It has been an interesting journey for me in terms of smartphones, started off with a Palm Treo 650, next to a Windows Mobile device (I know), then the iconic Motorola Droid X, my first foray into Android. From there, I strictly purchased Nexus devices, starting with the Samsung Galaxy Nexus and purchased every one until the the Nexus 6…
So, with me being a huge Android user, enthusiast and aficionado — I decided it was time I stop the ill feelings towards iOS and all Apple devices, although I had respect for them — I just couldn’t like them. What did this mean? It meant purchasing my first Apple device, a gently used iPhone 5s and I enjoyed it, which lead me to sell it and buy an iPhone 6s Plus. Read more about my experience, which I documented, here.
First and foremost, the iPhone is smooth and very consistent in how tasks are done. Although there are sometimes ridiculous workarounds that you must take in order to perform a seemingly easy task on Android, at least it’s consistently ridiculous. Makes no sense right? Read on. I love that Android allows me to essentially do anything that I want to do on my smartphone — it’s a power user’s dream. However, it never feels good for an app to be swift and snappy one day, then have it hang and drop frames the next day. For what? Why? This is one of the things that I have never understood about Android, rather just put up with. For example, let’s look at two comparisons using the same app from each respective app store:
Google Hangouts on iOS opens in 1 second 10/10 times.
Google Hangouts on Android opens in 1 second 7/10 times, crashes once, opens in .5 second once, then takes 4-5 seconds the last time. These are the inconsistencies that I dislike, if the app can open in half a second once, why can’t it open up in that same speed all of the time?
This by no means indicates that Android is a bad mobile operating system; however, me as a critical and analytical user — I expect performance at all times and not just part of the time. This is especially true when it is a Google made app — simply infuriating.
This leads me into another point about the distinct difference between iOS and Android. iOS is touch first, while Android is process driven, which at times can cause a stark difference in behaviors.
Second, the iPhone is extremely optimized for the hardware. This does not take a rocket scientist to figure out; however, when things “just work” — I hate that saying, but it actually applies. You open an app with a expectation and usually it is met. One thing of importance here is that on paper the iPhone is not superior to even some mid-range Android devices; yet, it somehow outperforms most, if not all of them. For the longest, I could make almost any phone lag or experience latency, yet with my curreny device (which ALL smartphones experience lag) the latency is minut and not particularly stretched for long periods of time. With that being said you wonder how could a seemingly underpowered device compete and other times best a device with desktop like specifications? Most Android phones that you want to buy are shipping with configurations of 3/4 GB RAM and for them to still have issues in memory management is mind boggling. Yet, this leads me to question the architecture of the mobile OS itself. Being a Linux user, I see it consistently powering machines and managing resources extremely well, in fact much better than the other two big desktop OSes, but Android which is based off of the Linux kernel strays at times. This would infer that at some point during intial design of the operating system something got off.
Lastly, because of iOS, I am actually tinkering my phone less and less. Let me premise by saying that I work in technology, in operations. If anyone has ever been in an operational role — you know you are playing firefighter and I do not want to fight fires on my phone. I simply want to use it and put it away.
Bottom line: I cannot tell you what the best phone in the market is because instead of being the best, each of the top devices exemplify a quality that is the best versus having all qualities that are the best. I will say one thing I think is the best, Google’s services. So, regardless of what device I use, this suite of apps will always be on my device: GMail, YouTube, Google +, Google Keep, YouTube Creator Studio, Google Search (Now), Google Hangouts, Google Drive, Google Calendar and Google Wallet.
The Apple Watch, some view it as a fashion piece, others view it as a great notification center that allows for your phone to stay in your pocket thus making you more productive. In addition, some view it as a tool that should be used almost as a standalone device itself — either way, wearable technology is here to stay and this is one product that does a lot good while being slightly confusing at times, too.
Build Quality:
The Apple Watch comes in two sizes, 38mm and 42mm in 3 materials: aluminum for the Apple Watch Sport, stainless steel for the Apple Watch and 18-karat gold for the Apple Watch Edition. Size and composition make no difference in performance or OS setup on the watch — these are the same across the board. Other than that, I was concerned about the dial (dubbed by Apple as the digital crown) getting in the way and did not think that it would be useful at all; however, for creating watch-faces and manipulating the time forward or backward to view events past or present — it is useful and consequently your only choice. In addition to creation and time travel, it also serves as the Apple Watch home button when pressed by returning you to the previous screen.
Day to day use:
Using the Apple Watch is a “once you Apple Watch, you don’t go back” feeling and I believe the same can be said about most other smart watches. Having notifications on your wrist is always a big plus and while some find it nerdy or invasive is very forward-thinking. In my case, I dislike constantly taking my phone out of my pocket to see every notification and text. Responding and dismissing items from the watch is quick and easy, although it would be useful if an item could just be swiped away without the need of a confirmation.
Notifications present a very distinct vibration to your wrist without rattling your wrist off in addition to light sounds, which by default are on (you may want to disable these). Apple Watch also fully supports phone calls on the device itself, which I’ve never tried because of my deep Google Voice integration; however, trust me when I say, “it works.”
Like some, I begin my day in the gym and for me, that means steps are being counted, calories and being tracking while being burned and my fitness-self is being pleased. This is one feature that the Apple Watch just does well, even without a GPS, which over half of Android Wear devices don’t have either. Next, battery life is solid with me ending my day with usually 65% or more left. One note about battery life is that it is usually constant without any major variances from day to day.
Apps:
Apps on the Apple Watch automatically sync over upon the first booting and initial setup. Following setup, apps with a corresponding watch app appear on the apps screen after installation. Performance of the apps is not the best, usually performing well after they load, but loading itself is the problem — apps simply load slow. In some respect, I feel as if Apple wants us to engage in long sequences of interaction touching the watch, while I feel like the interface should be for short, quick activities. Both can work; however, app loading time would need to be sped up and further optimized to promote users wanting to interact with apps directly on the device more.
Pros:
Battery life
Standardized watch bands (Other smartwatch OEMs take note, please)
Fitness and health capabilities
Excellent Bluetooth connectivity
Cons:
Costly accessories
Slow loading apps
Takeaways: The Apple Watch is primed and ready to go. With a mostly positive experience, it is difficult for me to speak against purchasing an Apple Watch, especially if you’re an iPhone user — there is simply no better all-around wearable. Continual improvements in WatchOS will further optimize and streamline the experience. Also, did I mention standardized watch bands? These are phenomenal and are easy swappable, making personalizing your watch easy and fun.
“Let us loop you in”, the event hosted by Apple on today, March 21st brought some great news, affirmations and a few gut punches.
Here’s what you need to know:
Who steps on stage first? You guessed it, our buddy Tim Cook who started off the day with an introduction and words of affirmation letting us know that our iPhones are personal, private devices that Apple will be committed to keeping it that way. Cook noted, “owes it to our customers and we owe it to our country”, furthermore nothing, “This is an issue that impacts all of us, and we will not shrink from this responsibility.” For those of you following the Apple v FBI case, this is certainly something you want to hear and should be proud to hear from Apple’s CEO, he knows how pivotal our devices are in our daily lives.
Apple Renew
Since there are so many iPhones in use all over the world, as well as many other smartphones, there is no real standard of recycling them. In comes, Apple Renew where project “Liam” will automatically disassemble old iPhone components for potential re-use in an effort to reduce waste.
Apple Watch
Apple is giving us new bands made of woven nylon and dropping the price down to $299 for the entry level Apple Watch Sport device. This will put it on par with the Moto 360 2nd generation, which is highly regarding as the best option for Android Wear.
Apple TV
With the Apple TV currently having support for over 5000 focused apps, there comes a need for a few additional features:
Folders for app grouping just like on iPhone and iPad
Voice dictation throughout the OS (entering text and more)
Access iCloud Photo library on tvOS
iPhone
iPhone SE, something we all knew about, has finally showed it’s 4-inch face today. This device is essentially the iPhone 6S in a smaller body. The device will include the A9 processor, M9 chip for the always-on “Hey Siri”, NFC and Live Photo support. This is followed up with a flurry of updates coming in the form of iOS 9.3 which includes:
Nightshift
Notes protection
Health app upgrades
More education focused apps for the classroom
iPad
iPad Pro has given users a pencil with enhanced drawing capabilities that replicate drawing using an actual pencil and paper; however, some feel that the iPad Pro coming in at 12.9 inches a little to unwieldy. This has sparked the created of a 9.7-inch iPad Pro model starting out at $599 that is easier to hold, carry and work with and should provide a boost in sales to the line. This new device also pushes the price drop of the iPad Air 2, which will now start at $399.
Bottom line and takeaways: Incremental; yet, focused and much needed upgrades and product introductions. The iPhone is now available in a flavor for everyone in a very classy move by bringing back the 4-inch form factor and bringing the specs up to 2016 standards. While I feel like 4 inches is entirely too small for a device, some love it. Apple is also touting the iPad pro as a PC replacement (which is a bold statement that I believe is reaching a bit), is this now possible in 2016? Many feel that the tablet is a companion device that should stay in it’s place — we will see how this plays out.
The crowds are gathered, with Apple devices clinched in hands, to await word from Tim Cook and other important members from Apple. This was quite the impressive event, due to the fact that there were many new things introduced, updated and unveiled.
First, we got down to business with new innovation on Watch OS 2, shown proudly on the Apple Watch. Health is the focus here, with doctors having the ability to help pregnant moms, to viewing the health stats of a patient that he is currently in transit to — big help and a good innovation here. (These are likely enterprise only features that would not be used by the general public.) Innovation is innovation, nonetheless.
Next, we get into Apple TV and the new iPad Pro. Let’s start off by saying, the re-imagined Apple TV is just what Apple needed. The previous generation was nothing short of horrific. No apps, no apps and no apps. If it couldn’t be cast by Air Play or use one of the built in features for the Apple TV, you were not going to watch it. The new Apple TV features a curated version of the iOS App Store that has room for fun games and excellent interactive apps. Then you have the new Siri enabled remote, which allows you to ask questions regarding movie titles and more and essentially guide you through your experience on the device. Some question the amount of talking you are going to do with the remote in hand; however, the way it is designed — you may almost be forced into using the voice features. The remote does not include a directional pad as the previous iteration did, it includes a swipepad. However, the App Store addition alone is enough for owners of the previous generation to automatically upgrade. Yes, do it.
Refreshed Apple TV.
Let’s talk about the iPad Pro. Apple’s new 12.9″ behemoth of a tablet, starting off at $799 at the lowest storage option, is seemingly the company’s answer to the Microsoft Surface tablet. “The most powerful iPad yet” and they are not lying, this thing is a monster, paired with the optional keyboard cover and Apple Pen and you have quite the creation tool. The Apple Pen will allow for intensive graphics creation from supporting Adobe apps, in addition to more creation inside of the Microsoft Office suite. This tablet will certainly only appeal to a select audience due to it’s price tag and large size. As we know the iPad Mini is the best selling Apple tablet, and it appears that it will stay that way, even with the introduction of a larger sibling. Note that in order for you to have the full experience that Apple was touting, this setup with cost you a little over $1000, even at it’s lowest storage option (remember the mention of a select audience?). Let’s not forget to mention that this guy is packing 4 speakers, making for a better stereo sound experience.
iPad Pro lineup.
The part of the presentation that we were all waiting for, iPhone. As we have come to expect, the S lineup is usually a small iteration on the lineup that came before it; however, this time is different for Apple. This time, Apple has actually made big under the hood changes (that is, instead of making one new change and making you shell out more cash for something trivial).
New A9 processor which should be much improved from the previous generation
2 GB of RAM, increased from 1 GB
5 MP iSight camera
12 MP rear camera with 4K video
3D touch (Apple’s new take on a long press, deals with pressing the screen with variable pressure to initiate and can bring up different context menus on apps)
[Source: CNet, Everything you need to know about the iPhone 6S]
Is this “S” iteration worth the upgrade? As with any S upgrade, it’s up to you, as history shows itself, the S is always better than the previous, it is hard for me to understand why you would buy any Apple phone that’s not the second generation, as you don’t have to have every iteration. Users of the iPhone 6 may not wish to upgrade so soon, but if you are carrying around a 5S, this is almost a must buy.
Overall, this was the best press event of the year (to date) in regard to releases and news from from the presentation.
The time finally came for me to put my Android device down, take out the SIM card and insert it into a freshly purchased Apple iPhone 5s.
Was I nervous, afraid and think that I’d hate it? Yes.
Did any of those feelings last longer than one day? No.
Enter iPhone 5s, let’s get started!
iPhone 5S.
A test, especially when you are trying to dive into a completely different world (iOS rather than Android) is nothing that should be taken lightly, can be daunting and should be of an adequate length of time to fully immerse yourself into the device and it’s ecosystem. This was a test of 7 days with certain parameters to ensure that I was fully in iOS as much of the time as I could be:
No going back to Android (Explanation: If there was an action that I could do easily with an Android smartphone, I was not allowed to do so — I had to figure out how it could be done on iOS or simply do without).
Must use the device as my “daily driver” for 7 complete days.
Cannot carry my Android device of choice (Moto Nexus 6) around as a backup.
Let the games begin!
One of the first things that you will notice about an Apple device is its attention to detail, just how well the device is constructed and trying to follow that “it just works” flow with the apps that are built in. And I must say, the apps that are bundled with the iPhone work well and are very consistent. Setting up security during the initial setup was painless with PIN to lock as well as Touch-ID, which is absolutely phenomenal (more on that later). After this initial phase, it was time to get down and dirty and install some of my favorite apps. Being someone who pays attention to iOS, apps and all major device releases, at this point we all know that the apps that matter are on all of the mobile ecosystems — so there was no hassle in finding the same apps that I had on my Nexus 6, in addition to a few other iPhone exclusives, to put on my new device. There were the must have apps: Pocketcasts, Gmail, Google, Google Photos, Hangouts (because I use Google Voice exclusively), Chrome and a few more that had to be installed first — this was all done during the night before that day that I was to begin using the device as my daily driver.
Fast forward to day number one. I unplugged the iPhone from it’s charger and didn’t really know what to expect during my day; however, there were a few things, that just in day one I noticed within hours.
TouchID is phenomenal. Apple truly got something 100% correct here, which is why this feature has been duplicated, some not as well, in other devices that are on the market today. Using ID to unlock your device is almost instantaneous it is so fast. In addition, many apps that implement security features, such as PIN numbers to access Credit Karma, allow TouchID to be your method of sign in, which is just further eliminating tapping away incessantly on the keyboard. Way to go Apple, way to go.
The App Store is really bad. I will not go so far as to say it is horrible, but it is really bad. Why?
App discovery is almost non existent here, it seems that the App Store is just overrun with games instead of apps to help make your life easier and while those are there you have to shuffle through the likes of Dungeon Boss and Minecraft to get to them.
Why are there two stores in iOS? You have the iTunes Store and the App Store. If everything was compiled into one convenient location it seems that it would make it easier on the user to go to a one stop shop.
Text is incredibly clear not only indoors but outdoors as well with direct sunlight.
Consistency throughout. Every app, regardless of how powerful you think it may be, launches in the same amount of time and it is simply refreshing. Not only do they launch at the same rate, but you get back to the homescreen (or initiating folder) at the same rate. Some might view this as boring (which, admittedly, it kind of is) but it is also very consistent. Consistency is key here when talking about iOS, it is certainly the most consistent mobile OS experience that I have had to date for these reasons. Let’s have a look at an example, shall we? There are a few notoriously bad apps in Android that seem to take their sweet time opening, while at times they are instant others leave you wondering is the app just in a bad mood today. (Here is an odd fact, these are all Google apps and they perform and look better on iOS)
Google Play Music on iOS just opens and I hate to use that “just works” mantra here, but it does. I did several performance tests here to validate my findings. I grabbed my Nexus 6 and opened the app the same time and about 7/10 the iPhone would somehow always win; however, the iPhone does not handle this app better because it opens quicker, it handles this app better because it consistently opens and closes the app at the same rate, regardless if it is being switched from or into or started fresh after swiping the card away.
YouTube on Android (to put it blatantly) has sucked for a long time, the app truly had a mind of it’s own when opening and speed was something that surely wasn’t a focal point. This has largely been fixed now; however, it still hiccups at times (which happens in every mobile OS, even iOS — more on that later). I performed the same test that I performed with Google Play Music and the results were the same; however, YouTube is not the offender that it used to be on Android.
Going back. Back buttons and back actions exist all over the mobile sphere. But does Apple get it right? Partly yes and it has nothing to do with a hardware button since the only button on the device that actually manipulates your position in the OS is home. So although Apple doesn’t have the physical back button here or on screen, developers do an excellent job at providing that navigation in the app and the experience is nothing short of spectacular. One swipe to the right, in most apps, will return you to the previous screen consistently and there isn’t much learning that needs to be done to recognize this.
Notifications are a pure afterthought in the grand scheme of things. You’d have to be pretty blind in Apple love to miss the fact that notifications were never meant to be focal point in iOS; however, this is essentially by design. Notifications come in through the Notifications tab in the pull down menu and they might as well stay there with as many swipes and taps that it takes for you to remove them! Clear all, please. Please.
Although the latest version of iOS (8.4.1) allows for probably the most amount of customization and sharing you are still limited here. I will simply say that I tried to share a picture and failed miserably. Sending a simple photo to my wife resulted in failure, so much that I just said forget it. In this case, I wanted to share a picture from Google Photos to Hangouts, which is my primary messenger since I use Google Voice; however, the share was not allowed. I was pleasantly surprised to see that I could share to another number of apps, such as GroupMe; however, you would think that as a messaging app it would allow shares to be initiated between the two regardless. (It is difficult to tell if this is Hangouts issue or if it’s an Apple issue, we can call it 50/50 for now. More on this later.).
Day to day interactions throughout the week continued smoothly. I was honestly very surprised that I was not reaching for my trusted Nexus 6 more over these past few days; but for the most part I did not need to. My apps experience on iOS has been very good, except for a few hiccups that resulted in an Apple screen during the update process of a few apps, even a few dropped frames here and there (as I stated before, every mobile OS has hiccups, this is something that some iPhone users probably do not want to admit). Otherwise, I have been flipping through apps like a pro and honestly trying to see just how smooth transitions can be when going back and forth between apps and you could probably guess how these tests went? Smooth, consistent and all resulting in a great end-user experience. Throughout installing app after app I was wondering if this would have a negative affect on battery life; however, it has been nothing short of stellar, as I am typing this my iPhone is currently sitting at a comfortable 67% battery remaining. Speaking of battery life, I cannot forget to mention that standby time is better than any device I’ve ever touched. If you take this phone off of the charger at 100% and leave it alone, you will return hours later to see it either on the same percentage or very close. Hopefully, these types of battery issues for Android are fixed in the 6.0, Marshmallow, update. One thing to note, is that it doesn’t seem like one app can kill and bog down your entire system in ways that Android apps are prone to do due to bad coding and this is likely due to the sandbox that you are placed in when using iOS which in this case is a great thing because Apple is controlling the user experience; however as noted above, controlling the UX can be a bad thing when sharing a simple picture fails. Google’s apps on are iOS are nothing short of gorgeous and one irritating part about each app is that it honestly performs better than it’s Android counterpart with the exception of GMail and Google Drive and it’s included suite of apps.
Being a big fan of music and podcasts, the built in Podcasts app was a dream come true; however, I eventually replaced it with my trusted Pocketcasts, it is still useful on its own. When it came to listening to music, as I mentioned the Google Play Music app worked perfectly and sound was surprisingly good for the one speaker that the iPhone 5S has, although at times it could be tinty and somewhat unsubstantial. I’d certainly like to see front-facing speakers on the next iteration, doubt it will happen but can a guy wish?
Enough about the overall good experiences. What are some things that truly annoyed me?
Apps that I don’t like I have no way of hiding, I am limited to putting them in folders and letting them sit there taking up valuable screen real estate. There is no way that you will like or even use every app that your smartphone ships with, it should be the users choice if they want to see it on their screen.
Next, Siri — yes, your friend Siri is absurdly terrible, aside from a few cutesy responses she can give you, this “assistant” does nothing of the such. It’s not because it cannot accept basic commands such as setting reminders but it is horrendous at voice recognition and seemingly limited in the types of results that it can display back to you.
Widgets in the Today pane are not only confusing but odd because of the fact that there are certain ones that cannot be removed (of course) only rearranged. If I don’t want the calendar there, let me remove it.
The ability to change my keyboard to SwiftKey is great; however, at certain points the Apple keyboard would just take over. Although permissions for SwiftKey were granted after installation, it was as if Apple didn’t trust SwiftKey on some password screens so it would pop up, which in turn required me to change it back again at some point after I was done entering text.
Workarounds. Some things you cannot do directly in iOS. For example, if I’m using Google Hangouts (or any 3rd party SMS app) it cannot be my default client, so apps cannot share directly in to it. So if I wanted to share a picture to it, it couldn’t be done inside of the app itself. This is even more apparent when you’re using multiple 3rd party apps. If it’s on your device it should be able to talk to anything else that is there as well. This does not hold true when in regard to every third party app, but is definitely true when dealing with Hangouts, this could a miss on Google’s behalf or it could be the fact that Apple wants Messages as the default messenger app for the OS. On the other hand. anything can be shared with GMail.
The verdict.
Do I hate iOS? No. Do I like iOS? Yes! It is great and so is Android. That is such a cliche answer; however, there are things to love about each OS and each ecosystem that their respective users live in. iOS offers a consistent, predictable experience. One in which you know what you are getting and you are OK with certain boundaries and limitations as long as your device is stable and you can reach certain apps that you need to. There was not a time that an app caused me to wonder, “Why is the app loading so slowly?” or “Why did that app not close when I hit home?” — never, iOS being a touch first operating system simply responds in a reasonable and consistent manner.
There is certainly room for iOS in my life and this is not the last time that I will carry an iPhone as this is now my personal device I will continue to use it and grow in my experience, as well as continue to use my Android devices; so, using both will work for me.
Is iOS better than Android? Is Android better than iOS? Both of these questions are a matter of choice and while one day while out with your friends putting the SIM into your iPhone might be the better choice, going for a day at the lake may call for Android. The choice is yours, at the end of the day I still love my Nexus 6 and it will be my more dominant daily driver, the iPhone will certainly make regular appearances.
In case you are interesting in seeing my setup, see my 1st homescreen below (it’s the only one that matters, the other page only has 2 apps on it with no folders):
My iPhone homescreen setup.
Tech for the masses, meant to empower, educate and inform by Dexter Johnson.
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