Thinking about switching from Android and an Incredible -- have some questions

[durangojim#AC]

First of all, let me say I have nothing against either OS. Android has worked great for me and Verizon has been very good as well. Also this is all predicated on the assumption that the reception issues will be fixed or are not really a problem to begin with. I'm a physician and need to be able to rely on my phone 24/7.
That being said, I saw the iphone 4 yesterday and was blown away by the screen. I had the original Droid which I bought on day 1 last year and felt similarly at that time, I then changed to the Incredible because it was quicker but IMO the screen wasn't as good because of the slightly lower res and the fact that it is AMOLED with the pentile format. I have better than 20/20 vision and can see the pixels on the screen which bothers me.

Anyway my biggest uses of the phone are these in order of decending importance:
1. Phone -- I use it as a phone. I like on Android I can add shortcuts to directly call or message someone right on the homescreens, is there something similar on iOS4?
2. Web browsing -- flash is nice but not necessary
3. Google Calendar -- can I update Google Calendar on the iphone and have it update the web site and vice versa?
4. GMAIL/Mail -- I use both Gmail and Comcast mail, can I still use labels with Gmail?
5. I listen to a lot of podcasts and with the Listen app I can update my subscriptions wirelessly, on the iphone do I have to plug it into a computer to use itunes to update?
6. Google Maps -- I know there's no free turn by turn, but is the maps app on the iphone as deep with regards to different types of routes and options?
7. Biking/Hiking -- I do both of these activities and use the My Tracks app, is there something equivalent on the iphone that tracks speed, elevation, and shows your course?
8. Wireless tethering -- I've rooted my incredible so I can use it to connect wireless to my wife's ipad to stream netflix and surf. Does jailbreaking the iphone allow for the same type of thing?

Is there anything similar to the voice control where I can say "find something" and google maps pops up with the answer?

Thanks for taking the time to help a newb out.

 

[Jellotime91]

1. Nope.
2. Well you just answered your own question then, huh? I find that iPhone's browser is actually much more accurate than the Android browser. Also, the pinch and zoom / panning is infinitely smoother even compared to the best Android phones, and the rotation animation makes it feel much more natural.
3. I believe you can, I can't get my google calendars to work, or I just can't tell if they're working or not cause I have none set up ..
4. Labels are like.. folders right? You can send mail to other folders.
5. iTunes podcast subscriptions show up in the iTunes store on iPhone. If they're on the computer, they are also on iPhone, and you can listen to them wirelessly over WiFi, 3G if they are under 20MB.
6. No, it's not. You set a route and that's it. No changes.
7. I'm sure there is. Might have to do a little searching, I'm sure someone here will know.
8. Yes, MyWi or PDANet.

 

[Brassbuttons]

7. RunKeeper Pro is great...and it can be used to track and record many activities including biking. Additionally the app has an online web interface to view and sync your activities.

 

[lungho]

3. Using Google Sync, I can keep multiple Google calendars and contacts synced automatically.
7. MotionX GPS is great for hiking and biking.

Your last question that's not numbered: There are several free apps that fit this bill. IMHO, Siri is the best of them all.

 

[robotphood]

I switched from an HTC Evo myself and have been using an android port on my windows mobile phone for the last couple months before that. There's pros and cons to both sides but ultimately I went with Apple because of app quality/selection. I have no doubt android will get there one day, but it still needs catching up to do in some areas. Here's my 2 cents without trying to repeat too much of what other people have pointed out already.

1. I believe you can do this. Not sure if it requires it to be jailbroken or not. This is my first iPhone and I don't really need direct links to contacts but I've used an ipod touch for a while and do remember coming across a method to do this a couple times.

2. Flash isn't necessary for some people. Personally I didn't miss a thing on my ipod touch/iphone and I didn't gain much on my EVO or flash enabled browsers on winmo.

3. Yes you can sync your google calender a few ways. I use exchange for gmail/calender/contacts

4. No labels in the mail app. But you can get them by accessing the site through safari which is formatted very nicely for it.


6. I mostly used google navigation on my evo so I forget the exact differences of the map app. But the iPhone version is a bit simpler. You get routing for car/bus/walk.

 

[OTACORB]

4. No labels in the mail app. But you can get them by accessing the site through safari which is formatted very nicely for it.

But Labels aren't those simply folders and by moving the email into a folder, you've given it a label. It works just the same in my opinion!

 

[natrixgli]

Putting a bookmark to Gmail's web app on the home screen is pretty much just like Android's Gmail app minus the notifications. Gmail's web app is very close to the Android Gmail app.

As for the stock Mail app, I use Gmail and labels are treated as folders. So if I move something to a folder called "Foo", it applies the label "Foo" in Gmail.

Also now the Mail app supports Gmail's archive function which is pretty nice.

Calendars work great as well.

As for voice search, there is a Google app for iPhone that does this quite well. You launch the app, hold the phone up to your ear, and say whatever you want to find. It works just like the Android one, where you can say stuff like "Pizza near Milwaukee, Wisconsin" and it will give you Google Local results with phone number/direction buttons. I love the crap out of that app, it's probably the most frequently used one on my phone.

-n8

 

[robotphood]

Ah, did not know moving it into a folder gave it a label. Thanks

 

[Dimwit]

1. There is an app to do this, it's called "SpeedTouch", it's 99 cents. I have no idea if it works very well...

 

[big9erfan]

You can add speed dial links to the home screen, but it won't have the persons picture.

YouTube - iPhone: Speed Dial Trick