How is Android the most popular mobile OS ? Honestly ?

[Rico]

Which decade are you living in? This issue was almost eliminated from Android in Gingerbread and it's completely non-existant in Android 4 and above. A long time ago in a Galaxy far far away Android had these problems which are now long gone but people just won't stop bringing these up. If you wanna know what battery problems are, just sift through the Lumia 920/HTC 8X forums here.

I would say battery problems were reduced around the time of ICS, but that was also in part due to OEMs putting larger batteries in their devices. Speaking as a lead tech in a Sprint indirect, a large percentage of the issues I see daily are Android devices with battery issues. When you remove service issues from the equation, you have crappy OEM and carrier software which introduces instability, and can increase battery drain. There's also the fact apps can run as they like in the background. While it's great for realtime performance, it can really drain the battery. Combine that with the fact that there's far less regulation in apps on Android than Windows Phone (poorly-coded apps can kill battery), and the fact that very few people are running Jellybean on their devices. The battery issue on Android is better than it's been, but hardly "completely non-existant".

My first Lumia 920 had a bum battery. Replaced it and I've never had an issue since. I run a rooted Galaxy Nexus as my work phone, and even with an extended battery, I get maybe half a work day with it running the same email accounts, social networks, and similar apps (Reddit, eBay, Instagram) with notifications and both Bluetooth and WiFi on compared to a full work day on my Lumia 920. And this is with Find My Phone on. Hardly scientific, but in daily usage for me Windows Phone has much better battery life than Android; I'd put my battery life on my 920 around where my iPhone 4s was.

 

[o0Nighthawk0o]

How?

Personally, I use this one. Remote Desktop | Windows Phone Apps+Games Store (United States)

Costs $1.99 but some of the others that use RDP to connect are much more expensive and the free ones have desktop software that has to be installed. The only problem I found with what I use is name resolution. At home it doesn't resolve the host name to an IP address but works fine at work.

 

[o0Nighthawk0o]

I think I would rather see MS keep the OS closed simply for the security. There is enough running on my phone as is without having to add something else because some people want to tinker.

My phone is a tool. It helps me keep in touch with family, friends and clients. It helps me keep track of expenses. Empresses clients when I can repair their computer from anywhere in the world while on the phone with them.

 

[WorzelGummage]

I mean, take touchwiz for example: I played with the new samsung galaxy note 8.0 recently. I noticed that once in a while it would lag, thats unacceptable for a brand new device running a fairly powerful quad-core exynos processor. Also, I though it was without a doubt the most hacked together user experience I've ever seen: There were 2 app launcher bars, seriously, one on the side and one on the bottom,


. Thats why all developers release for the iphone/ipad first. Also, its much easier to develop on iOS and WP than android simply because of standardized hardware. Every generation of wp use the same processors/gpus and theres only one current iphone and ipad out at a time vs android.

I'm not saying android is a bad system, but it does have a ton of issues that other OSes simply don't.

The app launcher on the side is the new "Multi-Window" feature that allows you to have two apps displayed and running simultaneously on the home screen.

ALL developers most certainly DO NOT release apps for the iPhone/iPad first. There are apps that are released for Android and WP and are not available for iOS.

 

[Agent-P]

Because they are literally available everywhere

Sent from my LG-E970 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

This. It isn't so much the OS, but rather the market saturation. Android literally has a device that could cater to any type of person. Want a phone with a small screen? Done. Want a phone with a gigantic screen? Done. Want a phone that's super cheap to buy outright? Done. Want a particular screen resolution? They all exist on some device or another. Nokia has realised this and that's why they are aiming to have devices at every price point, different sizes, and different features to cater to the different needs of people.

 

[chezm]

Which decade are you living in? This issue was almost eliminated from Android in Gingerbread and it's completely non-existant in Android 4 and above. A long time ago in a Galaxy far far away Android had these problems which are now long gone but people just won't stop bringing these up. If you wanna know what battery problems are, just sift through the Lumia 920/HTC 8X forums here.

My gs3 was running 4.1 and I still had to kill some google specific processes to stop hindering the device. Definitely 920 isn't void of battery inconsistency, but at least my Lumia can run LTE without eating 25% per hour. And my 1gb ram smartphone runs lighting speeds faster than device with 2gb ram, at idle using 700mb minimum.

 

[scottcraft]

The simple answer is more apps, better functionality and brand recognition. Windows phone has a solid base, but the two androids in my house are just as reliable if not more so than the three windows phones I've owned while having more apps and more features. Also I don't do anything special to manage the running apps on my android either. It has horrible battery life, but so does my 8X. I will say the 8X is more efficient, but it's a long way from good. Microsoft has a solid platform, I hope they speed up the rate at which they add new features to windows phone, it really has so much potential.

 

[z33dev33l]

The simple answer is more apps, better functionality and brand recognition. Windows phone has a solid base, but the two androids in my house are just as reliable if not more so than the three windows phones I've owned while having more apps and more features. Also I don't do anything special to manage the running apps on my android either. It has horrible battery life, but so does my 8X. I will say the 8X is more efficient, but it's a long way from good. Microsoft has a solid platform, I hope they speed up the rate at which they add new features to windows phone, it really has so much potential.

More functionality, far from better.

 

[scottcraft]

More functionality, far from better.

Whether it's better or not is certainly subjective, but regardless android offers more features at this time. And I'm not including the gimmicky Galaxy wave your hand at the phone stuff. I don't think Microsoft needs to make windows phone capable of everything android can do. It's the simple things for me such as a notification center, separate volume profiles and screen rotation lock. Windows Phone already offers more options for sharing things than the iPhone, so all it really needs is refinement in certain areas.

 

[anon(6038817)]

It's all subjective, really. There is no "best" mobile OS, there is only "best for me".

My problem is I can see the unique benefits of each of the 4 major platforms (iOS, Android, Windows Phone, BB10) and I wish I could combine them all into one super device. But alas, I must try to decide which one is the best for me and go with that.

 

[dba415]

Because it's a good OS. It's not Android's fault that Windows Phone arrived like 3 years late. That's all on Microsoft for failing to keep up with technology. I remember when Microsoft stated that "iPhone wasn't a threat Windows Mobile" and "tablets aren't a threat to the PC sales". Well guess what everyone had a good laugh at MS for saying those idiotic things.

It's not like manufacturers "chose" Android over Windows Phone. Android was the only OS they had in order to combat Apple. They could not have chosen Windows Phone even if they wanted to initially since it didn't exist. Once WP came out it was too late in the game. Android already gained that market share. OEMs just went with the platform that would have made them the most money.

Android 1.0-2.0 were really poor OSes. If WP was existent at that time maybe WP would have taken the throne. I had a t-mobile G1 and I hated it and went with iPhone for a while. I give Google credit because they improved Android over the last 2 years and now it is a good OS. Runs smooth and there is actually no lag.

 

[z33dev33l]

Because it's a good OS. It's not Android's fault that Windows Phone arrived like 3 years late. That's all on Microsoft for failing to keep up with technology. I remember when Microsoft stated that "iPhone wasn't a threat Windows Mobile" and "tablets aren't a threat to the PC sales". Well guess what everyone had a good laugh at MS for saying those idiotic things.

It's not like manufacturers "chose" Android over Windows Phone. Android was the only OS they had in order to combat Apple. They could not have chosen Windows Phone even if they wanted to initially since it didn't exist. Once WP came out it was too late in the game. Android already gained that market share. OEMs just went with the platform that would have made them the most money.

Android 1.0-2.0 were really poor OSes. If WP was existent at that time maybe WP would have taken the throne. I had a t-mobile G1 and I hated it and went with iPhone for a while. I give Google credit because they improved Android over the last 2 years and now it is a good OS. Runs smooth and there is actually no lag.

No lag is still total BS

 

[WorzelGummage]

Because it's a good OS. It's not Android's fault that Windows Phone arrived like 3 years late. That's all on Microsoft for failing to keep up with technology. I remember when Microsoft stated that "iPhone wasn't a threat Windows Mobile" and "tablets aren't a threat to the PC sales". Well guess what everyone had a good laugh at MS for saying those idiotic things.

It's not like manufacturers "chose" Android over Windows Phone. Android was the only OS they had in order to combat Apple. They could not have chosen Windows Phone even if they wanted to initially since it didn't exist. Once WP came out it was too late in the game. Android already gained that market share. OEMs just went with the platform that would have made them the most money.

Android 1.0-2.0 were really poor OSes. If WP was existent at that time maybe WP would have taken the throne. I had a t-mobile G1 and I hated it and went with iPhone for a while. I give Google credit because they improved Android over the last 2 years and now it is a good OS. Runs smooth and there is actually no lag.

Well that all depends on which Android phone you have. I've got a Galaxy S 3 and it does lag every day

 

[z33dev33l]

Well that all depends on which Android phone you have. I've got a Galaxy S 3 and it does lag every day

Every one of them lags. The gs3 and the HTC One do best. The gs4 is still a choppy mess.

 

[tgp]

At one time a couple months ago, I had a Nexus 4, a Lumia 920, and an iPhone 5 all within a week. In my experience, all 3 phones, flagships of their OS's, lagged equally as much. None more than the others and none less (the reality is that none of them lagged at all). That's actually saying something for Android, since the Nexus 4 is my primary phone and I use it the most and have the most stuff on it.

This leads me to wonder if Android's lag is actually caused by manufacturers' skin, at least for Jelly Bean devices. I guess we will find out when the SGS4 & HTC One with pure Android are released.

 

[zipro]

I love my Lumia 920 but my other phone (HTC One) runs circles around it I'm pretty much every respect. Still, I like WP8 and I'll keep the Lumia because it's refreshing for me to use something totally different once in a while
Sent from my RM-821_eu_euro2_249 using Board Express

 

[z33dev33l]

At one time a couple months ago, I had a Nexus 4, a Lumia 920, and an iPhone 5 all within a week. In my experience, all 3 phones, flagships of their OS's, lagged equally as much. None more than the others and none less (the reality is that none of them lagged at all). That's actually saying something for Android, since the Nexus 4 is my primary phone and I use it the most and have the most stuff on it.

This leads me to wonder if Android's lag is actually caused by manufacturers' skin, at least for Jelly Bean devices. I guess we will find out when the SGS4 & HTC One with pure Android are released.

I'll acknowledge that the nexus 4 lags less than most but if you can say it doesn't lag for you then you must not do much of anything on it.

 

[anon(6038817)]

My Galaxy Nexus lagged often. Sometimes to the point of freezing. I'd sometimes come back to the home screen to find all my icons and widgets had disappeared and had to wait several seconds for them to reappear. My Lumia 521 has a slower processor and less RAM yet it runs buttery smooth. It's a nice change.

 

[tgp]

I'll acknowledge that the nexus 4 lags less than most but if you can say it doesn't lag for you then you must not do much of anything on it.

Maybe I don't! I have around 90 apps installed. I stream videos every once in awhile, but I don't game other than Angry Birds or other light games. I also did a very specific test between the Nexus 4 and the Lumia 920 to test smoothness. I opened the Settings menu on both of them, and scrolled very slowly. The 920 was jerky, but the Nexus was butter smooth. I'm not sure it means anything or tells anyone anything meaningful, but the difference was very obvious.

 

[scottcraft]

My 8X lags and hangs up some. It is more fluid than my Rezound, but it has more stutters and lag. Lag can affect all platforms, it's all about what you are willing to live with.