Android ICS OS Ugly vs Apple Users

wishiwas · February 17th, 2012, 01:37 AM

I have had an Android phone since the EVO 4G, the interface sense makes sence.

I am a converted person who had every version of the iPhone, up until the 4. That's when I got an EVO and never looked back.
So here comes ICS for our new operating system and I must say, for the first time, I think its no longer user friendly and a bit on the ugly side.
I look around my company and every day there is a new person with an iPhone and I have to ask myself why???
When I look at the latest tablets, they aren't any nicer looking or user friendly with Honeycomb.
I admit I have an iPad, but that's because none of the Android tablets do anything for me. I used to have a EVO VIEW, then HTC went and updated the OS, and now its horrible.
I'm not trying to dog on Android. I cant wait for the Galaxy Journal to come out. I presently have a Razr. Now along those lines, the Razr is too industrial. Its just not appealing to the eye. Moto blur is too cold for consumers. The HTC EVO 4G looked great, and that's the phone that pulled me away from iPhone.
But having tried the Nexus (with its ugly default clock) and run ICS on my Razr, it worries me the direction Android is heading in.
I think people want things simple. I know Android OS and I have to scratch my head as to how to do things with ICS. Its not going to win iPhone users over.
Just my 2 cents. Don't hate on me, I don't dog on people who love ICS. Just gathering thoughts and comments.

chanchan05 · February 17th, 2012, 02:11 AM

1. The ICS you see is stock Android. Your EVO does not have a stock Android skin like the ICS you see now, its using HTC Sense as a shell over Android to change the looks and UI.

2. WHen HTC or Samsung releases ICS for their phones, it will not look like the Galaxy Nexus, it will still be skinned with Sense or TouchWiz. In essense, your phone will not look any different. If we go by the ICS update for the Galaxy S2 that was leaked, the interface is still the usual Samsung TouchWiz.

3.

Italo · February 17th, 2012, 02:42 AM

Personally, I think ICS is a step up from the 2.x versions; both visually and in ease of use. I think the overall aesthetic is a sleeker, more modern look than the 2.x iterations of android.

I don't like the stock clock either, but it's just a widget. You don't have to use it.

I prefer the way ICS handles widgets. Actually seeing a preview, and scrolling through them like apps is more convenient than a list; and I don't have to guess at what a particular widget does/is as often.

I like ICS's notification bar and app manger; being able to swipe away notifications to remove individual ones is a nice touch.

Uninstalling apps directly from the apps menu is an awesome feature. I had been using Uninstaller because going through settings is such a pain.

The settings link in the notification bar, and market link in the apps menu, is very convenient.

I never used to use the search function in android until they added the static home screen search bar in ICS. I use it on a regular basis for web search, finding contacts, and opening apps now. The voice search works very well.

All of the google apps have better interfaces, especially gmail, in ICS.

I think the lockscreen is pretty cool. I didn't really like the old stock lockscreen method of dragging bars across the screen (it was usually a bit unresponsive). The skinned lockscreens were hit and miss, with Samsung's being my favorite. Dragging from the center of the screen to different icons makes more sense to me. It would be cool if we could add more icons.

Keep in mind also that ICS isn't just meant to be the next OS version for phones, but become the common version for phones and tablets. Microsoft is doing the same thing with Windows 8. Part of making mobile operating systems easier to use lies in being able to provide the same experience across all devices running the OS. ICS means that google only has one version of android to worry about, instead of 2.x for phones and 3.x for tablets. I would imagine it also simplifies things for devs as well.

UssjTrunks · February 17th, 2012, 03:03 AM

Android has always been pretty ugly, but that's why you can customize it. Don't like the look of stock ICS? Motoblur? Sense? No problem, put a custom launcher over it and apply one of the hundreds of skins available. Go have a look at the desktop screenshot thread in the Android Themes forum to get an idea of how beautiful Android can look. If you're up for it you can do even more customization with a rooted phone.

The iOS theme is just as ugly as ICS, but you can't do anything about it. Apple doesn't let you customize the look of your own device. Now that's something to complain about.

AndroidSPCS · February 17th, 2012, 10:56 AM

LOL so true.

I haven't used ICS yet so I can't comment. But on my iPhone 4S the one thing I keep wishing for is an easier way to turn Bluetooth on / off. You have to go to Settings / General settings / bluetooth / on-off. At least 4 steps...such a pain!!

On Android it can be as simple as a widget click, done.

I do look forward to using ICS, although I'm wary of losing my beloved menu button...which is so much more user friendly than the single stupid button in iOS.

OfTheDamned · February 17th, 2012, 11:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wishiwas

I have had an Android phone since the EVO 4G, the interface sense makes sence.

I am a converted person who had every version of the iPhone, up until the 4. That's when I got an EVO and never looked back.
So here comes ICS for our new operating system and I must say, for the first time, I think its no longer user friendly and a bit on the ugly side.
I look around my company and every day there is a new person with an iPhone and I have to ask myself why???
When I look at the latest tablets, they aren't any nicer looking or user friendly with Honeycomb.
I admit I have an iPad, but that's because none of the Android tablets do anything for me. I used to have a EVO VIEW, then HTC went and updated the OS, and now its horrible.
I'm not trying to dog on Android. I cant wait for the Galaxy Journal to come out. I presently have a Razr. Now along those lines, the Razr is too industrial. Its just not appealing to the eye. Moto blur is too cold for consumers. The HTC EVO 4G looked great, and that's the phone that pulled me away from iPhone.
But having tried the Nexus (with its ugly default clock) and run ICS on my Razr, it worries me the direction Android is heading in.
I think people want things simple. I know Android OS and I have to scratch my head as to how to do things with ICS. Its not going to win iPhone users over.
Just my 2 cents. Don't hate on me, I don't dog on people who love ICS. Just gathering thoughts and comments.

Quote:

Originally Posted by AndroidSPCS

LOL so true.

I haven't used ICS yet so I can't comment. But on my iPhone 4S the one thing I keep wishing for is an easier way to turn Bluetooth on / off. You have to go to Settings / General settings / bluetooth / on-off. At least 4 steps...such a pain!!

On Android it can be as simple as a widget click, done.

I do look forward to using ICS, although I'm wary of losing my beloved menu button...which is so much more user friendly than the single stupid button in iOS.

Coming from a long list of Android phones starting on 1.5 and moving all the way up to 4.0 I can say that ICS does take things in a different direction. While some may love it, as with everything, others won't. In my experience it takes a little bit longer than a 10 minute play session in a store to really understand and appreciate ICS. Once you get accustomed to it, it is actually much more user friendly that previous versions of Android.

The menu button is available in areas where it can be used and gone when it isn't needed.

Google and app developers have starting taking cues from WP7 and iOS as well as Sense, Blur and TouchWiz to make things more streamlined and much more user friendly in this version. I find navigation of the OS makes far more sense and the movements you use in one area (example: swiping left to right or right to left) are used throughout the rest of the OS.

As I said, once you are a little more accustomed to it, it is much better. If you never agree with this though there are always different launchers, custom ROMs and custom UIs that can be loaded to make the UI more appealing or just more to your liking. This is something that no other OS offers at the moment.

KyleB · February 17th, 2012, 11:42 AM

Well beauty is in eye of the beholder. I much prefer the look and feel of ICS vs Apple's OS. Android seems easier to use to me and the design makes more sense....

Kicksilver · February 17th, 2012, 11:52 AM

Android's interface is much nicer than the boring iOS's...

DroidDavi · February 17th, 2012, 11:53 AM

While no 1 can argue that ios is easy to use it doesn't look good at all. Its a app drawer. When you look at android from cupcake to ics I feel its a hell of a lot more usable and better looking

aysiu · February 17th, 2012, 11:54 AM

I kind of feel the opposite way from the OP. When iPhone and Android first started competing with each other in 2009 (2007 Android wasn't a real product, and 2008 the best phone was the G1--it wasn't until the Droid and Nexus One that Android started really competing with iOS), Android was an ugly turd. I still used it and loved it anyway, but you could add all the special launchers and widgets you wanted, and it lacked the polish and sophistication of the iOS interface. Now, with iOS 5, the iPhone interface looks not too different from how it did in 2007 (the screen resolution is sharper, I guess), and Android 4 is leaps and bounds ahead of Android 1.5 or 2.1--both in terms of polish and functionality.

Not everyone will share that opinion, but that's okay. I'm totally digging Ice Cream Sandwich.