Which mobile OS do you prefer?

Which mobile OS do you prefer?

  • Total voters
    132
I vote other just because I wish for Microsoft to come up with a better x86 OS mobile and restart the Wintel Alliance... Like Windows 9 Mobile.
 
CHANG3D said:
I vote other just because I wish for Microsoft to come up with a better x86 OS mobile and restart the Wintel Alliance... Like Windows 9 Mobile.
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So you voted other for a non-existent OS..? Nice.

Android. Though I recognize the strengths and weaknesses of every platform and recommend accordingly to people who ask me or on here. Android is just much more versatile overall IMO (key term), so it's my preferred.

Interesting on the amount of WP voters on here though. You can tell this is a tech forum just on those results, lol.
 
I like the idea of Android better, but I prefer the execution and usability of WP8 better.
 
iOS: Fluid, Simple, Great browser (just a great OS overall)
Android: Pretty fluid, Advanced, Many good aftermarket browsers
Windows Phone: Fluid, Insanely simple, Browser is not good
BB10: Somewhat fluid (OS is fluid, many apps aren't), Intermediate, Great multitasking and browser

I wish I could spend some more time with iOS (have just a few hours with a iPad2), but from what I've seen, its a great OS, and probably the one I prefer. But from the ones I have used a large amount, probably BB10.
 
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I have quite a few available to me, minus BB10 and I have to say I much prefer WP8.
 
I like WP8. But, lack of the apps I'm using made me go for Android. If those apps (like citibank, square enix security token, old republic token) will be aviable on WP, I'd switch back... if only they would have something else than Lumia. I crave something with WP 8 and nice design - Sony Z2/HTC One style.
 
Absolutely despise iOS, but for mobile it works.
 
braamer said:
I don't get the above. I can't stand Safari.
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To me, it's simple: it's fast, uncluttered and makes it easy to zoom in on something you're interested in. There's a fluidity to it that you don't always get in browsers on other platforms.

That said, I certainly think Chrome and (as of WP8.1, anyway) Internet Explorer.
 
Have to disagree about Safari being fast. It's passable for simple static content but for anything more complex like dynamic live blog it lags and freezes. Chrome and even Samsung stock browsers whoop its ass but Chrome has better gestures like swiping the address bar left and right to change browser tabs.

http://youtu.be/rGTQAYHfc8U
 
Like I said, I haven't used it much so maybe I'm wrong. But, overall it seemed faster then any other browser I've used on mobile bar BB10.

I've also never had that issue, mi7chy with any of the sites I used. I'm gonna check out Endgadget when I get to use the iPad next and see if I have that issue. BTW I was using Safari on iOS7.
 
I'm torn. While I enjoy the flexibility and speed of Android, iOS still feels more polished. While an Android program might open quicker, it seems like individual elements (especially thumbnails and images) are slower to appear. Things are just "snappier" on iOS. Plus, I swear that the touch accuracy is better, too.
I suppose a jailbroken iOS would be the best of both worlds.
 
iOS remains my preference, but I like all of those listed. Even the latest Blackberry OS has some really cool features.
 
Domingo said:
I'm torn. While I enjoy the flexibility and speed of Android, iOS still feels more polished. While an Android program might open quicker, it seems like individual elements (especially thumbnails and images) are slower to appear. Things are just "snappier" on iOS. Plus, I swear that the touch accuracy is better, too.
I suppose a jailbroken iOS would be the best of both worlds.
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Which device? Are you storing images on internal or external SD card storage and what make and model of SD card since it varies in performance? As far as touch accuracy:

http://blog.gsmarena.com/tests-show-iphone-5s-and-5c-touchscreens-are-inaccurate/
 
Android. Has its frustrations, but overall love it.

Had an ip4 with my last employer, strongly disliked it.
 
Domingo said:
I'm torn. While I enjoy the flexibility and speed of Android, iOS still feels more polished. While an Android program might open quicker, it seems like individual elements (especially thumbnails and images) are slower to appear. Things are just "snappier" on iOS. Plus, I swear that the touch accuracy is better, too.
I suppose a jailbroken iOS would be the best of both worlds.
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It's not just you; it reflects differences in UI priorities.

iOS prioritizes drawing the interface as quickly as possible. That's why it's so responsive -- it's making sure that everything is smooth first (so long as the hardware is capable, anyway) and then dealing with other elements. Android has tricks like Project Butter to help improve performance, but it still treats rendering as just one of multiple, relatively equal processes.

App loading is similar. The focus on iOS is on having everything ready when the app loads; those apps that take a while to load will actually put up logos and placeholder UI images to make the transition seem smoother. Android's priority is more on throwing everything up as soon as it arrives. It may take a similar amount of time, but it can feel slower.
 
i prefer ios for several reasons:

i made my choice about 4 years ago
fast ui and apps were far more polished
fast medical reference apps
im a paramedic, ios rules the healthcare system here
i needed rock solid stability during emergency situations

why i didnt like android then:
ive seen too many people with failed android phones
ive seen too many people with piss poor battery life on android
poor navigational hardware
so many fucking ads causing data overcharges and slow loads

android is perfectly fine now, but i still see too many people root and customize their phone into a nonfunctioning piece of shit. i jailbreak my stuff so i can tweak it just fine, basically limited to simple font changes, folder/icons layout, and quick storage cleaning

my phone is not my gaming/hacking/onlyfacebook/onlybrowser device. it is a thing i need to access information as quickly as possible, with as minimal maintenance and tinkering as possible.

if i was poor and couldnt afford adfree apps or a nice computer to game on, or a wireless router and internet service, or a larger tablet to browse the internet while im taking a shit, i would totally pick android.
 
Ocean said:
android is perfectly fine now, but i still see too many people root and customize their phone into a nonfunctioning piece of shit. i jailbreak my stuff so i can tweak it just fine, basically limited to simple font changes, folder/icons layout, and quick storage cleaning
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You can screw up an iPhone just as well as you can screw up an Android phone. The problem usually lies in not doing any research. Ill respect iPhone users for their choice even though its not my cup of tea, but I cant stand when people are ignorant when defending something.
 
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Ocean said:
if i was poor and couldnt afford adfree apps or a nice computer to game on, or a wireless router and internet service, or a larger tablet to browse the internet while im taking a shit, i would totally pick android.
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If you're so rich how come you're not using a Mac? I'll have to inform the doctors I know using Android that their phone is too poor for them, unfit for medical professional use and they have to switch according to some medic bus driver I read online.
 
I get ocean's point. Out of the box experience is very important to me because why should I have to fiddle around that much out of the box? But I just don't get why jailbreaking an iPhone being limited to far fewer options is preferred over rooting an android because of what other folks do?

P.S. While mi7chy's insult to you is uncalled for, you sort of walked into that one...
 
Deinos said:
Not really when you consider [H] as a pretty niche subset of smartphone consumers.
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Definitely. Polls on this site really only speak for PC-centric techies...which is what the site is geared around. Nothing wrong with that, but you definitely have to take that into account.
 
pharmecist said:
With the numbers in the this poll, it's amazing WP doesn't have a bigger market.
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I'm not surprised. HardForum is a place for geeks, and they're much more likely to be aware of and try technology that the mainstream doesn't know about. If I say "Lumia 1020," virtually everyone here knows what that is; ask a regular person on the street and they may not even know that Windows Phone exists.

That's why it's always amusing to see people insist that company X will take over the computing world with its hybrid tablet, or that company Y is failing in the phone market because it doesn't let you root. Er, nope. Many people don't know or care about these things -- often, it's just about having a recognizable device that's powerful enough for common tasks, at a price they can afford, with the apps they want. While Windows Phone can often fit that bill, the problem is that Android and iOS did it earlier, and frequently better.
 
iOS

Stable, secure, lightweight and fast. The software catalog is also top notch. I don't mind Android and if not for jailbreaking, I'd likely already be using it... but I don't like the idea of google snooping all of my data (among other tradeoffs).

WP8 is decent enough from what I've used, but I don't want to invest in an ecosystem that I can envision MS dumping in a few years if things don't get better for them.
 
dr.stevil said:
iOS

Stable, secure, lightweight and fast. The software catalog is also top notch. I don't mind Android and if not for jailbreaking, I'd likely already be using it... but I don't like the idea of google snooping all of my data (among other tradeoffs).

WP8 is decent enough from what I've used, but I don't want to invest in an ecosystem that I can envision MS dumping in a few years if things don't get better for them.
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You really think Apple doesn't snoop?
 
Domini said:
You really think Apple doesn't snoop?
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Apple doesn't make money off snooping. They are "merely" collecting data to provide better user experience... I mean, I don't believe that FULLY myself, but it's not NOT mostly true...

Whereas Google main business is making money with your data!
 
Domini said:
You really think Apple doesn't snoop?
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I think the fear of Google is exaggerated, and I'm fine with using Android, but there's definitely less reason to worry about what Apple is doing.

Its business isn't ads; it's hardware. Google has a vested interest in knowing as much about you as possible to profile you for advertisers. Android as it shipped exists because Google wanted a more powerful mobile web platform that would let it deliver ads. Apple? It uses iCloud to sell you on the iPhone -- the iPhone does not exist to get you on iCloud.

Consider this. One of the reasons why the iPhone didn't launch with turn-by-turn navigation, and why Apple eventually went with its own mapping service (as horrible a mess as it is/was), was because Google refused to offer directions unless Apple agreed to incorporate Google Latitude's people-tracking. Apple is a company that's entirely willing to forego convenient features if it thinks they're privacy concerns that would hurt hardware sales; Google errs on the side of convenience, because that ultimately boosts its all-important ad traffic.
 
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PCunicorn said:
Windows Phone: Fluid, Insanely simple, Browser is not good
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The browser isn't the problem on Windows Phone, websites incorrectly detecting the user agent is. They detect IE and automatically serve the barebones mobile version of the site instead of the rich mobile version (even though IE11 is perfectly capable of displaying either one).

Case in point, updating to Windows Phone 8.1 Update 1 changes the user agent. IE11 Mobile now spoofs itself as Mobile Chrome/Safari, so a LOT more pages load as-expected.

You can also put Mobile IE into desktop mode, where it behaves and renders EXACTLY like IE11 on desktop Windows (because it's exactly the same codebase and rendering engine).
 
What do you think iBeacon is if you don't think Apple tracks you to spam advertisements?
 
mi7chy said:
If you're so rich how come you're not using a Mac? I'll have to inform the doctors I know using Android that their phone is too poor for them, unfit for medical professional use and they have to switch according to some medic bus driver I read online.
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I still stand by my opinion that if you are really poor and can only afford one device and one connection, you shouldnt consider ios with the paid apps and you should get an android with plenty of free apps.


Sorry that you disagree with my belief that apple is more expensive.
 
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I have tried them all, and for work, have just about the latest iterations of the big 2 + WP. Ended up with iOS.
 
Android, but I do want to try an Ubuntu phone when they come out.

Market share, IDC Q2 2014:
Android: 84.7%
iOS: 11.7%
Windows: 2.5%
Blackberry: 0.5%
Other: 0.6%
 
Android because I customize it how I want, but it seems as more time goes on everything is getting locked down and it may soon become like iOS.
 
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