[danielvaughn]

Fun and games until a competitor arrives on the market with a solid developer experience. As soon as that happens, I’m dropping Apple like a bad habit. The only thing keeping me on their tech is my hatred for Android’s UX. Heck, if the Windows phone was still around, I’d probably be on that.

[bmoxb]

I'm not advocating in either direction, but I'm curious what elements of iOS's UX you prefer over Android's?

[jwells89]

For me a big part of it is how gestures track, the curves used by animations, inertia, bounciness, etc. Under iOS it all feels refined and naturalistic, whereas Android’s counterparts land somewhere in the uncanny valley and come off as more mechanical (fitting given its name, I suppose).

Aside from that, in general you can feel more “seams” between components and rough edges all throughout Android’s UX. It reminds me of how the Linux desktop experience used to be several years ago actually, except Android seems to have gotten stuck for unknown reasons where Linux DEs have continually improved.

[__MatrixMan__]

> you can feel more “seams” between components

That's it. I've been struggling to figure out what I can't stand about iOS and it just clicked. It's the lack of seams. When something breaks I can never figure out what specifically broke, so I can't reason about my mistake (or know who to contact if it's not my mistake).

I like seams so much that I'm running google play services in a sandbox (Graphene OS) so google has to grovel for my permission like everybody else whenever they want to do something. It's a little annoying, but it's teaching me where the seams are.

[jwells89]

It all depends on what one’s looking for I guess. As an aesthetically inclined technical person, seams can be annoying to the point of distraction if they’re not thoughtfully worked into the design (90% of the time, they’re not).

[__MatrixMan__]

Different strokes for different folks I guess. I don't care about aesthetics at all, I'm just wanting to know where I'd put the crowbar if I wanted to turn it into something else.

The ideal technology for me is quietly doing is job somewhere I can't currently see and rarely have to look. Perhaps that counts as aesthetics?

[danielvaughn]

Probably the navigation I guess, though it's not something I've given much detailed thought into. I just know that whenever I pick up a friend's Android, I hate the experience.

[spacebacon]

I hate the experience of a non ergonomic rectangular device in general. It’s uncomfortable to use in most situations.

For example I use my pinkie finger to support the weight of my device when I type. The weight of the iPhone 14 combined with a case is enough to leave a permanent impression in my pinkie from heavy use. A contoured case that considers how people actually hold their device would be nice.

If we were to rethink all of it from the ground up I’m sure there is a better way. Maybe even a silicone soft phone would be a good start.

[danielvaughn]

Oh I definitely agree. I'm waiting for the next SE to come out, I'll be buying it. The large form factor causes real strain in my wrists.

[spacebacon]

I’ll be an early adopter right there with you.