Over the past few years I ’ve invest a destiny into Apple ’s products and service .
If you hail by my house , you ’d find four of the modish Apple video , two iMacs , the latest MacBook Air , a MacBook Pro , more than five AirPort Express station and Apple ’s Time Capsule . You could bear on every unmarried iPhone , from the first up to the iPhone 5 , iPads ranging from first generation to fourth and we recently add two iPad minis .
My iTunes Library comprises well over 8,000 song – all purchase via the iTunes Store . No matter whom you would ask , everybody will corroborate that I ’m what some family call an Apple fanboy .
The reach of Apple ’s product become beyond my personal lifetime .
As the co - father ofGermany ’s largest fluid growth shop , I ’m dealing with apps – predominantly iOS powered – in my daily professional life .
tug primarily by the business organisation I bunk , I endeavor to give Android a chance more than once .
In various self - experimentation , I hear to give my iPhone at home for the Motorola Droid , the Nexus One , the Samsung Galaxy S II and S III – and always switched flat back to the iPhone . None of those Android devices have worked for me – yet .
And then I got the Nexus 4 .
When the latest Google flagship Android machine ship , I almost anticipate it to twist out as yet another “ take - a - look - and - trade - it - on - ebay ” experience . Little did I know .
It ’s now almost two weeks since I switched the Nexus 4 on for the first time – and meanwhile I completely move to it , depart my iPhone 5 at home . Do I miss anything ? Nope . Except iMessage . More on that later .
My motivation is not to sock Platform A over Platform B. On the reverse : I will attempt to summarize my very personal findings and experience based on age of using Io . I ’ve seen the Apple political program evolve while Android was play snatch - up for so long . When iOS 6 came out , for the first metre I quetch about the lack of innovation in this major fresh spill . I ask myself , whether we might see Apple beginning to suffer its run emplacement in wandering platforms .
Before you take on , it ’s important to underscore that I ’m a pro user .
I ’m not the intermediate smartphone owner , who urinate just a twain of margin call every now and then or runs an app once in a while . By the nature of my occupation and out of rarity , I deal a fate with societal culture medium outlets , social connection and constantly stress unexampled service . With that said , my judgement might not be suitable for everyone . In case you consider yourself being a demanding power drug user , though , you might line up this helpful .
At the sentence of this writing , I ’ve been using Android Jelly Bean 4.2.1 on an LG Nexus 4 .
Putting it into a single line : The up-to-the-minute variation of Android outshines the latest adaptation of iOS in almost every single view .
I find it to be better in terms of the carrying into action , smoothness of the rendering locomotive , crabbed - app and OS stage integration , invention across the board , look & feel customizability and mixture of the useable apps .
In the following paragraphs , I attempt to explicate why .
Performance and Smoothness of the Rendering Engine
I know there are bench mark which assess all kinds of technical carrying into action on a very elaborate point . That ’s not what I ’ve done and , frankly , I ’m not interested into that much . I ’m talking about the carrying into action I feel in my daily role .
Using the Nexus 4 with Android 4.2.1 is a pure delight when it comes to execution . I do n’t exactly know what Google has done with “ Project Butter ” in Jelly Bean , but the result is astonishing . In the past , Android sense laggy , sometimes even slow and responses to gestures did n’t experience half as straightaway as on iOS .
This has changed completely .
I ’d say both platform are at least even . In some vitrine , Android even feel a bit ahead of iOS 6 . I specially got this impression when it comes to rapidly switch between apps – which I constantly do now – and scroll through a huge bit of more complex content . ( I ’m not spill the beans just tables with text here . )
While Android still does n’t give you bouncing lists and scroll views – primarily , because Apple has a patent of invention for this specific behavior – every transition between purview has been reworked , polished and modernised . In most case , it feel more forward-looking , clear and up - to - escort than its iOS similitude .
Cross-app and OS level integration
One of the big advantages I found during my daily purpose is the level of cross - app and atomic number 8 level desegregation .
This also is the expanse where I was most foiled when Apple introduced iOS 6 .
In fact , I suppose iOS has attain a point where usability starts to importantly decrease due to the many workarounds that Apple has introduced . All of these just to foreclose discover a prototype like a file system or allowing apps to firmly talk to each others . There is a near way of doing this . Apples knows about it but simply keeps ignoring the issues .
On Android , it ’s quite the opposite word . One can see the most obvious example when it comes to handling all variety of single file and sharing .
have ’s assume I receive an email with a PDF attachment which I ’d like to utilize in some other apps and maybe place to a societal web later on .
On iOS , the drug user is squeeze to think around Apple ’s constraints . There is no easy elbow room to just come away the file from the electronic mail and subsequently practice it in what ever way I desire . alternatively , all iOS apps that want to expose some sort of share lineament , do have to completely take precaution for it themselves . The effect is a middling inconsistent , unsatisfying user experience .
On iOS , you might expend the somewhat left over “ assailable in … ” feature – in suit the developer was so kind to follow through it – to first move the file over to Dropbox , which gives you a virtual swarm - based file organisation . If you ’re lucky , the other app , from which you want to expend the Indian file next , offers Dropbox integration , too , so you may re - download it and jump from there . All because Apple deny the necessity of basic cross - app local depot .
On Android , it ’s really simple .
I can come away the filing cabinet to a local folder and further work with it from there . Leveraging every single app that handle PDF files . In case I receive a gang of mp3 files , I can do the same . And every app that somehow can handle audio playback , can recycle those mp3 files .
Another bully example : share stuff on social networks . On iOS , I have to bank on the developers again . Flipboard , as one of the well examples , give me the ability to directly share with Google+ , Twitter and Facebook . On my Nexus 4 , I have 20 + options . That is , because every app I instal can register as a share-out supplier . It ’s a core feature of the Android operating scheme .
But it goes even further : On Android , I can convert the default manager for specific single file types – much like I ’m used to from desktop operating systems .
If , for example , you ’re not happy with the stock Photo Gallery program , that shows up whenever an app need you to pick an image , you could but establish one from over a hundred alternatives and narrate Android to employ it as its new nonremittal . The next time you post a photo with the Facebook app – or have to pick an image from within any other app – your favorite gallery chooser show up instead of Android ’s own .
All of this is entirely inconceivable on Io today . I ’ve stopped counting how often I felt nettled because I clicked a link to a location in Mobile Safari and would have loved the Google Maps app to launching . alternatively , Apple ’s own Maps app is hardcoded into the system . And there ’s no style for me to change it .
The customizability is simply stunning
have me make this very cleared : Gone are the days where base screens on Android phone almost always calculate awful .
If you do n’t consider me , hop over to MyColorscreenand see for yourself .
Also mark that all of those are veridical Android home base CRT screen , not just conception provided by designers . They are not attractively photoshopped wallpaper , but fully functional screens with app icons and participating widgets .
And all of those can be configured pretty well just by instal a couple of apps and tweaking options . Here is an record album showing my current conformation , which I was able to attain after just a dyad of 24-hour interval using Android as an absolute newcomer .
Getting inspired ? Here are some more of my favorites :
Now , iPhone lover might argue that the average Joe does n’t want to shell out with widgets , icons and custom animations . I ’ve used the same disputation for eld . Well , pretend what , you do n’t have to . The nonremittal Jelly Bean home screen looks beautiful already . But in case you want a somewhat more single earphone , the possibility are sempiternal .
For years , what you could do with Android , simply yielded abominable looking rest home screens . This has interchange . Significantly so .
And believe me or not , but after having configure my Nexus 4 just the agency I always want – providing me with the fastest access to my most oft used apps along with the most of import information on a single silver screen – whenever I snaffle my iPhone for testing purpose , iOS feels pretty one-time , out-of-date and less drug user friendly . For me , there currently is no style of going back . Once you get used to all of these capabilities , it ’s toilsome to last without them .
App quality and variety
Yes , there are still lots of really ugly apps on Google Play .
In my opinion , this has two primary reasons .
First , the obvious one : The lack of a centralised quality control and reappraisal . It ’s great for boost variety , but manifestly it also tolerate for some really tawdry production to be published to the depot . normally , you could spot those instantly from the screenshots on Google Play .
The second rationality is more down - layer : The style developer declare user interfaces ( it ’s primarily done in an XML configuration file ) allows for rapidly hammering together dirty UIs . That ’s what pass a lot and users can see and feel it . iOS developers tend to be more mindful to involve designers and Io UIs can not be crapped together as well .
However , I no longer feel as though the apps I use most greatly fall behind their iOS counterparts .
TheFacebookapp is monovular in terms of look and feel and features . As a summation , it has better cross - app integration . TheGoogle+app is better on Android , but that ’s to be look . Flipboardis fantastic on Android , plus adept integration . The same is dead on target forPulse News . The inclination go on : Instagram , Path , LinkedIn , WhatsApp , Quora , Pocket , Amazon Kindle , Spotify , Shazam and Google Talk . They are all great on Android . Plus better integration . Plus home screenland widgets . You sense a system here ?
And if you desire to experience some real UI magic trick – even if you just need an argument when you ’re bump into an iPhone proprietor the next time – installZime , a highly addictive calendar for Android which feature smooth three-D animations and really innovative UI .
Talking about variety . This is where Android ’s openness pay off .
On iOS , many matter I always bid to see being developed , plainly can not be done because of the hard-and-fast sandpile Apple enforces around apps . On Android , I use an app to deflect undesirable birdsong . To car - respond to incoming short messages . And to lock some specific apps with an supernumerary passcode , so my customers do n’t play with my Facebook profile , when I hand over my Nexus 4 for demos .
I also have apps that give me groovy perceptivity into the use of mobile data across the equipment and all apps . Or the barrage ingestion . Or which apps talk home and how frequently .
None of it is uncommitted for iOS . And perchance wo n’t be at any time in the near time to come .
What I miss
I tell this originally : The only affair I miss is iMessages . I ’m not kidding . Letting go of iMessages was hard , as many of my friends are on iPhones and used to text me via iMessage . While there are thoroughgoing alternatives ( Facebook Messenger , Google Talk , WhatsApp , to name only a few ) , from meter to clock time I still regain a couple of unread iMessages , when I switch on my iPhone 5 .
My most frequently used apps
I ’m an Android entrant . During the last couple of days , I had to ask many dubiousness and received hundreds of good word for apps . I installed , tried and uninstalled . And kept the slap-up unity . My sincere thanks go out to the greatNexusandAndroidcommunities over at Google+ .
In case you decided to give Android a try before you read this article , or got root on here , I ’d care to save you some of my journeying . Here is a list of the apps I found most useful ( and beautiful , given the in high spirits standards set by years as an iPhone junky ):
– Nova Launcher Prime – a must have if you desire to get originative with your home screen(s )
– Google+,Facebook , Facebook Messenger , LinkedIn , Quora , Dropbox , Evernote , Foursquare
– chirrup , or as alternativesFalcon ProandPlume Premium
– Pulse News , Flipboard , Google CurrentsandPress(a good-looking Google Reader ) for your daily dot of word
– Spotify , Google Play Music , Shazam(which you do n’t necessarily need any longer , because Google Search on Android has this build in),doubleTwistfor everything audio
– MX Player Proas a really various video instrumentalist that handle almost all formats seamlessly
– TubeMateto make YouTube video available for offline catch
– QuickPicas a replacement for the stock picture picker ( Gallery )
– Pixlr Expressas the most amazing photo editor program I ’ve check on a smartphone . draw a blank about Camera+ on your iPhone .
– Instagram , SnapseedandFlickrfor photo sharing
– Wifi Analyzerif you ever want to hunky-dory melodic phrase your wireless LAN
– Zedgefor free access to C of yard of ringtones , wallpapers and notification sounds
– magnate Tooglesfor home screen level access to toggling bluetooth , WiFi and other preferences
– Remote for iTunesas a 100 % replacement for the Remote app on your iPhone
– Minimalstic Textto produce beautifully simplistic text widgets for your house screen
– ASTRO File Managerif you want to fiddle on file system tier
– AirDroidto remotely manage all aspect of your sound from a web browser app on your desktop PC
– Battery Widget Reborn ! Pro
– BeyondPodif you ’re an avid podcast auditor as I am
– ConnectBot , a really capable SSH node
– Eye In Skyweather thingmajig for beautiful weather on your home screen
– Square Glass Jelly Bean grim ikon theme
remark : I always habituate the paid / pro version of apps , if one is available . Coming from iOS , I but can not correct my eyes to in - app - advertising and likely never will . Google Play now offers reference placard , PayPal and some other defrayment choice . Plenty of alternative . I further everybody to give back to the developer economic system and not just go for the free versions .
In case you ’re wondering why I took the burden to admit all of the links to the apps above , well , here is another vantage over iOS : Google Play allows the consummate remote install via the Web . If you ’re logged into your account you click the install push button after visting one of the links in any browser app , and wherever your phone is , the various app will be installed silently .
My Android Wish List
allow me finish this post with a couple of regard I ’ve take for the next major version of Android , hopefully made available at this year ’s Google I / group O :
– More and centralized options for apprisal , or , a notification center . The rich notifications introduced in Jelly Bean and the overall usability of the telling bar and drawer are already far better than those on iOS . ( On a side note , I never understood why useableness passkey like the Apple engineers decided to make the “ clear ” button so tiny , that you could scarcely off it without using a magnifying glass.)However , the level of customization you get for Android notifications is presently 100 % up to the developer . This means , even though Android offers a great variety of hypothesis , they are not systematically uncommitted in all apps . In fact , some apps barely allow you switch notifications on and off , while others allow you to customize every aspect , from telling auditory sensation to the colour of the notification conduct to do - not - disturb times . These should be made uncommitted globally and enforce through the APIs . For object lesson , I ’d fuck to be able to receive notifications on Facebook content , but do n’t want them to show the full message trailer in the presentment bar .
There are some apps , which let you chose whether you want a consummate prevue , or just a standard “ you ’ve got chain armor ” substance , without unveil its content . But it ’s up to the developer whether you ’ve got the option or not .
Or : Android has financial support for a presentment light-emitting diode that can flash in different colour . I configured the light-emitting diode on my Nexus 4 to blink park on Modern WhatsApp messages . Incoming poppycock from Facebook notifies in dismal and new business postal service causes the LED to flash in white . What voice like a flyspeck feature film is really worthful : While sit in a meeting , you’re able to grasp immediately whether you might want to check your phone aright away or not . alas , not all apps let you customize the light-emitting diode color . Again , it ’s up to the developer to cater these preferences as part of their software . This belongs into a centralised notification center .
selection I ’d like to see concentrate : LED color , presentment speech sound , capacity preview . They could also be exposed on app level , but the Android Notification Center should allow for overrides .
– Support for multiple accounts in Google Now . I ’d bang to see Google Now take on advantage of multiple configured Google accounts . On my machine , I ’d like my Google Apps for Businesses account to ride the calendar based cards but my private one for everything else ( location and browsing history , etc . ) . presently , Google Now can only leverage a single account statement . I therefore had to switch browsing and location history on for the Google Apps for Business account I utilise professionally . This should be a no - brainer for Google and I keep inquire , why the folks at Google tend to block these multiple - news report scenarios .
– Solving the mutual exclusiveness grouped around the back button . I ’ve actually establish this on many lists and from what I ’ve translate it has already gotten sound in Jelly Bean . However , at time I still get confused about the multiple navigation power structure that are have by the native back release which is part of the oculus sinister and a 2nd back clitoris useable within apps . strangely enough , the mostly fantastical Google+ Android app get from this issuance , too . Sometimes I end up on my menage screen just because I “ went back too far ” . It ’s not a freehanded issue , but one which needs to be addressed . As a newcomer , how about giving the goddamn back button a different color if the next fourth dimension you off it , you ’ll be taken out of the app .
– bespeak whether an app uses Google Cloud Messaging or some other technology to stay connected . I consider this one to be huge : On iOS , there are fundamentally no long - running backcloth processes , except for VoIP or Navigation apps . This mean , all apps that notify users of incoming data point while they are inactive , make use of a centralized service operated by Apple , holler Push Notifications . It has a neat vantage with respect to battery life , as there is only a individual mental process on the osmium level , that monitors all incoming message and distributes them to the point apps , alternatively of potentially many apps doing whatever they want to do to stick connected . Android has a similar inspection and repair , describe Google Cloud Messaging . Unfortunately , there is no obvious path to differentiate apps that leverage this service from those , that constantly pollard or even keep a socket connection to their home server . I’d sexual love to see the one making habit of Google Cloud Messaging identified in Google Play and on the OS stage , maybe in the already available App Info screen . That style , I could dramatically increase stamp battery life by stopping those that invariably talk back home and encourage developer to make use of Google ’s Cloud Messaging inspection and repair .
One last word
At the beginning I stated , that I tried Android many times before and it never worked for me . I figure , there are two main reasons for this . First , Android has made a major step onwards with Jelly Bean . It just was n’t on pair with Io before . secondly , and more authoritative , I discover the inventory Android experience provide by Google the good you could get . After switching to the Nexus 4 , I tried my Samsung S III again , and it did not work for me .
What Samsung does with its TouchWiz modifications and many of the other tiny changes – and other non Nexus trafficker , too – completely deflower the experience for me . If you ’re come from iOS I highly recommend choosing one of the Nexus devices with guaranteed update and a uncontaminating Android environs the way Google envisioned it .
Closing it off
This was rather lengthy . I figured , swop the roving OS political program should be worth an in - depth view . Hence this post . I hope you ’ve enjoyed it .
Will I trade my iPhone 5 ? No . No . No . I never sold one . I ’ll keep it . mayhap it ’ll bring off to make headway me back with iOS 7 .
Ralf Rottmann is a successive entrepreneur from Germany , CTO atgrandcentrixand former editor for The Next Web . He successfully betray his last business to Alcatel - Lucent . Find him on Twitter@ralfandFacebookandGoogle+ .
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