You're both right. There is currently no way for a third-party to submit an app that runs in the background. IMHO, opening up the whole platform to background apps is a terrible idea. You'll have no idea what's running on the thing and consuming resources or power or trying to monitor you. On the other hand, there are some serious uses that could really benefit.
To solve this, I think Apple should create a second-tier developer program that allows one to go through a more rigorous (but well-defined) process to get an app approved for background use.
You're both right. There is currently no way for a third-party to submit an app that runs in the background. IMHO, opening up the whole platform to background apps is a terrible idea. You'll have no idea what's running on the thing and consuming resources or power or trying to monitor you. On the other hand, there are some serious uses that could really benefit.
To solve this, I think Apple should create a second-tier developer program that allows one to go through a more rigorous (but well-defined) process to get an app approved for background use.
At least you have the option and choice to do so on other phones. The iPhone is locked in.
Not sure about making an even more rigorous approval process, since the one already being used is severely mishandled and non-transparent.
Does anyone know how changing screen sizes and resolutions will affect coding for applications?
The API today allows you to query the device for its screen resolution and respond accordingly. If you use just Interface Builder and UIKit, most of it doesn't care that much about pixels. So well-written apps should require minimal to no changes. However, I've seen a lot of code out there that hard-codes 320x480, so a lot of developers will have to update.
But it's not rocket-science. If Apple announced a new SDK in January for a device in March, I would expect almost all apps that are currently being maintained to be able to make that deadline.
Agree that the number of apps is meaningless. It's the quality and usefulness of the apps that's important. I would imagine that all the top quality apps on the iPhone are probably also available for Android by now. I don't think Apple should push the 100,000 apps too much anymore as most people are aware that the vast majority of those apps are seldom actually used. Apple's 'There's an app for that' adverts were quite effective I thought.
Multi-tasking might be Apple's Achilles heel once again as Android offers this. But I wonder what the real-world affect on battery charge would be? If not multi-tasking, I would really like to be able to pop back and fourth to the previous app once I close the current app. It'd be nice if that were configurable somehow.
Also, the number of downloads also needs to be taken with a pinch of salt. I have loads of apps on the Mac which haven't been on my iPhone for well over a year - and most of those were free apps I downloaded out of curiosity.
Googles voice-to-text looks really useful. If the accuracy is very good that in itself could be a switching reason for me. But then again, I would have to think about the money I have invested in iPhone apps that will do me no good if I switch! I would also have to think about how my iTunes library would be affected - well, it wouldn't work at all.
I will frequently open Mail up and then close it back down because I know it's still going to fetch my mail or do something similar with Safari.
I wonder if anyone else has this same experience with iPhone mail. I have a few mail accounts on the phone but my main business account is an IMAP linux server with lightning fast internet connection and hardware. Only on the iPhone it delays a long time to connect to the server no matter if I'm on AT&T or wifi. All the other MacBook Pros iMacs PC etc connect to this same account in milliseconds. What is up with the iPhone?
As a percentage of total apps capable of multitasking, 0.002% is not going to cut it.
The apps capable of multitasking also happen to be the most used apps on the iPhone, so they represent a much greater percentage of the total time the iPod touch/iPhone is in use. Push notifications work quite well for some things without the drawback of performance losses and battery life lost. The overall software ecosystem that the iPhone provides more than makes up for the lack of multitasking. Would multitasking make iPhone OS better? Yes. Does multitasking make other mobile operating systems better than iPhone OS? Not a chance.
Furthermore, multitasking will come to the iPhone (probably in iPhone OS 4.0) and when it is, it will be done right (it might be limited to the new, likely dual core phones in June though).
While I appreciate what BillShrink is trying to do in boiling down the smartphone comparisons to a table of salient features, there are a number of errors:
Number of Apps is outdated
iPhone does multitasking, but to date only with Apple's Apps
For some reason, a 5GB data cap is mentioned on both the unlimited and average plans. Where did that come from? And only the Nexus One has "unlimited data".
How are they defining "Average"? A mid-point price or minute plan? Almost everyone I know has the minimum 39.99 voice plan, plus $30 data, plus some texting fee. Total ~ $75-$90 / month
And of course as other posters have mentioned, there are far more details not listed here that differentiate the phones / plans.
Again, I appreciate what BillShrink is doing, but unfortunately less informed customers rely heavily on these types of charts to make a purchasing decision.
Catch up in terms of adding the features I specified earlier:
Higher-resolution screen
Wider/longer screen by dimensions
Voice-input in all text entry fields
Multi-tasking
User-replaceable battery
User-upgradable memory
Competent carrier
Cost-effective call/data plans
I love it. Every 3 months someone comes out with a new iPhone killer. The next one will have a 5 ghz processor and a 10 megapixel camera. But like Microsoft, they fail to realize the differentiating factor is the software. Who cares if your pc has a 50 ghz processor when it still runs Windows? When will they learn that people love the iPhone because of the experience it provides not how much memory Apple can cram into it.
And like clockwork, some dimwit comes along claiming that Apple needs to catch up... Pay attention to units sold, revenue reports, and customer satisfaction surveys then get back to me.
Apple has some serious catching-up to do if it wants to compete in the future.
Catching up to what? Apple sets the standard. We've already been told that while the Nexus One is a decent phone, it isn't an "iPhone Killer."
Seems like everyone else has to continue trying to "catch up."
Do you think Apple is sitting around doing nothing?
No one, but NO ONE, can manage Apple's sweet-spot combination of hardware + software. Anyone can slap a bigger camera on a phone and give it a faster processor. That's actually less than half the battle. Apple has gestalt. No one else does. And that stuff, when accomplished right, is pure magic.
I'm seeing some very odd, and untrue remarks here.
first if all, most of the apps in the store are not fart apps, or links to websites. The vast majority are actual programs. It's been independently stated by Pogue and others that on average, Apple's app store apps are more useful, and better written that Android apps, and it's true. Also, there are serious business apps in the store from dozens of major companies, not true for Android yet. In addition, the amount of hardware useable for the iPhone/Touch is amazing, and this includes profession equipment in a number of categories. Almost zero for Android.
While such a high rez screen is nice, I question its actual usefulness on such a small screen, I'd like to see Apple move to a higher rez, but 800 x xxx seems to much. Perhaps 640 x xxx would be better suited.
Still, now that it seems almost 100% that Apple will have a tablet early this year, with a much higher rez screen, it seems likely that the new iPhone/Touch will have higher rez screens as well, though by how much is impossible to say.
As far as the price of the plans go, yes, both Sprint and T-Mobile are cheaper. Both are struggling severely, and so are hoping that cheaper plans will help them. Surprisingly, they are not. Sprint continues to bleed customers despite the tech writers dream phone, the Pre. T-Mobile isn't gaining customers, and is therefor also losing marketshare.
In addition, for those who think that Verizon's Ads about 3G coverage hit home, I point you to T-Mobile's coverage map. See the 3G? Yes, look hard, and you will see it. In fact, their regular coverage is less than AT&T's 3G coverage. Not very good. They HAVE to offer cheaper plans, because you are getting so much less from them.
And if you buy this phone to use on AT&T, needing an AT&T sim card, you don't get ANY 3G coverage, only EDGE and lower. Well, so much for their store for an unlocked phone.
AT&T's service is absolutely terrible. Just listen to the millions complaining about drop calls and atrocious 3g coverage.
Millions? Did you know that 82% of all stats are made up on the spot? Or what that 17%?
Personally, have not had a dropped call in years. I suspect if Apple had released with TMobile that there would have been many of the same issues when the network was brought to it's knees. Grass is always greener on the other side.
Catch up in terms of adding the features I specified earlier:
Higher-resolution screen
Wider/longer screen by dimensions
Yup. This is a no-brainer for the next iPhone.
Quote:
Voice-input in all text entry fields
This is a nice-to-have feature, but not really a requirement.
Quote:
Multi-tasking
I assume you mean "Third-Party App Multitasking", as the iPhone already does multi-tasking. Apple will probably have to double the RAM again to make this practical, but that shouldn't be a problem. I think the bigger problem is how to keep the platform usable, simple, secure, and functional when you don't know what's running on your phone-- those being much more important factors than "multi-tasking".
Quote:
User-replaceable battery
User-upgradable memory
Nope. These will lower capabilities since you'll have to include the design/implementation of the replace-ability in the cost and case design. Almost no one uses this functionality today and I don't see it being very big over the next year either. I suspect most Android users are going to shove a large card in there and forget about it, as well.
Quote:
Competent carrier
AT&T is competent and has a very fast network (much faster 3G than Verizon). There have definitely been complaints in the biggest cities... we'll see how Verizon fares when they get the same level of smartphone traffic that AT&T has.
Quote:
Cost-effective call/data plans
Haven't seen much difference between the various carriers plans, myself.
Customer: If I run out of battery and I am not near an outlet, how do I change the battery in the iPhone?
Apple Genius: You can't do that, but you don't need to. The iPhone has a very long battery life, so you won't need to change batteries.
Customer: That doesn't answer my question. {conversation continues}
Perhaps the Apple genius didn't answer it properly. There are plenty of external battery packs that will do the job, or the person could have charged their iPhone the night before. More people get upset over battery covers falling off than a phone not having a replaceable battery.
Comments
User replaceable battery
What PC rag did you pull this up from? These are mainly talking points that come from the press and not the consumers at large.
Overheard at an Apple store in New York:
Customer: If I run out of battery and I am not near an outlet, how do I change the battery in the iPhone?
Apple Genius: You can't do that, but you don't need to. The iPhone has a very long battery life, so you won't need to change batteries.
Customer: That doesn't answer my question. {conversation continues}
To solve this, I think Apple should create a second-tier developer program that allows one to go through a more rigorous (but well-defined) process to get an app approved for background use.
You're both right. There is currently no way for a third-party to submit an app that runs in the background. IMHO, opening up the whole platform to background apps is a terrible idea. You'll have no idea what's running on the thing and consuming resources or power or trying to monitor you. On the other hand, there are some serious uses that could really benefit.
To solve this, I think Apple should create a second-tier developer program that allows one to go through a more rigorous (but well-defined) process to get an app approved for background use.
At least you have the option and choice to do so on other phones. The iPhone is locked in.
Not sure about making an even more rigorous approval process, since the one already being used is severely mishandled and non-transparent.
Does anyone know how changing screen sizes and resolutions will affect coding for applications?
The API today allows you to query the device for its screen resolution and respond accordingly. If you use just Interface Builder and UIKit, most of it doesn't care that much about pixels. So well-written apps should require minimal to no changes. However, I've seen a lot of code out there that hard-codes 320x480, so a lot of developers will have to update.
But it's not rocket-science. If Apple announced a new SDK in January for a device in March, I would expect almost all apps that are currently being maintained to be able to make that deadline.
Apple has some serious catching-up to do if it wants to compete in the future.
iPhones are selling like hotcakes, who does Apple have to catch up to?
If Ubuntu had Steve Jobs it would.
Apple has risen from the dead, don't forget that.
You got `A'.
Multi-tasking might be Apple's Achilles heel once again as Android offers this. But I wonder what the real-world affect on battery charge would be? If not multi-tasking, I would really like to be able to pop back and fourth to the previous app once I close the current app. It'd be nice if that were configurable somehow.
Also, the number of downloads also needs to be taken with a pinch of salt. I have loads of apps on the Mac which haven't been on my iPhone for well over a year - and most of those were free apps I downloaded out of curiosity.
Googles voice-to-text looks really useful. If the accuracy is very good that in itself could be a switching reason for me. But then again, I would have to think about the money I have invested in iPhone apps that will do me no good if I switch! I would also have to think about how my iTunes library would be affected - well, it wouldn't work at all.
I will frequently open Mail up and then close it back down because I know it's still going to fetch my mail or do something similar with Safari.
I wonder if anyone else has this same experience with iPhone mail. I have a few mail accounts on the phone but my main business account is an IMAP linux server with lightning fast internet connection and hardware. Only on the iPhone it delays a long time to connect to the server no matter if I'm on AT&T or wifi. All the other MacBook Pros iMacs PC etc connect to this same account in milliseconds. What is up with the iPhone?
As a percentage of total apps capable of multitasking, 0.002% is not going to cut it.
The apps capable of multitasking also happen to be the most used apps on the iPhone, so they represent a much greater percentage of the total time the iPod touch/iPhone is in use. Push notifications work quite well for some things without the drawback of performance losses and battery life lost. The overall software ecosystem that the iPhone provides more than makes up for the lack of multitasking. Would multitasking make iPhone OS better? Yes. Does multitasking make other mobile operating systems better than iPhone OS? Not a chance.
Furthermore, multitasking will come to the iPhone (probably in iPhone OS 4.0) and when it is, it will be done right (it might be limited to the new, likely dual core phones in June though).
iPhones are selling like hotcakes, who does Apple have to catch up to?
Catch up in terms of adding the features I specified earlier:
Higher-resolution screen
Wider/longer screen by dimensions
Voice-input in all text entry fields
Multi-tasking
User-replaceable battery
User-upgradable memory
Competent carrier
Cost-effective call/data plans
- Number of Apps is outdated
- iPhone does multitasking, but to date only with Apple's Apps
- For some reason, a 5GB data cap is mentioned on both the unlimited and average plans. Where did that come from? And only the Nexus One has "unlimited data".
- How are they defining "Average"? A mid-point price or minute plan? Almost everyone I know has the minimum 39.99 voice plan, plus $30 data, plus some texting fee. Total ~ $75-$90 / month
And of course as other posters have mentioned, there are far more details not listed here that differentiate the phones / plans.Again, I appreciate what BillShrink is doing, but unfortunately less informed customers rely heavily on these types of charts to make a purchasing decision.
< ... rolls eyes ....>
Catch up in terms of adding the features I specified earlier:
Higher-resolution screen
Wider/longer screen by dimensions
Voice-input in all text entry fields
Multi-tasking
User-replaceable battery
User-upgradable memory
Competent carrier
Cost-effective call/data plans
I love it. Every 3 months someone comes out with a new iPhone killer. The next one will have a 5 ghz processor and a 10 megapixel camera. But like Microsoft, they fail to realize the differentiating factor is the software. Who cares if your pc has a 50 ghz processor when it still runs Windows? When will they learn that people love the iPhone because of the experience it provides not how much memory Apple can cram into it.
And like clockwork, some dimwit comes along claiming that Apple needs to catch up... Pay attention to units sold, revenue reports, and customer satisfaction surveys then get back to me.
Apple has some serious catching-up to do if it wants to compete in the future.
Catching up to what? Apple sets the standard. We've already been told that while the Nexus One is a decent phone, it isn't an "iPhone Killer."
Seems like everyone else has to continue trying to "catch up."
Do you think Apple is sitting around doing nothing?
No one, but NO ONE, can manage Apple's sweet-spot combination of hardware + software. Anyone can slap a bigger camera on a phone and give it a faster processor. That's actually less than half the battle. Apple has gestalt. No one else does. And that stuff, when accomplished right, is pure magic.
first if all, most of the apps in the store are not fart apps, or links to websites. The vast majority are actual programs. It's been independently stated by Pogue and others that on average, Apple's app store apps are more useful, and better written that Android apps, and it's true. Also, there are serious business apps in the store from dozens of major companies, not true for Android yet. In addition, the amount of hardware useable for the iPhone/Touch is amazing, and this includes profession equipment in a number of categories. Almost zero for Android.
While such a high rez screen is nice, I question its actual usefulness on such a small screen, I'd like to see Apple move to a higher rez, but 800 x xxx seems to much. Perhaps 640 x xxx would be better suited.
Still, now that it seems almost 100% that Apple will have a tablet early this year, with a much higher rez screen, it seems likely that the new iPhone/Touch will have higher rez screens as well, though by how much is impossible to say.
As far as the price of the plans go, yes, both Sprint and T-Mobile are cheaper. Both are struggling severely, and so are hoping that cheaper plans will help them. Surprisingly, they are not. Sprint continues to bleed customers despite the tech writers dream phone, the Pre. T-Mobile isn't gaining customers, and is therefor also losing marketshare.
In addition, for those who think that Verizon's Ads about 3G coverage hit home, I point you to T-Mobile's coverage map. See the 3G? Yes, look hard, and you will see it. In fact, their regular coverage is less than AT&T's 3G coverage. Not very good. They HAVE to offer cheaper plans, because you are getting so much less from them.
http://coverage.t-mobile.com/default.aspx?MapType=Data
And if you buy this phone to use on AT&T, needing an AT&T sim card, you don't get ANY 3G coverage, only EDGE and lower. Well, so much for their store for an unlocked phone.
At least you have the option and choice to do so on other phones. The iPhone is locked in.
Not sure about making an even more rigorous approval process, since the one already being used is severely mishandled and non-transparent.
You have a Ford Focus with a Corvette engine. Awesome!!!!
There is no multi-task on the iPhone.
AT&T's service is absolutely terrible. Just listen to the millions complaining about drop calls and atrocious 3g coverage.
Millions? Did you know that 82% of all stats are made up on the spot? Or what that 17%?
Personally, have not had a dropped call in years. I suspect if Apple had released with TMobile that there would have been many of the same issues when the network was brought to it's knees. Grass is always greener on the other side.
Catch up in terms of adding the features I specified earlier:
Higher-resolution screen
Wider/longer screen by dimensions
Yup. This is a no-brainer for the next iPhone.
Voice-input in all text entry fields
This is a nice-to-have feature, but not really a requirement.
Multi-tasking
I assume you mean "Third-Party App Multitasking", as the iPhone already does multi-tasking. Apple will probably have to double the RAM again to make this practical, but that shouldn't be a problem. I think the bigger problem is how to keep the platform usable, simple, secure, and functional when you don't know what's running on your phone-- those being much more important factors than "multi-tasking".
User-replaceable battery
User-upgradable memory
Nope. These will lower capabilities since you'll have to include the design/implementation of the replace-ability in the cost and case design. Almost no one uses this functionality today and I don't see it being very big over the next year either. I suspect most Android users are going to shove a large card in there and forget about it, as well.
Competent carrier
AT&T is competent and has a very fast network (much faster 3G than Verizon). There have definitely been complaints in the biggest cities... we'll see how Verizon fares when they get the same level of smartphone traffic that AT&T has.
Cost-effective call/data plans
Haven't seen much difference between the various carriers plans, myself.
Overheard at an Apple store in New York:
Customer: If I run out of battery and I am not near an outlet, how do I change the battery in the iPhone?
Apple Genius: You can't do that, but you don't need to. The iPhone has a very long battery life, so you won't need to change batteries.
Customer: That doesn't answer my question. {conversation continues}
Perhaps the Apple genius didn't answer it properly. There are plenty of external battery packs that will do the job, or the person could have charged their iPhone the night before. More people get upset over battery covers falling off than a phone not having a replaceable battery.