Windows Phone 7 UI vs Android

[PinkMirrorKirby]

"most Android phones on the market now runs Android 2.1 and 2.2"

lol, 2.1 and 2.2 are different versions. so what you just said is that most android phones are still fragmented

Not as fragmented as before, before was Android 1.6, 2.1 and 2.2 fragmentations.

 

[JevyJav]

if we want to talk about google's priorities, they are an advertising company and have a legal duty to their shareholders to increase ad revenue at all costs. They just view android as a platform to increase advertising, not as a quality experience for the user.

Steve Ballmer is that you?

 

[uzetaab]

lol

your designs are ok. i never liked the whole idea of widgets, i think the live tiles idea is much better in wp7.

but the point there is much more to a ui than your customized theme. like transitions, camera app interface, etc.

plus, most android users will not customize their phone. so if you have pics of stock android to post, that would be more beneficial.

I'm sorry, but your whole argument dies right there. What you essentially just said is:

"If we ignore the main feature designed to make android look pretty*, then it is quite ugly"

*It's also a feature designed to make the phone far more functional. On an amusing side note, you could use an Android phone with the exact same ad campaign that MS are doing. With widgets you can get all the information you want at a glance. The same can't be said of Apple though I guess.

Frankly, tiles = widgets since they both provide the same functions.

Also, the whole point to the stock google interface is to allow users the ability to customise it however they want (Sorry Jobbs, but that's a pretty good definition of open in my dictionary). Saying that we can only compare stock Android to Win Ph 7 is not a fair argument because of this.

Having said all that, my next phone is likely to be win 7. Not because I think it's superior (nor do I think it's inferior, just different), but because I like new toys & a new android phone just wont excite me as much. It'll just be what I already have with a better camera or something.

 

[AndroidSPCS]

lol

your designs are ok. i never liked the whole idea of widgets, i think the live tiles idea is much better in wp7.

but the point there is much more to a ui than your customized theme. like transitions, camera app interface, etc.

plus, most android users will not customize their phone. so if you have pics of stock android to post, that would be more beneficial.

ROFLMAO!!!!

Widgets are what makes Android home screens the most awesome!!

Are you a Microsoft employee???

WP7's tile interface is the most fugly interface I have seen, bar none.

I'd rather go back to a DOS screen!!!

The tile interface on WP7 looks like a bunch of random sized blocks glued together... remind me of something like this:

BARF!!!!

 

[Light Speed1]

The WP7 homescreen is really nice and customizable with whatever tiles you want on it. But, last time I checked there was more to an interface than the homescreen. maybe you read past the original post of this thread?

 

[AndroidSPCS]

The WP7 homescreen is really nice and customizable with whatever tiles you want on it. But, last time I checked there was more to an interface than the homescreen. maybe you read past the original post of this thread?

And there are more to Android than a simple task killer app that you're comparing to WP7's screen for games.

This entire thread is pretty much bogus.

 

[lunatic59]

This entire thread is pretty much bogus.

No, it's entirely bogus.

 

[Light Speed1]

And there are more to Android than a simple task killer app that you're comparing to WP7's screen for games.

This entire thread is pretty much bogus.

thats because android doesnt even have a game network to compare it to. iphone has game center, wp7 has xbox live, and android has nothing.

 

[zerocool79346]

thats because android doesnt even have a game network to compare it to. iphone has game center, wp7 has xbox live, and android has nothing.

obvious troll is obvious.

 

[Light Speed1]

how is that trolling? do you have a gaming network integrated like xbox live and game center, with achievements, requests, etc.?

 

[5280Man]

Last time I checked I wasn't looking for a gaming console in my phone. Others may be, but I'm not. So you're comparing Android and wp7 based purely on the gaming console? Really?? All you have addressed since your first post is gaming due to that is the pic you posted. And as you stated earlier "last time I checked there is more to an interface than the homescreen." I couldn't agree more. How about comparing apples to apples rather than apples to oranges to try to make an invalid argument. Now let me introduce YOU to what all is involved in making an operational and usable OS outside of your example of comparing a gaming UI to a task killer app.

Does the wp7 UI look nice? Yes, I think so. Does it look cluttered? To some it does. To make an OS workable it has to be usable by many and that includes being clean. Not cluttered, not too many options, make the options easy to select on the screen and not overwhelming. This is the main obstacle of UI's today. Everyone wants these really nice gui UI's, but that can work against the objective at hand. And that is to make it functional! Too many options make it too hard to quickly select items on the screen. So, multiple homescreens have become popular to help group related options. Like a homescreen for music, one for messaging, one for work and one as your main screen with the options for the tasks that you do the most all day. Widgets are what google came up with to aid in that. wp7 has come up with tiles and hubs. No real difference, they both have their unique attributes though.

wp7 looks nice, but what about it's performance? That is yet to be seen. I'm excited to see what happens with it. I'll be watching it and even hoping to get one some day to check it out. I believe it will be a major player in the market but it has some proving to do. To come on here and start throwing out comments like you are is premmature and immature. Part of what really makes an OS a better one is performance! Remember, these little devices have limited resources and OS's have to work within those restraints. There has been alot of thought put into the Android OS to help it run efficiently within this environment. You can write all the lines of code you want, you can add all the color you want, all the pics and icons you want, you can write an OS to do anything. But write an OS to run fast and efficient within a piece of hardware with limited resources is a whole different animal! We all know how MS writes code, and it's not indicative of an environment with limited resources.

Do I believe wp7 will be a good OS, yes I do. But it needs to be proven first and I would NEVER come out and say that it's WAY better than Android, a proven OS that is gaining momentum the likes this industry has never seen before!

 

[Light Speed1]

5280man, one of the main priorities of wp7 is battery efficiency. everything is optimized, and that is why there is no multitasking, because all apps are tombstoned in the background. They wanted to avoid having an "android situation" like when the evo, it has a 2 hour battery life.

anyways. what else does wp7 need "to prove," we've seen it on video for months and it has been reviewed by hundreds of sites, what else exactly needs to be proven?

 

[conor.in]

They wanted to avoid having an "android situation" like when the evo, it has a 2 hour battery life.

This is garbage. The Evo's battery life is not fantastic, but credit that to the 4.3'' slate display, not app management on Android's behalf. Also, most people get through a day with the Evo, albiet with some usage concessions. I do commend WP7 for it's efforts on the battery side, but hyperbole has no place here.

anyways. what else does wp7 need "to prove," we've seen it on video for months and it has been reviewed by hundreds of sites, what else exactly needs to be proven?

As I said in my reply to this exact question in the other thread, there are many factors that remain unforseen in development and early reviews. Once it gets into the hands of real-world end users and they use it daily for a period of months, then this OS can be considered "proven."

 

[pastafarian]

Everytime I start to consider WP7 as a viable mobile OS alternative, I think back to my WinMo days and the Who's "Won't get fooled again" starts playing softly in my head.

 

[Light Speed1]

wp7 is nothing like windows mobile

 

[Johnny Alien]

Google just doesnt care about the end user experience

All you have shown are screen shots of visual design. No one that I have met has actually handled a Windows Phone 7 device so "user experience" cannot be determined. It looks very nice but the usability could be utter crap. I have heard many minor complaints of usability oddities in reviews. Keep in mind that user centered design is separate from visual design. A crappy looking website with 1996 visual designs might also be one of the most well thought out and easy to use websites ever. I will withhold judgement as so far Windows track record with making easy to use interfaces has not been very good.

 

[Thefoodman52]

The Windows Phone 7 UI has thought put into it.
The android 3rd party devs do not focus on design. They do not care about...

OP's face right about now:

 

[Light Speed1]

haha

 

[Light Speed1]

All you have shown are screen shots of visual design.

you must have skipped post 14 where i posted a video

 

[Thefoodman52]

you must have skipped post 14 where i troll'd

 

[conor.in]

you must have skipped post 14 where i posted a video

And guess what the video showed?
Visual design.

 

[Light Speed1]

it showed usability too

how is it not showing usability? looks a lot easier and faster than any android phone

 

[Thefoodman52]

it showed usability too

how is it not showing usability?

Seriously?

 

[Johnny Alien]

And guess what the video showed?
Visual design.

Exactly. I have seen plenty of videos showing people scrolling through it but what I haven't done is use it myself to see if it works the way I would want it to. I know that the Zune UI does not work nearly as well as the iPod or some of the Android music builds. I also know that MS is notoriously bad with usability. This is why I refuse to judge Windows Phone 7 on looks alone. I agree it does LOOK nice but that is not what user design is about. Something you keep missing in your posts about the usability of Android.

When the new Zune UI hit the market it was supposed to be a huge iPod killer as well and look where that got MS.

Also I refuse to think any OS that uses a browser based on IE7 is a well thought out design. I am glad that MS wants to take mobile web standards back 5 years.

 

[conor.in]

Seriously?

All of your posts in this and the other WP7 vs. Android thread have been amazing.