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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 di

by 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
For the problems he's talking about, I would make this point: From my experience, after taking away features and just focusing on user experience, iOS 1.0 beats Android 2.x in nearly every category. Even back then, everything just worked on iOS.
masklinn 15y ago
> Comparing last year's Android with this year's iOS? You could make that comparison using any iOS and any iPhone combination apart from iPhone 3G + iOS 4. It's not new to the 4S, although the 4S probably pulls even further ahead, this issue has been a recurring theme in Android phone reviews ever since the first Android phone was released.
- chugger 15y ago
  I'm amazed no one's mentioned this yet. it's not just hardware acceleration that's the problem with Android. it's the garbage collection constantly running in the background that's causing some of the performance issues and lag. Now with ICS I read that it will allow the garbage collector to run on a different core from your application. that's definitely going to improve performance, but the overhead is still there. No wonder Android smartphones need 1.x GHZ and 1GB of RAM. Android needs it.
  - chugger 15y ago
    another note: iOS/Obj C does not do automatic garbage collection specifically for this reason (and battery life).
  - nitrogen 15y ago
    No wonder Android smartphones need 1.x GHZ and 1GB of RAM. Android needs it. The side effect of having all that extra CPU is that, when not running the core Android UI (e.g. a game written mostly in native code), a lot more power is available to developers.
    - chugger 15y ago
      garbage collection is not limited to the UI. Games, etc. everything's affected by this. this is partly a Java "issue".
      - ibisum 15y ago
        If you write your game properly using the NDK you won't incur any GC at all. Its quite possible to achieve zero-collection this way.
krobertson 15y ago
1) Having gone iPhone -> Android -> iPhone, I've always found the overall fluidity better on the iPhone. This isn't anything new in iOS 5. I believe it comes from the solid hardware and OS marriage. Android has too much variation that consistent performance across models is harder. 2) While Gingerbread is "last year's Android", it is still being shipped on new phones... or not even shipping yet. Android is cursed with a slow process for updates with the manufacturers and carriers. My Thunderbolt never got Gingerbread (from the carrier, sure I did root it) and it just came out and then was pulled.
- wbkang 15y ago
  Absolutely. Last year's iPhones will be running this year's iOS. Last year's Androids will, most likely, never receive this year's Android (unless, of course if you are lucky enough to get working custom ROMs ported to your devices).
SahilDesai 15y ago
It probably would have been a lot fairer had he compared the iPhone 3GS or iPhone 4 to everything pre-ICS (AKA any android phone on the market). In which case, any iOS device would still win. We'll have to see how ICS on (Android device) holds up against iOS 5 on 4S.
deleted 15y ago
[deleted]
jsz0 15y ago
Problem is, due to the way Android is distributed, the vast majority of Android phones won't have ICS until mid-to-late 2012. There are still a couple popular phones like the Droid Incredible that don't even have the Gingerbread update yet. At this point we don't even know which carriers are going to be offering the Galaxy Nexuses or exactly when it will be released.
- sardonicbryan 15y ago
  I know this likely doesn't apply to the average Joe, but I'm sure that I will have ICS running on my Galaxy S2 within a month or so, once the custom ROMs start getting stable.

by cryptoz 15y ago

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

For the problems he's talking about, I would make this point: From my experience, after taking away features and just focusing on user experience, iOS 1.0 beats Android 2.x in nearly every category. Even back then, everything just worked on iOS.

masklinn 15y ago

> Comparing last year's Android with this year's iOS? You could make that comparison using any iOS and any iPhone combination apart from iPhone 3G + iOS 4. It's not new to the 4S, although the 4S probably pulls even further ahead, this issue has been a recurring theme in Android phone reviews ever since the first Android phone was released.

chugger 15y ago
I'm amazed no one's mentioned this yet. it's not just hardware acceleration that's the problem with Android. it's the garbage collection constantly running in the background that's causing some of the performance issues and lag. Now with ICS I read that it will allow the garbage collector to run on a different core from your application. that's definitely going to improve performance, but the overhead is still there. No wonder Android smartphones need 1.x GHZ and 1GB of RAM. Android needs it.
- chugger 15y ago
  another note: iOS/Obj C does not do automatic garbage collection specifically for this reason (and battery life).
- nitrogen 15y ago
  No wonder Android smartphones need 1.x GHZ and 1GB of RAM. Android needs it. The side effect of having all that extra CPU is that, when not running the core Android UI (e.g. a game written mostly in native code), a lot more power is available to developers.
  - chugger 15y ago
    garbage collection is not limited to the UI. Games, etc. everything's affected by this. this is partly a Java "issue".
    - ibisum 15y ago
      If you write your game properly using the NDK you won't incur any GC at all. Its quite possible to achieve zero-collection this way.

krobertson 15y ago

1) Having gone iPhone -> Android -> iPhone, I've always found the overall fluidity better on the iPhone. This isn't anything new in iOS 5. I believe it comes from the solid hardware and OS marriage. Android has too much variation that consistent performance across models is harder. 2) While Gingerbread is "last year's Android", it is still being shipped on new phones... or not even shipping yet. Android is cursed with a slow process for updates with the manufacturers and carriers. My Thunderbolt never got Gingerbread (from the carrier, sure I did root it) and it just came out and then was pulled.

wbkang 15y ago
Absolutely. Last year's iPhones will be running this year's iOS. Last year's Androids will, most likely, never receive this year's Android (unless, of course if you are lucky enough to get working custom ROMs ported to your devices).

SahilDesai 15y ago

It probably would have been a lot fairer had he compared the iPhone 3GS or iPhone 4 to everything pre-ICS (AKA any android phone on the market). In which case, any iOS device would still win. We'll have to see how ICS on (Android device) holds up against iOS 5 on 4S.

deleted 15y ago

[deleted]

jsz0 15y ago

Problem is, due to the way Android is distributed, the vast majority of Android phones won't have ICS until mid-to-late 2012. There are still a couple popular phones like the Droid Incredible that don't even have the Gingerbread update yet. At this point we don't even know which carriers are going to be offering the Galaxy Nexuses or exactly when it will be released.

sardonicbryan 15y ago
I know this likely doesn't apply to the average Joe, but I'm sure that I will have ICS running on my Galaxy S2 within a month or so, once the custom ROMs start getting stable.