Ignoring app selection and device availability, Android is the least pleasant

[openwheel]

LOL

 

[s44]

grandma is probably better off with the iPad if you aren't willing to clean off the malware for her and setup anti-virus protection.

Chromebook

 

[poofyhairguy]

Chromebook

I would argue an iPad is easier to use than a Chromebook (touching is instinct but you have to learn to use a trackpad), and is more capable (the iPad at least has apps).

The Chromebook is probably still better than the average PC, I will grant you that. Plus I was just trying to make an analogy.

 

[dawheat]

integrated music playback means that like when I press a volume button in windows phone, it brings up a little control for the music player, which is on top of whatever is going on at the time, allowing me to pause, or skip around.

If I want to do the same thing in android, I have to literally track down google play music and tell it to pause or whatever. It's only a little more clunky, but definitely noticable.

I've spent some time trying out different android keyboards. Never liked swype at all. Never understood it. And all of them...don't seem as responsive or immersive as the default Windows Phone or iOS keyboard...which I think is probably a fundamental computer engineering thing. Generally, I am noticing that my touch typing is noticeably worse on the android keyboard compared to the other two.

Like others have said, there's no shortage of music controls on-screen, via notification pull-down, via headphone controls, via smartwatch, etc. No issues here.

About the keyboard, honestly I think it's just acclimatization. I came from 4 years of using iPhones before switching to Android. The first couple weeks drove me up the wall using any Android keyboard, including Swiftkey. However I adjusted unconciously and now have the same issues whenever I use an iOS device. It's not scientific, but I think there are tiny nuances about finger angle and position that are different per ecosystem that you can't unlearn in a day of usage, but in weeks/months.

 

[s44]

I would argue an iPad is easier to use than a Chromebook (touching is instinct but you have to learn to use a trackpad), and is more capable (the iPad at least has apps).

Trackpad? Heck no. I'd get granny a C720P or a mouse.

And the apps make things more complicated, while web/Chrome apps should in fact cover the entire granny use case.

 

[desura]

Like others have said, there's no shortage of music controls on-screen, via notification pull-down, via headphone controls, via smartwatch, etc. No issues here.

About the keyboard, honestly I think it's just acclimatization. I came from 4 years of using iPhones before switching to Android. The first couple weeks drove me up the wall using any Android keyboard, including Swiftkey. However I adjusted unconciously and now have the same issues whenever I use an iOS device. It's not scientific, but I think there are tiny nuances about finger angle and position that are different per ecosystem that you can't unlearn in a day of usage, but in weeks/months.

There's a good chance this is true.

However, I found the Windows Phone keyboard to be comparable to the iOS keyboard. It's probably like a few extra pixels of each key are tailored a little more precisely.

But Android's is definitely the worst of the 3

 

[ControlD]

There's a good chance this is true.

However, I found the Windows Phone keyboard to be comparable to the iOS keyboard. It's probably like a few extra pixels of each key are tailored a little more precisely.

But Android's is definitely the worst of the 3

Once again, personal opinion being offered as some sort of absolute. I had an iPhone for two years and I never got used to the keyboard. I despise the iOS keyboard and find almost any Android (haven't used a Windows phone) keyboard to be superior. Still, that is just my anecdotal evidence. It doesn't make iOS the least pleasant mobile operating system out there, just the wrong one for me.

 

[ControlD]

The Chromebook is probably still better than the average PC, I will grant you that. Plus I was just trying to make an analogy.

Assuming you don't need to any kind of work on that device you might have a point. Obviously for content creation and heavy program usage a PC is a far superior device compared to a Chromebook.

 

[SlitheryDee]

My iphone 5s "feels" smoother and more satisfying than my nexus 7 2013, but my ipod 5g "feels" jerkier and less satisfying than the same nexus 7. I have to say that I prefer ios over android if all other things are equal though. I've figured out how to do all the things I want to do on both platforms, so I give the nod to ios based purely on perceived speed, stability, and ease of use. I find ios to be more responsive and slightly less frustrating to use overall.

 

[magomago]

well... please define content creation; for the general consumer content creation shouldn't be a problem: the type of office work and photo editing are tasks that are easily achieved on a chromebook.

If you want to talk about Video Splicing, Editing Pictures in lightroom...these aren't typical consumer tasks.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Browser: In terms of browser, Safari >>> Chrome in terms of mobile browser. On desktop I'd take Chrome anyday, but right now the browser option in Android is terribad. The old AOSP browser was decent but to me it had rendering issues and wasn't perfect either. Chrome has great rendering and great text wrap and seems to format pages correctly, but the app is laggy, slow, and also a memory hog. Not to mention there's tons of reports across Google forums regarding battery drain.

I use a combination of Dolphin + Chrome, but it's still not perfect. When I open Youtube links in Facebook, it somehow opens the browser. If I select Dolphin, it will open mobile Youtube. If I select Chrome, then it reprompts me to open the Youtube app. I therefore can't take advantage of Android's "default app" option. I either default to Chrome so that Instagram links and Youtube links can open properly, and then I won't get Dolphin which is a much better browser overall, or I use Dolphin as the default browser, and the links never open properly.

It's kinda frustrating. You can argue that Safari is simple, but it does its job. Its fast, and has always rendered nicely since day 1, and webpages are properly formatted for mobile view and the text wraps nicely. The AOSP Browser has sucked a lot for this, and it wasn't til more recent builds of Chrome in the past year that the browsing experience on Android got to be decent.

Keyboard: Then we come to the Android keyboard. Til this day I'm not sure if Google gets it or not, bu the Android keyboard to me has taken a step backwards in the recent days. The text prediction and correction til this day still pale in comparison to the iOS keyboard back in 2007. Google's been slow to add features like multi touch and better prediction.

Today, the default keyboard is far too big. I was wondering why on my Nexus 4 I always missed the space bar. It's because the rest of the keyboard is so "tall" now that in order to hit the upper letters, my thumb's natural position wasn't hitting the space well enough. As a result I wouldoftentypelikethisintextmessages and then have to go back and fix it all. It didn't really figure out what was going on til recently. I decreased the height of my keys using a 3rd party keyboard (Kii) and realized that I was typing a lot more accurately. Meanwhile, the typos were still not getting caught as well... at least not as well as the iOS keyboard.

All I wish for was a solid tapping keyboard that could improve on the areas that Google missed out on. Before you name the dozens of 3rd party keyboards out there, I've tried them all. Swiftkey until recently forced you to use that hideous numpad layout. And even if you got used to it, I didn't, which is why every other smartphone platform uses a numrow layout. Swiftkey is also slow and hideous too. Other keyboards out there like Kii are customizable but lack in the prediction/auto correct capabilities. The same can be said for my previous keyboards like Better Keyboard and Smart Keyboard Pro. I recently found TouchPal X which is nice in prediction and autocorrection, but a numpad keyboard?!?!? It's frustrating.

And on the tablet front, in 2013 I searched through Swiftkey, Kii, Smart Keyboard, etc. and everyone had a phone optimized keyboard, not a tablet keyboard. Only the AOSP keyboard offered the backspace button at the upper RIGHT of the keyboard like an iPad and a real keyboard. That makes more sense on a Nexus 10.

It's frustrating. I've been searching for a solid keyboard for Android since day 1 and I still have not found it. It's not like the iOS keyboard is perfect, but it's a far better default app than the Android keyboard. I'd be ok sacrificing custom replacements if the default app was pretty good to begin with.

tl;dr: Out of the box, Android is lacking, and even if you can use 3rd party replacements, they may not really address all the problems. Everyone's in it to show off their new method of typing or doing things. It doesn't necessarily address shortcomings from the stock app.

 

[jacktesterson]

Boat Browser!

 

[ponyo]

I think Safari is the best mobile browser. I don't understand why Chrome performance is so bad on mobile. And 3rd party Android browsers aren't much better.

iOS keyboard is ok. I much prefer the stock Google keyboard for accuracy and text prediction but I can live with the iOS keyboard. I think the small iPhone screen is the reason why I'm less accurate with the iOS keyboard than the Android keyboard.

In my mind it's Android>iOS>Windows but there are things all could copy/steal from each other. Well maybe not the Windows phone. I can't think of one thing worth copying/stealing from that platform.

 

[Tom]

I must be blind because I never see this lag people talk about on my 2013 Nexus 7, or my S4.

I also don't see how a browser could be better than Dolphin ? What am I missing ?

 

[T_Yamamoto]

inb4fire

Also, Android is fine on my N7.

Jelly Bean is, however, noticeably slower on my Gnex.

 

[openwheel]

Holding my Nexus 7 FHD, what lag?

 

[KeithTalent]

I must be blind because I never see this lag people talk about on my 2013 Nexus 7, or my S4.

I also don't see how a browser could be better than Dolphin ? What am I missing ?

I used to love Dolphin on my S2, but after switching to a Note 3 I find Chrome to be lightning fast and much faster than Dolphin. I also like some of the other features that come with Chrome which I never really used before.

KT

Edit: I have also really started to like the default keyboard. I used to hate it, but it seems a lot better now.

 

[desura]

Since someone mentioned customizing the keyboard so that the spacebar is taller...(yeah, now that you mention it, that is a major reason why I dislike the keyboard)....

Is there a way to change the default scroll acceleration settings to be more like iOS or Windows Phone? That's my biggest problem with this thing. It seems like they simply made scroll acceleration different for arbitrary reasons.

 

[ChronoReverse]

I don't know about you guys but Chrome Beta is perfectly smooth on my GS4 and I'm on Touchwiz even.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Since someone mentioned customizing the keyboard so that the spacebar is taller...(yeah, now that you mention it, that is a major reason why I dislike the keyboard)....

Is there a way to change the default scroll acceleration settings to be more like iOS or Windows Phone? That's my biggest problem with this thing. It seems like they simply made scroll acceleration different for arbitrary reasons.

It's not so much the spacebar is taller, it's the fact that the rest of the keyboard is so tall now. These screens keep getting bigger and bigger, but my thumbs are still used to moving the amount they did on smaller phones. Therefore your thumbs need to move more and more as these phones get bigger. Maybe it's my thumbs that are too used to my iPhone (although I'd argue I use my Android phone more than my iPhone for typing), but I seem to want to type in a smaller area than my Nexus 5 allows me to. Shrinking the portrait key size helps (this is an option in Swype and Kii Keyboard). Therefore, instead of hitting the spacebar at the top edge where I frequently "miss," I more or less hit it straight on with a smaller keyboard.

You guys can blame my small (M/L glove size) hands or whatever but I think Apple may have a point when they talk about ergonomics with smaller phones. I do like big screens and being able to see more, but I do feel its harder to use one handed, and perhaps typing is influenced. With that said it's all relative. A lot of these issues aren't issues unless you compare head to head against the competition.

 

[Joe1987]

LOL, I do almost everything back asswards, just traded my Note 3 for a 5s, talk about 2 different phones. I carry a Tab 7.0 or an iPad Mini Retina with me, and just got tired of having a giant phone and a small tablet. I like iOS a lot, except for the whole PITA of keeping the damn things jailbroken.

I also just swapped an iP5 for a Moto X today, it's not bad, not amazing, but not bad.

 

[dawheat]

It's not so much the spacebar is taller, it's the fact that the rest of the keyboard is so tall now. These screens keep getting bigger and bigger, but my thumbs are still used to moving the amount they did on smaller phones. Therefore your thumbs need to move more and more as these phones get bigger. Maybe it's my thumbs that are too used to my iPhone (although I'd argue I use my Android phone more than my iPhone for typing), but I seem to want to type in a smaller area than my Nexus 5 allows me to. Shrinking the portrait key size helps (this is an option in Swype and Kii Keyboard). Therefore, instead of hitting the spacebar at the top edge where I frequently "miss," I more or less hit it straight on with a smaller keyboard.

You guys can blame my small (M/L glove size) hands or whatever but I think Apple may have a point when they talk about ergonomics with smaller phones. I do like big screens and being able to see more, but I do feel its harder to use one handed, and perhaps typing is influenced. With that said it's all relative. A lot of these issues aren't issues unless you compare head to head against the competition.

SwiftKey let's you choose between 5 keyboard sizes. Is the smallest one still too big for you?

 

[Red Storm]

Complaining about inaccurate typing because the keyboard isn't small enough...

I do believe I've seen it all now.

 

[s44]

LOL, I do almost everything back asswards, just traded my Note 3 for a 5s

I also just swapped an iP5 for a Moto X today

Addict!

 

[desura]

So inspired by this thread...I changed a few things.

Firefox seems better than Chrome on Android, ironically. Zooming is smoother, and text doesn't jump around on me while a site is loading (big problem for me on Chrome was that I would press a link while a website was loading and...it would hit another link).

Also installed a "Touchpal X Keyboard" which is much nicer than the stock keyboard and is about on-par with iOS and WIndows phone keyboard.

Hell, MS makes OneNote available on Android for free...and it's about the same thing as Word for mobile.

Is there any way to get the device to use the navigation button areas for display? But yeah, a few changes and it is better.

It being like 4.7 inches is a problem also, since other devices being smaller make it easier to reach the entire screen while holding with one hand.