I really want to like Android

someguy01234

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The weird thing is I have much fewer errors typing on the 5S smaller keyboard. It's almost like Android keyboards are calibrated to be used by lefties. What I mean by that is if I slow down and aim for the left edge of a key, I get fewer miss taps. Very odd
There are lots of third party keyboards. Swiftkey seems most popular. There is Swipe. Kii can raise the keys size. I can't imagine using iOS keyboard since I only type by gesture typing now. I think this is more about getting used to Android keyboard.

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macguy59

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Yep. I tried a few of them when I had the Moto X. Same results. Google Voice seems to be pretty accurate so maybe that's the way to go for lengthy texts. I find myself using Siri more for things like that anyway (Especially when Jan 1st rolls around).
 

macguy59

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Your example is a bit extreme but yeah Android OS is much more customizable. Having used HTC, Samsung and Motorola phones, I think I prefer the "pure" Google experience
 

Tall Mike 2145

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Google's Android is about as open source as Mac OS.
The Linux kernel and the GNU remainder of it are GPL'd. The Android environment itself is probably a mix of open-source and proprietary software. But, that being said, it's still a better option in my opinion than iOS.

The rest of what you said are talking points, sound fanatical, and make no logical sense for picking a platform. A lot is contrafictory as well.
I'm a fanatic when it comes to F/OSS for software and data formats. However, could you please elaborate upon what made no logical sense to you and what you find to be contradictory?

Android's whole purpose to to facilitate locking you into Google's ecosystem. That is how all mobile platforms are being leveraged these days.
Through... letting people have access to the OS to tweak it? Letting people root their phones and not opposing it? Letting you use whatever solution you want for handling your data? Through not making you use their own software for accessing your phone and adding/deleting contents? Through not using a proprietary connector for interfacing with your computer or other devices?

The same goes for Ubuntu.
I haven't laid eyes on, much less used, Ubuntu Mobile. From what I have read and seen in online reviews, I'd argue they are much closer to being the "Apple of the GNU/Linux world" than probably any other player.
 

Motogameruk

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The whole thing about Android is that Google want you to have your own experience. If they wanted every Android phone to be the same they never would have made it open source. You need to find a version of Android that works for you. If you're more social then the HTC one is a good choice as blink feed it meant to be good. If it's features you want then find a Samsung phone. Although I think touchwiz is ugly and crammed with bloatware the s4 has some very good features. Personally I like the cleanness of the nexus and if you really want to go all out get a n4 or n5 root it a find a custom rom, then you can do basically anything to it.

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Motogameruk

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It's also worth joining the Nova Beta community on G+ there are loads of people there that can help you with themes, icon packs and home screens. The Android community as a whole are very friendly and most are willing to help you with questions or problems. There are no wrong questions, just wrong times to ask them :)

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I used to be the same way, loved my iPhone and iOS, and after switching to android i missed the iOS UI, however, i got used to the hollow look of android, and it customization that i never looked back. I just love android, it is a geeks dream. Like someone mentioned, try 3rd party apps.
 

macguy59

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Got the Nexus 5 back and it's been updated to 4.4.2. Sound volume does seem a bit a better but still on the low end. Camera takes pics quicker now but I didn't really have a complaint about it before. Damn solid Android phone. I made the mistake of checking out the Galaxy Note 3 whilst I was at AT&T swapping back to the Nexus 5. VERY NICE Android phone/phablet. I have large hands (6'5" 215lbs) so the size of it doesn't bother me. Once a few settings are adjusted, the brightness on the Note 3 is MUCH better than the Note 2. Not crazy about TouchWiz but there are ways to minimize that. Going to finish the week with the Nexus 5 then pickup a black Note 3. Impressive phablet that takes great pics and video. Wish there was a pure Google version of it.
 

someguy01234

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Galaxy flagship phones have much better camera than the Nexus which have been weak in that area in the past, but prose that's why they're cheaper. I think stock camera app sucks for now as well.

There isn't a Google stock version of the Galaxy Note, but there is one for the Galaxy S4, they are called Google Edition devices, but whether you want it depends on if you prefer the manufacturers interface or Google interface. I personally don't think it make sense to have a Note with stock Google because it lacks the software to fully utilize the SPen which is the main feature and it's what the Note software are built around. I can imagine a lot of younger audiences getting the Note for it's size and performance, but completely omitting the SPen though.

https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...om/?playredirect=true&hl=en-US&token=5rYdnKNL

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iN8ter

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I'm one of the few Android users in my circle of friends and I'm thinking about jumping to iOS simply because their services work better and are better integrated into/across devices and easier to use with other users than Google's services:

* iMessage
* Shared Photo Streams
* iCloud Video Sharing
* AirDrop
* iWorks Document Sharing
* FaceTime
etc.

All just work better than on the equivalents do on Android and Windows Phone, and a lot of their media apps are better than what you can find on Android/WP. There are some apps available that you'd have to pay for equivalents on Android to get that functionality, as well. Except they're free on iOS - like UberSense (I own Coach's Eye on Android, so I'm well aware of it :p )... At the moment we're using a Facebook group for a lot of stuff, since no one will touch Google+ (and I don't blame them) and most don't even have a Google Account...

I also think iOS handles data back-ups better. They have the best Podcast repository in the world, as well (some podcasts don't have an RSS feed, so using a 3rd party podcast on Android won't help when the feed isn't accessible - you need iTunes to subscribe to them).

The only hang-up is getting video off the device to my PC, which is easier with an SD card.

I may just get an iTouch 5th Gen to use as my smart device and only use my phone for phone calls. I can tether as much as I want on my plan, anyways, so it would be like getting a new phone - just cheaper. However, I would really like the 120 FPS HD camera on the 5S...
 

yfan

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Google's Android is about as open source as Mac OS.
Oh. Please direct us to where we can download a copy of the entire source code of the most recent version of OS X. I'm not asking for the source code of the bundled applications (such as Safari, Mail, etc.); just the entire source code for the OS including the UI - not just Darwin.

I had something of a revelation last night. The home screen on Android is what makes it so great (for me). The app drawer is a mess, but that's all you get to launch apps in iOS. But what I really miss from iOS is the fluidity of the interface. The bounce at the end of a page or the rubber band effect is just absent in Android (I'm aware of the patent disputes regarding these types of features). Their absence is what makes Android feel so stiff for me. There's something about the elasticity of the keyboard that also makes things less appealing.
Not sure what you mean by keyboard elasticity. I don't think I could live without gesture typing on my keyboard, and that's not available on iOS. That being said, though, if you really feel iOS works better for you, that is what you should pick. You don't have to force yourself to like Android any more than I should force myself to like iOS.
 

macguy59

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SPen . . . didn't think of that not working in stock Google. Although I don't see myself using a stylus for anything it's a great point
 

macguy59

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The only hang-up is getting video off the device to my PC, which is easier with an SD card.

Are you using a Mac or Windows based computer ? On a Mac there are some sync solutions that will copy over video (pics, music, etc) from Android OS. Not sure about Windows OS but there must be something that will do what you want. Thanks for your thoughts.
 

macguy59

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Not sure why it's an all or nothing thing with some of you. Sounds like Android is, for the most part, working for him/her. I don't see anything wrong with this person wishing some things worked differently.
 

Tall Mike 2145

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As someone who is libertarian by nature, I don't give an asterisk-laden curse word what anyone else does or uses. However, this is a public forum and so public comment is implied, therefore I can and do give mine.

I've been a technology enthusiast since the 1980s, which means a few things:

1. I'm probably older than most folks here;
2. I've been into technology longer than most folks here;
3. I've been around long enough to have lived through much of the history that's led to this point;
4. I've been around when you HAD to be self-sufficient or you were just plain screwed.

Back in the day, Apple was a really great company. There really wasn't anything else out there like the Mac. Even when Steve Jobs had come back, for a while they were still a really good company. However, lots of dubious stuff has happened since. So, I object to living in the iOS/Mac OS X/iCloud/etc. ecosystem for those reasons. However, apart from that, because I am a very self-sufficient and knowledgeable person, I don't really need what they offer for purposes of backing up my data or making it available to myself on whatever device I want to. Whether it is data organization or compatibility, it's my responsibility to be knowledgeable in such matters and take care of it, which I have done and continue to do. So, what do I need lots of specialized software -- that it also utilizes vendor lock-in techniques is just icing on the cake -- to do this for me?

I'm not, in the modern parlance, a particularly heaver consumer of media. I watch Netflix sometimes, and I have already ripped, transcoded, and backed up my own CDs and DVDs. Anything I watch gets watched either on my laptop or my phone. That's it. I don't own any modern media devices -- TVs, DVRs, network-based sound systems, etc. -- and have no desire to do so. But even if I did, Sonos and Logitech and the rest generally offer products which can and do function independent of the reach of the long arm of Apple.
 

mrsmumbles

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I've never owned an Apple product and feel no need or desire to. I'm beyond happy with my Android phones. The screens are gorgeous, the fit in my hand feels nice, there's more space to type, there's an app for almost everything.

What I admire about Apple is their amazing ability to make money, especially on products which lack the innovations of Android and others. The only new thing they came out with was iOS 7 which all their users are complaining about. (Then their users come running to Android and end up here, still embittered cult members of Apple, when they find out Android might require them to think for a moment or two out if the day. With my luck, I'll get banned for this.)

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