Off the record discussion: Android vs iPhone

So I figured I'd post something. I've been busy with college, friends, and my G/F the last week or two and haven't really touched the server.
So for a quick topic, I thought I'd put up a discussion I've been having with some people on Facebook on opinions for the difference of the iPhone and Androids. When I say Android"S" mean all the Android devices against the iPhone. It wouldn't be fair choosing the most popular or most features against the iPhone. Why? Because not all of us has a Money Tree, we have budgets or college to pay for, let alone family and bills.

Starting off with the basics; I've had a lot of people that went from iPhone to an Android agree with this:

iPhone is to Android like Macs are to Windows

 Needless to say, Android is NOT windows, but for those who have used both Macs and Windows know what I mean.

iPhone is a pretty boy while Androids and Windows the Nerd

Ok, so 'Nerd' may not be the best description, but at least they know what they are doing.

On iPhones, you get all the styles and General features you can think of, when you first think about and buy it. Down the road, as I did, you start to notice the limitations. With the android, I'm still finding new features and apps that I didn't think was possible, that are not scams if I may add.

When I had my iPhone 3G a few years ago, I got it shortly after it came out. Sure, today it may be obsolete, but I just started my 2 year contract. My first cell phone. After about a year, the only true creativity I could get out of it was games. If I wanted to do more than what the Hard Coded limitation that Apple put it, I had to JailBreak my phone. Which I did. I was quite happy from that point on. Still had some features I wanted to do, but didn't NEED them. One feature I was glad to get was Video Recording. Worked Flawlessly.

New iPhone came out about a year after the 3G came out. The 3Gs. So it added some of the features a Jailbroken 3G could do. Big deal. Apple was finally giving what everyone wanted.

The next year, the 4G came out along with the iOS (Operating System) 4. That damn OS slowed my iphone 3G to a crawl. What did Apple and ATT suggest to fix it? Upgrade. HELLO! I haven't even finished my 2 year contract, I was 6-8 months from it. So either put up with the 3-5 iphone restarts a day just to get decent speed of the apps, or shell out a few Hundred $$$ to upgrade while in my contract. (Sure, recycle my old one for $50-$100 if it was still in good condition.)

I forced a downgrade of the OS, put up with the iTunes pestering me to update it (Could have been ignored, but after each iTunes update it seemed to reset that check box).

My 3G lasted 2 1/2 years before I bumped a corner of a table and, I suppose cracked the touchscreen. The display looked fine, but wouldn't react to any touching. Couldn't even answer a call. So that day I drove to the nearest ATT dealer and bought an Android Captivate.

So, Many, Features and Possibilities!

I spent months tinkering with what I could do without buying any apps or Rooting it. (To put Rooting simply, but exactly accurately: Rooting an Android is like Jailbreaking an iPhone).

After a while, I did Root my Android to get a firewall. Where I live, I don't get 3G, I get Edge. I have yet to reach my 200MB data plan so why waste money on 2G (sure, $5 difference), if I am not going to even use up the first plan? I put that $5 difference toward the Monthly Insurance.

I chose the Captivate because it had the features I NEEDED, with just a few that I WANTED.
By this I mean: I don't use face time/dual camera chatting. I have no use for it, never even had the opportunity to use it either way. If I do have a need for it, I'm sure I've seen an in-expensive adapter for the camera. It took the idea of using two mirrors. Ever made a para-scope while you were a kid out of milk cartons? That's what is was basically.

The android didn't need any special software to use it. Just plug the phone in, enable the SD card storage, then drag what files you wanted to the SD card from your computer. Just like a jump drive. All my music worked, even my music from iTunes. All my ORIGINAL movie files worked just fine on the Android. No converting. no distortion, unless you had a loud movie with the volume cranked up, then MAYBE there was some distortion.

So to go down the list of iPhone and Android comparisons, No particular order, just going down the list of the chat on FaceBook:
Please Note: I have not used an iPhone since I had my iPhone 3G. If there is something I've stated wrong, please do not hesitate to tell me and I will correct what I've said and put a note of who corrected me and why.

• Android and iPhones are nicely advanced Smart Phones.
• iPhone Looks and Acts Fancy. But the OS Hard Coded limitations get in the way for new features that come with Applications
• Android is not AS fancy, but plenty of room for Application advancements and Features.

• Plenty of Applications for both devices to get what you need or want.
• iPhone App market is very regulated and all Applications that are submitted to the store from the Application creators are thoroughly looked over, most of the time. Applications submissions, from last I heard, can take a week to a few month to many many months before hearing about anything. Same goes for Application Updates. If Apple doesn't like the update, it's declined. If they did not catch a problem before and take the application off the market and YOUR PHONE without notifying you. If the application stays off the market, and you bought it, you DON'T get a refund. If you get an app and later you don't like it, you'd be lucky to get MOST of the refund. If there is a feature or app you want, but the market doesn't allow it, you have to jail-break your phone, which means you have to void your warranty, from what I've been told.
• Android App Market is not as regulated. Someone makes an application and submits it, it's there fairly fast. The only time I've heard of an app being taken off is for scamming users and viruses. If an app is removed from the App market, it won't be removed from your phone, unless it was known for being a virus. If you don't like the app you bought, you get the full refund. If there is an app you like to get, but the App market doesn't allow it's kind, like Adult Apps, you can side-install it. (Install the app from your computer). The only Voiding of Warranty you may come accrossed is from your Cell Service Provider.

• Updates help keep the bugs at bay and the new features to come and play.
• Apple is always sending out OS updates for the phones every few months to fix this, add that. From personal Experience, not always great for the end user. Re-Read the paragraph about how Apple updated to iOS 4 and slowed phone down to a crawl. I've also had my settings reset and data lost due to an update messed up and "bricked" my phone until I did a full re-install of the OS. Yay for lost pictures and videos of the fair I went to with my G/F, Family, and friends. They still give me crud about that... Backups didn't help, to put it short.
• Android updates are much less frequent, if you were smart, all your music, movies, and pictures, including camera pictures, are saved on the exchangeable SD card.

• Notifications help you know if something of importance has come up. Text message came in, FaceBook message came in, or any other app you let notify you.
• iPhone notifications popup like popups on Internet Exploder 6. Right in front of you when you are looking at something else. Annoying. I don't know how many people I hung up on while typing something up on a text message or such like Facebook or another app. If you get multiple messages, like when you are asleep and you get a few messages over a time period of a few hours, you only see one notification, you click what ever button you can, then you see the next. After three or so notifications, you wonder how many do you have?
• Android keeps all the message up and out of your way at the top of your screen. If you get a call, you don't have a button to answer and a button to decline, you swipe the icon form one side or the other for your choice. No accidental answering or declining of calls. If you want to see the notifications, just drag down from the top to see the list of notifications you may have. You can scroll through the list of notifications if you have many, then select the one you want to see first, like a text message from your G/F or B/F other than your Boss. If you have a list of notifications you don't want to click to clear out, you can do all that in a single press of a button.

• If you want eye candy for your screen, there's fancy backgrounds for starters...
• The iPhone, the last I knew, just had a hi-res screen for great looking pictures and movies. I don't think there are widgets or gadgets for the iphone. If you have a jailbroke phone, you can on the lockscreen. Where's the creativity? Where's the uniqueness? It's like everyone wearing the same hear, ring, or glasses styles.
• Android allows for different kinds of background, there's a background app that allows you to have selected images for different screens, or even have the screens cycle through a folder of pictures every few minutes like Windows 7 does. You can have animated and interactive backgrounds. I had a background that reacted to the noise around me and the sound being played from my phone. Fun to watch while listening to music. There are a wide selection of widgets and gadgets from the App market that you can place on any screen where you want.

• The iPhone won't crash and get overloaded like the Android can.
• True the iPhone won't crash or get overloaded like the android. But that doesn't mean it doesn't happen. I've had my iphone freeze a few times when it wasn't jailbroken. Granted it only been overloaded when an app went hay-wire. You can mulitask with the new iPhone OS's. But just like the previous iPhone versions: You leave an app open and running, it will drain your battery faster. My 3G couldn't multitask, even with the new OS 4 that came out. You can see all the apps that running, but only the ones you installed, but the services they run with will still run. The iPhone, last I knew, had a limit of the number of Apps you can have. Up to 9 pages worth. 16 apps per page, that includes apps you don't even click their icons for. You can't even re-arrange the screens from one point to another.
• True the Android and get overloaded, but I have yet had it crash on me, but that doesn't mean it's not possible. If you forget you left an app open, it will drain the battery, just like the iPhone, but the multitasking felt cleaner than I've seen on the iPhone 4. On the android, you could see all the apps and services running in the background, including ATT's bloatware you can't disable easily, but possible.

• iPhone fits all, Android devices vary too much. I don't want to decide!
• Well good for you. If you don't want to balance out  the features and money you are spending, sure, go for the iPhone. I don't Face Time, don't have any use for it. Why pay extra for the second camera? I don't do self shots. Sometimes I prefer a real qwerty keyboard to type with if I'm doing some long typing. The touch screen can slow me down. If you timed yourself using a touch screen vs a real qwerty keyboard, you will see a significance difference. On my iPhone 3g when I got the OS 4, the keyboard response was sluggish and sometimes freeze, not to forget the missed keystrokes. The iphone make look oh so great, just a big rectangle touch screen, some android devices are like that. The only price variance with iPhones are the built in storage space of 8GB and 16GB
• Android devices vary with different hardware specs. Some have sliding keyboards, some have flash, some have dual camera, some even have finger print scanners. Besides a qwerty keyboard, I fine without all those extra features, I don't even use my bluetooth. So why pay extra features you don't need or want. I chose my phone because it did what I needed, granted it has some features that I didn't need, but wanted. I do like the idea of blue tooth, but like I said, I haven't really used it. Android devices vary in price by features. Android allows swapping in and out of SD cards, small storage or large storage.

Other stuff I might cover in detail later:

• iPhone limits your ringtones in weird ways, Android allows you to make your ring tones to use easily and freely. No costs; iTunes charges you for the song, then another charge for the ringtone.
• iPhone's battery is built in, if you need to replace it, you have to send it in and get charged if it's out of warranty. Android devices allow you to change them when you want. Each new batter costs, but long road trips with limited plugins, they make a difference.

I think I covered most of the chat on facebook. The responses in Facebook I got were humorous, but some had a point.

 Steven *****
    getting my phone upgraded... should i stay with apple and get an iphone 4 or get a captivate?

Wayne *****
    I would stay with the iPhone but I would wait until the iPhone 5 comes out or switch to Verizon and get that thunderbolt phone the lte that would be awesome

Gaël *****
    i love the iPhone4 it's very fast ^^

Steven *****
    Windows Phone 7.5

Raquel *****
    iPhone all the way

Rusty *****
    are you rich

Misty *****
    There is alot of complaints on the captivate, the samsung inuse compares to iphone and its newer than the captivate. I love mine. Go to att.com and compare the phones ur interested n and read their reviews.

Kelcie *****
    DO NOT get a captivate!!!!!

James *****
    Get rid of the limited iPhone and get rid of ATT if possible. Then get an android device that fits your needs.

James *****
    All I see the iphone for is being icandy, or as some put it, pretty boy devices. I've looked at the restrictions for iphone apps, I was thinking about making an app, and they are outrageous. Not only that, if you buy an app on the apple mar...See More

James *****
    Sorry for the multiple posts, but the last issue I have about the iphone: The notifications for the iPhone are annoying. I don't know how many times I was typing then found out I just Declined a phone call. The android you have the swipe ac...See More

James *****
    Lastly, Some android devices you can just drag and drop your movies, music, and pictures onto the device like a jump drive. Iphone you are limited to iTunes that is on YOUR computer. If you use someone else's iTunes, you risk loosing all th...See More

Raquel *****
    iPhone 3's are no comparisons to the 4's, get the iPhone steven lol trust me on this. I have had absolutely no problem with the 4. I love it.

James *****
    Sure they hardware is better on the iphone 4, and like I've said, I didn't even have my 2 year contract up when the OS updated and my phone was damn slow. Apple and ATT wanted me to just upgrade to a new phone for a few hundred $$$ since my 2 year contract wasn't up. I've seen what the iphone 4 can do, it's way to controlled by Apple's restrictions compared to Android.

Raquel *****
    Yea it has restrictions and it's not going to end up basically breaking down because it's overloaded. The android sucks and it's ugly. The iPhone four is a highly capable and fashionable phone :)

James *****
    The android is only ugly if you chose the ugly device style or you don't know how to set it. The iphone looks o-so-nice right out of the box. Where's the creativity? Where's the uniqueness? If everyone had the same iPhone, it'd be like everyone wearing the same hair style, bracelet, ring, or glasses style.

James *****
    No offense, but who's going to be using YOUR phone as much as YOU do? I customized mine how I care, but I prefer functionality of useless style.

    At least if the android devices, they range in price, you can buy the one that has the hardware features you want, and not pay for all the features you don't want or don't use. I don't care for the face time chat, if I had it, it would be rare for me to even use it, so why waste money on it?

    Raquel Conway They can't custom make every phone the prices would just raise it wouldn't make sense business wise. If you don't want all the features then why have a smart phone?

James *****
    You went way over what I meant. There are different Android devices that fits different styles and needs. Some people want a real qwerty keyboard with their smart phone, some don't, some want high performance for games, other don't, some people want dual cameras (face time) others don't, some people like large screens, others want smaller/normal size screens.

    The only feature on my phone that I haven't had a need for, other than sharing a quick file, is blue tooth. I honestly don't need a wireless headset that I have to make sure it's charged all the time. If I needed a headset, I'll just use the wired headset that came with my phone. I haven't had an issue with it.

    I'm glad I swap out SD cards depending on what I need. I can have a SD card with just music, and a few SD cards for Movies. iPhones are just limited with the built on space oh, what, 16/32GB? Just how many movies can you hold? Can you share your SD cards with friends on a road trip so one phone can be playing one movie while another is playing a different movie? Android: Yes, iPhone: Nada. Oh Did I forget you have to make sure the movie files are converted just right to be played on the iPhone? Android is just plug and play style.

Raquel *****
    Honestly all of those things are obsolete in most people's minds. The iPhone is a legit phone. Regardless of sd cards or whatever.

James *****
    For those with a budget and preference, it all counts. I don't know how many of my friends in highschool didn't like the touchscreen for typing of with the iPhone or Android. Besides, typing with a keyboard instead of a touchscreen, you can feel the keys so you don't have to look at where you are typing all the time. I'm referring to those who like to text in class. lol :P

    Sorry, but I grew up on the philosophy of "Do you NEED or WANT it?" when you are on a limited budget. I'd rather save money than waste it all the time.

    I have the ATT (pos) Captivate (yes, the hardware was bad, but only because I got the phone that was made BEFORE Nov. 26 2010). Since I've got it replaced in a very fast reasonable time, I haven't had any issues or felt limited. It does all I need and haven't felt out of the crowd because I didn't have a feature. Ok, maybe a qwerty keyboard a couple times. :)

    At least the many times it has fallen, the screen hasn't taken a crack. I've seen iphones of all version with cracks shortly after being bought, even with a decent case.

Raquel *****
    Well I guess I'm just a pretty experienced texter lol because I don't have to look at my screen to text... I have dropped my phone a few times with just a Speck case on and it hasn't cracked (thank gosh). I love the touch screen and really if you are upgrading or renewing or starting a contract it's a pretty reasonable price

James *****
    That's good your phone hasn't cracked, when I had my 3G, I had a touch case on it, I don't think the Speck cases existed at the time, and after dropping it for the 3rd or 4th time, I saw the first crack, just under the Home Button. Nothing major, but the following drop, or should I say it did it to itself, put some major cracks at the top.

    A friend one night called me from the bar and needed a ride. I was asleep, didn't hear my phone go off. He called me numerous times, 8-10, I don't recall, was my first semester of college, and it vibrated a distance of little over a foot from the edge of my dorm room desk and fell 3 feet to the floor. I woke up to find it upside-down next to the desk with the cracks. I still don't understand how it could vibrate so far on a rubber case.

James *****
    You must be a pretty good texter, if I tried to text without looking on the touch screen, I have to rely on the auto correct what I mistyped.

Raquel *****
    Well that's still the 3 not the 4 you can't base opinions on one phone from another. I know same company still an iPhone but the newer version is just that newer and improved. That's why they make new versions is so they can make them better.

Steven *****
    The iPhone isn't really limited. I've never had an app removed from my iPhone or iPod by Apple. Ever. Maybe you just had a crappy iPhone, when mine updated to the 4.0 I didn't have any problems with it being slow at all. I've never had the declined call issue, I usually pay attention when I'm texting so if a phone call pops up I don't ignore it. My two year contract isn't up for another five months but I'm still eligible for an upgrade. As for the music and movies, you can drag and drop them in your itunes and use a flash drive to transfer them from computer to computer. This way your computer can scan it for viruses, it's one of Apple's protction features to keep your phone from getting a virus and crashing. You can use different covers and skins to make your iphone unique, so there's no need for apple to make 15 different phones that all do the same thing. The iPhone is a lot easier to use than android. And as for the different features, the iPhone comes in different sizes for the memory. They include the camera on the front because it is a 'smart phone' so it has all the 'bells and whistles' on it. That's why they call it a smart phone. if you don't want all the stuff it comes with then why get a smart phone? I'm a total klutz and i've dropped my phone in parking lots, down flights of stairs and knocked it off of things and my screen doesn't have a ding scratch or crack in it. Maybe your phone is so slow because it sounds like it's been abused. Take good care of your things and they'll take care of you (:

James *****
    I've never had an app removed before either, but it has been reported to happen many times before.
    Did you have the iPhone 3G or 3G'S'? From what I've read, all 3G iphones had the slow issue. I never had slow issues until OS 4 came out.
    I had the decline issues when I updated to the OS 3.1.4 (I think that was the OS right before OS 4 came out).
    I don't ignore phone calls nor decline them on purpose.
    When I had the iPhone, the only time I was eligible to upgrade, was when my two year contract was up.
    Yes, you can move your music from one computer to another via jumpdrive so your computer can scan them for viruses. But that still leaves the issue of Movies not working on the iPhones unless they are in the correct format.
    So buying a case for your phone to make it look different, yes I can see that, but it's like buying a new car then putting a new look/case around it. Doesn't make a lot of sense.
    Macs and Androids don't get infected by virus unless someone installs an infected app on their phone. If you are worried of sharing files from one phone to another, both iPhone and Android have antivirus apps to scan the files.
    My problem about apple making one style of iPhone is their monopoly. I still stick to the fact that smart phones don't need every trick in the book to be a smart phone. Smart phone creators are just adding more and more features in attempts to make their phones "Better" than the next.
    Saying iPhone is easier to use than an android doesn't say anything. There are people out there that use Android before the iPhone and have said the same thing vice-versa. It's about how well you know the device. Like living in one City for 15 years, then moving to another.
    I got a smart phone because it does all I need in one device. I don't need an music player, a camera, a netbook, etc on me all at one time when I can have it all in one hand.
    I haven't dropped my phone a whole lot either. My iPhone went down five or so concrete steps once and only took some nicks on the corners as it cart-wheeled down. Both my phones have cases and so far the android has lasted longer in physical damage than the iPhone has in the same period of time.

Raquel *****
    That's what the world today is about, making things better. Of course apple has a monopoly lol they make the best phones around and who can get mad because they have the ability to do so? I think the point steven is making is that apple cares enough for there customers and their phones that they make stuff more complicated so their phones run to the fullest capability. For instance the movies, they make them be in a certain format because that is the format that is the most compatible. Why let people just download anything when the performance isn't going to be as good which in turn will make the phone itself look bad. Also, if apple is removing apps it is probably because something had came up as being wrong with the apps or the app makers have done something wrong or want to discontinue their own app. Apple can't be held responsible for all of that.

James *****
    Yes, downloading movies through iTunes allows for the best quality, but what about videos you already have on your computer? I for one am not going to pay again for a video to be able to seen on one device. Not to mention not all movies and videos are on iTunes. Yes, I know Netflix is around, but that has it's only limitations and drawbacks.
    I've got TV series I bought online in the past and when I got the iphone, I couldn't put them on it. I had to purchase the episodes again just to watch them. Doesn't make a lot of sense. It's like Microsoft comes out with a brand new console, not backwords compatible, there are people out there that have a lot of games they like to play while their console will go out of date in a few years. What do you do with a game you can't play after a few years? Just throw it out into the trash and let that spent money go with it?
    I know there are people who all they care about is THE BEST QUALITY EVERYTIME, so they only purchase Blu-Ray movies that they may watch once or twice, then not again for a while. To me, that's a waste of money. After watching a Blu-ray once or twice, then watching a DVD movie, there is difference, but after watching X amount of times, it doesn't really matter on the video and sound quality as long as you got to see and hear what you liked. As long as the quality isn't too poor, there's always that line. Lol.
    I can understand why apps get removed, either because of regulations broken or the author wants it off. But like I said before. You "Buy" and app, then later find out Apple removed it and you don't get a refund. You wasted money on something you can no longer use again. Just the fact that Apple can control what you can and can't have on something you paid for rubs me the wrong way.

Other places of good debates of the phones:
http://www.techoncept.com/iphone-vs-android-the-great-debate
http://www.geeknewscentral.com/2011/07/18/infographic-iphone-vs-android/