I'm not a "fandroid" but I can make very good excuses: this is not Google's fault, it's the nature of Google making something very different from what Apple did. Google has given maximum power and minimum accountability to carriers and handset makers. That's why they use it, and that's why Android (in one form or another) gets sold to so many people.
Apple has no such goals, and so they can get updates out to more people faster.
That's a VERY good excuse for Google, I think. Their goals are simply different from Apple's. Apple wants a good user experience, generating repeat purchases. Google wants their data-collection and ad-delivery software in as many hands as possible, and user experience comes second (or third or fourth).
Which is all a very good reason to stay away from any Android device that isn't fully in Google's control.
100% of Android users with access to a market can download a Google Now or Siri equivalent.
100% of iPhone 4 owners cannot use Siri... even though their device would've been able to if Apple hadn't bought it.
~40% of iOS devices ever sold can't use Siri. (Even more have been left out of Airdrop, panoramic photos, etc.)
~85% of iPod touch devices ever sold are left out of iOS 7 upgrade.
See. Anyone can come up with fun statistics.
What's important is, does your device do the things you want it to do?
The OS version doesn't matter. Especially with iOS, where the same number on various devices might or might not have major features included.
Fair observation, from the user perspective. I particularly agree with the fact the OS version matters little to the user.
Having said this, homogeneity matters to the developers. For our work, we need only 2 iPhones but test on 15 Android devices. 15 is a low number compared to some of our friends and foes. Across the hallway from us, there is an Android-only dev shop that has a whole room dedicated to Android devices because they test on carrier variants as well as devices from different vendors.
The longer Apple can keep a device updatable, the better. My MacBook 2007 (fall edition) just missed Mnt Lion. Apple released four versions of the MB that year and had I purchased three weeks later . . .
Now all my Apple products are up to date. Five years seems a good length of time. But, if progress necessitates moving on, so be it.
Yet compared to the orphanage that is manned by Android, let that lady dance to its silly tune.
Addendum: But how trustful is Google going to be? I suspect the fire department will need to be called to put out the numerous pants that are on fire.
Does it say that Apple provided the comparison? Looks to me like AppleInsider is the source of the side by side comparison. And the article highlights the fact that this data is even available at all and then compares it to the sad state of affairs on the other side.
I do wonder a bit about the Other category - could it be there are few devices prior to a given version because those devices just cant access the store? I have an original iPad which is limited and most stuff on there I either bought way back or tried out on higher devices first then put it on the old iPad, does that show up on the chart or is second download of same title not counted? In other words, this may not really be an accurate look at devices in the wild or even a fully detailed comparison of Apple and Android, especially if Android allows older versions to connect to the store even if there is little or not content available for them to use. So the co-requisite grain-o-salt applies here.
On the other hand it is a good story I think and certainly helps the developers - on the other - other hand it will no doubt offend SOMEBODY that their 5 year old devices can't use the latest App.
When I had a Google Nexus 1 ... which never got past gingerbread (IIRC) ... the thing i hated the most was that only certain apps could be moved to the SD card ... most large ones (especially Google's could not) ... and you couldn't remove apps like Facebook AT ALL ... even if you never wanted to use it.
Basically ... by the end ... I couldn't even update the apps I had because they were too large for the ram that I had available on the phone (256MB?) which made it useless.
This, of course, isn't even counting on the fact that all support ceased for the damn thing.
Haven't had any trouble of the sort with my iPhone 5 ... there was a problem with the LTE feature and T-Mobile, but they exchanged it without any question whatsoever ...
as for stelligent's comment. Normally I would say yes ... concentrate on strengths ... but isn't the fact that there isn't such fragmentation a strength (for the platform and developers) unto itself?
as for stelligent's comment. Normally I would say yes ... concentrate on strengths ... but isn't the fact that there isn't such fragmentation a strength (for the platform and developers) unto itself?
Compare the following:
You're so short.
I am tall. You're short.
Look at what I can reach - high, higher and highest.
<span style="font-size:20px;line-height:24px;">100% of Android users with access to a market can download a Google Now or Siri equivalent.</span>
<span style="font-size:20px;line-height:24px;">100% of iPhone 4 owners cannot use Siri... even though their device would've been able to if Apple hadn't bought it.</span>
<span style="font-size:20px;line-height:1.231;">~40% of iOS devices ever sold can't use Siri. </span>
<span style="font-size:20px;line-height:1.231;">(Even more have been left out of Airdrop, panoramic photos, etc.)</span>
<span style="font-size:20px;line-height:1.231;">~85% of iPod touch devices ever sold are left out of iOS 7 upgrade.</span>
<span style="line-height:1.231;">See. Anyone can come up with fun statistics.</span>
What's important is, does your device do the things you want it to do?
The OS version doesn't matter. Especially with iOS, where the same number on various devices might or might not have major features included.
First off: if your point is thoughtful and interesting, you don't need big type or all caps to get attention.
Secondly: you conflate a series of ideas together in trying to make your point. Are you arguing that old hardware should support new features? Are you arguing that devices like the iPod touch should be supported for many. many more years of future iOS updates, or some specific multiplier of Android's "less than one year, if that"? What's fair, an expectation of Apple that is 4-5 times better than Google in every respect? How many times better than Google does Apple have to be to satisfy you? Just curious.
Or are you arguing that developers should not support features in new OS updates (as they haven't on Android with regard to improved notifications)? That everything should run on Android 2.3 Gingerbread phones because that's what the Android community is selling?
Are you arguing that it's okay to speak of "Android" as a platform when you want to brag about installed base numbers, and then turn around and use "Android" to also represent the small minority of devices that can actually do the things Google demonstrates in the most recent version of the OS?
What you should have said is: "Google Now is an initiative to sell Android phones, so of course it should only work on a few, brand new devices!"
But Android fans also like to suggest that "Android" comes with Google's greatest voice-search features that rival if not exceed Siri. So which is it?
Do you want "Android" to mean volumes of low end crap, or do you want "Android" to mean a few high end alternatives to the iPhone that cost just as much, aren't quite as polished, and have a shoddy selection of half baked apps, but test really well in benchmarks and have large but low quality screens (essentially another WP8 or BB10).
Because you can say both things, but not at the same time. Android isn't a huge platform of iPhone-like devices. It's a huge platform of crap with a small subset of iPhone-class devices that iOS greatly outnumbers.
First off: if your point is thoughtful and interesting, you don't need big type or all caps to get attention.
Secondly: you conflate a series of ideas together in trying to make your point. Are you arguing that old hardware should support new features? Are you arguing that devices like the iPod touch should be supported for many. many more years of future iOS updates, or some specific multiplier of Android's "less than one year, if that"? What's fair, an expectation of Apple that is 4-5 times better than Google in every respect? How many times better than Google does Apple have to be to satisfy you? Just curious.
Or are you arguing that developers should not support features in new OS updates (as they haven't on Android with regard to improved notifications)? That everything should run on Android 2.3 Gingerbread phones because that's what the Android community is selling?
Are you arguing that it's okay to speak of "Android" as a platform when you want to brag about installed base numbers, and then turn around and use "Android" to also represent the small minority of devices that can actually do the things Google demonstrates in the most recent version of the OS?
What you should have said is: "Google Now is an initiative to sell Android phones, so of course it should only work on a few, brand new devices!"
But Android fans also like to suggest that "Android" comes with Google's greatest voice-search features that rival if not exceed Siri. So which is it?
Do you want "Android" to mean volumes of low end crap, or do you want "Android" to mean a few high end alternatives to the iPhone that cost just as much, aren't quite as polished, and have a shoddy selection of half baked apps, but test really well in benchmarks and have large but low quality screens (essentially another WP8 or BB10).
Because you can say both things, but not at the same time. Android isn't a huge platform of iPhone-like devices. It's a huge platform of crap with a small subset of iPhone-class devices that iOS greatly outnumbers.
What he's saying is don't point out the speck in another's eye when you have a plank in yours.
I challenge you to point out three actual "incorrect or misleading" things AI has ever reported with regard to Android. And your misreading of an article doesn't count.
Creating trouble isn't my goal here. As me listing three incidences has nothing to do with the article and I can only imagine the reaction it would get I have chosen to privately message you three examples instead. Enjoy!
Creating trouble isn't my goal here. As me listing three incidences has nothing to do with the article and I can only imagine the reaction it would get I have chosen to privately message you three examples instead. Enjoy!
That's rich. But are you admitting you are the same troll as Kdarling, or are there two disingenuous Android master baiters here?
That's rich. But are you admitting you are the same troll as Korea rling, or are there two disingenuous Android master baiters here?
So they're trolls because they don't agree with you? Trolls are the ones with one line posts that are pure Apple hatred with no substance nor rhyme or reason. You may not agree with KDarling or DroidFTW but that alone doesn't make them a troll. Difference of opinions that are well written and with respect is what makes a thread interesting. We can politely and respectively agree to disagree.
Stop the presses! An OS that is Open Source with 4,000+ different models has fragmentation problems! An OS that's tailored to less than 20 device models doesn't! Thanks DeD, your articles are really eye opening
So they're trolls because they don't agree with you? Trolls are the ones with one line posts that are pure Apple hatred with no substance nor rhyme or reason. You may not agree with KDarling or DroidFTW but that alone doesn't make them a troll. Difference of opinions that are well written and with respect is what makes a thread interesting. We can politely and respectively agree to disagree.
Don't know enough about DroidFTW, but KD is a useless troll. A very subtle troll, but still a troll. He has a specific pattern to his posts that is repeated over and over. You don't have to use words like "iCrap" or "fanboys" to be a troll.
Quote:
Originally Posted by KDarling
True, but melodramatic. How about:
100% of Android users with access to a market can download a Google Now or Siri equivalent.
100% of iPhone 4 owners cannot use Siri... even though their device would've been able to if Apple hadn't bought it.
~40% of iOS devices
ever sold can't use Siri. (Even more have been left out of Airdrop, panoramic photos, etc.)
~85% of iPod touch devices ever sold are left out of iOS 7 upgrade.
See. Anyone can come up with fun statistics.
What's important is, does your device do the things you want it to do?
The OS version doesn't matter. Especially with iOS, where the same number on various devices might or might not have major features included.
What a crock. Here's a couple for you:
100% of iPhone 4 users have numerous alternatives in the App Store for Siri, one of those being Google Now itself.
99% of iOS users can download and use Google Now.
67% of Android users are running a version with severe security holes that were fixed in iOS back in version 4.
93% is the number of devices your App can run on if you target iOS 6 and newer (which makes it odd that Google now requires iOS 5 and up since that only gives them another 6% of the user base).
OS version doesn't matter? Please, for someone who claims to be a software developer it must have been hard for you to say that with a straight face. Or maybe your "shill" payments make it easy for you to lie? OS version absolutely matters. It matters to developers who want to create the latest and greatest Apps. Developers who want to get to market quickly with their Apps but have to wait a year before enough critical mass builds up to make it worthwhile to code for the latest version. It matters to the people who buy a $600 phone that never gets updates when it hits one year old.
BTW, your comment that 100% of Android devices with access to the market can run a Siri equivalent is another outright lie. There are so many Android devcies out there that lack the processing power to run half the Apps available in Google Play. Having access to the Market in no way means that you can run every App on there. Why do you insist on lying all the time?
the killer point here, which most are still missing, is that many Android phones are still be sold with the hopelessly crippled old OS versions that will never be updated. that is shameful, right?
except of course, many buy those "free" phones with no intention of using any advanced OS features anyway. it's just another cellphone to them with some basic smart stuff. texting, Facebook, and celebrity gossip web sites mainly. so their built-in obsolescence doesn't matter. and you know ... that's ok.
the delicious irony instead is the droid fanboys won't ever admit their big user stats are comprised of mostly tabloid readers. and people wonder why their app revenues are so low?
The first iPad was introduced in 2010 and was 'wildly successful', ditto iPod Touch, therefore there are millions out there unable to upgrade to the latest OS, so presumably they've either been chucked away in despair or just written out of the equation. I cant believe that they represent such a small percentage of that pie chart! I am very disappointed that I can't update my original iPad in any way even if the limitations of the device prevents access to certain features.
Comments
Quote:
Originally Posted by AppleInsider
Two thirds of Android users can't use Google Now
True, but melodramatic. How about:
100% of Android users with access to a market can download a Google Now or Siri equivalent.
100% of iPhone 4 owners cannot use Siri... even though their device would've been able to if Apple hadn't bought it.
~40% of iOS devices ever sold can't use Siri. (Even more have been left out of Airdrop, panoramic photos, etc.)
~85% of iPod touch devices ever sold are left out of iOS 7 upgrade.
See. Anyone can come up with fun statistics.
What's important is, does your device do the things you want it to do?
The OS version doesn't matter. Especially with iOS, where the same number on various devices might or might not have major features included.
Apple has no such goals, and so they can get updates out to more people faster.
That's a VERY good excuse for Google, I think. Their goals are simply different from Apple's. Apple wants a good user experience, generating repeat purchases. Google wants their data-collection and ad-delivery software in as many hands as possible, and user experience comes second (or third or fourth).
Which is all a very good reason to stay away from any Android device that isn't fully in Google's control.
Quote:
Originally Posted by KDarling
True, but melodramatic. How about:
100% of Android users with access to a market can download a Google Now or Siri equivalent.
100% of iPhone 4 owners cannot use Siri... even though their device would've been able to if Apple hadn't bought it.
~40% of iOS devices ever sold can't use Siri. (Even more have been left out of Airdrop, panoramic photos, etc.)
~85% of iPod touch devices ever sold are left out of iOS 7 upgrade.
See. Anyone can come up with fun statistics.
What's important is, does your device do the things you want it to do?
The OS version doesn't matter. Especially with iOS, where the same number on various devices might or might not have major features included.
Fair observation, from the user perspective. I particularly agree with the fact the OS version matters little to the user.
Having said this, homogeneity matters to the developers. For our work, we need only 2 iPhones but test on 15 Android devices. 15 is a low number compared to some of our friends and foes. Across the hallway from us, there is an Android-only dev shop that has a whole room dedicated to Android devices because they test on carrier variants as well as devices from different vendors.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mhikl
The longer Apple can keep a device updatable, the better. My MacBook 2007 (fall edition) just missed Mnt Lion. Apple released four versions of the MB that year and had I purchased three weeks later . . .
Now all my Apple products are up to date. Five years seems a good length of time. But, if progress necessitates moving on, so be it.
Yet compared to the orphanage that is manned by Android, let that lady dance to its silly tune.
Addendum: But how trustful is Google going to be? I suspect the fire department will need to be called to put out the numerous pants that are on fire.
Does it say that Apple provided the comparison? Looks to me like AppleInsider is the source of the side by side comparison. And the article highlights the fact that this data is even available at all and then compares it to the sad state of affairs on the other side.
I do wonder a bit about the Other category - could it be there are few devices prior to a given version because those devices just cant access the store? I have an original iPad which is limited and most stuff on there I either bought way back or tried out on higher devices first then put it on the old iPad, does that show up on the chart or is second download of same title not counted? In other words, this may not really be an accurate look at devices in the wild or even a fully detailed comparison of Apple and Android, especially if Android allows older versions to connect to the store even if there is little or not content available for them to use. So the co-requisite grain-o-salt applies here.
On the other hand it is a good story I think and certainly helps the developers - on the other - other hand it will no doubt offend SOMEBODY that their 5 year old devices can't use the latest App.
Basically ... by the end ... I couldn't even update the apps I had because they were too large for the ram that I had available on the phone (256MB?) which made it useless.
This, of course, isn't even counting on the fact that all support ceased for the damn thing.
Haven't had any trouble of the sort with my iPhone 5 ... there was a problem with the LTE feature and T-Mobile, but they exchanged it without any question whatsoever ...
as for stelligent's comment. Normally I would say yes ... concentrate on strengths ... but isn't the fact that there isn't such fragmentation a strength (for the platform and developers) unto itself?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gordon Werner
as for stelligent's comment. Normally I would say yes ... concentrate on strengths ... but isn't the fact that there isn't such fragmentation a strength (for the platform and developers) unto itself?
Compare the following:
You're so short.
I am tall. You're short.
Look at what I can reach - high, higher and highest.
First off: if your point is thoughtful and interesting, you don't need big type or all caps to get attention.
Secondly: you conflate a series of ideas together in trying to make your point. Are you arguing that old hardware should support new features? Are you arguing that devices like the iPod touch should be supported for many. many more years of future iOS updates, or some specific multiplier of Android's "less than one year, if that"? What's fair, an expectation of Apple that is 4-5 times better than Google in every respect? How many times better than Google does Apple have to be to satisfy you? Just curious.
Or are you arguing that developers should not support features in new OS updates (as they haven't on Android with regard to improved notifications)? That everything should run on Android 2.3 Gingerbread phones because that's what the Android community is selling?
Are you arguing that it's okay to speak of "Android" as a platform when you want to brag about installed base numbers, and then turn around and use "Android" to also represent the small minority of devices that can actually do the things Google demonstrates in the most recent version of the OS?
What you should have said is: "Google Now is an initiative to sell Android phones, so of course it should only work on a few, brand new devices!"
But Android fans also like to suggest that "Android" comes with Google's greatest voice-search features that rival if not exceed Siri. So which is it?
Do you want "Android" to mean volumes of low end crap, or do you want "Android" to mean a few high end alternatives to the iPhone that cost just as much, aren't quite as polished, and have a shoddy selection of half baked apps, but test really well in benchmarks and have large but low quality screens (essentially another WP8 or BB10).
Because you can say both things, but not at the same time. Android isn't a huge platform of iPhone-like devices. It's a huge platform of crap with a small subset of iPhone-class devices that iOS greatly outnumbers.
What he's saying is don't point out the speck in another's eye when you have a plank in yours.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Corrections
I challenge you to point out three actual "incorrect or misleading" things AI has ever reported with regard to Android. And your misreading of an article doesn't count.
Creating trouble isn't my goal here. As me listing three incidences has nothing to do with the article and I can only imagine the reaction it would get I have chosen to privately message you three examples instead. Enjoy!
Quote:
Originally Posted by DroidFTW
Creating trouble isn't my goal here. As me listing three incidences has nothing to do with the article and I can only imagine the reaction it would get I have chosen to privately message you three examples instead. Enjoy!
That's rich. But are you admitting you are the same troll as Kdarling, or are there two disingenuous Android master baiters here?
You really think it's that hard for them?
So they're trolls because they don't agree with you? Trolls are the ones with one line posts that are pure Apple hatred with no substance nor rhyme or reason. You may not agree with KDarling or DroidFTW but that alone doesn't make them a troll. Difference of opinions that are well written and with respect is what makes a thread interesting. We can politely and respectively agree to disagree.
Stop the presses! An OS that is Open Source with 4,000+ different models has fragmentation problems! An OS that's tailored to less than 20 device models doesn't! Thanks DeD, your articles are really eye opening
Quote:
Originally Posted by dasanman69
So they're trolls because they don't agree with you? Trolls are the ones with one line posts that are pure Apple hatred with no substance nor rhyme or reason. You may not agree with KDarling or DroidFTW but that alone doesn't make them a troll. Difference of opinions that are well written and with respect is what makes a thread interesting. We can politely and respectively agree to disagree.
Don't know enough about DroidFTW, but KD is a useless troll. A very subtle troll, but still a troll. He has a specific pattern to his posts that is repeated over and over. You don't have to use words like "iCrap" or "fanboys" to be a troll.
Quote:
Originally Posted by KDarling
True, but melodramatic. How about:
100% of Android users with access to a market can download a Google Now or Siri equivalent.
100% of iPhone 4 owners cannot use Siri... even though their device would've been able to if Apple hadn't bought it.
~40% of iOS devices
ever sold can't use Siri. (Even more have been left out of Airdrop, panoramic photos, etc.)
~85% of iPod touch devices ever sold are left out of iOS 7 upgrade.
See. Anyone can come up with fun statistics.
What's important is, does your device do the things you want it to do?
The OS version doesn't matter. Especially with iOS, where the same number on various devices might or might not have major features included.
What a crock. Here's a couple for you:
100% of iPhone 4 users have numerous alternatives in the App Store for Siri, one of those being Google Now itself.
99% of iOS users can download and use Google Now.
67% of Android users are running a version with severe security holes that were fixed in iOS back in version 4.
93% is the number of devices your App can run on if you target iOS 6 and newer (which makes it odd that Google now requires iOS 5 and up since that only gives them another 6% of the user base).
OS version doesn't matter? Please, for someone who claims to be a software developer it must have been hard for you to say that with a straight face. Or maybe your "shill" payments make it easy for you to lie? OS version absolutely matters. It matters to developers who want to create the latest and greatest Apps. Developers who want to get to market quickly with their Apps but have to wait a year before enough critical mass builds up to make it worthwhile to code for the latest version. It matters to the people who buy a $600 phone that never gets updates when it hits one year old.
BTW, your comment that 100% of Android devices with access to the market can run a Siri equivalent is another outright lie. There are so many Android devcies out there that lack the processing power to run half the Apps available in Google Play. Having access to the Market in no way means that you can run every App on there. Why do you insist on lying all the time?
the killer point here, which most are still missing, is that many Android phones are still be sold with the hopelessly crippled old OS versions that will never be updated. that is shameful, right?
except of course, many buy those "free" phones with no intention of using any advanced OS features anyway. it's just another cellphone to them with some basic smart stuff. texting, Facebook, and celebrity gossip web sites mainly. so their built-in obsolescence doesn't matter. and you know ... that's ok.
the delicious irony instead is the droid fanboys won't ever admit their big user stats are comprised of mostly tabloid readers. and people wonder why their app revenues are so low?
Thank you Daniel for keeping up on the crapitude that is the android "ecosystem", so I don't have to.