Tuesday, April 24, 2012

iPhone vs. Android

I promise this blog will be mostly about horses and my attempt to buy one, and then hopefully SOMEday about my relationship and progress with one.

But I just got an iPhone roughly 24 hours ago (got a promotion at work, which comes with a company phone, which is awesome), and I'm not sure whether I like it or hate it after enjoying my Android for the last two years.

Pros:

SO much faster!  Not sure if it's because the hardware is faster, the OS is better, or it's just not as full of random apps and stuff.

My Android supposedly had the best resolution of its time, but the iPhone is much clearer...very nice.

I'm looking forward to actually using the camera, because I'm pretty sure (based on other people's iPhone photos I've seen) they'll be a LOT better.  The camera on my old phone SUCKED.

The GPS coverage with my old phone was spotty.  Which wasn't so bad when I was using the street navigation feature and had a general idea of where I was going.  But when it couldn't find a signal in downtown San Francisco when I was trying to find my way somewhere, it was pretty annoying.  And when I try to track my "run" (i.e. horseback ride) and it doesn't get a signal for most of the ride because of the trees, it's really annoying.  I'm pretty sure I wasn't riding 55 mph, and nor did I change elevation by 5,000 feet.  Sheesh!  While I haven't actually tested this, either, I'm pretty sure the iPhone will win, based on friends' experiences.

This isn't the actual phone, but I also switched carriers, and am hoping to have better coverage in random places.  T-Mobile worked just fine for me in town, but the coverage area ended at the city limits, practically.

I also don't know this for a fact, but I'm guessing this phone won't crash as much as my old one.

Cons:

 I miss my Swype keyboard!  Totally miss it.  I've downloaded an app that is supposed to make the iPhone keyboard Swype-able, but haven't gotten it to work yet.  Soon, I hope.

My old phone was relatively thin, with a rounded profile if you laid it face down.  I had a silicone cover for it with nice "poofy" edges that really protected it.  I dropped that phone a TON of times, and it survived just fine.  I bought what sounded like the most protective cover I could get for the iPhone, but since it's so boxy, it still feels like the edges and corners aren't very protected.  I'm really afraid for the first time I drop it.  I also liked that the old cover was so grippy.  It kept it from slipping out of my pocket, and kept it on my dashboard when using it as a GPS.  Even though I thought the one I bought for my iPhone would be grippy, it's still pretty slippery.  Not a fan.  But I don't want to fork out more money when I JUST bought the one I have now.

Okay, this is totally petty and superficial, but even though I ordered a black iPhone, it still came with white charger, cable, and earbuds.  How dumb is that?  I know white is their signature color and all, but if they offer the PHONE in black, all the accessories that come with it should be black, too, don't you think?

It automatically arranges the apps so that they begin at the top left, and leaves no gaps.  With my Android, if I wanted some icons at the top of the page, a gap, and then some icons at the bottom of the page, I could do that.

My work requires that if I have the company e-mail on my phone (which I do), that I use a passcode.  This is fine.  With my Android, I hit the power button, swiped my "code" (actually a pattern drawn through some of the nine dots), and I was in.  With the iPhone, I hit the power button, have to slide the slider, and only THEN can I enter my PIN.  If I have to enter a PIN, why do I have to slide the slider?  Isn't that redundant?

I really miss the separate home and back buttons on my Android.  I'm constantly tapping the bottom of my phone where the back button should be.  Sure, most apps have a button that takes you back to the previous step, but they're not always in the same place, and not all apps even have them.


Do any of you have experience with both, and can reassure me that I'll come to love the iPhone?

1 comment:

  1. In a month, you'll never even miss the android. I promise... :)

    ReplyDelete