Android: What a mess…
So, I didn’t want to buy another iPhone. I couldn’t wait for WP7 either. It turns out that maybe I should have. So, let me count the ways I hate my Android (an HTC Desire btw):
- I keep getting the “low on space” message. Yes, the phone run out of space after I installed a handful of apps. I’m not getting into details but all workarounds involve hacking the phone one way or the other. You can’t begin to imagine what a downer this is. You can’t install anything on your phone and you need to spend countless hours googling (omg) for workarounds and for managing the phone’s disk space.
I can’t buy any apps because the Android Marketplace is not open for business in Sweden yet. So just free lite versions of Apps for me. The only workarounds involve hacking the phone one way or the other again.UPDATE | 2010-10-05:
As of today Paid Android Apps are available in Sweden.- There is more (like utter ugliness in the UI, which every time you open another app makes you feel like you are holding another device just as ugly as the previous one) but I wouldn’t really mind these all that much if I could get some apps in the first place.
No, this does not mean that I’m telling you to go get an iPhone 4. I also have an iPhone and an iPod Touch, and you really don’t want me to count the ways I hate them too. Nevertheless, if I would have known before hand what a disappointment Android would be, I would certainly have waited for WP7. Well, a better research before spending 500 Euros on an Android device would have helped me a lot.
If you are undecided between an iOS 4 or Android Froyo device, then here is a short list of things I miss from the one device when I use the other:
In Froyo I miss:
- I miss iPhone’s storage.
No hassle plenty of storage on the iPhone!
Useless and painful storage model on the Android Froyo. - I miss iPhone’s paid apps.
Paid Android apps are not available outside US and a handful of other countries. Basically I would expect this to be printed outside the box with big red letters when I bought the device.
On the other hand, if someone thinks of a cool app to make, then they will certainly make a paid version of it for the iPhone first. - I miss iPhone’s uniform look and feel throughout the UI.
Android Apps look (strangely) ugly. Like someone published a pre-Alpha proof of concept thing, without ever getting a designer to look at it. Even the official Twitter app for Android looks and feels like having being done by some high-school student overnight.
In iPhone I miss:
- I miss Android’s notification system.
Unobtrusive, handy and clean notifications on Android. Near perfect.
Rude modal dialogs on iPhone always interrupt what you are doing and demand your immediate attention and action in iOS. - I miss the hardware buttons of Android devices.
There is a handy “back” button on Android devices that takes you back to the previous screen.
On iPhones usually apps add this functionality on custom buttons on top left corner of the app, taking up screen space and allowing for typical inconsistencies in the UI for such a common simple function.
“Search” and “menu” hardware buttons of Android are also just as handy. - I miss the optical trackball of my Android device when it comes to moving the cursor around in a text box. iPhone’s magnifying glass can be such a pain when you try to position the cursor especially at the top edge of the screen where your finger usually overlays the magnified text.
- I miss Android’s WiFi tethering.
- I (also would) miss Android widgets (if there were and decent ones). It’s a great concept.
So, in conclusion, I’m not happy with my Android device. Far from happy. But I’m not happy with iPhone either.
My objections to iPhone are mostly ideological, but I think they are justified at least by the fact that people love the iPhone mostly for ideological reasons too. I don’t consider iOS to be a respectable OS although it is marketed as one. iOS is more like an application with plug-ins. I had a look at Objective C too which is the language for writing iPhone Apps. I found it completely ridiculous to invest any time what so ever in such a platform despite the promising market that lays behind it. I would be more open in joining the iPhone ride if Apple was more open with the iOS platform too. I don’t like Apple’s attitude (see App Store policies, exaggerated claims in marketing campaigns, antenna-gate etc). These are the main reasons I didn’t want to get another iPhone.
But trust me, it’s better to get an iPhone 4 that you need to handle carefully to keep the signal, than get an Android device that requires you to struggle to get and run a handful of decent apps.
I still hope that WP7 (Windows Phone 7 for those that don’t know the acronym) will be the phone for me and I’m looking forward to the first WP7 devices coming into the market during the next months.
Google and Apple are doing a good job (in the sense of putting a lot of effort to push forward, compete and improve), but they are extremely overrated and actually years behind the era they themselves proclaimed into existence.
