Sign in / up

back to article iOS 7 SPANKS Samsung's Android in user-experience rating

On the heels of the release of Apple's iOS 7, the researchers at Pfeiffer Consulting – a firm whose tagline is "Quantifying the Intangible" – sought to answer one simple question: "How good is it really?" To Pfeiffer, competition in the smartphone market is about software, not hardware. "Take any recent top-of-the-line …

COMMENTS

House rules Send corrections
This topic is closed for new posts.

Page:

  1. Graham Dawson Silver badge

    Is there any particular reason why they show several pages of the app screen when they only show a single page of the iOS home screen - which is the functional equivalent? Methinks they're padding just a fraction.

    EDIT: Actually strike that, they do show a second page. BUT. They don't show the iOS settings app, yet do show the android settings. Kind of cheeky.

    29 1
    1. Bob Vistakin
      Reply Icon
      Holmes

      Agreed - this is as impartial as an Orlowski microsoft piece.

      30 3
      1. Anonymous Coward
        Reply Icon
        Anonymous Coward

        This is clearly bollocks. In reality Windows Phone gets by far the best customer satisfaction and user experience ratings, but yet comes last here.....

        12 23
        1. Anonymous Coward
          Reply Icon
          Anonymous Coward

          Says the AC....

          1 1
        2. Anonymous Coward
          Reply Icon
          Anonymous Coward

          This is clearly bollocks

          Since iOS stole much of it's 'new' features from WP and Android how can they claim it to be better?

          Especially when Android is so customisable, you can have pretty much whatever you want.

          10 5
          1. Mark .
            Reply Icon

            Re: This is clearly bollocks

            And before that, we had a platform that couldn't even do basic UI tasks like copy/paste - yet I remember the fans telling us how not only was this not a problem, but it was better for it!

            The whole thing is nonsense anyway - like, if I want to know what my user experience is, rather than going by my experience as a user, I should instead consult some "analyst"? I know what I like, and so do a billion other Android users.

            8 3
            1. Anonymous Coward
              Reply Icon
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: This is clearly bollocks

              I love the insinuation that the billion (FFS) Android users are using it through informed choice! What percentage have an Android phone by default, because it was free or BOGOF? What percentage don't even know that they have Android? You see Mark, it's a far more nuanced market than you like to pretend. You, being such a rabid fandroid, only every see you choice in a positive light because you are incapable of being rational, and damn anyone that dares criticise your choice, either directly or indirectly. Look at your posting history! One day, when you've grown up, you'll see the error of your ways and we'll be able to have a rational conversation about this.

              3 19
              1. Mark .
                Reply Icon

                Re: This is clearly bollocks

                Oh, I have a personal pet troll, someone criticising other people's history when they themselves post anonymous.

                If I'm fanatical about something, it's facts and evidence. Which this study seems to lack. I'd criticise a survey that put Android on top too, if it used this kind of logic. I'd never use such a study in favour of a platform (except in response to another study perhaps, to show how meaningless they are). If the things I criticise often tend to be when people are arguing for Apple, it's not my fault the arguments are more likely to be flawed, or we simply hear more astroturfing for Apple. I'm not the one resorting to insults.

                And yes, how absurd that people had choice in their phones, we were clearly all forced into using Android against our will.

                I don't think many get Android free (maybe "free" on contract, but that will be even more common on iphones). Not sure what you mean by default - many see iphones as the "default" due to the far greater free advertising it gets. How many people know they have "IOS"? And yes, it is a nuanced market, which is why any attempt to claim that one must be the best is flawed - I'm not claiming any platform is objectively better, just fed up of the astroturfers telling me what I'm supposed to like better.

                4 1
                1. SuccessCase
                  Reply Icon

                  Re: This is clearly bollocks

                  @Mark. Seeing this little exchange has made me laugh, I remember you've have been given the facts and evidence before that prove the market is nuanced in the way AC implies, but it seems you are now pretending otherwise. Here, to refresh your memory, are the pertinent details and threads:

                  Despite global market-share figures, Flurry analytics reports are showing an estimated 510 million active app-using iOS devices worldwide versus 564 million active app-using Android devices. The only reasonable interpretation is that the very many lower cost Android devices are not being used as much as devices from the high end of the market.

                  Here's the comment where you were given data to this effect where I commented on your misinterpretation of the data.:

                  http://forums.theregister.co.uk/forum/1/2013/08/19/report_apple_sucking_triple_the_number_of_phone_switchers_as_samsung/#c_1930579

                  You replied, but then another commenter answered the bad logic in your own reply with this (not directly to you, but he was commenting on the thread):

                  http://forums.theregister.co.uk/forum/1/2013/08/19/report_apple_sucking_triple_the_number_of_phone_switchers_as_samsung/#c_1931525

                  Due to a greater number of Android users wishing to switch to iOS as the other way round, now markets have matured, Apple are taking market share off Android in the US (at the time of the comment above) and now too (as predicted by yours truly) in the UK. Other developed nation markets will be following suit. You saw this data in this comment, because you contributed to the thread and referred to it:

                  http://forums.theregister.co.uk/forum/1/2013/08/14/peak_apple_samsung_has_double_market_share_of_iphone/#c_1925461

                  Additionally, your various reply on the number of iOS and Android users expressing a desire to switch to iOS being greater than those wishing to switch to Android also failed explain how in mature saturated markets, iOS is now taking market share off Android.

                  Oh and when I did a search on my old posts, I noticed back in 2012 you were given this data:

                  http://techcrunch.com/2012/04/21/real-time-research-ios-dominates-over-android-when-it-comes-to-usage-says-chitika/

                  http://www.androidauthority.com/iphone-owners-use-more-data-129207/

                  In this comment:

                  http://forums.theregister.co.uk/forum/2/2012/11/13/nexus_4_sells_out_in_30_minutes/#c_1620856

                  So you have a very long history of ignoring the data and changing the argument to suit your prejudices. Here's some more data for you - opening weekend sales of the various incarnations of iPhone at launch versus Samsung Galaxy handsets. Bet you'll never refer to this one again either:

                  http://www.asymco.com/2013/09/23/iphones-5c-and-5s-launch-performance-illustrated/

                  2 5
                  1. Anonymous Coward
                    Reply Icon
                    Anonymous Coward

                    Re: This is clearly bollocks

                    tl;dr.

                    MtM (tm) - shorter and makes the same point ;)

                    0 0
            2. Anonymous Coward
              Reply Icon
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: This is clearly bollocks

              Sticking with copy/paste is not a good design.

              I was hoping for Apple to find a new smother way that never needed to use copy or paste.

              Something with every object being able to do any task with. E.g. marking a text, and then just get it into the mail you wanted to copy it to, without having to press copy and then paste.

              But designing a system like that is a huge task. Apple was not able to solve it.

              0 0
          2. Michael 5
            Reply Icon

            Re: This is clearly bollocks

            Cognitive disabilities is the leading (number one) disability that society faces. As such, when designing an interface it needs to be an absolute requirement for consideration in the decision matrix. A simplified and concise interface is almost always the best approach to handle this.

            0 0
      2. Lord Elpuss Silver badge
        Reply Icon

        @Bob Vistakin

        Because you're totally impartial Bob. Every sodding post you write is bitching about iPhone, iOS and how Apple is destroying the world.

        2 5
    2. MrXavia
      Reply Icon
      Thumb Up

      So Choice is a bad thing?

      I really think that the comparison by number of screens and apps available is dumb...

      why? because most 9 the screens shown for samsung are AVAILABLE widgets to add to the home screen...

      So this is basically a large choice for users to choose from, choice outside of the Apple world is considered a good thing...

      although I can agree they should remove the Story Album, Samsung Hub & FlipBoard from the home screens, they are pointless really i think....

      So remove the unused widgets, ignore the 'Available' apps/widgets pages and you have yourself a very simple interface...

      But what I love is that Apple stole the idea for the 'quick' pull up settings from Samsungs pull down ones(or is it an android feature?) but with Samsung, you can customise your list! I really hope Android/Samsung patented that UI feature, just so they can stick Apple with a dumb lawsuit for a change... (I really don't think its a patentable Idea but with what Apple has patented, I am sure the USPTO would allow it)

      Both Android & iOS are easy to do the basics with, but with iOS you end up finding you can't do things, with Android usually there is a way to do it if you need to. That is the reason I use Android, because iOS is too simple.

      16 6
    3. Dieter Haussmann
      Reply Icon

      "They don't show the iOS settings app"

      5th from right is the swipe-down settings.

      0 2
      1. Graham Dawson Silver badge
        Reply Icon

        Fifth from the right? I've looked through the entire report, none of them show the settings screen for iOS. I'm not sure what you're trying to tell me.

        1 0
  2. Nate Amsden

    so does that mean

    that Android is better for technical users? I assume yes.. If I can find one I plan to get a 64GB GSM Note 3, so far only seen 32GB. Never really used Android before (or IOS), currently on WebOS.

    I'd wager Samsung isn't too worried given the profits they've been making.

    10 2
    1. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: so does that mean

      Er, just because something is simpler doesn't mean it's not as good for technical people. That's a pretty glaring logical fallacy. Witness OS X. Preferred simultaneously by the least and most technical people I know. And I don't think I'm alone. Google developers overwhelmingly use OS X, as do almost all the elderly, non-technical people I know.

      In any case, which phone OS is better for you depends on what you want from your phone. If you want to stream files to VLC as you're downloading them with bittorrent while typing in their names with a custom 3rd party keyboard app, then Android is your OS.

      If you're paranoid about security (as many technical people are) and don't want dozens of apps on your phone which have access to all of each other's files and don't want your custom 3rd party keyboard to potentially act as a keylogger for cyber-criminals, then get an iPhone. iPhones are also nice because they get prompt OS updates.

      27 30
      1. Nate Amsden
        Reply Icon

        Re: so does that mean

        Well I consider myself pretty technical and OS X is way too ..something for me. Been using Linux as my primary desktop since 1997.

        I tried using OS X a bit a few years ago but it seems to use it right I would of had to have significantly changed the way I do things (key things for me involve virtual desktops, virtual desktop edge flipping, mouse over activation), that OS X did not support (at the time I believe OS X terminal did support mouse over activation but strangely enough at the time it apparently was the only app that obeyed that).

        I even tried full screen Ubuntu in vmware and it did not work well enough for me. I considered wiping OS X and just going Ubuntu on the bare hardware but the missing keys like page up/page down, home, etc etc bugged me too. Also I hate trackpads (even the fancy multi touch apple one), I prefer the "nipple"(I suppose mainly because it allows my fingers to stay on/near the 'home keys' on the keyboard.

        I'm sure if I forced myself to use it for 6 months I probably could of adapted, but for me the path of least resistance was going and buying a new Toshiba laptop (which I still use every day including now). My laptop has both track pad and nipple. After 3 weeks of casual OS X use I was nowhere closer to being comfortable in it, so I let it go.

        Even with windows I can get virtual desktops and mouse over activation. My last serious usage of windows I used blackbox as an explorer shell replacement, it worked alright. Was never(at the time) able to find usable edge flipping though. I still use windows fairly regularly in a very casual way, I stick to the stock look and feel, since I don't use it enough to care how it works (though I'm old school enough to miss the way XP had things laid out since I was more in tune to that vs windows 7).

        I do agree that a lot of technical people seem to prefer OS X though, I work with about 60 such folks(that develop PHP/java web apps that run on Linux). I don't understand it myself, but whatever.

        I am utterly alone in my world of friends who use Linux as their desktop. Most use Mac, a few use Windows.

        5 3
        1. ThomH
          Reply Icon

          Re: so does that mean

          OS X has had virtual desktops since v10.5, i.e. 2007. It's therefore very unlikely — though definitely not impossible — that you tried an Intel Mac that didn't come with them; likely they were just disabled. As of 10.7 they've also added a built-in widget that makes apps go full screen by creating their own distinct virtual desktop.

          Mouse-over activation isn't supported. Probably you installed the X11 server (which runs on the desktop, not separately) and were using xterm. The normal terminal works exactly like every other app.

          5 2
          1. JEDIDIAH
            Reply Icon
            Linux

            Re: so does that mean

            > OS X has had virtual desktops since v10.5, i.e. 2007.

            Kind of sort of... after a fashion, using a user interface that's more cumbersome than something that a Linux user might have been using in 1994.

            MacOS has virtual desktops in much the same way that Windows does. Crude and kludgey and not necessarily what a Unix user would expect.

            It's like saying that a burned out hulk of a Ferrari without an engine is good to go. It's true that it's a Ferrari and you can kind of push it around to where you want to go but it's not usually what people have in mind when they think of having a Ferrari.

            2 1
        2. oolor
          Reply Icon

          Re: Nate Amsden

          >though I'm old school enough to miss the way XP had things laid out

          Sellout! oolor is writing this from an XP machine that refuses to die. Good ole 'entertainment' and El Reg surfing 'laptop' that doubles as a very hefty blunt object. Think that I too will be going Linux when it croaks. Or maybe an abacus.

          3 0
      2. Anonymous Coward
        Reply Icon
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: simpler doesn't mean it's not as good for technical people

        It's the fact that Android is loads more customisable that makes it more suitable for technical users, not the extra complexity.

        5 0
      3. MrXavia
        Reply Icon
        Linux

        Re: so does that mean

        haha,

        OS X is Unix bases, this makes it good in many ways but preferred? no... Linux is the preference for a techie.

        For mobility most people I've worked with would choose a Macbook Air, not because its a Mac, not because its got OS X but because its small & lightweight yet powerful enough to run VM's, although with the advent of smaller lighter UltraBooks, they have shifted towards buying them and installing a flavour of Linux.

        Although the fact OSX has SSH & SCP is a selling point, with windows you need third party clients..

        4 9
        1. Mark .
          Reply Icon

          Re: so does that mean

          Note though there were high end ultra-portables long before the Air and Ultrabooks. The main problem is one of marketing, with people not being aware of the options. And my 10" Samsung is still more portable than any Air :)

          5 5
          1. Anonymous Coward
            Reply Icon
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: so does that mean

            > "Samsung is still more portable than any Air"

            And my Dad could beat your dad in a fight. Tit.

            5 9
            1. JEDIDIAH
              Reply Icon
              Linux

              Re: so does that mean

              >> "Samsung is still more portable than any Air"

              > And my Dad could beat your dad in a fight. Tit.

              I bought my first "Ultrabook" in 2001 and it was made by Sony.

              2 1
              1. Anonymous Coward
                Reply Icon
                Anonymous Coward

                Re: so does that mean - @JEDIDIAH

                I remember those. I wanted one but at the time I was having a career break and being a poor student. Two years later, when travelling a lot, I bought a Samsung ultraportable. It wasn't as pretty or as durable as an Air, but my paid for work was done on it for three years. As another Old Testament prophet remarked, there is nothing new under the Sun - perhaps the Romans had thin and light wax tablets with extended stylus life.

                0 0
        2. mraak
          Reply Icon

          Re: so does that mean

          I for one need both posix and Adobe creative suite for my work. So OSX is the best choice.

          0 0
      4. Gussy
        Reply Icon

        Re: so does that mean

        IOS is crippled as an OS, put it on Wifi behind a proxy and some if not most of the apps will not work. We had a deaf girl that wanted to use facetime on the wifi to call her kids. If we disabled all security and allowed the phone to route straight to the internet it worked, otherwise it did not. We traced the packets and it could not see the proxy. I assume that this is the story for all IOS apps that are not bundled with the OS.

        4 2
        1. John Sanders
          Reply Icon
          Linux

          Re: so does that mean

          Using Cisco WCCP helps if your proxy has support for it, on Squid it does wonders.

          0 0
      5. paulll
        Reply Icon

        Re: so does that mean

        "If you're paranoid about security (as many technical people are) and don't want dozens of apps on your phone which have access to all of each other's files and don't want your custom 3rd party keyboard to potentially act as a keylogger for cyber-criminals, then get an iPhone. iPhones are also nice because they get prompt OS updates."

        Try:

        If you're paranoid about security (as many technical people are) and don't want dozens of apps on your phone which have access to all of each other's files and don't want your custom 3rd party keyboard to potentially act as a keylogger for cyber-criminals, then get a Blackberry. Blackberrys are also nice because they get prompt OS updates.

        Yeah, yeah, I know nobody cares any more. But if one's use-case is centred around paranoia, it's still the only choice.

        3 0
      6. JEDIDIAH
        Reply Icon
        Linux

        Re: so does that mean

        > Er, just because something is simpler doesn't mean it's not as good for technical people.

        How does Apple manage to be "simpler"?

        They do that by reducing what the user sees, giving them fewer options. A labyrinth of networking options become a single dialog box. On the one hand it's easy. On the other hand, you're SOL if the option you need isn't presented.

        > That's a pretty glaring logical fallacy. Witness OS X. Preferred simultaneously by the least and most technical people I know.

        Were you trying to be ironic? You certainly did a great job of it.

        5 1
        1. t.est
          Reply Icon

          Re: so does that mean

          The real techy once can handle a lost dialog box.

          You know the claim, Linux are for techies, but I say; Linux is just for techies that aren't techy enough for FreeBSD and OSX.

          Now ask a Linux guy how to change the ssh port on a osx. And how it comes that you can ssh into a mac, though the sshd isn't running.

          Ah, you'll get there too when you leave init and start using systemd. Which is basically a clone of lauchd.

          0 0
      7. Philomena Cunk
        Reply Icon

        Re: so does that mean

        Eh? Only android offers proper application sandboxing to stop apps reading other apps data. Its a pretty much weekly occurrence where ios apps are caught uploading other apps data..

        http://9to5mac.com/2012/02/15/apples-ios-problem-contacts-uploading-is-just-the-tip-of-the-iceberg-apps-can-upload-all-your-photos-calendars-or-record-conversations/

        2 0
    2. Trainee grumpy old ****
      Reply Icon
      Boffin

      Re: so does that mean

      >> If I can find one I plan to get a 64GB GSM Note 3, so far only seen 32GB

      Why limit yourself to 64 gigs? If the Note 3 is anything like the original Note, you can add your own micro SDHC/SDXC card.

      3 0
  3. Sil

    Can you spell horseshit?

    One really has to wonder if the authors ever use the phones as intended or stay in the lab applying preconceived ideas.

    Let's see if fanbois like the forced cutie animations, parallax & transparencies and resulting loss of time & battery as much in a few weeks of use.

    Also surely less than 80% of phone users are technically savvy? And they still survive with Android & do just fine.

    Finally as a 3rd example WP8 is probably the OS that would put the most applications on the start screen with small tiles.

    Not that this would be recommended. In fact very seldom hear users complain about this or supposedly limited customizations, they complain about lack of whatever fav app still isn't ported to the platform.

    A real study with massive polls of what users actually like/dislike about their platforms would be of much higher value.

    18 7
    1. Michael B.
      Reply Icon

      Re: Can you spell horseshit?

      The author of the report claimed only 12 are possible on the home screen ignoring the scrolling and also the fact that all of the tiles could have been resized to give you 24 tiles per page if you like that sort of density. ( I don't. )

      6 0
    2. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Anonymous Coward

      Reviews that just make the pain worse and worse for the Fandroid. Still at least cruelty to a Fandroid is not illegal.

      3 25
    3. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Can you spell horseshit?

      Yes, here: H.O.R.S.E.S.H.I.T.

      To my knowledge there's nothing in Android that is even remotely as idiotic as the user interface in iOS7 (see examples here: http://sloppyui.tumblr.com).

      None of them morons in Cupertino seemed to have done a simple test, pull a few people off the street, ideally older than 12, and show them iOS 6 and iOS7 side by side and ask them what they thought and see how quickly they can find their way around Mail, Messages, Calendar etc. Simple crap that took a single glance now requires a good squint and effort to figure out content text vs links vs fields vs "frame-less buttons" etc. There's hardly any emphasis, guided focus or any of that throughout iOS 7. Freakin' red cursors with #0000FF-ish blue text, faint gray borders around #00FF00-ish toggle backgrounds, WTF!?

      Again, there's nothing like that in (stock) Android, and despite some complexity that may overwhelm non-techies and oldtimers, at least it's usable.

      I'm back to iOS 6 for now, anybody here care to buy an iPhone 5 in a month or two?

      </rant>

      14 9
      1. Shane Sturrock
        Reply Icon

        Re: Can you spell horseshit?

        I have to admit that I updated my iPhone 4 and iPad mini to iOS7 and instantly regretted it. My eyesight isn't what it used to be and I struggled to find thing with the super fine text. This looked extra bad on the iPad mini which doesn't have a retina screen because the standard fonts are so fine they are poorly rendered when the screen has so few pixels to play with. Turns out though, somewhere in the beta testing Apple noticed and if you go into the preferences->general->accessibility options and turn on bold text, then reboot, your device comes back with much more legible fonts for these old eyes. Much happier now with iOS7 and it even runs decently well on an old iPhone 4 so I can keep the old girl around for another year or two before rocking up and buying the latest smartphone. Who knows, by then it will be clear Android is the way for me to go but at the time I got the iPhone there were too many 'droid phones around running Gingerbread which was horrible.

        6 0
    4. ThomH
      Reply Icon

      Re: Can you spell horseshit? (@Sil)

      Studies with massive polls always put Apple on top too — it's about the Mac but see last week's http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/09/17/apple_tops_all_windows_pc_in_customer_satisfaction/

      Scroll down to the 21:29 AC to see how those usually go down around here.

      1 3
    5. Tom 13
      Reply Icon

      Re: Can you spell horseshit?

      I particularly like the called out quote on this count:

      "Take any recent top-of-the-line smartphone, and you are likely to get a well-designed, fast, pleasant to use bit of hardware: fluid operation, responsive interaction, fast graphics,"

      For work I've configured a number of Blackberrys and a number of iPhones. For personal use I once bought an HTC from Sprint. On both the Blackberry and iPhones that supported touchscreens, I had a bitch of a time typing. The HTC 3000 was perfectly fine. I suspect that has a bit more to do with hardware than software, probably sensor density on the touchscreen. I no longer have the HTC because I just didn't use the phone enough to justify the exorbitant cost. But if I were looking for a smartphone, I'd be looking for something like the HTC.

      1 2

  4. This post has been deleted by its author

  5. This post has been deleted by its author

  6. AlexS

    They looked at two Apple phone OS's. Therefore they should have at least looked at two Android OS's, i.e. In addition the generic version that comes with Google Nexus 4 (without Samsung garbage thrown on top).

    Flawed.

    12 3
    1. Tim99 Silver badge
      Reply Icon

      Only one Android?

      @AlexS

      To be fair, the authors did state:-

      "Why Samsung's Android? Simple: "We have chosen Samsung's implementation of Android," they write, "since, given the overwhelming market share of Samsung in the smartphone market, it is clearly the most widely used version of Android currently distributed."

      4 4
      1. Eponymous Cowherd
        Reply Icon

        Re: Only one Android?

        Just got a Note 2, and I have to say I find its UX to be quite a bit clunkier than vanilla Android (on my Nexus 7) or my old HTC Sensation (sense).

        Personally, from a UX point of view, the customisation features of Android trump all other concerns. I just wish Samsung did a better job (or left it alone)

        2 0
      2. Captain Scarlet
        Reply Icon
        Mushroom

        Re: Only one Android?

        @Tim99

        Some of the images moaned about two app stores and two setting screens on the Samsung so the standard android os with just the play store looks like it would have faired much better.

        2 0
      3. Mark .
        Reply Icon

        Re: Only one Android?

        But it still doesn't explain why 2 IOS versions are picked.

        It also makes it somewhat pointless - if the point of the survey is to say "Hey actually, we think this other platform is more usable", then actually pointing out the other Android UIs/manufacturers would be more useful. A comparison of different Android UIs would have a better chance of being impartial and objective. They'd also be informing people on things they might not be aware of.

        And on comparing platforms, it misses one of the greatest strengths of Android, for people to pick what they prefer. It doesn't matter if the authors think Samsung's UI sucks, if another Android UI does better. It makes no sense to ignore simply because they aren't as popular - IOS and WP aren't as popular either.

        5 1

Page:

This topic is closed for new posts.

Other stories you might like