Why Android Will Always Be Laggier Than iOS

[LegalAmerican]

Anyone that posts in these forums cares. That is the whole point of these threads.

These are not just p*ssing contests to me. I have used these threads to determine purchases before. I think user experiences and opinions are valuable and want to hear them. Both from the Fanboys and the Haters.

Good heavens Jeff. I appreciate your vigilance but you are wearing me out here. I guess it's just as much my fault but when you cherry pick little sentences from my overall post, of course it will be easy to twist it however you want.

My point isn't that nobody ever cares what another person is experiencing. I was just saying when you are happy with your experience, why would you care if I walked over and said your phone sucked? It shouldn't matter to you what I think as long as you're happy. Everyone here seems happy with what they have, and it's just turned to a conversation about who can top who.

 

[Dreamliner330]

If tw looks like a 5 yo made it what does iOS look like seeing as it looks worse.

Right. SMS app, contacts, dialer, grey system bar, enormous menus all look phenomenal on the S4, whereas the transparent titlebar and ui of aforementioned apps look way worse on iPhone. /sarcasm.

Samsung has no idea how to develop software. HTC by comparison is significantly better, bested only by the new Motorola or Stock Android.

I take you dont have a PC then or think your PC is horrible? Cuz like it was mentioned......even PC's lag at times.... And that must be a very talented 5 y.o. that developed Touchwiz. Like it was said before......things are not as bad as some ppl make it..... Android isnt a lag fest and the iPhone can lag. IMO....if one wanted the least laggiest experience.....they should get a WP....



I was thinking the exact same thing.....looks like Apple made the UI, animations a priority and Google made multi tasking a priority.... Well.....seems I made the right choice for me then. Thanks Cult of Mac for reminding me I did.... And I hope it never changes...

The only iOS element I've ever seen lag is the swipe to search. Everything else is smooth. Compare that to the GS4 unlock stutter, notification menu stutter, gallery stutter, scrolling stutter, zoom stutter...Hopefully the GE S4 will correct most of the stuttering, but the hardware (speaker, signal & Dim screen) leave a bit to be desired.

 

[LegalAmerican]

nobody ever cares.

See how taking one little line from a whole sentence can completely change the tone? A lot of what I say flows off the sentence before or after.

 

[Notsosure]

Maybe bc a smooth OS is patented by Apple?

Sent from my Galaxy S4 using Tapatalk

 

[Johnny Roberts]

Boy, everytime I read parts of this thread I can't help but think of this!


Louis CK - Cell Phones - YouTube

 

[JeffDenver]

Good heavens Jeff. I appreciate your vigilance but you are wearing me out here. I guess it's just as much my fault but when you cherry pick little sentences from my overall post, of course it will be easy to twist it however you want.

My point isn't that nobody ever cares what another person is experiencing. I was just saying when you are happy with your experience, why would you care if I walked over and said your phone sucked? It shouldn't matter to you what I think as long as you're happy. Everyone here seems happy with what they have, and it's just turned to a conversation about who can top who.

I quoted your entire post this time. It made absolutely no difference. your meaning was exactly the same.

What is the point of reading threads like this if you are indifferent to other people's opinions? Obviously people are saying more than "your phone sucks' here...they are doing specific comparisons, making claims about performance, ect...

I do not even mean this as an insult, but why would you waste your time reading other people's opinions if you are really that indifferent to them?

 

[s14tat]

Maybe you got a defective one. Mine is as smooth as my Nexus 4. To me the nexus 7 is the closest thing to a perfect tablet on the market.


Maybe that is the problem. I am running stock.

I knew you would pull the defect card. I got the Nexus 7 as a pre order along with 4 other people. We got it as a gift for being the grooms man for my best friend. Every single one of us agrees that it just is not a smooth and fast device. My wife is not tech savy she felt it was sluggish and not that fast when I first got it ( this was before we got our gs3's and was coming from a galaxy s1 ) 3 of us are stock, 2 of us are modded. Mine also had a kernel that over clocked the GPU and it still lagged. I went back to stock and it still lagged, so I guess all 5 of us had defective units huh?

Everyone else here also agrees that the Nexus 7 was laggy. You seem to be the only one who thinks otherwise. I also don't doubt the GS4 lags, but if you thought the nexus 7 was smooth then I'm sure you would think the GS4 is smooth as well.

 

[Farish]

If there is any reason why Android would lag it is Google's fault.

They do not force strict standards on the modifications that can be made with Android. A lot of people including myself like to blame touchwiz for the lag on the S4.

One of the most common and offered solutions is use a custom launcher.

My problem with this kind of thinking is, why didn't Samsung just invest more time in programming Touchwiz to be smoother. It is not like it is impossible to do. I actual like some of the gimmicks on my S4 and use them. I think if Google had stated in the beginning a sort of performance standard that OEM skins had to adhere to, we wouldn't have these issues with Touchwiz.

The other aspect is that mobile technology is getting to the point it can over come some of the lag that is inherent with how Android works in the background of the operating system (i.e. Multitasking). Just compare the Samsung Infuse, a phone released about 2 years ago spec wise with the S4 released today. Leaps and bounds ahead in technology that can manage Android's feature sets better.

 

[NotJustAPhone]

Here's my helpful tip of the day: the Ignore function.

If there's a member whose posts you'd rather not read, click their avatar, select forum profile, then hit add to ignore list. This feature keeps that member's posts from being displayed in the thread.

Sent from my Galaxy Note II

 

[Weaser999]

This is true. I have always defended the way BlackBerry PlayBook and BlackBerry 10 multitask as the only true multitasking that is built into a mobile OS. Besides this, Multi window may be the only exceptions. With all this talk of multitasking and power, there has never been a try multitasking mobile OS until recently.

Posted via Android Central App

The Palm Pre had true multitasking long before blackberry. The newer Blackberry OS was a complete rip off from WebOS from cards, to multi-tasking, to swiping cards and gestures. it is nice that Blackberry is almost in a sense WebOS kept alive in a different form, but unfortunately the hardware is lacking. Lag doesn't really bother me, so long as the features are there and the phone's usability factor is there. I can't stand vanilla OS's.. if I wanted that, I'd stick to Apple. Some people would rather have extra features and a bit of lag.

 

[Weaser999]

Right. SMS app, contacts, dialer, grey system bar, enormous menus all look phenomenal on the S4, whereas the transparent titlebar and ui of aforementioned apps look way worse on iPhone. /sarcasm.

Samsung has no idea how to develop software. HTC by comparison is significantly better, bested only by the new Motorola or Stock Android.


The only iOS element I've ever seen lag is the swipe to search. Everything else is smooth. Compare that to the GS4 unlock stutter, notification menu stutter, gallery stutter, scrolling stutter, zoom stutter...Hopefully the GE S4 will correct most of the stuttering, but the hardware (speaker, signal & Dim screen) leave a bit to be desired.

Of course iOS is going to be smooth, since it has so few features and sensors there is nothing to bog it down. The GS4 might leave you with a feeling of a bit to be desired, but 10 million people in one month might indicate a lot of people don't care about minor stutter and would prefer to have the features.

 

[Dreamliner330]

Of course iOS is going to be smooth, since it has so few features and sensors there is nothing to bog it down. The GS4 might leave you with a feeling of a bit to be desired, but 10 million people in one month might indicate a lot of people don't care about minor stutter and would prefer to have the features.

Valid point. The stutter bother me a lot. I personally am waiting for a GE ROM for the Verizon S4 before deciding.

 

[zhelf]

Here's my helpful tip of the day: the Ignore function.

If there's a member whose posts you'd rather not read, click their avatar, select forum profile, then hit add to ignore list. This feature keeps that member's posts from being displayed in the thread.

Sent from my Galaxy Note II

good tip and unfortunately needed due to some of the wars that tend to start.

to get back to the original topic will android always be laggier than iOS i say no but there is a reason the fluidity is not always there.

Disclaimer: i have used both iOS and android as well as windows phone and blackberry

iOS has some big advantages to keeping things fluid for one their hardware and software is all designed in house to run together also iOS while it possesses multitasking in its own sense, it still keeps it to what your truly focused on resource wise. Also there is no access to a file system or background workings so everything your doing in the app stays in the app unless it hands off to another app.

Android has been buggier because of its nature you have one OS that runs on low end to high end phones tablets and even boot-able usb drives so it is adaptive much like a standard computer OS or many Linux distros which the android kernel is based. so it is harder to fine tune and tweak the little bits to make everything smooth when android has been capable of so much since day 1 the hardware is finally coming to fruition where we can take advantage of the features in a stock platform (i.e. no rooting or roms which many of us have been using to overclock or sort out glitches) for many consumers the stock platform is desirable as they like myself need my device for work and cannot afford crashes or bugs that could have my phone bricked or down for any period of time. i remember using an htc g1 and using widgets and all these great features slowed you to a snails pace. now on the new devices such as the note 2 s4 and one widgets dont even strain the quad core processors and 2gb of available ram it keeps things running fresh and not feeling bogged down. So i think from this point forward we have hit a point ( and yes we actually hit the point a while ago but we are in the present) that android can run smooth without lag and issue unless it is a software glitch but we are actually past the point of the software being greater than the device could handle.

So will we still encounter bugs yes, but they will be patched and with the new changes to google reclaiming control of play services it eliminates fragmentation issues and reduces areas for bugs and now hopefully carriers will reduce and remove the stranglehold so our only lockdown or issue will come from manufacturers of the device.

 

[GMJeff]

Well deserved...I might add. 


I honestly consider any lag or animation stutter unacceptable. The iPhone has no lag and the Nexus S4 has next to no lag...by that measure, the S4 is horrible. It also doesn't help that TouchWiz looks like it was developed by a 5 year old. HTC's Sense looks LOADS better, much more professional, sleek and modern.


They day the GE S4 ROM is available for the Verizon S4, I'm right there with ya. In the mean time, I'm curious to see what Motorola and Apple announce this summer. I doubt though, it will trump a Nexus experience on the S4.



Try this, it should help immensely. 





So when you say that Touchwiz looks like it was developed by a five year old, and there has been a court case from Apple stating that Touchwiz is a direct rip off from them, then I guess Cupertino is staffed by a large group of five year old software designers.

Touchwiz is what it is, an OS that is meant to be easy to use as Apple's iOS, to attract the average user, not power users or technogeeks. Change it if you like, but putting it down like is just wrong.

Many people come here for help on their devices and to read a post like yours would mislead them.

Opinions are just like __________, everyone has one. Some are just more vocal than others.

Sent from my 99% lag and stutter free Galaxy S4.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 2

 

[anon5664829]

Maybe you got a defective one. Mine is as smooth as my Nexus 4. To me the nexus 7 is the closest thing to a perfect tablet on the market.


Maybe that is the problem. I am running stock.


I have a video showing a direct comparison with the nexus 4. The Maps in particular were very laggy.

Google Nexus 4 vs. Samsung Galaxy S4 - YouTube

Time index 3:40. Watch when he zooms in on the map.

The S4 LAGS the N7 lag. I have had them both, admittidly the update that came out fixed some of the S4 lag but it is STILL DEFINITELY there.

 

[snookasnoo]

I was using my girlfriends Nexus 7 yesterday and noticed significant lag. Haven't used it in awhile so was kind of surprised.
Very minimal lag on my Nexus 4 though.
But I also use an iPhone 5 and iPad 4 which is why I really notice Android lag.

with the new changes to google reclaiming control of play services it eliminates fragmentation issues and reduces areas for bugs and now hopefully carriers will reduce and remove the stranglehold so our only lockdown or issue will come from manufacturers of the device.

It will help fragmentation issues it certainly won't eliminate them. There are far too many underlying OS differences for that to happen. Major architectural changes have been made under the hood in Android OS with different versions especiallyJelly Bean.
The real solution is for customers to demand that manufacturers and carriers provide updates much faster than they currently are. The carriers are the most likely to drag their feet as they see it as nothing but a cost and support issue and since they have already sold you the phone they have little interest or incentive to support new versions.

Of course iOS is going to be smooth, since it has so few features and sensors there is nothing to bog it down. The GS4 might leave you with a feeling of a bit to be desired, but 10 million people in one month might indicate a lot of people don't care about minor stutter and would prefer to have the features.

That's not true at all. It's easy for you to find actual information on such things.
It's because of Touchwiz plain and simple. This really isn't even a question.

So when you say that Touchwiz looks like it was developed by a five year old, and there has been a court case from Apple stating that Touchwiz is a direct rip off from them, then I guess Cupertino is staffed by a large group of five year old software designers.
Touchwiz is what it is, an OS that is meant to be easy to use as Apple's iOS, to attract the average user, not power users or technogeeks. Change it if you like, but putting it down like is just wrong.
Sent from my 99% lag and stutter free Galaxy S4.

Apple does not claim Samsung copied Touchwiz. They did not and would never say it is a "direct ripoff". Do a google search on the actual claims filed. Nothing to do with Touchwiz.

 

[Jerry Hildenbrand]

1. Why do we try to redefine multitasking? webOS never had it, because you had to manage things yourself. Multitasking has nothing to do with the interface. It's the ability to allocate system resources dynamically across more than one multi-threaded process. When implemented correctly, things like "too many cards" can't happen.

2. My iPhone lags. Sometimes a lot. Don't believe anyone who tells you differently, because they all do.

3. Android lags more. There is a reason, and thats because Android does not give a threaded UI priority. This is not any sort of magic or mystery, it's just how it is. You can't fix it, and when you see it from time to time there's no need to get worked up about it. It means the "stuff" in the background is running better than it would be if done differently.

 

[snookasnoo]

• iOS has always given 1st priority to screen elements and user interaction such as touching the screen while Android treats everything equally. Also from the beginning iOS used the gpu to render UI elements and Android didn't.
• Project Butter improved Vsync timing to increase the frame rate and make it consistent, initiated triple buffering to sync the gpu, cpu and screen, and improved touch latency. Touch latency was probably the biggest issue. I think it also gave more priority to UI processes but not as much as iOS does. But I'd have to look through some developer docs to be sure of that. This really revamped a lot of things about Android internals in a major way but they can only go so far without breaking a lot of apps because of design decisions made early on in Android. Such as running bytecode in a JVM....at least the jvm has gotten much more efficient but it is no substitute for compiled apps and never will be anymore than any JVM can be.
• I'd say it works on Nexus devices pretty well but I've still seen significant lag on Nexus 7 and 10 and some on my Nexus 4 but pretty minimal
• Heavy overlays cause lag like the latest version of Touchwiz which I'm sure could also use some optimization and integration with the core OS.
• Well written apps following developer guidelines are also important.
• It doesn't help that Google and the manufacturers let the carriers load a gross amount of bloatware on their phones either.
• WebOS was based on the Linux kernel so of course it has os multi-tasking to deal with kernel and process interaction etc but did not extend that to the applications much if at all.
• I don't agree with you at all about iPhone lag, especially a lot of lag. The only time I've seen that is a new version of the os on a really old phone or a misbehaving app and that has been few and far between.

1. Why do we try to redefine multitasking? webOS never had it, because you had to manage things yourself. Multitasking has nothing to do with the interface. It's the ability to allocate system resources dynamically across more than one multi-threaded process. When implemented correctly, things like "too many cards" can't happen.

2. My iPhone lags. Sometimes a lot. Don't believe anyone who tells you differently, because they all do.

3. Android lags more. There is a reason, and thats because Android does not give a threaded UI priority. This is not any sort of magic or mystery, it's just how it is. You can't fix it, and when you see it from time to time there's no need to get worked up about it. It means the "stuff" in the background is running better than it would be if done differently.

 

[badbrad17]

I like the way this site explains it better than the cult of mac obviously biased site. http://fleetingtech.wordpress.com/2012/11/26/why-has-ios-always-been-smoother-than-android/

And although the S4 may have some lag you can now by a pure Google S4 so any comments on this thread will be void for the most part. Will it be as smooth as an ip5? Probably not, but I and many others are willing to take a little bit of a hiccup now and again in order to get all the other features of Android that ios doesn't have.

Sent from my Nexus 4

 

[fantom305]

I agree that iOS is a lot smoother, but I would not say "always" since the rate Android is going with Internal storage only (no sd), fixed battery, cloud focus, etc they may be just like Apple down the road.

I beg the difference with you. It's not Android per se, is the phone manufacturer, in this case HTC is the one with no sd and fixed battery.