[Update] The Great Phone Swap is over and I'm more confused than when I began...

Jobeesh · 4 months

I prefer to keep this from being a "they're dumb and we're smart" argument.

The iPhone is good for smart people that don't want to think about their phone as much as you and I do.

Jobeesh · 4 months

There is no "now playing", but I would argue it's because Apple just makes things simple. A now playing queue makes things more complicated.

Spotify has a "now playing" queue, but it's retarded.

I would argue that this feature request is perfect for nerds like you and I, but isn't a necessary usability sacrifice for most people.

Jobeesh · 4 months

The app drawer does make Android customizable and harder to use. I watched my mom try and find an app she installed and saw what that feature does to a novice user first hand.

I hate the settings area on iPhone. They keep people out of it on purpose by making it confusing. Apple doesn't want you to make changes there.

Agreed.

Jobeesh · 4 months

Designing around limitations (like battery life) = good design.

Jobeesh · 4 months

I've actually chosen to stick with my Droid Incredible and return the Galaxy Nexus. I felt the iPhone provided a better, cleaner user experience, but I would have to make a lot of sacrifices making the switch.

The customization of Android may make the user experience more cluttered for less techie individuals, but I really appreciate the long list of settings and tweaks Android offers. That and the Google integration have kept me on Android.

Jobeesh · 4 months

That's a great analogy for a lot of reasons. On the one hand, driving an automatic Ferrari means you don't really feel the car. But on the other hand it makes it so anybody who can drive a car can drive the Ferrari.

Jobeesh · 4 months

Lol, I've gotten a lot of negative feedback on this post.

One thing I think I haven't made clear in just linking to this summary post is that I'm not just analyzing the user experience for myself. I'm trying to think about how people like my mom or my less techie friends would approach using a phone.

I believe that I would be making big sacrifices by moving to iOS, but they're sacrifices that I think the non-techie masses won't mind giving up. My mom would rather know where every app is always than have to look around for the app drawer.

Jobeesh · 4 months

Case in point - My mom uses an Incredible 2. She just installed a new app. The first thing she does is go looking for it on her home screens because that's where she's used to finding her apps. It's not there. Eventually she figures out she has to go to the app tray, add it to her home screen, and use it from there.

She's had that phone for several months now, but this user flow is still confusing to her. It's great that Android lets us remove clutter from the home screens, but it is at the cost of usability, even if the perception is that the cost is small.

Jobeesh · 4 months

Ultimately I have stuck with Android because I like spending the time customizing my phone. I also like the flexibility being able to flash a custom rom offers.

The iPhone's graphic design also seemed a little bit dated to me, but the consistency is nice.

Jobeesh · 4 months

Well said.

Jobeesh · 4 months

I think it's an unfair assumption to say that the brain power for Android is too much. I'd like to avoid that elitist perspective.

I think a lot of smart people don't want to spend their massive brains thinking about their phones. After a week of thinking about nothing but phones I understand the allure.

Jobeesh · 4 months

Word to that homie

Jobeesh · 4 months

I'm a little reluctant to reward bad product design with more money.

Jobeesh · 4 months

I've had a really hard time finding good stable roms for my old HTC Incredible. That's a big reason why I changed to Nexus.

Jobeesh · 4 months

I'm just setting up our characters a little. We're obviously not either of these things since we're open minded enough to experiment.

Jobeesh · 4 months

Fucking christ. It's so bad.

Jobeesh · 4 months

We told friends and family to reach us on our google voice numbers, which will seamlessly switch back at the end of the experiment. It's not perfect but it's been working fairly well.

Jobeesh · 4 months

Lol, good point. I'm sure it'll come up with Alec's first day with the phone post.

Jobeesh · 4 months

Yeah, we're both pretty open minded (about phones too).

Jobeesh · 4 months

word

Jobeesh · 4 months

Verizon now does use sim cards in LTE devices, however, I can't just swap it over to Alec's phone. What we did was a "best we could think of" solution. We both had google voice accounts so we created numbers on there and had them forwarded to our new phones. When we switch back people will be able to reach us on either number so it removed some of the confusion. We both posted our new numbers on Facebook and I sent out a mass text with my new number. It's worked fairly well, but Alec's girlfriend keeps texting me (not in a sexy way).

Jobeesh · 4 months

That's Alec's domain since he graduated in human interaction design. I was a "learn on the job" guy with a focus on game design in college. I'll ask him and may he'll post something or comment.

Jobeesh · 4 months

I agree. I really dislike how long it takes the bar to load when I pull down the notifications bar for the first time in a little while. I also miss the transparency but I can see why they made it opaque.

Jobeesh · 4 months

I keep hearing that! I would really like to try one.

Jobeesh

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