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Comment by spicyj | Hacker News Reader

Google Maps and Navigation for Android really makes me want an Android phone now. How long until Android actually runs (well) on my iPhone 4?

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How long before they push this to canvas in the browsers is my question.

Indeed. These changes were only needed for the mobile version, but they would be very much welcome in the web app version. This version of google maps is superior to the web version in nearly every aspect, it's interesting how innovation often happens in unexpected ways like that.

Probably never. The iPhone lacks the 4 button configuration that's standard on Android phones. It can be made to work, but it will always be a hack.

Also, not to sound like a fanboy, but why would you want Android on your iPhone? I can understand iOS fans' concerns about the UI on Android not being as polished as iOSes, but it seems like if you're going to use Android, using an Android phone just makes sense.

Honeycomb has on-screen buttons: http://www.phonedog.com/2010/12/14/honeycomb-does-not-requir...

WRT Android on the iPhone, it's like Linux on a Mac: the hardware is usually higher quality. A 3GS and a Samsung Intercept go for the same price on a 2 year contract, but the Intercept feels like a cheap toy compared to the 3GS.

And, like Linux on a Mac, the drivers will never be just perfect.

I don't know, my 13" MacBook Pro is pretty good driver-wise with Ubuntu: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/MacBookPro7-1/Maverick

Yes, a bit of manual configuration, but it seems to work pretty well.

(Also, I've used quite a few Android phones with incredibly broken default drivers. YMMV)

I run Ubuntu on my MacBook as well, but the camera fails sometimes, the brightness control is wonky, the sleep is hit and miss, etc. Still, what am I going to run? OS X?

There are rumors that Honeycomb won't need any physical buttons at all...

(the prototype tablet Andy Rubin demoed the other day had on-screen buttons that would rotated with the screen)

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