Because I genuinely find the software to be the most consistent in terms of appearance, performance and reliability. It never bothers me with the meaningless errors and strange quirks like my Galaxy S3 did.
I'm a programmer, so I spend my day customizing/tweaking systems. Frankly, I want my phone to be a *break* from that kind of stuff. Sometimes, less is more.
I own an iPhone as it integrates well with my other devices (I have a mac, an iPad and Apple TV). I know I may be sneered at slightly for buying into the Apple ecosystem, but I find it worth paying for everything to ‘play nicely’. I had android handsets before this, and they caused no end of problems. Personally, linux based OS's will only be in my server and VMs
I still use a 4S. I want a small phone and it's the most powerful small phone out. The camera is still very good and it simply does everything I want without much fuss.
I also have an Sony Android tablet which I love, a PC with Windows 7 and a MacBook Pro. I tried a Sony Xperia Z3 Compact phone which was great and had LTE, but it took some tweaking to do everything I wanted but I still preferred my 4S so I returned it.
LOL. Only 3 replies. Sums it up very well I must say
I don't own one, but my wife does. Her reason? The camera. For a smartphone, it's one of the best camera and goes well for my wife as she's a photographer so the iPhone 6+ she have works well enough when she doesn't have a camera available.
Plus she've used iOS for a long time so she's just used to it. Why change?
back in early 2008 i was looking for a phone that could let me browse online, and use forums in particular was one use. so i went to all the usual phone shops and checked out all the models. pretty open minded about the whole thing. i remember the iphone launch and thought folk were nuts to line up and high five and all that and pay a lot for a phone with expensive contract, however i wasn't happy with any of the phones. there was the nokia n95 or something which was quite hi tec at the time, but i think it was a numeric keypad so you had to press buttons a few times to get the right letter, like the old days of texting. when i was in the o2 store the sales guy asked if i had seen the iphone, i said no and he pulled his own from his pocket and handed me it, and i had a play with it and it was very intuitive for me. i went to the browser and the internet worked miles better than all the rest of the phones. but i was pretty much against apple at the time as prices were so high and there were so many restrictions on things. although i did think osx was like a fisher price OS
anyways i got back and i read up on it and found out about hacktivating and jailbreaking, and found that i could buy the phone from o2 and hacktivate it without having to sign up to a contract. a major loophope in the normal buying process of any handset. so the phone was discounted like most contract phones, but i could avoid the contract. better still, o2 were willing to give me a great retention deal, plus £100 cashback, and the iphone was just reduced in price. so i got the phone for peanuts with a very cheap sim only contract, and then sold my own phone which pretty much meant i had a free upgrade and a cheaper contract. so it took the whole idea of the iphone being expensive and laughed in it's face. it was the best phone in all my tests, plus by far the cheapest deal
in the early days it was amazing what the phone could do. it really was one of the best gadgets i had ever bought. it felt great in the hand, looked nice, and did amazing things
anyways as i was so happy with that phone i didn't upgrade my phone till iphone4 which i got on release day. it was a major hardware upgrade, and i got pretty much all the money back that i paid for the iphone. in fact with all the deals i got, i ended up having the phone and contract for next to nothing quite literally. again i was open minded about a new phone, but android wasn't quite developed and likewise handsets as far as i was concerned, plus by that time i had many apps, plus ipad using the same apps (which i got for a steal), so i stuck with the iphone4. again i upgraded to iphone 5s, i was going to get the iphone 5 but couldn't get stock and heard there were issues with it, and as i was happy with iphone4 i wasn't too bothered about an upgrade, so a few years later the upgrade was notable. again i didn't think there was any reason to swap to android. the two systems are similar, so not worth swapping over unless you have good reason. so years of apps, and now having a newer ipad (again at a steal), it's just easier and nicer having the same system on both portable devices. i also have a windows tablet, and laptops and netbooks with both osx and windows. i think the fisher price idea of ios is perfect for a phone, as simplicity on a smaller screen is great. you don't want the complexity of windows, and that's where the windows tablet fails. it's great that it can do so much like a desktop, but too fiddly for the normal use that i use my ipad for
folk might disagree with me and prefer android or something else, or moan about all sorts of things, but i don't care. i think it's worth the money for a number of reasons, including the resale value. but a new iphone at £500 or whatever and sell it in a couple of years for half the price, so it cost £250 for 2 years of use. you could buy a cheaper android phone but 2 years later not get much reselling it. cue folks who will argue the toss about this without realising i don't give a toss. i can buy a bottle of wine for £5 and it tastes like pish or a bottle of wine for £10 and it's enjoyable. sometimes paying a bit more for something you actually enjoy is of far more value than something cheaper you don't enjoy so much. if folk want to buy android or something else, it's their choice and no-one is stopping them, and the same with the iphone. coming from someone who would persuade people not to spend money on apple products, the iphone had to be pretty good to persuade me it was a good choice and good value for money
as to my next phone, it just depends whats on the market at the time. i absolutely love the idea of windows being integrated and wished that for a long time, and being able to run windows apps on my phone sounds amazing, but if in practice the usage is a poor experience, then i may wait out till a following phone. having an ipad i don't want a large phone either. i want something small that fits in my jeans or trouser pocket easily
Got it cheap to replace a Galaxy S2 that was unreliable. For its age (4S 32GB) it's a good phone, with a lovely screen, decent camera, good range of apps and isn't too big. Battery life is rubbish, but no worse than most smartphones. Can also use it to stream music from my PC to my hifi via a very good app, never managed to find anything half decent to do that on Android.
I have an ipad air 2 and an iphone 6 for the simple fact of continuity. The very second that Google and Microsoft integrate SMS and cellular calling over wifi (Abstracted methods from user) I will drop apple in a heart beat. This should be deeply integrated in to the OS and not a 3rd party addon. I appreciate that this requires real communication between 2 competing rivals but I see a true future with windows in the desktop space and android in the mobile space.
A few other wishes for Android, Real multi tasking (as promised in some leaks about 5 months back)
oh and the nexus 9 was the biggest disappointment I ever had.
OilSheikh
LOL. Only 3 replies. Sums it up very well I must say
Thank-you for your useful input to the thread… :shocked2:
I have an iPhone 5 as:
- They just ‘work’ (I feel the hate rising in you all) I pretty much browse the net and listen to podcasts. For this it's prefect, any previous Android I owned has always had issues with browser crashes/audio stopping when a browser was open and general crashes. This is with both stock ROM and CM etc
- The camera is fast and takes good photos.
- The resale value of my ‘overpriced’ phone in 2years time will dwarf the resale value of it's Android equivalent so TCO is probably the same.
- I and my wife previously owned iPhones and we have investment in the app ecosystem.
- They are (IMO) very well built, they feel far more premium than all but the high end Android handsets (which tend closer towards the same price anyway than they used to) The comparison is no longer a £600 iPhone is the same as a £150 Android.
Now, before you answer please do not see the above as a defense of £700 iPhone 6+s or any other phone priced more than some cars. android is certainly guilty of that too.
I'm sick to the back teeth of people using false arguments to hate on Apple when they're just the same as any other slave-labour using/ tax avoiding phone manufacturer, they're just more successful, hell Samsung isn't exactly a shining example. People love to side with the ‘little guy’ who in this case is actually not the little guy at all.
I await someone telling me I'm a teenager or a clueless soccer mom with delight :p
Because I'm a hipster \m/
Troll confirmed.
Never had any major problems with them. Quite happy to stay with the solid apple products.
I own an iPhone 4, took it used two years ago and the reason is that i liked its shape and built materials, it feels very durable when you holdbit in comparison with others, and for 90€ it was great deal.
I am not that smartphone guy how spends all his day playing around with the phone, at least the last years, before with wince/mobile it was my main concern how to build/cook roms, porting apps, great years, still having lot of pda's in my drawer!
I use iPhone for just take a quick look to my emails and check for something in the net when I am not in front of a pc.
I have had an iPod touch, iPhone 4, and now an iPhone 5. The 4 I actually ran over with a car (yes, by accident) and while the screen was shattered, the phone continued to work as normal for another 6 months until I replaced it with the 5. Needless to say, I agree with the above comments about durability and build quality.
As for performance, the phone does what I need: checking email, some web surfing, and maybe a YouTube video or two here and there. If I want an “enthusiast” experience, I'll use my brand-new X99 build. When I'm out and about, I want my phone to be a help to me, not a distraction from the real people right in front of me. The iPhone 5 accomplishes that goal for me.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
I've had 3 iPhones, my wife still has hers and my father uses my last iPhone. They are good phones, they are very simple, even my two year old daughter can work one (she knows how to go to Youtube, hit the voice search and play all of her favourite Mr Tumble, Balamory and other various nursery rhymes videos without asking anyone for help) so regardless of age or techie knowledge/ability they are a great fit for so many different types of people.
Efficient OS that offers a great user experience. The camera. But mostly since I'm already quite invested on Apple's ecosystem.
I've been using iPhones since the 3GS and despite dabbling Android a few times I keep using iOS and currently have an iPhone 6. I use an iPhone because it does everything I want and it does it well. I'm not interested in rooting my phone or mucking about with it, I have to mess about with tech stuff at work so don't have any interest in doing it at home.
For work I've got an iPhone 5S and I absolutely hate it. They had to almost prize my BlackBerry from my hands for me to switch to the 5S. Why do I hate it? Because I travel a lot and send a lot of emails when I'm on trains, at airports and so on and I absolutely hate the on screen keyboard. So much so that rather than use the iPhone I dig out my laptop and use that instead. For personal use the on screen keyboard is absolutely fine, but as a professional tool I think it's awful. The BlackBerry was pretty much devoid of apps but it did the things I needed it to do very, very well - make & receive phone calls and send & receive emails.
I used to own an iPhone 4, now own a Nexus 5, but am seriously thinking about picking up an iPhone 6. Two main reasons:
* Apps. People say that all the apps you need are available on Android, and they're right - but this doesn't account for the quality of the apps. Too many Android apps feel like a miserable afterthought, hacked together on a shoestring after the vendor has had some success with the iOS version. The worst suspects are games and banking apps.
* Android Lollipop. This is the buggiest OS I have ever used (and I bought a copy of Windows Me). The battery life sucks, the memory management sucks and the notifications suck. These aren't just glitches, they are core usability issues. I am pretty peeved about being co-opted as a beta tester for Google's unfinished software. It should not have been released in this state and Apple would not have released it in this state. You might say that I could just go back to KitKat, but frankly the experience has put me off Google products. If they care so little about user experience then I will buy a phone from a company which cares more.
because its sexual chocolate
OilSheikh
LOL. Only 3 replies. Sums it up very well I must say
no it doesnt funboy
I am currently (finally) learning to use an iPhone. This is not exactly by choice, but as my mother lost her nokia brick (at least 10 years old) and my older brother very kindly donated his old iPhone 5. This however does create some problems, mainly because my mother and technology don't interact particularly well. She isn't too bad, just nervous about things popping up when she presses the wrong button etc etc.
Couple of things to note. itunes is one of the reasons I dislike the iPhone system. I find it has issues with Windows and I am not changing to a mac OS simply because of the phone I own. The phone had to be completely restored, so it could be unlocked. I followed the instructions on that, had to be logged in as my older brother in order to restore it.
It gave me the option of backing up the apps on the phone, I did so, restored and unlocked it. I then signed in to my mothers icloud/apple id and it told me it was an American ID and took me to the US itunes (i can see problems here in the future). Once i had done this I restored the backup, which immediately logged me out of my mothers account and back into my brothers…. grrr, but minor. TBH this is going to cause problems for non techy folks. (this was following the apple guide btw).
Ok, all sorted out (american itunes store aside), but it does give the lie to the old “it just works” cliche, maybe it does until you need to change something, then its a pita.
Now onto the phone and ios.
The phone itself is pretty solid, it feels good in the hands and it appears well built. The lack of physical buttons annoys me, the home button and the power button are all very well, but I do like the back button and menu button to be available. My only gripe is the same as its always been, size. I have large hands and im not particularly dexterous, I like a bigger unit…ooer missus.
IoS is really not my thing. I don't find it intuitive. Scrolling through 4 or 5 menus to get to a single option I find tedious and frustrating. The lack back and forward options bugs me. The front screen interface is simple enough and as this is for my mother, thats a good thing.
Battery life is woeful. The phone has nothing on it bar bbc app, it drains seriously quickly.
Not messed with the camera yet but my mother has used it, no complaints there, if she can use it then its gotta be pretty decent and simple to use.
All in all, its not a bad device, but it wouldnt be my choice for the reasons above. I also want the freedom of choice of handset that several manufacturers give me. I currently am on the S5 and think the G3 is the better choice overall.
So, i “have” an iPhone to use, simply to teach someone else how to use it.
In Apple's defence, Android would have been probably a little too complicated, but I would probably have stuck it in ultra power saving mode with messaging and voice calling left on and left it at that :P
I've used Windows phones (Nokia Lumia 925), Android phones (Sony Xperia Ray), and iPhones.
Problem with Android was at the time when Android 2.3 was out, software was very buggy and frequently my phone crashed, despite using different Android ROMS. Phone battery was terrible too so I just sold it - bad experience with the whole Android system.
Then I get my first iPhone, the 4. Loved it as app support was amazing and battery lasted long, the phone also had a premium feel to it. My 4 was stolen so replaced it with a 4S, and subsequently upgraded to the 5 when the 5's were becoming pretty cheap used.
I then managed to get the Lumia 925 for quite cheap, and I would have made a profit if I sold it on if I didn't like it. The UI was nice, smooth and slick, and I really like the features like double tap screen to wake. Problem with Windows is lack of app support, and websites that utilise webkit does not display properly on browsers on Windows phones, so I sold it for a profit and stuck with my 5 ever since.
Now I have an iPad mini and Macbook Pro, everything syncs nicely without being giving a headache. I do have my phone and iPad jailbroken to give it the custom feel I like, and even when jailbroken I feel they're still more reliable than Andoids i've used in the past.
Android has come a long way now, and I really like the look of it. What is stopping me from giving up my iPhone for an Android phone is because I've already bought into the Apple ecosystem, and it will be too much effort to switch. If I find a cheap Android tab / phone then I might purchase it to play around with.
Rob_B
OilSheikh
LOL. Only 3 replies. Sums it up very well I must say
Thank-you for your useful input to the thread… :shocked2:
I have an iPhone 5 as:
- They just ‘work’ (I feel the hate rising in you all) I pretty much browse the net and listen to podcasts. For this it's prefect, any previous Android I owned has always had issues with browser crashes/audio stopping when a browser was open and general crashes. This is with both stock ROM and CM etc
- The camera is fast and takes good photos.
- The resale value of my ‘overpriced’ phone in 2years time will dwarf the resale value of it's Android equivalent so TCO is probably the same.
- I and my wife previously owned iPhones and we have investment in the app ecosystem.
- They are (IMO) very well built, they feel far more premium than all but the high end Android handsets (which tend closer towards the same price anyway than they used to) The comparison is no longer a £600 iPhone is the same as a £150 Android.
Now, before you answer please do not see the above as a defense of £700 iPhone 6+s or any other phone priced more than some cars. android is certainly guilty of that too.
I'm sick to the back teeth of people using false arguments to hate on Apple when they're just the same as any other slave-labour using/ tax avoiding phone manufacturer, they're just more successful, hell Samsung isn't exactly a shining example. People love to side with the ‘little guy’ who in this case is actually not the little guy at all.
I await someone telling me I'm a teenager or a clueless soccer mom with delight :p
what a generalisation - my HTC M8 is built better than any iphones to date.
And that is a generalisation…
not sure i get your point there genkifd. Rob quite clearly states that the iphone feels more premium than all but the high end Android devices and you then go on to state its a generalisation because your very high end android HTC One M8 is better built.
HTC One M8, LG G3, Sony Z2 and Samsung S5 would all be included in the term high end imo.
I own an iPhone due to having a significantly more positive experience with their technology, than any others. Recent personal phone history starts with Blackberry Curve, iPhone4, Samsung S3, iPhone 5s.
After owning the S3, I can understand the desire to root phones and customize in very finite detail, but after multiple OS upgrades, including trying custom roms, it was clear that I don't want to ‘play’ with my phone or indeed tablet in that way.
To reiterate what has been stated before, I hate the iPhone/iTunes Windows integration, but after a little bit of persistence you get through it.
I would consider myself a techie, I work as an IT consultant and have been in the industry for 15 years but I want to leave that at the office… family comes first.
Technology shouldn't alienate people, it should be intuitive and easy to ‘figure’ out, which Apple do pretty darned well.
Can't we all just get along?
My company phone is an iPhone. (Definitely not my personal phone!!) We have it for the same reason most people I know have one. The apps which are either exclusive to iOS, or just work better on iOS.
I don't own an iPhone, but I've got to say the genuine responses have been interesting. From what I've read your iPhone reasons are:
a. I already have Apple products, so an Apple phone is a no-brainer.
b. There's an iOS app that's needed, or iOS “just works better” for them.
c. The owner likes (/gets) the iOS way of working.
Now as someone who has zero intention of getting an iPhone, these seem like pretty reasonable, (and supportable), reasons. Although I'm perhaps slightly saddened to see no one saying that they iPhone because they like the physical design - I thought the pre-4 models were pretty slick and the 5 has some nice aspects.
To me, the biggest attraction of an iPhone would definitely being that I'd know that the “use experience” would be as good as it could be made. Problem with Android phones is that I suspect that there's a strong desire to add features merely to be different from the guy down the road. So you end up with unnecessary software bloat, which also slows down the speed with which the OS can be updated.
I've got an IP6 from work. I still use a 1+1 as my main phone (and will always use android for my main).
The iPhone is a nice bit of kit hardware-wise. The OS is simplified down to the “just works” brag by hiding the tasty things that might make it not work right away. Fair enough if that's what the users want.
I find it annoying that people on both sides claim a big reason is "The apps keep crashing or are full of bugs on . These opinions are either based on hearsay or based on out-of-date opinions/experiences.
I really don't see much between the 2 now. And if you have an app that's built for both, it's rarely better on one than the other.
I also think the “Android store is full of garbage” argument doesn't hold much water either, the Apple store is equally bogged down with low quality apps. And that's supposed to be curated.
So on topic, I own one because it was given to me. It's a nice phone, but I prefer the competition.
OilSheikh
LOL. Only 3 replies. Sums it up very well I must say
That iPhone users don't feel the need to justify their purchasing decisions? :)
peterb
That iPhone users don't feel the need to justify their purchasing decisions? :)
God, if only this was the case!
I think in reality it just means Hexus users are not generally Apple users. Nothing more, nothing less.
Biscuit
God, if only this was the case!
I think in reality it just means Hexus users are not generally Apple users. Nothing more, nothing less.
Probably reasonable assumption. (I was going to say that maybe the Hexus website doesn't work properly with Safari, but that would be mean, cruel and probably not true).
Just thought of another good reason to own an iPhone (
and as I've said before, I don't), you're spared the inter-manufacturer arguments too. You know, the “TouchWiz is a bloated POS”, “Sense is just wrong”, “If it ain't native Android I ain't playin'”, etc.
crossy
Probably reasonable assumption. (I was going to say that maybe the Hexus website doesn't work properly with Safari, but that would be mean, cruel and probably not true).
Just thought of another good reason to own an iPhone (and as I've said before, I don't), you're spared the inter-manufacturer arguments too. You know, the “TouchWiz is a bloated POS”, “Sense is just wrong”, “If it ain't native Android I ain't playin'”, etc.
HEXUS does work with Safari! (I'm writing this on an iPad :) )
The inter manufacturer argument is a good one. Although android is a standard OS, there are different implementations, with various mfr driven ad dons of maybe dubious use.
I can't be sure that every application has been tested with every incarnation and version of every platform. That might not be an issue for most people, but it is a potential issue.
It is also a very important corporate issue with other OS. Windows systems are locked down and built to a given software spec, and applications very carefully developed to that software build.
In consumer land that is less of an issue, and Android is a good platform to experiment with.
For the average consumers, Apple offers a known and repeatable interface and experience.
In the other thread, a someone rather sneeringly stated that iPhones were for housewives and technically illiterate (or words to that effect). Perhaps though that is because IOS is perceived as straightforward (Which it is) while android is seen as complicated (which it isn't) but has a perception of being a bit geeky or nerdy. Which is unfortunate.
I did note that there were a number of posts in the other thread that had been placed by people who only joined HEXUS to post a negative comment in the thread! :)
peterb
HEXUS does work with Safari! (I'm writing this on an iPad :) )
I did say I was probably wrong about Safari incompatibility…
peterb
In the other thread, a someone rather sneeringly stated that iPhones were for housewives and technically illiterate (or words to that effect). Perhaps though that is because IOS is perceived as straightforward (Which it is) while android is seen as complicated (which it isn't) but has a perception of being a bit geeky or nerdy. Which is unfortunate.
Hmm, I'm going to blame Apple and Google for that. Apple seems to have consistently hammered the point that the iPhone is “fashionable” rather than actually a darn good tool for the job. Google on the other hand has laboured the “your device, your way”. And I guess that means that there's a perception of brainless PR types with their skinny latte's in one hand and iPhone in t'other. Meanwhile it's a bearded, bespectacled “engineer” busy rewriting parts of the OS on his Android device… Neither is anywhere near the truth imho.
peterb
I did note that there were a number of posts in the other thread that had been placed by people who only joined HEXUS to post a negative comment in the thread! :)
Sigh! Unfortunately there's a load of “techno-jesuits” out there, busy trying to convert the heathen - one way or another. Then again, I was on a review site for an NVidia Shield tablet and there one post was basically that Shield (and all other Android-based tablets*) were a waste of time and money when there was the iPad Air and Mini available. So stupidity cuts both ways.
Here's a follow up challenge to the iFans … if you were leading Apple, what changes would you make to improve the iPhone7?
Me, I'd want to add Sony-style waterproofing and perhaps make it - shock, horror - partially user-serviceable (save the planet!). Reduce the reliance on iTunes (e.g. allow upload of content by making it a large flash drive). I'd also perhaps want to look at partners to make lower cost devices - not Samsung obviously, nor any of the Chinese knock-off merchants - and these partner devices would obviously run full-fat iOS8, get updates direct from the manufacturer, but perhaps would be lower spec, ideal to launch to developing markets or as a way to entice new customers.
iPhone clients have a reputation for being conceited, and now they may have a justifiable reason. A recent study has found that individuals who utilize an iPhone are more brilliant than the individuals who lean toward Android gadgets. This depends on examination that discovered states with more school graduates likewise have a tendency to have higher iPhone deals.
lokeshjangid
iPhone clients have a reputation for being conceited, and now they may have a justifiable reason. A recent study has found that individuals who utilize an iPhone are more brilliant than the individuals who lean toward Android gadgets. This depends on examination that discovered states with more school graduates likewise have a tendency to have higher iPhone deals.
Presumably a study commissioned by Apple?
Sent from my phone with Tapatalk
crossy
Here's a follow up challenge to the iFans … if you were leading Apple, what changes would you make to improve the iPhone7?
Me, I'd want to add Sony-style waterproofing and perhaps make it - shock, horror - partially user-serviceable (save the planet!). Reduce the reliance on iTunes (e.g. allow upload of content by making it a large flash drive). I'd also perhaps want to look at partners to make lower cost devices - not Samsung obviously, nor any of the Chinese knock-off merchants - and these partner devices would obviously run full-fat iOS8, get updates direct from the manufacturer, but perhaps would be lower spec, ideal to launch to developing markets or as a way to entice new customers.
Apple did licence use of the OS operating system to third part manufacturers about 20 years ago, but then stopped, presumably because they were being undercut!
I'd like to see Motorola make a iOS powered device - but I can't see that happening anytime soon!
Because I'm too attached and dependent on my phone and have had too much else going on with my life to seriously consider putting into practice my plan to downgrade to a dumbphone. Currently hate my phone and even if I was inclined to spend the money would not be prepared to jump back into the upgrade cycle for a powerful phone that will annoy the hell out of me in 2 years time.