Slashdot Mirror
Android 5.0 'Lollipop' vs. iOS 8: More Similar Than Ever
Nerval's Lobster writes With the debut of Android 5.0 (also known as Lollipop, in keeping with Google's habit of naming each major OS upgrade after a dessert), it's worth taking a moment to break down how the latest version of Google's mobile operating system matches up against Apple's iOS 8. After years of battle, the two are remarkably similar. So while nobody would ever confuse Android and iOS, both Google and Apple seem determined to go "flatter" (and more brightly colored) than ever. Whether or not you agree with their choices, they're the cutting edge of mobile UX design. The perpetual tit-for-tat over features has reached a climax of sorts with Lollipop and iOS 8: both offer their own version of an NFC-powered e-wallet (Apple Pay vs. Google Wallet), a health app (Apple's Health app vs. Google Fit), car-dashboard control (Android Auto vs. CarPlay), and home automation. That's not to say that the operating systems are mirror images of one another, but in terms of aesthetics and functionality, they'll be at near-parity for most users, albeit not for those users who enjoy customizing Android and hate Apple's "walled garden." (Related: Lots of reviews are popping up for Google's new Nexus 6, one of the first phones to come with the newest Android; TechCrunch's is typical, in that reviewer Greg Kumparak has high praise for the Lollipop UI, but found himself nearly dropping the device because of its size and texture.)
I have an iPhone, but I also have an Asus Android tablet. I find advantages and flaws in both, and I use each device to its own strengths.
I also need to say that I was recently in an Apple store and found the iPad mini's screen to be very nice, much sharper than my Asus, but then again, the Asus was very cheap.
For casual browsing and making snide comments on facebook, it's perfectly fine. With a blutooth keyboard, it's even a nice SSH terminal. I don't do high-end computing on my tablet, and my phone is pretty much relegated to text messages, phone calls, photos, and the occasional need to access an app in an emergency. I'm not glued to my screen like most other people I know.
Android and iOS are both 'ok' -- neither is perfect, but frankly, the religious wars about operating system on your phone reminds me of the chatter between Atari users and Commodore users on Bulletin Board systems (showing my age here!).
If telephones are outlawed, then only outlaws will have telephones.
Correct. The only people who don't buy Apple products now are haters. Or maybe they don't want to pay a 50% markup for the Apple logo.
And people who want something like OTG USB, NTFS support, general NFC support, wider device choice, lower price, wireless charging....
There are a lot of user groups that like android. Tinkerers tend to be one-- theres a lot of freedom with android that just isnt there with IOS. Everything Apple is doing in IOS8 was generally being done in android first. Some of us like the cutting edge.
> My wife's Nexus 5 phone? The only texting app is Google's hangouts .. which means I assume all text messages are handed off to Google
Ignoring for a moment all the hundreds of text messaging apps in the Play store, your assumption is wrong.
In fact, pretty much everything you said comes down to "I have no idea, but I assume...", followed by an incorrect assumption.
> Whether or not you agree with their choices, they're the cutting edge of mobile UX design.
As an UX expert, this "flat design" is NOT cutting edge. It is retro gaudy.
i.e.
Windows 1.0 vs Windows 8
It is like these idiot UI/UX designers tossed _everything_ we have learnt about WIMP for the past 20 years right out the window.
There is _nothing_ wrong with skeuomorphism when it is used in balance.
This flat design so that users no longer have visual clues as what is a (dynamic) button and (static) text is idiotic and retarded. The primary job of a UI is NOT to help, not hinder.
The gaudy colors are just the icing on the rotten cake.
The manufacturer of my microwave actively prevents people from creating and running programs on it--that doesn't stop me from eating popcorn.
There are reasonable reasons to want a walled garden device (do a Google image search for a pie chart of the percent of mobile malware out there by platform, iOS doesn't even show up) and there are reasonable reasons to want something you can tinker with. Guess what? the market provides both choices and you get to pick one. Isn't this supposed to be about choice?