Down and Dirty: The iPhone to Android Switch Top 5
The Bottom Line: I wish my Droid phone did 4 of the things my iPhone did, I wish my iPhone did 25 things my Droid phone did.
It was the unthinkable just months ago, but as Droid powered into a usable OS, iPhone seems to have rested on its beauty…making minor OS improvements while Droid was making leaps. From my experience, even the craziest fanboys are starting to ask themselves. Survey: Consumers More Likely to Buy Android than iPhone.
Does Droid Do? I made the switch to find out.
There are probably 1000s of comparisons of Android and iPhone online, and the differences really depend on what you do with your phone. Since Android is so customizable, any comparison has to have lengthy description of what settings and what apps you have installed. So instead, I’ll do a top 5 best and worst. What I did find out, though, is they are so different you have to use it for at least a week to even figure out how different.
Android Top 5 Features
5) Lock Screen and Notifications - Android uses the full surface of the phone to organize notifications. Pull the list down from the top, get a full listing on your screen, and none of them are intrusive. On iPhone, the notifications tell you little, the lockscreen is useless for info, and be prepared to completely stop what you’re doing if you get a text slammed right on top of your entire screen. The Android maps app even tells you your next turn in the status bar when it’s locked, for example.
And don’t underestimate the ability to swipe left to access more screens..something iPhone doesn’t do.
4) The App Marketplace - while far inferior an experience to actually find apps then iTunes, it more than makes up for it in the ability to sync over air. Browse on your computer and they’ll magically find their way on your phone. No 45 minute syncing sessions, and no dramatic screen animations to install..just downloads in the background.
3) Settings and Customization - There are settings galore for every app and piece of software on Android. Apple assumes that you don’t want or need all that control, but Android assumes you want to perfectly tweak. There are so many settings you’ll see things you never thought “settable.” You can do all kinds of wallpaper, setup “profiles” to change your entire phone setup in a click, or even put custom skins on your clock.
2) Change Stock Apps – While iPhone won’t let anyone touch their text, email, and phone apps, Android lets you completely replace anything on the system. With a little research, you’ll find far superior keyboard and texting apps, or even completely replace the email software. iPhone’s autocorrect is horrible, Google’s is a bit better. But you’re stuck with the iPhone one.
1) Widgets. Though Android has inferior apps to iPhone, the ability to take just the information from those apps and place it wherever you want and organize it makes them exponentially more useful. Those screens full of unused apps you’d find on iPhone are hidden on Android, and anything you need is within the swipe of a screen or right in front of you. Weather, to dos, Facebook feeds, Rdio, turn on wifi or bluetooth, etc. Widgets turn the 10 or 20 apps you actually use and makes them work for you.
Honorable Mention: Google Maps and Google Navigation. Whoa.
Android Top 5 Worst Features
5) App Chaos - Custom keyboards, widgets, and a truly unique phone setup for your use does not come without costs. Sluggish response, weird quirks, app crashes, memory hogs, always running apps – it can turn your phone into a Windows Vista-like machine if you don’t use some caution. In addition, if you use all the fancy custom apps, you’ll find yourself having to open a mountain of different programs to do everything. I have 3 different places I get text messages alone.
4) Facebook - compared to the iPhone version, which is superior to the actual website, the Droid FB app is virtually useless and you can do little in the app that you can on the site. In general, Android’s apps are vastly inferior to iPhone (checkout the Weather Channel app..ouch). On the flipside, there are way more free apps available than iPhone.
3) Battery Life – No smartphone is great on battery life, but unless you’re planning on using Android stock (in that case get an iPhone) all the good times going on in the background kill the battery. With a lot of management and the right apps, it can be minimized, but don’t be surprised if you can’t make it all day with fairly moderate use on one charge.
2) Google – The phone forces you to tie everything into your Google account, meaning everything you type, every place you go, all your contacts are visible to a company that hasn’t had the best track record on privacy. Yes, I know they said that when they collected everyone’s wifi data when making street view that was an accident.
1) Hardware and smoothness: No google phone has yet to come anywhere close to the form factor or stability of the iPhone. From the camera, to the email…they are low featured, but work very well. Google phones tend to be clunky, you can see light peeking around the edges, the touch screen isn’t as responsive, etc. You also feel like there’s a secret science behind the placement of every inch of using the iPhone. With Android it feels like they want you to have everything available, and they slam it all in there the best they can…causing plenty of mistypes, difficulty finding “send buttons” or accidentally finding a send button instead of a backspace button.
Next Blog: Must Have Android Apps
* Note: My comparisons are from having the iPhone 3GS and the HTC Droid Incredible.
The Cloud-Based iPhone..Nano? iPhone 5? Wha?
iPhone Nano’s, slide out keyboards, 4 inch screens, iPhone 5. It’s that time of year again.
Weird news from the iPhone world. While this rumor has been around for years, it’s now been “confirmed” by the Wall Street Journal, which usually means most of it’s legit.
Updated 2/18: There is no iPhone Nano Says the NY Times. But there will be a…..
Update 2/15: Now the iPhone 5 is rumored to be a 4-inch screen but using the same hardware (in a way no one else is able to do now).
Update 2/14: Why there is no way we’ll see a cloud-based iPhone Nano this year. Gizmodo
Update: iPhone 5 mania — slide out keyboard version? Mac Rumors
(note this image is only an “imagining” of what it might look like)
And after the confirmation the news kept getting odder… there will be an iPhone “nano” version that’s cheaper and smaller than the iPhone. Then it was noted it’ll be all touch screen perhaps (no home button, screen takes up almost entire face edge to edge) and now — that it’s cloud based with no onboard storage. (think iTunes streaming and MobileMe).
Some of this makes sense..to attack Android and to utilize the data megacenter Apple just built. And some of it is just a bit confusing.
I’d hope they just focused on making the iOS more innovative and feature rich like Android. They’d destroy whoever else made whatever else. They already do now with their dated mobile OS.
Time to rethink that smartphone purchase for 2011? Nah.
Click the links in the paragraphs above to get the full stories.
Atlas Shrugged Trailer Now Available
Updated: First Thoughts from The American Spectator from a sneak preview
Couldn’t have come at a better time…but is it the right movie? Filmed on a small budget but reportedly true to the original text, we’ll see. While it’s hard to tell with the just-released trailer, it is interesting to see the apparent current-day setting and the teasing as a high-stakes business drama, which may court new viewership to the Ayn Rand classic.
Looking forward to finding out “Who is John Galt” on the big screen, if nothing else. Opens in theaters April 15 (nice touch) 2011.
Atlas Shrugged, Part I Trailer
This Is Your Gmail Inbox. No, Really (Humor)
I’ve seen a lot of these “inbox mockups” that aren’t too funny. But this one was pretty hysterical only because I (and probably you) will find this is EXACTLY what your Gmail inbox looks like. h/t Someecards.com
Bonus: That is also definitely your Gchat.
Click image below to enlarge.
MSNBC Pwnage by.. Jon Stewart?
While generally sitting safely in the leftist camp , the most biting commentary on the administration and left wing media does also tend to come from The Daily Show. To its credit, that’s why it is also one of the top shows on cable due to the possibility you might see something fair on it.
With the departure of Keith Olberman, Stewart broadcast this gem about the truly awkward lineup that MSNBC (which has since dropped to 3rd place behind CNN) is now living with.
For those who hate MSNBC, or those that non-stop rail how ludicrous Fox News is, it’s a must-watch.
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Olbertunity Knocks | ||||
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Superman’s New Identity Revealed
After much speculation, the identity of the new new Superman has been revealed to be British actor Henry Cavill in the (yet another) reboot of the superhero series by Zack Snyder to be released December 2012 in theaters.
A little more exciting this time, with Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight) and Zack Snyder (300) overseeing the project. The last Superman Returns was overly long, underly exciting, and featured the most metrosexual Superman ever. With the wave of superhero movies, hopefully they will come up with something good for the most famous of all. Cavill is best known as Charles Brandon in the Showtime series ‘The Tudors” and looks to be a pretty stellar pick.
He was formerly the top choice for an earlier director who was attached to remake the film a few years back.
While this has the general makings of an exciting new take on the series, the original and greatest Christopher Reeve has yet to be matched, and can be given credit for kicking off the whole superhero movie fad being the first film to announce “You Will Believe a Man Can Fly.” I sure did..and still do.
Tyler Ward – Black and Yellow Rock Cover
I’ll give them a C+ for effort on a cover of the song du jour right now, Black and Yellow. Searched their website, a few interesting covers to check out. I always like instrumental covers of over-electricized pop songs, but unfortunately this isn’t the best effort, though somewhat well produced. Worth a look though.
Go Steelers.
The iPhone Fenceboy Chronicles – HTC Incredible 2?
As an almost iPhone fanboy who likes to keep his options open (a fenceboy, I might be referred to as) more news today in the growing confusion on what to buy and when to buy it. Was pretty warm to the HTC Thunderbolt, now with 3G, 4G, dual core, iPhone 5…it’s almost too much for such wonderfully stupid thing.
Answer – don’t buy anything ever. Re-activate my Motorola Razr.
From Droid Life:
- DROID X2 is rumored to be a Tegra 2 dual-core device. We had heard it was going to be clocked at 1GHz and were initially a little disappointed, but after hearing from one of our guys that it could be dual-core, that speed no longer bothered us and actually made sense. It also will not be 4G just as we figured. A current Verizon timeline has it slated for a May release.
- The Incredible 2 could wind up as a global device. I’m not hearing any signs that it will just be a re-hashed version of the supposedly-cancelled Merge, but another bigger-screened Incredible (4?) with a new radio. Current Verizon timeline suggests a March release date. Seems early? I thought so too.
- And lastly, we’re hearing May for the DROID BIONIC.
The World Before the Internet
For the YouTube frenzied that grew up in the 90′s, this is probably one of the more accurate “Back in the old days….” you’ll ever see.
