5 years with iOS, 3 days with GNex, what I like

[monkeyluis]

This is only true for stock iOS users. For people like me who jailbreak our iOS devices there are plenty of ways to customize it to our liking. However, I'm tired of having to jailbreak just to get things that should be available right out of the box, so I just ordered the Google Nexus and plan on using that as my daily driver.

Not even. There are a ton of 3rd party apps that are just as good for podcasts. That's what I did.

Anyway, I moved from the iPhone 4s also to the galaxy s3. Absolutely love it. Even without rooting or installing roms, which I don't know how to do I still have plenty of options to customize everything, for the most part. Installed go launcher & I really like it. Also I use widget locker for the lock screen. That's pretty cool. I'm not a big widget user other than the typical clock/weather widget, I use beautiful widgets. But I'll keep playing around to see if anything suits my fancy.

My wife is already kinda jealous & wants a bigger screen. We are waiting on the galaxy note 2 release for her. She currently uses the iPhone 4.

Don't get me wrong, I don't hate apple, still love them & I still love my iPad. But I didn't see a significant increase in screen size on their next phone so I went with the galaxy s3. I like & use both sides & I will defend & critique both equally. They both, for me, essentially do the same thing. Read news, check Facebook, g+, tapatalk, etc. major difference is the customization & the settings.

I'd like to have the individual notification settings like apple currently does. I saw that's coming with JB, so I'm looking forward too that. Can't say apple stole that

 

[chubb]

I have to say that there are a few things that were bugging me about stock ICS, but I have discovered there were settings to change things to change them.

For example, the placement of the comma on the stock keyboard was pretty annoying, and was hidden by the voice keyboard icon. When typing a message, the auto-complete words cover the comma at the top as well. I fixed that by moving it to the symbols keyboard screen.

Also, I plan to use stock ICS and then stock JB, as I was never big on Jailbreaking iOS.

Overall, I am pretty impressed and for the most part happy with the change to the Galaxy Nexus. But, to be honest, Apple has not done much over 5 years to overhaul the look and feel of iOS.

On the stock keyboard if you hold the period a whole list of things pop up. Like the comma, and other often used punctuation symbols.

 

[sting7k]

Put 4.1 on your Nexus and be amazed. Such a smooth experience even coming from 4.0.4

I hope you are right and it is also across apps too because every time scrolling or flicking around stutters even a little bit or something doesn't instantly respond to my input it is very jarring and damages the experience.

Android 4.x has come a long way but it still need some more polish.

 

[aggie]

I hope you are right and it is also across apps too because every time scrolling or flicking around stutters even a little bit or something doesn't instantly respond to my input it is very jarring and damages the experience.

Android 4.x has come a long way but it still need some more polish.

I felt the exact same way but it is hard to put into words how smooth 4.1 is in comparison to 4.0.x. I thought ICS was smooth on my HOX using Nova Launcher but the Nexus with inferior hardware is much smoother now. Not quite as smooth as iOS but you can barely tell the difference. Definitely not worth sacrificing the functionality of android to go back to iOS to get an OS that is marginally smoother. I've noticed zero lag since getting my GSM Nexus with Jelly Bean and am pleasantly surprised after the less than stellar experience I had with my Verizon Nexus. Am probably going to be selling my HOX with superior hardware just because the Jelly Bean makes the Nexus a better overall experience.

 

[PhxBlue]

You need to go read the reviews on 4.1, so far, they are beyond glowing for what they've accomplished with project butter at this point.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Android Central Forums

 

[mech1164]

You need to go read the reviews on 4.1, so far, they are beyond glowing for what they've accomplished with project butter at this point.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Android Central Forums

That's the thing with Jelly Bean. It's just THAT good. Android has always been functional. Being functional though is not what we desire. Now with this we have a true competitor to how the iPhone operates. No darn excuses anymore.

Except for the stock I have here being deoxed it's pure JB. I have no need to muck it up anymore with buggy rom's that can cause their own issues. I was a big fan of CM9 and still think they do Great work. At this point though I can't think of what they could do to JB to make it better. A tweak here or there maybe but not something i'm gonna flash just to have it.

Now Google get that OTA to all the rest f those Gnex's so they can enjoy what you have made.

 

[anon(13322)]

I am an Apple Fanboy as well. I've had every iPhone since the first one in 2007. One of the things that kept me from Android was the lack of support they gave their devices. I didn't want to be stuck with a device that couldn't run the new OS when it came out. Then, I saw that Nexus devices get updates first...thats when I bought a Galaxy Nexus the other day. I plan to keep it when the new iPhone comes out. So, I'll have my unlock Nexus, and I'll use my 2-year upgrade on the new iPhone. Best of both worlds for me.

 

[Dudefella123]

I must also add that there is something beautiful about a phone with no physical buttons on or near the screen. Just one continuous touchscreen surface.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

[tsp907]

The button comment is true. I had misgivings about the soft buttons but having used them now all other phones seem old fashioned and you adapt in no time. Love the gnex.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Android Central Forums

 

[318sugarhill]

I have to say that there are a few things that were bugging me about stock ICS, but I have discovered there were settings to change things to change them.

For example, the placement of the comma on the stock keyboard was pretty annoying, and was hidden by the voice keyboard icon. When typing a message, the auto-complete words cover the comma at the top as well. I fixed that by moving it to the symbols keyboard screen.

Also, I plan to use stock ICS and then stock JB, as I was never big on Jailbreaking iOS.

Overall, I am pretty impressed and for the most part happy with the change to the Galaxy Nexus. But, to be honest, Apple has not done much over 5 years to overhaul the look and feel of iOS.

Try Swiftkey. It is positively the best keyboard on a touchscreen device.....and I stayed with BB WAAAAAAY to long to just because I was married to a real keyboard. Swiftkey makes a touch keyboard very tolerable to me. As BB just isn't I be joining the Nexus train when my VZW contract is up. No more contracts after this.

 

[LCW]

Put 4.1 on your Nexus and be amazed. Such a smooth experience even coming from 4.0.4

This is so true. JB transforms the Nexus from a good device to a great one!! Makes it feel like a whole new phone after upgrading from ICS.

 

[twan2001]

i manage a best buy mobile and i get a new phone every 3 months or so because i have sprint, att and verizon so i've owned so many phones, including the iphone and many blackberries. I've got to say, this nexus with JB on it might be the last phone that I own for a while... i don't know what apple or anyone else can so to do better than this... BY FAR THE SMOOTHEST RUNNING OS OUT THERE!

 

[pseudoelf]

Another thing that worries me about android is stability. I don't even trust it to keep and alarm, my thunderbolt and now my Verizon galaxy nexus have on occasion rebooted overnight and seemingly that kills the alarm when that happens. I haven't noticed it happening since the 4.0.4 update but the instability is so built up in my mind now that I don't know if I'd ever really trust it with stuff like alarms or important phone calls.

I'm sure about half of it is psychological at this point, and what I would like to see is not only a description of why 4.1 is improved, but also something saying that iOS and windows phone also have to do the same tricks to make the experience seem fluid, otherwise we are just trading battery life for speed.

I had serious reboot problems before 4.0.4. (multiple times a day sometimes) But I don't think I've had a reboot since.

 

[jrozn]

Waiting for a samsung captivate to arrive in the mail.
Yes, I know its not he best android out there, but, it seems to be better than my iPhone 3GS.
Lets see how much better it is compared to my current phone.

 

[fender7217]

Waiting for a samsung captivate to arrive in the mail.
Yes, I know its not he best android out there, but, it seems to be better than my iPhone 3GS.
Lets see how much better it is compared to my current phone.

A Captivate, huh? I think you're in the wrong forum...

My first Android - up until last week - was a Captivate. Loved that thing. Gotta Flash CM7 on it though, because TouchWiz and Gingerbread is just meh.

 

[cckgz4]

glad you are open to other OS'

 

[chestvrg]

I got my Nexus yesterday from someone on Craigslist brand new. So far I'm loving clean ICS.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

[victor3451]

In fact, almost 50% of iOS users are jailbroken. Of course most of them paid someone to do it so that they could crack apps, but still, lots of users do it for customization.

 

[victor3451]

Don't get me wrong, I really like my Galaxy Nexus with Jelly Bean, and although it is much smoother than ICS, it's still not as smooth as iOS or WP7.

 

[keithz]

I will be the contrarian in the room.

I've never used iOS full time but I can appreciate that there are areas where Apple just executes better.

1) Backups. Not just contacts. App data too. Lose a phone? Get a new phone, enter Apple ID and you can pretty much start where you left off. Eventually, when you get a new phone, transferring data will be an utter pain.

2) Device security. Remote Lock/wipe, find my iPhone. I can't believe that the provider of Google Maps doesn't have this functionality as native in a device. Yes, there are 3rd parties. But it's not the same.

3) International. Google is terrible for functionality outside the USA. Here in Canada, there's no Google Voice, Wallet, or Music. Play store doesn't sell music either.

That said, I love my GNex. And I'm sure it'll improve a fair bit with Jellybean. But it would serve us all better if Google was called out on its failings.