Top 5 Reasons why Android is better than iPhone according to Cnet

[tatteredpotato]

That's like saying Linux is closed because you have to type sudo to gain permissions.

I wouldn't call this a perfect metaphor, but saying Android isn't "open" because of the need for root is just as silly. "Open" means that you or I can go to the AOSP and download source code, modify, compile, etc the entire Android operating system. There is nothing stopping Moto/HTC/Samsung from shipping a phone that is rooted, the simple fact is that no carrier would sell such a device.

Android IS open regardless of what spin is put on it. You can flash ROMs and kernels with Googles blessing (so long as you don't distribute Google Apps), which is not possible on most other platforms.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

You can't flash ROMs and kernels all you want. The newer phones have locked down bootloaders and what not.

Your information is incorrect. Android multi-tasking is no different than WebOS or Symbian. Android, like these other OSs, will allow you to open as many applications as you wish. As resources became limited, it will begin sleep(not close) the ones you haven't used. WebOS will just stop you from opening more applications once you run out of RAM.

I love how iOS multitasking is only sufficient because Steve Jobs tells you it is.

Have you used Symbian? The apps keep running as long as you don't close them. That's how you run out of memory. Every Symbian user learned from day 1 that you always use the exit button and not the home button unless you want your system crawling to a halt in less than 5 minutes. If you remember to exit your apps, you will NEVER have to reboot. In my experience with iOS and Android and Symbian, Symbian has the least need to reboot, although the phone does have instability issues closer to Android.

Android will close whatever it wants to because it starts making decisions for you what can or cannot stay open. iOS does the same thing. If anything iOS and Android are roughly the same level now. I completely understand that from a user perspective, this is 95% sufficient, but when I don't get control or what I want open and what I want closed, then that gets annoying. Let's take example the popular xScope Browser. New 6.0 rev closes off the browser 75% of the time when I go check an email. I'm talking close where all my tabs are gone. Seriously? That's ridiculous.

What about games? Some games have save sessions, others close. Many save, but at what point does the app close? The OS decides. In Symbian? The app might or might not pause for you but it keeps going. It keeps fucking going. It never closes til you hit the close button or perhaps you can trigger some OS error where the app crashes. THAT is true multitasking.

If you want to slam iOS for multitasking, you might as well slam Google. Steve Jobs can't tell you how to multitask because to everyone here says that's blasphemy. But the minute you bring up task killers, everyone will assure you that "Google tells you to let Android manage its own memory and you don't need to intervene." Somehow Google has the holy word now, and if Steve Jobs said the same thing, you'd all be exploding over rage. Well luckily, none of this is really a problem with the older Windows Mobile or Symbian OSes.

What I'm saying is both iOS and Android lack full multitasking. They're both very limited. Apple has its back covered with a very nice push notification system. The push system is nice, but the visuals is completely ugly and annoying/intrusive. Google has a better notification setup but somehow the push API is only limited to Gmail and Voice/Talk. No one else uses Android's push system. Or perhaps its not fully deployed yet?

 

[Bateluer]

You can't flash ROMs and kernels all you want. The newer phones have locked down bootloaders and what not.

To my knowledge, only Moto uses encryption on the boot loaders. HTC went with a different NAND lock scheme, which has been fully broken now, allowing custom builds/kernels to be flashed. Samsung also has open boot loaders, but their 'security' mechanism is a kooky file system. Regardless, there's several builds available for the GS phones, which include kernels.

I'm not sure about LG, to date, they haven't had an Android phone that's really garnered any significant community interest, so I'm not certain whether or not they use a locked boot loader or not.

Relating to your longer comments on Symbian and multi-tasking, I have not used Symbian so I can only comment on WebOS/Android/iOS. Android is still full multitasking, iOS is not. iOS only allows a relative few applications to run at the same time. Android will allow you to open as many apps as you wish, though the OS will put unused processes to sleep as you open more applications. If you go back to a sleeping process, Android will make it active again. This is why you don't get OOM errors with Android the way you will with WebOS.

I would prefer developers build in a definitive 'Exit' option into their applications, but a developer not doing this is hardly a deficiency on Google or Android.

 

[simonizor]

I did watch the video.

What kind of reason is "AT&T".

Oh, lets look at global market share growth and then single out AT&T in the US which is a great cell phone carrier.

Laughable.

What's laughable is that you think that AT&T is a "great cell phone carrier." They are by far the worst carrier in all of the US.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

To my knowledge, only Moto uses encryption on the boot loaders. HTC went with a different NAND lock scheme, which has been fully broken now, allowing custom builds/kernels to be flashed. Samsung also has open boot loaders, but their 'security' mechanism is a kooky file system. Regardless, there's several builds available for the GS phones, which include kernels.

I'm not sure about LG, to date, they haven't had an Android phone that's really garnered any significant community interest, so I'm not certain whether or not they use a locked boot loader or not.

Relating to your longer comments on Symbian and multi-tasking, I have not used Symbian so I can only comment on WebOS/Android/iOS. Android is still full multitasking, iOS is not. iOS only allows a relative few applications to run at the same time. Android will allow you to open as many apps as you wish, though the OS will put unused processes to sleep as you open more applications. If you go back to a sleeping process, Android will make it active again. This is why you don't get OOM errors with Android the way you will with WebOS.

I would prefer developers build in a definitive 'Exit' option into their applications, but a developer not doing this is hardly a deficiency on Google or Android.

How is Android full multitasking? You can open as many apps as you wish on iOS too. Your point is that not many things run at the same time. But the same goes for Android. Not all those apps stay actively running in the background.

How many things run at the same time on Android? You can probably get your browser, navigation, and music running. But can't you do the same thing on iOS? The fact is you can't have as many things running as you'd like. IF you open Angry Birds on Android then go to your email as you launch a bird, is that bird going to keep flying? Hell the whole app closes down. Whoopdedoo multitasking my ass. When you open a Youtube video from the Youtube app, can you go read your email and have the audio keep playing? It's not freaking multitasking. And for other apps where there's nothing going on live unless you interact with it, how do you know your app is using saved state versus staying open the whole time? Does it really matter? It seems to matter to you that iOS uses saved states.

The reason it's NOT full multitasking is the OS starts killing stuff off. Only a few things can STAY OPEN at a time. A few examples are like your IM app. Android uses the concept of saved states too, but the minute iOS uses it, you will blast it for not being full multitasking. The fact that the OS starts making decisions for you and closing stuff off tells you that it's not really actively running anymore, and that this isn't full multitasking. Sure it can close it and save some of the state in memory, but is that multitasking? It's pseudo-multitasking. Both OSes do that.

But like I've said before, what Apple has done works, and what Android does works too. It's NOT full blown multitasking. I'm not saying Apple rulez or whatever, but this is not a reason why Android blows iOS out of the water. The multitasking is abysmal on both if you compare to WebOS and Symbian, and this has been my point all along. If you want to say Android is less shitty in multitasking than iOS, then sure so be it, but they're both loads of shitty when compared to a true multitasking OS for the multitasking aspect. Symbian and WebOS operate more like your computer does. When you fire up AIM and the browser and your e-mail, imagine switching between the 3 apps on full screen mode. That's exactly how Symbian and WebOS work. While you can only see 1 and interact with 1 at a time, they're all working. Apple and Android utilize saves states. When you switch out of GTalk, to your email, Google invokes the push notification system just like Apple would when you hit HOME out of your Beejive App. It's not really running anymore. But it works for me, so I'll take it.

What's laughable is that you think that AT&T is a "great cell phone carrier." They are by far the worst carrier in all of the US.

They're not that bad. They rule in speed according to PC World and even the reliability #s they gave for AT&T showed it beating Verizon in many cases except SF and NYC. Furthermore, it's one of the few GSM providers in the US. T-Mobile is another, but it uses even less heard of frequencies. At least I can take my AT&T phone overseas and use it. Similarly, I can receive texts overseas without even doing anything. GSM connections are EVERYWHERE. So yeah, this is the sacrifice I make so I can use SIM cards and swap phones whenever I feel like it to whatever unlocked model I choose.

 

[DivideBYZero]

Actually, it is. Why do you think Google makes developer phones? What do you think the chances are of any Google-branded phone ever being unrootable?

Developers != end users. Seriously...:\

 

[gsaldivar]

How is Android full multitasking? The fact is you can't have as many things running. Only a few things can STAY OPEN at a time.

An OS either multitasks or it doesn't.

You don't determine whether or not it multitasks based on the number of apps you can fit into RAM at the same time...

 

[gsaldivar]

IF you open Angry Birds on Android then go to your email as you launch a bird, is that bird going to keep flying? Hell the whole app closes down. Whoopdedoo multitasking my ass. When you open a Youtube video from the Youtube app, can you go read your email and have the audio keep playing?

Both are completely possible depending on how the app is programmed.

On my commute my HTC Incredible is streaming music from Pandora or Xiialive, I have Google Maps navigation running (music pauses while instructions are read over the car stereo), I get incoming text messages read aloud to me, as well as realtime Exchange email notifications and time updates.

There should be no problem with Youtube streaming in the backgroud if the app were coded to stay running when focus is lost. That's a Youtube developer decision, not a limitation of Android.

 

[Bateluer]

How is Android full multitasking? You can open as many apps as you wish on iOS too. Your point is that not many things run at the same time. But the same goes for Android. Not all those apps stay actively running in the background.

The reason people are attacking iOS's multitasking is that Apple limits what applications you can run at the same time. Apple says its okay to open email and stream Pandora without closing one of them, but its not okay to open email in combination with your note taking app of choice. Android allows you to open any applications you wish. Developers may implement it poorly with their application, or they may restrict it in such a way that their application won't cause undue problems with your phone. You pointed out Angry Birds, thats a good example. The developer coded the app to close out. I've a number of games that pause the game when I hit the Home button to check Seesmic or K9, and when I return to the game, I can unpause it and continue where I left off. Obviously, not every game can be effectively paused in like this, but again, that is not a deficiency of Android.

 

[gar655]

What's laughable is that you think that AT&T is a "great cell phone carrier." They are by far the worst carrier in all of the US.

Your assertion is just as bad. AT&T is the best (best coverage) where I live and use the phone the most.

Does that make it better than the others or worse than the others on a national basis?
Ummmm NO.

And at least with At&t I can surf the web AND still get phone calls- sprint, verizon--

 

[vshah]

like. IF you open Angry Birds on Android then go to your email as you launch a bird, is that bird going to keep flying?

the game pauses, but yes, the bird does keep it's position in the air. the app could just as easily be written in a way where the bird's motion continued when you quit. afaik this would not be possible on iOS

 

[Bateluer]

And at least with At&t I can surf the web AND still get phone calls- sprint, verizon--

I am curious how many people actually do this. When I'm talking on the phone, its at my ear. Not really ideal for surfing the web. Once the call is ended, any email or data apps will do their syncing again and you'll get your emails and updates.

Moot point, Sprint is building out their Wimax network and Verizon is deploying their LTE network right now in preparation for its launch.

 

[gsaldivar]

At&t I can surf the web AND still get phone calls- sprint, verizon--

Nonsense.

Surfing the web on a CDMA carrier's phone won't prevent you from receiving calls. You just can't do it while the call is in progress unless you're on WiFi.

Honestly, I've never found this to be a problem - once your call is completed, any data tasks in the background like streaming music pick up right where they left off.

This is especially nice when you're commuting and streaming music on your drive - calls are received and placed with a bluetooth headset or by speaker (audio sent to the appropriate device automatically), GPS is guiding you with voice prompts, music is automatically paused and resumed after each call or GPS voice prompt. All without even touching the phone...

 

[vshah]

the game pauses, but yes, the bird does keep it's position in the air. the app could just as easily be written in a way where the bird's motion continued when you quit. afaik this would not be possible on iOS

just thought of another example. some poorly coded live wallpapers don't pause when the user launches another app, so they remain running in the background, updating their UI and everything, causing the phone to turn to total shit until android kills that process.

 

[YoungGun21]

Developers != end users. Seriously...:\

I don't know if we are using developers in the same sense. I am talking about normal people that just happen to devote their free time to develop for the modding community, which are definitely end users. Perhaps you are thinking professional developers of some sort?

The Nexus phones are definitely open for sale to any person, so I would consider any person that purchases one an "end user." These phones will never be locked down. Google allows root.

 

[MrX8503]

I don't really mind that iOS doesn't have real multitasking as I get amazing battery life on my iPhone.

 

[zerocool84]

I don't really mind that iOS doesn't have real multitasking as I get amazing battery life on my iPhone.

The slight downside is entirely overshadowed by the big battery life you get.

 

[DivideBYZero]

I don't know if we are using developers in the same sense. I am talking about normal people that just happen to devote their free time to develop for the modding community, which are definitely end users. Perhaps you are thinking professional developers of some sort?

The Nexus phones are definitely open for sale to any person, so I would consider any person that purchases one an "end user." These phones will never be locked down. Google allows root.

The Nexus One and the ADP2 are Development phones, the clue is in the name. Normal buyers do not purchase these devices. Developers and modders do.

Again, the Android system is NOT meant to be rooted by end users. No argument here, it's plain fact. If it were, you wouldn't need new bootloaders, recovery partitions and the like, you'd just have a nice fluffy button on the home screen saying 'g3t R0OTz!'.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

the game pauses, but yes, the bird does keep it's position in the air. the app could just as easily be written in a way where the bird's motion continued when you quit. afaik this would not be possible on iOS

Ok, I apologize then. My Milestone does not have the memory needed to handle Angry Birds. Quite sad but I'll accept that. The game restarts for me everytime I hit home. It will not save state.

But if what you say is true, the app is just saving state. Are there games that keep going on Android? Because so far to me everything saves state and does not continue going. That is NOT multitasking. It's the same way that iOS works. Now, the argument seems to be that it's not possible on iOS to keep the game running if wanted. But so what? The implementation of Android as it is now is equivalent to iOS. If Android or iOS decides to revamp their OS to allow for full running of background games and apps left and right I'd welcome that, but for now Android is running a crippled multitask. There's nothing to tout about the multitasking features. That's all I'm saying.

The reason people are attacking iOS's multitasking is that Apple limits what applications you can run at the same time. Apple says its okay to open email and stream Pandora without closing one of them, but its not okay to open email in combination with your note taking app of choice. Android allows you to open any applications you wish. Developers may implement it poorly with their application, or they may restrict it in such a way that their application won't cause undue problems with your phone. You pointed out Angry Birds, thats a good example. The developer coded the app to close out. I've a number of games that pause the game when I hit the Home button to check Seesmic or K9, and when I return to the game, I can unpause it and continue where I left off. Obviously, not every game can be effectively paused in like this, but again, that is not a deficiency of Android.

The thing about games is either way the game is pausing for you to return to it. This happens with virtually every iOS game, and has happened even before iOS 4. In fact iOS 2 already had this. This is clearly because it can't multitask, but my question for you is how is this any different from what Android does now? You've said that your other games pause and you can resume to where it was, but how do you know the game is actively running? How do you know it's not closed with a saved state? In fact how can you even tell the difference? Is there a difference?

Why I've pointed out whether the bird keeps flying or not is essential in multitasking. The pause is for convenience, but a true multitasking OS will allow your bird to keep flying while your email is invoked.

Android allows you to open as many applications as you wish but does it allow you to keep them open? NO. The OS makes decisions WHAT gets to stay open and what doesn't. Granted it's not a very firm set of rules like iOS, but in many cases, the app is no longer running anymore. The system saves memory and closes off apps and stuff. It's clearly not possible with the memory hog that SenseUI is for some phones, or other 256mb devices. Furthermore, how do you even know the apps are open? You open 20 apps, but you can do it on iOS too. Because you KNOW iOS forbids multitasking unless it follows its 7 rules, you KNOW that 20 apps aren't running. Google doesn't outline multitasking rules so clearly, but the fact is I'm betting most of those apps are using notification systems or saved states to actually not run. It's not running in the same sense that you can open 20 apps on your PC now and have them run in the background.

Bottom line is as an iPod Touch and Android user, I haven't been bugged by the "lack of multitasking" on my iPod. In fact I find both devices just as capable in the multitasking field. If one lags behind it's my Android phone if anything because of the memory intensive OS that it is. Or maybe I'll blame Launcher Pro for eating up so much memory my apps can't stay open.

 

[gsaldivar]

Deleted.

 

[charrison]

Bottom line is as an iPod Touch and Android user, I haven't been bugged by the "lack of multitasking" on my iPod. In fact I find both devices just as capable in the multitasking field. If one lags behind it's my Android phone if anything because of the memory intensive OS that it is. Or maybe I'll blame Launcher Pro for eating up so much memory my apps can't stay open.

Like it or not, android has is much more flexible in multitasking than IOS. Android gives the developer the option on how the app will get sent to the background. I am not saying IOS multitasking is bad, but android does have the edge on capability.

 

[NikolaeVarius]

Ok, I apologize then. My Milestone does not have the memory needed to handle Angry Birds. Quite sad but I'll accept that. The game restarts for me everytime I hit home. It will not save state.

But if what you say is true, the app is just saving state. Are there games that keep going on Android? Because so far to me everything saves state and does not continue going. That is NOT multitasking. It's the same way that iOS works. Now, the argument seems to be that it's not possible on iOS to keep the game running if wanted. But so what? The implementation of Android as it is now is equivalent to iOS. If Android or iOS decides to revamp their OS to allow for full running of background games and apps left and right I'd welcome that, but for now Android is running a crippled multitask. There's nothing to tout about the multitasking features. That's all I'm saying.



The thing about games is either way the game is pausing for you to return to it. This happens with virtually every iOS game, and has happened even before iOS 4. In fact iOS 2 already had this. This is clearly because it can't multitask, but my question for you is how is this any different from what Android does now? You've said that your other games pause and you can resume to where it was, but how do you know the game is actively running? How do you know it's not closed with a saved state? In fact how can you even tell the difference? Is there a difference?

Why I've pointed out whether the bird keeps flying or not is essential in multitasking. The pause is for convenience, but a true multitasking OS will allow your bird to keep flying while your email is invoked.

Android allows you to open as many applications as you wish but does it allow you to keep them open? NO. The OS makes decisions WHAT gets to stay open and what doesn't. Granted it's not a very firm set of rules like iOS, but in many cases, the app is no longer running anymore. The system saves memory and closes off apps and stuff. It's clearly not possible with the memory hog that SenseUI is for some phones, or other 256mb devices. Furthermore, how do you even know the apps are open? You open 20 apps, but you can do it on iOS too. Because you KNOW iOS forbids multitasking unless it follows its 7 rules, you KNOW that 20 apps aren't running. Google doesn't outline multitasking rules so clearly, but the fact is I'm betting most of those apps are using notification systems or saved states to actually not run. It's not running in the same sense that you can open 20 apps on your PC now and have them run in the background.

Bottom line is as an iPod Touch and Android user, I haven't been bugged by the "lack of multitasking" on my iPod. In fact I find both devices just as capable in the multitasking field. If one lags behind it's my Android phone if anything because of the memory intensive OS that it is. Or maybe I'll blame Launcher Pro for eating up so much memory my apps can't stay open.

http://android-developers.blogspot.com/2010/04/multitasking-android-way.html
Android Devs outline exactly how Android Multitasking works.

Android always leaves all processes running in the background as long as it doesn't run out of RAM. As soon as it does, it starts brute force killing low priority threads with a set of rules. The OS makes a Save state every time you leave a application, so even if the OS brute forces closes an app in the background, it has a save state.

So yes, the OS keeps all processes actively running as long as the available RAM can hold them. It also gives you the choice to flag applications as "Run in these circumstance please" so that the OS won't auto kill it. Services can also be flagged to run in the foreground, so that the OS won't kill it, but with the requirement that the User knows that it is actively running.

Its all the choice of the developer.

 

[vshah]

Why I've pointed out whether the bird keeps flying or not is essential in multitasking. The pause is for convenience, but a true multitasking OS will allow your bird to keep flying while your email is invoked.

that's what I'm trying to say. this IS POSSIBLE on android, it is just up to the developer to implement it. Whether any games are using this, i'm not sure. For example, android won't kill a service that has placed a notification in the notification bar. If angry birds' motion/physics calculations are performed in such a service (which they probably are), it would be pretty easy for the dev to respond to the "switch away" event differently instead of saving state as they currently do.

setCPU is another example. it's constantly running in the background, adjusting CPU speeds.

 

[qwertyaas]

Ok, I apologize then. My Milestone does not have the memory needed to handle Angry Birds. Quite sad but I'll accept that. The game restarts for me everytime I hit home. It will not save state.

But if what you say is true, the app is just saving state. Are there games that keep going on Android? Because so far to me everything saves state and does not continue going. That is NOT multitasking. It's the same way that iOS works. Now, the argument seems to be that it's not possible on iOS to keep the game running if wanted. But so what? The implementation of Android as it is now is equivalent to iOS. If Android or iOS decides to revamp their OS to allow for full running of background games and apps left and right I'd welcome that, but for now Android is running a crippled multitask. There's nothing to tout about the multitasking features. That's all I'm saying.

Pocket Legends does not suspend itself when I go to the Home Screen. It's just 'minimized'. This is on my Captivate.

Angry Birds suspends itself. IIRC, on the iPhone4, if you click the home button during some games, the game remains open although when you resume - it restarts the app. I never had that happen on Android. Either it suspends and continues when you resume the app or it never suspends.