So I went Android recently in an attempt to understand how the rest of us live. Initial thoughts: Hated it. It had a very technical learning curve (and this is coming from a geek). Most notably, the apps built on it didn’t seem to have the same level of quality control Apple has. For all it’s limitations, the walled garden approach has a number of upsides…
Anyway, after weeks of being on the Android, I had one experience that was just so representative of the difference between the two OS’s. Here’s a dodgy visual aid that I made earlier.
The scenario on Android (red) is as follows: I’m walking along in-step with my 120 bpm house-track, nodding away… In comes a message. The sound *pauses* – the notification sound plays – and my music kicks back in. I’ve lost rhythm with my walking, and now I’m just pissed off that I got an SMS.
The scenario on iPhone (blue) is as follows: Same as above, I’m stepping to the groove… In comes a message. The sound turns down most of the way, the song keeps playing, and the notification plays over the top. I’m still groovin’ to the beat, and I can read the message if I want.
The diagram in itself is so representative of the two companies:
– Google looks angular, and like how an engineer would expect the “right” experience to occur – it’s probably more important to tech-types that they don’t miss a moment of their sound-file (because hey, you could be listening to a podcast with someone talking – right?)
– Apple looks elegant, and more “human” – nothing happens suddenly, you have multiple things going on at once, just like in real-life.
And lastly, this “problem” could be something that actually does happen on a vanilla install of Android. But it could be Samsung… Or it could even be Optus – you just don’t know, because the OS is open source. They just all get slapped with the same level of discontent, even though some of the brands might be innocent.
So that’s my highly representative example of the difference between Android and Apple’s UX.
mattrusty.posterous.com
Always remember when using Android: if you don’t like something, change it. Go into the settings on your music player and change the notifications to whatever you want. In fact, if you don’t like the music player, just get another app that suits your needs better. The problem is that you’re trying to use Android like you used iOS, once you accept the flexibility you’ll wonder how you managed without it.
Nice point Amer, if you can find an app that changes the UX I’ve described above, I’ll eat my hat.
I used to be a iPhone user. The main thing that push me to Android was iTunes. I hated it, but it wasn’t the only thing.
iPhone’s work. You take them out of the box and they do exactly what you want, and to an extremely refined and polished way. So much so that they are almost boring. I just wanted more out of a phone. It didn’t shout me, it shouted I’m an iPhone user. Basically I felt it lacked in personality.
Android can be just as refined and polished, but you just have to spends two weeks customising it and researching the right apps.
As for your problem with notifications over music. I would prefer the iPhone smooth transition. If you ever find a app on Android that does it, let me know.
Amer raises the perfect point which separates iOS users from Android users. With iOS you are told how and what to do on your phone. If you don’t like the UI on your iPhone, tough, your stuck with it – unless you jailbreak your phone (but that’s a whole different ball game).
Without a doubt Android is a much more complicated OS than iOS, in fact i’ll be the first to admit it and it’s a common theme I bring up when recommending phones to friends.
But let’s see what Android offers that iOS doesn’t (ICS specific):
– Browser syncing, plug and play file browsing (no need for iTunes), full icon customisation, UX customisation, Swype, a true google maps experience with navigation, NFC, and a true multitasking experience, a complete search experience, Flash integration, more video playback options, better/quicker software update response.
Android is an OS that allows for multiple devices to interact with it. Ever tried video calling from your iPhone to a non-iphone! you can’t? Why, because iOS loves it self.
iOS also offers it’s own experiences that Android doesn’t:
– a lot more features can be accessed in 1 click (but this doesn’t work for everyone!) and they without a doubt offer a better music listening experience (as per your story), better calendar syncing exp, and overall better music making experience (one thing I miss about iOS).
I’ve been a user/owner of both devices and you can’t pass up the quality of iOS – it looks clean and does what it should do out of the box. Android on the other hand you can make it yours – customise it, change the UX, replace the music app, remove the stock browser and install Chrome. Change the icons on your home screen with wierd images and characters. Have fun with it, but don’t just expect it to be what you want out of the box!
It is a very very good OS with a much more complete experience.