[Q] a Better Keyboard (Not the APP) - Nexus One Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hey guys
have a read of this: hxxp://ignorethecode.net/blog/2009/08/07/virtual-keyboards-on-iphone-and-android/ and if you can't be bothered, basically the author suggests that the Android keyboard is crap compared to that of the iPhone simply because the iPhone keyboard is spaced out better.
I was wondering, is there an iPhone keyboard? I know theres better keyboard/iphone keyboard emulator and such but they all fail to resize/reposition the keys to correctly "emulate" the iphone keyboard experience?
Or am I up a creek without a paddle with choosing an Android phone?
any help is greatly appreciated.

What good does reading a year-old comparison of 2 phones, one of which is completely outdated and the other quite outdated, do for you? Especially considering that the phone in question (HTC Magic) doesn't have much in common with Nexus, including physical size?
Instead of reading outdated comparisons, look for current Android keyboards, existing and projects. See what different Android phones use. You'll find your answers.

I find Smart Keyboard Pro very good, you could try that. They even have an iphone skin...

Related

Nexus Regrets?

I just read two similar postings to this, but I felt like I needed to give my opinions anyways. It's not exactly the same anyways.
Nexus One was Google's grand experiment. Some have considered it a failure due to sales numbers, some a success due to lack of marketing, some have lots to say about changing distribution channels, and the plusses and negatives.
But we are the test subjects here. And I'll tell you, coming from WinMo and a TP2, I was at first surprised and happy with my decision to impulse buy an experiment on a new OS. Speed, just-worksness, etc. My only negative was missing Sense. And then Modaco ported the Desire ROM, which I have to say isn't perfect but is 10x more stable than my old TP2 roms. I loved my phone.
However... being a test subject has worn on me. One: the first loved then panned screen, which I've heard everything from inferior coloring to last generation hardware on multitouch, none of which has bothered me, to the infuriating reception, which I have definitely been party to. Worst of all is the world class hardware HTC made to match the Iphone's style... matches it's weakness. I'm on my third N1. One broken digitizer, one broken LCD. Third one no problems so far. The LCD ridiculously while in my pocket.
And finally, the development community. One guy posted about the lack of comparitive stuff he could add from rooting. Any smartphone can add tethering. Porting Sense completed the phone for me, as I missed my smart dialing and weather clock. He got flamed for being demanding of devs, which I can understand on a dev community board... but I agree. The N1 was supposed to be the XDA's dream phone. Fastest updates, superior hardware... you could do anything with this phone. So we have a modified stock rom with additional features and RAM, Apps2SD, and ported Sense. Modaco is off for two weeks, and actually was hammering releases out daily for a while. But on my inferior TP2 they ported HD2 Roms, non HTC Roms, every new feature on any winmo phone... xda did that. They ported Android and convinced me to buy the n1! I am in no way complain about devs. Especially Cyanogen, Modaco, and that guy who has ported both Motoblur and Espresso and is now working on X10 Rom. I patiently await what they do. But all in all, developer response to N1 has been slow coming it would seem.
So to end my giant book post: how do you feel as an n1 user about your experience? The first legit google experience? I am not won over like an iphone fanboy. I am very dissappointed in customer service, and some hardware stuff. But overall I'm happy I made the Android jump. My only conclusion is that my next phone will not be from google dot come slash phone. It will be carrier branded. Rooting means I'll get updates fast anyways, and sales will be so much higher I expect that development will be more active. How do you all feel?
What exactly do you want to be developed? Do you want us Android users to port the lackluster Windows Mobile over to our devices? Is this what you expect?
MOTO Blur can't be correctly ported because of key mapping, and even so the resolution would be off without any current Android devices having MOTO Blur on a big screen, same goes for Espresso. X10 is in the making, as it also has button matching issues. Which are now being figured out.
You seem to be an intelligent person, someone who is smart enough to notice that this phone has been out for less that 4 months - which obviously means there is much to be left discovered. Your post, and this thread, are both pathetic. You act as if developing takes a small flick of the wrist, and as if the developers are not actually "trying" or pushing out more things that tickle your fancy fast enough - exactly what are you expecting? Also, please note that Windows has the ability to boot both Linux and itself, which im sure is a little relevant.
Why don't you wait a little while and see how things play out before making these little rant threads that are not needed..
What else do u want to do that hasn't been done or worked on?
Sent from my Nexus One using the XDA mobile application powered by Tapatalk
I love my Nexus one.
If you buy a phone for what MIGHT come, you've bought the wrong phone.
[QUOTE=trevorwhopkins;6187241 I am very dissappointed in customer service, and some hardware stuffl?[/QUOTE
You had to know you'd be flamed for your thoughts (although all valid opinions), but I can't see how you point out customer service as an issue when you're on your third (I assume free replacement) N1.
Regarding the community and development: I think this time around the community and devs knew what was needed based on prior android custom roms. Things like tethering, multitouch, rotating homescreen, launncher with an extra column, A2SD etc. were all released within a very reasonable timeframe. Then there were things like custom notification colors which didn't take much time to come out, either.
The phone is not perfect, and 99% of my frustrations seem to he simply a design flaw (aka hardware issue) where the normal/comfortable position to hold it creates a false/unintended pressz of the touchscreen resulting in random presses - which many blame software on while never realizing they simply need to adjust how they hold the phone. I learned to adjust, which I think everyone has to do for every phone (learn its quirks and adjust accordingly).
Disappointed? Not at all...overpriced? Maybe...glad I'm still the only one I know who has it? Hell yeah!
Fair post but good luck suggesting to many people at xda that their phone isn't the be-all end-all of mobile device development, its like telling a parent their kid is ugly, there's no reason or objectivity involved so youll be made to look soulless. : )
I personally couldn't care less about xda participation. However I am a little disappointed every time a new bug comes up and it turns out its regarding outdated hardware, in that department I did expect a little more. It's disappointing that we have an old screen and what not, surely Google didn't think users wouldn't discover and discuss the copious problems with the phone...
And I do feel like a beta tester. It does feel like the phone was rushed to the public. But this software is still awesome and ultimately we do have some solid hardware to work with and if Google wants to they can make this phone as stable and pleasurable as they advertised it to be. I am so incredibly curious to know what android has been doing lately, the folks there are historically bad at keeping secrets (thankfully) so they have either tightened security or they have been staring at the wall. I'm guessing the former and I can't wait. For a while after the bugs and shortcomings for this phone began to mount I turned my attention to the iPhone, lucky for android the iPhone OS 4.0 is not impressive. As long as the hardware isn't either, android can string me along for a good while.
I really don't know what to think. Google is making no effort to advertise the phone (for good reason at this point), and they are silent to all of the problems that have come up. I'm starting to think Google wishes the nexus would go away so they could try again...
about nexous one
Let me tell you after owning every phone out there the nexous one is the best and fastest phone i have ever owned period
8525
curve
tour
storm 1
storm 2 both on tmobile
g1
mytouch 3g
iphone 3g
iphone 3gs
HD2
after owning all of those phone i will never go back i love my n1
Look at the g1 its the first android phone and there is hella roms for it just wait and there will be more roms and google will give out more updated witch will make the phone better and better
If you like sinse just get the HD2
YAWN...
You didn't add anything new to what was posted before. It's just a bunch of empty thoughts.
What is it that you want????
As I said before, we have the most up-to-date version of Android already, we can't anything new if we don't fully understand the changes.
This is just about as open a platform as we will ever see, learn to fix/add what you want.
Here is what I ask? At the time the Nexus came out, what phone was better? Iphone... uhm no. Touchpro2... not a chance. Moto Droid? Inferior hardware. The bottom line is, even with a few problems the Nexus has, it is still a top 5 phone, if not the best phone there is. I can honestly say, for T-Mobile, there is not a single phone offered that I would rather have. I can think of ONE other phone I'd consider getting outside T-Mobile and thats a phone that isn't out yet (Evo 4g). Come on man, do you want the phone to mow your lawn for you? It's an incredible device.
Oh and judging the quality of a phone based on sales figures is retarded. I don't care if it only sold one phone, if its a great phone its a great phone.
evilkorn said:
What is it that you want????
As I said before, we have the most up-to-date version of Android already, we can't anything new if we don't fully understand the changes.
This is just about as open a platform as we will ever see, learn to fix/add what you want.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree with you. Unlike the G1, we aren't trying to backport 2.1 features or build ROMs with as many things working in 2.1 as we can.
People like Sense, good for them. Personally, I don't care for it in the least. I like a few of the visuals of the status bar from it, which is why I kanged them, but I don't really care at all for the rest of it.
I'm running stock right know.. you know why? Because 2.1 is already the best Android experience! Like Eclair said, I don't get what you want right now.. Yes, the G1 and Magic have alot more ROMS out there but most of them are just 2.1 port attempts! They're trying to get what we already have on our phones. Just to further echo some common sentiments, the phone has only been out for a few months whereas the G1 has been out for a year and a half.. Don't worry, the development will come.. You should feel assured in the fact that many of the top G1/Magic devs switched over to the N1, it was one of the reasons I chose the Nexus over waiting for phones like the Desire.
All that said, I definitely am disappointed with a few things: The various hardware issues that have been popping up amongst different users (I personally have the purple tint issue), and the lagginess of the homescreen swiping. While the 2.1 is very fast in terms of app to app switching or web browsing, it lacks the polish that I hoped 2.1 would have (ie. like the iPhone). Yea, I know things like smooth scrolling on the iPhone are just eye candy, but it matters. It's what appeals to the masses.
An example, I have a non-techie friend who has played around with my Magic before (The Magic was running CursorSense). When he first played around with the N1 his first response was "How come this phone is slower than your Magic, I thought you payed $600 for it?".. He was referring to the scrolling. Of course after I showed him a few neat things (live walls, 3d launcher and gallery etc) he changed his mind but the point remains, the N1 doesn't leave the best first impression.
Overall I am happy with it although I feel it is definitely over priced. But the hardware is built for the future so I'm know that the software updates and future xda development will make it an investment that was worth taking!
Obviously the marketing (lack of) cant have helped sales. Putting it out first on Tmo was a mistake because it severly limited its market even among those who knew about it due to the lack of coverage. I think a traditional carrier launch on either AT&T or Verizon would have moved a lot of handsets. I think Google isnt stupid and they knew these things going in so they had their reasons.
Im not getting the slow development complaints. Its been 4 months. None of the other devices I had saw development that was faster in their intial months of release. At least not as I could notice, I freely admit I wasnt counting roms/apps and logging them in a database.
Personally I dont feel qualified to comment in great detail on a phone I picked up yesterday but I can say I dont regret it at all now that I have hardware in hand. It pretty much rocks as is and I for one am confident that good things are coming and its going to get better.
I will be returning my Nexus One to HTC for repair/replacement due to a faulty power button.
My only real gripe with the phone itself is that the power button is used to sleep & wake the device by default. There is no single button more important than the power button, imho, and it was a poor choice for HTC to design it so.
I take that back, the other huge gripe I have about the phone is HTC's decision to embed the radio antenna at the base of the phone where it is covered by the meaty part of the hand while holding the phone to your ear. Maybe they just assumed everyone would use the headset or bluetooth, but I don't. It is annoying to see it drop a bar of signal because I'm holding the phone naturally in the palm of my hand.
Once I get my replacement phone, I will not be unlocking or rooting it. I will be keeping it intact (and possibly sealed) until this summer, when I can see the next gen iPhone in action, and possibly as late as November, as Windows Phone 7 is already shaping up to be pretty slick.
Here are the things I want in my phone:
1. Just works. Most important thing. Dialer, Contacts, Bluetooth, etc. These things should just be a flick of the finger away.
2. Feature-rich. Integrated search, multi-touch browsing and maps, GPS nav, Native Internet Tethering (bugs the **** out of me that Android doesn't offer this OOB still).
3. Business AND pleasure - don't make me choose between personal email and contacts and enterprise features. HTC has saved Google's ass on this one with their amazing Sense framework from the Desire ROM. Exchange with ActiveSync is a MUST. Also where's the love for Blackberry mail server?? I guess Android is not for law firms? /shrug
4. When something says "Full web browsing", if it doesn't include Flash, HTML5, or Silverlight support, that's false advertising.
Other stuff:
I'm starting to write my apps for Windows Phone 7 SDK, I have been writing apps for the iPhone OS (now looking at iPhone OS 4 beta SDK), and I have written a few for Android.
The Windows Phone 7 SDK using Visual Studio 2010 is bread and butter for me -- its perfect. Working with Xcode on the iPhone SDK always felt clunky, and inefficient. Working with Eclipse on the Android SDK has come a *long* way since I started two years ago, and is much easier now than then.
But VS 2010 makes writing apps for WinPhone7 dead simple. I've already ported across my apps from the iPhone and Android platforms without any 3rd party cross-compilers, and it took a very short period of time.
These days it is the ecosystem that drives the market for handheld devices. iTunes made iPod what it is. The iPhone App store with 180,000+ apps made the iPhone platform what it is (we all know it certainly was nice hardware when it was released, but is definitely dated now). The Android Market has been a blessing and a curse for Android. Many solid apps, but no unified Android platform to develop for (to be addressed in Froyo -- or so they say). No single set of hardware to develop for. It's literally like shooting at a moving target. And developing with open source tools is fun for a while, but gets tiresome when there is so much more effort involved in some of the simplest things.
So that's basically where I am personally at. I love my N1. I will be getting it replaced due to hardware failure. I may not use the replacement, and may sell it instead to finance a Windows Phone 7, or possibly (but not likely) an iPhone over the course of the summer.
And before anyone calls me a hater on any grounds: I have used WinMo in the past, I am using Android now, I have good friends who use iPhones and I hold nothing against them for that. I develop my code on a Windows 7 machine, and I am typing this message on my Mac, which boots Win7, OSX, and Ubuntu.
Lastly, I will say this. There is a sad saying in business that "good enough beats best." This means that despite the technology or ability out there to produce unquestionably excellent goods and services, those which are "good enough" and produce a higher profit margin will win. We will likely always feel like we are being forced to accept mediocrity, but fortunately, the devices we have today will still be outshined, outclassed, and outdone by nearly everything to come in the future.
I would say the negative responses I got here are unappreciated and pointless, but then again they were expected and matter as much as my opinion does.
As for customer service... no. I didn't get anything free. My first n1's lcd broke inside my pocket in a restauraunt. The glass and case was perfect. There were tiny cracks in the lcd. I didn't drop it or anything. I really liked the phone, so I bought another. Google and HTC both gave me a runaround about covering it. Twenty minutes into a conversation, 3 steps up the corporate ladder, and and they finally said send it in, charge 500 dollars, and if your lucky we will give it back. The second time, my wife dropped it, which was her fault. As opposed to my TP2, Palm Pre, my sister's G1, which carriers were glad to replace free immediately if they even looked funny.
My point wasnt to repeat the other guys, only to explain my point about us being beta testers and ask how others felt. I expected some of you to defend it all, and some to complain. I was only explaining the things that made me think about it. And I feel that it is pointless for people to jump all over any person that posts a opinionated comment. If your not trolling or begging or complaining to devs, there's nothing wrong with having an opinion.
I didn't want to end up defending WM at all, only pointing out that their community is insanely creative. I have plenty of respect for how hard devs work. It's not the devs work I questioned, but the amount and interest of the dev community in this phone. If I wanted a WM phone I'ld have gotten the HD2. I like Android just fine, although I'ld be happy to jump on a GSM Droid with 1ghz, as I like my keyboards and hate the glare under the sun of OLED.
Also, all I meant to say about the sales numbers was that is just statistics. Chances are the phone with the most users has the most development, as theaudience is the biggest.
I see all of your points, and didnt mean to complain. The point of my post was this:
How do YOU ALL feel about your experience so far?
Thats why I explained overall how I felt with all the stuff we all have seen positive and negative.
love the phone.. but the touchscreen issues are really pissing me off. and the power button is starting to ***** out on me.
I don't regret at all the $$ I paid for Nexus One. It's an amazing phone with a great OS, it has some negatives like any other phone in the universe (battery,ringtones volume and sunlight visibility) but it has so many positives
My ex-SE phones (that I totally loved) look like an old nintendo NES compared to an XboX360
Other than the **** battery, I'm perfectly happy with my N1.
plain and simple... give me a multi-touch screen that actually works the way it should and I would be 100% satisfied with my phone...
I was hoping that the gaming experience on the phone would be much more pleasurable but with how quirky the touch screen is its nearly impossible to have a great experience...
I would say I am about 80% pleased with the experience so far and I came from a t-mobile dash so the tech on the N1 was leaps and bounds ahead of my old phone but given that I had to shell out all that money for the phone means I should have a 100% sexy piece of hardware instead of 80% of one... with a phone that has no physical keyboard, the touch screen should be much higher quality than it is....
my 2 cents...
Trevor, I agree with you.
Face it people, the phone is a disappointment.
Battery= sucks
touchscreen= sucks
can't save apps to sd= sucks
sloppy slow interface = sucks
3g = sucks
2g = sucks
trackball = sucks
hotmail = sucks
still no flash/html5 = sucks
pink blob im my photos = sucks
no gdocs app = sucks
force closing = sucks
no native profile choice = sucks
silent mode still allows sounds = sucks
slow googles response to the above issues = sucks
bunch of N1 fanboys who can't admit that thier N1 sucks = sucks

[Q] Is the Galaxy S an upgrade to the HTC Desire?

I know similar threads have already been made, but having had no experience with the Galaxy S, I was just going to ask a few questions with have not really been answered in some cases:
1. Are there any custom ROMs for the Galaxy S that get rid of TouchWiz in favour of a Google Android experience?
2. Samsung has recently announced that it will release Gingerbread for the Galaxy S. Is it likely that this will be running TouchWiz, or will it be similar to the ROM on the Nexus S?
3. Will it be straightforward for the community to port ROMs from the Nexus S, seeing as it has almost identical hardware to the Galaxy?
4. Is it possible to use the front facing camera in Skype?
5. Is the build quality on par with the HTC Desire?
The software in my opinion is the main issue with the Galaxy S, so it would be really helpful if someone could give me some insight into what is going on in the Galaxy S community. So far I have only had experience in the HTC Desire forums.
Thanks,
unnddd
First of all, galaxy s is way much better than desire!
1. Yes it is!
2. Yes of course!
3. I don't think so, but we already have good custom rom's
4. Don't known.
5. no, htc desire has a little better build quality. for me galaxy has a very good built quality!
I switched from my htc desire to the samsung galaxy s for about a week, and then switched right back to my desire!
The software on htc's desire is still greater than the galaxy s, as the desire works out of the box, and galaxy s needs a lagfix just to be able to run as smoothly.
The build quality feels much cheaper on the galaxy s, but I dont believe there's too much difference in actual quality, mainly the feel of it. The galaxy s has a slightly better screen and slightly better specs inside (not really enough to justify the switch)
All in all though, it's up to you whether you really want to change. If you feel like something's missing from the desire, then maybe go into a phone store and try one out, for the feel of it, and if you like, go ahead and take the plunge
Thanks for your opinion, but can you clarify your response to my second question. I don't know if you mean that it will have TouchWiz or it won't.
Thanks
cereal86 said:
First of all, galaxy s is way much better than desire!
1. Yes it is!
2. Yes of course!
3. I don't think so, but we already have good custom rom's
4. Don't known.
5. no, htc desire has a little better build quality. for me galaxy has a very good built quality!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
unnddd said:
Thanks for your opinion, but can you clarify your response to my second question. I don't know if you mean that it will have TouchWiz or it won't.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Most likely it WILL have touchwiz , but i think by the time Samsung makes official Gingerbread update , there will be unnofficial one from Nexus S (still nobody knows for sure).
Thanks. And how easy is it to install custom ROMs without TouchWiz on the Galaxy S?
If you're running stock - Desire (apart from the incredible SuperAmoLED screen on the Galaxy S)
If you're running a Custom Rom - Samsung Galaxy S most DEFINITELY!
Installation of custom roms is incredibly easy these days.
Yes it is. NFT
At this point of time, you'd honestly be better off waiting for Dual core Mobiles. It's an upgrade, but you need to ask yourself if you truly need the new features.
When are dual core mobiles going to start coming out? I was actually thinking of waiting for HTC's next flagship device running Gingerbread. Anyone have any idea when such a device might be released?
If you don't like TW, you can always download LauncherPro. It looks/feels more like stock Android.
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App
Some are apparently expected by end of year (at least thats what LG claimed in Sept). However, unsure about Android ones.
If you have plenty of money, go ahead and upgrade if you want. But unless you need 720p recording, and want the superior touch performance of the Galaxy, at this time, I think it's worth waiting
Don't go for the SGS if you have a Desire.
The difference isn't worth the money.
Wait for dualcores that will come next year.
2011 is gonna be a good year for phones, and you should hold on for a good upgrade
Depends if you already own a HTC Desire. I have owned a HTC Desire for a few months, and switched to a Galaxy because it was thrown in free with a provider change.
If you already own a Desire, you'll probably will not be totally satisfied with the Samsung Galaxy S.
- despite the Amoled screen, much cooler colours on the Galaxy (white is blueish),
- software just isn't working as smoothly as with HTC (unless you install the latest JPU firmware which makes it on par),
- i miss the optical trackpad now and then
On the plus side:
+ very active ROM community, you could flash several new ROMS and kernels a day
+ better battery life (with the right setup)
+ larger screen
+ much better graphics performance in games
+ Allshare (play photo's & videos straight to your Samsung TV)
I used to rleally like HTC Sense, but with Launcherpro on the Galaxy, there isn't that much difference.
My conclusion: if you already have a HTC Desire, upgrade to the Desire HD, or wait for the Galaxy S2
unnddd said:
I know similar threads have already been made, but having had no experience with the Galaxy S, I was just going to ask a few questions with have not really been answered in some cases:
1. Are there any custom ROMs for the Galaxy S that get rid of TouchWiz in favour of a Google Android experience?
2. Samsung has recently announced that it will release Gingerbread for the Galaxy S. Is it likely that this will be running TouchWiz, or will it be similar to the ROM on the Nexus S?
3. Will it be straightforward for the community to port ROMs from the Nexus S, seeing as it has almost identical hardware to the Galaxy?
4. Is it possible to use the front facing camera in Skype?
5. Is the build quality on par with the HTC Desire?
The software in my opinion is the main issue with the Galaxy S, so it would be really helpful if someone could give me some insight into what is going on in the Galaxy S community. So far I have only had experience in the HTC Desire forums.
Thanks,
unnddd
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. Touch wiz is not that bad. It's much more than the launcher. I prefer touch wiz ui with launcher pro. Touch wiz launcher is too iphonish for me.
5. I prefer galaxy over htc desire, once you lag fix it you'd never like to come back to smaller screen, hardly visible in direct sunlight.
Another advantage is swype, works flawless and speeds up text input.
Sound quality is far better than htc desire, loudspeaker, headphones, etc.
Camera is better, picture quality
And last but not least graphics performance at least twice better.
I own both devices, desire is better out of the box but with little and simple tweaking galaxy wins in all categories.
The top #1 advantage of desire is amount of Ram, galaxy has much less free memory.
Top #2 is flash, no way to use galaxy as flashlight
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
rdy2go said:
1. Touch wiz is not that bad. It's much more than the launcher. I prefer touch wiz ui with launcher pro. Touch wiz launcher is too iphonish for me.
5. I prefer galaxy over htc desire, once you lag fix it you'd never like to come back to smaller screen, hardly visible in direct sunlight.
Another advantage is swype, works flawless and speeds up text input.
Sound quality is far better than htc desire, loudspeaker, headphones, etc.
Camera is better, picture quality
And last but not least graphics performance at least twice better.
I own both devices, desire is better out of the box but with little and simple tweaking galaxy wins in all categories.
The top #1 advantage of desire is amount of Ram, galaxy has much less free memory.
Top #2 is flash, no way to use galaxy as flashlight
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cheers for that. I now know that it was a mistake getting the Desire instead of the Samsung. However, the problem with getting the Samsung right now might be that a new device will come out only two months down the line, rendering the Samsung obsolete. I wouldn't normally mind that, but I'd be quite pissed off if that was the result of me not being able to wait a month or two.
Currently I have an HTC Desire and also an iPhone 4 32GB in my possession, so I could theoretically raise about £700 for a new phone. That might put me in a good position with the dual core phones coming out and all.
Does anyone know what the next generation of phones will be like? Might it be better to skip them out entirely?
Right now I can compare the Desire and iPhone, and I must say the iPhone is better in more ways than it's worse. Despite this, I was still considering selling it due to the issues with poor signal.
The iPhone build quality is definitely better, the games are actually worthwhile, and some of the apps, especially from larger companies like Facebook, seem more polished. In addition, I like the music player better (Genius is a great feature whatever anyone else may think), and the audio quality through headphones is superior. However, in almost every other way related to firmware, I think Android beats iOS. This includes gmail integration, stock apps such as contacts (especially on Sense UI) and the numerous options to customise it and play around with it; I can't install a custom kernel or test out a MIUI ROM on my iPhone.
This leaves me in a difficult position. Probably the most important considerations for me are apps, games, and the ability to use basic phone functions. The iPhone does two of these well, but is lacking in the phone department. On the other hand is Android, which is getting better as we discuss this on this very forum.
Sorry for the long rant, but does anyone else think that the quality of apps, and integration with all the different phones (fragmentation!) that are running Android vastly need to improve before Android can really rival the iPhone? I recently ran The Sims 3 side by side on both platforms. Need I say more? For me it's about quality rather than quantity. I'm not going to install all of the 80,000 apps on Android, or the 260,000 or whatever it is on the iPhone. What I will say is that most apps are comparable, but this isn't true when it comes to games.
Is anyone in a position to make a judgement as to whether the quality of the user experience and games is likely to improve in the near future?
Thanks!
unnddd said:
Is anyone in a position to make a judgement as to whether the quality of the user experience and games is likely to improve in the near future?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
IMO they (all the producers) have to do something about battery life.
The screens are getting bigger and bigger, GPUs more powerful.
The modern smartphones are less and less "wireless" - they need to be charged too often.
The next generation will be even worse than current in this area.
I only play a handful of games, but I can't tell the difference. Angry Birds and Paper Toss are identical on both platforms. Part of the problem is half-hearted efforts by developers for the Android platform. They've recently recognised it's growth, but iPhone is still more well known and more prevalent in widespread use particularly in the younger demographic who like wasting money on useless crap (i.e. silly apps), so there's usually more effort and polish put into most apps. I think developers seeking to make money also prefer the strict rigidity of the app store with iPhone
It's improving all the time as Android grows, Words With Friends is due out sometime soon

[Q] Looking for a tweak...

NOOB ALERT*
I'm looking for a tweak that will allow the external volume buttons to change music tracks. Can anybody point me in the right direction?
I have an HTC Vivid running Android 2.3.4 through AT&T USA. I am an ex iOS user. I had my devices jailbroken so I know a little about how things work but I must confess that Android is a bit foreign. I'd also like to know if there is a similar way to get free apps like the jailbroken iOS devices. I don't use many apps, but I like to try them before I buy them. Few developers offer a free/trial version to use before buying. If I like it, I buy it.
Thank you for any help.

Nexus 10 Experience with Logitech Keyboard for Win8 & Android3.0+ (920-004569)

Hello all,
I'm not sure if there's a thread on this topic but if there is could you please let me know.
I recently bought the Logitech Keyboard for Win8 & Android3.0+ (920-004569). I specify the version because a lot of people confuse this keyboard with the other version which is for iOS, Android and Windows (920-003390). The differences are in the key setup that is available on each of the keyboards (check Amazon US to check out pics of the keys to see the differences).
I wish I knew the difference so I can get the more general purpose version of the keyboard. I don't understand why don't Logitech deliver a single version of this keyboard that works on all the OS's instead of having different version.
I'm quite a fan of Logitech and with this keyboard once again they deliver the quality that you pay for. I love the feel of this keyboard and it will be very good replacement for my laptop during Uni.
I bought the keyboard to use with my Nexus 10 and i have a few questions about people's experiences:
is there anybody else who has this particular keyboard (920-004569) and use it with the latest android version?
any feedback on people's experience with this particular keyboard and android 4.2.2?
is there a way to remap /configure the keys on this keyboard? For example i don't need any of the win8 FN combinations and i'd like to replace them with other key combinations. Does anybody have a clue or can anybody point me to the appropriate info?
Thank you all

Android vs IOS my thoughts.

Hi all, new to the forum so thought I'd do this as my first post,
I have had android since it came out in 2008 on the G1 phone, having it for so long I fancied a change so traded my s6 edge plus for an iPhone 6s.
I had the iPhone for 2 weeks but really didn't get on with it, I'm not saying it's a bad phone but coming from an OS which is hugely customisable /tweekable I couldn't deal with the lack of deep editing and customisation so here are my pros and cons:
Ios:
Pros:
Really easy to use, a child could competently use one in a matter of hours,
Worked really well with my macbook air
Looks lovely.
No worries about malware or crap ad pushing apps.
Apple pay was brilliant
3d touch was great.
Updates are immediate after release and consistent.
Huge array of quality 3rd party accessories
Cons
Battery life was shocking,
Screen resolution is very dated and looks nowhere near as good as my androids
Camera was not as good and the macro was terrible
It felt like I didn't own the phone but was leasing it from Apple.
No customisation, the menus etc look so dated
No resizable keyboard,
Live wallpapers are extremely limited and didn't work well
No widgets
No sd card
Couldn't use it as a mass storage device.
ITunes has to be used for everything, and that's a bag of poop,
Replying and starting threads on the fretboard is a pain in the arse, they keyboard was constantly in the way of what I was typing.
The biggest thing for me was the fact you couldn't get into the system files,
I had the 16 version and had 1.2gbs worth of apps but 5gb of documents and data after 3 days if use! After a lot of research it's a known big issue they have not addressed And you can't do anything about it at all so half my storage was taken up by rubbish.
Android:
Pros:
Total freedom to customise everything,
Themes
Better camera
Better screen
Apps are cheaper or free
Much better battery life (from the phones I have had)
Cheaper
Integration with cloud and Google is phenomenal,
Can be used as mass storage and any file type can be played
Cheaper to insure
More storage space, and you can get rid of stuff you dont need.
The list goes on...
Cons:
Anyone can make an app so there is a load of crap, you have to do your homework on the apps available
Potential for malware (but this is nowhere as much of an issue as apple and the media make out, as long as you dont sideload apps.
Updates reliant on oem and carrier.
So after two weeks I sold the iPhone and got a HTC 10 which for me is better in literally every way.
I found on the iPhone I was using all of Google services and none of apples (drive, chrome Gmail etc)
Sifr is also nowhere near as good as Google now, and felt extremely limited compared.
I can totally see why people would stick with an iPhone as it does just work and works well but for me it's far to limited and had to find too many work arounds to get it to do what I want,
On the other hand my macbook air is the greatest laptop I have ever used and I would never buy anything else in the future.
So this is def not an apple bashing thread these are purely my direct experiences and fancied writing them down
In my opinion, both these platforms are slick, stable and secure, with thousands of apps available. Android is undoubtedly more customisable; iOS, you might argue, is a little more polished (especially on tablets). Visually they're quite distinctive too, taking different design approaches.
I prefer Android, and I think I always will prefer Android. I always was a Google & Android fanboy, and the fact that I mostly use only Google service, proves I couldn't be an iPhone user. Also, iOS is not open-source, which blocks customization and more. Plus, I don't like Siri
morozshaun said:
I prefer Android, and I think I always will prefer Android. I always was a Google & Android fanboy, and the fact that I mostly use only Google service, proves I couldn't be an iPhone user. Also, iOS is not open-source, which blocks customization and more. Plus, I don't like Siri
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To be honest that was the turning point for me, I did use any of apples apps all Google, they're leagues ahead, def proud to be a Google fanboy
I find iPhones to be slow, unstable, unreliable, unpolished, counter-intuitive and extremely limited. They have mediocre cameras, mediocre screens, crappy battery life, and NO MICROSD SLOT. Also, iOS is very difficult to use and SIRI SUCKS. I don't want all these problems in a >$750 device that can only run one operating system.
Google Voice may finally be available for the iPhone, but the experience will never be the same as it is on Android. Other iPhone apps always direct you to the default dialer and visual voicemail apps, so even if you want to use Google Voice full time, you have to manually navigate it to yourself. On Android, apps like Google Voice integrate directly with the operating system—if you want to make calls with Google Voice, every call you make from the phone's dialer goes through Google Voice. When you click on a phone number in your browser or in Google Maps, it goes through Google Voice instead of sending you to the wrong dialer. True app integration like this makes using custom phone, SMS, voicemail, and even browser apps absolutely seamless on Android, which is something you won't find on the more locked-down iPhone platform.
I should add that to my rant. I appreciate some of what Apple has done (most of it happened before I was born), but locking down everything is not one of them. Apple would've gone broke if it wasn't for their iPod. Part of the reason: Locking their stuff like that and being proprietary. Also, Apple products are not compatible with my real-world personality. I like freedom and to have control over what I own, and Apple products look, feel, and function like someone else's device. I want my stuff to look, feel, and function like my stuff. So I guess I am an Apple hater, but I won't yet call myself an Android fanboy. And, no, I am not the one person in the world with a Windows phone. I hate Windows for different reasons. So I guess I can only enjoy using a Linux-based OS on desktop and laptop computers. And OSes like Android and Sailfish on mobile.
In case you want a summary of what I said, you can call me an Apple and/or MS hater, or a Linux lover, I don't care. But don't call me an Android fanboy. I like Android, but I am willing to try other OSes if they fit my personality of freedom, customization, simplicity, transparency, and reliability.
of course android=open source!!!
andriod are more customable and modable
At that moment using both iOS and Android. The only thing i really hate about android is that after some time device starting to perform really poor lagging freezing and so on and you cannot fix it by doing hard reset wiping all your data, it helps a little but its barely helps. So i cannot recommend to buy for inexperienced users android devices for a long term use. Long story short, i bought nexus 7 tablet when it was just released, it was super fast and smooth. Didn't install any os updates on it and after 1 year i couldn't enjoy it anymore, constantly lagging. Never experienced the same with iOS, always smooth, but yeah it has lots of limitations.
Nexus devices are meant to be tinkered with so they will slow down unless you mess with them. My cheap tablet had no noticeable slowdown in 4 years. iOS doesn't slow down because it is already slow.
Daniel Marchena recently wrote an article for XDA that relates to this topic and I think he made some good points on Android vs IOS. What it comes down to for me though is the fun of hacking the device. I personally had a lot of fun jailbreaking the iPhone, and iMessage is some of the coolest stuff ever. Although after switching to Android I don't think I'm ever going to go back. It's nicer being encouraged to play with Android then playing cat and mouse with Apple.
both are very different working platform, I use to be a IOS user iPhone 2g but after iPhone 4s i made a desicion to switch to android, with android has so much possibilites, you can do more with an android then an iPhone, iPhone is pretty basic and yeah a child could use... One thing i noticed is that gaming on an Iphone is much better with good FPS.. there hardware is so much optimized with the software.. currently using S7 edge and really happy with it, except some minor issues.. Glad to have a headphone jack though

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