I recently bought a Samsung Galaxy Note. That’s Samsung’s latest addition to it’s Galaxy range of smartphones. The reason I chose an Android phone, when I could have bought an iPhone, is because Android is the future. I admire Apple as a company and they make beautifully designed and engineered products, but in the long run they will not be able to compete with Android.
The iPhone 4S is a great smartphone, but it doesn’t allow the user the same amount of freedom that Android phones do. Apple likes to lock down the settings. It lets you do what it feels you should do with smartphone, and if you want to extend the boundaries, you come up against a wall. Of course you can hack an iPhone and extend its capabilities, but that will make your warranty void.
There are more apps for iOS than there are for Android. However the numbers are changing fast. Apple takes 30% commissions from app developers on the app earnings, whereas Google takes no commissions. Since Android has more than 50% of the overall market share, more and more developers are shifting to Android. Android is open source, which means that anyone can study the code and program apps for it.Most of the popular Apple apps have been ported to Android. A lot of the paid apps from iOS are free on Android. They use advertising to earn money.
What I like best about an Android phone is that my data is safe. If I sign into my Google account and enable sync, my contacts data and photos are automatically synced with the Google server. If I lose my phone, I do not lose my contacts. I can simply buy another Android phone and sync it and within a few minutes I will have all my contacts back in my phone. My photos are also backed up on Google’s servers. When I click a photo, I do not have to back it up or upload it. It is automatically uploaded to Google’s servers and I can later use it on Google+ or simply keep it as a backup copy.
Google gives you a single sign on interface for all it’s different services, and Android packages these services into the smartphone. A single Google account gives you access to everything, and it’s a unified experience.
The Android OS is not as smooth as iOS and it does have a few flaws, but it is catching up fast and will soon overtake iOS. Apple knows this too. That’s why they are every worried about Android and are trying their best to maintain their lead. But it’s a losing battle and the outcome is almost certain.
What about the iCloud? — all your contacts and data go up there now. Apple allows apps to access your contacts without your knowledge or consent, however. Not sure if Google is better on that front or not.
I have not seen any Android app accessing my contact info without consent. Android asks your permission every time it accessing any information. But there are certainly some serious security risks with any malicious app. This risk is more on Android since the Android app market is not as well monitored as Apple’s app store.