Apple announced last week the latest edition to its iPhone line, the iPhone 5, in keeping with the company’s tradition of simplistic product naming. Since then, Apple’s been getting a lot of heat for the device itself, particularly because the showcase feature is a larger screen.
Android users have long criticised Apple for passing off new iPhone features Android devices have had for years as “groundbreaking.” However, despite the cries from the Android sector of the smartphone market, Apple has been making a strong, user-friendly device for nearly six years.
The first and most important aspect of any Apple device is the uncomplicated interface, which allows for just about any user to quickly learn how to navigate the phone’s features. In the past, Apple’s been accused of making user-interfaces that appear to be too simple. What’s the problem with making an interface simple, though? The easier it is to use a device, the larger the market for sales. One of the biggest problems with the Android interface is that it tends to over-complicate navigation, while iOS offers a more intuitive way to use a phone.
Another incredibly important feature of the iPhone can be summed up in one word: stability. One of the problems with Android devices is that, at any given time, there are many different versions of the Android operating system running across many different devices. This can lead to software instability issues. For example: Android’s latest release, Jelly Bean (4.1), may run well on an HTC device but have problems operating on a Samsung device. The vast differences between devices can also make fixing these software issues more difficult.
Apple devices, on the other hand, offer a much more stable software platform. Because all iOS devices are made by the same company, it’s far less likely that a user will run into a software issue. It may still happen, but when it does, fixing the problem is much easier.
One thing in particular that the iPhone gets a lot of hate for is the apparent lack of user customization. In terms of application development, Apple offers a pretty liberal policy of submission requirements for apps. The company itself just wants to ensure that no harmful or offensive applications reach its storefront.
It may be true that you can’t necessarily fully customize the appearance of the iPhone. You can get different wallpapers and change icon arrangements. You may not be able to customize the look of menus and fonts, but that’s really all you can’t do. If a user wishes to obtain that much customization, the process of jailbreaking an iPhone has gotten much easier, and has been recently deemed legal. It does void the warranty with Apple, but if the phone is restored to factory settings following a jailbreak, the warranty can be reinstated.
Although the iPhone gets a bad rap for being a pretty and simplistic device, it offers solid performance and rarely disappoints the user, which is the most important aspect of any electronic item.
