So the Smartphone Round Robin begins ...NOW! As a part of the event, we're starting forum threads on each site asking you guys to participate. This week PreCentral.net is taking a look at the iPhone.
If you're unfamiliar with the Round Robin, the idea isn't to pick 'a winner,' but rather to try to honestly compare devices as a way to help people figure out which device is right for them. So I'm hoping the discussion we have here will help both experienced and new users gain some insight into how one might choose between these two platforms.
To get things started, I'll put out a couple of questions that seem pertinent:
1. Do you guys ever really miss 'multitasking?' If so, what apps would you like to see multitask (besides the ones that do)?
2. How important are graphics to you? webOS can't do heavy graphics (yet?), since it's all HTML-based applications.
3. What iPhone feature do you think you'd miss the most if somebody replaced your iPhone with a Pre or Pixi?
4. Do you think that the iPhone's user interface is in need of an overhaul?
5. How would you change the iPhone's notification system?
....there's plenty more to talk about, so don't feel limited by the above. Remember, every day you make a post in this thread for the next week, you'll be automatically entered to win an iPhone 3GS from The iPhone Blog! More details at www.smartphoneroundrobin.com
1. I'm actually a former iPhone, and a current Blackberry user. I'll be frank, lack of multitasking never really bothered me on the iPhone. I can multitask on my Blackberry to some extent, but I never found it all that important.
2. Graphics are not as important as usability.
3. The selection of apps.
4. Nope. Apple could make it easier to navigate through the already-installed apps, however.
1. Like Rene, I don't stream music, so I don't mind the lack of multitasking. It would be a nice feature though...yes, I'm looking at you Apple.
2. I'm not a heavy gamer, but when I do play games, I appreciate graphics.
3. Larger screen. And maybe the choice of apps available for the App Store. That reminds me, I still need to choose a Twitter app.....
4. Yes. I'm not asking for a big change, but scrolling pages with your apps is getting a little old.
5. A way to see all the notifications at once. Sometimes I get two Twitter @mentions at once, but I can only read one because the other one is already gone! So a way to manage them, and put them where it won't bother me!
Howdy Folks!
1. Do you guys ever really miss 'multitasking?' If so, what apps would you like to see multitask (besides the ones that do)?
There are a handful of apps that handle closing really well. GPS apps are among the winners here. Others have no sense of what state it was in.
I believe that Apple should allow backgrounding with a premium app store review process. Apple's premium review team can issue certificates OS 4 needs to run apps in the background
2. How important are graphics to you? webOS can't do heavy graphics (yet?), since it's all HTML-based applications.[/quote]
I appreciate the polish of the OS more so than the graphics specifically. Windows 95 was a perfectly fine OS but XP, Vista and 7 are all nicer to work with because everything handles cleaner and smoother. Mac Classic OS to OS X is much the same.
3. What iPhone feature do you think you'd miss the most if somebody replaced your iPhone with a Pre or Pixi?[/quote]
Specific apps. I use lots of apps only on the iphone.
4. Do you think that the iPhone's user interface is in need of an overhaul?[/quote]
I wouldn't say overhaul but maybe more of a multi-dimensional layout. I find 11 pages to be hard to navigate. It takes 10 swipes to get to page 11. I would take two pages of shortcuts to sub-pages over 11 pages all visible.
5. How would you change the iPhone's notification system?[/quote]
I like all the notification options but I wish I had a single screen to review and dismiss recent notifications, calendar items and the like
[/QUOTE]
A big area for background apps. GPS apps. They NEED to run in the background. I don't necessarily need the display on now that Tom Tom has turn by turn spoken working and that would save battery or let me do something else.
If anyone should be the first to get background approval it should be companies doing turn by turn anything.
There are a number of backpacks with built in ipod connections. Imagine a similar system for a gps app. Tom Tom works with, say, Jansport to build an antenna into the top of a backpack. you plug your iphone into a dock connector inside the backpack and there's a headphone jack in the straps connected the same way.
The backpack gets the signal for the ipod inside, the app runs in the background and you hear the directions via the headphones.
Perfect for navigating somewhere like NYC on foot.
I have both an iPhone and a Pre (work/personal respectively). I've used both extensively and here's my thoughts plus a few more...
1. Yes I miss multitasking with the iPhone. Being able to 'see' a webpage I am referring to or a section in another app comes in really useful when typing an email. Even in card view I can still make out the text enough on the Pre to see a webpage (without maximizing) and my email side by side to remind myself what I was thinking or to quickly switch over to copy and paste something. It works well the opposite...when referring to my email for credentials or something to access a webpage. It is very convenient to switch quickly and still keep the other app open and in the guaranteed same spot I left it.
2. Graphics are not that important to me as long as they are clear. However...let me say I love the Pre's choice of text font it is easy to read anywhere at anytime but having said that the iPhone's graphics and UI are simply...better. It looks more polished and professional and the graphics more appealing...the Pre is left to look a little more cartoonish (android has this issue too so far) so as for making you look more professional the iPhone's graphics are better. Let's be honest...we're all guilty of wanting to look good so the iPhone is king in this area of graphics right now. I feel better walking into a meeting and being taken seriously with an iPhone and it's look/feel graphically than if I had to show someone something on my Pre with its cartoonish look. Gaming...I personally don't see the point to games on a device like this but the lack of high-end graphics on the Pre is not so much a deal breaker as multitasking is for productivity. The graphics get the job done...look decent and are clear...for productivity this is all that matters.
3. I'm going to change this question to Pre feature. The gesture area...I miss this all the time when using the iPhone. The gesture is in a natural place for my thumb while holding the Pre...the iPhone requires you to stretch your thumb across the face of the device (right-handed) to reach up to the top corner to press the 'back' arrow. Not very intuitive...not extremely one-hand friendly...do-able but wish it wasn't so.
4. I don't think the iPhone UI needs much of an overhaul as it needs some added functionality and subtle changes i.e. the back arrow mentioned previously maybe down along the bottom corner as well as the top so it's easier to navigate one handed.
5. The iPhone absolutely NEEDS the Pre's notification system...I'll say it...Palm NAILED this functionality and Apple needs to 'steal' it. Android doesn't even have this right yet...you can't TAP the notification area you have to make sure you 'grab' it correctly to roll it down...cumbersome. Pre's unobtrusive pop-up at the bottom of the screen and then sleep to tiny icon keeps me doing what I was doing and allows me to be...well...notified of something else. If it IS important I can tap and jump to it...otherwise it minimizes itself until I choose to deal with it. The fact that the iPhone still annoys me by interrupting what I WANT to be doing simply because there is a notification sucks. Ok fine something for me to notice but quit interrupting something important by taking up the whole screen and FREEZING the active app functionality until I say 'confirm or deny'...you'd think they would have taken a page from the failed M$FT UAC system that is basically SIMILAR!!
All in all the iPhone is the more polished more professional looking device. The UI...just...works. There is little aggravation while using it and it does everything it does...the way it does it...very very well. Still the bar by which all are judged.
The Pre has it's rough edges...it gets laggy when opening some apps. It can aggravate you sometimes...one thing that has been fixed...the opening a PDF from a webpage for instance...was aggravating but was fixed. Another point for the Pre...quicker updates with bug fixes and added functionality. The iPhone not quite as frequent on updates and not really much new functionality added...non-volatile movie editing and MMS were nice but the other guys have some cool features that Apple needs to start putting in the iPhone...they are growing stale compared to Android and webOS.
The last point I'll make on updates...the Pre is better when updating the OS. First of all...over the air...secondly done from the device itself. iPhone REQUIRES you to be tethered to a computer at some point...the Pre really could live without one. I have MANY friends/colleagues that have had to take their iPhone to the Apple store because it was bricked during an update...this is unacceptable...especially when you are doing it from the supposed 'safety' of the PC environment. The Pre can hand out an update and do it by itself...that's cool...the iPhone *can* have difficulty even when helped by a full computer...that's sad. Apple needs to get the update procedure rock-solid for everyone...ASAP. **Disclosure...I have never had an update issue with the iPhone but I know too many that have.
1. Multi tasking is great but it tends to slow things down. This will be more important when phones get faster processors.
2. Graphics for most things are very good but at this point not the most important thing in my opinion
3.My wife has the Pixi the screen to me is to small and it has so little app coverage at this point also I think iPhone is much more fluid in screen transition and the virtual keyboard suits my bigger fingers
4. To be honest I think if Apple went to the Jailbroken community and see what ever is most asked for, innovative, or just common sense like being able to put your apps into categories to clear up home screen clutter.
5. I don't think its that bad but i agree with techshoe better grouping .
1. Yes and no. 90% of the time I'm using one app and when I'm done with it I'm fine with it closing down. I also get by for the most part using the built-in apps that can multitask, most notably the iPod and Mail. But, of course, there are those few apps that I wish could run in the background, in my case Navigon and Pandora. Barring full on multitasking, what I'd like to see is some way to have a subset of applications that can easily be switched between, even if they're not all live. Tweetie is a good example with its full persistence. I can be doing something in Tweetie, get an email, close, open mail, respond, close, open back up Tweetie, and I'm right where I was. The problem comes when you need to swipe between multiple pages to get between apps, it just really slows things down, so a way to close an app, but be able to quickly re-access it in its current state would be really nice, i.e. like WebOS' cards.
2. I'm a gamer at heart, but as I've grown up, I've had less and less time to play them, so most games I play anymore are on my iPhone at those times when I have a few minutes of downtime. Super high-end graphics aren't that important, but a selection of good games is, which in the smartphone realm I'd say the iPhone is unmatched.
3. Toss up between the apps and the iPod. I use the iPod a lot at work, so a good music player is essential to me, and I think the iPhone has the best built in media player. However, there's a lot of apps out there I would really miss, chief among them Tweetie, Facebook, 1Password, and several games.
4. I wouldn't say it needs an overhaul, but some changes to accommodate a better notification system and some type of multitasking.
5. I'd like to see some sort of system like Expose' on the Mac, with an area where notifications are listed. Basically a meld of WebOS' card system with Expose'.
Finally, the thing that drives me nuts most about the iPhone is the app approval process, though Apple is slowly making progress to address many of the issues, and I'm willing to cut them some slack because of the size/quantity they have to deal with. However, if there's anything that gets me to leave the iPhone in a few years, my guess is that would be it.
After using both the Pre and a Hero the most important feature for me are notifications that are all grouped together, easy to dismiss, yet easy to take care of each one. Everything else I'm fine with.
To get things started, I'll put out a couple of questions that seem pertinent:
1. Do you guys ever really miss 'multitasking?' If so, what apps would you like to see multitask (besides the ones that do)?
2. How important are graphics to you? webOS can't do heavy graphics (yet?), since it's all HTML-based applications.
3. What iPhone feature do you think you'd miss the most if somebody replaced your iPhone with a Pre or Pixi?
4. Do you think that the iPhone's user interface is in need of an overhaul?
5. How would you change the iPhone's notification system?
Well first of all let me start out by saying hello to everyone here.
as far as the multitasking goes, I think most people are less concerned about it today then we were a year or so ago! Graphoccs however are very important to alot of people but at the same time if usability is not there then it is pointles to have higher quality graphics! I dont think I would miss too many features on the iPhone if it was replaced with a pixi or pre... because after playing around with all of them I personally enjoy the pre tremendously. I think the UI on the iPhone is for the most part fine the way it is... the iphone has cornered the section of the market and the true apple fans would never change a thing that their almighty Steve Jobs has done for them
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PreCentral.net on iPhone - Round Robin 
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