Not directed at anyone in particular here ... but I see enough comments about how some iOS users have tried android phones and "can't figure out how to use them". I don't know how long it's been since any of those people have tried to use an android phone, but honestly it's about the same as using an iOS device. The main differences from a UI standpoint are as follows:
1. Instead of having a gazillion pages to thumb through for apps (aka: iphone), there is an "app drawer" on the android phones. So you can just have a couple of scrollable main screens with your most commonly used apps out in front of you, but then go into the app drawer for all the other stuff. It's a subtle difference, and many may ask why it's even necessary, but I like it. It just feels better to me.
2. The android OS phones don't lock you down to having your app icons auto-arrange favoring the top of a given page. You can literally place them anywhere on a page just like you can place an app/shortcut on your computer desktop. That is a huge plus, seeing as how you can have apps toward the bottom of the screen where they are more "thumb accessible".
3. Android has actual, real, interactive widgets you can place on your home screen. I have one that shows my calendar agenda, and I can touch an event and it brings me to my calendar with that even pulled up. I can scroll through my agenda right there on my screen. No need to pull down a window and find my agenda like in iOS. I have another custom-made widget that has the time, date and weather on it. It also has hot-spots so I can touch the time and it opens up my alarm. I can touch the date and it opens my calendar. I can touch on the temperature/weather info and it opens up my weather app. Point is, the UI is simply more intuitive and user friendly vs. iOS.
4. Android doesn't inherently have those little red dots for notifications per app. It's got a notification bar at the top with the time and all the other stuff across the very top of the phone. There are apps that add in the notification "dots" on apps, but they are not really necessary once you get used to the way android notifies you of things.
All in all - not to be too repetitive - they work almost identically. The difference is really no more than the difference between a PC and a MAC.
Also, there are so many other things about android OS that are better than apple's ecosystem ... but it would take a while to explain them all ... so here's a couple easy ones.
When I pull down my "shade" on my android phone, it reveals some toggles for stuff like wifi, bluetooth, etc. Apple does this too. However, they are not just toggles. If I tap the wifi icon, it turns wifi on/off. However if I long-press the wifi icon, it brings up the wifi settings for the phone. Apple's OS does not do this. If you want to go into your wifi settings on an iphone, you have to go into settings, then find wherever networking/wifi is, so on and so forth.
Also, I like that android's main "settings" are about the phone/and OS ... NOT the apps. If you want to make changes to how the phone deals with the OS, or how the OS handles global things about apps, those settings are in there, and easy to find. However, if you want to make changes to the settings of a particular app, you open that app and go to the settings in there. I much prefer that over iOS having ALL settings inside the main settings "thing" in the phone. I don't have to go looking for in-app settings because I open up the app in question, then settings, then it's all right there. Simple, easy, elegant.
anyway, I'm an android fan for sure, but don't hate apple products. I just like how i can make my phone work how I want it to ... and as others have mentioned, things like being able to use my phone as a USB storage device, or drag/drop anything I want on the phone (pictures, songs, ringtones, working files, etc) and have my phone recognize them immediately for use ... that's something that I just can't give up. I can go to YOUR house, plug my phone into YOUR computer, and copy songs off your computer to my phone. No iTunes required ... no "handcuffs" at all. I could also drag songs, pictures, etc. off my phone onto your computer.
yes, android is more like a PC in your pocket ... but the main interface and functions of the device from an everyday user standpoint are basically the same as iOS.
1. Instead of having a gazillion pages to thumb through for apps (aka: iphone), there is an "app drawer" on the android phones. So you can just have a couple of scrollable main screens with your most commonly used apps out in front of you, but then go into the app drawer for all the other stuff. It's a subtle difference, and many may ask why it's even necessary, but I like it. It just feels better to me.
2. The android OS phones don't lock you down to having your app icons auto-arrange favoring the top of a given page. You can literally place them anywhere on a page just like you can place an app/shortcut on your computer desktop. That is a huge plus, seeing as how you can have apps toward the bottom of the screen where they are more "thumb accessible".
3. Android has actual, real, interactive widgets you can place on your home screen. I have one that shows my calendar agenda, and I can touch an event and it brings me to my calendar with that even pulled up. I can scroll through my agenda right there on my screen. No need to pull down a window and find my agenda like in iOS. I have another custom-made widget that has the time, date and weather on it. It also has hot-spots so I can touch the time and it opens up my alarm. I can touch the date and it opens my calendar. I can touch on the temperature/weather info and it opens up my weather app. Point is, the UI is simply more intuitive and user friendly vs. iOS.
4. Android doesn't inherently have those little red dots for notifications per app. It's got a notification bar at the top with the time and all the other stuff across the very top of the phone. There are apps that add in the notification "dots" on apps, but they are not really necessary once you get used to the way android notifies you of things.
All in all - not to be too repetitive - they work almost identically. The difference is really no more than the difference between a PC and a MAC.
Also, there are so many other things about android OS that are better than apple's ecosystem ... but it would take a while to explain them all ... so here's a couple easy ones.
When I pull down my "shade" on my android phone, it reveals some toggles for stuff like wifi, bluetooth, etc. Apple does this too. However, they are not just toggles. If I tap the wifi icon, it turns wifi on/off. However if I long-press the wifi icon, it brings up the wifi settings for the phone. Apple's OS does not do this. If you want to go into your wifi settings on an iphone, you have to go into settings, then find wherever networking/wifi is, so on and so forth.
Also, I like that android's main "settings" are about the phone/and OS ... NOT the apps. If you want to make changes to how the phone deals with the OS, or how the OS handles global things about apps, those settings are in there, and easy to find. However, if you want to make changes to the settings of a particular app, you open that app and go to the settings in there. I much prefer that over iOS having ALL settings inside the main settings "thing" in the phone. I don't have to go looking for in-app settings because I open up the app in question, then settings, then it's all right there. Simple, easy, elegant.
anyway, I'm an android fan for sure, but don't hate apple products. I just like how i can make my phone work how I want it to ... and as others have mentioned, things like being able to use my phone as a USB storage device, or drag/drop anything I want on the phone (pictures, songs, ringtones, working files, etc) and have my phone recognize them immediately for use ... that's something that I just can't give up. I can go to YOUR house, plug my phone into YOUR computer, and copy songs off your computer to my phone. No iTunes required ... no "handcuffs" at all. I could also drag songs, pictures, etc. off my phone onto your computer.
yes, android is more like a PC in your pocket ... but the main interface and functions of the device from an everyday user standpoint are basically the same as iOS.