After the iPhone 4S, Android just feels wrong
zdnet.com
zdnet.com
And if you expand to include the ecosystem, it's not even close. The iCloud web apps are pathetic compared to Google's offerings.
I could go on. And this isn't just bashing, I'm growing to like a lot about iOS, but I think these Android vs iOS stories are mostly link bait. They're a lot more similar than most people will admit, and both have plusses and minuses.
EDIT: Ok click to zoom is kinda there, but I like the way it works on Android better. That's just a preference, so I'll strike that from my list of objections.
And the iCloud web apps are awesome. Don't know where the problem is. They behave like real OS apps. I like that.
I'm having the opposite reaction as well, likely for similar reasons as the author: I use an iPhone 3GS running iOS5 and am comparing with a newer Android phone. Nearly every gripe he mentions having about Android, I have with my iPhone. Don't even get me started on web browsing, maybe iOS5 is just using a ridiculous amount of memory or something because I never had this problem before upgrading, but now visiting certain webpages (eg Canada Post) crashes Safari. Nevermind smooth scrolling.
I'm not about to write some link-bait blog post about it though, the reasons why are obvious, I'm using an older phone with a newer OS, and am comparing to a recent Android phone. Doesn't mean I'm happy that iOS5 is reducing the usability of my phone, but at least I can apply critical thinking to the situation at hand.
This is actually fully addressed in iOS 5 with the notification center. You can swipe down the notification center over any app, then swipe it back up out of the way right back to where you were.
What's the difference?
On zooming in to content (actually it zooms in on page blocks) I disagree, but I'll leave it at personal preference. Android zooms in at a fixed zoom level and reflows the text, IIRC.
(don't test any mobile web browser on this very website as the HTML is awful and makes its job much harder)
The first is that apps are laggy or jittery during scrolling or animations. This is partially due to poor coding from developers, but the main reason for its existence was the lack of hardware acceleration on Android devices. This changed with 3.0 on tablets, and now 4.0 on everything. Developers still have to opt-in with a one-line XML file change, due to compatibility issues. So in essence this has been solved across the board.
The second is what a lot of users are now referring to (and was largely masked by the presence of the former problem). And it's that there's a much larger drag distance required to "initiate" user interaction on Android than iOS. When I pick up a friend's iPhone, it seems like if a hair on my finger even grazes the screen the UI immediately (and appropriately) reacts. On every Android device that I've ever used, it takes approximately 0.5 to 1.0 centimeters before the UI will begin to react and scroll. This is what people mean when they say that it feels like you're "pulling" the UI on Android, while iOS has 1:1 natural interaction.
Is it annoying? Yes. But after moderate use I stop noticing it, until I happen to touch an iOS device again. Now that Ice Cream Sandwich has taken care of every other fault with the platform I had, this is really the last item on my list of complaints, having used Android devices for years on a near-daily basis. I don't know if it's a problem with the hardware of the screen sensors themselves or with the levels of abstraction to Java-land, but this should be their top priority for what I can only assume they'll call Jelly Bean.
I was also in the same boat about believing it was just a few millimeters, until I actually went ahead and measured it. My mind was thinking a millimeter was larger than it actually is.
Anyone here familiar with Android's source code and can figure out where this behavior takes place? I'm curious if it can be easily disabled (if only to see what it's like).
http://developer.android.com/reference/android/view/ViewConf...
ScrollView views use this value internally to prevent accidental scrolling when tapping elements. You can change the touch behavior by subclassing ScrollView (or ListView) and overriding onTouchEvent() to ignore slop and start scrolling immediately on a drag event.
Incidentally, I can't stand most iPhone apps because of their over-sensitivity to scrolling (and their tiny list elements). I'm glad Android has these defaults.
As someone who uses both devices, I really only notice this when I'm so board that dragging around a menu seems like a good way to kill time or plain old stoned. Its really surprised me how much I've seen this as a criticism of the android in the past few weeks. In the past I had always just written them off as being different, not necessarily better or worse, like a design decision to make sure that "Yes menu, it is in fact time for us to scroll" because there are many cases where the user won't have a steady finger but don't mean to activate scrolling.
But, if the menu feel is even being brought up as a valid comparison point, it is good news all around. Splitting these hairs is proof that both platforms have finally made it to the point of meeting most user's wants.
And take it for what it's worth, but the instant reaction of iOS devices isn't necessarily for everyone. My father for example thinks that it's much too sensitive. He'll accidentally graze the screen when hovering his finger over something while reading or trying to get to a UI element, and all of a sudden the app starts scrolling, making him feel lost and frustrated.
Which is why ICS Galaxy Nexus demo units were reported to still be laggy?
Though I can imagine that being a beta build running in debug mode doesn't really help, if someone did see the occasional hiccup.
Aug 24 2011: Android-targeted malware jumps 76% in Q2, McAfee says http://www.bgr.com/2011/08/24/android-targeted-malware-jumps...
Aug 01, 2011: Android Trojan records phone calls. CA security team finds more advanced Android malware http://www.networkworld.com/news/2011/080111-android-trojan....
Aug 15, 2011: A malicious Android app that disguises itself as Google's new social networking platform, Google+, is capable of stealing data, and answering and recording incoming phone calls http://www.scmagazineus.com/new-android-spyware-answers-inco...
Sep 20, 2011: Android bug lets attackers install malware without warning http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/09/20/google_android_vulne...
Aug 4, 2011: 8 Notorious Android Malware Attacks. Nearly a third of Android users will fall prey to mobile security threats this year. http://www.informationweek.com/news/security/mobile/23130025...
ICS will be able to run on any phone able to run Gingerbread.
A lot of people wonder why garbage collection is done manually in iOS/Obj C. Performance is one reason, battery life is another.
http://thisismynext.com/2011/10/18/galaxy-nexus-android-ice-...
Makes me want to throw any Android device I’m using at the wall. You can’t imagine the amount of rage that creates inside me.
Why don’t they stop it?
Only if they are targeting a pre-ICS SDK version. Applications targeting 4.0 have hardware acceleration on by default.
LOL. You clearly have no idea what you're talking about.
It's a marginal improvement at best on Honeycomb.
Android's performance woes are unsolvable due to fundamental design decisions in the UI layer and in the choice of a garbage collected language for a mobile device.
Sure, they might be less noticeable in your quad core monster phone, but it'll still be laggy compared to an iPhone 3GS running iOS 5.
Complaining about iOS's amazing touch responsiveness is ridiculous at best. It's a marvel of engineering prowess.
I think it's common knowledge Google didn't work terribly hard on getting a smooth UI until ICS. I'm an Android dev and I fully understand the "smoothness" of iOS is attractive, but it's a bit unfair of a comparison to make at this time - using an iPhone 4S.
Yes, I know the 4S is shipping and the Galaxy Nexus is not - that much I'll give. But this is only a month-long window and not very reflective of the coming future.
I moved on to Android and own a Galaxy S - there's virtually no UI stutter at all, I only see delays on shutting some programs or launching a few apps. My wife recently bought a 4S and it's very smooth, but don't tell me that iOS has always been this smooth because you're looking back with rose-colored glasses.
From my experience, after taking away features and just focusing on user experience, iOS 1.0 beats Android 2.x in nearly every category. Even back then, everything just worked on iOS.
You could make that comparison using any iOS and any iPhone combination apart from iPhone 3G + iOS 4. It's not new to the 4S, although the 4S probably pulls even further ahead, this issue has been a recurring theme in Android phone reviews ever since the first Android phone was released.
iOS/Obj C does not do automatic garbage collection specifically for this reason (and battery life).
The side effect of having all that extra CPU is that, when not running the core Android UI (e.g. a game written mostly in native code), a lot more power is available to developers.
If you allocate objects in a user interface loop, you will force a periodic garbage collection, creating little "hiccups" in the user experience. The concurrent collector introduced in Gingerbread helps, but unnecessary work should always be avoided. http://developer.android.com/guide/practices/design/performa...
Why should I avoid garbage collection? When Dalvik does a GC, most of the time your game will have to wait until the garbage collection is complete. It will often take in the order of 100 milliseconds to complete. Doesn’t sound like much but in your game loop this is huge – causing a horrible stutter or lack of responsiveness. http://fanitis.com/2011/02/09/android-game-performance-garba...
Garbage collection and async operations frequently block UI rendering. http://www.satine.org/archives/2011/01/01/the-care-and-feedi...
Android Garbage Collector Slow Down http://stackoverflow.com/questions/6742314/android-garbage-c...
I'm performance tuning interactive games in Java for the Android platform. Once in a while there is a hiccup in drawing and interaction for garbage collection. Usually it's less than one tenth of a second, but sometimes it can be as large as 200ms on very slow devices. http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2484079/how-can-i-avoid-g...
And this is somehow further evidence of Google's incompetence (and/or lack of taste) rather than just the obvious result of a bunch of engineering tradeoffs that, if you look at Android marketshare and Google's resultant influence on the future of the web, seem to have worked out quite well for them.
[1] http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=6914#c1
2) While Gingerbread is "last year's Android", it is still being shipped on new phones... or not even shipping yet. Android is cursed with a slow process for updates with the manufacturers and carriers. My Thunderbolt never got Gingerbread (from the carrier, sure I did root it) and it just came out and then was pulled.
We'll have to see how ICS on (Android device) holds up against iOS 5 on 4S.
Personally, I love my S2, as it's remarkably faster than my first gen Galaxy S in pretty much everything.
And since I hardly ever see anyone extolling the actual feature benefits of Android, here are 5 Android only features I could not live without:
1) Swype - Delightful, much faster one handed, much much better in portrait mode, don't have to change the way I hold my phone to start typing
2) Shortcuts to Contacts on Home Screen (two tap calling, texting, IM or email! Best flow for actual communicating after Blackberry's "Just start typing their name")
3) Widgets (Calendar, Time + Weather, Evernote, Live Weather background, Wifi Hotspot)
4) Dolphin HD Browser - I can use my volume buttons to change tabs!
5) Chrome to Phone - Really easy to clip notes to myself for later
I think it's a shock to nobody that Apple has made damn sure that their UI is lag-free and smooth while Android hasn't. It seems like they've put a lot of work into ICS on this front, but still.
But I've always loved what I can do with my Nexus One that I haven't been able to do with my iPhone. Everything on your list, including:
* Google Maps: the client continually gets better, and built-in turn-by-turn audio navigation is amazing. * Locale / Tasker. It's not a "can't live without" but it still feels like the future when my phone detects its location and environment and changes settings based on that. * Swype gets a second mention because it's just that awesome. In fact, being able to replace just about every stock function on the phone is great.
My girlfriend's 3GS is a couple of years old and is snappy as hell.
You can almost get this on the iPhone by swiping to the left of the first home screen and using spotlight. I use that all the time, for contacts and to launch apps hidden in folders I rarely use.
Is (2) still relevant after Siri?
3) I personally think Widgets clutter the desktop and consume unnecessary power, and they don't provide as much utility to compensate for that.
4) Thats a very minor thing. Mobile Safari is a great browser. There are lot of third-party browsers also available on iOS like my favorite Atomic for iPad which has a ton of extra features and flexibility.
5) Am not sure what that is, but is that relevant after Siri?
2) In my opinion, the home screen shortcuts to individual contacts is way better than Siri. Tapping is faster than talking. Plus, I can see if they're online and IM them if they are. I even have one click video chat with Google Talk Video Chat natively supported. Here's a screenshot of what I mean http://twitpic.com/73xo6d
3) My Galaxy S2 can run for almost 40 hours on a charge with light usage, and probably around 24 hours of heavy usage, so battery life is not an issue as it was on the original Galaxy. I like being able to see my calendar at a glance or the weather forecast without talking to my phone, or toggle on a wifi hotspot in one tap. YMMV.
4) It seems minor, but makes using the browser a much better experience. Don't knock it till you've tried it.
5) Has nothing to do with Siri. It's a Chrome extension that works with your phone. I just click a button in my browser, and it sends a notification to my phone with a link to whatever page I have open. Really nifty for grabbing an address before heading out the door, and sending stuff to read later on the train.
Previously camera apps have been told not to provide this feature, yet now it's heralded as part of iOS 5.
I say this with every OS release and every major hardware upgrade, but I really hope the Galaxy Nexus[0] and ICS finally make up some of the difference with hardware acceleration of the UI.[1]
[0]: Terrible mouthful of a name, Galaxy Prime or Nexus Prime would've been so much better.
[1]: This is my next/Verge reporting notwithstanding. Reports are that some leftover jitteriness is due to apps not having opted into hardware acceleration yet. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
What do you think of "Nexus Galaxy"?
When all the rumored names were flying around, I suspected this would be it, but I was hoping it would be some sort of dual release, with Google selling the 'Nexus Prime' directly, and Samsung releasing the Galaxy [X] on carriers. Maybe that would've been worse, though.
Note: Our initial performance observations were focused on touch response and not system-wide performance, and were based on a Galaxy Nexus being used by one of Google’s staff. The demo units during the show were definitely smoother in operation. All of them featured an early build of Ice Cream Sandwich, however, so we’ll make our final calls on the phone once we have a review unit in hand.
http://thisismynext.com/2011/10/18/galaxy-nexus-android-ice-...
I am switching back from 4s to Android because I find Safari unreadable with my old eyes. No control over font sizes, and the double-tap zoom doesn't reflow text. So HN is completely unreadable in portrait, and only barely so in landscape. No problem on my DroidX.
Of course, since HN isn't an article, it's not much help here - HN is the one page I use where this is a problem, ironically.
Nevertheless, "it just feels wrong" doesn't sound like a very actionable complaint; not to mention, the majority of the issues brought up seem to have been addressed in ICS. Perhaps the author should spend more time with newer Android phones, and less time making silly and useless comparisons.
I don't think it's a subjective, empty complaint. Android phones are laggy, or at least a lot of the popular ones are. Lag destroys the "direct manipulation" experience. Maybe ICS changes everything, who knows. I wrote off Android a couple of years ago. That's the fundamental problem with Android, isn't it? People try a couple of 2.1 devices that suck and well why should they give it another chance?
Considering that Android is leading the market place in almost every conceivable category, people obviously aren't just trying a "crappy device" and not giving it a second chance. So, no, obviously not a fundamental problem with Android...
The double-tap to zoom on Android browser..just works! It perfectly flies in to the content, adjusts text size beautifully and rearranges the images linearly. If one reads a lot of content online, this feature is beyond awesome.
Do that on an Android and see what happens.
All it does on iOS is zoom till it removes the padding. On Android, it makes it a readable list, with correclty sized upvote icons, perfect reading size. It, in a way, instantly makes HN a mobile site. This is more than just zooming.
The problem is that you will get a person who cares reviewing a unit and describing the problem as if its the end of the world when a majority of their readers actually will either not care or perhaps even not perceive the issue at all.
It doesn't exactly feel wrong, but sure as hell it doesn't feel right, either. Everything I do on Android seems to take about two or three steps more than it should. Some things just don't work. Some things just aren't possible. I can't find certain software that I need. The worst thing, it's missing fit and polish half the time.
This is the least comfortable I've ever been with a tech purchase. Hopefully, T-Mobile gets bought out and then I can play the get out of contract free card and get an iPhone.
However the iPhone UI is much more polished. That can hardly be debated, feels to me like the Android dev team "just made it work" and didn't have too much time to worry about polish.
I really hope ICS fixes that.
I'm still mind blown by the choice of Java. Slow start, garbage collection slow downs, and massive memory usage are all par for course. Then add to it the usual Java developer mentality of needing some massive architecture for the simplest of programs.
Is it any wonder to people that android is slow?
I have hopes that whatever comes next learns the mistake that people hate slow. Not being slow means not using a language where text editors are known to use gigabytes of memory and run slow on 12 core monster boxes.
Then again, Google really didn't have a choice back then.