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What iOS does that Andron’t

Today, Dropbox announced support for iOS8’s sharing system:

You can now count Dropbox among the third-party apps that work with Apple’s sharing system, as of today. The company just pushed out a new update to its iOS app that inserts a “save to Dropbox” option in the sharing pane for certain types of files.

In the comments of that article, someone asked a perfectly valid question:

I’m a rare Android user within my group of friends. I’d say something around 90% of the people I hang out with have iPhones and almost all of them assume their iPhone has the latest and greatest technology available on the market. I’m honestly not trying to troll, but could someone provide a list or a few features that iPhone has than Android doesn’t?

Historically, iOS has been more polished, while Android has been more feature-filled. With the release of iOS8, the two operating systems are closer to parity than ever before, but there are still certainly differences, and there are features my Android phone had that I still miss on my iPhone – the ability to set default apps, more powerful background processing, and custom keyboards that actually work being just some of those. Asking what features iOS has that Android doesn’t made for an interesting philosophical question – when people think about iPhones and iPads, the benefits they think of are usually on the hardware side, not on the software side. Still, there are definitely things iOS does that Android doesn’t – here’s what I came up with:

Touch ID, technically a hardware feature, is worth mentioning due to its deep integration with iOS. As-of iOS8, third-party apps can leverage it, making both unlocking your phone, logging into sensitive apps, and buying products easier than ever.
I’ve mentioned this before, but the main reason I switched back to the iPhone from Android was battery life. While the iPhone’s battery isn’t necessarily better in my experience, but it’s substantially more reliable, in that I can put it into standby and it actually stays idle, rather than draining my battery in the background. I classify this as iOS-specific behavior, as iOS does a better job at allowing me, as the user, to specify what an app can or can’t do in the background. Facebook is allowed to access my location while in use, but not in the background, and it doesn’t have the ability to update its data while in the background, because I don’t need either of those features. That same permission-centric functionality just doesn’t exist on Android; iOS even goes so far as to warn me when an app is using my location in the background and gives me the option to stop it.
iMessage is something iOS nails that Android stil hasn’t matched. Seamless transfer between data-based and SMS-based communication is pretty fantastic, especially when communicating with fellow iOS users. The ability to send both iMessages and SMS messages directly, and even take and receive phone calls, from a Mac or iPad is also pretty great, and while Android can match some of that functionality with third-party apps, it’s not as well integrated, as it isn’t native. Interestingly, I find this also helps my phone last longer – if I’m making a phone call or sending an SMS from my computer or iPad, then that’s even more time my phone is spending on standby. I don’t even really use my phone at home for that reason, since my laptop and tablet can seamlessly take over for it.
The last one: native OS cloud backups. You’d think this is something where Android would dominate iOS, given Google’s history with cloud services, but nope. While you can re-download all of your apps on a new Android device, the data doesn’t usually come with those apps. iOS does complete cloud backups, with all of your app data intact. Get a new iOS device, enter your iCloud credentials, and you’ll be up and running with everything just as you left it, right down to SMS history. And, if you don’t trust iCloud, you can just as easily run backups to any computer running iTunes. This is a big thing for me, as I love the peace of mind that comes with knowing my iOS devices are backed up on a nightly basis. It’s also frustrating because I think Android needs that functionality more than iOS does. I don’t really tweak my iOS devices, but I would mess around with my Android devices quite a bit. The ability to easily restore all of my apps and data any time I flashed a new ROM would’ve been pretty awesome. There were third-party services to handle this, but they all felt sub-par in some way, and seemed to do just as much harm as good sometimes.

Of course, as I said at the beginning, this is largely a thought experiment – at the end of the day, iOS and Android aren’t all that different anymore, so it’s less about the OS and more about the hardware and ecosystem you want to invest in. There are still some things Android does better, and there are still some things iOS does better, but for the most part, you get roughly the same experience on both platforms, regardless of what die-hards want you to believe.

Apple may slow down and catch its breath with iOS9

February 9, 2015 / Jason Kallelis / 3 Comments

9to5Mac reports:

Following the success of OS X Snow Leopard for Macs in 2009, one of iOS 9’s standout ‘features’ will be a directed focus on stabilizing and optimizing the operating system.

This would be great news, if true. Android and iOS are at near-feature-parity these days – both OSes do certain things a little better and certain things a little worse, but overall they both provide very similar smartphone experiences. We’re starting to reach the end of what these devices can do without some hardware innovation, especially in the battery area. Now, it’s time for both Apple and Google to slow down and do a bit of polishing.

Quick Tip: Use an iPad adapter with your iPhone to charge much faster

January 28, 2015 / Jason Kallelis / 1 Comment

This is one of those things that, as a nerd, I assume everyone knows, but the reality is quite the opposite. While your iPhone obviously came with a wall adapter, that wall charger doesn’t charge your phone as fast as possible, as it it is a 5-Watt adapter. If you want to (roughly) double your charging speed, use a 10-Watt or 12-Watt iPad adapter. It’s perfectly safe (at least as long as you use an official one), and I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the difference in charging speed compared to what you get out-of-the-box.

Apple approves and features “calculator” widget, then changes their mind

October 30, 2014 / Jason Kallelis / 0 Comments

From six colors:

First there’s the maddening inconsistency: This is an app that was accepted into the App Store, and is even being featured in the App Store as I write this. And now, a few weeks in, someone at Apple has decided that the app is too… what? Too useful?

And the icing on the cake:

And yes, Apple is currently featuring PCalc in the “Great apps for iOS 8” section, under Notification Center widgets.

— James Thomson (@jamesthomson) October 29, 2014

I just don’t understand this behavior from Apple, though maybe I’m just overly sensitive to it as a programmer myself. Don’t they realize a large reason for the success of the iPhone is the fantastic third-party developers who make their platform what it is? Either allow things or reject them, but don’t open your doors, welcome someone in, then slam those doors behind them and set the room on fire.

Update: Apple has clarified their position on Calculator Widgets, and it looks like PCalc can stay!

Retailers are disabling Apple Pay and Google Wallet to push their own terrible payment system

October 25, 2014 / Jason Kallelis / 2 Comments

The Verge writes:

…a significant number of merchants, including heavyweights like Walmart, Kmart, 7-Eleven, and Best Buy, are in outright competition with Apple Pay. The retailers, through a joint venture formed in 2012, are building their own mobile payment app, called CurrentC. It’s expected to launch next year. In the meantime, these retailers have no intention to support Apple Pay.

Hooray! A whole new set of mobile payment standards. And you know what they say about standards.

Meanwhile, not a single bank backs CurrentC. That’s because the system is designed to cut out the middleman — and credit card processing fees. The app, when it launches next year, won’t replace your plastic credit card. Instead, it will withdraw directly from your checking account when you pay at the cash register with a QR code displayed on your Android or iOS device.

Okay, two things:

Why the fuck would I want to give these retailers direct access to my checking account, especially after the number of stories about POS system hacking in the last year?
QR codes? Fucking QR codes? Are you serious? Was this system devised in 2006? (answer: probably)

I don’t expect everyone to welcome Apple with open arms just because they finally jumped on the NFC mobile payments train, but can’t we at least all agree that having NFC readers that charge our credit cards is infinitely better than using QR codes to directly withdraw money from our checking accounts? I want as many barriers between my money and these security-backwards retailers as possible; the last thing I want is the only barrier between them and my money to be a glorified bar code.

Why I use an Android phone, but still recommend the iPhone

October 24, 2014 / Jason Kallelis / 0 Comments

A poster on The Verge’s forums asks:

So what am I missing? Where is the greatness in iOS?

Honestly, most “normal” people don’t need the power and flexibility that Android offers – they just need a reliable phone that calls and texts and runs apps and takes pretty pictures, and for that, the iPhone is pretty great. There’s also a lot to be said for the quality of Apple products – why bother to decide between half a dozen Android phones, each with their own limitations, when you can just buy Apple’s phone and call it a day? Sure, iOS isn’t necessarily as powerful or flexible as Android, but it’s also powerful enough that it be used for productivity, as long as you’re willing to mold your workflow to work the way Apple wants it to.

This was actually a topic of discussion on the Vergecast today, and the Verge folks said that the reasons to use an iPhone basically boiled down to:

iMessage (including, in iOS8, SMS through Continuity)
AirPlay
Camera performance

It’s hard to argue with any of these, but for simplicity’s sake, let’s focus on iMessage. Android fans like myself can and will go on and on about the power and flexibility of Android, but most normal people never really see that power and flexibility. What they do see is that they can iMessage their friends and send texts from their computer with very little effort, and that’s huge. This is what people mean when they talk about iOS’ ecosystem.

Can I send texts from my computer with third-party apps? Sure – but most Android users don’t, either because they don’t know about the apps that enable it, or they know but don’t care enough to go through the effort of making it work. There’s a huge value to be placed on making the barrier to entry as non-existent as possible.

Today’s Apple Announcements: Spec Bumpin’ (and not much else)

October 16, 2014 / Jason Kallelis / 0 Comments

Today’s Apple event was the most boring in recent memory. Hey, we bumped the specs! We bumped all the specs! Things are a little faster and thinner!

I wonder if the time for dedicated events for each and every device released should come to an end. Most of the announcements today could have been handled with a press release and promo video, which could then free up press events for major releases. Still, I guess that’s not really Apple’s style.

Oh well. At least Yosemite comes out today.

This is why Apple’s customer service is second-to-none

September 16, 2014 / Jason Kallelis / 0 Comments

9-to-5 Mac writes:

Apple’s big week starts with the arrival of iPhone 6 and 6 Plus inventory “as early as Wednesday, September 17th.” Retail inventory specialists (Back of House) have been instructed to “hold back 4% of overall inventory by SKU (minimum 1 device/SKU) for DOA holdbacks.” This ensures that customers will not be let down if their new iPhone has an issue right out of the box. Devices that were preordered for in-store pickup will be set aside so they are not accidentally sold to walk-in customers.

As much as I enjoy using Android, and am now even more heavily invested in it thanks to my purchase of an Android Wear smartwatch, one of the things I miss most about owning an iPhone is the ridiculously high quality of service provided by Apple Stores. Buying an Apple product means never having to question whether or not I’ll receive proper support, while buying an Android device is still a crapshoot, depending on both the OEM and the carrier you bought it from.

Little tidbits, like holding back 4% of every SKU in case of customer issues, shows that they really think about the end-to-end customer experience, rather than just how to make the sale. In an ideal world, Apple’s level of support would be the rule, rather than the exception.

Are small smartphones dead?

September 13, 2014 / Jason Kallelis / 3 Comments

After today, all indications are that the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 and 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus are both going to be record-selling smartphones, which leaves us with an important question:

Are the days of the small smartphone dead?

Previously, friends of mine who wanted a smaller smartphone would typically go with the iPhone or the Moto X, regardless of whether or not they preferred iOS or Android. They were, if nothing else, reliable and perfect for one-handed use for most people. I only own a Nexus 5 because my friend sold it to me, saying she couldn’t stand the size and, despite having few issues with Android itself, opted to replace it with a 5S. Unfortunately for her and others like her, the flagship iPhones are now 4.7 and 5.5 inches, Moto X is 5.2 inches and even its cheaper cousin, the Moto G, is 5 inches. Obviously, customers have spoken, and the majority prefer larger phones – according to Android Central, Motorola specifically cited this as their reason for bumping the Moto X up a full .5 inches in size:

We can grumble about that all we want (and we will), but Motorola says it has data showing that 75 percent of folks upgrading phones wanted to go with something bigger. So, Motorola went bigger, too.

For many, screens much greater than 4 inches are far from ideal for a variety of reasons – the 4.7-inch Moto X was about as large as a phone could get while still being considered a “one-handed” phone. Despite the fact that, on paper, the Moto X and the iPhone 6 are 4.7 inches, the small bezel size of the Moto X means it’s noticeably smaller than the iPhone 6 – you can see a great comparison of that here.

So, the iPhone is no longer the go-to device when friends ask me what small phone they should buy. On the Android side, the only small smartphones are either lower-end or phones that don’t seem to get US releases, like the Xperia Z Compact series. Honestly, I don’t know what to tell those friends anymore, except maybe to get the 5S which, despite being a year old, and is still a great phone.

At this point, the only real hope is that Android OEMs will release flagships along the lines of the Xperia Z Compact, in order to fill the niche being abandoned by Apple – which seems unlikely – or that, next year, there will be enough consumer feedback that we’ll see 4-inch, 4.7-inch, and 5-5inch versions of the iPhone 6S.

What do you all think? Am I missing an obvious choice, or has it now become substantially more difficult to find a small flagship smartphone to recommend to others? Do people who prefer small smartphones just have to adapt to a smartphone landscape that’s no longer interested in serving their needs?

Apple Watch, Apple Pay, iPhone 6 Announcement Thoughtstream

September 9, 2014 / Jason Kallelis / 0 Comments

Cool work with that livestream, Apple. Love the way it keeps cutting off. Hope you aren’t going to brag too much about your cloud services today…
Whelp, guess I’m reading live blogs instead. Way less exciting this way. Way to ruin the mood out of the gate, Apple.
Holy shit this is the fastest event ever. They must have a lot to talk about. I bet this would be way more exciting with a functional live stream.
iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. Look just like the leaks. I would’ve gone with iPhone 6 Pro, but eh.
“Retina HD” is one way to name something, I guess.
1080p resolution for the 5 inch – interesting. That’s lower than the guesses made by Gruber.
The live stream is working! And now there’s a Chinese translation over it, because reasons.
Okay, that “Reachability” feature looks like something out of Samsung’s playbook. Or even something Samsung would’ve rejected. Gross.
I’m actually pretty excited by the motion co-processor stuff, especially if it really can differentiate between running and biking. No exercise tracker has nailed that yet.
Still 8MP, but I’d argue that’s all you need for a good camera phone.
With that camera bump, I really expected OIS.
Ah, there it is…but only on the Plus. Shame.
Burst Selfies. Yup, that’s what the world needed.
iOS8 is still pretty great…and that’s about as much time as Apple spent on it, too
Apple finally bumped up the storage in their models, though of course they couldn’t bother to put 32 GB in the $199 model. Because margins.
40 minutes for the new iPhones. That’s a lot of time for whatever is left.
I wonder if Apple will talk about wireless payments without even mentioning NFC.
If Apple fails at mobile payments, I feel like it’s probably dead for a long time. Hope they get this right.
Oh, I was wrong. They actually mentioned NFC.
If nothing else, maybe this will get NFC-based mobile payments into more places, regardless of payment platform.
Oh wow, an actual “One More Thing…” Here we go.
Apple’s making a watch?! No way! Said no one, ever.
Wow, is it really just a square smartwatch? Hope there’s more to it, because right now this looks like an Android Wear watch for iPhones.
Lots of customization though, so that’s neat.
I love how this is getting a standing ovation before we even know what it does.
I really don’t see how this is any more acceptable to wear in public than existing smartwatches.
So…what’s the battery life?
Not always on. Responds to wrist-raise. Strange that it turns “on” to the home screen and not the watch face, though.
I…don’t know about this. This looks like an iPhone on your wrist, rather than a companion to said phone.
I’m starting to think this thing doesn’t have a touchscreen.
Ah, there it is.
Looks like the exercise tracking stuff isn’t really much more advanced than something like the Moto 360. That’s a shame.
Wireless charging on an Apple device. That’s always good. Wonder if it’s Qi, or something proprietary.
Multiple sizes is good. More companies need to get on that.
So much for the claims that Apple would unveil something that changes the entire way people think about wrist wearables. It’s very pretty, but it’s not a game-changer – it just means the game is truly afoot in the wearable race.
This looks way more like a Galaxy Gear than I’d be comfortable with, if I was Apple.
These apps are cool, but it’s like it does too much – I don’t wear a smartwatch to use tiny apps.
Did people seriously just applaud canned responses to text messages? At least it does have a voice dictation option.
Siri on the watch. Table stakes for the watch game at this point, but still good to see.
“Being active is one of the best things you can do to improve your health”…gee, you think?
To be fair, this is exactly what I want out of a wearable – smartwatch + exercise tracker + microphone – but it requires an iPhone, which makes it an iffy proposition. I’m excited to use a Moto 360 to see how decent its heart rate tracking and step tracking are.
I mean, it’s basically the iPod Nano on your wrist that so many people wanted. I’m sure it’ll sell amazingly. I just don’t know if it’s for me.
A basic amount of backwards compatibility down through the iPhone 5 gets applause. I guess I expected that at bare minimum.
Really? “Inductive wireless charging is something only Apple can do”? *looks over at his wireless charging Nexus 5*. Fuck off.
Using the ease of charging as a way to redirect from likely issues with battery life. A day at most seems likely. Probably a bit better than the Moto 360, but behind other Android Wear watches.
I love how Apple’s making it look like their charging solution is amazing and innovative, despite the 360’s being better.
Early next year – saw that coming. Not in time for Christmas, so that’s a big miss.
Apple Pay works with Apple Watch. Obviously, but still good.
$350. Not bad. Less than expected, but more than Android Wear competitors.

Overall…I think I’m sticking with Android, for now. I was relying on the Apple Watch to push me over the edge back into Apple ecosystem, but it’s just not quite enough at this point. Also, seriously, fuck that “Reachability” mode. What is Apple thinking?

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