iPad vs ?

[Fordman1981]

Well I went to Best Buy and as several mentioned here, I learned very little. I did leave there with them saying if you have a Samsung phone stay with Android, same with an IPhone, stay with Apple. I've read that as well. BUT I had not handled either of these so at least I accomplished that. I want as high a level of integration between my whatever phone and my whatever ipad/tablet, that I can get. So I'm thinking, maybe incorrectly, that I should keep the OS between the two the same. I currently have a Samsung S4, and the reason, is iPhone at the time I got that just was not big enough for my taste. No regrets. I did handle the iPhone 6 and the 6 Plus while out, and if I made the decision today, well Apple has corrected the size issue. I actually liked the 6 Plus. Not sure my laptop will last 6 months, and not sure I want to wait 6 months either, that being the time frame I can do an upgrade to my phone. But this is in my thinking process about this. IPad air 2 versus Samsung Tab S, is near a toss up from what I can tell (support issues not considered). I do not like the non removable storage with ipad, and expensive storage to boot compared to the removable and less expensive Samsung. Also one feature the multi-windowing of the Samsung, ipad does not have. I'm one of those users that have numerous windows opened up in a staggered manner, on my laptop, so I can jump to various windows quickly. That feature may or may not be beneficial on the tablet, but with the photo manipulation, bet I would use it. So still undecided. I will say, Best Buy has definitely gotten into bed with Samsung. Large area devoted to Samsung, and Apple had almost nothing out. Quite obvious they wasn't pushing Apple....AT ALL, at least in the store I was in.

If you want the best interaction between devices my opinion is apple. iOS 8 made the biggest steps towards improving this over everything else. Like I said before you can make phone calls from your tablet if your iPhone is in range. You can text other makes of phones now off your tablet by using your iPhones connection same from Mac laptops or Mac desktops. iMessage is really nice using data instead of text messages and will allow you to see if the message was delivered/read. Look at the Apple keynote from this year on the iOS 8 and OS X. Specifically handoff and connectivity. Apple pay I won't get into but is a great feature it is very secure and quick to use. I'm looking forward to more NFC capable card readers coming this year. The Touch ID on the phones is both very secure and very quick. I think as well as do most people Apple has the best Eco system. That's why a lot say once you get into the Apple Eco system it's hard to get out. I don't think it's hard to get out its just that it works so well once you get in you don't want to leave.

 

[MikePA]

FWIW, I was a DOS then a Windows user from the beginning. I never understood the appeal of either Unix or OSX. We use Windows at work and it made sense to use it at home. I earned my MCSE for WindowsNT, even had a Windows phone.

While we still use Windows at work, I've switched to Apple and use Parallels to run Windows8 and Windows10 (Preview) for the one application that still works best as a Windows app, Quicken. While there's a new version of Quicken for OSX, and it's gotten better, I like the Windows version better.

I have an iPhone6, several iPads, a Mac Mini, a MacBook Air and AppleTV..

Why did I switch?

I grew tired of the almost weekly fixes required with Windows. I've lost track of the number of people who have asked me for help with their Windows PC and when I check Software Update, there are pages of patches waiting to be applied. Or their AV is out of date. Windows is not a 'set it and forget it' operating system. Yes, you can turn Auto Update on and, yes, Windows Defender has addressed some of this. None of the add ons are required with OSX.

While many bemoan Apple's 'walled garden' philosophy, it works and it's integrated.

What prompted me to reply is this thread was I just received a text message from my daughter. You might be thinking, 'So?'

I am sitting at my Mac Mini and my iPhone is in the living room. I replied to her text from the builtin Messages application in OS X. I could have replied from any of the iPads or the iPhone.

Airplay from any OS X device to the AppleTV works seamlessly. Want to share photos between the devices? Works. Which is really my philosophy, if it works seamlessly, with little to no input from me, I use it. Essentially, trading $$$ for time and ease of use.

Apple's ecosystem, while closed, works. Are there ways to get an Android environment working like this? Don't know.

I still use Microsoft Office products, the Mac Version as well as the ones for the iDevices.

Yes, Apple products are more expensive, I offset this, some what, by buying from their refurb store, where the prices are about 10% less. I also tend to not buy the latest model of the device. I usually stay one generation back. For example, I have an iPad Mini2, because the features of the Mini3 are all that great. Same for the iPad Air.

My only concern with Apple is I believe they are still riding the strategy set by Steve Jobs by simply making minor technology/hardware updates. Regardless of your preferences, the iPhone and iPad really were game changers and everyone else has been playing catch up, occasionally leap frogging Apple with a new feature, bigger screen, etc. For all intents and purposes, Apple created the smartphone and tablet market as we know it today. I've have not seen any real innovation from them ala the iPhone and iPad.

Time will tell when they reach the end of Steve's vision. We will know if the next groundbreaking technology comes from Google or Apple.

 

[jcummins]

I grew tired of the almost weekly fixes required with Windows. I've lost track of the number of people who have asked me for help with their Windows PC and when I check Software Update, there are pages of patches waiting to be applied. Or their AV is out of date. Windows is not a 'set it and forget it' operating system. Yes, you can turn Auto Update on and, yes, Windows Defender has addressed some of this. None of the add ons are required with OSX.

I hear you on this. I've pretty much had it with Microsoft.

IF Apple would've had a phone the same size as my S4....I'd be in the Apple camp today, and my decision would be made. I do think android devices are making inroads to Apple's kingdom. I've not had one single issue with this S4 since I've had it. At minimum I'm going to wait until android's 5.0 can be picked apart and sized up to see what improvements it brings.

 

[s219]

No question Android has made huge improvements in the last 1-2 years, and in many ways they lept ahead of Apple before iOS 7-8 (now I'd consider it a tossup depending on what features you value). Where I still see a wide gap is apps (and that's a feature that may matter to some more than others). This is especially true in the tablet space, where Android apps are lagging behind more than in the phone space.

For years now we've heard that developers will suddenly start prioritizing Android because it sells in larger numbers, but that hasn't happened. What we've found is that Android users are not inclined to spend money on apps, so the demand for high quality paid software development is a fraction of the effort you see on iOS. And that trickles down to free apps and app quality in general. As a result, Android apps tend to be skewed to free apps supporting services (where they make their money off you in other ways, including ways you may not know or understand) and low quality free apps from hobby developers. To me this is a key differentiator from iOS for anyone that cares about app quality. Not all customers do. Some do care but don't know what they're missing.

 

[Fordman1981]

No question Android has made huge improvements in the last 1-2 years, and in many ways they lept ahead of Apple before iOS 7-8 (now I'd consider it a tossup depending on what features you value). Where I still see a wide gap is apps (and that's a feature that may matter to some more than others). This is especially true in the tablet space, where Android apps are lagging behind more than in the phone space. For years now we've heard that developers will suddenly start prioritizing Android because it sells in larger numbers, but that hasn't happened. What we've found is that Android users are not inclined to spend money on apps, so the demand for high quality paid software development is a fraction of the effort you see on iOS. And that trickles down to free apps and app quality in general. As a result, Android apps tend to be skewed to free apps supporting services (where they make their money off you in other ways, including ways you may not know or understand) and low quality free apps from hobby developers. To me this is a key differentiator from iOS for anyone that cares about app quality. Not all customers do. Some do care but don't know what they're missing.

On top of all your points iOS is easier to develop for. I remember seeing an article about the percentage of apps that are made for iOS and ported to android. While I don't remember the exact percentage it was a staggering amount. That is one of the reasons a lot of the android apps run slower and have more bugs than their iOS versions.

 

[jcummins]

How much on average do iOS apps cost?

On my S4 I've downloaded and tried many free apps only to get rid of them.... finally settling on one that works best. If they're not free wouldn't do that.

 

[Fordman1981]

How much on average do iOS apps cost? On my S4 I've downloaded and tried many free apps only to get rid of them.... finally settling on one that works best. If they're not free wouldn't do that.

Like I said previously there are as many if not more free apps on iOS as there is android. Most of the time the paid version has more features or no ads stuff like that. What type of apps do you have in mind?

 

[jcummins]

Pretty much standard fair. My daughter has iphone and she does seem to have the same apps i do. I was asking because of what s219 was saying.

 

[Country Geek]

Like I said previously there are as many if not more free apps on iOS as there is android. Most of the time the paid version has more features or no ads stuff like that. What type of apps do you have in mind?

Most iOS apps have a free version and a paid version. The free version usually has ads or functional restrictions, but are good enough to evaluate and decide if you want to buy the full version.

 

[jcummins]

I've mentioned NOT liking the non removable storage on Ipad. Besides that storage being expensive here is another reason.

On my S4 I mentioned I had a 48gb card filled with photos. I misspoke, it's a 64gb card with 48gb of data. When I first got the card, I put in the phone, hooked the phone to the usb and proceeded to move my photo folder. The little window came up estimating the time left, and I forget the exact time, but it wasn't hours, but days. Needless to say I stopped that. Put the micro SD card in the SD adapter, put in laptop and loaded the card that way. Still took a fair amount of time, forget exactly but < hour.

The point is.....with non removable storage on an ipad how do I get my data/photos over from my laptop? To me removable storage has a hug plus here.