Since my contract renewal was up, I had the option to renew it and buy a new phone alongside with it. Since I have an unofficial policy of never buying into the same platform twice in a row, and because it has been a long time since I bought something from Cupertino, I decided to go with the newest iPhone, the 5S. I’m planning on a more thorough review sometime later this year after more thorough use, but here are a few short first impressions.
First and foremost, it’s clear from the first second of holding the iPhone 5S that Apple’s hardware is in a whole different league compared to the competition. There is no other device out there that feels as solid, tight, pleasing to hold, sturdy, and yet surprisingly light as the 5S. The Phone Nobody Buys For Some Inexplicable Reason, the HTC One, comes close, but is considerably heavier. Samsung’s slithery plastic doesn’t even register here.
It’s also fast. Very fast. Applications open instantly, and touch response is excellent – just that noticeable bit faster than on my Find 5 and Android 4.3. I notice that iOS is more picky about where you tap than Android though; it almost feels as if Android reads your mind so that even when you tap a little too high or a little too much to the left, it will still register properly. The 5S requires more precise pecking, which is a little annoying to get used to. Scrolling behaviour is in the eye of the beholder; while Android scrolls faster, iOS scrolls smoother. Scrolling down a long webpage gets tiresome on iOS, while Android handles it just fine – although less smooth.
The big difference between iOS and Android, in my view, is that iOS feels more archaic and feature-phony. It lacks several incredibly useful aspects that make Android such a pleasure to use – mostly related to inter-application communication and multitasking. iOS is very much application-in, application-out, which during heavy use can get quite tiresome and frustrating. A robust sharing system would go a long way to reduce some of the frantic application switching, but most of all, I wish iOS would proudly copy Android’s Application Components and activities, which negate the need for manual application switching for most use cases.
Another thing iOS desperately needs is the ability to set your own default applications. Several third party applications are way better than Apple’s own, but sadly, iOS does not allow you to set them as default. There is no valid excuse to justify the existence of this honestly pathetic state of affairs, especially on a platform that is, supposedly, application-centric. Some third party applications have added the option to e.g. select Google Chrome as the default browser to handle links (e.g. a Twitter client will open links in Chrome instead of Safari), but this is a dirty hack, and this needs to be addressed.
I want to close off with what I consider iOS’ standout feature: the quality of its third party applications. The best applications in their respective categories are better in almost every way than their Android counterparts – they’re better-looking, smoother, faster, and just more pleasurable to use. It’s hard to describe, really. TweetBot 3.0 blows the competition on Android out of the water. iPhoto is better than anything Android has to offer. Alien Blue has been the best reddit client on any platform for years now, and the iOS 7 version just widens the gap. Even cross-platform applications are better on iOS than on Android. Facebook is smoother, faster, and better designed on iOS, for instance. And heck, even Google’s own applications are better on iOS than on Android!
For the most part, the gap has been narrowing a bit in recent times, thanks to Android 4.0 and up, but overall, Android still has a long way to go. Using the iPhone 5S for only a few days makes this abundantly clear.
There’s no point in trying to answer the question about whether or not you should buy into iOS over Android, since that all comes down to personal preference anyway. I just have a policy of keeping up with as many platforms as possible, and it was iOS’ turn. Despite iOS’ obvious shortcomings, the quality of the hardware and third party applications make up for it, so in my view, it all eventually evens out. The question now is: which of the two platforms will fix their own shortcomings faster?
The big problem with iPhone 5s is that the screen is often too small for the resolution, and text can become quite hard to read
I’ve actually been on the lookout for a high-end Android phone with a screen closer to the size of the iPhone 5/5s.
The closest match in screen size I’ve tried is the Galaxy S4 Mini — however it’s a bit underpowered (much lower resolution screen, slower processor, less memory etc compared to the flagship S4 model), and I just don’t like the Samsung-customized interface.
The Nexus 4 is my main Android phone still because it’s just so pleasant to use, but it’s too huge for my taste. Nexus 5 will be very slightly larger, which continues to irk me, but of course I’m buying one anyway for the LTE.
My phone is a 4.3” low end android, about the same size as the Galaxy S 2. So really small for android standards, but it is still to big for my small hands. Using it with one hand isn’t comfortable. The iphone is just the right size and making the screen longer instead of wider in the iphone 5 also was the right decision.
Of course if your hands are bigger it might be different for you, but I think nearly nobody has hands which are big enough to comfortably use those +4.5” phones with one hand.
PS: of course the bigger screen is nice if you are using it with two hands, but you could also use a real tablet instead.
PPS: I still think Apple should offer more sizes
Edited 2013-11-01 13:53 UTC
You bought in iPhone?
There goes your Anti-Apple street cred.
Oh well. You still have your anti-Android and anti-Windows credentials to fall back on.
Let’s be honest, Thom hate’s everything unless it’s Haiku…
Not that that’s a bad stance, as mine’s very similar…
The forced defaults and non-sharing between apps just kills it for me…
Why does Apple feel like they have to resort to underhanded tactics to steer you toward only their apps on their platform? Why can’t I choose my browser, maps app, etc (not to mention intentionally handicapping any competing apps with things like “no fast javascript engine in your browser, only ours”)?
Years ago the excuse “to make it simpler for people” almost passed muster, but these days, just no.
Compete on quality Apple, not abitrary “you will do things our way, for your own good (we’re not intentionally hobbling competition, honest!)” restrictions.
Also, what’s up with an iOS review on Nexus 5 day, Thom?!
Uhhhh, there’s many alternative on iOS for most of the built-in apps.
Skype
iCabMobile/Opera(and Coast, give it a shot, it’s a nice idea), Chrome etc (although i’ll admit they all use a “nerfed” version of the built-in webkit engine
whatever the latest messaging fad is
Google Maps
VLC
Camera+
there’s loads of options. Agreeably, some of them (like the browser for example) are limited artificially by Apple, but there’s plenty of alternatives to existing apps. And of course, if you don’t like those options, just jailbreak it (if/when the iOS7 jailbreak comes out….)
Edited 2013-11-01 11:36 UTC
Ah, but you can’t make them the default – installing a nicer browser isn’t quite as nice if links from all other apps still open in safari.
This seems like the simplest thing for apple to fix too. It has to be easier than the multitasking ability they’ve added. I’m trying to find the logic behind leaving this out. Maybe they think that their apps are the best and letting a user choose their own would ruin the “experience”?
Bingo. Lest we forget, at one time Apple banned any app that duplicated an Apple provided feature. Its quite archaic now,but I’m sure a lot of the underpinnings of the os are based on that assumption.
Note: apple fan here, so take any answers I give with a grain of salt.
I agree with the desire to give the choice of default apps to the user. I understand that this falls into the “we know what’s better for you” philosophy of Apple, as well as probably removing confusion, but I wish I could switch browsers or default mail app. At least apple does give reasonably good apps though. Don’t forget that Apple (and google and amazon and samsung, and everyone else) aren’t catering to you or I. They’re catering to the 99% of the people like parents, aunts, uncles, grandmothers, etc.
The sort of people who can’t describe to you if it’s the boxy thing on the floor or the tv thing that’s having problems. These people (in general) don’t know what a launcher is, or a default, much less how to deal with a dialog asking if they want to use BobZAwsomeMaps or GoogleMaps as their default mapping service.
Regarding the javascript engine, the way that I understand it, the safari version uses some sort of fancy close to the metal engine. Because apple controls Safari they can be relatively assured about what’s happening with it. Because it’s done in kernel space (or something), another app using this version of the engine could do things like escape the sandbox, steal user information, blah blah bad stuff. *That’s* the reasoning for it (as I understand it). You or I can disagree with it, but it *is* for a reason and not a deliberate way to handicap any other browser.
Gruber had a good writeup on what’s actually going on both from the “apple thinking” side and the technological side here: http://daringfireball.net/2011/03/nitro_ios_43
Apple also blocks anyone from buying anything from your app or even being shown a link unless it goes through their app store (See Amazon’s Kindle App, where they’re not allowed to mention how much a book costs elsewhere or link to their website).
They also “reserve the right” to not allow any app that “duplicates functionality of Apple apps”, and they’ve flexed that muscle a few times… sometimes not even offering the functionality, then once they offer it, kicking pre-existing apps out of the store (siri-like apps or itunes competitors).
The “moral” rules they use for their approval process is also complete crap .
The amount of “passes” they get on anti-competitive behavior compared to pretty much any other company is absurd. Their continued use of dubious patents to prevent competition instead of creating better products is another aspect of this.
As far as who they’re catering to, I don’t really care about that… It’s not my place to justify their business model, it’s my place to buy the product that best fits my needs and support companies that aren’t trying to stifle innovation through lawsuits and complete control.
About the javascript engine reasoning… Sorry, just not buying it. Them not allowing fits perfectly with their anti-competitive behavior in every other aspect of their company culture / behavior, the “technology” reasons they give are _very_ dubious to most who know software…
Gruber is just about the biggest Apple apologist on the planet; I wouldn’t take any Apple justifications from him without a giant grain of salt.
Apple made some great products years ago (Apple II etc), but they lost the market because they couldn’t stop control squeezing until it all slipped through their fingers… With iOS, they following the same trajectory, doing it all over again. Control freaks to the end… The downside this time is that they’re screwing the rest of us in tech with all the lawsuit precedents they setting.
Everyone will have different opinions; but for me, with the exception of Maps and Calendar (where I prefer Google Maps and Fantastical respectively), I find the Apple default apps to be superior….for example, I Use Safari, Atomic Web and Chrome for web browsing on my iPhone 5 and iPad Mini; but I find Safari to be superior for overall use since my bookmarks easily sync with my devices and computers…ymmv.
I agree with Thom’s basic assessment that the feel of the iPhone is a cut above most of what the competition offers at this point.
I’ve had every version of iPhone since 3GS given to me by my workplace. (I work for a hedge fund; they’re generous with their money.) I’ve also had Android phones (primarily Samsung Galaxy) for roughly the same length of time since I believe in keeping work and personal phones completely separate.
Here’s the thing: I’ve grown to hate my iPhones for some very simple – possibly irrational – reasons. Firstly, the phone feels way too small after using the latest Galaxy. Secondly, scrolling on an iPhone sucks; it feels “sticky” and I can never get it to scroll much more than a single screen with a single gesture. Finally, the touch screen on even the latest iPhones appears to be terrible; I get frustrated constantly at it not picking up when and where I touch the screen.
All of this is of course entirely subjective, but my opinion is that Android’s streets ahead in almost all areas. I’d love to see Apple come back and correct the flaws that irritate me, if only for the sake of driving innovation. I doubt it will though as long as Apple clings to that small handset size.
Disagree about the size. I think the current crop of smart phones which are almost approaching the size of a tablet are just way too big. I don’t walk around with my phone in my hand constantly. I put it in my pocket when not in use and these new 5″+ phones are getting damn close to uncomfortable.
Indeed…for a long time I believed the Galaxy Note (then Note 2) would be the perfect phone for me. I’m a tall guy with big hands and the idea of a “phablet” seemed like it would work well. Then I got the opportunity to use a Note 2 as my main phone (on loan from a generous friend). I gave it back after four days. It really is an outstanding phone, but it’s just too freaking big!
I’ve settled on the Nexus 4, which seems to be exactly the right size. It’s a bit thicker than the HTC One S I had used for a while, but I prefer the Nexus screen’s dimensions. Pure Android is nice too.
I’ve played with an iPhone 5 and that screen is just too tall and skinny for me, not to mention the extreme lack of ability to customize the interface. Folders are nice, but I get that in Android, along with widgets and faster themes if I wish. With Apple it’s their way or no way; not necessarily a bad thing if you like their way, but if you need more you’re screwed.
I also got an iPhone 5s for work, and I really like it. The main reason I got it is because of its do not disturb mode, which allows me to put the phone in silent mode when I’m sleeping and on call, and still allows a few people from work to ring through that need to contact me. I tried about a half-dozen DND apps on Android, and none of them work quite right. This feature should’ve been in Android since v1, IMO. And it doesn’t look like it’s in v4.4 either
What I’ve discovered about the iPhone is that you figure out very quickly what is possible and learn to live with what isn’t. And there is a certain freedom that comes with this lack of freedom. With my Android devices, I spend more time screwing with them than I do actually using them. How many of you Android geeks have stayed up half the night trying to get x to work, with a custom ROM, or whatever. The older I get, the more tiresome that shit becomes. For the most part, I just like the way iOS works out of the box, esp the lock screen notifications.
Does that mean I’ll switch to it as my full time personal phone? Unfortunately, no. I can live with just about all of its limitations, except one; virtually none of the 3rd party apps I’ve tried let you change their notification tone, so just about every non-Apple app besides Facebook uses the default tri-tone sound. THAT is a deal-breaker as far as I’m concerned. I can’t handle Google Voice and Google Plus using the same tone, and certainly not the same tone as every other iPhone on the planet. You ever been in a room full of iPhone owners where one of them gets a notification, and everybody in the room reaches for their phone? Screw that
Only the ones that don’t have a life outside of tech. The rest of us have an attitude much the same as we do on iOS, except that what’s possible is much broader without hacking around. Granted I only buy vanilla Android devices now, and my experience has been painless. I did make the mistake of getting an OEM-modified device once, and that’s when all the hackery became necessary. Like you I got sick of that, so for me, Nexus it will be. I don’t run any custom roms and don’t need to. I don’t even have my Nexus 7 rooted, and don’t care to. For me it’s like an iPad without all the idiotic limitations of iOS.
Of my friends, only tech enthusiasts spend time tweaking and trying out ROMs, and it has become less and less useful, especially with Nexus. The reason geeks do it is because they enjoy it. Geeks jailbreak their iPhones as well. I enjoy being able to do almost everything I want with my device, but I rarely spend time doing it. But having the opportunity to add a function if some great idea comes up, is great.
100 people _total_ in the world.
I understand the need for simplicity, but installing a custom rom isn’t that difficult, and with the new cyanogenmod installer, its getting easier.
Speaking of cyanogenmod, it has had a do not disturb feature longer than ios. Its very nice, I’m not really sure why its not in stock android.
Edited 2013-11-01 22:09 UTC
Installing a custom rom isn’t that hard, but is usually just the beginning of the tweaking
If I try one, I am compelled to try several. And then kernels. And 3rd party keyboards. And various launchers. And lock screen widgets. And all those cool apps you get access to when rooted. And have I really just ignored my girlfriend for the last 5 hours?
Of course, you can use an Android phone without all that tweaking, just like you can sleep next to a hot chick and not bang her. But really, who among us is going to do that?
Last time I tried CM (which was admittedly about 3 versions ago), there was a setting for ‘quiet hours’, but no option to let certain people ring through during this time, which is the crucial element that was missing. Have they improved it since then?
(Edit: After Googling around, it appears that calls are unaffected during quiet hours, which is not good, since I have to sleep during the day sometimes, but still need to allow calls from a few individuals.)
Edited 2013-11-01 22:41 UTC
I am constantly in meetings with a bunch of IOS users, and the last thing I want is for anyone else to hear when I receive a notification…easily solved with IOS Settings.
If only it was fast on phones other than the latest 5S. I said the same about iOS 6 on my 4S and yet iOS 7 is far slower than one major version and the added features could account for. What it is, of course, is that Apple forces animations to remain on the screen longer and is forcefully making my hardware feel old before its time. I don’t expect my phone to remain super fast forever, but the difference here is far too exaggerated to be anything but artificial in nature.
Also, while I do agree about the apps being of higher quality, there are several categories of apps that iOS just doesn’t have. Audiobook players for example, simply do not exist other than the Audible app and the default iTunes library.
That brings me to one final point relating to apps, iTunes. Get! It! Away! From! Me! I cannot stress just how much I hate that over-bloated, over-engineered piece of crap and we’re stuck with either using it or apps having to have dirty hacks (mini file servers, really?) just to get around it. Combine iTunes with the other issues above and I think a platform switch is in order. I’ll use this iPhone until it dies (I’m off contract so I can change phones whenever I feel like it) but then it’ll probably be Android for me, despite Android’s flaws.
I like the hardware of the 5s but I would like android on it. So please HTC make something like a 5s/HTC One hybrid. But HTC, and this is important, it can’t be wider than 60mm.
As someone who bought a HTC One to replace an iPhone 4, i can safely say there’s a very good reason no-one buys it. The software. Whilst stock Android (and to a lesser extent Samsungs TouchWhiz) are really nice pieces of software, that work well and don’t get in the way, i don’t feel the same way about HTC Sense. IMHO it’s ugly, filled with crap i don’t want, and contains no options to turn off even the most basic of things (Like, for example, autocorrect, which i HATE with a passion)
And due to HTC’s fucking-up of Android, the phone’s sat on my desk cluttering up space whilst my trusty iPhone 4 keeps going, along with its scuffs, scratches and broken lock button.
Also, whilst i have unlocked the bootloader on it, CyanogenMod just isn’t up to snuff on the HTC One for me to install it.
And another “gripe” with the HTC One. It’s too easy to damage. 2 days after i got it, it fell out of my pocket onto a flagstone pavement from ~50cm, and it’s scuffed the corner, exposing the aluminium underneath.
All in all, great hardware, great design, crap software, thin aluminium.
Well, they released the Google Edition version of the HTC One, so you should be able to track down the pure stock rom and install it for your phone… Basically a Nexus version of the One, perfect!
I don’t know how anyone can live with Sense honestly, the ugly mismatched icons in menus that were changed for no reason is my biggest pet peeve. Why couldn’t they leave the system menus alone? (not to mention the lack of the tethering option for some reason)
The intents system on Android is, indeed, *awesome* and I miss it whenever I fiddle with iOS.
However, there actually are a few ways for apps to interact and share data with each other…
Best known is the ability to register custom URL schemes from an app, and to be able to launch (and query the installation status of!) URLs in those schemes. This can be rigged up with a callback system, which for instance is what Chrome on iOS uses to show a back button that takes you back to the launching app (if the launching app supports Chrome and that parameter…)
However that’s still limited to being able to launch things you know exist — so app developers tend to hardcode lists of other supported apps.
But there’s also a way to share *files* from app to app, and that is totally extensible. Similar to launching another app via an Android Intent, the operating system will go find installed apps that have registered the ability to open the given file type, and present a chooser dialog to the user.
The app is then launched, with a copy of the file placed in its “Documents/Incoming” folder for processing.
(You can see this feature in action by creating a presentation in Keynote, going to the tools menu, selecting ‘Share and print’, and going through the ‘Open in another app’ route.)
I haven’t seen a lot of usage of this feature, though; mostly things like Dropbox accepting arbitrary uploads and things like graphic editors exporting and occasionally importing files.
However… it should be possible to rig up a fairly general “share to other apps” framework by combining these two techniques:
* create a file type for a certain action, like “post to social network”
* let’s say it’s an XML or JSON blob containing some data like a bit of text, URL, or reference to an image in the photo gallery
* have target apps register for that file type…
* include also a custom-scheme URL as a callback to let the target app reopen the original app when done
A robust sharing system would go a long way to reduce some of the frantic application switching, but most of all, I wish iOS would proudly copy Android’s Application Components and activities, which negate the need for manual application switching for most use cases.
Apple should just copy the “services” from OSX to iOS.
Thom wrote: “…my Find 5 and Android 4.3.”
By the way, Oppo Find 5 is the worst phone I have ever owned! Even today, after 8 months since it has been released, Oppo Find 5 still does not have an official stable ROM (which is not discontinued)! Also it records horrible bad quality videos (dropped frames, noisy videos due to poor compression, white balance is screwed, etc.)! Also installing other custom ROMs does not fix its major problems problems! For example, using CM on Oppo Find 5 does not allow one to use it as a phone (i.e. hands-free or on speaker mode do not work)!
I decided to skip an iPhone upgrade this year but I was attracted by the fingerprint sensor (I don’t use a pass code because it’s a pain and the sensor would be a security upgrade for me), the slo mo video and the camera/photo software/duel flash (I am a very committed and picky photographer). Any comment s about those features?
En garde!!
Not sure whether it’s a direct fault of the fingerprint sensor or not, but I feel that the iPhone has lost a lot of it’s identity with the removal of the square on the home button. Previously, someone who’d been living in a cave for a year or two could tell it was an iPhone even without any company name of logo on the front, all thanks to that square. Now it looks like it could have been made by anyone.
Edited 2013-11-01 21:51 UTC
Fingerprint sensor is a little finicky on mine; I find I have to hold my thumb on it for an extra half second beyond what I naturally spend clicking or it doesn’t quite register.
I thought the fingerprint scanner would be a gimmick, but it’s amazing. I get a bit disappointed when my finger automatically goes for the button on my 3rd gen iPad, and it doesn’t unlock it.
There are valid concerns about its security, but one way it enhances security is that no one can sneak a peak at your passcode. It’s now a “must-have” feature.
The camera is nice. The slo-motion is a lot of fun. Used it at a halloween party, and came up with some interesting videos.
I’m a big fan of the over cranking frame rates (120 FPS, 240 FPS). I’ve got that in my new Gopro, and you can get great shots that way.
Some years ago there were similar comments about Windows (or Linux) vs OS X. The latter was an “archaic” system, poorly configurable, lacking “features”. Now here we are again, Android is much more “advanced” than iOS… Not to mention the same diatribe KDE vs GNOME
Well, I concede that the data sharing in iOS is worse than in Android, that’s the one only complain I have, but the rest doesn’t count too much for the masses, they want simplicity and usability, and good apps, and apps are way better on iOS.
I am a “geek” and I like technology, but I really like usability above “configurability” and “feature-full”, and it seems that most of users out there think in the same way as mine
When I started with OS X 12 years ago I noticed that I could do exactly the same things in OS X as in Windows and Linux, in a quicker way, may be less configurable, but more effective, and now I feel the same with iOS and Android. I don’t want to spend time configuring endless features, I just want to use my smartphone in the most efficient way
By the way, I find that using the keyboard in iOS is much better than Android. The latter “requires more precise pecking” than iOS…
Archaic/advanced… precision… feature-full/featureless… remember: beauty is in the eye of the beholder 🙂
Edited 2013-11-02 00:08 UTC
On the precision touch screen issue, I also had quite the opposite experience with iOS vs Android. On my iPhone 4 i can easily hit very small links on a zoomed out webpage and open the right one. On my wife’s Nexus 4 I often get the little “mini-zoom” window on a link even though it is much bigger to start with, but Chrome still can’t figure out which link I meant to press.
I think iOS and Android have different algorithms for processing touches so it is likely just a matter of getting used to it.
To say a device as complex as a modern smart phone feels like a feature-phone is a testament to Apple’s design prowess. What bothers us power users is a boon for normal folk.
I have an iPhone 4s from work, and an LG Optimus G, it was super cheap and my other Android phone flaked out, for personal stuff.
The apps on iOS are much better, and Android is a more complete operating system. Android does have a much better keyboard then iOS.
I’m tempted to switch to an iPhone as my personal phone and get a Nexus 7 for my Android device. It makes more sense to have the full featured OS on the tablet more then it does on the phone, for me.