Android or Apple IOS

[kb0nes]

browsing a web page on a 4 yo iPad

Nathan,

You must have different performance expectations then I do or something (perhaps things are different down under?).

I have a iPhone 5 and it runs iOS 10 fine, didn't really see a hit when I upgraded. Same with my iPad Mini Retina. There were lots of things I didn't like with 10, but I didn't feel like I was waiting on it.

I have an original iPad Mini that still browses web pages with no complaints (iOS 9, it can't take 10).

And the real kicker is my oldest brother has an original iPad that he was given as a doorprize. He still uses it daily! Of course it stopped at iOS 5. I just can't believe that the battery is still serviceable, I'm on the 3rd battery in my phone and his iPad predates my phone by about 2 years!

I will full well admit that I am a patient person and often a computer bottom feeder so maybe my tolerance for less the instantaneous performance is higher then others. Heck just a few weeks ago I turned on my old IBM ThinkPad 23C and I ran just fine for an amateur radio contest. Everyone of the squirrels in that Pentium III 1.333Mhz were running full speed

Phil

 

[mrb627]

Switched...

I went from Apple to Android a few years ago for nothing more than cost and fast charging.

Malcolm

 

[super32]

I gradually switched

First was the phone. 3GS, 4, 5, 6, now 7. The only reason i went from 6 to 7 was my 6 was running out of memory. Some Android users have told me you can upgrade the memory on their devices which is something you cant do on Apple. Every time i look at, try to play with or help a friend with one of their (non Apple) devices, i can never quite figure it out. It seems to me that Apple is very straight forward and logical. In terms of reliability, my Apples have been fairly reliable. My 4 and 5 had short battery lives and both of them had to be replaced within the first 48hrs because of problems with the bluetooth. The 3GS, 6 and 7 have had no problems.

I got my first IPad in 2012. It was fine no problems. As i began to travel more for work and as shows/movies became more and more available to download to watch offline, i had memory issues with it long before the phone.

As for my computers, there was a time i would wrinkle my nose at a Mac and could not understand them. Now i have 2 Macs, i would never even consider any type of windows or PC product.

My only other big suggestion aside from the ones mentioned by others is if you consider an Apple, consider what you will use it for and its memory capacity.

 

[brisnat81]

Hey Phil,

It could be a patience thing. Our Ipad is the 64GB First Retina model Ipad that maxes out at IOS9. In either Chrome or Safari as soon as you have a picture or any active objects on a web page, the scrolling becomes jerky and stops and starts. Its been like that for for the last 18 months now.

My Iphone 6 Plus running 10.2, has a lag time of 3-7 seconds when opening an app from scratch. I assume its because its hamstrung with only 1GB of memory and its Paging goes crazy when I open a new app. It doesnt make any different, what apps are open or if only 1 app is.

Michael has a 6S Plus and apps open on it within 2-3 seconds, It has 2GB ram though. I tend to replace my devices every two years, and I've always found that the OS available at the 18 month mark usually has caused some sort of performance degredation on the Ios Device. the Iphone 4s was probably the one that went the longest without slowing down. Ever since then the performance is gone by the second major IOS update.

 

[liberatordeluxe]

The only downside to Apple is you can't upgrade storage space as there is no sd card. In terms of a company do you think Apple is more ethical when it comes to privacy and security than Google?

 

[kb0nes]

The lack of upgradable storage does bother me a bit. But on the other hand I have seen friends Android devices not work very seamlessly with an added SD card.

As for the company ethics, I'd like to think Apple is better. After all the majority of their revenue doesn't come from advertising. But still I have no qualms with Google use either. I have been on the Internet since 1992 and while I practice safe computing I don't like in fear. I actually like Gmail targeting ads based on email content. I'd rather look at related ads vs ads for stuff is never buy...

 

[liberatordeluxe]

After have a windows phone and laptop I can say I'd never go back to Windows because the Windows 10 was dreadful. So it's either Apple or Android at the end of the day.

 

[kb0nes]

Typing on a Win 10 computer here at work now. Not sure it fits my definition of 'dreadful' but I do wish it did somethings differently. It does a number of things VERY VERY well though.

The biggest issue with Windows is that each update comes with a massive learning curve. It is like getting a new pair of shoes, that old pair was sure comfy, the new pair will take some time.

While Microsoft has had some serious clunkers (ME, Vista, Win 8 to name a few), in general the best Windows operating system is the latest one. Things sure are better since the XP days. It does make sense to be prudent and not always update a given computer, new OS's often need newer hardware to work well.

As for a Windows phone... I'll pass, it was merely an attempt by Microsoft to get into the mobile market, and not a very good attempt.

 

[foraloysius]

I have Windows10 and it gets updated regularly. The updates don't disturb much though, I'm not using Microsoft products to navigate and mail. I use an Avast SafeZone browser and Thunderbird for mail.

A friend has a Windows phone. All I can say is Good Grief!!!

 

[liberatordeluxe]

Do you buy your devices upfront or get them on a contract? I could never afford £359 upfront for an iPhone as don't earn a lot.

 

[panthera]

I keep saying it and it keeps being true:

The real security risk is user failure to observe common sense precautionary measures. None of the three most common systems in use can protect one against that.

 

Personally, I dislike the Borg mentality of too many apple users.

 

I was never a Windoof fan, went from Unix to OS/2 to Linux and never had any of the problems my fellow students, then fellow authors/translators then instructors had with Windoof and apple. Yes, virii were written for the largest market, Windows. But the kernel panics and the lost documents which my fellow translators suffered from under apple - yikes! And this at a time when Sony was doing design just as awe inspiring.

 

As to phones and pads, same thing. With apple, you're paying for the prestige not the technology. Even Cortina is way smarter than Siri. But, heh - I'll close with my opening. It doesn't really matter which OS you choose, the biggest security risk is your own behaviour.

 

[jp10558]

There's no good choice IMHO for smartphones. Android lets you do a lot more and can be cheaper, but you pay in lack of patching, and google spying on everything unless you re-flash the OS and don't run most apps as you can't then use the Play Store (well you can, but now you may have voided the warranty and didn't get away from the spying).

iOS is currently a little more privacy conscious, but I believe as soon as the longer news cycle shifts, Apple is as likely to spy as not - I have no confidence they are actually as a company committed to user privacy or security. iOS is a total walled garden. You can't install software Apple doesn't want you to have.

Honestly, I think if I pay $800 for a mobile phone, I damn well ought to be root, I ought to own it once I pay it off, and I should decide what it does or doesn't do within the confines of the law. Sadly, all the tech companies think they know better than I do.

Same issues on the desktop. I switched to Linux also - I'm a big boy and can make my own choices, thank you very much. I'm hopeful I can get by with the Pyra when it comes out, but it'll be far less plug and play than iOS or Android. I haven't decided if I'm going to use my phone as a glorified hotspot, keep the phone for texting and talking, or find I can't give up the smartphone for a clamshell device that's a "real" computer.

 

[cadman]

I'm not sure I'd say there are no good smartphone choices, I honestly couldn't be happier with my 5S. Picked it up as an 'open box' (though never actually removed) a couple years ago at Best Buy for less than a C-note and it has performed almost flawlessly since day 1. I say "almost flawlessly" because I have run up against its meager memory occasionally (16GB) if shooting video, and about once a year it requires a restart. Other than that, it's taken the beating I've thrown at it (both HW & SW). In fact, I'm still on the original battery which I can get 2-3 days out of under normal use.

People make a big fuss about the 'walled garden' approach to limited apps, but I've never found that to be an issue. I can think of nothing mainstream that's not available on both Apple and Android, and lots of rather eccentric stuff, too.

I'd never pay $600 for a phone, but this one comes damn close to that value.