My Visit to the Other Side

I've been using an iPhone since July of 2007, about two weeks after its release. I've since owned every model. My iPhone 5 is as near perfect as a smartphone can be. My retina iPad has become my go-to machine for e-mail, web surfing and writing. Almost every post for the last couple of years was written on my iPad in a Zagg Folio keyboard case. The reason? It is always with me. In the office, at the coffee shop, on my living room sofa or in bed, my iPad is generally within arm's reach and with its ten-hour battery life, almost always juiced and ready.
Call me jaded, but my iOS devices have become a matter-of-fact part of my life. Like the TV remote, I don't know how I ever got along without them. When I think back to ancient times (2006) and remember how fascinated I was the first time I got a weather map on my Verizon feature phone, its as if I'm viewing another person's life. Now I just ask Siri, "Will it rain tomorrow?" and my iPhone tells me. I don't even have to take it out of my pocket. Did we really pay our cell carriers $3.95 per month for a weather app? Seems hard to believe.
As enamored as I am with iOS and the beautiful Apple hardware it runs on, I'm only human. Some would say I'm a tech junkie. I like to think I simply possess a healthy curiosity about almost anything with a LED, LCD or both. I spend at least an hour every day reading technology news and scanning my Twitter feed. So, not surprisingly, I've read a lot about Android over the past couple of years. In fact, I've paid special attention to the "Phone Wars" that have blossomed since Apple and Samsung have been slugging it out in courtrooms around the world. Loyal iPhone user that I am not withstanding, I couldn't help but feel I wasn't seeing both sides of the argument and my tech curiosity got the better of me. I bought a Nexus 7 tablet. I just wanted to know for myself what all the Google/Android hubbub was about. Designed by Google and manufactured by Asus, the $199 Nexus 7 is certainly the most unadulterated Android device, free of any manufacturer/telco added "features". It is also one of the least expensive. So began my Android expedition.
The first thing I noticed scared me a little. When setting up the Nexus 7, one of the first things the setup application asked for was my Google login (that's usually your GMail address and password). Once entered the little tablet sprung to life. It instantly knew all my contacts and appointments as one would expect, but it also knew where I lived, where I shop, where I like to eat and a host of other things Google knows about me. Many I don't remember ever telling them. The experience was a real eye-opener, even for a geek like me. If there was ever any doubt, privacy is dead for anyone that utilizes "free" on-line services. Just like my dad used to tell me, "Nothing in life is free." The cost of using Google's email, docs and the host of other apps they provide without monetary compensation is the surrender of your private data. The same can be said about Facebook, Yelp, Yahoo and virtually any company that provides apps and services for "free".
Back to the Nexus 7.
The build quality of the little tablet is good, but isn't in the same league as my iPad or iPhone. After all, it only costs 200 bucks. An "equivalent" iPad Mini (16 GB, wi-fi only) lists for $329. The 1280 X 800 screen of the Nexus 7 is crisp and clear, but I immediately noticed how much less responsive to touch it is compared to my iPad. I'm not sure if that is due to the hardware or the Android OS driving it. Regardless, I constantly find myself missing on-screen buttons and links and I regularly have trouble placing the curser on the correct line when editing text. One other gripe I have is the lack of a hardware "Home" button. Due to the placement of the software home button at the bottom-center of the screen, I accidentally pressed it several times when intending to press the spacebar. This is particularly bothersome because it instantly ejects whatever you're doing and sends you back to your home screen. That could be much more intrusive were it not for the fact that the developers of Android got multitasking right. Getting back to what I was doing is as simple as touching the "recent apps" software button (just right of the home button) and a scrolling list of running apps, complete with large thumbnails appears on-screen. Tapping the thumbnail of the app I was just ejected from brings it right back. Nothing lost but a few seconds. Apple could do worse than copying this feature.
One thing iOS does infinitely better is screen scrolling and rotating. I don't know if it's the Nexus 7 or Android, but in virtually every app, vertical scrolling is jumpy to the point of being confusing. Swiping up or down a long inbox list or web page almost always produces unpredictable results. Either nothing happens for a few moments or the screen scrolls just a bit then stops while off-page data is updated and the scrolling continues. The same goes for scrolling horizontally between home screens. In this instance the Android guys could use some advice from Apple. Every iOS device I've ever owned scrolls smoothly and predictably. I've also been less than impressed by the Nexus 7's ability to recognize the screen orientation. Even when holding the device perfectly in portrait mode, pressing the wake-up button often results in the screen appearing in landscape. It usually requires a hefty side-to-side tilt to get things right. Again, something I've never experienced on any iOS device.
Another constant annoyance with the Google device is its apparent inability to size things properly on the screen. Email is almost always cut off on the right and viewing web pages in Chrome or Firefox is an exercise in "pinch to zoom" to make things readable. I think this is due in part to Android's "one OS fits all" philosophy. As a developer, I certainly understand the difficulty of designing an app to work properly on everything from a 3.5" smartphone to a 10" tablet. This leads to one of my biggest gripes, the lack of tablet-specific apps in Google's Play store. With few exceptions and unlike iOS, Android apps are Android apps. That is, they treat my 7" screen the same as if it were 3.5". Annoying, and a great waste of screen real estate most of the time.
Taken in its entirety, the Nexus 7 is a competent device. The Google Play store has grown to the point that finding an app for almost any task is virtually assured and its getting bigger every day. One thing missing from the overall Android experience is some good ol' "spit and polish". Something we Apple users have come to expect and rely on. Were I not so spoiled by Apple's ecosystem and their overall attention to detail I would probably love the Nexus 7. As things stand right now, It just makes me want an iPad Mini. Oh well, I've certainly spent a lot more than $200 to slake my curiosity. My Android itch has been thoroughly scratched. Lesson learned.

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