iPhones and iPads Fail More Often Than Android Smartphones (softpedia.com)

BS by Anonymous Coward · 2016-08-25 07:25 · Score: -1

Android is complete crap.

Re:BS by Archangel+Michael · 2016-08-25 09:08 · Score: 2, Interesting

That is a very cool opinion from an AC. My opinion is much different.
Just the other day, I needed to read an RFID tag for an iPhone user, because my Android has that feature and iPhone will NEVER have that feature.
So, IMHO iPhones suck because even though they can, they don't. Walled Gardens and all that.

--
Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
Re:BS by Archangel+Michael · 2016-08-25 09:13 · Score: 2, Interesting

Just the other day, an iPhone user was praising SIRI and how great it was, and tried to search to see what area codes are used in San Bernadino. SIRI responded with some nonsense about not wanting to do that right now or something. I asked Google the exact same question, and got the correct answer "Okay GOogle, what are the area codes for ________"
You should try it.
Every time I use an iDevice, I have found it is just "less" than my experience on Android. Mind you, I'm not full Apple everything (AppleTV, Apple Computer, Apple whatever). I expect if you go "all Apple, all the time", it just works ... sort of. But in my world, where I can mix n match and get the same (often better) results, I'll stick with Android.

--
Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
Re:BS by Anubis+IV · 2016-08-25 10:04 · Score: 5, Informative

The conclusion I'm taking away from this is that the article (and perhaps study) are complete crap. The stats in the reporting fall apart at the slightest touch. For instance...
1) They're lumping everything from "the phone might've felt a little slow that one time" to "this phone literally summoned the Four Horsemen to usher in the end of the world" into a single "failure" bucket. No weighting, no granularity, and no consideration for the fact that we wouldn't even refer to most of those as "failures" or even the fault of the manufacturer.
2) Their math doesn't add up because they use the term "failure rate" to arbitrarily refer to multiple different concepts, most of which aren't even rates. The most obvious example comes from looking at the Android charts, in which they indicate that Android devices have an overall failure rate of 35%, with the worst manufacturer (Samsung) having a failure rate of 26%. But that makes no sense. If the worst manufacturer has a failure rate of 26%, then the highest the overall failure rate could possibly be (if that manufacturer sold 100% of devices) would be 26%. What they appear to be doing (but don't disclose) is using the term "failure rate" to refer to the share of failures that correspond to each manufacturer.
3) For similar reasons, you can't even compare their own numbers against each other. As the fine print in the image indicates, the "failure rate" for each model actually represents that model's share of the failures for their platform. Basically, there's a pie representing all iOS failures, and another representing all Android failures. The iPhone 6 gets 29% of the first pie, and the Le 1S gets 10% of the second pie, but who's to say which slice is actually bigger, since they never tell us how big each pie is? Plus, they cleverly hide the fact that the quantity of slices in each of those pies is likely orders of magnitude different by only telling us about the top 5 models from each.
This feels like a case of someone massaging the statistics until they get something that suits their need, given the odd bucketing and double-use of terminology. Blancco Technology Group, which authored the study, apparently counts at least one Android manufacturer on its list of clients, but given the way that manufacturer was unfavorably represented, I doubt that manufacturer is behind these trashy statistics. I don't know if Blancco is the one doing the massaging (since the report is behind a "give us your info and agree to receive our marketing" wall) or if it's Softpedia, but either way, there's no useful information in the article.
Were the stats flipped to favor the other side, I'd have the same critiques, since it's trash reporting either way, and Slashdot should be doing a better job of weeding articles that have no factual basis with which to prop up their clickbait headlines.
Re:BS by tipo159 · 2016-08-25 10:23 · Score: 3, Insightful

Mod this up.
By the apparent criteria of this "study", all devices fail 100% of the time because, at some point, one of its many capabilities will fail to work when someone tries to use it.
Re:BS by Anonymous Coward · 2016-08-25 10:30 · Score: 0

Android is complete laggy, stuttering, hanging crap but the underlying hardware is usually good.
I don't like Apple, but I got sick and tired of my Android phone not acting like a *device* with instant and predictable behavior like the dumb phones of old. That's why I broke down and bought an iPhone.
Android is so bad that often time when you try to bring up the phone/dialer app, it fucking LAGS. I would hate to rely upon that in an emergency. Just scrolling through system menus is jerky and sometimes the whole phone will become unresponsive for several seconds to minutes for no apparent reason.
Re:BS by Anonymous Coward · 2016-08-25 12:27 · Score: 0

So true. Shit, I'd forgotten about the dialer lag issue (switched to iPhone a year ago due to poor Android experience).
I disagree that hardware is usually good on Android devices. Yes, CPUs and GPUs may be fast compared to iPhone, but Android hardware design is usually shit, the most common issue being poor thermal design.
Re: BS by Anonymous Coward · 2016-08-25 14:39 · Score: 0

i wonder why we have the same experience with android phones.....
do you have to have samsung/htc/huawei/xiaomi phones too?
Re:BS by Anonymous Coward · 2016-08-25 19:33 · Score: 1

There's also this:
http://www.appleworld.today/blog/2016/8/25/blanca-technology-group-claims-iphones-are-plagued-by-crashing-apps-wi-fi-connectivity-and-performance-issues
"Finally, a published study from Blancco itself in February, 85% of all mobile device failures during the fourth quarter of 2015 came from Android handsets compared to just 15% of issues which originated on iOS. It’s hard to believe that things have changed so dramatically in six months."
Re:BS by TheRaven64 · 2016-08-25 21:34 · Score: 1

Android and iOS have very different philosophies. Android devices aim to be general-purpose computer, iOS devices aim to be extensions to a general-purpose computer. I have an Android tablet and an iPad, and I find I get a lot more use from the iPad because it doesn't try to replace my computer. There's a bunch of stuff that I can do on the Android tablet that I can't do on the iPad, but all of it is stuff that I'd be better off doing on my laptop anyway (with the one exception of an IRC client that doesn't disconnect when I switch to a different window). I still use Android for my phone, because OSMAnd~ (offline maps, offline routing, open source, and good map data) is the killer app for a smartphone for me and the iOS port is far less good.

--
I am TheRaven on Soylent News
Re:BS by Anonymous Coward · 2016-08-26 01:52 · Score: 1

You should try it.
I did. And your single data point is easily countered by my single data point where I asked that question and instantly got the answer. You don't suppose that maybe there was a service disruption for the device in question that caused Siri to not be able to perform the search do you? I'll bet those same connectivity problems ABSOLUTELY NEVER happen to Google even with the same points of failure (the telco) riding between...
Re:BS by Archangel+Michael · 2016-08-26 02:54 · Score: 1

Single Data points are all I have to reference. And data connectivity wasn't an issue, as we have enterprise class WiFi in the building and the AP was just 20 ft away.
When Google Now (OK Google) can't connect, it doesn't say anythng cute, it says something useful (Unable to connect or whatever)
Its just that everytime I've seen Siri actually used by iPhone people, it is less than what I get with Android and Google Now. The exceptions are the "cute" answers that Siri sometimes gives when it can't actually answer the question. Which is exactly what I saw this time, and gave an example.

--
Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
Re: BS by gzuckier · 2016-08-26 07:07 · Score: 3, Funny

I recently purchased anot expensive phone from a well known brand, and after less than a day it stopped. I was told the "battery" was dead and it needed "recharging". This is unacceptable!

--
Star Trek transporters are just 3d printers.
Re:BS by cyberchondriac · 2016-08-26 08:28 · Score: 1

Not entirely fair to compare to modern day devices, but I had a lot of those same issues with a Galaxy S1, which was utterly horrible, and my 2012 Nexus 7 became more and more bogged down over each upgrade. With Jellybean, it's about useless, forget having more than one app open at a time. (though since putting Cyanogen mod on it, it's much more like it's original self).
Not that I think Apple is the end all be all either. But for personal use I use an iPhone because it does seem snappier; I want a phone above all else, the smart features are great but if lags or reboots while trying to place a call while I'm stranded in my car somewhere, it's not worth it. I don't really want a portable computer more than I want a solid phone. That also being said, I have an S4 now for a work phone, and though it has minor quirkiness here and there, it's miles and miles better than that old S1 I had, and seems pretty reliable.
Really, as someone who grew up in the late 60s and early 70s, all these gadgets are kind of amazing to see realized. They're like one of the few future predictions that really came true.

--

Look back up at my post, now look back down, you're on the Internet. Now look back up. I'm a signature.
Re:BS by Anonymous Coward · 2016-08-28 13:59 · Score: 0

Android is complete laggy, stuttering, hanging crap but the underlying hardware is usually good.
I don't like Apple, but I got sick and tired of my Android phone not acting like a *device* with instant and predictable behavior like the dumb phones of old. That's why I broke down and bought an iPhone.
Android is so bad that often time when you try to bring up the phone/dialer app, it fucking LAGS. I would hate to rely upon that in an emergency. Just scrolling through system menus is jerky and sometimes the whole phone will become unresponsive for several seconds to minutes for no apparent reason.
Android isn't a walled garden. Anyone can make hardware for it. You get what you pay for, usually.
My Samsung 7 boots up blazingly fast, switches between applications as smooth as silk, etc, etc... And it cost me similarly to apple. Flagship to Flagship, performance is basically indistinguishable (Where I work we develop websites, and have most platforms available to test on) - Aside from android is still open, and apple is still a walled garden of expensive software.
Now if I go buy an old/cheap android, or an old iphone (probably still not cheap) then current stuff is sure gonna lag.
Re:BS by Anonymous Coward · 2016-08-29 04:19 · Score: 0

1) Considering most rabid i fans, say "omg user experiencex0rz" as a primary reason for choosing APL products, not weighing anything is a valid response here. The device did not perform as the user expected and therefore impacted user experience.
2) Many people have posted that you're assuming the total is an average. It's not. If you read carefully, the individual breakdown percentages are of the FAILED UNITS, not of total units. Using your example. 100 Android units are sold. 35 of them fail (this is the 35%). Of the 35 units failed, 8 (the 26% of 35) are Samsung.
3) This doesn't even make sense, and I'm not sure why you'd even argue against this. Percentages are proportional fractions of a total. If I had to blindly pick a red ball out of a bag of red and blue balls, it doesn't matter if there are 100 or 10,000 balls if 35% of the balls are red and 65% are blue -- the probability of picking a red ball is exactly the same.
Larger percentages are larger if you're talking about individual experience probabilities. If the Le 1S is at 10% failed compared to a i6 at 29%, it doesn't matter if the Le1S only sold (making this up) 1,000,000 or 100,000,000. If I randomly select (i.e. buying) a 1S phone out of pile of 1Ses, I'm 90% going to pick a non-failed phone. Out of ever 100 phones I pick out, it will on average be 90% working.

Good lord.... by gfxguy · 2016-08-25 07:26 · Score: 5, Funny

A new study coming from Blancco Technology Group sheds some light on which devices are the most reliable, based on reliability.

I shudder to think how they would otherwise determine which devices are the most reliable.

--
Stupid sexy Flanders.

Re:Good lord.... by saider · 2016-08-25 07:30 · Score: 1

Returns while the device is under warranty?

--

Remember, You are unique...just like everyone else.
Re:Good lord.... by Anonymous Coward · 2016-08-25 07:32 · Score: 5, Funny

I think reliability is a reliable index for reliably verifying the reliability of reliable devices. I rely on such reliable sources.
Re:Good lord.... by npslider · 2016-08-25 07:38 · Score: 1

A Reliably Redundant Post!
Re:Good lord.... by npslider · 2016-08-25 07:39 · Score: 1

I don't think that word means what you think it means...
Re:Good lord.... by Qzukk · 2016-08-25 07:40 · Score: 1

Based on how much advertising they purchased?

--
If I have been able to see further than others, it is because I bought a pair of binoculars.
Re:Good lord.... by Anonymous Coward · 2016-08-25 07:50 · Score: 0

Which one? "for"?
Re:Good lord.... by michelcolman · 2016-08-25 07:53 · Score: 5, Insightful

They have some weird math going on though. iOS devices have a 58% failure rate, and of those iOS devices the iPhone 6 has the highest rate with 29%.
So the weighted average between 29% and a bunch of lower percentages is 58%?
Re:Good lord.... by chipschap · 2016-08-25 07:59 · Score: 4, Insightful

The stats are dopey. 58% fail rate in what period of time? Did 58% fail in Q2 or whatever? Do 58% fail in the first two years? I can't make any sense of these stats and TFA is no help. What am I missing here?
Re:Good lord.... by Anonymous Coward · 2016-08-25 08:38 · Score: 0

I shudder to think how they would otherwise determine which devices are the most reliable.
I draw a blanco in this matter. It is as if the statement would convey zero information and keep us in the dark.
Re:Good lord.... by anegg · 2016-08-25 08:47 · Score: 2

Perhaps the answer to this conundrum will be found to lie with the source of the funding for the study. The study certainly seems to be measuring things strangely. I don't see any other way to judge the portion of the report you found fault with as anything but "math challenged" - "Out of the 58 percent of iOS devices that failed, iPhone 6 had the highest failure rate (29 percent), followed by iPhone 6S (23 percent) and iPhone 6S Plus (14 percent)."
"Failure" must be being measured as the discovery of a fault of some kind, not overall device failure, but even with that interpretation I can't make sense of the math.
Re:Good lord.... by Anonymous Coward · 2016-08-25 09:06 · Score: 0

Marketing people don't know shit about statistics.
Re:Good lord.... by Anonymous Coward · 2016-08-25 09:12 · Score: 0

For every 100 i devices, 58 of them fail (this could be better defined, but I presume it's something like number of units sold vs number of units replaced).
Of the 58 that do fail, 29% of 58 = 16.8 of them are i6, 13 of them are 6S, and 8 of them are 6S +. If you really want to stick to percentages:
Of the 58% that fail, 16.8% out of all devices (29% of the failed 58%) of them are i6, and so on.
Pretty simple to me. Not sure why nerdy types on /. can't figure this simple shit out.
Re:Good lord.... by NatasRevol · 2016-08-25 09:37 · Score: 2, Interesting

By hacking into manufacturer data? Because I doubt any of them would willingly give that data out.

--
There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
Re:Good lord.... by Gr8Apes · 2016-08-25 10:51 · Score: 2

For every 100 i devices, 58 of them fail
Let's take a look at what those numbers actually mean.

In analyzing the causes of iPhone performance issues, crashing apps (65 percent), WiFi (11 percent) and headset (4 percent) were found to be the primary culprits. Despite their tremendous popularity and record-setting growth rates, Snapchat (17 percent), Instagram (14 percent) and Facebook (9 percent) dominated the list of crashing iOS apps.
How much you want to bet that those "crashing apps" are older apps that the user hasn't updated while they did update the OS? Android, of course, doesn't suffer from this problem as the vast majority of phones get less than 2 updates, thus if the app works on initial installation, it won't suffer from any OS updates.
Bonus Android 4.x Galaxy Notes FTW!!!

--
The cesspool just got a check and balance.
Re:Good lord.... by cfalcon · 2016-08-25 11:08 · Score: 1

> I don't think that word means what you think it means...
No, "reliable" means "consistently good in quality or performance; able to be trusted" not "what you think it means...".
Re:Good lord.... by npslider · 2016-08-25 11:17 · Score: 1

That would be absolutely, totally, and in all other ways inconceivable!
Re:Good lord.... by Anonymous Coward · 2016-08-25 11:49 · Score: 2, Interesting

When I worked for AT&T Wireless (Pre-cingular), the least reliable devices were always the cheapest devices (Which were always flip-phones, and nearly universally LG phones, though Samsung was #2 in the failure rate, however nothing failed more than the Motorola V60 series)
So reliability tends to downtick every time a new device is released. It's a question of how long that downtick is. Like you can pretty much frame all Android devices as unreliable if you use a 3 year window, due to failed firmware updates, or lack of updates which renders the device unusable. iOS devices don't have this problem, but there are likewise "failed firmware" updates as well where the device needs to be power-cycled, but can't because the screen isn't responding. (I've had this happen 3 times to the iPad 3, but no fails yet for the 6S)
When I worked for AT&T Wireless, I worked the "WEX" queue, aka, "Warranty Exchange" when other queues were empty, and like clockwork, anyone who was sold a LG or Samsung phone for AT&T's early EDGE GSM network, the radios didn't work on all the radio bands, so people were returning them as "warranty replacements" often within 2 months, and it was making AT&T look like it had poor service. I don't recall any Nokia phones ever being WEX'd
Here's a thing to try if you contact the warranty exchange department, see how quickly they respond to questions. If your phone is less than 6 months old, and they don't ask too many probing questions, chances are that phone is a piece of junk and they have had hundreds of exchanges on that phone already.
Re:Good lord.... by Anonymous Coward · 2016-08-25 11:55 · Score: -1

... Also this is why I won't buy LG or Samsung phones, and generally consider the Android platform rubbish, but if LG/Samsung switch to their own in-house (Tizen and WebOS) software to cut out google, you can be assured that those will be worse.
Re:Good lord.... by Anonymous Coward · 2016-08-25 12:28 · Score: 0

Yea, but they do a lot of figuring with them..... Liars figure you know..
Re:Good lord.... by mark_reh · 2016-08-25 14:43 · Score: 1

That depends on what the precise definition of "is" is.
Re:Good lord.... by Anonymous Coward · 2016-08-25 14:47 · Score: 0

they know enough about statistics to misuse them.
Re:Good lord.... by Anonymous Coward · 2016-08-25 16:35 · Score: 0

By using Mil-hdbk-217, Bellcore or Telcordia estimations, Relex modelling
Re:Good lord.... by flyingfsck · 2016-08-25 19:50 · Score: 1

Dude, you just made me snort my Coke. I wonder how many Sloshdatters will understand though.

--
Excuse me, but please get off my Pennisetum Clandestinum, eh!
Re:Good lord.... by Plumpaquatsch · 2016-08-25 20:45 · Score: 1

A new study coming from Blancco Technology Group sheds some light on which devices are the most reliable, based on reliability.
I shudder to think how they would otherwise determine which devices are the most reliable.
The device that finishes recursion first?

--
Of course news about a fake are Fake News.
Re:Good lord.... by thsths · 2016-08-25 21:16 · Score: 1

Indeed. The key question with % is always "of what?". It seems that all percentages are relative to total iOS sales, which is not intuitive, but it does make some sense. Therefore, 58% can be divided into smaller percentages based on individal models.
58% of all iOS devices failed
29% of all iOS devices were failed iPhone 6
Maybe 60% of all iPhone 6 failed (but that number is not given, it depends on the market share of the iPhone 6)
Re:Good lord.... by Xest · 2016-08-25 23:50 · Score: 3, Informative

Now I'm usually one to jump on bad stats given that I took a further degree in stats, but the first line of TFA answers your question:
"The study entitled State of Mobile Device Performance and Health focuses on the second quarter of 2016"
58% of all iOS devices sounds way too high for sure, until you recognise their broad definition of failure which can include failing to connect to WiFi, app crashes and so on.
So effectively the study is saying that in Q2 2016 58% of iOS devices suffered some sort of fault, but that fault might not actually be a big deal.
Beyond that I didn't read the report because I couldn't be bothered to sign up even with my junk details, so I can't really comment on how accurate their methodology might be, and hence how accurate their results might be, but if you're interested it's here:
http://info.blancco.com/state-...
I don't think it's outside the realm of possibility that 58% of iOS devices suffered some kind of glitch in that period - all it would take is one buggy release of a popular app such as Facebook and the number is bound to shoot right up without it ever really being Apple's fault (beyond arguably not better vetting the quality of updates of apps perhaps).
When I Googled the report though, the first result was actually the 2016 Q1 report, where the results are the exact opposite:
http://www2.blancco.com/en/res...
I suspect therefore one of two things, either it is as I say and one broken major software release on a device or set of devices can greatly sway the stats in a quarter due to their broad definition of "fault" or they're just making these numbers up as a clickbait to try and get you to sign up to build up their userbase for monetisation purposes through ad revenue or similar.
I'm swaying towards the second, not that I'm a cynic or anything :)
Re:Good lord.... by MachineShedFred · 2016-08-26 02:02 · Score: 1

And apparently in the nomenclature of this study, a shitty app crashing constitutes a "failing device".
Personally, I find that to be a problem with the app, not the fucking device. Especially when some of the apps named get updated on a weekly basis with the total comments about the updates being "bug fixes".

--
Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.
Re:Good lord.... by WallyL · 2016-08-26 02:24 · Score: 1

Beware, you sound like that unreliable apps guy. Or the cow guy.
Re:Good lord.... by npslider · 2016-08-26 04:10 · Score: 1

Bubba will understand.
Re:Good lord.... by dgtangman · 2016-08-26 05:39 · Score: 1

The slides that accompany TFA indicate that the percentages for individual devices are what fraction of the total failures for that OS came from that device. So if 0.58 x # of failing iOS devices = N, then N x 0.29 = # of failing iPhone 6. The summary simply removes the information content for the device-level numbers.
Re: Good lord.... by gzuckier · 2016-08-26 07:10 · Score: 1

Define definition.

--
Star Trek transporters are just 3d printers.
Re: Good lord.... by gzuckier · 2016-08-26 07:11 · Score: 1

That's OK the audience is equally clueless.

--
Star Trek transporters are just 3d printers.
Re: Good lord.... by gzuckier · 2016-08-26 07:15 · Score: 1

Arguably, a device which allows itself to be crashed by a shitty app has failed, given that the existence of shitty apps is well known prior to the design phase of the device.

--
Star Trek transporters are just 3d printers.
Re:Good lord.... by chipschap · 2016-08-27 07:03 · Score: 1

I suspect therefore one of two things, either it is as I say and one broken major software release on a device or set of devices can greatly sway the stats in a quarter due to their broad definition of "fault" or they're just making these numbers up as a clickbait to try and get you to sign up to build up their userbase for monetisation purposes through ad revenue or similar.
I'm swaying towards the second, not that I'm a cynic or anything :)
I've got to second your cynicism. The stats are worthless for just about any practical use.
Re: Good lord.... by MachineShedFred · 2016-08-28 06:59 · Score: 1

Yeah, because I'm sure that's what was happening - the Facebook app was taking a shit and bringing the whole OS session down with it.
Nope, not even once. Because protected memory is still a thing, and has been on every OS worth talking about in the last 16 years.

--
Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.

So my iPhone 5 SE is ok then? by WillAffleckUW · 2016-08-25 07:26 · Score: 1

Apparently they only sell it in Asia, so that means it has a 52 percent fail rate, right?

--
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --

What kind of stupid ass reporting is this?! by the_skywise · 2016-08-25 07:30 · Score: 5, Interesting

I'm not an "apple boi" by any stretch of the imagination but c'mon -

"The main issues that owners of iOS smartphones face is not being able to connect to a WiFi network, dropped connections, slow speeds and incorrect password prompts. Android smartphone users struggled with camera issues, battery charging, touch screen issues, app crashes, syncing problems and random reboots."

Apple has wifi issues (I've encountered them too) - Android has toush screen issues, random reboots (random reboots?!?!) - therefore Android is better WTF?!

"The study also revealed that 50% of iOS applications crashes in Q2, compared to 23% of Android apps."

ok but that's not necessarily and iOS problem per se - (I don't blame Microsoft for Adobe's lousy QA or, heh, iTunes crashes...) So what's the details here...

"Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat were among the top apps to crash on iOS, while Google Play Services, Google Contacts Sync and Address Book crashed the most on Android."

Facebook crashes on iOS but Address Book crashes on Android - ergo Android is better?! Again... WTF!?

Re:What kind of stupid ass reporting is this?! by jfdavis668 · 2016-08-25 07:45 · Score: 4, Informative

"Apple has wifi issues (I've encountered them too) - Android has toush screen issues, random reboots (random reboots?!?!) - therefore Android is better WTF?!" The article is stating that these problems occur more often on iOS vs Android, not that these problems occur on every phone. They are just listing the types of problems, not stating that one type of problem is better than another.
Re:What kind of stupid ass reporting is this?! by farble1670 · 2016-08-25 07:50 · Score: 1

Apple has wifi issues (I've encountered them too) - Android has toush screen issues, random reboots (random reboots?!?!) - therefore Android is better WTF?!
The WTF here is your suggestion that your personal experience and what you've personally read in forums trumps an actual study on the topic.

Facebook crashes on iOS but Address Book crashes on Android - ergo Android is better?! Again... WTF!?
That's not what they are saying. They are just making a statement about the apps that crash the most on each platform. The quotes stats are based on overall crashes across all apps.
Re: What kind of stupid ass reporting is this?! by dilvish_the_damned · 2016-08-25 08:06 · Score: 2

I think what the poster was suggesting is that including 3rd party app crashes in this statistic in the same way as battery failure may be a bit misleading given the overall theme... For instance did they add weight to the fact that iOS has more apps for which to crash and that people use their iOS devices more than people use Android? This could be important so maybe a weighted per app MTBF would be a better approach. Or anything else as arbitrary as the original study. Now that I think about it, perhaps replacement should count as failure...

--
I think you underestimate just how much I just dont care.
Re: What kind of stupid ass reporting is this?! by hawguy · 2016-08-25 08:16 · Score: 3, Informative

I think what the poster was suggesting is that including 3rd party app crashes in this statistic in the same way as battery failure may be a bit misleading given the overall theme... For instance did they add weight to the fact that iOS has more apps for which to crash and that people use their iOS devices more than people use Android? This could be important so maybe a weighted per app MTBF would be a better approach. Or anything else as arbitrary as the original study. Now that I think about it, perhaps replacement should count as failure...
There are more Apps in Android's app store than in Apple's: 2.2M apps for Android, 2M apps for Apple.
http://www.statista.com/statis...
I couldn't find a source for "people use their iOS devices more than people use Android", can you cite that?
Re:What kind of stupid ass reporting is this?! by thegarbz · 2016-08-25 08:17 · Score: 1

Apple has wifi issues (I've encountered them too) - Android has toush screen issues, random reboots (random reboots?!?!) - therefore Android is better WTF?!
Device workey, vs device no workey. That's all. It doesn't matter if the phone can't connect to my wifi network, or bursts into flames and sets my dog on fire. Either way it's being sent back for replacement.
Re:What kind of stupid ass reporting is this?! by the_skywise · 2016-08-25 09:05 · Score: 5, Insightful

"The article is stating that these problems occur more often on iOS vs Android, not that these problems occur on every phone"
The title of the article is:
"iPhones and iPads Fail More Often Than Android Smartphones – Study"
This means the authors of the article want you to think that Androids are better than iPhones.
Yet a Wifi connectivity issue is given the same weight as a touch screen failure or a random reboot because those problems only affect 1/3 of Android phones whereas 2/3 of iphone users have wifi connectivity problems.
What's the point of an Apples (heh) to oranges comparison other than the click-baity title then?
There's no real information here. Just massaged statistics for an ad hit. It's worthless for a comparison and, worse, the raw data doesn't make any sense in the article either so it's doubly worthless.
Re:What kind of stupid ass reporting is this?! by Anonymous Coward · 2016-08-25 09:14 · Score: 0

It's not necessarily the fault, but time and again, the mothership and fanbois keep saying "omg Android is teh crashx0rz why wuld u buy 1 ur stupid lololol."
Re: What kind of stupid ass reporting is this?! by Anonymous Coward · 2016-08-25 09:23 · Score: 0

Who the cares if there's 2M vs 2.2M? The vast majority of people use the same apps: Facebook, Twitter, a few store apps, the popular game(s) du jour (Candy Crush, Pokemon, etc) The remaining tend to be hidden-browser style apps for stores.
Literally 95% of those apps could disappear and nobody would give two shits.
I mean, if you really want to get technical, generally speaking, only one app (on idevices) can crash at any given time. On Android, there can be a lot more running tasks for customizations and system changes. Logically speaking, Android SHOULD be the one that crashes more since there's a lot more interactions going on.
Re: What kind of stupid ass reporting is this?! by farble1670 · 2016-08-25 09:25 · Score: 2

Nothing you say matters unless they treated the two platforms differently when it came to gathering their "failure" rate. Both platforms are pretty much interchangeable across their user base so it's as close to an apples to apples are you are going to get.

I think what the poster was suggesting is that including 3rd party app crashes in this statistic
It's a user satisfaction survey, not a rating of the stability of the underlying OS. I don't think users care why their apps are crashing only that they are.

For instance did they add weight to the fact that iOS has more apps for which to crash and that people use their iOS devices more than people use Android?
I have no idea what that means. iOS devices have more apps installed? There are more iOS apps overall than Android apps? Provide references please and a description about why you'd think that'd matter anyway (if you can prove that either is true in the first place).
Re: What kind of stupid ass reporting is this?! by Gavagai80 · 2016-08-25 09:35 · Score: 1

I couldn't find a source for "people use their iOS devices more than people use Android", can you cite that?
I'm sure it's true if you count all Android phones, since some of those are $20 phones purchased to sit in a drawer for occasional use, and many of them don't come with a data plan so can't be used away from wifi.

--
This space intentionally left blank
Re: What kind of stupid ass reporting is this?! by Anonymous Coward · 2016-08-25 09:36 · Score: 0

Most apps in both stores are complete crap.
Re:What kind of stupid ass reporting is this?! by MrKrillls · 2016-08-25 10:12 · Score: 3, Insightful

I'm no Apple fan either. I love to take a shot at Apple any chance I get, however the math here is so bad I can't make sense of it. First, the article uses the word "fail" which I associate with complete loss of function, bricking, dead, unrevivable...so I thought the premise was dead iphones vs dead androids. No. Just how many were not perfect. 100% of cell phones are imperfect. it's a tie folks.

--
Don't step on the baby.
Re:What kind of stupid ass reporting is this?! by cfalcon · 2016-08-25 11:11 · Score: 4, Interesting

I'm glad you posted this, because the fact that facebook sucks at supporting ios is not Apple's bad. It's also not relevant to those of us that either don't use facebook, or don't use their mobile app. Why use facebook as a metric, and not, say, some arbitrary other third party app? Statistics are lies because statisticians are liars!
Re: What kind of stupid ass reporting is this?! by hawguy · 2016-08-25 11:17 · Score: 1

Who the cares if there's 2M vs 2.2M? The vast majority of people use the same apps: Facebook, Twitter, a few store apps, the popular game(s) du jour (Candy Crush, Pokemon, etc) The remaining tend to be hidden-browser style apps for stores.
Literally 95% of those apps could disappear and nobody would give two shits.
I mean, if you really want to get technical, generally speaking, only one app (on idevices) can crash at any given time. On Android, there can be a lot more running tasks for customizations and system changes. Logically speaking, Android SHOULD be the one that crashes more since there's a lot more interactions going on.
Apparently the the parent poster does since he said that the availability of more apps on the iPhone contributes to more crashes.
Sounds like weak logic, but that assumption is not even true.
Re:What kind of stupid ass reporting is this?! by Anonymous Coward · 2016-08-25 15:44 · Score: 0

Um, but Apple personally vet every program you can install on an iThinggy. It's one of the features of having a walled garden and forced and consistent updates. If iOs applications are always crashing, then thats an aPple problem. Android, which is way more fragmented and allows the user to install anything they want only has 1/2 the crashes.
Yea, definitely the OS.
Re:What kind of stupid ass reporting is this?! by AmiMoJo · 2016-08-25 22:06 · Score: 1

The whole idea of comparing "Androids" to "iPhones" is idiotic anyway.
There are thousands of Android devices running many variations of the OS on hardware costing from tens to thousands of dollars, with 2.5cm to 150cm+ screens. The iPhone 4 had a defective antenna design, leading to a 100% failure rate without the rubber, and has by far the worst failure mode in that Apple Maps is so bad it can actually kill you.

--
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
Re:What kind of stupid ass reporting is this?! by Anonymous Coward · 2016-08-25 23:10 · Score: 0

Reason why cheap android Chinaphones are more reliable than iPhones?
Profit margin.
There's barely one on cheap Chinaphones. So they make damned sure they work right. Even a slight problem will wipe out the profit for the run.
Apple though... their customers are idiots who will buy any old shit and pay a hefty premium. It works out for Apple to let reliability slip more. I'm going to be slightly facetious here, but if an iPhone screen gets dirty, the smug hipster goes and buys a new one.
Re:What kind of stupid ass reporting is this?! by Anonymous Coward · 2016-08-26 02:08 · Score: 0

And we all know that the missteps of 4 years ago absolutely still apply to the products of today, because nothing ever improves. It's why the bluescreen errors of Windows ME are so relevant to Windows 10, right?
Re:What kind of stupid ass reporting is this?! by MachineShedFred · 2016-08-26 02:10 · Score: 1

Why are they calling an app crash a 'device failure' on either platform, unless the app is distributed with the device?
Why is Apple responsible for shitty code written by a 3rd party, which may or may not be a proper version of the app for the installed OS? Why is Google?
Should we start blaming Intel when Adobe applications inevitably crash now, or should we continue to blame Adobe for not caring enough to actually QA?

--
Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.
Re:What kind of stupid ass reporting is this?! by david_thornley · 2016-08-26 04:35 · Score: 1

The iPhone 4 had a defective antenna design, leading to a 100% failure rate without the rubber

Actually, no. It was a stupid antenna design, and a legitimate problem, but it wasn't nearly that bad. It varied by individual phone (I could manage to get a one-brick/dot degradation by licking my finger and putting it hard on the sensitive spot on mine), and even the first report I saw was a result of testing three phones and finding one with a problem. Then I saw a lot of media making it sound a lot worse than it was so they could orgasm on the clicks.
Apple Maps had problems with locating some things, just like Google Maps did. I remember circling an area looking for the supermarket Google swore was in an area and eventually finding that Google had just picked some sort of arbitrary location. If that location had been dangerous, and I'd been stupid enough to trust a phone app with my life, would Google then have killed me?

--
"When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
Re:What kind of stupid ass reporting is this?! by Anonymous Coward · 2016-08-29 03:47 · Score: 0

You know how many people on /. (let alone in the public) who think i devices are the mecca of stability? Their argument is that there's only 4-5 devices, and have a review process that should prevent most basic issues from reaching the user.
This seems to fly in the face of all of these people who think the APL platform as a whole can't crash and have problems (or at least do so less often).
This is what this study (and others, tbh) seem to be pointing out.
Re:What kind of stupid ass reporting is this?! by farble1670 · 2016-08-29 10:18 · Score: 1

Why are they calling an app crash a 'device failure' on either platform, unless the app is distributed with the device?
Perhaps because when it comes to user perception it is a device failure. I don't think the average use cares why things don't work.

Why is Apple responsible for shitty code written by a 3rd party
That's not the point. The article is just reporting stats regarding user experience. You are imagining finger pointing at Apple. It's not. It's finger pointing at the experience of using the device.
But anyway, sometimes app stability has to do w/ the stability of the platform + services it offers. It's not always app coding errors that result in crashes. It also has to do w/ the development environment. If the tools are better, it's easier to write stable apps.

incorrect password prompt is considered a failure? by Anonymous Coward · 2016-08-25 07:30 · Score: 0

This research group's methodology seems quite suspect, as is their math. I suspect they want big bucks to find out just how terrible they went about making these claims.

iPhones and iPads Fail More Often Than Android? by unixisc · 2016-08-25 07:33 · Score: 1

It seems that the iPhone 6 had the highest failure rate of 29%, followed by iPhone 6s and iPhone 6S Plus. Android smartphones had an overall failure rate of 35%

So is /. bad at basic comprehension or basic arithmetic?

Re:iPhones and iPads Fail More Often Than Android? by space_jake · 2016-08-25 07:38 · Score: 1

I'm assuming that's 29% of all iOS device failures were from the iPhone 6. I'd explain it with pies but then I'd want a pie.
Re:iPhones and iPads Fail More Often Than Android? by 93+Escort+Wagon · 2016-08-25 07:45 · Score: 4, Insightful

So is /. bad at basic comprehension or basic arithmetic?
No, the math failure was the fault of the linked article's author, Alexandra Vaidos.
Not to mention that calculating a metric based on applications not always launching and referring to that as the phone's "failure rate" is rather ludicrous. Plus if iPhone or Android apps were truly that unreliable, nobody would be using them - the numbers are simply unbelievable.
But, in the end, a bunch of us clicked on the story link... so Ms. Vaidos accomplished her goal.

--
#DeleteChrome
Re:iPhones and iPads Fail More Often Than Android? by Anonymous Coward · 2016-08-25 07:47 · Score: 0

No 29% of people who turned up to have a phone repaired had an iPhone 6. So many $100 Android phones are not worth the repair. Cheaper to landfill and buy another Android phone than fix it hence pushed down in the failure stats.
Re:iPhones and iPads Fail More Often Than Android? by unixisc · 2016-08-25 07:51 · Score: 2

That statement seems to imply that 29% of all iPhone 6 phones failed, and somewhat lower % of 6s and 6s+ failed. If one averages that, it will be a number less than 29%. Toss in 5 and 4, and that failure rate would decrease. In the meantime, 35% of all Android smartphones failed. How on earth would iOS devices fail more than Android?
Note that I'm talking about this study, not about any real data. My only phone that once failed on my was my Lumia Ikon - the battery stopped charging
Re:iPhones and iPads Fail More Often Than Android? by michelcolman · 2016-08-25 07:56 · Score: 2

The worst iPhone has a failure rate of 29%, but the average iPhone is twice as bad at 58%. Don't ask...
Re:iPhones and iPads Fail More Often Than Android? by sexconker · 2016-08-25 07:56 · Score: 1

It doesn't imply that, it directly states it. It states that the iPhone 6 failure rate is 29%, which is the highest failure rate (among what set of things is unknown).
Re:iPhones and iPads Fail More Often Than Android? by unixisc · 2016-08-25 08:11 · Score: 2

No, it states that all Androids have a 35% failure rate. If any of them are 35% failure rate. Which is still higher than the iPhone 6 number of 29%
Re:iPhones and iPads Fail More Often Than Android? by unixisc · 2016-08-25 08:12 · Score: 1

So it's the arithmetic that's fubar!!!
Re:iPhones and iPads Fail More Often Than Android? by Anonymous Coward · 2016-08-25 08:26 · Score: 0

Of course they shouldn't even be comparing iPhones to crappy low-end Android phones. Comparing phones similarly priced is what's meaningful. I don't need to be told a $100 phone will give you a crappy experience. Being told an iPhone 6 is less reliable than an equivalent Android phone is what's interesting, and suggests that Apple needs to get their act together if they want to keep delivering the quality that Apple buyers expect.
Re:iPhones and iPads Fail More Often Than Android? by Anonymous Coward · 2016-08-25 09:37 · Score: 0

Holy shit, read properly.
Of the failed units (59% out of all idevices). 29% of them are i6s.
In other words, 29%*59 = 18% of all i devices are failed i6 units, etc etc.
Re:iPhones and iPads Fail More Often Than Android? by Anonymous Coward · 2016-08-25 10:51 · Score: 0

They used a sideloaded calculator app developed by ISIS.
Re:iPhones and iPads Fail More Often Than Android? by tgv · 2016-08-25 17:51 · Score: 1

But some /. editor read that, copied that, possibly discussed that, and hit the publish button without thinking: how can the worst failure rate be lower than the average failure rate?

The loaner phones by npslider · 2016-08-25 07:36 · Score: 5, Funny

The main question when picking a new phone is whether to choose an Android one or an iPhone.

Somewhere a group of Windows phones are sitting on bar stools, all on their 10th shot, wondering... "Where did I go wrong?"

Re:The loaner phones by unixisc · 2016-08-25 07:46 · Score: 1

Those phones are fine. Just don't use apps like Vonage, 8x8, Duo, and avoid any games that ain't there on Xbox
Re:The loaner phones by Anonymous Coward · 2016-08-25 07:47 · Score: 1

And BlackBerry 10 devices are starting a barfight. Truly the best. Hands down. But no advertising and mighty PR by the competitors to destroy them.
Re:The loaner phones by Anonymous Coward · 2016-08-25 08:39 · Score: 0

i will tell you where my windows phone went wrong, since last july, when every time i have to update an app i have to try 50 times because i get 49 errors "theres a problem with your account"
its not you being incompetent, its my account that has a problem, yeah right, thats why it works after a million tries... suuuure
fuck windows and fuck specially windows phone
Re:The loaner phones by jfdavis668 · 2016-08-25 11:58 · Score: 1

And all the dead Palm Treos are rolling over in their graves.
Re:The loaner phones by npslider · 2016-08-26 04:09 · Score: 1

Rest in palms...

Very small, poorly written article by jfdavis668 · 2016-08-25 07:37 · Score: 1

That article is so small, it is hard to even argue about what is says. Not enough information to even properly understand what it is trying to present.

6-12 months of life for iProducts by Anonymous Coward · 2016-08-25 07:39 · Score: 0

In the workforce (does not apply to home use), I've seen iPhones regularly die after 6-12 months of use. Only about 50% of them last much longer. To be fair, they are not dead, just bricked. It's just Apple failing at the software thing as usual.

iCloud works great, if you only want 1% of your photos uploaded/backed up to the cloud and if you want to be in a constant battle of sharing iCloud with multiple devices.

Texting works great too, if you want to not be able to text some people because iMessage is a totally fucked up program.

Apple desperately needs to stick to hardware and outsource or leave the software to smart people, not designers who only know pretty.

Re:6-12 months of life for iProducts by Anonymous Coward · 2016-08-25 07:49 · Score: 0

Really? I work in IT at a private hospital with about 4k employees, with around 30% of them being issued company phones, which happen to be iPhone 5S and iPhone SE. We get at least 2 years of use, and that's including failures to liquid exposure (pretty common in a hospital). We replaced about 25% of the 5S that we issued about a month after release.
Re:6-12 months of life for iProducts by Anonymous Coward · 2016-08-25 08:28 · Score: 0

I mean't we started issuing the 5S a month after Apple released it. Since then, we've had about 25% of our total allotment replaced due to hardware failures or damage. We're now issuing the SE as a replacement (or if it's requested). I've replaced two of those. One due to a screen failure and one due to accidental damage during a trauma.
I can't speak to the 6(+) and 6S(+) variants as we don't use those.

Numbers not adding up... by Shoten · 2016-08-25 07:39 · Score: 2

A 58% failure rate? In one quarter...that's three months? Or is it that the article is as of Q2 2016...in which case I'd want to know the overall period covered, and the definition of "failure." If it's a 3-year period and replacing the phone with an upgrade is classifying it as having "failed," then I could see how this rate would be possible...but out of purely anecdotal insight from the fact that nearly everyone I know (and everyone I work with) has an iPhone, I don't see how this can be right.

But what's REALLY odd is that 58% is an average of the various IOS devices, right? So how is it possible for the overall rate to be 58% if the device with the highest rate of failure only had a rate of 29%? How do you average 29 with any combination of lower numbers to get 58?

Straight from the website from which you can download the actual report (linked in the TFA):

Out of the 58 percent of iOS devices that failed, iPhone 6 had the highest failure rate (29 percent), followed by iPhone 6S (23 percent) and iPhone 6S Plus (14 percent).

When I try to solve for 58% using those numbers, Excel just gives me the Skeptical African Kid Meme.

--

For your security, this post has been encrypted with ROT-13, twice.

Re:Numbers not adding up... by Anonymous Coward · 2016-08-25 07:44 · Score: 0

The percentages are percentages of the 58% of failing devices. Of the devices that failed, 29% were iPhone 6, 23% were the 6s, and 14% were the 6s Plus. Add those together and we're missing the final 33% of failed devices but it's safe to assume that a random collection of 6 Plus, 5SE, 5s, 5c, etc. make up that final 33% of the 58%.
This doesn't surprise me in the slightest. I've never had problems with Android devices. The "hold to reboot" gesture is second nature when dealing with iOS devices. You basically need to reboot them once a day to keep things like Bluetooth and wifi working.
Re:Numbers not adding up... by farble1670 · 2016-08-25 07:52 · Score: 1

A 58% failure rate?
I think it's how they are defining "failure". My guess is that it's if a user experienced a problem of any sort, that's a failure.
Re:Numbers not adding up... by dugancent · 2016-08-25 08:19 · Score: 1

Mu iPhone hasn't been rebooted since the release of 9.3.3. I'm getting ready to install 9.3.5, so I guess there is another reboot.
I've owned every iPhone since the 3G and I've never had to reboot on a regular basis.

--
SJWs are the new boogeyman. -Me
Re:Numbers not adding up... by dgatwood · 2016-08-25 08:47 · Score: 2

The percentages are percentages of the 58% of failing devices. Of the devices that failed, 29% were iPhone 6, 23% were the 6s, and 14% were the 6s Plus. Add those together and we're missing the final 33% of failed devices but it's safe to assume that a random collection of 6 Plus, 5SE, 5s, 5c, etc. make up that final 33% of the 58%.
So let me see if I understand this epic math fail correctly. Given n devices, there were k devices that were brought in for repair. Of those k devices, 58% were iOS devices, and of those 58%, 29% were iPhone 6 devices.
Which tells us absolutely nothing about the actual failure rate without knowing how the makeup of those n devices relates to the makeup of those k devices. It tells us nothing about the actual failure rate without knowing what percentage of each model within k were junked and replaced without notifying the service center in question. It tells us nothing about whether the Android and iOS users have similar levels of self-sufficiency in terms of figuring out how to solve their own problems. And there are probably at least three or four other fairly fundamental errors that make this data essentially pure noise.
Arguments over minor methodology points, such as whether to count specific types of failures in the reliability numbers, are basically moot, because the "data" is purely anecdotal and is not mathematically related to the actual rate of failure to begin with. This isn't statistically any better than saying, "Of my friends, more people have had problems with Android phones than iOS phones" or vice versa. If you know nothing about whether the sample population has similar distribution to the general population and you know nothing about whether the data is even an accurate measurement of the sample population itself, then these numbers are quite literally no better than a random number generator with a Gaussian distribution. You might as well arrive at the results by throwing darts at a dartboard. It will be approximately as meaningful.
Am I missing something?
Trust me, if even 1% of iPhone hardware failed during its warranty period, heads would roll, much less 58%.

--
Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.
Re:Numbers not adding up... by Anonymous Coward · 2016-08-25 09:50 · Score: 0

No
You have n(a) Android devices and n(i) i devices.
You have k(a) Android devices and k(i) failed devices. k(i) divided by n(i) gives you 58%.
In your ramblings, you fail to consider that the vast majority of people who want to avoid expensive shipping charges will often bring their unit into a store... which eliminates many of the simpler problems. Your polling question is kind of silly as well. I mean, isn't polling SUPPOSE to be throwing at a dartboard? Putting any restrictions on it artificially bends you towards a specific result. It's pointless to ask how many people (generally) own luxury sports cars in an area that has only mansions (100%). If you were asking "how many rich people own sports cars", then sure...
Trust me, if even 58% of idevices failed during it's warranty period, people would still continue to buy it. Seriously. It's a fashion item / keeping up with the Joneses first and foremost for a LOT of people. Many many people use it just for Facebook and the odd website and some basic messaging. This could be handled by practically any phone. Many other people have said it's the only one that "looks pretty" and such... or they're the only ones that don't [sell your personal information but they do / trust even though they're quoted as no reasonable person should believe them / etc]
Re:Numbers not adding up... by dgatwood · 2016-08-26 16:34 · Score: 1
You have k(a) Android devices and k(i) failed devices. k(i) divided by n(i) gives you 58%.
No, that's what failure rate is supposed to mean. However, what the numbers actually said are:
- iPhone 6 had the highest failure rate of 29%
- iOS devices as a whole had a failure rate of 58%
These two statements cannot both be true simultaneously by any proper definition of "failure rate". The iPhone 6 is a subset of all iOS devices. The claim is made that its failure rate was 29%. For the failure rate of all iOS devices to be 58%, that would mean that at least one iOS device must have a failure rate greater than 58% to pull the average up from 29% to 58%, which contradicts the statement that the iPhone 6 had the highest failure rate at 29%.
Q.E.D.
The only way you could even halfway make those numbers plausible would be if you erroneously divided the iPhone numbers by either the total number of iOS devices or worse, the total number of devices. Either of those approaches makes the numbers meaningless because you don't know the relationship between... to use your terminology... k(i) and n(i) at that point.

In your ramblings, you fail to consider that the vast majority of people who want to avoid expensive shipping charges will often bring their unit into a store... which eliminates many of the simpler problems.
The vast majority of people who want to avoid expensive shipping charges will Google the problem and find an answer themselves. People go to a store when that fails.
--
Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.
Re:Numbers not adding up... by Anonymous Coward · 2016-08-29 03:54 · Score: 0

Man, you seem all sciency and shit but you're flat out wrong because you can't read (or more likely have a bias where you don't want to believe this is right).
The 29% refers to ALL FAILED i OS devices while 58% refers to ALL i OS devices (failed or not).
If 100 i OS devices sold (i5+i6+i6s+etc), 58 of these devices failed in total. Of the 58, 29% of them were (so around 16 of 58) iP 6s.

Re:incorrect password prompt is considered a failu by Anonymous Coward · 2016-08-25 07:42 · Score: 0

What? You think I don't remember what my own password is?! Clearly the device is wrong!

Clickbait (duh) by krisbrowne42 · 2016-08-25 07:48 · Score: 3, Informative

...which is no real surprise... Frankly none of us would even be responding if we thought the article, or /.'s posting of it, was any match to reality.

Re:Clickbait (duh) by Anonymous Coward · 2016-08-25 07:52 · Score: 0

My moto phone heats up within 15 minutes of playing games. What moron decided to put a plastic backing on the phone? It's hard to dissipate the massive heat from the CPU, GPU and RAM. iPhones/iPads OTOH, have a metal backing that allows easy heat dissipation.

Fire manishs by sexconker · 2016-08-25 07:54 · Score: 2

None of this shit makes any sense!

The main question when picking a new phone is whether to choose an Android one or an iPhone.

I'd wager most people are already tied to an ecosystem. For iOS people it's a question of "When's the new one coming out?" or "Do I want the big one or the small one?". For Android people it's "Do I pick some random cheap one or just buy the Samsung Galaxy again?".

A new study coming from Blancco Technology Group sheds some light on which devices are the most reliable, based on reliability.

Odd, I usually base reliability reports on mouth feel and buoyancy.

The study entitled State of Mobile Device Performance and Health reveals the device failure rates by operating systems, manufacturers, models and regions, as well as the most common types of performance issues.

That would be neat info to have.

The report reveals that in Q2 2016, iOS devices had a 58% failure rate, marking the first time that Apple's devices have a lower performance rate compared to Android.

I wonder how they define "failure rate", maybe I'll read TFA to find out. Wait, "lower performance rate"? WTF is that? Do you mean "higher failure rate". I wonder if this is the fault of the dumbass submitter, TFA, or the actual report. And "first time"? Odd, I've never heard of a prior time that "Blancco Technology Group" released such report. Maybe they're an up-and-comer I should start paying attention to.

It seems that the iPhone 6 had the highest failure rate of 29%, followed by iPhone 6s and iPhone 6S Plus.

Wait, if the highest failure rate is 29%, how do we end up with a 58% failure rate for iOS devices? What subset or subcategory does "iPhone 6" fall under? What "iOS devices" are excluded from that category? Clearly, some significant iOS devices with high failure rates (58% or higher) had to be excluded from the subset/subcategory that gave us the "highest failure rate" of 29%.

Android smartphones had an overall failure rate of 35%, an improvement from 44% in Q1 2016.

So 29% is higher than 35% now? WTF is going on?

Samsung, Lenovo and LeTV were among the manufacturers with the weakest performance and higher failure rates. Samsung scored 26% in failure rate, while Motorola just 11%.

Didn't we just establish an overall failure rate of 35% for Android? Clearly some manufacturer is hitting higher than that, and it's not Samsung. Why would you call out Samsung and not the worst offender?

The study also reveals that iOS devices fail more frequently in North America and Asia compared to Android.

Well, we established that overall, with the "iOS devices had a 58% failure rate" bit at the top and the comments about how Android's failure rate is lower, depending on what contradictory numbers we're looking at.

Specifically, the failure rate in North America is 59%, while in Asia 52%. The failures could be influenced by the fact that the quality of smartphones shipped around the world varies.

Yes, the fact that quality varies in different regions could be due to the fact that the quality of phones varies across different regions! Unless they're suggesting that "quality" and "failure rates" are not directly comparable for the purposes of this study. The only way that could be true is if they didn't control for cause of failure, so "quality" here could mean something along the lines of "survives an American sitting on it" versus "survives an Asian sitting on it".

Re:Fire manishs by Anonymous Coward · 2016-08-25 10:06 · Score: 0

"lower performance rate"
If you look at any forum for any device, you'll get complaints that the device slowed to an intolerable speed (especially after major firmware updates).
Holy shit, the ignorance is HUGE in this thread. Did you all fail basic math and english skills? I almost want to make a comment that you're all from America are voting for a specific person... LOL
NO.
58% failure rate is of ALL idevices. 29% of the FAILED UNITS are i6s. Just as 35% failure of ALL Android devices. 26% of the FAILED UNITS are from Samsung.
Here, let's put it simpler for you.
Out of every 100 i devices, 58 of them are considered failed. Of the 58 devices, 16-17 of them (that's 29% of 58) are i6s.
Out of every 100 Android devices, 35 of them are considered failed. Of the 35 devices, about 9 (26% of 35) are from Samsung.
Absolutely NONE of the figures are contradictory among themselves - most of you can't read or understand math properly. It even specifically says the individual model / manufacturer breakdowns are OF THE FAILED UNITS.
Re:Fire manishs by Anonymous Coward · 2016-08-25 15:07 · Score: 0

Except for the fact that only a complete imbecile who is also brain dead would believe the numbers being thrown around, you are completely right.

Comment removed by account_deleted · 2016-08-25 07:55 · Score: 1

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Define "fail" by Sneeka2 · 2016-08-25 07:59 · Score: 4, Insightful

Is it anywhere explained what exactly "fail" means? Apparently more than an outright "phone bricked", it also includes software issues of all kinds, including Facebook crashing. There are so many problems with including such numbers that an entire meta study is necessary to normalize the resulting numbers into something comparable, which this article doesn't even begin to do.

Unless and until the exact criteria are published, this is worthless horseshit.

--
Bitten Apples are still better than dirty Windows...

Re:Define "fail" by Anonymous Coward · 2016-08-25 08:07 · Score: 0

Amen!
Re:Define "fail" by Incadenza · 2016-08-25 08:44 · Score: 1

Unless and until the exact criteria are published, this is worthless horseshit.
Horseshit isn't worthless.
Re: Define "fail" by Sneeka2 · 2016-08-25 08:48 · Score: 1

Good horseshit isn't. This stuff here thoughâ¦

--
Bitten Apples are still better than dirty Windows...
Re: Define "fail" by Anonymous Coward · 2016-08-25 09:13 · Score: 0

Is there such a thing as bad horseshit, it all fertilises.

Apple QA has always been a huge issue by Anonymous Coward · 2016-08-25 07:59 · Score: 0

Of all the machines I get asked to fix, Apple has always been tops, even since the 90's. Power supplies and proper thermal design seem to be a huge issues, followed by display technology. Macs are excellent candidates for additions of heatsinks and proper fans. As for software, Apple has never been a company that I would personally regard as being capable of engineering a quality operating system. iOS and macos x ate like linux variants from the 90's when it comes to bugs. They might look nice, but they are really not the quality devices that the price would suggest.

Price differences by Anonymous Coward · 2016-08-25 08:02 · Score: 0, Insightful

Let's not forget Apple iPhones are all $500+ while an Android phone can be bought for $100. Apple really doesn't have any excuses for falling behind, not at those prices...

CAPTCHA: Sexual

I'm going to sue you for sexual harassment!!!

Re:Price differences by Anne+Thwacks · 2016-08-25 10:05 · Score: 1

Android phone can be bought for $100
My THL6C cost GBP36 (less than $50) and has dual sims, latest Android (MegaPlotz or whatever its called, as of July) great reception, clear voice, exchangeable battery, SD card, etc. Camera is a bit naff. Does the job though. My family bought 6 of these, and 5 are still working. The other was lost in the airport, and may be still working I don't know.
One of us owns an Apple of some sort. It is still working on the rare occasions when the battery is not flat.
Reliable reliability data is hard to come by, and this ain't it!

--
Sent from my ASR33 using ASCII
Re:Price differences by fluffernutter · 2016-08-25 10:11 · Score: 1

I'm actually wondering if maybe people tend to just toss their Android devices, but if you have spent $500+ on a device you damn well want to fix it. Personally, my Samsung S3 is just on the way out right now though but I did need to replace the battery once.

--
Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.

Comment removed by account_deleted · 2016-08-25 08:03 · Score: 1

Comment removed based on user account deletion

How are these articles picked? by JMZero · 2016-08-25 08:04 · Score: 4, Informative

If you told me I had to read an entire random article off Softpedia's news page, I'd be disappointed and sad. But if I had to, there's at least 3 more interesting articles than this one (I just checked) right now. If you told me "it has to be one that will generate some cheap fanboy rage", I guess this one would be closer to the top and maybe I might check it out.

But once I did I'd see it was complete nonsense garbage and start shopping for a new one. It's unreadable - I have no idea what they're even claiming in half their sentences - but at very least it's clear their conclusion is way out of step with the data they're reasoning from.

I still read Slashdot out of some weird old habit, but the interesting finds are getting few and far between. It has become an anti-aggregator, finding the least interesting, poorest-written articles on sites that I wouldn't bother going to.

--
Let's not stir that bag of worms...

Re:How are these articles picked? by Anonymous Coward · 2016-08-25 13:16 · Score: 0

For slashdot? Basically if it casts apple in a negative light and android positively, it is put on the front page, irrespective of accuracy, representation of reality, etc.
"News for nerds" went away a long time ago. So much that I no longer even bother to log in and rarely bother to read anything here any more - and I've been here pretty much since the site was founded (uid 1351, because i couldn't be bothered making an account for a few weeks).

Bad Summary - Reliability Analysis by Anonymous Coward · 2016-08-25 08:04 · Score: 0

Reliability Analysis is a subset of survival analysis, that is of the time until failure based on the probability of continued operation without error. 1- B(x,n,p), etc.

More reliable, not less by SuperKendall · 2016-08-25 08:12 · Score: 2

One vector of "unreliability" the article talked about was iPhones "failing to connect to WiFi".

Let's just put aside the problem with equating network reliability with hardware reliability... there's a big difference in HOW both devices connect to WiFi, by design.

Apple in the last year or so changed iOS so that it will prefer to stay on a cell connection if it seems like the WiFi is going to be flaky or unreliable.

So the "WiFi failing to connect" is a result of the software making the network connection (you know, the whole reason why you are trying to connect to the WiFi in the first place?) MORE reliable for the user, not less... we all know by now sometimes the cell network is vastly better than a sketchy WiFi node.

--
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley

Re:More reliable, not less by Anonymous Coward · 2016-08-25 15:10 · Score: 0

Most wi-fi issues (on iOS, Android and WinPhone) can be traced back to a cheap wifi router with non standard chips.
Re:More reliable, not less by Anonymous Coward · 2016-08-25 23:16 · Score: 0

Well, that's the Apple excuse anyway.
Your router is not a vegan free-range one that prioritises traffic to obscure indie-band sites and auto-blocks Trump sites. Please upgrade to the new Apple approved AppleAir - $1000 per month. Your problems will all resolve.
Re:More reliable, not less by Anonymous Coward · 2016-08-29 03:56 · Score: 0

Android has had this feature for about 2-3 years now. It tells you why the wifi is unable to connect, for example: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/MuWKMKBZwBc/hqdefault.jpg
If there's no UI or the guy at the store isn't stopping this from happening and being counted as a failed unit, that's a huge UI *AND* staffing failure right there. I'd still count it.
Also, most people understand that if you're far from the hotspot, it gets weaker. I suspect "failed wifi connecting" has already tried to do so with high signal strength before calling it in.

I have just been lucky by ArtemaOne · 2016-08-25 08:13 · Score: 1

Only issue I've really faced is a battery that expanded, and the local non-Apple shop that specializes in Apple products replaced it really cheaply. No other issues that I can think of since I got my first one five and a half years ago. I'm even running their Beta iOS 10 and it runs amazingly well.

Yep. by ledow · 2016-08-25 08:14 · Score: 1, Insightful

I try my best not to bias my opinion against Apple - mainly because I'm forced to work with them - but I have to say this just confirms my own numbers.

I work in schools so I deal with all kinds of devices from servers and PCs down to smartwatches and phones. As "IT" I also get lots of people use me as their personal technical support (my employer doesn't mind, and even encourages it as a value-add for other staff, so long as it doesn't interfere with real work).

Pretty much across the board, people with iPads, iPhones and Macs experience many more failures per device than the rest. I don't even SEE Android users after setting up the email on their phones (something we have to do for them, by policy, so we know they aren't just buying new phones and setting them up themselves). iPhone people also seem to break their screens SO OFTEN that it's just laughable.

I have precisely one dead Samsung tablet "on the pile", and no end of iPods, iPads, iPhones and other gadgets.

The Mac Minis, especially those sold as "servers"? Laughable.
The Mac desktops? Laughable.

And then when you do this not just on a "per-device" basis, but on "per-value" basis, it gets even sillier as you can buy 2-3 or more of the competition for the price of one Apple. You don't get any more work done for that price either, and certainly don't get less failures.

A member of staff brought in some things from clearing out their mother's house after she died. One was a BBC Micro, complete and working. We snapped that up. Then they said "Oh, and I have a Mac at home that just stopped working, it's only a year or two old, I suppose you want that?"

She was quite surprised by our answer. Needless to say, we spent the afternoon with "BOOP-BEEP" startup sounds as we played about with the BBC, but nobody wanted the Mac. Nobody even asked the spec. Literally nobody in the IT office cared about it.

But I have no doubt she ran out and just bought another Mac. Like the person who had a MacBook Pro that nearly exploded because the battery bulged like fuck in it and we refused to touch it and told them to get it off-site (we're a school, so there are kids and I do NOT want some personal device brought on site, exploding, and hurting someone - I am NOT going to do the paperwork and deal with the stupendous health-and-safety aftermath of something like that) and dispose of it elsewhere as soon as they could.

I'm forced to support Apple, against my wishes, and I try really hard to spin positives from what they offer. But I literally can't find enough to justify. It's basically popular "because it's popular", like designer trainers or something. In terms of actual figures on almost any aspect, Apple devices are atrocious.

Re:Yep. by fluffernutter · 2016-08-25 10:08 · Score: 1

You didn't do a very good job of hiding your bias. Just sayin.

--
Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
Re:Yep. by Anonymous Coward · 2016-08-25 11:08 · Score: 0

That's a pretty typical IT department response. And I run IT departments.
The people that work there are Win or *nix fan boys because if they were Apple fans they wouldn't need to spend so much time making things work as to be worthwhile in an IT department.
The most reliable Windows installations I've done were on Mac hardware. The Mac hardware with the Mac OS gets used more, because anyone that spends ten minutes with it can figure it out.
The article is bullshit, not because of its conclusion but because there is no data to base it on. Facebook is not data. Neither is one school IT guy.
Re:Yep. by Anonymous Coward · 2016-08-25 15:12 · Score: 0

It is more than obvious from your own post that your experiences have nothing to do with the hardware and everything to do with your incompetence at your job.
ANYBODY who was competent, even without that much experience, would be able to handle your problems without a glitch.
Re:Yep. by Anonymous Coward · 2016-08-25 16:04 · Score: 0

Very similar to my experiences. I have a 4s, and right from the start it has been the most buggy electronic device Ive owned, terrible battry life, randomly changes contact photos at its whim etc. I too looked after ipads in schools and found them very poor in terms of reliability.
Furthermore, I have more crashes in a week on ipad air than in my entire 40 years of using computers.
Overhyped, overrated rubbish.
Re:Yep. by ledow · 2016-08-26 01:24 · Score: 1

Because pressing the wrong buttons makes screens crack, batteries explode, device just turn off, touchscreens to wear (sometimes to the point of vertical / horizontal lines on the screen), etc. etc. etc.? Yeah, okay.
Re:Yep. by david_thornley · 2016-08-26 04:45 · Score: 1

I give it a 2/10. Your propaganda really needs to have some plausibility.

--
"When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
Re:Yep. by ledow · 2016-08-26 05:26 · Score: 1

We use iPad Minis in school. Hundreds of them.
There's an app that views my home CCTV camera on iPad. I install it, purely to make the iPad "do something" during the course of the day. The others allocated to the IT department are in cupboards and drawers, uncharged and unused.
So I put my camera up on my iPad and use it as remote CCTV for my house while I'm at work.
Every 8 hours or so, it crashes the iPad back to black screen, Apple logo, progress bar, back into lock-screen.
Sure, it's a misbehaving app. Sure it's probably a memory leak or similar. But it takes out the entire machine, with alarming regularity - and it's not the only time that happens, it just happens to trigger it more reliably than other things.
And yet this iPad is on the latest iOS within minutes of it happening (it's only other purpose is to see what iOS 9.3 or whatever broke this time around).
Yes, I've switched iPads. But the students still say that similar things happen to theirs, sometimes in the middle of lessons. That's just *shite* for anything running in the 21st Century and not doing anything more difficult than viewing a video stream off the Internet.
Re:Yep. by swillden · 2016-08-26 10:35 · Score: 1

One part of your experience that rings false to me is the level of support required for Windows machines vs Macs. My experience is narrower than yours, because I'm a programmer not an IT support guy, but I do get used as an IT support guy by friends and family because, you know, I "do computers". With that caveat, my experience is that the single biggest thing I can do to reduce my support burden is to get them to trade in their Windows laptop for something else. The very best alternative is a Chromebook, then a Macbook. Installing Ubuntu instead of Windows is also a good support-reducer, but not as many have gone that route.
As far as mobile devices go, I do more Android support than iOS support, but I think that's mostly because all of my immediate family, and most of my extended family, uses Android. Plus the Apple users are a little less likely to come to me for help because they know I'm an Android guy (because I work on Android system development).

--
Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.

That's honestly pretty surprising. by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · 2016-08-25 08:32 · Score: 1

It's not a huge surprise that the reliability of Apple widgets isn't appreciably better than high end Android gizmos; Apple is hardly the only company in the world that knows how to shove a bunch of solid state hardware into a tight space; and to the degree they are atypically skilled at it they usually end up focusing on extra skinniness and similar aesthetic considerations that don't necessarily enhance reliability.

What is surprising is that 'Android devices' as a whole would perform so well. It is the blessing, and the curse, of Android that pretty much anyone can slap it into almost anything; and vendors take full advantage of that. I would have expected the floods of dire crap to drag down the average reliability rating considerably.

Anecdotal by I agree by rsilvergun · 2016-08-25 08:35 · Score: 1

I have a cheap LG that I drop periodically. Works as poorly as the day it was new (it's a $100 Android from 2014 so what can I say?). Replaced my kid's iPhone three times as it just kept getting slower and slower. Cores burning out maybe?

--
Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/

Re: Anecdotal by I agree by Anonymous Coward · 2016-08-25 08:59 · Score: 0

Yep, I've got a cheap ZTE, it's two years old, has been dropped, rooted, messed around with and still works like a champ. Most of my friends have gone through several phones in the same time period.
Oh, and am running an ad blocker, so web browsing is faster than on many newer devices.
Re:Anecdotal by I agree by Pow · 2016-08-25 12:00 · Score: 1

My personal anecdotal data (Android devices):
* LG P509 (3.2" screen, Android 2.3) - Have 2 of those. Going strong with some old Cyanogen Mod version (7 I think) but I'm not really actively using them..
* Google Galaxy Nexus: Obsoleted by manufacturer. Also had cracked screen, the crack was small initially but then got bigger and bigger. Don't remember dropping it. OLED burn-in. Battery was not holding charge after 2 years but at least it was serviceable. Overall rating: crap (mainly due to poor screen). Granted it has been my best experience with Google Nexus line.
* Google Nexus 7 1st gen: Faulty charger circuit (took a day to fully charge, common issue). I configured it with encrypted file system, but little did I know then that Google released it without even testing it. Eventually it got slow to a point where a single operation would take 5 seconds to refresh screen - no TRIM support for encrypted fs driver, slow software encryption are the culprits if anyone is interested. Got rid of this shit the first chance I could (traded in for $50 BestBuy giftcard).
* Google Nexus 4: This is the biggest garbage of them all. Faulty hardware design - no cpu heatsink (or was it gpu?), battery too close to cpu and gpu. More info about this here: http://forum.xda-developers.co... . When you run any cpu-intensive app it would overheat so much that it gets uncomfortable to hold phone. Charger circuit would cut off battery charging due to high temperature. If you are not on charger it would reboot the phone at some point. That's how hot it was getting. The cpus are binned slow, nominal, fast. Luckily mine was "fast" so I was able to significantly undervolt this (yes, had to recompile the kernel) to make it somewhat better. It still randomly shuts down sometimes but not as bad as it was. Oh yeah, obsoleted by manufacturer (no updates).
At this point I stopped buying Android crap.
Personal anecdotal data (Apple devices):
* iPad 2: Still going strong with latest iOS. Granted the OS upgrade has made it very slow but this is only when you are starting apps or in main screen. Once app loads it's OK. Switching between apps is slow. I can't wait for it to die because it is super slow and I hate the low resolution screen but it just keeps on going.
* iPad Mini 2 - Have 2 of those. My favorite. Going strong.
* iPhone 5S - Have 2 of those. Going strong.
I know this is very anecdotal but I haven't had a single Apple device fail or require some tinkering to make it work.

My anecdotal evidence tells another story by SuseLover · 2016-08-25 08:40 · Score: 1

I've been through an iPhone 3, 4S, and now a 5S (now several years old) and have not had a problem with any of them other than my dropping them causing display cracks. I try to keep my battery at near the (ideal) ~40% charge level never letting it get below 20% or charging above 80% and batt life is still near new levels.

I can count on one hand the number of crashes I experienced, however, I am apparently not the typical user as I don't install a zillion apps for everything (no facebook, bank, games or other crappy apps - the stock apps have been stable).

I chose the iPhone 5S because I like the chunkier, meatier form factor and the 6s seemed so thin I am afraid I'd break it in half if I sat on it in a back pocket. I believe the thinness of the 6 is what causes alot of trouble due to the entire frame flexing.

Am I the only one doing the math here? by e91.waggin · 2016-08-25 08:46 · Score: 1

"The report reveals that in Q2 2016, iOS devices had a 58% failure rate... It seems that the iPhone 6 had the highest failure rate of 29%..."

If the highest failure rate of any model was 29%, how does the overall product line have an average failure rate of 58%?

Re: Am I the only one doing the math here? by Anonymous Coward · 2016-08-25 09:38 · Score: 0

For fuck's sake. How many people have to point out that it's 29% of the 58% ?

I call bullshit on this article by Anonymous Coward · 2016-08-25 08:54 · Score: 0

I've had all three: Blackberry, Android, and Apple. The android has far been the worst for needing a reboot to free up memory, or something just crashing. Apple has been second - I can count on one hand the times I've had to reboot my apple phone. Blackberry was by far the best. I don't ever remember rebooting that thing. Of course that was long before the complex operating systems and apps now, and is a moot point as they're all but dead, but I'll pick an apple phone over and android for reliability any day.

what is an "incorrect password prompt"? by YesIAmAScript · 2016-08-25 08:54 · Score: 1

And who measures it?

Does this mean I just forgot my password?

--
http://lkml.org/lkml/2005/8/20/95

bullshit by Anonymous Coward · 2016-08-25 08:55 · Score: 0

I'm calling it.

Easy to see this too by Anonymous Coward · 2016-08-25 09:02 · Score: 0

Just go to Apple's refurbished store and you can easily see what is returned the most. I actually have had very few issues with my Mac's or iPhones. But then again I usually traded my iPhone in every two years and generally am very careful with electronics. I generally think from the standpoint of failures, the iPad's have often received very bad marks for repair. No doubt when you see who put's them together you don't wonder too much why there is so many defects. I think you either get a good one, or you don't. But that kind of goes with any delicate electronics with micro circuits.

Re:incorrect password prompt is considered a failu by Anonymous Coward · 2016-08-25 09:30 · Score: 0

I imagine (especially for i devices, since they're made for those who "don't want hassles") that most people go into the store... and the guy in the store has them reset their password.

Most people don't directly mail their device in.

So ya, if the device refuses to accept a correct password, that's clearly the device's fault.

I call bullshit by Anonymous Coward · 2016-08-25 09:36 · Score: 0

On the other hand, 78% of all statistics are made up.

58%? What do we count idiots who don't use protective cases and drop theirs?

We have iPhone 4s still in use At work by Anonymous Coward · 2016-08-25 09:45 · Score: 0

And a iPad 1st gen and a bunch of old iPad 2nd generation.

Their figures are misleading at best, and more than likely are outright lies.

PROTEST by fluffernutter · 2016-08-25 10:03 · Score: 1

I am totally against determining the most reliable phone in terms of reliability.

--
Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.

I just had to add this by npslider · 2016-08-25 11:19 · Score: 1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

Here is the actual report by sdguero · 2016-08-25 11:41 · Score: 3, Informative

It's complete garbage from some kind of bullshit mobile marketing company: http://download.blancco.com/do...

Re: iPhones and iPads Fail More Often Than Android by Anonymous Coward · 2016-08-25 12:27 · Score: 0

Exactly, problem exists between user and touch screen.

Android is starting. Optimizing App 15 of 480. by Anonymous Coward · 2016-08-25 12:29 · Score: 4, Funny

Sorry, I can't reply to your comment, my Android is still booting...

Re:Android is starting. Optimizing App 15 of 480. by Anonymous Coward · 2016-08-25 19:14 · Score: 0

Sorry, I can't reply to your comment, my Android is still booting...
This, for the love of everything, THIS.
Re: Android is starting. Optimizing App 15 of 480. by Anonymous Coward · 2016-08-26 17:19 · Score: 0

You have got to be kidding if you think an OS update on Android is more painful than iOS, especially if you need to involve iTunes
Re: Android is starting. Optimizing App 15 of 480. by Anonymous Coward · 2016-08-27 04:58 · Score: 0

Where did he say anything about OS updates? Learn to read, you illiterate fuck.
Re: Android is starting. Optimizing App 15 of 480. by Anonymous Coward · 2016-08-28 13:51 · Score: 0

Where did he say anything about OS updates? Learn to read, you illiterate fuck.
Yeah, he was talking about BOOTING which is something I've done twice with my android in the last 6 months since I got this one. And it's slow... painfully slow, takes at least 30 seconds, which is really annoying when you're just wanting to get directions somewhere, and stuck in traffic, and there's a police car behind you...
Apple phones boot fast... i guess. (actually I have no idea, only had an iphone 4s years ago, and it didn't seem to boot particularly fast, but whatever)

It's in the updating that apple sucks (exponentially when you're also in the itunes ecosystem) way more than android, and that's only every month or so.......
Re: Android is starting. Optimizing App 15 of 480. by Anonymous Coward · 2016-08-30 05:30 · Score: 0

No... YOU learn to read. "Optimizing App 15 of 480" happens on only the first boot after an OS update.
Re: Android is starting. Optimizing App 15 of 480. by Anonymous+Cow+Ward · 2016-09-06 06:14 · Score: 1

The title of the comment references app optimization, which only happens on Android after an OS update. Therefore, OS updates were the comparison.

--
Examine even your most deeply held beliefs. Nobody is always right.

The main question by Tough+Love · 2016-08-25 12:43 · Score: 1

The main question when picking a new phone is whether to choose an Android one or an iPhone.

Not really. Based purely on market share, the main question is whether to get a Samsung or not.

--
When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.

It's Over by Anonymous Coward · 2016-08-25 14:44 · Score: 0

The war is over. Apple has won.

Re:It's Over by EEPROMS · 2016-08-25 15:24 · Score: 1

eh, winning is losing 1/4 your market share in 10 years, someone needs a lesson in marketing.

Use what works for you by EEPROMS · 2016-08-25 15:13 · Score: 1

For me arguing about IOS and Android, Linux and Windows for me is a bit like some mechanics arguing about who has the best spanner. Who cares, just use the tools that work for you and move on I say.

That's it. by AMDinator · 2016-08-25 15:39 · Score: 1

I'm done with Slashdot. I miss the days of curated, relevant, SANE content.

If true at all, this is the user type and casing. by Qbertino · 2016-08-25 18:37 · Score: 1

The results of this may be true, but if so, the results are quite sure to be solely based on average type of user and perhaps casing material.

Also iPhones are more likely to be used by people who couldn't be bothered to make a big decision out of their smartphone purchase, they just get what everybody else has and what they constantly hear about in the news and leave it at that. Hence many iPhones in the hands of people who aren't really thinking twice or being aware of the basics of treating hardware in a way that is less risky for it to break.
That many Androids have plastic as an enclosure helps mitigate the effects of a lot of drops, due to the flexibility. That alone could account for the difference, as all iPhones are built out of aluminum.

Points in case:
I've moved to Android with my last Smartphone and have the habit of getting my protection case and my protective glass *before* I purchase a new model.
In fact, the availability of a good/usable protective case and proctective glass is one of the criteria for me choosing a phone, a criteria and a purchasing order I recommend to anybody who asks me for advice when getting a new smartphone. ... But, as you may guess, I'm a computer expert to the utmost extent. Hence I use a neat Moto G2 that costs about a fifth the price of an iPhone, yet I can do way more with it than some regular person with his iPhone. And also it will last longer, as I am aware how to treat hardware, from back in the day when hardware like this was expensive and a device such as todays smartphones would've been handled and treated like the holy grail.

My girlfriend had a little red symbian Nokia touchscreen smartphone that looked like it had been run over by a tank. Twice. Cracked screen, parts of it not reacting, needing to remove sim and reboot at times - the works. I bought her a cheap current-day android 5 smartphone - red casing, ... important detail(!) :-) - and got protective casings and protective glass, SD card and stuff and gave it to her as a present all in a bundle. She would've never purchased her phone that way.
Her demografic for large parts is an intersection with todays classic iPhone user - not really interested in the details.

I'm sure this plays into the breakage quota aswell. You can say what you want about Apple, but saying that they build bad hardware is just being silly.

My 2 cents.

--
We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca

Reliability of software, not hardware by HuguesT · 2016-08-25 19:52 · Score: 1

This report is very strange and so is the Slashdot summary. This is not a comparison of hardware platforms, i.e. wether Apple or Samsung phones actually experience some form of hardware failure more often. Instead the report focuses on software issues, like application crashes, which form the bulk of "failures". Also reported are difficulties in accessing Wifi or poor sound quality using Bluetooth.

Their use of statistics is also questionable. Their graphics are misleading.

Take this report with a grain of salt.

completely unrealistic by Anonymous Coward · 2016-08-26 02:41 · Score: 0

Hogwash. Phoney figures. Being a sysadmin, I see lots and lots of devices all the time. In my experience, I almost never see an iOS device failure (within my sphere of influence). I know it happens, as I see people at Apple Genius bars getting help, but it seems quite rare.

I'm an original 1st gen iPhone owner (still have device, still works). In all the years since and all the iPhones purchased, I've only had one defect, and it was promptly replaced by Apple (good on them). There is no way Apple has a >50% failure rate. It makes no logical sense, this data is false/inflated.

I do see more Android based device failures than iOS ones, but still, nowhere near 35-44%. These numbers are simply unbelievable.

I clicked the links and read a good portion of "report". News flash - "crashing apps" is not a device defect. If an app has a problem, go talk to the vendor of the software. Native apps on both Android and iOS seem to work just fine 99.9% of the time, so the device isn't the problem. Also, the report does not seem to even address or rule out users damaging their devices (drops, bend/break, water, coffee, etc). Seems that these people counted any problem whatsoever as a "defect."

Click bait! They're just looking for their 15 seconds of fame.

Yeah but by gzuckier · 2016-08-26 07:04 · Score: 1

Unless a platform is absolutely trouble free, quality of service is equally important.

--
Star Trek transporters are just 3d printers.

Slashdot Mirror

iPhones and iPads Fail More Often Than Android Smartphones (softpedia.com)

176 comments