Brett Hoerner's blog
Two months using Android
written on Tuesday, June 29, 2010
I've had the HTC Incredible for about two months now. It's been a great experience overall. Verizon's network has been very good (especially compared to AT&T) in Austin. I even had a week to use it in San Francisco and didn't experience any problems (a first!).
From what I can tell, the only iPhone 4G hardware advantages that I care about are the polished aluminum build and the display. The 3GS has 163 ppi and the 4G has 326, that's clearly a huge and much needed boost. The Incredible has 252 ppi, so it's not exactly like I'm living with the weak 3GS display, but more is always better (when a resolution independent UI is used, as both systems do).
Software-wise I'm still sold on Android. Even when I was using iOS I hardly used any apps. A browser, a twitter client, a music player, a password manager, and a maps application cover 99% of my use cases. I'm curious what else people are actually using (aside from games, which I don't care about). Just like the desktop, the web is where it's at for me.
Given the apps I use, I find the Android OS vastly superior. In my previous entry I explained that I prefer Android's pinch to zoom in the browser, and that definitely still stands. I've also learned that applications can extend the "Share Page" button, so I have an app ("plugin"?) to quickly and easily mark things in Read It Later. The fast and available network doesn't hurt my web experience, either.
My music and Twitter apps are basically the same between platforms. I don't really ask much of them and I'm not sure what they could do to really stand out for me.
Maps on Android, as I said before, is amazing. It was a huge selling point among friends that are using iPhones but up for a new phone soon. Sadly it sounds like they didn't update the maps app in iOS4 (via same disappointed friends).
Finally, I'm still loving the Android notification system and exposed filesystem (mostly for Dropbox syncing files to use in other apps).