iPhone or Android?

[God Dammit]

I have a question and it would be nice to hear from some of the hard core Apple fans (assuming any actually know about this site). I'm wondering if it's worth replacing my Nexus One phone with an iPhone 4. I hear a lot of talk about how Apple's ridiculously priced MobileMe service offers more than what a free Gmail account offers on an Android phone. What exactly does Apple offer that Google doesn't? Apple's web site doesn't say. Also, what does iOS4 offer that the Android OS doesn't? Any Apple experts around that can go into detail?

 

[Chroma]

Edit: I will say one thing, do you like those keys at the bottom? Back, home, home long press, options? Then you'll be pulling your hair out if you want that iphone.

Source: Me, had an iPhone for 3 years, then a Nexus 1, then jumped back to iPhone for client testing

 

[mcapozzi]

Apple offers consistency.

Same OS, same look and feel, same hardware.

And they have a LOT of apps. The only one I really want is Angry Birds.

If you are a slave to Google (like me) and ALL your information is stored in their cloud, an iPhone might not be the best fit.

-Mike

 

[Isthmus]

This thread again? To the OP. This topic gets started about once a week. try a brief search of this section and you should find several threads that discuss opinions pro and against. They should be very helpful in helping determine your decision, and might help you narrow the focus of your questions to more specific aspects of the device.

BTW, IMHO, the new Iphone doesn't do anything that the EVO and the Incredible don't already do (and those phones do more). other than the new gyroscopic chip in the new Iphone (whose application has not yet been demonstrated), the new Iphone is really only comming up to speed with the latest batch of high end Android phones. I strongly suspect that the newest releases being rumored to hit store shelves within the next 6 months will more than out-do the Iphone and current Android phones from both a hardware POV (from a software POV they should all be running 2.2)

 

[mkeath]

other than the new gyroscopic chip in the new Iphone (whose application has not yet been demonstrated)

YouTube - iPhone 4 Gyroscope - WWDC 2010

 

[God Dammit]

Apple offers consistency.

Same OS, same look and feel, same hardware.

And they have a LOT of apps. The only one I really want is Angry Birds.

If you are a slave to Google (like me) and ALL your information is stored in their cloud, an iPhone might not be the best fit.

-Mike

It's a well known fact that Apple approves apps only to remove them later because they don't like them (not because they don't work or don't work as advertised). One of the biggest examples was the I am Rich app. Was it questionable? Yes. Illegal or deceitful? No. Apple is also very reluctant to allow apps that duplicate the functionality of their own apps and they impose their political views by not allowing pictures of, say, Obama in apps for example.

 

[God Dammit]

Can anyone please tell me what MobileMe does that Gmail doesn't? Or does Gmail really offer the MobileMe experience for free?

 

[mkeath]

Can anyone please tell me what MobileMe does that Gmail doesn't? Or does Gmail really offer the MobileMe experience for free?

Wipe your iPhone remotely.

 

[ashykat]

I'll get a lot of crap for this, but the iPhone is better for certain types of people.

MobileMe syncs your contacts, mail, calendar, all like Gmail does. But it also adds iDisk (store and share files online), find my iphone (gps tracking, remote wipe) and a web gallery for pictures and stuff.

Now there are (free) solutions to all of this on Android. You can use dropbox for remote file storage and retrieval, there are apps like "Where's my Droid" for GPS tracking. Basically you are paying for things you can get for free on Android. Now I don't know this for sure, but I assume Apple's solution is "more elegant" as it usually is, but is it worth another $100 a year?

When I used an iPhone I just used google sync for my contacts, mail, and calendar. If you jailbreak your iPhone you can load GPS tracking programs that can't be turned off as easily as mobileme as well. So there are definite advantages there. Dropbox is also available for free on iPhone. So, even if you go with iPhone you don't need to buy mobileme. I really don't see any sense in doing so.


Apple does offer consistency. There aren't multiple menus everywhere, and things are pretty easy to figure out. Want settings? Go to the settings app. Etc.

It boils down to this. If you want a clean, simple, and not very customizable UI go with an iPhone. It does what most need it to do. There are a lot of great apps from great developers. You can always add more functionality and customizability by jailbreaking. There aren't as many little bugs (I didn't have issues with force closing apps like I have had with Android) and the hardware is very nice.

If you want to customize your phone any way you want, not be limited to apps allowed by Apple, have the freedom to tweak and change basically everything. Go with Android. It's gotten a lot better since the G1 days (the first Android phone I owned) and is getting better every day. There are a lot of great apps and developers are definitely working on more. I still don't think there's quite as much polish on Android as iPhone, but that's changing rapidly as well.

Good luck on whatever you decide. Just remember if you decide on iPhone, most of the users here won't care/don't want to hear about it/will flame you relentlessly for it.

 

[God Dammit]

The ability to wipe a lost/stolen phone remotely isn't worth some astronomical price like $99. As for iDisk, I believe Gmail gives you at least a couple gigs of storage space which is more than enough. In the USA most ISP's don't offer a fast enough upload speed to upload large amounts of data. Uploading a single ultra high quality picture can take an eternity unless you compress the heck out of it. So, once again it seems Apple is ripping people off. Nothing Apple offers on MobileMe (including the pretty interface) is worth $99.

 

[Cajun83]

Wipe your iPhone remotely.

an annual subscription to Wave secure can do the same thing (plus a bunch of other stuff)... for 19.95.

Wave Secure can Lock and Wipe remotely, backup and restore locally or remotely, Location tracking and SIM tracking...

You can also install "Uninstall protection" incase someone steals your phone protected by wave secure, figures it out and tries to uninstall wavesecure... phone will lock up for good.

 

[takeshi]

I'll get a lot of crap for this, but the iPhone is better for certain types of people.

That's true of any option out there. It's the fanboys (regardless of camp) that think otherwise.

Now I don't know this for sure, but I assume Apple's solution is "more elegant" as it usually is, but is it worth another $100 a year?

...and worth is highly subjective. For many, the Apple brand is worth the premium.

 

[Isthmus]

YouTube - iPhone 4 Gyroscope - WWDC 2010

I meant in a finished real world application, not in private demonstration software.