It’s no secret that I’m hooked on Apple technology, and a fan of developing on the iOS platform. Android is quickly becoming an important operating system for the mobile market though, and I felt it was time to actually get my feet wet with Android, and AT LEAST learn how it works.
I thought I would put together a few thoughts on things that I really like so far. Keep in mind I’m new to Android, so I have not explored everything available yet, nor do I claim that my way of doing things is the only, or proper way.
Another disclaimer is that my exposure so far is through the eyes of HTC’s SenseUI. It definitely raises the bar on the look and feel of the stock Android UI, but that also means I may be showing some things you would only find in an HTC device.
Physical Buttons
Hands down, one of my favorite features of Android phones are the buttons just under the screen. There is a home button, a menu button, a back button, and a search button. On the iPhone, typically the back button takes up a portion of the screen in a navigation bar. As I switched between the Android device, and the iPhone, I found myself anticipating the button at the bottom of the iPhone when I was transitioning between views. It is an unexpected favorite of mine.
Menu Buttons
Building on the physical buttons, the menu button triggers additional options to display on the screen. Once you get the thought process down, it’s natural to go to this button when you are looking for options not immediately available on the screen you are viewing. Often you will find that the menu button shows a settings or preferences button. Email, twitter and facebook apps all do this.
Widgets
When I first saw “Widgets,” I thought “Garbage on my screen.” Once I started looking at it, I realized that this was how the HTC clock, email widget, and favorites were on my screens. I like the ability to quickly see more than a sea of icons, and I really think iOS would benefit if we could make use of widgets.
One thought that comes to mind would be an improvement to an app like Things, or Omnifocus. Instead of an app icon with a meaningless badge telling me that I have 10,000 items to do, I could have the top items to complete today right on the screen, without opening the app, and I could quickly check them off.
Email Widget
I have to single out the email widget here. With a flick of the finger, you can flip through your new mail. I think this is specific to HTC, but I’m not sure. It reminds me of something I first saw on the demo of the Palm Pre (WebOS), and it’s nice for taking a quick look through your incoming email if you have a few minutes. I also find it useful to “bookmark” an email by leaving it up on the screen, so I can come back to it later.
All Screens
On the iPhone, I always have to slide past each screen, but on Android, a second push on the Home button, or a pinch motion on the screen will show me all available screens. I am a HUGE fan of Expose on the Mac, and this is just like Expose on my phone. Simply touch the screen you want, and it pops up, with no repetitive swipes. The only drawback is that the iPhone has many more available screens, so area per screen is tight on my Android device.
Data Sync
One distressing thing I found on my Android device was that I could always see when communications were taking place, unlike my iPhone which I usually have no clue what is going on in the background. I was muttering that I needed a way to see all applications that were performing background communications, and I eventually came across this in Settings. You can disable background data, and you have a full list of apps working in the background so that you can control what each application has permission to do.
A few negatives so far…
I still love iOS, and feel that overall it fits my needs the best, but I do like Android. That said, here are a few of the issues I have had so far.
Scrolling is not always smooth in all apps. This is something that is always consistent, and completely smooth on my iPhone. Some apps have wildly different thresholds for the “fast scrolling” too.
I have found that as you drag your finger to scroll, a number of apps will immediately register your touch as a “click” on links, whereas I never experience this on the iPhone. This drives me crazy in apps like Twitter. While trying to scroll, I am getting redirected to links, photos, and twitter user pages.
The Android market is like the wild, wild west. Mixed languages, adult content, and some apps clearly abandoned by developers. It’s frustrating at times. I do find that most of the apps that consist of my front line on iOS, are available for Android.
While device specific, my HTC has far less battery life than my iPhone.
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