Things that make you go "Hmmmmm:" IOS vs Android (iPhone vs Everyone Else)

[Onomea]

I used a company provided Blackberry for a number of years at work, and then a company-provided iPhone for a couple of years until I retired 2012. Bought an iPhone when I retired, primarily because I really, really did not want to learn yet another operating system, and then upgraded it to another iPhone in 2014.

My iPhone's mobile phone functuality is limited to Japan, and if I use it abroad, like when in the US, very high roaming rates apply. (This Japan-only limitation -- the phones are not SIM free and cannot be made so except by the Japanese service providers, and they will not do this -- is beginning to change, but is not retroactive to iPhones sold in Japan prior to May 2015.)

In the US for the past 10 years or so I used cheap flip phone, and then a cheap ($15) phone with a QWERTY keyboard, with a prepaid, no contract, service. Used in conjuction with my Japanese iPhone on WiFi only, this works okay, but is cumbersome.

So last summer I bought a cheap, $100, Android phone, stuck in my US SIM, and have been learning how to use the Android system when in the US. (Android is a mobile operating system by Google which as far as I can tell everyone except Apple/iPhone uses for their smart phones.)

While it is a bit cumbersome to learn a new system, it seems to me to do everything IOS, Apple's mobile operating software, does. And the phone costs a fraction of what an iPhone costs.

Hmmm....

 

[CATI1835]

I will NOT have any Apple device. Apple became the "Big Brother" they claimed to be against when they started business. Now they have complete control of all their devices and you have virtually choice about what apps are available, whether to apply an update or not. Even their chargers and cables won't work with any other devices and they change them regularly. They track you mercilessly, although all providers do too. No apple for me.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zfqw8nhUwA"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zfqw8nhUwA[/ame]

 

[moralem]

Just like I am a SW fan and will not own most any other revolver or will not own anything other than a 1911 Colt.....I stick only with Apple. Tried Springfield 1911 but just did not like it. Had a Taurus wheel gun, gave it away. I tried the android OS.....just could not master it like the iPhone.....that's just me.

 

[kwselke]

My $100 Android does not have as good of a camera as a $700 iPhone or Android, but it is no big loss if I lose it. It does what I need and I did not even buy a case for it.

Sent from my LGL44VL

 

[carpriver]

My phone in Android, my computer is windows, my truck is Ford, my pistols are mostly S&W, my 1911s are Springfield Armory, we are all different and like different things and the world still turns.

 

[bigwheelzip]

And the phone costs a fraction of what an iPhone costs.

The high cost and easy resale market has created a risk of ownership. To a thief, that iphone in your hand is an easy few hundred dollars. For many owners, the iphone is an expensive and inseparable personal extension. Unfortunately, this has led to many deadly encounters.

My eldest grandson and his friend were robbed of their phones at gunpoint, by passing motorists. His friends iphone was stolen, and his cheap Android phone was thrown to the ground.

 

[Hillbilly77]

...we are all different and like different things and the world still turns.

Imagine the trouble we'd be in if we all loved the same woman.

 

[ImNobody2]

I never plan on using an iPhone. It's got good hardware, but I hate the fact that Apple controls every aspect of your interaction with the phone. At least with Android I can control my own user experience.

 

[Ballistic147]

Imagine the trouble we'd be in if we all loved the same woman.

Now that could get sloppy!

 

[Arik]

I'm the only guy at work that has an Android. My work phone is an old Apple iPhone 4. I find the Android to be much more intuitive and simple.

Essentially both systems do basically the same thing, they just do them differently.

BTW there is also the much less popular Windows based phone!

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

 

[ChattanoogaPhil]

When I walk into BestBuy there's quite a few display racks with hundreds of smartphones for consumers to choose from. Apple has a very small display off to the side with I think four examples. However, the latest report I read indicated iPhone had 43.5% smartphone marketshare. hmmmmm....

Some of the guys I personally know middle age and older use their smartphone for a couple things beyond what a flip phone would do but generally not much. One of my very good friends recently purchased the latest and greatest Samsung Edge. Pricey piece of equipment. It's as likely to be at home with a dead battery than in his pocket. Another friend paid more for his iPhone to get the 64GB version. His reason was that he has an impressive library of music that he wanted to load on his phone. I told him my library was over 10,000 songs and I use a 16GB iPhone. He was unaware that iTunesMatch would give him streaming access to his entire library on his iPhone and all his IOS devices. Funny, he already had his music in iTunes at home. Having an unlimited data plan on his iPhone, iTunesMatch was a perfect solution for iPhone as well equipment at home too.

I think a lot smartphone buyers have little idea what they're buying or why, or understand the conveninces a smartphone can offer even on the most basic levels, IOS or Android. I've read several times that the reason a guy doesn't want a smartphone is because using a small keyboard is inconvenient. Duh... that's why God invited Siri to do the typing.

What smartphone is right for you?

For me it's an iPhone simply because I have all Apple equipment. So do the kids and grandkids. The ease of seamless integration and compatibility among Apple equipment has been unrivaled in the cluttered fragmented marketplace, and is why I moved to the Apple 'ecosystem' so to speak over the past several years. I have found both IOS and OS X to be intuitive and updates are gradual headache-free.

There's a ton of choices out there. Based on the endless moaning and groaning from dissatisfied users of OS X, Windows, IOS, Android... sometimes I wonder if I'm one of the few on planet Earth completely satisfied with my purchase choices over the past several years.

 

[BigBoy99]

Call me a curmudgeon but this thread sure makes me glad that my phone is attached to the kitchen wall and as a long curly cord! Learning how to dial and answer a phone is not a difficult task. My answering machine works just fine and I even have a rotary phone in my shop!

 

[chaparrito]

In spite of the fact that the only thing of any consequence they'll get upon my passing is my well aged Apple stock, son and the Missus fooled around with a bunch of different cheap Android phones that broke, caught fire, had wonky OS issues, you name it.
They finally came around and have iPhones. Never an early adopter, I'm quite happy with my iPhone 5C. You can save a bundle buying one step below the most current phone. I recently saw the 5S on sale at WalMart for 150 bucks brand new and unlocked for any carrier.

 

[Arik]

Call me a curmudgeon but this thread sure makes me glad that my phone is attached to the kitchen wall and as a long curly cord!

Why? No one is actually complaining about these phones. Just stating that the two are different. If you have and can use a computer you can use a smartphone. It's not rocket science. When you switch from one to the other there is a learning curve but only if you're switching. I'm at the point where I don't even bother looking at computers or tablets. My phone does it all. Im talking to you on it right now! I use it as everything without the need to buy extra things like a GPS or scanner. At a gun store or gun show I can instantly search for information or prices. When I get an email about a sale I can buy without waiting to get home and see that email.

Work related...This thing is a lifesaver. I get paid faster and pick up jobs faster.

Essentially it's just a small computer in your pocket, that can also make phone calls.

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

 

[Kanewpadle]

Three Ipads and two Iphones. No problems. If someone wants to find me or track me the last thing I'm worried about is my phone. I simply don't care to live that way. Now if someone confronts me face to face, they have a problem. Not me.

I don't mind Android. Use one at work. But I prefer Apple.

 

[Onomea]

Overnight, I came up with a distinction between iPhone and Android: Google tracks Android users relentlessly with the stated object of learning consumer habits and preferences in order to make their service more convenient to the individual consumer. Apple does not do this, or at least not to the extent that Google does. (This is not something I personally worry about much, but I know a lotta guys do.)

Apple is an impressive company in many ways.... At this time, I think it has the largest market cap in the world. I recall when my youngest kid was still in high school and his high school announced that all parents were expected to buy their kid a MacbookPro laptop. I was angry as I had just purchased him a Sony Vaio PC the previous summer, but I grudgingly admired their marketing power to pull that off.

Android, as an operating system, has a larger marketshare than IOS, but that includes all sorts of phone manufacturers. What is more impressive to me than the popularity of the iPhone is Apple's dominance of smartphone profits. It's something like 85%!

Actually, that the iPhone is strictly controlled by Apple is an advantage to me as it reduces the possibility of my somehow screwing the phone up. And Apple's service, when you are still on the service warranty plan anyway, is superb: Those guys and gals on the other end of the help line are smart, patient, and available.

Only thing I don't like is the price. And even that probably would not bother me that much if my 2014 Japanese iPhone 6 were SIM free.

I use the Apple ecosystem. My wife has a MacAir. We have a first gen Apple TV in Japan, although we don't use it that much. (In the US we have a smart TV so I don't see the need for an Apple TV.) And I inherited my son's 2011 MacbookPro, mentioned above, when he went off to college and got a bigger, more powerful one. And I have a couple of iPads.

I find I don't use the laptop, MacbookPro, at all anymore. I do everything on one or the other of the iPads. I use an iPad constantly. Don't like the little screen on smartphones, and I think phablets are not for me. (Too small for a computer screen and two big for a pocket phone.)

I don't use iTunes at all, and never have. I store everything in iCloud. Stream, and download some of, my music from Spotify. Watch my movies and TV via Netflix and Amazon Prime, generally, though occasionally buy or rent from iTunes. Use a Kindle app for books. So I don't see any advantage in using iTunes for me.

The Android phone I am using has all my email on it, so it is a duplicate of email on my Apple stuff. Ditto Kindle books. I have not bothered to install Spotify, Netflix or Amazon Prime on the Android Phone because I don't usually use a phone for those. But I could, easily enough.

The Android phone does not have iMessage, of course, but texting is straightforward. There are also a bunch of messaging apps for Android. No FaceTime, but we use Skype, mostly, anyway, and Google/Android has it's FT equivelant, whatever it is.

For those of you who have not yet adopted a smartphone, they are a PITA to learn to use, frankly, but they are incredibly convenient once you do learn. And I think the low-end Android phones are an incredible value.

 

[Onomea]

Essentially it's just a small computer in your pocket, that can also make phone calls...

Agreed. Only problem with that small computer is that older eyes have to work hard to see what's up on that small screen!

I have for years thought, though, that an iPhone, or similar, has all the computing power I need. I think someone should make a large screen with a dock for it so that by docking it would become, instantly, a full sized desktop. Just plug it in when you want a desktop.

 

[ChattanoogaPhil]

Agreed. Only problem with that small computer is that older eyes have to work hard to see what's up on that small screen!

I have for years thought, though, that an iPhone, or similar, has all the computing power I need. I think someone should make a large screen with a dock for it so that by docking it would become, instantly, a full sized desktop. Just plug it in when you want a desktop.

How big of a screen would you like to use? Here's my iPhone displaying on my 46in TV. Use Airplay Mirroring. No docks... just wireless HD to your TV.

There's other solutions using a dock with keyboard and mouse for an iPhone (which is probably what you'd be looking for to use your iPhone like desktop and large display) though I have never tried them. DoBox. DoBox – Portable Wireless Dock for Apple Devices

 

[Onomea]

That "Dobox" is very cool concept indeed! Site says it is supposed to be available from April of this year. I think I might well buy one.

 

[bigwheelzip]

Agreed. Only problem with that small computer is that older eyes have to work hard to see what's up on that small screen!

I have for years thought, though, that an iPhone, or similar, has all the computing power I need. I think someone should make a large screen with a dock for it so that by docking it would become, instantly, a full sized desktop. Just plug it in when you want a desktop.

Your wish has already been granted.
Googles Chromecast has been available for quite a while. It "Cast's" your phones image to a larger screen wirelessly. Even cheap Android phones can do it, and many TV's have the tech built in. There is a cheap dongle for the TV's that don't.

Chromecast built-in - TV