Shortly after the Motorola Droid was released I was given one on a “buy one, get one free,” special. As a Verizon customer, iPhone was unavailable.

The Google functionality was great, the overall experience, not so great. Reports indicated that the Moto Droid had not been built to handle Android Froyo 2.2 and it showed. When I could no longer put up with the stock Droid’s horrendous lag (which regularly rendered the phone unusable) I rooted and began using Peter Alfonso’s Bugless Beast. Hat tip to Peter because the phone became more-or-less usable after that.

When the possibility of an upgrade arrived I had a difficult time choosing between the Galaxy Nexus and iPhone. After a few weeks of comparing specs and UI I went with a 32GB iPhone 4S for the promise of a fluid UI.¹ Comparisons and impressions follow.

Random Impressions

• In Android, you begin with an empty desktop and fill it with regularly used apps. This is a good UI approach, insofar as it is easy to prioritize apps based on interest and regularity of use.
• In iOS, app placement is always top/left justified, which required a subtle shift in my approach. iOS apps cannot be located where you would like them to show up on the desktop. This is not better or worse, just different.
• Initially, I missed widgets. The following desktop widgets had been useful to me on Android: Beautiful Weather, an agenda-styled calendar, toggle switches (i.e., power, wifi), shortcut to Starbucks card, and a favorite-contacts panel. It was nice to have this information in one place.
• The counterpoint to the pro-widget argument is that in iOS information is very easy to access through the use of the home button and a swipe or two. Minimalist simplicity is Apple’s thing and it works well.
• Notifications would vibrate in iOS on occasion and I didn’t know where the alert was coming from. Patient perusal of the notifications settings cleared that up within a couple of days.
• Getting Google Calendar and Gmail to work happily with Siri is a snowball in hell.

iPhone Selling Points

• A fluid experience. Compared to Android, it’s smooth as butter. The Motorola Droid was a quivering mess from day one. Fluidity is iPhone’s #1 selling point. This principle has held true, except for the time I was extolling the virtues of iPhone and it hung while showing my brother Real Racing.² Ironic? Yes!
• Drop-dead gorgeous apps. I spend too much money on apps, but they’re fun.
• The unified UI. One generally knows what is going on in iOS at all times. The notion that you get to know one app in iOS and you know them all is generally true.
• The phone works. Unlike the Moto Droid, iPhone does not regularly freeze when I am trying to answer the phone.³