Android Phones too complex for some?

So I recently wrote a blog post on how to choose the right smartphone for you. I describe how I’ve been a fan of Android since I bought my G1 back in November of 2008. Since then Android has only gotten better. Android is the king of customization. Because Android is open source, developers have access to the root of the phones abilities and can have it do pretty much anything you can think of. And with Android you have the choice to select a smartphone with a physical keyboard, something that is not available with iPhone or Windows phones. You have different screen sizes you can choose from, everything from 2.55? all the way up to a whopping 5.3?. So with Android you have choices, maybe a few too many as this has also led to the problem of fragmentation. I don’t believe it’s as much of a problem today as it was a year ago but you may find that certain apps may not run on all phones. But I also say that Android phones are best for more tech savvy users, people who like to tinker with their phones. Android can do pretty much anything that iPhone can do and more, but with those abilities comes a little more complexity. This is not to say that regular consumers will not be able to use Androids, but they will be less satisfied and more frustrated when they can’t figure out how to do something that could more easily be done on an iPhone. Do you agree? I'm curious to get the feedback from a community of Android users...

I do believe there is more of a learning curve, especially for the non tech-savvy. But the great thing is, if a newbie is willing to seek help from a knowledgeable person, that person could set up the phone so it is even easier to use than say an iPhone. That's what I have done for both my wife and mother-in-law. You can learn as little or as much about your phone as you want, and still be satisfied.

Agree with you both. To me the single biggest difference is that iPhones hold your hand, or more appropriately, shackle them for your own protection. Droid lets you loose to play on the freeway, come what may.

I would say that out the box, Android is still fairly easy to use, it just depends on how you want to use it. My fiancée had no problems with her galaxy w, she won't let me change anything, including launcher. But she never has any problems trying to do what she wants. The only people who may haveany problems to me, would be those who are completely computer illiterate, and they may need a little help just to set it up and be down how to use it. Vast majority of phone users don't use their phone to anywhere near their full use!(IMO!)

I think this is true. Most people don't use their Android to it's full potential, but unlike Apple, that potential is there should they ever decide to put it to good use. Also, I am not a computer geek (far from it) and I don't root, and download custom roms like many here do, but I have experimented with pretty much everything available to a stock Android, and had lots of fun doing it. I had no guidance with my first Androids other than the wonderful folks here who taught me all the possibilities available, and how to best apply them. Bottom line, I have never had any trouble figuring out how to use my Androids, and the frustration level along the way was pretty non existant IMO. All it takes is a little time, patience, and a love of customization. If you don't have that, maybe Android isn't for you. Having said that, if you hit a snag, post it here at AF, and chances are someone will be able to help.

There is no learning curve, you don't need to be tech savvy, and I really hate hearing that. Android is just as easy to use as an iPhone. The difference is that for the tech savvy there is a lot more you can do with Android. For the everyday user just doing the basic (calls, texts, Web browsing, installing apps, music, email, etc) there is nothing complicated at all about Android. My wife is not tech savvy at all, and does not have any desire to learn how to do more on her phone. She uses it for both personal and business and never has any problems with it. I have never taught her how to do anything on her phone.

Android phones aren't really complex, the other users are just intimidated by all of the options suddenly available in as compared to say, a feature phone like the Nokia S40 phones (C3, X3, etc) and iPhones. Symbian even had more phone settings than Android if I remember correctly, or at least as many. They're more used, ok, its whats available in the phone. Just use it. The same way extremely non tech savvy users stick to using Internet Explorer on their PCs. They're still not used to thinking that their phones are actually mobile computers now.

I do believe there is more of a learning curve, especially for the non tech-savvy. But the great thing is, if a newbie is willing to seek help from a knowledgeable person, that person could set up the phone so it is even easier to use than say an iPhone. That's what I have done for both my wife and mother-in-law. You can learn as little or as much about your phone as you want, and still be satisfied.

Do you mind explaining more? This could be very beneficial down the line when my family's upgrades are available.

There is no learning curve, you don't need to be tech savvy, and I really hate hearing that. Android is just as easy to use as an iPhone. The difference is that for the tech savvy there is a lot more you can do with Android. For the everyday user just doing the basic (calls, texts, Web browsing, installing apps, music, email, etc) there is nothing complicated at all about Android. My wife is not tech savvy at all, and does not have any desire to learn how to do more on her phone. She uses it for both personal and business and never has any problems with it. I have never taught her how to do anything on her phone.

I'm sorry but I have to disagree. I am a very tech savvy user and I can get my phone to do everything I need it to do. But my wife really struggles when she tries to use my phone for anything. But she loves her iPhone. And I know other non-tech savvy people who have Android phones and HATE them...because they have so many problems trying to do the simplest things. I guess there are just different degrees of tech or NON-tech savvyness.

I'm sorry but I have to disagree. I am a very tech savvy user and I can get my phone to do everything I need it to do. But my wife really struggles when she tries to use my phone for anything. But she loves her iPhone. And I know other non-tech savvy people who have Android phones and HATE them...because they have so many problems trying to do the simplest things. I guess there are just different degrees of tech or NON-tech savvyness.

Personally: I think it has more to do with the way you think. I think the Android lay out and UI is wonderfully simple and logical while all the iProducts really confuse me. I just cannot get used to the way they operate.

I think one of the issues is that so many people buy smart phones without thinking about it. It never fails to amaze me me the number of people that have Iphones or Android and only ever use them for calls and text. They could have saved so much money and heartache by just getting a non smart phone. I use my phone to its fullest in all aspects of my life and now cant imagine how I would manage without it but its not for everyone.

Personally: I think it has more to do with the way you think. I think the Android lay out and UI is wonderfully simple and logical while all the iProducts really confuse me. I just cannot get used to the way they operate.

I think I would have to agree with you there, I didn't want a touch screen when my upgrade came up, but the only phone available which was better than my se w995 had to have a touch screen. I never actually properly tried any Android,I just checked to see what was the best available. But having tried iPhone a few times and the stupid pricing, meant I got an s2. I felt that using it has in general been simple and always found having the back button the best option (thank you apple for doing away with it and therefor not copyrighting it :-))

Most of the Android owners I know personally, as opposed to virtually here at AF, are anything but tech-savvy and have very few problems using their handsets. When they do, 99.9% of the time the issue is easily solved by suggesting that they read the user manual that comes in the box but is usually ignored.

Most of the Android owners I know personally, as opposed to virtually here at AF, are anything but tech-savvy and have very few problems using their handsets. When they do, 99.9% of the time the issue is easily solved by suggesting that they read the user manual that comes in the box but is usually ignored.

Have to agree with most of this, but how many of us actually got a manual in the box, mine was tucked away in the memory card as a pdf. This is my first smart phone having come from using a brick of an old Nokia.I'm fairly savvy and got right into it. after 8 months I think I'm ready to root and enjoy it more now.

I bought a smart phone to replace a Palm device. I was outraged by all the bloatware and other junk, so came here to figure out what to do about it. I did get a few complaints that I'm not using phone to fullest - but I'm not interested in entertainment and social apps. I don't need to check email every minute, nor do I need to tweet. I do need good storage and a fast setup. Some of the apps I use like astronomy have rather large databases. Audubon guides and their ilk do, too. They have to be self-contained so I don't need data when out of range. The bird would fly away before I can get the program open if the phone was slow. That's what's nice about Android - I've got it MY way.

Yes, there are people who probably shouldn't own an Android device. My sister was upgrading to a smartphone and I repeatedly pushed her toward the iPhone. I told her the pros and cons of each OS. She chose to get the HTC Rezound and I can tell she's not happy. Not that it's a bad phone, she just doesn't "get" the commitment of owning a more complex OS. Every time I use her phone, the notification screen is FULL of messages. Drives me nuts! People just don't know how to use their phones. That's why the iPhone IS good for the masses. The iPhone is the AOL of smartphones. Simple, easy to use, and perfect for those who don't there is something more rewarding out there. The masses just want to download the most popular app, listen to their music, and browse the web. And the iPhone is amazing at that. Android is also, but there is more under the hood that the public just doesn't want to get their hands dirty to find out about.

Alot of the frustration with Android is due to the myriad devices, ui's, builds, etc. The iphone is the iphone. Before the Bionic, my first device was an Eris. If I had judged Android based on that, I would have jumped to Apple. While I don't use all the features of the Bionic, it's still an excellent device.Also, using these forums will make the experience less frustrating.

Alot of the frustration with Android is due to the myriad devices, ui's, builds, etc. The iphone is the iphone.

What he said, and I assume that frustration is even greater for developers. I like the wide-open plains of Droid Country, and although it does seem to get out of hand, it’s certainly more interesting than sitting around, waiting for Apple to feed me an upgrade.

Yeah, I have to say it's tech is tech. Some folks can handle it, others can't. If I (or my wife coincidentally who's had an Android as long as I have) pick up an iOS device, we have a bit of time figuring things out. Sure I can open an app. But what if I need to change a setting, ringtone, contacts list? Why do I need to sign into an Apple account everytime I want to download an app, free or not? Not bashing Apple at all, but just saying every OS has a learning curve. Some are steep, others not. BUT, it's always up for interpretation of the end user.

Our family owns both apple and android products. Apple is better designed, better built, easier to set up and works better out of the box. It is more expensive and more difficult to customize, but 95% of time there really is no need to change anything because it works so well. It is kind of like owning a Porsche with a tiptronic transmission. You spend big bucks to buy it and it performs, and most owners would not want or need to change anything. It is boringly good and most competitors aspire to be as good even if they will not admit or acknowledge it. On the other hand, Android may be somewhat cheaper and gives you a lot of options to customize. However, Android is just a copycat when it comes to design, can be buggy and needs work to perform as well as an Apple. The Android stock apps (eg browser, calendar, email) are not as good as Apple's stock apps and you need to find alternative apps out of necessity. The OS always seems to be a work in progress and owners are always waiting for an upgrade or improvement which can not come fast enough. And when the upgrade does come, there is a substantial risk that it will bring on a host of new problems. It is like owning a Miata. With the addition of aftermarket frame stiffening, better suspension and forced induction to increase the horsepower, you could beat the Porsche at the track. But you better be mechanically inclined because you will be forever fiddling with it. PS. I cannot afford a Porsche and I drive an old Miata.

Our family owns both apple and android products. Apple is better designed, better built, easier to set up and works better out of the box. It is more expensive and more difficult to customize, but 95% of time there really is no need to change anything because it works so well. It is kind of like owning a Porsche with a tiptronic transmission. You spend big bucks to buy it and it performs, and most owners would not want or need to change anything. It is boringly good and most competitors aspire to be as good even if they will not admit or acknowledge it. On the other hand, Android may be somewhat cheaper and gives you a lot of options to customize. However, Android is just a copycat when it comes to design, can be buggy and needs work to perform as well as an Apple. The Android stock apps (eg browser, calendar, email) are not as good as Apple's stock apps and you need to find alternative apps out of necessity. The OS always seems to be a work in progress and owners are always waiting for an upgrade or improvement which can not come fast enough. And when the upgrade does come, there is a substantial risk that it will bring on a host of new problems. It is like owning a Miata. With the addition of aftermarket frame stiffening, better suspension and forced induction to increase the horsepower, you could beat the Porsche at the track. But you better be mechanically inclined because you will be forever fiddling with it. PS. I cannot afford a Porsche and I drive an old Miata.

Don't really agree. First, my Nexus looks considerably different than most phones out there (certainly the iPhone). It is not buggy aside from occasional radio issues. Stock apps like Gmail and Calender were upgraded quite a bit for ICS, and love them. The new browser allows for quick controls and full screen mode (without root) and I find it as fast if not faster than other ones. The OS will always be a work in progress, that's what Android is all about. Google releases the source code and manufacturers manipulate it how they see fit. I agree about updates being problematic seeing issues with the Sensation and SGS2 though. I will, however, put some blame on HTC and Samsung but not so much Google/Android. Apple makes some beautiful hardware and their software generally runs smoothly, but at the end of the day, it's what you prefer.

Just my thoughts.... I personally love Android. I am personally not really tech savy, and have never rooted my phones. I do, however love the fact that Android phone are so customizable. I disagree with the statements that the iPhone is more intuitive. I have fiddled around with a few friends iPhones and have actually found them hard to use. The iPhone has no dedicated Menu button, nor a back button. Also as another post mentioned about the iPhone, just to change the setting in a specific app, you have to find and then go into the setting for the phone. That IMHO, is not intuitive.

I didn't buy one years ago because they were Unibody, and New England was hell with salt on the roads. I could patch a hole in the Triumph.

I have only recently began playing with an Android phone and so far out of the box it seems pretty easy to use. I have used mostly Apple products in the past and didn't like the restriction on use they had. I played the Jailbreak game to get the functionality I wanted and have been pretty happy. It's easy to find Jailbreaking programs and help with Apple products. Android on the other hand is so splintered into different model phones and devices that I find it harder to grasp updating roms.

Some people think blondes are more fun, some prefer sultry brunettes, and then some like us fiery hot redheads! Each of us has something to offer, and it comes down to personal preference.

Some people think blondes are more fun, some prefer sultry brunettes, and then some like us fiery hot redheads! Each of us has something to offer, and it comes down to personal preference.

I don't discriminate, I own an iPad, a blackberry, and an Android phone. My preference is Android. Just like I like blondes, brunettes, and redheads, but redheads are my favorite.

I see nothing complex about Android or any other OS. Last time I check an instruction manual comes with the phone. It's simple, stop being lazy and go read the manual if you need to learn the capabilities of the phone. Better yet join a great forum like Android Forums.

Android gives you unshackled freedom, more customization/personalization, and it doesn't treat you like you're in daycare. I don't find Android hard to learn, but rather fun to learn and easy to use.

I don't think android is too complex, it is moreso than iOS, but then iOS is dumbed down. It is people who vary. I think yes, there are some settings to tweak to get android working how you want it, but whole swathes of people are getting the "latest smartphone" purely to catch up with the herd, or as a fashion thing, without using a tenth of what their phones are capable of. I think those people should have iphones, lol. These people are too lazy to even open the settings app . What I am saying is if you buy some piece of tech there is a minimum requirement that you RTFM & explore the settings. If that's too difficult, then you want an iphone

Don't discount familiarity and habit when talking about beginners' user experiences with computing devices. I think one of the reasons some non-tech-savvy users consider iOS easier or more intuitive is what they're used to. Apple wasn't dumb. They had a successful launch of the iPod and got tons of people hooked on iTunes. Then they integrated the iPhone with iTunes, and they made the iPod into the iPod Touch. And they made the iPad like a giant iPod Touch. Whenever I've talked to iPhone users who've switched to Android or who are thinking of switching to Android, the topic of iTunes always comes up. "Will it work with iTunes? Will my music sync up? How about my podcasts and smart playlists?" The answers aren't always easy. I happen to like iTunes myself, even though I haven't been a big iPod fan (I did own one of the earlier generations of it at one time). It took me a while to find what works for me on Android. I knew in advance that DRM is the devil, so even back in 2007 and before, I didn't buy songs from the iTunes music store. So no "protected AAC" files here. That isn't true, however, for all my friends. I know people who did buy those "protected AAC" songs. Also, for the first few years of Android use, I was perfectly content to manage things through drag and drop. After a while, I got tired of it, and I switched to DoubleTwist. That seemed like a bulky and slow solution. I kept doing researching and trying different solutions. I finally came upon iSyncr, which is great, actually. But it still takes a little bit of setup (and a small cost) over just plugging your iPhone in and having things sync with iTunes. Also, I hate that there's no back or menu buttons on the iPhone, but it is literally simpler and less complex to have just one home button. Press it once to get to the main screen. Press it again to go do a search. I don't think, however, that having four buttons is overwhelming to people. After all, the iPhone has that one main button, but it also has two volume rocker buttons and a power button. It might be disorienting to go from one main button to four main buttons, but it isn't too complex, just as going from half a keyboard to a full keyboard wouldn't be too complex. More buttons doesn't necessarily mean too complex. I do believe in theory there is such a thing as intuitive interface design. But I also firmly believe that familiarity and habit trump intuitiveness every single time. If someone is used to having to press Home twice to get to a search, then simply pressing the Search button once will seem less intuitive, or at least more annoying, just because of what the user is in the habit of doing.

I can say one thing, the fact that Android phones have a back button should be enough to sway anyone. My I-sheep friends agree with me all the time...

I'll probably be making the hop to Apple later this summer after a bit more than a year with an HTC Desire. The Desire is slow, laggy & increasingly unreliable. No real slam against Android, but my cell carrier is committed to CDMA. That pretty much precludes me getting phone from them any more recent than a Galaxy S. OTOH, the company paid big bucks to Apple for CDMA iPhones, so I can get something resembling a 2012 smartphone if I make the jump. If the Nexus were an option, I'd probably take a look at staying with Android... Having now used the Desire, the Galaxy S, and an iPhone 4, I'd give the iPhone a lot of points for speed, lack of lagginess, and expandability. The Android market is too fragmented to ever give users a consistent experience Edit: Two more words in favor of Apple - "battery life."

Actually the Desire keeps up fine with my brother's iPhone 4, once I removed all of that Sense stuff Sure, you may say that the user shouldn't need to have to do that type of thing, but that's HTC rather than Android.

Two more words in favor of Apple - "battery life."

hmmm, I never heard those words relate to an iphone, quite the opposite. An itouch on the other hand.... I think androids appeal to the phone modders, those of us who did that before iphone came along. The great thing with android is the wealth of roms out there. In iphone land you can jailbreak, but it's still iOS. I think the fact there are some more settings & customizations in android suggests some android users are getting better battery than iphone (imo), things like overclocking, undervolting & widgets that turn off radios, reduce brightness to lower than factory levels, other tweaks...