What's so fantastic about Android ?

[TheL8Elvis]

In the realm of smart phones and tablets, the two biggest players right now are Google and Apple, with Android and iOS operating systems respectively.

Since we already have a thread going about why apple is so fantastic, I thought maybe we should have a similar thread about why android is so fantastic, so all the Fandroids could have the opportunity to talk up thier OS.

Obviously, android is doing very well in the mobile phone market, in the us and worldwide. Not so much in the tablet market.

So why is android great ? Google to, I suppose, since the parts of android that make it great ( the google apps) aren't open source, I think that's fair to include Google.

And although I am an apple fanboy - I think its worth noting my android experiences:
I just installed the CM9 alpha2 (Ice Cream Sandwich (4.03) on my touchpad, and am impressed with the update (versus CM7).
The changes make the OS much more usable, in my opinion.

I've also owned:
pandigital novel - rooted & running 2.0 (now broken)
nook color - rooted & running 2.2/3 (sold)
huawei ideos phone - rooted & ran numerous custom roms (sold)
Nook simple touch - rooted & running 2.1

[SeanDamnit]

I work in the cellular industry and have the unique opportunity to use any phone from the current Sprint lineup. I end up changing my phone out once every week or two.

To be perfectly honest, speed and core functionality of the iPhone and the higher end Androids (Epic Touch, HTC Design, HTC EVO 3D, etc) is virtually identical to the layman.
The App Store and the Market Place have almost all the same apps (with a few notable exceptions, like my beloved LogMeIn), so app availability is no longer this issue it was 2 years ago.

I end up preferring the Android phones - specifically the Epic Touch - more and more because of how sync'd they are with Google Products, the hordes of customization options out there with user created ROMs, the easier to use virtual keyboard, the fact that they aren't made out of brittle glass, removable storage, and the HUGE screen on the Epic Touch specifically.

I'm currently using the iPhone 4S to experiment with the recent jailbreaking developments (still waiting on a free wi-fi hotspot app)...will probably switch back to the Epic Touch again until the Galaxy Nexus comes out.

Edit - I'm also using the HTC View Android tablet. The device has gained 0 steam in the marketplace. Not because it's a bad device, but more because it's not an iPad. Regardless, I am enjoying it, and using it a lot more than I expected...despite the fact that I thought I would never find a practical use for a tablet. It's unpopularity unfortunately means that there isn't much custom programming done in the Android community, so I just rooted it to remove the bloatware.

[OnlyTellsTruths]

Originally Posted by TheL8Elvis

What's so fantastic about Android ?

The fact that it is not made by Apple.

[Stray Cat]

Originally Posted by OnlyTellsTruths

The fact that it is not made by Apple.

Yet.... muahahahahaha!!!!!

[TheL8Elvis]

Originally Posted by OnlyTellsTruths

The fact that it is not made by Apple.

If only that was a joke

[The Dark Lord]

Choice.

If you like iOS but don't want a phone made of shatter prone glass with a small screen, you're **** out of luck.

[thaiboxerken]

can you bit torrent on an iOs without rooting ?

[NoahFence]

Because it was in my plan.

[The Dark Lord]

Originally Posted by thaiboxerken

can you bit torrent on an iOs without rooting ?

no

[Damien Evans]

Don't care about operating systems really, but there are a lot more phone options with android, so there's more choice available.

[TheL8Elvis]

Originally Posted by thaiboxerken

can you bit torrent on an iOs without rooting ?

Originally Posted by The Dark Lord

no

Yes.

[The Dark Lord]

Originally Posted by TheL8Elvis

Yes.

What bittorrent clients are available in the App Store? I just searched and couldn't find a single one.

[TheL8Elvis]

Originally Posted by The Dark Lord

What bittorrent clients are available in the App Store? I just searched and couldn't find a single one.

I don't know. Probably none.

Is the app store the only way to install apps on iOS ?

[The Dark Lord]

Originally Posted by TheL8Elvis

I don't know. Probably none.

Is the app store the only way to install apps on iOS ?

Unless it is jail-broken.

[TheL8Elvis]

Originally Posted by TheL8Elvis

I don't know. Probably none.

Is the app store the only way to install apps on iOS ?

Originally Posted by The Dark Lord

Unless it is jail-broken.

BZZZZZZZ.

Thanks for playing though.

You are free to compile and install whatever you want on your phone iOS device. If your friend gives you his UDID, you can compile it so he can install it on his phone iOS device too.

And the SDK is free.

And look, a free bittorrent client source code.

So yes, it's perfectly possible and not even terribly difficult to install a bit torrent client on your non-jailbroken iOS device.

[The Dark Lord]

So in order to install a bittorent client on your iOS device without jailbraking, you have to compile from source and install using the SDK (which is Mac only). Versus downloading it from the Android Market. Yeah, you really got me there.

[TheL8Elvis]

Originally Posted by The Dark Lord

So in order to install a bittorent client on your iOS device without jailbraking, you have to compile from source and install using the SDK (which is Mac only). Versus downloading it from the Android Market. Yeah, you really got me there.

You gave a one word answer of 'no'. And then you said the only way to install non-app store apps is jailbreaking.

I'm sorry. It's not a game of 'gotcha' - it's a game of information.

And you are giving out incorrect information.

[The Dark Lord]

Originally Posted by TheL8Elvis

You gave a one word answer of 'no'. And then you said the only way to install non-app store apps is jailbreaking.

I'm sorry. It's not a game of 'gotcha' - it's a game of information.

And you are giving out incorrect information.

If your goal was giving out information rather than playing some game of gotcha you would have said how to do it in your first reply rather than stringing me along.

Fact of the matter is that compiling from source and installing via SDK sounds more complicated than jailbraking and installing via Cydia for most people and not even possible if you don't have a Mac

[joolz]

When I got rid of my Nokia 5800 Music Express phone last year I read that, percentage wise, Android was shooting up in popularity more in the UK than anywhere else and I see it's become the most popular smartphone OS in the UK [http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology...s-os-uk-apple].

1. I've had my Samsung Galaxy tab P1000 for a year and am very happy with Android. The Samsung Kies software is crap though, so I don't use it to transfer music or books, only for upgrades.
2. With Android I can be more independent in my choice of software, I use MediaMonkey to transfer music and Calibre for books. Friends tell me that with apple you are stuck with iTunes and they can't manage their music/books as freely as I can.
3. I don't have ice cream sandwich yet and don't know when it will be available from Samsung, but that is not a fault of Android. I have a horrible feeling that they may expect me to buy the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2, if so I'll wait as I'm not buying another one any time soon.
4. With Android I had a huge choice of phones/tabs, cheap/pricey, with/without expansion slots, 3G/not etc etc. Something to meet all tastes and wallets.
5. Unlike the USA, multiple carriers here service iphones so the complaints about AT&T don't apply and there's no difference with i/Android in that.
6. As SeanDamnit mentioned, some of the Android apps haven't been tweaked to suit tab screens, so I generally don't buy apps that don't have a free trial I can test first, that can be a pain. In a lot of cases though I can get the same apps as my i-using pals.
7. Android can multitask and have lots of windows open and working at the same time, whereas I understand from a friend that his iphone isn't good at that.
8. I wasn't keen on switching from the Nokia Sat nav to the Android google one, but I'm more used to it now although I rarely use it anyway. No idea about iPhone sat nav.
9. Disappointing that I can't load funny sat nav voices like my nokia (yeah, I'm a big kid ), but I have an neat app where I can talk to my phone and give it instructions which my pal doesn't have on his iPhone - or maybe he just hasn't found it in the istore.
10. I can't do a direct comparison on OSs as I've never had, or wanted, an iphone, but I did look at one a year ago and was stunned that you can't replace the battery yourself. When I asked how you change it, I was told you have to send it away and wait maybe 10 days. I'm not paying a fortune for a phone to be without it for a simple battery change !?!?! Even if I'd liked it I wouldn't have bought it for that reason alone.
11. Steve Wozniak even reckons some aspects of Android are better than the iphone so I'm sticking to Android! http://mashable.com/2012/01/16/woz-android/

[Christian Klippel]

Originally Posted by TheL8Elvis

And the SDK is free.

But the Apple-Tax to actually be able to compile and upload stuff to the iWhatever is 99 Dollars per year. Only then you can install stuff on a regular iWhatever.

So, just telling that the SDK is free is somewhat misleading.

Does anyone know what happens to the installed, self-written apps after that one year, if you don't pay the Apple-Tax again?

Greetings,

Chris

[TheL8Elvis]

Originally Posted by The Dark Lord

If your goal was giving out information rather than playing some game of gotcha you would have said how to do it in your first reply rather than stringing me along.

But no one asked *how* to do it. Just if it was possible. If you wanted to know how, you could have just replied 'how do you do it ?'

Originally Posted by The Dark Lord

Fact of the matter is that compiling from source and installing via SDK sounds more complicated than jailbraking and installing via Cydia for most people and not even possible if you don't have a Mac

You compile with the sdk, you install by just dragging the app onto your phone in itunes. And you can run OS X in a VM on windows, so you don't technically need a mac. But I agree, it's way easy to just jailbreak and install. But the question was if it could be done without jailbreaking.And it can.

Think outside the box. You are not restricted to the walled garden, there are lots of ways around it.

Anyway - this is the android thread, not iOS , so I'll stop with this off-topic diversion.

[TheL8Elvis]

Originally Posted by Christian Klippel

But the Apple-Tax to actually be able to compile and upload stuff to the iWhatever is 99 Dollars per year. Only then you can install stuff on a regular iWhatever.

So, just telling that the SDK is free is somewhat misleading.

Does anyone know what happens to the installed, self-written apps after that one year, if you don't pay the Apple-Tax again?

Greetings,

Chris

That's $99 to distribute via the app store.

Not on your own device, or anyone whose UDID you have. That's free.

ETA: argh - even in the android thread we must talk about apple.

[The Dark Lord]

Originally Posted by TheL8Elvis

But no one asked *how* to do it. Just if it was possible. If you wanted to know how, you could have just replied 'how do you do it ?'



You compile with the sdk, you install by just dragging the app onto your phone in itunes. And you can run OS X in a VM on windows, so you don't technically need a mac. But I agree, it's way easy to just jailbreak and install. But the question was if it could be done without jailbreaking.And it can.

Think outside the box. You are not restricted to the walled garden, there are lots of ways around it.

Anyway - this is the android thread, not iOS , so I'll stop with this off-topic diversion.

OK, I'll drop it also.

Back on topic. One thing that's great about Android is that it's not a walled garden. You can install any app you want to on it. App not in the app market for whatever reason? Don't want to use the Android Market? Just sideload it on. No rooting or compiling of source code necessary (unless you have an AT&T phone, I think they restrict you to the Android Market, but I don't nor would I ever have AT&T so I don't care).

[SeanDamnit]

Originally Posted by thaiboxerken

can you bit torrent on an iOs without rooting ?

LogMeIn and bittorrent on your PC...then transfer to your phone if you'd like.

Posting on my HTC View Tablet BTW...

[Captain_Snort]

Standard ports (usually) even have a full size USB port on my Acer Iconia, chuck a normal keyboard and mouse in it, via a hub, well capable laptop replacement. Similar for HDMI. Even plugged and xbox 360 controller in it and happily played GTA III on it.

Stuff is less expensive and a lot more powerful in general. hey, GPS even works when you are not connected to any network.

Open source, easy to develop for. My current research is based partly on Android, mainly because it means some custom software, that, and it will be on the ground in Africa, apple stuff is just way too expensive there when people live on a dollar a day.


The list goes on, but the best is it shows you are not a brainless fanboi.

[megaresp]

My wife's Android phone allowed her to take her existing £15/month plan and get a brand new Samsung Galaxy Ace for no extra money - just a 24 month commit to her existing plan. But wait, there's more...

She also got a free bandwidth allowance per month and an additional allowance of one free 60 minute call from her mobile to New Zealand every month. So she got a MUCH better phone and a better call plan, but pays no extra per month.

The amount of call minutes and texts plus the free call to NZ per month wasn't available with an also free 24-month iPhone 3Gs contract at £15/month. The Samsung Galaxy Ace is reasonably similar spec-wise to my own iPhone 3Gs, so from where we sat it was a very good deal indeed.

That's what I like about Android, but I'm unlikely to cross-grade. I have too many apps on my iPhone 3Gs and prefer iOS5 to whatever version of Android she is running.

[Fishstick]

Originally Posted by The Dark Lord

OK, I'll drop it also.

Back on topic. One thing that's great about Android is that it's not a walled garden. You can install any app you want to on it. App not in the app market for whatever reason? Don't want to use the Android Market? Just sideload it on. No rooting or compiling of source code necessary (unless you have an AT&T phone, I think they restrict you to the Android Market, but I don't nor would I ever have AT&T so I don't care).

With HTC, the HTC-branding can be relatively easily removed without rooting by disabling the background services. Do the AT&T-branded firmwares delivered with androids not do this? I've never had a carrier-locked phone, so I don't know.

[The Dark Lord]

Originally Posted by Fishstick

With HTC, the HTC-branding can be relatively easily removed without rooting by disabling the background services. Do the AT&T-branded firmwares delivered with androids not do this? I've never had a carrier-locked phone, so I don't know.

I dunno. They might have even stopped doing that because it puts them at a competitive disadvantage. Especially since Amazon came out with its app store which gives out a free app every day (many of them very good - I have almost all of the ~300 they have given away).

[Ove]

I like the "Walled Garden" expression which also describes why i use Android and will keep on doing so. I use Android for the same reason that i use a PC and not a Mac, i just dont like being tied to ONE manufacturer. Android is open for many people Apple is open for Apple, period.
I know Iphones are good, but i prefer Android phones.

[megaresp]

Originally Posted by Ove

I like the "Walled Garden" expression which also describes why i use Android...

Sure, but the "walled garden" approach isn't all downside. For a certain segment of the population I'd argue it actually makes more sense.

[Wudang]

Originally Posted by megaresp

Sure, but the "walled garden" approach isn't all downside. For a certain segment of the population I'd argue it actually makes more sense.

Indeed. An Apple "fanboi"* colleague has both an iPad and an Iconia and regarded the latter as the better device apart from the Apple app market which he regarded as better for the QA Apple did on the apps.

*say "apple" and he launches into the "everything just works" speech. Again.

[Darat]

I don't find anything fantastic about Android - it's a nice enough software platform to build touch devices on and it has good support for a large range of hardware. Beyond that - it's just an OS, it's what you can do with your device that is important not what it runs on.

[keale]

Prefer Android, installls any app, not tied to itunes, more customizable, more hardware choices and screen size choices where Apple makes all those choices for you...

[Alareth]

Originally Posted by SeanDamnit

The App Store and the Market Place have almost all the same apps (with a few notable exceptions, like my beloved LogMeIn)

Can someone explain to me why the **** the iPhone app for LogMeIn is free while the Android app is is $30 *********** dollars?

[kajata]

Originally Posted by Alareth

Can someone explain to me why the **** the iPhone app for LogMeIn is free while the Android app is is $30 *********** dollars?

LogMeIn Pro is 39 bucks for the iPhone. They also have a free version. I'm guessing the $30 one for Android is the Pro version?

[Red3]

I nearly just started a thread called "sell me an iphone". I have a Samsung Galaxy Ace, which compared with the iphone is classed as a "low end" smartphone. A few of my friends have iPhones and I can't seem to understand what they're getting from them that i'm not getting from my humble little handset (with insanely good battery life), or why they're paying out so much cash. What am I missing?! I don't intend on buying an Iphone, and if I wanted to upgrade I would go probably go with Samsung again. How would you sell me an iPhone?

what justifies the iPhone & iOS over Android (and in particular Samsung) for everyday usage, and why should I buy one? What are the *real* advantages, and what is just Apple snobbery?

why is Apple so popular with celebrities? It seems like Apple is all about image. Android devices are cheaper, just as functional, just as powerful and you aren't tied to apple.

[TheL8Elvis]

Originally Posted by Alareth

Can someone explain to me why the **** the iPhone app for LogMeIn is free while the Android app is is $30 *********** dollars?

Android users pay for apps ? I thought you just searched for logmein.apk and installed it

[TheL8Elvis]

Originally Posted by Red3

I nearly just started a thread called "sell me an iphone". I have a Samsung Galaxy Ace, which compared with the iphone is classed as a "low end" smartphone. A few of my friends have iPhones and I can't seem to understand what they're getting from them that i'm not getting from my humble little handset (with insanely good battery life), or why they're paying out so much cash. What am I missing?! I don't intend on buying an Iphone, and if I wanted to upgrade I would go probably go with Samsung again. How would you sell me an iPhone?

what justifies the iPhone & iOS over Android (and in particular Samsung) for everyday usage, and why should I buy one? What are the *real* advantages, and what is just Apple snobbery?

why is Apple so popular with celebrities? It seems like Apple is all about image. Android devices are cheaper, just as functional, just as powerful and you aren't tied to apple.

According to the first few reviews I read, the battery life isn't very good.

The resolution is pretty poor as well.

But I wouldn't try to sell you an iphone if you didn't care what phone you had so long as it was cheap and did xyz.

It also depends on your cell phone plan, etc.
In the US, the 3GS can be free with contract. I would say a free 3gs beats a free galaxy ace. A $100 iphone 4 on contract crushes it as far as resolution, speed etc.

But there are lots of factors, many of which remain unknown about why you have the galaxy ace.

[kajata]

Originally Posted by Red3

I nearly just started a thread called "sell me an iphone". I have a Samsung Galaxy Ace, which compared with the iphone is classed as a "low end" smartphone. A few of my friends have iPhones and I can't seem to understand what they're getting from them that i'm not getting from my humble little handset (with insanely good battery life), or why they're paying out so much cash. What am I missing?! I don't intend on buying an Iphone, and if I wanted to upgrade I would go probably go with Samsung again. How would you sell me an iPhone?

what justifies the iPhone & iOS over Android (and in particular Samsung) for everyday usage, and why should I buy one? What are the *real* advantages, and what is just Apple snobbery?

why is Apple so popular with celebrities? It seems like Apple is all about image. Android devices are cheaper, just as functional, just as powerful and you aren't tied to apple.

SOME Android devices are cheaper. There are Android phones that cost 300 dollars with a contract. I'm sure many of those are excellent.

Compared to your phone, the iPhone 4S has a better camera, lens, a screen that's over twice the resolution, shoots hi-def video, Over-the-air updates, and will sell on eBay for about what you paid for it when your contract is up, can do video chat, has Siri, Is thinner, has longer talk time, more internal storage, More memory, more apps available.

If these aren't very important to you than you bought the right phone for you.

Apple is popular with celebrities because it's popular overall. And of course Apple is concerned with image. They are also very concerned with design.

[The Dark Lord]

The Galaxy Ace seems like a crap phone. Especially compared to monsters like the Galaxy S II. Hell, it is inferior to the Galaxy S which came out like eight months before the Ace. I wouldn't get one.