Ios vs Android.....

Strangefan

So I know this is a guitar forum but I thought I would share my experience with the above, after changing from Android to ios.... Then back again. 

I have had android since it came out in 2008 on the G1 phone,  having it for so long I fancied a change so traded my s6 edge plus for an iPhone 6s. 

I had the iPhone for 2 weeks but really didn't get on with it,  I'm not saying it's a bad phone but coming from an OS which is hugely customisable /tweekable I couldn't deal with the lack of deep editing and customisation so here are my pros and cons:

Ios:

Pros: 
Really easy to use,  a child could competently use one in a matter of hours,  
Worked really well with my macbook air 
Looks lovely. 
No worries about malware or crap ad pushing apps. 
Apple pay was brilliant 
3d touch was great. 
Updates are immediate after release and consistent. 
Huge array of quality 3rd party accessories

Cons 
Battery life was shocking, 
Screen resolution is very dated and looks nowhere near as good as my androids 
Camera was not as good and the macro was terrible 
It felt like I didn't own the phone but was leasing it from Apple. 
No customisation,   the menus etc look so dated
No resizable keyboard, 
Live wallpapers are extremely limited and didn't work well 
No widgets 
No sd card
Couldn't use it as a mass storage device. 
ITunes has to be used for everything,  and that's a bag of poop, 
Replying and starting threads on the fretboard is a pain in the arse,  they keyboard was constantly in the way of what I was typing. 

The biggest thing for me was the fact you couldn't get into the system files, 
I had the 16 version and had 1.2gbs worth of apps but 5gb of documents and data after 3 days if use! After a lot of research it's a known big issue they have not addressed And you can't do anything about it at all so half my storage was taken up by rubbish. 

Android: 
Pros:
Total freedom to customise everything,  
Themes 
Better camera 
Better screen 
Apps are cheaper or free 
Much better battery life (from the phones I have had) 
Cheaper 
Integration with cloud and Google is phenomenal, 
Can be used as mass storage and any file type can be played 
Cheaper to insure 
More storage space,  and you can get rid of stuff you dont need. 
The list goes on... 


Cons:
Anyone can make an app so there is a load of crap,   you have to do your homework on the apps available 
Potential for malware (but this is nowhere as much of an issue as apple and the media make out,  as long as you dont sideload apps. 
Updates reliant on oem  and carrier. 


So after two weeks I sold the iPhone and got a HTC 10 which for me is better in literally every way.  
I found on the iPhone I was using all of Google services and none of apples (drive,  chrome Gmail etc) 
Sifr is also nowhere near as good as Google now, and felt extremely limited compared.

I can totally see why people would stick with an iPhone as it does just work and works well but for me it's far to limited and had to find too many work arounds to get it to do what I want,  

On the other hand my macbook air is the greatest laptop I have ever used and I would never buy anything else in the future. 

So this is def not an apple bashing thread these are purely my direct experiences of f the two, I'm just curious what you guys think and what you're preferences are and why? 

TheBlueWolf

I've always used an android, mainly for the reasons you stated. With apps, I always check out similar ones, just to be sure I'm not downloading a crap one. 

BigBearKris

I have iPhone for work and always had androids for personal use. For me it's Android all the way!
Horses for courses though I guess.

digitalscream

Android all the way for me, for all those reasons and the fact that iOS feels like a bag of nails to me. Part of this is the fact that I'm a web developer, and the only consistent thing I've found I can rely on with iOS updates is that - every major and patch release - they manage to introduce another breaking change or bug, which results in me spending days trying to track down obscure bullshit behaviour, which then disappears when they fix it a patch or two later and I then have to go back and change it again.

Such a fucking waste of time, all because - all these years later - they fund their design department more than their development and testing departments put together.

Strangefan

Totally agree @digitalscream  they were ahead if the curve until the iPhone 5 then all the innovation went,  now they're just sailing on their reputation and the fact people are kind of locked into apple, I'll never have an iPhone again. 

Handsome_Chris

If iPhone has a Tasker type app I'd be interested.

TTony

Strangefan said:

So I know this is a guitar forum but I thought I would share my experience with the above, after changing from Android to ios.... Then back again. 

I did that.

I have iPads.  I have Macs.  I have iPods. So I'm not exactly anti-Apple.

Various Android phones through the years, then bought an iPhone 6 (I think).  13 days later, I took it back to the Apple shop and went back to Android.

I'm not sure Apple "just works" anymore.  Their updates are buggy, and their approach to updates is getting way to intrusive and demanding and Apple-knows-best.  Design is good, but it's no longer ground-breaking.  

dindude

Depends what's important to you. Childs play to use and not being plagued by malware, shit apps etc is exactly why I stick with IOS. On day to day usage this is much more important to me than customisation. 
I agree that Apple and its products isn't quite the company it was.
Not sure how reliable (by reliable as in doesn't slow down or crap-out over time) Android is these days (haven't had one for years), I do know that my works windows phone is atrocious for reliability and its a bitch to use.
I've had my iPhone 6 for over 2 years now and its as good as the day I bought it, I will get at least another year out of it and when I sell it on I know I'll still get a very decent price. 

JezWynd

I've just moved over to an iPhone from a Microsoft phone. I was quite happy with the Microsoft (even though I've been a Mac user for 25+ years) but the lack of apps became a nuisance. I'm really impressed by the integration between phone and desktop with the iPhone and everything just works. Not being able to change the look of the interface doesn't bother me in the least, in fact it saves me wasting time fooling with it to no real advantage.

I agree with those commenting on Apple having lost the plot somewhat - they're now making pointless changes to the OS just to have something 'new' to show which doesn't bode well for the future; and how they managed to fuck up FCP just as it was starting to make inroads into Avid's territory is beyond belief. Steve Jobs was the heart and soul of Apple and without his overbearing presence they seem to have lost their way.

strumjoughlamps

IPhone always win for me down to the music making apps, GarageBand, Korg Kaossilator and Yamaha tnr-i always being used

also aardman animate it is much loved by me

i had no problem with batt life on iPhone 6 128gb, I have recently got a 7 128gb and batt life is better.

as far as phone functions go tho I have no pref

ennspek

I think you nailed it in the OP. Summed it up for me perfectly.

olafgarten

I would use an iPhone if you could properly manage files and if Apple reduced restrictions on apps. You can't get a decent web browser on iOS because Apple only allow using Safari. 

Jez6345789

I think the obvious difference between me and the OP is I want it to just work, I feel no need to customise my phone or get under the hood or use it as a mass storage device etc etc. Tech used to be my hobby and I would dig into everything in massive detail for the last few years I have moved on to just be a simple user can't be arsed burying my head in the world of tech, mostly as the people are way to partisan and blinkered.

battery life has never been an issue although stuff like FaceTime goto meeting etc seem to thrash the battery.

there are 1000's of people screaming about this issue or that issue but honestly for my workflow my iPhone's have always been rock solid. All the moans about gmail a while back all my accounts worked fine.

As as for interface go with what you know I find Android to be good in some areas then arcane in others.

security spyware privacy, probably the biggest issue for a lot of people in the coming years and Apple have made commitment to that. Google fudges the issue with long statements ultimately if something is free like Android then you are what is being sold and Googles revenue stream depends heavily on extracting whatever info it can about you.

Update nobody take the 1.0 release if my phone is fine which it has been then I wait till we are a couple of points further on sensible with any operating system android or iOS.

In the end it's not religion it's a phone

strumjoughlamps

olafgarten said:

I would use an iPhone if you could properly manage files and if Apple reduced restrictions on apps. You can't get a decent web browser on iOS because Apple only allow using Safari. 

I use chrome on iPhone, works just fine

stickyfiddle

dindude said:

Depends what's important to you. Childs play to use and not being plagued by malware, shit apps etc is exactly why I stick with IOS. On day to day usage this is much more important to me than customisation. 
I agree that Apple and its products isn't quite the company it was.
Not sure how reliable (by reliable as in doesn't slow down or crap-out over time) Android is these days (haven't had one for years), I do know that my works windows phone is atrocious for reliability and its a bitch to use.
I've had my iPhone 6 for over 2 years now and its as good as the day I bought it, I will get at least another year out of it and when I sell it on I know I'll still get a very decent price. 

Completely agree. 

I have a mac and an ipad so I'm getting the "full package" of usage and integration, but I'm the first to suggest the Apple of today is not as good a company as the Apple of 8 years ago, but the iPhone is generally still a great product. 

I do think the iPhone 7 headphone thing is a mis-step but I'm also pretty sure the company is so big and powerful that the market will change to adapt, for better or worse.  I also think removing all ports bar USB-C on the new Macbook is stupid and unnecessary. The endless quest for "thin" at the expense of usability is way past reasonable.

But iOS still works great in terms of delivering what I need from a phone. 

strumjoughlamps

stickyfiddle said:

I do think the iPhone 7 headphone thing is a mis-step but I'm also pretty sure the company is so big and powerful that the market will change to adapt, for better or worse. 

But iOS still works great in terms of delivering what I need from a phone. 

this was my main gripe when it was announced but I adapted as soon as I heard how much better the included lightning connector headphones are compared to the previous versions, and I use the little included convertor for my main headphones and iRig2 and both are working fine.

Sporky

I've just gone back to Android. Massively better. The interface is much better designed in pretty much every respect.

1) You can click into the middle of a word to edit a typo.
2) You can have three ringer modes all accessible from the volume button - ring, vibrate or silent. Only two on iPhone? Rubbish.
3) You can put things wherever you want on the desktop.
4) If I say I want to use a 3rd party keyboard it lets me, and doesn't randomly remove it.

I've never had an issue with malware, but I did have iOs regularly break apps and functionality.

Strangefan

That's the other issue for me,  Apple made a big thing  about 3rd party Keyboards,  but they were all just like skins over the default keyboard ,  no difference in functionality,  and non could be resized,  etc.

I'm glad I tried ios but I'll never have another one,  ever.

It feels so dated. Like going back to symbian 

Danny1969

I'm the least fashionable person in the world so the design in terms of looks doesn't come into it with me ... A phone is a tool like a drill to me. However I do like things to be made well and the metal bodied iPhone is the best built phone in terms of design yet still the easiest to repair 

OS wise somewhere between iOS and android would be nice but as a muso who uses a phone for IEM control and recording IOS I think iOS has the edge in terms of compatibility .... There's still a lot of desks that don't work with android 

thomasross20

Android

Strangefan

dindude said:

Depends what's important to you. Childs play to use and not being plagued by malware, shit apps etc is exactly why I stick with IOS. On day to day usage this is much more important to me than customisation. 

With android for every one crap spp theirs a thousand brilliant ones,  they have pretty much the same apps as the ios app store, just a bit more rubbish,  which is easy to ignore. 
There is no issue with malware as long as you stick to the play store,  

But just like a jail broken I phone if you side load you will get trouble. 

In the last 8 years I have not had one malware issue,  and actually don't know anyone who has.