Should I stay Android or leave for iOS?

[Zachary Neyhart]

I currently have a GS4. It isn't a bad phone at all but soon I will be getting either an HTC One M8, Nexus 5, or iPhone 5S. I love Android and I don't like the "limitedness" of iOS. I do however love the polished complete feel of iOS 7 though. Should I get a Nexus so I can have that pure polished android experience or should I go to HTC? I just hate touchwiz!!

P.S. I have had an iPhone 4, and 5S. I traded both, both times after 1-3 months of having them for the comparable Galaxy model. The 4, for the GS2, and the 5s, for the Galaxy S4.

Help PLZ!!
Thanks

 

[zorak950]

If you love Android, if tend to say stick with what you know you like. If you think you might like iOS better, though, it's worth trying. If you're on the fence, I recommend taking T-Mobile's test drive promotion. Live with the 5S for a week and see how it feels.

 

[keegh]

I currently have a GS4. It isn't a bad phone at all but soon I will be getting either an HTC One M8, Nexus 5, or iPhone 5S. I love Android and I don't like the "limitedness" of iOS. I do however love the polished complete feel of iOS 7 though. Should I get a Nexus so I can have that pure polished android experience or should I go to HTC? I just hate touchwiz!!

P.S. I have had an iPhone 4, and 5S. I traded both, both times after 1-3 months of having them for the comparable Galaxy model. The 4, for the GS2, and the 5s, for the Galaxy S4.

Help PLZ!!
Thanks

If you already had an 5s and traded it, I'd say avoid it again because it seems like you keep getting pulled towards Android.

Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF300T using AC Forums mobile app

 

[blackguard]

Welcome to the android lottery! Someone coined that phrase because some android OEM's are stinkers that don't make you feel like you're using a device with the same polish as an iPhone. But many do. The challenge comes in being savvy enough to research which do. While some will call this an android weakness, it's at the same time a strength in having more choice. Whatever you do, don't let a bad experience with one brand make you blame the OS instead of the handset maker using the OS.

My advice would be to hold off until a good selection of devices running the next version with the Material design are out.

 

[petaf]

You don't have to be stuck with Touchwiz!! There are so many terrific launchers in the play store. (I have Nova Prime on my Note 3.) You just have to take the time to research them.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[sting7k]

I currently have a GS4. It isn't a bad phone at all but soon I will be getting either an HTC One M8, Nexus 5, or iPhone 5S. I love Android and I don't like the "limitedness" of iOS. I do however love the polished complete feel of iOS 7 though. Should I get a Nexus so I can have that pure polished android experience or should I go to HTC? I just hate touchwiz!!

P.S. I have had an iPhone 4, and 5S. I traded both, both times after 1-3 months of having them for the comparable Galaxy model. The 4, for the GS2, and the 5s, for the Galaxy S4.

Help PLZ!!
Thanks

What exactly to you feel iOS "limits" that you want to do? In your search to be rid of touchwiz I would also recommend not to leave out the Moto X.

 

[Zachary Neyhart]

What exactly to you feel iOS "limits" that you want to do? In your search to be rid of touchwiz I would also recommend not to leave out the Moto X.

I think the Moto X is kinda small but what about the Nexus 5, or upcoming 6, and about iOS, I just don't like the fact that I can't customize about every part of the phone like I can with Android.

 

[JeffDenver]

I currently have a GS4. It isn't a bad phone at all but soon I will be getting either an HTC One M8, Nexus 5, or iPhone 5S. I love Android and I don't like the "limitedness" of iOS. I do however love the polished complete feel of iOS 7 though. Should I get a Nexus so I can have that pure polished android experience or should I go to HTC?

You and me both.

If you decide to stay with Android, yes, get a Nexus. The lack of SD does suck, but the usability and upgradability of the UI more than makes up for it IMO. You will be surprised how quickly you can navigate without being burdened with a hardware home button.

As to whether you should go to iOS...that depends on how patient you are. Material design is going to be a much bigger deal than a lot of people think. It will result in apps that are as polished as (and, arguably, even more polished than) iOS apps. The catch is that it will take time for app makers to switch over to the new format. That will almost certainly not happen this year.

Material design is, IMO, the biggest deal on Android since ICS. It's not just that it will enhance the look and feel of the UI to make it "iOS-like" in it's fluidity, it's that it will also standardize the UI across apps, and even across skinned phones like Touchwiz and Sense. And that has never been done before on Android.

 

[JeffDenver]

I think the Moto X is kinda small but what about the Nexus 5, or upcoming 6, and about iOS, I just don't like the fact that I can't customize about every part of the phone like I can with Android.

Well, you could. But you'd have to jailbreak, and that comes with other problems. The Nexus series will provide the closest thing to a iOS-but-with-Options experience IMO. The Nexus 6 will not be out until November...October if we are really lucky. But the Nexus 5 has awesome specs even by today's standards (1080p display, great camera, fast CPU, 2 gigs of RAM).

A lot of people (especially Apple users) confuse "Samsung" with "Android" and they are definitely not the same thing. So far I have not seen any skinned phone that provides as good an experience as vanilla android. And I have had extended experience using both Sense and Touchwiz.

 

[ptkelly]

I might go with IOS if it came in a phone from someone other than Apple. But, I'm quite happy with my Nexus 5.

 

[Zachary Neyhart]

I might go with IOS if it came in a phone from someone other than Apple. But, I'm quite happy with my Nexus 5.

See that's the thing I absolutely love iOS buy I feel I would miss the features. I hate the iPad, how would an iPhone and a Nexus 7 be?

 

[JeffDenver]

See that's the thing I absolutely love iOS buy I feel I would miss the features. I hate the iPad, how would an iPhone and a Nexus 7 be?

The main thing I could never tolerate with iOS is lack of 3rd party app integration. In Android, you can make any app the default for any action, and Android will treat it as if it is native. Apple has only recently done this with just keyboards, and that is only after years of kicking and screaming. They are just not receptive to that idea at all. There's other annoying limitations that iOS has, but that is the main one.

You can do the cross-platform thing, but they you are committing to two app stores, and also to incompatibilities. A lot of Apps are not cross-platform still.

 

[Zachary Neyhart]

The main thing I could never tolerate with iOS is lack of 3rd party app integration. In Android, you can make any app the default for any action, and Android will treat it as if it is native. Apple has only recently done this with just keyboards, and that is only after years of kicking and screaming. They are just not receptive to that idea at all. There's other annoying limitations that iOS has, but that is the main one.

You can do the cross-platform thing, but they you are committing to two app stores, and also to incompatibilities. A lot of Apps are not cross-platform still.

Very true! Looks like Nexus's for me

 

[Golfdriver97]

I think the Moto X is kinda small but what about the Nexus 5, or upcoming 6, and about iOS, I just don't like the fact that I can't customize about every part of the phone like I can with Android.

Don't confuse device size with screen size. The X has a 4.7" screen but almost nothing for a bezel. Where as the next iPhone, going by current rumor, will have a 4.7" screen. The Nexus 5 has a 5", the M8 has a 4.9", so the X isn't all that much smaller screen wise.


Signed, an M8, Liquidsmooth, and the AC Forums App

 

[blackguard]

You don't necessarily need to automatically choose a nexus for a beautifully designed UI. Sony, Motorola, and HTC have a pretty good reputation for staying close to Google's UI design standards. Also, several oems offer some pretty enticing things of their own, like voice commands even with the screen off, dedicated camera buttons, 20mp cams, metallic construction materials, and a laundry list of other stuff but this comes with a higher price tag comparable to the cost of iPhone.
Some on the other hand add a lot of useless bloatware and gimmicky "features". Up to you to research who does what. One thing nexus will offer you is updates approximately 3 months ahead of carrier phones. You can reduce that wait but not without paying full price off contract for an unlocked or Google Experience version of their phone

 

[JeffDenver]

You don't necessarily need to automatically choose a nexus for a beautifully designed UI. Sony, Motorola, and HTC have a pretty good reputation for staying close to Google's UI design standards.

I think they are both untested at this point. I might agree with Moto, but HTC has been stubborn in abandoning Sense. I personally would still not trust them. They have more proving to do.

Also, several oems offer some pretty enticing things of their own, like voice commands even with the screen off, dedicated camera buttons, 20mp cams, metallic construction materials, and a laundry list of other stuff but this comes with a higher price tag comparable to the cost of iPhone.

The Nexus can use volume controls as the camera button. It's worked well in my experience, and I use it by reflex now. The Nexus is also dirt cheap compared to every competitor except the Moto X, and it has a better camera than the Moto X.

Some on the other hand add a lot of useless bloatware and gimmicky "features". Up to you to research who does what. One thing nexus will offer you is updates approximately 3 months ahead of carrier phones. You can reduce that wait but not without paying full price off contract for an unlocked or Google Experience version of their phone

GE experience devices only offer an unpolluted UI...with the Galaxy Phones, you are still stuck with that hardware home button. And I think the HTC phones still have dedicated capacitive buttons, not the soft-keys like the nexus has. Both will be significantly more expensive than the Nexus. The HTC phones have a better case and stereo speakers. The Samsung phone will have a better display and waterproofing. And I think both have SD, which to me is a big deal. But the Nexus 5 camera is better than either of them.

GPE devices are definitely a good thing, but they won't fix other limitations of the phones, and not only are they not less expensive, but you can rarely get them on a contract.

 

[blackguard]

I think they are both untested at this point. I might agree with Moto, but HTC has been stubborn in abandoning Sense. I personally would still not trust them. They have more proving to do.


The Nexus can use volume controls as the camera button. It's worked well in my experience, and I use it by reflex now. The Nexus is also dirt cheap compared to every competitor except the Moto X, and it has a better camera than the Moto X.



GE experience devices only offer an unpolluted UI...with the Galaxy Phones, you are still stuck with that hardware home button. And I think the HTC phones still have dedicated capacitive buttons, not the soft-keys like the nexus has. Both will be significantly more expensive than the Nexus. The HTC phones have a better case and stereo speakers. The Samsung phone will have a better display and waterproofing. And I think both have SD, which to me is a big deal. But the Nexus 5 camera is better than either of them.

GPE devices are definitely a good thing, but they won't fix other limitations of the phones, and not only are they not less expensive, but you can rarely get them on a contract.

Fair enough, I'll just point to the Z2 as a solid choice that's worth every cent of the price tag it brings with it.

 

[jerrykur]

I you can wait a couple of months the iPhone 6 should be available. It looks like a pretty big upgrade from the 5s.

 

[codyoehl]

You can install a different launcher if you don't like TouchWiz
I have atom launcher and I love it

Posted via Android Central App

 

[blackguard]

You can install a different launcher if you don't like TouchWiz
I have atom launcher and I love it

Posted via Android Central App

Not attacking you here, just pointing out that this response which I keep seeing repeated in Touchwiz discussions is incorrect. A phone's UI isn't just the homescreens and app drawer. TW is layered all throughout the phone, including system apps like dialer, sms, etc, system settings and menus, notification panel, quick settings, and on and on. The only things launchers change are the appearance of homescreens and the app drawer, they don't affect anything else.