iOS 8
So with the release of iPhone 6, apple users finally get a hands on experience on iOS 8. While I appreciate the changes apple has included in its OS, it still lacks a lot of stuff that a smartphone OS can do.
iOS 8 finally got support for third party keyboard apps which existed in android for quite some time, people really seem to love this android inspired feature though. Anyhow, here is a list of stuff iOS 8 still cant do.
1. Third Party Launchers
Obviously this entirely depends on preference but I don’t seem to understand why iOS users wont get bored with the same old launcher. All you can do is swipe from left to right and at most create folders. Yes it performs the basic function just perfectly fine but it has no room for customization.
You can add fancy transitions after jailbreaking your iOS 8 but in Android you can out of the box install any launcher you like. Personally, I cant live with the same old launcher longer than a month or would change my icon pack regularly to get a new feel. If you are a iOS 8 user you are stuck with that UI. Then again apple users still love it … I don’t know why though.
2. No Homescreen Widgets
For me homescreen widgets are a deal breaker when it comes to iOS 8. Seriously? How can people live without widgets? Android since the very beginning offer its users beautiful widgets to install, with tons of options being free and open source. Moreover, with apps like UCCW you also have the ability to create your own widget.
iOS 8 should have adopted the widget policy first and then the third party keyboard one. To me its annoying to have a homescreen flooded with all the apps that I have installed. I prefer to have a separate app drawer and leave my homescreen for widgets updating me with weather info, match scores and my university timetable.
You cant even have a third party lockscreen. In a nutshell, the iOS 8 still lacks a lot of customization options already available in android.
3. CPU Governors
If you are reading this as a die hard iOS user, you probably don’t know what this is. Using a rooted android smartphone I can alter my CPU clock speeds to my liking. I can choose different governors to save battery or maximize performance the way I like.
If I have a quad-core phone I can make the phone work on as many cores as I want. Your iOS 8 can’t do that sadly. Obviously you might not need it that much but for people like me these things matter a lot and making a jump onto iOS 8 will be a boring job for me.
4. Flash A New Rom?
The day iOS becomes open source will be the day I buy an iPhone. I love the fact how easily I can flash any new Rom on my android. I always have a variety of more than 20 different Roms based on both old and current android systems. iOS 8 obviously lacks that and while many consider this to be the beauty of owning an iPhone, for me it is the opposite instead.
5 . Applock and Tasker
Android Playstore has a bunch of apps available which can individually lock access to an app. That can be through a password or a pattern unlock. Yes, you could do that on iOS 7, but not really through a direct app. I fail to understand why iOS never got it and ya iOS 8 cant do that either, the easy way that is.
Tasker is not an app you can simply ignore. Its an app that fully automates your smartphone. You can read the review to know more about it. Having functional apps like tasker requires you to have superuser access. You cant have that on an apple device and hence its a total no for iOS 8 to be fully automated.
Verdict
Android vs iOS is a never ending war, which is a good thing. It satisfies the needs of different kind of geeks around us … along with some day to day users. Even though iOS 8 is great if you disregard the mentioned stuff, its no longer “Innovative” in any way. Just a few things and apple starts to sell under Steve Job’s “Innovative” slogan.
Yes apple can set record sales in no time, yes apple has a bunch of active users but people using android can never move to iOS and that is a fact. iOS users do tend to make a move to android. At the end its all about preference.
Republished with permission from NullMag. Read the original.
