Apple(iOS) vs Samsung(Android)

[Kerbart]

Which one is better in your opinion? You are free to express your opinion, but don't just go raging "Apple sucks!" or "Samsng is cr**", you have to provide at least 1 VALID ARGUMENT.

[Lots of fanboy ranting]

Ehm, yeah. Right.

[SpaceXray]

I personally hate styluses. Only thanks to Apple did we stop using them. And now Samsung(and Microsoft) are trying to go backwards by adding styluses, again. Sure, you can draw and hand-write notes, but will you use it every day? Is every person suddenly an artist if they get a Note? Nope, those are just fancy show off features which in the end are just useless and anchor technological progress.

[Sean Mirrsen]

I personally hate styluses. Only thanks to Apple did we stop using them. And now Samsung(and Microsoft) are trying to go backwards by adding styluses, again. Sure, you can draw and hand-write notes, but will you use it every day? Is every person suddenly an artist if they get a Note? Nope, those are just fancy show off features which in the end are just useless and anchor technological progress.

Thanks for the vote of confidence in my artistry abilities.

But art aside (even if that was the major deciding factor in getting a Galaxy Note instead of a Galaxy Tab, and an ATIV Tab 7 instead of an Acer W511), exactly how much accuracy do your regular greasy fingers have? Forget clicking links, how about selecting text paragraphs in a document you might be working on? You might get by if your tablet screen is at least 11'', but you're obscuring whatever it is you're aiming at with your hand regardless.

A stylus is at least a thin enough item that you can point it at anything you want with good precision. And excuse you, Apple doesn't use styluses because their iPhings don't have a Wacom stylus sensor. That gives you accurate pointer position on hover, provides a right-click function that works instantaneously (even without touching the screen), and has... er, I forget. 512 pressure levels? 1024? Probably 1024, at least for the ATIV tablets.

And of course they function equally well in cold conditions and don't make you wear special-made accessory gloves on the off chance you might need to make a long-distance call in snot-freezing weather.

[Kryten]

I'm genuinely starting to believe this is some kind of prototype apple propoganda-spewing chatbot. Although if it is, it needs work.

[SpaceXray]

[Gue__1]

RAGE!!!!

It's iOS vs Adroid and Apple vs Google.

Samsung is not Android and Samsung's phones are not "real" Android.

Samsung has bloated their phones to a point that you can't call it android.

Look at the Nexus 5 or Nexus 7 for a look at android

RAGE!!!!

[SpaceXray]

Thanks for the vote of confidence in my artistry abilities.

But art aside (even if that was the major deciding factor in getting a Galaxy Note instead of a Galaxy Tab, and an ATIV Tab 7 instead of an Acer W511), exactly how much accuracy do your regular greasy fingers have? Forget clicking links, how about selecting text paragraphs in a document you might be working on? You might get by if your tablet screen is at least 11'', but you're obscuring whatever it is you're aiming at with your hand regardless.

A stylus is at least a thin enough item that you can point it at anything you want with good precision. And excuse you, Apple doesn't use styluses because their iPhings don't have a Wacom stylus sensor. That gives you accurate pointer position on hover, provides a right-click function that works instantaneously (even without touching the screen), and has... er, I forget. 512 pressure levels? 1024? Probably 1024, at least for the ATIV tablets.

And of course they function equally well in cold conditions and don't make you wear special-made accessory gloves on the off chance you might need to make a long-distance call in snot-freezing weather.

What if you lose your 100$ stylus?

You are far less likely to lose your fingers on the other hands(get it )

Back to topic:

Why the hell do iDevices need a WACOM sensor? You probably never tried a capacitive Apple touchscreen because you'd be amazed at how precise it is even with your huge fingers. I select and copy text all the time-you just get a huge magnification lens on-screen.

Before expressing your prolonged object obsession try using your fingers with an iDevice first.

[Kryten]

Well, the ignore function exists for a reason. Has anybody here had experience with Bada/Tizen? What did you think of it?

[Sean Mirrsen]

What if you lose your 100$ stylus?

You are far less likely to lose your fingers on the other hands(get it )

I am indeed far less likely to lose my fingers while they are attached to me, but that's the reason all Note (and ATIV) devices have stylus docks inside the device body. Unless you're using it, it's never out.

Back to topic:

Why the hell do iDevices need a WACOM sensor? You probably never tried a capacitive Apple touchscreen because you'd be amazed at how precise it is even with your huge fingers. I select and copy text all the time-you just get a huge magnification lens on-screen.

Before expressing your prolonged object obsession try using your fingers with an iDevice first.

I do quite well with my own device, thanks. Do recall I have an LG phone (an old Optimus L5... yes I am a cheap person), which does not have a stylus.

And they need a Wacom sensor for the same reason people want mock pressure sensitivity on the iPad, achieved with a special stylus and detecting the size of the contact area (it flattens as you push down on it). If you don't draw, you'll never understand the difference between having a parametrized block brush and a pressure-sensitive dynamic brush. Plus pointer hover function if you want to make sure you're pressing on the exact spot you need or want to read alt text on pictures or tooltips.

And on the subject of flexibility, when was the last time you've seen an iPhone with an SD card slot? My L5 has a hilariously small internal memory - 4GB, with only 2.5 actually available. But unlike certain iDevices which shall not be named, I can and do actually have a 32GB microSD card stabbed into it, giving me more internal storage space than a middle-tier iPhone 5. For so much less money that I could easily carry half a terabyte in interchangeable 32GB microSD's, had the L5 had a microSD slot that's not inside of its casing. *glares at his phone*

[th3shameless]

i'm a fan of neither really, i never like apple products because they are over priced. androids are usually too buggy for me(i've had 3 different ones and they all had something wrong with them os wise). i have passionate hatred for touch screen keyboards, and my q10 gives me a modern os with a full physical keyboard. blackbeery os 10 is solid, and the ability to run android apps is a great bonus

[SpaceXray]

My first Android experience was with a galaxy S I. It was enough to launch one app and it crashed. And the apps didn't even have a tutorial!

[Seret]

Look at the Nexus 5 or Nexus 7 for a look at android

Couldn't agree more. I've got a Nexus 4 phone and a Nexus 10 tablet. Stock Android is the way to go.

[Nibb31]

My own phone is a 3-year old Galaxy Note 1. It seems like a big phone, but once you've tried a big-screen phone, there is no going back. Apple's tiny screens are simply a no-go. The note is still small enough to fit in my jeans pockets and it has a stylus. I don't use the stylus much, but it comes in handy when you want pixel-precision or as a mouse substitute when I'm running Remote Desktop to access my home PC (I really can't see myself using Remote Desktop on an iPhone's 4.5" screen with just a finger).

No way will I ever use a small-screen phone again. Smaller phones just look like toys to me. My next phone will be a OnePlus One, if I ever get an invite...

I've replaced Samsung's bloatware with a custom SlimKat ROM (based on Android 4.4). It's lean, fast, and updated every week with the latest features from Google as well as some great stuff from the community. I use Nova Launcher with a custom icon set. I have Tasker running, which automates WiFi, Bluetooth and automatically runs various apps depending on where I am and what I'm doing. I've replaced the camera app as well as the generic keyboard with Swype, and the SMS app with EvolveSMS that interfaces with Pushbullet so that I can reply to text messages on my PC. I use Firefox on it, which syncs with my desktop Firefox. I also regularly use my phone as a USB drive to carry files around. And I can use any USB cable to dump music on the device from any PC without messing with iTunes.

Yes, I'm a bit of a geek, because I spend a lot of time customizing and tinkering my phone, but that's why Android suits me best. None of that is possible with an iPhone (unless some of the above features have been added very recently).

Apple is great if you own a Mac, iTunes, iCloud, and you are happy with having the same iPhone as everybody else and the stock Apple apps are good enough for you. Android is all about choice, flexibility, and customization. Because of the closed ecosystem, there are many things that an Android can do but an iOS device can't. If a feature isn't available on Android, the community will always find a way to tweak it.

Edited August 8, 2014 by Nibb31

[Kryten]

Android is all about choice, flexibility, and customization.

Don't forget price. Thanks mostly to Motorola, there are android phones in the ~£100 price bracket that work very well for anything other than the latest 3D games. By comparison, the only apple products available 'new' (i.e. been sitting in a warehouse for four years) in that price range are the iphone or iphone 3g, both of which are completely inadequate now.

[Nibb31]

To be fair, you can't compare $100 Android entry-level phone to a $600 iPhone or Android flagship. And this is probably why some people can get a false impression of Android. If you have an iPhone 4S or 5 and your only experience of Android is playing with a friend's Galaxy Ace, then of course it looks like crap.

But you're right, in the end, there is no such thing as a $100 iOS smartphone, and it's stupid to buy a $600 iPhone for 90% of smartphone users who'll only use it to post on Facebook and play Candy Crush.

[SpaceXray]

My own phone is a 3-year old Galaxy Note 1. It seems like a big phone, but once you've tried a big-screen phone, there is no going back. Apple's tiny screens are simply a no-go. The note is still small enough to fit in my pockets and it has a stylus. I don't use it much, but it comes in handy when you want pixel-precision or as a mouse substitute when I'm running Remote Desktop to access my home PC (I really can't see myself using Remote Desktop on an iPhone's 4.5" screen with just a finger).

No way will I ever use a small-screen phone again.

I've replaced Samsung's bloatware with a custom SlimKat ROM (based on Android 4.4). It's lean, fast, and updated every week with the latest features from Google as well as some great stuff from the community. I use Nova Launcher with a custom icon set. I have Tasker running, which automates WiFi, Bluetooth and automatically runs various apps depending on where I am and what I'm doing. I've replaced the camera app as well as the generic keyboard with Swype, and the SMS app with EvolveSMS that interfaces with Pushbullet so that I can reply to text messages on my PC. I use Firefox on it, which syncs with my desktop Firefox. I also regularly use my phone as a USB drive to carry files around. And I can use any USB cable to dump music on the device from any PC without messing with iTunes.

Yes, I'm a bit of a geek, because I spend a lot of time customizing and tinkering my phone, but that's why Android suits me best. None of that is possible with an iPhone (unless some of the above features have been added very recently).

Apple is great if you own a Mac, iTunes, iCloud, and you are happy with having the same iPhone as everybody else and the stock Apple apps are good enough for you. Android is all about choice, flexibility, and customization. Because of the closed ecosystem, there are many things that an Android can do but an iOS device can't. If a feature isn't available on Android, the community will always find a way to tweak it.

You forgot that there is Jailbreak for iOS which allows you to do everything like on Android(what you described above). Also, if you get an iDevice, you know what it can run and what not. With Android you have to compare specs and look through the huge phone model list to find yours.

[Kryten]

You forgot that there is Jailbreak for iOS which allows you to do everything like on Android(what you described above).

Because iOS is closed source, it's not generally possible to produce custom version of it; this means all jailbreak generally allows you to do is add unauthorised apps, which android allows anyway through sideloading. You're not going to get something like cyanogenmod on iOS.

[Nibb31]

You forgot that there is Jailbreak for iOS which allows you to do everything like on Android(what you described above).

Maybe you can replace the keyboard or the SMS app, but jailbreaking won't give it a properly-sized screen or add a stylus or a proper file system.

What's hilarious is to hear Apple fanboys claim that nobody needs a screen bigger than 4" on a phone and that 5" is too big, yet when they launch the iPhone 6 they'll be queuing up in front of their Apple Stores to get the bigger screen.

And there is no such thing as Tasker on the iPhone. No Firefox either. No way to copy MP3s without infecting your PC with iTunes or to plug it into a TV's USB port to watch movies.

Also, if you get an iDevice, you know what it can run and what not. With Android you have to compare specs and look through the huge phone model list to find yours.

No you don't. The Play Store only displays the apps that are compatible with your device.

Comparing phones is part of the fun of buying one, but getting a $600 flagship Android phone is just as hassle-free as getting a $600 iPhone. Specs are only a problem when you start looking at the cheap devices. Apple doesn't do cheap devices.

Edited August 8, 2014 by Nibb31

[Sean Mirrsen]

Comparing phones is part of the fun of buying one, but getting a $600 flagship Android phone is just as hassle-free as getting a $600 iPhone. Specs are only a problem when you start looking at the cheap devices. Apple doesn't do cheap devices.

This. Very much this. Comparing high-end Android devices is usually a battle of nitpicking and brand preference - there's hardly any decisionmaking involved, it's all in which "feels better" for you. Unless of course you want a stylus, in which case a Note is pretty much your best choice. It's when you're trying to fit into a budget that you start to look through various chinese and korean manufacturers to see if they packed what you want into the price range you want.

Ultimately, the difference between buying an iOS device and an Android device, is the same as between buying a console and a PC (or Mac even). Consoles upgrade linearly, are very closed and limited in modification, have their own sets of accessories and exclusive "killer apps", and each iteration of a given console "keeps with the times", ensuring that you own a device of generation-appropriate power at a fixed (high) cost. PCs have specs and prices all over the place, ranging from cheapest bare-minimum office workstations to ludicrously powerful gaming rigs, so the buyer is free to pick one best suited to his needs and customize it to hell and back afterwards; plus the PCs tend to have no "generations" and are often easily backwards- and forwards-compatible in regards to new software - it may not always work well, it may have bugs and glitches as a result of the tinkering, but it can work or it can be made to work.

[SpaceXray]

This. Very much this. Comparing high-end Android devices is usually a battle of nitpicking and brand preference - there's hardly any decisionmaking involved, it's all in which "feels better" for you. Unless of course you want a stylus, in which case a Note is pretty much your best choice. It's when you're trying to fit into a budget that you start to look through various chinese and korean manufacturers to see if they packed what you want into the price range you want.

Ultimately, the difference between buying an iOS device and an Android device, is the same as between buying a console and a PC (or Mac even). Consoles upgrade linearly, are very closed and limited in modification, have their own sets of accessories and exclusive "killer apps", and each iteration of a given console "keeps with the times", ensuring that you own a device of generation-appropriate power at a fixed (high) cost. PCs have specs and prices all over the place, ranging from cheapest bare-minimum office workstations to ludicrously powerful gaming rigs, so the buyer is free to pick one best suited to his needs and customize it to hell and back afterwards; plus the PCs tend to have no "generations" and are often easily backwards- and forwards-compatible in regards to new software - it may not always work well, it may have bugs and glitches as a result of the tinkering, but it can work or it can be made to work.

Very whise words. I am selling my Xbox because I got a proper gaming PC now. I am happy with my laptop so I don't want a PC. In my pocket-I want a console(iOS device). An iPhone and an iPad is all I need on the go.

You just buy an iPad for example and you already know it'll run everything fine. It is easy to use, no worry about malware and a bunch of options. You don't need like 3 wires and 2 adapters to plugin your phone to the TV-you just sit down, turn on your Apple TV and walla-you stream video from the net to your TV wirelessly. Heck, you can even play games on your phone on your TV!

[Nibb31]

You just buy an Nexus for example and you already know it'll run everything fine. It is easy to use, no worry about malware and a bunch of options. You don't need like 3 wires and 2 adapters to plugin your phone to the TV-you just sit down, plug in your Chromecast and walla-you stream video from the net to your TV wirelessly. Heck, you can even play games on your phone on your TV!

FTFY. You can do all that with Android too. And Samsung devices can do it without any extra hardware at all if you have a Smart TV.

But you can't just copy files onto your Apple device over a standard USB cable or mount it as a network drive over Wifi. The lack of a file system is the biggest limitation of iOS, and closes the door to so many useful application. That, the tiny screen, the lack of SD card, and the unreplaceable battery makes an iDevices a non-starter for me...

...but to each his own of course.

Edited August 9, 2014 by Nibb31

[SpaceXray]

FTFY. You can do all that with Android too. And Samsung devices can do it without any extra hardware at all if you have a Smart TV.

Umm a Smart TV costs 2000$ and most folks can't afford that.

An Apple TV costs some 120$ and gives you much more options and works with any TV.

Edited August 9, 2014 by SpaceXray

[Kerbart]

I have an iPhone. Spending more years in the IT world than most KSP'ers are of age has taught me that there's a lot of convenience is sticking to a platform that dominates the market, not to what is “better†(whatever the hell that means in your own opinion).

Android might sell in superior numbers, Apple is still the 800 pound gorilla in smartphone land. Does that mean it's perfect? Far from that.

• Apple fanboys “it just works†mantra is complete BS. We have an iMac at work (the large screen and ability to work past 4GB made it more suitable than Windows for certain jobs) and I'm amazed how many things don't work, or don't work properly. And the best is, because “it just works,†if it doesn't there's not a lot you can do. Windows gives me all kind of ways to tinker with settings. Apple is truly plug and pray. If it works, it works great. If it doesn't, you're in for a lot of pain.
  
• Apple has superior ergonomic design. Whoever thinks this has obviously never used an Apple keyboard and mouse
  
• Most Apple products, including iPhone, are usually well made. I'll give'm that.
  
• Apple's non standard, non-usb plug was annoying, but hey, at least you can connect all your Apple devices with the same cable. Enter the lightning plug.
  
• User friendly? Every time I have to change settings I have to freakin' google it. Some settings are in-app (we're talking vanilla apps here, not 3rd party ones), some settings are in the Settings app. Which might or might not be under "general", some generic "non-general" header or under an app-specific setting. Want 24h time but date settings the American way? Easy! Pick international settings for "Barbados!" WTF!! Granted that has been "fixed" with IOS 7 but really, SEVEN? That couldn't be figured out before?
  
• The only interface from computer to phone is iTunes. And it's a ##### disaster. I spent two days figuring out how to get rid of songs on my iPhone that I no longer wanted there. I ended up wiping all my music from my iPhone (wiping my iTunes library twice in the process before I figured out how to do thatâ€â€settings useage, doh!). Whoever claims that Apple are masters of useability is insane
  
• "We have determined the best sizes for phone and tablet. No need to come out with other sizes" *competition makes killing in selling devices in other sizes* "We know have devices in exciting other sizes! Look at us! We're innovative! Nobody thinks of this but us!"
  

It's not a bad phone, and it's good enought to the point that I have no intention to try out how green the grass is on the Android side, but Fanboys idolation and pretention that it's superior to anything including sliced bread is just ridiculous.

Edited August 9, 2014 by Kerbart

[Jouni]

I have an iPhone. Spending more years in the IT world than most KSP'ers are of age has taught me that there's a lot of convenience is sticking to a platform that dominates the market, not to what is “better†(whatever the hell that means in your own opinion).

That's going to be Android very soon. The last time I heard, it had something like 85% global market share. Apple has a reasonably high market share in high-end smartphones, just like it has in high-end laptops and desktops, but its overall market share has become low.

Apple fanboys “it just works†mantra is complete BS. We have an iMac at work (the large screen and ability to work past 4GB made it more suitable than Windows for certain jobs) and I'm amazed how many things don't work, or don't work properly. And the best is, because “it just works,†if it doesn't there's not a lot you can do.

In my experience, the amount of computer problems is constant. If your computer works too well, you start trying more ambitious things, until you get your usual quota of trouble.

Apple has superior ergonomic design. Whoever thinks this has obviously never used an Apple keyboard and mouse

I like Apple keyboards and mouses, but it probably depends on the size of your hands.

[dharak1]

When I was 10 I went out and bought my first computing device, it was the original iPad. It ran on Iphone operating system 3.2 and had 256Mb of ram. I still use it even though I have a newer Tab pro because I still have shows on it. I like the quick iOS interface and such but when it comes down to it, I prefer my Tab Pro over my 5s and iPad. For starters, when it comes to raw processing power and storage, Samsung and android devices tend to beat out Apple products rather consistently per price. A few examples of this are Phones like the Galaxy S5 and Oppo Find 7, both have similar price points to mid storage iPhones. The find sports a 13mp rear camera and the s5 has a 16mp one, the iPhone is left with just an 8mp camera. Another point is the pixel density of the screen. Now keep in mind the iPhone was released a few months before the other two but the discrepancy is still too large for that to account for it. Back to pixel density, both phones are larger yet still usable with one hand and both have a higher pixel density. The S5 has a density of 432 ppi on a 5.1 inch screen and the Find 7 has a density of 538 ppi on a 5.5 inch screen. The iPhone 5S is left with a density of just 326 ppi on a tiny 4 inch screen. The next big thing is storage, both the S5 and Find 7 feature 32 GB of built in storage but also accept a Micro SD card of up to 128 GB that is also interchangeable, leaving you with 160 GB of storage. The iPhone is left in the dust once again with a limit of 64 GB that is not expandable. The next point is battery, The S5 features a 2800 mAh batter and the Find 7 has a 3000 mAh battery both much more than the Iphone 5S at a measly 1570 mAh. This brings us to processing power. The S5 has a 2500 MHz 4 core processor and 2 GB of ram. The find 7 also features a 2500 MHz quad core along with 3 GB of ram. Both beat out the iPhone's dual core 1300 MHz processor. The final point here is price. The iPhone comes in at around 800$ for the 32 GB version- On par with the other two phones storage wise. The Galaxy S5 is 700$ and the Find 7 is a relatively low 600$. In the end it seems price is inversely proportional to screen area, density and processing power. Not only are the raw specs better but I find that the Kitkat interface is much better than the iOS 7 one.