There are only a few models of iPhone available vs. hundreds of possible Android phones. Perhaps many iPhone owners just think of it as an "iPhone" whereas Android owners like to specify exactly what they've got.
Nexus 5 here, btw.
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What smartphone are you all using?
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There are only a few models of iPhone available vs. hundreds of possible Android phones. Perhaps many iPhone owners just think of it as an "iPhone" whereas Android owners like to specify exactly what they've got.
Nexus 5 here, btw.
ChadS
Last tank of gas: March 2009
I'm a Nexus 6 owner - great phone, except it's too wide and heavy. My wife has my old Nexus 5 (which I kind of wish I still had). My daughter has my old Nexus Galaxy. My son has my old Nexus One.
In June, I helped about 100 customers pair their phones to their cars. I did not actually count, but my guess would be that there were 55 iphones, 42 android phones, and 3 Windows Mobile phones. (This is Microsoft's turf, and 2 of them were a couple that worked at Microsoft. The third guy may have worked there too; I just don't recall for sure).
In June, I helped about 100 customers pair their phones to their cars. I did not actually count, but my guess would be that there were 55 iphones, 42 android phones, and 3 Windows Mobile phones. (This is Microsoft's turf, and 2 of them were a couple that worked at Microsoft. The third guy may have worked there too; I just don't recall for sure).
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MarkS22
Member
Well, first of all, iOS and Android have similar market share in the United States. Throughout most of 2015, it was 43% Apple, 52% Android. comScore is an industry standard for reporting these things:
comScore Reports September 2015 U.S. Smartphone Subscriber Market Share - comScore, Inc
Now, take that and apply the fact that iPhone users have a significantly higher household income. They're nearly 50% more likely to make over $125,000/year, over 20% more likely to have a graduate degree, and be in a professional job, while Android is more likely to be a computer/technical job.
So, the Android users on this forum are more likely to be an affluent and tech savvy subset of Android users (as demonstrated by the phone models being mentioned here), while the majority of users are looking for a low-cost alternative to Apple.
The poll results are probably reasonably accurate, with the exception that (like mentioned earlier) Android users tend to be more vocal because they feel like they're getting less attention than Apple. It's frustrating because the media and accessory companies seem to talk disproportionately about Apple. However, a lot more models and companies are competing for attention with Android. On a company basis, Apple has 44% share, while Samsung has 28%, LG only has 8%, Motorola has less than 5%, and HTC has less than 4%. So, while Android is more popular, no Android companies (or phone models) are more popular.
As I said earlier, I'm a strictly Windows PC guy. I used to run Linux boxes and load-balanced Apache web servers. I've been a programmer (PHP, Perl) and never once owned a Mac PC. I've even rooted Kindle Fires to run CyanogenMod. So, I'm not an Apple fanatic, but I do like my iPhone/iPad/Watch combo. I think I've built so many PCs that I just want my phone and tablets to work without customizing, like my television set, but I totally get the attraction of Android for the tech crowd.
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BertL
Active Member
Agree with you. I too was a mix-and-match sorta guy for years, but love my iMac/iPhone/iPad/Watch tech the past few years, had a good job... and now own a new MS.
I'd add one thing to your argument perhaps when it comes to Android and sometimes less apps, accessories, etc., or their availability following what comes first on iOS: To me as an x-software guy, it's a lot more difficult for HW/SW developers to deal with the many variants of Android OS levels in the market at any point-in-time, many more hardware options, and the general mix-and-match nature that entails. OTOH, many end-users of course love not being locked-in -- I get that. Because of the larger number of variants, I suspect there can be more testing and more worries from a developer perspective if they start in the Android world, than what is found with Apple especially with the relative higher rate of iOS owners that have historically migrated to latest levels of iOS much faster. If what they develop works and sells with iOS, then migration to Android for the additional market share is likely a smart prioritized decision by those 3rd Party HW/SW developers -- especially the smaller ones with more limited resources.
Hangouts is not universally used by Android users, that's the problem. There is little benefit to Android-Android communication, while iOS-iOS communication is optimized.
MMS is outdated and unreliable. When I get a lot of MMS messages it bogs down my phone. The phone functions really slowly, the messages come in late, or they don't come in at all. Also there's much lower size restrictions imposed on MMS.
While there may not be a protocol that does what I described (iOS is a step in that direction), why can't there be? It's extremely frustrating to be staring at a "message can't be download" notification knowing I'm home with both strong WiFi and 4G connections
I have a Moto 360... I've been thinking about writing an Android app for the car just to support the watch. It wouldn't be my first time writing an Android app, mostly just to satisfy my own requirements, but the truth is that I'm not sure I would really use the watch app.
I have a lot of ideas for features, but from whatever little I've researched, it appears that the exposed API is quite limited and you can't really do anything the standard app doesn't do.
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You have to understand that iMessage is an Apple software/application, while MMS/SMS are standard ways to communicate over cell phones. You may well love iMessage and think everyone should use it, but frankly they don't for a large number of reasons, the biggest of which is that Apple prevents them from doing so by closing it off to third parties.
Like most others in the tech industry, I'm on hangouts. I have had friends on iPhones use it too, though frankly it was mostly because they had to use it to communicate with colleagues at work.
I have a lot of ideas for features, but from whatever little I've researched, it appears that the exposed API is quite limited and you can't really do anything the standard app doesn't do.
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You have to understand that iMessage is an Apple software/application, while MMS/SMS are standard ways to communicate over cell phones. You may well love iMessage and think everyone should use it, but frankly they don't for a large number of reasons, the biggest of which is that Apple prevents them from doing so by closing it off to third parties.
Like most others in the tech industry, I'm on hangouts. I have had friends on iPhones use it too, though frankly it was mostly because they had to use it to communicate with colleagues at work.
MarkS22
Member
Agree with you. I too was a mix-and-match sorta guy for years, but love my iMac/iPhone/iPad/Watch tech the past few years, had a good job... and now own a new MS.
I'd add one thing to your argument perhaps when it comes to Android and sometimes less apps, accessories, etc., or their availability following what comes first on iOS: To me as an x-software guy, it's a lot more difficult for HW/SW developers to deal with the many variants of Android OS levels in the market at any point-in-time, many more hardware options, and the general mix-and-match nature that entails. OTOH, many end-users of course love not being locked-in -- I get that. Because of the larger number of variants, I suspect there can be more testing and more worries from a developer perspective if they start in the Android world, than what is found with Apple especially with the relative higher rate of iOS owners that have historically migrated to latest levels of iOS much faster. If what they develop works and sells with iOS, then migration to Android for the additional market share is likely a smart prioritized decision by those 3rd Party HW/SW developers -- especially the smaller ones with more limited resources.
Agreed. Without hijacking the intent of this thread, this is one of my arguments for NOT releasing new Autopilot hardware incrementally and too often. Rather, keep working on software for 3+ years between hardware upgrades. My primary concern is Tesla splinters its hardware too much and makes supporting it more difficult, not unlike Android. If you have 2015 Autopilot 1.0 hardware suite, 2018 Autopilot 2.0 hardware suite, 2021 Autopilot 3.0 hardware suite, it's much easier to develop. Six years from now you have three hardware variations. It's also like game consoles. You can be using older hardware, but you learn to get more out of it with coding. If you start adding "one new camera" in 6 months, then upgraded ultrasonic sensors, then two more cameras piecemeal, managing the algorithms could be draining a lot of time. In six years, you could have 20+ variations. I can't imagine the unnecessary complexity of "IF has Camera 2 AND NOT Radar 2 THEN... apply brakes."
But, yes, agreed that the splintering of Android hardware and software is a major issue. It's not really fair to compare "Android" vs "iOS" without looking into hardware and software versions. iOS 9 is on 62% of devices, with 92% being on iOS 8.0 or higher. Meanwhile, Android has 38% on KitKat, 25% on varieties of Lollipop, 29% on a version of Jelly Bean. iOS9 is only 2 months old and already on 62% of devices visiting the App Store. Lollipop is over a year old and only has 25%.
To be clear, not knocking Android because it's definitely a success story and none of this takes away from anyone enjoying their phone (or not being locked into Apple's ecosystem). But you can see why developers put their resources on iOS first.
Don't know if we're doing this still as the thread seems to be sidetracked, but Note 5 here. Didn't really want the 5, but I broke the camera on my Note 4 and none of the acceptable non Samsung replacements could match it's photo image quality (a must for my job). I also just purchased a Nexus 5x for the wife, as her ancient Galaxy S4 is showing its decrepitness. Super win on the black Friday sale today as they were $80 off on both amazon and the Google store. Thankfully her requirements are rather loose, so it was easy easy to settle on the new Google phone.
gnelson
Member
I've been using both Windows Phone and Android on a Samsung Galaxy S5 and I can't get used to the Android app interface. Windows Phone app interface is much more intuitive, informative at a glance and overall functional. This is going to be hard when I start for working for Google
George Parrott
Member
Johan
Ex got M3 in the divorce, waiting for EU Model Y!
anticitizen13.7
Not posting at TMC after 9/17/2018
iPhone 5.
As a general rule I have not favored Apple computers, and I've used nothing but Windows PCs for more than 20 years. However, the one thing that annoyed me about Android phones was that they never received timely security updates, and the wireless carriers and OEMs would blame each other for lack of patches. Many Android phones just become abandoned. Only the Nexus phones from Google have had reasonably assured updates. The phone makers and carriers are supposed to change this, but I don't really trust them yet. I'm unwilling to go through the hassle of rooting and installing custom ROMs.
Meanwhile, Apple still supports the latest iOS 9 on the iPhone 4S, and iOS 9 runs excellently on the iPhone 5, which was released in 2012. Apple phones are outrageously priced, but the cost is easier to accept given the longevity of software support.
As a general rule I have not favored Apple computers, and I've used nothing but Windows PCs for more than 20 years. However, the one thing that annoyed me about Android phones was that they never received timely security updates, and the wireless carriers and OEMs would blame each other for lack of patches. Many Android phones just become abandoned. Only the Nexus phones from Google have had reasonably assured updates. The phone makers and carriers are supposed to change this, but I don't really trust them yet. I'm unwilling to go through the hassle of rooting and installing custom ROMs.
Meanwhile, Apple still supports the latest iOS 9 on the iPhone 4S, and iOS 9 runs excellently on the iPhone 5, which was released in 2012. Apple phones are outrageously priced, but the cost is easier to accept given the longevity of software support.
I've been using both Windows Phone and Android on a Samsung Galaxy S5 and I can't get used to the Android app interface. Windows Phone app interface is much more intuitive, informative at a glance and overall functional. This is going to be hard when I start for working for Google
That's because you're using Samsungs garbage "Touch Wiz" UI. They completely tarded up the Android OS with it. Try using a Google Nexus phone and see what pure Android is like.
Samsung GS6 edge. Broken screen 3x, wish i just got the non edge version. Love my ipad but dont understand apple not having a back button and their dumbed down interface.
I do understand it's an Apple only application, that's why I said Android needs a real counterpart. Android's huge marketshare is wasted if everyone is using different messaging systems, that's my point.
I don't hold any special affinity for iMessage other than the fact that it does a good job not relying on the unreliable MMS.
kevincwelch
Active Member
I for one certainly don't feel like a second class citizen. I'm not certain what apps are getting second hand treatment with Android. Perhaps I'm just not as reliant on my phone as others.
Having been a PC guy since the early 80s when doing much through a DOS command line, using Unix in college was a natural extension for me and I just grew along with PCs and Linux. Because I like the freedom to control my pc rather than to have it limit me, Android was the natural progression.
I have found that Android does everything and more that I want it to do. It is completely customizable - way more than the iPhone. As the Google ad says: "Be together, not the same." Being "the same" encapsulates the philosophy of Apple, and that's why they offer limited models and that's why they are largely bug free.
On the flip side of that, my parents have iPhones because they like the simplicity and they work well with all their Mac computers.
I have decided to keep with the Nexus line of phones since at least now they are the flagship devices with the latest versions of Android. So far, the Nexus 6P doesn't disappoint and this is the first phone I haven't felt the need to unlock and root.
It does annoy me that people use all these nonstandard apps to communicate: hangouts, imessage , what's app, etc. MMS/SMS are the standards right now, and they are the most reliably consistent across all platforms. I agree that something better needs to be developed, and it would need to work across platforms. Like the progression to digital TV, some people will be left behind unless they upgrade.
anticitizen13.7
Not posting at TMC after 9/17/2018
I deliberately disabled iMessage on my iPhone's for this very reason. I support open standards and generally only use SMS/MMS and email for written communication. The one exception is Facebook, because almost everyone I know is on Facebook and uses its messenger service (sort of like AOL instant messenger in the 90s).
iPhone is great for people who just want a device that works with minimal hassle. The downside is much less customizability without jail breaking.
