I'm having doubts about android, need guidance

If you buy the right phone you won't need to tweak it so much. I have bought and rooted the htc g1, Motorola Cliq, Motorola Cliq XT, Samsung Vibrant, htc Evo 4G, and a number of tablets. My latest purchase, Motorola Droid Razr HD, is the first phone that I've owned that I doubt I will ever root. It's fast, smooth, needs no maintenance and the battery life averages 40+ hours between charges with moderate to heavy use.

I feel that it really depends on the phone.

I have an N4. Yes I rooted it, but not cos I had to. I did that because I wanted the custom ROMs. I went from Verizon to T-Mobile BTW and am getting great speeds on HSPA+ 42. Sometimes those speed are better than what I got on my GNex and I live in Silicon Valley. For the money and your sunk cost investment in Android, get an N4 and move to T-Mobile. This phone is amazing and fast!

PM if you want more details.

jmar

I am not here as an android master, but as can guy low on money, for one I don't hate any apple products, but I have found that it is simple and intuitive. But so is android, it can be as simple or as complex as you want but the ios is simple and that's all you get. They don't like having their devices jailbroken or changed too much. But you can. Ios will work but so will android. You says you are tired of rooting to get your phone the way you want it. But Change to ios you are stuck with it like it or not.

Sent from my batcave.

I think the key question here is, what is it you need to tweak to make things "work properly"? If we know what it is you want, we'll be better able to answer the question (and, perhaps, advise on whether iOS would be better or worse for your purposes).

Hating doesn't come into it BTW - any of that appears and the mods will deal with it

Not a whole lot to add here as most have stated what I believe you need to hear. Everything comes at a cost. iPhones work straight out the box and have very few problems but that also means very little customization and no peeking under the hood. Android has a lot of customization but not everything works as exspected and sometimes the customization is to much.

If at the moment your unhappy with android go to the iphone and try it out. check out their forums and see what complaints they have and learn how to do the things you want to do with the device.

Best of luck no matter what you choose you'll find that there is always a family here.

lunatic59 said:

Nobody here hates the iPhone. It's just another choice. By all means try it out if you have the money. Keep an Android phone and switch back and forth. You may see that the options you have available on Android are what makes you like it more, or you might find the consistency of the iPhone appealing. Either way, it's your decision.

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I think what people hate iphone for is for its pricetag + monthly payments for service, which turns into, well decent amount.

WBMc36 said:

Most people that use iPhones seem to love them, I just want to know what the fuss is about and if they are on par with android.

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Why don't you go out and buy one? That's the only way to know for sure.

Verizon... Sorry to hear that

Sent from my batcave.

All I can say is try both for awhile and see which one fits you best. I still use both iOS and Android (but Android is used on tablets more) and might even consider a nice Galaxy Tab 10.1 I tested a few days ago, however I do like iOS for the smoother ui, larger game and certain app selection that hasn't been ported over to Play yet...as a phone platform Android left a sour taste, but as a tablet platform at least with ICS it is pretty nice. Try both, and see which fits best.

I used have an iPhone in the UK. But for me now I'd find them rather expensive because of where I am, for both the initial cost and the rather stiff China Unicom plans(the iPhone is not 3G compatible with China Mobile), plus the iTunes requirements would mean I have to use Windows, unless I jailbreak. Never found battery life to be a problem with the Android phones I've had, which were a Samsung Galaxy S, and currently a Lenovo and a Kliton(which is real cheapo).

Doesn't Linux have an iTunes replacement now?

Give the iPhone a whirl.

Honestly, I have had these thoughts too. Recently after many hassels I have had with my Galaxy note 2. I actually have an iPad mini 16gb that I brought home and jailbroke basically out of the box. I know it is not the same as an iPhone, but still runs the same OS.

What makes the choice to try an iPhone 5 a bit more hard is the sim card size, since Apple decided to use a non standard sim card (nano-sim), so just pulling out your sim card and sticking it in an iPhone 5, well, requires some cutting and an adapter for your newly modified shrunken sim card should you want to use your old phone again.

Another option: go to your carrier and open up a new line. You got 14 days, you will need to pay activation and pay for what ever services you use during that time. You will also need to pay a restocking fee, but 100 bucks (give or take depending how much service you consume) may be better then eating 650 bucks for a phone you are not sure you are going to use.

Hit up youtube and try to find some comparison videos (if you can find one that is not completely bias toward one or the other) and look at the differences between the operating systems.

One thing I have found while trying to use an iOS device, when my sister was using an iPhone and with my iPad mini is, somethings just seem totally backwards. Seriously.

Once I tried to share a radar image from my iPad, I had tweet caster installed, and I tried to share something via that, but I could only use the built in twitter app. Glad I did not pay for tweet caster.

There is NOTHING wrong with wanting to check out the other side of the fence. The best thing to do is, if you want to try it, try it. Hit up the local best buy and play with one.


Honestly, I have more content I have bought from iTunes (TV shows mostly) then android, but I also use a Macbook Pro for my main machine now. I still have not watched many of my purchases lately because of the SSD I have installed.

Many of googles services are available on iOS. Not all of them, but many.
You can, for the most part, completely bypass iTunes with the newer OS's

First let me say i'm glad no one bashed you in this thread. That happens all too often. So it's good to see everyone supporting you and giving you good feedback.

I was also in your shoes last year. I was tired of the maintenance of Android and the updates with VZW really got to me. Apple updates the Iphones when it wants and VZW has nothing to do with it. I've been using the I5 now since last November. It is certainly different. You WILL MISS SOME THINGS ABOUT ANDROID. But that is a given. There are Pros and Cons to everything and this is no different. It's all about what works best for you. I'm happy with my choice for now. I do miss playing with Android but imo i just don't feel that the Android OS is ready for me to try again at this time. I could go on and on and on about my opinions on the two and my swap but i won't do that in this thread lol. However feel free to PM me and ask me any questions you have about this matter and i'll gladly reply.

One last thing.....battery life on the I5 is incredible out of the box....and i never have to turn wifi off or any location based services and never turn of LTE.

nickdalzell said:

Doesn't Linux have an iTunes replacement now?

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It does and there are several apps that do support iPods, but I'm sure they require file level access to an iOS device, so they can get access to the iPhone's internal music database, hence jailbreaking is required. AFAIK it's only iTunes which works without jailbreaking. I know in some countries there's iCloud music syncing, but that's not available here, probably due to RIAA licensing restrictions.

I've still got an iPod Touch first, gen, which is jailbroken, and that does sync with Linux music software like Tangerine and RhythmBox. But you can't do iOS software updates without iTunes, not in China AFAIK. And doing an iOS update removes the jailbreak.

BTW nice to see you're still here Nick.

As most people here have suggested, iOS is a fine OS. I'm sure, though that it has as many irritations as Android, they're just different ones. It's entirely subjective which irritations you find less annoying.

For me, the two deal breakers on iOS are iTunes (what are they thinking?) and screen size. My missus has the iP5 and the screen feels crazy small after 3 months with an N4.

WBMc36 said:

I have been around android since the HTC Incredible was released on Verizon, and actually all of the android devices that I have owned have now been passed on to family members.

You guys are going to hate me, but I am actually thinking of trying out an iPhone.

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A few of the less enlightened among us have this cRAZy idea that Android is better than iOS and you must naturally praise Android and smash iOS on this forum.

You can live with both iOS and Android.

Never let the iOS fanboys or Android Fanboys tell you you must hate one or the other.

I use Android phones and an iPad. I am happy.

As far as I be concerned, you should go for it. You likely need a cell, so you might as well get one that pleases you. Android is by no means better than an iPhone, just different. Do not let the minutia dissuade you.

The only reason I went with yet another Android phone is the larger screen size.

Bob's quite right: go for it.

Either you're going to find that iOS really floats your boat or it doesn't, so you can sell your iPhone or wait out your contract, then come back to Android.

Or try BB or WinPhone.

None of these options are the end of the world (though some may be closer to it )

WBMc36 said:

Most people that use iPhones seem to love them, I just want to know what the fuss is about and if they are on par with android.

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Some people will but iPhones no matter what. We call them fanboys. If Apple released an octagon shaped iPhone with a 1200.00 price tag, a few would still buy them.

Others buy iPhones because they are Applefied and they think an iPhone will work better for them. They might have a MacBook and an iPad and they believe an iPhone will work better for them.

Some people know Apple (or think they do) and they buy thinking the iPhone is the best phone. In some cases it might be, but one must define "best." Apple is wildly popular and it has amazing brand recognition, so people buy them.

I would have bought an iPhone if the screens were larger. For me, an S3 is the best phone specifically because of the screen size.

When you purchase an Apple product, you are getting a well designed and well built product that has an excellent OS, outstanding market support and no shortage of high-quality applications. I come from a manufacturing background and one thing I always consider is overall build quality.

If you drop it, chances are, your local Apple Store will simply replace it on the spot.

Some Android devices are pure crap, so you must be quite specific when you compare products. Not every Android phone is "on par with android."

Bottom line: forget the BS you read on forums and get out there and have a look at both platforms. You can purchase an iPhone off contract, but you pay for the device upfront.

SiempreTuna said:

For me, the two deal breakers on iOS are iTunes (what are they thinking?) and screen size. My missus has the iP5 and the screen feels crazy small after 3 months with an N4.

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I left iTunes and tried some of the alternatives. Then I went back to iTunes because once you bother to learn how to use it, the program works well. In my opinion, people hate iTunes because they do not understand how to use it.

These days, I never think about how to do something with iTunes. My biggest issue is the current (more or less) version. I downgraded to a prior version and it is smooth sailing all the way.