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Is Android too hard for the average user to figure out?

I think saying that a 10% (or whatever Apple and other retailers were offering) discount on iOS devices on Black Friday equates to Android is harder to use, makes no sense.
Look, you can get plenty of Android phones on contract for little to nothing. Yes, I believe you can get an iPhone 4 for free, but that's just one (outdated) phone.
It's likely just a lot of folks looking to snag an iPad, and since they rarely if ever go on sale, this is the one opportunity to do it.
 
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Lies, damn lies and statistics. Add to that, the inferences of a iOS fanboy writer and Shazam...Android is too hard for the typical user!

Lets turn that around shall we? Android users are more intelligent than iOS users. Typical holiday purchasers found Android too difficult to learn and instead chose the dumbed down device. The statistics prove it.

FWIW, I don't think anyone's intelligence is based on phone or tablet choice. This article kind of surprises me though. It was typical of apple marketing to put out this drivel over the past couple of years, along with the slew of "we have more apps" bs, but they seemed to have moved away from this type of stuff of late. Guess not!
 
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I don't know how you get from black Friday sales numbers to "Android is too hard for the average user." If you want to convince me that Android is too hard for the average user, you need to get some people who have never used either iOS or Android and then give half of them an iOS device and the other half an Android device, let them play with it and then later ask them to do some tasks like send an email, or other task and compare the success rate.

If you are going to show me sales numbers, my thoughts on the reason for these sales numbers is that Apple has greater brand name recognition. Ask people who do not own a smartphone and more people will know of or heard of an iPhone than a Android phone. When I first was interested in getting a smartphone, I have heard of an iPhone, but not an Android phone.
 
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You know, I'm about three weeks into using my first android smartphone (former iPhone 3GS user). The paradigm that I see is this...computers and software, in general, very seldom hit that sweet spot between function and usability. The iPhone gets pretty close, but what I've found is that the iPhone suffers from that dumbed down, super simplified and uncustomizable UI. Truth be told...it IS kind of dull and boring; but it DOES work.
Not to be like that, but for someone like my wife, the office secretary, or that other guy in the office who is always trying to open a Word document in Excel and wonders why it doesn't look right...the iPhone is PERFECT for them. Sad to say, they aren't READY for anything more than that. I've observed that THIS is the same crowd who are incapable or just plain old not interested in understanding what an actual operating system is, much less understand the term "File System" or "files on the File System"(which is the BEST feature of Android IMO...actually having file system access)

Android is for people who want usability and functionality...but they want freedom too. (and a bigger screen LOL)
 
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Lies, damn lies and statistics. Add to that, the inferences of a iOS fanboy writer and Shazam...Android is too hard for the typical user!

Lets turn that around shall we? Android users are more intelligent than iOS users. Typical holiday purchasers found Android too difficult to learn and instead chose the dumbed down device. The statistics prove it.

FWIW, I don't think anyone's intelligence is based on phone or tablet choice. This article kind of surprises me though. It was typical of apple marketing to put out this drivel over the past couple of years, along with the slew of "we have more apps" bs, but they seemed to have moved away from this type of stuff of late. Guess not!

And to add to this, Apple products are always overpriced, imo, so when they go on mega sale, those who have wanted them but can't afford the regular price, are going to purchase them on sale, where as Android products are always comparatively affordable.
 
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There are lots of great things about the iPhone interface, including the touchscreen responsiveness, but the idea that Android is too hard is ridiculous. I often have to help iPhone users at work.

One of my co-workers couldn't sync his iPhone to iTunes after the iOS update because his Mac operating system was too old, and Apple wanted him to pay over $100 to upgrade the OS to install a new version of iTunes. Luckily, there was a workaround (which I found through some Googling).

And most of my iPhone-using co-workers, when I ask them to go into settings for an email setting immediately go to Mail instead of to Settings... because that's the intuitive thing to do (change a mail setting, to to Mail, not Settings), but that's not how iOS works. In iOS, you go to Settings. In Android, for email settings, you go to Email.
 
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i think an average 5th grade student can figure out to use android.

it dont take much... to use android.. effectively.
I think you are right. 5th graders these days can manage easily. But for a 75 year old it is not so obvious. I have my Nexus 7 as first Android device since 3 days and I am struggeling. But I won't give up.
 
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I bought my dad an iPod last Christmas. He uses it all the time. He has no problems using it.

I recently bought a Nexus 7, and showed him. He had a few questions, but caught on fast. He even downloaded an app without my help . All I had to do is point to the Google Play icon. He logged onto the app and used it.

He admired the JB 4.2 voice input. We tested it out in a notepad app, everything he said came out perfectly in text.

We found a hunting app on Google Play. He said he wanted it on his iPod and searched for it, couldn't find it. I researched on Google for it. Sure enough, it didn't exist for iOS. Ironic isn't it?

He also liked widgets, the back button, changeable keyboard, and the PowerAmp app. His favorite feature is the ability to drag and drop files from his computer. BTW, he hates iTunes.

Overall, everything he did with his iPod, he did with my android device with no problem. There are some hidden features that he didn't know about and I had to explain to him. These features don't exist on iOS.
 
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So, this is the iphone android debate..!! I have been a loyal android user for years now. Have used 1.6 and now on ice cream sandwich and IT IS GREAT. Android is not at all difficult but then again like someone mentioned my mom or someone would have a tough time using it. But I love the android any day. Must have taken me about a day or so to figure out everything on it. Didn't know that the iPhone has been "dumbed down". I prefer to keep discovering new things on my phone.
 
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i think an average 5th grade student can figure out to use android.

it dont take much... to use android.. effectively.

Are you smarter than a 5th grader? :)

I think you are right. 5th graders these days can manage easily. But for a 75 year old it is not so obvious. I have my Nexus 7 as first Android device since 3 days and I am struggeling. But I won't give up.

My parents can barely manage to use a flip phone.

Regarding iOS vs. Android, I find that if you are used to one, the other will be confusing at times.
 
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I really did not anticipate this thread to become another Android vs. iOS discussion. The question that was raised in the article is that 75% of the on-line orders that were issued from mobile devices came from iOS systems whilst they are only 25% of the mobile population - 75% of the mobile population is Android based.

This is an interesting phenomenon indeed and the authors did not really suggest any hard core reason. So it is open to speculation/suggestions.
 
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I think apple prices are over priced especially the new iPhone with barely any new features. It seems like with every new device they announce one new feature that most other phones have. I find Android easy to learn once you get into it and really use it it becomes a breeze. For iPhone I find it that the reason why it seems easy is because it doesn't have much to work with. Just my two cents. :)
 
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I know people who can't work out how to use an iPhone. In fact sometimes they've sold them on and gone back to the flip-phones that they know.

Last night, I had difficulty explaining to a colleague that I couldn't go downloading an app that they wanted with my computer using my iTunes account, and put it on their iPhone.

I still haven't fully worked out how you're supposed to get paid apps for iOS in China. How you're supposed to pay for them. Android is easy, Google Play is free apps only....end of.
 
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This is interesting. What do you think.

Read here


Shopping on my phone isn't too difficult, it is simply ******ed to do it when I have several perfectly good computers to do it on.

I apologize if I let the android army down, but if I'm going to do anything besides dinking around online, I'm going to use a computer. The only shopping I do with my phone is when I'm price checking with the amazon app while wandering around in another store.
 
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I really did not anticipate this thread to become another Android vs. iOS discussion. The question that was raised in the article is that 75% of the on-line orders that were issued from mobile devices came from iOS systems whilst they are only 25% of the mobile population - 75% of the mobile population is Android based.

This is an interesting phenomenon indeed and the authors did not really suggest any hard core reason. So it is open to speculation/suggestions.

The article suggests that the reason for 75% of the online orders were from iOS devices while 75% of the mobile population is Android is that Android is too hard for the average person. Here is the quote from the article:

I think it comes down to one rather simple but key difference between the two platforms.
iOS is easier to use than Android. Or, flipping that around, Android is too hard for the average user to figure out.

I would say this is quite a stretch.
 
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In general I think it is a stretch. With Android like with any other OS you need a warming up phase. I remember the struggle I had the first few days with Windows and now I can do anything on a PC.

But there are some things that could be easier. I just spent 2 hours rooting my brand new Nexus 7 (which is my first Android device). It was a struggle. I wish they had 1 button in Android to do that.
 
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