Used Android today for first time in years... Awful experience!

[Nogitsune Micah]

Android looks awful to me in most variations. I would take HTC sense over any android. I dislike the os, the UI and the google services. I can't ever see myself going back to it anytime soon.

The iPhone has the same general ui with the icons and grids of them but it feels far more fluid and looks way better and I actually sort of like apple.

Android, despite its popularity, is atrocious to me

 

[xfiarc]

WP is simple and Android is complicated.. Only thing i hate about WP is how they display the wallpaper between tiles

 

[rantanamo]

Its funny, I just got an Android device last week(LG G3) and felt the same way. Now its almost a week later after constant tweeking and looking for good apps, and I still feel the same way. I switched because my only choice was pretty much the HTC One and every review kept putting it down in favor of the G3 and some reviews even talked about how unusable and basic WP 8.1 was in comparison and the App store. So here are my feelings after a week:

Pros:
- Apps. Lots of them. Most happy being able to use my local transit system's ticket app. And when something doesn't work, there are lots of alternatives. Even my bank has an official app. The official apps all seem much more complete. As a big fan of 3rd party youtube apps, the official android app is so nice and easy to use. Not to mention the easy casting to my roku. Firefox browser can do the same.

Cons:
- Apps. OMG, I've never seen so much crap in my life. The official apps are a blessing, but there are so many bad unofficial apps. They could probably reduce that store by half. Yes, they are options, but good lord.
- Notificiation. Stop with the BS notification light. Don't add this microsoft. The combination of the universal toast notifications, live tiles and drawer were better than the huge number of icons at the top. The notification drawer is way too busy as well.
- UX. This thing is so disjointed and the so-called customization(moving apps and widgets around) makes it worse.
- Laggy UI. And I'm on some hefty hardware.

My conclusion so far is, the app thing is wayyyyyyy overrated. Android is Linux. You have fanboys that brag about using it and how nothing else is usable. Its usable, but its so disjointed. I can see where most people get it because they have the most free on contract phones and they just do basic functions and play games(we already know statistically this is what happens) and they know no better since those basic functions can be done. The fanboys are the loudest and most frequently heard voices. Business users get their custom apps so they get used to it and favor it. Its very thorough in that regard. But compared to ios and WP 8.1 it is not a smooth experience that works together. I feel like those two integrate and put actual communication and useability together far more effectively. They seem basic to fandroids because they just work smoothly and aren't so disjointed. I'm not saying I don't like my phone, but I'm saying, these reviews far overrate Android based on a few apps and being used to how certain things are done.

 

[tortex73]

I've been with Android since 2009, and it is easily the most versatile of all the mobile OSes. But that versatility comes with a steeper learning curve. If you spend a little time with it, you can make it look and work any way you want it to. That said, it's only as ugly as you make it to be.

I also use iOS, (iPhone 6, iPad Mini Retina) and while I think it's generally great, I find myself getting frustrated with how locked down it is. I tried WP8.1 for a few days, and the live tiles were great though I much prefer Android's widgets. To each their own.

 

[anon9169769]

I was an apple user till my iphone 3GS died no reason. Didn't get wet, didn't drop.etc... And apple wanted ?70 just for an over the phone diagnostic...so... Never went to apple again. Then I went with android... I can only afford the low range phones and got so frustrated at how many time I got "force close due to low memory" I had this on so many low end androids....so I saw the 520 in the shop. Never heard of windows phones and thought it would be a "city boy blackberry" but thought "what the hell" and took the plunge. I couldn't believe it.. No force closures and better then my iphone 3GS. and the funny thing is... My ex had the S4 and we took a pic in the pub at night. My pic using the 520 wasn't dark. It really looked like there was a flash on the camera. My ex S4.... Oh dear.... The flash on her phone made me look like an umpa lumpa. So she turned the flash off.... And you couldn't see me. I fell in love with Lumia at that point. Then I filmed my brother getting married in July outside. The quality was dvd amazing and despite holding the phone with just my hands there was hardly any shaking on the footage. Sadly I dropped my 520 and it cracked... Had a few beers that night and ordered the 1520 as I was drunk. Not regretted it since. 520 now repaired and my daughter has it

 

[forked]

A few weeks ago, after getting frustrated with Microsoft's insistence on supporting other platforms better than their own, I decided to give Android a shot (I previously had a few other Androids so the platform wasn't new for me.) I got a Moto G with stock Android (Kitkat).

I lasted a day.