Why do some techy people think Android is a better OS than iOS?

[TheStu]

Although I use it as well (I am trying to moderate myself as best I can), 'intuitive' is a difficult word.

For example, I can use old Palm Pilots, Windows CE devices, Windows Phone devices, Zunes, iPod, iOS devices, Macs and PCs. But put me in front of Linux (any flavor), Unix, Solaris, or Android, and forget it. I cannot find what I am looking for, and generally get pissed off and walk away after 5 minutes. That might make those other systems more 'intuitive' for me, but for my friend that was raised on Macs, and still CTRL+clicks to bring up the context menu, Windows is a frustrating un-intuitive POS that needs to die in a fire.

Different strokes for different folks, and for once I will repeat what the Android fans say; 'Choice!'. Personally I think that they hold it up as a shield against any number of actual honest to god deficiencies with their chosen OS. Just as people will defend decisions that Apple has made by claiming the virtue of simplicity, design, and ease of use. Honestly, I think that Windows Phone is just about the best mobile OS out there, and I know plenty of people that still feel the same way about WebOS. Sadly, no one feels that way about BB.

My answer to the OP's question is this:
The vast majority of tech people could be easily classified as nerds. I am one of them. And although you will have nerds of different types, and different passions, you can frequently boil down their nerdity to a simple essence. They desire control over something. Whatever it may be, they need to have complete control over it. And many people have found that control in Android where it was lacking in iOS. iOS is a very beautiful walled garden, that really is quite expansive and nice inside. Think of it more like a walled national park covering hundreds of thousands of acres. Android is the wilderness outside, but within that wilderness, a great many people find that they can build themselves a little cabin and a nice plot of land. To each their own. Neither choice is 'correct', and neither one is the only choice.

The tech blogs aren't wrong, to a certain degree, iOS is stagnant. I will hang my hat on this one aspect of iOS being 'better' than Android; iOS got a lot of things right on day 1. When Apple holds back a feature, it can usually be chalked up to the feature not actually being ready. The first iPhone famously shipped without copy and paste (or multi-tasking, an app store, more than 1 home screen, folders, etc.) but remember what it did ship with:
An onscreen keyboard that didn't suck
A capacitive multitouch display
A mobile web browser that didn't suck
A fluid, smooth interface
And a simple, straightforward design

Compare that to Android 1.0. Or 2.0, or 2.1, or any version up until 4.0. The reason that Android is moving so fast, and changing so much is because they have to. Their earlier versions were half-baked, and unfinished. They have come a remarkably long way in the intervening years. From what I hear from people, ICS and JB are truly ready to take on iOS on almost every front, but this is 3 or 4 years after the iPhone was released, and 5 years after the first iPhone came out. iOS is stagnant because they got so much right early on (in my opinion). The iPhone design is stagnant because frankly, the iPhone 4 design is gorgeous, and iconic. Apple knows when they have landed on a winner, so why change it for the sake of changing it?


As an aside:
I can do a great many things with my iDevices, all happily playing together in very fancy futuristic ways, but that is because I have chosen to cloister myself, digitally, within Apple's walled park. But at the end of the day, it is just a phone, and although some may do so, I don't run my life from it. And although some may be this way, I am not defined by it, nor can I never be separated from it.

 

[mugs]

But I've made a strong effort to stay as far away from Apple's ecosystem as possible, which is why it's so foreign to me.

...why do you spend so much time in the All Things Apple forum?

 

[akshatp]

...why do you spend so much time in the All Things Apple forum?

I was wondering the same thing. Droid fanbois/Apple haters love to come into Apple forums and bash anyone who even thinks about buying an iDevice.

 

[akshatp]

Make all of the snarky remarks you want, but he manages speak well enough about EqualLogic SANs, Cisco Nexus switches, VMware environments, etc to sell them so I don't think he's doing too bad for someone in sales. And I can set them all up so I'm comfortable with what I know as well. But I've made a strong effort to stay as far away from Apple's ecosystem as possible, which is why it's so foreign to me.

My gf's 4yr old was playing Angry Birds in Chrome recently. But he didn't just will it to be so, he figured it out by watching others and a little bit of trial and error. My main point is that nothing is really intuitive, everything requires some effort to learn how to effectively use it.

Yes, nothing is "really intuitive" I agree -- but you said that iOS is "completely unintuitive" which, I am sorry to say, is not true.

**I am not saying Android is unintuitive either.

 

[Yuriman]

Android has come a long way, as others have said, and it has some weak and strong points. I enjoy tinkering so Android is my cup of tea.

Fun tidbit, I put my wife's Galaxy S2 (running a custom rom and kernel) on the charger earlier today. It was at 1% battery, and I decided to check the battery stats. She had been off the charger for 5 days 20 hours, and the largest battery use item was "screen". She's a very light user, she might've made 2 brief phone calls in those 5 days, checked wikipedia a few times and whether a restaurant is open, but still... almost 6 days on the stock battery is impressive no matter how you spin it.

 

[JackBurton]

I was wondering the same thing. Droid fanbois/Apple haters love to come into Apple forums and bash anyone who even thinks about buying an iDevice.

Android drones are just upset no one gives a sh*t about their products. Notice Apple fans don't go out of their way to trash a droid device? Why? Because they don't give a sh*t about their junk products. Droid fans are usually basement dwelling geeks that were picked on as kids and hate anything that's popular, just because it's popular. They'll go off on tangents about Apple's "closed system," and how Apple tries to control their lives ( ), but when you REALLY get down to why they hate Apple, it's because they're popular. And geeks have always hated the popular kids, mainly because the popular kids never like them. It's like a rebellious tantrum these droid morons are throwing when they lash out against Apple. It's really as simple as that.

 

[Nothinman]

Although I use it as well (I am trying to moderate myself as best I can), 'intuitive' is a difficult word.

For example, I can use old Palm Pilots, Windows CE devices, Windows Phone devices, Zunes, iPod, iOS devices, Macs and PCs. But put me in front of Linux (any flavor), Unix, Solaris, or Android, and forget it. I cannot find what I am looking for, and generally get pissed off and walk away after 5 minutes. That might make those other systems more 'intuitive' for me, but for my friend that was raised on Macs, and still CTRL+clicks to bring up the context menu, Windows is a frustrating un-intuitive POS that needs to die in a fire.

I agree with your general point, but the more specific point is that nothing is really intuitive and you seem to indicate that as well. You've learned how to use all of those other systems over the years and it was easy because there was common choices made in a lot of them, iOS devices and OS X share a lot of similarities, WinCE and Windows were very similar, etc so once you had a grasp of one it wasn't a far leap to figure out the other. But put you in front of a truly foreign system and you don't know where to start.

People make jokes about CD trays as coffee holders, old people plugging phones into ethernet ports, etc but the reason they do that is because they didn't grow up on the stuff like we did and it's not intuitive. There is some level of teaching and learning required, it's just the amount that varies from person to person and system to system.

Compare that to Android 1.0. Or 2.0, or 2.1, or any version up until 4.0. The reason that Android is moving so fast, and changing so much is because they have to. Their earlier versions were half-baked, and unfinished. They have come a remarkably long way in the intervening years. From what I hear from people, ICS and JB are truly ready to take on iOS on almost every front, but this is 3 or 4 years after the iPhone was released, and 5 years after the first iPhone came out. iOS is stagnant because they got so much right early on (in my opinion). The iPhone design is stagnant because frankly, the iPhone 4 design is gorgeous, and iconic. Apple knows when they have landed on a winner, so why change it for the sake of changing it?

Totally true and anyone that can't admit that is lying to themselves. Android followed the FOSS standard mantra of release early and release often while Apple takes the more conservative approach. Both have pros and cons and obviously I prefer the former model. And Google got the added benefit of feedback from users and manufacturers. They got to see what HTC, Motorola, Samsung, etc did to the UI and how users reacted to all of it and then got to cherry pick what they wanted to make a part of stock. Apple just puts their software out there as is and if you don't like it, tough. Some people like being told "This is the best way to do this." while other's don't. That's the difference between someone who's a geek in a certain area and someone who's just using something to accomplish something. Mechanically inclined people like cars with less computers and more serviceable parts while other people just want good mileage and no huge safety recalls. Food people like trying new things and

 

[lokiju]

I disagree that either is "better" but it's more about personal preference. I've used both. I've used ICS on my devices and have a iPhone 4s and iPad 2 with iOS 5.1.1 and for me PERSONALLY, I much prefer iOS after giving both a LOT of usage. It's the full experience from top to bottom that FOR ME makes it the better choice.

One common gripe still used by Apple haters is that iTunes is so awful and you MUST use it, this is completely false since iOS 5 came out. I have a iPod Touch with the current iOS on it and I never take it out of my car. It just sits in my center arm rest console hooked up to the iPod cable and when I pull into my garage at night it and it reconnects to my home WIFI, it syncs and backs up automatically.

I haven't had a single reason to physically connect my iPhone 4s or iPad 2 to a computer to use iTunes in a long time. It's just an invalid argument that still gets used as it used to be a valid complaint.

I personally am very excited for iOS 6 with the additional features.

As usual, haters are going to hate and nothing was different after this iPhone event. The news sites started having less to point to has an issue with the new iPhone 5 and so they turned to saying it's become to "safe" in it's updates. I read a lengthy debate of it being compared to having gone from a BMW to a Toyota Camry, safe and reliable but boring. I PERSONALLY disagree.

It's an amazingly well engineered smartphone. The claim to 8 hours of continuos talk time on LTE is crazy good. I cannot find or have heard of any other LTE smart phones that are comparable that can accomplish this.

Sure the camera update wasn't much to get excited over when compared to what the 4s camera has but the 4s camera is the best damn camera on a smart phone I've EVER used. I no longer use or care about having a dedicated point and shoot camera since getting the iPhone 4 and after that the 4s.

Between iTunes Match, iCloud backup and Photo Stream everything is decoupled from iTunes running on a computer anymore and I don't have to worry about an issue or damage causing me to be out of my irreplaceable data/pictures, etc.

Yes it sounds very fanboyish, but I've truly given Android a chance. I LOVE technology. I work at a high level of tech for a very large tech company and have access and exposure to some amazingly deep level understandings of how technology works and whats out there. I haven't concluded my opinions based off of blind fanboyism but sheerly off of using and trying and comparing every option until I found what is best for ME.

If someone else prefers Android, Windows Phone, whatever, I don't care, I don't begrudge then or try to convince them as to why their choice is inferior. Why should I? Not everyone has the same taste and interest in things and that's fine. I love that theres a variety of options out there to fill the desires and needs of all. Competition is a good thing, especially in technology IMO.

 

[ControlD]

.

One common gripe still used by Apple haters is that iTunes is so awful and you MUST use it, this is completely false since iOS 5 came out. I have a iPod Touch with the current iOS on it and I never take it out of my car. It just sits in my center arm rest console hooked up to the iPod cable and when I pull into my garage at night it and it reconnects to my home WIFI, it syncs and backs up automatically.

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When your iPod syncs over wifi it is syncing with iTunes correct? Just because you don't need to physically connect your iPod to your PC doesn't remove the need for iTunes.

 

[lokiju]

When your iPod syncs over wifi it is syncing with iTunes correct? Just because you don't need to physically connect your iPod to your PC doesn't remove the need for iTunes.

My iPod? Yes, only because I choose to.

I only use iTunes Match and iCloud on my iPhone for all music, app, photo, backup management/functions.

 

[Spineshank]

I dont get why everyone bashes iTunes. I personally love it.

On another note, i have been playing with a Galaxy S3. Awesome phone. But too big. Granted I do not have big hands.

 

[ControlD]

I dont get why everyone bashes iTunes. I personally love it.

On another note, i have been playing with a Galaxy S3. Awesome phone. But too big. Granted I do not have big hands.

I think as a media manager it is pretty decent. I guess my problem with iTunes has more to do with the limitations Apple builds into it. Why can I only put music on my phone from one computer when I can use as many computers as I want with my iPod Touch or iPad? Why is syncing a one way operation? Why can I not choose to sync without deleteing everything on my device? etc, etc.

 

[Spineshank]

I think as a media manager it is pretty decent. I guess my problem with iTunes has more to do with the limitations Apple builds into it. Why can I only put music on my phone from one computer when I can use as many computers as I want with my iPod Touch or iPad? Why is syncing a one way operation? Why can I not choose to sync without deleteing everything on my device? etc, etc.

Gotcha. Never really thought about that kind of stuff since I never had to try to use it that way.

 

[TheStu]

Windows Phone would let you add music only from the Zune Software in Windows or the Phone Connector in OS X. But, you could add from both sources. You could also pull data from both when you connect your phone. Apple would be well served by copying that aspect.

 

[Nothinman]

I dont get why everyone bashes iTunes. I personally love it.

On another note, i have been playing with a Galaxy S3. Awesome phone. But too big. Granted I do not have big hands.

Your sig says you have a MBP, if you're running iTunes on OS X that's completely different than running it on Windows. I'm sure it runs great on OS X, but that can't be said for the Windows port.

 

[ControlD]

Your sig says you have a MBP, if you're running iTunes on OS X that's completely different than running it on Windows. I'm sure it runs great on OS X, but that can't be said for the Windows port.

I have a MBP as well. Itunes isn't really all that great under OS X either. I mean it's alright performance wise (not stellar) but the same irritating limitations still exist to ruin the experience. That being said I haven't found anything out there that just blows my mind and makes me want to forget iTunes the media manager exists. I would like to take a hammer to the "hey Itunes needs to wipe your phone for this to work" part of the experience however.

 

[PeeluckyDuckee]

Meh, I don't use iTunes, nor do I have much interest in the App store. I love Apple products, realize they do charge a premium, but I don't feel attached to their ecosystem. I have Apple desktop, laptop, tablet, but for phone I have switched over to the S2, and now Galaxy Nexus and am happy to have switched.

I prefer OS X over Windows, but I prefer Android over IOS for tablet and smartphone. IOS has plateau'd and got too boring for me.

 

[slashbinslashbash]

I have a MBP as well. Itunes isn't really all that great under OS X either. I mean it's alright performance wise (not stellar) but the same irritating limitations still exist to ruin the experience. That being said I haven't found anything out there that just blows my mind and makes me want to forget iTunes the media manager exists. I would like to take a hammer to the "hey Itunes needs to wipe your phone for this to work" part of the experience however.

Yeah, iTunes really needs a revamp, and in a bigger way than it was just recently. It made sense how it progressed: first it was just a music manager/player like Windows Media Player or WinAmp (albeit more complicated in that it maintained a "library" rather than relying on user management of the individual music files and choosing them through the file system -- which, despite 7+ years as a mostly-Mac person, I think I would still prefer a WinAmp-style music experience. It is much nicer/more fun to dig through a file hierarchy and discover things than to have everything in a flat list). In any case, when Apple first came out with the iPod, it was a music-only device. Natural to use iTunes to manage it, right? Then it grew and grew, and now we've got smartphone apps and photos and videos and all kinds of other stuff going on within iTunes that doesn't really belong there or gel with the music concept. They are only there because iTunes manages iPhones, and iTunes manages iPhones because iTunes historically has managed iPods.

Apple needs a pared-down iPhone Manager app that strips away that functionality from iTunes. On the iPhone itself, there is differentiation between the App Store (apps) and the iTunes Store (music, video). The iPhone Manager can still pull music from the iTunes library, but it doesn't make sense to me to have it set up the way that it is.

And the restrictions are awful too. An iDevice can be tied to ONE (1) iTunes library. You want to manage your phone or iPad from two separate computers? Can't do it. I've lost a lot of progress in games from not being aware of this limitation -- plugged into my new MBP, with a new iTunes library, sync'd and bam -- all of my progress and high scores are back to 0.

 

[Rottie]

I find iOS is far superior and very simple to use. My roomie has LG MyTouch Q with Gingerbread OS (I think) He never understand about Android OS, he used me to help him out. He should have bought an iPhone instead!

 

[RampantAndroid]

Someone is seriously asking this question? Maybe they like haking. Or customizing. Or having a different UI. Or having a keyboard. Tons of reasons exist.

Your sig says you have a MBP, if you're running iTunes on OS X that's completely different than running it on Windows. I'm sure it runs great on OS X, but that can't be said for the Windows port.

This. iTunes on windows as an absolute pile. I hope to never use it again.

 

[JackBurton]

Someone is seriously asking this question? Maybe they like haking. Or customizing. Or having a different UI. Or having a keyboard. Tons of reasons exist.



This. iTunes on windows as an absolute pile. I hope to never use it again.

I don't get this. I don't know of any other media managers that are better and more intuitive than iTunes. I love it and don't get the hate.

 

[ControlD]

I don't get this. I don't know of any other media managers that are better and more intuitive than iTunes. I love it and don't get the hate.

The media manager part of iTunes is fine. It is the rest of the BS that goes along with it that most of use have a problem with I think.

 

[JackBurton]

The media manager part of iTunes is fine. It is the rest of the BS that goes along with it that most of use have a problem with I think.

And that is?

 

[dave_the_nerd]

I don't get this. I don't know of any other media managers that are better and more intuitive than iTunes. I love it and don't get the hate.

I don't like everything iTunes does, or how it does it. And when my optical drive started to die, iTunes would freeze hard (so it could have more graceful I/O error handling, clearly) but it runs fine on my Win7 computer now. (At least as well as on my mac, but the PC is a more powerful hardware-wise.)

It loads slower than I think it ought to, considering I have an SSD. (Then again, the library is on a platter, so I'm probably being unrealistic there) But I usually leave it open and minimized so I can control the "stereo" with the phone.

 

[JackBurton]

I don't like everything iTunes does, or how it does it. And when my optical drive started to die, iTunes would freeze hard (so it could have more graceful I/O error handling, clearly) but it runs fine on my Win7 computer now. (At least as well as on my mac, but the PC is a more powerful hardware-wise.)

It loads slower than I think it ought to, considering I have an SSD. (Then again, the library is on a platter, so I'm probably being unrealistic there) But I usually leave it open and minimized so I can control the "stereo" with the phone.

I by no means think iTunes is perfect, there's definitely room for improvement. But I also think it is far and away better than any comparable software out there.