Why don't people like iPhones?

[AZSALUKI]

i got my wife a Creative Zen 2-3 years ago. keep in mind that she struggles to send pix messages (i love her but she is really stuck in the 90's when technology is concerned). she loves and and can actually use it. i think ipods are MUCH better than they used to be, now that they aren't "married" to one pc. but the reason i went with the Zen is because of the sd slot. normally she has all of her music on it, but when we travel, she simply grabs her other sd card and then has about a dozen movies on the card and she can just switch on cards. this is irrelevant today, as now you can get a 64 gb ipod touch which can store more than i need......but a few years ago, being able to switch out sd cards was the big feature i prefered (same with android phones vs. iphones. although, some of the androids are now going the way of no sd card.)

[kaebfly]

I'm not sure how far back we're talking...but my first iPod was the iPod mini (which was eventually replaced by the Nano...I actually liked my mini but it was ancient compared to the things iPods and other mp3's do now)...and it didn't have to be married to one computer unless you had it set to autosync...in which case yes, it would delete everything you had on it and start as new if you tried syncying with a different computer. iTunes is far better than it used to be...especially in regards to managing music you purchased from iTunes and want to convert to a different format. Once upon a time that was a task to do (as mentioned before, you had to burn the songs to a CD and then re-sync them...and there was a limit to how many times a song could be burned to disc via iTunes...which was meant to curb piracy I guess). I also think that once upon a time there were less formats that would play correctly on iPods...or there were specific parameters that if weren't met would cause issues.

 I think the only real problem or dislike I had with iTunes had to do with movies/videos and not being able to burn them to DVD to view on a DVD player. This was before there were HDMI ports on laptops to at least give you the option of hooking the computer to your HD tv and viewing that way (although there were other hook-up alternatives for some computers). This is why I have never paid directly for a movie in iTunes (although I have several due to purchase of DVD/Blu-Ray combo packs that included them). I'm not sure if this is something that is iTunes specific though...I never investigated since I have always been good at finding DVD's and Blu-Ray discs at great sale prices far cheaper than it would be do buy the digital copy. Plus, I'm not a fan of watching movies on a really small device on a regular basis. My only other "dislike" wasn't really iTunes specific at all...it was digital media in general. The need to constantly back-up your media for fear of losing it in the event of your computer crashing or you losing your device. The number of discs used to backup (I have a huge library) over the years became a space issue lol. Yes, I have also used external hard drives, but I would still backup to disc also as extra insurance. I actually miss the good old days of actual CD's with jewel cases and a booklet you can actually hold in your hands lol. I will still buy a real CD if it's one I actually like the bulk of...which seems to be rare now, but that's a totally different gripe.

[21stNow]

I will be the first to admit that I make a bigger deal of not liking iTunes in relation to my iPhone than I probably need to. 

Other reasons that I don't like my iPhone as much as my Android phones is probably more luck than anything else.  When the iPhone 4 first came out, I didn't have any of the reported problems with mine, namely the antenna issue and the proximity sensor issue.  I did like that Apple gave us free cases to solve the issue; I took the free case even though I didn't have a problem.  I stopped using it after it caused problems in the use of the phone, and went back to my original case.  Apple released an update to fix the proximity sensor problem.  I downloaded the update, as I like to keep my phones updated to the most current version of the OS.  I was shocked to find that I started having the proximity sensor problem after the update!

I went to an Apple store to let the Genius Bar help me.  They were great and offered to replace my phone on the spot.  I didn't want a refurbished phone, so I declined.  I use my BT headset with the phone to make calls now, so that the PS issue won't occur.  The thing that bothered me was that my phone was fine before the update, and the update made it worse.  I have never had an update on Android that made my phone worse.  I have seen on forums that it does happen to other people, though.  Because of that experience, I have not updated my iPhone since then.  That was over a year ago.  The Genius told me how the change in calculation was done for the update.  I'm no engineer, but the way that he explained it made it seem like the update never should have changed the calculation in that manner in the first place.

Will I buy an iPhone again?  I can't say a definite no right now, but I'm leaning that way.  If an iPhone comes out with a larger screen, I will consider it.  However, I'm being spoiled by a 4.62 (?) inch screen right now, and I doubt that Apple will go that large.  I haven't used my iPhone for about two weeks now, and I haven't missed it like I thought that I would.

I don't know if I mentioned the choice of keyboards and widgets in my other post, but those two things have me addicted to Android!

[silver6055]

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droidsw wrote:

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Tidbits wrote:

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droidsw wrote:


No surprise you defend them. And no, Android owners don't come anywhere near the level of obnoxiousness (if that's a word).

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This is false.  I have seen it go both ways. I can honestly say i have been on both sides of the fence.

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Tidbits, 6 months ago, I would have agreed with you. Honestly, almost everyone I know that has an Android phone is fed up and disgusted. This "large majority" that never has issues just don't happen to be in my circle of friends and acquaintances.

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One difference is that Android has very "lively" intra-family obnoxiousness, whereas I assume that doesn't happen so much in the iPhone world.  (I'm guessing that most users agree that the 4s is an upgrade to the 4 which in turn is better than previous model etc).

So we have that only an idiot would buy a Samsung/Motorola/LG/HTC, because Sense/Blur/TouchWiz is for total losers, and the Nexus/Razr/Bionic/Rezound is the best phone ever (or referred to as "bad boy" by those who have personality disorders).

Now, of course, if they pause for breath and someone mentions the iPhone, they may take a few shots at that, but generally it is so beneath contempt compared to convincingly demonstrating to the world that the phone that they happened to choose is the best and that he or she (but generally he) is in fact a genius for realizing this.

Now some portion will post a few weeks later lamenting that this phone is a piece of whatever, and that Verizon should give them the new bestest phone ever, but many remain faithful for several months.

I am an android user, so I really shouldn't mock my cult, but...  on one of the forums where iphone vs android came up, one user explained something like "Last night I was bored, so I flashed a new ROM onto my ....   Couldn't do that on a [expletive used for iPhone]"  My immediate thought was "What a life".  Not much different from iPhone users putting the latest fart app on their phone when bored, or me posting in the forum I guess!

[ndahi12]

1. no choice in phone size, keyboard. Yeah I get that. I would like my iphone to be 4 inch, but anything bigger than that is bulky. As for the keyboard, the iphone has one of the best out there.

2. no widgets. My brother got the Atrix2 and I checked the widgets and I was not impressed. It looked very pointless to me, but to each his own.

3. have to use itunes. I like itunes a lot. It is perfect for music. I have a PC and itunes has nor taken over my music like you imply. Itunes asks you if you want to make its player and its web browesr the default one. It is up to you to decline it. I do all the time.

4. no sideloading without jailbreaking. Sideloading is a perfect receipe for malware and viruses. We have 500000+ apps in the app store and almost all of them are quality apps. I do not want to sideload an app that will negatively affect the performance of my phone. I paid $200 for my phone and I do not want to spoil it with a rogue app.

5. apple limiting things on purpose to bring a new phone out every year. Show me a handset maker that does not do that. It is inhernet in capitalism. The system is based on profit so planned obsolescence is to be expected. At least Apple still updates their 2 year old 3GS phone to iOS5. Many high end Android phones will not get ICS.

     (the iphone 4 had the global chip, just no antenna and it wasnt activated)

6. the 4s shoulda had lte. LTE 4 is not ready for primetime. The radios eat batteries like crazy. Go read on the Razor forums how users are turning 4G LTE off to get good battery life. You have to ask yourself what is the point of having 4G LTE if you have to turn your phone off to make it last the whole day??? Apple does not do things that way. I get 1 day and 6-8 hours after I unplug from the wall socket and I like it that way.

7. no removable/swappable battery. Wrong. You can get a battery case that can give you up to 100% charge for your iphone. I have one and it gives me up to a 80% from a dead iphone. It is called a boost case. There is boost case now that is 2200 mah. It will give you more than 100% charge to your iphone.

8. no sd card slot. Why do you need an SD card when you can get a 16, 32, or 64 gig iphone? Do you really need more than 64 gig? Besides SD cards create problems. Go read on the Bionic and Atrix forums how Apps are disappearing when stored on the SD card. Apple use the KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) to creating handsets. Having two storage areas on your phone and having the OS alternate between them creates problems like I told you. Just have one large storage area and be done with it.

[ndahi12]

Screen Size: I went from an droid 1 to an incredible to a thunderbolt to a droid charge and I could never go back to a 3 inch screen. I agree with you on that one. I would like a 4 inch iphone and nothing bigger than that. I think the iphone 5 will have a larger 4 inch screen.

Charging ports: Micro USB has become the standard for almost all devices EXCEPT the iPhone. I enjoy being able to go to almost any friends house and asking if they have a micro usb charger and the chances of them having one I can use will be greater than an iPhone. ALTHOUGH the battery life on a iPhone is better so that may make this point null for some. I have screen shots of getting a full day of ACTUAL usage on my iphone 4. I am not talking unplugged, I am talking actual usage. I really do not need a charger to charge my phone almost all of the time. Having said that, I was at my brother the other day and needed some juice. His daughter had an ipod (who doesn't) so I used the sync cable and plugged into his computer. Done.

Pricing: I have no problem paying 299.99 for my 4g droid charge but I do have a problem with apple charging 100.00 for 16 gb of memory when I can go on amazon and get a 16 gb card for 10.00-15.00 dollars. You need an SD card with the Charge because the internal memory on that thing is beyond pathetic. You have little to no internal memory. That is not a problem even with the 8 gig iphone. Besides an SD card creates a  host of communication problems that the OS has to deal with between the internal memory and the SD card. Go read the Bionic and Atrix forums and how the apps disappear once installed on the SD card. Thanks but no thanks. ONE solid memory location is plenty for me. KISS. It works

Apps: I appreciate the free apps on Andriod. I read somewhere that 80% of the apps are free. Alot of people talk about quality but Ive found that most of the major apps (banking,top games, entertainment,etc) are very similar. You have to pay for quality and clean apps. Apple keeps a tight control on the app approval process to maintain quality. Quality costs money. You have to pay to play.

iTunes/Downloading: I hate using iTunes. Honestly, I download most of my music from blogs and mixtape sites. Lots of underground music and I enjoy being able to download directly to my phone. I also enjoy the ease of drag and drop. If I vist a friend and he has a music collection that I like, I simply plug my standard usb port into his computer and drag and drop. Same thing for pictures, personal files, etc. With itunes, the only experience I have with it is when my girlfriend wants me to download her an album. Its not fun for me. If that is what you want, then that is an issue. I have no problem getting music from anywhere on the web and loading it up via itunes. I have doen it over and over again.

Flash: I visit tons of sites that use flash and this isnt available on the iPhone. If you haven't heard but flash for mobile is DEAD. It will not be made anymore. It seems that Adobe now agrees with Jobs that flash is clunky and slows down mobile operations. HTML5 is the future just like Jobs said. Jobs has the last laugh on this one. He is smiling from above.

Google Navigation: I love it. What more else is there to say. I have Motion X and it is as good as Google Nav. I have to pay 0.99 cents for the app. You can get the Free MapQuest app. Also works. Both have turn-by-turn voice navigation. Soon though, maybe by iOS 6 Apple will have its own native navigation on the iPhone. It will be stunning. Just wait and see.

Updates: Although updates thru andriod are slow and spread out, with the iphone the itunes update process is very time consuming. Typical update on an andriod is about 10-15 minutes. I updated my girlfriends iphone to ios5 and it took two hours. To itunes credit though I heard that with the new software the next upgrade will be over the air. But I havent seen that yet. This is not a problem anymore as of iOS 5. I updated OTA and it took 10-15 minutes tops. I would still use itunes to get my updates though. Less likley for things to go wrong.

Now there are some things that I think the iPhone knocks out the park. I love their youtube app, I like their keyboard, I like their photo editing software and I like that fact that my girlfriends phone seems to never crash/freeze where as my Andriod does so atleast 1-2 times a month. However those are trade offs Im willing to accept for the benefits I listed above.

P.S.

I have to admitt that siri does have me a little jealous but I'm sure google will answer that soon enough.

[ndahi12]

I own an Iphone 4s and a Motorola Droid X and the tech guy. The one who likes to tinker and tweak likes the Droid X but the frustrated user of an android based phone likes the reliability and simplistic nature of an Iphone. Currently have the cell service setup on the Iphone and the Droid X is used on wifi. I use them both daily. The droid X is used to search other android forums looking for tips and tweaks. The iphone is used to make the calls... text... run apps that i can`t on my droid. Some apps i prefer to run on one versus the other. I like the bigger screen on the X but enjoy the clarity of the Iphone. Do i have a choice of which is a better platform? Nope. I love them both.

I am like you. I like them both. I am looking into picking up a used Droid X so I can tinker with it. I will keep my iphone for the daily chores that require the "just works" iphone dependability (this is my only phone line).

[21stNow]

1. no choice in phone size, keyboard. Yeah I get that. I would like my iphone to be 4 inch, but anything bigger than that is bulky. As for the keyboard, the iphone has one of the best out there.

At this point, this has become a battle of opinions.  I have small hands and I don't consider anything bigger than 4 inches bulky.  As someone who prefers word tracing keyboards and also prefers the numbers and letters to be on the same screen, the iPhone keyboard is far from being the best out there.

4. no sideloading without jailbreaking. Sideloading is a perfect receipe for malware and viruses. We have 500000+ apps in the app store and almost all of them are quality apps. I do not want to sideload an app that will negatively affect the performance of my phone. I paid $200 for my phone and I do not want to spoil it with a rogue app.

I think that no one wants to "spoil it with a rogue app".  That said, there are many quality apps that are not part of the Apple App Store or the Android Market that enhance the use of my phone, rather than spoil it.  Swype is one of them.  You have to read the reviews of the apps in all cases, and not just blindly trust what is in the App Store.  While the apps may be of high quality in regards to the programming, some are silly in purpose.  I need serious talking caller ID, not Santa reading from a pre-determined list of common names to try to identify the caller.  The Android Market has more than one serious talking caller ID program.  The Apple App Store had none the last time I checked.

7. no removable/swappable battery. Wrong. You can get a battery case that can give you up to 100% charge for your iphone. I have one and it gives me up to a 80% from a dead iphone. It is called a boost case. There is boost case now that is 2200 mah. It will give you more than 100% charge to your iphone.

This line of thinking seems to contradict your overall philosophy of an iPhone being better.  One point is that you said that anything over 4 inches for screen size is bulky.  I would counter that the power cases that I have seen make the phone bulky.  Second, if you paid $200 for a phone, why spend around another $100 just to power it?  I spent less than $20 on the extended battery for my Sensation.  Based on percentage of the lower cost, that is a huge difference. 

8. no sd card slot. Why do you need an SD card when you can get a 16, 32, or 64 gig iphone? Do you really need more than 64 gig? Besides SD cards create problems. Go read on the Bionic and Atrix forums how Apps are disappearing when stored on the SD card. Apple use the KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) to creating handsets. Having two storage areas on your phone and having the OS alternate between them creates problems like I told you. Just have one large storage area and be done with it.

Once again, if you want additional storage on an iPhone, you have to pay $100 more for each capacity level bump.  That is ridiculous considering that 16GB SD cards are sold for less than $20 and 32GB cards are less than $40.  This is a rip-off from Apple.  Also considering that some people have multiple devices that they would use SD cards in, this makes music and photo storage and sharing easier.  Having SD card slots also reduces the need to use iTunes, for those of us that don't like it.  The SD cards haven't created problems with the Android devices that I have used.  KISS can work for some people.  However, I don't consider myself simple or stupid, and therefore don't need to be coddled in this way.

[gerio]

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21stNow wrote:

1. no choice in phone size, keyboard. Yeah I get that. I would like my iphone to be 4 inch, but anything bigger than that is bulky. As for the keyboard, the iphone has one of the best out there.

At this point, this has become a battle of opinions.  I have small hands and I don't consider anything bigger than 4 inches bulky.  As someone who prefers word tracing keyboards and also prefers the numbers and letters to be on the same screen, the iPhone keyboard is far from being the best out there. After that last statement, you need to re-read your own forst sentence. Your opinion. I find the iPhone keyboard just fine (when I'm not using Siri)

4. no sideloading without jailbreaking. Sideloading is a perfect receipe for malware and viruses. We have 500000+ apps in the app store and almost all of them are quality apps. I do not want to sideload an app that will negatively affect the performance of my phone. I paid $200 for my phone and I do not want to spoil it with a rogue app.

I think that no one wants to "spoil it with a rogue app".  That said, there are many quality apps that are not part of the Apple App Store or the Android Market that enhance the use of my phone, rather than spoil it.  Swype is one of them.  You have to read the reviews of the apps in all cases, and not just blindly trust what is in the App Store.  While the apps may be of high quality in regards to the programming, some are silly in purpose.  I need serious talking caller ID, not Santa reading from a pre-determined list of common names to try to identify the caller.  The Android Market has more than one serious talking caller ID program.  The Apple App Store had none the last time I checked. Judging by iPhone sales, you are in the minority for that requirement. I didn't buy a Kia because I needed something bigger. A comparison point, not a detriment

7. no removable/swappable battery. Wrong. You can get a battery case that can give you up to 100% charge for your iphone. I have one and it gives me up to a 80% from a dead iphone. It is called a boost case. There is boost case now that is 2200 mah. It will give you more than 100% charge to your iphone.

This line of thinking seems to contradict your overall philosophy of an iPhone being better.  One point is that you said that anything over 4 inches for screen size is bulky.  I would counter that the power cases that I have seen make the phone bulky.  Second, if you paid $200 for a phone, why spend around another $100 just to power it?  I spent less than $20 on the extended battery for my Sensation.  Based on percentage of the lower cost, that is a huge difference. That's ASSuming you need an extended battery. I know of NO one I know that needs an extended battery for their iPhone, including me. This is your cue to start going on about the iPhone 4S' battery issues. Even with that being the case, I still get 2 more hours than I ever did with the Bionic. My girlfriend just got an iPhone 4 and she went 4 DAYS before the battery was down to 28% (very little data use, admittedly)

8. no sd card slot. Why do you need an SD card when you can get a 16, 32, or 64 gig iphone? Do you really need more than 64 gig? Besides SD cards create problems. Go read on the Bionic and Atrix forums how Apps are disappearing when stored on the SD card. Apple use the KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) to creating handsets. Having two storage areas on your phone and having the OS alternate between them creates problems like I told you. Just have one large storage area and be done with it.

Once again, if you want additional storage on an iPhone, you have to pay $100 more for each capacity level bump.  That is ridiculous considering that 16GB SD cards are sold for less than $20 and 32GB cards are less than $40.  This is a rip-off from Apple. Hardware, my friend, hardware. The "ripoff" moniker is just your opinion (and not a bad one, but apparently, it rings hollow with a lot of people. So now are you going to break out the "sheeple" argument and start throwing around accusations of whatever Kool-aid they are drinking?). And I've heard of several memory cards going bad and owners of Android phones losing data from that card going bad. I've never seen an error message on an iPhone about its memory not recognized or not formatted.   Also considering that some people have multiple devices that they would use SD cards in, this makes music and photo storage and sharing easier.  Having SD card slots also reduces the need to use iTunes, for those of us that don't like it.  The SD cards haven't created problems with the Android devices that I have used.  Lucky you. KISS can work for some people.  However, I don't consider myself simple or stupid, and therefore don't need to be coddled in this way. There's nothing wrong with you preferring an Android phone. Do you hold that opinion about people that prefer iPhones?

My point is not to prove that the Android phone is bad, but to steer this conversation back to the middle. I've had as much experience with Android phones as anyone. The Bionic broke me (for the time beiong, anyway, I haven't ruled out ever getting another Android phone, but with the current crop of phones and this joke of a phone release concerning the Galaxy Nexus, I'll stay with iPhones for the time being. And for Heaven's sake, if Android works for you, then you have my blessing and best wishes.

There. Argue with that.

Geri O

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[droidsw]

The display size argument is all about personal preference (as is this entire debate).

Android had the better idea to offer larger displays. Apple's track record hints that they will concede and increase theirs, if only slightly.

Swype is great, but perhaps I have worn out my display because it is horribly inaccurate anymore and I often end up manually inputting words, so I might as well peck peck away on an iphone without Swype.

I rip most of my music off my own CDs and I've never dealt with iTunes, but downloading from Amazon for this (Android phone) and then to my computer for back-up seems like a step or two redundant.

Maybe people DO want fast and easy.

The app situation isn't that black and white, Gerio. Weather Channel, Fox News, CNN, etc., are different than "Hot Calender Girls" apps. You expect the former not to cause issues (and they have on my phone) and know that the latter is questionable (for one's phone, that is).

Also, how reliable are app reviews when 90-95% of my peers with the same phone never had the issues that I had?

Now, if I PAID for most of my apps, like I understand a lot do with iphones, I would expect a better app product.

Memory hasn't been an issue, but I suppose you pay for what you need.

The debate goes on.