Things Android Does Better Than iPhone OS
maximumpc.com
maximumpc.com
Still, for those curious...
1: Android can Run Multiple Apps at the Same Time
"Backgrounder" will give you basic multitasking. And "ProSwitcher" builds on it to give you wonderful, Pre-like task switching. Caveat - there just isn't enough memory in anything less then the 3GS to comfortably multitask.
2: Android Keeps Information Visible on Your Home Screen
It'll cost a few dollars, but I've been very happy using "LockInfo" to provide a useful lock screen. It's a must-have application for me - it goes a long way to making my iPhone feel like an actual PDA rather then just a toy.
4: Android Gives You Better Notifications
Not nearly as nice as the Android's, but "LockInfo" does a pretty good job of managing my notifications once I told it to suppress pop-ups when my phone's locked. Paired with "Notifier" to continue pestering me if I miss an important update, I'm pretty content.
8: Android Lets You Change Your Settings Faster
"SBSettings" makes changing settings a snap - just slide my finger across the status bar at the top of the screen to access it. Though I'm not a fan of the default appearance - do yourself a favor and install the "Deep HUD" theme for a cleaner interface.
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And while I'm advocated bits and bobs to match up with the Android user experience:
"Simple Background" is a nice bit of eye candy, if you want your iPhone to have the same sort of parallax scrolling wallpaper that Android enjoys.
"Inspell" gives you red squiggly misspelling highlighting and intuitive spelling correction. It's a fantastic addition. Honest question - does the Android have something like this?
You've just pointed out that the general purpose CPU in the iPhone can run other software. This isn't what is at issue, what's at issue is the default/sanctioned install that comes with the iPhone. Of course you can get other android-like features on your iPhone if you replace or supplement the core iPhone software with something else. But then, your jailbroken iPhone isn't really an iPhone anymore, is it?
"Inspell" gives you red squiggly misspelling highlighting and intuitive spelling correction. It's a fantastic addition. Honest question - does the Android have something like this?
The default Android keyboard, and other keyboards, corrects as you type and/or gives you spelling suggestions and word completions. This has been a much better experience than having to go back and try to correct misspellings after the fact.
Actually, the gist of my message was to point out specific bits of software to help folks who feel hindered by some of the limitations the article's author mentioned. I know they help me feel more comfortable using the iPhone.
I didn't think I was being particularly subtle, but I guess I was mistaken. <shrug>
But then, your jailbroken iPhone isn't really an iPhone anymore, is it?
That's a... strange claim to make. And the only way it seems even related to my message is if you ignore my explicit caveat about how annoying and fretful jailbreaking is. Which I'm fairly certain you read - why, it's right there, in the bit you quoted.
The default Android keyboard, and other keyboards, corrects as you type and/or gives you spelling suggestions and word completions. This has been a much better experience than having to go back and try to correct misspellings after the fact.
Given the tone of your response, I seem to have really irked you. I'm asking an honest question here - this is a feature I find really useful (enough that I gladly paid for this bit of jailbreak-only software that could vaporize at Apple's whim). I'm not asking for your opinion on how text input should be done (because frankly, I don't agree), nor for platform advocacy. Really, I thought my question was rather straight forward.
Anyway, red squiggly lines are good for checking a mass of text after the fact. But only if your input method does not allow for checking and correcting at time of input. When this type of thing happens at input-type instead of scan-before-hitting-reply-time, you're probably less likely to miss something.
Also, given that you can manually add words to the phone's dictionary is something my iPhone never did have (another win for Android).
And that's a completely valid concern... if I were engaged in platform advocacy or arguing these iPhone shortcomings are inconsequential or non-existent.
But I'm not.
For the record: I don't like jailbreaking my phone. I don't like installing jailbreak software. I'm annoyed that Apple will neither provide this functionality that I enjoy nor expose a legitimate mechanism for 3rd parties to create it.
But such is the state of things. And given I have an iPhone, I darn well am going to make the most of it. And that matters. I'm not trying to affect software sales - I'm trying to help people like me. People who (for better or worse) have an iPhone, are hamstrung by some of the more valid critiques the article lists, and are looking for solutions.
As for the red squiggly text editing - let's consider that a red herring. I don't agree with your text editing philosophy, but that's neither here-nor-there. This wasn't meant as a dig on Android. I just assumed Android could do this, and was hoping to find out more.
Warfangle - I don't mean this to sound harsh. While I read your reply as assuming platform advocacy on my part, beyond that it was even handed. But golly, I shouldn't have to defend information. Opinions, yes. Information, no. :(
Android supports what are called IMEs -- the OSK is essentially just another application type, which can be replaced by the user. Which is basically to say that if you can dream up a method of inputting text, Android can do it. You can find everything from what are essentially much improved versions of a "standard" OSK[1] to gesture based typing[2] to alternate IMEs for non-latin characters to almost anything else you could come up with.
So the short answer is "probably."
[1] http://www.smartkeyboardpro.com/ (this is what I use on my phone at the suggest of another HN commenter a couple of weeks ago).
App Store: Far more apps (and thus a stronger platform, attracts more users, attracts more developers). The review process generally controls quality (ignoring taste, for example fart apps), in the sense of no virus or battery drainers or network abusers or completely unusable apps. This is a plus and I think it's severely under-appreciated.
Android: No review process means you can potentially get any kind of app. Alternative app stores (or you can download right from the web). Ever-improving number of apps in the store (it's lagging behind App Store but quickly catching up).
So it really depends on what you're after and what you value. I don't think it's really fair to for the article to call one store "better" than the other.
Unless and until Canada is a first-class country on the Android marketplace, I won't even look at developing for Android.
(Granted, I probably won't do much with it even after that, because I hate Java with a passion and don't want the nasty performance hit that alternative languages currently have on Dalvik, but that's a different argument.)
I am pretty sure though that one can find 10 things the iPhone does better than Android ... like fixed screen resolution, better dev tools (although that's debatable, as I just want to work on my OS of choice), more polished design for the hardware, etc...
Competition is such a wonderful thing ... those guys at Google that decided to throw Android in the marketplace to increase competition (such that their search engine remains in business) are pure geniuses.
Ordinarily a month-old fact would probably be fine, but things are moving a bit fast in the smartphone world these days. So in this case it leads to an error of 26%.
I was under the impression that the mechanics of each were nearly identical.
http://davidquintana.com/entry/mobile-multitasking
Quote: There are only three types of actions allowed to be performed in the background and each is handled differently. They are:
* Background Audio
* Voice over IP (VOIP)
* Background Location> If an app needs to continue functioning indefinitely while in the background
Operative word here being indefinitely, in the paragraph above he describes task completion as well (an application can request up to 10mn [or something, might have changed] to finish handling a task)
They're actually very different: with Android you create what's basically a daemon server, no UI but does everything it want, while with OS4 you register against service (there are 7 service types to choose from) and the OS itself runs and manages it, calling your registered service hooks.
Android gives far more control, at the cost of more (programmatic) complexity and more battery life risks (a badly implemented daemon/service will kill your battery life quick, whereas on the OS4 since the OS keeps full control of the execution it has a much better shot at managing battery/power issues, and it can more efficiently handle multiple applications registering for the same service).
The part that is similar is the handling of non-multitasking-aware applications (regular applications in OS4, applications with no daemon in Android): they're simply frozen in RAM, and killed if memory pressure becomes an issue.
Thank goodness there's a tool that lets us figure out what applications use the most battery! :)
I agree that no end user should have to be keeping a watch for applications that use too much battery, but it sure is nice to have that information easily accessible for developers.
Though I suppose it's possible that was a bug in the service management stuff...
http://blog.rlove.org/2010/04/iphone-os-4-and-multitasking.h...
Seaside used to use continuations for everything but realized that the only place you really need it is wizard-like work flows, so they've removed it everywhere else. This allows them to not need a session unless you're in a workflow and things like "expired link" for pretty static looking pages doesn't happen.
Hint, hint, hint....