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Over the past few years I’ve invested a lot into Apple’s products and services.
If you come by my house, you’d find four of the latest Apple TVs, two iMacs, the latest MacBook Air, a MacBook Pro, more than five AirPort Express stations and Apple’s Time Capsule. You could touch every single iPhone, from the first up to the iPhone 5, iPads ranging from first generation to fourth and we recently added two iPad minis.
My iTunes Library comprises well over 8,000 songs – all purchased via the iTunes Store. No matter whom you would ask, everybody will confirm that I’m what some folks call an Apple fanboy.
The reach of Apple’s products goes beyond my personal life.
As the co-founder of Germany’s largest mobile development shop, I’m dealing with apps – predominantly iOS powered – in my daily professional life.
Driven primarily by the business I run, I tried to give Android a chance more than once.
In various self-experiments, I tried to leave my iPhone at home for the Motorola Droid, the Nexus One, the Samsung Galaxy S II and S III – and always switched straight back to the iPhone. None of those Android devices have worked for me – yet.
And then I got the Nexus 4.
When the latest Google flagship Android device shipped, I almost expected it to turn out as yet another “take-a-look-and-sell-it-on-ebay” experience. Little did I know.
It’s now almost two weeks since I switched the Nexus 4 on for the first time – and meanwhile I completely moved to it, leaving my iPhone 5 at home. Do I miss anything? Nope. Except iMessage. More on that later.
My motivation is not to bash Platform A over Platform B. On the contrary: I will try to summarise my very personal findings and experiences based on years of using iOS. I’ve seen the Apple platform evolve while Android was playing catch-up for so long. When iOS 6 came out, for the first time I complained about the lack of innovation in this major new release. I asked myself, whether we might see Apple beginning to lose its leading position in mobile platforms.
Before you read on, it’s important to emphasise that I’m a pro user.
I’m not the average smartphone owner, who makes just a couple of calls every now and then or runs an app once in a while. By the nature of my job and out of curiosity, I deal a lot with social media outlets, social networks and constantly try new services. With that said, my judgement might not be suitable for everyone. In case you consider yourself being a demanding power user, though, you might find this helpful.
At the time of this writing, I’ve been using Android Jelly Bean 4.2.1 on an LG Nexus 4.
Putting it into a single line: The latest version of Android outshines the latest version of iOS in almost every single aspect.
I find it to be better in terms of the performance, smoothness of the rendering engine, cross-app and OS level integration, innovation across the board, look and feel customisability and variety of the available apps.
In the following paragraphs, I try to explain why.
Performance and Smoothness of the Rendering Engine
I know there are benchmarks which measure all kinds of technical performance on a very detailed level. That’s not what I’ve done and, honestly, I’m not interested into that much. I’m talking about the performance I feel in my daily use.
Using the Nexus 4 with Android 4.2.1 is a pure pleasure when it comes to performance. I don’t exactly know what Google has done with “Project Butter” in Jelly Bean, but the result is astonishing. In the past, Android felt laggy, sometimes even slow and responses to gestures didn’t feel half as immediate as on iOS.
This has changed completely.
I’d say both platforms are at least even. In some cases, Android even feels a bit ahead of iOS 6. I especially got this impression when it comes to rapidly switching between apps – which I constantly do now – and scrolling through a huge amount of more complex content. (I’m not talking just tables with text here.)
While Android still doesn’t give you bouncing lists and scroll views – primarily, because Apple has a patent for this specific behavior – every transition between views has been reworked, polished and modernised. In most cases, it feels more modern, clean and up-to-date than its iOS counterpart.
Cross-app and OS level integration
One of the biggest advantages I found during my daily use is the level of cross-app and OS level integration.
This also is the area where I was most disappointed when Apple introduced iOS 6.
In fact, I think iOS has reached a point where usability starts to significantly decrease due to the many workarounds that Apple has introduced. All of these just to prevent exposing a paradigm like a file system or allowing apps to securely talk to each others. There is a better way of doing this. Apples knows about it but simply keeps ignoring the issues.
On Android, it’s quite the opposite. One can see the most obvious example when it comes to handling all sorts of files and sharing.
Let’s assume I receive an email with a PDF attachment which I’d like to use in some other apps and maybe post to a social network later.
On iOS, the user is forced to think around Apple’s constraints. There is no easy way to just detach the file from the email and subsequently use it in what ever way I want. Instead, all iOS apps that want to expose some sort of sharing feature, do have to completely take care for it themselves. The result is a fairly inconsistent, unsatisfying user experience.
On iOS, you might use the somewhat odd “Open in…” feature – in case the developer was so kind to implement it – to first move the file over to Dropbox, which gives you a virtual cloud-based file system. If you’re lucky, the other app, from which you want to use the file next, offers Dropbox integration, too, so you can re-download it and start from there. All because Apple denies the necessity of basic cross-app local storage.
On Android, it’s really simple.
I can detach the file to a local folder and further work with it from there. Leveraging every single app that handles PDF files. In case I receive a bunch of mp3 files, I can do the same. And every app that somehow can handle audio playback, can reuse those mp3 files.
Another great example: Sharing stuff on social networks. On iOS, I have to rely on the developers again. Flipboard, as one of the better examples, gives me the ability to directly share with Google+, Twitter and Facebook. On my Nexus 4, I have 20+ options. That is, because every app I install can register as a sharing provider. It’s a core feature of the Android operating system.
But it goes even further: On Android, I can change the default handlers for specific file types – much like I’m used to from desktop operating systems.
If, for example, you’re not happy with the stock Photo Gallery application, that shows up whenever an app wants you to pick an image, you can simply install one from over a hundred alternatives and tell Android to use it as its new default. The next time you post a photo with the Facebook app – or have to pick an image from within any other app – your favorite gallery picker shows up instead of Android’s own.
All of this is entirely impossible on iOS today. I’ve stopped counting how often I felt annoyed because I clicked a link to a location in Mobile Safari and would have loved the Google Maps app to launch. Instead, Apple’s own Maps app is hardcoded into the system. And there’s no way for me to change it.
The customisability is simply stunning
Let me make this very clear: Gone are the days where home screens on Android phones almost always looked awful.
If you don’t believe me, hop over to MyColorscreen and see for yourself.
Also note that all of those are real Android home screens, not just concepts provided by designers. They are not beautifully photoshopped wallpapers, but fully functional screens with app icons and active widgets.
And all of those can be configured pretty easily just by installing a couple of apps and tweaking settings. Here is an album showing my current configuration, which I was able to achieve after just a couple of days using Android as an absolute newbie.
Getting inspired? Here are some more of my favorites:
Now, iPhone lovers might argue that the average Joe doesn’t want to deal with widgets, icons and custom animations. I’ve used the same argument for years. Well, guess what, you don’t have to. The default Jelly Bean home screen looks beautiful already. But in case you want a somewhat more individual phone, the possibilities are endless.
For years, what you could do with Android, simply yielded awful looking home screens. This has changed. Significantly so.
And believe me or not, but after having configured my Nexus 4 just the way I always wanted – providing me with the fastest access to my most frequently used apps along with the most important information on a single screen – whenever I grab my iPhone for testing purposes, iOS feels pretty old, outdated and less user friendly. For me, there currently is no way of going back. Once you get used to all of these capabilities, it’s hard to live without them.
App quality and variety
Yes, there are still lots of really ugly apps on Google Play.
In my opinion, this has two primary reasons.
First, the obvious one: The lack of a centralised quality control and review. It’s great for encouraging variety, but obviously it also allows for some really cheap productions to be published to the store. Usually, you can spot those immediately from the screenshots on Google Play.
The second reason is more low-level: The way developers declare user interfaces (it’s primarily done in an XML configuration file) allows for rapidly hammering together dirty UIs. That’s what happens a lot and users can see and feel it. iOS developers tend to be more aware to involve designers and iOS UIs cannot be crapped together as easily.
However, I no longer feel as though the apps I use most greatly fall behind their iOS counterparts.
The Facebook app is identical in terms of look and feel and features. As a plus, it has better cross-app integration. The Google+ app is better on Android, but that’s to be expected. Flipboard is fantastic on Android, plus better integration. The same is true for Pulse News. The list goes on: Instagram, Path, LinkedIn, WhatsApp, Quora, Pocket, Amazon Kindle, Spotify, Shazam and Google Talk. They are all great on Android. Plus better integration. Plus home screen widgets. You sense a scheme here?
And if you want to experience some real UI magic – even if you just need an argument when you’re bumping into an iPhone owner the next time – install Zime, a highly addictive calendar for Android which features smooth 3D animations and really innovative UI.
Talking about variety. This is where Android’s openness pays off.
On iOS, many things I always wish to see being developed simply cannot be done because of the strict sandbox Apple enforces around apps. On Android, I use an app to block unwanted calls. To auto-respond to incoming short messages. And to lock some specific apps with an extra passcode, so my customers don’t play with my Facebook profile, when I hand over my Nexus 4 for demos.
I also have apps that give me great insight into the use of mobile data across the device and all apps. Or the battery consumption. Or which apps talk home and how frequently.
None of it is available for iOS. And possibly won’t be at any time in the near future.
What I miss
I said this earlier: The only thing I miss is iMessages. I’m not kidding. Letting go of iMessages was difficult, as many of my friends are on iPhones and used to text me via iMessage. While there are perfect alternatives (Facebook Messenger, Google Talk, WhatsApp, to name only a few), from time to time I still find a couple of unread iMessages, when I switch on my iPhone 5.
My most frequently used apps
I’m an Android newbie. During the last couple of days, I had to ask many questions and received hundreds of recommendations for apps. I installed, tried and uninstalled. And kept the great ones. My sincere thanks go out to the great Nexus and Android communities over at Google+.
In case you decided to give Android a try before you read this article, or got inspired here, I’d like to save you some of my journey. Here is a list of the apps I found most useful (and beautiful, given the high standards set by years as an iPhone addict):
- Nova Launcher Prime – a must have if you want to get creative with your home screen(s)
- Google+, Facebook, Facebook Messenger, LinkedIn, Quora, Dropbox, Evernote, Foursquare
- Twitter, or as alternatives Falcon Pro and Plume Premium
- Pulse News, Flipboard, Google Currents and Press (a handsome Google Reader) for your daily dose of news
- Spotify, Google Play Music, Shazam (which you don’t necessarily need anymore, because Google Search on Android has this build in), doubleTwist for everything audio
- MX Player Pro as a really versatile video player that handles almost all formats seamlessly
- TubeMate to make YouTube videos available for offline viewing
- QuickPic as a replacement for the stock photo picker (Gallery)
- Pixlr Express as the most amazing photo editor I’ve seen on a smartphone. Forget about Camera+ on your iPhone.
- Instagram, Snapseed and Flickr for photo sharing
- Wifi Analyzer if you ever want to fine tune your wireless LAN
- Zedge for free access to hundreds of thousands of ringtones, wallpapers and notification sounds
- Power Toogles for home screen level access to toggling bluetooth, WiFi and other settings
- Remote for iTunes as a 100% replacement for the Remote app on your iPhone
- Minimalstic Text to create beautifully simplistic text widgets for your home screen
- ASTRO File Manager if you want to fiddle on file system level
- AirDroid to remotely manage all aspects of your phone from a browser on your desktop PC
- BeyondPod if you’re an avid podcast listener as I am
- ConnectBot, a really capable SSH client
- Eye In Sky weather widget for beautiful weather on your home screen
- Square Glass Jelly Bean Blue icon theme
Note: I always use the paid / pro version of apps, if one is available. Coming from iOS, I simply cannot adjust my eyes to in-app-ads and probably never will. Google Play now offers credit cards, PayPal and some other payment alternatives. Plenty of choice. I encourage everybody to give back to the developer economy and not just go for the free versions.
In case you’re wondering why I took the burden to include all of the links to the apps above, well, here is another advantage over iOS: Google Play allows the complete remote install via the Web. If you’re logged into your account you click the install button after visting one of the links in any browser, and wherever your phone is, the respective app will be installed silently.
My Android Wish List
Let me finish this post with a couple of wishes I’ve got for the next major version of Android, hopefully made available at this year’s Google I/O:
- More and centralised settings for notifications, or, a notification center. The rich notifications introduced in Jelly Bean and the overall usability of the notification bar and drawer are already far better than those on iOS. (On a side note, I never understood why usability masters like the Apple engineers decided to make the “clear” button so tiny, that you can hardly hit it without using a magnifying glass.) However, the level of customisation you get for Android notifications is currently 100% up to the developers.This means, even though Android offers a great variety of possibilities, they are not consistently available in all apps. In fact, some apps barely let you switch notifications on and off, while others allow you to customize every aspect, from notification sound to the colour of the notification LED to do-not-disturb times. These should be made available globally and enforced through the APIs.For example, I’d love to be able to receive notifications on Facebook messages, but don’t want them to show the full message preview in the notification bar.
There are some apps which let you choose whether you want a complete preview, or just a standard “you’ve got mail” message, without revealing its content. But it’s up to the developer whether you’ve got the choice or not.
Or: Android has support for a notification LED that can flash in different colors. I configured the LED on my Nexus 4 to blink green on new WhatsApp messages. Incoming stuff from Facebook notifies in blue and new business mail causes the LED to flash in white. What sounds like a tiny feature is really valuable: While sitting in a meeting, you can grasp immediately whether you might want to check your phone right away or not. Unfortunately, not all apps let you customise the LED colour. Again, it’s up to the developer to provide these settings as part of their application. This belongs into a centralised notification centre.
Options I’d like to see centralised: LED colour, notification sound, content preview. They could also be exposed on app level, but the Android Notification Centre should allow for overrides.
- Support for multiple accounts in Google Now. I’d love to see Google Now taking advantage of multiple configured Google accounts. On my device, I’d like my Google Apps for Businesses account to drive the calendar based cards but my private one for everything else (location and browsing history, etc.). Currently, Google Now can only leverage a single account. I therefore had to switch browsing and location history on for the Google Apps for Business account I use professionally. This should be a no-brainer for Google and I keep wondering why the folks at Google tend to forget these multiple-account scenarios.
- Solving the inconsistencies grouped around the back button. I’ve actually found this on many lists and from what I’ve read it has already gotten better in Jelly Bean. However, at times I still get confused about the multiple navigation hierarchies that are caused by the native back button which is part of the OS and a second back button available within apps. Oddly enough, the mostly fantastic Google+ Android app suffers from this issue, too. Sometimes I end up on my home screen just because I “went back to far”. It’s not a big issue, but one which needs to be addressed.As a starter, how about giving the damn back button a different color if the next time you hit it, you’ll be taken out of the app.
- Indicate whether an app uses Google Cloud Messaging or some other technology to stay connected. I believe this one to be huge: On iOS, there are essentially no long-running background processes, except for VoIP or Navigation apps. This means all apps that notify users of incoming data while they are inactive, make use of a centralised service operated by Apple, called Push Notifications. It has a great advantage with respect to battery life, as there is only a single process on the OS level, that monitors all incoming messages and distributes them to the targeted apps, instead of potentially many apps doing whatever they want to do to stay connected. Android has a similar service, named Google Cloud Messaging. Unfortunately, there is no obvious way to differentiate apps that leverage this service from those that constantly poll or even keep a socket connection to their home servers. I’d love to see the ones making use of Google Cloud Messaging identified in Google Play and on the OS level, maybe in the already available App Info screen. That way, I could dramatically increase battery life by stopping those that constantly talk back home and encourage developers to make use of Google’s Cloud Messaging service.
One last word
At the beginning I stated, that I tried Android many times before and it never worked for me. I figured, there are two main reasons for this. First, Android has made a major step forward with Jelly Bean. It just wasn’t on par with iOS before. Second, and more important, I found the stock Android experience provided by Google the best you can get. After switching to the Nexus 4, I tried my Samsung S III again, and it did not work for me.
What Samsung does with its TouchWiz modifications and many of the other tiny changes – and other non Nexus vendors, too – totally ruins the experience for me. If you’re coming from iOS I highly recommend choosing one of the Nexus devices with guaranteed updates and a clean Android environment the way Google envisioned it.
Closing it off
This was rather lengthy. I figured, switching the mobile OS platform should be worth an in-depth view. Hence this post. I hope you’ve enjoyed it.
Will I sell my iPhone 5? No. No. No. I never sold one. I’ll keep it. Maybe it’ll manage to win me back with iOS 7.
Looking forward to your feedback in the comments. Or on Google+, Facebook and Twitter.
Ralf Rottmann is a serial entrepreneur from Germany, CTO at grandcentrix and former editor for The Next Web. He successfully sold his last business to Alcatel-Lucent. Find him on Twitter @ralf and Facebook and Google+.
How to Make the Switch from Android to iOS
How to Make the Switch from iOS to Android
What's Your Grubbiest Tech Confession?
I run JB 4.2.1 on a old Galaxy S and I love it. The Nexus 4 would certainly be my next phone. I do however prefer my iPad over the Galaxy 10.1 tab running JB. I guess I will continue to sit in both camps….Great Article.
Yep same here, getting a Nexus 4 this week as it will tether easily to my wifi Nexus 7 for “out and about”. Love Jellybean and this is from an old school iOS fanboy as well.
Did you order yours from the Play Store? I ordered mine on the 13th Dec and I’m still waiting!
Not from the play store – just noticed Virgin have a load in stock so hoping to get in before they’re all gone.
Good article. It’s interesting to read your points about where you think iOS falls down in comparison to JB.
I personally feel the 2 platforms have been quite level for a while but that iOS6 vs JB is a no brainer, Android have pulled ahead in terms of UI and UX.
I am the reverse of yourself, in that I use Android day to day and am tied into Google as a provider, but I use iOS devices every day for work. I, almost without exception, find them a little dull. The hardware is all very shiny and pretty, but the software feels a little vanilla.
However, I think many iPhone users like that fact. They do not see it as vanilla as it fulfils what they need it for and does it in a clear, simple way. I believe it is one of the reasons for their popularity.
Of course, that above statement should be taken IN GENERAL. I am not implying that that is the case for EVERY iPhone user, just a large proportion of them. There are of course several power users who like iOS as a platform!
Wow thanks for this review. In an apple man through and through like yourself, but I always try to stay open minded.
I don’t believe apple produce the best products etc etc it just happens that the field I work in put me onto macs many years ago and I’ve always stuck with apple.
However over the last few years I’ve noticed a major change with their products. They tend to be far more inconsistent in performance and longevity and this has started to become an issue for me. For products that cost a fair penny you expect something to match and I don’t feel they are living up to it anymore.
Anyway I’ve been thinking about shifting from iOS for a while. Unfortunately my last iPhone died a month before the iPhone 5 was due out and the one month of living on an old Samsung phone made my life a misery. This made me jump into the decision of buying the new iPhone and I’ve got to say its been a disappointment.
Same old iOS which looks so dated and boring. The locked apple apps really p*ss me off especially because they hog space on the hard drive, but also the the actual phone. I feel it’s not got the quality build to it. It scratches really really easily and the touch screen is slightly loose in the corner to which an apple employee explained is a common thing!
I do feel that if apple don’t begin to actually listen to their customers a little more they will start to lose them very quickly.
interesting article. i have a galaxy s3 and absolutely love it. i have downloaded some of the apps you have recommended. thanks. android all the way
A very nice article and as a Nexus 4 owner (having come from a 2.1 HTC Desire) I have to say the jump has been nothing short of great
Exactly the same here. Switched from an HTC Desire to a Nexus 4 and I’ve been nothing but impressed.
The only minor niggle I have with the Nexus 4 is that the screen is so damn bright! Great in most situations, especially outdoors, but I use my phone as a night clock, and even on it’s lowest brightness setting it still produces a glow in the room somehow! Also, if I’m bleary-eyed in the morning and reading the news in bed on my phone, the brightness is a bit too much.
Another app worthy of mention is Poweramp. I’ve been using it for a day or so, instead of Winamp, and the ability to increase bass and treble completely breathes life into your music! The interface isn’t quite as good as Winamp, but I think I’m going to buy it based on sound quality alone.
Google seem to be in a major “innovation period” right now and are certainly pulling out all the stops to impress, and it’s worked as far as I’m concerned. I can’t help but view Apple as a company wallowing in past glories at the moment, without Steve Jobs around to aggressively push the company forward.
I too find the screen a bit bright and the ‘auto’ brightness setting a bit dim. How is it that OEMs rarely seem to get the auto brightness levels right?
I just use a two finger swipe to pull down the quick settings, hit the brightness button and pull the slider down a bit. It’s a pain to have to keep adjusting it, but it only takes a few seconds.
Also, the clock daydream has a ‘night mode’ setting that automatically turns the brightness down to its lowest level, but even that might be a bit bright in darkness.
I agree, even on it’s lowest setting, with the Kindle on it’s lowest setting and colour inverted it’s still a tad harsh in complete darkness BUT I’ll live with it
To deal with the screen brightness, try Lux. The free version works fine but the paid version allows you to link a detected ambient light level to a particular screen brightness. I was using it on a phone without a light sensor since Lux could use the front facing camera instead, however it works fantastically on the Nexus 4.
A must-have app is Tasker. It launches user-defined tasks after user-defined triggers are launched. Check out the wiki and user submitted profiles to see the power and flexibility of this app.
Another advantage the android community provides are custom roms. I am running Paranoid Android on my Nexus 4 and love it. It allows the DPI to be scaled for each app and you can select which interface you want (phone or tablet). Another feature is that it changes the quick settings of jelly bean to how it should have acted in the first place. A short press toggles the function (WiFi, bluetooth, etc), a long press launches the relevent settings dialog.
In a similar vein, custom kernels also allow you to tailor your android experience. I am using franco’s kernel and have noticed improved battery life and cooler operation on my Nexus 4.
Lastly, I would like to suggest Springpad. It is very similar to Evernote, but in my opinion it has better widgets and more compelling features.
Just open up the Clock-app and tap the screen once. The screems dims waaay down.
great review. finally starting to see people separating iphone and ios when talking about current model iphones and how apple have lost their way.
ive got a story so similar to posters, three very expensive pieces of apple hardware, couldnt get on with the sammy galaxy s2, but the galaxy nexus with stock android ICS destroyed the iphone 4 i had so i traded up.
i have but one more comment. googles maps app which allows save of maps while on wifi for use whilst driving is another reason i won’t go back.
I would also recommend camera 360, it’s a great camera app, that adds clarity and colour to any photos taken.
fantastic article! im an apple fan boy myself but i cant help but feel since the departure of mr Jobs things have gone … well… a little pear shaped
thank you might might give the mighty Android a go
Brilliant article. Personally, I think Android started making serious headway against iOS with ICS and JellyBean has clinched it. I think your article excellently highlights something which I’ve started taking for granted and is second nature now. I’d get so frustrated if I couldn’t transfer email attachments to dropbox so easily.
You might want to try out JuiceSSH as an alternative to ConnectBot. It’s a holo themed SSH client with some nice unique features.
like he said the biggest problem i found when switching between ios and android (my daughter has my old iphone)
is having the back button and other buttons makes android so much more usable, when i have to use my daughters phone, having one button is just so restrictive in so many ways.
Well maybe I should give android another try. I’ve tried the galaxy ii and the HTC desire. Both nice phones, but they didn’t do what I needed. I want to be able to read pdfs and docs on my phone, highlight passages and write annotations. I could do these things on the androids, but it was slow and frustrating. Selecting text was dodgy, and making annotations worse. Deleting text was a nightmare. And the bloody thing get going back to the first page (of, say, an 80 page document) every time I checked email (so much for genuine multitasking). I tried documents to go, polaris office and various others, including various pdf readers. All junk. Every time I went back to my iphone 4s, which looks worse, is slower, but actually works.
The Nexus 4 is pretty much an iPhone, obviously designed on one, need a stupid case cause it’s made out of glass, no Micro SD, no OTG, no removable battery. A restrictive OS in JellyBean where you have to jump through all these hoops to get functionality you used to have because Google has decided to restrict a bunch of stuff.
Glad it only cost me £60 after selling my GS2 because I managed to sell it for £520 on ebay used and now I’m rocking a GN2. Samsung make much much better mobiles for Android, TouchWiz is light years ahead of the stock experience with it’s dumb on screen buttons and lackluster performance from default apps.
Bring on the GS4.
I very well written article. Particularly interesting for me, as I myself went from iPhone to Nexus 4. however, I eventually went back to iPhone. I found myself browsing the same, stale apps on Google Play every time I wanted to try something new. On the App Store, there’s always something new to try. I was sick of things like Netflix just.. not working. It’d hang loading, and by the time I’d tweaked what needed tweaking to make it work, my bus/train ride would be over. On iOS it works without question. I was also sick of the width of it. Tallness isn’t an issue, but I hate having only the top 1 1/2 segments of my middle 3 fingers free when using the phone one handed.
All in all, as much as Android has to offer, I will always stick to iOS as long as devs favour it and it offers, in my opnion, a more solid and seamless experience.
Its also worth noting that my battery life on the Nexus 4 was utterly abysmal.
Anyway, that’s my experience! Thanks again for a great article.
Until the iPhone gets flash player or every site switched to HTML5 I cannot stand it. Seriously you always have to use app versions of sites like iPlayer and it never has the same content, you can never stream and you have to wait much longer for things to come to it.
Just download Flash Player from the Adobe site and watch all the desktop sites which are far better. I mean the Youtube app sucks especially, the search function is just crap. At least on Android I can use the Desktop site and install a script mod to get back the sort by date function that Google removed :\
Also being able to torrent on Android is something I couldn’t live without. iTunes is a mess, aging bloated software that runs so badly on Windows at least. I also hate how I have to struggle getting content on and off my old iPhone, most of the time it couldn’t be done.
The Nexus 4 is shit, Jelly Bean is shit, stock Android is so over rated.
Really just get a Note 2 and enjoy TouchWiz, it’s far better. It allows for Picture in Picture, can have multiple windows open at once for true multitasking like you have on a Desktop PC.
Just so much better than the iPhone or the Nexus 4.
What if you want something smaller…like a phone?
The price difference between the Nexus 4 and the Samsung Galaxy phones doesn’t make the decision quite as easy as that.
Also, when using a Galaxy S3 recently I could tell TouchWiz was slowing the phone down slightly, compared to the Nexus 4.
Picture in Picture and multiple windows sounds very interesting though! Do you realistically use these features “in anger” on a daily basis, or are they just nice features to have?
The multi screen update for the GS3 is actually very useful iv’e used it a number of times and it’s saved me time doing so.
Its a shame that more apps aren’t supported
Well call me an ignorant wotsit, but isn’t flash pretty much obsolete? Torrenting was handy for the one time I ever did it on my Android, but a lot of these things (I found) are only good for the ‘I can’t believe my phone can do all this cool shit’ factor. When put to practical use, I’m rarely in the mood to download the latest Family Guy when on the 243, I’d rather just watch it on Netflix or Hulu with my VPN (which I can use on my iPhone)
You can use a VPN on android
Genuinely intrigued. And only £239/279? May well give this a go.
I’ve been trying to get my hands on a Nexus 4 with the idea to replace my iPhone 5. Trouble is they are never in stock! I really hope some more arrive soon as I may end up buying a S3 which would be a bit of a waste of money considering how cheap the N4s are.
I would kill for a Nexus 4. With my bare hands if needs be.
What? Shiny new Xperia Go not good enough for you?
As a N4 owner who probably played with the Xperia Go before you sent it out to him you already know the answer to that question.
No comment.
It’s also bright yellow! People can see me for miles around at night, and the phone hasn’t even left my pocket!
Is this Jesus Diaz’s confession, but wants to save face and only posted it as Gizmodo?
“Ralf Rottmann is a serial entrepreneur from Germany, CTO at grandcentrix and former editor for The Next Web. He successfully sold his last business to Alcatel-Lucent. Find him on Twitter @ralf and Facebook and Google+.”
to be honest – tl:dr
That’s the problem with internet commenters these days, sheesh.
i just wanted likes
Apple fan boy here
He is right but there is no way I’d leave my iPhone behind even though I love Nexus 4 (mainly because of its large screen size).
It is very smooth and JB feels great but it’s no Apple, specially when it comes to apps (except Apple Maps LOL).
Battery wise I have to say it SUCKS! (running custom rom though).
Yeah can’t agree more.. I love my Nexus 4, it’s the best android phone I’ve had (and I’ve had a few) but I still love my iPhone 5 cos it’s less faffy !!
“Gone are the days where home screens on Android phones almost always looked awful.”
You don’t check a load of “Post your homescreen” threads on forums, do you?
Yeah, those days went a long time ago. Of course you can pretty up the iPhone too, so long as you jailbreak it.
Seems from the comments that the app store is the main reason for keeping customers on iOS right now. What a sad day for the fanboi wars. And with the numbers moving it won’t take a moment for the Dev heads to address this.
But I came here for a fight, stand up and fight, fight gawd damn you man.
I would love for someone to go through every single app in the iOS and Android stores and give us a real perspective on this. iOS has greater numbers still, but the gap is closing fast. Of course a lot of things in the Android store are things like widgets & customisation apps which can have no direct opposite number due to iOS not having/supporting them, but once you remove clones or rip-offs (there are 3085 items found in a search for Tetris in the play store) just how dissimilar are the 2 stores? If you look at what is popular on iOS you will most likely find the app exists on Android and vice versa.
While the iPhone remains the biggest selling single smartphone it makes sense to develop for it, even covering the different screen sizes and processor capabilities they have now, It requires less work to make an app available to the largest number of people than Android. But as Android continues to expand the day may soon come when Apple loses that crown and it won’t be easy to get it back.
I agree. Also the design and look of apps is judged far more on the apple store, the apps are getting judged on aesthetics rather than function. I like something to be good looking, I prefer it to function right, apple maps.
“If you look at what is popular on iOS”
Agreed. If you look at what’s popular. Which can be surmised as about 500 apps, give or take? Sure, if I really wanted Soundhound, Facebook and Angry Birds I’d be laughing. But I don’t. It’s the blockbusters, indie games and quirky, cute little apps that keep me coming back to the App Store to explore. When I try and explore Play, I just get the same old slurry of poor quality apps to wade through, until I find a decent app that I’d already heard of. There’s no excitement or mystery to Play
If you haven’t already read this.
http://tinyurl.com/ac6aun2
I recently went through a bizarrely similar scenario, however I got a Galaxy Note 2 instead and I have to say I wholeheartedly agree with everything you said above. The Note 2 is an amazing device and I have no issues with touchwiz, I like the extra features it brings to the table. Also I have a house full of Apple devices, macbooks, imacs, mac mini, Apple cinema displays, iPods and iPod touches and the list goes on… Also I have owned iPhone’s since it’s debut in 2007 but now having this Note 2 it’s a very refreshing experience that so far has been very positive.
I am able to be so much more productive than before, also loving the big display. Now when I pick up an iPhone the display feels incredibly small to me. I saw a lot of criticism for the note 2′s large display about it not being easy to use one handed and being too big for your pocket, I have not had any issues with either.
The article was a wonderful read, I couldn’t have explained it better myself +1 to you Ralf
Did hell freeze over?
“I’m talking about the performance I feel in my daily use.”
Sweet jesus. How LONG I have waited for someone to say something sensible like this. I’m sick to the back teeth of people telling me my Nexus 10 isn’t as smooth to play with as an iPad because “the benchmarks say so”.
They even say it despite having never used an iPad, and despite me having used both. And I suspect the same logic applies here.
Benchmarks are really only very vague indicators to be taken with a pinch of salt. The true measure of smoothness and performance is reflected in how it FEELS to use.
I have done this so many times switched over to android thinking I had found the perfect device and then eventually I always switch back.
I have both android and iPad tablets and enjoy them both but overall as far as the phones go I cannot help coming back to the iPhone in the end.
YouTube has a ‘Watch Later’ feature which removes the need for Tube Mate really. You still need an active internet connection to open YouTube and select the video, but the video itself is stored locally.
Fantastic article, mainly because it’s like you typed out what goes on in my head XD. I’ve been using iPod Touches for years (iPhone is a tad out of my price range
), and I’ve always loved the OS. I owned an Android 2.3 phone as well, and I bloody hated it because it was so ugly and slow compared to iOS, just like you said. But yeah, Jelly Bean is far and away better than iOS 6, Apple are really dragging their heels. Great suggestions at the end, hopefully Google will read this article!
Oops, managed to miss out that the reason I think it’s great is getting a Nexus recently – and it cost me less than a new iPod Touch would haha!
The reason the app store is still proving to be Apple’s strength is probably because devs make more money on IOS then they do on Android. This is partly down to the type people that tend to buy android over iPhone and also piracy. Google should halve it’s cut to give devs more profit and within a couple of years Apple would be really struggling.
This article could have been written by me. I have been in excactly the same boat for years now, jumping from ship to ship but always ending back up at iOS
That is until the nexus 4, so my 4S is now up for sale and I’m determined to stick it out and leave apple. It’s not cos I think the iphones a bad phone, it’s not, it’s more the fact that I need a phone that works (as in receives calls where i work) and for so long my iphone (different models) didn’t like 6 out of 15 calls would go straight to vmail. On the nexus 4 all 15 go through. Have sat here and tried this with two different iphones as well so know it’s not one handsets fault.
The nexus though and jellybean are lovely. The nexus has its faults. The battery life is crap, the bluetooth doesnt work with my car, a few other niggly bits. As a phone though I love it.
So for me, as in best suit for me
Phone : Nexus Phone
7″ Tab : Nexus 7 with 3G (just love the size, price and pockability compared to iPad mini.
Main Tab : iPad. Still think there’s not a better tablet experience to be honest.
Desktop : Hackintosh, need to upgrade it from 10.6 really but she’s still going strong !!!!
I really enjoyed this article. I’m a long time iPhone user, having had every iteration since the iPhone 3G through to the iPhone 5 I’m currently using. The iOS ecosystem has served me very well during the last few years. I’ve no complaints, except one…
iOS feels tired. The home screen of my iPhone 5 looks very much like my first iPhone back in 2008. Granted, there have been numerous tweaks in the background, but iOS has lacked any real innovation for years. The iPhone is still a great mobile device, largely due to the dynamism of 3rd party app developers, but this is in spite of iOS and not because of it.
If the Nexus 4 had either a 32GB variety or a Micro SD slot, I’d have already made the switch. As it is, I will probably wait for the next Nexus phone which will, one imagines, come with larger capacities and LTE. Unless iOS 7 is a complete rewrite, my current iPhone will be my last.
There is something special about the Nexus 4. It runs Android better than my Galaxy s3 which Samsung are fixing at the moment.
Great article. inspired me to buy a Nexus 4 to give it a try. i have been using iPhone since 2008 and have tried several android phones in the past and never liked them. loved some features of few phones (giant screen in GS3, but the keyboard was so slow in responding!) but never liked a complete package. well, after using Nexus 4 for 3 days i must say it is not a iPhone killer. its fast, but gets sluggish in certain times (even chrome does not highlight address bar at the moment you touch!) and just reminds you the fact that you get what you pay for.
the battery life is terribly terribly poor (my one died at around 3 PM everyday) and it takes ages to recharge! the phone gets terribly hot (specially near the camera at the back, may be the processor is there??) and the pIcture quality is miserably poor! well, i dont know how many users will take 360 degree panorama (i haven’t taken a single panorama in iPhone 5 yet ) but the quality will be poor and miserable!
once again i promised myself not to buy anymore android phones in future (the promise i have been breaking whenever they launch a new android baby!) and trying to sell this one on eBay! lucky for me they are still not widely available and a lot of highly inspired people to try it out around!! fingers crossed for me and them !!
why i still like iPhone:
i use my phone to read a lot of articles and the READER feature of Safari is a magical thing to make reading easy. i like the idea of iMessage where i can see my messages being delivered (and being read when a privacy unaware user forgets to stop SEND READ REPORT !) though it messes up a lot of times; specially my wife’s shopping list!
being able to set up my own keyboard shortcut is another feature which i find very useful too. i use the phone to interact with various clients on some similar issues and can just type REP1 and have the phone typed “HI SORRY TO HEAR THAT YOU HAVE NOT RECEIVED THE ITEM YET……………WILL LOOK ON THIS AND CHECK WITH ROYAL MAIL……… THANKS AND REGARDS!”
what a life saver!
Yeah, Nexus 4 is OK, nothing much than that.