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Why go Android?

A

aztooh

Well-Known Member
Current iPhone user, but have become bored with it, and anxious to get my hands on the Atrix and really want to still like it once I do. But I want some insight as to why you guys think Android is the better OS. I know there are some iOS vs Android threads out there already, but its not really just that, as I'm open to any OS so long as it does what I want and I like the hardware.

Some of my concerns leaving iOS for Android include iTunes remote, exchange acount/contact sync and the ability to take screen shots.

I know there are options for iTunes remote available. The one I saw was going for 4.99. Anyone use this? Good success? Easy enough to set up? I don't expect the ease of the one for iOS, but this is a feature I use often and definitely would like to maintain it with a different phone.

I set up an exchange account with the native email app synced to my gmail account. This updates changes to my contacts in gmail instantly. What's the story with this on Android? At least I would have to have a 3rd party mail app to have this same functionality from what I've read?

Screen shot. Not a game changer for me, but a convenience that I take advantage of often. It seems I'd have to jump through major hoops to do this with any Android device and possibly HAVE to be connected to my PC to do so.

NFC. Is this going to be a "go" with the 2.3 update for Atrix?

It seems like the biggest reason folks like Android is because of the ability to change the appearance of the phone. While that's cool...and I get it...and I'm very bored with my iPhone...changing how the screen and UI looks can't make up for losing key functions. So just looking for some input on those topics and whatever else anyone wants to tell me about Android.
 
http://cnettv.cnet.com/8301-13489_53-20028633-10389930.html i know its a bit out dated but 90% is still true. Not to worry u can still take screen shots with android simply download a app for it. with android although I don't recommend it you can always download 3rd party apps scan it with avg available in the android market for free to make sure its safe.. and install therefor 90% of apps on the market is possible to get for free.... it has live wallpaper which really brings the phones to life with android as to apple you have to jailbreak it to get any sort of moving wallpaper and as you said before... android is highly customizable.. just a endless list id provide you with more details but i have to get some rest soo good luck with your decision :)
 
Thanks for the feedback, I'll check out that link now. I did see there is an app "ShootMe" to do screenshots...but it does require a rooted device. And from what I've read, that won't be possible with the Atrix?
 
Well I dont think the artix was set to launch till the end of feb. I don't think there will be a root for it untill about a month after and if your unsure get another android.
 
im a droid x user and android offers nearly unlimited custimozation as where iOS offers almost none unless jailbroken. it all depends what your into. ive used iphone 3gs and my droid x can do everything it can and more. plus it can do it all faster (partialy cause i have verizon and not at&t).
go android and oppose apples communist regimn. think for yourself and you gain the ability to download anything from music to apps straight from the internet. but my favorite android feature would probably be flash player. Steve jobs once said that he would make flash player obsolete. looks like you iOS users are SOL. go android its what jesus would do.
 
I agree with 550Horses ..

I moved from BlackBerry to Android a few weeks back and the jump was a good decision .. the amount of customization along with the market compared to RIMs .. LOL

There literally is a app for everything from what Ive seen and after a few weeks still have not seen everything Android has to offer..
 
You can get screen shots via the free Development Kit, no rooted phone needed. It's a big download of the eclipse development environment and might be overkill just to get screen shots ;-)
 
Well I am not trying to be mean or anything here.. but, "why go android" a better question is "why not".

I can't really help you with the particular issues your having because, I have not had them.

I personally got android because, I figured long term there will be more free apps on android.

I also figured there is long term more potential seeing as even if I never get an "offical" update.. as long as devs out there support my phone.. I will get any update my hardware can handle.

And being blunt.. iphone 4 may be a smart phone.. but, I felt more comfortable using my e71x than playing around with my moms iphone 4.

I felt like the e71x offered a much better UI.

Now with android, I feel like it is flexible enough that no matter what my wants/needs are.. I can find a way to meet them.

When it comes to iphone.. it is a bit hard to explain.. but, I feel like I am using someone elses phone..

Not just because, it is my mothers phone.. But, like if I use my computer.. I can do whatever the hell I want with it, if I ask you if I can use your computer to check my email... I am not touching anything besides the browser to take a quick check of my email and I am done.

In iOS.. thats exactly how I feel... Like there is no "Freedom" it is all someone elses property they are just letting me borrow..
 
@Snow Fox

I think you misunderstand my post. I don't have any issues (other than being bored with it). My point was those are concerns I have going forward with a different OS.

I still want to be able to have my contacts backed up on the cloud, I'd like to be able to take screen shots (with ease, not tethered to my PC) and need to be able to communicate the some media player on my PC wirelessly. And the screen shot thing is not a deal breaker, just nice to have.

Other apps I frequently use are U-Verse, chase banking, amex, twitterific, google voice, photoshop express, filxster, weather channel, netflix, shazam and facebook....which from what I read isn't a very good app with Android? No chat capability, would have to use a 3rd party app to FB chat? The rest I think wouldn't be a problem from what I've heard. And I'll probably use Tango, unless someone can tell me a better app for video chat? Needs to be iOS compatible as well and I know Tango is.

@SoftWyer

Yeah I don't think I'd want to mess with all that just for screen shots haha

I haven't jailbroken my phone....but if the benefits are there, I might get into that kind of thing with the Atrix.
 
aztooh said:
@Snow Fox

I think you misunderstand my post. I don't have any issues (other than being bored with it). My point was those are concerns I have going forward with a different OS.

I still want to be able to have my contacts backed up on the cloud, I'd like to be able to take screen shots (with ease, not tethered to my PC) and need to be able to communicate the some media player on my PC wirelessly. And the screen shot thing is not a deal breaker, just nice to have.

Other apps I frequently use are U-Verse, chase banking, amex, twitterific, google voice, photoshop express, filxster, weather channel, netflix, shazam and facebook....which from what I read isn't a very good app with Android? No chat capability, would have to use a 3rd party app to FB chat? The rest I think wouldn't be a problem from what I've heard. And I'll probably use Tango, unless someone can tell me a better app for video chat? Needs to be iOS compatible as well and I know Tango is.

@SoftWyer

Yeah I don't think I'd want to mess with all that just for screen shots haha

I haven't jailbroken my phone....but if the benefits are there, I might get into that kind of thing with the Atrix.
Click to expand...

Your information on the Facebook Android app is seriously dated. A Facebook update came out some time ago that added chat, reply to notifications and now there is a new update that adds Facebook deals. At this point, Facebook on Android and Facebook on iPHone is on an equal footing. Except the part where Facebook on Android has a homescreen widget which the iPhone doesn't.

Android's killer feature is better social integration and sharing. Facebook can sync your Facebook friends into your Android contact book, and you can read people's Facebook updates right there in the Contacts app. Furthermore, the Android contacts can integrate Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo along with Google information right into the pages of your Contacts book.

Also its far easier to share webpages and other stuff into Facebook using Android than iOS. You can do it directly from the browser, for example.

The apps you mentioned, also have Android versions or equivalents. As for Twitterific, which I used a lot before, the Android apps like Tweetdeck or Twicca is so much better. Tweetdeck for Android is way better and different from the iOS version.

Google Voice is much more integrated into Android. Its more than just an app.

No Android for Netflix yet, but Netflix has said they're working on it.
 
Guamguy

This is the kind of reply I was looking for. Thanks for the input! Definitely feel better about making the jump. I left BB for the iPhone, but that was an easy choice...the BB was terrible (Storm). I know a lot here have some disdain for Apple, but the phone has been good to me. Excited for something different though.

Good to know about the facebook app...I was stunned when I read that, didn't notice the dates, but couldn't find anything saying it's been updated to the specs you mention.

I tried Tweetdeck for my iPhone and didn't really like it, I'll have to check it out.

Also good to hear about GV, and I figured it would be better than the iPhone version. I don't like the way it looks or interacts with the iPhone much at all.

Netflix is no big deal...I can use the browser if I have a need to update my queue, have only streamed movies to my phone a couple of times anyway.

Thanks again, can't wait for this to come out!
 
I'm not sure if anyone has said this - it does not seem so even though it was a questions in the OP.

All contacts and calendar appointments in the gMail cloud will be synced automatically to your Android device...so if you are syncing your PC to the cloud then it will be on your phone too. It's really simple and you don't have to do anything apart from having a data connection to make it happen.

Gmails are pushed to the handset too.
 
Facebook for Android got updated big time around October. A bit late but got chat, reply to notifications and Places. Last update last week give Place Deals. Whatever that is.

Tweetdeck on Android looks really good. In iOS, they are forced to make it "consistent" to the iPhone interface, and really didn't do that well. Its very different in the way it looks on the Android version. Right now, I would say its the most elegant and fastest (in terms of scrolling) mobile Twitter app I've seen. It also has an array of widgets you can put on the homescreen.

Another very good Twitter app is Plume. Has great widgets too.

Screenshots is the one problem, since it appears you have to root the phone in order to do this. The exception to this is the international version of the Samsung Galaxy S updated to Android 2.2. This is the only phone, albeit a very popular one, that can do screen captures without rooting.

Weather apps like the Weather Channel are also popular on Android. However, many phones already come with great weather widgets, such as HTC, Acer, Samsung and the upcoming LG Optimus 2X.

Android strongly differentiates itself from iOS on the following features.

1. Notifications. You pull down a curtain on top to see a list of notifications. Clicking on a notification like an SMS, email, or news, takes you directly to the app that made them. Everything can be used as a notification, from missed calls to SMS, to email, to successful and failed app installs, to Facebook and Twitter mentions, to earthquakes, flight times that suddenly changed, to weather changes and so on. It all depends on the apps. Through app services, apps add new forms of notifications to the OS.

You don't have this barrage of messages right on your face and which you have to click your way through before you can even use the iPhone.

2. Cloud Sync. Things just sync directly to your phone. Google syncs your GMail, Contacts, Calendar, Picasa albums, your books, even your musci in the future. Other firms have their own syncs to: Facebook, Yahoo, Twitter, and so on. Services are added by others into the Android OS via apps. So its not Google that is adding the syncs but the handset and app vendors. That;s why Android can already integrate with so many social networking services. Apps add services which in turn adds new syncs.

3. Sharing. Services for sharing are installed by apps, so an app can redirect its output to another app via the Share command. For example, from a browser I can redirect a webpage link into Tweetdeck. I can redirect a tweet from Tweetdeck into Evernote. Or I may choose to redirect a tweet from Twitter for Android into Facebook.

In iOS, only Seesmic can send tweets into Evernote. In Android, every Twitter app can.

An example of powerful sharing is the Gallery app. In iOS you need something like Instagram to upload pics to Flickr for example. In Gallery, you click on Share, and you get a whole list of apps currently installed on your phone that can upload a picture. If you have installed Facebook app, Facebook will appear in that list. If you installed Tweetdeck, Tweetdeck will be on that list. Install Twitter, and Twitter appears on that list. And this list appears with all the apps that have the Share command. Share options are added by apps using services, which enhance the OS with new capabilities.

4, Widgets. These are like mini apps whose output is constantly displayed and updated in the home screen. They can be interacted like real apps. Thus you don't need to open an app to see whats going on, the widgets would display live streaming data right there in your home screen.

Thus, apps in Android are not like apps in IOS. There are three parts in the Android app. call it like the Trinity. The main app like you know, the second is the widgets, which is to display things in the homescreen, and the third is services, which enhance the OS by adding syncs, push notifications, sharing, and which can be used to interact with other apps. Even if the main app is down or not used, widgets and services will operate on the background on periodic intervals, like syncing or when called by other apps.
 
aztooh said:
I set up an exchange account with the native email app synced to my gmail account. This updates changes to my contacts in gmail instantly. What's the story with this on Android? At least I would have to have a 3rd party mail app to have this same functionality from what I've read?
Click to expand...
You don't need a 3rd party app for Exchange or gmail. Now, what you want may be a different story. I found the stock Exchange support on my Droid lacking and use Touchdown, for example.
 
Two words, that may or may not mean alot, Open Source, anything can be worked on by anyone, so even if a company can't or won't or whatever the case may be for supporting their devices *coughsamsungepic4gcough* than people in our wondrous community can step in, and make fixes.
 
Guamguy said:
3. Sharing. Services for sharing are installed by apps, so an app can redirect its output to another app via the Share command. For example, from a browser I can redirect a webpage link into Tweetdeck. I can redirect a tweet from Tweetdeck into Evernote. Or I may choose to redirect a tweet from Twitter for Android into Facebook.
Click to expand...

It goes both ways. Apps on Android need to have some sort of event notification to enable another app to handle a specific task. This is well documented in the SDK.

E.G. When you download a video file and click on in Astro file manager, it gives you an option of how to handle the file. You can open it in RockPlayer, the built in Gallery player, Realplayer or whatever else is installed on your android phone. It is up to the developer on BOTH platform to provide this functionality. It works the same way on iOS on apps that are properly coded. E.G. I use FileBrowser on my iPad to mount Samba shares and if it sees a file it can't open, it sends it to the right application. E.G. I browse for a wmv, mkv, avi or flv file, I click open in and it gives me option of sending it to dropbox or opening it in VLC.

Filebrowser, like Astro File Manager, was properly written for sharing for video files. The same can't be said for crappy file manager apps on Android that don't share to other apps. I can list a few that don't have Astro's capabilities.

Unfortunately, Astro File Manager can't send my files to my Dropbox app on Android.. BUT,BUT, wait, FileBrowser and File on iOS can send my files to the DropBox app on iOS.

See what I just did here? The same problem applies if the event notification was coded in. In my example, Astro File Manager was coded for handling media files but not coded for handling ZUMO, DropBox or other cloud apps. On iOS, I can give you an example of where the apps do support DropBox or ZumoDrive.

So your example is flawed.
 
SoftWyer said:
You can get screen shots via the free Development Kit, no rooted phone needed. It's a big download of the eclipse development environment and might be overkill just to get screen shots ;-)
Click to expand...

But your phone needs to be tethered to your computer/laptop to do this.
Otherwise, you need to be rooted.
 
Snow_Fox said:
I felt more comfortable using my e71x than playing around with my moms iphone 4.
Click to expand...

That's it right there! :)

I could see my mom owning an iPhone, and if it's easy enough for her to use I don't want to be anywhere near it.

Just like how I could see my mom buying a brand new Ford Fusion. I would never buy a Fusion for that reason.
 
I now have an android phone. I came from an iphone. The reason for my switch wasn't the phone, but the coverage and price. To be honest, I liked my iphone. It did everything I asked short of giving me decent coverage.

I've had this android for 1 week. At first I couldn't get my pop 3 mail to sync with the phones email. I had to download K-9 in order to get it to work. Works fine now. Never had 1 minute of issue with the iphone mail delivering my pop 3 account. As for Facebook, maybe I need to delete the one that came on the phone, go to the app store and download that version. My iphone made it easy to update and read FB. This one doesn't seem to have an update, and to be honest, sometimes it doesn't even load. I have to back out of it, come back in, back out. I don't know, maybe it's the phone. Maybe it's me. In all honesty, I need to make calls, text, surf, know the weather, read some news, play a few games, etc and do it in the least amount of steps possible. Seems with this phone, I'm taking more steps to do things.

I'd also like to make an observation with regards to the video. The number 1 thing was you can get androids on more carriers. Yep, you can. But then that just might be the reason, androids are out selling the iphone. Not because of the OS. We'll see how it goes in the next few weeks when Verizon starts it's sales.

Another thing was all the choices. Sometimes choice can be good, but then again, maybe not so much. I know when forced to choose between many things, I tend to struggle somewhat. With the iPhone it's a one trick pony that you can change up with a case. Same as an android.

Don't get me wrong, I'm sticking with the Android and I'm beginning to get the hang of it a little more each day. The reason I explore this forum is to learn all I can in order to get the most use from my phone. I don't think there's a right and wrong as to which way to go. Just like we are all individuals, so are our choices. Go with what works best for you.

Thanks for the great input on this forum. I'm enjoying it alot.
Ron
 
It's so nice to see an iphone/android thread that (for the most part) isn't a pissing contest! The better/best OS is the one that meets your needs and works for you.

Google features will be native on the android but there are also 3rd party apps (free to inexpensive) that provide additional customization if you choose.

The tone of your original post gives the impression that rooting would not be a problem for you if you chose to do so. There is certainly an abundance of information and support for doing it. And it sounds as though even the lesser important features would be available if you were rooted.

Personally, I'm an old apple fan. Had to switch to pc for compatibility and financial reasons. I don't like the limits on iphone (carrier exclusivity and app store). Likewise, I'm very unhappy with both Samsung & TMO failing to provide OTA froyo. On the other hand, I'm chicken**** when it comes to rooting.

By the time the Atrix is available, it sounds like you'll be ready to get your hands on it and see if it really will be what you want. Good luck - let us know what you decide.
 
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