4 ms·

otoh, iOS still doesn't have a decent notification system or multitasking. major capabilities like that might be more important than fragmentation, which effec

by spot 16y ago

otoh, iOS still doesn't have a decent notification system or multitasking. major capabilities like that might be more important than fragmentation, which effects both platforms and is only a problem for smaller devs. i have done some android work and "wicked" is an exaggeration. i am not aware of anyone who cares if there is a keyboard or not. it's completely abstracted by the OS.

DanHulton 16y ago
Yeah, I'd really enjoy some better multitasking/background stuff on the iPhone, I'm sure. Then again, I'm certain that there would be apps that would abuse it and drain the heck outta my battery. Man, it would be nice if there was a system utility that showed how much of the battery each app drained, so you could keep track of the worst offenders. Even if just a good estimate, like % of processor time * amount drained while active.
- dhoe 16y ago
  Android has that.
  - sigzero 16y ago
    Joe Public doesn't care about that. Not really.
    - Kliment 16y ago
      No. But developers do. That way they can make sure their app is not a battery drain without having to wait for hours. And once this is a priority to developers, Joe Public benefits.
      - redrobot5050 16y ago
        iOS developers have more powerful tools than a task tracker app available to them in the SDK.
    - jokermatt999 16y ago
      No, but Joe Public's technical friend can use it to show him what's eating his battery. Just because a non-technical person doesn't use a feature doesn't mean it's useless.
  - DougWebb 16y ago
    Yeah it does, but it's not as useful as you'd think. On my phone, the breakdown is always like 40% Display, 30% Idle, 20% for various system things, and the last 10% is stuff I can actually control. My display is set to auto brightness, but it has a short shutoff timer and I shut it off manually most of the time when I stop looking at it. I've tried low brightness settings but that didn't make much difference. Wireless, Bluetooth, and GPS don't make much difference either but I always keep them off. The one thing that seems to make a huge difference is having the cell signal on when there is no tower in range. The phone gets hot and burns battery juice when it's trying to find a tower. My office has lousy reception, so on days when the signal is bad my battery is nearly dead by the time I'm ready to go home. It used to be completely dead almost every day unless I recharged during the day, but I bought an extended battery. They should just come with the bigger batteries, even if the phones cost a bit more. It only sticks out a bit, and makes the battery life much more livable.
fmw 16y ago
We've seen products lacking certain "major" features win from more technically advanced competitors before. Because regular consumers don't care about the same things that geeks do. Look at the iPod. Not to mention other reasons that give an edge to a product (e.g. the porn industry backing a certain media format that consequently beats its competition). In my opinion the most important feature is freedom, contrary to the locked platform you get with iOS. Android isn't perfect in that regard, but at least a step in the right direction. Sadly, most people don't care enough about freedom to let it determine their purchasing decisions (although they do like to complain after the fact when they can't port their data to another device).
- loewenskind 16y ago
  >Sadly, most people don't care enough about freedom What most people don't care about is thoughtless spin like this. It's not "free" vs. "draconian lock down", it's a trade off. Android lets you do anything you want, in which case people... do anything they want. Apple puts controls in place on what can be done. That means you can get more things quicker on the Anroid but it also means you can apps that steal your credit card info, etc. It's a trade off and both sides have advantages and disadvantages. Stop with this disingenuous "it's about freedom!" nonsense.
  - Daishiman 16y ago
    It's disingenuous until the day Apple decides your phone has reached EOL without your consent, ro the da, you know, you want to use anything that's not iTunes to sync data.
    - loewenskind 16y ago
      I already use something that isn't iTunes to sync data. I'm using MobileMe but you can also use other cloud services for this.
  - fmw 16y ago
    Sure, it is a trade off and you misunderstand me if you think I'm attacking Apple because of some "be free or die" mentality. I'm not attacking anyone. I'm typing this on a Mac and actually own an iPhone, even if I use a HTC Desire instead. But that doesn't make caring about freedom "thoughtless spin". Using words like that doesn't do justice to a legitimate concern. Getting locked into a platform is a serious pain. I also don't agree with the idea that you can do pretty much whatever you want on Android as it comes pre-installed on your phone, which is how most regular people use their phones (just like the fact that they don't jailbreak their iPhones). That argument seems like the same black and white "free" vs. "draconian lock down" comparison that you disagree with. Apple knows that mainstream consumers don't care about freedom, just like most citizens don't really care about limitations to their civil rights until it gets to the point where they are groped by the TSA on the airport (i.e. the "if you've got nothing to hide..." mentality). Living in a country like Singapore definitely has its benefits, just as closed computer platforms do. If you're not a power user your data usually doesn't matter that much, anyway, so losing it if you switch to another system doesn't seem like such a big deal when you're deciding about what product to buy. This is exactly the reason why people buy a new version of Microsoft Office every two years. To me, however, my data matters and I get frustrated when I can't synch my iPhone from my GNU/Linux box without jumping through all sorts of hoops. I might not be the typical user, but I still want free platforms to disrupt closed ones (note that disrupt doesn't mean that I don't want them to coexist; choice is good). Just like I want (old versions of) Internet Explorer to die in favor of more open alternatives. Just to clarify: this is not a black and white position and I don't have anything against Apple, or even Microsoft (in fact, I think Microsoft is more open than Apple these days). My main point was that having more features doesn't make or break a product, but that being said the side-note about freedom was a serious concern that I deeply care about when it comes to investing time and data into a platform.

by spot 16y ago

DanHulton 16y ago

Yeah, I'd really enjoy some better multitasking/background stuff on the iPhone, I'm sure. Then again, I'm certain that there would be apps that would abuse it and drain the heck outta my battery. Man, it would be nice if there was a system utility that showed how much of the battery each app drained, so you could keep track of the worst offenders. Even if just a good estimate, like % of processor time * amount drained while active.

dhoe 16y ago
Android has that.
- sigzero 16y ago
  Joe Public doesn't care about that. Not really.
  - Kliment 16y ago
    No. But developers do. That way they can make sure their app is not a battery drain without having to wait for hours. And once this is a priority to developers, Joe Public benefits.
    - redrobot5050 16y ago
      iOS developers have more powerful tools than a task tracker app available to them in the SDK.
  - jokermatt999 16y ago
    No, but Joe Public's technical friend can use it to show him what's eating his battery. Just because a non-technical person doesn't use a feature doesn't mean it's useless.
- DougWebb 16y ago
  Yeah it does, but it's not as useful as you'd think. On my phone, the breakdown is always like 40% Display, 30% Idle, 20% for various system things, and the last 10% is stuff I can actually control. My display is set to auto brightness, but it has a short shutoff timer and I shut it off manually most of the time when I stop looking at it. I've tried low brightness settings but that didn't make much difference. Wireless, Bluetooth, and GPS don't make much difference either but I always keep them off. The one thing that seems to make a huge difference is having the cell signal on when there is no tower in range. The phone gets hot and burns battery juice when it's trying to find a tower. My office has lousy reception, so on days when the signal is bad my battery is nearly dead by the time I'm ready to go home. It used to be completely dead almost every day unless I recharged during the day, but I bought an extended battery. They should just come with the bigger batteries, even if the phones cost a bit more. It only sticks out a bit, and makes the battery life much more livable.

fmw 16y ago

We've seen products lacking certain "major" features win from more technically advanced competitors before. Because regular consumers don't care about the same things that geeks do. Look at the iPod. Not to mention other reasons that give an edge to a product (e.g. the porn industry backing a certain media format that consequently beats its competition). In my opinion the most important feature is freedom, contrary to the locked platform you get with iOS. Android isn't perfect in that regard, but at least a step in the right direction. Sadly, most people don't care enough about freedom to let it determine their purchasing decisions (although they do like to complain after the fact when they can't port their data to another device).

loewenskind 16y ago
>Sadly, most people don't care enough about freedom What most people don't care about is thoughtless spin like this. It's not "free" vs. "draconian lock down", it's a trade off. Android lets you do anything you want, in which case people... do anything they want. Apple puts controls in place on what can be done. That means you can get more things quicker on the Anroid but it also means you can apps that steal your credit card info, etc. It's a trade off and both sides have advantages and disadvantages. Stop with this disingenuous "it's about freedom!" nonsense.
- Daishiman 16y ago
  It's disingenuous until the day Apple decides your phone has reached EOL without your consent, ro the da, you know, you want to use anything that's not iTunes to sync data.
  - loewenskind 16y ago
    I already use something that isn't iTunes to sync data. I'm using MobileMe but you can also use other cloud services for this.
- fmw 16y ago
  Sure, it is a trade off and you misunderstand me if you think I'm attacking Apple because of some "be free or die" mentality. I'm not attacking anyone. I'm typing this on a Mac and actually own an iPhone, even if I use a HTC Desire instead. But that doesn't make caring about freedom "thoughtless spin". Using words like that doesn't do justice to a legitimate concern. Getting locked into a platform is a serious pain. I also don't agree with the idea that you can do pretty much whatever you want on Android as it comes pre-installed on your phone, which is how most regular people use their phones (just like the fact that they don't jailbreak their iPhones). That argument seems like the same black and white "free" vs. "draconian lock down" comparison that you disagree with. Apple knows that mainstream consumers don't care about freedom, just like most citizens don't really care about limitations to their civil rights until it gets to the point where they are groped by the TSA on the airport (i.e. the "if you've got nothing to hide..." mentality). Living in a country like Singapore definitely has its benefits, just as closed computer platforms do. If you're not a power user your data usually doesn't matter that much, anyway, so losing it if you switch to another system doesn't seem like such a big deal when you're deciding about what product to buy. This is exactly the reason why people buy a new version of Microsoft Office every two years. To me, however, my data matters and I get frustrated when I can't synch my iPhone from my GNU/Linux box without jumping through all sorts of hoops. I might not be the typical user, but I still want free platforms to disrupt closed ones (note that disrupt doesn't mean that I don't want them to coexist; choice is good). Just like I want (old versions of) Internet Explorer to die in favor of more open alternatives. Just to clarify: this is not a black and white position and I don't have anything against Apple, or even Microsoft (in fact, I think Microsoft is more open than Apple these days). My main point was that having more features doesn't make or break a product, but that being said the side-note about freedom was a serious concern that I deeply care about when it comes to investing time and data into a platform.