opinion This afternoon I will march down to Telstra’s store in Sydney’s central business district and replace my much-loved Apple iPhone 4 with a HTC One XL. I’m leaving the cosy embrace of the Apple mobile empire and entering into a new relationship with Android. And here’s why.
I’ve been a long-time fan of Apple’s iPhone line. When the iPhone first launched in Australia in July 2008, I was one of the first to buy it in the week after it launched. On a chilly Sunday morning that winter, I caught a bus into Sydney’s central business district at 5AM and lined up with dozens of other people for three or four hours to pick up the iPhone, rubbing my hands together to keep them warm and chatting with other first-time iPhone purchases in between bouts of playing Zelda on my Nintendo DS.
When I got the iPhone home, I found that it was everything the hype had said it would be. Compared with my previous phone, a Nokia N90, the iPhone was a revelation. Suddenly, the world of mobile web browsing and email access opened up before my eyes. I watched, entranced, as Apple’s mapping application pinpointed the physical location of my house and dynamically updated its display as it zoomed in; just as Google Maps on a PC does.
I took great joy in synching a stack of my music to my new iPhone 3G, and I subscribed to a bunch of podcasts so that I would always have access to entertainment on the road. Other applications I set up on the iPhone 3G included email (of course), and my RSS feed reader, Google Reader, which is probably the application I spend most of my productive work time in. And, of course, my eyes opened up to the immense world of third-party apps which Apple had made possible. From banking to music discovery (shazam) to games, weather, Facebook, Twitter and more, I was entranced, and I spent hours and hours searching the App Store for new uses for my sparkling new Jesus phone.
Several years later, I was still in love with the Apple universe, but no amount of rebooting or reformatting my iPhone would speed it up, and I realised it was time for an upgrade. So down I went to Telstra’s T-Life store in the Sydney CBD, to request a new Apple iPhone 4.
And lo and behold, the magic was rejuvenated.
My new iPhone had an incredible new display with an incredible resolution — Apple’s Retina Display — and suddenly I couldn’t even see the individual pixels on icons on the screen. The new form factor felt perfect for my fairly normally sized hands, and represented a worthwhile refresh on the previous curved back model used for the first three iPhone models. It felt minimal, comfortable, and yet futuristic. All of my apps sped up, I took great delight in the iPhone 4’s fantastic new camera, and my enthusiasm for the iPhone as a whole was rekindled.
But that magic only lasted so long; for me, now, my iPhone 4 has long since run out of mana.
It’s not that there’s anything wrong with the iPhone; it still performs all of its functions perfectly well, with the exception of accessing Telstra’s often congested 3G network in Sydney’s CBD. I still use most of the apps I always have on the iPhone, and I still use all of its core functionality. In fact, I still rely on my iPhone for every day usage every single day; many times a day.
But I have grown bored with it.
Over the past several years, I have watched as Apple rivals Samsung and HTC have furiously innovated with their smartphone offerings, bringing new construction materials, new form factors and new software interfaces to market constantly in an effort to get ahead of the iPhone and stay there.
And, suddenly, in the past few months, HTC, at least, has succeeded.
The company’s launch of the One XL smartphone over the past several weeks represents a watershed moment in Australia’s smartphone industry. For the first time, a smartphone has emerged which retains very distinct advantages over the Apple iPhone. The One XL has a much larger and more vivid screen size than the iPhone 4S, its build quality is at least equal, but with materials that feel nicer on the hands and its user interface flows across the screen in a lovely fluid manner that the blocky and static iOS interface cannot replicate. But most importantly, the One XL supports radically increased 4G speeds on Telstra’s Next G network; speeds which the iPhone 4, with its lack of 4G support, simply cannot match.
Over the past month or so, I’ve noticed a certain phenomenon in Australian geek circles. When you catch up with your fellow geeks, I highly doubt that people are talking about the iPhone. In fact, I suspect, as with my friends, that people are talking about, and buying, models from HTC’s new One line-up, alongside Samsung’s popular Galaxy S III, which has also just landed in Australia. When I bought my first iPhone 3G, I did so because I was tired of being left out; I was tired of being one of the only people around me who were stuck on last-generation technology and stuck in the slow lane while others accelerated to light speed. For the past few weeks I’ve been facing a similar situation with respect to my iPhone 4.
Now, nobody could accuse Apple of not being an innovative company; the truth is that it is one of the most innovative companies in the world. It has revolutionised so many technology and liberal arts fields in the past several decades that the globe owes it a great debt of gratitude.
But Apple also doesn’t always do what its users want. And right now, it’s not doing what I want. What I want are improvements to Apple’s iOS user interface paradigm so that my smartphone doesn’t feel like it was designed in 2006 — which the current iOS user interface was. I want improvements to the network speed of my iPhone so that it supports the revolutionary 4G speeds of Telstra’s Next G network. And I want a larger screen size, so that I can better use my smartphone as the Internet access device which is its primary purpose. I also want Apple to start experimenting with lighter build materials so that my smartphone doesn’t feel like a block of steel in my pocket.
But Apple hasn’t given customers any indication that it’s going to start meeting these demands. So I’m going to make the choice which consumers always have and take my money elsewhere. If Apple came out with a new iPhone tomorrow featuring a new and more dynamic user interface, with lighter construction materials, a larger screen size and 4G speeds, I would strongly consider buying it.
But tomorrow would be too late. I want all these things today. And that’s why I’m buying a HTC One XL this afternoon.
Image credit: 惟①刻¾, Creative Commons
[Applause]
The main thing for me that just doesn’t sit right with the whole Apple thing is the closed ecosystem. Everything about it is proprietary and exclusive.
I use an iPad, but would happily switch to a Galaxy in a heartbeat. I have never used a iPhone, the main reason being a comment from my boss who said he couldn’t change, he had too much invested in it. Sounds like an addiction to me and I’ll have none of it.
Closed systems are the anathema of everything I believe in.
“The main thing for me that just doesn’t sit right with the whole Apple thing is the closed ecosystem.”
I have in the past seen this as somewhat of an issue, but it works so well that it’s hard to argue with Apple’s logic in creating it.
I would also point out, Alan, that the Android ecosystem is not exactly ‘open’.
It might not be [android/google play] completely open, but at least you can cross load.
An excellent choice. It is a beautiful phone :)
Hehe cheers :)
I ditched my iPhone over a year ago and life is so much better in an Android world. I have my apps that I had before and I am free to do whatever and load whatever onto my device as I see fit.
Also, it can connect to whatever OS I want. Not what Apple dictates.
Android phone and tablet, I don’t know what all the fuss is about with the over hyped and over priced iBorg^H^H^H^H^H (oops, that’s an iiNet trademark) iDrongo devices.
I still believe there is no comparable device to the iPad, but in the smartphone world, HTC has pulled ahead of Apple with the One XL :)
Go! Go! Windows Phon……ohh I give up.
I actually think Microsoft has been a huge force for innovation in this space recently — I love the user interface of Windows Phone 7. Can’t wait to see what they do next with Nokia.
It’s a good week for MS.
I’ve been playing with both the new Visual Studio RC and the online version of TFS.
Both are pretty solid wins.
Also Azure seems to have quietly gotten a makeover and some it looks real promising.
I’m going to try hosting a “normal” (read static) website on it and see how it copes with the low end of the web.
one of us!
one of us!
one of us!
Hehe glad to join the pack :)
Don’t you mean
One XL of us!
One XL of us!
One XL of us!
I’ll see myself out.
You made me laugh :)
I’m looking at upgrading myself, tossing up between Galaxy III and One XL. Have a Desire now, love the build quality, but at 18 months old its getting a little dated.
And I dont want a iPhone. When they first came out, I stated that at some point the UI would look dated, much like the Symbian OS from Nokia was starting to do at the time. There simply wasnt enough scope for change within iOS.
Still good phones, but iPhones just look dated.
Its actually the NBN thats making me pause though – my exchange starts next month. Tossing up whether to hold on to the Desire and transfer to TPG, or upgrade to something fresh. Starting to lean towards a new phone, in which case the build quality of HTC is a prime factor in which one I buy.
Don’t underestimate the value of upgrading to 4G also; it’s a whole new experience compared with 3G.
Good point Renai. Where I live I think I pick up the nearest tower quite easily, so its definitely something to think about. Something else that worries me though is being tied into Telstras closed world for 2 years.
I’m not a fan of Telstra, I think they gouge prices better than anyone, so being tied in for 2 years isnt something I want to rush into.
There are a couple of other considerations as well (Virgin, current company, is offering +2 gig/month right now…), so plenty to consider. Do I stick with my current provider and get an extra 2 gig a month (massive bonus), or do I get a 4G phone and pay a $15 premium for 2 years?
Really is a 50/50 call for me right now…
Yep im holding out for the S3 with 4G… well LTE
My HTC Sensation will do me till it gets to our shores
There is no guarantee yet of an S3 with 4G.
I’ve had my Desire for 2 years now. I recently upgraded it to ICS and it feels like a brand new phone.
Congratulations for breaking away from the iSheep, Renai. Well done. ;)
Cheers!
Same story as me, except with a One X.
Be sure to check out Swiftkey 3 beta (free from their website).
I was amazed how well the work prediction and correction works
Welcome to the other side. I suggest you celebrate your new freedom by installing a good file manager on that One XL asap :-) I use Root Explorer. Which raises another question for you. Will you root it? Lots of good fun ahead for you Renai.
I’m not planning to root it yet, but I am keenly watching the availability of CyanogenMod on the One XL. I would like to get back to stock Android ASAP.
I will never buy an HTC phone again after the appaling warranty support on my TYTAN II
I had to post it to some fly-by-night mob in Victoria, then pay for the privilege of them shipping it back to me weeks later. It did at least get fixed.
When my son broke his ipod connector, I RMA’d it through Apple’s process, and had an engraved replacement in less than a week. I pay good money, and get good service.
If things have changed at HTC, great… but I won’t go back.
I spent 6 months waiting for Apple to replace my 3rd Gen. iPod Nano when the headphone jack failed in the first week of owning it, then recieved the wrong (lower capacity, different colour) replacement.
Luck of the draw sometimes, unfortunately.
But I agree with you that if consumers have a bad experience, they’ll be unlikely to return.
Like me with Apple =)
For what it’s worth, I have had the exact same appalling warranty experience with HTC.
HTC? Never again!
Interesting decision Renai, and I can totally understand your reasoning. I’m in a similar boat actually, but given I jailbreak I’ve gotten a ton more out of iOS and my iPhone4 than your average user. I’ve jailbroken every iOS product I’ve ever owned (including my ATV and all my friend’s iPhones and iPads) becuase I love breaking free of Apple’s walled garden, so I can customise the phone exactly the way I want it, add a ton of features that Apple would never allow (making use of their own private APIs that they don’t open up to developers) and having heaps of fun in the process. The jailbreak process is now easier than flashing a custom Android ROM and you don’t lose any of your settings you had before the jailbreak or when upgrading Apple’s core OS.
Doing the above keeps me in Apple’s slick ecosystem of iPhone and iPads apps, while not constraining me to using iTunes, or any other annoying Apple limitation. Hackers and jailbreak devs know exactly what users want and never fail to deliver (there are literally tens of thousands of tweaks available from Cydia now, which still remains the easiest way ever to add tweaks to any “rooted” phone). I agree entirely with this Lifehacker article arguing the iphone is actually a better platform for rooting and hacking.
I’ve been on the fence ready to jump to Android a few times, and its getting very difficult at the moment to resist awesome 4G handsets like the OneX. Hardware wise, that is exactly what I want from a phone. It has hands dowen the best screen I’ve ever seen on a mobile device (even beating the retina display and wiping the floor with the SGSIII given its full RGB sub-pixel arrangement) . Loss of Tegra3 is a bit of a bummer for the LTE model, but that’s really only an issue if you play a lot of games on your Phone. I’m sure the dual core Snapdragon is more than fast enough for evertything else.
However I’m going to wait till the official announcment of the “new iPhone” (thats probably all they’ll call it going by the latest iPad) to see what tricks Apple has up its sleeve before making a decision.
I remember feeling exactly like this when the Nexus One first came out. At the time I was still using an aging iPhone 3G and was so tempted to jump ship, but then the iPhone 4 came out and blew the Nexus away in nearly every area. Chances are that actually won’t happen this time around, as Android has come a long way since the Nexus One, so I’ll probably still be very tempted by the HTC OneXL. It is without a doubt the first contender in line should Apple disappoint.
I should also add that if it wasn’t for jailbreaking (not just the power it gives you, or the thousands of extra apps, but the awesome community that surrounds it) I would have switched to Android ages ago. I’m a tweaker through and through, which is my I crack up at the more immature members of the Adnroid community when I’m labelled just another “sheeple” or “blind Apple fanboy” when they assume I must be another stock iOS user. There’s nothing blind about my tech purchasing decisions. If anything I’m extrememly pedantic and spend months researching every aspect of a gadget before investing.
So within two or three months I’ll report back on whether Apple has delivered the goods or whether I’m bored with their new hardware release and like you, have defected to Google :)
After having an iPhone 4s for months I changed companies and got given a HTC Sensation to use – even running the ARHD 6.x Rom I still preferred iOS most of the time (even Android 4.0 still feels inconsistent and unfinished to me) – so after 6 months I bought myself an iPhone 4S and the only thing I miss is the bigger screen.
Android still needs a lot of work imo!
I made the same move from iphone last week Renai. Mostly very happy!
Maybe some of you gurus here can help me, but the one frustration I am having is that as a Mac user, there doesn’t seem to be any HTC software I can install on my Macbook to sync music, movies etc.
Seems to be a matter of mounting the XL as a disk and dragging and dropping from the itunes media folders. Doable, but not ideal.
If nothing else, it’s worth it for the Telstra 4G. Stunning. Was just out having lunch in the sun in north sydney and did a seed test – 32Meg down and 22 up. Blazingly fast!
I think Banshee might do what you need: http://banshee.fm/
I’ve been eyeing some android phones for awhile now, but the big problem I have is the size of any decent android phone. with 4.7 or now 5.3″!!! inch sizes, how am I actually supposed to use the thing?
My iPhone I can use one handed, all menus, everything, all the time – but a 4.7″ screen is going to regularly require the use of 2 hands. Hands that could put to better use, holding my drink for example.
Motorola appears to be the only company actually trying in this regard, with decent-ish specs at 3.7″ with LCD too, none of this Pentile OLED garbage.
Totally agree, anything above 4.3″ is just unwieldy imo.
That reminds me, I was checking out the latest HTC OneX and Samsung Galaxy SIII the other day and the colour accuracy of their Displays is terrible, it seems they have decided to follow the lead of TV makers and pump the colour saturation to the max which gives a really inaccurate display (white was almost blue on the Galaxy and the HTC OneX wasn’t far behind!).
They obviously think overly saturated colours will appeal to the kiddies but it’s just aweful to look at imo!
@Riven
The Sony Xperia S is good, and should be usable one-handed (1280×720, 4.3in), although I don’t really have much trouble with the One X.
@djos
The Galaxy phones do have AMOLED screens, which have way over-saturated colours whereas the One X / One XL has an IPS Super LCD2.
IPS = colour accuracy, same as all of the Apple displays.
It’s down to personal preference, but I love IPS. Have an IPS monitor at home, too =)
@James the OneX still had the colour saturation turned up, just not as far as the Samsung – makes things look more colourful and “pop” at the expense of colour accuracy and I found it unpleasant* – TV makers do it to make their products stand out in the stores!
*I will admit that I own a $300 i1D2 Colourimeter and calibrate my PC Screens and TV’s with it (It’s a major bug bear of mine). :-D
Love my iPhone (and Mac).
The cheap and nasty HTCs I bought my parents were cheap, and nasty and well just nasty.
They work, and mostly are fine but they’re just cheap mostly.
Can you tell I really want one?
Engadget: HTC Acknowledges One X WiFi bug on Tegra 3 models.
Maybe wait a while….
Uhh, that’s only on the One X, not the XL… Its only on the phones that have the Tegra 3 chip in them…
Also, 4G tends to be faster than my wifi….
I moved from iOs to Android about a year ago and it has been a revelation. There are so many features I didn’t realise I was missing on the iPhone that are available to me now. Biggest examples
Downloading files – I have a friend who has a site with a heap of DJ mixes he has done. I wanted something new to listen to when out and about, downloaded an MP3 from his site over my 3g connection, then played it from the hard drive using my media player.
An open file system – I needed to get from files from home to work, much bigger than I could email. Plugged the thing into my home PC, transferred the files via USB, did the same to transfer back when I got into town.
No goddamn iTunes – I don’t have to deal with crappy DRM which makes it hard to switch between PCs, the last time I did so the transfer completely screwed my layout settings.
Not having to deal with Apple’s artificial restrictions to protect their App Store revenue has been a massive plus.
@Sathias
“Not having to deal with Apple’s artificial restrictions to protect their App Store revenue has been a massive plus.”
try connecting to a Secure Exchange email server and see all your “freedoms” vanish!!! On Android you cant even change the auto-screen lock time any more and you certainly cant install apps from anywhere other than Google Play!
So much for more freedom with Android, I have way more freedom with my iPhone 4s connected to a Secure Exchange Server!!!
I admit mine is my personal phone so I don’t have that problem.
On the other hand, the freedoms you mention aren’t the type I’m talking about. The iPhone felt like a locked-down device that has internet and file access when Apple allows it to. Compared, the Android feels more like a mobile computing device which I can use as I will.
Another example… If I want to watch a TV show on the bus to work, I copy some files into a directory of my choosing on the phone, then in whatever media player I want I can play the media from that location. With the iPhone it is a process of going into iTunes and allowing their proprietary software to store the media so that specific media player has access to it, but no other.
The device just feels more like I’m using it on my terms, rather than the company’s I bought it from.
+1
I have the same problems.
You do know that you can enable downloading apps from anywhere on Android, you just need to go into security and enable unknown sources, at least on ICS.
I have also just recently switched back to Android (One XL) from an iPhone 4, and loving it so far.
@Jake Cordon not if you use a secure exchange server, you loose a LOT of rights, you cant use the finger swipe unlock, the face unlock and you have to use a pin unlock, the auto-lock time is set to the exchange server preference and you can only install apps from Google Play.
Doesn’t matter if you have a Custom ROM, I was using Android Revolution HD 6.x on my Sensation and had tried several different ASOP style ROM’s, all implemented Exchange Security far more aggressively than Apple does in IOS.
There is a replacement Mail app for some ROM’s but I found it frequently didnt work and every time you upgrade to the latest version of your fav ROM you had to wait for the new “jail broken” mail app to be released for that version ROM.
The other thing I found is that syncing exchange calenders sucks, I would have the sync start failing every few weeks requiring me to stop the calender app, delete caches and clear calender data and then reboot before it would start working again – didn’t matter if I was on an ASOP or Sense based ROM. (dont have any of those issues with iOS but do miss the “out of office” feature in Android).
Can you clarify what you mean? I sync with my corporate exchange server (with the SSL option), and all it does is sync my mail, calendar and contacts. Not sure what you mean about the exchange server changing the lock screen?
And in any case, surely this is the not the phone’s fault, but a policy implemented by the exchange server administrator?
@Douglas your exchange server is not running in a secure config then if you still have full control – I work for HP and ours is locked down in a very secure fashion as are most major Organisations running ActiveSync with Exchange. (Smaller orgs tend to be fairly lax)
@Douglas I guess the point I was trying to make is that Google make this big song and dance about being “more open” than iOS but when connecting to a Secured Exchange Server Android products are in fact far more heavily locked down than even MS WinPhones.
@djos – sure, but that’s not a reflection on Android or the phone, that’s just how your corporate IT policy is set (in this case, the ActiveSync Policy in Exchange). There’s no particular settings for “Apple” or “Android” – exchange just treats it as a ‘Device’ and that’s it. They all get the same settings.
Perhaps it’s possible that the Android OS interperates the policy and makes it more secure than iOS? ;)
@djos – what do you mean by a Secure Exchange Server? If you’re talking about an environment where the company has put restrictions on mobile devices via Exchange, then it’s going to be the same regardless of being Android or iOS (or any ‘smart phone’). The whole point being that mobile devices in that type of environment are corporate devices and (in the eyes of the I.T Department) need to be secured in such a way that doesn’t allow non-authorised users to access corporate email systems.
@Leon not true, I have a HP supplied HTC Sensation running ARHD 6.x ICS Sense 3.6 based rom (even on stock rom this all applies) and my own iPhone 4s and and the only config restriction I have on my iPhone is that I must have a pin lock-code to unlock but I cant still choose how long the auto-lock feature waits to engage and so on.
On Android I cant install non-play sourced apps, cant use face unlock, cant use swipe pattern unlock, cant change the auto screen lock time from 1minute and so on.
You could be right in terms of the experience (I’ve never done a comparison), but you seem to be under the impression that those settings are specific to Android. As I wrote in my other reply, Exchange doesn’t care if it’s Android or iOS – it’s just a ‘Device’. It could be that iOS disregards some of the policy settings for some reason.
If you don’t believe me, google “exchange 2010 activesync policy” – it’ll give you a list of settings that can be blocked/enabled. You’ll notice there’s no way to specify per type of device (though you can block individual devices or types of devices completely).
@Leon “It could be that iOS disregards some of the policy settings for some reason.”
and that is my point, iOS prevents Exchange from applying excessive security restrictions, Android implements them in full providing a pretty crap user experience.
@djos – in which case, you’re missing the whole point of the restrictions. If the restrictions are set, the mobile vendors should be adhering to them otherwise IT would be quite within their rights to just not allow iOS to connect. Obviously if they’ve set the restrictions in the policy, they’re not “excessive” and have been done so for a reason. At some stage, HP management have agreed to those restrictions and regardless of your personal views, you should abide by them.
Again, it’s not the fault of the OS on the phone for the restrictions (so if you want to blame someone, blame I.T). If iOS is indeed ignoring corporate policy settings (I’m not saying it is, i’m just basing this off what you’ve said), then it’s a potentially a pretty big breach of security.
@Leon we’ll have to agree to disagree on that point then!
DRM was introduced to satisfy the music industry.
The only advantage I see you getting is a faster mobile network.
If you need to root a device to make it more usable then the open system
isn’t worth having since they don’t ship it standard to their customers.
My problem with Android is that it’s so ugly. I’ve seen vanilla, skinned, and rooted. To me it’s just cheap looking. I hate the widgets most people love. Everything looks like overdone, insanely square, and cartoony. I admit, there is some great hardware out there that runs Android, but the interfaces are horrendous. Of course this is my opinion. I understand some people love Android. That’s why I love having the choice. I hope you enjoy your One XL. But for me, I’ll wait til October to see what the new iPhone has to offer.
Funnily enough, I personally think pretty much the same about iPhones, and iOS in general. Its a OS that dates badly, with little room to develop, while maintaining backwards compatibility. My personal opinion is that its backing itself into a corner, much like Nokia did with its Symbian OS.
Strange how things look so different from one person to the next. As you say though, its the good thing about having the choice.
The funny thing is if I chose a mobile OS outside iOS, it’d be Windows Phone. If WebOS were still around it’d be my second choice. I think HP really messed up not understanding the value of WebOS. It was a nice OS with tons of potential. I hate that HP bought it instead of a more forward thinking company. I think both Apple and Google could’ve integrated in their OS’s to make them better.
As a side note, I’m really starting to hate Google’s supposedly “Don’t be evil” stance. They gather more information, and use it to their advantage more than any other company. They track everything they can to make more money. I’m not saying Apple doesn’t have their faults, but I believe Google is one of the worst companies, outside of Facebook that profits from users instead of actual innovation.
I can see why people are getting ticked off with Google’s “dont be evil” stance, but I cant buy into it yet. I have a bigger issue with Apples “you vill do vhat ve say!” attitude. Google has shown plenty of innovation along the way, whether its gmail, google maps, or even the failed google wave.
Some might not be a huge step forwards, but they have popularised other existing products and made them mainstream. Something that people applaud Apple for, yet for some reason just brush off when other companies do the same.
gmail has done more for cloud computing than any other service to date, google maps brought GPS to everyone rather than just those in the know (and gave street view, for better or worse), and google wave, while a failed experiment, showed they were at least trying to innovate.
So while they capture a LOT of information about your habits, they are at least rolling out products that deliver. Makes it hard to keep pointing the finger at them, especially when it was by their own admission that they stuffed up with things like the open wifi data capture.
Just a question. I’m a little intrigued by the timing.
Where you holding out until now, to see if Apple were announcing a new iPhone at WWDC?
No, I was waiting for the first decent 4G phone to launch in Australia; the One XL launched a couple of weeks ago. I’ve reviewed the phone here:
http://delimiter.com.au/2012/06/12/htc-one-xl-telstra-review/
@Renai I dont know if this will bother you but I found 2 little issues really annoying on Android:
1/ Separate Gmail and eMail apps – really stupid imo and quite different interfaces too!
2/ Icon notification only on a couple of HTC app icons, the rest Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn etc dont have in icon notifications.
plus I much prefer the control that Apple gives you over notifications, not being able to read txt messages on the lock screen as they come in if I want to for example. Apple definitely learned from Androids notification system and improved on it a lot.
yeah, shocking that Apple gives you more control, right? :-D
@Renai one more thing I remembered that is annoying with Droids & WinPhones in a business environment is the lack of a mute/silent switch – having to unlock my phone whenever I wanted to change to silent or the reverse was very annoying compared to an iPhone’s silent mute/switch.
Hi,
You don’t need to unlock the One XL to put it on silent.
Hit the power button to wake it, then hold down the volume button. This works even when the screen is still locked.
@Douglas does this work if you have a Pin lock enabled (certainly didnt work on my Sensation even with the latest ICS ARHD 6.x Sense based rom)?
Yep, just tried it then on my week old One XL :)
Great phone – but it’s crap that there is no HTC Sync Manager for Mac…ah well.
Got the One XL last week, to replace my much loved but severely in need of upgrading Desire. The phone is brilliant, and even though I’m not able to use 4G where I live, being blue tick it is phenomenal our quick it is on 3G and how many more places I can get reception. And for $17 less a month then Telstra were offering for the SIII, think I’ll be happy having this phone for the next 22 months.
Wow so many comments. I don’t have time to read them all, so if my trifling observation has already been made, I apologise.
Renai, you said: It has revolutionised so many technology and liberal arts fields in the past several decades that the globe owes it a great debt of gratitude.
I may be bit particular here, but I don’t thing we owe them any such thing. Great company, but they’ve never given any quarter when it comes to charging their customers (of which I am one), so I don’t think any other debt, monetary or otherwise, is outstanding at all.
I’m leaving Apple too.
I’ve had four iPhones now, 2 glass smashes and 2 utter corruptions. Why build something this sexy but so fragile you have to pack it in ugly fat rubber to keep it from breaking.
I also can’t prove this but the relationship between my Windows PC and my Apple iPhone is tenuous, broken, corrupted. I had a terrible situation with corrupted backups and restore not working, across 2 brand new iPhones. The only way to fix this, (I’m not kidding, I tried absolutely everything), I had to reformat my hard drive, a complete rebuild. Something buried inside of iTunes was constantly corrupting and uninstall and ridding my PC of iTunes files simply didn’t work. Format C: did. It was ugly and tiresome.
My iPhone is too hot, too heavy. I’m a girl. I want super fabulous features but it’s gotta be lighter.
The proprietary nature of it has frustrated me as well. It’s too closed for my liking.
I will start a relationship with Samsung I think.
Cheers
@Sandra Davey Bad tradesman blame their tools!
Try looking after your phones and you’ll have better luck! My Wife and I have had iPhones since the original 3G was released here and have only broken one phone in the time when it was accidentally dropped.
As for corruption, your PC must be a mess, I had a droid for 6 months and when I bought myself a 4s I plugged it in to iTunes and restored my 6 month old backup to my new phone and it all worked perfectly and has done ever since!
djos,
Actually mate, my PC is perfect. I’ve had no other issues, absolutely no problem with anything except iTunes and my iPhone. I’ve never been infected, touch wood, and all my PCs have run smoothly.
The Apple store people were kind but unable to help, and as I said, a reformat seemed to be the only way.
The only suggestion they made is a possible weird relationship between firewall/anti virus and itunes backing up but that suggestion came after a reformat. i’m yet to test that out.
“But tomorrow would be too late. I want all these things today. And that’s why I’m buying a HTC One XL this afternoon.”
Welcome to the TRUE geek world :-D ( seeing as the iPhone 5 is only 2 months away max)
There’s still one app keeping me on iPhone…
http://www.sleepcycle.com/
No idea if anything similar exists for Android.
Ho hum…compelling reasons to change? None.
Bigger screen? Really? How do you want to carry that around? I have an iPhone 4S with the Mophie Juice Pack Air thing and I find it too bulky. Can’t see the point in a bigger screen, really.
4G? Awesome…if you can get it. Try getting any 4G signal in a regional area even if you have a supporting device.
‘Freedom’ of Android? Who cares? Most people don’t give a damn – they just want things to work. If I was worried about it, I’d jailbreak my iPhone…I’m not worried about it.
I remember going from a Moto Razr (and the Nokias and any other brand you care to mention) to an iPhone…I remember thinking that I cannot believe we put up with such rubbish phone interfaces for soooooooooo long! I think without Apple we’d all still be using those locked down, laborious, frustrating crap interfaces and I’m not prepared to compromise on that again.
I wish you joy of your Android device…good luck with that! :)
Apple’s “walled garden” is precisely the thing that makes it such a wildly successful platform for developers. Given that your grandmother could jailbreak the iPhone, I don’t understand why any intelligent person uses that as a point of contention against the iPhone.
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