When I wrote my original post on apps I started from the premise of looking to see which of the iOS apps that I like and use are available on Android. That may not have been a complete approach.
What about apps that are on Android but aren't on iOS? I completely overlooked this because quite frankly I assumed iOS is the dominant app platform and there wouldn't be any. The research I did based on that premise confirmed that Android is behind the curve on apps.
But then a fellow volunteer at Cat Angels had his new Evo at the facility yesterday and I played with it and realized that there are some key apps that are on Android but not on iOS: Google Voice, and Gmail.
I think it's pretty well known that Apple has blocked Google Voice on iOS. And that Google worked around it by releasing a web-based version of Google Voice that used HTML4. However the HTML4 version is not as powerful as a real app would be, as it can't make itself your default dialer and it also can't make itself a dialing choice from your contacts list, etc. Also, you have to have decent web connectivity to use it, a significant weakness considering the quality of AT&T's 3G network.
Google has also implemented Gmail as an HTML4 web app on iOS, rather than do a native client like they have on Blackberry and Android. Using the web Gmail on my iTouch I've found it significantly lacking. The native app on Blackberry and Android handles multiple Gmail accounts well, and it also prefetches your most recent emails for quick viewing. The HTML4 web version, on the other hand, goes to the web for every operation and often takes a couple of minutes to be usable when first invoked as it refreshes its view from the web. And there is no provision for multiple Gmail accounts.
If Google Voice on iOS vs. native Google Voice on Android is analogous to web Gmail vs. native Gmail, it will also be lacking. I am a big user of Google Voice, both for my personal use and for Cat Angels voicemail use, so a well-implemented Google Voice is a big plus for me.
Before I considered these it was my opinion that the apps factor favors iPhone by far. I still think that consideration favors iPhone but not by as big a margin as I had previously thought.
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