One Year Later - Thoughts Part I

OK, it is a year in and I have not posted as often as I would like.  However, I am hoping to do better in 2015.  Here are a few thoughts on my experiences in 2015 - I might post on GIS and some other topics early next week in a Part II:

iOS or Android -- this is the one that might be the ticklish one, so I will get it out of the way.  I currently have five phones (2 sim cards/numbers) and here are my thoughts on each - at the end I will talk overall.

1. iPhone 6 Plus.  This one has become my daily driver - that says something I think.  But I toy with switching all the time.  The 6 Plus is far and away the best iPhone I have ever used (I have had all models but the 3G).  Battery life on this phone is great, the screen is the best ever on the iPhone, and iOS 8 has been very good for me since 2007.  This one has my main sim card/number.
2. iPhone 6.  This is also a nice phone, and would be a better choice for those who do not want a phablet.  I don't really use it much, and at some point I plan to pass it to my wife and sell her 5s when she will let me.
3. HTC One M8.  This is a great phone as well, with one significant issue, and one not so important flaw compared to the iPhone 6 models -- the camera and the weight.  The camera takes good indoor and low light pictures, but is lacking in detail to create really good large scale and outdoor shots.  The lesser problem - weight - is not really that big,  but the phone has an odd center of balance and the slippery finish makes it an adventure to hold sometimes. A case is almost imperative, but I hate covering the design of this device.  Two things I like about this phone which gets me to consider using it even more - the FM Radio and on screen widgets.  Don't start with TuneIn, Pandora, etc - I have music on board and I have a Beats subscription too.  I go to Football and Basketball games and like to listen to the radio play-by-play - can't do that on a streaming service.  This one has my secondary sim card/number.
4. Moto X - 2013 Model (Older phone I have not sold).  This is a very nice little phone.  Easy to pocket, quick, and with all Motorola's new tricks too.  I really like this phone, but I have become spoiled by bigger screens lately.
5. Nexus 5 (Older phone I use for special purposes).  This phone is locked up in my office - I use it for students in my GIS Programming class to test their apps so that they can actually test maps.  The Nexus 5 is an excellent phone, albeit not on the overall level with the flagships (1-3 and sort of 4).  Reasoning - camera is OK, features are limited, and while it is quite functional and well designed, it is not on the design level with the Apple or HTC phones.  However, from a bang for the buck perspective, this device is top-notch.

iOS vs Android - always the sticky question.  Personally, I like both Operating Systems and Ecosystems (Apple vs Google).  I love the polished look and simplicity of iOS, but I also love the quick info availability of Android thru widgets.  Putting "widgets" in the iOS notification tray is a great move on the part of Apple, but what I really want from iOS is for the first page of the phone setup to be an info page - time, weather, next appointment, email/text notification, etc - then swipe into the apps themselves.  But the widgets they have implemented are a nice start.

While the apps in the Google Play Store have ramped up considerably, I still feel that those on the Apple App Store are a bit more polished - but this gap is narrowing quickly.  It really just gets down to whether you want to pay Apple $$ to have a very well polished ecosystem or allow Google to use your data to do similar things.  Google is also very dependent on the OEMs to produce good products, something Apple can control themselves.  In the end Apple is a hardware maker and Google is a data sifter and advertiser - which suits you better.

A bit more on Apps - I read lots of comments and talk to people I meet all the time about their phone choices.  As has been discussed in numerous articles throughout the news media, Android users tend to pay less (and insist on doing so) for app and services.  They bought what they perceived as a cheaper phone and they want cheaper add-ons too.  I have seen this in my discussions with people, and it is this pushes app developers in the US and Europe to often put iOS first, because that is often where the money is for them.  Ads in apps suck to me (as do in app add ons/payments most of the time).  Just let me pay up front and I am fine.  These developers deserve to be paid for their work - users need to understand this and not complain about $2-5 apps and upgrades so much.

Which to pick - personal preference.  Do you want a cheaper phone, do you like to tinker with your devices, do you just want to stick it to Apple - then go with Android.  Do you want only an Audi/Mercedes level experience, are you willing to pay for it, do you have a Mac -then the iPhone is most likely for you.  Are you a nerd, geek, technophile, love open source stuff - you will probably lean to Android.  In the end, you simply have to pick which one works best for you.  I like to tinker, but I love a slick environment too.  Apple's new services (continuity and handoffs) are very nice, and just need a little working out to make them top notch.  Oh, also do not get me started on the endless "cards" popping up in Android 5 -- this need to be smoothed out a lot and soon.  In the end, it is about you and who you are and what you prefer - and it should not engender all of these emotions and arguments.  BOTH platforms are great, both will be around for some time to come, and the competition makes BOTH Apple and Google work harder.  But, both sides need to work on allowing more cross platform connections.

Wearables - obviously this is dependent at this point on the ecosystem you choose to use.  Personally, I feel Android Wear has a way to go.  Yes, you can get notifications and take some rudimentary actions from one of these phones, but in some ways I find the interaction a bit over done.  I have had a Gear Live, Gear 2, and a Pebble watch, and the Gear Live is easily the most annoying to me personally.  Both the Tizen and Pebble watches provide the same level of info without all the cards, swiping, and whatnot that goes into Google Wear.  Of course we really do not know what the Apple Watch will be like on a day to day basis yet, but hopefully it will be less annoying intrusive and just give me what I need to know and let me decide if I want more.

Finally, while I do not have one I did play with one in the store recently - the Droid Turbo.  This is a VERY nice phone, and if you use Verizon for cell service it is most definitely worth considering.  Just wish it had an FM Radio (iPhones too for that matter).

My thoughts on phones/mobile - these are my thoughts, and I do not expect everyone to agree with me, but at the same time I feel I am very open to the two major ecosystems.  There are times I really want to use Android, but because I use a Mac and some Apple services, my use of one is simply not as smooth as I would like.  This is where it would be nice for the two camps (Apple and Google) to put their differences aside and see if some level of direct cross platform communication can be achieved.

Have a great day, and I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, or simply a great week.