Do You Prefer iOS 7 Looks Over Previous iOS Versions?

[Faterson]

iOS 7 is butt-ugly, but iOS apps are still superior over Android apps at this point, so no switch for me. I don't use Apple's ugly and lame default apps, so I'm mostly only annoyed by iOS 7 outside the apps I use. I praise all iOS app developers who refuse to succumb to the flat fad. I recommend Calendars 5 as the calendar app, and Nebulous Notes as the notes app.

If my iPhone 4 ever breaks down, Nexus 5 would definitely be the no. 1 replacement candidate. I'd like iPhone 5S, too, but if it's twice as expensive compared to Nexus 5?

I agree battery life is a weakness of the Android platform. The battery life of my new (!) Nexus 7 is weaker* than battery life of my iPad 3 (over 1.5 years old) and even iPad 1 (over 3 years old!). Enough said.

* Actual use time is equal between Nexus 7 and iPads (around 10 hours), but iPads last a lot longer while in sleep mode. Nexus 7's battery discharges a lot faster while in sleep mode, which sucks.

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by WillysJeepMan

I'm sticking with iOS 6.1.3 on my iPad 4, and 5.1.1 on my iPhone 4. I will continue to stick with my iPhone 4 until I need a new phone and THEN I'll probably give a Nokia Lumia phone a shot.

I'd much prefer Android, but I'm not going back to oversized batteries or daily charging of my phone. So until Google makes changes to how Android works, I'm not willing to go back. That's the only reason why I left Android in the first place. I like being able to use my iPhone for 2-3 days before charging.

Maybe the Android needs to be charged daily, but the Windows Phone's longer battery life won't do you much good until they get apps to use on it.

Plus their UI is impossible and is FAR worse than anything Apple could ever accomplish.

But by all means, rebel over iOS 7 by switching to an even uglier, harder to use OS.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by WillysJeepMan

I'd much prefer Android, but I'm not going back to oversized batteries or daily charging of my phone. So until Google makes changes to how Android works, I'm not willing to go back. That's the only reason why I left Android in the first place. I like being able to use my iPhone for 2-3 days before charging.

If you haven't used android since before iPhone 4, you were probably on Froyo or Gingerbread. Back then there was no common notification system, no common location system, etc... so each app ran it's own service to do this stuff. Starting with Android 4 (Ice Create sandwich) this was all centralized into a few system services.

My understanding is Kit Kat improves battery life over ICS and Jelly Bean.

I'm mostly happy with my iPhone 5. I don't feel that apps are that much better than what I used on android, other than maybe iMessage. But, not in Kit Kat they basically use Google Hangouts as the messaging app which like iMessage uses data, shows delivered/read info, and also falls back to SMS when needed. Finally, their is a Windows PC client for it as well. There is no Windows iMessage... (I'm not sure why either, they should have it.)

That said, the batter life on my iPhone is awesome... although, it's not in my hands that much. I work at a desk and it is connected to Wifi all day long.

I think battery is also as much about the device itself as the OS... some Android phones get much better battery life than others.

The main problem I had with Windows Phone, is no navigation, unless you with with Nokia. Which I guess now is about the only company building them, so no worries there.

BOb

[Faterson]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

Maybe the Android needs to be charged daily, but the Windows Phone's longer battery life won't do you much good until they get apps to use on it.

Plus their UI is impossible and is FAR worse than anything Apple could ever accomplish.

But by all means, rebel over iOS 7 by switching to an even uglier, harder to use OS.

Concurred. Windows is an OS for masochists on any platform, but especially on mobile devices.

I've always been struck by the ugliness of Windows 8 tiles. One of the reasons I hate iOS 7 is that it basically apes that repugnant Windows 8 look and feel.

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by Faterson

Concurred. Windows is an OS for masochists on any platform, but especially on mobile devices.

I've always been struck by the ugliness of Windows 8 tiles. One of the reasons I hate iOS 7 is that it basically apes that repugnant Windows 8 look and feel.

Oh, come on, Windows isn't for masochists, JUST WINDOWS 8!!!

How, how, HOW did Apple manage to head down that track?

P.S. Windows XP was great for it's time, and Windows 7 is great for THIS time. Especially the UI, which old gnome-desktop used as a guideline to make the very best desktop ever!

[Faterson]

Yes, Windows 7 is my main working machine, and I wouldn't swap it for Mac OS (Win 8 is completely out of the question).

Still, I maintain there are masochistic aspects to every Windows release. Over the decades, we've just learned to live with them, accept them as givens, or circumvent them with numerous tweaks.

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by Faterson

Yes, Windows 7 is my main working machine, and I wouldn't swap it for Mac OS (Win 8 is completely out of the question).

Still, I maintain there are masochistic aspects to every Windows release. Over the decades, we've just learned to live with them, accept them as givens, or circumvent them with numerous tweaks.

Of course it's not as good as linux in numerous ways, yet for all that it still does a good job at what it was created for -- to be a usable, intuitive way FOR LUDDITES TO GET STUFF DONE!!!

Anyone who really knows what they're doing WILL have complaints, but that's different.

[Faterson]

Yes, it's pretty ironic. No doubt the primary motivator behind the awful Windows 8 interface was to make it appealing to Luddites (because it's a power user's nightmare), but it seems Luddites aren't (literally) buying it!

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by Faterson

Yes, Windows 7 is my main working machine, and I wouldn't swap it for Mac OS (Win 8 is completely out of the question).

Still, I maintain there are masochistic aspects to every Windows release. Over the decades, we've just learned to live with them, accept them as givens, or circumvent them with numerous tweaks.

Windows 8.1 is pretty much the same as Windows 7 on the desktop. Just set it to boot into desktop and use traditional (classic) windows apps. There are several things about it that are better than Windows 7. Boot time, task manager, search, etc. Oh, and it supports touch very well. It may not seem like alot, but it's pretty natural to scroll with touch, swipe through pictures, zoom stuff, etc.

BUt, keep the Fud going... remember how much EVERYONE hatted XP when it came out, and everyone said they were sticking with Windows 95?

BOb

[Faterson]

No, I will never let that monstrosity come near me, thank you. Knowing Microsoft, I know full well they messed up lots of things under the hood in addition to messing up the interface. Never for me. Never.

OK: I'd switch to Windows 8.1 if Microsoft paid me $1,000 as compensation for the resulting headache and anguish always attending no matter what Windows upgrade.

[Graham]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

BUt, keep the Fud going... remember how much EVERYONE hatted XP when it came out, and everyone said they were sticking with Windows 95

How long is it supposed to take?

My wife's had Windows 8 on her work laptop for 9 months now and still gets infuriated with it every day.

Graham

[WillysJeepMan]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

If you haven't used android since before iPhone 4, you were probably on Froyo or Gingerbread. Back then there was no common notification system, no common location system, etc... so each app ran it's own service to do this stuff. Starting with Android 4 (Ice Create sandwich) this was all centralized into a few system services.

My understanding is Kit Kat improves battery life over ICS and Jelly Bean.

I've owned newer Android phones, including a Samsung Galaxy SII Skyrocket running Jelly Bean. Google regularly claims better battery life with each new version of Android, but it never reaches the levels I've experienced with the iPhone.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by Graham

How long is it supposed to take?

My wife's had Windows 8 on her work laptop for 9 months now and still gets infuriated with it every day.

Graham

Because?

BOb

[Faterson]

Well, I hate iOS 7 more and more every day, instead of getting used to it. I'm finding more and more problems and dysfunctionalities in iOS 7 every week.

In my eyes, Apple has now definitely sunk to the level of Microsoft and their Windows 8, Vista, Windows ME debacles. Apple now apparently no longer only make lame and ugly software, but buggy and dysfunctional, too.

For example, alerts and notifications stopped working for me properly on the iPad 3 (partly also iPhone 4) running iOS 7. I even reset the iPad back to factory settings and restored an iCloud backup on it. No help. Never had a single problem with alerts and notifications in previous iOS versions. What could be worse than not receiving alerts and reminders you set up in your PIM software?

I deeply regret having upgraded to iOS 7. It's an unmitigated disaster. I advise everyone to stay away from iOS 7 forever, if possible.

If I could downgrade to iOS 6 on both iPad and iPhone, I would do it instantly, right this minute. If a jailbreak was needed to do that, I'd do it without blinking, although I never seriously considered jailbreaking in previous years of iOS use. Prior to iOS 7, iOS was lame and locked down, but at least not dysfunctional in ways transpiring now.

If anyone here knows how to return to iOS 6, even at the price of jailbreak, please let me know. I heard of a guy starting a class action lawsuit in the US due to being unable to downgrade to iOS 6 on his devices after discovering iOS 7 does not work as reasonably expected, just as I've been discovering it in recent weeks.

[pilotbob]

Yea that why you should always back up a device before doing a major OS upgrade.

BOb