So I’m sitting here with my table full of Apple products at a Starbucks (I know, total cliche), and I start replaying a conversation I just had with a client of mine regarding the differences between Android and iOS. The topic came up, because his hard core Apple only father had recently upgraded to the iPhone 4S, but in disgust, returned it and converted to Android. This threw me for a loop, as I knew his father from various run-ins, and knew for a fact that he would rather chop off an arm than surrender his precious Apple gear.
It created a considerable conundrum in my mind regarding my beloved iPhone. My iPhone 4 is actually sitting here on the table next to me, secretly reporting back to Apple HQ via the front facing camera and a background FaceTime application, I’m sure of it. When asked what he didn’t like about the 4S, he reported that it was a pathetic piece of hardware, didn’t run very well, had a terrible battery, and he was just overall unhappy with his upgrade from the 4 to 4S. I was deeply surprised. The client then started to ask me why I preferred the iPhone over Android. At that point I knew I’d have to be objective, and not just a rabid fanboy. Because of that, I’m going to go ahead and do a rundown with you, and solicit your opinions at the end. Here we go!
Why The iPhone?
This is a pretty good question. For some, it has a lot to do with ease of use. For a long time Apple’s motto was “It Just Works”. PC die hards have always refuted that motto by questioning the need for the genius bar and extended warranties if the products just work, but I digress. This isn’t a conversation about computer hardware, but smart phones.
I got my first iPhone in 2007 with the release of the original. Through a series of events, I had a client buy me a brand new 16GB iPhone and carrying case for AT&T. It was the first smartphone I had ever owned. At the time it really wasn’t that smart, as the thriving jailbreaking community proved, and Apple was forced to make some changes, developing the App Store, and making continuing improvements to their software. In today’s market, the iPhone has all the same features as any Android powered device, deeply blurring the lines between advantage and disadvantage.
I’ve since owned many different smart phones, including Windows Mobile, BlackBerry, Sidekick, and Android.
I continue to use the iPhone because I’ve more or less always used the iPhone. I like the quality of apps, I like the form factor, I like that everyone I know has the same device, and we can recommend apps and mods to each other. I REALLY like iTunes. Let’s face it, the music experience on Android is the pits. The Amazon music store is a joke, and iTunes remains the best music organization and playback software in the game hands down. I also like Apple support, which is second to none. If I don’t like the specks under the glass in my iPhone, they’ll put a new screen on there for me as long as I’m in warranty. If I don’t like this one because I feel like it’s been possessed, they’ll give me another one. Support is that good. I like that I can plug my new iPhone into iTunes, and seamlessly transfer all of my data from the last one to the new one. With iCloud, it’s now even easier. I think that’s a pretty solid description of why for me.
Why Android?
Having at one time briefly been a rabid Android user, I can objectively comment in this arena. Sure, I’m still an iPhone die-hard, but I’ve been there. There are a number of reasons why users are increasingly attracted to the Android platform.
Price Point
While this particular reason is decreasing as Apple has decided to continue to sell the previous years model iPhone at a supremely discounted rate, there are a lot of different price points for any Android user to choose from. You can go from the cheap barely smart models, to models that cost part of the GDP of some nations. Depending on what you want in the device, they have one that you can afford.
Features
Let’s face it, Android devices come with some pretty impressive features. They’ve always had a better camera than the iPhone, come in a variety if form factors, and (let’s not forget) newer models have MASSIVE screens. Sure, we thought the era of big phones was behind us, but as our phones do more and more to replace our computers, they demand more screen real estate. Android device manufacturers such as Motorola and HTC have realized this, and you can buy Android phones with screens up to 4.7 inches! Wow! On top of that, they’re all of incredible quality, generally AMOLED or Super AMOLED, and high resolution. They even sell models with 3D video cameras built in. In the feature war, Android puts a whoopin’ on the iPhone.
Flash Support
I know what you’re thinking. Who cares? Well, there are a lot of people that do. As great a web enabled device iDevices are, they still refuse to support flash. Android phones and tablets can both view flash web content, and watch flash videos in their browser. While I personally have no desire to sully my phone with the flash demon, there are people that NEED it. Sorry Apple, you lose on this one.
Business Use
Having been a business user of Android and iPhone, I have to confess that Android is currently the superior business class device. Yes, the iPhone supports everything that Android does in terms of Exchange, calendaring, etc. What it doesn’t do well, is Google Apps. Android is a Google product, so of course it integrates seamlessly into Google Apps. Mail is instant push, contacts, calendars, and all data sync seamlessly between your Apps account and your Android handset/tablet/positronic brain. Before you say, but Matt, you can setup Google as an Exchange account on your iPhone! Yes, you can. Problem is with Google Apps Premiere you have to add a complicated lock code to your phone for that sort of support on iOS. That means letters, numbers, and symbols, every time you want to use your phone. Pass, thank you. Android makes no such demand.
Matt’s Overarching Opinion?
Before you say I showed the Android platform more love in this posting, stop right there. I spent more time on technical explanations of what’s good about Android, not more time giving it praise. The fact is, for all of the robot like geeky goodness that Android can be, it’s still a terribly fractured platform. The week after you shell out your $200+ for the latest and greatest Android device, it’s out shined by a newer and better model. Support is discontinued for new devices at a seriously rapid pace, and let’s face it, the batteries are all terrible. With such massive variation in screen sizes and resolution, you’re never quite sure if an app that you just paid for is going to work optimally for your device, if at all. Also, Google has a bizarre fetish for naming their operating systems after food. Who does that?
My overall opinion is now and always has been (though once briefly lapsed in Android fandom due to radiation exposure) that the iPhone is the superior device for Joe User. I’m an advanced user, and I still love the stupid thing. I love being able to hop onto iTunes from my phone, download a song, then wirelessly sync it to my MacBook iTunes when I get within the same wireless network (thank you iOS 5!). I like that I can buy an app once, and if I remove it but decide I need it later, can re-download it for free. Not to mention my wife and I share apps without any funky pirate action involved. That’s handy.
The iPhone is a device geared toward everyone. Anyone can pick the thing up and start using it with a minimal learning curve. It has lots of goodies for the advanced users, and the entire jailbreak community for the modder at heart. Now that Apple supports every iPhone release for up to three years, and scales the pricing for older devices back as they age, anyone can afford to put on in their pocket, on any carrier of their choosing. I think that’s pretty awesome. So what’s my overarching opinion about the mobile universe? Go iPhone, or go home. You didn’t really expect any different from the author of “iblogmobile.info” did you? I didn’t think so.
Matt out.
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