When will the iphone have widgets & live wallpapers?

[ZDroid1]

Before the iphone 4 came out, I would have bet money on it. Almost every iphone user I know, including those who think iphoned are better than androids, concede that widgets and live wallpapers are a huge advantage and a big deal.

These two features really distinguish the android system because they're visible and obvious even to the average user who otherwise couldn't care less about the other technical differences.

Now I'm betting those two features will be in the iphone 5.

I wonder then what obvious advantages the android will have over the iphone.

 

[MassacrMan]

Not being developed by a ridiculous company.

 

[itpromike]

Before the iphone 4 came out, I would have bet money on it. Almost every iphone user I know, including those who think iphoned are better than androids, concede that widgets and live wallpapers are a huge advantage and a big deal.

These two features really distinguish the android system because they're visible and obvious even to the average user who otherwise couldn't care less about the other technical differences.

Now I'm betting those two features will be in the iphone 5.

I wonder then what obvious advantages the android will have over the iphone.

Honestly if you want to be objective about it... there will be no real advantage after that, just perceived value which changes from person to person. I just want the widgets... live wallpapers are meh... not really useful for anything. That's not to say it's not nice to have but honestly it's good for looking at/being a distraction and taking up more memory/CPU. It reminds me of the livewallpaper fad that happened in Windows XP and then tried to make a comeback in Windows Vista after Microsoft bought out that dream scape company...

 

[AH1z]

Before the iphone 4 came out, I would have bet money on it. Almost every iphone user I know, including those who think iphoned are better than androids, concede that widgets and live wallpapers are a huge advantage and a big deal.

These two features really distinguish the android system because they're visible and obvious even to the average user who otherwise couldn't care less about the other technical differences.

Now I'm betting those two features will be in the iphone 5.

I wonder then what obvious advantages the android will have over the iphone.

Live wallpaper not so big of a deal, but I can't imagine not having widgets. Its a huge part of day-to-day phone use, and takes what could be complex task, and turns them into a tap away...

As for Apple... I want to "root" for this company but Apple sucks, and so does the iPhone. Apple is extremely good at marketing, and making possible customers think their product is superior when in fact it's not. They do this by the look of their product, name tagging, and fad like tactics.

Back around 2001 apple was (and still is) trying to compete with Microsoft. They had a hard time getting into the general users PC customer base so they started pushing the idea that's still around today that Apple computers are better for graphic design, and visual arts related apps, which is a complete load of crap. The computer I built back then (on a budget) completely smoked Apples best "graphic design" computers that the college I was in just bought. I couldn't stand having to use them in school. But hey, at least their case was a clear red, and looked like it was meant for artists...

I said all that to compare what Apple is trying to do now. It's the same thing. I looked heavily into the iPhone 4 because of all the hype. How could a product be bad with so many people talking about it? Why are so many people talking about it? What I found out was what I stated above. (look of their product, name tagging, and fad like tactics.) I ended up buying the htc evo 4 hand haven't looked back.

When the iPhone 5 comes out I hope to God they've left AT&T in the dust, or at least completely fixed both the phone and network problems. Thats like the bare bone basics... Of course their should be more features like widgets, faster cpu, better interface, etc. As good as Android 2.2 is now it's only going to get better unless they completely screw something up bad. Internet speed, UI , and being able to connect to you're computer I see as being big on the list. Along with the way the system manages battery power.

 

[marefin]

If Apple is smart they would add some of these newer features like widgets and live wallpapers to the iPhone. But with Steve Jobs leading the team, there is a very good chance that he might do something to screw up things up.

To be honest, at first I didn't really care for the widgets. But after trying a few out, I really can't go without them. Especially calender widgets. Live wallpapers I don't use unless I just wanna show off the beautiful Captivate screen to iPhone 4 fan boys/girls.

 

[HustlinDaily]

And when will they get
Flash?
Google Navigation?
Google Voice?
Swype?

Once they get all those things plus widgets, then they are on Android's level.

 

[smoke_weed]

they can get it after they stop creating iphones and kiss googles cheecks

 

[marefin]

And when will they get
Flash?
Google Navigation?
Google Voice?
Swype?

Once they get all those things plus widgets, then they are on Android's level.

haha the day Jobs allows flash on his precious little iPhones is the day ....... damn i can't think of anything clever ..... well it's not gonna happen.

 

[MarcMaiden]

The Iphone is not a bad product. Apple products in general are amazing products. However, Iphone 4 was the first Iphone released where it was not as revolutionary as the others were. When the first 3 iphones came out, there was nothing to really compete with it. Even android had no chance to compete with it because the device was out performing it with any of the android devices released up until fall of last year.

where am I getting at?


By the time the next Iphone comes out, I believe Android will have taken over the phone market completely, and while apple will still do well, Android will win in the hardware and innovation part of the game. (who knows what OS we will be using come next summer).


so in conclusion, when the Iphone finally gets widgets, Android will probably get little robotic arms that come out of the phone to physically show you the weather and time

 

[jroc]

Yea Live Wallpapers is just to say "oh look at this!" Widgets are actually useful once u try some out. How hard is it actually for Apple to just include some widgets on their iPhones? It cant be that hard.

Cmon Apple, some widgets here n there wont hurt.

 

[marefin]

IMO iPhones were never revolutionary now that I think about it. I'll be honest, when the iPhone 3G came out I thought it was the most amazing thing to happen since sliced bread. But now I realize nearly every thing the iPhone had and has now have been around in other phones for a while now. Examples:

1. "Multitasking" on iPhone 4 is not revolutionary by any means

2. The front facing camera has been around for good bit on Nokia phones, tho not sure about other ones

Can't think of others at the moment, but iPhone's success lies primarily on marketing and not on innovations of the product itself.

 

[jroc]

^Then there's the whole LG Prada thing I dont think too many ppl know about...I dont really know the whole story behind the LG Prada and the first iPhone but it is very interesting....

 

[prophet of doom]

A jail broken iphone has had swype for a long time so thats not a biggie... that being said thats about all it had in that list..... it will never have flash and i doubt the OS will ever change.. Thats why i have made the move from my 3g to the DX. I was tired of the same ol "meat and potatoes"

 

[marefin]

When the iPhone 4 came out I honestly did think about getting one (before the antenna fiasco started). But then I realized that the iPhone 4 was not offering that NEWER FEATURES that I was not already able to do with my jailbroken iPhone 3G. Yes the screen looked pretty and the camera took nice pictures, but it honestly stopped there. And for me to truly use the phone properly I would've had to jailbreak it again and I still wouldn't be able to do everything properly as I could with an Android.

 

[Rhonen]

Considering it took 3 years to get wallpapers on the iphone, I'm guessing it'll be another 3 years before they get widgets, and 3 years after that before they get live wallpapers.

However, those aren't even Androids biggest advantages. Android's biggest advantages are open platform (manufacturer/carrier independant) and google app integration. Apple will never have them and they are the main differentiator between the two platforms.

With Nav, Voice, Voice Actions, Goggles, etc., Google easily has the best mobile apps, free or not. Cloud integration to Google/apps is second to none. Apple is so far behind in these areas, getting widgets and live wallpapers won't change anything.

 

[mike1]

never

 

[MrX8503]

The same people who believes Apple "invents" or were the "first" to do something are just as delusional as the people who think the success of the iPhone was based mostly on marketing.

Stop kidding yourselves and give credit where it's due. Sheep are sheep, they aren't exclusive to Apple.

 

[itpromike]

The same people who believes Apple "invents" or were the "first" to do something are just as delusional as the people who think the success of the iPhone was based mostly on marketing.

Stop kidding yourselves and give credit where it's due. Sheep are sheep, they aren't exclusive to Apple.

Great quote, I love it. I hate fanboys on either side... I have both Android and iPhone and peoples one sided opinions based on things they read on blogs and isolated experiences they've had with 'their friends phone' they used one time or a phone in the store they used for about 20 minutes make me laugh. The funniest thing however is when they pass off their limited experience based opinion as fact or law. Fun times, really...

 

[Tre Lawrence]

Here is some food for thought: does Apple need widgets or live wallpapers to be successful?

 

[di11igaf]

edit:NV

 

[ZDroid1]

Di11igif,

That's a weak point imo. Of course the iphone can do the things you mentioned. The iphone is just hardware. with the right software, we can make do lots of things.

When we say it can't do something, we're mainly talking about the vast majority of users. We're talking about the "out of the box" experience.

Nobody thought that mms or copy/paste was beyond the iphone's reach hardware wise. The fact that you had to hack it to get such features that any piece of crap phone at the time could do, was ridiculous.

I haven't rooted or hacked or flashed my Android in any way, and I don't intend to, by the way. Not all off us here are into that stuff.