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Android is quite more attractive now than iOS, if you are willing to forgive consistency and quality of third party application. Most of Google's own app are absolutely fantastic in quality, and often are better or equal to iOS offering. Where Android actually shines is in how things get integrated to each other. There is no concept of preferred apps as such, and you can make any app default for any function. Share functionality is also awesome, and leads to interesting applications (Like sharing from a Reddit app to Read-it-later app, etc).

I would say if you are not too locked into iOS (having bought tons of iOS apps or something), you should try Android on a Nexus for sometime. Your only downside would be finding good, niche apps. In iOS store, even the smallest developers pay attention to be consistent with Apple's guideline and look good. It also helps that iOS design language has remained mostly the same throughout 5 years. Android finally got a design language last year, but not all developers have been keen to adopt it.



I came to iOS from Android since Android was on Sprint first (and let's leave the Sprint hate behind - my plan is awesome, and service is improving). First a Hero, then the Evo 4G, then a Nexus S 4G, ranging from Cupcake to Jelly Bean. I liked the idea of swapping out functional apps at an OS level, and actually ended up having to use ChompSMS because HTC's SMS app had a nasty memory leak that bricked the Hero if left active too long.

My issue was that I was never happy. I rooted and ran custom ROMs (Fresh, Cyanogen, MIUI very briefly) and even tried rolling my own, but I found that I was spent too much time trying to make it something else. Analysis paralysis, in a way. In a way, I think I prefer having iOS locked down, because it doesn't leave me with a persistent feeling of wanderlust. That, and having been on Macs for over a decade, I'm kind of entrenched.

I agree that Android is getting better, though. I revisit the SDK every once in a while (and am spending a lot of time in it right now for a work project), but even with the advancements in Jelly Bean, writing code requires supporting so many versions with significant gaps in functionality. The compatibility library helps, but it doesn't solve the issue. Having to pass Android from Google to the OEMs to the carriers makes a lot of hoops to jump through. I hate the term fragmentation, but it's really a problem. That, and the layout structure - one per orientation per screen DPI. That's a lot to manage for a solo developer.




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