4 ms·

As an iOS user since the 3GS, I have to say this is the first time I find Android to look significantly better and more usable than iOS, which IMO has regressed

As an iOS user since the 3GS, I have to say this is the first time I find Android to look significantly better and more usable than iOS, which IMO has regressed since iOS 7. How is the situation with backups and restores nowadays? If I'd have to redo all my settings when switching from an Android to another Android phone in 2016, I'd be pretty sad. I'd even be willing to restrict myself to Nexus devices if that makes a difference. Oh, also, are there any good Nexus phones with dual simcards? That would be a major reason for me to switch over.

doughj3 12y ago
"For existing Android users, the next step after signing in is to restore your Android settings and apps"
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
ProCynic 12y ago
I saw an article on migrating android phones earlier today: http://lifehacker.com/5843206/how-to-upgrade-to-a-new-android-phone-and-take-everything-with-you http://lifehacker.com/5843206/how-to-upgrade-to-a-new-androi...
kukkukb 12y ago
I recently upgraded my Note 2 to a Note 4. One of the first things it asks when you first switch on the phone, is to log into your Google Account. After that it asked a couple more questions. By the time the install wizard was done, most of my phone had been restored: Apps Contacts (including favourites) Emails (they live in the cloud) Photos Music Even things like WiFi passwords, preferred hotspots, etc. I don't even think about backing up and restoring my Android device. It all just works.
k-mcgrady 12y ago
>> "As an iOS user since the 3GS, I have to say this is the first time I find Android to look significantly better and more usable than iOS, which IMO has regressed since iOS 7." I agree BUT how long will it be before developers implement material design on Android? I've got Android apps still using pre-holo design.
sleepyhead 12y ago
As a recent convert from 3GS (yes iOS6) to Sony Xperia Z3 Compact I strongly disagree. There is so much weirdness in Android that I don't even know where to begin. A big chunk of it is the ecosystem though but Google is to blame here as well. Mainly for the lack of privacy (seems like 70% of apps I try to install wants access to my contacts at install-time. And the design. Oh god how many ugly things in the Play Store). The openness is Android isn't an openness in practice. You would assume CalDAV and CardDAV would be a native feature like in iOS. Nope. You would assume you could uninstall non-critical apps. Nope. You would think 1Password could integrate itself to Chrome like on iOS? Nope. The back button is a story in itself. Go back? Exit app? Go to another app? The russian roulette back button got you covered. The way of selecting text in various places is also implemented in a similar mysterious way. And then you have whoever made the phone (Sony in my case) adding shit. Not only apps but core behaviours. When I long press on the home button Sony decided that Google Now could be easily available. Which is useful. But also they have Sony Whats New which is some weird little app that showcases some various content for sale from Sony. On the main button on the screen. I can totally understand why people for various reasons would like not be in Apple's walled garden or don't like how Apple things work. But Android is a very poor alternative. It doesn't give us the truly open system that we as users deserve. It has a horrible broken ecosystem in regards to privacy, design and annoyance (ads, ads everywhere). Google enforces their own products beyond just "hey look at this cool youtube thing" in a way that is much beyond what Apple does. Yes I do really like stuff Apple produces but was really looking forward to use an open mobile OS. But the whole experience with Android and Google has left me very negative to use anything from Google again.
- Brakenshire 12y ago
  > seems like 70% of apps I try to install wants access to my contacts at install-time How does iOS handle this?
  - ErikHuisman 12y ago
    Issues a permission confirmation the moment the app tries to access contacts (once).
  - 12y ago
mitchell209 12y ago
This is the first version of android where I thought they totally outdid apple, at least superficially. I'm just disappointed that I no longer have any decent android phone to use so I can form an actual opinion on Lollipop.
statictype 12y ago
Oh, also, are there any good Nexus phones with dual simcards? My experience with dual sim cards has led me to believe it's not worth the effort. I'm not sure if it is complexity in the hardware or in the software, but whatever phone I've seen that has this feature invariably has issues with reception and network connections randomly going down. Maybe it's something like multi-threaded code - where the benefits of simultaneous lines of execution are often offset by the complexities in sharing data.
- m_mueller 12y ago
  Thanks. A shame, I've never had a dual sim phone, but people told me about older Nokias being quite good at that. Now we've finally caught up to the old SMS-from-desktop connectivity from back then (with iMessages), I wonder how long it's going to take until we have all the features back from the pre iPhone era. In mobile just like in desktop computing, the history seems to repeat itself every 15 or so years.
  - yaantc 12y ago
    Dual SIM is working fine with 2G, but not well with always on data. What's important to understand is that those dual SIM devices only have a single radio, that must be shared between both SIMs. And that's not part of the standard, so one has to play some tricks. In the 2G era, the modem was mostly in idle mode. In this mode it sleep most of the time, and wakes up now and then (network configurable, around 1 sec. roughly) to listen for a paging opportunity. The network uses this time slot to send a paging signal to the device if it needs to wake up and reconnect because of a network initiated incoming call. Because the active paging time is very small compared to the sleep duration of the paging cycle, it's pretty easy to handle two SIMs: register serially, and then the paging opportunity are unlikely to clash (and if they do one can play tricks until they don't). Then if a call comes in on one SIM, connect for this SIM. You can't listen to the other SIM paging but it's unlikely you'll get two calls at the same time, and without answer another call will go to your voice mail, which is good. That was dual active dual SIM at the time of 2G, and it was good for the users. With 3G without data, it's about the same. But with modern 3G with mostly always on, and for sure with LTE with always on data, it's much more tricky. The modem will still go to idle a good part of the time even with always on data, but it'll wake-up much more often and at unpredictable times. Also, there are other low-power modes that can remove the need to go to idle for arbitrarily long durations (like connected DRX in LTE for example). It's just not safe to mux two active SIMs in this environment. So in short: forget about dual active SIMs with 4G. You can still have dual SIM slots, with a user controlled switch and only one active at a time. But it's not as convenient.
lucian1900 12y ago
The latest Moto G has dual-sim versions. I've never used it, but it's what I'd buy if my Nexus 4 got lost or broken.

doughj3 12y ago

"For existing Android users, the next step after signing in is to restore your Android settings and apps"

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]

ProCynic 12y ago

I saw an article on migrating android phones earlier today: http://lifehacker.com/5843206/how-to-upgrade-to-a-new-android-phone-and-take-everything-with-you http://lifehacker.com/5843206/how-to-upgrade-to-a-new-androi...

kukkukb 12y ago

I recently upgraded my Note 2 to a Note 4. One of the first things it asks when you first switch on the phone, is to log into your Google Account. After that it asked a couple more questions. By the time the install wizard was done, most of my phone had been restored: Apps Contacts (including favourites) Emails (they live in the cloud) Photos Music Even things like WiFi passwords, preferred hotspots, etc. I don't even think about backing up and restoring my Android device. It all just works.

k-mcgrady 12y ago

>> "As an iOS user since the 3GS, I have to say this is the first time I find Android to look significantly better and more usable than iOS, which IMO has regressed since iOS 7." I agree BUT how long will it be before developers implement material design on Android? I've got Android apps still using pre-holo design.

sleepyhead 12y ago

As a recent convert from 3GS (yes iOS6) to Sony Xperia Z3 Compact I strongly disagree. There is so much weirdness in Android that I don't even know where to begin. A big chunk of it is the ecosystem though but Google is to blame here as well. Mainly for the lack of privacy (seems like 70% of apps I try to install wants access to my contacts at install-time. And the design. Oh god how many ugly things in the Play Store). The openness is Android isn't an openness in practice. You would assume CalDAV and CardDAV would be a native feature like in iOS. Nope. You would assume you could uninstall non-critical apps. Nope. You would think 1Password could integrate itself to Chrome like on iOS? Nope. The back button is a story in itself. Go back? Exit app? Go to another app? The russian roulette back button got you covered. The way of selecting text in various places is also implemented in a similar mysterious way. And then you have whoever made the phone (Sony in my case) adding shit. Not only apps but core behaviours. When I long press on the home button Sony decided that Google Now could be easily available. Which is useful. But also they have Sony Whats New which is some weird little app that showcases some various content for sale from Sony. On the main button on the screen. I can totally understand why people for various reasons would like not be in Apple's walled garden or don't like how Apple things work. But Android is a very poor alternative. It doesn't give us the truly open system that we as users deserve. It has a horrible broken ecosystem in regards to privacy, design and annoyance (ads, ads everywhere). Google enforces their own products beyond just "hey look at this cool youtube thing" in a way that is much beyond what Apple does. Yes I do really like stuff Apple produces but was really looking forward to use an open mobile OS. But the whole experience with Android and Google has left me very negative to use anything from Google again.

Brakenshire 12y ago
> seems like 70% of apps I try to install wants access to my contacts at install-time How does iOS handle this?
- ErikHuisman 12y ago
  Issues a permission confirmation the moment the app tries to access contacts (once).
- 12y ago

mitchell209 12y ago

This is the first version of android where I thought they totally outdid apple, at least superficially. I'm just disappointed that I no longer have any decent android phone to use so I can form an actual opinion on Lollipop.

statictype 12y ago

Oh, also, are there any good Nexus phones with dual simcards? My experience with dual sim cards has led me to believe it's not worth the effort. I'm not sure if it is complexity in the hardware or in the software, but whatever phone I've seen that has this feature invariably has issues with reception and network connections randomly going down. Maybe it's something like multi-threaded code - where the benefits of simultaneous lines of execution are often offset by the complexities in sharing data.

m_mueller 12y ago
Thanks. A shame, I've never had a dual sim phone, but people told me about older Nokias being quite good at that. Now we've finally caught up to the old SMS-from-desktop connectivity from back then (with iMessages), I wonder how long it's going to take until we have all the features back from the pre iPhone era. In mobile just like in desktop computing, the history seems to repeat itself every 15 or so years.
- yaantc 12y ago
  Dual SIM is working fine with 2G, but not well with always on data. What's important to understand is that those dual SIM devices only have a single radio, that must be shared between both SIMs. And that's not part of the standard, so one has to play some tricks. In the 2G era, the modem was mostly in idle mode. In this mode it sleep most of the time, and wakes up now and then (network configurable, around 1 sec. roughly) to listen for a paging opportunity. The network uses this time slot to send a paging signal to the device if it needs to wake up and reconnect because of a network initiated incoming call. Because the active paging time is very small compared to the sleep duration of the paging cycle, it's pretty easy to handle two SIMs: register serially, and then the paging opportunity are unlikely to clash (and if they do one can play tricks until they don't). Then if a call comes in on one SIM, connect for this SIM. You can't listen to the other SIM paging but it's unlikely you'll get two calls at the same time, and without answer another call will go to your voice mail, which is good. That was dual active dual SIM at the time of 2G, and it was good for the users. With 3G without data, it's about the same. But with modern 3G with mostly always on, and for sure with LTE with always on data, it's much more tricky. The modem will still go to idle a good part of the time even with always on data, but it'll wake-up much more often and at unpredictable times. Also, there are other low-power modes that can remove the need to go to idle for arbitrarily long durations (like connected DRX in LTE for example). It's just not safe to mux two active SIMs in this environment. So in short: forget about dual active SIMs with 4G. You can still have dual SIM slots, with a user controlled switch and only one active at a time. But it's not as convenient.

lucian1900 12y ago

The latest Moto G has dual-sim versions. I've never used it, but it's what I'd buy if my Nexus 4 got lost or broken.