200 million Android devices activated, over 550,000 activated everyday

[ponyo]

Don't Apple get a cut of every iPhone users monthly bill from AT&T and others? I thought I read that years back. Also, it seems crazy number of Apple product buyers purchase additional AppleCare which is pure 100% profit to Apple. It's like people are brainwashed. I don't understand the phenomenon given Apple buyers are supposed to be more educated and have higher income. It baffles me why people who will self-insure on all other products will buy AppleCare.

 

[Pliablemoose]

Don't Apple get a cut of every iPhone users monthly bill from AT&T and others? I thought I read that years back. Also, it seems crazy number of Apple product buyers purchase additional AppleCare which is pure 100% profit to Apple. It's like people are brainwashed. I don't understand the phenomenon given Apple buyers are supposed to be more educated and have higher income. It baffles me why people who will self-insure on all other products will buy AppleCare.

Ding ding ding, Apple leverages the carriers because of it's popularity. Apple care is nice, and enhances the consumer experience. Particularly if you live near an Apple store.

 

[JD50]

LOL, seriously...

Who's overpaying for an iPhone at $199?

A RAZR is $299, Bionic is $249, on Verizon, a BB Bold is $199 on AT&T, Sprint has it's superphones at $199...

Once again, where's the $ coming from?

The iPad's price was disruptive at $499 at launch, remember all the tablets that died almost immediately and sent everyone back to the drawing board?

I'm not saying OMFG, teh iPhone is teh bestest deal ever, but you guys need to look critically at where the money on phones is made and where it goes. Everyone is critical of the blatant price fixing of cell contracts and data plans by the carriers, yet we just sign up for 2 more years of financial rape every time a contract expires.

But I guess I'm beyond being swayed by killer robot phone commercials.

Did you just jump into the middle of the thread without reading it? I was talking about paying for apps, so was everyone else.

I don't think anyone is overpaying for an iPhone, I never said that.

 

[JD50]

It all boils down to what level of polish you expect from an app, if you don't want to spend money you get open office, if you want a program that feels like it was developed by a company and not some kid on sourceforge you go with MS Office. I don't have a problem with people who want free apps so they go with Android. I do find it funny however when they tell me their apps are every bit as good as iOS ones. To some of us polish matters, and while there are rare app here and there in the Market that have polish, most feel cheaply made, which explains why they're free. The adage you get what you pay for's definitely true here. And I'm an Android owner who would drop the kind of $$$ I did on my iOS device if I could get the same quality of app.

If you can't see the difference between Open Office & MS Office I don't know what to tell you. I'd respect the Apple haters much more if they just said "dude I'm fine using Open Office" and not try to tell me their Android device has MS Office quality apps when it clearly doesn't.

What do you think I meant when I said "people are happy with the quality of Android apps?" What do you think I meant every time I've said that I'm perfectly happy with the quality and selection of apps on the Android market?

 

[dguy6789]

snip

There are apps on the Android market that are every bit as polished as the best iOS apps in the entire app store. There's plenty of junk because anyone is allowed to make anything and put it on the Android market but don't say that by using the Android market you don't get polished apps. The only apps I allow on my phone are really well done apps. Curating is done but it's done by me(as it should be), not the OS manufacturer.

 

[MrX8503]

Well good for you. I've seen people complaining about the horrible Android apps for 2 years. Obviously it's all a matter of opinion, and it's pretty much irrelevant since it looks like people are happy with the quality of Android apps.

For 2 years I've been told how lacking Android apps are, but no one has ever been able to tell me what I'm missing by going with Android. It always boils down to some ridiculous debate about a conversion app or something like that...

With Android, you're missing polish and in some cases more functionality in an app. There are many iOS apps that blow me away, seldom does that happen with Android. For many people, it's not that people are happy/fine with it, but more of they don't know what they're missing.

You don't know how good something is until you experience it first hand. Also I'm willing to bet that most people don't really care as much about app quality as I do, but on the flipside maybe more people would care if they knew what they were missing.

IMO, I think Androids success stems from being open and having a lot of inexpensive options. It's as simple as that.

 

[JD50]

There's plenty of polished apps on the Android market...jesus this is getting old.

But you're right, most people don't care as much about app quality as you, and obviously the success of Android is due in large part to the inexpensive options and it's availability. It's also a very good platform, with some very good devices, and some very good apps.

 

[JD50]

I don't care if 10,000 people all create their own shitty RSS reader and put it on the Android market. When I went to look for an RSS reader and saw Pulse with a ton of good reviews and a gazillion downloads, I installed it. Those 10,000 shitty RSS readers don't affect me in the least. If someone isn't capable of using their brain and looking at reviews and number of downloads before installing an app, then they'd probably be better off with an iPhone or iPad.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

With Android, you're missing polish and in some cases more functionality in an app. There are many iOS apps that blow me away, seldom does that happen with Android. For many people, it's not that people are happy/fine with it, but more of they don't know what they're missing.

You don't know how good something is until you experience it first hand. Also I'm willing to bet that most people don't really care as much about app quality as I do, but on the flipside maybe more people would care if they knew what they were missing.

IMO, I think Androids success stems from being open and having a lot of inexpensive options. It's as simple as that.

Some of the best Android exclusive apps are not even possible on iOS. Just look at Tasker.

Personally I think many people think giving an app a needlessly fancy UI makes it more polished.

 

[shortylickens]

What is your point? 2.5 billion per year is more than enough to keep them developing Android, which is all I as a consumer care about. Why would I care about these companies bottom line beyond that? I don't work there, who the hell cares.

:hmm:

WWYBYWB?

 

[badb0y]

More money spent on Apps= More money for Good developers= More quality Apps from said developers

Follow the money

 

[MrX8503]

Some of the best Android exclusive apps are not even possible on iOS. Just look at Tasker.

Personally I think many people think giving an app a needlessly fancy UI makes it more polished.

Is this it?

Now I'm not questioning its functionality, but seriously? It looks like someone threw up on that UI. Also $6.50 for this? Come on.

Needless fancy ui? That's a poor excuse for Android's shoddy apps. We're talking ferrari vs honda civic here. If you have superior quality without sacrificing functionality, I don't see how anyone would be against that, its a win win.

Android's app ecosystem is getting better, but for me, I think I'll pass on the MS-DOS UI. Android has its strengths which has made it the most successful mobile platform, but Apps wasn't one of them.

 

[senseamp]

Is this it?

Now I'm not questioning its functionality, but seriously? It looks like someone threw up on that UI. Also $6.50 for this? Come on.

Needless fancy ui? That's a poor excuse for Android's shoddy apps. We're talking ferrari vs honda civic here. If you have superior quality without sacrificing functionality, I don't see how anyone would be against that, its a win win.

Android's app ecosystem is getting better, but for me, I think I'll pass on the MS-DOS UI. Android has its strengths which has made it the most successful mobile platform, but Apps wasn't one of them.

That's not what the reviews for the app say.

 

[poofyhairguy]

You don't know how good something is until you experience it first hand. Also I'm willing to bet that most people don't really care as much about app quality as I do, but on the flipside maybe more people would care if they knew what they were missing.

I think you are overstating the case for iOS.

I used iOS for years, and this year I switched to Android. Of my most used apps in iOS, most were also on Android and the Android versions were exactly like the iOS versions or close enough. The big-time apps like Popcap games, office doc programs, my ESPN app collection, and Samurai II act just like they did on my iPhone. Most high-dollar company developed cross-platform apps are the same on both, or very close to the same. The difference comes with the independent developer apps.

Now with those apps I have seen where the Android version was less "polished," if you count polished as that extra coat of gloss on everything. I won't deny that the iPolish that Apple's dev kit lets you add for free does make iOS apps seem nicer sometimes. But most of the functionality is there, and honestly I personally got burned out on iGloss after years of it.

The main place that is lacking on Android is video. My Sunday Direct Ticket app uses a lower quality stream on Android, and I haven't found a Air Video replacement. But on the flipside now I have access to tons of apps I use daily without jailbreaking (like a file manager), and honestly a lot of the iOS jailbroken apps have Android-levels of polish.

To me, OpenOffice is the perfect example. Sure the interface looks worse than real MS Office, but there is so much more functionality within that crappier interface. With OpenOffice I can open corrupt documents, save as PDFs, and do all the basic taks I need. In fact, for most of my family OpenOffice does everything they need. Are they missing out on the polish? No, not when I tell them it will cost them over $100 for the same functionality (or less) they get for free with Open Office.

For each person there is a different value proposition, and for most economical is what wins. Wal-Mart over Target. McDonalds over real restaurants. It happens again and again, because for most people "good enough" is fine if the price tag is free or cheap.

 

[Pliablemoose]

I'm waiting for Amazon to fork ICS on a tablet or a phone

 

[Puddle Jumper]

Is this it?

Now I'm not questioning its functionality, but seriously? It looks like someone threw up on that UI. Also $6.50 for this? Come on.

Needless fancy ui? That's a poor excuse for Android's shoddy apps. We're talking ferrari vs honda civic here. If you have superior quality without sacrificing functionality, I don't see how anyone would be against that, its a win win.

Android's app ecosystem is getting better, but for me, I think I'll pass on the MS-DOS UI. Android has its strengths which has made it the most successful mobile platform, but Apps wasn't one of them.

You don't get it, tasker is about getting stuff done not showing off the UI to your friends at Starbucks. For all I care the interface could just be white text on a black background as long as it did not impact functionality.

The fact that your entire complaint is about how tasker looks rather than how it functions kind of proves my point, a lot of. iOS fans seem more concerned with how pretty the app is than how it works.

 

[QueBert]

You don't get it, tasker is about getting stuff done not showing off the UI to your friends at Starbucks. For all I care the interface could just be white text on a black background as long as it did not impact functionality.

The fact that your entire complaint is about how tasker looks rather than how it functions kind of proves my point, a lot of. iOS fans seem more concerned with how pretty the app is than how it works.

iOS apps have great UI's plus all the functionality too. If looks didn't matter Windows 7 would still look like Windows 95. We're not concerned with how good the app looks over anything, we get the best of both worlds. Who would purpously pick an ugly app that looks like it was designed by a a team of retarded chimps. over one that performed exactly the same and looks professional?

A better UI on it's own means nothing to me, but a better UI with the same functionality could never be a bad thing.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

iOS apps have great UI's plus all the functionality too. If looks didn't matter Windows 7 would still look like Windows 95. We're not concerned with how good the app looks over anything, we get the best of both worlds. Who would purpously pick an ugly app over one that performed exactly the same but looks like it was designed by a a team of retarded chimps.

A better UI on it's own means nothing to me, but a better UI with the same functionality could never be a bad thing.

So if iOS has all of the functionality what app does it have that is an equivalent to tasker? My original point was some of the best Android apps couldn't be ported to iOS even if the developers wanted to.

 

[MrX8503]

You don't get it, tasker is about getting stuff done not showing off the UI to your friends at Starbucks. For all I care the interface could just be white text on a black background as long as it did not impact functionality.

The fact that your entire complaint is about how tasker looks rather than how it functions kind of proves my point, a lot of. iOS fans seem more concerned with how pretty the app is than how it works.

iOS has great looking apps, plus apps that function just as well or even better than Android's apps. I never said that I only cared about how an app looks, I'm saying that it plays an important role as it can contribute to the usability of an app.

If looks didn't matter and didn't contribute to its usability, we'd all be perfectly fine with using Windows Mobile 6.

iOS apps have great UI's plus all the functionality too. If looks didn't matter Windows 7 would still look like Windows 95. We're not concerned with how good the app looks over anything, we get the best of both worlds. Who would purpously pick an ugly app that looks like it was designed by a a team of retarded chimps. over one that performed exactly the same and looks professional?

A better UI on it's own means nothing to me, but a better UI with the same functionality could never be a bad thing.

Exactly. Great functionality and Great UI. Something a lot of people don't get.

So if iOS has all of the functionality what app does it have that is an equivalent to tasker? My original point was some of the best Android apps couldn't be ported to iOS even if the developers wanted to.

I'm pretty sure an app like that is against Apple's TOS. Nothing to do with the app being superior. How long was Android's facebook app crappy for? Another comparable app is iHeartRadio, its better on iOS for some reason.

 

[Phokus]

iOS apps have great UI's plus all the functionality too. If looks didn't matter Windows 7 would still look like Windows 95. We're not concerned with how good the app looks over anything, we get the best of both worlds. Who would purpously pick an ugly app that looks like it was designed by a a team of retarded chimps. over one that performed exactly the same and looks professional?

A better UI on it's own means nothing to me, but a better UI with the same functionality could never be a bad thing.

Tasker is the type of app that you don't give a shit about the UI, you dummy. It's a program that runs in the background and does tasks when certain events are triggered.

Here are a bunch of examples of the power of tasker: http://tasker.wikidot.com/profile-index

Now tell me, which one of those things do you need a nice UI for when you will never see the UI while it's executing those tasks?

And no, Apple will never allow such an App because their policies and iOS is shit. It's funny because you don't have to worry about the either the functionality OR the UI, you simply won't have it!

 

[QueBert]

Tasker is the type of app that you don't give a shit about the UI, you dummy. It's a program that runs in the background and does tasks when certain events are triggered.

Here are a bunch of examples of the power of tasker: http://tasker.wikidot.com/profile-index

Now tell me, which one of those things do you need a nice UI for when you will never see the UI while it's executing those tasks?

And no, Apple will never allow such an App because their policies and iOS is shit. It's funny because you don't have to worry about the either the functionality OR the UI, you simply won't have it!

Since I'm always tinkering with my phone Tasker would be a program I'd probably be inside messing with trying to figure out new things literally all the time. So if anything UI would be as important to me as any other programs. Let me ask you this, have you ever liked how a program worked, but didn't buy it because the UI was too professional and polished looking? I understand many people don't care about UI's 1 bit, but a nice UI won't make them go elsewhere. But there are people who will pass up a program because it looks crude and old. Seems like if I was a developer I would go out of my way to make my apps as accessible to everyone as possible. And since a nice looking functional app isn't going to scare off anyone, but a functional app that looks like crap would turn some people away. It's not rocket science which is the more intelligent way to go.

 

[Phokus]

Since I'm always tinkering with my phone Tasker would be a program I'd probably be inside messing with trying to figure out new things literally all the time. So if anything UI would be as important to me as any other programs. Let me ask you this, have you ever liked how a program worked, but didn't buy it because the UI was too professional and polished looking? I understand many people don't care about UI's 1 bit, but a nice UI won't make them go elsewhere. But there are people who will pass up a program because it looks crude and old. Seems like if I was a developer I would go out of my way to make my apps as accessible to everyone as possible. And since a nice looking functional app isn't going to scare off anyone, but a functional app that looks like crap would turn some people away. It's not rocket science which is the more intelligent way to go.

If you're in Tasker all the damn time, you probably have aspergers syndrome.

The point is moot, because you will NEVER have tasker. Now ask yourself whether or not the UI is important in that case.

 

[senseamp]

I'm pretty sure an app like that is against Apple's TOS.

So in this case, iOS functionality is not same or better, it's completely lacking.
So what you are saying is that a non-existent iOS app with same functionality looks better. Great.

 

[QueBert]

If you're in Tasker all the damn time, you probably have aspergers syndrome.

The point is moot, because you will NEVER have tasker. Now ask yourself whether or not the UI is important in that case.

I'm pretty sure Tasker would run fine on my EVO 4G.

 

[akugami]

EDIT: Had a post addressing JD50's clearly biased views. Deleted it, not gonna bother in this thread. If he wants to discuss it, PM's.