Andy Ihnatko switches from iPhone to Android Phone

[MotionMan]

For the "who?" crowd:

Andy Ihnatko is a noted author, columnist at The Chicago Sun Times and Macworld, a regular on Mac Break Weekly, host of The Ihnatko Almanac on 5by5.tv, frequent speaker, Apple guru, geek extraordinaire, and an Internationally Beloved Industry Personality.

Parts 1 and 2 of his article can be found here now.

Part 3 to follow. I am interested in his myth-busting.

Lots of interesting things to talk about in a calm, logical manner.

MotionMan

 

[ChAoTiCpInOy]

In this three-part epic, I'm going to walk you my decision. It's the story of why Android 4.1 and the S3 got me to switch. No way is it an argument about why anybody else should drop their iPhones and switch to a flagship Android phone.

This isn't the story about how Apple has lost its way and no longer innovates. It hasn't and it still does. This is merely the story of one dude who got a new phone. Nonetheless, my tale presents a picture of the strengths of modern Android.

He says it himself. This isn't about getting people to switch.

 

[Dari]

iPhone is nice and all but Android is just better, IMHO. Common sense things like transferring files between phone and computer and attaching files to emails are completely lost in iOS. And there's more competition, which is always good.

 

[Mopetar]

Interesting read. Usually it's ditching X for an iPhone articles, or even more prominently, ditching PC for a Mac articles. Nice to see something from the other perspective for a change.

 

[ponyo]

He's only saying something most of us here have known for a while. Galaxy Nexus phone and ICS 4.0 was the game changer and moved Android past iOS.

 

[MotionMan]

He says it himself. This isn't about getting people to switch.

Who said it was?

MotionMan

 

[lopri]

Yup. Rehash of what's a common knowledge to most folks here. iPhones still have their virtues and demographics that are suited for them. My parents love their iPhones and I won't take them away from them.

Edit: As for myself, I'm also a switcher. ^^

 

[ChAoTiCpInOy]

Who said it was?

MotionMan

Preemptive.

 

[Zaap]

Great article. I respect Andy Inhatko a lot- been reading his articles since the early days in Macworld and elsewhere. He definitely comes from an Apple/Mac-centric background, but he's generally fair-minded and knowledgeable about tech.

Most of his reasons for switching are the same reasons I prefer Android.

I do have to say, since my wife has the iPhone 5 and I spend a fair amount of time fiddling with it, it's the first iPhone (since the original) that I wouldn't shoot myself first before having to own. I still wouldn't want it over my SGS3 or a Note2, but if I'm ever stuck using her phone, I wouldn't mind that much- unlike her previous iPhone 4.

 

[bearxor]

I always like reading these types of articles, thanks.

He's losing me in the first paragraphs though. He doesn't have to give up his unlimited data to get an LTE phone. He can keep unlimited data. It goes from 3GB of high-speed data on HSPA to 5GB of high-speed data on LTE.

It's weird, because he mentions a 5GB cap, but talks about how he had to "give up" unlimited data like it was his first born child or something.

 

[SAWYER]

I like him on Mac Break Weekly, not sure why him switching is news worthy though

 

[bearxor]

it's not particularly newsworthy. It does make some interesting conversation sometimes though.

Having read the article, I don't really agree with HIS reasons so far for switching, but that's why it's his opinion. he's free to do whatever he likes. I like this quote:

If I don’t like the way my iPhone works, I don’t hesitate: I search online. I can count on finding an answer. Not a way to make my iPhone work the way I’d like it to; rather, a Perfectly Reasonable Explanation of why Apple believes that the iPhone should work that way, and why it refuses to let me override the default behavior.

That sums up the iphone in a nutshell.

The only thing I can really get behind on his reasoning so far, is the collaboration between apps. This is easy to fix in a very "Apple way" with a "trusted apps" system where maybe the apps are more fully vetted by apple's iOS review team. I really need to see some kind of movement on this in iOS 7. More and more every year, this is becoming my make or break feature.

 

[Mopetar]

I like him on Mac Break Weekly, not sure why him switching is news worthy though

It's useful if you own an iPhone and would consider switching or the same things about iOS drive you both nuts. Also if you haven't used a platform in a while a lot can change and even if you like what you have now, something else could be better for you.

 

[dagamer34]

it's not particularly newsworthy. It does make some interesting conversation sometimes though.

Having read the article, I don't really agree with HIS reasons so far for switching, but that's why it's his opinion. he's free to do whatever he likes. I like this quote:


That sums up the iphone in a nutshell.

The only thing I can really get behind on his reasoning so far, is the collaboration between apps. This is easy to fix in a very "Apple way" with a "trusted apps" system where maybe the apps are more fully vetted by apple's iOS review team. I really need to see some kind of movement on this in iOS 7. More and more every year, this is becoming my make or break feature.

The sad thing about iOS is they've been adding and adding features, but the features that really changed how you used the device were all back in the day with iPhone OS 2.0 (App Store), iPhone OS 3.0 (Push notifications), and iOS 4.0 (multi-tasking). I feel like they just stopped with major improvements when it's clear there is so much they could have worked on. Notification Center is a joke and breaks cardinal rules of iOS UI design (don't have stupidly small buttons) and hopping between apps because they can't talk to each other is rather frustrating. At some point, it has to be clear that someone on the iOS team brought up these ideas and just said "nah, we don't want that."

 

[Mopetar]

At some point, it has to be clear that someone on the iOS team brought up these ideas and just said "nah, we don't want that."

I think it's more likely that it was brought up and that the original architecture wasn't built with that functionality in mind so adding it would be a pain. They're probably working on it (the have features like twitter/Facebook integration already in place) but likely want a good system before opening up any kind of API for any developer to use.

When you have a large code base, making significant additions or changes can be a daunting task. It's not always as easy as just bolting on a new feature, and Apple generally shies away from that kind of thing anyway.

They'll add it eventually, once they get it working the way that they want to or find whatever elegant solution they're after, but they're not going to rush something out. They probably have no desire to see another repeat of the maps fiasco.

 

[Wonderful Pork]

Hopefully Apple sees these folks leaving their platform and it motivates them to add some of this functionality into iOS. I can't really think of any "groundbreaking" new things in mobile phones in general - sure NFC is nice, and some phones have it, and technology will always out out better cameras and stuff, but there really has been anything as disruptive to the industry since the introduction of the iPhone (though I liked WebOS better and wish it stayed alive).

I wouldn't mind trying out a Note II or galaxy 8 (for the styles support) but I've invested too much into iOS and their counterpart OSX apps to do a full hardware and software overhaul. But, time will tell - if nothing happens in iOS 7, I'll be a free agent when my contract is up.

 

[MrX8503]

I'm only on my second iPhone, so maybe that's why it doesn't feel tired to me. The author brings up a large screen and the keyboard as factors for switching. That matters to some people
so they do end up switching.

The thing is that I think Apple would be ok with having a smaller market share like they do in the PC space.

So far, I've been pretty happy with iOS. There hasn't been anything glaring that frustrates me to leave.

 

[ChAoTiCpInOy]

Hopefully Apple sees these folks leaving their platform and it motivates them to add some of this functionality into iOS.

Even though all the stats are showing that they're growing in usage/customers?

 

[poofyhairguy]

He's only saying something most of us here have known for a while. Galaxy Nexus phone and ICS 4.0 was the game changer and moved Android past iOS.

ICS was the catch-up. JB is the step forward mostly due to Project Glass.

Had my VERY biased friend (one of the guys that had the first iPhone day one) use my SGS2 running 4.1 the other day and he said it was the first Android phone that felt like iOS in smoothness.

The best part is now that the usability holes have been patched Google can really innovate going forward (hopefully).

 

[Kenmitch]

Even though all the stats are showing that they're growing in usage/customers?

Apple's growth is maintained by adding new carriers/markets. Many users have iOS burnout or crave larger screans. Its those who couldn't get iPhones in the past that crave them the most.

 

[MrX8503]

Apple's growth is maintained by adding new carriers/markets.

Which levels the playing field considering Android IS on all carriers. There's still plenty of people that enjoy using iOS.

 

[Wonderful Pork]

Even though all the stats are showing that they're growing in usage/customers?

Steve Jobs once said something like "we try and make the best products, and if people like they they'll buy them, and if they don't they won't" [so we(Apple) won't make that product anymore]. I think it was at an All Things D w/ Mossberg. I hope Apple continues to grow and invests in the same R&D process that brought us the all the iDevices (from iPod on up).

Anyway, I genuinely hope apple adds some of these minor software features into iOS 7, like quick reply SMS, toggles in notification center (SBSettings), and change default app like maps & mail.

I use the crap out of my iPhone and iPad, so I would welcome some additional functionality. I don't particularly desire another phone screen size, but would love Wacom style stylus support and am interested in a retina mini or mini-styled 9.7" iPad. And if they could make them without cameras I'd be able to use them at work too!

 

[bearxor]

iOS 6 was such a minor update, feature-wise, that I'm really holding on to the dream that iOS 7 will have a lot of new usability features or at least lay some visible groundwork for it. I'm totally disinterested in the hardware at this point, as I think any phone that's been released in the last two years is "good enough" for the vast majority. I need to see some better software design out of everyone. There's still a lot to the flow, look and feel of stock Android I don't like, and a lot of that has kept me coming back to iOS after trying various devices. But at some point that's going to stop mattering, especially if/when developers get as serious about updating and releasing Android versions of apps as they are about iOS ones.

One big thing that I would LOVE to see Apple take as a cue from Android is treating the "stock" apps as regular apps on the App Store. This would mean that things like maps, safari, passbook, Camera, etc, etc, would be able to be updated whenever the team working on it felt like updating it, rather than having to wait on an iOS point release or major version release. Not to say that you couldn't save your big updates for major releases, but what if you release it with a minor bug? Better to have just the app update in the App Store then make someone download a new iOS point release.

 

[badb0y]

The biggest problem with iOS is it's old. It was a good OS when it came out but now with the modern hardware we have we should be able to do more then just the basic stuff.

Last I heard Jony Ive was appointed as the head of iOS development or whatever so that might help speed things up on a potential revamp.

 

[Sephire]

So on Macbreak Weekly Leo and Andy is now on Android phone. Who is next Alex?