5 ms·
Interesting - I switched from android to the iPhone 5 recently (after having the N1, NS and Galaxy Nexus). I thought this was the first iPhone that finally had
by fossuser 14y ago
Interesting - I switched from android to the iPhone 5 recently (after having the N1, NS and Galaxy Nexus). I thought this was the first iPhone that finally had the necessary hardware (LTE being required after the galaxy).
The main things I miss are better google voice integration on the nexus phones (the ability to use the web interface for texting is something I can't give up). I also used to not pay for texting this way and could actually afford to have a smart phone because of it since Tmobile has a $30 no contract 100min/unlimited data plan for unsubsidized phones.
I also needed some sort of google talk app which I finally found with the $5 version of the verbs app. A bunch of people I communicate with are on android and use google chat instead of facebook chat or imessage.
The current iPhone does some things much better. The biggest thing is battery life which is at least twice as good as any nexus phone I've used (probably even more). The difference in battery is really incredible. The new native Facebook iOS app is also great to use. The iPhone hardware is also subjectively much nicer, it both looks and feels a lot better to me - makes me wish Google had partnered with Nokia.
Really though they're both pretty equivalent at the point.
Edit: Almost forgot, the critical feature of android was turn by turn navigation which apple finally came out with in iOS6. Now that google's released their maps app as well the core differences that mattered are gone.
- blinkingled 14y agoBattery life in Android land is a matter of choosing the right handset. I don't believe the iPhone holds a candle to my Note 2 or the RAZR Maxx if you actually use the phone heavily. Plus replaceable/extended batteries are another option.
- djt 14y agoComparing the iPhone to a Note 2 is probably unfair as those things are HUGE!
- blinkingled 14y agoI guess any Android phone is now a days. The Razr is smaller of the two. But I think the point still stands due to replaceable batteries on phones like the S3 mini.
- mtgx 14y agoExactly - it uses a much bigger power-drawing screen, too.
- driverdan 14y agoThe Note 2 is a tablet that also happens to make calls. Compare it to the iPad Mini. The Nexus 4's battery is not removable.
- blinkingled 14y agoMost people buy the Note 2 as a phone though. But the point is you can still choose - big hands, like big screen get a Note 2. Want something smaller - get Razr Maxx HD or S3 mini with extra battery. All I am saying is that battery life isn't an issue on Android any longer. Even with the smaller non-removable battery phones, with little tweaks you can get battery life very similar to what the iPhone 4/4S have offered (don't know about iPhone 5).
- wting 14y agoCan the iPad Mini make phone calls? Can it fit in my pocket? The Mini's surface is 23 in^2 larger.
- fossuser 14y agoI'm sure it is variable by handset, but I had no interest in any android phone apart from the Nexus line.
- thefreeman 14y agoCurious, do you actively use the power control widget? Turning off wi-fi and GPS when you aren't using them can help a lot with battery life. Also, if you are using CyanogenMod (or many other custom builds) you can change the performance settings on your cpu governer, etc., to improve it further.
- beznogim 14y agoChances are, there is a ketnel wakelock held by a device driver and preventing the phone from sleeping. This is a common issue with poorly written drivers (even Nexus 7 3g suffers from it). Properly functioning Android phone should be managing its radios automatically.
- warfangle 14y agoMy cheapo android phone from Virgin had an app installed by default (ICS) that lets you automate power control. My phone goes from 100% to 60% about twice as fast as 60% to 0%, because once it hits 60% it automatically dims the screen (unless you force it bright). And if you ever watch power consumption, by and far it's the screen that uses the most.
- bjustin 14y agoThat's silly. I don't have to manually turn off wi-fi or GPS for my iPhone to last about two days, why should I have to on an Android phone? Automatic management would be fine, but having to think about it is not. Even using cell-towers-only coarse location to set them when I'm at home or work could be OK.
- chimeracoder 14y ago> I don't have to manually turn off wi-fi or GPS for my iPhone to last about two days, why should I have to on an Android phone? Because an Android phone doesn't assume you have unlimited data and automatically turn Wifi off periodically, thereby downloading things over the cell network. I've gotten burned this way on the iPhone; luckily I opted for the larger data plan.
- greenmountin 14y ago
- gallamine 14y agoDo you find you have problems with MMS and Google Voice? Last I checked, it was unsupported and text messages with pictures or video just went to /dev/null without any notifications to either party. That was a no-go for me.
- dannyr 14y agoMy main # now is Google Voice. For the past 4 years, there was just 2 instances that I needed MMS. What's frustrating though is the inability of Google Voice to receive SMS from short codes. Craigslist and Paypal also don't verify accounts with a Google Voice number.
- fossuser 14y agoYeah that short code thing sucks - still have to use my non google voice number for that.
- FireBeyond 14y agoPerhaps so, but you can't deny that for wider adoption, Google Voice needs to do something about both Short Codes and MMS. Lack of MMS is a dealbreaker for a lot of people, and "text it to my email address", as I explain to friends, is like a paradigm shifting without a clutch (with apologies to Dilbert).
- fossuser 14y agoMMS isn't supported and still silently fails (which is annoying). I just tell people to 'text my email addresss' which works, or to use something else (like facebook/snapchat).
- parfe 14y agoIf someone attempts to send your Google voice number an MMS you will receive a notification about the message and the image will be sent to your email address. http://googlevoiceblog.blogspot.com/2011/10/first-steps-towards-mms-support.html http://googlevoiceblog.blogspot.com/2011/10/first-steps-towa...