What is it about Android that makes it more "advanced"?

[Sheep]

Absolutely, but for every one of those awesome screens I see, I see 200 other fuglyass screens on AndroidForums. Look, without a doubt people can customize, but how many people even have those screens? I'm not even remotely impressed with ANY of the screens people have put on Anandtech.

I'm just going to leave this here:

http://iphone.appstorm.net/roundups/lifestyle-roundups/45-iphone-home-screens/

As far as I can tell this isn't a parody or an attempt at humor.

 

[TuxDave]

DLeRium you are totally confusing Android as Google and Nexus, and people are picking you apart here. I thought you would realize after so many members pointing out the same thing to you....

Let me be blunt with you. What argument are you trying to make? That Google has not made any decision that limits some Android function? I mean, there are some people who have made good Android arguments and I don't really understand what you're trying to contribute besides diluting their point.

 

[sze5003]

It's a matter of preference no one is arguing that one os is better stock than the other. I've had iPhone for 3 years and in each update they never change much. Except until recently they added siri, and new notifications plus their own map navigation system. It's a feel for easy use for example you can give it to a parent and they can learn it and not worry. The same for android.

I like the opportunity to skin and use custom roms and apps if I want to

 

[ponyo]

He's talking about some HTC phone that probably runs sense. But maybe instead of dancing around this forum as the biggest fanboy with NO quality in any of your posts, how about you eat your words:

Issue 39592: 4.2 -- phone vibrates on email receipt even when setting is to "no vibration" in both gmail and mail

Issue 40538: Android 4.2 on Galaxy Nexus - phone vibrates on all notifications even if vibrations are off

Jelly Bean & vibrate for notifications

Look, HTC might have realized what a big issue this was and fixed it. It's a non issue on my SGS2 with CyanogenMod 10. The point remains that developers figured that people do want control on when vibrate does kick in. Google botched something up since 4.1. Hopefully CM 10.1 again fixes the stupid problems Google overlooks.

No problem with notification vibration on my completely stock Galaxy Nexus with 4.2.1. Maybe I have a special Galaxy Nexus? :awe: Or maybe this is a problem with Nexus 4. Just like non-working USB OTG. The same USB OTG that works perfectly on my Galaxy Nexus. :awe:

 

[lopri]

DLeRium you are totally confusing Android as Google and Nexus, and people are picking you apart here. I thought you would realize after so many members pointing out the same thing to you....

I have to agree. He should take a tour to one of those Chinese web shops selling thousands of different Android devices by which all those "Google's dictates" are not honored. Never heard of a news story about Google suing them.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

I'm just going to leave this here:

http://iphone.appstorm.net/roundups/lifestyle-roundups/45-iphone-home-screens/

As far as I can tell this isn't a parody or an attempt at humor.

I'm not trying to say you can get awesome screens in iOS. I realize it's a weakness of the platform. What I'm trying to say is that weakness isn't really that big of an issue. It's not like people can't get the same things done without widgets. Sure I can see my FB feed on the homescreen, but it's not like the iOS user has to jump through hoops to open up the FB app.

My point was that the customization that people keep talking about is really not that important to most users. The adding a widget or two is just minor. If you're talking about the full blown customization on Mycolorscreen, that's a small minority.

No problem with notification vibration on my completely stock Galaxy Nexus with 4.2.1. Maybe I have a special Galaxy Nexus? :awe: Or maybe this is a problem with Nexus 4. Just like non-working USB OTG. The same USB OTG that works perfectly on my Galaxy Nexus. :awe:

So when your phone is in vibrate mode, what happens when you get a new gmail? No vibrate? My phone also vibrates the hell out for gTalk. Also do realize that 3rd thread I linked is talking about the Galaxy Nexus and Android's vibrate being global and ignoring the in-app setting. And USB OTG wasn't really an intended function anyway was it? It's more of something people discovered along the way.

DLeRium you are totally confusing Android as Google and Nexus, and people are picking you apart here. I thought you would realize after so many members pointing out the same thing to you....

Is this all you offer? You dance around like an Android cheerleader without making any points. What I'm saying is that all the Android haters love bashing Apple for making decisions that you have no control over, but Google does the same thing. You might have choice in the sense that you can HOPE some handset manufacturer is wise enough to see beyond Google's idiocy at times and builds a better device. Great, but it's not like Google makes moves that limit your device functionality. You're perfectly fine when Google says things like:

- LTE is BAD (hence no LTE in Nexus 4)
- No SD cards for you
- No 32gb version for you
- No capacitive keys in our phones.

If these things were said by Apple, you'd be jumping all over it. You know it. Just imagine the amount of flak Apple takes for these things. Yet Google's perfectly innocent for controlling its devices?

 

[ponyo]

1) You didn't prove jack shit. You just danced around some post some guy made. You made zero effort to verify claims, and I just pretty much shot your crap down by posting the same problem described on Google forums and XDA.

2) The Nexus devices are lacking capacitive buttons, and newer phones are losing capacitive buttons. Google doesn't go out there and remove support for hard buttons, but it's pretty much dictating what the next generation of phones will be like. While you can argue phone manufacturers have leeway to do whatever they like, they tend to follow in Google's footsteps. So yes, Google IS making decisions. In fact its soft button decision is just dumb. So far the pros that people have pointed out aren't really pros, because capacitive buttons can be made to behave similarly. The only difference is in the Nexus 7 and 10 where the nav bar will rotate when you rotate the device. But a lot of people have said that's stupid as well because now you have 3 buttons stretched wide on a 10 inch nav bar that makes the screen even shorter.

1) I disproved your point 1.
2) Name other device other than Nexus that has soft buttons instead of capacitive buttons. As far as I know, Nexus line is the only Android devices with soft buttons. No other vendors have jumped on. HTC One X. Galaxy S3 and Note 2. Moto Razr HD. LG Optimus G. Seriously, I can't think one device with soft buttons except for Nexus. So how is that following Google's footstep? Do you go out of your way to post incorrect info?

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

1) I disproved your point 1.
2) Name other device other than Nexus that has soft buttons instead of capacitive buttons. As far as I know, Nexus line is the only Android devices with soft buttons. No other vendors have jumped on. HTC One X. Galaxy S3 and Note 2. Moto Razr HD. LG Optimus G. Seriously, I can't think one device with soft buttons except for Nexus. So how is that following Google's footstep? Do you go out of your way to post incorrect info?

1) You realize that I acknowledge OEMs are free to do whatever they want. My point wasn't that every Android phone lacks capacitive buttons.

2) Moto Razr HD has soft buttons doesn't it? What's incorrect about my info? I'm saying that Google makes sweeping decisions like no capacitive buttons, which you're ok with, but if Tim Cook said "No we don't believe in having a hardware shutter would benefit users," half the crowd here would erupt and say how STUPID Apple is. But really it would be fine that no Android phone has had hardware shutter except the Moto Droid phones.

 

[Fire&Blood]

What is it about Android that makes it more advanced?

Well if you have to ask...
I'm not sure it's more advanced but the argument could perhaps be made if all OEM's were unleashing same potential across the board, primarily storage options and out of the box features. Even then, I don't see any must have glaring omissions on WP or ios. I would say that Android is more versatile than other OS's and that's primarily where it's advantages and handicaps may come from.

It's not the actual bickering about OS's I find annoying, it's the lame attempts at establishing objectivity prior to that, aka "my POV is the ultimate measuring stick for viability of anything anywhere in the history/future of mankind".

I've been here since 2009 or so, saw a quite a few of these threads and I have yet to see any of the usual suspects deviate from their solidified opinions, not even one bit. Platforms have been established and information on them is widely available, free of charge. Can we start dismissing these threads, point people to good info sites or do we continue reading rehashed posts from the last decade?

 

[TerryMathews]

You can always hope that someone will build a phone with SD cards, but the Nexus phones that everyone swears by here will never have an SD card. Do I have a choice for AOSP? Apparently not.

See above.



???

Untrue. You have many choices for AOSP on Android.

Unlike Apple you even have the choice to build your own ROM. Your device manufacturer, whoever that is, must by law provide you with the kernel source to any devices and ROMs they shipped. Building your own AOSP ROM from that is doable for anyone with a solid background in C++ and Linux. It's far from "scratch".

Don't want to build your own or lack the skills? There are plenty of 3rd party AOSP and AOSP-esque ROMs. http://www.cyanogenmod.org/devices http://aokp.co/wordpress/supported-devices/

There are more devices on those lists with SD and hardware buttons than without.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Untrue. You have many choices for AOSP on Android.

Unlike Apple you even have the choice to build your own ROM. Your device manufacturer, whoever that is, must by law provide you with the kernel source to any devices and ROMs they shipped. Building your own AOSP ROM from that is doable for anyone with a solid background in C++ and Linux. It's far from "scratch".

Don't want to build your own or lack the skills? There are plenty of 3rd party AOSP and AOSP-esque ROMs. http://www.cyanogenmod.org/devices http://aokp.co/wordpress/supported-devices/

There are more devices on those lists with SD and hardware buttons than without.

Relying on ROMs isn't really the same as out of the box functionality is it? Plus CyanogenMod takes MONTHS to come out after AOSP drops. A good number of devices never achieve full CM functionality due to proprietary drivers. Take the best phones out there like the HTC One X, SGS3. None of them had a fully working CM10 when I checked in October.

Basically your choices are:
- Get a Nexus and deal with Google's limitations on its devices
- Get more features, a better camera, better screen, SD card functionality, capacitive buttons, but suffer the wrath of no updates, terrible manufacturer skins, locked bootloaders, unpredictable ROMs.

Look. I love CM. I have 4 devices running on it, but everyday is a waiting game. When will they fix feature XYZ on my phone? When will my phone function like a Nexus? It's not really a viable solution.

If you want AOSP, everyone knows that you should get a Nexus.

 

[ponyo]

1) You realize that I acknowledge OEMs are free to do whatever they want. My point wasn't that every Android phone lacks capacitive buttons.

2) Moto Razr HD has soft buttons doesn't it? What's incorrect about my info? I'm saying that Google makes sweeping decisions like no capacitive buttons, which you're ok with, but if Tim Cook said "No we don't believe in having a hardware shutter would benefit users," half the crowd here would erupt and say how STUPID Apple is. But really it would be fine that no Android phone has had hardware shutter except the Moto Droid phones.

OK, I was wrong about Moto Razr HD. It appears it has soft buttons like the Nexus. So that's one phone. Find me another phone other than the Razr with soft buttons. It should be easy since you said Android OEMs follow Google's footsteps.

As for notification, I have vibrate notification set to off for Gmail. My phone doesn't vibrate when I get a new Gmail. Just like I set it to. If I set my phone to vibrate, it will vibrate when I get a new Gmail. Again, just like I set it to.

As for USB OTG support, it was definitely intended. Google has been officially supporting it since Honeycomb. Even 2.3 Gingerbread devices like SGS2 support it to some extent.

 

[mikegg]

Relying on ROMs isn't really the same as out of the box functionality is it? Plus CyanogenMod takes MONTHS to come out after AOSP drops. A good number of devices never achieve full CM functionality due to proprietary drivers. Take the best phones out there like the HTC One X, SGS3. None of them had a fully working CM10 when I checked in October.

Basically your choices are:
- Get a Nexus and deal with Google's limitations on its devices
- Get more features, a better camera, better screen, SD card functionality, capacitive buttons, but suffer the wrath of no updates, terrible manufacturer skins, locked bootloaders, unpredictable ROMs.

Look. I love CM. I have 4 devices running on it, but everyday is a waiting game. When will they fix feature XYZ on my phone? When will my phone function like a Nexus? It's not really a viable solution.

If you want AOSP, everyone knows that you should get a Nexus.

Those 2 are the reasons why I dumped my Galaxy Nexus for an iPhone 5. After Android 4.2 update, my Galaxy Nexus(barely released a year ago) became as slow as my oldass iPhone 3G.

Then I realized that the Nexus 4 doesn't even come with 4G which is useless if you use Sprint.

And I'm not going to buy a Galaxy S3 because the updates don't come until many months after a Nexus phone gets it.

So despite having so many choices for Android phones, I found myself limited on selection.

I went with the iPhone 5 because it had 4G and gets updates. If the Nexus 4 had 4G, I might have gone with that.

By starting this thread, I'm just stating my own opinion after using iOS6 on the iPhone 5 and Jelly Bean on Galaxy Nexus that I think it's wrong to call Android a more "advanced" OS.

 

[lopri]

People are still confusing devices with operating systems. I know they are closely related and in case of Apple one could say devices/OS are one and the same, but when the topic is "Android" v. "iOS" one could make a relatively objective comparison. (Not saying one's better than the other, could may well be subjective judgment)

Instead of comparing Nexus against iPad or Galaxy against iPhone, Compare iOS 4.1 against Android 3.0 or iOS 6.0 against Android 4.1.1., for example. That's what I had in mind in this thread from the thread title.

 

[TerryMathews]

Relying on ROMs isn't really the same as out of the box functionality is it? Plus CyanogenMod takes MONTHS to come out after AOSP drops. A good number of devices never achieve full CM functionality due to proprietary drivers. Take the best phones out there like the HTC One X, SGS3. None of them had a fully working CM10 when I checked in October.

Basically your choices are:
- Get a Nexus and deal with Google's limitations on its devices
- Get more features, a better camera, better screen, SD card functionality, capacitive buttons, but suffer the wrath of no updates, terrible manufacturer skins, locked bootloaders, unpredictable ROMs.

Look. I love CM. I have 4 devices running on it, but everyday is a waiting game. When will they fix feature XYZ on my phone? When will my phone function like a Nexus? It's not really a viable solution.

If you want AOSP, everyone knows that you should get a Nexus.

First off, we need to define exactly what you want. Since ICS, every themed phone has included Launcher2 as well as their theme launcher. If you just want the AOSP launcher it's there.

If you want the whole shebang and lack the skills to roll your own then yes you are beholden to someone else's timetable on writing for your device.

How is that a negative against Android? This is an OS where the manufacturer must give you kernel source. You can make your own ROM. Call me when Apple loosens up.

Hell on Apple you can't even run a different keyboard. Skype? Hell no.

Android is choice and diversity. Did you know there is a watch running android? Front page of reddit today was a guy playing Pokemon GB on his MOTOACTV.

Google makes certain choices for their devices based on their marketing desires and their sense of aesthetic. However they don't depreciate the functionality they aren't using like SD cards.

 

[lopri]

By objective comparison, I mean:

Android "Pro's" ---- iOS "Con's"
1.
2.
..

iOS "Pro's" ---- Android "Con's"
1.
2.
..

Then one could decide which OS suits better for her/his need (subjective), or even make a judgment one OS is indeed more advanced than the other (which still will be subject to discussion/persuasion in this very thread)

 

[TerryMathews]

People are still confusing devices with operating systems. I know they are closely related and in case of Apple one could say devices/OS are one and the same, but when the topic is "Android" v. "iOS" one could make a relatively objective comparison. (Not saying one's better than the other, could may well be subjective judgment)

Instead of comparing Nexus against iPad or Galaxy against iPhone, Compare iOS 4.1 against Android 3.0 or iOS 6.0 against Android 4.1.1., for example. That's what I had in mind in this thread from the thread title.

You're 100% correct, both in your position and analysis. The iOS crowd wants to not separate the OS from the device because in their ecosystem there is practically no choice. "they'll paint it whatever color you want, as long as it's black."

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

OK, I was wrong about Moto Razr HD. It appears it has soft buttons like the Nexus. So that's one phone. Find me another phone other than the Razr with soft buttons. It should be easy since you said Android OEMs follow Google's footsteps.

As for notification, I have vibrate notification set to off for Gmail. My phone doesn't vibrate when I get a new Gmail. Just like I set it to. If I set my phone to vibrate, it will vibrate when I get a new Gmail. Again, just like I set it to.

I don't think you understand the bug. If the phone is in vibrate mode, it will vibrate on phone calls.

Gmail and Gtalk will only vibrate if the vibrate button is also checked in the app. Otherwise the notifications come in silent. This was how it was for my phones on CM 6, 7, 9, 10. I haven't run a fully stock AOSP build though.

With my Nexus 4 and 10, I run my devices in global vibrate. Vibrate is off in GMail, but the global vibrate apparently overwrites the fact that in app vibrate is off, and new emails vibrate. Gtalk does the same thing. That's why those issues are brought up at code.google.com

As for phones, Moto is certainly following those Google guidelines. I'm not sure when other phones will move over, but the point is Google makes choices for us for their phones, and I've already said time and time again that yes, there are OEM options that have capacitive screens, but if you want a Nexus device, Google's made its decision on how you must use those AOSP devices.

 

[TuxDave]

You're 100% correct, both in your position and analysis. The iOS crowd wants to not separate the OS from the device because in their ecosystem there is practically no choice. "they'll paint it whatever color you want, as long as it's black."

So something like...
Pro: iOS6, available everywhere
Con: Android 4.1.1, limited availability?

I know why I think of these debates as a device vs device. Ultimately when someone is comparing Android vs iOS, I assume it's not for an academic or technical reason. It's because someone wants to decide what device to buy. And so you really have to go device vs device instead of OS vs OS because not all devices have the same OS capabilities. You can't buy a device that has every advantage of every Android phone out there.

Edit: And let's say this thread really was just a pure theoretical/academic debate. Since Android is open source and can theoretically be whatever, how do you judge the OS? Maybe it's good, maybe it's crappy! It depends on what you did to it. So that's another reason why having a device sets a ground at least.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

If you think about it in the sense that there's nothing you really feel like you're missing out on when you go to an iOS device, it's pretty true. If you always worry about 1:1 comparisons, yeah, you can see the differences in both. But that's not how someone uses their device. And if you're using it like that, then you're thinking about it the wrong way. It's about what you can accomplish at the end of the day.

Hardly, my mobile workflow would be completely destroyed by iOS. I download files to my phone from the browser a lot, something Safari apparently can't do. I suppose on iOS I could always set another browser as default, oh wait that's right I can't. I also send attachments from my phone on a fairly regular basis and iOS is basically incapable of that as well. When you throw in the fact that iOS can't even do any sort of integration or file management with Dropbox or Google Drive I'm starting to wonder if an iPhone would even be useful enough to justify the cost of a data plan.

So something like...
Pro: iOS6, available everywhere
Con: Android 4.1.1, limited availability?

I know why I think of these debates as a device vs device. Ultimately when someone is comparing Android vs iOS, I assume it's not for an academic or technical reason. It's because someone wants to decide what device to buy. And so you really have to go device vs device instead of OS vs OS because not all devices have the same OS capabilities. You can't buy a device that has every advantage of every Android phone out there.

Edit: And let's say this thread really was just a pure theoretical/academic debate. Since Android is open source and can theoretically be whatever, how do you judge the OS? Maybe it's good, maybe it's crappy! It depends on what you did to it. So that's another reason why having a device sets a ground at least.

Even the terrible US carriers have pushed out 4.1.1 for the Galaxy S3 so availability isn't very limited at this point.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Hardly, my mobile workflow would be completely destroyed by iOS. I download files to my phone from the browser a lot, something Safari apparently can't do. I suppose on iOS I could always set another browser as default, oh wait that's right I can't. I also send attachments from my phone on a fairly regular basis and iOS is basically incapable of that as well. When you throw in the fact that iOS can't even do any sort of integration or file management with Dropbox or Google Drive I'm starting to wonder if an iPhone would even be useful enough to justify the cost of a data plan.



Even the terrible US carriers have pushed out 4.1.1 for the Galaxy S3 so availability isn't very limited at this point.

Jellybean adoption at.... 6.7%

 

[lopri]

Edit: And let's say this thread really was just a pure theoretical/academic debate. Since Android is open source and can theoretically be whatever, how do you judge the OS? Maybe it's good, maybe it's crappy! It depends on what you did to it. So that's another reason why having a device sets a ground at least.

Disagree. That's like one person who had a Wi-Fi version iPad and claiming iOS sucks due to lack of a mobile option while another with a 4G version claiming otherwise. Conversely, it is also akin to saying that one cannot make a comparison between Windows Vista and Windows 7 on same hardware.

 

[TuxDave]

Disagree. That's like one person who had a Wi-Fi version iPad and claiming iOS sucks due to lack of a mobile option while another with a 4G version claiming otherwise. Conversely, it is also akin to saying that one cannot make a comparison between Windows Vista and Windows 7 on same hardware.

How do you account touch wiz enhancement like that split screen app thing? In the spirit of android touch wiz and sense is very much android but not available on all devices that have multi user support for example. So yes, absolutely you have to start tying things down to the device because it solidifies exactly WHAT version of Android are you talking about?

And you counterpoint makes no sense. Why can't you compare Windows Vista and Windows 7? If you have them installed on two computers with the same hardware, it's there. So compare them. But can you really compare iOS to Android w/ multi-user support and HTC sense? Not really, because it doesn't really exist (excluding the possibility that some ROM junkie made it). So yes, Android is fragmented and difficult to compare. Don't get defensive yet! Because what if you were comparing iOS on the iPhone 3GS. The capabilities are different. So exactly WHAT are you comparing? It's better and more meaningful to compare devices and the software on them. Bottom line.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

Jellybean adoption at.... 6.7%

Android runs on multiple devices. There is a lot of fragmentation, that's why the adoption rate for software is slow. As well as the carriers being bitches

 

[TerryMathews]

Jellybean adoption at.... 6.7%

That refutes the last part of his point. The rest of it is still applicable as you could do it on Gingerbread et al.