5 ms·

Well, there are quite beautiful homescreens and widgets for android. You don't have to use them but i would say that iPhone users are just missing out on someth

by buster 14y ago

Well, there are quite beautiful homescreens and widgets for android. You don't have to use them but i would say that iPhone users are just missing out on something. Sure, you are used to just take what Apple gives you and praise that but i couldn't.. I want high customizability and i love to change the entire phone setup when i get bored by the current setup.. or try out a new home screen once in a while. It's painless and fun for me to do :) But surely, what really is missing on iOS is the whole intent/sharing system. It's just painful to try to interact between several apps on my iPad. Btw. One of the more beautiful homescreens is: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tsf.shell https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tsf.shell Or widgets: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.levelup.beautifulwidgets https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.levelup.be... Those are things that i simply can't get on iOS and i'm used to it. I want that on my mobile.

taligent 14y ago
And both of those are quintessentially Android features. I doubt you will ever see them implemented like that on iOS without jailbreaking. I personally don't want anything like that. I would rather Apple just allow widgets in the notifications section and have live icons.
pithon 14y ago
Also: http://www.reddit.com/r/androidthemes/ http://www.reddit.com/r/androidthemes/
- buster 14y ago
  That's a good point and demonstrates very well how far you can customize.
mannkind 14y ago
Those two examples... wow. A cluttered, unusable homescreen (is a ridiculous 3D cylinder of icons really an option?) and a weather widget where most of the text is unreadable.
- shinratdr 14y ago
  This is I feel like I can't trust anyone on this sort of thing. I had an Android tablet. Widgets are almost universally ugly and useless. "Beautiful Widgets" is a great example of what passes for well designed on Android, and it's ugly as sin and useless.
  - yareally 14y ago
    Did you ever change the theme from the default for the widget? The default is exceptionally bad and mimics the one from HTC Sense (also extremely ugly). Example of it not looking so ugly: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/24904191/Screenshot_2012-03-04-21-56-26.png https://dl.dropbox.com/u/24904191/Screenshot_2012-03-04-21-5...
    - shinratdr 14y ago
      Not bad, but I still prefer the consistency Notification Centre widgets provide. Swiping down from the top and swiping to the side are pretty equivalent actions IMO.
      - yareally 14y ago
        Yeah, if you're comparing those two things, I'd agree it's about the same difficulty to access either. Normally, I just look at my lockscreen though if i want the weather (https://dl.dropbox.com/u/24904191/2013-01-05%2000.45.21.png https://dl.dropbox.com/u/24904191/2013-01-05%2000.45.21.png). I'm using Cyanogen 10 in that screen shot before lockscreen widgets, so that wouldn't be found on stock Android, but I assume there's some sort of lockscreen widget for 4.2 that can do something similar.
        shinratdr 14y ago
        True. For the record I'm in favour of using device's lockscreen for more, that does feel like wasted space that could be used for more at-a-glance information. When the iOS jailbreak rolls around for my current model I typically hop on board and install LockInfo so I can have twitter & weather at a glance. The thing is though I don't really miss it when I don't have it, it's just a nice extra when it's available so it's never been a convincing reason for me to consider Android. TBH I find LockInfo to look nicer as well. Android widgets always felt really inconsistent to me, however I've never used CyanogenMod and I do like the look of that screenshot. Clean, consistent, and most of all not gigantic and flashy.

by buster 14y ago

taligent 14y ago

And both of those are quintessentially Android features. I doubt you will ever see them implemented like that on iOS without jailbreaking. I personally don't want anything like that. I would rather Apple just allow widgets in the notifications section and have live icons.

pithon 14y ago

Also: http://www.reddit.com/r/androidthemes/ http://www.reddit.com/r/androidthemes/

buster 14y ago
That's a good point and demonstrates very well how far you can customize.

mannkind 14y ago

Those two examples... wow. A cluttered, unusable homescreen (is a ridiculous 3D cylinder of icons really an option?) and a weather widget where most of the text is unreadable.

shinratdr 14y ago
This is I feel like I can't trust anyone on this sort of thing. I had an Android tablet. Widgets are almost universally ugly and useless. "Beautiful Widgets" is a great example of what passes for well designed on Android, and it's ugly as sin and useless.
- yareally 14y ago
  Did you ever change the theme from the default for the widget? The default is exceptionally bad and mimics the one from HTC Sense (also extremely ugly). Example of it not looking so ugly: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/24904191/Screenshot_2012-03-04-21-56-26.png https://dl.dropbox.com/u/24904191/Screenshot_2012-03-04-21-5...
  - shinratdr 14y ago
    Not bad, but I still prefer the consistency Notification Centre widgets provide. Swiping down from the top and swiping to the side are pretty equivalent actions IMO.
    - yareally 14y ago
      Yeah, if you're comparing those two things, I'd agree it's about the same difficulty to access either. Normally, I just look at my lockscreen though if i want the weather (https://dl.dropbox.com/u/24904191/2013-01-05%2000.45.21.png https://dl.dropbox.com/u/24904191/2013-01-05%2000.45.21.png). I'm using Cyanogen 10 in that screen shot before lockscreen widgets, so that wouldn't be found on stock Android, but I assume there's some sort of lockscreen widget for 4.2 that can do something similar.
      - shinratdr 14y ago
        True. For the record I'm in favour of using device's lockscreen for more, that does feel like wasted space that could be used for more at-a-glance information. When the iOS jailbreak rolls around for my current model I typically hop on board and install LockInfo so I can have twitter & weather at a glance. The thing is though I don't really miss it when I don't have it, it's just a nice extra when it's available so it's never been a convincing reason for me to consider Android. TBH I find LockInfo to look nicer as well. Android widgets always felt really inconsistent to me, however I've never used CyanogenMod and I do like the look of that screenshot. Clean, consistent, and most of all not gigantic and flashy.