Been surfing on YouTube lately? If you have, you may have come across a video series where user wicked4u2c has made up around 100 videos showing the flexibility of Google's Android OS vs Apple's iOS. The video below demonstrates several pieces of functionality that may cause you to perform more steps than is necessary when using Apple's iPhone. The videos were created to combat the notion that “The iPhone just works” and “the UI is much more simpler”. While I may give them that that many applications for iOS are indeed “polished”, I believe it's extremely far and beyond from being a “simpler” UI than Android. I know due to the fragmentation of Android, not every version of the OS may be as intuiitive as we'd like, ICS included, however, that being said, the iPhone is nowhere near as easy to use when it comes to executing various functions than an Android device, as you'll see in the segment below. When it comes down to it, you can't beat a good o'l fashion side by side comparison. Check out the video below and don't forget to let us know what you think in the comments.
After using an iPhone for 30 days, I realized that Android has a much more polished UI and more intuitive features. Things were much more difficult to do on the iPhone then they were on Android. This is the reason why I created this video series. I want to show the flexibility on Android compared to iOS.
via: Phandroid
Sorry, but this is a typical gadget-head’s response. I’m a hardcore geek too, but my wife, my parents and many of my friends are not. They do not give two shits about cramming more tiny icons on the screen. They do not give two shits about customisation in any way shape or form. They might install a few games, the Facebook app and possibly a GPS travel app, but that’s it.
You say things like, “things are much more easier to work with” (nice grammar BTW) and then launch into a bit about widgets. My parents would have no clue what a widget was or how it would somehow improve their smartphone experience. They don’t want some weather tile sat there on one of the 200 screens you flick through to showcase your highly customised phone.
Stand-out hilarious moment for me though was when you flick through 12!!! screens of widgets to install your YouTube widget (lol – sell the benefits dude). Seriously? That’s got to be the most redundant useless example of supposed flexibility on Android I’ve ever witnessed. Why in the name of Thor’s hairy left bollock would anyone want their most recent subscribed YouTube videos sat there on one of their 200 screens? Its a perfect example of why your video(s) are nonsense – you’re a geek, a huge one and you are not in any way shape or form representative of the sort of people who are actually using these phones.
Oh and mate, suggesting that there’s better app consistency on Android is an outright lie. I have both Android and iPhone devices and Android apps are a huge inconsistent mess of ugly interfaces and random and sporadic control placement. The vast majority of iOS apps whatever their origin share common placement interface design.
You need to move these videos of yours into the comedy section on YouTube.
Perhaps your parents and your wife don’t need smartphones if the features and customizability go right over their heads.
The point of the video is that Android gives the power user far more options than iOS does. The target audience of this video is power users who are actually interested in the differences. If you’re not, why post?
While I agree that the some people do not care for customization, it’s just nice to have the option, which the iOS does not provide. You can easily make the Android look like an iOS because it can.
The youtube widget sucks, I’ll hand that to you, but there are many useful widgets, like calenders, emails, contacts. It makes things really convenient, that I found on my iPhone really cumbersome.
iOS apps and android apps are both great. Though I do prefer the iOS apps sometimes. The back button consistency is a plus, I’m sorry. iPhone loses on that part.
The problem is this. Right above that video he says, “I realized that Android has a much more polished UI and more intuitive features. ” But it doesn’t, does it? How is flicking through 12 pages of widgets and drag and dropping a YouTube widget to one of your myriad screens in any way intuitive? The central issue here is confusing configurability with ease of use. Simply because I can install a weather widget on the home screen of my Tab does not mean it’s any easier to use, but that’s exactly what’s being said here.
Oh and the whole ‘back’ thing – on the vast majority of apps, you swipe to go back. I just checked and it’s literally only Safari that places those buttons at the bottom of the screen where they seem to have been situated to accomodate the address window and search box.
Well, he just happened to select a widget that starts with Y… The other thing is that selecting a widget is something you only do once, whereas flicking through pages and pages or apps to find the one you want is something you do every time. If your parents or non-tech savvy family members don’t know/care what a widget is, I’m sure they don’t know/care what an app folder is and how it helps them organize apps… Also, Android has those too. So I understand what you’re trying to say, but it’s not that good of an argument in my opinion.
The thing about some android widgets is (ill use Elixir 2 here for example) that they can be customized to fit the way you want, you can have the widget be 1*1 icons to 1*9 icons all the way up to 5*9 icons, its just so your widget can fit any way you need it to
your missing the point.
you don’t HAVE to have 12 pages of apps, icons and widgets.
You can have whever yu want, there is the OPTION to make it as simle or as complex as you wish.
that’s the point, it’s about how many OPTIONS you have. you are quick to say:
** The problem is this. Right above that video he says, “I realized that
Android has a much more polished UI and more intuitive features. “**
but do you also notice with your biased eyes and ears when he says “remember, at the end of the day, choose what works for you” and also “…as you can see, the phone is customised the way I like it”.
any criticisms about “12 pages of apps, widgets, blah, blah” are not relevant, because you are in no way obliged to configure your phone that way.
again, you miss the point of CHOICE. you can choose to have your Android phone how you wish, both by choosing the device hardware, and then the software configuration within that device.
with an Apple mobile, you don’t have much choice how to configure it, you are dictated how to use it, leaving Apple customers with a choice to either “like it or lump it”, you literally only have the choice to buy the SINGLE device or not.
Apple has no multiple hardware configurations, no choices within each model, nothing.
whatever you think you saw in this video that convinces you that Android is not for you, is ONE device from ONE user that customised his experience the way HE likes it.
if you really want to experience the possibilities on Android to have a qualified opinion on it, i suggest you listen careful to what people like this guy say.
pay attention not to “it has 12 pages you MUST scroll through”, and instead listen to what he’s telling you about “you have the OPTION to have12 pages with all your apps and widgets, if you CHOOSE that OPTION”.
listen to the intent of the message, instead of hearing what you want to hear to feed your confirmation-bias.
Much as I agree about your point in general, I have to stick up for one point that he made:
The “12 pages” thing was with regard to the Widgets section in the App Drawer, not Homescreens. In this sense, he’s right that you’re forced to scroll through it all to get to the Youtube widget (an unfortunate example since it begins with Y, but it is still true).
However, to offer a counter point: what about the iOS Homescreen? I don’t want to be forced to scroll through homescreens or actively sort everything I’ve installed in to folders just to have quick access to a few frequently used apps. The fact that you have so little control over your iOS Homescreen is, at least for me, MUCH worse than having the same problem with the Widget drawer. I only have to scroll through the latter when I actually want to place a widget (not very often) whereas I have to faff around with all my apps sprawled across the iOS homescreens EVERY TIME I WANT TO OPEN AN APP.
The Android App Drawer basically acts like an iOS set of homescreens, but the Android Homescreen itself is like a quick launch, a feature entirely missing from iOS. You talk about simplicity for simple-task users? That’s the precise aim of the Android Homescreen.
agreed, on everything you said :)
i only noticed too late about the “12 pages” point, i decided it wasn’t important enough on it’s own among the other point to bother correcting.
yes, Android having a basic feature, such as a “desktop” where you can put folders and shortcuts, basically “levels of abstraction” is a major feature that separates the 2 mobile OS’s.
such a feature is the place where you get to organise the device the way you like it. yo have the system under-the-hood, and you pluck out what you need, organise it on show, and hide the rest or leave it where it was, etc.
again, it’s about choice, and Android has more, while Apple inform you of your choices, or more like dictate them.
if you like what Apple does, that’s great, you basically have a parent dictating what content you consume.
If you want more choice to create yourself as you see fit, then there are better options available that will let you realise your potential.
one option “deals your life to you”, the other let’s you make choose your own cards
this is why Apple is like giving you a fairground full of attractions and rides to enjoy. it’s full of individual experiences that are self-gratifying and self-centered. it’s a great experience overall, but candy-floss for dinner and roller-coasters are hardly going to help you evolve into a better person, or be a productive member of the collective.
Android is more like a tool-box that helps you create your own experiences, it helps you be more productive and evolve yourself with each effort.
some people want sweets, and it’s great for the self-contained experience it is, but’s not as healthy for a growing person compared to a nutritious meal…even if it doesn’t look as sweet.
why Apple doesn’t think such a basic tenet of operating systems is needed in a mobile solution is beyond me and only serves to re-enforce the “it’s a toy” label.
maybe they didn’t expect the mobile experience to include so many different “rides” and “options”, so they didn’t think to include a way to manage the whole fair-ground.
that surely would re-enforce the “shallow experience toy” perception and shows great tunnel-vision on Apple’s part.
He’s an apple user, they’ve been ‘missing the point’ for a very long time now.
“… it’s just nice to have the option,…”
this is why Android has the global market-share: choice.
Apple doesn’t provide choices, it’s not a company that enables you on mobile.
it’s mobile devices are for content consumption, as demonstrated by the rigid grip Apple has for programming, distribution and consumption on their devices.
Android provides a better balance for choice that fits more people, as evidenced by it’s dominance over competing mobile OS’s.
sounds like everyone in your family are idiots…
Intelligent response. Thank-you. I’ll be sure to pass your sentiments along.
to who? i love how this guy thinks he’s important…lol
This is a prime example of this circle-jerk that has been created by these “feuding” platforms. What I gathered from this wasn’t this guy posting about how android is a gift from God while iOS is a shit stain. What he is trying to say, I believe, is that when apple fanboys or people who exclusively use apple products consistently claim that iOS is more intuitive, easy to use, etc., they are not necessarily right.
What I think Joe is trying to do here isn’t smear a company that is obviously doing something right (judging by popularity and sales alone), he is trying to say that there are options when choosing phones. There is not ONLY android or ONLY apple. They each excel at some points and don’t shine as brightly in other aspects. This video seems to be combating that fact that android is shit-talked a lot in the apple community (just as I know apple is shit-talked a lot by the android community).
The way I see it is that both of these companies are great examples of personal technology. There doesn’t need to be a constant “war” trying to prove which side is better.
I expect flak from this because I forgot I am posting on the internet–a place where no one is ever wrong, and everyone is always right.
The stand-out hilarious moment of this post was when the apple fanboy cued in to defend the cult/religion/following that pumps out shitty products at premium prices. Macrumors is that way
Nice name. Unfortunately I’m an Android user too. Kindergarten is that way.
You sound just as bad as the fanboys you’re trying to criticize.
“I’m a hardcore geek too, but my wife, my parents and many of my friends are not…. My parents would have no clue what a widget was or how it would somehow
improve their smartphone experience. They don’t want some weather tile
sat there on one of the 200 screens you flick through to showcase your
highly customised phone.”
funny how nobody wanted a smartphone, until Apple made one……at least you may want to believe that.
Apple made a device and people were able to check their information, consume content, etc on a mobile, yet previous solutions already did this, and Android is another solution after Apple’s.
Apple didn’t start anything, and didn’t finish anything. they are simply in the middle among all the other options.
What’s so different that you say Apple’s solution is superior to Android’s? you reply to this video, but you provide no evidence, you refute and provide only your own opinion.
let’s see the evidence supporting your rebuttal. like your assertion that iOS’s button placement in apps is more consistent than Android’s. let’s see that, show us, because you know this video showed something you do not.
People will use whatever they believe will make their lives easier and more pleasant, Apple made a pleasant experience on their devices creating many people that suddenly used Facebook, Twitter, Email, etc on ir mobiles. many “hard-coregeeks”, as you say, were doing that already for decades.
no Apple does it and suddenly it’s fine for the method Apple allow people to enhance their lives with mobiles, but Android’s solution is nonsense?
me thinks the confirmation-bias is strong with this one….
Without the iPhone there would have been no Android, that much is clear to anyone. Sure there were icon/app based designs prior to the iPhone (Pilot 1000 etc) but the gesture system and the multi-touch screen that enabled those gestures are the absolute corner-stone of all Android devices.
As to the video, are you seriously suggesting that a couple of one-sided youtube clips are all it takes to convince you of something? No wonder Kony took off the way it did. I’d happily put together a video of my iPad and Tab alongside each other, but it would make no difference to anyone here because you have no desire to see things from the other side of the fence. Pretty hilarious levelling an accusation of confirmation-bias at me in that regard.
you are an idiot. just leave it at that.
”
Without the iPhone there would have been no Android, that much is clear to anyone ”
there’s that fanboy conformation-bias again.
are you serious though?
Google bought Android back in 2005, TWO YEARS BEFORE APPLE RELEASED THEIR 1st IPHONE.
gestures were available on touchscreens, and even mobiles BEFORE iphone. nice try fanboy..
“As to the video, are you seriously suggesting that a couple of one-sided youtube clips are all it takes to convince you of something?”
nice presumption, but wrong again. i’ve experienced both systems extensively and chosen one. do you know i’m a developer? do you know my programming history? do you know my experience in UI/UX ?
what do you know of me to presume that i’ve chosen based on nothing but a shallow video or two ?
i’ve commented here on verifiable metrics, you have made presumptions and accusations based on nothing, absolutely no evidence. in fact you REFUSE to provide any, citing that it would make no difference because WE ar the ones that are corrupt and biased HA !
” I’d happily put together a video of my iPad and Tab alongside each other, but it would make no difference to anyone here because you have no desire to see things from the other side of the fence”
sure THAT is the reason you won’t back up your assertions and anecdotal evidence. you have nothing to offer, nothing to convince us that we are wrong, because yo have only your opinion, and nothing to back it up so we can even begin to “see the other isde”.
you say we’re shallow and biased, then you say you COULD prove why we are such, but you can’t e bothered? HA!
how about, the REAL reason you can’t be bothered to show us how wrong we are, is you have NO EVIDENCE to back your assertions uop?
“Pretty hilarious levelling an accusation of confirmation-bias at me in that regard.”
really?
because all i hear is someone trying to negate this guy’s video which shows legitimate reasons for why he made his choice in OS’s, and ll we hear is how apparently that’s not enough because we haven’t “seen both sides” ?
you say you COULD show us the other side, then you deny us that opportunity because apparently WE are the ones that are biased and suffering confirmation-bias?
look up the definition, and realise YOU are the one saying we could be saved from our delusions, if you could be bothered to show us your evidence.
do you really have anything to show, or are you full of crap ?
go on, tell us again how we’re wrong, or let’s see if you have the courage to put your actions where your mouth is and SHOW us that evidence you said you COULD.
let’s see how you choose to assert yourself next, with more of the same baseless words, or with that evidence you said you could show us.
“Without the iPhone there would have been no Android”. Stopped reading there as you clearly confirmed our suspicions that you have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about.
Android, Inc. was founded in 2003.
iOS was released in 2007.
Google bought Android, Inc. in 2005 and announced the open handset alliance in 2007. So they were released concurrently, but Android actually was around first. Apple just had the bucks to get to the production line first.
So, 100% wrong, you are there. I’m an OS X proselytizer, I think Apple has top-notch customer service and nice products. They don’t shit rainbows and give away free ponies, however, so cool your jets, son.
Have you considered the fact that if, like your wife, parents a friends (and, I agree, a majority of smart phone users), someone doesn’t like customisation, they can just not indulge in it and get a very similar experience to the iPhone?
If you want all yours apps just sitting on your home screens, rather than customising it, then that’ll basically happen by default. When you install a new app, Ice Cream Sandwich automatically puts a shortcut to it in the next available space on your homescreens. You know what that ends up looking just like? iOS…
Don’t want widgets? Don’t use them. Don’t like using the app drawer rather than having all your apps already on your homescreen? Don’t use it, just use your homescreens.
Don’t want alternate browsers/other versions of default apps? Don’t use them. Don’t want to set new default actions using these new apps? Don’t have to. If you leave it alone, it’ll work in a fluid and non-user intensive way just like iOS.
Customisation is there, but not forced on you as you seem to be implying. The fact is that Android can be just as simple as iOS in a basic user interface sense, but can also do more IF YOU WANT IT TO. It can be both simple and complex. So which is objectively better, an OS which covers both bases, or one which can only do simple?
You also completely fail to back up your app consistency point. As demonstrated in the video, the universal Back button for android is a fantastic example, so how about trying to refute it rather than just say “I disagree, raaaaaah!”
Trust me, you’re not a geek, you’re a thoughtless fanboy. There’s a big difference.
Well Andy I set-up my old-aged pensioner mother with her first smartphone this weekend and I can confirm it took me about 5 minutes to get her happy on how to do everything. She desperately insisted on wanting widgets and live wallpapers and all that “fun” stuff and she had no trouble setting them up. She had never even sent a text before. This argument of apple devices being easier to use whilst customisation isn’t for beginners is just a made up excuse. Oh and her smartphone is on a £7.50 a month contract with a brand new free handset. Sure it’s not amazing but it works great (the UI runs just as fast as iOS on an iphone, the screen isn’t as pretty) and she loves it, and those users you love to claim don’t want to do much besides gps and facebook etc.. why on earth are they buying a really expensive smartphone then? Get an android one with free navigation that does all the same stuff for pennies. Why is because of people like you who love to tell the world “it’s just better”. Each to their own, but people like you who dismiss valid opinions just because they aren’t your own, to the point where you are laughing at their opinions and being a rude idiot I cannot abide nor understand.
Absolutely fantastic comment, and you’re bang on about the price as well. If you want simple, and leave Android to just do its own thing, you can get exactly that for much cheaper.
Android comes with a GPS travel app included for free…
He lost me at “much more better”.
I agree with him but his grammar hurts my brain.
Hehe, I just watched four in a row and learned quite a bit. Sorry Apple – you’ll never catch up now…
I read this on my iPad. Lol.
Wow.
So you can’t see the video I guess?
Lol, html5 to the rescue.
Total #OWNAGE