My thoughts on Android vs iOS apps

[blaze5]

I vaguely remember reading this on the internet as well, which I think must be a factor that developer takes into account when making a new app.


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Everything comes down to money that's the world we live in but I for one spend money on apps but know a lot of people who don't so developers rather go the ios route and I think its easier to make ios apps only have to make it for one phone and 2 tablets unlike Android

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[hankdu]

Hankdu, I understand were your coming from. I think it depends on how much you use those apps which work better on IOS and how much value they are to you. There is a app called Timemaster on IOS that I like a great deal but, the developers refuse to make a version for Android. It's one of the best mobile business apps I've used, which is why I keep it on my Ipad. I think the Nexus program is trying to encourage better app development and I do notice some apps I like have gotten noticibly better but, there's still a ways to go.

Thanks for your advice and I think you are right. It comes down to what I want to do on my nexus 4. The nexus program is doing very well, and many people are switching from ios to android because of this phone. This includes me who has been a die hard apple fan for nearly 10 years.

Ps I got to check out this great timemaster app that you speak of.

 

[hankdu]

Exactly. And this is partly Google's fault. The Nexus brand sets a standard for Android. However with so little people even knowledgable about Nexus, app developers see little reason to code for it cause they know they will have to satisfy all the others too. Because why code for a Nexus if Android is dominated by the S3?

One of the reason I went for the nexus was because it will get os updates from google before anyone else. I really think information such as this should be provided to all customers so people know the nexus line phones have this great advantage. Wider publicity about the nexus phone, I think, will also further boost it's sales and attract more developers. Android has a lot of potentially to become 'the' standard for smartphones.


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[cnguyen0320]

From what I have seen, Android supports scaleable objects (controls, fields, etc.). So I don't think it is a matter of hundreds of displays; more like 2 or 3 layouts with layout one invoked on displays < x, layout 2 on < y >x, and layout 3 on >y. Of course it still requires forked code, but even iOS has 5 different display resolutions at this point.

Yea but sometimes scaling doesnt work that well. Like games, how can you just scale stuff? It'll look funky. Anyway iOS is still better with 5 vs Android's hundreds. And with Apple phasing out the non-retina and the 3GS being dropped from updates next year (iOS 7) it'll return to 4 screens. Like I said, so much better from a developer point of view than hundreds.

 

[hankdu]

After reading the responses I got from this thread, I have decided not to return my N4. Here goes why:

None of the android apps is buggy to the extent that they are unusable. I suspect since JB has only just been released, bugs will be ironed out gradually. Android apps may not have all the functions as their iOS equivalent but the missing functions are not absolutely vital to me. There are usually some work around for the missing feature, such as use another app or just simply use a laptop. Many of the core apps I regularly use on my phone are polished on Android. In fact, I actually prefer the experience of these core apps on Android more than on iOS. The amount of tweaking I can do is simply too much to give up after having enjoyed the freedom of doing so. When I first unzipped a file on the N4, oh my, I was like ?sweet!?.

I had forgotten that the key to my choice between iOS and Android was how I intended to use my phone. Having recognized this the choice between the two systems was an easy one - Android was clearly better (for me):

• gmail and youtube apps were both better
• video playback supported more format
• reading experience was amazing thanks to the amazing screen
• web browsing was wayyyyy smoother
• apps were better integrated into each other

Looks like the N4 is here to stay

Thanks everyone for your input!