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iOS sucks in some pretty key areas too. The only difference is what you're familiar with. I had been using an iPhone for two or three weeks before I discovered

iOS sucks in some pretty key areas too. The only difference is what you're familiar with. I had been using an iPhone for two or three weeks before I discovered (by accident) that double-pressing the home button actually did anything. To my knowledge, this is the only time double-pressing anything is the correct interaction in iOS; I'm so trained at this point that you either single-press or long-press that this startled me. How anybody ever figures this out is beyond me. The same goes for navigating text - it also took me a while to find out that long-pressing creates a magnifying glass. I still prefer Android's version, which is consistent on all text fields (including the browser URL bar!) and faster. The browser forces me to scroll up all the way in order to navigate to a different page. The URL bar and search bar are inexplicably different, which makes no sense on a mobile device. I still couldn't tell you without looking which icons I can move on my homescreen and which I can't. Even if I look, I couldn't explain why I'm unable to move many of them. Settings - man, why does this have to be so complicated? Even Cyanogenmod, which offers a far greater level of customization, makes much more sense. Almost all relevant settings for a particular application are inside the application itself - this isn't split half-and-half arbitrarily. Taking a screenshot? I always forget that this requires pressing two buttons that are very awkward to hold down at the same time. On any ICS+ phone, I can just long-press the power button. Simple. Easy. The notification bar is completely superfluous. I receive a notification from Twitter, then tap that notification to go to Twitter to read it, and then I notice that I have to go back to the notification bar to clear the notification again. I've never had any problems with buttons. All Android phones have a back button; the only question is whether it is hard or soft, but I don't really care about that. Maybe that means I, the user, am just dumb. But I never have had any of these problems on Android.

jpxxx 14y ago
I couldn't agree more on Settings. Apple made the hideous mistake in iOS 2 of placing each third party app's settings in the OS's Settings app. Developers correctly determined that nobody wants to leave their app to change how it worked and mostly ignored it. But there they sit, dozens of them, ignored forever. For screenshots, Android absolutely does not get a pass. iOS has had instant PNG screenshots since 1.0. That it took Google 4 years to provide any kind of screenshot functionality at all sans debugger is almost insane. The rest, yep. Many of the unconventional features and idioms in IOS were released to great fanfare to the fans and featured in advertising. Those coming to the platform after the fact are left playing "hidden secrets". (as an aside, how are you unable to move icons? They are all movable. only a few built-in ones cannot be placed into a folder.) You're not dumb. Users are not dumb. They simply have their expectations on how something works met or not, and the more expectations and prior experience you come with, the more frustrating it is when those expectations are not met. Mobile OSes are not the end of the line in simple computer design. I firmly believe there's another order of magnitude to go, and I am certain I'll see it in my life.
- chimeracoder 14y ago
  > Android absolutely does not get a pass. iOS has had instant PNG screenshots since 1.0 We're comparing usability, not features. Android's interface is more usable and intuitive. > only a few built-in ones cannot be placed into a folder I never use Newsstand. Why shouldn't I be able to place it in a folder > You're not dumb. Users are not dumb. They simply have their expectations on how something works met or not, and the more expectations and prior experience you come with, the more frustrating it is when those expectations are not met. I'm not sure what this is supposed to mean. All I know is that, after several months, I'm still frustrated that I can barely do basic things like type on the phone properly (at a reasonable speed) because of all the sloppy design with the text entry. Since the iPhone doesn't let you swap keyboards out, this means that my only other solution is to use my Galaxy Nexus for any serious work. So there you have it - this incredibly expensive hallmark of 'good design' is relegated to being little more than a flashy toy e-reader! Oh, the irony....
  - zevyoura 14y ago
    What kind of serious work are you doing on your Nexus?
    - chimeracoder 14y ago
      For starters, anything involving typing, like email.
  - jpxxx 14y ago
    We're not on the same page.
  - uxp 14y ago
    > Why shouldn't I be able to place it in a folder For all intents and purposes, Newsstand is a folder. You can't put folders in folders. Whether or not you agree with that is an argument of opinion, but that's the fact.
    - chimeracoder 14y ago
Evbn 14y ago
On JB screenshot is two buttons. Maybe you are describing a cyanogen feature.
- chimeracoder 14y ago
  You're right, that's to bring up the menu, but the Jelly Bean action is the power and volume down buttons, which on virtually any newer Android phone is far easier to press than the corresponding buttons on the iPhone.

jpxxx 14y ago

I couldn't agree more on Settings. Apple made the hideous mistake in iOS 2 of placing each third party app's settings in the OS's Settings app. Developers correctly determined that nobody wants to leave their app to change how it worked and mostly ignored it. But there they sit, dozens of them, ignored forever. For screenshots, Android absolutely does not get a pass. iOS has had instant PNG screenshots since 1.0. That it took Google 4 years to provide any kind of screenshot functionality at all sans debugger is almost insane. The rest, yep. Many of the unconventional features and idioms in IOS were released to great fanfare to the fans and featured in advertising. Those coming to the platform after the fact are left playing "hidden secrets". (as an aside, how are you unable to move icons? They are all movable. only a few built-in ones cannot be placed into a folder.) You're not dumb. Users are not dumb. They simply have their expectations on how something works met or not, and the more expectations and prior experience you come with, the more frustrating it is when those expectations are not met. Mobile OSes are not the end of the line in simple computer design. I firmly believe there's another order of magnitude to go, and I am certain I'll see it in my life.

chimeracoder 14y ago
> Android absolutely does not get a pass. iOS has had instant PNG screenshots since 1.0 We're comparing usability, not features. Android's interface is more usable and intuitive. > only a few built-in ones cannot be placed into a folder I never use Newsstand. Why shouldn't I be able to place it in a folder > You're not dumb. Users are not dumb. They simply have their expectations on how something works met or not, and the more expectations and prior experience you come with, the more frustrating it is when those expectations are not met. I'm not sure what this is supposed to mean. All I know is that, after several months, I'm still frustrated that I can barely do basic things like type on the phone properly (at a reasonable speed) because of all the sloppy design with the text entry. Since the iPhone doesn't let you swap keyboards out, this means that my only other solution is to use my Galaxy Nexus for any serious work. So there you have it - this incredibly expensive hallmark of 'good design' is relegated to being little more than a flashy toy e-reader! Oh, the irony....
- zevyoura 14y ago
  What kind of serious work are you doing on your Nexus?
  - chimeracoder 14y ago
    For starters, anything involving typing, like email.
- jpxxx 14y ago
  We're not on the same page.
- uxp 14y ago
  > Why shouldn't I be able to place it in a folder For all intents and purposes, Newsstand is a folder. You can't put folders in folders. Whether or not you agree with that is an argument of opinion, but that's the fact.
  - chimeracoder 14y ago

Evbn 14y ago

On JB screenshot is two buttons. Maybe you are describing a cyanogen feature.

chimeracoder 14y ago
You're right, that's to bring up the menu, but the Jelly Bean action is the power and volume down buttons, which on virtually any newer Android phone is far easier to press than the corresponding buttons on the iPhone.