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Lately I feel Apple is behind Google's Android. There are many decisions Jobs and company have made that for me has made Android look more attractive. I curre

Lately I feel Apple is behind Google's Android. There are many decisions Jobs and company have made that for me has made Android look more attractive. I currently own an iPhone and have so for over a year now, but there are things I want it to do that it can not while Android can. When my contract is up Im getting a Nexus or EVO. I want to enjoy flash, i want to truly run apps in the background, i want the ability to have voice search on home screen via click of a button, i dont want to have to go through sync process when i connect iPhone ( i dont want to find out how to stop sync), I want Google's awesome built in GPS and I want the ability for more customization. Ive enjoyed my iPhone but playing with girlfriend's Droid X2 and her prior Droid Incredible just showed me Im on the wrong platform. Though Apple's customer service is almost unmatched - will miss that. They have hordes of cash now but to me with what I mentioned above maybe Apple is truly headed down and destined to repeat it's own history?

ltamake 15y ago
Agreed, iOS isn't perfect and other mobile OSes have features I want. Jailbreaking fixes that most of the time, but it would be nice to have those features without having to hack them onto the device. I don't think Apple is headed the way of 90s Apple. That was a disaster because Jobs left the company and left a bunch of clueless idiots in charge of everything. I'm sure Apple will decline, but I don't think 90s Apple will be back anytime soon. And even though you've probably heard this a million times, I'm going to type it: Apple makes features really nice. For example, they weren't the first with Cut/Copy/Paste, but they made it really nice and usable. That sounds really fanboy-ish, but it's true. Multitasking, notifications, even the iOS design itself.
olivercameron 15y ago
To each his own. I enjoy simplicity on my phone, excellent battery life, and the odd game, as such, I use an iPhone. It doesn't mean that either way is right, but it also doesn't mean that Apple is destined to repeat their failures. Bare in mind that although Android outsells iPhone's, Apple still has 40% of the profit of the entire smartphone industry.
- kenjackson 15y ago
  Ppl always repeat the profit of Apple, but why? What exactly is that relevant to, unless you're a shareholder or Apple employee? Is it just a comment to indicate that Apple isn't about to go out of business? To each his own. This is really the important statement. Phones are in a state now that I think we can actually have 3 viable OSes in the market. I know families where the dad has a BB, the mom an iPhone, and a child an Android (or Sidekick back in the day), and no one cares. It's not like PCs. When I go and look at a WebOS device or WP7 I'm not worried about the fact that they have small market share. For the most part it doesn't matter that much to me as a consumer. Sure WP7 only has 20,000 apps. But unless you're Robert Scoble, you'll be more than happy (and if you're Robert Scoble, apps don't even count until you hit 500k). It's a very different world, and I think we'll see things evolve quite differently.
  - YooLi 15y ago
    "Is it just a comment to indicate that Apple isn't about to go out of business?" Partially, and partially to indicate that the way Apple is doing things must be at least somewhat right and sustainable. Why is it so hard for Android manufacturers to release updates for their phones? Because they don't make enough on them to continue supporting them. They make money on new devices sales, so they keep churning out more new handsets.
    - kenjackson 15y ago
      partially to indicate that the way Apple is doing things must be at least somewhat right and sustainable. Just an odd concern for an end user, IMO. When I go to buy a car I don't look at the profits of Honda vs Ford. Sure you may not want a company that will go bankrupt, but even if they did the impact really isn't all that huge. Why is it so hard for Android manufacturers to release updates for their phones? Because they make deeply integrated skins. They have to reintegrate the skin with a new drop from Google -- not on their schedule, but on Google's (that's when customers start screaming for the update). Because they don't make enough on them to continue supporting them. They make money on new devices sales, so they keep churning out more new handsets. Everyone makes money on new device sales. The difference is if you get an iOS device -- Apple gets the profit. HTC/Samsung/Moto/LG/etc have to compete for the next sale, even if you've already decided it will be Android.
AllenKids 15y ago
Google is strong with services in the cloud, Gmail, Google Maps, Voice recognition they are all of the same category. And Google is not platform neutral, it want unrestricted reach on every mobile platform but reserve the best for its own, which is just business, and sometimes, especially with iOS, it is hindered by the platform vendor. Flash, customization et al can be personal preference. I don't even want custom ringtone and wallpaper is silly to me. Oh and flash is fading, even Adobe knows it. iOS multitasking leaves a lot to be desired. So is Android's approach(modern smartphone battery life sucks period, Android sucks spectacularly, largely due to its Laissez-faire multitasking and widget management.). The same for notification systems, now they are pretty much the same and I'll still say they both kinda suck, iOS went from sucks hairy dunkey balls to just suck a little less than Android. Lately I feel iOS busy plugging holes and Android becomes more and more desktop-esque and hateful (feature wise even Honeycomb didn't bring much to the table). I still prefer iOS and find WP7 more interesting than both of them, for now. Though I dislike Metro's animation abuse with a passion.
- floppydisk 15y ago
  I think the difference is Google built Android with a cloud first mentality (and still pursues that) whereas Apple approached with an App first mentality. Subsequently, Google owns in the cloud (until we see how iCloud turns out) and Apple does better on hardware because they make their own hardware and Google farms it out (some better than others). Gradually they're moving towards the middle where Apple expands into Google's territory and Google starts imposing hardware requirements (and OS software improvements) onto manufacturers to improve hardware performance.
zyb09 15y ago
Yes Apple seems to be stupid in their own ways, and that a big reason why Android is overtaking them. No one can argue that Apple is a successful company, but I believe they could have had a de facto MONOPOLY on smartphones right now. First, there's only THE iPhone. When Nokia was the biggest manufacture of mobile phones in the world they released 10-20 phones a year. There's a reason for that, people have different budgets and people don't want to have the same phone as everyone else. That's such an important point I can't believe they are still ignoring it. Next, they really need to open up the system. iOS would have had wireless sync 2 years ago if APIs were more open and there weren't any AppStore restrictions. The walled garden is supposed to for the benefit of the users, but - to be really honest - that kind of ideology has been proven, time and time again, to not work very well. So I'm kind of disappointed in Apple they didn't take the opportunity, they had, to truly own the mobile market, and instead let it slip, because of what, stubbornness?
- guelo 15y ago
  You're disappointed? Unless you're an Apple shareholder I'm trying to think why anyone would want a single company to have a monopoly in such an important market. A monopoly with a control freak like Steve Jobs would have been scary, thank goodness for Android!
radley 15y ago
I still use an iPhone as my primary device, but I develop for Android. After the recent WWDC keynote, I'm confident I'm now creating and delivering apps (HD Widgets, Cloudskipper music player) with features that will show up on iOS6 next year. Apple was once the platform for innovation, but only Android offers that freedom now.
- hboon 15y ago
  No snarky tone here, 2 honest questions: If you don't use an Android device as your primary device, how do you know it well enough to develop for it? How do you use your own app?
  - tensor 15y ago
    I imagine by using the emulator: http://developer.android.com/guide/developing/tools/emulator.html http://developer.android.com/guide/developing/tools/emulator... On Android you need to deal with a greater variety of screen resolutions and other features. Thus, even if you have a device, testing on it alone is not sufficient.
  - radley 15y ago
    I have a Droid2 (from a conference) and a borrowed Galaxy Tab 10.1. I really want to use my music app, but it's still really new and doesn't yet have autosync to keep my content up to date. Once we get that, who knows?
  - bad_user 15y ago
    Personally, I use an Android as my primary phone, but I also have an iPhone 3GS for whatever development needs I might have. Even though I like the iPhone and the apps available on iTunes, I think high-end Android phones are just better. For example I made the switch basically because on Android I can block unwanted calls and even make it do various tricks related to that and even if the API itself is not public, there are apps in Android's marketplace that do this (though eventually I ended up cooking up my own app, for fun). To do the same on iPhone, you have to root it and use Cydia. This is one example of freedom the Android gives you that is immediately useful to some end-users that couldn't live without blocking some calls or SMS messages.
modeless 15y ago
i dont want to have to go through sync process when i connect iPhone ( i dont want to find out how to stop sync) Just thought I'd mention that iOS 5 has fixed this. iTunes sync no longer locks the phone. Also, iCloud and OTA updates mean you'll probably never have to connect to iTunes again if you don't want to.
podperson 15y ago
I think there's a good chance you'll get your Android then come back. All of the controversial technical decisions Apple has made have proved well-founded, whether it was excluding Flash or limiting background activity. (Their legal decisions have been less well-founded, but they've been willing to change course very quickly there.)
- jinushaun 15y ago
  I own both the iPhone and the Nexus One and, IMHO, iOS still beats Android despite all its limitations. It's just so slow and buggy...

ltamake 15y ago

Agreed, iOS isn't perfect and other mobile OSes have features I want. Jailbreaking fixes that most of the time, but it would be nice to have those features without having to hack them onto the device. I don't think Apple is headed the way of 90s Apple. That was a disaster because Jobs left the company and left a bunch of clueless idiots in charge of everything. I'm sure Apple will decline, but I don't think 90s Apple will be back anytime soon. And even though you've probably heard this a million times, I'm going to type it: Apple makes features really nice. For example, they weren't the first with Cut/Copy/Paste, but they made it really nice and usable. That sounds really fanboy-ish, but it's true. Multitasking, notifications, even the iOS design itself.

olivercameron 15y ago

To each his own. I enjoy simplicity on my phone, excellent battery life, and the odd game, as such, I use an iPhone. It doesn't mean that either way is right, but it also doesn't mean that Apple is destined to repeat their failures. Bare in mind that although Android outsells iPhone's, Apple still has 40% of the profit of the entire smartphone industry.

kenjackson 15y ago
Ppl always repeat the profit of Apple, but why? What exactly is that relevant to, unless you're a shareholder or Apple employee? Is it just a comment to indicate that Apple isn't about to go out of business? To each his own. This is really the important statement. Phones are in a state now that I think we can actually have 3 viable OSes in the market. I know families where the dad has a BB, the mom an iPhone, and a child an Android (or Sidekick back in the day), and no one cares. It's not like PCs. When I go and look at a WebOS device or WP7 I'm not worried about the fact that they have small market share. For the most part it doesn't matter that much to me as a consumer. Sure WP7 only has 20,000 apps. But unless you're Robert Scoble, you'll be more than happy (and if you're Robert Scoble, apps don't even count until you hit 500k). It's a very different world, and I think we'll see things evolve quite differently.
- YooLi 15y ago
  "Is it just a comment to indicate that Apple isn't about to go out of business?" Partially, and partially to indicate that the way Apple is doing things must be at least somewhat right and sustainable. Why is it so hard for Android manufacturers to release updates for their phones? Because they don't make enough on them to continue supporting them. They make money on new devices sales, so they keep churning out more new handsets.
  - kenjackson 15y ago
    partially to indicate that the way Apple is doing things must be at least somewhat right and sustainable. Just an odd concern for an end user, IMO. When I go to buy a car I don't look at the profits of Honda vs Ford. Sure you may not want a company that will go bankrupt, but even if they did the impact really isn't all that huge. Why is it so hard for Android manufacturers to release updates for their phones? Because they make deeply integrated skins. They have to reintegrate the skin with a new drop from Google -- not on their schedule, but on Google's (that's when customers start screaming for the update). Because they don't make enough on them to continue supporting them. They make money on new devices sales, so they keep churning out more new handsets. Everyone makes money on new device sales. The difference is if you get an iOS device -- Apple gets the profit. HTC/Samsung/Moto/LG/etc have to compete for the next sale, even if you've already decided it will be Android.

AllenKids 15y ago

Google is strong with services in the cloud, Gmail, Google Maps, Voice recognition they are all of the same category. And Google is not platform neutral, it want unrestricted reach on every mobile platform but reserve the best for its own, which is just business, and sometimes, especially with iOS, it is hindered by the platform vendor. Flash, customization et al can be personal preference. I don't even want custom ringtone and wallpaper is silly to me. Oh and flash is fading, even Adobe knows it. iOS multitasking leaves a lot to be desired. So is Android's approach(modern smartphone battery life sucks period, Android sucks spectacularly, largely due to its Laissez-faire multitasking and widget management.). The same for notification systems, now they are pretty much the same and I'll still say they both kinda suck, iOS went from sucks hairy dunkey balls to just suck a little less than Android. Lately I feel iOS busy plugging holes and Android becomes more and more desktop-esque and hateful (feature wise even Honeycomb didn't bring much to the table). I still prefer iOS and find WP7 more interesting than both of them, for now. Though I dislike Metro's animation abuse with a passion.

floppydisk 15y ago
I think the difference is Google built Android with a cloud first mentality (and still pursues that) whereas Apple approached with an App first mentality. Subsequently, Google owns in the cloud (until we see how iCloud turns out) and Apple does better on hardware because they make their own hardware and Google farms it out (some better than others). Gradually they're moving towards the middle where Apple expands into Google's territory and Google starts imposing hardware requirements (and OS software improvements) onto manufacturers to improve hardware performance.

zyb09 15y ago

Yes Apple seems to be stupid in their own ways, and that a big reason why Android is overtaking them. No one can argue that Apple is a successful company, but I believe they could have had a de facto MONOPOLY on smartphones right now. First, there's only THE iPhone. When Nokia was the biggest manufacture of mobile phones in the world they released 10-20 phones a year. There's a reason for that, people have different budgets and people don't want to have the same phone as everyone else. That's such an important point I can't believe they are still ignoring it. Next, they really need to open up the system. iOS would have had wireless sync 2 years ago if APIs were more open and there weren't any AppStore restrictions. The walled garden is supposed to for the benefit of the users, but - to be really honest - that kind of ideology has been proven, time and time again, to not work very well. So I'm kind of disappointed in Apple they didn't take the opportunity, they had, to truly own the mobile market, and instead let it slip, because of what, stubbornness?

guelo 15y ago
You're disappointed? Unless you're an Apple shareholder I'm trying to think why anyone would want a single company to have a monopoly in such an important market. A monopoly with a control freak like Steve Jobs would have been scary, thank goodness for Android!

radley 15y ago

I still use an iPhone as my primary device, but I develop for Android. After the recent WWDC keynote, I'm confident I'm now creating and delivering apps (HD Widgets, Cloudskipper music player) with features that will show up on iOS6 next year. Apple was once the platform for innovation, but only Android offers that freedom now.

hboon 15y ago
No snarky tone here, 2 honest questions: If you don't use an Android device as your primary device, how do you know it well enough to develop for it? How do you use your own app?
- tensor 15y ago
  I imagine by using the emulator: http://developer.android.com/guide/developing/tools/emulator.html http://developer.android.com/guide/developing/tools/emulator... On Android you need to deal with a greater variety of screen resolutions and other features. Thus, even if you have a device, testing on it alone is not sufficient.
- radley 15y ago
  I have a Droid2 (from a conference) and a borrowed Galaxy Tab 10.1. I really want to use my music app, but it's still really new and doesn't yet have autosync to keep my content up to date. Once we get that, who knows?
- bad_user 15y ago
  Personally, I use an Android as my primary phone, but I also have an iPhone 3GS for whatever development needs I might have. Even though I like the iPhone and the apps available on iTunes, I think high-end Android phones are just better. For example I made the switch basically because on Android I can block unwanted calls and even make it do various tricks related to that and even if the API itself is not public, there are apps in Android's marketplace that do this (though eventually I ended up cooking up my own app, for fun). To do the same on iPhone, you have to root it and use Cydia. This is one example of freedom the Android gives you that is immediately useful to some end-users that couldn't live without blocking some calls or SMS messages.

modeless 15y ago

i dont want to have to go through sync process when i connect iPhone ( i dont want to find out how to stop sync) Just thought I'd mention that iOS 5 has fixed this. iTunes sync no longer locks the phone. Also, iCloud and OTA updates mean you'll probably never have to connect to iTunes again if you don't want to.

podperson 15y ago

I think there's a good chance you'll get your Android then come back. All of the controversial technical decisions Apple has made have proved well-founded, whether it was excluding Flash or limiting background activity. (Their legal decisions have been less well-founded, but they've been willing to change course very quickly there.)

jinushaun 15y ago
I own both the iPhone and the Nexus One and, IMHO, iOS still beats Android despite all its limitations. It's just so slow and buggy...