7 ms·

I actually think that post-ICS and especially with Jelly Bean that Android is a superior tablet OS to iOS, at least for me. There's basically no feature on iOS

I actually think that post-ICS and especially with Jelly Bean that Android is a superior tablet OS to iOS, at least for me. There's basically no feature on iOS that I miss when I'm on Android, but a few (eg. custom keyboards, the overall intent system, etc) that I miss when I'm on iOS. iOS still kills Android for app availability though (especially when it comes to "tablet optimized" apps) and between that and iOS ecosystem lock-in, Android/Google still has some catching up to do to make tablets a true two-horse race.

glimcat 14y ago
Jelly Bean added a bunch of stuff that I'm very happy to see as a developer. But it will take a long while for that to trickle down to the user level, even for people who get on Jelly Bean quickly. On the other hand, this translates into bucketloads of low-hanging fruit if you're an Android developer.
- tonfa 14y ago
  > But it will take a long while for that to trickle down to the user level If the Nexus 7 has the same success as the Kindle Fire (or better) then a large proportion of tablet users would be on JB.
  - gurkendoktor 14y ago
    …in the US (and maybe UK).
    - tonfa 14y ago
      And France, and Germany, and ...
      - gurkendoktor 14y ago
        Scheduled for 'September', according to a Facebook post by Asus Italia that everyone is referring to: https://www.facebook.com/ASUS.Italia/posts/180844915379890 https://www.facebook.com/ASUS.Italia/posts/180844915379890 I hadn't heard about that, and it still seems like a half-assed international release to me :(
r00fus 14y ago
This is a google device, not a run-of-the-mill Android device (most of which are not on ICS much less JB). This point is very important - it makes the device more like an iOS one - more likely for updates, more fine touches as Google's cred rests on it. If we see other tablets of similar calibre to the nexus7, then yes - you can say "Android" compares/best iOS. But for right now, it's nexus7 vs. iPad or Kindle Fire.
- 2muchcoffeeman 14y ago
  So their tablet will be at a higher API level than pretty much every Android device out there. You still can't use the latest OS features as a dev unless it's OK for the Nexus 7 to have exclusive features. Or maybe Google has another go at direct handset sales, or they withhold updates to maintain parity across their flagship products. At the moment being a "Google device" doesn't actually guarantee you anything. Edit: I didn't think that through. The OS version is already out of sync! I guess that is what they will do.
  - kamechan 14y ago
    My nexus 7 has JB, my Galaxy Nexus has JB, how is that out of sync?
    - 2muchcoffeeman 14y ago
      http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/07/11/jelly_bean_updates/ http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/07/11/jelly_bean_updates/ Not everyone with a Galaxy Nexus will get it. But my complaint is moot. I didn't really think it through. They are just going to stagger updates like they always have.
- nl 14y ago
  This is a google device, not a run-of-the-mill Android device (most of which are not on ICS much less JB). I think almost all brand name tablets are on ICS now. This point is very important - it makes the device more like an iOS one - more likely for updates, more fine touches as Google's cred rests on it Have you actually used something like the Asus Transformer? It's very, very good. I have a MBP, Linux Laptop, Windows Laptop, iPad2, iPhone 4, Galaxy S, an old 7" no brand Android tablet and the Transformer with a keyboard dock, and the Transformer gets the most use for general email/web browsing use.
vibrunazo 14y ago
> iOS still kills Android for app availability though (especially when it comes to "tablet optimized" apps) I keep hearing that. But never seen it backed up. Based on exactly what does people say this? There's no efficient way to "count" Android tablet optimized apps. So how do you compare? Is it because there are some major apps that still works bad on Android tablets? If so, which ones? I remember when Honeycomb just came out. It was terrible, most apps I'd download looked terrible, and I furiously uninstalled many of them. It was so frustrating. But it has been a long time since I don't feel like that anymore. Today, every app I use on my phone is nicely optimized for my tablet as well. I literally cannot think of a single example of one app I'm missing tablet support for. Yet, the "Android still doesn't have tablet optimized apps" meme didn't stop. But maybe I'm just living under a rock and haven't been using the same apps as others. So I humbly ask, could anyone please give me an objective argument for this point to understand if there's actually still any merit to it?
- taligent 14y ago
  It's pretty clear you've never actually seen an iPad app. Because if you had then you would know that just because you can view a "mobile" website on your laptop it doesn't make it optimal. iPad apps are specifically designed to make best use of the real estate and there are a number of iPad-only UI concepts.
- ricardobeat 14y ago
  There is a truckload of apps that are iOS only. iA writer, paper, penultimate, infinity blade, just off the top of my head. Great quality apps abound, and usually their iPad versions make great use of the screen real estate, instead of just rescaling the interface. Lots of others have started on iOS and were only released for Android much later (Flipboard, Angry Birds, Instagram).
- ximeng 14y ago
  I use skritter.com for practising Chinese. They recently released an iOS app after several months work. There is currently no plan to produce an Android app, partly because there is a partial web / flash solution available on Android, but I assume also that the numbers didn't add up for putting the work in to porting the iPhone app. This is a must-have application for learning to write Chinese in my opinion, to the extent that people would buy an iOS device just to use it. There is no equivalent for Android. I carry around an iPhone as a work phone, and pretty much only use it for this. So learning Chinese is a little niche, but I'm sure there are other niches where people rely on a particular app, this app is not available on Android, and so they wouldn't switch for this reason.
betterth 14y ago
Android is inferior to iOS. Google Android could be on par with iOS, that's exciting and I can't wait to try the Nexus 7. But it takes only one glance at what is released under the "Android" name for me to definitively state: Android is inferior to iOS. But that's the point of Android. There is very, very little centralized quality control so the spectrum of quality goes all the way from the Nexus 7 down to a $99 POS Walgreens Android tablet.
- bengillies 14y ago
  I know I'm not supposed to feed trolls, but: > Android is inferior to iOS. > > But that's the point of Android. The point of Android is to be not as good as iOS? Really? That's the point of Android? Do you make the claim that all cars are rubbish just because some companies make rubbish cars? No. Different cars are different. Obviously. So it is with Android devices. If one Android device is on a par with the new iPad (or at least in the same ballpark according to MG Siegler) then please judge that device based solely on that device, not on other devices that are similar in OS name only (not even version). If you're comparing iOS to the full spectrum of Android devices out there, then please compare the full spectrum of iOS devices out there as well, including the iPhone 3GS which is, in this day and age, a POS cheapo smartphone (compared to top of the range Android phones at least).
  - adrianm 14y ago
    I actually don't think he's trolling, or at least not in the way you're interpreting. I could be wrong, but I think he just clumsily phrased his response. In other words, he was stating that the point of Android is to be a decentralized operating system. Individual deployments are not controlled by any one corporation, so there can be a lot of hit and misses. Therefore, I don't think he is making a general claim that the 'point of Android to be inferior to iOS'. Disclaimer: I'm not claiming anything written above is my own opinion, I'm just attempting to clarify a possible ambiguity.
    - bengillies 14y ago
      You're probably correct but then, why judge the Android OS as a whole based on the fact that there are a few rubbish devices out that run it?

glimcat 14y ago

Jelly Bean added a bunch of stuff that I'm very happy to see as a developer. But it will take a long while for that to trickle down to the user level, even for people who get on Jelly Bean quickly. On the other hand, this translates into bucketloads of low-hanging fruit if you're an Android developer.

tonfa 14y ago
> But it will take a long while for that to trickle down to the user level If the Nexus 7 has the same success as the Kindle Fire (or better) then a large proportion of tablet users would be on JB.
- gurkendoktor 14y ago
  …in the US (and maybe UK).
  - tonfa 14y ago
    And France, and Germany, and ...
    - gurkendoktor 14y ago
      Scheduled for 'September', according to a Facebook post by Asus Italia that everyone is referring to: https://www.facebook.com/ASUS.Italia/posts/180844915379890 https://www.facebook.com/ASUS.Italia/posts/180844915379890 I hadn't heard about that, and it still seems like a half-assed international release to me :(

r00fus 14y ago

This is a google device, not a run-of-the-mill Android device (most of which are not on ICS much less JB). This point is very important - it makes the device more like an iOS one - more likely for updates, more fine touches as Google's cred rests on it. If we see other tablets of similar calibre to the nexus7, then yes - you can say "Android" compares/best iOS. But for right now, it's nexus7 vs. iPad or Kindle Fire.

2muchcoffeeman 14y ago
So their tablet will be at a higher API level than pretty much every Android device out there. You still can't use the latest OS features as a dev unless it's OK for the Nexus 7 to have exclusive features. Or maybe Google has another go at direct handset sales, or they withhold updates to maintain parity across their flagship products. At the moment being a "Google device" doesn't actually guarantee you anything. Edit: I didn't think that through. The OS version is already out of sync! I guess that is what they will do.
- kamechan 14y ago
  My nexus 7 has JB, my Galaxy Nexus has JB, how is that out of sync?
  - 2muchcoffeeman 14y ago
    http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/07/11/jelly_bean_updates/ http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/07/11/jelly_bean_updates/ Not everyone with a Galaxy Nexus will get it. But my complaint is moot. I didn't really think it through. They are just going to stagger updates like they always have.
nl 14y ago
This is a google device, not a run-of-the-mill Android device (most of which are not on ICS much less JB). I think almost all brand name tablets are on ICS now. This point is very important - it makes the device more like an iOS one - more likely for updates, more fine touches as Google's cred rests on it Have you actually used something like the Asus Transformer? It's very, very good. I have a MBP, Linux Laptop, Windows Laptop, iPad2, iPhone 4, Galaxy S, an old 7" no brand Android tablet and the Transformer with a keyboard dock, and the Transformer gets the most use for general email/web browsing use.

vibrunazo 14y ago

> iOS still kills Android for app availability though (especially when it comes to "tablet optimized" apps) I keep hearing that. But never seen it backed up. Based on exactly what does people say this? There's no efficient way to "count" Android tablet optimized apps. So how do you compare? Is it because there are some major apps that still works bad on Android tablets? If so, which ones? I remember when Honeycomb just came out. It was terrible, most apps I'd download looked terrible, and I furiously uninstalled many of them. It was so frustrating. But it has been a long time since I don't feel like that anymore. Today, every app I use on my phone is nicely optimized for my tablet as well. I literally cannot think of a single example of one app I'm missing tablet support for. Yet, the "Android still doesn't have tablet optimized apps" meme didn't stop. But maybe I'm just living under a rock and haven't been using the same apps as others. So I humbly ask, could anyone please give me an objective argument for this point to understand if there's actually still any merit to it?

taligent 14y ago
It's pretty clear you've never actually seen an iPad app. Because if you had then you would know that just because you can view a "mobile" website on your laptop it doesn't make it optimal. iPad apps are specifically designed to make best use of the real estate and there are a number of iPad-only UI concepts.
ricardobeat 14y ago
There is a truckload of apps that are iOS only. iA writer, paper, penultimate, infinity blade, just off the top of my head. Great quality apps abound, and usually their iPad versions make great use of the screen real estate, instead of just rescaling the interface. Lots of others have started on iOS and were only released for Android much later (Flipboard, Angry Birds, Instagram).
ximeng 14y ago
I use skritter.com for practising Chinese. They recently released an iOS app after several months work. There is currently no plan to produce an Android app, partly because there is a partial web / flash solution available on Android, but I assume also that the numbers didn't add up for putting the work in to porting the iPhone app. This is a must-have application for learning to write Chinese in my opinion, to the extent that people would buy an iOS device just to use it. There is no equivalent for Android. I carry around an iPhone as a work phone, and pretty much only use it for this. So learning Chinese is a little niche, but I'm sure there are other niches where people rely on a particular app, this app is not available on Android, and so they wouldn't switch for this reason.

betterth 14y ago

Android is inferior to iOS. Google Android could be on par with iOS, that's exciting and I can't wait to try the Nexus 7. But it takes only one glance at what is released under the "Android" name for me to definitively state: Android is inferior to iOS. But that's the point of Android. There is very, very little centralized quality control so the spectrum of quality goes all the way from the Nexus 7 down to a $99 POS Walgreens Android tablet.

bengillies 14y ago
I know I'm not supposed to feed trolls, but: > Android is inferior to iOS. > > But that's the point of Android. The point of Android is to be not as good as iOS? Really? That's the point of Android? Do you make the claim that all cars are rubbish just because some companies make rubbish cars? No. Different cars are different. Obviously. So it is with Android devices. If one Android device is on a par with the new iPad (or at least in the same ballpark according to MG Siegler) then please judge that device based solely on that device, not on other devices that are similar in OS name only (not even version). If you're comparing iOS to the full spectrum of Android devices out there, then please compare the full spectrum of iOS devices out there as well, including the iPhone 3GS which is, in this day and age, a POS cheapo smartphone (compared to top of the range Android phones at least).
- adrianm 14y ago
  I actually don't think he's trolling, or at least not in the way you're interpreting. I could be wrong, but I think he just clumsily phrased his response. In other words, he was stating that the point of Android is to be a decentralized operating system. Individual deployments are not controlled by any one corporation, so there can be a lot of hit and misses. Therefore, I don't think he is making a general claim that the 'point of Android to be inferior to iOS'. Disclaimer: I'm not claiming anything written above is my own opinion, I'm just attempting to clarify a possible ambiguity.
  - bengillies 14y ago
    You're probably correct but then, why judge the Android OS as a whole based on the fact that there are a few rubbish devices out that run it?