Evo OS

[t1jordan]

I live in a house with two Iphone 4's. So it's a constant battle everyday. I always here people say things like the " The Evo is to big and hard to use, so I purchased a Iphone". I guess its all good. The Iphone is nice but it feels like a toy or something for a girl. Sometimes it takes a few minutes for me to navigate thru the OS. What do you think?

 

[The Dorian]

Well this forum is gonna be biased...

I think Sense UI and stock Android destroy iOS in every way possible.

 

[t1jordan]

I agree, Maybe because we use the Android all the time. But it just seems simple to me. Everything is menu or back. I don't see why people find that hard to get. Especially the BB lovers. There OS just sucks. But it's hard to get them to see the benefits Android.

 

[The Dorian]

I thought the same (of Android compared to iOS) even before I owned either. It's all about the customizability (is that a word?) for me.

 

[t1jordan]

I thought the same (of Android compared to iOS) even before I owned either. It's all about the customizability (is that a word?) for me.

Its all good.

 

[EarlyMon]

Here's a possible approach. Save your setup under Personalize-> Scenes.

Now use the iPhone skinning app and make a nice layout with a screen or two like that, save under a different Scene name.

Then show how EVO can present itself same as iPhone and that's a learning tool to get to the more feature-ful interface - then present the other scene.

Just an idea....

 

[gamblor01]

I honestly think that the UI on the iPhone is a bit more polished than Android. Some of the animations are smoother (for example, flicking between home screens) and there are some other little things I think are good (for example, when you rotate an Android phone the screen just simply "snaps" to the new orientation. When you rotate an iPhone you'll see the screen actually rotate on the display. Is this necessary? No -- but I kind of like it).

That being said, there is no chance I would give up my Evo for an iPhone. My brother-in-law (I guess -- it's my in law's boyfriend?) got an iPhone 4 but was very impressed by my Evo, particularly the size and brightness of the display. He even suggested that he might have bought the Evo if he had seen it first.

There are some quirky things in Android but I think the HTC Sense UI makes things considerably better. For example, my mom has a Samsung Moment, and even after upgrading it to Android 2.1 for her, I still think it is a bit clunky in areas. It's definitely not as snazzy looking as my Evo, doesn't have as many home screens, etc.

I just upgraded my Evo to Android 2.2 yesterday and I think there are a few more tweaks to make the user experience even better. At the end of the day however, millions of people are using phones that run Android and market share is only climbing. If it were really that impossible to use I don't think it would as pervasive as it is.

I love my Evo and everyone that has played with it does as well. I know some reviewers have said battery life is awful (i.e. fully charge the phone and then it has low battery after 6 hours of NO use), but I think they have defective batteries. My phone will last at least 2 days with moderate use and my co-worker had his last 4 days (granted he didn't do much but send a few text messages and make a few calls).

I'm a bit biased but I would definitely say go with the Evo. The screen isn't too big -- it fits into my pocket just fine and honestly isn't that much larger than the iPhone. It just happens to use the real estate better so that it provides a larger display. The overall physical dimensions of the phones really aren't significantly different. I have had a few iPhone owners drool over my screen. Maybe you can too!

 

[Thefoodman52]

Well, the UI experience on Android is a bit subjective... for me, I'm not a real big fan of Sense. I dropped it like a searing hot potato when I first set up my phone... I always hated the stock 1.5 home that was on my first Moment, so about a month into using it, looked at alternatives. First thing I found was DxTop, but didn't like it. I tried all of the home replacements that where available at the time, and found GDE to be the one to beat. It's got those application docks that free up space on your homescreens and don't limit the amount that you can put down on one screen. Not to mention, the transitions are quite snazzy on there, as well as massive theme support.

Everyone who tries my phone out (I let just about anyone I meet play with it, if they ask of course) loves the little stuff like that, they can't ever seem to get enough of Swype, and they generally seem to enjoy it.

All subjective of course. Some people don't like the fancy 3D transitions, and just like the simple 2D ones and hate widgets on it, but that's why we all have our stuff different.

 

[stainlessray]

my wife and i both have evo's. we have used iphone 3gs, and know people with it and the 4. we always liked it but... never bought it. i bought the evo for us as a present. we had been reading reviews of it for months prior to the launch.

i recently pointed out to her how neat this one thing was between our 2 evo's.

let's say my brother (iphone user) needed to use the phone (because he couldn't find the right way to hold it ) after being told how to use it to make a call, or go online, he then needed to borrow my wifes, we would have to explain to him why IT LOOKED TOTALLY DIFFERENT!

She has shortcuts to many apps, and functions on the desktop and dock. mine is a little more minimalistic on the primary homescreen, and dock items open labels, except for the phone, sms, email, and camera "hotkeys" in the primary 5 dock locations. the remaining screens are dedicated to widgets, and 1 or 2 shortcuts to frequently used apps.

her other screens are also used for widgets, but they are all different from mine! different widgets, different functions, different looks.

I suppose you could make arguments for "usability" or "ease of use" if those things are important to you. but in terms of shear POWER, there is no comparison. if (as iphone users often claim applies to them) INDIVIDUALITY matters to you there is no comparison.

let me simplify this. 2 identical phones with identical OS's on the same network: LOOK and WORK completely different from one another. they don't just look different, they FEEL completely different. but both are capable of ALL the same things.

i think this is an exceptional differentiation between the 2 OS's when coupled with their respective hardware.

 

[Cobravision]

The screen isn't too big -- it fits into my pocket just fine and honestly isn't that much larger than the iPhone. It just happens to use the real estate better so that it provides a larger display. The overall physical dimensions of the phones really aren't significantly different. I have had a few iPhone owners drool over my screen. Maybe you can too!

There's a guy at work who has the i4 (actually, he's the only one, all the other 3G & 3GS owners are spooked by the antenna problems and are holding off on their upgrades). We spar over our phones all the time, and today he said the Evo was "too big". I told him to line up both phones and I think he was quite shocked at how close the sizes were. The Evo was a bit taller, a bit wider, and a bit fatter, but it was mere millimeters of difference on all sides when you take into consideration how much bigger the Evo screen is. I think he was shocked by that.

 

[dr g]

I think Sense UI and stock Android destroy iOS in every way possible.

Amen

 

[Caloy]

I honestly think that the UI on the iPhone is a bit more polished than Android. Some of the animations are smoother (for example, flicking between home screens) and there are some other little things I think are good (for example, when you rotate an Android phone the screen just simply "snaps" to the new orientation. When you rotate an iPhone you'll see the screen actually rotate on the display. Is this necessary? No -- but I kind of like it).

I agree with the quoted remarks above. The very first Android smartphone is almost 2 years old. With this time, it has made great strides in improving it's OS. Give it a little more time, and we'll probably see the same level of 'polish' as the iPhone. I also agree with gamblor01 when he said that it would be nice to see the same level of smoothness in the Android, but that doesn't in anyway limit Android's functionality. In fact we can do more with our OS than what iPhone users can do with theirs.