8 ms·

After the iPhone 4S, Android just feels wrong

88 points by danilocampos 15y ago

joebadmo 15y ago
Can't really disagree with this. After using my wife's iPhone 4S, my Droid X always feels like something less than direct manipulation. [Edit: And to be fair, my wife's old 3GS and her 3G before that were always more responsive to touches than any of my Android phones.] I say this with every OS release and every major hardware upgrade, but I really hope the Galaxy Nexus[0] and ICS finally make up some of the difference with hardware acceleration of the UI.[1] [0]: Terrible mouthful of a name, Galaxy Prime or Nexus Prime would've been so much better. [1]: This is my next/Verge reporting notwithstanding. Reports are that some leftover jitteriness is due to apps not having opted into hardware acceleration yet. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
- tdoggette 15y ago
  re [0]: It seems clear that it's a political choice-- Google's not releasing a flagship that's not a "Nexus," and Samsung's not releasing a high-end phone that's not a "Galaxy." What do you think of "Nexus Galaxy"?
  - joebadmo 15y ago
    Agreed. Nexus Galaxy is just as bad, imo. When all the rumored names were flying around, I suspected this would be it, but I was hoping it would be some sort of dual release, with Google selling the 'Nexus Prime' directly, and Samsung releasing the Galaxy [X] on carriers. Maybe that would've been worse, though.
- freakwit 15y ago
  TIMN/Verge also has this note[0]: Note: Our initial performance observations were focused on touch response and not system-wide performance, and were based on a Galaxy Nexus being used by one of Google’s staff. The demo units during the show were definitely smoother in operation. All of them featured an early build of Ice Cream Sandwich, however, so we’ll make our final calls on the phone once we have a review unit in hand. http://thisismynext.com/2011/10/18/galaxy-nexus-android-ice-cream-sandwich-pictures-video-hands-on/ http://thisismynext.com/2011/10/18/galaxy-nexus-android-ice-...
sardonicbryan 15y ago
I don't see why this is surprising -- after all, the Nexus S is a previous generation phone released 9 months ago. A more fair comparison would be with a Galaxy S2 or Galaxy Nexus. Personally, I love my S2, as it's remarkably faster than my first gen Galaxy S in pretty much everything. And since I hardly ever see anyone extolling the actual feature benefits of Android, here are 5 Android only features I could not live without: 1) Swype - Delightful, much faster one handed, much much better in portrait mode, don't have to change the way I hold my phone to start typing 2) Shortcuts to Contacts on Home Screen (two tap calling, texting, IM or email! Best flow for actual communicating after Blackberry's "Just start typing their name") 3) Widgets (Calendar, Time + Weather, Evernote, Live Weather background, Wifi Hotspot) 4) Dolphin HD Browser - I can use my volume buttons to change tabs! 5) Chrome to Phone - Really easy to clip notes to myself for later
- daleharvey 15y ago
  I think this gets lost inside most android comparisons, but I find the lack of an intents system and more importantly, a global back button completely jarring on ios, the most common example would be, from clicking a link in email, to opening that page in the browser, then pressing back to go right back to my email. the same operation on my ipad means clicking a link, going back, being confused closing my browser, opening email and finding the email again
  - X-Istence 15y ago
    Double click the home button, select previous app, you are back to where you were.
  - grkhetan 15y ago
    The back button on Android is a double-edged sword (based on what I have read/heard), because its function is overridden by apps in inconsistent ways, so you are never sure what effect that button press may have. Am I correct? (i am an iOS user, so don't know)
    - CountSessine 15y ago
cryptoz 15y ago
Comparing last year's Android with this year's iOS? Why not wait three weeks and compare recent iOS and recent Android? I think it's common knowledge Google didn't work terribly hard on getting a smooth UI until ICS. I'm an Android dev and I fully understand the "smoothness" of iOS is attractive, but it's a bit unfair of a comparison to make at this time - using an iPhone 4S. Yes, I know the 4S is shipping and the Galaxy Nexus is not - that much I'll give. But this is only a month-long window and not very reflective of the coming future.
- wvenable 15y ago
  Yes, but the same comparison could be made with last year's Android and iOS4. For smoothness of UI, even the original iPhone was smooth.
  - sebbi 15y ago
    Thats the same as saying computers 10 years ago were smooth ... they were, but if you have used a 2011 pc and then use some high end gaming pc from back then ... you wouldn't call it smooth. Same goes for iPhones ... just try to use a 3GS ... it's slow as hell compared to current high end devices :/
  - fondue 15y ago
    No it wasn't; I own an iPhone 3G and it stalls and stutters doing anything. It's consistently done that for the entirety of its service. My wife bought the 3GS and _that_ was when we saw much of the UI lag go away. I moved on to Android and own a Galaxy S - there's virtually no UI stutter at all, I only see delays on shutting some programs or launching a few apps. My wife recently bought a 4S and it's very smooth, but don't tell me that iOS has always been this smooth because you're looking back with rose-colored glasses.
- rounak 15y ago
  I'm pretty sure he would have said the same thing with an iPhone 4 as well.
- vorbby 15y ago
sebbi 15y ago
Try using a 3GS after the 4S or even after using a Nexus S ... you are going to hate how slow everything feels. It's definetly the hardware that is getting faster with every generation (with Android devices in faster small steps than only one giant leap once a year you get with Apple upgrades) and that's a good thing. We are supposed to hate our old hardware after having used something newer. Otherwise would you ever upgrade anything you bought if it still works? ;-)
oldstrangers 15y ago
Rather subjective and very short on details. Comparing the Nexus S to a dual core phone like the 4S is blatantly silly. Blaming the fluidity of a phone experience on the entirety of Android as a whole is just blatantly stupid. Nevertheless, "it just feels wrong" doesn't sound like a very actionable complaint; not to mention, the majority of the issues brought up seem to have been addressed in ICS. Perhaps the author should spend more time with newer Android phones, and less time making silly and useless comparisons.
- joevandyk 15y ago
  I think comparing to an iPhone 4 would have the same result.
  - masklinn 15y ago
    And so would comparing to an iPhone 3GS.
- rayiner 15y ago
  If anything the iPhone 4 was a step down in the fluidity department versus the 3GS (probably due to the increased pixels on the retina display). I don't think it's a subjective, empty complaint. Android phones are laggy, or at least a lot of the popular ones are. Lag destroys the "direct manipulation" experience. Maybe ICS changes everything, who knows. I wrote off Android a couple of years ago. That's the fundamental problem with Android, isn't it? People try a couple of 2.1 devices that suck and well why should they give it another chance?
  - oldstrangers 15y ago
    "I wrote off Android a couple of years ago. That's the fundamental problem with Android, isn't it? People try a couple of 2.1 devices that suck and well why should they give it another chance?" Considering that Android is leading the market place in almost every conceivable category, people obviously aren't just trying a "crappy device" and not giving it a second chance. So, no, obviously not a fundamental problem with Android...
angryasian 15y ago
Some of these issues seem really frivolous. First if you're going to compare iOS5 and 4s the comparison should be against the latest Android ICS and Nexus. Second, after a week of use of his new toy he wants to compare it to years of usage of his old Android phone. As a 3GS owner, i've had apps crash, loss of data (instapaper).. among other things. I think its funny reviews like this come out before the launch (you can make the connection)
nextparadigms 15y ago
This article doesn't make much sense after we've seen Android 4.0. Plus, how come he's noticing these differences "just now" ? iOS has pretty much worked like that since day one, and it hasn't changed all that much up to iOS5. In contrast, Android has evolved tremendously over the past 3 years from version 1 to version 4. If they keep this up with future versions, Android will continue its rise in market share and mind share.
pixie_ 15y ago
It's got to be java. The garbage collection hiccups and bad performance and all over android phones. I can feel it when I use them. I can feel it when I develop for them. It's like in the old days, 200 mhz computers trying to run java, it was so slow back then. And now cell phones are slow, and performance matters. It's ridiculous that you need a 1ghz processor to get get good performance on a phone, but thats java for you. We had fluid apps running on 200 mhz computers, but they were written languages without memory management. It's no wonder why iPhone apps written in objective-c run so smoothly.
- foobarbazetc 15y ago
  I don't know why you've been downvoted, because you're speaking the absolute truth. I guess the truth hurts to the Android fanboys and/or Google employees in this thread. Then again, Google really didn't have a choice back then.
Pewpewarrows 15y ago
For the uninformed, these are two separate issues. The first is that apps are laggy or jittery during scrolling or animations. This is partially due to poor coding from developers, but the main reason for its existence was the lack of hardware acceleration on Android devices. This changed with 3.0 on tablets, and now 4.0 on everything. Developers still have to opt-in with a one-line XML file change, due to compatibility issues. So in essence this has been solved across the board. The second is what a lot of users are now referring to (and was largely masked by the presence of the former problem). And it's that there's a much larger drag distance required to "initiate" user interaction on Android than iOS. When I pick up a friend's iPhone, it seems like if a hair on my finger even grazes the screen the UI immediately (and appropriately) reacts. On every Android device that I've ever used, it takes approximately 0.5 to 1.0 centimeters before the UI will begin to react and scroll. This is what people mean when they say that it feels like you're "pulling" the UI on Android, while iOS has 1:1 natural interaction. Is it annoying? Yes. But after moderate use I stop noticing it, until I happen to touch an iOS device again. Now that Ice Cream Sandwich has taken care of every other fault with the platform I had, this is really the last item on my list of complaints, having used Android devices for years on a near-daily basis. I don't know if it's a problem with the hardware of the screen sensors themselves or with the levels of abstraction to Java-land, but this should be their top priority for what I can only assume they'll call Jelly Bean.
- Qz 15y ago
  I have a HTC Droid Incredible and I don't see the second UI lag issue whatsoever. I just tested by dragging around on the home screen, the lock screen, the SMS message list, and my Dolphin HD web browser. I have to move my finger maybe 1-2 milimeters for it to start responding, but nowhere near .5 to 1 cm.
  - Pewpewarrows 15y ago
    As I pointed out in my post, the longer you use Android the further off your perception becomes. To get an accurate measurement I had to play with my Nexus S and an iPhone side-by-side, doing identical movements, and had a ruler and zoomed camera pointed at them both. After removing my mental bias from having become conditioned to that "pull" latency, the difference was pretty obvious. I was also in the same boat about believing it was just a few millimeters, until I actually went ahead and measured it. My mind was thinking a millimeter was larger than it actually is.
ubercore 15y ago
I'm having the opposite reaction. I find myself fighting against iOS most of the time. The browser zooms to odd proportion on most pages, and I really miss the double-tap to zoom for one-handed browsing. Reading a notification, and having no direct path back to where you came from (answering a txt message, for instance) feels really clunky. The lack of widgets feels outdated and dogmatic, rather than useful. Being able to put a contact on my home screen, click once to open ways to communicate and a second time to email/txt/call/facebook is amazingly useful to me, because I generally contact only a few people on a regular basis. And if you expand to include the ecosystem, it's not even close. The iCloud web apps are pathetic compared to Google's offerings. I could go on. And this isn't just bashing, I'm growing to like a lot about iOS, but I think these Android vs iOS stories are mostly link bait. They're a lot more similar than most people will admit, and both have plusses and minuses. EDIT: Ok click to zoom is kinda there, but I like the way it works on Android better. That's just a preference, so I'll strike that from my list of objections.
- siglesias 15y ago
  Double-tap to zoom has been there since day one.
- myspy 15y ago
  Double-tap for zoom is there all the time but maybe the sites you visit don't zoom correctly because the container goes all the way from left to right (I think this site has such a zooming problem). And the iCloud web apps are awesome. Don't know where the problem is. They behave like real OS apps. I like that.
  - ubercore 15y ago
    Really? Performance is awful for me.
- click170 15y ago
  Re double-tap to zoom, nobody mentioned that I'd lose features when I upgraded, I honestly was starting to think I'd imagined that feature. It certainly doesn't behave like I remember it doing. I'm having the opposite reaction as well, likely for similar reasons as the author: I use an iPhone 3GS running iOS5 and am comparing with a newer Android phone. Nearly every gripe he mentions having about Android, I have with my iPhone. Don't even get me started on web browsing, maybe iOS5 is just using a ridiculous amount of memory or something because I never had this problem before upgrading, but now visiting certain webpages (eg Canada Post) crashes Safari. Nevermind smooth scrolling. I'm not about to write some link-bait blog post about it though, the reasons why are obvious, I'm using an older phone with a newer OS, and am comparing to a recent Android phone. Doesn't mean I'm happy that iOS5 is reducing the usability of my phone, but at least I can apply critical thinking to the situation at hand.
drivingmenuts 15y ago
I've been on Android for a couple of years now and just got the Galaxy SII. It doesn't exactly feel wrong, but sure as hell it doesn't feel right, either. Everything I do on Android seems to take about two or three steps more than it should. Some things just don't work. Some things just aren't possible. I can't find certain software that I need. The worst thing, it's missing fit and polish half the time. This is the least comfortable I've ever been with a tech purchase. Hopefully, T-Mobile gets bought out and then I can play the get out of contract free card and get an iPhone.
- gardarh 15y ago
  I have to disagree with you - I got my SGS2 this spring (live in Europe) and it feels quite right to me. Browsing, for one, is really smooth. I thing Samsung did a good job with their Android customizations (well, they copied a lot of features from iPhone). However the iPhone UI is much more polished. That can hardly be debated, feels to me like the Android dev team "just made it work" and didn't have too much time to worry about polish. I really hope ICS fixes that.
jonathanedwards 15y ago
After Android, iPhone 4s just LOOKS wrong. I am switching back from 4s to Android because I find Safari unreadable with my old eyes. No control over font sizes, and the double-tap zoom doesn't reflow text. So HN is completely unreadable in portrait, and only barely so in landscape. No problem on my DroidX.
- saturdaysaint 15y ago
  Have you tried "Reader" mode in Safari? An icon shows up in the address bar when Safari detects that you're reading an article - when you press this icon, the page appears as simply formatted text and it gives you full control of font sizes. Of course, since HN isn't an article, it's not much help here - HN is the one page I use where this is a problem, ironically.
  - wvenable 15y ago
    Goddamn reader button doesn't show up in half the places I would like to be. I don't know why they still haven't implemented text-reflow like most other mobile browsers.
- dataminer 15y ago
  Why was this downvoted? This is a clear shortcoming I noticed on ios 4 before I switched to Android. Safari doesn't reflow text on double tap and you have to scroll right and left to read an article. From a usability perspective if I double tap on text I want to do some reading and it should be reflowed. The reader button in ios 5 rectifies the issue but it is still not as natural as reflow text on double tap.
arihant 15y ago
I don't get this article. Web browsing and notifications were the reason I loved Android more than iOS. The double-tap to zoom on Android browser..just works! It perfectly flies in to the content, adjusts text size beautifully and rearranges the images linearly. If one reads a lot of content online, this feature is beyond awesome.
- rimantas 15y ago
  Yeah, it also works on iOS. Since the first iPhone.
  - arihant 15y ago
    No it doesn't. What does it do when you double-tap HN page on iPhone? Do that on an Android and see what happens. All it does on iOS is zoom till it removes the padding. On Android, it makes it a readable list, with correclty sized upvote icons, perfect reading size. It, in a way, instantly makes HN a mobile site. This is more than just zooming.
  - wvenable 15y ago
    No, it doesn't. Safari does not reflow the content of a page like the Android browser does . You can zoom to a text block, yes, but you can't make that text block bigger with wrapping. Reading stuff on mobile safari is more frustrating because it's lacking this feature.
zmmmmm 15y ago
It's hard to disagree with one person's perceptions, but I do think there is a distinct type of person who notices this / cares dramatically about it and that they are not necessarily reflective of everyone. Similar to pentile screens, this seems to be a very personal, thing. Some people it bothers and they just can't stand it. Others will proclaim they cannot perceive it at all. It's interesting how variable it actually is between people. The problem is that you will get a person who cares reviewing a unit and describing the problem as if its the end of the world when a majority of their readers actually will either not care or perhaps even not perceive the issue at all.
thought_alarm 15y ago
Don't worry. I heard Android has been completely "re-invented" in version 4.0.
bfrog 15y ago
Java once again was a horrible horrible choice for a phone. I'm still mind blown by the choice of Java. Slow start, garbage collection slow downs, and massive memory usage are all par for course. Then add to it the usual Java developer mentality of needing some massive architecture for the simplest of programs. Is it any wonder to people that android is slow? I have hopes that whatever comes next learns the mistake that people hate slow. Not being slow means not using a language where text editors are known to use gigabytes of memory and run slow on 12 core monster boxes.

88 points by danilocampos 15y ago

Can't really disagree with this. After using my wife's iPhone 4S, my Droid X always feels like something less than direct manipulation. [Edit: And to be fair, my wife's old 3GS and her 3G before that were always more responsive to touches than any of my Android phones.] I say this with every OS release and every major hardware upgrade, but I really hope the Galaxy Nexus[0] and ICS finally make up some of the difference with hardware acceleration of the UI.[1] [0]: Terrible mouthful of a name, Galaxy Prime or Nexus Prime would've been so much better. [1]: This is my next/Verge reporting notwithstanding. Reports are that some leftover jitteriness is due to apps not having opted into hardware acceleration yet. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

tdoggette 15y ago
re [0]: It seems clear that it's a political choice-- Google's not releasing a flagship that's not a "Nexus," and Samsung's not releasing a high-end phone that's not a "Galaxy." What do you think of "Nexus Galaxy"?
- joebadmo 15y ago
  Agreed. Nexus Galaxy is just as bad, imo. When all the rumored names were flying around, I suspected this would be it, but I was hoping it would be some sort of dual release, with Google selling the 'Nexus Prime' directly, and Samsung releasing the Galaxy [X] on carriers. Maybe that would've been worse, though.
freakwit 15y ago
TIMN/Verge also has this note[0]: Note: Our initial performance observations were focused on touch response and not system-wide performance, and were based on a Galaxy Nexus being used by one of Google’s staff. The demo units during the show were definitely smoother in operation. All of them featured an early build of Ice Cream Sandwich, however, so we’ll make our final calls on the phone once we have a review unit in hand. http://thisismynext.com/2011/10/18/galaxy-nexus-android-ice-cream-sandwich-pictures-video-hands-on/ http://thisismynext.com/2011/10/18/galaxy-nexus-android-ice-...

sardonicbryan 15y ago

I don't see why this is surprising -- after all, the Nexus S is a previous generation phone released 9 months ago. A more fair comparison would be with a Galaxy S2 or Galaxy Nexus. Personally, I love my S2, as it's remarkably faster than my first gen Galaxy S in pretty much everything. And since I hardly ever see anyone extolling the actual feature benefits of Android, here are 5 Android only features I could not live without: 1) Swype - Delightful, much faster one handed, much much better in portrait mode, don't have to change the way I hold my phone to start typing 2) Shortcuts to Contacts on Home Screen (two tap calling, texting, IM or email! Best flow for actual communicating after Blackberry's "Just start typing their name") 3) Widgets (Calendar, Time + Weather, Evernote, Live Weather background, Wifi Hotspot) 4) Dolphin HD Browser - I can use my volume buttons to change tabs! 5) Chrome to Phone - Really easy to clip notes to myself for later

daleharvey 15y ago
I think this gets lost inside most android comparisons, but I find the lack of an intents system and more importantly, a global back button completely jarring on ios, the most common example would be, from clicking a link in email, to opening that page in the browser, then pressing back to go right back to my email. the same operation on my ipad means clicking a link, going back, being confused closing my browser, opening email and finding the email again
- X-Istence 15y ago
  Double click the home button, select previous app, you are back to where you were.
- grkhetan 15y ago
  The back button on Android is a double-edged sword (based on what I have read/heard), because its function is overridden by apps in inconsistent ways, so you are never sure what effect that button press may have. Am I correct? (i am an iOS user, so don't know)
  - CountSessine 15y ago

cryptoz 15y ago

Comparing last year's Android with this year's iOS? Why not wait three weeks and compare recent iOS and recent Android? I think it's common knowledge Google didn't work terribly hard on getting a smooth UI until ICS. I'm an Android dev and I fully understand the "smoothness" of iOS is attractive, but it's a bit unfair of a comparison to make at this time - using an iPhone 4S. Yes, I know the 4S is shipping and the Galaxy Nexus is not - that much I'll give. But this is only a month-long window and not very reflective of the coming future.

wvenable 15y ago
Yes, but the same comparison could be made with last year's Android and iOS4. For smoothness of UI, even the original iPhone was smooth.
- sebbi 15y ago
  Thats the same as saying computers 10 years ago were smooth ... they were, but if you have used a 2011 pc and then use some high end gaming pc from back then ... you wouldn't call it smooth. Same goes for iPhones ... just try to use a 3GS ... it's slow as hell compared to current high end devices :/
- fondue 15y ago
  No it wasn't; I own an iPhone 3G and it stalls and stutters doing anything. It's consistently done that for the entirety of its service. My wife bought the 3GS and _that_ was when we saw much of the UI lag go away. I moved on to Android and own a Galaxy S - there's virtually no UI stutter at all, I only see delays on shutting some programs or launching a few apps. My wife recently bought a 4S and it's very smooth, but don't tell me that iOS has always been this smooth because you're looking back with rose-colored glasses.
rounak 15y ago
I'm pretty sure he would have said the same thing with an iPhone 4 as well.
vorbby 15y ago

sebbi 15y ago

Try using a 3GS after the 4S or even after using a Nexus S ... you are going to hate how slow everything feels. It's definetly the hardware that is getting faster with every generation (with Android devices in faster small steps than only one giant leap once a year you get with Apple upgrades) and that's a good thing. We are supposed to hate our old hardware after having used something newer. Otherwise would you ever upgrade anything you bought if it still works? ;-)

oldstrangers 15y ago

Rather subjective and very short on details. Comparing the Nexus S to a dual core phone like the 4S is blatantly silly. Blaming the fluidity of a phone experience on the entirety of Android as a whole is just blatantly stupid. Nevertheless, "it just feels wrong" doesn't sound like a very actionable complaint; not to mention, the majority of the issues brought up seem to have been addressed in ICS. Perhaps the author should spend more time with newer Android phones, and less time making silly and useless comparisons.

joevandyk 15y ago
I think comparing to an iPhone 4 would have the same result.
- masklinn 15y ago
  And so would comparing to an iPhone 3GS.
rayiner 15y ago
If anything the iPhone 4 was a step down in the fluidity department versus the 3GS (probably due to the increased pixels on the retina display). I don't think it's a subjective, empty complaint. Android phones are laggy, or at least a lot of the popular ones are. Lag destroys the "direct manipulation" experience. Maybe ICS changes everything, who knows. I wrote off Android a couple of years ago. That's the fundamental problem with Android, isn't it? People try a couple of 2.1 devices that suck and well why should they give it another chance?
- oldstrangers 15y ago
  "I wrote off Android a couple of years ago. That's the fundamental problem with Android, isn't it? People try a couple of 2.1 devices that suck and well why should they give it another chance?" Considering that Android is leading the market place in almost every conceivable category, people obviously aren't just trying a "crappy device" and not giving it a second chance. So, no, obviously not a fundamental problem with Android...

angryasian 15y ago

Some of these issues seem really frivolous. First if you're going to compare iOS5 and 4s the comparison should be against the latest Android ICS and Nexus. Second, after a week of use of his new toy he wants to compare it to years of usage of his old Android phone. As a 3GS owner, i've had apps crash, loss of data (instapaper).. among other things. I think its funny reviews like this come out before the launch (you can make the connection)

nextparadigms 15y ago

This article doesn't make much sense after we've seen Android 4.0. Plus, how come he's noticing these differences "just now" ? iOS has pretty much worked like that since day one, and it hasn't changed all that much up to iOS5. In contrast, Android has evolved tremendously over the past 3 years from version 1 to version 4. If they keep this up with future versions, Android will continue its rise in market share and mind share.

pixie_ 15y ago

It's got to be java. The garbage collection hiccups and bad performance and all over android phones. I can feel it when I use them. I can feel it when I develop for them. It's like in the old days, 200 mhz computers trying to run java, it was so slow back then. And now cell phones are slow, and performance matters. It's ridiculous that you need a 1ghz processor to get get good performance on a phone, but thats java for you. We had fluid apps running on 200 mhz computers, but they were written languages without memory management. It's no wonder why iPhone apps written in objective-c run so smoothly.

foobarbazetc 15y ago
I don't know why you've been downvoted, because you're speaking the absolute truth. I guess the truth hurts to the Android fanboys and/or Google employees in this thread. Then again, Google really didn't have a choice back then.

Pewpewarrows 15y ago

For the uninformed, these are two separate issues. The first is that apps are laggy or jittery during scrolling or animations. This is partially due to poor coding from developers, but the main reason for its existence was the lack of hardware acceleration on Android devices. This changed with 3.0 on tablets, and now 4.0 on everything. Developers still have to opt-in with a one-line XML file change, due to compatibility issues. So in essence this has been solved across the board. The second is what a lot of users are now referring to (and was largely masked by the presence of the former problem). And it's that there's a much larger drag distance required to "initiate" user interaction on Android than iOS. When I pick up a friend's iPhone, it seems like if a hair on my finger even grazes the screen the UI immediately (and appropriately) reacts. On every Android device that I've ever used, it takes approximately 0.5 to 1.0 centimeters before the UI will begin to react and scroll. This is what people mean when they say that it feels like you're "pulling" the UI on Android, while iOS has 1:1 natural interaction. Is it annoying? Yes. But after moderate use I stop noticing it, until I happen to touch an iOS device again. Now that Ice Cream Sandwich has taken care of every other fault with the platform I had, this is really the last item on my list of complaints, having used Android devices for years on a near-daily basis. I don't know if it's a problem with the hardware of the screen sensors themselves or with the levels of abstraction to Java-land, but this should be their top priority for what I can only assume they'll call Jelly Bean.

Qz 15y ago
I have a HTC Droid Incredible and I don't see the second UI lag issue whatsoever. I just tested by dragging around on the home screen, the lock screen, the SMS message list, and my Dolphin HD web browser. I have to move my finger maybe 1-2 milimeters for it to start responding, but nowhere near .5 to 1 cm.
- Pewpewarrows 15y ago
  As I pointed out in my post, the longer you use Android the further off your perception becomes. To get an accurate measurement I had to play with my Nexus S and an iPhone side-by-side, doing identical movements, and had a ruler and zoomed camera pointed at them both. After removing my mental bias from having become conditioned to that "pull" latency, the difference was pretty obvious. I was also in the same boat about believing it was just a few millimeters, until I actually went ahead and measured it. My mind was thinking a millimeter was larger than it actually is.

ubercore 15y ago

I'm having the opposite reaction. I find myself fighting against iOS most of the time. The browser zooms to odd proportion on most pages, and I really miss the double-tap to zoom for one-handed browsing. Reading a notification, and having no direct path back to where you came from (answering a txt message, for instance) feels really clunky. The lack of widgets feels outdated and dogmatic, rather than useful. Being able to put a contact on my home screen, click once to open ways to communicate and a second time to email/txt/call/facebook is amazingly useful to me, because I generally contact only a few people on a regular basis. And if you expand to include the ecosystem, it's not even close. The iCloud web apps are pathetic compared to Google's offerings. I could go on. And this isn't just bashing, I'm growing to like a lot about iOS, but I think these Android vs iOS stories are mostly link bait. They're a lot more similar than most people will admit, and both have plusses and minuses. EDIT: Ok click to zoom is kinda there, but I like the way it works on Android better. That's just a preference, so I'll strike that from my list of objections.

siglesias 15y ago
Double-tap to zoom has been there since day one.
myspy 15y ago
Double-tap for zoom is there all the time but maybe the sites you visit don't zoom correctly because the container goes all the way from left to right (I think this site has such a zooming problem). And the iCloud web apps are awesome. Don't know where the problem is. They behave like real OS apps. I like that.
- ubercore 15y ago
  Really? Performance is awful for me.
click170 15y ago
Re double-tap to zoom, nobody mentioned that I'd lose features when I upgraded, I honestly was starting to think I'd imagined that feature. It certainly doesn't behave like I remember it doing. I'm having the opposite reaction as well, likely for similar reasons as the author: I use an iPhone 3GS running iOS5 and am comparing with a newer Android phone. Nearly every gripe he mentions having about Android, I have with my iPhone. Don't even get me started on web browsing, maybe iOS5 is just using a ridiculous amount of memory or something because I never had this problem before upgrading, but now visiting certain webpages (eg Canada Post) crashes Safari. Nevermind smooth scrolling. I'm not about to write some link-bait blog post about it though, the reasons why are obvious, I'm using an older phone with a newer OS, and am comparing to a recent Android phone. Doesn't mean I'm happy that iOS5 is reducing the usability of my phone, but at least I can apply critical thinking to the situation at hand.

drivingmenuts 15y ago

I've been on Android for a couple of years now and just got the Galaxy SII. It doesn't exactly feel wrong, but sure as hell it doesn't feel right, either. Everything I do on Android seems to take about two or three steps more than it should. Some things just don't work. Some things just aren't possible. I can't find certain software that I need. The worst thing, it's missing fit and polish half the time. This is the least comfortable I've ever been with a tech purchase. Hopefully, T-Mobile gets bought out and then I can play the get out of contract free card and get an iPhone.

gardarh 15y ago
I have to disagree with you - I got my SGS2 this spring (live in Europe) and it feels quite right to me. Browsing, for one, is really smooth. I thing Samsung did a good job with their Android customizations (well, they copied a lot of features from iPhone). However the iPhone UI is much more polished. That can hardly be debated, feels to me like the Android dev team "just made it work" and didn't have too much time to worry about polish. I really hope ICS fixes that.

jonathanedwards 15y ago

After Android, iPhone 4s just LOOKS wrong. I am switching back from 4s to Android because I find Safari unreadable with my old eyes. No control over font sizes, and the double-tap zoom doesn't reflow text. So HN is completely unreadable in portrait, and only barely so in landscape. No problem on my DroidX.

saturdaysaint 15y ago
Have you tried "Reader" mode in Safari? An icon shows up in the address bar when Safari detects that you're reading an article - when you press this icon, the page appears as simply formatted text and it gives you full control of font sizes. Of course, since HN isn't an article, it's not much help here - HN is the one page I use where this is a problem, ironically.
- wvenable 15y ago
  Goddamn reader button doesn't show up in half the places I would like to be. I don't know why they still haven't implemented text-reflow like most other mobile browsers.
dataminer 15y ago
Why was this downvoted? This is a clear shortcoming I noticed on ios 4 before I switched to Android. Safari doesn't reflow text on double tap and you have to scroll right and left to read an article. From a usability perspective if I double tap on text I want to do some reading and it should be reflowed. The reader button in ios 5 rectifies the issue but it is still not as natural as reflow text on double tap.

arihant 15y ago

I don't get this article. Web browsing and notifications were the reason I loved Android more than iOS. The double-tap to zoom on Android browser..just works! It perfectly flies in to the content, adjusts text size beautifully and rearranges the images linearly. If one reads a lot of content online, this feature is beyond awesome.

rimantas 15y ago
Yeah, it also works on iOS. Since the first iPhone.
- arihant 15y ago
  No it doesn't. What does it do when you double-tap HN page on iPhone? Do that on an Android and see what happens. All it does on iOS is zoom till it removes the padding. On Android, it makes it a readable list, with correclty sized upvote icons, perfect reading size. It, in a way, instantly makes HN a mobile site. This is more than just zooming.
- wvenable 15y ago
  No, it doesn't. Safari does not reflow the content of a page like the Android browser does . You can zoom to a text block, yes, but you can't make that text block bigger with wrapping. Reading stuff on mobile safari is more frustrating because it's lacking this feature.

zmmmmm 15y ago

It's hard to disagree with one person's perceptions, but I do think there is a distinct type of person who notices this / cares dramatically about it and that they are not necessarily reflective of everyone. Similar to pentile screens, this seems to be a very personal, thing. Some people it bothers and they just can't stand it. Others will proclaim they cannot perceive it at all. It's interesting how variable it actually is between people. The problem is that you will get a person who cares reviewing a unit and describing the problem as if its the end of the world when a majority of their readers actually will either not care or perhaps even not perceive the issue at all.

thought_alarm 15y ago

Don't worry. I heard Android has been completely "re-invented" in version 4.0.

bfrog 15y ago

Java once again was a horrible horrible choice for a phone. I'm still mind blown by the choice of Java. Slow start, garbage collection slow downs, and massive memory usage are all par for course. Then add to it the usual Java developer mentality of needing some massive architecture for the simplest of programs. Is it any wonder to people that android is slow? I have hopes that whatever comes next learns the mistake that people hate slow. Not being slow means not using a language where text editors are known to use gigabytes of memory and run slow on 12 core monster boxes.