IOS vs Android

[p3unit32]

What makes iOS better than Android? Non bias reply please.

 

[eddieg]

Ive used both and by far ios is alot better!

 

[Darkstar2007]

For me it's the ease of use and the reliability of iOS. Plus iPhones get 2+ years worth of firmware updates vs 18 months that some android phones receive. Some android phones never get to receive an update. So reliability, ease of use, and apple support is the main reasons I like iOS vs android. Android is more customizable than stock iOS, but you can always jailbreak an iPhone to gain customization. Try a buddies iPhone out, or play with one at an apple store and you'll see for yourself. !

iPhone 4 16Gb 4.2.8 (jbme 3.0) Moderator @ iPhoneforum staff

 

[p3unit32]

eddieg why do you think iOS is better?

 

[p3unit32]

For me it's the ease of use and the reliability of iOS. Plus iPhones get 2+ years worth of firmware updates vs 18 months that some android phones receive. Some android phones never get to receive an update. So reliability, ease of use, and apple support is the main reasons I like iOS vs android. Android is more customizable than stock iOS, but you can always jailbreak an iPhone to gain customization. Try a buddies iPhone out, or play with one at an apple store and you'll see for yourself. !

iPhone 4 16Gb 4.2.8 (jbme 3.0) Moderator @ iPhoneforum staff

Those are sound answers, and many of those reasons I agree with. Android is far more open, but it takes forever to get updates because there are so many devices. Plus the Android apps are mediocre ports of iOS. However Android has better sound quality, I have to keep my sound down because it's so loud. That's a good thing, hopefully Apple will have addressed this issue with the next iPhone. I think iPhone can do everything that Android does, it not held back by Android's rapid growth. It's held back by Apple tight grip!

 

[p3unit32]

I also find it odd that you can't really send video clips with some Android phones. This clip can't exceed 600k..??? That's like nothing, what maybe ten seconds or so. One of iPhone's strongest qualities is it multimedia. No one does it like iTunes, music, movies, television shows, podcast, videos and more. Let's not mention the backup system.

Google comes in second in this department, but! They are working on it. What will happen when Android becomes equal with iPhone in all phases? It's going to take more than HD graphics and a pretty and easy to use UI to stop Androids momentum. What do you think?

 

[heartbeat]

Being both Android and iOS user, I'd have to go with iOS. It's easier to use i.e. keyboard and multi-tasking, the display's great and bright (even if brightness is configured low) and everything about it just makes you want to use it more. I got pretty tired of my Droid after a few months. And I do agree with iOS multimedia having strong qualities, but the sound of both iOS and Android are just the same for me.

Well one thing I like about Android is the Applanet. It's like the Cydia for Android but you don't need to jailbreak your phone just to have it

 

[p3unit32]

Google allows Android devices to pair with other device, even outside other Android devices. You can beam contacts, pictures, ringtones, and other files. Android also give you the PC feel allowing you to view web pages that are like that of a PC, you can also look at nearly any type of video because it supports flash. There are also Android phones out there that have HD screen resolution, not to mention that the screens are bigger (the average being 4.3). There are several markets to choose from when purchasing apps, your not restricted to just Android Market. This means you don't have to necessary jailbreak the phone. The ability to full customize the phone, with the addition of widgets.

These are just a few facts about Android, and no wonder its quickly catching up with iPhone and could leave it in the dust. Having stated a few things about Android, someone tell me how iOS can compare in these areas.

 

[Skull One]

*sigh* I was really hoping that this thread would die but since it hasn't lets make sure this little debate gets the full truth treatment.

Lets look at the failings of Android:

1) Seven different screen resolutions.

This means apps have to make compromises on how they will display across each. This also requires that developer test across all seven versions to be sure their app will work properly. And to make matter worse, each phone maker has to provide the proper XML to screen position conversion routines. If they don't and use the stock Android code, several of the XML layout function calls fail to render the screen properly.


2) Three GPU configurations and one software only configuration.

That means apps have to detect which 2d/3d graphic features are available for rendering. Which has the net affect of producing poorly optimized code or extreme code bloat to account for these differences.


3) Four different memory configurations.

This is an OS issue at its core. Users can run out of memory simply because the phone maker decided to cut corners. And to make matters worse, some phone makers use very slow (IE cheaper to buy) SD memory interfaces. Which means even if you are lucky enough to be on Android 2.2.x or higher so that you can install Apps to external storage, the phone will be slower that *bleep* because the apps are constantly having to swap from SD to main memory.


4) Seven different main clock rates to the CPU.

Yeah, programmers NEVER know what kind of speed they will have available. Which is why a lot of game devs avoid Android like the plague.


5) Dalvik Virtual Machine.

95% of all applications written for Android are in Java. And since you have seen the first four points of all the possible combinations of hardware designs you now know the name of the software that allows these Java apps to run across them all. And anyone that knows anything about Virtual Machines will tell you that:
A) They waste memory.
B) They waste CPU time.


6) Multitasking Event Hooks.

This design for Android OS is some of the slickest code I have ever pulled apart. And it is also the most damaging to Android at the same exact time. To help explain this, I am going to give a real world example that is 100% verifiable.

EBay for Android upon installation hooks to several of the Event systems of Android. The one that seems the most harmless upon inspection is the one that does the most damage to battery life, CPU time and general discontent to the user. EBay hooks to the "On change of connection". IE if you switch from WiFi to 3G or 3G to WiFi, the EBay app has to reload into memory to handle the event. That's right folks. The app launches into memory whether you want it or not every time you leave the house or office and switch back to 3G. And here is the really COOL part. You don't even know it is happening. Because it happens in the background due to it being a multitasking OS and you gave it permission when you installed it. So if this app rolls into memory because of this event, that means an app you really wanted in memory probably just rolled out. And just imagine this, EBay isn't the only app hooked to this event. So you could have a dozens apps that launch suddenly when you switch from WiFi to 3G. And people wonder why Android has such pathetic battery life if you don't ROOT it to turn this crap off.


7) Application Permissions.

Now here is a really interesting topic. Apple doesn't have this. Instead the user relies on Apple to review each application prior to the release on the market place. Some people call this "do it my way or the highway" censorship. So Google came up with App Permissions with NO review process. This requires the user to understand what a permission means and its implication. I know for a fact 90% of the users of Android don't have a clue what the full implications of a permission is. The most popular one used by developers is "Get current phone state". They claim they need it to do proper pausing of Applications when you get a phone call. BUT the entire permission also, AND THIS IS ONLY DOCUMENTED IN THE SOURCE CODE, allows the programmer to see the exact phone number and name attached to that incoming call. And if the app also has "internet access" that means the app can transmit that data without your knowledge back to the app creator. Oh yeah, privacy doesn't exist on Android. Recently ROM makers have implemented a new feature to help combat this. But you have to be rooted and understand how to even use the feature.


8) Currently 13 deployed versions of the API.

That means developers have to pick which API revision to compile against for the features they want versus the amount of people that will actually be able to run the application.


That should cover the biggest issues with Android.

Oh wait I forgot to mention one other fact about Android. It may have to drop Java integration or pay a huge licensing agreement soon based on a court case currently in progress. Should be interesting to see what Google decides to do. Motorola has decided to hedge its bet that Google is going to lose big time and has started developing its own OS. I can't wait to see what happens when Motorola finally decides to breaks away from Android.


BTW, I switched to iOS March 31st 2011 after missing two phone calls in one day due to the phone app being rolled out of memory because other applications being triggered by outside events in Android. I haven't missed a single call in iOS since switching. Sometimes "It just works" is the truth.

 

[Xander641]

For most people
It just comes down to stability plain and simple, my friend has gone through 5 different android devices within the past two months because they all cause her problems more often than not, they shut down randomly.

 

[bencozzy]

iOS gets another plus 1 here for all the above reasons.


android is good could be great but how can google write a program, one program for some many different devices?? They cant really. The hardware is evolving faster then the OS can.

Apple is simple made a controlled environment. The iOS and iDevice are made for each other. Sure apple is slow to get the super duper quad core cpu and octo core gpu but you wont have random reboots will you?? What about battery life?

Android is fun the play with from seeing how high of a quadrant i can get or playing with custom roms but as far as stability and usability(as a cell phone) its not there yet.

 

[iCrank]

For me it's the ease of use and the reliability of iOS. Plus iPhones get 2+ years worth of firmware updates vs 18 months that some android phones receive. Some android phones never get to receive an update. So reliability, ease of use, and apple support is the main reasons I like iOS vs android. Android is more customizable than stock iOS, but you can always jailbreak an iPhone to gain customization. Try a buddies iPhone out, or play with one at an apple store and you'll see for yourself. !

iPhone 4 16Gb 4.2.8 (jbme 3.0) Moderator @ iPhoneforum staff

I second that. I was part of the great android rush of 2009. I actually enjoyed the customization but then grew tired of waiting on a firmware and my phone was stuck at 1.5 so I moved on from it. my sister kept up with android and my mother just jumped into it. Sorry to say I'm always fixing their phones. The iPhone is my heisman trophy. I don't see myself changing platforms for a very long time.

 

[p3unit32]

*sigh* I was really hoping that this thread would die but since it hasn't lets make sure this little debate gets the full truth treatment.

Lets look at the failings of Android:

1) Seven different screen resolutions.

This means apps have to make compromises on how they will display across each. This also requires that developer test across all seven versions to be sure their app will work properly. And to make matter worse, each phone maker has to provide the proper XML to screen position conversion routines. If they don't and use the stock Android code, several of the XML layout function calls fail to render the screen properly.

2) Three GPU configurations and one software only configuration.

That means apps have to detect which 2d/3d graphic features are available for rendering. Which has the net affect of producing poorly optimized code or extreme code bloat to account for these differences.

3) Four different memory configurations.

This is an OS issue at its core. Users can run out of memory simply because the phone maker decided to cut corners. And to make matters worse, some phone makers use very slow (IE cheaper to buy) SD memory interfaces. Which means even if you are lucky enough to be on Android 2.2.x or higher so that you can install Apps to external storage, the phone will be slower that *bleep* because the apps are constantly having to swap from SD to main memory.

4) Seven different main clock rates to the CPU.

Yeah, programmers NEVER know what kind of speed they will have available. Which is why a lot of game devs avoid Android like the plague.

5) Dalvik Virtual Machine.

95% of all applications written for Android are in Java. And since you have seen the first four points of all the possible combinations of hardware designs you now know the name of the software that allows these Java apps to run across them all. And anyone that knows anything about Virtual Machines will tell you that:
A) They waste memory.
B) They waste CPU time.

6) Multitasking Event Hooks.

This design for Android OS is some of the slickest code I have ever pulled apart. And it is also the most damaging to Android at the same exact time. To help explain this, I am going to give a real world example that is 100% verifiable.

EBay for Android upon installation hooks to several of the Event systems of Android. The one that seems the most harmless upon inspection is the one that does the most damage to battery life, CPU time and general discontent to the user. EBay hooks to the "On change of connection". IE if you switch from WiFi to 3G or 3G to WiFi, the EBay app has to reload into memory to handle the event. That's right folks. The app launches into memory whether you want it or not every time you leave the house or office and switch back to 3G. And here is the really COOL part. You don't even know it is happening. Because it happens in the background due to it being a multitasking OS and you gave it permission when you installed it. So if this app rolls into memory because of this event, that means an app you really wanted in memory probably just rolled out. And just imagine this, EBay isn't the only app hooked to this event. So you could have a dozens apps that launch suddenly when you switch from WiFi to 3G. And people wonder why Android has such pathetic battery life if you don't ROOT it to turn this crap off.

7) Application Permissions.

Now here is a really interesting topic. Apple doesn't have this. Instead the user relies on Apple to review each application prior to the release on the market place. Some people call this "do it my way or the highway" censorship. So Google came up with App Permissions with NO review process. This requires the user to understand what a permission means and its implication. I know for a fact 90% of the users of Android don't have a clue what the full implications of a permission is. The most popular one used by developers is "Get current phone state". They claim they need it to do proper pausing of Applications when you get a phone call. BUT the entire permission also, AND THIS IS ONLY DOCUMENTED IN THE SOURCE CODE, allows the programmer to see the exact phone number and name attached to that incoming call. And if the app also has "internet access" that means the app can transmit that data without your knowledge back to the app creator. Oh yeah, privacy doesn't exist on Android. Recently ROM makers have implemented a new feature to help combat this. But you have to be rooted and understand how to even use the feature.

8) Currently 13 deployed versions of the API.

That means developers have to pick which API revision to compile against for the features they want versus the amount of people that will actually be able to run the application.

That should cover the biggest issues with Android.

Oh wait I forgot to mention one other fact about Android. It may have to drop Java integration or pay a huge licensing agreement soon based on a court case currently in progress. Should be interesting to see what Google decides to do. Motorola has decided to hedge its bet that Google is going to lose big time and has started developing its own OS. I can't wait to see what happens when Motorola finally decides to breaks away from Android.

BTW, I switched to iOS March 31st 2011 after missing two phone calls in one day due to the phone app being rolled out of memory because other applications being triggered by outside events in Android. I haven't missed a single call in iOS since switching. Sometimes "It just works" is the truth.

Don't get me wrong Skull One, I like iOS. But I'm pointing out things that I've seen with my own eyes. I started out with iPhone and would have never switched had I not lose my iPhone 4. Thinking that the next release was nearly I decided not to buy another iPhone 4 for full price, so I bought the Inspire 4G. Many of the issues you speak of I have not experienced except the battery life, but that was fixed with gingerbread. But all of the other points you made was very interesting, and I'm glad someone gave me something other than, just iOS is better. Not bashing anyone, but I want the in and outs of both. Honestly my decision is to get the next iPhone, but remember I wanted to be unbiased.

The points you made; 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6 was very helpful. Thanks for your reply.

 

[p3unit32]

I second that. I was part of the great android rush of 2009. I actually enjoyed the customization but then grew tired of waiting on a firmware and my phone was stuck at 1.5 so I moved on from it. my sister kept up with android and my mother just jumped into it. Sorry to say I'm always fixing their phones. The iPhone is my heisman trophy. I don't see myself changing platforms for a very long time.

crank, believe me it wasn't my intention to change at all. I lost my iPhone and even with the apple care plan it mention nothing, and I went me.com and still could not location it. It was very disappointing. I use to put down Android all the time, but there are things about Android that are not all that bad, but they really need to work on support. Like Skull One said, having all those different phones make it nearly impossible to make sure everyone get firmware updates. Which was one of my biggest problems with Android, beside the apps.

I've heard the many stories about why Android should be chosen of iOS, but I haven't heard anyone speak up for iOS. Not until Skull Ones Android breakdown. I think he would have really shut up many Android fans in the Android forums.

 

[p3unit32]

iOS gets another plus 1 here for all the above reasons.

android is good could be great but how can google write a program, one program for some many different devices?? They cant really. The hardware is evolving faster then the OS can.

Apple is simple made a controlled environment. The iOS and iDevice are made for each other. Sure apple is slow to get the super duper quad core cpu and octo core gpu but you wont have random reboots will you?? What about battery life?

Android is fun the play with from seeing how high of a quadrant i can get or playing with custom roms but as far as stability and usability(as a cell phone) its not there yet.

When it comes to the hardware, I don't consider that an issue. Both phones start out with up to specs hardware, its the software for me. In many of the Android forums I said iOS advances in simplicity. Its UI is much more user friendly, and the support is great. When an update is released you get it when they say you will. Plus the apps are polished, and iPhone is more universal meaning it is supported by other organizations.

But as far Androids usability as a phone, I really haven't had a problem in that area. Well there is a bit of a learning curb though, plus it stinks not being able to send video clips via mms.