Developers make money on iOS because of volume. The Android app story is pathetic. Choice, quality and just finding an app. Plus many fewer people actually willing to pay for an app. There are many same apps that on Android have reduced functionality and look worse.
I will only buy an Android device that is either a nexus or with an unlocked bootloader. if an iOS device doesn't do what you want then you can jailbreak. Fewer people do these days though because Apple has added features that people used to jailbreak for.
The people who complain about Apple being a closed system and Android supposedly one can generally give few examples of what is good or bad about either or how it actually affects them.
You really want to root an Android device just to get rid of the silly amount of bloatware the carriers and manufacturers install. Apple doesn't allow carriers to do this.
Android tablets are awful and haven't sold first because of few decent tablet apps, lower quality hardware, especially screens, and a poor UI. This is why Google had to take the extraordinary step of competing against their own partners in making a Nexus tablet.
Also keep in mind that the only Android manufacturer making money is Samsung. The rest are losing money. That goes a long way to explain bloatware, minimal upgrades, poor quality hardware, and service and support.
Android is mostly succeeding because of low cost phones. But revenues for everyone involved in Android, including Google, are very low compared to Apple devices, apps, and accessories.
Google makes more money from Google Services on iOS devices than from Android. That's pretty sad.
For Apple the device is the product they are selling. They break even on apps because of the cost of the app infrastructure they provide. For Google you are the product they are selling which explains why they roll over for the carriers and manufacturers to the detriment of Android users.
Your average user cares about price a lot and even though Apple easily competes price wise with the latest Android phones and tablets the latest Android devices drop in price very quickly and Apple's don't until a new version comes out.
I've had Android and iPhones since the beginning of each btw. Right now I'm using an iPhone 4S and a Samsung Galaxy S III. I've used handheld devices in general long before the Palm and Windows CE handhelds.
I haven't used any Apple products so I can't comment on how to make your Android device more like Apple.
My impression, though, is that Apple has a much more controlled, standards-based environment which results in overall higher quality and more robust applications. And there's the simplicity and ease of use at the cost of flexibility.
Android is kind of the opposite, which is a good thing and a bad thing. Fragmentation is a problem. Too many devices and OS versions for developers to test. Far fewer accessories because manufacturers put different kinds of connections all over the place. Dodgy apps in the Play Store. Lots of games and not so many productivity apps. (Maybe that's the same for Apple, don't know, and besides it's hard to be productive on a phone or a tablet anyway - they're for consumption, not creation.)
On the other hand, the wild nature of the open source community makes for lots of interesting stuff going on. If you don't like the way your device does something, odds are that someone else had the same complaint and made an app to address it. There are dozens of apps to do the same things different ways. The trick is to pick the one that works best for you. Look at the screen shots and read the reviews. The barriers to entry for developers seem much lower, and the tools seem easier to work with. This makes for a lot of activity, but also a lot of junk so you have to be able to sort it all out.
And I have had three Android phones and one tablet (Xoom wifi) and never even had the need or desire to root or install modded ROMs. But there are plenty of geeks who love to do that stuff, and you get advancements filtering up to the real world for normal people as a result. That will never happen with a closed system.
I would also note that Android is relatively new, and as it matures I'm guessing we will see more and more quality apps, and more apps ported over from iOS, etc. (One problem, though, is that Apple has set the expectation of only paying 99 cents or $3 or whatever for an app. Hard for a small developer with a good idea to make a living at that rate.)
So anyway, my advice would be give it some time, and get familiar with the Play Store to find apps for customizing your device and experience. And look at the screen shots and reviews before wasting your time. Also, trying out apps is easy. You can install them, launch them, play around, and uninstall them right from the Play Store app if you don't like them . You can even get an instant refund for paid apps if you do it within 15 minutes or whatever the time limit is.
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram