The estimated reading time for this post is 10 minutes
The Wonder of Tech is delighted to welcome back Elizabeth Sexton as a guest author. Liz, the author of Best Apps for Successful Students! and Take Note of Notability! Liz is here today to tell us why she prefers the iPhone to the Samsung Galaxy S3 in response to Praveen Rajarao’s article, 10 Features My Galaxy S3 Has that Your iPhone Doesn’t.
********************
When I read Praveen Rajarao’s article, I was impressed with all that the S3 had to offer but the iPhone has unique features that make it a better choice for me and perhaps for you. The iPhone 5 and the iPhone 4S each outsold the Samsung Galaxy S3 in the fourth quarter of 2012, making those two iPhone models the most popular phones in the world with the S3 coming in third. Clearly there is much to recommend both the iPhone and the S3.
iPhone fans will say that the iPhone is superior while the Galaxy S3 fans will say that the iPhone has nothing compared to the S3. Both phones offer different but great features that make the phones different.
My iPhone/ Android Background:
I have owned both an Android phone and iPhone. My first smartphone was the Droid, but when I was eligible to upgrade my phone with Verizon, I quickly switched to the iPhone 5 just as it was launched. I changed over to the iPhone because it syncs much more easily with my MacBook, iPad, and iPod Touch. I wanted to have my music, calendar, and contacts synced all of the time between my devices.
My Droid also froze a lot and did not hold a charge for an entire day. In addition I thought that the iPhone’s interface was much more user-friendly. However, one of my best friends recently got the Samsung Galaxy S3 and loves it.
Each phone is great in its own way; each has unique features, but your choice should be based on which features are most useful to you. Praveen did a marvelous job of describing the features of the Galaxy S3. I want to let you know about the features of the iPhone. I am happy that I got the iPhone 5 and plan to stay with Apple’s iPhone line. (Note that the features of the iPhone I describe in this article apply to both the iPhone 5 and the 4S.)
These are some features that make the iPhone stand out compared to the Samsung Galaxy S3:
1. Find my iPhone (remote lock and wipe)
Find My iPhone can be the most helpful app on the iPhone, especially in that moment where you are panicking that you left your phone in a New York City taxi. By using either the Find My iPhone app or the iCloud website, you can see a map pinpointing the location of all your iOS devices. You can see exactly where they are on a map and send a signal to your phone, which will cause the iPhone to emit a loud beeping noise, even if the phone is on Mute.
If you realize that your iPhone has been stolen, you can remotely lock the phone by adding a password and wipe it, erasing all of your data. This feature helps protect your confidential information from the thieves.
I have used Find My iPhone many times in the past few months to help me locate my phone, and it definitely helps in a moment of panic.
If you want to locate your Android phone, you can use Find My Phone, but both the lost phone and the tracking phone need to have the app downloaded. Android phones can’t be remotely wiped or locked.
2. iMessage
If you don’t have a phone plan with unlimited text messages each month, iMessage can save you a lot of money. If you do have an unlimited text message plan, you may be able to cancel it thanks to iMessage.
With iMessage, text messages can be sent without counting against your text messages with your cell phone carrier. You can send photos and international text messages for free to other people who have an iCloud account, using their cell phone number or their email. See, iMessage: Team Blue!
iMessage works on other Apple devices, allowing text conversations to be picked up on a Mac computer or iPad, even if you started them on an iPhone.
One unique and helpful feature is that iMessage will show when a message has been sent, delivered, and received. It will also show when the other person is replying. It is helpful to get confirmation when the person you message has seen a text. However, if you don’t want people to know whether you have read their message or not, you can disable the feature.
iMessage also allows easy group conversations where everyone can receive photos and respond to the group.
3. iBooks
iBooks, Apple’s app for ebooks, gives you access to not only iBooks in the iTunes iBooks Store, but you can also have easy access to ebooks from Project Guttenberg. See How to Use iBooks to Enrich Your Ebook Library.
Because of the capabilities of the iPhone and the iPad, including the Retina display screen, interactive textbooks on the iPhone have images that can be manipulated in 3D.
Unlike Amazon’s Kindle app, which is available on many platforms, iBooks is only available on the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.
The iBooks app allows you to highlight and take notes on whatever you are reading from within the app. The display of the books is amazing with the Retina display. Turning pages is flawless, and makes reading on the app feel like reading a real book.
4. Shortcuts
Shortcuts are unique to the iPhone, making typing and filling out forms much easier. By just typing a few letters, you can add your name, a web address, a sentence, phrase or paragraph. See, My Favorite New iOS 5 Trick!
To use a shortcut with the iPhone, users just type letters that will be turned into a full word, phrase or sentence through auto-correct. For instance, instead of writing out an entire email address, you can just create a shortcut consisting of a few letters in the address. This feature saves a lot of time when you have to type something frequently.
5. Do Not Disturb
Use the Do Not Disturb setting so your phone doesn’t alert you during the middle of the night or an important meeting just to let you know that you’ve received a new email, phone call, text message or other alert. However, if there are certain people that you do not want to miss a message or call from, then you can set your phone to still notify you of those people.
Do Not Disturb can be set manually or automatically to turn on and off at a certain time a day everyday, so that you do not have to remember to set it before you go to sleep every night or turn it off in the morning. Having the Do Not Disturb option comes in handy when you want to temporarily avoid the notification sounds and light that the iPhone emits.
Yes, there are ways to try to replicate Do Not Disturb for Android phones, but the results aren’t as functional nor efficient as with the iPhone. See, Silence Is Golden: “Do Not Disturb” for Android
6. Find My Friends
Find My Friends helps you locate friends who also have an iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch. When you connect with them, you can see their location on a map.
Find My Friends makes it possible to see exactly where people who also have an iPhone are. For example, parents can see where their children are if they are in a big area such as an amusement park and you can find your friends at a shopping mall or a concert.
To share your location with someone, permission has to be granted, and if at anytime you feel like you want to go “off the grid” then all you have to do is open the app, press Me in the bottom toolbar, then turn on Hide from Followers.
Having this app to keep track of your friend’s and family members’ whereabouts is helpful when it would be hard to otherwise call them or when you wouldn’t know they were close by.
7. Unified Inbox
Navigating through emails on a smartphone can be challenging, particularly if you have more than one email account. The iPhone lets you view multiple email accounts from the native email app so you don’t have to check multiple apps. This unified inbox gives you access to your Gmail, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail and other accounts from one app.
You can try to get a unified inbox on an Android phone, but the process isn’t simple. See, How to receive your multiple emails to a single inbox on your Android Phone.
8. Location-based reminders
Location-based reminders help you remember something when you arrive at or leave a location. You can get a reminder to pick up the dry cleaning when you leave work, pick up a prescription when you’re near the pharmacy, or pre-heat the oven when you arrive home.
Yes, you can get an app that has this feature for Android phones, but the iPhone’s feature is simple and free.
9. Push notifications
Your iPhone can alert you to important events with Push notifications. Push notifications can mean the difference between seeing and missing texts, emails, Facebook messages, Twitter messages, breaking news, etc. See, Apps: To Push or Not to Push?
Allowing an app to send you push notifications means that on the iPhone’s home screen, a notification will appear without you having to swipe to unlock the phone. This feature is really helpful when waiting for emails, text messages, scores for a game, or simply waiting to know when your friend on Words With Friends has made their move. It is much easier than going into the app every five minutes to see if there is anything new that you need to know about.
10. iCloud (Syncing within Apple devices)
Apple’s iCloud allows all of your devices to stay synced. This was one of the reasons why I wanted the iPhone so much. It makes life much easier, because I do not have to plug in my phone to sync music, documents, photos, and contacts to my computer to then sync them all over to my other devices. Any notes or reminders on the iPhone will also sync with the notes app on your computer and iPad, allowing you to stay more organized and backing up your files if your phone gets damaged, lost or stolen.
Bonus: Apple store support
If you have any problems with or questions about your iPhone, you can go to the Apple store to have them sort out your issues.
Upon buying your iPhone, you can sign up for OneToOne lessons, so that you can make sure that you know how to take full advantage of all the different features on the phone. See, Getting Schooled in Tech!
The iPhone is covered for one year under warranty, but if you want to pay extra, it can be covered for up to three years, making it very easy to take back and get fixed should anything go wrong.
Bottom Line:
There are many reasons why the iPhone is an excellent phone. The iPhone is a pleasure to use, and has something to offer for everyone. All of the features I mentioned are simple to use and come with the phone. I didn’t even mention the beautiful Retina display screen, the fun and handy FaceTime, or the convenient voice assistant, Siri.
There is a lot to love about the iPhone. What are your favorite features about the iPhone?
***********
Many thanks to Liz for returning to The Wonder of Tech to share her insights with us!
* Push Notification iPhone image by Geoff R (altered)
Hi Elizabeth,
Its really great to know about a few good features of iphone. I have a S|| and I have been quite satisfied with it . Maybe S4 is on my agenda.
Its my personal opinion that Apple phone is extremely costly for people from my country and Samsung provides a good alternative to them. But right now for both ,costs are matching .
Thanks for this post 🙂
Hi Ashvini, Yes, Liz did a great job with this article. The iPhone isn’t for everyone, but if you want to go with an Android phone, the S3 is a good choice. I am excited to see what Samsung has in store for us with the S4!
Thanks Ashvini, The iPhone can be costly, but it is good that Apple and Samsung have different prices for the different models depending on how much space you would like. The iPhone and S3 are both great phones, which is why there is competition among them and people feel pretty strongly one way or the other. Either way, each phone has their own great features!
And don’t forget Facetime! One of the greatest features of the iPhone and iPad, imo. We can hold our daughters’ faces in our hands, figuratively, with Facetime, even though they live thousands of miles away and across an ocean. And iMessage means free overseas texts too, if your plan doesn’t include those.
Hi Kathy, Yes, Liz did mention FaceTime at the end of the article. She had quite a few more features to add, but I limited her to 10 + a bonus so the article would be a fair comparison to Praveen’s article about the S3.
I’m a big fan of FaceTime too! FaceTime makes video chatting very easy. I love that you can have video chats anywhere in the world for free.
Yes, iMessage has helped me to save a lot of money with text messaging. The ability to send international text messages and photo attachments for free is amazing!
Hi Carolyn,
I haven’t been here in a long time and its good to catch up with an excellent article you’ve written here. The last smartphone that I used from Apple was the iPhone 3GS. Still plugging along with the old gun, but am only using it as my spare. I’ll bet the iPhone 5 is much better, but for some reason, I just prefer an Android. I do have an S3 and the only thing I miss on it is Beats audio. (I think every phone should come with Beats audio). And I have everything synced on my Google account and since I practically live in Gmail/Google/Drive…, its easier for me to find everything I want.
So I’m still not missing an iPhone yet!
I wonder how far the iPhone has penetrated the world markets, but I do know that Android has a wider reach and maybe that tells a story.
Cheers,
Adeline
Hi Adeline, Yes, it’s great to see you back here at The Wonder of Tech!
I had a 3GS too and the iPhone has come a long way since then. You’re right, both the S3 and the iPhone have a lot of great features, it’s just what you’re looking for.
According to the statistics from the 4th quarter of 2012, both the iPhone 5 and the 4S outsold the S3, though if you added all the Android phones together, they do outsell the iPhones.
Competition is good for consumers. Tech companies will try to stay one step ahead of the competition by introducing new features and keeping prices low. All good for us!
Thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts with us, Adeline! 🙂
Proud to be an iPhone owner especially after reading this post!!! but if truth to be told waiting for S4. With all the speculations around the corners about its unique features, I will love to get hold of it ASAP!!!
Thanks for the post though!! 🙂
Hi Rashmi, Yes, there is a lot to recommend the iPhone. Liz did such a good job with this article!
I am very curious to see what features the S4 will have. The Galaxy Note 2 and the S3 have so many great features, it will be hard to top them. Perhaps in a while the comparison will be between the S4 and the new iPhone!
Yeah, the Samsung and Apple war is going to intensify to a whole new level this year for sure. I will love to see a bendable screen though, ASAP. For me that phone maker will win who will get there first. 😉 [-O<
A bendable screen would be very cool, Rashmi! Great idea.
Thank you Rashmi,
I love my iPhone, and am also proud to finally be an owner. It would take a lot in the S4 to convert me, because I do not want to give up the ease of the iPhone. It will be interesting to see how the iPhone vs. Android competition plays out in the future!
yeah!!! Only one thing left to say… ” Lets get it on ” 😀 😀
Lol, Rashmi! This certainly has generated a lively conversation! 🙂
Yeah, that is the best part about blogging, you meet people and get to know them. God bless internet. o:-)
You’re so right, Rashmi. I have made a lot of dear friends through blog commenting! 🙂
Nice article Liz.
The iPhone is great and I love mine. Although, they need to figure out how to get the sizing figured out. It is too thick and the screen is too small in comparison to the newer Android devices. It blows me away that they can’t figure that out.
Hi Kyle, Yes, I find myself yearning for a larger iPhone screen, especially after testing the Galaxy Note 2. I hope that the next iPhone has a larger one, though the predictions are that the redesign isn’t coming until 2014.
Hi Kyle, A bigger screen might be helpful depending on your intended uses of the phone. However, I do not feel that I have to have a bigger screen, because I only use my phone to check emails, take photos, surf the web, and play some games. I could see that if you were doing intensive things for a long amount of time then you would want a bigger screen. However, as the screens get bigger it will not be as easy to slip the phone easily into pockets. The size of the iPhone screen is an interesting dilemma that Apple is facing now, and it will be interesting to see how they move forward in the future.
Great article. However, I can do 1, 2 and 5 on my S3 with third-party apps and without rooting the phone.
Hi Chris, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! Thanks for letting us know about this. Which Android app will let you add a password and wipe the phone remotely? That would be very handy to have for Android users.
Also, which Android app lets you use your phone number and email address and start a text conversation on one device and finish it on another? And gives the ability to text internationally and add images for free? That would be great to know.
Liz linked to an article showing you how to use two different apps to try to have Do Not Disturb on an Android phone. Can you suggest a better app?
Thanks in advance for letting us know about these apps, Chris!
Avast! lets me wipe the phone remotely, via password if we so choose.
I am unsure about the second one. With the DND, Blocking Mode is highly customizable and comes standard on Android 4.1 JellyBean.
Chris, thanks so much for these recommendations. Avast! looks like a great app with lots of useful features. Here is a link for anyone who wants to grab it (free) at Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.avast.android.mobilesecurity&feature=nav_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDMsImNvbS5hdmFzdC5hbmRyb2lkLm1vYmlsZXNlY3VyaXR5Il0.
The Blocking Mode may not be available on all S3 or Android phones. It isn’t available on the Note 2 I’ve been testing. Apparently Verizon Android phones don’t come with this feature: http://androidforums.com/samsung-galaxy-s3/634408-use-blocking-mode-save-battery-when-youre-asleep.html
But for those who have Blocking Mode, this feature could be a good alternative to Do Not Disturb.
Thanks again for your enlightening comments, Chris. 🙂
My pleasure, Carolyn! I tweet tips like these from @cmacdonaldwx
Thanks for putting your Twitter ID here, Chris. You have at least one new follower today! 🙂
I was just asking this yesterday on FB. Thank you, you shared a few things I had not thought of an it makes sense for me to go with an iphone ( being a Mac Book Pro user since 2002.
Hi Michelle, Yes, you will really enjoy how the MacBook and the iPhone sync with each other. Often I am at my computer and can send an iMessage to my iPhone friends without having to dig out my phone. FaceTime is cool too!
I’m so glad this great article by Liz could help you, Michele! 🙂
Ha! Totally agree with your post… iPhone > S3 anyday… btw, Nice work highlighting the facts.
Hi Kashyap, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! Yes, Liz did such a fantastic job with this article. I’m so glad you agree with her. Thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts!
Hi Liz and Carolyn,
This is an excellent review and that’s very enticing. I don’t even have a smart phone or Android, and I’m not exactly technology updated that’s why I need to come to this blog more often.
Thanks for this great information and will share it.
Hi Sylviane, Yes, this blog is written for everyday people who aren’t techies, but like to learn about what’s going on in the tech world. The tech world is becoming a part of our everyday world so it’s important to learn about tech and how it affects our lives.
Thanks for stopping by, it’s always great to see you here at The Wonder of Tech!
You have to watch that Praveen, he can certainly stir it up at times…:).
I was hoping the Find my Friends app would help me find some real friends for me, but the app must not be strong enough.
I went from a crackberry to the iPhone4s and my only real complaint is I can never get a full day out of a battery charge….and I’ve tried every battery saving trick in the book. But that’s minor as I’m usually someplace I can plug it in if need be.
Good comparison, good to see you at the WonderofTech.
Hi Bill, Yes, Praveen certainly started a lively conversation here at The Wonder of Tech!
You might want to take your iPhone into the Apple store to see if they can fix it. The Find My Friends app should be able to find you a friend somewhere, on social media if nowhere else!
Maybe that’s why your battery life is so short. The phone is trying so very hard to find you some friends? 🙂
Hello Ladies,
as a proud owner of Iphone 4 i can say that i would not trade it for Android ever. I haven’t owned an Android personally but i played some time with a Samsung SII and i can’t say i’m impressed.
Aside from this 10 features, you have many more that are useful.
Hi Radu, I’m glad you’re so happy with your iPhone 4. It’s great that a model from 2010 can still be such a useful phone. You make another good point about the iPhone, they tend to avoid becoming obsolete for a lot longer than Android phones do.
Hi Elizabeth,
Nice consolidation about Iphone. I own S3 and so far I love it. Indeed, I hold IPhone before and moved S3 by 2012 during launch.
I do agree few of the features not directly available on S3 but still there are enough 3rd party apps to accomplish our need. Like from your point 1,5, 2. I did compare with my collogues IPhone with my S3 and the page loading speed, data sharing features are so great on S3 side and still Iphone need more tune-ups. I use All share app widely to share my mobile files to Smart TV and the S3 data loading speed really awesome and no more streaming issue at all. I love it.
However, When it comes about display still I like Iphone’s pixel depth though Samsung is great and surely thumps up for Apple 🙂 .. There are some positive / Negative features on both hardwares ,but still IPhone need more tune-ups to loudly say that’s the BEST. 🙂 I am waiting to hear IP6. 🙂
Thanks for sharing the wonderful article with us.
Hi Vijay, Yes, Liz did a great job with this article. I found it interesting that all of her features related to the iPhone 4S as well as the 5, which may be why the 4S is selling so well. Which model of iPhone did you have before you got the S3?
You’re right, there is much to recommend both phones. I’m glad you’re happy with your S3, Vijay!
I’ll still take my Note 2 over the iPhone. That screen size makes a huge difference not to mention the lightning fast speed.
Hi Josh, Yes, I fell in love with the Note 2 when I tested it for my review. I even am watching some on eBay. But I really would miss the features Liz mentioned here such as Find My Friends and iMessage.
I wish for a phone that would have the combined features of the Note 2 and the iPhone. I do love the screen size of the Note 2 and the S Pen stylus. Do you use your S Pen a lot? I used it almost constantly.
Carolyn,
I love my iphone. I did not know about a few of these, I will have to check them out. I need to spend a little more time playing around with everything on it. I think that the iphones have so much that it is hard to learn about everything they have to offer. Thanks for the post.
Hi Josh, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! Yes, the iPhone has a lot of very cool features. I have written about some of them in other articles and Liz has done a marvelous job of writing about them here.
Stay tuned to The Wonder of Tech for more article on iPhone features!
Hi Elizabeth. As a long-time iPhone user, I am partial anyway, but have considered Android devices recently. In fact, my first tablet was an Android as I didn’t want to pay for the iPad and I wanted something smaller (before the iPad Mini). BIG mistake for me. I was so used to the iOS that the Android system just seemed buggy to me. Not that it’s a terrible product – there are things they do probably better. I can’t think of any but I’m sure they exist. But there was just no comparison.
I now have an iPad mini. 🙂
Hi Bryan, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! Yes, we can become partial if we’ve used one device for a long time.
In fairness, or not, to Android, not all Android devices are made with uniform quality. With the iPhone, all models are made by and backed by Apple. Android devices are made by lots of different manufacturers with varying degrees of quality. Unfortunately for consumers and the Android name, quite a few manufacturers produced low quality Android tablets for a low price.
Thanks for your visit and your excellent comment, Bryan!
The title of this post totally caught my eye! =) What a great headline. My husband and I have continually had this debate. I’m on the iPhone side and it doesn’t hurt to have more arguments. =) I currently have a BlackBerry and I’ve been dreaming about a Do Not Disturb feature, which I’m ecstatic to hear is on the iPhone. I think the Find My Phone and Find My Friends features would also be super useful for me. And Location-Based Reminders totally blows my mind!! What a great idea! =) I can’t wait to upgrade to an iPhone soon. =)
Hi Samantha, Yes, Liz did an excellent job with this article, pointing out many wonderful features of the iPhone. I use Find My Friends nearly every day. I also use Do Not Disturb every night so my phone doesn’t ring, flash or buzz while I sleep.
I hope you enjoy your new iPhone, Samantha!
Carolyn and Elizabeth,
Great article with many features to compare between the two phones. I have a Samsung phone (it’s the only brand of phone I have ever owned). I agree with the assessment of deciding based upon what works best for the individual. I have thought about getting an I-Phone more than once but I have always gone back to the Samsung line. If they would ever consider the universal port for the Apple phones i might give it more thought but it is one of the sticking points for myself (I don’t want another cord….lol)
Hi Aaron, thank you! I definitely agree with you about the cord for the iPhone. It is annoying that I have to bring the new cord with me where ever I go if I know that I will have to charge it, unless I spend another $30 for a second cord. However, for me the other features outweigh this con, but I could definitely see how it would push some people away.
Hi Aaron, Yes, the iPhone cable is proprietary, but the dock connectors of the iPhones can transmit audio and video signals, which is why you see so many speakers and other accessories for iPhones and iPad, but not for Android devices. So the iPhone dock connectors are proprietary but more powerful.
Hi Carolyn,
Oh Praveen should be the first to comment here 😉
I was here when I got to know about the post at Facebook and you know who got in my mind after noticing the title. Yeah it’s Praveen 😀 lol… Unfortunately after a lengthy comment, got a power outage and couldn’t submit.
Liz – Hello Liz, You are right. You know, fans can be a pain sometimes and even worse when a fan write a review 😀 lol… I’ve enjoyed Praveen’s post and now yours. I have no iPhone, but my friends did. I can see the balance in yours though you love iPhone.
A friend of mine used Lookout security app to remotely lock and wipe data on Android. Also I’m using avast! Mobile Security which allows me lot of remote capabilities including remote lock and wipe too dear 🙂 I think most security solutions have it now.
I really like how iMessage works and had no idea about Do Not Disturb. Gotta check out Carolyn’s post about it. Shortcuts come in handy for sure. Didn’t know it was capable on iPhone. I need to check out Google Play for an app with similar function. MAY BE there will be one.
However generally iPhone is kinda costy, no? 🙂 Well, here we don’t have plans so gotta buy unlocked version Liz. Once I’ve told about Carolyn how my friends switched over to Android. Personally I’m fond of Android though I really like to have an iPhone too.
Thanks for wonderful post differing iPhone from Samsung Galaxy S3 🙂
Have a fabulous weekend, Liz and Carolyn 😉
Cheers…
Oops…. “Do Not Disturb” lead me to another site. I thought it’s a post of Carolyn’s 🙂
Thanks for the link Liz. Installed on mine 😉
Cheers…
Thanks so much for your insights, Mayura. Yes, you’re right, it would be the best to have both phones, wouldn’t it? Each one has different features to recommend it, but the ideal phone would have all the best features of both!
Mayura – I am late as usual…but I loved the post and the comeback by Liz. It is quite refreshing to unravel all the commonly unknown features of these great devices.
Hi Praveen, You’re not late at all! I’m so glad you enjoyed Liz’s article. I am very grateful to the two of you for providing such wonderful articles to help Wonder of Tech readers understand the differences between the two phones. 🙂
I’d hate to come of mean, but everything named here can be done with Android. Every single thing. I’ve used both and have nothing against iOS, but this is wrong. Articles like these have been the main reason consumers are afraid to try other devices. Sorry.
Hi Terius, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! Thanks for letting us know that you can do all of these things on your Android phone. Could you provide examples of apps that will let you perform these tasks on Android? Avast! is a very helpful app, but if you could provide other examples, that could be very helpful to other Wonder of Tech readers.
Thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts, Terius.
I can provide you with those indeed.
Find my iPhone (remote lock and wipe) = Cerberus
iBooks = Google Books and Magazines
Find My Friends = Latitude (integrated into Google Maps)
Unified Inbox = K-9 Mail
Push notifications = Android has too many push enabled apps to list
iCloud = Carbon – App Sync and Backup
I’m sure there are equivalents for the others you listed as well, but these were the ones that stood out in your article for me since I use these. Again, I have nothing against iOS or any platform. I believe we have choices to have choices. 😉
Thank you very much for this information about available Android apps, Terius, which is very useful to Wonder of Tech readers. I believe Liz was referring to features provided by Apple for the iPhone, as opposed to adding apps, giving the iPhone these capabilities out of the box. But adding the apps you and Chris mentioned to Android phones would certainly enhance their capabilities as well.
With Push Notifications, Liz was referring to push notifications that appear in the home screen without swiping to unlock the phone, which I don’t believe is available on Android phones.
Thanks again for your helpful suggestions, Terius!
Liz – I am so glad you read my article and found it informative enough to come up with this sort-of-a-sequel to the same. I love it when we have such healthy discussions about the technologies and gadgets, it just gets the best of them out in the open.
The features mentioned by you are all great, and as you already know, am also a fan of the Apple devices. My wife has the 5 and she loves it and always comes back to me asking “can you do this on your S3?”.
Wow, Terius did take this seriously and came up with all the alternatives available on the Android OS. Thanks to him for mentioning these for all the android lovers.
Liz, i also had the Motorola DroidX before and I should say it was very poorly designed and was very bad with the worst battery life ever seen by me. But then S3 has advanced and taken the android OS to the next level altogether.
Most of the features that you have mentioned are limited to the “Apple devices” and that is one thing apple does with their features, they want their users to be loyal and keep using and upgrading to the new ones they come up with. I see that you also have that small apple network of their devices and I am sure you will hate to switch to the Android now which will stick out of our network like a sore thumb.
Great information shared by you and I am glad Carolyn published this post.
Hi Praveen, Yes you certainly did a fantastic job getting the conversation going with your article about the S3. I agree, lively discussions help us to understand the capabilities of each phone and help us learn which phone is best for us.
Good point about the integration of Apple devices. If you have a lot of Apple devices, such as the iPad and Mac computer, as Liz does, having the iPhone to share these features makes a lot of sense.
As you and Liz have pointed out, not all Android devices are the same quality. Because many manufacturers produce Android devices, the quality can range from top to cheap.
Thanks for continuing to contribute to this lively conversation, Praveen! 🙂
That’s something I’ll never deny. That’s the main reason Android gets such a bad rap. Many people that attempt to try Android come in on low end devices, have a bad experience, and decide Android is garbage. I fully understand this as I have played with some of the lower end devices and “MY GOD” I cannot image using them as daily driver devices. For this reason, I usually tell people to do some research and/or watch some reviews before purchasing. The 14-15 days carriers allow for exchanges doesn’t allow enough time to see the full power of any devices, be it Android or iOS. My list goes:
Simplicity = iOS
Advanced + Tweaking = Android (high end)
Strictly Business = Blackberry
*Sidenote: This is the first conversation in sometime where I wasn’t immediately called a fanboy. 😉
Hi Terius, Good point. Many people lump all Android devices into one category or tried Android when it first was released and gave up on it. You have an excellent point about the limited return policies of most carriers. People may not have a chance to test out their phones fully in that time period and then have to suffer with a phone for the duration of their contract.
The Wonder of Tech welcomes opposing points of view, so long as the comments are respectful. I haven’t ever had to moderate a comment for being disrespectful, the readers here tend to be extremely well-behaved even when disagreeing.
But perhaps you’re disappointed at not being called a fan boy? 😉
I genuinely appreciate your comments here, Terius. You are welcome at The Wonder of Tech anytime!
Hey FanBoy – you make some good points back there, concluding on Android being garbage by using a crap device is extremely common. People just dont realize the immense potential with the free OS that it provides.
Nice to read your comments here.
Hey Praveen, I’m hoping that the garbage devices will die a natural death and they won’t be sold anymore, but I feel bad for the people who are duped by the “Android” name and think they are buying quality.
Good list of apps and Good comparision. iPhone having the best App Markets in mobile world. Nice sharing
Hi Mark, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! I’m glad you liked Liz’s article. Yes, the iTunes App Store is certainly the largest in the world.
Thanks for stopping by and for your kind words.
I would agree with you Liz about the fact that different phones have different features and just like we all are different individuals so are our likes. The phone I would like may not look good to you and vice versa, that is the reason I don’t recommend people when it comes to phones, I tell them to think and decide.
Hi Steve, Excellent point. A phone that is good for someone may not be the best fit for someone else. You’re very wise to let people make their own decisions based on their own needs and preferences. :-bd
This is really fun to read, I read your blog about iphone & galaxy before where you stated the benefits which iphone didn’t have now its Galaxy 3 its amazing. Good list of apps and Good comparision. Good post, thanks for sharing.
I have heard that Galaxy S 3 is a much better phone than any other Apple as well as Samsung smartphones. However, after reading your post I feel that those people were wrong. With so many different features, I phone 5 has to be a great smartphone that can be used for various purposes.
Hi Bruce, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! There are people who like the Galaxy S3 and people who like the iPhone 5. Both are wonderful phones with fantastic features. The key is to pick the phone that works best for you. I hope that these articles from Praveen and Liz help you decide which phone is best for you, Bruce!