Is There Real Difference Between Ease of Use on Android and iPhone

[Railroadmaster]

Ok I don't understand why people say Android is too or it isn't as easy to or it is to geeky or I wouldn't recommend it to Grandma. Android can be something for geeks for those who love raw hardware power and love to root there devices than yes it can be a device for geeks like the HTC Evo 4g. Really Android isn't for average consumers well I would consider many Android devices mass marketed Motorola Droid, MyTouch 3g, MyTouch 3g slide, Samsung Galaxy S and HTC Droid incredible are very consumer friendly devices and have shown very good sales. To those who say well I got my Grandma or a Baby to use iPhone well I've gotten my cat use an Android device why would a Baby or old person use a smartphone?
Let's see to view a photo I open open the photo gallery and select the photo I want to view. On iPhone I go to the photo gallery and select the photo I want to view. To view video on Android go to the gallery and go to the videos folder and select the video you want to view. On iPhone go to the iPod app select video section and select the video you want to view. Connect to wifi on Android go to settings connection and wifi and set it up from there. On iPhone go to settings wifi and set up from there. to Change a wallpaper on Android hold down on the home screen and select wallpapers and select the one you want. On iPhone got to settings wallpaper and pick an image and either select home screen wallpaper or lock wallpaper. Installing apps on Android go to Android Market and select the app you want and press install. On iPhone go to iPhone appstore and select the app you want and press install. When Android devices freezes you remove the battery. When an iPhone freezes you wait for the device to power off and power it back on. So really how is iPhone an easier to use than Android? Just because it may look nicer doesn't mean its easier to use. Looks don't equate to actual usage.

 

[srmccoy]

Personally, I find iOS to be much simpler than Android in many key areas that would appeal to less tech-savvy folks. My father just received his Incredible (his first real smartphone), and it took me about an hour to teach him the ins and outs.

For example: Using the Back button to get out of apps...but oh wait...some apps need you to press menu and then close....but if you want it to keep running you hit home.

Other complications come from the manufacturer additions. For example: Adding widgets. Normally, you would just long-press on the screen and click on Widgets. On an HTC phone with Sense you have two Widget options, not exactly the most intuitive.

Contrast this with the standard iOS method for getting stuff done: Click on an App, use App, press the one button on the front to exit/minimize/whatever and click on another icon to do another task. Very simple. Also, very limiting in some ways.

I wouldn't call either system "hard" to learn or use. But iOS has less button presses, less menus, and less overall control. To some that seems easier.

 

[mrspeedmaster]

I'll give one example of ease of use and it has to do with photo management on a phone:

Grandma has 100 pictures of her grandson and her favorite picture is img_0081.jpg of him on a tricycle.
Her next favorite picture is img_43.jpg of him with an ice-cream smiling. She likes her favorite pictures to show up first in the order she likes to see them.


Using iPhoto, she drags and re-shuffles the photos in the order she want to see them and hits synch.

On Android, she has to rename the file alphabetically. So img_0081.jpg has to be renamed 01_img_0081.jpg if she wants to see it first in the list. Then the second one is renamed 02_img_43.jpg.
Furthermore, the original files are 7 megabytes each and they take forever to load up on her phone. On the iPhone, with iPhoto, the photos are re-resized and optimized for the phone and saves space. The photos on the iPhone are now only 230-400K. So on the Android phone, a 93 photos take up 700 megs and they take forever to open up. The whole experience is a downer.

This has happen to my mom.

There will be a lot of proponents of the drag-n-drop method of just copying the files over. You can invest money into some photo management software that resize and rename the files I suppose.
You can write a Photoshop action script. If you are geeky, you can write a perl script in image-magick to do some of this stuff for you.

 

[Railroadmaster]

Well the only thing interface I like about iOs better is the Multitasking interface which generally makes it easier to close applications and switch between them rather than being limited to switching between six and having to install a task manager.

 

[Railroadmaster]

Personally, I find iOS to be much simpler than Android in many key areas that would appeal to less tech-savvy folks. My father just received his Incredible (his first real smartphone), and it took me about an hour to teach him the ins and outs.

For example: Using the Back button to get out of apps...but oh wait...some apps need you to press menu and then close....but if you want it to keep running you hit home.

Other complications come from the manufacturer additions. For example: Adding widgets. Normally, you would just long-press on the screen and click on Widgets. On an HTC phone with Sense you have two Widget options, not exactly the most intuitive.

Contrast this with the standard iOS method for getting stuff done: Click on an App, use App, press the one button on the front to exit/minimize/whatever and click on another icon to do another task. Very simple. Also, very limiting in some ways.

I wouldn't call either system "hard" to learn or use. But iOS has less button presses, less menus, and less overall control. To some that seems easier.

iOs is easier to use by a small amount

 

[srmccoy]

Well the only thing interface I like about iOs better is the Multitasking interface which generally makes it easier to close applications and switch between them rather than being limited to switching between six and having to install a task manager.

Android doesn't limit you to 6, and there's almost never a need for a task manager. The 6 icons that show up when you hold the home button are your last 6 used applications. They could be open, closed, suspended, etc. They're not all running.

Simply using the back button to exit an application (or an exit button from a menu) will close the app or at least mark it to be closed if the system needs the memory. Android will manage it's own processes and keep things open that need to be open.

 

[Railroadmaster]

Android doesn't limit you to 6, and there's almost never a need for a task manager. The 6 icons that show up when you hold the home button are your last 6 used applications. They could be open, closed, suspended, etc. They're not all running.

Simply using the back button to exit an application (or an exit button from a menu) will close the app or at least mark it to be closed if the system needs the memory. Android will manage it's own processes and keep things open that need to be open.

The interface limits you to switching between six not the actual os. The os can technically run as many as on pleases. Though interface on iOs for multitasking is generally more intuitive.

 

[ThreeDog]

personally i have had no problems what so ever migrating from IOS to ANDROID, although i am a life long tech nerd.

 

[Railroadmaster]

I'll give one example of ease of use and it has to do with photo management on a phone:

Grandma has 100 pictures of her grandson and her favorite picture is img_0081.jpg of him on a tricycle.
Her next favorite picture is img_43.jpg of him with an ice-cream smiling. She likes her favorite pictures to show up first in the order she likes to see them.


Using iPhoto, she drags and re-shuffles the photos in the order she want to see them and hits synch.

On Android, she has to rename the file alphabetically. So img_0081.jpg has to be renamed 01_img_0081.jpg if she wants to see it first in the list. Then the second one is renamed 02_img_43.jpg.
Furthermore, the original files are 7 megabytes each and they take forever to load up on her phone. On the iPhone, with iPhoto, the photos are re-resized and optimized for the phone and saves space. The photos on the iPhone are now only 230-400K. So on the Android phone, a 93 photos take up 700 megs and they take forever to open up. The whole experience is a downer.

This has happen to my mom.

There will be a lot of proponents of the drag-n-drop method of just copying the files over. You can invest money into some photo management software that resize and rename the files I suppose.
You can write a Photoshop action script. If you are geeky, you can write a perl script in image-magick to do some of this stuff for you.

But iPhoto is Macintosh only. If you want it to appear first then simply rename the photo.

 

[Railroadmaster]

Android has never really required anyone to be a tech nerd. With anything you have to learn how to use it. I didn't know how to use an iPhone the first time I touched I learned how to use it. I fund Android generally arranges things differently than iOs but actual usage is the same.

 

[mrspeedmaster]

But iPhoto is Macintosh only. If you want it to appear first then simply rename the photo.

That is exactly my point. Try telling that to a 80 year old grandma.

You have to rename all the photos. Can you imagine if your photo library had 1200 images in it?

Then you have to resize/optimize them. If your phone is 16bit like the Nexus One/HTC EVO, you need to re-dither your image for a 16 bit display so it looks good. Otherwise you get banding and other issues.

 

[Railroadmaster]

That is exactly my point. Try telling that to a 80 year old grandma.

You have to rename all the photos. Can you imagine if your photo library had 1200 images in it?

Then you have to resize/optimize them. If your phone is 16bit like the Nexus One/HTC EVO, you need to re-dither your image for a 16 bit display so it looks good. Otherwise you get banding and other issues.

iPhoto happens to work well with an iPhone whats your point? If you don't like the way images look then edit them. Besides Ubuntu Linux is my primary desktop os. I hate having to deal with proprietary software.

 

[srmccoy]

iPhoto happens to work well with an iPhone whats your point? If you don't like the way images look then edit them. Besides Ubuntu Linux is my primary desktop os. I hate having to deal with proprietary software.

Your topic was the difference between ease of use, comparing Android to iOS. He's giving an example of how iPhoto, both desktop and on the iPhone, allow much better photo management than default Android software.

Not sure what your preference for operating system has to do with anything, however.

 

[mrspeedmaster]

iPhoto happens to work well with an iPhone whats your point? If you don't like the way images look then edit them. Besides Ubuntu Linux is my primary desktop os. I hate having to deal with proprietary software.

My point is you ASKED about ease-of-use vis-a-vis iPhone vs Android and I gave you a specific example.
That was just ONLY one example.

 

[Bnice]

Why when justifying how simple the iphone is to used folks use a 60 year old or a 5 year old child?last time i look at the lines for these smart phone it wasn't a five year old making the purchase or an eighty year old.

 

[Railroadmaster]

Your topic was the difference between ease of use, comparing Android to iOS. He's giving an example of how iPhoto, both desktop and on the iPhone, allow much better photo management than default Android software.

Not sure what your preference for operating system has to do with anything, however.

He gives an example of a piece of software that is made by Apple so of course it works well with an iPhone.

 

[Tre Lawrence]

He gives an example of a piece of software that is made by Apple so of course it works well with an iPhone.

I thought it was a fair example, though. Who the product was made for is somewhat inconsequential. His argument is that it is easier to do that particular task on an iPhone, and in this case, it may be hard to refute (or refudiate ).

 

[zerocool79346]

He gives an example of a piece of software that is made by Apple so of course it works well with an iPhone.

You sound to me like you're bitter because he has come up with something that is easier to use and debunked your opinion.

iOS is generally easier to use, that's a fact.

 

[Railroadmaster]

You sound to me like you're bitter because he has come up with something that is easier to use and debunked your opinion.

iOS is generally easier to use, that's a fact.

Yah I guess when comes to managing photos with Apple software. I have generally found the best interface to be the one found on WebOs.

 

[thaden0]

Aside from closing apps, the only real complexity comes from having more options. If people were content to not futz with things it would be as simple as an iphone. But stupid people (being stupid) like to play with things they dont understand. (Why have an option if your not going to use it?) So they change things, try to work the extras.. and they can't.

Its no so much that the android is any more difficult then the iphone to do any given task... its that people want the complicated stuff (that the iphone cant even do) to be as simple as the simple stuff... and when the complicated stuff involves knowing a little bit of techy knowledge they blaim the phones ui.

Apple has choosen to remove any techy stuff so that these stupid people can feel like there getting the most out of there phone. Android allows the techies to do advanced things with their phone, at the cost of giving stupid people the abillity to try to do these techy things and get irritated.

 

[Railroadmaster]

Aside from closing apps, the only real complexity comes from having more options. If people were content to not futz with things it would be as simple as an iphone. But stupid people (being stupid) like to play with things they dont understand. (Why have an option if your not going to use it?) So they change things, try to work the extras.. and they can't.

Its no so much that the android is any more difficult then the iphone to do any given task... its that people want the complicated stuff (that the iphone cant even do) to be as simple as the simple stuff... and when the complicated stuff involves knowing a little bit of techy knowledge they blaim the phones ui.

Apple has choosen to remove any techy stuff so that these stupid people can feel like there getting the most out of there phone. Android allows the techies to do advanced things with their phone, at the cost of giving stupid people the abillity to try to do these techy things and get irritated.

Well what is great about Android is it can be created into something for teckies such as a devices like the HTC Evo 4g and can be created into a phone for the average consumer such as the MyTouch 3g slide.

 

[mrspeedmaster]

Apple has choosen to remove any techy stuff so that these stupid people can feel like there getting the most out of there phone. Android allows the techies to do advanced things with their phone, at the cost of giving stupid people the abillity to try to do these techy things and get irritated.

I know a lot of system administrators, programmers, consultants, mechanical engineers, people who you call techy use the iPhone by choice.

When you can get an Android phone that allows me to SSH and reconfigure my firewall and switches via a Cisco VPN tunnel, get back to me. When you get a phone that allows me to run X11 applications from a million dollar Solaris super computer, get back to me. You must be techy. Heck, I'll even pay you $100 to get my vpn working on my android phones when it is a simple point-n-click on the iPhone.

I'm ragging on you because I always hear this argument about "stupid" people use an iPhone. That is a such a blanket statement. If you want to make a statement like that, lets get into a pissing match: college degrees, job title, technical competencies, proficiency in various programming languages and OSes. We can get nitty gritty technical like building kernels and make our distros.. How about that?

I must be real stupid when I want to add titles to my HD video I just recorded and add transitions,trim and edit video to show the family. Oh, I just got a $2 app that gives my videos professional color grading that all my pro video editors just dropped their jaw and say.. "Thats After Effects on a FONE!!!! That $2 app has the same functionality as a $600 plugin." Oh, I forgot, I can't edit videos on my 3 Android handsets I have in my possession.


The iPhone is a platform. The eco-system is part of that platform. One of the ease-of-use is the ability to consume media content easily and conveniently. I'm sure there will be some who argue against DRM and a wall-garden but I gotta say there are some advantages of that ease-of-consumption.

I'm gonna give another example of ease of use for this thread:

Last year, I was going on vacation with the family. We got delayed in Texas on our way to South America. My 2 year old was fussy (being on a plane for 3 hours already). We were expecting another 12 hour delay in Nicargaua so we decided to spend one night there instead of another layover nightmare in a foreign airport. At the Texas airport, my wife downloaded Samantha Brown's travel guide on Nicaragua via the itune store and bought some PBS children's videos for my fussy toddler. Have in mind, this was all un-planned. My child was quiet and content for the rest of the flight. When we got to the hotel, he watched his video where it left off on our laptops (after a sync). We didn't have to guess whether or not he stopped playing the video at 18:32 and 14 frames. The sync left the exact marker of where my kid stop watching the video before landing. We got a good restaurant recommendation from watching the travel guide documentary. Total cost of satisfaction - $6.

Have in mind, this one done on A SECOND generation iPhone same vintage as the G1. I wonder if a G1 is ever possible of such a feat.

A techy person,like yourself, would sit at the airport and probably google pirate bay sites, try to find a torrent of the video I was looking for. Then download it with no guarantee you'll get it in 40 minutes. Then re-convert the .wmv file to a compatible format that would play on the Android phone...

Now that is ease-of-use and a head-ache free scenario.

 

[IOWA]

You sound to me like you're bitter because he has come up with something that is easier to use and debunked your opinion.

iOS is generally easier to use, that's a fact.

Yeah, because having so many options is a bad thing now

 

[Railroadmaster]

I know a lot of system administrators, programmers, consultants, mechanical engineers, people who you call techy use the iPhone by choice.

When you can get an Android phone that allows me to SSH and reconfigure my firewall and switches via a Cisco VPN tunnel, get back to me. When you get a phone that allows me to run X11 applications from a million dollar Solaris super computer, get back to me. You must be techy. Heck, I'll even pay you $100 to get my vpn working on my android phones when it is a simple point-n-click on the iPhone.

I'm ragging on you because I always hear this argument about "stupid" people use an iPhone. That is a such a blanket statement. If you want to make a statement like that, lets get into a pissing match: college degrees, job title, technical competencies, proficiency in various programming languages and OSes. We can get nitty gritty technical like building kernels and make our distros.. How about that?

I must be real stupid when I want to add titles to my HD video I just recorded and add transitions,trim and edit video to show the family. Oh, I just got a $2 app that gives my videos professional color grading that all my pro video editors just dropped their jaw and say.. "Thats After Effects on a FONE!!!! That $2 app has the same functionality as a $600 plugin." Oh, I forgot, I can't edit videos on my 3 Android handsets I have in my possession.


The iPhone is a platform. The eco-system is part of that platform. One of the ease-of-use is the ability to consume media content easily and conveniently. I'm sure there will be some who argue against DRM and a wall-garden but I gotta say there are some advantages of that ease-of-consumption.

I'm gonna give another example of ease of use for this thread:

Last year, I was going on vacation with the family. We got delayed in Texas on our way to South America. My 2 year old was fussy (being on a plane for 3 hours already). We were expecting another 12 hour delay in Nicargaua so we decided to spend one night there instead of another layover nightmare in a foreign airport. At the Texas airport, my wife downloaded Samantha Brown's travel guide on Nicaragua via the itune store and bought some PBS children's videos for my fussy toddler. Have in mind, this was all un-planned. My child was quiet and content for the rest of the flight. When we got to the hotel, he watched his video where it left off on our laptops (after a sync). We didn't have to guess whether or not he stopped playing the video at 18:32 and 14 frames. The sync left the exact marker of where my kid stop watching the video before landing. We got a good restaurant recommendation from watching the travel guide documentary. Total cost of satisfaction - $6.

Have in mind, this one done on A SECOND generation iPhone same vintage as the G1. I wonder if a G1 is ever possible of such a feat.

A techy person,like yourself, would sit at the airport and probably google pirate bay sites, try to find a torrent of the video I was looking for. Then download it with no guarantee you'll get it in 40 minutes. Then re-convert the .wmv file to a compatible format that would play on the Android phone...

Now that is ease-of-use and a head-ache free scenario.

So the iPhone makes it easier to get multimedia content and I care? Google has decided not create there own content store because manufacturers and carriers can create there own. Example Samsung media hub will essentially be like iTunes offering the same on the go functionality to purchase Movies, Music, Books, Magazines and tv also you get live tv by Mobitv or vcast. So I would be able to do practically the same thing on Many Android phones it is just better executed on an iPhone. However htere are many great games available for Android that I could download. I could easily distract a kid with a tetris clone, bubblebreaker clone, doodle jump or doodle jump clone, or bejeweled game.

 

[mrspeedmaster]

So the iPhone makes it easier to get multimedia content and I care? Google has decided not create there own content store because manufacturers and carriers can create there own. Example Samsung media hub will essentially be like iTunes offering the same on the go functionality to purchase Movies, Music, Books, Magazines and tv also you get live tv by Mobitv or vcast. So I would be able to do practically the same thing on Many Android phones it is just better executed on an iPhone.

I have a Samsung Galaxy S. I just clicked on Media Hub and it says "coming" soon. So it is not here yet. There is no mention of books.

So the iPhone makes it easier to get multimedia content and I care?

Whether you care or not is irrelevant. You made this thread titled "ease-of-use" so you open yourself to replies. The fact is, as of now, it is very easy to consume content on iOS. It is very easy for the consumer and it works. It has been working for years whereas the "media hub" on my Galaxy S phone is hype and vaporware until it actually works.

However htere are many great games available for Android that I could download. I could easily distract a kid with a tetris clone, bubblebreaker clone, doodle jump or doodle jump clone, or bejeweled game.

A 2 year old knows how to play bubblebreaker?