After 1 week, I might go back to iPhone. Here's why...

[nube_android]

I've been an iPhone user for years, but I despise Apple and especially iTunes. I'm a software engineer, and the promise of an open phone OS with endless possibilities lured me to Android. I got the S4 a week ago, and the transition has been anything but painless. I'm really considering switching back to the iPhone5, and here's why:

1. The S4 is just too big. It doesn't fit in my pocket nicely, and it's not comfortable to hold with one hand. It's awkward, and I often feel like I might drop it.

2. Notifications suck. I love the way iPhone did it - when I get new text messages, the screen lit up and I could see the message right there. If I received multiple messages, I could see them all. If I got Facebook comments, they were there too. All stacked up and scannable without unlocking or going to different apps. This is VERY important to me, because I receive a lot of updates about a lot of things, and I don't want to constantly fiddle with my phone to see them. I have it on my desk and I want to quickly glance to see what came in, then move on. I've tried a few lock screen notification apps, but none seem to work perfectly.

3. Hardware mute. I really miss this on the S4. I like having a hardware toggle switch to mute my phone if it's going off in a meeting or something. I like being able to mute it in my pocket without having to touch the screen at all. IMO, this should be a REQUIRED feature on all phone hardware.

4. Endless tinkering. I've already spent many hours trying apps, reading about Android, messing with widgets, etc. My hope was that I could get it setup exactly how I want, then never have to tinker again, but that doesn't seem like how it will go. I'm still trying to make the user interface something that I think is usable! It just seems so clunky to me, compared to the smooth and efficient interface of the iPhone.

5. App count badges (minor). I loved the little red indicator on each app, telling me how many games I have to play in WWF or how many notifications I have in another app. I miss this easy indicator in Android.

Listen... I love the potential of Android. I get it. It seems like I should be in love with it, but when it comes down to it, I just want a phone that is really usable out of the box. I don't want to have to find 10 different apps to replace the default functionality. I don't want to spend hours messing with the layout of widgets, home screens, and lock screens.

When I REALLY want is either:
- An Android UI that is well designed and consistent across the whole system, removing all the little productivity annoyances
or
- An iPhone that is not so locked down and controlled by Apple.

I have not (yet) rooted my S4, but that sounds like just one more thing to consume my time in the quest for a usable phone.
I've also never jailbroken my iPhones in the past, but I'm wondering if a jailbroken iPhone5 really is nirvana.

Any thoughts? What am I missing that might make me want to stay with the S4+Android?

Thanks,

Matt

I agree on almost all points. But honestly, the best Android phone that money can buy isn't the HTC One or the S4. It's the Nexus 4. Sleek design, $299 and pure vanilla Android. Phones with all of those clunky skins get annoying, and it takes a supercomputer to run them smoothly. That's why Nexus is best if your doing Android at all. The only phones that come close are Motorola's (They have the lightest skins).
But overall, just buy an iPhone.

- - - Updated - - -

Well, for a thread on an internet forum, yeah it has been. If you want to see a bunch of kids fighting, go to the Blackberry forums. It's appalling.

I mentioned Windows Phone a while ago, and a reply mentioned that the notifcations kinda sucked. And yeah they do, but it's not like they don't exist. When you get a text or email, what Microsoft calls a toast pops up at the top, sort of like the Android notification bar - even on the lock screen. Touch that and you are taken to the notifying app. Even on phones that have an LED (HTC 8X for instance) the LED does not blink for a message or missed call. Otherwise it's a very good experience, and I keep going back to the Lumia 928 for that frankly beautiful screen and the OS. It's as elegant as iOS, but without the old-school clunkiness. Android does allow you more flexibility, but it's an exercise in patience to make it look as cohesive as W8 looks out of the box. It's worth it though. But I'm not giving up W8

iOS and WP provide the best out of box experience.

 

[majorpayne]

Lol I can fit a Nexus 7 in my pocket... it's ugly and nerdy and awesome, also uncomfortable. Not sure why anyone would have a problem with a phone.

I don't put mine in my front pocket but it fits very nicely in my back pocket on most of my jeans.

 

[Farish]

Well for those of you looking for a solution for your 10 inch tablets.

 

[mattkruse]

Followup to Notifications annoyances, which are still my biggest gripe...

1) When I swipe down, the "Ongoing" notifications are on the top, which is annoying since they aren't important and usually say the same things. Shouldn't they be below the app notifications? Is there a way to do that?

2) I uninstalled NiLS because it just had weird rendering quirks that annoyed me. Executive Assistant+ doesn't seem to handle other notifications like those from Facebook very well. I'm going to try a few more Notification apps, but I'm still really surprised that there doesn't seem to be an awesome solution out there yet. I'd gladly pay $10 or more for a great notification app, since it's so important to me.

3) Speaking of the lock screen, is there no way to make the widget on the main lock screen auto-expand by default? It's scrunched up at the top, and I have to swipe down to expand it to make it more usable.

 

[badbrad17]

Followup to Notifications annoyances, which are still my biggest gripe...

1) When I swipe down, the "Ongoing" notifications are on the top, which is annoying since they aren't important and usually say the same things. Shouldn't they be below the app notifications? Is there a way to do that?

2) I uninstalled NiLS because it just had weird rendering quirks that annoyed me. Executive Assistant+ doesn't seem to handle other notifications like those from Facebook very well. I'm going to try a few more Notification apps, but I'm still really surprised that there doesn't seem to be an awesome solution out there yet. I'd gladly pay $10 or more for a great notification app, since it's so important to me.

3) Speaking of the lock screen, is there no way to make the widget on the main lock screen auto-expand by default? It's scrunched up at the top, and I have to swipe down to expand it to make it more usable.

If you are using widget locker you just need to adjust the grid size in the look and feel section. Go into settings/look and feel/layout. You just tap and drag down on the little arrow in the image in the top left shown here.


Sent from my Nexus 4

 

[MikeLip]

Followup to Notifications annoyances, which are still my biggest gripe...

1) When I swipe down, the "Ongoing" notifications are on the top, which is annoying since they aren't important and usually say the same things. Shouldn't they be below the app notifications? Is there a way to do that?

2) I uninstalled NiLS because it just had weird rendering quirks that annoyed me. Executive Assistant+ doesn't seem to handle other notifications like those from Facebook very well. I'm going to try a few more Notification apps, but I'm still really surprised that there doesn't seem to be an awesome solution out there yet. I'd gladly pay $10 or more for a great notification app, since it's so important to me.

3) Speaking of the lock screen, is there no way to make the widget on the main lock screen auto-expand by default? It's scrunched up at the top, and I have to swipe down to expand it to make it more usable.

I think I'm going to try executive assistant. It looks a LOT like those glass today themes you could put on Blackberry OS6. They were really useful. Another good item from this thread.

 

[badbrad17]

Followup to Notifications annoyances, which are still my biggest gripe...

1) When I swipe down, the "Ongoing" notifications are on the top, which is annoying since they aren't important and usually say the same things. Shouldn't they be below the app notifications? Is there a way to do that?

2) I uninstalled NiLS because it just had weird rendering quirks that annoyed me. Executive Assistant+ doesn't seem to handle other notifications like those from Facebook very well. I'm going to try a few more Notification apps, but I'm still really surprised that there doesn't seem to be an awesome solution out there yet. I'd gladly pay $10 or more for a great notification app, since it's so important to me.

3) Speaking of the lock screen, is there no way to make the widget on the main lock screen auto-expand by default? It's scrunched up at the top, and I have to swipe down to expand it to make it more usable.

Hey Matt. I just saw this notification app. Haven't tried it but there is a trial version. https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...nlucas.iphonenotificationslite&token=GU6zXQbi

Sent from my Nexus 4

 

[tarnak]

As for your #1, if the phone is too big for you, then that's your personal preference. I personally find the iPhone to be too small to get anything done on the screen.

I disagree with you about #2. You can quickly see notifications from dragging down from the top and you can even do this from the lockscreen. Also, if you use a 3rd party texting app like Handcent, you can configure it to turn on the screen with a popup.

As for #4, what I like about Android is being able to tinker with everything and having control over every detail. The phone works without tinkering, but you can get it to be just how you like it, unlike Apple where you just have to use it exactly how they tell you...

I would have to agree with effrey, I have an Iphone 5 for work and a GS4 for personal use, I find the GS4 more useful for what I need, to me the I5 is small, as in I could break it small. My GS4 displays notifications all the time, I disabled everything but text messages as i think its kinda annoying. As far as trekking goes, the I5 sucks in comparison, I love that fact I can change just about everything on the GS4. The one thing I do like about the I5 is the Itunes music. Other then that, I think the GS4 is a better phone for users who like to make their phones their own rather then an Apple standard product that is just like everyone else.

 

[garublador]

If you haven't tried iOS, you don't know what you are missing ).

I have and I do.

FWIW, I think the notification shade in Jelly Bean has taken a step back since Gingerbread (but it's about the only thing). They've tried to stuff way to much crap in it which makes it less useful. You only want the absolute most important things in it and persistent notifications about WiFi hot spots and which features are turned on are not that important. When I pull down the shade, about 2/3 of my screen is taken up by stuff that hasn't changed, which is terrible for a feature who's whole purpose is to let you know what has changed. My guess is we'll see more and more apps popping up to help customize this shade as more people move to JB (some crazy percent of Android users are still on Gingerbread where this isn't an issue).

I'll still take that over the little numbers that pop up on the icons. If I only want to look at the icons when something has changed I'd rather it just notify me about the change than me having to look for changes. Notifications should be "pushed" not "pulled." The notification shade pushes notifications and those icons require you to pull them.

The lock screen widgets are pretty new and IMO Android doesn't handle them all that well, yet. The third party applications probably do a better job but I'm not sure if I'm willing to pay for it or not, yet.

If people are getting defensive it's because they've put a lot of thought into putting together posts about how Android works just to be told, "No, Apple is better" with the only justification being that it's what you're already familiar with. Surprisingly enough people don't like putting effort into advice that was asked for just to have it be ignored.

 

[jimbl]

I agree on almost all points. But honestly, the best Android phone that money can buy isn't the HTC One or the S4. It's the Nexus 4.

Needs to be on Verizon. Nexus 4 isn't an option.

 

[mattkruse]

You only want the absolute most important things in it and persistent notifications about WiFi hot spots and which features are turned on are not that important. When I pull down the shade, about 2/3 of my screen is taken up by stuff that hasn't changed, which is terrible for a feature who's whole purpose is to let you know what has changed.

Exactly! I swipe down to see what is new, and almost my whole screen is the ongoing notifications. I have to scroll to see the stuff that is important. IMO, the ongoing notifications should be UNDER the current notifications, not on top of them. That only makes sense.

I'll still take that over the little numbers that pop up on the icons. If I only want to look at the icons when something has changed I'd rather it just notify me about the change than me having to look for changes. Notifications should be "pushed" not "pulled." The notification shade pushes notifications and those icons require you to pull them.

iOS actually does both push and pull. An app notifies me with a popup that a new game can be played, or that I have a message. I can dismiss the message, but still see the icon number to remind me how many tasks I have remaining for that app. That's very handy, IMO. Because I often want to dismiss the immediate message, but still be aware of my outstanding stuff to do. The icons remind me of that, whereas on Android if I dismiss the messages I can't get a sense of my "to do" list.

But, a few people have suggested Nova launcher which I guess has that icon number feature, so I plan to try that out, too.

 

[MikeLip]

Needs to be on Verizon. Nexus 4 isn't an option.

Sadly so. I really wanted that phone

 

[chris2k5]

After over 3 weeks of usage, if I had to describe the S4 in one word it would be OVERRATED.

The screen pops in color and all but the quality seems a little off compared to HTC screens with the same 1080p resolution.
TouchWiz lags too much. Like WAY too much. The stutters are noticeable and apps crash because of it. (Not enough RAM?)
Camera photos come out not as sharp as I would like at 13MP. There is a grainy-ness I noticed in all photos I've taken.
The build quality is ok. The plastic is obviously low grade but my biggest concern is the power button. After 3 weeks, it is recessed ALREADY! It isn't as tactile anymore.

The Air Gestures, Eye Scrolling, etc are truly gimmicks now that I've had them on for a full test run.
1. They don't always work.
2. When they do work, it is very specific and fiddly.
I just leave them turned off.

I'll keep the phone. It is clearly better than the S3 but so are all other phones (iPhone 5, HTC Droid DNA, Note 2, HTC One) on the market before the S4.

 

[mattkruse]

Any news yet about when Verizon will get the HTC One?

 

[majorpayne]

Any news yet about when Verizon will get the HTC One?

<smart **** answer> Sometime between now and the end of the world</smart **** answer>

No news except what has already been provided.. This summer

 

[mattkruse]

Actually, it looks like the HTC M4 might be what I really want
HTC M4 vs HTC One: wait for Verizon, or wait even longer? - SlashGear

 

[garublador]

Any news yet about when Verizon will get the HTC One?

I'm not exactly sure what you, or anyone else, thinks you'll gain by going to the One. The only possible issue it may address is the NFC tag issue, but I couldn't find a quick, definitive answer on whether or not the One supports more tag types than the S4. Nearly everything else you brought up would either also be present on the One or easily fixed by installing a different launcher. I understand the smaller form factor of the M4, but the normal One is about the same size as the S4. If you were complaining about not enough internal storage, the sound quality of the speaker or the camera performance in low light then the One would be worth considering. Otherwise it's mostly some cosmetic things (easily fixed by changing launchers) or features/gimmicks that you haven't mentioned.

 

[mattkruse]

I'm not exactly sure what you, or anyone else, thinks you'll gain by going to the One.

Not things talked about in this thread, necessarily. But I think it looks and feels better with the metal case. It also has a wider angle lens on the camera, which I especially like. I don't care about megapixels nearly as much as how many people I can fit into a picture.

 

[garublador]

But I think it looks and feels better with the metal case.

I want to find the morons who are in these marketing focus groups who are telling phone makers that they want the backs of their phone to be frictionless. I don't care what it's made of (the relatively giant glass screen is way more likely to break than the casing), but the back should be borderline sticky. You know what the best protection against drops is? Not dropping your phone in the first place. It's the only thing I truly miss about my Droid X2.

It also has a wider angle lens on the camera, which I especially like. I don't care about megapixels nearly as much as how many people I can fit into a picture.

So it's less about picture quality and more about not having to stand too far away from your friends?

I'm kidding about the camera thing...well sort of. Perhaps the chances of me being in the position where I'm really limited as to how far away from whatever it is I'm photographing are unusually low. "I might have to take a couple extra literal steps when taking pictures" seems like an odd reason to pick one phone over the other. I don't have anything against the HTC One, but for how minor the differences are I'm not sure it's worth selling your phone or waiting months to get it. If they were both out now it would be one thing, but falling into the trap of always thinking that another phone will make you happier can be a downside to Android.

 

[racedog]

Interesting that you're leaning towards keeping the S4. When I moved from the iphone to Android I also kept the Android phone but there was considerable buyers remorse for about a month after the no return date had passed. It took at least that long for my comfort level to finally set in and to realize that I liked this phone and then the further realization that I actually liked it better than my old iphone.

The other thing you said that that the iphone experience out of the box was better than Android was telling. Once my knowledge level had risen to a comfortable level I found the Android experience to the iphone (out of the box) to be superior. I know what I want and I now know how to get there and to do it quickly. I stuck with the iphone out of the box because that's the way it worked. Personally, I find that Android gives me what I want, the way I want it. Iphone's comfort level came because I had accepted the way it was because I had no other options. I've learned to love those options, it just took some time.

Hope you end up with what you want, no matter what you decide. Phones are a personal experience and it seems that no two of us ever wants it exactly the same, and that is what makes the world go round.