Why did you choose Android instead of IOS?

While I could write a long, reasoned explanation the real reason is I'm just too cheap. Apple is just too pricey and having to pay so much to play in its walled garden just doesn't appeal to me.

Launchers, which gives us an enormous amount of customizations that Apple never will.

Free and open source vs. proprietary.

My first experience with a smart device was the original iPad. I loved the pad but iTunes still gives me nightmares to this day.
I always wanted to try an iPhone. They seem fun to play with but there was always something Android offered that kept me coming back.
I don't care for safari.
I don't like typing anything on an iPhone. The keyboard, word prediction, and general feel bothered me. I'm fussy.
I hated the small screen. Not an issue now with the plus but it was in the past.
Can't use widgets. This is still one of my biggest hangups. I don't wanna have to open my calendar app to check what I have going on. I'll never do it. I want to see it there when I open my phone. I don't use a lot of widgets but the ones I do use are one of the biggest reasons for me to stay with Android. Android lets me set my phone up the way I want.

dontpanicbobby said:

I was a Windows Mobile fan when the iPhone came out.

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When the smartphone first was released, I had a bad experience with Android on my sons phone. The iPhone appeared to be the better option. So was my phone of choice.

I was issued a Nokia 920 (Windows Phone) by the firm. It did everything I expected from a smartphone. It sync'd with the PC without issue, it was easy to use as well as connecting WiFi, email accounts etc. Its major problem was it never really took off!

"She who likes to be obeyed" purchased a smartphone, and contrary to my suggestion - she chose a Sony Android device. This was due to my daughter and the salesperson. At that point the problems started. Even though my daughter promised to give support when necessary, this fell by the wayside. Even though I had warned I knew nothing about Android, and could not give support - I was expected to provide technical support. I was able to give some support mainly by asking friends with an Android device etc.

A friend came over and wanted a photo I had taken. The easiest method is to transfer by Bluetooth. I had one this on Windows & Android phones, no biggie! However she had an iPhone. iPhone takes paranoia to whole new level. It would not even accept the request from the Windows Phone, so no transfer.

I had to revise my thoughts on Smartphones. iPhone is secure because it will not accept any connection from anything that is not made by Apple. Android accepts everything, so needs an Anti Virus app. Windows takes the middle ground, safe yet can connect with everything.

When the 920 started going belly up - I needed a new phone. The firm decided not to replace my phone, otherwise I would have received an iPhone.

To provide real support for "SWMBO" I decided to go with Android. I went with OnePlus as both a number of friends and daughter had good experiences.

To transfer the data has been a nightmare, and in the end I needed to manually check each contact for rubbish / missing data.

While I miss the sync of Windows there are a number of really good points that Android has. The alarm it is obvious whether you select snooze of alarm off. Android is via swipe, Windows has buttons. Frequently the wrong button was selected. Multiple calendar appointments are visible via the widget instead of one.

I would love to see where you can add additional email accounts and choose to automatically display each on separately and update them on an individual basis.

However the net result is after the learning process, I am happy with the decision and certainly glad that I chose Android over iPhone.

OrigSleuth said:

I would love to see where you can add additional email accounts and choose to automatically display each on separately and update them on an individual basis.

However the net result is after the learning process, I am happy with the decision and certainly glad that I chose Android over iPhone.

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Aqua Mail can handle as many email accounts as you wish, and you can configure it to update each account manually or auto. very popular app, and my favorite email app.

Aqua Mail - email app - Android Apps on Google Play

I want to be able to control my phone, not have Apple do it for me. Customization is the key.

Ask yourself this. If there was a country in which there was very little crime and a good standard of living, but in exchange for this, the government demanded absolute control over every aspect of your life and you could only do what the government allowed you to do, and you could only have what the government made for you; would you choose to live in a country like this?

It is very simple. If Apple were a country, it would be a tyrannical dictorial government that demanded complete control over your life and you would only have the option of owning what the Apple government made for you, because no other options exist. And you could only use their equipment they way they allowed you to use it.

I am a patriotic American that wants in freedom and liberty in every aspect of my life, even at the cost of being "Less Secure". Apple demands absolute control over your device and data so that they can "Keep you secure". Android is more like a democracy because it grants you more freedom to do what you want to do and places the burden of keeping yourself secure upon the user. In other words, with Android, your security is an "Individual Responsibility". Individual Responsibility is the foundation upon which America was built and thus I feel it is almost anti-American to willing subjugate myself to a tyrannical company like Apple. Maybe that is a bit a extreme, but it is how I see.

It all boils down to the this, what do you value? Do you value security more then freedom? Go Apple. Do you value freedom more then security. Go Android. This is not to say that Android cannot be as secure as iOS, it just means that since you have more freedom to change and alter the Android system, the potential exist for greater insecurity depending on how you use it.

opalfrog said:

My first experience with a smart device was the original iPad. I loved the pad but iTunes still gives me nightmares to this day.
I always wanted to try an iPhone. They seem fun to play with but there was always something Android offered that kept me coming back.
I don't care for safari.
I don't like typing anything on an iPhone. The keyboard, word prediction, and general feel bothered me. I'm fussy.
I hated the small screen. Not an issue now with the plus but it was in the past.
Can't use widgets. This is still one of my biggest hangups. I don't wanna have to open my calendar app to check what I have going on. I'll never do it. I want to see it there when I open my phone. I don't use a lot of widgets but the ones I do use are one of the biggest reasons for me to stay with Android. Android lets me set my phone up the way I want.

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Totaly same story for me xD

Bruce WK said:

A survey, just want to know guys` thinking when you choose Android.
Why did you choose Android instead of IOS?

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Because I'm a professional Windows developer with 30 years of experience so I have tons of PC's and a career's-worth of investment in the PC universe. So when I decided I wanted to learn mobile-app development I found out that developing IOS apps from a PC was close to impossible. IOS development pretty much assumes that the developer is using a Mac, and while there are a number of workarounds they're all basically hacks and too much trouble to bother with. See http://stackoverflow.com/questions/...or-iphone-using-a-windows-development-machine for an overview of this.

1. More apps available
2. Easier to transfer files between phones/PC
3. Cheaper
4. Cheaper
5. Cheaper
6. Cheaper
LOL

AZgl1500 said:

Aqua Mail can handle as many email accounts as you wish, and you can configure it to update each account manually or auto. very popular app, and my favorite email app.

Aqua Mail - email app - Android Apps on Google Play

Click to expand...

Thanks for this.

I have a question, does it display all the email accounts in one view, and then you have to manually filter them out? Or can it provide separate app icons?

With the Windows Phone the standard was each linked email account was separate, however if you wanted you could link them. So you would have different accounts as icons on the Main pages, if the accounts were linked, then it would show as a single icon. The linked accounts icon, would show all the emails from all the linked accounts.

So far from what I have seen with Outlook, and Gmail apps. It is comparable to the linked accounts. Everything is displayed as a standard, although it is possible to filter the view.

I know there will always be compromises within different operative systems, it just would be nice to have that functionality!

OrigSleuth said:

Thanks for this.

I have a question, does it display all the email accounts in one view, and then you have to manually filter them out? Or can it provide separate app icons?

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Depends on how you configure the Setup menu.

IF you enjoy having all of your 1,215 email accounts show up in one "SmartInbox" then that is how it will work.

IF, you like me, keep all of your email accounts separate from each other, then that is how it will work. You decide how Aqua Mail will work. It has a LOT of power, and don't be afraid to ask questions about how to configure it...... I used it for two years before I discovered some of it's best tricks.

there are a lot of hidden menus that you get with a long press on different places, just keep trying, and there is a tutorial somewhere, can't remember now.

Thanks will give it a shot.

A lot of reasons .... price, available apps, etc., etc.

but fundamentally I like to know what's going on and I like to tinker and Apple don't like tinkerers.

David Devoy said:

I like to tinker and Apple don't like tinkerers.

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"Don't Like" is an understatement!! Lol.

OrigSleuth said:

Thanks for this.

I have a question, does it display all the email accounts in one view, and then you have to manually filter them out? Or can it provide separate app icons?

With the Windows Phone the standard was each linked email account was separate, however if you wanted you could link them. So you would have different accounts as icons on the Main pages, if the accounts were linked, then it would show as a single icon. The linked accounts icon, would show all the emails from all the linked accounts.

So far from what I have seen with Outlook, and Gmail apps. It is comparable to the linked accounts. Everything is displayed as a standard, although it is possible to filter the view.

I know there will always be compromises within different operative systems, it just would be nice to have that functionality!

Click to expand...

Aquamail displays all your accounts on a single page. From there you have the option of opening each account individually, or you can open the "Smart Folder" which will show you all the new emails from each account. The other thing I love about Aquamail is that it offers a live widget that shows you how many new emails you have on the icon on your home screen. Here are some screen shots for example. I have blacked out my email addresses with RED for obvious reasons.

@jungleexplorer good job on blanking them all out

can't see a thing

AZgl1500 said:

@jungleexplorer good job on blanking them all out

can't see a thing

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Thanks for the heads up. I appreciate it. I fixed it.

Apple seems to gear it's products more towards games, entertainment and young people.
I'm not that kind of a guy.

Bruce WK said:

A survey, just want to know guys` thinking when you choose Android.
Why did you choose Android instead of IOS?

Click to expand...

Because the hand-me-down from my Mom was an Android.
Because the bank was giving away Android tablets, and not Apple ones.

You know what they say about beggars...

I defected to android when the Galaxy Note4 came out. I'd only had my iPhone 6 Plus for about a week when I realized just how ugly it was with its big fat bezels and how beautiful the Note4 was with its bigger and superior screen in a smaller phone.

I then looked at the hardware specs in the Note4 and compared them to the iPhone 6 Plus when I realized I was being ripped off and ultimately paying for a name rather than a product.

I sold the iPhone for a stupid amount of money (the only thing iPhones are good for) and bought a Note4, a 128gb microsd card, a Gear Fit and a Gear VR with the cash.

I still have the Note4 and I'm never going back.

Went from Nokia straight to Nexus just cause it was customizable

Same here. You could mess with Symbian fairly easily.

I tried an iPhone 6+ last year. Here are the main reasons I gave up on it:

-Can't turn off auto arrange icons on the desktop, so you can't put them where YOU want them.
-No app drawer. So if the app is installed, it's on one of your home screens.
-Difficult to make a song your ringtone.
-Will not port all songs from old Android phone. Itunes must think I don't own them all. Have to go through a process to convert them.
-App store sucks compared to Play Store. No ability to sort by feedback, very hard to find useful information. Total disaster organizationally. And most decent apps are not free.
-Have to jailbreak it just to theme it! And Jailbreak had not been achieved on the release I was on.
-Apple maps suck, and so did the current gen Google maps for iphones, since it won't locally store things like "home" and recent searches.
-Notification bar does not show temp.
-Stock keyboard sucks (no swiping) and Apple won't let 3rd party app makers access the speech to text microphone button for their better keyboards. So you have to switch back and forth if you want to use voice to text.
-Where are my home screen Widgets?
-Can't change things on a system level, like the keyboard or messaging. You can change it for some apps, but sometimes the stock one will pop up instead.

Opera mini browser will not allow typing input from the Swiftkey keyboard. Had to switch back to the horrid stock keyboard.

All these little wrinkles just make it feel less refined than a newer Android. Other stuff gives that feel, too. Like most settings for most apps are in the Settings area. But some apps have settings only in the app, some have some settings in both places. And the lack of a back button makes the interface less efficient since not every screen you progress to has a back link. Makes it a bit confusing.