There is a lot to be said about how open a platform is. There are many positives, but also negatives. In Android’s case, I think the positives do outweigh the negatives.
Apps are better on iOS. Period. Many Android apps feel like an afterthought.
Even though you can swipe from the left to go back in most iOS apps, having a dedicated back button is still better since it technically does more than just go back.
Windows Phone still destroys Android and iOS in usability.
For how much people complain and poke fun at Apple when an iOS update is a bit buggy, Android 5.0 sure is full of bugs…
Overall, I think the App Store on iOS is a “better experience,” but Google Play wins hands down on functionality. It’s really nice to be able to tell an app to install on a different device.
The ads you get in Android apps remind me a lot of ads targeted to Windows users. “Computer slow? Download Android phone sweeper!” “Clear your phone of viruses!” So dumb, but one of those negatives of a more open platform.
The Bluetooth stack on Android definitely seems to be not quite as good as it is on iOS, but I also have more Bluetooth devices paired to my phone than ever. When/if Google releases Android Wear on iOS, I’d really like to put this to the test.
Live tiles on Windows Phone are still the best home screen experience I’ve used to date.
Not being able to put icons where you want on the iOS home screen is just stupid.
The updating situation on Android is spectacularly broken. It’s really annoying, and Google/handset manufacturers need to fix this somehow.
The approach that Google takes to Google apps and Microsoft takes to Microsoft apps is way better than the approach Apple takes to Apple apps. I don’t want crap taking up space on my phone that I’ll never use. Let me delete it.
I will never understand putting core UI functionality at the top edge/corners of the screen. Every developer on every platform, first and third party, stop this crap.
Google needs to do something about Android’s battery life, which is no doubt linked to memory usage, which is another negative of a more open platform. I get that Android has real multitasking, but needing double/triple the RAM of an iPhone for an Android handset to perform similarly is kind of ridiculous. Maybe this is unrealistic, but I wish there was a “best of both worlds” solution.