The Woz: We've Fallen Behind in Smartphones


Recommended Posts

http://www.apple.com...s-new/#facetime

Call me back when you know what you're talking about.

Call me back when you actually finds out that it's limited to some few carriers that allows you to use Facetime over the carriers 3G network: http://www.tuaw.com/...-over-cellular/

Did 4G works in most places outside of USA just because Apple said iPhone 5 had 4G capabilities?

In reality, 4G is only working with some few carriers in USA.

Apple did even announce on their norwegian webpage that they had 4G on the iPhone 5 here in Norway to when that was not true at any points.

False advertising is not cool.

http://www.apple.com...s-new/#facetime

Call me back when you know what you're talking about.

now works

And that's only on the iPhone 4S and above, and the third generation iPads.

Call me back when you actually finds out that it's limited to some few carriers in USA: http://www.tuaw.com/...-over-cellular/

This is an AT&T limitation not one imposed by Apple. Furthermore AT&T recently began permitting FaceTime on all plans without grandfathered unlimited data plans.

In any case though, I certainly wouldn't want to call you. I also can't be bothered arguing with you because I've read what you've had to say in this thread and you're far too close-minded and ignorant to bother with. Enjoy your device, I'll enjoy mine.

I'm not a fan of Holo at all, I think it's too bland in many areas and the Tron colours aren't very professional. This is why I personally strongly prefer Sony's skin on Android over everything else. They manage to theme Android in a way that makes it look like an incredibly mature and good looking operating system.

Doesn't really matter, because what's matter is that the application looks slick and clean (like the Holo design is all about) while having lots of functionality at the same time. Sliding Messaging Pro does this pretty damn good. Sony or Samsung's default SMS app doesn't works as good or looks as good as Sliding Messaging Pro does. That's the whole point.

Sorry, I think I missed something... you can set reminders in samsung voice, and run media in background.......

(Just for the record, I have stated that I have no problem with IOS devices.., just not my cup of tea)

S Voice does not support location-based reminders.

Android can run media in the background; I didn't say it couldn't. In iOS apps that can play music in the background can be controlled from the multitasking bar.

Seems to me that you haven't tried Android before. Even Android 1.6 can do exactly the same things. If you want to set location reminders, then you have Tasker. Pretty much every music apps that are out to Android today can be controlled from the notification bar. I currently use PowerAMP that have a nice controller in the notification bar.

Here is a screenshot from that.

2013-02-09-17-10-29.png

So what you are saying is something we have been able to do on Android since Android 1.6.

Tasker is not built in. If we're comparing Android to iOS we should be comparing built-in features, not what can be accomplished via apps. Also, there is no way of setting location-based reminders using your voice with Tasker, so it's not quite the same as iOS' implementation.

It is up to the individual app to put a widget in the notification bar. iOS automatically allows you to control apps from the multitasking bar; the app doesn't have to implement anything. Background music is an OS-wide feature on iOS.

Thats the first use of siri I found that IS actually useful! Tasker can do loops around siri possiblities. Its rediculously complicated but almost too powerful. It can completely reconfigure your phone based on GPS, cell data, wifi networks, time of day, brightness in room at anytime automatically. Like having BT on when you enter your car after work? it can do that. want bluetooth to shut off, silent profile to change and wifi to turn on and connect and complete any updates? No problem. I even seen people disable wifi, turn on bt connect to their headset, start playing an MP3 playlist, turn on GPS and launch MyRun. Once they hit a speed over 5MPH an alarm is set for 40 min to time their run. I have never used a program that is so configurable in my life. Took me like a week to read through how it actually works though. I can't speak to it however.

I also don't know what you mean about backround music. Android plays nearly every music program fine in the background. TuneIn, kConRadio, DoubleTwist, Winamp.. I can be listening to TuneIn while playing Simpsons Tapped Out and hear them both, or just whichever one I want to hear at whatever level is best. This wasn't even possible in windows until Windows 7 released.

Something an iphone can't do is watch a YouTube Video while reading a webpage. Android does that no problem with SuperVideo app. can resize the video while playing and move it around the screen with ease. Actually youtube is a bad example, supervideo no longer support it as the youtube app has to play all youtube content... But how about streaming an MKV file from your local network share/PC? Oh right.. it needs to be iFormat first, then iTuned over, unless you jailbroke and use XBMC, which can't run windowed.. Its stupid stuff like this which makes me not enjoy the iLife. The hardware is more than powerful enough to do it, and developers have more than likley submitted code to do so which got rejected.

I used Tasker a lot on Android, but on iOS I just leave everything on (push mail, push notifications, bluetooth, wifi, etc) and battery life is still amazing, so no need to turn them all on/off all the time.

lol, the "troll" word again.

I have BOTH devices in front of me. On each of them tried video test (on separate occasions too) with Skype, Google hangouts, Yahoo, and of course Facetime on the iPhone with another person using Ipod touch.. With each single test of each phone with EACH program, (obviously not facetime with the Galaxy) facetime is VERY much better, not just a bit better but DRASTICALLY better with VIDEO and SOUND.

This would not be the end all be all deciding factor. Just one of the many for me.

the stock messaging app on IOS works perfect for me. I don't recall in your previous posts, have you owned a iPhone?

I do, and the stock messaging app on iOS is ****. Why can I only see timestamps of messages once every 15 minutes? Is there a single good reason for this?

And I swear to the Great Space Butterfly, if you say "why do you need to see timestamps"...

I do, and the stock messaging app on iOS is ****. Why can I only see timestamps of messages once every 15 minutes? Is there a single good reason for this?

And I swear to the Great Space Butterfly, if you say "why do you need to see timestamps"...

odd, never noticed that before... never noticed before since the the time does show up in my notification menu but not in the app screen. I guess its considered "conversation" time stamp?

It is up to the individual app to put a widget in the notification bar. iOS automatically allows you to control apps from the multitasking bar; the app doesn't have to implement anything. Background music is an OS-wide feature on iOS.

I used Tasker a lot on Android, but on iOS I just leave everything on (push mail, push notifications, bluetooth, wifi, etc) and battery life is still amazing, so no need to turn them all on/off all the time.

Isn't the music app the only app in iOS that lets you control an app from the multitasking bar?

The stock music app in Galaxy S III / Note / Note II also have the same type of controls in the notification bar as PowerAMP (that is in my picture over) have. I can also adjust the brightness, see my available RAM / internal memory, external memory and so on. Plus i can turn off my Wi-Fi when i don't use it (because of security reasons), turn off my 3G when i don't use it so it wont use data hidden in the background, turn off Bluetooth, turn off GPS, turn off auto-rotate of the screen, turn it silent and turn off the multiview functionality. All of those things is something i can do by one click in the notification bar.

You can also add tons more functions that you can control from the notification bar witch you will never be able to control from the notification bar / multitasking bar in iOS.

So just because you can control the music app that is one of very few app that you can control from the multitasking bar in iOS and make location based reminders, it doesn't means iOS can do alot of things.

Infact, iOS can do extremely few things.

Isn't the music app the only app in iOS that lets you control an app from the multitasking bar?

The stock music app in Galaxy S III / Note / Note II also have the same type of controls in the notification bar as PowerAMP (that is in my picture over) have. I can also adjust the brightness, see my available RAM / internal memory, external memory and so on. Plus i can turn off my Wi-Fi when i don't use it (because of security reasons), turn off my 3G when i don't use it so it wont use data hidden in the background, turn off Bluetooth, turn off GPS, turn off auto-rotate of the screen, turn it silent and turn off the multiview functionality. All of those things is something i can do by one click in the notification bar.

You can also add tons more functions that you can control from the notification bar witch you will never be able to control from the notification bar / multitasking bar in iOS.

So just because you can control the music app that is one of very few app that you can control from the multitasking bar in iOS and make location based reminders, it doesn't means iOS can do alot of things.

Infact, iOS can do extremely few things.

Nope you can control any music app from the multitasking bar. Music, spotify, iplayer radio, pandora, etc.

I'm not getting into an argument over which has more features. I readily admit that Android does. I'm just trying to point out that each OS has their exclusive features and therefore the individual must decide which one has the features/experience they need.

There is not one OS that will suit everybody.

It doesn't matter that iOS can do few things as long as it does what the user wants it to do. This is what you don't understand and keep trying to force your views onto everyone like a spoilt child.

"simply because the back button are placed all over the places with makes it irritating for alot of users. On stock Android on a Nexus 4 for example, then the back button are placed at one permanent place. Yeah you know what i'm talking about here."

Huh ? Back button? what back button, only button I see is the return to home screen button (home button) bottom middle of phone case. If you mean browser back buttons, they never move either ? so I don't know what you are talking about, and maybe no one else as well ?

Cheers

It doesn't matter that iOS can do few things as long as it does what the user wants it to do. This is what you don't understand and keep trying to force your views onto everyone like a spoilt child.

Do you know what kind of features you will be using in 6-12 months?

What happens if you want to use live wallpapers or change themes 10 months after you bought the iPhone and you can't, because it's to limited?

It's better to buy a phone that have as many features as possible enabled incase you want to use more things later one time.

A Nexus 4 is a very good phone that does everything damn good. You wont miss anything with a Nexus 4 over an iPhone 5.

And to be like Apple. Then there is always an app for that. So the thing about location based reminders, there is always an app for that in Android.

If Apple use that term, then we can use the same thing against them for sure.

As long as there is an app for that, it shouldn't make the OS any worser right?

"simply because the back button are placed all over the places with makes it irritating for alot of users. On stock Android on a Nexus 4 for example, then the back button are placed at one permanent place. Yeah you know what i'm talking about here."

Huh ? Back button? what back button, only button I see is the return to home screen button (home button) bottom middle of phone case. If you mean browser back buttons, they never move either ? so I don't know what you are talking about, and maybe no one else as well ?

Cheers

Not sure if you are blind or what, but take a look at this.

357303d1354648639-post-you-nexus-4-home-screen-here-screenshot_2012-12-04-19-14-53.jpg

Look at the button at the bottom left side. That's the back button my friend. It's permanently there in every apps.

That makes it easier for the user to know that the back button is only at one place.

Do you know what kind of features you will be using in 6-12 months?

What happens if you want to use live wallpapers or change themes 10 months after you bought the iPhone and you can't, because it's to limited?

It's better to buy a phone that have as many features as possible enabled incase you want to use more things later one time.

A Nexus 4 is a very good phone that does everything damn good. You wont miss anything with a Nexus 4 over an iPhone 5.

And to be like Apple. Then there is always an app for that. So the thing about location based reminders, there is always an app for that in Android.

If Apple use that term, then we can use the same thing against them for sure.

As long as there is an app for that, it shouldn't make the OS any worser right?

Not sure if you are blind or what, but take a look at this.

357303d1354648639-post-you-nexus-4-home-screen-here-screenshot_2012-12-04-19-14-53.jpg

Look at the button at the bottom left side. That's the back button my friend. It's permanently there in every apps.

That makes it easier for the user to know that the back button is only at one place.

Well have to agree to disagree. I think it's better to buy something I need now and then get something else in the future if my needs change.

Well have to agree to disagree. I think it's better to buy something I need now and then get something else in the future if my needs change.

Isn't it better to just buy a phone that you can have for many years instead of having to change to a new phone at random times just because you just want to use a simple feature that an OS doesn't have because it way to limited?

Isn't it better to just buy a phone that you can have for many years instead of having to change to a new phone at random times just because you just want to use a simple feature that an OS doesn't have because it way to limited?

+100000

So it's just crazy on how much more stuffs we can do on a Samsung Galaxy Note compared to what we can do on an iPhone. Samsung Galaxy Note makes the iPhone to looks like a bath toy in that comparsion.

Care to list some, I recently sold my Galaxy Note and I've owned and used 4 and 4S.

Isn't it better to just buy a phone that you can have for many years instead of having to change to a new phone at random times just because you just want to use a simple feature that an OS doesn't have because it way to limited?

Sure but I prefer iOS NOW. It's hard to foresee that I might prefer Android again in the future, so obviously I'm going to choose iOS for the time being.

Care to list some, I recently sold my Galaxy Note and I've owned and used 4 and 4S.

I can mention the S-Pen, S Note, Multiview window, Air View, Pop Up Play, Sketching programs like Autodesk SketchBook Pro, Adobe Photoshop, Jotter, IntelliCover, Smart Stay, Smart Dial and S Beam. That's some few of the features the Galaxy Note / Note II have.

Samsung have even given the Galaxy S III and Galaxy Note most of the features the Galaxy Note II have witch means Samsung isn't like Apple where Apple is not giving small features that require nothing to run like Siri on older iPhone models. Even Galaxy S II is getting many of those features to, except for those features who require an S-Pen.

So it has slightly better media support, takes 2 seconds to convert your files to other formats. I am asking for things that his Galaxy Note does that iPhone 5 doesn't other than the S-Pen stylus.

Slightly?

Take a look at the format support on iOS and then you look at the format support on the Galaxy S III and Galaxy Note II. It's like day and night.

The difference is HUUUUUUGE.

EDIT: Really, so you mean that the average users are smart enough to have the idea on how to convert every single videos he want to have over to the iPhone, and at the same time, most iOS users says no one needs the features Android have because they don't understand what those features is lol.

Sure but I prefer iOS NOW. It's hard to foresee that I might prefer Android again in the future, so obviously I'm going to choose iOS for the time being.

At this moment, the only way I would switch to Android user if they integrated Jarvis. Its comical the Cult of Android users always claim IOS has kinda of come to stand still. Well, what else can a phone do? At least Siri is an attempt to push a phone AI in the direction to get to Jarvis-like capabilities. Also, Android had "developmental momentum" but now that Android is caught up, you will see the same stagnation they claim is only IOS. Android (just like IOS) will only see minor improvements They also don't see that Android has improved so much BECAUSE there was so much room for improvement. Now Androids all about "the cores" and speed and power... which is good but at the level of phone developmental right now, is 8 cores and 4 gigs of ram EXTREME overkill?

At this moment, the only way I would switch to Android user if they integrated Jarvis. Its comical the Cult of Android users always claim IOS has kinda of come to stand still. Well, what else can a phone do? At least Siri is an attempt to push a phone AI in the direction to get to Jarvis-like capabilities. Also, Android had "developmental momentum" but now that Android is caught up, you will see the same stagnation they claim is only IOS. Android (just like IOS) will only see minor improvements They also don't see that Android has improved so much BECAUSE there was so much room for improvement. Now Androids all about "the cores" and speed and power... which is good but at the level of phone developmental right now, is 8 cores and 4 gigs of ram EXTREME overkill?

Clearly you don't know what a "Smart" phone is supposed to be able to do today.

If you see this, you will clearly see why CPU-cores, GPU power, RAM and so on matters alot.

Considering that the smartphones and tablets are taking over for computers, then yeah, you get the point.

Clearly you don't know what a "Smart" phone is supposed to be able to do today.

If you see this, you will clearly see why CPU-cores, GPU power, RAM and so on matters alot.

Considering that the smartphones and tablets are taking over for computers, then yeah, you get the point.

Even Android is pretty rubbish at getting any serious work done though. Still need a desktop or laptop (or maybe a surface) to do that!

Clearly you don't know what a "Smart" phone is supposed to be able to do today.

If you see this, you will clearly see why CPU-cores, GPU power, RAM and so on matters alot.

I am typically one to go on forever discussing pros/cons. But honestly you are just one of those guys who treat products like a religion. I hope you are of young age, so that you have an excuse to be the way you are. Good luck to all in this thread.
This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Posts

    • AltSendme 0.4.1 by Razvan Serea AltSendme is a minimal, cross-platform application designed for fast, secure, and private peer-to-peer file transfers. It allows users to send files or entire directories directly between devices without relying on cloud servers, accounts, or any personal information. Everything is encrypted end-to-end using modern protocols like QUIC and TLS 1.3, ensuring both strong security and low-latency performance. Transfers are verified with BLAKE3 for data integrity, and interrupted downloads automatically resume, making the experience reliable even on unstable connections. You can transfer anything—images, videos, documents, and more. Integrity checks are performed on both ends, so your files are automatically verified for correctness during both sending and receiving. AltSendme works seamlessly across local networks or long-distance links, capable of saturating multi-gigabit connections for extremely fast delivery. With built-in NAT traversal and encrypted relay fallback, it connects devices almost anywhere. The app integrates with the Sendme CLI and will soon support mobile and web platforms. Fully free and open-source, AltSendme offers a lightweight, privacy-first alternative to traditional cloud-based services, removing size limits, upload costs, and unnecessary data exposure. AltSendme 0.4.1 changelog: Release Highlights Self-hosted relays: Run your own iroh relay so transfers don't rely on public infrastructure. Includes a full deployment template in deploy/relay/ with Docker Compose for a VPS and configuration examples for production use. Fly.io support: One-click deploy template for Fly.io, including a quick-start config (fly.dev.toml) for testing without a custom domain, plus production setup with Let's Encrypt and your own hostname. Relay settings UI: New Settings → Network panel to choose how AltSendme connects: automatic public relays, custom self-hosted URLs (with optional auth token), or disabled. Test connections, verify latency, and see live relay status in the footer. Disable relays: Turn off relay servers entirely when you only need same-network transfers (e.g. LAN). Direct connections only. No relay hop required when devices can reach each other. Android graduates from beta: Android is now part of the regular release cycle alongside desktop. APKs ship with each version (universal, arm64, and armv7). Other improvements Private relay access control via shared auth token Relay fallback notifications when a custom relay is unreachable Broadcast mode toggle in sharing settings Android release build fixes (split-per-ABI APKs, universal APK preservation) UI polish: mobile safe-area insets, dropzone layout, transfer progress animation Bug fixes for minification-related serialization issues and system tray icon loading What's Changed feat(relay): add relay status functionality and settings UI (a120cdf) feat(relay): implement custom relay server configuration and verification (51276c7) feat(relay): add configuration for private relay access and enhance observability features (48fbabf) feat(relay): enhance relay URL validation, display connection status (d4fffa0) feat(relay): add RelayChangeGuard component and enhance relay-related translations (16ba514) feat(broadcast): add toggle setting for broadcast mode in sharing UI (ca6d977) fix(relay): correct QUIC discovery port, pin image, templatize fly.dev (52a2ba5) fix: More broken serialization due to minification (67491a9) fix(android): preserve true universal APK across per-ABI builds (e9f256f) fix(ui): conditional safe-area insets padding on mobile (1182f0e) refactor(transfer): CircularRing component animation fix (944572b) chore(android): drop x86 and x86_64 release APKs, keep universal+arm64+armv7 (34ada0b) Download: AltSendme 0.4.1 | ARM64 | ~9.0 MB (Open Source) Download: AltSendme for MacOS | Android Links: AltSendme Home Page | GitHub | Screenshot Get alerted to all of our Software updates on Twitter at @NeowinSoftware
    • You are mostly right about the ephemeral nature of it. As I mention in the article, if you dont add a second device or take a backup of your account before uninstalling it, then yes you will lose access to your account. That said, in terms of actual user experience when you sync multiple devices your message history carries across and there's also a Saved Messages chat like there is on Telegram to send messages and attachments between your installs. But yh, what you point out are correct and its not trying to emulate Messenger or Telegram.
    • OK so SearXNG is a meta search engine that you can install locally or use via a public instance. It scrapes other search engines which you choose and then sorts the results. Not as complicated as multiple relays
    • The only difference here is that you think you came up with these reasons. You didn't. These age old fearmongering lies (that were NEVER true) were funded by and the anger stoked by Putin through proxies like Farage (and later in the USA, Trump) and filtered down through the skinheads, Neonazis, etc. until it reached the uninformed, ignorant, and gullible -- never realizing they were being played for fools against their own best interests. Even now, despite all of the EVIDENCE proving that Brexit was a terrible mistake for ALL citizens of the UK and that its supporters were tricked by Putin's proxies into sabotaging their own nation, you're still here defending these well-known lies as if they were ever true. Not only are they not true. They NEVER were. So, when are you going to realize that you were lied to and actually get angry at the liars and charlatans who lied to you, instead of blaming the innocent people they lied to you about?
    • Dupe of "Microsoft further improving Windows 11 Taskbar with latest builds", published <20 minutes apart
  • Recent Achievements

    • Week One Done
      flexorcist earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • One Month Later
      Woland13 earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • Week One Done
      Woland13 earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • One Year In
      bernmeister earned a badge
      One Year In
    • Week One Done
      Scoobystu earned a badge
      Week One Done
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      495
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      224
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      150
    4. 4
      Steven P.
      75
    5. 5
      FloatingFatMan
      71
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!