I have a hard time teaching her the controls on our washing machine.

With that said, she really like the iPhone 4. From all information I have heard and listened to, Apple is stupid user friendly (do not take any offense to that statement anyone). I had to set it up for her and sync it to her iTunes. I was surprised at how unintuitive it really was. My wife would have never gotten it going on her own. However, there were some things that were impressive that I still find issues with on Android.

Observations:
1. The scrolling on the iPhone is so smooth and quick. My Droid with CM7 and OC'd to 1.2GHz is still clunky and chunky. I even compared with the Thunderbolt last night while we were transferring data on her phone.

You should check out the newer phones. My Fascinate is smooth as butter, and it's not even overclocked. Just a custom ROM. But, even stock, the UI (With Touchwiz) was beautiful.

2. Tap typing on the iPhone virtual keyboard was far better than my Droid. However, Swype destroys the iPhone.

If Swype ever gets on the iPhone (Not likely), that would be a great thing The stock iPhone keyboard kills the stock Android one, but with replacements, who really cares?

3. An unfair comparison but a comparison either way, the display on the iPhone is damn good. It is definitely going to be a comparison point when I get an upgrade in July.

If you can hold off until the newer iPhone is released, you might fair better. Many screens are better than the current gen iPhone, but who knows what Apple will do on the next line-up.

When I am due an upgrade, I am going to have to seriously look at the Tegra 2 phones and what ever other dual core phones that come out. I will also have to think about the Tegra 3 phones that most likely will be out near Thanksgiving.

Come July, there should be plenty of dual cores Come September(?), the new iPhone is expected to release, with dual-cores as well.

I love choice

Same issues here, the user experience with android pales in comparison to iphone...but most posters here of course will say we are the only 2...android should be better than it is now..it has been out long enough. still sorely dissapointed with android

Android's base UI isn't really all that important, since most OEM's customize it. Touchwiz and Sense blow iOS's UI out of the water. Touchwiz 2 is supposed to be even cleaner, smoother, and much more polished.

I don't think much will change with iOS's UI. Maybe adding widgets.

 

[PSkeptic]

Are we really comparing an original droid to an iphone 4? I am not an apple fan but even I know there isn't even a comparison between the too.

A better comparison is the iPhone 4 with a Droid X, or Droid 2... I was wondering the same here, since most know the OG Droid is pretty dated already.

 

[lunatic59]

Same issues here, the user experience with android pales in comparison to iphone...but most posters here of course will say we are the only 2...android should be better than it is now..it has been out long enough. still sorely dissapointed with android

Personal preferences, my friend, are just that ... personal. Each platform has its strengths and weaknesses. There are areas where iOS outperforms Android and vice versa. There are UI decisions on both that are brilliant or head-scratching dumba$$ moves. Both perform their functions relatively well and there is no place where either excels beyond the other to warrant a switch ... if there were, people would be switching. Now, there may be specific functions that make one better for you, or not suited for a user that requires features that are not available/mature on a specific platform and you should chose based on those criteria. I suppose the problem lies in wanting several features that are not implemented well on a single platform/device and having to compromise.

I think Android *could* be better and *will* be better, but *should*? I think gas should cost $1/gal and I should get 50mpg with a V6 SUV. I think I *should* be able to play pro ball at 50. I think all nations should be able to tolerate each other without feeling the need for genocide. I think I should be able to have an intelligent discourse on the internet.

 

[BigRedNole]

Are we really comparing an original droid to an iphone 4? I am not an apple fan but even I know there isn't even a comparison between the too.

Maybe I should have been more clear on this as well. I tested the scrolling functions of my Droid, Thunderbolt, and iPhone 4. The iPhone 4 was much smoother than the Thunderbolt.

I will never own a CrApple product myself. I never liked them and never wanted to be an automoton. I like being able to customize things. My observation is simply that something is just not smooth with the Andoid UI. It just seems clunky and chunky comparatively. I will most likely upgrade with a 1 year contract in July unless the Tegra 3 phones come out shortly after to wait. I hope the next phone is as smooth as the iPhone. Not that it matters too much.

 

[Covart]

I don't think much will change with iOS's UI. Maybe adding widgets.

one can only hope and pray that Apple finally gets on board the widget, notification and active home screen wagon with iOS 5. Swype would be nice, but we'll never see it on an iOS device.

 

[Bnice]

I guess the whole Android vs Apple will never stop but if smooth scrolling was the over all factor for buying a phone, Android continuous rise would have falter a long time ago. Many think the new windows 7 is smooth as well as Webos but we all see the impact they are having in the market. The bottom line is, Android and Apple are good products and everyones personally is different. If you enjoy your device then so be it who cares what others think.

 

[mlg2919]

What about call quality, signal strengh, push email, PC tethering on each????

 

[DroidSyndicate]

You cannot compare the IPhone with an Android.
Maybe compare the OS's...
Or maybe the IPhone's hardware with a the hardware of a similarly priced phone...
But never the phone and the OS at the same time.

Why?
The IPhone is 1 phone(well like 4 of the same phone) while android is hundreds of phones. Start comparing and you get someone who will compare a 300$(with plan) Iphone to a $100(without plan) android and claim victory.

You can compare android and wp7 if you wanted too as they are both OS's and you could probably find phones with similar hardware.

IPhone OS vs Android OS, Android wins IMO

 

[novox77]

There's no question that iOS devices scroll more smoothly than any Android device I've ever seen. And their "retina" display is the highest density screen I've ever seen.

The question is: how much do you weigh these points? You described your wife as needing a smartphone but very tech illiterate. Does a smooth scrolling screen or a retina display make the phone any easier to use than an Android? No, both are eye candy. It's an aesthetic advantage.

Now, is your wife's requirement that the phone be really aesthetically pleasing? If so, iOS is a great choice. If she doesn't care about that and is looking purely at functionality, Android has way more room for growth and learning.

With modern Androids, there is no typing disadvantage with Android anymore. There are so many keyboards you can download to replace the stock if you're unhappy with it. But with Gingerbread (Android 2.3), the stock keyboard is very easy and intuitive to use. More so than iOS.

 

[aztooh]

I can compare it with the Atrix, although I returned it at my 30th day.

Scrolling through the app drawer and in the browser was just as smooth, easily. Going through pictures was not quite as smooth...but where I had the real "clunky" problem was with pinch-to-zoom on photos and webpages. Not smooth at all. And tap-to-zoom on the iOS marginally zooms in where you tap. On the Atrix, it like tripled the size of the photo...was somewhat ******ed.

Screen not quite as sharp as IP4 side by side by was plenty good enough.

Someone mentioned 'how well does iOS push email...'. It pushes it perfectly fine. Email (with the gmail app) was a big reason I took the Atrix back. It would show I had a message..I would open the app...it showed I had X amount of new emails, but would take a couple of minutes to actually show up in my inbox. May have just been my phone, I don't know.

Keyboard was plenty good, however I didn't like the layout. Say I'm in email or an sms app, and turn the phone to landscape. The keyboard and text input box take up the entire screen. In iOS, it leaves some room where you can still look at what you are replying to. Usually not an issue with short text messages...but with emails, it's annoying to have to keep closing the keyboard to look back at the message. Are there any keyboards available that would allow me to do that?

 

[Stuntman]

Considering you are a techy, you can act as an enabler to configure the phone in a way that makes it easy for your wife. An Android phone has a more customisable interface that allows you to place app shortcuts and widgets that your wife uses most often on her home screen. This has the potential to make the Android phone easier for her to use than an iPhone.

As for the UI of individual apps, I personally find the Android apps easier to use, but that is due to my familiarity of Android over iOS. The ease of use for individual apps is more dependent on how well the developers make the interface for their apps.

 

[Mostly Harmless]

Maybe I should have been more clear on this as well. I tested the scrolling functions of my Droid, Thunderbolt, and iPhone 4. The iPhone 4 was much smoother than the Thunderbolt.

I will never own a CrApple product myself. I never liked them and never wanted to be an automoton. I like being able to customize things. My observation is simply that something is just not smooth with the Andoid UI. It just seems clunky and chunky comparatively. I will most likely upgrade with a 1 year contract in July unless the Tegra 3 phones come out shortly after to wait. I hope the next phone is as smooth as the iPhone. Not that it matters too much.

Big I hope I didn't come off too strong with my post. I also think that we should all be open minded and if an iProduct fits your needs then it's what you should get.

The iPhone has some nice features. Scrolling is definitely better, but other people have offered reasons to why this is. But the iPhone does have a silky feel to it. Accessories. The iPhone has every type of dock you can imagine. Cars come with iPod plugs, there are thousands of different speaker setups, car docks, home audio docks etc... I love this about the iPhone. And before anyone criticizes me, try finding a car dock specifically for many of the android phones (yes there are generic ones but they don't look nearly as nice). Try finding portable speakers that fit specifically for your phone, doesn't exist.

But everything else is kinda meh. The iPhone's UI? Icons on a desktop? Hasn't Microsoft been doing that since 95? Bubble notifications? Nothing out there is better then androids notification system, drag down the screen and everything is right in front of you. Widgets? I couldn't live without widgets now. I challenged my father to a race for information (he has an IP4), weather for the next 10 days, latest emails, latest sms, latest facebook updates, I beat him by minutes.

Recently I just started using Dropbox and Winamp. I no longer have a reason to hook my phone up to my computer. I start winamp, hit sync and my music is updated (I use this on both my devices).

The iPhone definitely has some pluses, but where it counts, in the meat of things, Android is better. I will gladly have a slightly sluggish scrolling effect for all the things I can do with my phone.

Good luck on your decision, it isn't an easy one.

 

[Seifer44]

1. The scrolling on the iPhone is so smooth and quick. My Droid with CM7 and OC'd to 1.2GHz is still clunky and chunky. I even compared with the Thunderbolt last night while we were transferring data on her phone.

Get Launcher Pro or some other interface running. A lot of manufacturer interfaces kind of suck (Such as for the Droid X).

There's an app for everything!!

EDIT: Also, why would you ask such a question on an Android forum? What would you expect the answer to be? Honestly?

Now, if you're asking it simply for reasoning, I can understand, but doesn't that also point out you were leaning toward Android anyway?

 

[soldiergirl]

Android all the way. My HTC Incredible is running almost perfectly. It is just that this one app FROZE it, then I unfroze it, and now the phone button and app button on the home screen. It was not my phone, it was my app. A few others reported the same problem. My friend has the iPhone and the maps are horrible, you can not do flashlight, it freezes easily, and a lot of other things. And please go to my forum and answer me!!!:

 

[soldiergirl]

My android's screen is very smooth.

 

[takeshi]

Personal preferences, my friend, are just that ... personal. Each platform has its strengths and weaknesses. There are areas where iOS outperforms Android and vice versa. There are UI decisions on both that are brilliant or head-scratching dumba$$ moves. Both perform their functions relatively well and there is no place where either excels beyond the other to warrant a switch ... if there were, people would be switching. Now, there may be specific functions that make one better for you, or not suited for a user that requires features that are not available/mature on a specific platform and you should chose based on those criteria. I suppose the problem lies in wanting several features that are not implemented well on a single platform/device and having to compromise.

^ This. A lot of opinions above aren't presented as opinions.

I will never own a CrApple product myself. I never liked them and never wanted to be an automoton.

Being an automaton has never been a prereq for owning Apple products. Your arguments will carry more weight if you don't resort to childish name-calling. If a product doesn't suit you, it doesn't suit you. That, however, doesn't mean that it won't suit others.

You cannot compare the IPhone with an Android.

Sure you can. People do this all the time. Most consumers out there aren't shopping OS versus OS. The'y're shopping devices against each other.

The IPhone is 1 phone(well like 4 of the same phone) while android is hundreds of phones. Start comparing and you get someone who will compare a 300$(with plan) Iphone to a $100(without plan) android and claim victory.

It's not about "victory" or "loss" unless you're a fanboy. It's always about finding a suitable device for the person doing the shopping.

EDIT: Also, why would you ask such a question on an Android forum? What would you expect the answer to be? Honestly?

Why wouldn't he? Not every Android user is an Android fanboy. What do you suggest as the appropriate venue for asking the OP's questions?

 

[aysiu]

I prefer the stock Android Gingerbread keyboard to both Swype and the iPhone 4 keyboard.

I can type really quickly on it by typing only two to three letters per word and then selecting the appropriate autocomplete. I can't get nearly that same speed dragging my finger over all the letters in a word (definitely or unfortunately, for example) or from hunting and pecking on the iPhone, which won't even visually differentiate between capital and lowercase letters.

I never have a "damn you, autocorrect" moment, because I have turned autocorrect off. I just get suggestions and pick the best one.

 

[Nodders]

Totally agree with the observation that iOS will suit some, Android others - there is one huge advantage Android has though that I'm always surprised Google (and phone manafacturers) don't make more of - flexibility.

Apple's whole ethos is to do it their way, or no way. Don't like the look of iOS? Tough. Not quite sure about that UI decision? Go away. This has its advantages because you (and more to the point devs) know exactly what you are getting and what you are dealing with, and Apple can focus on fine tuning.
The enormous downside is of course flexibility - you have to live with Apple's design decisions whether you like it or not. On Android though, you are much more able to change these - either through the whole widget thing, or through the host of tailor made ROMs out there. To me this was the major selling point of Android over iOS - yet there is a lack of consistency, but yes I'm a lot more able to configure the phone to suit my needs rather than what some committee in Apple think my needs are.