
Jumping Ship from iPhone to Android: A Switcher's Guide - aaronbrethorst
http://lifehacker.com/5581029/jumping-ship-from-iphone-to-android-a-switchers-guide
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commandar
Lifehacker is still recommending task killer apps? Those things are almost
entirely regarded a Bad Idea™ among the Android crowd.

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roboneal
I count myself among the "Android crowd" and Advanced Task Killer has nearly
tripled the battery life on my T-Mobile MyTouch slide post-installation.

I can't cite a single negative side-effect of using it for the past 3 months.

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jrockway
I doubt it. Android does not work that way; activities that aren't being used
don't run. They exist in memory, and "killing them" removes them from memory,
but that doesn't affect battery life.

Now, if you install every app from the Market and don't use them, then that
can be a problem, because some apps do run in the background. But that is a
very special case. Things like Maps, Browser, etc., aren't eating your battery
life. Things like updating Twitter every 30 seconds are. Telling Twidroid to
update your tweets every 15 minutes instead of every 30 seconds will save more
battery than all the task killers in the world ever will.

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shimi
Some activities can be linked to services that will run with no regards to the
Activity lifespan. Most implementations will have a stopService in the
Activitie's onDestory so if that's the case killing a task may disable a
running process.

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jrockway
Indeed, but most users of task killers don't kill the background processes
they actually want. They set those to update every nanosecond, then kill
useless things like Maps, Browser, Contacts, etc., that aren't actually
draining their battery.

(Alternatively, there are some nasty apps that start at boot and won't quit,
like Sipdroid. Those you have to kill with fire. But it's a special case, and
not how normal users use task killers.)

The other case is the homescreen-killing issue; that is something task killers
can give the illusion of fixing. But it's better to install CM, enable
compcache and swap, and never deal with that BS again. I did that, and it
staved off my need to spend $600 on a new phone. Task killers, in comparison,
did nothing, because they don't solve any underlying hardware problems (or
work around them in a clever way, like compcache).

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kgrin
FWIW, a few of the items seem to be specific to Sense UI; the unlock swipe,
for instance, is L > R on my Nexus One, not top-down.

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jpcx01
There's advantages and disadvantages to switching. However Verizon has been
the saving factor. In my area, the 3g of Verizon is 2 to 3 times as fast as it
was on my old ATT plan.

Also, its very nice to be free of some of the stupid iphone limitations (like
not being able to download podcasts to the phone automatically). It's also
very nice to have a a couple extra spare couple batteries that I can swap in
(motorola droid) to extend the battery life.

~~~
maxharris
Can you do the battery swap without restarting the phone and without plugging
it in? If you can't, it's not a worthwhile feature for me. If I need to carry
a power adapter, I might as well just plug the phone in to recharge it.

By making the battery non-removable, Apple can put a bigger battery in, which
is something I _can_ use. It also makes the phone itself lighter and stronger,
too.

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theBobMcCormick
Dear god can we please stop with the iPhone vs. Android crap around here? I
can see where posts about revenue in the App Store or the Market are Hacker
News. I can even see where posts about the relative sales volume and/or growth
trends are Hacker News, but this?

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jdietrich
They don't mention Google Accounts integration, which seems a bit odd - it's
my absolute favourite feature of Android. The integration of Mail, Contacts
and Calendar feels incredibly 'cloudy', for want of a better word - it's the
incredible lightness of not having to worry about where your data is.

~~~
jwcooper
I haven't used an android phone, but the iPhone can use the cloud features of
Google Accounts as well (maybe not as slick though?). Using Google Sync works
pretty well on the iPhone for the calendar, contacts, and mail.

~~~
vetinari
It not just "using cloud features of Google Accounts". On Android, you _don't
sync_. You just add new contact to your phone and in few seconds, it is in the
cloud. Or add contact through web interface and in few seconds, it is in your
phone.

When you start using it, you stop worrying about where did you put your
contact and whether you synced it. It is just everywhere applicable,
automatically.

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Aaronontheweb
I've been considering doing this myself, not because of the virtues of either
device platform per-say, but because of the exorbitant rates I pay for AT&T's
spotty service.

Edit: in other words, if I switch to an Android phone it'll be because of a
better carrier like Verizon.

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cmelbye
This seems a little inaccurate. Voice capabilities are available as an API
usable in any app, and there is a Google app and a Bing app if you need voice
searching. "Instant Web" didn't make much sense either. The iPhone has built
in e-mail, calendar, contacts, etc. If you need it to sync over-the-air,
Mobile Me and Microsoft Exchange are included as well, and Google's services
work with Microsoft Exchange.

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cageface
That SlideScreen app they reference right up front uses an Autechre track for
the demo video: <http://slidescreenhome.com/>

Did they get permission? Has Ae been used in a commercial before?

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mattmanser
Nothing compelling to switch from the iPhone. A slightly more advanced
navigation app? Woohoo. Tight integration with google apps? There's a big
surprise, Google trying to take over your life is an ever increasing
threat/normality that is rapidly pushing it into Microsoft levels of people
hating it.

Most of the rest of it is actually negative points, bad touch screens, poorly
monitored app store allowing spyware through (who'd have thought it? defending
the app store, wow), low default storage capacity (but extendable, wow, ever
think I just want it to work?), bizzare button implementations.

He doesn't sound convinced himself that android is even worth it.

As a Brit who doesn't have to put up with AT&T, all this did was reinforce my
belief that the iPhone is so, so much better.

