Android or iPhone?

[sack]

It's upgrade time so my options are the following:

*Something Android based (HTC tattoo or Magic most likely)
*iPhone 3G (Nice enough)
*iPhone 3Gs (Nice, and has a much nicer GPU and shaders)

I want a phone I can use as a phone (obviously...) but looking to write little games or apps for it as well.

Convince me

[Misfit]

Look at the size of the iPhone thread and the android thread.

No contest in my opinion. Android has some multitasking advantages but in terms of usabiltiy and available apps it doesn't come close.

[Darkflame]

I think the Droid is worth considering.
http://phones.verizonwireless.com/motorola/droid/
(not the best website, but does list a lot of its features)

As for available apps, that's just a mater of time.
Ive certainly spoken to a few developers that prefer Andriod as a platform to develop on, I think its just a mater of the userbase increasing. Which it will do given its open for anyone to use as a platform.

Its also worth noting, that if you plan to have the same phone for a few years, replacing the battery on iPhones isnt that easy.

[tufty]

Its also worth noting, that if you plan to have the same phone for a few years, replacing the battery on iPhones isnt that easy.

It's not that hard, either. Let's be honest, replacing batteries on a phone is not something many people tend to do, it's almost always cheaper to simply get a new phone (especially if you're tied to a contract).

[limb_clock]

I got a HTC Hero and i'm pretty happy with it. IT's got great free apps and games, although i can't seem to BUY anything with the Hero ROM...

[gilesgoat]

I think Yak could have quite more than a thing or two to say about Objective C

[adam]

looks like someone has managed to get an app written mostly in scheme onto the app store, if thats any easier

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=898627

[gravy]

I think Yak could have quite more than a thing or two to say about Objective C

Luckily there's no need for more than a couple of hundred lines of it if you're writing a game. C++ all the way

[sack]

I almost got an Android phone from the vodafone store earlier, but the staff aren't that good (snarled at me and snapped 'is that *all* you spend on calls' whilst looking at me disapprovingly, couldn't work the computer system, told me it's free to new customers but someone who has been with vodafone for 9 years has to pay 180 quid) so I might tell them to bollocks and get an iPhone on orange or O2...

still undecided though...

[Darkflame]

You shouldn't pick your phone based on bad customer service on a phone shop though.
(frankly, I hate most mobile phone shops and try to avoid them as much as I can)

Its also worth noting, that if you plan to have the same phone for a few years, replacing the battery on iPhones isnt that easy.

It's not that hard, either. Let's be honest, replacing batteries on a phone is not something many people tend to do, it's almost always cheaper to simply get a new phone (especially if you're tied to a contract).

Its more an indication of attitude.
With iPhone you have to get it sent away to apple them if you want a new battery. (or do it yourself in a way that really isnt that easy, and also probably invalidates your warranty)
With most android phones you can do it yourself, using third party battery and a screwdriver.

If this doesn't bother you, fair enough. Its a factor for me though. (and, for the record, I dont have either phone type and am looking carefully at stuff at the moment).

Also cost is nothing.Dunno where you got that from. Replacement batterys for the HTC tattoo, for example, are under $20.

[matt303]

I've a HTC Hero and TGG has an iPhone, if we are out and about in London it's 50/50 which one of us will get the phone out to do something. if it's apps you are after then the iPhone is most likely the better bet if you want to do stuff like run irc or GPS tracking then Android's multitasking is a must.

[nyarla]

From what I understand, coding wise, if your loathing for java is slightly less intense than your disgust at objective-c, get an android. Other way round, iphone it up.

[gilesgoat]

I think Yak could have quite more than a thing or two to say about Objective C

Luckily there's no need for more than a couple of hundred lines of it if you're writing a game. C++ all the way

I don't say Objective C is not an interesting concept by its own .. but .. kinda looks a bit like "a cross between COBOL and
LISP" ..

I can see some of the concepts/idea are interesting ..

Anyway true .. well depdends on how much "OS UI dependant stuff" you are going to use but yes the idea is "use just what you
need of it and do all the rest in C++".

[aureole]

I got an Android phone because I didn't want to pay the premium for a iPhone. Actually, I'm pretty happy with it, it does most of the things I want to. It's not as good as an iPhone but it's not as much money. I like the nerdiness of it, I like being able to run IRC in the background. Camera is complete shit, but then it is on the iPhone too.

[tufty]

I don't say Objective C is not an interesting concept by its own .. but .. kinda looks a bit like "a cross between COBOL and
LISP" ..

If anyone's dislike for a language is based on how it *looks* (Oh NOES, it uses SQUARE BRACKETS!), they're fucked from the start.

Obj-C is a much faster (in development time), vastly more consistent, language to develop in than C++. On the Apple platform, you also have the benefit of a very useful set of libraries beyond Foundation. Less code == less bugs. Shallower inheritance hierarchies == less confusion.

There *is* a performance overhead, but the ways around that are well-known. spend some of the time you wouldn't have spent debugging and coding in profiling and fixing it. You still win in most cases.