Reply to: Android Tablets

[Stan]

I've found navigation on Android (and maps) to be pretty damned good, even told it by voice where to go and it worked. I haven't really used the iPhone myself though, so I can't really compare.

Does the iPhone come with navigation now? I remember getting lost once with an iPhone user and he had his phone out so I said "just get it to direct us" and he just stared at me blankly so I got mine out with its free built in navigation. That was a couple of years ago though.

(edit)
LOL. Just read the explanation of what happened: user installs custom keyboards, doesn't like them, ditches entire OS because of it. My friend, iOS is built for you.

[oracleslave]

Well, after stating that I would never see a use for or buy a tablet ever, I decided to buy a nexus 7 for £200.

Work productivity has reached a new low. For the money I think it's an awesome piece of kit. Spent the whole day faffing with it.

[SantaClaus]

Nexus S here. I suppose if hacking to you is having to enter your gmail account and your WiFi password, then yes you do need to be a hacker to set it up. I've never done any more than that.

I admit I've never used the navigation extensively, but this being Android you're free to choose a better navigation system.

BTW Firefox has Flash built in in JellyBean. So if you care about Flash, use Firefox (again, because this is Android you get to choose your favourite browser). I prefer Opera, and it is a bit of a PITA that since the upgrade I can no longer view videos on sites like the BBC, but again this being Android I could choose to install the app without requiring anyone's approval if I wanted to.

Interesting to know. Thanks for that!

[northernladuk]

Bump.

[Spacecadet]

I decided to mess around with third party keyboards and got burnt when the OS was upgraded and the keyboard software developers took a little while to catchup

FTFY

[Platypus]

So to be clear, your definition of hacking is downloading and installing apps from the appstore?

No that's not what I meant. And I suspect you know that. I'm using 'hacking' in more the old fashioned sense (c. 1990) of having to bugger about with work-arounds and so on to get stuff working properly.

So, on my android, I thought the keyboard was dire. So I downloaded Swype which is all "beta" mode and would periodically time out but the installer didn't work properly so you had to uninstall and re-install.

So ages ago, I switched to Swiftkey which was good for a while but has started playing up worse than ever with Jelly Bean, predictive mode doesn't work with with Google search widget, forcing text into upper case and adding a capital 'I' after each word.

Unable as of last week to usefully use Swiftkey for everything, I've gone back to another keyboard I purchased, called SlideIT which is a PITA to get used to after months of delight with Swiftkey.

Twice last week I was browsing web pages where I needed to complete and submit a form. The standard browser wasn't rendering the pages properly and the keyboard (Swiftkey then) obscured the part of the form which held the SUBMIT button.

I really CBA to list all the details buy my point is this: several keyboards not working correctly, the standard android one is a bit poor (oh I know that the iPhone was is a bit tulip too but millions of people cope so I'm sure I will).

The browser not rendering properly. Sure I could do the research to find out which one renders which particular content correctly and whether it has native support for this or that, but FFS I just want to look at a webpage, not do a computer science project.

Oh, and the media library randomly rearranging itself so that my 'custom' ring tones don't ring because all of a sudden the media tag for my favourite song has changed. Plus of course the app I had to download, Ring Commander I think it was, to let MP3's be used as ringtones.

Plus the issue I had with maps and navigation last week.

All in all a total PITA and therefore I now hold the opinion that I'll switch to something which I'm told hangs together much better, gives integrated functionality, etc. even it it might be less functionality, I assume it works at some basic level, unlike my bleedin Android.

Is iPhone perfect? Probably not? Will I have to download apps? Of course I know it won't do everything I want out of the box, I'm not an idiot (believe it or not). Will there be some Android bits I really miss, probably.

I know lots and lots of smart phone users. I never hear iPhone users moaning that they wish they had Android. They are not all 'fanbois' they are professional IT folks who want a productivity tool. I hear lots of Android users grumbling and muttering about getting an iPhone if only they weren't so darned expensive. EDIT: and plus the 'controlled ecosystem' line. Controlled ecosystem seems to work ok for MAC, no viruses, no slowdown as the registry gets progressively clogged.

OK, is that enough for you to believe that I formed my opinion through actual experience over the last 2 years?

[VectraMan]

Well you have done more than that because you've made browser choices based on technology issues. Well I'm a pretty technical guy but life is too short for me to spend buggering about trying to get my phone to work e.g. getting Flash to work in this or that browser etc etc.

Buggering about with stuff I get paid for is fine, but not my phone.

So to be clear, your definition of hacking is downloading and installing apps from the appstore? I think you'll have a shock when you get an iPhone and discover that it can't do absolutely everything out of the box, and in fact installing apps from an appstore is something even iPhone users have got the hang of.

And of course "get my phone to work e.g. getting Flash to work" isn't an option on an iPhone.

[Platypus]

Fair one but I'm looking forward to seeing you post when the iPhone doesn't live up to your expectations

A 'for sale' advert !

[The Spartan]

Fair one but I'm looking forward to seeing you post when the iPhone doesn't live up to your expectations

[Platypus]

Isn't that the beauty of it being able to do what you want with your property? rather than being told no you can't do this or that

Yeah I see your point, but nobody ever moaned that their Nokia 3310 was restricting.

EDIT: but bottom line I find this 'doing what I want' to be a PITA, not fun, not anymore.

[The Spartan]

Isn't that the beauty of it being able to do what you want with your property? rather than being told no you can't do this or that

[Platypus]

I suppose if hacking to you is having to enter your gmail account and your WiFi password, then yes you do need to be a hacker to set it up. I've never done any more than that.

Well you have done more than that because you've made browser choices based on technology issues. Well I'm a pretty technical guy but life is too short for me to spend buggering about trying to get my phone to work e.g. getting Flash to work in this or that browser etc etc.

Buggering about with stuff I get paid for is fine, but not my phone.

[VectraMan]

Android 4.1.1 ? Anyway it's Jelly Bean on a Google Nexus S (made by Samsung) so vanilla Google.

Some I'll admit was pilot error but talk about not integrated. My biggest bug-bear was Trip Advisor app not linking to Navigation properly, constantly 'forgetting' where I was or where I wanted to go. And Maps. Urgh! Took me ages to discover there was a 'navigate' option which was sometimes there and sometimes not, I can't say how or why. And find somewhere on trip advisor, go to maps and it can't find the address, suggesting an address in outer mongolia rather than its slightly misspelled version of the place I'm 1km from.

All in all a very unhappy experience. iPhone 5 for me and maybe an iPad in the next few days just to cheer myself up.

Right from the start I felt you had to be a bit of a hacker to get Android to do anything useful and I wasted so much time faffing around with it last week I just give up. I know many Android users who don't work in IT who basically can't get their phone to do anything useful whatsoever. Yet iPhone is used successfully by total morons.

I know two happy Android users: GingerJedi on here and a bloke at ClientCo.

Nexus S here. I suppose if hacking to you is having to enter your gmail account and your WiFi password, then yes you do need to be a hacker to set it up. I've never done any more than that.

I admit I've never used the navigation extensively, but this being Android you're free to choose a better navigation system.

BTW Firefox has Flash built in in JellyBean. So if you care about Flash, use Firefox (again, because this is Android you get to choose your favourite browser). I prefer Opera, and it is a bit of a PITA that since the upgrade I can no longer view videos on sites like the BBC, but again this being Android I could choose to install the app without requiring anyone's approval if I wanted to.

[The Spartan]

You're obviously an exception to the rule, I was talking more in terms of the Apple apps ecosystem

[Platypus]

it's the apps ecosystem that keeps people locked in would you want to change if you shelled out GBP's on apps

I've spent £20-£30 on apps, Not enough to keep me locked into Android.