

Things Android Does Better Than iPhone OS - Ghost_Noname
http://www.maximumpc.com/article/features/10_things_android_does_better_iphone

======
Irfaan
Most of the author's complaints are completely valid. That said, a jailbroken
iPhone can install software to mitigate a number of these issues. Not a sure-
fire solution, of course - it's such a pain chasing after jailbreaks, and you
never know if-and-when the magic update happens that'll stop jailbreaking
forever.

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.

\--

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?

~~~
thwarted
_Most of the author's complaints are completely valid. That said, a jailbroken
iPhone can install software to mitigate a number of these issues. Not a sure-
fire solution, of course - it's such a pain chasing after jailbreaks, and you
never know if-and-when the magic update happens that'll stop jailbreaking
forever._

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.

~~~
Irfaan
_You've just pointed out that the general purpose CPU in the iPhone can run
other software._

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.

~~~
warfangle
The point was about how things come out of the box - for the consumer, not the
prosumer :). Of course it's annoying to jailbreak. That's why, for all intents
and purposes, it doesn't matter. It's like Δx^2 while you take the first
derivative: in the end, jailbreaking doesn't really affect the sales of a
product.

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).

~~~
Irfaan
_The point was about how things come out of the box - for the consumer, not
the prosumer :)_

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. :(

------
flyosity
Maybe the Android Marketplace is "better" than the App Store because anybody
can put an app up there, but the apps certainly aren't better, not by a long
shot.

~~~
jbrennan
I think it's really hard to call one store "better" than the other. I'm an App
Store developer, but I can see advantages to both:

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.

------
czhiddy
Many of the points are valid (I really, really, _really_ would like widgets or
something on the lockscreen), but the author's tone makes it seem like he's
short AAPL posting on Yahoo finance. (Or more likely, inciting fanboys on each
side to generate site traffic)

~~~
bad_user
Those points are valid, and many of them pulled me back from buying an iPhone
since before there were Android widgets on the market.

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.

------
nooneelse
The date says June 3rd, but then the text says "the Android Marketplace has
only just broken the 50,000 mark". That number is, like, so last month.
<http://www.androlib.com/appstats.aspx>

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%.

------
awolf
Could someone elaborate on how Android's multitasking is better than iPhone OS
4's?

I was under the impression that the mechanics of each were nearly identical.

~~~
masklinn
> I was under the impression that the mechanics of each were nearly identical.

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.

~~~
warfangle
A poorly implemented daemon sure can kill your battery life quickly.

Thank goodness there's a tool that lets us figure out what applications use
the most battery! :)

~~~
masklinn
Yes but that puts the onus of battery-care on the user of the phone. It's fine
for geeks (nb: not a put down, I'm in that category myself) which are going to
spend half their time between that and the task killer anyway, but that's not
the demographic Apple targets, and that's not the kind of tradeoffs they'd
find acceptable. Hence their selection of a different solution, which (they
believe) gets you 90% of the way with 10% of the costs.

~~~
markkanof
Not necessarily. It could also be the developer of the application that is
taking advantage of the battery monitor functionality to see if their
application needs improvement.

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.

------
loewenskind
I wrote a medium sized post about why I like iPhone OS4's approach to
multithreading, but once again when I submit it I get "this link is expired"
and go back to find my text gone.

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....

------
obeattie
A lot of the points are certainly valid, though somewhat debatable. The #1
one-up (Multitasking) is set to become an iPhone feature in about a month. As
for no notifications on the lock screen, have the authors never received a
push notification? Again though, local notifications are coming in iPhone OS
4.

~~~
ZeroGravitas
I was under the impression that both the Android and Apple multi-tasking
implemntations were limited in various ways, but that the Apple one was more
limited, so you could probably still count that if you wanted to.

~~~
masklinn
The Android way has less (if any) limitations (you register a service/daemon
which behaves as an application server, it's headless but other than that does
whatever it wants). Apple's solution is much more limited (you register tasks
against the OS and the OS runs it, which limits what you can do to what the OS
itself provides) but the tradeoff is that "debatable" programming has lower
chances of eating your battery alive (and the OS can more efficiently handle
some services e.g. if 5 different applications asked for GPS/movement
notification, the OS can poll the chip once and it will then dispatch that one
message to everybody, whereas with the Android solution you'd have 5 different
services polling the location API)

------
watty
The background on this website makes my monitor flash...

