Is Android the best choice for a Mac user?

[petvas72]

You don't have to feel singled out because you didn't go the way of the iPhone. It's okay that you made this choice--Mac|Life supports your decision to side with Google in the mobile wars (well, at least until your contract is up...um, right? Kidding!). And while you may already be privy to all the popular, cross platform apps like Evernote, Meebo and the official Yelp app, there are a select few other Android apps there that can make your experience a little more Mac-like, without the need to sacrifice your open source loving ways.

Which apps do you refer to?

 

[robbski300]

I absolutely LOVE my Apple products--27" iMac, iPad Mini, 15" MacBook Pro Retina, 11" MacBook Air, 13" MacBook Air, iPod Nano, Apple TV, 2nd iPad Mini. There's NO WAY I'd ever buy an iPhone, though. You gotta play by Apple's rules. I love the ability to customize my phone. The M8 with Nova Launcher is UNREAL! To each his own, though.

 

[petvas72]

I absolutely LOVE my Apple products--27" iMac, iPad Mini, 15" MacBook Pro Retina, 11" MacBook Air, 13" MacBook Air, iPod Nano, Apple TV, 2nd iPad Mini. There's NO WAY I'd ever buy an iPhone, though. You gotta play by Apple's rules. I love the ability to customize my phone. The M8 with Nova Launcher is UNREAL! To each his own, though.

I also love Apple products, I love the company, but for me (and many other power users) Android is much better. I love it so far and I haven't regretted getting rid of my iPhone. It was too boring and its development and evolution showed to me that I shouldn't be expecting any miracles..

 

[Rukbat]

Everyone's covered everything pretty well, so just a couple of comments.

As far as the quality of Android apps, anyone can write one, so you have anything from someone doing drag & drop on a base that never should have been written to brilliant programming. Some apps will crash if you think about them, others will surprise you with the quality of the design and the implementation. And I'm talking about free apps.

The email specs call for text. HTML is "if your client supports it, good for your client", but it's not required. Some clients show the HTML tags just like any other text, some do a terrible job of rendering HTML (if you want to compliment them by even calling it rendering) and some do an excellent job.

Try Dolphin or Next browsers.

As far as skinning, Android is open source. Google doesn't "allow" anything, the phone manufacturers all want to distinguish themselves from one another, and the way they do it is with skinning and proprietary apps. (I agree - an unskinned version, which means a Google phone - is probably more responsive. And it certainly has less bloat to get rid of.)

If you step back from Windows for a moment, you're running a phone with a Linux distro. If you run adb on your computer with the phone plugged into it, you're at a command line in Linux. I don't think you can get close to that on an iPhone. (I know you can in a Mac, but if you want to do something with the phone ... dd doesn't run on an iPhone as far as I know, but it's used in Android development a lot.) That's probably also why the out of the box experience for inexperienced users is easier with an iPhone - the philosophy behind the two operating systems is completely different.

 

[petvas72]

Email rendering is not good on the stock apps, but Touchdown has no issues with that, so I am covered.
iOS and Android have Unix kernels. It's the interface layer and the capabilities that the companies provide out of the box that differentiate them.

 

[petvas72]

So, I have been using the HTC One M8 since last Tuesday and I have to say that I didn't expect to reach any decision so fast. I got rid of my iPhone on Thursday, because I was so impressed by the M8. Some things that I have seen, some thoughts (and questions) I have about the M8 and Android, as a former iPhone user:

• Lock screen notifications are missing, and yes there are ways of activating them, but I want to try the Android experience first and see if I get used to the notifications system in Android.
• The stock email, calendar and tasks apps are not good (for my needs). At least I could find Touchdown (I use Exchange) that covers my needs 100%.
• After three days of thinking how big the M8 is, now I have no issues holding it and I even think the device has the right size..Strange worlds
• The sound of the M8 is amazing. Never had so great sound on a mobile device..
• The Gallery app is better than the Google+ Photos app. Actually that is still a bit confusing. Why have two apps for the same thing by default on the device? The Google+ app even displays some of the pictures that I have on the Gallery app, but I still haven't figured it out..
• Browsing the file system is still a bit confusing for me. I have read articles that describe its structure, but I thought sdcard would be my externa MiniSD card, but it wasn't. Sdcard2 is the external SD card. Is it always like that?
• Does anyone know where I should save ringtones? Which directory? Can it also be on the SD card or better not?
• The camera is something I haven't really tested so far, but it's not that important to me.
• The Google Now launcher is much better than the default one. I prefer the Google Now integration, the round folder icons, and the scrolling animations when browsing app pages. How can I enable Blinkfeed when using a non standard launcher?
• Twitter: I have found Talon (some board member suggested it) and I couldn't be happier. This is by far the best Twitter client I have tested (and I had many of them on iOS)
• Chrome: It's very good, but lacks read mode (as Safari does). I know there are other browsers out there that have it, but I would prefer to use Chrome
• Notifications: I think the way iOS handles notifications for apps is better. I have a central place where I can go and see which apps are enabled for notifications. On Android I have to go to each app and see its own setting. Is there any way to change that somehow? It doesn't bother me, but I think it's not the optimum way of doing things (or I am just used to iOS so much)
• Sense UI: I have started using the Sense UI when I had Windows Mobile, many years ago. Sense has gotten much better, but there are still things that haven't changed, and that is a bit worrying for me: The Mail app for example behaves exactly the same as the one HTC developed 5 years ago! The interface is very similar to the one I had on Windows Mobile, but it has gotten flatter and simpler. I expected more advances in this area. Also, the settings area is not very clear in its structure and could be much better.
• The HTC keyboard makes me type much faster than on any other mobile device. I am not a friend of swype, so I want my traditional keyboards..I tried Google Keyboard but still find HTC's solution better.
• Battery life: It's difficult to say something about, since I am playing with the device all the time. Charging the device is slow, it could be much better. Battery life seems to be very good also.
• Watching movies: I never did that with the iPhone, because the screen was very small. Now, I enjoy watching movies on my HTC. Great screen and amazing sound.

Here is a list of 3rd party apps I am currently using on my M8:

• Touchdown (Mail, calendar, tasks for MS Exchange)
• Talon (Twitter client)
• Facebook
• Pocket Casts (Podcasts app - very nice)
• Yahoo weather
• MX Player Pro (very good video player - what is the default app actually?)
• ES File Explorer
• AirDroid (amazing app to control your device remotely)
• 1Password reader (I hope they bring a full featured 1Password client soon)
• OneNote
• MS Office
• Process Manager
• Root Browser
• Calc Plus
• Taxi.eu
• Paypal
• OneDrive
• Dropbox

 

[Rukbat]

[*]The stock email, calendar and tasks apps are not good (for my needs).

I don't know what your needs are, but take a look at Cozi. We use it as a calendar and task app to coordinate a family spread all over town.

[*]The Gallery app is better than the Google+ Photos app. Actually that is still a bit confusing. Why have two apps for the same thing by default on the device? The Google+ app even displays some of the pictures that I have on the Gallery app, but I still haven't figured it out..

Most of the picture apps on Android use Media Scanner, which basically builds a list of media files (or several lists - videos, audio files, picture files). Gallery doesn't have its own directory.

[*]Browsing the file system is still a bit confusing for me. I have read articles that describe its structure, but I thought sdcard would be my externa MiniSD card, but it wasn't. Sdcard2 is the external SD card. Is it always like that?

Since Jelly Bean, I think. Someone came up with "internal SD card" - which is an area of EROM simulating an SD card, so phones that don't have SD card slots could use apps that save data to the SD card.

And now, with 4.4.2, the external SD card is no longer just a FAT32 card with no security. As I understand it (it's new, so I'm still learning), most directories on the external SD card have write permissions only for root and owner, so other apps (and external computers) can't just write data anywhere on the card.

[*]Does anyone know where I should save ringtones? Which directory? Can it also be on the SD card or better not?

They're picked up by the media scan, so they'll work either way. I keep mine in /mp3/ringtones (and /mp3/alarms and /mp3/notifications) on the SD card, so if the phone goes bad (I wasn't watching what I was doing the other day and flashed a keyboard where a ROM should go, so I lost all data on the "internal SD card", as well as the rest of storage), I don't lose them.) It's a personal choice, really. You could also use /ringtones, /alarms and /notifications - Android isn't fussy.

[*]Chrome: It's very good, but lacks read mode (as Safari does). I know there are other browsers out there that have it, but I would prefer to use Chrome

One problem with Chrome - it doesn't support Flash, if that matters to you. Dolphin and Next do.

[*]Notifications: I think the way iOS handles notifications for apps is better. I have a central place where I can go and see which apps are enabled for notifications. On Android I have to go to each app and see its own setting. Is there any way to change that somehow? It doesn't bother me, but I think it's not the optimum way of doing things (or I am just used to iOS so much)

Since Google doesn't impose that restraint on app developers, no. (Remember, to write an iOS app, you have to know C. To "write" an Android app, you can use drag&drop templates, and not know programming from horses.)

[*]Battery life: It's difficult to say something about, since I am playing with the device all the time. Charging the device is slow, it could be much better. Battery life seems to be very good also.

Remember - condition the battery - 3 full cycles of full charge, then discharge until the phone tells you to recharge. And the best battery lifespan is recharging at the 40%-60% area. Nothing to do with Android or iOS, just how LiIon batteries work. If you root, install Xposed and Greenify, you'll find a pretty nice increase in battery life.

[*]MX Player Pro (very good video player - what is the default app actually?)

Manufacturer-dependent, I think. In Samsung it's Video.

[*]ES File Explorer

Try Total Commander too. Each one has its strong and weak points. I keep them both in a "file manager" folder on the desktop.

[*]AirDroid (amazing app to control your device remotely)

Agree. There's also ADB wireless if you want to save the microUSB port some wear. (Worst standardization choice I've ever seen - a flimsy port that's used a few times a day by many people.)

[*]1Password reader (I hope they bring a full featured 1Password client soon)

KeePass (Mac, Windows, Linux, Android ...) I keep the data file on the cloud, so all my devices are always using the same passwords. You have to use the Home key in Android a bit if you don't have a multi-window function.

 

[petvas72]

I don't know what your needs are, but take a look at Cozi. We use it as a calendar and task app to coordinate a family spread all over town.

Most of the picture apps on Android use Media Scanner, which basically builds a list of media files (or several lists - videos, audio files, picture files). Gallery doesn't have its own directory.

Since Jelly Bean, I think. Someone came up with "internal SD card" - which is an area of EROM simulating an SD card, so phones that don't have SD card slots could use apps that save data to the SD card.

And now, with 4.4.2, the external SD card is no longer just a FAT32 card with no security. As I understand it (it's new, so I'm still learning), most directories on the external SD card have write permissions only for root and owner, so other apps (and external computers) can't just write data anywhere on the card.

They're picked up by the media scan, so they'll work either way. I keep mine in /mp3/ringtones (and /mp3/alarms and /mp3/notifications) on the SD card, so if the phone goes bad (I wasn't watching what I was doing the other day and flashed a keyboard where a ROM should go, so I lost all data on the "internal SD card", as well as the rest of storage), I don't lose them.) It's a personal choice, really. You could also use /ringtones, /alarms and /notifications - Android isn't fussy.

One problem with Chrome - it doesn't support Flash, if that matters to you. Dolphin and Next do.

Since Google doesn't impose that restraint on app developers, no. (Remember, to write an iOS app, you have to know C. To "write" an Android app, you can use drag&drop templates, and not know programming from horses.)

Remember - condition the battery - 3 full cycles of full charge, then discharge until the phone tells you to recharge. And the best battery lifespan is recharging at the 40%-60% area. Nothing to do with Android or iOS, just how LiIon batteries work. If you root, install Xposed and Greenify, you'll find a pretty nice increase in battery life.

Manufacturer-dependent, I think. In Samsung it's Video.

Try Total Commander too. Each one has its strong and weak points. I keep them both in a "file manager" folder on the desktop.

Agree. There's also ADB wireless if you want to save the microUSB port some wear. (Worst standardization choice I've ever seen - a flimsy port that's used a few times a day by many people.)

KeePass (Mac, Windows, Linux, Android ...) I keep the data file on the cloud, so all my devices are always using the same passwords. You have to use the Home key in Android a bit if you don't have a multi-window function.

Thanks for your very informative answers.
There is a beta for 1Password and I signed up for it. It looks really great and works nicely, so I don't have to find sth else for storing my passwords..

 

[Tim Richardson]

The h8 camera is not mediocre, it's just not stellar. If you share photos online and do a lot of indoor photos, you'll probably even like it (speaking as an M7 owner now using a Galaxy S5).

 

[Roy Mustang]

If you are coming from an iPhone then in my opinion Moto X would have been a better option, it has almost stock android experience and the Active Display and Touch less Controls just put it far apart from any other android device,I seriously urge you to checkout a review of Moto X.
http://youtu.be/3ZX8graseUQ

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

 

[petvas72]

I wouldn't dump my iPhone for anything with less hardware quality. I don't care if it's metal or plastic, but the quality has to be top, so in my eyes there is only one choice in the Android world: The M8
The MotoX is definitely not my thing.
I even like Sense 6 and the (few) customizations. I added the Google Now launcher, so the device is really not that different from stock Android, actually it's better than stock Android (which I have on my Nexus 7).

 

[Golfdriver97]

I wouldn't dump my iPhone for anything with less hardware quality. I don't care if it's metal or plastic, but the quality has to be top, so in my eyes there is only one choice in the Android world: The M8
The MotoX is definitely not my thing.
I even like Sense 6 and the (few) customizations. I added the Google Now launcher, so the device is really not that different from stock Android, actually it's better than stock Android (which I have on my Nexus 7).

And this is the beauty of Android and several OEMs. You get many options to choose from. Currently, I am in the middle of changing carriers, and as a result, I may get another device. I already have the Moto X, and I love it, but I am seriously considering giving the M8 a try. The upside is, if the M8 flops for me I know I have a solid alternate to choose.

 

[Roy Mustang]

I wouldn't dump my iPhone for anything with less hardware quality. I don't care if it's metal or plastic, but the quality has to be top, so in my eyes there is only one choice in the Android world: The M8
The MotoX is definitely not my thing.
I even like Sense 6 and the (few) customizations. I added the Google Now launcher, so the device is really not that different from stock Android, actually it's better than stock Android (which I have on my Nexus 7).

What makes moto x different is the software and user experience you get and regarding the hardware even with the dual core processor it works smoothly without a lag and comparable to nexus 5.
The specification war is like having a Ferrari with nowhere to drive it,if you can't use the horse power it is all waste.

There are not much useful apps right now that utilize all the 4 cores it mostly for game enhancement,the only app I could think of right now where you can see the difference is augment,rest these upgraded hardware specifications are mostly a marketing gimmick.

Anyways I totally understand the metal body and those wonderful speakers definitely can please anyone.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

 

[AsusGeek]

HTC makes good smartphones, but so do others too... An Apple geek is into that brand and that´s fine...
I´m into, you never guess, ASUS products, but I have had a lot of other brands too over the years...
The important thing will always come down to what you found out about the HTC vs iPhone...
It isn´t the name/brand, but the possibilities of the product that count in the final decision.
Next time will you maybe go for smartphone with Windows OS and find out that they make something
that you like too... welcome to the World of technology !

 

[karbonbee]

I know I'm coming into this discussion well after the fact, but I find it very interesting that this be asked, and some of the responses to the question. I've been a hardcore Mac user since... forever. I keep a Windows machine around to do some techy things like updating phone and bluetooth firmware, but I only use a Mac for real work. That being said... I've never been overawed by iOS software - it's not as intuitive, expansive or as user-friendly as the OS used on a Mac computer. So when I was looking, researching, for my first "smart" phone, I ended up being an Android user. I stumbled upon the HTC brand during my research, and haven't been interested in straying since my first phone (Desire Z). I find HTC's Android interface more "mac-like" then what is used on the iPhones and iPads. I can understand why Apple went after HTC years ago over their Sense UI. From day one, I jumped right into the Android OS, without any real problem or hesitation. When I end up helping friends troubleshooting their iPhones and even Blackberrys, I get frustrated with how little choice you are given in personalizing them - I find the iPhone very un-mac-like, lol. I also find Safari very un-mac-like as far as far as software goes, and I can't stand Chrome. I just download Firefox for Android and disable the built in browser (Internet). Some of the built-in and carrier driven Android Apps are annoying, but it's pretty easy to disable them if you don't want to go as far as rooting the phone to get rid of them, and download what works better.

I've never had any problems accessing or backing up my HTC onto my Macs - never needed any special software - just plug the phone in, and open the "drive" icon(s) that mount onto the desktop. If the phone has both internal storage and a SD card, then both mount. All I do is drag and drop whatever I want to add (or backup) to and from my HTC phones. You just have to pay attention to the folder structure created by Android, and you can add whatever media you want. When I change phones, I just copy over ringtones, pictures, music, etc to the new phone. Even my backups of sms, calendars, phone book and such. Of course, most of the major restoration of things like contacts and calendars are done automatically when you sign into your Google account - I haven't had to worry about losing my phone contacts since my first Android phone. I find Android, or at least HTC's version of it, extremely user-friendly and far more mac-like than the iPhone itself. And of course, there are pros and cons of both operating systems - however, I might only use Mac computers, but I really can't ever see myself wanting to switch to an iPhone. I'm too spoiled now by the customizing potential and ease of use of the Android platform - well that, and the HTC touch screens and keyboards - they're both any power user's wetdream.

 

[Deshiandroid]

I recently switch to Android. I used Iphone for more than six months. Now I am using Samsung Galalxy S5. I am happy with its performance. I think using Android is much more fun than Apple.