Best One: Android and iOS?

[poofyhairguy]

But they ALL still use the same OS. How on earth does Android encourage innovative when I'm getting the same software experience from device to device (other than perhaps a different skin)?

Two things:

1. If the hardware is different then the software experience is different. If I don't have a fingerprint reader, I can't use my fingerprint for passwords in apps.

2. The "skins" as you put it are hugely different experiences. Touchwiz looks as different from the OS on the Nexus as it does iOS. Or heck one of those Chinese phones skinned to look like iOS are much closer to the iPhone. The only real similarity in Android is the Play Store.

You focus too much on hardware, which hasn't been of much concern for many years now.

You say that, but hardware is still driving the bus. How come my iPad Air 2 will do split screen but the iPad Air 1 or the iPhone 6+ can't? Because the difference in the hardware (namely 2GB of RAM). It still matters, even in iOS.

What's severely lacking is software innovation

Lets break down that statement shall we?

Which OS allows for competing app stores, iOS or Android? The answer is Android.

Which OS was the first to allow split screen app use on a mobile device? Once again the answer is Android, Samsung in particular.

Which OS allowed you to use third party keyboards first? Android again.

Which OS had a notification shade, or widgets, or quick toggles first? Android, Android, Android.

Which ecosystem had a watch OS first? Android

Which ecosystem has VR support first? Android.

Seems to me that Android is leading the way on mobile software innovation.

I guess you could say innovation would be greater without Android, but I would disagree. Android allows many mobile device makers to standardize on apps so the focus can be elsewhere. Without that unified app marketplace a lot of R&D intended for "innovation" would be spent trying to cross that divide, like whatever resources Blackberry wasted to get their phones to run Android apps.

You may wish to reasses your priorities when it comes to buying smartphones and stop focussing so much on hardware features and instead look at software, which is the most important aspect of our modern consumer electronics devices.

I honestly can't think of a SINGLE example the last couple of years where Apple has innovated in SOFTWARE. Sure they roll out more refined versions of what Android has- Apple Pay has more retailer support, or the Apple Watch is less beta than Android Wear was last year- but I don't see that being innovative. That is being derivative. Yet you say someone like me is standing is the way of innovation, when I bought a Wear Watch before ANY Apple person could buy an Apple Watch.

I think you need to re-evaluate your perspective if you think Apple is some amazing software innovator in this segment. Ever since Steve died it has been one safe play after another, with the biggest innovation/choice being what color watch band to buy. Hell, iOS's whole look- the flat UI since iOS 7- is just following the industry trend of UIs going flat because of Windows Mobile. Tell me, how could Android rip all the innovation out of the market if third place can influence first place like that?

I think you overstate both the positive impact of Apple and the negative impact of Android.

 

[poofyhairguy]

My statement has and will continue to be that Android has effectively strangled the smartphone operating system market by being free. And that stangulation of the market has led to hundreds if not thousands of devices all running the same operating system. The market would be much more varied and much more innovative if instead of having one enormous homogenised operating system we had multiple effectively competing operating systems.

Do you also think that Microsoft killed innovation in the PC market by giving away Windows "for free" with new PCs? Because that is the EXACT same situation.

I've absolutely no idea why people interested in technology would be advocating a world of fewer choices over a world of more choices. Why on earth would you want the only choice to be Android?

I don't think anyone wants that. I like iOS in some cases, I am glad it exists. I would welcome any new mobile phone OS, I would love an Ubuntu phone.

The problems isn't that Android is too cheap, it is that Windows Mobile and Blackberry never caught up after the race began. Windows Mobile could have been a competitor, but MS kept putting off adding needed features. Blackberry focused on a tablet instead of their phones, and it almost killed the company. That isn't Android's fault.

Serious question, if I wanted to start a software company and make a smartphone operating system, how would you propose I do that?

Ask the guys behind Sailfish, they have found a way to make a smartphone OS with limited resources.

I get what you are really asking "How could a make a smartphone OS that competes with Android?" And the answer is you can't. Unless you can find a way to magically put a million apps in your app store any new platform faces that chicken and egg app situation. THAT is the real barrier to entry in this market- your app store will never be good enough. That was the problem with the Fire Phone.

BUUUUUUT that isn't unique to Android. iOS has probably the best app store and Apple doesn't give its OS away for free. What gets you apps are users, and what gets you users are product quality.

Maybe, just maybe, if some company came out with a better OS than iOS or Android by a lot it could take a chunk of the market. Problem is such an OS would take billions to develop, which means you can't do it. But you couldn't compete in the desktop OS or the car market either, that is life.

 

[Bradtech519]

I bought a Samsung Galaxy S6 Active, and came from an iphone 5s prior to it. I think iOS has a more consumer friendly and fluid ecosystem. I've had to find 3rd party podcasting apps and have some app crashes from time to time. Some apps I prefer on iOS but others on Android surprisingly are better. That being said Android has more options, and diversity. The battery life and camera on this thing are awesome. It's water proof, and a beast. I love not carrying a charger with me or worrying about battery life while out fishing. I can see why some people do prefer iPhone though.

 

[Crono]

I bought a Samsung Galaxy S6 Active, and came from an iphone 5s prior to it. I think iOS has a more consumer friendly and fluid ecosystem. I've had to find 3rd party podcasting apps and have some app crashes from time to time. Some apps I prefer on iOS but others on Android surprisingly are better. That being said Android has more options, and diversity. The battery life and camera on this thing are awesome. It's water proof, and a beast. I love not carrying a charger with me or worrying about battery life while out fishing. I can see why some people do prefer iPhone though.

Have you tried Podcast Addict? I haven't had any crashes on it (if you have, it might be device/Samsung specific issue).

 

[sweenish]

The lack of critical thought appears to be coming from the Android side in this thread.

My statement has and will continue to be that Android has effectively strangled the smartphone operating system market by being free. And that stangulation of the market has led to hundreds if not thousands of devices all running the same operating system. The market would be much more varied and much more innovative if instead of having one enormous homogenised operating system we had multiple effectively competing operating systems.

I've absolutely no idea why people interested in technology would be advocating a world of fewer choices over a world of more choices. Why on earth would you want the only choice to be Android?

And how are you not seeing your own hypocrisy? Apple running the joint is NO DIFFERENT. It'd be far worse. Your support of Apple CREATES the scenario you don't want.

 

[poofyhairguy]

I've had to find 3rd party podcasting apps

Pocketcasts. You will thank me later.

 

[Bradtech519]

Have you tried Podcast Addict? I haven't had any crashes on it (if you have, it might be device/Samsung specific issue).

I started using podcast republic because it will use username/password settings for premium podcasts that require monthly subscriptions. I tried beyondpod and it crashed on me all the time. I've had a couple other apps crash which I don't consider a big deal but others might when making a comparison. To me the benefits of the battery life, and customization are king. Which are tied to the hardware of the phone & Android. I do like iOS though and never really had any problems with it other than battery life & size which are limitations of the hardware. I didn't want the 6 plus and the 6 didn't offer anything but a bigger screen & same battery life. It took the Samsung Galaxy s6 active coming out that seemed to be made for someone like me. Which spends a lot of weekends outdoors and away from a charger.

 

[Bradtech519]

Pocketcasts. You will thank me later.

I'll check it out and thank you now!

 

[poofyhairguy]

I'll check it out and thank you now!

It seriously is the best money I have ever spent on an app.

 

[Zahid Iqbal]

i think android is the best one

 

[Red Storm]

i think android is the best one

There was zero need to bump this thread. I wish the mods would cut down on some of these pointless threads...

 

[sweenish]

My Android set is as smooth as the same year iPhone, it's also just as janky. And yes, iPhones can jank, and crash.

With that said, maybe I should just start another thread. Because we obviously love this discussion so much that we can't keep it contained. I'll need a new title to stand out from the others, though.

Maybe "Why my opinion based solely on my usage and experience is much more informed than whatever opinion you have and you should just do what I'm doing because my personal experience obviously applies to all people of all types because I am the center of the universe."

 

[dawheat]

My Android set is as smooth as the same year iPhone, it's also just as janky. And yes, iPhones can jank, and crash.

With that said, maybe I should just start another thread. Because we obviously love this discussion so much that we can't keep it contained. I'll need a new title to stand out from the others, though.

Maybe "Why my opinion based solely on my usage and experience is much more informed than whatever opinion you have and you should just do what I'm doing because my personal experience obviously applies to all people of all types because I am the center of the universe."

While it would likely turn into a flaming pile of doo doo, I'd rather just have one sticky thread as a catch all for "what should I buy". So general iOS vs. Android threads, open ended questions about which phone to buy, etc can all go there.

Any general threads get closed. Specific experiences, upcoming devices, specific features, etc discussions are fine (e.g. iPhone 6S/Plus thread, content blocking, Nexus 6P/5X thread etc). Just don't turn it into the same iOS vs. Android arguments that have been posted 10,000,000,000,000 times.

 

[Artdeco]

There was zero need to bump this thread. I wish the mods would cut down on some of these pointless threads...

The thread bumper is "cough cough," "different"

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2449766

 

[poofyhairguy]

While it would likely turn into a flaming pile of doo doo, I'd rather just have one sticky thread as a catch all for "what should I buy". So general iOS vs. Android threads, open ended questions about which phone to buy, etc can all go there.

Any general threads get closed. Specific experiences, upcoming devices, specific features, etc discussions are fine (e.g. iPhone 6S/Plus thread, content blocking, Nexus 6P/5X thread etc). Just don't turn it into the same iOS vs. Android arguments that have been posted 10,000,000,000,000 times.

You know we bitch about those kind of threads but this is EASILY one of the more active forums probably for that reason.

When the mods killed the Xbox/Ps wars the console forum basically died.

The splitting of AMD and Nvidia into camps is slowing down the VG&G forum.

Maybe we shouldn't be so quick to want to kill the iOS/Android flamewar. I think most of us handle ourselves pretty well in the middle of it, and it draws in people who maybe don't care about HTC's results last quarter.

I mean, we are a bunch of dinosaurs anyway trying to argue on a webforum when most people have long since moved to Twitter or Reddit. Dividing into camps of intense brand loyalty is as old as technology itself (Thomas Edison's goons vs everyone else). Lets keep the party going!