I owned an iPod Touch for about ten months, before handing it over to a daughter, where upon I have owned a Galaxy S Vibrant for the last three months. (I'm saying this so that you know I have experience with both iOS and Android OS.)
In many areas, iOS and Android devices are similar:
- Physical size
- Screen resolution
- Many apps are similar or identical
- User interface and touch controls are similar
- Interactivity between apps
- Task switching and multi-tasking
- Movie and still camera, GPS, Bluetooth, WiFi, phone, sensors, compass, etc.
- Pricing is similar
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Yet, iOS lags. From my experience, there are ten areas in which Android is better than iOS. (Some of the features described below may be specific to Samsung devices.) Here is my list:
10. Flexible User Interface. Android lets you choose different interfaces (called "launchers"), keyboards (I have four installed, but primarily use SwiftKey, $3.99), screen fonts, widgets, shortcuts, and live backgrounds. I don't like Apple's cold brushed-metal interface; I do like Samsung's custom interface for Android. (Indeed, it is so nice that Google is adapting parts of Samsung's GUI for future releases of Android.)
Apple limits iOS to a single user interface.
9. User-replaceable battery. When I travel, I use my portable devices a lot, so they need to have long battery life (like 33 hours for my Sony MP3 player) or have replaceable batteries. On a iTouch or Android, I typically go through 1.5 battery-charges a day. When traveling with iOS devices, you need to carry along external rechargers and then wait for the recharge to complete, which takes hours; for my Android phone, I just replace the battery and I have my instant recharge.
iOS devices lack replaceable batteries.
8. Full Access to All My Data. You can access all drives, folders, and files on Android devices. They can be accessed on the device itself, or through a connected computer, via USB or wirelessly. While Android has specific folders for movies, music, photos, and so on, you don't need to place any file in any specific location. That's because MediaScanner knows the location of all files. In contrast, Apple sandbags files to prevent one program from accessing another's data.
iOS does not allow you to access all your folders and data.
7. Instant Google Synchronization. When I first got the iTouch, I spent a half-day moving all my contact and calendar data from my Palm to Google. (The time was not in moving the data, but finding effective solutions to automate the process. I have 600+ contacts and 14 years of calendar data.) I could access this data on the iTouch, but was frustrated with the painfully slow and non-automatic synchronization. On the Android, synchronization is near-instant and invisible.
iOS syncs slowly with Google Mail, Calendar, and Contacts.
6. Shortcut Folders. Shortcuts allow you to access sub-sections of data stored on the Android device. (They are sometimes misnamed "folders.") The one shortcut I use lists starred contacts, in effect a mini-list of frequently called people in a quickly-accessible list. I like it, because it reminds me of the shortcut buttons on old Palm devices that instantly accessed the calendar, contacts, and so on.
iOS does not support shortcuts.
5. Alternative Distribution of Apps. You can install apps on Android from any source: the official store, from independent Web sites, side-loading from your PC through the USB cable or wirelessly. Android uses package files (also used by Linux and OS X.) My first disappointment with iTouch was when I learned CAD vendors could not simply send me their iOS apps to test; I'd have to buy them through Apple's app store. Unimaginable! And then there was that unfathomable bloatware known as iTunes.
Apple limits installation of apps and other files through iTunes and AppStore.
4. No Limitations on Apps. There is (almost) no limit to what kind of app can be made available for Android. Want an alternative keyboard, new interface, interesting UI font, better Web browser, or just a simple WiFi checker? Except for recently allowing alternative Web browsers, Apple allows none of these. The iOS experience soured for me when Apple pulled WiFi managers from their store; fortunately, I had downloaded one the week before. (When roaming with a portable Internet device, how is one to live without a speedy WiFi checker?)
Apple limits the content of third-party apps, and removes them from distribution retroactively.
3. More Apps Free. Some 2/3 of Android apps are free, which lead some iOS boosters to condemn the competition, saying it was proof of Android's impending failure. ("If developers can't make money from selling apps, then they won't develop for Android.") Then Angry Birds came along and made $1 million a month from the ads in their free game on Android. The anti-Android crowd forgets that there is no market for iOS developers in the areas of alternative keyboards, launchers, widgets, et al. In any case, I cheerfully pay for all apps that I find myself using regularly.
Approximately 2/3 of iOS apps are not free.
2. Widgets. Widgets are small-interface programs that run on the screen, covering the area of three or four or more buttons. Widgets let you see data instantly, without having to launch an app. One of the widgets I use is CheckItOff (free or $2.99), which lists the next 4-5 appointments. Others include The Weather Channel Widget, Samsung's dual timezone widget, and a retro-style date widget.
iOS does not support widgets.
1. Status Bar. The Android feature I use the most is the pull-down status bar. The right end of the bar displays icons indicating missed calls, new emails and messages, recent tweets, completion of software installation, and so on. Drag down the status bar to see more information about each item; press the item to directly access the app that generated the alert. I find it interesting that the status bar has become the primary interface for me.
iOS's status bar is not interactive.
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In summary, Apple is user-hostile.
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