Apple Vs. Android

[OKCDrummer77]

Split decision in my house. After "test driving" my sister's Galaxy S3 in 2012, I decided to go that route. Surprisingly, my wife followed suit. Since she already had a MacBook Pro and an iPad, I thought she would go with iPhone. However, she did some research online in the final hours before we pulled the trigger and decided on the S3.

Predictably, she hated it pretty much from day one. The battery life was a bit of a culture shock for both of us (our previous phones, an LG flip, lasted about 5-7 days on one charge). She decided to stick it out, but when a friend upgraded to an iPhone 5, she sold her 4S to my wife. She's much happier now.

In contrast, I love my S3. It's big enough that my large hands can use it comfortably, but it still fits in my pocket. I haven't held an iPhone 5 or 6, but the 4S feels positively tiny by comparison. I'm not anti-Apple (I did have a 1st gen iPad before someone else decided that they deserved it more than I did). There has been very little that I couldn't do because I didn't have an iPhone. The Fox Sports Go app is the only notable exception that comes to mind, but I have that now, so it's all good.

I'm not exactly anxious to upgrade, but I might move to the S4 or S5 just to take advantage of Verizon's XLTE band.

[Plutonic Panda]

I call BS. my wife spilled water on her MBA and they charged $600 to it. We had apple care.

Apple has amazing customer service. I had a 2012 Macbook Pro w/ Retina and the screen was broken, flash drive malfunctioning, and the L shaped plate that holds the computer together was f'd up. They fixed all of that for a flat rate of $320. The screen alone was over $1,000 by itself. They fixed it fast.

Have brought in several iPhones and iPads for relatives and myself, and literally no questions asked, they went in the back and replaced it for free.

Apple has amazing products and is a great company. Some over their stuff is priced a bit high, but with nearly everything that is more expensive, you generally get what you pay for and see that return in excellent customer service. I have yet to have a bad experience with them.

I have an iPad Air, iPod Classic(that I've had since 2006 and is still going strong) and an iMac I just got. I've had other Apple products that I've sold and I plan on buying more.

I think Apple makes great hardware, but I do have some issues with their software. As far as phones though, I think Androids are the way to go. They just make the cut for me and have more features that allow you to tailor the phone to your needs. Apple has more of a 'fixed' format so to speak that forces you to use the product how they want you to with little customization. There are very easy ways to get around on their computers, but tablets and phones not so much. I guess for some, it doesn't matter, but for me, when I'm shelling out that kind of money, I want to be able to fully customize the phone and have more features than what is current offered. I still think Apple makes great devices and would recommend them.

[td25er]

We've had 10 apple products in our house.

Iphone 3g (wife) screen shattered with a 3 foot drop. Had to pay to replace it.
Iphone 4 (wife) on/off button stopped working after 2 years.
Ipod shuffle (me) that stopped working correctly after a year.
6th gen ipod nano (me) that still works well.
Two 5th gen ipods where one would randomly freeze for no reason and one that still works well.
Ipod mini (wife) that still works.
2011 MBA (wife) we had to pay $600 to fix (water damage). It has had serious wifi problems from day one they wouldn't do anything about and blamed on our wifi. We have a dozen other devices working flawlessly on our wifi.
Iphone 5s (wife) that still works fine.

Apple never "hooked us up" fixing anything.

[jerrywall]

Well my choice isn't presented, which is Windows Phone. I has iPhone 2, 3, 4, and then switched to android, and never quite found one I liked. I switch to the Nokia Windows Phone a couple of years ago, and my wife quickly followed. Since then my parents also made the switch, having messed with my phone. I'm on my 3rd Windows Phone and am looking at upgrading to the HTC M8 next month. It is a little of "to each their own" but my phone does 100% of what I need it to do, and has much more openness and control vs iPhone, but feels similar in polish. I also like how it integrates so much into the windows ecosystem, from both a personal and work perspective.

[White Peacock]

Android, for sure. I'm pretty deep into the Google world, having had my Gmail account since it was in the invite-only phase (2004) and getting into all manner of Google services. I've been using Android since the HTC Aria. Prior to that, I liked Windows Mobile, but the post-iPhone mobile operating systems are all capable of leagues more than the original Windows Mobile devices were. I've had the HTC Aria, Galaxy S2, Galaxy Note, and Galaxy S3. My day job is at a mobile tech company, so I've had ample hands-on with loads more devices of all operating systems.

I also like Windows Phone, it's my #2 (a Lumia 520 is my backup device), but the WP app store is still rather sad, unfortunately, and I don't like how Google blatantly shuns WP by not developing for it. I look forward to seeing what Windows 10 does for mobile devices. I'm eyeballing the Lumia 830 as a possible upgrade if the price is right when it comes to AT&T. Otherwise, I'm looking at the Sony Xperia Z3 on T-Mobile, which is a mega superphone beyond all measure which is likely to keep me with Android.

Tablets: I own the original Galaxy Tab 7" and an Asus Transformer 300, so I've given it the ol' college try, but unfortunately Android doesn't cut it for me as a tablet OS. If I only cared about entertainment, then it would be enough, but as a writer, what I want in a tablet is real productivity, and I wasn't able to achieve that without frustration even with the TF300's keyboard dock. Note: I also have a first generation iPad that also presents frustrations for productivity, even while using the Apple Bluetooth keyboard. Multitasking on Android or iOS is still a joke, although both platforms are great for consumption of media.

Enter Surface -- I have a MS Surface 2 (with Windows RT) that I bought shortly after its launch, and I freaking love it. Badass multitasking, full Office suite, and rock solid hardware. I'm not too concerned about the lack of legacy program support since it's still capable of doing so much natively. It's not a desktop replacement, but it's all the tablet I'll ever need. If I could afford it, I'd upgrade to the Surface Pro 3 with Core i5 and 8GB RAM so I could literally do everything I need to do on a computer, but my RT variant is by far the best tablet I've ever owned or used.

Android still gets my money for phone, though. iPhones are great devices too, but I don't like the locked-down ecosystem, inability to make deep tweaks, or the self-insisting chic factor that Apple has always pimped out. Call me old fashioned, but I still like the option of a Micro-SD card slot in my phone and the ability to drag-and-drop items in and out without needing a demanding client like iTunes* to do so.


*not knocking iTunes; it's my favorite desktop music player.

[SSEiYah]

I have had both Android and Apple Devices in the last 5 years. Several months back I switched from Verizon paying ~$95 for 6GB of data (after fees) to Cricket's 3GB plan which is $45 with fees which uses AT&Ts network. I also bought a Nexus 5 ($350) to use on the plan. For $45 out the door you really cannot beat it.

Again, I'm looking at it from the annual cost side of things, saving $50/month means $600 a year. $600 a year may be "chump change" for folks in other professions but I'm an average joe working an average job so this is real money.

[BBatesokc]

We are currently on Sprint with our iPhone 6's.... $50/month for unlimited phone, data, and messaging. Its not the $50/mo plan they are promoting now (I was told by a Sprint rep that plan has some strings and is actually more than $50/mo, but I didn't get any details).

We use a ton of data and I haven't been able to find a better plan.

[Chadanth]

We are currently on Sprint with our iPhone 6's.... $50/month for unlimited phone, data, and messaging. Its not the $50/mo plan they are promoting now (I was told by a Sprint rep that plan has some strings and is actually more than $50/mo, but I didn't get any details).

We use a ton of data and I haven't been able to find a better plan.

How's the data speed and reception? I'm thinking of switching from verizon.

[BBatesokc]

How's the data speed and reception? I'm thinking of switching from verizon.

Like with any carrier, it depends on your geographic location when you need such services.

Where we live, no carrier has good reception (and we are not rural - East 15th and I-35 area). All my neighbors have cell boosters in their homes. That said, my iPhone 6 on Sprint's LTE is doing very well.

Previously my wife couldn't get online in her office building, now she can and data moves very quickly.

I've tried other carriers - all had pros and cons. I stayed with Sprint because of their overall large coverage and I can't beat my current rate plan.

[king183]

How's the data speed and reception? I'm thinking of switching from verizon.

I switched from Sprint to ATT about 8 months ago because Sprint's data speed and coverage was truly the worst thing to ever happen to humankind and when my Galaxy S3 suddenly wouldn't turn on, they wanted to charge me $75 just to look at it. I walked across the street and switched to ATT 10 minutes later. So far, I've had no complaints about ATT; their data speed is very fast and has excellent coverage, even in arenas and stadiums, where Sprint was a complete deadzone of seven hells.

With that said, Sprint has been claiming for approximately 4 years that they were a few months away from upgrading the OKC area to true LTE and expanding the coverage map. Maybe they finally did it, but I'll believe it when I see it with my own eyes.

I've also heard good things about Verizon in terms of data speed and coverage.

[Stew]

I find it hard to compare Android to Apple. It's not an apples to apples comparison. Android is an operating system while Apple in this context is a device manufacturer that also creates the OS for its devices. The Android OS is only as good as the device which hosts it. There are a lot of less than desirable devices sporting an Android OS. All IOS devices are well above average. A better comparison would be Samsung vs Apple phones/pads.

[OKCDrummer77]

I've also heard good things about Verizon in terms of data speed and coverage.

I have Verizon and am happy with it. The speed has been more than satisfactory. I've been able tweet/check scores from a Thunder game, and I was able to post pictures to Facebook from an OU football game.

[Plutonic Panda]

I switched from Sprint to ATT about 8 months ago because Sprint's data speed and coverage was truly the worst thing to ever happen to humankind and when my Galaxy S3 suddenly wouldn't turn on, they wanted to charge me $75 just to look at it. I walked across the street and switched to ATT 10 minutes later. So far, I've had no complaints about ATT; their data speed is very fast and has excellent coverage, even in arenas and stadiums, where Sprint was a complete deadzone of seven hells.

With that said, Sprint has been claiming for approximately 4 years that they were a few months away from upgrading the OKC area to true LTE and expanding the coverage map. Maybe they finally did it, but I'll believe it when I see it with my own eyes.

I've also heard good things about Verizon in terms of data speed and coverage.

I Java Verizon and they're great. ATT is also a great company, but I switched to Verizon specifically for the Motorola Razr when it first came out.

[Plutonic Panda]

I have Verizon and am happy with it. The speed has been more than satisfactory. I've been able tweet/check scores from a Thunder game, and I was able to post pictures to Facebook from an OU football game.

Retiny

[Prunepicker]

Which OS do you use and why? I personally use Android because I think it can do
more and suits me better. My first smartphone was the original iPhone, and I loved it.
The Galaxy S stole my heart and I've since then had a Motorola Razr now a Note 2.
I plan on getting the Note Edge, whenever it is released.

This article describes how Samsung is going to lower profits by investing more in
better material for the phone, which is awesome.

Samsung's not done: Tech giant looks to $50 new phones, materials to rally - CNET

I have an Apple 3GS. I almost changed to a stupid phone. I thought I'd use the
iPhone for Wi-Fi and the stupid phone (maybe Track Phone) for talk. ATT lowered
my rate to $50 per month with unlimited talk and text. I had accumulated about 10,000
roll over minutes and on a busy month I send about 20 texts. I've never used a gig of
data and the only games I play are iFarkle and a Simon look a like called Memory
Block.

[SoonerDave]

I do love though when I go to Penn Square and pass by the Apple store and the Windows store - the sharp contrast in popularity and energy is consistent.

Never been an Apple person myself, but I *loathe* the Microsoft Stores. They're such an outrageous, unrepentant ripoff of the Apple stores. It's no surprise, because Microsoft has been stuck with idea constipation for going on two decades now.

As for me, I'm an Android guy, although i've never taken the time to develop for it. Windows Phone is lost on me completely.

The neat thing to me is that we've got choices. Apple for Apple folks, Android for Android folks, as it goes. Just got an LG G3 for my birthday, and it is an AWESOME phone. Gets to a point where the esoteric differences between the platforms has really started to resolve into minutiae, swipe this way, pinch that way, okay, fine. Apple's "ecosystem" is more evolved, but the price is just so much higher I've never tried to justify it. Part of the great experience Apple offers is directly tied to that higher price up front.

To each their own, of course!

[Swake]

Android + Android handset manufacturers = Wal-Mart. The majority of Android phones are shoddy commodity phones built cheaply for mass consumption, either as “free phones” in the developed world or as affordable smart phones for the 3rd world. While the most expensive Android handsets tend to have flashy specs, those specs rarely ever seem to translate into better phones. How is it that in bench tests for speed Apple phones are always faster, the photos always better, the actual usage rates so much higher despite “losing” the spec wars? Why is that?

An excellent example of how the Android phones differ from Apple phones is that Android has an 85% market share of worldwide handsets to just 12% for Apple. But in total net traffic worldwide Android only has 47% market share compared 44% for Apple despite having seven times more handsets. People actually use iPhones, Android, maybe sometimes. Why is that?

But aside from any of that the very worst thing about Android is Google.

You are Google’s product, not their customer. They are selling everything they can about you so they can sell ads to show you and to sell your information to marketers. Keep that in mind always when dealing with Google, they are watching and tracking you, always. They scan the content of your emails and your texts, they track where you go and what you search for. They record all of it in order to sell better information about you. Here’s a fun exercise, go to Google’s location tracking and see how they know all the places you go. Tip - turn OFF location tracking with Google. Google is the biggest danger to your privacy that there is. They are the NSA without rules because you have given them permission to track you by using their applications.

Apple does not do this, you are Apple’s customer, not their product. They can’t read your iMessages even if they want to, they don’t scan your iCloud account. They want you happy so you buy more and get more tied into their ecosystem. Google doesn’t give a crap if you are happy, you have no direction relationship with Google, you haven’t “bought” anything from them. That phone you bought from Samsung/LG/HTC came with a “free” operating system from Google, and we all know that nothing comes “free” in life. With Android you are the product, not the customer.

you don't believe me? It's all in the user agreement you agreed to:

Gmail does scan all emails, new Google terms clarify | Technology | theguardian.com

[td25er]

Android + Android handset manufacturers = Wal-Mart. The majority of Android phones are shoddy commodity phones built cheaply for mass consumption, either as "free phones” Ipnones are sold for free too with 2 year contract in the developed world or as affordable smart phones for the 3rd world. While the most expensive Android handsets tend to have flashy specs, those specs rarely ever seem to translate into better phones. How is it that in bench tests for speed Apple phones are always faster, absolute BS the photos always better, NO the actual usage rates so much higher despite “losing” the spec wars? Why is that?

An excellent example of how the Android phones differ from Apple phones is that Android has an 85% market share of worldwide handsets to just 12% for Apple. But in total net traffic worldwide Android only has 47% market share compared 44% for Apple despite having seven times more handsets. People actually use iPhones, Android, maybe sometimes. Why is that? Android users have lives and interact with human beings in person

But aside from any of that the very worst thing about Android is Google.

You are Google’s product, not their customer. They are selling everything they can about you so they can sell ads to show you and to sell your information to marketers. Keep that in mind always when dealing with Google, they are watching and tracking you, always. They scan the content of your emails and your texts, they track where you go and what you search for. They record all of it in order to sell better information about you. Here’s a fun exercise, go to Google’s location tracking and see how they know all the places you go. Tip - turn OFF location tracking with Google. Google is the biggest danger to your privacy that there is. They are the NSA without rules because you have given them permission to track you by using their applications.

Apple does not do this, you are Apple’s customer, not their product. They can’t read your iMessages even if they want to, they don’t scan your iCloud account. They want you happy so you buy more and get more tied into their ecosystem. So basically Apple makes it a major pain to get away from them. Yeah they REALLY CARE. Google doesn’t give a crap if you are happy, you have no direction relationship with Google, you haven’t “bought” anything from them. That phone you bought from Samsung/LG/HTC came with a “free” operating system from Google, and we all know that nothing comes “free” in life. With Android you are the product, not the customer.

you don't believe me? It's all in the user agreement you agreed to:

Gmail does scan all emails, new Google terms clarify | Technology | theguardian.com

. .

[OKCisOK4me]

I had a iPhone for 9 month...9 months man. The rest of my life...android--for smartphones.

[Swake]

. .

Android users have lives and interact with human beings in person

That’s a really serious factually based argument. +1 for you.

Let me leave this here for some of your other points:
iPhone 6 vs Galaxy S5 Speed Test, Specs; New Videos Show Comparisons
iPhone 6 Plus vs Galaxy Note 4 benchmark tests | BGR
http://appleinsider.com/articles/14/...ected-results/
iPhone 6 Dominates Android Phones In Speed Test
Samsung Galaxy Note 4 vs Nexus 6 - Big vs Bigger


As for the rest of what I posted. Ignore if you want, I don't really care what people choose, each person just needs to be happy with what they have. I really only wanted to make sure that people understand that when they chose to interact with Google they are giving up some measure of privacy. That loss of privacy is the payment you are making to use software from Google and isn’t specific to Android. All of what Google does is about serving you adds and learning information about you that they can monetize. I interact in the Google world some, I try to use their products less all the time. I’m on Chrome right now on my work PC. But I don’t and wouldn’t use Chrome at home or on my personal mobile devices. If you have Android you are giving up a LOT of privacy. That’s not necessarily a pro Apple argument either. You certainly can choose Windows Phone or even Blackberry and not sign your life over in the way you do to Google on Android.

That doesn’t mean that other phones are bad in some way. From what I can tell Samsung makes some pretty good hardware. Samsung seems to be starting to move away from Android themselves. HTC makes a good looking phone. I really like what Nokia is making with Windows Phone. But, for myself I like getting updated and new apps first. I like to know that I will get software updates as soon as they are available. I like it that my phones are well made, don’t lag and always do what I want and very, very rarely crash. Top it off with the outstanding customer service that Apple provides and I am happy. Other people are free to make other choices. I know people that are very happy with Windows Phone and it’s deep integration with Office.

[MadMonk]

You would have thought they invented the tablet, when I was selling those 15 years ago. They have a great formula of taking something, making it sexier, and increasing the price 7 times over and getting people to line up at the stores for it.

Did you hear? They invented the watch and NFC too!

Yeah after owning several Apple iPods, iPhones and an iPad, I've become a big Android fan. My Galaxy S5 is the best phone I've ever owned.

[Prunepicker]

Did you hear? They invented the watch...

I own three watches. They are all Swiss movement.

[White Peacock]

One thing that's important to point out: benchmarks are a BS measurement to consider when determining ease of real-world use. Their results are often emphasized when the reviewer's preferred OS is the winner, and they're accompanied with an asterisk when it's otherwise.

As somebody who works tier 2 support for a mobile tech company, the idea that Apple is this shining standard of stability and tech quality is an absolute lie.

[Chadanth]

I own three watches. They are all Swiss movement.

I like android phones and vintage automatic watches. They both work well and make me happy.

[SoonerDave]

One thing that's important to point out: benchmarks are a BS measurement to consider when determining ease of real-world use. Their results are often emphasized when the reviewer's preferred OS is the winner, and they're accompanied with an asterisk when it's otherwise.

As somebody who works tier 2 support for a mobile tech company, the idea that Apple is this shining standard of stability and tech quality is an absolute lie.

Agree completely - while I've not had the first-hand experience on the iPhone side that you obviously have, I have been around enough Apple folks on a day-to-day basis who have plenty of gripes about this or that not working quite right. There are no tech panaceas out there. Apple's hiccups just don't get the press because it's not sexy to say what's perceived to be sexy isn't really that sexy after all. Kinda like the reverse of the Emporer's New Clothes, as it were.

Apple has issues, Android has issues, Windows Phone has issues. Nothing's perfect. I, personally, do tire a bit of the perception Apple has successfully marketed, and by the same token, Samsung has taken and put on its ear in their own advertising. They've actually done a really, really credible job of making the, shall we say, more extreme Apple "fanboys" look, well, a bit extreme. Their recent ad about how "big phones" were ugly when Samsung first put them out, but now are trendy because Apple is doing them, is IMHO a *great* campaign tool. I think some people are starting to see that, as well.

Mind you, not disparaging Apple or anyone that uses them - just the extreme notion that some believe they're beyond reproach, or have absolute impugnity when it comes to new ideas or designs. Its much easier to be perceived as trendy when you have their advertising bankroll!!