At this point, after using the HTC Legend Android 2.1 phone for a few days now, I’m really missing my iPhone.
Largely, it’s about the apps. There are key apps which I use all the time (particularly SimpleNote and Instapaper), which just don’t exist on the Android platform. And, others that do just aren’t of the same quality. For example, I have tried a bunch of Twitter apps and can’t find one that comes close in quality and functionality to the host of iPhone apps out there, which is an embarrassment of riches. The Facebook app just seems clunky and not nearly as polished, and doesn’t have some of the functionality of the iPhone version. This is an issue for me because I tend to only Twitter and Facebook off my phone, seldom off my Macbook Pro, and so these lame solutions really irritate after a while.
And, let’s not even go near media integration, which is woefully complicated, a total contrast to the ease of making things happen with the iPhone.
But, the Android platform seems quite good in some other ways, and (to quote someone else somewhere else on the web) if the iPhone never existed, this would be a very cool platform. But, the problem is that the iPhone does exist. And in terms of a comparison with the iPhone, this just doesn’t cut it in terms of simple, polished excellence. No question, there are one or two features that I like on the Android (like the notifications system and multi-tasking), but those are exceptions.
So, whereas I thought I might enjoy this change-up, I’m now starting to count the days down to when I get my iPhone back from the chop shop. And, as for the iPhone 4… well, that I’m salivating for… Apple have really hit it out of the park with that device, and there is no doubt in my mind that the Android platform is nowhere in the same neighbourhood.
Some of you may be interested to know that I have started a small tech company called TECH 4 SENIORS, focused on providing technology solutions for Seniors, and one of my intentions in purchasing this Android phone was to test it out as a possible alternative device to recommend to Seniors as a smartphone option, but I couldn’t seriously recommend this to Seniors at all because it’s just not a simple phone to use.