iPhone vs. Android (myTouch 3G) -- What Matters To Me

No long post about why I’m switching phones, just this: iPhone vs. Android/myTouch. And a comparison of the things that matter to me.Note: I did not have a myTouch to test with — but did have a G1 handy. I’ve tried to restrict my comparison to OS and network related issues, attempting to leave device specifics and/or speed issues out of it.

App StoreOne of my biggest annoyances with my Nokia E71 is the lack of a good app store. When I originally purchased the device last year, there were a few random JAR’s floating around the net for things like Twitter and Hotspot creation, but discovery (and support) of these apps was near-impossible. They recently release their “Ovi Store”, which is just as impossible to use as the previous setup. I don’t need 60,000 apps — but I certainly want a few extensions to the platform that will allow me to use my smartphone as a powerful 3rd screen.

Apple likes to tout its app store as having tons and tons (and tons) of apps. Like I said, I don’t need 60,000 of them — I just need a few that work and work well. I think that despite a few bad pieces of press over the Google Voice incident (and other rejected apps), I really like their app store. I like that:

1. I can browse it on my desktop


2. I can backup my apps simply, through iTunes


3. Apple is making strides to increase discovery of new apps beyond a simple “Top 10” list


4. Developers make their iPhone apps FIRST. If they have time and money, they make an Android app. It’d be nice to be in that first group for once. (after being a Mac user for so many years. Ironic, no?)

Android apps are … well, they’re there. The Market app is, well … functional. I think the total now is around 5,000 apps(?). Not bad, but not great. I’m not excited about constantly seeing cool/helpful apps on my friend’s iPhones and then being disappointed that a similar app doesn’t exist on my Android phone. And yes, I’m positive that will happen. Like with music, I’m not too keen on Android’s lack of desktop-syncing capabilities.Winner: iPhone

Multi-TaskingI multi-task a lot, so it’s an incredibly important feature to me. You can frequently find me hopping back and forth between my email, web, contacts, maps, etc. My Nokia has a great (and fast) switching function and I love it.

The Apple cannot multi-task. I’ve had people try to tell me that the closed apps remember their state, but the reality is that a) this only occurs in native apps, and b) I still must go find the app I was just in and re-open it. “Switching” between apps is simply not an option.The Android OS can switch like a pro.

Winner: AndroidCamera

The iPhone’s camera flat out pisses me off. The other night, my little toddler girl decided to try on some of mommy’s shoes and her hat. Seeing this insane amount of cuteness, I reached for the nearest photo-taking device within reach: my wife’s iPhone. I “pressed” the “shutter” button (a completely unsatisfying experience) and the result? A blurry blob of a fast-moving toddler. It seems the iPhone’s camera is great for taking well-lit photos of slow-moving subjects. The shutter speed (no, it doesn’t actually have a shutter) is laggy and makes it difficult to take photos.My tests today with the G1 produced different, yet equally annoying results. The G1’s camera taking functionality seems far more responsive to the touch, however, when pressed, the camera pauses, focuses, and snaps. There’s about a whole second lag there — and this seems to be by design of the camera taking software. Different issue, equally annoying.

Winner: TIE (or “double fail” if you prefer)Network Coverage

Despite a horrendous looking coverage map for T-mobile on their website, their coverage in San Francisco and San Diego is actually pretty stellar. I actually spent an afternoon driving up and down I-5 from San Diego to Oceanside, constantly checking both a T-mobile and ATT phone. The Tmo coverage map showed North County as having zero 3G coverage, but it was full bars — just like my ATT device.Based on a few other press releases, Tmo seems to be expanding their 3G coverage at an incredibly rapid rate — in addition, I’ve heard a few rumors of them getting ready to launch their 4G service soon.

On the flip side, I’ve been pretty dissatisfied with ATT over the last two years. Despite decent coverage, I frequently get “network busy” timeouts when trying to make a mid-day call in San Francisco. In addition, dropped calls are not that uncommon for ATT and I’ve seen a drastic rise in reports about dropped calls on the iPhone.So, ATT’s got a larger coverage area, but struggles with network overload and quality. Tmo’s making some serious headway in expanding their coverage, but still falls behind in overall coverage area.

Winner: TIEGoogle Integration

I’ve sold my soul to Google: Gmail, Calendar, Reader, etc. — I love it all. And I want my phone to work with these applications easily.The setup on the G1 the other night was seamless. Gmail in the OS? Done. Calendar, contacts, lovely. Even Google Voice — simple. It even includes a quick switcher to change the mode in which Voice operates — all calls, international only, etc.

I haven’t done my homework on Gmail on the iPhone, but a quick search in the store showed tons of Gmail apps — none of them over a 3-star rating. I’ve seen some posts about getting Gmail to do Push notification, etc. It all seems like a hack (IMAP is nice, but avoids the delete/archive workflow I’ve come to love in Gmail). And of course, no Google Voice. Even when Apple finally quits their PR pissing match with ATT and Google and they release the app, I’m sure it will be handicapped in some way for quite some time.Winner: Android

BatteryEverything I hear about the iPhone battery makes me sad. At the last CTIA conference in San Francisco, I attented some after-work drinks with some business partners and our two business development guys. They entered the bar, and frantically began looking around for somewhere to charge their iPhones. “What are you guys doing?” I asked. “We haven’t charged our iPhones since 11am [it was 6pm] and they’re almost dead.” Sad.

I thought the newer OS improvements and maybe the 3GS would fix this problem, but no. My wife — far from a “power user” — is constantly on the look out for an open plug, and God forbid if we forget her charger and we’re out for the day. We pulled into San Diego last night after a long day driving down from SF — her battery was red. My Nokia had a full charge. Sad.I have no idea how to compare the myTouch’s battery, but it can’t be as bad as the iPhone. And yes, I consider this a fair and valid argument.

The specs put the phones at equal talk time, but with the myTouch clocking in at double the standby time.Winner: Android (simply because the iPhone has disqualified itself)

Plan CostLooking at my wife’s iPhone bill makes me queasy. She even swore to me she’s not on the unlimited plan, but viewing her bill still makes me think I might need to pick up a 2nd job to cover the cost.

The Tmo plan averages about 25% less.Winner: Android

OS Overall UI/UXI love the iPhone OS. It’s slick and simple. It reminds me of OS X (duh). The User Interface reaches the perfect balance between simplicity and power — the novice smartphone user can download their Light Saber app, and I can run SSH. The menus make sense and Apple has gone to great lengths to make sure app developer conform to well thought out and well document specifications.

The Android shines with its home screen customization and widget features — I love them! However, there are 2 big annoyances I’ve had the last few days:

1. The “menu” convention needs more rules around it for developers. I got the Twidroid app and instantly began asking myself: “Where’s the _______ section?” Behold! The MENU hardware button. Apps now split up their functionality — some of it is on-screen, some of it is hidden in this menu button. This UI convention makes it difficult to navigate any app because different developers do different things with the Menu. You’re taking the user out of the touch-screen environment and asking them to go back to pressing a hardware button that may, or may not, do what they think it should. iPhone apps on the other hand, place all functionality on-screen. No ifs ands or buts. I like that — and it makes for a less confusing user experience.


2. Exiting applications: some 3rd party apps have an “Exit Application” button, some don’t. Why? Why do I have to run a 3rd party task manager app to close these other apps? Very annoying.

Granted, these are simple annoyances, and I’m sure the OS will get cleaned up with a few more iterations and a few more developers learning that UI actually matters. But for now…Winner: iPhone

MusicI’m sick of carrying around my iPod. I’m looking forward to having a phone that does music — easier.

My E71 can play music, but two things restrict me from doing it frequently: 1) it doesn’t easily sync to anything, so I must mount it as a drive or transfer files over Bluetooth. 2) It doesn’t have a 3.5mm headphone jack, so I’ve got to go find an adapter. Something I still haven’t done in a year and don’t ever foresee myself doing.And these are the two major problems I have with Android here. Sure, I could use DoubleTwist, but like I said with Gmail earlier, I’m not keen on using hacks to implement functionality I think should just work. And the headphone jack is just … dumb. When will device makers learn that no one carries around USB headphones?

On the other hand, syncing the iPhone with iTunes is a breeze and it’s got a legit headphone jack.Winner: iPhone

Conclusion9 items that matter to me, two ties. The score? iPhone 3, Android 4. So, naturally, the winner isssss….???

I have no idea. Honestly. Maybe I should weight these items to help me out. Despite the score, I still feel like the two are 50-50. I guess the iPhone’s App Store and OS UI are both important enough for me to even out the deficit in multi-tasking, battery life, and Google integration.I dunno.

Which phone do you think I should buy? Leave a comment and let me know.