20 Things I Like About the Droid

by phil on Friday Nov 20, 2009 3:31 AM

I'm an iPhone developer based in Austin, TX who has had apps on the App Store since Day One. With the mounting negative buzz about the iPhone (like Joe Hewitt quitting the iPhone) and the glowing reviews of the Droid (like from Michael Arrington of TechCrunch), I decided to switch my main phone to a Droid. It also helps that clients have been begging me to make Android apps. I'm still developing primarily for the iPhone, but I love the Droid (and implicitly Android) now. I don't see why Android can't be The Next Big Thing.

I've been keeping track of the little things (and sometimes big things) that I like about it. I'm sure this list will keep expanding:

I like...

(Droid-Specific)

the physical keyboard

the built-in sounds...esp. the "Drrooid" sound.

that my camera has a flash

the little flashing light at the top when there's a new notification

the rubber backing

the style of the hardware—more modern, more masculine.



the abundance of apps that modify fundamental phone behavior, like blocking/routing calls, upgrading voicemail

Google Sky (Android only)

that when I plug in the USB, my computer doesn't have a mini seizure (instead I choose to mount the drive)

that my camera app has built-in digicam settings, like white balance, color effects, etc.

the "SD Card" file management, as opposed to the walled garden of iTunes

that my browser remembers my passwords (w/o having to download a separate app)

having a separate Gmail app with tray notifications

the tray notification system (a major improvement over apple's icon number notifications)

widgets (weather, calendar)

the clarity of surfing the web with bigger screen resolution

the white text on black background styling—seems more modern

that I have a free Car Nav system now

that everybody's Google Talk icons are associated with my contacts

that everything "just works" with my Googlized digital life

Comments

In many ways, the things I like about the Droid are the same things you'd like about having a jailbroken iPhone. There's, of course, many negative things about the Droid, but I'm not trying to make a balanced review here. Here's my executive summary: The Droid has next year's tech, but lacks Apple's polish.

Roger von Oech said on November 20, 2009 6:37 PM:

21. The opportunities for creating new apps for the Droid marketplace.

22. Not having to deal with the iPhone approval process.

Christian said on November 23, 2009 1:12 AM:

23. Multi-tasking

24. Higher-res videos thanks to the higher resolution

25. Torrents

26. No iTunes