IOS vs WP8: My one day experience with the iphone

[Nogitsune Micah]

Part of my family had decided to move over to verizon so I considered giving the iphone 5 a try(Android was not an option for me...After 3 years on android and multiple devices, I have no desire to ever use an android phone again at least not anytime soon).

So i got an Iphone 5...I wanted to see what all the hype was. And it went back the next day.

What I liked about IOS:

TBH, the os really didn't seem that different from Android...Which is why I do not understand why many Iphone users bash Android because my opinion, IOS sort of feels like android...except more refined. There's no lag as far as I could tell and it is a smooth OS.

I love the App Store(And I hate it). Hands down...Microsoft needs to get on the ball...Even the experience in the App store on Iphone was miles better than the play store experience on Google...I like how it was easy to find apps and i like the clean look of their app store.

Siri...i almost kept the iphone just for siri because apparently i am easily amused but i had fun goofing off with siri and her responses. Windows Phone, needs something similar because while it is gimmicky..she is very charming.

Safari...I actually like the safari browser. I use it on my laptop as well so i love safari mobile or whatever it is called.

Notification Center....An obvious feature copied from Android but i actually like IOS take on the notification center. I don't want one on WP but i can see WHY people would want one. I love the way the notifications push to your phone and stay...as we know the notifications on windows phone don't stay. But that doesn't bother me.

Contact ID: I like the way that the picture of a contact is still visible once you answer a call...on windows phone you see the contact's pic id when they call but after you answer, it goes away and just shows the traditional speaker, mute, hold, etc etc icons. Not a big deal but i did like that on the iphone.

What I hated:

I got bored....I missed my live tiles and the smooth, cool animations of WP and I miss the gorgeous design of the UI and the font choices on our windows phone. It's just boring(just like android) just looking at a bunch of Icons.

Itunes....I do not like Itunes and as much of a mess Xbox Music is, I don't even mind Xbox Music. If i had a mac, I am sure the experience would be better but l

Camera...I've seen so many people talking about how awesome the camera is on the iphone but...i didn't see it. Also, where are the features to change the white balance or exposure settings? On every camera phone i've owned, there's a main menu to go tweak stuff. My friend who loves IOS said he doesn't use the stock cam and told me to download 3rd party app. My Nokia phones and now my 8x phone allow you to tweak the settings. And the finished pictures were not that good...

The front cam on the iphone is horrible compared to my Nokia Lumia 810 and my HTC 8x....it reminds me of a picture taken on Motorola's front facing cameras.

Ease of Use: The iphone is easy to use and master from the get go but it seems so overly simplified i felt like the experience was dumb down.

Screen was too small for me to use...My hands are not huge but average sized hands and it just wasn't that good to me to use. But retina display was nice.

App Store....why do i have to keep typing my damn password in everytime i want to download something? I Can see you needing to confirm if this is what i want to buy/download but that is annoying to me.

Multi-tasking---I really don't care for the way the IPHONe handles multi-tasking....of course Wp8 isn't the best either.

I hate the email client on the iphone.

Overall, the iphone was a cute experience...i can say I owned an Iphone 5 but 36 hours with the phone and i was simply unimpressed. It is better experience than An android phone while lacking a lot of the cool factors of android...but i just not see the mass appeal with it. Tons and tons of apps(I found banking apps, games and social apps that i could see myself liking) and better designed apps than anything found on Android but other then that, the OS just seems boring.

Windows phone, lacks a lot of the popular and cool apps and that is hurting them a bit. But after a day and a half with the iphone 5 and coming out thoroughly unimpressed, microsoft needs to focus on it's strengths. They lack apps so push what they excel at...the user experience. The user experience of a Windows phone is unique, it's beautiful and interactive. I've convinced friends to try WP simply because they like the way it looks and performs because it is different from anything on Android or IOS.

Xbox Music has a better UI in my opinion than itunes but they need to tweak their experience with Xbox music.

I am now back with windows phone after experience IOS/Iphone 5 and have to say even though there is no instagram at this time and some other things, Windows phone has the best user experience out right now. Microsoft just needs to focus on pushing the appeal of the Modern UI. Iphone lacked tons of features that google had initially(Cut & Paste) but it focused on advertising the user experience that even with all apple shortcomings, the phone became a hit nation and world wide.

WP8 reminds me of how apple was with the first few softwares of the legacy iphones...Great experience but lacking features and apps.
So take a leaf out of your competitors and focus on the experience, Microsoft.

 

[CJ Thunder]

Ecosystem is more than app count.

When I was forced to use an iPad for work I was befuddled how hard it was to get work done. I purchased a laptop to use just on the job to save me grief. ios is the worst part of an iPad. The battery, the design, the build quality were amazing...ios, I will never get used to it seems. iPhone is the same way imo. Great hardware, great design, software lets it down (played with iPhone 1 whole day, had iPad three months or so).

 

[aubreyq]

In my opinion, the reasons for disliking the iPhone are rather weak. I'm not going to kiss the iPhone's derriere but you actually just use it for ONE DAY? Sounds like you were already set on Windows Phone.

 

[iamtim]

IOS sort of feels like android...except more refined.

At the risk of being pedantic, it's the other way around. Android sort-of feels like iOS. Early Android releases were very BlackBerry-like until Apple released the iPhone, then Google made Android more like iOS.

 

[jdhooghe]

At the risk of being pedantic, it's the other way around. Android sort-of feels like iOS. Early Android releases were very BlackBerry-like until Apple released the iPhone, then Google made Android more like iOS.

Android came before iOS?

 

[anon(4745364)]

Why do people feel as if they can only like ONE OS? Picking a phone sounds like joining a gang?

I LOVE my iPhone and think Androids are nice, can't wait to see what BB 10 is like. WP8 at the moment isn't for me but I'm stuck with it as I picked it for my work phone. In this day and age you can't REALLY go wrong with any major smart phone.

 

[Laura Knotek]

Android came before iOS?

The first commercially available Android device was the HTC Dream, released on October 22, 2008. Android (operating system) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The original iPhone was released on June 29, 2007. iPhone - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[DAIMONDY]

For me personally, WP is my favorite. I love the os! With regards to games and apps its a toss if a coin between iphone and android and i hope one day i can say that wp is just as good or better in the games/app department.

 

[cashcar1979]

ITunes and Safari are terrible. Main reasons I dumped my iPad and got a Dell XPS 12 (also sold my old laptop). The XPS is outstanding!!

As for a phone the iPhone 5 feels poorly constructed to me. I will say the Apple App store runs circles around both Google Play and Windows.

 

[Nogitsune Micah]

In my opinion, the reasons for disliking the iPhone are rather weak. I'm not going to kiss the iPhone's derriere but you actually just use it for ONE DAY? Sounds like you were already set on Windows Phone.

I already had stated that i wanted to see what the hype was about the iphone
I could've chosen a Galaxy S3 but I got the iphone 5 Anyone can discover that they don't like something be it in an hour...12 hours...or a day like myself
I wouldn't say my reasons for disliking the iphone are weak though...individually, each reason is not a big deal but combined together they just made me dislike the phone

 

[odin09]

Since my wife got the iPhone 5 I have had an opportunity to play around with it. I really don't get the hype. Changing settings etc is much more intuitive on my WP. The camera takes great pics but I miss my dedicated camera button. I also keep looking for an alphabetical list of apps only to find that there isn't one. Not the biggest deal in the world but I like that I can see the weather forecast without opening the app. I guess it's a good thing that I chose WP because it seems to be the most me os. Hate safari by the way also..... Notifications are better though

 

[anon(4745364)]

Since my wife got the iPhone 5 I have had an opportunity to play around with it. I really don't get the hype. Changing settings etc is much more intuitive on my WP. The camera takes great pics but I miss my dedicated camera button. I also keep looking for an alphabetical list of apps only to find that there isn't one. Not the biggest deal in the world but I like that I can see the weather forecast without opening the app. I guess it's a good thing that I chose WP because it seems to be the most me os. Hate safari by the way also..... Notifications are better though

You can open the camera from the lock screen by sliding up from the bottom right. You can also take pictures by pressing on the volume button.

Type a letter into spotlight search and you get your alphabetized app list (among other info).

You can see the weather from you notification centre via the weather widget.

Can you explain what you mean by settings are more intuitive. I'm having a hard time navigating them as they seem all over the map with not to much thinking put into them.

Also, in the end of the day it does only matter what YOU think as its YOUR phone. If WP is for you that's great and you can consider it money well spent.

 

[Nogitsune Micah]

You can open the camera from the lock screen by sliding up from the bottom right. You can also take pictures by pressing on the volume button.

Type a letter into spotlight search and you get your alphabetized app list (among other info).

You can see the weather from you notification centre via the weather widget.

Can you explain what you mean by settings are more intuitive. I'm having a hard time navigating them as they seem all over the map with not to much thinking put into them.

Also, in the end of the day it does only matter what YOU think as its YOUR phone. If WP is for you that's great and you can consider it money well spent.

I know it's nitpicking but on the iphone. it's true you can slide the lock screen up...but you still have to press the button to awake it, then slide it up...on WP you simply press the camera button and save yourself an extra step to get that quick shot you may need.

Spotlight search is decent on Iphone...I hope wp gets a better search for their OS.

 

[snowmutt]

In my opinion, the reasons for disliking the iPhone are rather weak. I'm not going to kiss the iPhone's derriere but you actually just use it for ONE DAY? Sounds like you were already set on Windows Phone.

REALLY??? I have only played with the iPhone, never owned one, but didn't take me very long to see it wasn't for me. I haven't owned every car I decided I didn't like- a test drive was fine. Seeing my Wife just feel the inside of a shoe (not even put it on, just feel) and decide it wasn't for her is amusing- and she never owned it. With the 30 day exchange (give or take on each carrier) you can try these things, but I do not see where you need to. It is silly for you to come on here and decide Micah's reasons for not liking a product are weak. Were you there?? Did you see her play with the phone and understand what she is looking for? Geez, man, relax. She does like WP, but gave iOS a shot anyways. Most people don't.

Fun article Micah, and I am really glad you shared it. iOS is not a bad OS at all in my opinion, very refined and extremely efficient. Love what Apple does with their ecosystem and hope we see Microsoft close to them in the next couple of years. But to me, there is just a personality and more core function in WP tiles that makes the OS more fun- maybe not better, just more fun. Maybe in a couple of years it gets stale, or maybe BB10 blows me away or I just need more functions and options then WP offers. But right now, I agree with your reasons for coming back- it just has a little more to offer the end user, depending on your reasons for owning a smart phone.

Although I do agree with @Vikram662, comment #6, on one thought- so long as the OS maker supports it, you can't really go wrong. All smart phones seem to get the main jobs done. It is just how much the OS appeals to you and how efficiently it does what you need it too.

 

[odin09]

On my WP I have never had to really think about anything. From the first time I turned it on I just set it up and started using it. On the iPhone I was constantly texting people asking how do you do this or that. For example... I had no idea that you could take a picture with the volume button! Why would I even try that. On the other hand... A camera shutter button is for taking pictures. Didn't know about lock screen weather widget... The iPhone users I asked all said they just opened the app... With amazing weather no one has to tell me anything... I just look at it and there it is. I have always said that the iPhone is a quality product.... I have just confirmed that it is not for me!

 

[omniusovermind]

In my opinion, the reasons for disliking the iPhone are rather weak. I'm not going to kiss the iPhone's derriere but you actually just use it for ONE DAY? Sounds like you were already set on Windows Phone.

I got the exact same impression. Basically the OP's observations told me I have to wait for wp8 to achieve all of the apps and features the iPhone5 already has, so I should buy the iPhone instead for the next year or two. Thanks OP, that's what I'll do. Good call!

 

[Dave Blake]

I got the exact same impression. Basically the OP's observations told me I have to wait for wp8 to achieve all of the apps and features the iPhone5 already has, so I should buy the iPhone instead for the next year or two. Thanks OP, that's what I'll do. Good call!

I got the impression that Windows Phone is so far ahead in what it can do now and how advanced the OS is over iPhone why would anyone want to take a step back in time and get an iPhone? The simplistic nature of WP eliminates some scarcely missed miner features but that is the beauty of WP the simplicity and usability of the OS.

 

[omniusovermind]

I got the impression that Windows Phone is so far ahead in what it can do now and how advanced the OS is over iPhone why would anyone want to take a step back in time and get an iPhone? The simplistic nature of WP eliminates some scarcely missed miner features but that is the beauty of WP the simplicity and usability of the OS.

We all have our personal preferences of course. I think the rather large gap in the number of units sold last quarter as well as investor confidence and developer support are a pretty good indicator of which of the two most people prefer though.
I also think we all know exactly what would happen if MS attempted to convince the people that a windows phone should be priced the same as an iPhone.

 

[Dave Blake]

We all have our personal preferences of course. I think the rather large gap in the number of units sold last quarter as well as investor confidence and developer support are a pretty good indicator of which of the two most people prefer though.
I also think we all know exactly what would happen if MS attempted to convince the people that a windows phone should be priced the same as an iPhone.

Forth quarter 2012 numbers aren't out yet... That is when WP8 was introduced. What if Nokia sold 5 million Lumias in quarter 4 of 2012? Apple has a stranglehold on a lot of people because of the investment made in apps, music and video. It will take time for people to agree to dump their investment. One thing I know for sure. When I see some people spending so much of their time trying to protest the OS it makes me realize just how scared of WP you are.

So your saying overpriced under spec hardware makes iPhone better than WP? People are paying higher prices for Apple products for the ecosystem not the hardware. It cost big money for people to have a store to stand in while you wait hours to talk to a generous. Seriously!?

 

[omniusovermind]

Forth quarter 2012 numbers aren't out yet... That is when WP8 was introduced. What if Nokia sold 5 million Lumias in quarter 4 of 2012? Apple has a stranglehold on a lot of people because of the investment made in apps, music and video. It will take time for people to agree to dump their investment. One thing I know for sure. When I see some people spending so much of their time trying to protest the OS it makes me realize just how scared of WP you are.

So your saying overpriced under spec hardware makes iPhone better than WP? People are paying higher prices for Apple products for the ecosystem not the hardware. It cost big money for people to have a store to stand in while you wait hours to talk to a generous. Seriously!?

Stranglehold is a pretty harsh/sensationalist word, don't you think maybe they like their purchase?
I'm also unsure whether saying people are afraid is an apt description. perhaps the more reasonable and rational conclusion would be that it's drawing some merited criticism. To say they "fear" it is too near to a jibe/baiting argument. Ie: "what's the matter? You scared?"
Under specced is a flawed argument. When the device has the retina display and can happily speed through something as high definition as infinity blade, how can you use that argument? Rather, it actually makes the other OS look worse for REQUIRING larger hardware to perform the same duties yes? I'm not sure about what talking to a "generous" means in your last sentence. Obviously a mistake on the wp8 keyboard prediction