iPhone 4.0 vs Android 2.1

[KevinJ]

My brother - an iPhone user since the first one came out - told me that the 4.0 update "doesn't do anything special that your phone (my Droid) does already."

Just glad to see he's not embracing it like the rabid iPhone fanboyzzzzz.

 

[jsh1120]

Apples big advantage is its smoother UI, Droid just can't compare (please no "my Droid runs as smooth as butter" replies). I do believe Android phones will perfect this ( I have yet to use a Nexus One so I could be mistaken). That being said, I'll take true multitasking over a smoother UI any day. Not to mention since I've gotten 2.1 I haven't needed to recharge my phone more than once a day which is awesome.

After reading more on the iPhones "multitasking" capabilities its really a slap in the face. Not to mention those who use an iPhone 3g will have to buy a new phone if they want to use 4.0 even though the phone is capable of doing everything needed to run it. Another way Apple tries to get more money out of you. Reading posts on Mac boards, I've seen people angry over this update over its poor push notifications and limited "multitasking". Not alot of iPhone users are really praising this update it seems, 4.0 is still far behind that Android 2.0.

I suspect that the only solution to a "smoother" user experience in the Android environment is more memory and faster processors.

I'd suggest, though, that most consumers don't share your willingness to "take true multitasking over a smoother UI." (This comes from having designed UI's for a lot of years.)

What my (and many others') experience suggests is that a user wants "predictable" response from a UI even if it sacrifices speed and background processing. Thus, a user will put up with a 4-5 second wait after a selection if it ALWAYS takes 4-5 seconds. (And a 4-5 second wait is a LONG wait, trust me.)

What most users find disconcerting is a UI that responds in 2 seconds sometimes and 4 seconds at other times. This suggests to a user that something is "wrong" with the device. It's really the same psychology that restaurants use when determining portion sizes. Fewer customers will complain about a small portion than about receiving a large portion at one meal and a smaller portion at another.

That same psychology is apparent on this board. I think you'll find that many more users complain about inconsistency than consistently slow responses on their Droids. That's because users really have no idea how long a process should require in the abstract. But once an expectation is created, variation tends to be disconcerting. And like it or not, the multitasking design of the Droid leads to such inconsistencies and variability.

 

[JonKyu]

My brother - an iPhone user since the first one came out - told me that the 4.0 update "doesn't do anything special that your phone (my Droid) does already."

Just glad to see he's not embracing it like the rabid iPhone fanboyzzzzz.

There was an article on the net (can't remember which site) that had a list of what iPhone Users want in the new iPhone OS, after reading a few on the list I kept thinking "Oh so they want it more like Android?" lol :greendroid::heart:

 

[spillner]

Apples big advantage is its smoother UI, Droid just can't compare (please no "my Droid runs as smooth as butter" replies). I do believe Android phones will perfect this ( I have yet to use a Nexus One so I could be mistaken). That being said, I'll take true multitasking over a smoother UI any day. Not to mention since I've gotten 2.1 I haven't needed to recharge my phone more than once a day which is awesome.

After reading more on the iPhones "multitasking" capabilities its really a slap in the face. Not to mention those who use an iPhone 3g will have to buy a new phone if they want to use 4.0 even though the phone is capable of doing everything needed to run it. Another way Apple tries to get more money out of you. Reading posts on Mac boards, I've seen people angry over this update over its poor push notifications and limited "multitasking". Not alot of iPhone users are really praising this update it seems, 4.0 is still far behind that Android 2.0.

I suspect that the only solution to a "smoother" user experience in the Android environment is more memory and faster processors.

I'd suggest, though, that most consumers don't share your willingness to "take true multitasking over a smoother UI." (This comes from having designed UI's for a lot of years.)

What my (and many others') experience suggests is that a user wants "predictable" response from a UI even if it sacrifices speed and background processing. Thus, a user will put up with a 4-5 second wait after a selection if it ALWAYS takes 4-5 seconds. (And a 4-5 second wait is a LONG wait, trust me.)

What most users find disconcerting is a UI that responds in 2 seconds sometimes and 4 seconds at other times. This suggests to a user that something is "wrong" with the device. It's really the same psychology that restaurants use when determining portion sizes. Fewer customers will complain about a small portion than about receiving a large portion at one meal and a smaller portion at another.

That same psychology is apparent on this board. I think you'll find that many more users complain about inconsistency than consistently slow responses on their Droids. That's because users really have no idea how long a process should require in the abstract. But once an expectation is created, variation tends to be disconcerting. And like it or not, the multitasking design of the Droid leads to such inconsistencies and variability.

I totally agree with what your saying. Despite what is said about both phones it will always come down to preference. The iPhone is more appealing to most people because of its polished UI and ease of use. However, I haven't met anyone who wasn't really impressed with my Droid, even iPhone owners. My biggest gripe with this phone was I had no idea how to use to its full potential when I got it and their was no instructions with it. It wasn't till I found this site that I was able to find out whats the phone is truly capable of, most people would not think to do that. I know alot of people who use this phone pretty much as a "dumb phone" that surfs the net simply because the phone comes with no real literature on how to use it. I suggested to the manager at my local Verizon store that they should run a small "get to know your Droid" class thats free and lets people know how to do all of the amazing things on their phone as well as show perspective buyers on what the phone is capale of, hes currentley awaiting approval from his district manager.

 

[jsh1120]

I totally agree with what your saying. Despite what is said about both phones it will always come down to preference. The iPhone is more appealing to most people because of its polished UI and ease of use. However, I haven't met anyone who wasn't really impressed with my Droid, even iPhone owners. My biggest gripe with this phone was I had no idea how to use to its full potential when I got it and their was no instructions with it. It wasn't till I found this site that I was able to find out whats the phone is truly capable of, most people would not think to do that. I know alot of people who use this phone pretty much as a "dumb phone" that surfs the net simply because the phone comes with no real literature on how to use it. I suggested to the manager at my local Verizon store that they should run a small "get to know your Droid" class thats free and lets people know how to do all of the amazing things on their phone as well as show perspective buyers on what the phone is capale of, hes currentley awaiting approval from his district manager.

A number of VZW stores do run such classes. I know the one here in Redmond Wa does. I suspect, though, that "basic," "intermediate," and "advanced" classes would be useful.

One resource I've found very useful is the "Droid Pocket Guide" by Jason O'Grady, available for about $11 from Amazon. I'd been using my Droid for about 4 months when my wife got hers. Once I configured the phone for her I knew I'd be barraged with questions so I bought her the book.

It's well written, mainly non-technical but not so basic as to be useless. O'Grady is a very good technical writer and manages to be conversational, humorous, and useful. It has saved me many hours of explanation by allowing my wife to "look it up" when she has questions.

 

[iPirate]

Sorry, but until an iPhone can let me use my free turn by turn navigation while streaming Last FM through my bluetooth fm transmitter while my GF surfs the internet in the passenger seat I'll stick with the Droid :icon_ banana:

I will, too. However, I strongly suspect that you are as tolerant of occasional lags, drop outs, and even application freezes that require rebooting as I am. Apple's objective is clearly to sacrifice such unlimited flexibility in favor of a predictable, smooth user experience.

I have only had to pull my battery/reboot 3 times and it was because of the unknown black screen sleeping problem.... I haven't had it in a long time though, maybe 2.1 fixed that

 

[jsh1120]

I have only had to pull my battery/reboot 3 times and it was because of the unknown black screen sleeping problem.... I haven't had it in a long time though, maybe 2.1 fixed that

Mine has been more frequent, most notably while using navigation when it's inconvenient to reboot, much less pull the battery. But I don't mean to suggest it's a frequent occurrence, just that even occasional failures of this sort are far more acceptable to those of us used to the limits of bleeding edge technology than to most consumers.

 

[88g]

Competition between iPhone OS and Android OS is good. As Customer, we can have more and more functions for our phones.

 

[nolanandy]

I totally agree with what your saying. Despite what is said about both phones it will always come down to preference. The iPhone is more appealing to most people because of its polished UI and ease of use. However, I haven't met anyone who wasn't really impressed with my Droid, even iPhone owners. My biggest gripe with this phone was I had no idea how to use to its full potential when I got it and their was no instructions with it. It wasn't till I found this site that I was able to find out whats the phone is truly capable of, most people would not think to do that. I know alot of people who use this phone pretty much as a "dumb phone" that surfs the net simply because the phone comes with no real literature on how to use it. I suggested to the manager at my local Verizon store that they should run a small "get to know your Droid" class thats free and lets people know how to do all of the amazing things on their phone as well as show perspective buyers on what the phone is capale of, hes currentley awaiting approval from his district manager.

A number of VZW stores do run such classes. I know the one here in Redmond Wa does. I suspect, though, that "basic," "intermediate," and "advanced" classes would be useful.

.

this is great, I need to take a class to use a phone now? They should load an apps on the new Droid instead. The marketing team of VZ and MOT sucked!!!. If you look at the iphone commercial, they show simple, basic stuffs compare to the VZ commercial on the Droid. MOT had done nothing to promote their phone, as far as I know, they need to wake up. Google already gave out free OS, why should they advertise their OS on TV.

Android OS eventually will take over iPhone OS in term of number of phones, but only a few phones running Android OS are worth to discuss and compete against iPhone.

 

[LordKastle]

its matters for the sheep and trolls.

herd-like behavior should never influence you.

 

[Lukehluke]

Even though the Android OS is far better than the iPhone OS.

I would like to see Android a little bit more polished as the Iphone OS does "look" better in some respects, even though it has less good features than Android.

 

[gatorbait]

I totally agree with what your saying. Despite what is said about both phones it will always come down to preference. The iPhone is more appealing to most people because of its polished UI and ease of use. However, I haven't met anyone who wasn't really impressed with my Droid, even iPhone owners. My biggest gripe with this phone was I had no idea how to use to its full potential when I got it and their was no instructions with it. It wasn't till I found this site that I was able to find out whats the phone is truly capable of, most people would not think to do that. I know alot of people who use this phone pretty much as a "dumb phone" that surfs the net simply because the phone comes with no real literature on how to use it. I suggested to the manager at my local Verizon store that they should run a small "get to know your Droid" class thats free and lets people know how to do all of the amazing things on their phone as well as show perspective buyers on what the phone is capale of, hes currentley awaiting approval from his district manager.

A number of VZW stores do run such classes. I know the one here in Redmond Wa does. I suspect, though, that "basic," "intermediate," and "advanced" classes would be useful.

.

this is great, I need to take a class to use a phone now? They should load an apps on the new Droid instead. The marketing team of VZ and MOT sucked!!!. If you look at the iphone commercial, they show simple, basic stuffs compare to the VZ commercial on the Droid. MOT had done nothing to promote their phone, as far as I know, they need to wake up. Google already gave out free OS, why should they advertise their OS on TV.

Android OS eventually will take over iPhone OS in term of number of phones, but only a few phones running Android OS are worth to discuss and compete against iPhone.

Wow. You could not be more wrong if you tried. Motorola ran, and is still running, a top-notch marketing campaign for the Droid.

 

[chrisnoxid]

Bahahaha!!! i was reading some of the comments on the pc world article and this one cracked me up :

"Typical PC World Garbage. The quality of this rag hasn't improved in twenty years.


"it doesn't offer anything substantial that Android-powered devices haven't offered for quite some time."


Except that it runs on the iPhone which is infinitely more popular than all android devices put together."


... :icon_eek: