Apple's new iOS 5: The Top 10 Features

[Resurrection]

iOS 5: The Top 10 New Features




-------------------

The new iOS 5 is here. It is a "major release", according to Apple. It brings revamped notifications and more than 200 new features for your iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. These are the top ten, and then some more.

Some of these features you already had in your iPhone or iPad. They just came in third-party apps.

If you used apps like the must-have WhatsApp, which allows you to message in an extremely easy way with all kinds of phones for free, you already were enjoying something like iMessage (even while iMessage adds important services, like device-wide conversation synchronization). If you had the awesome Instapaper, you already had some of the features of the new Safari. Or if you had something like Remember the Milk, you already had a great reminders service.

However, there are features that weren't available before; either because they are completely new or because they are system-wide. And there are real jewels too.

Things that may sound silly, like using the volume + button as a shutter in the Camera app. Or more important stuff, like well thought Notifications and the ability to run your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad without having a PC. Your iDevices are now completely autonomous.

All these features put iOS on par again with some of the features that you could already find in Android, Palm or Windows Phone 7. Some of their implementations, surpass those platforms. But even while none of these new features are extraordinary per se, all of them together are quite impressive.

We can't wait for the fall to enjoy the new iOS 5. It looks like it will be a great release, if they keep it bug free and agile in older devices.


1. Notifications



The first big feature is notifications. At last, Apple will get rid of the annoying popups that break your flow. And with "annoying popups" I really meant "stupid dumb boxes that makes me want to smash my f*cking iPhone against the wall when I'm playing a game or chatting with strangers in the night".

They have replaced those with a new app called Notification Center. It's very similar to Mobile Notifier, the iOS notification app—which makes sense, since Apple hired its developer a while back. It not only includes app notification, but mini-widgets that show live information from apps like Weather and apps.

The notifications extend to the lock screen too, so you can see more stuff right away without unlocking your phone. Sliding your finger on it will automatically lead you to the app that generated that notification.

It looks very straightforward and useful.


2. Newsstand



Apple has built a virtual newsstand right onto iOS 5, very similar to the iBooks app but exclusively for magazines and periodicals. It looks like a cross between iBooks and a folder view, actually.


3. Twitter integration everywhere



iOS 5 will have Twitter integration everywhere. Apps like camera will be able to directly post the image to Twitter. The YouTube App, Safari or even Maps will support direct sharing in Twitter. It also adds a new Twitter address field to your Contacts application.


4. A new Safari



Safari has been revamped with new features. Reader will allow you to reformat a site on the fly, taking out ads and reformatting text so it looks better on your iPad or iPhone screen.

This feature flows into Reading List, which is a way to save those pages for later offline viewing, keeping them synchronized between all your iOS devices and Lion. Presumably via iCloud.

Apple's web browser also adds tabs in this version. Your open pages will line up right below your address bar. According to Apple, switching between pages is "lightning fast," so perhaps they have made some magic with the memory management to reduce the reload of pages in older devices.


5. New Reminders app



The new Reminders app makes it easy to make to-do lists. The interface is very simple and it's synchronized between iOS 5 devices and your Mac OS X desktop or notebook.

The really cool thing about Reminders is that it's location aware. Imagine you add that you need to buy milk, but then you forget about it. When you pass by the grocery store, the app will tell you that you need to buy milk.


6. New Camera app and photos



The new Camera up gets two of the most-requested features in the history of iOS. The first is a shortcut in the lock screen to access the camera right away, so you don't have to unlock and then click on the Camera icon, which often makes you lose the moment.

The other one, which is something we have whined about endlessly, is using one of the volume button as the shutter button. Just press + and that's it: CLICK! This is a very welcome addition.

The new app also includes basic photo editing. It includes quick enhance—which basically sharpens your image, making shadows and highlights more detailed, and correct color automagically. It also include red eye reduction and cropping, both welcome additions to those who don't have the Camera Plus already.


7. New Mail app

Mail includes a barrage of enhancements

• Rich Text Formatting, which will allow you to annoy the hell out of everyone bolding every sentence in your mails.
• Indentation control, which allows you to control the level of indentation of your quotes from other messages.
• Draggable email addresses, which allows to drag and drop email addresses into to, cc and bcc fields.
• Message flagging to call your attention over a particular mail later.
• Swipe to Inbox, which makes it very easy to access the list of message in portrait mode on the iPad, instead of clicking on a button for a weird pop-up dialog.

8. No PC required

'

At long last, the most important feature of them all: You will not need iTunes and PC anymore to use your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad. Apple has caught up with Android and Windows Phone 7. The new iOS 5 will allow you to set up your new device easily: Turn your new gadget on and a Welcome screen will appear. All software updates will happen over the air.

All the applications will now be completely autonomous. You will not have to go to iCal or some other desktop app to create a calendar, for example. There is no need for a desktop or laptop anymore, for anything.


9. New Game Center

The have enhanced Game Center too. Unfortunately, they have not renewed its awful casino interface, which looks as dated as always. But they have added much needed concepts from Xbox Live and other gaming systems:

• Achievement points.
• Access friends of friends, so you can compare and play with a wider range of people.
• Photos in your profile, so you can flirt with other nerds pretending to be women online.
• Game discovery, to play with whoever wants to play with you at any given time.
• Game downloads within Game Center.
• Support for turn-based games like Words for Friends and Scrabble.

10. iMessage



Another new useful feature, which will hurt Blackberry and the telecommunications companies wanting to sell you stupid SMS and MMS contracts: Apple has implemented a new messaging system called iMessage.

It works between all iOS 5 devices, allowing you to leave conversations on your iPhone and continue them in your iPad (again, I will not be surprised to see this integrated into Lion at a later date). It comes with delivery notification as well. However, unlike WhatsApp, it doesn't work with other non-iOS devices. Maybe Apple thinks your Android and Blackberry friends are not worth talking to for free.
All the others

• Dictionary everywhere: This is something that many people have asked for because they like it in the iBooks app. Now, every application will have Dictionary built-in.
• iTunes synchronization over Wi-Fi
• Advanced gestures: It will allow you to pass from app to app on the iPad by using a simple swipe gesture, without having to use the home button. This was a feature has been in testing for a long time and, trust me, once you try it you will not be able to live without it.

When is it happening?

If you are a developer, it's happening right now. The developer preview is available. The rest of the world will have to wait till this fall.

-----------------

If you are on android (like me) you'll realise that pretty much all of this has been done with the Android OS.So Apple are losing this battle it seems...

Howevere when Apple iOS and Google Android fight it out, innovation prospers and we all win. Well except RIM. Blackberry is just a sinking ship now...

[Imacheater]

This is a huge update for iDevices and I think they're doing their best to please their "normal" users. With tech geeks, most of these features are available as jailbreak tweak
Notification, Reminders, Wireless sync, iMessage

[Sazzy]

If you are on android (like me) you'll realise that pretty much all of this has been done with the Android OS.So Apple are losing this battle it seems...

Being the fastest doesn't necessarily mean you're also the best. Not trying to start a flame war though, I just believe that iOS, Android and WP are completely different flavors of the same thing.

I wouldn't exactly say Apple is losing a battle either. Last time I checked, the iPhone still had a 59% market share (android vs iphone). We should probably also keep in mind that it's been quite a while since a new iPhone has been released. I personally believe the new iPhone will be here somewhere during Fall, along with the release of iOS 5. This will generate another boom of iPhone sales. I also believe a lot of low end androids are being sold to those people that care for a (first?) smart phone but don't want to pay a lot to have one (eg HTC Wildfire) and would never buy an expensive device like the iPhone or medium/high end Android device. While this contributes to Android's market share, these people would probably not buy a smartphone if it wasn't for the budget phones. (And might I add that these budget androids, in my eyes, don't seem to work quite as well. eg low screen resolution screwing up a lot of apps on the first htc wildfire, low cpu power on other devices make android feel sluggish, etc.)

I also think that a lot of people were reluctant to get an iPhone just because of iTunes. I certainly know my share of people that bought a htc desire hd because of iTunes. Getting rid of the need for iTunes in iOS 5 is a great move!

Personally, I like iOS a lot better than Android (believe me, I doubted a long time about this) and have therefore decided last weekend to finally pick up a cheap second hand iPhone (my first smart phone) while I wait for the iPhone 5 to be released :) .

[Resurrection]

I wouldn't exactly say Apple is losing a battle either. Last time I checked, the iPhone still had a 59% market share (android vs iphone).

I don't know where you get your stats from but almost every infographic I've searched in the past few minutes tells me Android controls more than one third of the world's smartphone market.



Android in numbers: Gingerbread usage and market share on the rise

I also believe a lot of low end androids are being sold to those people that care for a (first?) smart phone but don't want to pay a lot to have one (eg HTC Wildfire) and would never buy an expensive device like the iPhone or medium/high end Android device. While this contributes to Android's market share, these people would probably not buy a smartphone if it wasn't for the budget phones.

And that is a bad thing?
Any person who walks into a store and sees all the different android devices says, I have a lot to choose from.
Someone looking for apple says , I dont have a choice if I want iOS

(And might I add that these budget androids, in my eyes, don't seem to work quite as well. eg low screen resolution screwing up a lot of apps on the first htc wildfire, low cpu power on other devices make android feel sluggish, etc.)

Like PCs with different configurations,you'll get android phones with different configurations.If you want a faster device,you have to pay for it.
I say when you buy medium-range phones you know exactly what you're getting and can't complain about low screen/low power or something like that.In any case ,if you aren't happy with the stock rom,you can always flash a custom rom which the homebrew community is famous for.They have custom ROMs for almost every phone now.And that I think is one of the greatest advantages of Android.Since its open source,its one of the most customizable OSs out there.
It certainly improves the performance of the phone.

Personally, I like iOS a lot better than Android (believe me, I doubted a long time about this) and have therefore decided last weekend to finally pick up a cheap second hand iPhone (my first smart phone) while I wait for the iPhone 5 to be released :) .

Personally I own a Samsung Galaxy S. I had a SE X10 mini pro before(so called medium-range Android phone).I knew that I couldn't install high-end games or apps on that phone so I didn't try.
On my new phone,which is rooted and flashed with Darky's custom rom,the interface is so much more smoother.No lag/freeze of any sort... I know for a fact that although jailbreaking an iPhone can allow you to install apps/themes whatever,it certainly DOES NOT improve the performance.Actually some of apps are even known to slow your phone and drain your battery down.

You might also know that the top 5 phones in the market today are all Android based.So I guess that does indicate something.

And finally I end it all with one word : FLASH


Thank you.

[Sazzy]

I don't know where you get your stats from but almost every infographic I've searched in the past few minutes tells me Android controls more than one third of the world's smartphone market.

i was talking apple vs android, not counting any others. Apparently things have changed the last few months, probably because of the iphone 5 not being released now. Even though they're still not apart that far.

And that is a bad thing?
Any person who walks into a store and sees all the different android devices says, I have a lot to choose from.
Someone looking for apple says , I dont have a choice if I want iOS


Like PCs with different configurations,you'll get android phones with different configurations.If you want a faster device,you have to pay for it.
I say when you buy medium-range phones you know exactly what you're getting and can't complain about low screen/low power or something like that.In any case ,if you aren't happy with the stock rom,you can always flash a custom rom which the homebrew community is famous for.They have custom ROMs for almost every phone now.And that I think is one of the greatest advantages of Android.Since its open source,its one of the most customizable OSs out there.
It certainly improves the performance of the phone.

Yes and no. It is a bad thing if the device is too slow the handle the firmware. manufacturers have screwed up on some devices and they are very slow in response and dragging on the screen for instance moves in shocks rather than smooth.

At this point it becomes a very bad thing, as the low end computer you're comparing it to will often come with some lightweight os rather than a bulky one. in case of some of the android phones i've seen, this is not the case.

Also, most users do not have the knowhow to flash a phone. Most users don't even know that you can. a stock os should work just fine, if you buy a device that you have to flash just to make it workable, there's something wrong. This isn't android's fault, it's the guys that build these phones.

While I won't deny that open source is a good thing, I also feel like it's android's weakness. fragmentation problems are already a known fact and google is (afaik) stepping up to do something against this problem. (resulting in a less open source os, in the end). While customizing can be a good thing, some manufacturers have been known to even replace the app store in android with their own personal app store (was it samsung? can't remember). That is a pretty big and unwanted change, if you ask me.

I would also like to add that, since most people aren't tech-savvy, a lot of the buyers will not know what they are buying. Yes, we will know that a device with a low resolution will have some problems with some apps, but the casual user will probably not know this and end up being dissatisfied. I really believe that Google should put up some minimum requirements so that all of these things can't happen. (and thus make stuff a bit more closed, but not entirely of course). On the other hand, I do believe that apple should loosen up a bit and allow more stuff (even though some are just to protect the dumb average user from themselves)

Conclusion: sure people can have cheap smartphones, but content (other than games/heavy fancy apps) shouldn't suffer because of it. And in case of smartphones, content is what it is all about imho. The example with the wildfire I was giving, is because it couldn't run some apps just because it's resolution was too small. Meaning the cpu was strong enough, had enough ram, had plenty of everything, just the screen... You could argue that this is because of bad programming, but then maybe the app store should have a bit more of control what is allowed and what not. Rules don't have to be a bad thing.

Personally I own a Samsung Galaxy S. I had a SE X10 mini pro before(so called medium-range Android phone).I knew that I couldn't install high-end games or apps on that phone so I didn't try.
On my new phone,which is rooted and flashed with Darky's custom rom,the interface is so much more smoother.No lag/freeze of any sort... I know for a fact that although jailbreaking an iPhone can allow you to install apps/themes whatever,it certainly DOES NOT improve the performance.Actually some of apps are even known to slow your phone and drain your battery down.

Shouldn't it just look good, be simple and work well right out of the box? It kind of seems like you are well pleased with android, but really required for it to be completely customized (again, something the average user can't/won't do). I am plenty happy with all of these points when it comes to the iphone, though. It only crossed my mind once to jailbreak the iphone and that was to install some app to allow you to close down all of your processes at once. So far, I haven't jailbreaked it and I don't think I will either.

You might also know that the top 5 phones in the market today are all Android based.So I guess that does indicate something.

1. HTC Desire
2. HTC Desire HD
3. HTC Wildfire
4. Blackberry Curve 8520
5. Samsung Galaxy S
6. Apple iPhone 4 (16GB)

Since there is only one iPhone, i would suspect that at least 4 out of 5 phones in the top 5 will be androids If I'm looking at the same list as you are, the wildfire is one of those 5. If Apple had a budget phone, perhaps a lot of these people would have a budget iphone since a normal one is probably out of their budget. So it doesn't really count for that one. there's also a blackberry in there, the business phone, which is a device very often given by a company to their employees for them to use. I wouldn't doubt that this is a big reason for it to be in there. That samsung is also probably the biggest iphone rip off i've currently seen so much so that there's even a lawsuit against samsung because of it. for someone out shopping for their first smartphone, i almost dare to say it would be hard for them to keep these two apart. I would also like to note that all of these (other than the desire) are a lot newer than the iphone (perhaps a lot of people reluctant to get an "old" device?)

Anyway, like I said, Apple is behind with the release of its iPhone and I dare to bet they're losing customers because of this. A lot of people's cell phone subscriptions (that have an iphone) are ending around this time and they don't want to wait for the new iphone to be released, or something.
I would like to make this comparison again in a few months, though, when the iPhone 5 is released. People always camp out in front of the stores to get the new iphones, something i haven't heard of yet for any android device


One of the biggest reasons I went with the iPhone in the end, btw, is because they don't have waiting times for their updates etc. HTC took half a year to release an update for the desire hd which was their high end device. took even longer (not sure if it's out yet even) for the desire. I almost bought the galaxy sII myself, if it wasn't for samsung being notorious on being one of the worst companies when it comes to updates. The second big reason is mostly because i just like the feel of ios better. I find android very confusing
Though I guess the biggest reason of all for my choice is that it's pretty damn annoying the apps that come out on several platforms (for some site or whatever) always come out on iphone first and sometimes take several months to appear on android, if they appear at all.

And finally I end it all with one word : FLASH

Something that is quickly becoming a thing of the past Youtube, for example, works perfectly on the iPhone/iPad. Not only through the app for youtube, which makes it easier/more fun to use on a mobile device than the actual site, but also if you visit the actual site, because they've already started implementing html5. I am positive most sites will follow. Also, other than youtube, I can't think of a single site that revolves around flash I visit regularly. And if you really really need it, jailbreaking will get it for you.

[Resurrection]

I realise this could go back and forth if we let it,so here are a final few comments before I move on...


-------------

I've read through this post of yours and I see you making a lot of claims that just don't make sense to me.Next time I'd appreciate sources.

i was talking apple vs android, not counting any others. Apparently things have changed the last few months, probably because of the iphone 5 not being released now. Even though they're still not apart that far.

Apple is a manufacturer.Android is an OS. Fair comparison?

In any case read this - Android Could Capture Half of Smartphone Market in 2011

Yes and no. It is a bad thing if the device is too slow the handle the firmware. manufacturers have screwed up on some devices and they are very slow in response and dragging on the screen for instance moves in shocks rather than smooth.

At this point it becomes a very bad thing, as the low end computer you're comparing it to will often come with some lightweight OS rather than a bulky one. in case of some of the android phones I've seen, this is not the case.

Which manufacturers have screwed up on their devices?Which phones are "slow in response and dragging on the screen for instance moves in shocks rather than smooth." I'd appreciate real links here.Not personal experiences.

You have to realise that there are different Android OS versions for different phones.Earlier versions of Android ARE lightweight.The newer versions have better animation,better UI and are therefore only available for the higher end models( or those phones that have the capacity to run these heavyweight OSs)

Also, most users do not have the knowhow to flash a phone. Most users don't even know that you can.a stock os should work just fine,

A stock OS DOES work fine.

if you buy a device that you have to flash just to make it workable, there's something wrong. This isn't android's fault, it's the guys that build these phones.

Whuh?
Who said anything about HAVING to flash a phone to make things workable?????A phone must have to be really really bad for that to happen.So much so that you shouldn't even buy that phone.

While I won't deny that open source is a good thing, I also feel like it's android's weakness. fragmentation problems are already a known fact and google is (afaik) stepping up to do something against this problem. (resulting in a less open source os, in the end).

Haha. Fragmentation is really another word for choice.

But first of all ,Android is not the open source project in the same way that Linux or Firefox are.Secondly Its a community-driven project.Everything they make is made available to the public.Google isn't planning to make a "less open source OS".You will however now require their approval if you want to build stable APIs on their platform.And that's fine and very understandable.Google needs to have a tight grip on Android’s development. If it didn’t, everyone would start launching different APIs thus truly "fragmenting the OS".Google has to regulate a few hundred devices to make them compatible with each other.Android is free and you can't fault them for taking that stand by trying to regulate and control the process.

While customizing can be a good thing, some manufacturers have been known to even replace the app store in android with their own personal app store (was it samsung? can't remember). That is a pretty big and unwanted change, if you ask me.

You can't remember because it hasn't happened.

I would also like to add that, since most people aren't tech-savvy, a lot of the buyers will not know what they are buying. Yes, we will know that a device with a low resolution will have some problems with some apps, but the casual user will probably not know this and end up being dissatisfied.

That's not their problem and an irrelevant statement in this context.

Conclusion: sure people can have cheap smartphones, but content (other than games/heavy fancy apps) shouldn't suffer because of it. And in case of smartphones, content is what it is all about imho. The example with the wildfire I was giving, is because it couldn't run some apps just because it's resolution was too small. Meaning the cpu was strong enough, had enough ram, had plenty of everything, just the screen... You could argue that this is because of bad programming, but then maybe the app store should have a bit more of control what is allowed and what not. Rules don't have to be a bad thing.

NO I wouldn't argue that this is because of bad programming coz then I'd look silly.When you buy a phone or any device ,you buy it knowing its configuration and capabilities.If you can't run high-end apps on your low-end devices you accept it and move on.You made that choice of buying that phone and now you live with it.
Why do you want the user to remain unaccountable for the choices he has made by declaring that "there should have been rules"?

Shouldn't it just look good, be simple and work well right out of the box? It kind of seems like you are well pleased with android, but really required for it to be completely customized (again, something the average user can't/won't do). I am plenty happy with all of these points when it comes to the iphone, though. It only crossed my mind once to jailbreak the iphone and that was to install some app to allow you to close down all of your processes at once. So far, I haven't jailbreaked it and I don't think I will either.

"Really required for it to be completely customized?"

?????
Where did you come up with that? The OS was amazing as it was.I just chose to use another one. Its like some people want Windows on their PC,some want Linux.Where's the problem in that?Please don't mangle my words to conclude something that I didn't imply.

1. HTC Desire
2. HTC Desire HD
3. HTC Wildfire
4. Blackberry Curve 8520
5. Samsung Galaxy S
6. Apple iPhone 4 (16GB)

Since there is only one iPhone, i would suspect that at least 4 out of 5 phones in the top 5 will be androids If I'm looking at the same list as you are, the wildfire is one of those 5. If Apple had a budget phone, perhaps a lot of these people would have a budget iphone since a normal one is probably out of their budget. So it doesn't really count for that one. there's also a blackberry in there, the business phone, which is a device very often given by a company to their employees for them to use. I wouldn't doubt that this is a big reason for it to be in there. That samsung is also probably the biggest iphone rip off i've currently seen so much so that there's even a lawsuit against samsung because of it. for someone out shopping for their first smartphone, i almost dare to say it would be hard for them to keep these two apart. I would also like to note that all of these (other than the desire) are a lot newer than the iphone (perhaps a lot of people reluctant to get an "old" device?)

We can go through a million lists and all of them would have different results so I guess I don't much to say here.
But dude,Blackberry curve? which year's list are you perusing through? I was thinking about Samsung Galaxy S2,HTC Thunderbolt,Xperia Play and Droid X2 and so on.

BTW iPhone 4 was released April 28 2010.Wildfire in May 2010.Galaxy S in June 2010. Curve was released in 2009

Yeah

Anyway, like I said, Apple is behind with the release of its iPhone and I dare to bet they're losing customers because of this. A lot of people's cell phone subscriptions (that have an iphone) are ending around this time and they don't want to wait for the new iphone to be released, or something.
I would like to make this comparison again in a few months, though, when the iPhone 5 is released. People always camp out in front of the stores to get the new iphones, something i haven't heard of yet for any android device

Oh good point. Score !!!

One of the biggest reasons I went with the iPhone in the end, btw, is because they don't have waiting times for their updates etc. HTC took half a year to release an update for the desire hd which was their high end device. took even longer (not sure if it's out yet even) for the desire. I almost bought the galaxy sII myself, if it wasn't for samsung being notorious on being one of the worst companies when it comes to updates. The second big reason is mostly because i just like the feel of ios better. I find android very confusing

Again you're going off on a tangent that's irrelevant to the topic at hand.We aren't comparing manufacturers to iOS.We are discussing Android vs iOS.
Inspite of that let me clear a few things up.

First of all I don't like it when people spread wrong information.

Desire HD did not take half a hear to update their software.The phone released in October,recieved its first update in December.They released a Gingerbread update in May.
Samsung Galaxy S released in June with Eclair,got updated to Froyo in November and now Gingerbread in May.

Is that update enough for you?

You also don't seem to realise that unlike iPhone,each of these manufacturers have multiple hardware devices with different configurations.iPhone has just one device with one hardware configuration.
Now what works on Desire Z (physical keyboard) might not work as well on Desire HD (pure touchscreen).One would guess maintenance,updates,innovation for these multiple devices would take up a lot of resources.
I,and certainly lot others, know this and are thus willing to be patient.

Though I guess the biggest reason of all for my choice is that it's pretty damn annoying the apps that come out on several platforms (for some site or whatever) always come out on iphone first and sometimes take several months to appear on android, if they appear at all.

A simple copy paste from Wikipedia

Comparisons to Apple App Store

A report from analytics company Distimo in July 2010 said that the Android Market features the highest percentage of free apps, with over 57% being free to download, double the amount of Apple Inc.'s App Store, in which only 28% of apps are free. Other competitors, such as Nokia's Ovi Store and Blackberry's App World had 26%, with Windows Marketplace only having 22%.[12]

As of May 1, 2011 the Android Market had 294,738 apps and the Apple App Store had 381,062, but in April 2011 Android had 28,000 new apps, whereas Apple had 11,000 new apps. Distimo forecasted that the number of Android apps would surpass Apple apps before the end of July 2011, whereas Germany-based research2guidance forecasted Android apps to surpass Apple apps in August 2011 at 425,000 apps.[10]

Something that is quickly becoming a thing of the past Youtube, for example, works perfectly on the iPhone/iPad. Not only through the app for youtube, which makes it easier/more fun to use on a mobile device than the actual site, but also if you visit the actual site, because they've already started implementing html5. I am positive most sites will follow. Also, other than youtube, I can't think of a single site that revolves around flash I visit regularly. And if you really really need it, jailbreaking will get it for you.

HTML5 will take atleast 10 more years to become standard.
BTW almost all "good" websites use flash for better GUI.Facebook ,websites that host flash games come to mind.

Anyway flash is not a dealbreaker or anything.I know I can live without it also.Other than the flash ads, and flash cookies I wouldn't mind it as well.I can live either way.

Chrome already has a browser for Android.
Firefox is releasing a Mobile Browser called Fennec.That could be huge knowing all the extensions I use and the customization I do...

Good times for android !!!!
Can't say the same for iOS browser can I?

[Sazzy]

Small note: I always talked about my personal impression. I think (or at least hope) we're both adult enough to know there is no right choice, there are only different choices, a flavour for every person, cause we are all different. Because of this, I will not even try to look for links, but having held the devices I mentioned, I'm pretty confident I'm allowed to at least say what I thought about them. I personally believe that own experience beats some random internet link each and every time. I have mentioned all the devices I was talking about in my previous posts... so no need to keep asking me which, as I have mentioned them before.

Also, on the stuff you're calling me a liar on, I have held the devices in my hand and actually seen it. I've also read about it on several sites, so I'd appreciate it if you didn't do that.
I could also say that a lot of things you are saying don't make sense to me at all, either, so I'm guessing you're putting in quite a few of your personal impressions rather than facts yourself.

I also have the feeling that you don't understand what I am saying, or don't want to. Or I'm the one that don't understand what you are trying to say. Either way, the discussion was fun and possibly informative for other users (multiple views are a good thing) but will end here as it is becoming a bit pointless.

PS: Didn't even realise facebook had flash. Have yet to see flash used on facebook or any decent site I've been visiting lately. I also haven't played flash games since I grew up Since my format, I have yet to install flash (to due laziness) and haven't missed it just yet. If it still was that commonly used as it was 10 years ago, I would've had to install it a few months ago.

[shadowmind]

Werde immer bei ios 4 bleiben ! :-)

[fuzzy]

Going back and forth with iOS vs Android. Quit it already!
Have you seen how the HTC vs Apple trail is going? I really hope that they only end up paying royalties, cause an interdiction is going to shake the smartphone world.

Back to you two bickering around.
I've tried to read all of your impressions and I have to say this is Apple Products vs PCs all over again. Apple users should understand that they are not the center of the world. And the rest of the world should understand that Apple does quite a good job on their devices. And apple should no sell innovation cause they currently aren't doing any. I've seen Bada bringing some better user experience out of the box than iOS, but no, Apple is still playing tricks, cause they were the first to patent innovation.
Developers should be taught to submit patents so we won't have this stormy sh*t that's going on in the world of lawsuits involving smartphones,again.
I've looked over some iOS patents and I have to say it's ridiculous. If they really were smart and evil they Apple could become a smartphone monopoly in the US, by banning almost every other product.

[fuzzy]

Don't know why I can't edit my post but:
LE: This is a nice twist of events!
DailyTech - Judge Finds Apple in Violation of HTC's Newly Acquired Patents

[Sazzy]

well, i feel a bit foolish atm but after our lovely debate, it seems like Apple keeps screwing up on things... Bad enough even that I don't think I will get an iPhone 5. I hope ice cream sandwich will be nice. If not, a windows phone it will be at the end of this year


As a sidenote, above posts seem like quite the anti-apple fanboy calling others apple fanboys. You shouldn't think in such stereotypes yourself, tbh. Esp since the iPhone is the only apple device I own. I believe most of apple's things are just overpriced but the iPhone, up till now, was in my eyes just better than all the rest. Up till now, as they're screwing it up.

[shawshankraj]

same here waiting for window phone 7 from nokia..And BTW debate between ios and android is endless,and yes you are right about one thing samsung ripping off ihone UI and Phone design...