6 ms·

First, the word iphone isn't even mentioned in the article, but its funny how quickly HN drops into an iphone vs. android Second, the author points out NDK ove

First, the word iphone isn't even mentioned in the article, but its funny how quickly HN drops into an iphone vs. android Second, the author points out NDK over Java as a solution which is already leveraged by some popular apis transparently from java, such as libgdx. Finally, the ui is responsive enough. My biggest annoyance whenever I have to help my in laws or my parents with their iphones and there is no back button - I don't notice any significant difference between their iphones and my Galaxy S3, and I'm sure Samsungs phones have only gotten better.

gmac 13y ago
(Equally, my biggest annoyance on Android is often the lack of an on-screen back button, and the small but annoying proportion of times when the hardware back button takes me somewhere other than I expected.)
- sizzle 13y ago
  You can get around the back button part by rooting and allowing double tap of back arrow to jump between last open application. This solved that pain point for me
  - coin 13y ago
    People don't want to have to root a device to work around usability issues. That's why iOS devices are so popular, out of the box they just work (for the most part).
    - mikeash 13y ago
      On the other hand, when you do bump into a problem, you generally can root Android devices, while iOS is getting to be pretty rough there.
    - bananas 13y ago
      I've used both extensively. When iOS screws up, which at least it does in my house regularly[1], you're SOL. We're moving to Android devices slowly (up two Moto Gs at the moment). [1] we have three iOS devices and I'm the loveless tech support for them.
    - sizzle 13y ago
      I was just suggesting this workaround personally after having been frustrated by the back button myself
  - StavrosK 13y ago
    Which app does that?
    - sizzle 13y ago
      after you root, install Xposed framework and you can get the GravityBox module which will enable a ton of customization. Read the tutorials on XDA forums if you need help, enjoy!
jaegerpicker 13y ago
>>Finally, the ui is responsive enough. I have to strongly disagree here. I'm a mobile dev, I work on Android and iOS. My main phone is an iPhone 5s, recently I tried switching OS just so that I would be more comfortable with the different OS's day to day idioms. I couldn't stand Android, it was sooo laggy feeling compared to a iPhone or even a windows 8 phone. Both Apple and Microsoft have large leads in user experience and speed. Don't get me wrong Android is certainly better than either in it's own way but performance and responsiveness are not it's strong suite. 3 apps that the difference was obvious to me are: Google Maps (the ios version feels way smoother), Evernote, and the facebook app. Also see the yahoo weather app the difference was incredible. Phones I used in testing: HTC One, Samsung S4, Nokia Lumia 1520, and iPhone 5S Granted all of this was based upon personal experience and isn't a scientific study but to me the difference was absolutely clear. Perhaps if I had only used an Android device I wouldn't have noticed the difference as much but having been a long term iOS user I could not stand it.
- rprospero 13y ago
  > Granted all of this was based upon personal experience and isn't a scientific study but to me the difference was absolutely clear. Thanks for including that line, because my personal experience is the exact opposite. I have a four year old android phone and I dread any time I need to use my wife's one year old ipod. I find the lag on the ipod slow to the point of almost being unusable. Every time I use it, there's at least one point where I'll put down the iPod to go do something else while I wait for it to catch up with me. It's amazing how much personal experiences can differ. Edit: updated possibly relevant details
  - TylerE 13y ago
    Worth pointing out that there is a pretty big drop in spec from an iPhone 5 to an iPod 5, the SoC is two full generations behind.
    - abjuk 13y ago
      This. Also, a year ago Apple was still selling some models of the 4th gen iPod Touches, which are the equivalent of a three year old iPhone 4 but with half the ram.
double051 13y ago
The NDK is a total 'bolt-on' solution to the problem, and support within the Android dev tools is basically non-existent. The biggest tragedy is that Google had a chance to make a better NDK experience with Android Studio, but instead they chose to ignore it completely. With Eclipse you at least had an official add-on for NDK support, but now you're expected to manage it with your Gradle files by hand. Now, even more than before, you're at the whim of solutions on Stack Overflow.
- mdwrigh2 13y ago
  NDK support is being worked on. There are samples[1] of the API, but it's largely undocumented and still a work in progress. There's a reason AS hasn't hit 1.0 yet: it isn't ready. [1]: http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=sites&srcid=YW5kcm9pZC5jb218dG9vbHN8Z3g6M2U0NDQ2YWFkYWVmNGY5NA http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=sites&srcid=YW5kcm9pZC...
- pjmlp 13y ago
  I think having a few ex-Sun Java guys might have influenced that decision. Since all other mobile platforms offer better native support. This is just my personal opinion.

gmac 13y ago

(Equally, my biggest annoyance on Android is often the lack of an on-screen back button, and the small but annoying proportion of times when the hardware back button takes me somewhere other than I expected.)

sizzle 13y ago
You can get around the back button part by rooting and allowing double tap of back arrow to jump between last open application. This solved that pain point for me
- coin 13y ago
  People don't want to have to root a device to work around usability issues. That's why iOS devices are so popular, out of the box they just work (for the most part).
  - mikeash 13y ago
    On the other hand, when you do bump into a problem, you generally can root Android devices, while iOS is getting to be pretty rough there.
  - bananas 13y ago
    I've used both extensively. When iOS screws up, which at least it does in my house regularly[1], you're SOL. We're moving to Android devices slowly (up two Moto Gs at the moment). [1] we have three iOS devices and I'm the loveless tech support for them.
  - sizzle 13y ago
    I was just suggesting this workaround personally after having been frustrated by the back button myself
- StavrosK 13y ago
  Which app does that?
  - sizzle 13y ago
    after you root, install Xposed framework and you can get the GravityBox module which will enable a ton of customization. Read the tutorials on XDA forums if you need help, enjoy!

jaegerpicker 13y ago

>>Finally, the ui is responsive enough. I have to strongly disagree here. I'm a mobile dev, I work on Android and iOS. My main phone is an iPhone 5s, recently I tried switching OS just so that I would be more comfortable with the different OS's day to day idioms. I couldn't stand Android, it was sooo laggy feeling compared to a iPhone or even a windows 8 phone. Both Apple and Microsoft have large leads in user experience and speed. Don't get me wrong Android is certainly better than either in it's own way but performance and responsiveness are not it's strong suite. 3 apps that the difference was obvious to me are: Google Maps (the ios version feels way smoother), Evernote, and the facebook app. Also see the yahoo weather app the difference was incredible. Phones I used in testing: HTC One, Samsung S4, Nokia Lumia 1520, and iPhone 5S Granted all of this was based upon personal experience and isn't a scientific study but to me the difference was absolutely clear. Perhaps if I had only used an Android device I wouldn't have noticed the difference as much but having been a long term iOS user I could not stand it.

rprospero 13y ago
> Granted all of this was based upon personal experience and isn't a scientific study but to me the difference was absolutely clear. Thanks for including that line, because my personal experience is the exact opposite. I have a four year old android phone and I dread any time I need to use my wife's one year old ipod. I find the lag on the ipod slow to the point of almost being unusable. Every time I use it, there's at least one point where I'll put down the iPod to go do something else while I wait for it to catch up with me. It's amazing how much personal experiences can differ. Edit: updated possibly relevant details
- TylerE 13y ago
  Worth pointing out that there is a pretty big drop in spec from an iPhone 5 to an iPod 5, the SoC is two full generations behind.
  - abjuk 13y ago
    This. Also, a year ago Apple was still selling some models of the 4th gen iPod Touches, which are the equivalent of a three year old iPhone 4 but with half the ram.

double051 13y ago

The NDK is a total 'bolt-on' solution to the problem, and support within the Android dev tools is basically non-existent. The biggest tragedy is that Google had a chance to make a better NDK experience with Android Studio, but instead they chose to ignore it completely. With Eclipse you at least had an official add-on for NDK support, but now you're expected to manage it with your Gradle files by hand. Now, even more than before, you're at the whim of solutions on Stack Overflow.

mdwrigh2 13y ago
NDK support is being worked on. There are samples[1] of the API, but it's largely undocumented and still a work in progress. There's a reason AS hasn't hit 1.0 yet: it isn't ready. [1]: http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=sites&srcid=YW5kcm9pZC5jb218dG9vbHN8Z3g6M2U0NDQ2YWFkYWVmNGY5NA http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=sites&srcid=YW5kcm9pZC...
pjmlp 13y ago
I think having a few ex-Sun Java guys might have influenced that decision. Since all other mobile platforms offer better native support. This is just my personal opinion.