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What does iPhone phone do that Android devices can't?

A

ancientnoise

Lurker
OK people.

What can the iPhone do that my Android can't?

After too many years with a battered Nokia I decided to get myself a smartphone.

I had a good look around and *nearly* went for an iPhone.

I ended up getting myself an HTC Desire with Android 2.2. I have to say I'm very impressed so far and it meets and often exceeds my expectations.

I also got a great deal with the provider (Virgin) that is only a few dink more expensive than the crap phone I just ditched.

Did I make the right choice? Well, all I've come across so far is stuff that my new phone can do that the iPhone can't. Seems a bit biased, so in the spirit of fairness, I want someone to tell me what I'm missing out on by NOT buying the iPhone and rooting for the Android.

Techie and/or humourous replies only please. I'm not a Apple-basher or a champion of Android, just curious about what I may have missed out on. I did the research before buying and I honestly can't thnk of anything. Enlighten me.
 
ancientnoise said:
OK people.

What can the iPhone do that my Android can't?

After too many years with a battered Nokia I decided to get myself a smartphone.

I had a good look around and *nearly* went for an iPhone.

I ended up getting myself an HTC Desire with Android 2.2. I have to say I'm very impressed so far and it meets and often exceeds my expectations.

I also got a great deal with the provider (Virgin) that is only a few dink more expensive than the crap phone I just ditched.

Did I make the right choice? Well, all I've come across so far is stuff that my new phone can do that the iPhone can't. Seems a bit biased, so in the spirit of fairness, I want someone to tell me what I'm missing out on by NOT buying the iPhone and rooting for the Android.

Techie and/or humourous replies only please. I'm not a Apple-basher or a champion of Android, just curious about what I may have missed out on. I did the research before buying and I honestly can't thnk of anything. Enlighten me.
Click to expand...

Itunes support is the absolute biggest + (or minus if you're me) for the IPhone. Truthfully, other than being marginally smoother (than Sense devices anyway) and having a gorgeous screen, the two platforms are pretty well on par with one another except that aOS adds another layer of functionality that iOS does not. It's all a matter of personal preference.
 
The guy who sold me my Huawei Ascend m860 said it will work with itunes... (just got it yesterday). Are you saying it won't work with itunes???
 
Android phones will most definitely work with iTunes. To use, however, you need a piece of third party software like iSyncr

In terms of what iPhones do that Android does not, iPhone keeps you from being mocked by Steve Jobs. :rolleyes: :D
 
On my desire hd i can drag an drop my itunes music on my sd card and it plays.

I also had to choose between iphone and android. I think the only thing that iphone has over android is the better games and apps from the app store but not for long.
 
I used to have an honest list of things that iOS did better than Android. That list really shrunk now that I'm using an AOSP ROM based on Gingerbread. Here are a few things that Android now does in GB that it didn't before (and iOS did):

1) ability to scroll the screen while pinching-to-zoom
2) ability to move the text cursor with precision to a particular spot
3) came with bash shell by default (root/jailbreak feature)

Course, the list of things Android can do that iOS cannot is so long, I can't possibly list them here. But because of this, battery life will always be touted as an Android weakness. I don't see it that way. I'd rather have the machine be more powerful than nerfed by the OS to conserve power. I want the choice.

Few things I still give iOS/Apple the advantage:

1) frame rate. I've not seen an Android scroll as smoothly as an iOS device. That may change soon with the dual core phones, which I haven't played with yet.

2) retina display (on iPhone 4). It is beautiful.

And that is probably every ounce of praise you can squeeze out of me regarding Apple's devices and ecosystem. I pretty much have great disdain for how everything else works. I'm not here to bash Apple, but my way of thinking and doing things is very incompatible with how they think their devices should be used. And no, things don't "just work" over there.
 
Martimus said:
Android phones will most definitely work with iTunes. To use, however, you need a piece of third party software like iSyncr

In terms of what iPhones do that Android does not, iPhone keeps you from being mocked by Steve Jobs. :rolleyes: :D
Click to expand...

I want iTunes on my phone. My hope is Google music will provide that ease of use with good tagging, good podcast support, audio book support, auto syncing, a good store, basically all the things that iTunes does rolled into one. I expect google to do it better.

In the meantime, the combo of Pandora, .podkast and Audible are doing very well for me. Just wish they were combined into one neat package.

Also, Netflix would be nice...
 
zerocool79346 said:
Itunes support is the absolute biggest + (or minus if you're me) for the IPhone. Truthfully, other than being marginally smoother (than Sense devices anyway) and having a gorgeous screen, the two platforms are pretty well on par with one another except that aOS adds another layer of functionality that iOS does not. It's all a matter of personal preference.
Click to expand...

+1, esp bolded.
 
ITunes is indeed a personal preference, so if I don't like it, why must I use it (in iPhone)?

What I see as advantage in iphone is the hardware accelerated UI and apps/games availability.
 
ancientnoise said:
What can the iPhone do that my Android can't?
Click to expand...
That really doesn't matter. You need to look at your needs/wants and then compare the suitability of the options for your particular case. Referring to a generic list of can/can't for each platform is of limited use. There's quite a bit of subjectivity involved in finding a device suited to you. Don't poll others. Poll yourself.
 
ancientnoise said:
Did I make the right choice? Well, all I've come across so far is stuff that my new phone can do that the iPhone can't. Seems a bit biased, so in the spirit of fairness, I want someone to tell me what I'm missing out on by NOT buying the iPhone and rooting for the Android. Takeshi's advice is the best. Pick the phone that's right for you.
Click to expand...
haha, seems a bit biased? You're asking people in an Android Forums why you shouldn't buy an iPhone. It's hard to be objective when you already prefer one platform over the other.

Even for all of the negativity that my phone has, I will never in my life go the iPhone way.

*coughs* some 'unbiased' view why iPhone > Android
- Hardware acceleration resulting in smooth scrolling. HTC Sense has this and this feature is stock in Ginger Bread 2.3
- More & better games (although they are expensive)
- The video editor is amazing

Why Android>iPhone
- EVERYTHING ELSE THAT'S NOT MENTIONED ABOVE!
 
Well in my opinion I definitely prefer the Android platform over the iPhone. For me, it's several simple reasons but customization is a key for me. I like being able to control the look and feel of the phone, iPhone just does not offer that. With Android you have the removable battery and you are capable to of upgrading storage size. iPhone does not offer any of this, I had an iPhone for 3 years and those are the reasons I switched to Android.
 
I find them to 99% the same, and 99% of users would be happy with either. My wife has an Iphone.

I chose Android for these reasons:
More carriers = better deals. I pay $25/mo with unliited text and data. PERIOD. Iphone rips you off.

I prefer the slide out keyboard.

The android OS allows much more customization, tinkering, power, etc... that you can not do with the Iphone without jail breaking.

On the other hand, someone like my wife doesn't want to learn an OS. The iOS is super easy and a monkey could be proficient with it in no time. The Iphone screen is better.

One other Android advantage: My OS was updated automatically in about 5 minutes. My wife never connects her iPhone up to the computer, never updates her OS, and now she really can not download any apps because they are not compatible with previous OS versions.

So if you a techie, and like to tinker, and want expandable memory, widgets, Sd card backups, etc.. Go Android. If you fear the above and want simplicity, go Iphone, but be prepared to pay more $$$.
 
One other thing, and I know I am in the minority, but I HATE iTunes. It is annoying. I hate the Apple music format and its incompatibility with other devices. I hate their restrictions and attempts to limit music copying unlike the open MP3 format.

I don't need iTunes on Android. Not only can I connect the phone to the computer, better yet, I can pop out the SD and plug it right in to the computer.

I will NOT buy music from Apple, and the extra step of having to import to Itunes is also annoying. I prefer open source everything. The best of overything is typically open source. Android... Firefox... Avast .... OpenOffice ... etc... Apple and Microsoft pale in comparison, in my opinion.
 
ClubSteeler said:
I hate the Apple music format and its incompatibility with other devices. I hate their restrictions and attempts to limit music copying unlike the open MP3 format.
Click to expand...

FYI, Apple dropped the DRM from its iTunes library ages ago and most players, including Android are perfectly happy with m4a format.

I don't need iTunes on Android.
Click to expand...

^This. You can use iTunes if you like, but you don't have to.
 
Can someone please explain to me what is so great about itunes and why its so popular? I tried an ipod and downloading itunes since I have a mac computer...it was a PITA, so I returned the ipod and went with a normal drag and drop mp3 players or use my phones(this is a serious question)
 
MyNamesTooLong said:
Can someone please explain to me what is so great about itunes and why its so popular? I tried an ipod and downloading itunes since I have a mac computer...it was a PITA, so I returned the ipod and went with a normal drag and drop mp3 players or use my phones(this is a serious question)
Click to expand...

I think my last post clearly lays out why I like iTunes and would like it on my Android.
 
even among Apple fans, iTunes preference is split pretty much 50/50.

I don't buy the argument that iOS is really easy to use and Android is really hard to use.

Tapping an icon to get it to run is about as simple as it gets. Pressing the "Phone" button to make a call, pressing numbers to dial a number.... sending an email. It's the same damn skill regardless of the operating system.

Clearly too many people fall for Apple's ease-of-use marketing. I gave my Mom an iPad for Christmas. She had no clue how to get it started (mainly because the damn thing wouldn't do anything until you installed itunes on a computer and then plugged the ipad into that computer. And what's on the screen in the meantime? a picture of a USB plug underneath an iTunes symbol. Would anyone be bold enough to call that pictograph "intuitive?" Plug a cable into iTunes. Makes a lot of sense. /sarcasm.

iOS is not easier to use, and for sure, everything doesn't "just work."

If Android can be called "too complex", it's optionally too complex, meaning you don't HAVE to do any of the complicated stuff and still have a really functioning smartphone.

BTW, Nielson reports that at present, more people want an Android phone than an iPhone. That means that the typical fanboy argument that people only buy iPhones is because they're not on AT&T (and now Verizon) was completely wrong. Android is a good experience for a lot of people, people we sometimes call the "average user."

Source:
Nielsen: Consumer Desire For Android Grows, Unlike iOS And Blackberry


So let's please stop claiming that iOS is so much easier to use.
 
While I am sure there are others, I personally know of only one app that the iPhone provides that the Android phones don't - a real-time traffic camera monitoring app. The site providing the cameras only makes an iPhone-compatible app available.

So basically, it comes down to the apps and personal preferences.

The other difference I've found (I'm on my second DINC in less than a year!) is that trying to multi-task it (listening to music while I'm also doing highway navigation) causes it to overheat and crash -- rendering the Nav feature useless.

Friends I know that have iPhones can do this kind of multi-tasking all day long and their phones do NOT crash.
 
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