![Linkovery is an Online Desktop for Applications [Video]](http://cdn.thenextweb.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2011/06/0129-480x245.jpg "Linkovery is an Online Desktop for Applications [Video]")
With the release of Android 2.2 (also known as Froyo) less than a week ago, the iPhone-Android battle has kicked into high gear.
Apple’s newest OS, iPhone OS 4.0, has been in beta among developers since its announcement in April and has won plaudits for its new features, such as multitasking and folders. However, Android users are quick to point out that many of the features now available on Apple’s device have been available on Android phones for a while now.
Here at TheNextWeb, we’ve mulled over the upsides and downsides of both Operating Systems and we’re pleased to present a roundup of the strengths and weaknesses of the newest versions of Android and iPhone OS.
Multitasking
The biggest advantage that Android users (and Motorola Droid commercials) have lorded over the iPhone has been Android’s ability to multitask. Android has had this ability since Cupcake and Android fans have been quick to mention this as one of the main reasons that they bought the phone.
In iPhone OS4.0, Apple has finally caught up to Android in this regard. And in theory, they have actually passed Google’s product here. While both systems provide the ability to receive notifications in the background, some say Apple’s solution is more clever.
David Quintana took an in-depth look at the the differences between the iPhone’s multitasking and Android’s multitasking and found some interesting results. Since the iPhone’s architecture doesn’t require services to complete certain kinds of tasks in the background, it is less complex to code for a multitasking app.
The biggest advantage that Apple’s solution has, though, is that suspended apps don’t drain the battery with data calls. Because of the way that the iPhone OS is designed, suspended apps cannot poll services like Twitter and Facebook for updates. Instead, when there are updates, they are sent to the phone via push.
Android doesn’t have this restriction. When there are multiple apps open that can make these calls, battery life gets sapped quickly. While this is not necessarily a common issue for well-designed apps, it can be a problem.
The Winner: 
While the iPhone’s multitasking solution may be more effective, it’s also long overdue. Rather than calling this close battle a push (no pun intended), we’re awarding this first round to Android.
Apps, Apps, Apps
Apple’s success with the iPhone has largely been due to the pull of Apple’s App Store. The store, which is the undisputed leader in app sales, ran over its competition when it was introduced in 2008.
The introduction of Android Market, though, has changed the App scene on mobile devices. For the first time, Apple’s App ecosystem actually has a legitimate competitor. As of the beginning of the month, an estimated 60,000 apps are available in the Android Market.
Unfortunately for Google, Apple still makes that look like child’s play. At the beginning of this month, Apple reported that their store has over 200,000 apps available for download and has served a staggering 4 Billion-plus apps downloads.
Despite this overwhelming success, Apple’s ecosystem still has flaws. The App Store’s application process tends towards the absurd and arbitrary, with apps such as iFart being allowed in while Pulitzer Prize-winner Mark Fiore’s app NewsToons being disallowed. Certain types of apps that thrive in the Android Market (like tethering apps and Google Voice) are nowhere to be found in the App Store. Apple has also been accused of imposing puritanical morality on the App Store, banning apps with any nudity, including newspaper apps.
Problems aside, though, the App Store has the Android Market whipped. Sure, the App Store has its share of crApps. And the Android Market does have most of the big apps that the iPhone has. But the quality of many apps for the iPhone, especially gaming apps, blows away the Android Market’s offerings.
The Winner: 
Score one for Steve Jobs and his turtleneck. The App Store is still head and shoulders above the Android Market. Although the Market is growing quickly and is doing quite well, it still has a ways to go to catch the App Store. As Android gains steam, though, the Android Market could slowly start to reel in the App Store.
The Harware Behind The Software
Android phones come in all sorts of different flavors. Some are touchscreen only, some have full keyboards; some chug along with a 528 MHz processor while others rip along with 1GHz Snapdragon; some have low-resolution resistive touchscreens, while others have high resolution screens with multitouch.
This variety makes Android accessible to all price points, a valuable thing in a recession. Indeed, Android phones can be found (with special deals) at as low as $19 with contract (and it was a Droid, no less).
However, this type of ecosystem is also a problem. The Android experience will vary considerably from a Droid Incredible or Nexus One to a HTC Dream (or lesser Android device). This, in turn, makes it slightly more challenging for developers to make apps that fully take advantage of Android’s power.
Indeed, Google has indicated that Froyo will not work for certain phones, namely the HTC Dream. As it currently stands, Android handsets are spread across four major versions, Cupcake (1.5), Donut (1.6), Eclair (2.0/2.1) and Froyo (2.2). This fragmentation of the OS across handset manufacturers seriously hamstrings developers because they are still forced to (at some level) develop for four platforms.
By contrast, the iPhone’s hardware picture looks significantly less complicated. There will be only 4 generations of the phone by the time iPhone OS4.0 releases, the hardware differences between the original iPhone and the 3G are essentially non-existent, and Apple has already bitten the bullet and announced that certain apps (games, mostly) will only work on 3GS phones and up.
This doesn’t make it any less annoying that iPhone 2G users are left out in the cold with iPhone OS4.0, especially given the phone’s similarities to the iPhone 3G, which is supported.
In this way, both the Apple and Google approaches are wrong. Both companies are seemingly arbitrarily punishing older device owners (iPhone 2G and HTC Dream owners, for example) with their newest software releases. Despite the fact that the hardware in both older devices is essentially identical to upgradeable devices (the iPhone 3G and the HTC Magic), the new devices will receive the new Operating Systems and the old devices will not.
The winner: Draw
Both companies’ hardware strategies have advantages and disadvantages. The seemingly arbitrary control over upgrades present in both companies’ ecosystems just ends up hurting their potential consumers though. There’s a fine line between reasonable forced obsolescence and absurdity and both companies come down firmly on the absurdity side.
Browsing and Flash Mobile
One of the biggest features that Google has touted with Froyo is its speed. Froyo’s compiler is faster than Eclair’s, its launcher is reportedly speedier than Eclair’s and Android as a whole supposedly feels speedier.
Google also made the bold claim at their I/O conference a few weeks ago that Froyo’s browser is the fastest mobile browser in the world (a claim which Opera has mercilessly mocked). However, some independent speed tests have backed this claim up. Despite the fact that the Froyo browser sometimes gets confused by banner ads, it has proven itself speedier than the iPhone’s Safari browser.
Or at least it did without Flash turned on.
Flash has been one of the most heavily-hyped features that Froyo has brought to the table. Finally, there’s a way to play Flash games and view Flash content on a mobile device (in real Flash, not Flash Lite).
Flash elements appear to load snappily and play very well on a Nexus One (as seen in this video). There is also the option to have Flash elements load on demand, rather than playing automatically.
However, when you add Flash to the speedy browser, it suddenly becomes a lot less speedy. It gets bogged down in loading Flash content, such as dynamic banner ads and browsing suddenly becomes much more clunky. Scrolling is jerky, things take much longer to load, and content plays back slowly in many cases.
Sure, it’s certainly a good thing that Android gives you the option to have Flash. One of the things that has been most annoying about Apple’s recent anti-Flash stance has been its nannying behavior, telling the users what they should and should not be able to run. However, after seeing Flash’s beta implementation in Froyo, it’s hard not to think that Steve Jobs was at least a little bit right.
The Winner:
Sure, it’s a kludgey solution. But for better or for worse, Android is treating its users like adults by letting them decide what they want to run on their device rather than nannying the users out of running programs Steve Jobs doesn’t approve of. This is an admirable goal, and hopefully Flash implementation will improve with subsequent updates.
Voice Control
Both Android and iPhone OS include the ability to control their respective devices with voice commands. However, there’s a huge gulf in functionality. Put simply, Android slays iPhone in the voice control stakes.
Sure, the iPhone’s implementation of voice control looked pretty cool when it came out last year. Time has proven that it was a feature that needed to wait until it was fully baked. Trying to play one artist would often result in playing another, asking to call your aunt could result in calling your boss; these errors will be familiar to anyone who’s ever tried to use the system.
How the iPhone's voice control works in theory
Google has even managed to prove that it wasn’t a hardware issue. Google’s iPhone app has a version of Android’s voice control baked in to it and the accuracy with which it is able to understand queries is amazing. It’s even able to understand queries in other languages (sometimes). This makes it clear that Apple’s to blame for the lackluster voice controls on the iPhone 3GS.
As a simple measure of how much of a difference there is between Android’s voice implementation and the iPhone’s, just ask an Android user how often they use voice-to-text or voice controls. The answer will certainly be a greater fraction than those that use the iPhone’s similar features.
Even the fanboys at Cult of Mac are getting a little jealous. They said, “(it) just makes the voice control app’s flaws that much more prominent — it’s like a holdover from a Moto Razr that somehow snuck onto my iPhone. It’s not even good enough to use in the car — too great a risk of calling the wrong person.” And honestly, who can blame them. I’m jealous too, as are many iPhone users.
The Winner:
This is one of the areas where one side clearly destroys the other. Apple has a few similar areas in terms of media-playing ability and apps dominance, but Android makes Apple’s voice control efforts look amateurish by comparison.
Music, Movies and Photos
By contrast, Apple has absolute dominance in media playing and control. iTunes, as problematic as it can be, is still the gold standard for music playing, sales and importing (despite what our own Alex Wilhelm has said). The iTunes store has sold well over ten billion tracks.
Video is a similar story. The breadth of content out there for iPhone’s closed ecosystem dwarfs anything else. In fact, when iPhone OS4.0 releases, it will likely bring even more content to the iPhone in the form of Netflix.
But playing media like this is only the beginning. Apple’s devices also provide a much cleaner photo-viewing experience than similar Android products, especially given that the iPad’s improved photos program will likely make its way to the iPhone in iPhone OS4.0.
The Winner:
Apple wins this round easily. It just has better media controls. That’s what it knows best.
Aesthetics
Android has taken big strides from its first releases in terms of aesthetics. The first release of Android, 1.0, was much less-polished than the comparable iPhone at the time.
Since then, Android has steadily reeled in Apple in and has really made a legitimate case for Android.
However, there’s still a pretty considerable gulf between the two. While it’s difficult to tell whether or not the folders system and the ability to change backgrounds in iPhone OS4.0 will end up being an aesthetic step forward or backwards, it’s still pretty clear that Apple would have to make a major misstep to be overtaken by Android’s interface for this release.
That’s not to say that Android’s interface is bad in any way. In fact, it’s clearly a legitimate competitor to the iPhone’s interface. It’s smooth, slick and looks pretty good. It’s just that it seems like Apple still has a nicer, cleaner feel in their OS.
The Winner:
Android has made lots of progress in catching up to Apple’s largely unchanged aesthetic. However, there’s a good reason why few changes have been made so far. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” seems to be Apple’s philosophy.
New Features, New Beginnings?
Both Froyo and iPhone OS4.0 roll out some new features to their users. But, at least from what we’ve seen so far, the two companies are taking very different approaches to their new OS.
Google has treated Froyo as a chance to go back and fix problems and glitches, while introducing tweaks under the hood of the OS to improve speed. This is exemplified by Android’s new compiler, its new V8 Javascript engine and other tweaks here and there that have pared a lot of fat out of Android.
Froyo also brings the compelling addition of Microsoft Exchange support, which sweetens the pot for office environments looking to ditch their Crackberries for something newer. When you add this functionality to the Flash support and mobile hotspot support that Froyo also adds to Android, it makes for a compelling argument for the OS.
Apple has taken an entirely different tack, though. Where Froyo is an incremental change over Eclair, iPhone OS4.0 is a paradigm shift over iPhone OS3.0. OS4.o brings some features that bring it up to Android’s standard (like multitasking), while completely moving the goalposts on others.
For example, where Android has introduced Exchange support, Apple has beefed up their office environment support by allowing for multiple Exchange accounts. Where Android has introduced a compiler that speeds up gaming, Apple has released an Xbox Live-like matchmaking system.
Whether this tack will benefit Apple is yet to be seen. The betas of iPhone OS4.0 have given us some clues as to what’s under the hood, but it will be tough to know for sure what’s in there until we see Steve Jobs speaking at WWDC next week.
The Winner:
Android makes a really good argument. It will definitely sway people towards Android in the near future and will likely rise to challenge Apple’s new-found smartphone dominance. However, Apple’s strategy seems to have worked. We won’t know for sure for another week, but it looks like Apple has made a very good argument for going iPhone.
However, it’s entirely possible that Apple has screwed up again. After recent breaches of protocol, Apple is looking much more human than they normally do. It remains to be seen if their big gamble will pay off, but if recent results are any indicator, it would be unwise to bet against the guys from Cupertino. Therefore, I’m giving this particular battle to Apple, by a nose.
So where does that leave us? It’s hard to say for sure. Android has become a much meatier competitor to the iPhone. Previous releases of Android were just that little bit too clumsy to really catch on widely. With Froyo, it looks like Android’s hit has finally come. It’s snappy, responsive and looks good enough to win away many users disillusioned with Apple’s smartphone dominance.
However, Apple is refusing to rest on their laurels. Sure, they’re doing quite well, but they understand that Android is quite appealing and that it will only grow as a competitor. As such, they understand that they need a winner with iPhone OS4.0 to keep the momentum on their side.
And from early reports, it looks like they have that winner. iPhone OS4.0 catches up to Android in fields where the iPhone had lagged while leapfrogging Android in others.
What does all of this mean for the consumer? It means that this is an incredible time to be in the market for a smartphone. The new iPhone will undoubtedly be a killer device. The newest Android devices have also proven to be pretty slick pieces of kit, too.
Which device you’ll want to buy is something that will vary from person to person. Do you value the ability to carry around all of your music, movies and games? Then you’ll probably want that new iPhone. Do you want the ability to create a mobile hotspot, to text hands-free and play stuff at addictinggames.com on your phone? Then you’ll want that Android device.
Even if you have a good idea of which device is right for you, give the other side’s device a try. Who knows? Maybe, like Robert Scoble has recently discovered, the Android device will be a revolution for you. Maybe you’ll decide that you want to ditch your Droid for the new iPhone. Both sides have the potential to surprise.
Thanks to Nowpublic, GDGT, Gizmodo, Perivision, PalmNewsDaily, Quickpwn, CustomerParadigm and Geeky Gadgets for the images.
Like what was mentioned at the OS4 keynote address: “others have had multitasking around for a while, but we’ve done it better”. But the feature that impressed me most was the demo of iAds – it’s now really clear how AJAX and HTML5 can make interactive Flash ads redundant!
Googles voice recognition is very impressive though.
In re: Flash bogging down the browser, one of the best features I have found is that you can turn Flash on, off, or make it “on demand.” That really helps with the browser speed, being able to load only the Flash elements you like.
Good point. I’m sick of people bringing up the Flash 10.1 thing. First of all you can turn it off if you want to. ITS AN OPTION! HELLO! Or you can switch it to On Demand. WOW ANOTHER OPTION. That slows down the phone crap is the weakest argument against flash there is, right next to the video can be choppy. It’s a damn phone geniuses.
good article although I don’understand what you mean about being able to carry around movies, music, and games for the iPhone. its pretty obvious you’re not completely familiar with android 2.2. Movies: I don’t know if you know this but you can actually put movies on your SD card, but wait there’s more. Are you familiar with megavideo? yes, the application that allows you to stream movies for free as long as you have flash player on your phone. well android 2.2 allows streaming of megavideo content music: did you see the i/o conference in which it was said that users of the operating system will be able to stream music from other devices and once again you can put music on your SD card. storing of games: yes, android 2.2 will allow users to move game downloads to their 32 gb card which means we will actually be able to share our games with other android users…can the iPhone do that? basically, I’m saying android beats the iPhone OS in any aspect you mentioned as a reason to buy the iPhone. otherwise, good article.
Daniel, I’m aware of that. The thing I’m saying is that Android’s media control functions are pretty clunky when compared to iPhone’s. Sure, you can do all kinds of cool stuff on SD, which I loved when I had my old RAZR2 V9. However, Android’s music, video and picture applications are just really ugly and lack a lot of the functionality of the iPhone’s. I guess this is just a bigger deal for me since I use my iPhone as my primary portable media player. Lots of other people still use iPods or other stuff.
Well Put Daniel Well Put Enough Respects
Okay when it comes to Apple products you gotta hand it to them for the hardware and developments.
But software wise I don’t give a rats ass about it. Their software is nothing new or innovative or how they put it “WORLD CHANGING”. They take the common things and just add the Apple “grey tint” to them, host a a keynote making the fan boys all happy and jolly.
But to be honest I live in Toronto, here the iphone is disgustingly everywhere. When the first one came out it was a “Rich” “Business Person” icon now its nothing. Everyone has it and cause of they your not unique. This is where I think Android beats the Iphone, Android has variety and is not a control hog like Apple,
I just can’t wait for Apples flash substitute, here comes another world changing innovation LMAO.
I’m not sure you should be bringing up media control in regards to an Apple product. That’s an oxymoron considering all the content an Apple device gets of another device has to run through itunes. And as for ugly and clunky; when’s the last time anyone really cared “that much” about what an application looks like vs what it does? Who stares at a music player while its playing music and if you don’t like what the player looks like on the android I can find you 30 others media players for music or videos not only on the android market, but also on the internet (we don’t have to get all of our content from the android market cause were totally open)
Dan, I am aware that iTunes is clunky. I agree. It is. But the thing is that the iPod part of the iPhone is still absolutely great at what it does and I’ve yet to see a third-party app approach the slickness of Apple’s product (and I looked through Android review sites to find the best alternative) and it seems like many people agree with me here. Some Android users have told me that the best alternative is Tunewiki, which I also have for iPhone. While tunewiki has some nice functionality, like scrolling lyrics, iPod for iPhone still eats its lunch.
I never said that Android didn’t have its upsides. It does. However, the consensus among techbloggers (TNW, Giz, TC, Engadget) is that the Android’s media player needs to get an upgrade badly in the next update.
Awesome article, very fair and comprehensive. I always run to Jake for all advice technical!
Interesting article. I have had my iPhone 3G for a few years now, and quite frankly, have become annoyed at how closed it is. Even jailbreaking it doesn’t give me the functionality I need. I have briefly tried Android phones, and although it ain’t as pretty as the iPhone, it gives me that much more freedom for me to play around with.
While some will be happy with using the iPhone, others, like me, want to mess around with their phone and push it to the limits. Besides, using something that’s open source makes me all warm and fuzzy inside.
Multitasking: so, even though you admit that the iPhone version is better, you let Android win because it had it first…
Flash: I think I agree with your outcome here. Yes, you openly admit that Flash screws your phone over and makes it as slow as a really slow thing, but the user has that option themselves. If Apple did this it would easily shut people up. Personally I’d leave it turned off, but the option would be nice for the tiny tiny number of sites that I could do with Flash…!
“Froyo also brings the compelling addition of Microsoft Exchange support” – only now? Wow, iPhone OS had this since summer 2008! I would have thought this would have made it as one of the rounds? I.e. ‘business use’ of the device.
I have both a HTC Hero and an iPhone 3G. I prefer the iPhone, in all honesty, because of the ease of use. I blogged it the other month when I tried to love my Android again for a few weeks! http://maft.co.uk/musings/2010/simplicity-friend-or-foe/
I’m sick of people bringing up the Flash 10.1 thing. First of all you can turn it off if you want to. ITS AN OPTION! HELLO! Or you can switch it to On Demand. WOW ANOTHER OPTION. That slows down the phone crap is the weakest argument against flash there is, right next to the video can be choppy. It’s on a phone genius, not a high powered computer.
Great, comprehensive article. For the techies, though,I’d mention the Google commitment to continuous upgrades. The systems seem to be improving constantly. Also, have you tried using the Droid as a GPS? It’s nothing sorry of amazing. It’s free, intuitive, and in some cities includes traffic, even bypassing road closures.
I run my Droid rooted, and have had USB tethering and wi-fi hotspots since Eclair. With Setcpu, I’ve overclocked to 1.2GHz. Great developers have released rooted operating systems as well.
There are many comparisons that the iPhone can’t even bring to the table. I will grant you that the iPhone still rules in apps and media player, but I’d put good money on Android catching up.
Still,a great, informative, article. Thank you for an objective viewpoint.
One person’s ‘nannying’ is another person’s freedom from threat.
Power users are always going to feel constrained to Apple’s limitations. Ordinary users who just want a phone that works and adds some neat applications will find that suits them just fine.
Some coverage of how (or whether?) Android protects against the threads of malware or ransomware would have been appreciated.
That was the theory in russia :)
So…. we have to run Antivirus software on our PHONES, because of a fear of a political system that ceased to exist almost 20 years ago?
;)
Well, since a majority of malware creators are Russian and Eastern European in origin, I would say yes!
Android has a more mature security model than Apple’s iPhone OS by quite a way. From the kernel up applications are sanboxed from one and other. Furthermore applications on Android have to request permissions for various functions (location, address book, internet) from the user when they are installed. Hence no stealing of people’s data and sharing it without anybody knowing (like on the iPhone).
Thanks for the information. I see two difficulties:
1) Sandboxes surely limit integration? One of the most frequent requests I see on the web is from users is improved inter-app interaction.
2) It is often very difficult to determine the impact of the permission being requested and (on a multitasking system) what app is requesting the privilege. It’s bad enough on desktops, how can it be made manageable on a phone?
Obviously, one of the biggest determining factors for which phone to use is the carrier.
The fact that Verizon (and other) now has a legitimate alternative to the iPhone is wonderful for those of us unwilling to switch to AT&T.
Indeed. If we are going to talk about non OS specific things like the Apps available and Flash then you MUST address the network and Verizon is staggeringly better than AT&T.
That isn’t always the case. I’ve had Verizon and AT&T….they both have dropped calls
“Because of the way that the iPhone OS is designed, suspended apps cannot poll services like Twitter and Facebook for updates. Instead, when there are updates, they are sent to the phone via push.”
….which requires ‘always on’ connections – I think the marketing is a little misleading.
“Froyo also brings the compelling addition of Microsoft Exchange support…”
I have 1.5 (Cupcake) and it’s got MS Exchange support through ActiveSync?
Why did I get an Android-based phone? I don’t like Apple’s ethos, I don’t like their tie-ins and I think that the more ‘open’ devices support all the same features as the iPhone for less money and more flexibility, this will become more evident in the future as people realise the mobile media is not exclusive to Apple.
Competition is healthy for tech.
“….which requires ‘always on’ connections – I think the marketing is a little misleading.”
Push will always beat Pull. It’s the reason that Blackberry dominates in the email game. It’s quicker, easier on the battery, and more reliable.
Also, it requires an always-on *connection* (one to apple’s server), NOT connections (multiple to multiple servers)
Your argument on “Aesthetics” and “New Features” are entirely off base. In particular — aesthetics are purely based on opinion and I happen to find the Android aesthetic far superior to the iPhone UI paradigm actually. In terms of new features — all Apple has managed to do (so far) is play catch up to existing features in Android…and yet you give them the edge?
I’m going to go ahead and say your logic is obviously biased and flawed.
First is not always best. Everyone knows that.
There’s also the point that you can change the aesthetics of Android considerably with different home screen apps, whereas you’re stuck with whatever Apple gives you with the iPhone, whether you like it or not.
So let me get this straight….the iPhone’s multitasking is more effective and less draining on the battery but Android wins because it had it first?
Really?
No one has any idea how efficient (efficient how?) nor the effects on battery life yet. Let’s see what OS 4.0 does on an iPhone 3GS. Basically we need to compare OS 4.0 on the 3GS not the soon to be released phone as we haven’t really seen a new generation of Android devices yet that use Froyo.
We’ll need to compare OS 4.0 on the iPhone 4 vs. a next generation Android phone with Froyo on it to get a fair idea of how new hardware + new OS actually fairs.
Iphone’s multitasking isn’t true multitasking…. If I’m running a newsreader app that I want to run in the background and pull data, you can’t do that with the new iphone.
I run SFTP server from my android phone, so it’s running and I mean truly running in the background. I select what runs full, what doesn’t. When it goes into standbye it kills background stuff I want it to, I can click on a icon and kill background tasks if I want.
Iphone looses multtasking big time. Not until it does true multitasking
Good. I want to be able to disconnect my phone from a power supply and walk around (hint: MOBILE phone).
Hence ‘true multitasking’ is the last thing I need.
Wait a moment… you’re running an SFTP Server from your phone?
Right… and your priorities relate to the other 99.999% of smartphone users how, exactly?
I think he was as unbiased as he can be. It’s like living in the USA and telling people how much better it is than Japan if you’ve never visited or lived there. I think he did a fair comparison for what he knew or read and his opinion was iphone is better.
I disagree and think android is a billion times ahead
I somewhat disagree with the Media section of this article. HTC’s default player just works great for me and I think it has a better feeling than Apple’s – except the coverflow-like homepage which is a bit confusing to handle at first.
And I’m not even speaking of iTunes in this (my main reason NOT to get an iPhone actually, since all my computers run Linux).
DoubleTwist is infinitely better than iTunes. iTunes is a reason in itself to never use an iPhone/iPod. DoubleTwist just added support for searching the Android market within the app.
I would like to see a real world cost breakdown of typical a iPhone vs The Others user. Meaning original hardware cost combined with typical monthly operational costs including apps.
I think the results would be revealing.
I am guessing that our author here is an iPhone owner? That is why I can’t stand these comparison articles. Bias comes in to play too much.
The bottom line:
iPhone paved the way for the touch screen multimedia phone market. Google took that infrastructure and honed it into an incredible and diverse system that is being adopted by multiple carriers throughout the world. Apple has only got AT&T and Verizon (although not just yet).
Android offers diversification throughout the phone market that will constantly be upgraded. Apple remains in it’s narrow niche.
Winner: Android.
For the record I am a Nokia E71 user. My opinion is not based upon any bias.
I just want to point out that saying “only” AT&T and Verizon is not true. If we’re speaking worldwide (as you did regarding Android), then the iPhone is available on countless networks. Take Canada (where I live) the iPhone can be used on all of our GSM networks. Just because the Apple made a deal with AT&T in the US does not mean it did the same anywhere else. Keep that in mind.
You can buy lots of content for your iphone but only through itunes, and you have to synch it through itunes, and mnage it through itunes, so calling it portable is really not quite correct is it, content on the iphone (and before you ask I have one) should be better thought of along these lines. You have content on your computer at home which you can temporarily keep on your mobile device, but that device will always be chained to the computer. With Android you can put it on without using an itunes like program (and isnt it nice that the cable ARE NOT proprietary) manage it buy it delete it your choice you get the content on your device how you want and manage it how you want so in that respect the media features of Android are light years ahead of the way apple thinks (notice I said thinks because this chaining of the device 1 computer and 1 computer only is apples choice and you get no say).
As for the programs multi tasking have unnecessary data calls which drain the battery what about the animations for everything which are unnecessary and use up processor cycles there by draining the battery in Android you can turn them off if you want on the iphone you cant. I have had both and I have to tell you the Android (HTC magic) had battery life the absolutely destroyed the iphones. As for the aesthetics dept, the iphones aesthetics are plain and boring in my opinion while Android has tons more interesting and varried aesthetics, but then again thats just my opinion so it doesnt matter. Since it is subjective this should not even be a category. The fact that the iphone won when clearly it shouldn’t have leaves me to believe that Jacob Friedman has no idea of what he’s talking about.
Thats gotta hurt!
I have a htc legend, and my wife has a iphone 3g and I simply can’t stand the friekin’ apple thing – every time i switch back to my android phone i feel so much more comfortable. I hate iTunes – I can’t understand why anyone can love it – There are so much stupid solutions that I have to google to understand some of them (like ringtones, ebooks and don’t get me started about ringtone trimming) – and I’m freakin’ ‘IT guy’ – I can’t understand how can you mod you iphone if you are not one (or apple geek). unless you are buying all the stuff again and again – you want a ringtone of a song you have bought – buy again.. you want ebook that you have bought on your PC – buy it again for iphone (yes – now, after half an hour of trying and cursing, and then googling i know how to do this – but ffs – on my legend – you simply put the ebook to your sd card’s import folder, and import – that’s freakin’ it)…
anyway it’s starting to be a question of religious nature ‘android vs iphone os’ – but hell if i would have to choose a religion – i would choose the open one, not the one that knows better than you what _you_ want.. oh wait, we have couple of those=)
it’s not clear that multitasking on the iphone is more clever… it attempts to limit the possibility of rogue applications consuming system resources from the start by making applications follow strict rules on how processes get executed. Android, too, attempts to restrict wanton use of system resources but is less restrictive in its implementation. In some respects, Android is more flexible but puts more responsibility on developers to use resources wisely.
The problem as I see it…
With a droid phone your stuck with the OS that comes on the phone you’ve purchased. To get a different revision you have to buy a phone that uses it. And hopefully your carrier has phones that do.
Add to the above … will all apps work with the, or all, revisions? If not you could be SOL, and out of money for a phone that doesn’t run your favorite app.
Not with the iPhone or the iPhone OS.
WINNER = iPhone.
FALSE! 1. I don’t know if you’re aware of this but there’s something called “upgrading the OS on the phone” and if not then you can root the phone. 2. Also it is false to say that every application works on every iphone because iphone 3gs supports some applications that Iphone 3g does not.
* Carrier and hardware permitting
Which is why some 70% of devices still run 1.x
I guess your new to androids. They push updates through the air (OTA), so people get updates to the operating system. I believe the G1 has had 3 pushes so far.
You can root certain phones in 3 minutes and put any custom android ROM you want on the phone.
Way more operating system freedom and choices
Cool – I guess you’re volunteering to talk my Aunt/Cousin/Brother-In-Law though the process of rooting their phones (hint – this is a phone we’re talking about) and agreeing to support them with any problems they may encounter.
That’s mighty neighbourly of you…
Funny, I just upgraded my HTC Hero from 1.6 to 2.1 OS. Your lack of knowledge of Android relieves you of your ability to “judge” a winner.
Plus, if I was willing to root my phone, I could get Android 2.2 on it right now.
Also, I’ve yet to pay money for any app on my Android phone, so if I was in a situation where an app wouldn’t work with my new OS, I wouldn’t be out any money.
you’re forgetting to mention that any app purchased on android (ANY APP), is re-fundable within 24 hours. So you have 24 hours to test an app and as soon as you uninstall it you’re refunded your money
You can also refund apps bought for the iPhone through iTunes (and i believe you’re given more than 24 hours)
Thats true but its a hassle
While I know it will only be announced next week, you forgot a major points for most people – Price (Android wins this hands down), and update frequency, while Android may currently lack the beautiful media player, it will be updated at least twice before the 2011 WWDC.
What I would like to have seen is a graph of # Apps on the app store and market to see the growth as a comparison.
Personally I don’t agree with accepting Steve Jobs as my lord and saviour, so its Android for me whatever is announced on the 28th.
These days everyone writes about some kind of comparison between Android and iPhone, but at the end the author comes with very weird way of rewarding the compared features.
The author is claiming that the Multitasking for iPhone OS4 is better however he rewards the android because iPhone’s multitasking is “longer overdue”.
When comparing the apps it is being pointed how much crAPPS there is in the apple store and the censuring issue, but the feature is being awarded to iPhone. I understand that iPhone has 200K apps and Android ONLY 60K apps, but quality is not a reason for the decision.
you can’t compare the app market either because android users don’t have to get their apps from the Android Market we can get apps that aren’t on the android market by going online. All iphone users have to get their apps through the apple store. So there’s not telling how many apps android actually has.
edit: meant “quantity” not “quality” in my previous post.
I jailbroke my iPhone just so I could sync over wifi via rsync and scp. The fact that I have to void warranty to get rid of the cables and iTunes is completely lame. It is like buying a car and the manufacturer tells you it will only run on their gas. Because of iTunes and the fact I have to Jailbreak the iPhone to use it as a computer instead of a dumb appliance is the reason my next phone will run Android. I can’t wait to set up mythtv transcoders to automatically push all of my commercial free DVRed content to my phone.
((( “While the iPhone’s multitasking solution may be more effective, it’s also long overdue.” )))
This is purportedly an article comparing Froyo to iPhone OS 4.0, not iPhone OS 3 or earlier. Why, then, was the admittedly inferior implementation of multitasking present in Froyo declared the winner? Were you intentionally trying to skew the results, so that Apple didn’t receive the lion’s share of the accolades? That decision makes me question your judgment and impartiality.
Everybody is upset about the multitasking, the author should have written in the conclusion that the iphone doesn’t truly multitask, it might save batteries, but if you want to multitask in that you want things accessing resources, then you want that.
On my android I have applications running on the background doing things constantly. I don’t believe iphone’s multtasking is going to even allow you to use pandora and opera at the sametime. I wish I was kidding, but iphone is not truly multitasking. So the author is right on about the android being the winner.
Steve jobs just told people it’s multitasking, but it doesn’t really do true multitasking like you do on your computer or android users do.
You’d think the author was making fun of Daniel’s mom or something because he’s getting so angry. Iphone is better, end of story. Sorry Daniel, but droid doesn’t quite cut it. And whoever posted about Steve Jobs being lord and savior, what do you think google is quickly becoming? You guys just whine whine whine and argue about what is better, but at the end of the day they’re very similar products with unique features. Iphone is better though, droid kinda sucks. Oh yeah….just Daniel you need to stop taking everything personal
way to bring up so many great points about your iphone, idiot. Iphone is better, based on what, idiot. Droid sucks? based on what idiot. Your comment is unsupported because you’re an idiot.
who said anything about the droid dumbass. He’s talking about the android OS. They’re not similar products because you guys can only choose one phone from one manufacturer and one cell phone provider. Where as android has many phones from many manufactures and is supported by the 4 major cell phone providers. You’re a clown
A nice overall look, but you’re wrong about “leaving old devices in the cold” for the iPhone OS. Not in that old devices will have crimped functionality (that will always be the case), but that they’re holding back features “just cuz.”
The major component you’re missing is that multitasking is out on the 3G as well as the original iPhone, and the reason is because both have only 128MB of RAM. I don’t think there’s a firmware feature missing on any device that isn’t attributable to lacking specific hardware. (Even Voice Over support that only the 3GS got in Firmware 3.0 was due to a particular chip being added.) The older phones will be slower-and-suckier for certain things due to slower CPUs as well, but so long as they have the hardware to handle it, Apple leaves the feature in.
Can’t really prevent that kind of thing from happening if you’re going to keep advancing the hardware, though.
I have the HTC Hero and have recently purchased an iPad and I have to say I like having two different devices. Obviously direct comparison is difficult but iPhone OS feels a lot tighter and more controlled and subsequently provides a much more consistent experience. Whereas Android feels more grown up and adult.
I for one am going to wait for android 2.2 on a next gen device and iPhone OS4 on the new iPhone before I decide what’ll have my money, but what I am sure of is that they both still are leaning towards different markets. Android = Open and cheap(er) which means you’ll mainly get a combination of techy people and people buying for economy on the bandwagon. Whereas you ask ‘joe public’ “what is a good smart phone?” because of advertising and limited experience they say iPhone is the best. Which isn’t too far of kilter as for most people the iPhone is easier to use and many users don’t care for Wireless tethering and web browser which could be a few ms faster. The fact is the iPhone is well polished with great apps and for many people thats as deep as it goes
you haven’t pointed out enterprise features mentioned in iPhone OS 4.0 keynote…encryption standards for enterprise users and all.
The biggest problem with android i see is the updates…HTC users just because of custom sense UI are not even able to upgrade to Froyo…same is the case with Droid users and others…while in case of Apple iPhone the new updates come immediately.
I simply don’t want to wait another 6 months for HTC/Moto/… to develop the solution and then give me the updates.
Second that!
thats obviously going to be remedied given that fact that fact that google won’t be selling phones anymore. HTC phones in the future will more than likely have the option to turn off their UI sense or simply team up with google and make sure the updates come to their phones readily.
You don’t here about many people switching to Iphone since 2.2 came out…you don’t even hear about people switching to iphone since android 2.1 came out.
Considering if you want the iphone OS you must use AT&T or maybe Verizon one day, I can’t understand how the iphone wins out ever. Restricting a OS to 1 or 2 carriers just doesn’t make sense. Oh sure you can buy an unlocked Iphone, for close to 600 dollars, but that also doesn’t make sense.
It also doesn’t make sense where A already has a feature and improves on it. B Doesn’t have a feature and finally adds the basics of it .. OH WAIT B is BETTER. That is a logical fallacy.
It sounds like 4.0 has made huge strides, but I’d rather keep my cellphone company then ever go back to AT&T, a company who repeatedly overcharged me, changed my services with out my authorization, and then incorrectly changed it back.
Because to most of the world – i.e. most potential buyers – the carrier restrictions in the US just don’t apply.
Interestingly, the biggest issue with the iPhone moving away from AT&T seems to be that it only currently supports GSM which, while ubiquitous in the rest of the world, is the minority technology in the US.
Missed the Cloud Computing API which I believe was the biggest underlying factor for Froyo to wake up ! Or was this missed intentionally?
Ok, so the article is not totally unbiased, but as comparisons go, this is definetly one of the better ones. I think the author was pretty upfront and fair about the majority of Pros & Cons of both systems.
Personally I own a Nexus One running 2.2 and it is the best phone I’ve ever owned. Many of my iPhone owning friends have recently switched to Android for many of the benefits already highlighted here (and in the comments), however many people will still prefer the simplicity of the iPhone. Both are great phones. My general opinion is a jack of all trades is invariably king of none, so while iPhone can do many things great, Android can do even more things very well.
You’re totally correct. I honestly think without some of the functionality that android 2.2 has, iphone is in a lower class. At this point it is pretty much a phone to phone comparison between android phones. Until we see what Windows 7 phone series brings.
I like that I can tether my iPad to my Nexus One.
Win = Android
shannon, who wouldn’t. I think iphone OS users are communists sometimes.
Only in the US, of course. In the rest of the world Android has been playing catch-up on tethering.
android is a year and a half old, I wouldn’t exactly call it playing catch up. Iphone started the whole touch phone thing, and they’re still slouching
Google’s Andy Rubin apparently said today that they hoped to settle into annual updates to Android.
So, apparently, Google reckon slouching is good. Not surprising I guess when 2/3rds of Android users are still on Version 1.
Ummm, you forgot to mention the part when he said, “when things slow down.” Gingerbread (2.3) is still coming later this year. Read a little more thoroughly.
@Name:
Exactly. Google’s ideal pace is identical to what Apple (with that extra head-start you mentioned) is currently doing.
are you arguing that apples weak ass updates once a year is something that superior to android…okay, you can have that. That’s such an awesome feature. Wow! They update their OS once a year. That’s so innovative and awesome! I’m gonna go get myself an Iphone right away. Wait, I’m with T-mobile. I can’t do that, and neither can anyone else that doesn’t have AT&T which charges an arm, a leg and an ass for less.
@Name:
Look at the bigger picture: The phone carriers need people to sign up to long contracts (2 years or so) so they can fund long-term development of the wireless infrastructure.
6-month phone update cycles are a disaster for them as it discourages users from signing up for a long time. After all, who is going to sign up to a contract knowing that they’ll be 4 versions behind by the time they can upgrade.
The iteration rate will slow, because everybody in the industry wants it that way.
Thats a cop out argument. The 6 month updates come at the expense of selection. There are many devices to select from, its up to the buyer to get the most powerful or relevant phone that is currently on the market. It might be unfair to some, but not to all. Besides phones get rooted everyday. It takes 5 minutes to root a phone, its not hard at all. Look around the internet and see how many phones already have 2.2 on them and it hasn’t even been officially released yet.
@Name
I seriously believe that rooting phone means that it’s no longer a phone. It’s a tiny PC that makes phone calls: Great, but no longer a mobile phone.
It’s like driving your car around with no dashboard – just a bunch of wires hanging out, and trying to claim that what you’re driving is representative of what came off the production line. It isn’t.
Fine for geeks, but smartphones aren’t selling by the million to people like you who want to root the phone. They’re selling to people who want their phone to make their life easier.
You’re not the target demographic if you root your phone.
Mr. Hamilton, be real. This is the iphone vs android comment forum. Anyone on this forum wants their phone to have as much functionality as possible. I might not be the general target audience, but I am most definitely the target for smart phone users solely because I want my phone to function like a laptop. This isn’t the flip phone forum. So while you’re correct about most people just wanting to use their phone, on this forum everyone wants high functionality; otherwise they shouldn’t even be commenting on this forum.
@ Name :
True. Which is why there is often such a large divide between what people say they want on forums such as this and what the public actually goes out and buys!
Well you can’t condemn the forum. We’re a different type of audience for smart phones. Everyone on this forum should have some sort of general interest in purchasing either the top android phone or the latest iPhone. I’m only arguing with people who actually believe iphone OS has more capabilities (overall) than android OS. Because I believe Steve Jobs has brainwashed people into thinking his products are the best by constantly bringing up how much iphone has sold instead of actually coming up with legitamate reasons for his products being better. I mean Britney Spears sold over 85 million albums. Is her music quality? Hell no. She’s just been marketed better than most. The only thing I can say good about apple in regards to android is that they market better. But thats it. The actual products speak for themselves. Android is a better OS.
@ Name :
Fun though this is, I have work to do, so I’m afraid this will be my last contribution:
1) I wasn’t condemning the forum, merely pointing out the ‘impedance mismatch’ between the two different groups.
2) As mentioned in the D8 interview, Steve Jobs/Apple invented the idea of a buttonless, touchscreen phone. That’s not brainwashing. That’s inventing something new. No iPhone = No Android.
3) I think the competition is good, that Android is a great OS and that they’ve done a really good job in a short time. However, for me the brilliance in any device is based not in the features they put in, but the ones they leave out.
Hence you and I will always disagree: You like features, I dislike unnecessary complexity.
That’s why choice is great – we can both be happy!
FYI: Android Inc was founded around 2003, and bought by Google in 2005.
The Open Handset Alliance was announced in November 2007.
Where does 1.5 years come from, exactly?
when the first phone was released, when did the iphone come out 2007. The fact that android OS has surpassed the iphone’s OS in functionality makes your argument even weaker than it originally was
@Name:
You’re relating the timeline of development of Software features to Hardware release dates. On an open platform where the interface between the two is defined.
Let’s not take anything away from Android: they’ve done very well, but even you will have to admit that it’s easier to copy than develop original ideas.
no one is copying anything. The purpose of android releasing software updates once a year (in the future) is to compensate for the many manufactures that develop (and will be developing) handsets for the android OS. Hardware is going to change all of the time. Fact of the matter is the iphone’s 4g’s hardware will still be inferior to the hardware of the android devices now and definitely 3 months from now. The iPhone only has one manufacturer which means they should be releasing updates at a far faster pace than android does. Once again that’s Apple doing something that makes no sense
@Name:
For most people, we’re talking about a mobile phone that runs some cool apps. Do you think that the thought that occurs to most people is “This needs more power”.
No. They think about reliability. They think about battery life. They want their desktop to sync seamlessly with the phone. Etc
You might want to play phone ‘Top Trumps’ (my phone has a faster processor than yours). Most people just want to use the phone.
I really enjoyed the article and it was a legit comparison and seemed pretty unbiased.
I would disagree on a few points and one is the market. If apple has 6 billion applications, it doesn’t make it a better place to get applications. For instance way before flash came out on android officially you could use skyfire app, which was a workaround for flash. There’s probably half a dozen browsers you can use that give you functionality that you want without apple saying what can and can’t be in the market. Iphone users got excited when they were actually able to get another browser and when they got opera, which is a joke, because android users have so much to select from even firefox has a port.
I just don’t see how you can say one market is better just based on numbers. Another argument is that there’s been polled and the percentage of free applications for android is double that of the iphone. When applications are free more people will install and use them. Iphone the majority of the apps that aren’t on both, cost money.
Even Steve jobs has been hit many times, because they don’t allow non-approved/signed apps in their market. Can you imagine if your windows computer or what ever operating system you use and you were told only something approved can be installed, wouldn’t it drive you insane? It’s why I can’t agree about the marketplace that iphone to me is by far behind android’s market as far as what you get. Easy point is name an app that gives you great functionality on the iphone that you can’t get on the android. Android users will quickly tell you easytethering/pda nets that doesn’t require rood access.
This might not be hardware, but how about using your iphone as a usb thumb device? How about getting a 600MB ISO file you want to transfer from one computer to another with the iphone? You can’t do it as far as I’m aware, which is a huge disadvantage in my opinion compared to android’s open freedom of using your device. Another point is that the new EVO does 720p, which might not matter to many people, but when we’re talking about gaming and video quality it might, then if you get a cable, now you have a media center phone that you can connect to your television and watch movies when you travel.
It would be really nice to carry an EVO on traveling trips, use their superior GPS and when at a hotel, plus in the evo, let it charge and let it play a movie for me on the television there at the hotel.
As far as new features with android their GPS navigation is blowing people away with it. Each time i see a person using it in their car I’m really impressed with it and it’s something that should probably have been mentioned in the new features, but either way the points were well put together.
The price of being able to get the android for 19 dollars was a very good point, but it should probably have been mentioned the monthly cost, because iphone users are paying a lot more for their iphone than android users on average. Sometimes up to double the monthly price.
Media support for both is horrible, so I would have done a tie there. But until a device can play anything i through at it, containers/codec like xvids/divx, ogg, flac, mkv, wmv then it’s still not there yet.
Awesome :-)
Why are you guys showing a prototype Android phone from 2007? That phone is horridly ugly, was never released, and isn’t even sporting Android 1.0! That was a joke. This entire article is a joke. You talk about iPhone “leapfrogging” Android in features, but demonstrate none of these supposed features. iPhone does not and will not have true multi-tasking. It’s gimped. The hardware for Android is far ahead of the iPhone 3GS, and what we’ve seen for the iPhone 4.0 (Think Samsung Galaxy S, EVO 4G). It’s no where near a draw. You also fail to mention any sort of review of carrier choice or data pricing and coverage. Diversification is a benefit of Android and the main reason why it’s selling faster than the iPhone. Your Music, Movies and Photos portion totally ignores hardware -camera resolution and sensor, as well as multimedia recording and playback (think SCREEN SIZE and display), Android wins hands down. The iPhone has the most boring screen in the industry next to Blackberry. Android has had live folders for a year now, wallpapers since inception, and iPhone 4.0 still won’t have live wallpaper- put my Nexus One next to any iPhone (since they all look the same) and we’ll see which phone people say “oohhh, aww” about. LIVE WALLPAPERS people. You also ignore the power of widgets and a customizable homescreen- clearly the result of looking at things through an iPhone lens.
The bottom-line is that no one buys a phone for the OS alone. It is the OS, the hardware, and the telecom service that makes the phone experience. Only iPhone fanboys argue the way you do.
Other things you conveniently ignored:
Free turn-by-turn navigation
Visual search
Removable batteries
Unlimited memory storage via apps-to-SD
More powerful processors
Dedicated back button
The compiler works across ALL apps, not just games, making Android the fastest mobile device on the market (including iPhone 4.0)
Tethering and wi-fi hotspot to power your laptop (or iPad) and avoid additional data charges.
It’s a good thing consumers don’t look through an iPhone lens like you do.
that’s just to name a few. One thing Iphone can’t do is download more than 300kb from an email attachment, and thats one of so many its hard to mention. I’ve done that on an htc hero, using the sprints network, before with a file that was 10MB. There’s really no comparison. Android phones are in a class of their own right now. The only phones that should be compared are android phones with other android phones. iPhone users have been brainwashed by for too long. It’s hilarious how a person can even argue for the iPhone (OS) right now. Its so restricted in so many aspects, and its all apples fault.
You literally just killed it. I read every comment and this is the best. Totally agree though… while I was reading the article, I was wondering when they’d show the actual hardware specs and camera specs. Most phones with the Android OS conquer the iPhone in both.
Erm can you make phonecalls on them?
yes you can
You can make calls with both but once again the Android would beat the iPhone. I left my 3GS for a Nexus One and the noise cancellation in the Nexus One makes for an amazing phone call. You might as well be speaking through mud when on an iPhone.
Android FTW
checkmate
Checked that out, and it does sound like that’s a really useful feature. It would be great if it were copied by the iPhone (as is rumoured) and the rest of the Android market. Hopefully it will be.
Unfortunately, it looks like the Nexus One is being marginalised, having been dropped by Sprint and Verizon.
That’s the danger in giving consumers choice: They don’t always make the right decisions!
Android is Buddhism, iPhone OS is islam. Open vs closed. Choose a side, I know who I chose…
Um, you do know that these are just phones – right?
Iphone is for those who need to hold a hand when venturing into the infoway. As usual apple is there to extort… capitalize on those who fear technology.
Android seems to be the ticket for the tech savy hackers that want to customize their experience.
iphone will keep you safely behind the fence. android lets you thumb ur nose @ the copyright dino’s.
Not an unbiased article as all info on the droid was gleaned from other reviews, author is an ifan.
I hate itunes therefor I select hardware that is free from it’s restrictions.
iPhone = poser Droid=Geek ???
I don’t have either but the comments here have helped me decide.
I’m sticking with the phone in the kitchen.
I think the idea of trying to choose the best phone OS is kind of silly. The only thing that you can do is choose the best one for specific people. They each have their strengths and weaknesses. Instead of saying iPhone wins! or Android wins!, why not just write an article that explains where the differences are and let the readers decide who wins for themselves?
thats actually a sensible solution.
I enjoyed reading this article very much and have to agree with almost everything. I just switched from iPhone 3GS to Androind 1.6 (for now on Sony Ericsson’s Xperia) and saw many improvements. However, I think by the end of the year or maybe by mid next year, Android will surpass the iPhone OS by far. Time will tell!
I have Nexus Froyo 2.2 and I have to agree that iPod part of iPhone is MUCH better then anything on my Nexus. How hard is it for developers to make something similar with video and audio podcasts integrated ? Also iPhone is superior in Games (at least now….I dont play games, but i think this is a fact) I also wish that some apps that have been on iPhone for YEARS can come to Android…….but they never do (ex. I ski, and I need app that has all info on ski resorts and as of today Android STILL does not have one)
In terms of user interface, I think Android is MUCH better then iPhone…..its not even close thanks to all cool and useful widgets. Android also has many killer features like custom ROMs, ability to share apps, get refunds for apps purchased, you can actually get all paid apps for free :) if you wish (but you will not receive updates)
ps. I also love that I get updates on Nexus month(s) before they officially get released. Some people still wait for 2.0 and I have been on 2.2 since day 1
Great article. Thanks for writing this. Another area that you gently touched on for android is (in the U.S.) the availabilty to choose from more than one carrier. Here in the (U.S.) the iPhone offers consumers to choose only one carrier. With android you have a greater range of carriers to choose from, which also opens up the possibility of using a carrier that offers better monthly value pricing. In a recession this is a strong agrument to make for consumers looking at how much money a smartphone will cost them every month after the device is purchased.
the only reason I wouldn’t ever get into Apple’s trap is ATNT contract. Andriod apps are still long way to go, but I can wait.
I have the nexus one with froyo. Only thing I miss from my previous iphone is the polish in interface. Button, text boxes and details look much better in iphone apps.
“2) As mentioned in the D8 interview, Steve Jobs/Apple invented the idea of a buttonless, touchscreen phone.”
Doesn’t it have a back button? You couldn’t exit half the apps without it, unless you took the battery ou-oh.
I like the comparison, I still feel like my Moto Droid on Android 2.1 still beats out iPhone 3Gs and the Droid X will anihilate iPhone 4G.
I can see lots of people who are saying iOS is a joke. That’s not entirely true, because the apps you use on Adroid are mostly some rip-offs of App Store apps, and most of them don’t look as polished as iPhone apps. The other reason I think iOS is better is because it’s MUCH more simple to use. But that’s just me. So what im really trying to say is that, Android is for hackers, techs and people who like to customize every bit of their phone, and iPhone is for people who like gaming, and also people who want simplicity.
He tenido un iphone 3g, una htc hero con android 2.1 y una htc desire con android 2.2, y me decanto por ANDROID siempre!!!!
Droid X + Froyo = “WOW”
iPhone 4 is no match
Nobody mentioned that many Android phones come with a real working KEYBOARD. You can’t get a keyboard on an iphone.