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Android vs iOS

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The war between Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android rages on stronger than ever, but with the recent release of iOS 5 and Android 4.0 (aka Ice Cream Sandwich) on the horizon, there has never been a better time to do a basic comparison of the two. There are a lot of pros and cons for either side, but I will try to cover some core features and hopefully point you in the direction of the platform that suits your needs best.

Let’s start with the user experience in general. When comparing iOS and Android, you must take into account that an iOS-powered phone only means one thing: an iPhone. This is a powerful thing because it allows Apple to focus on one single device and optimize its operating system as best as possible. Android does not provide that single platform. This means that your experience can vary from phone to phone, manufacturer to manufacturer. If you pick up an iPhone, you know exactly what you are getting. If you pick up a Motorola phone, it will be a little different from an HTC phone, which will in-turn be a little different from a Samsung phone.

This turns out to be a blessing and a curse for both parties. On one hand, Apple gives you that seamless user experience, but it limits your hardware options. If you want a faster processor, larger screen, physical keyboard, or microSD card slot, you are out of luck. The issue with interchangeable batteries also comes up quite often when discussing iOS and Android. Android phones enable you to switch batteries if need be and, while the iPhone has excellent battery life on its own, it still eventually runs out of juice and can leave a traveler without a phone if he or she is not careful. Now, because Android gives you that large variety of handsets, it does come at a price. Some phones are going to run slower, be less optimized, or have problems that are only affecting people on your version of Android, on your specific phone from your specific carrier. Updates, though not important to everyone, come at varied times (or not at all) and are not deployed by Google, but by your manufacturer. On the flip-side, if Apple updates iOS, every single customer can update to the latest version. If you have a problem with your iPhone, there are literally millions of other people that may be experiencing the same issue.

One of the biggest reasons people invest in a smartphone is for the various apps that can be run on them. According to Apple’s website, there are over 500,000 apps available for download through the App Store. With nearly 400,000 apps (and a recent milestone of 10 billion apps downloaded), Google’s own Android Marketplace is no slouch. It’s possible to find an app for just about anything in either store so there is no reason for one to claim victory over the other in this department. The one thing I can give to Apple is that apps tend to get made first for iOS and then ported to Android later. This goes for big name games and major utilities, but this trend seems to be changing a bit as the Android Marketplace is growing and slowly building a better reputation for profitability. One major plus to the App Store is that Apple monitors app submissions much more closely and, because of iOS itself, creates a much more secure operating environment. Android has recently drawn a lot of attention due to issues with malware so it is something to take notice of when considering the two. It is by no means a rampant problem, but it is indeed possible to harm your phone by downloading suspicious apps.

Talking about apps brings up a few other issues as well, though. While iOS gets big name apps a bit more quickly, there is one category of apps where Android can have a moment in the spotlight: customization. In general, iOS is built for consistency and stability, whereas Android is built for tinkering. There are apps for things like widgets, themes, skins, custom fonts and icons, lock screens, and even application launchers. Due to the protected ecosystem of iOS, it does not allow for these kinds of customization. Android gives you the impression that you can really make your phone your own. It also means you can slow it down to a point of near uselessness, so there is a happy medium there that every tinkerer needs to find with his or her own device.

Media management and file management in general are also topics worth covering as well. While Android may ship with a basic file browser, both Android and iOS have advanced file browsers on the respective stores and both have similar features (compress files, extract compressed files, connect to network drives/computers, etc.) so that is pretty much a draw. The one issue here is that, with iOS, you still have to rely on iTunes to a certain extent. With an Android device, you connect to any computer via USB (or Wifi with apps like AirDroid) and can manage them as if the phone was a USB hard drive. iOS does have apps that can enhance the capabilities of its media management, but in terms of out of the box support, you must use iTunes for managing movies, music and pictures and it must be on your computer.

When you consider everything, the iPhone and iOS are marketed as an overall user experience and Apple manages to make it work quite well. The phone runs smoothly, the operating system and apps, in general, are all very well polished. The user interface is very intuitive and helps create a user friendly environment that someone with even minimal technical knowledge can work with. Android markets itself as a less restricted alternative to iOS, focusing on some of the more unique qualities it offers, like the potential for customization and the wide variety of handsets. While some power users may gravitate towards the platform for the many options it provides, Android is a stable, fully functional operating system that just gears itself towards make those options as accessible as possible. In the end, the choice is more up to whatever suits your needs best and that choice should always be left to the consumers themselves.

Beta Testing Thoughts

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Anyone who has ever played an MMO understands that there are several development stages the game in question must go through. For the majority of the time, the game is kept in an environment of internal testing where only the developers themselves, and possibly their friends and family, actually have access to the game content. Normally, after a given period of time, the developers look out into the community for those who appear to be the most dedicated and, after some serious consideration, they begin to start hand picking people to test the game. At this point, it can either be considered an alpha or a very closed beta. From there on out to release, the story is the same. The game becomes more and more open as time progresses and, in some cases, becomes totally open just before launch. With all of this beta excitement comes a lot of controversy, though. The debate between whether or not beta testing creates a positive effect or a negative effect is one that is heating up as more and more MMOs are right around the corner from being released.

Now, we all remember that very first beta invite we received in our e-mails. There was a sense of pride in knowing that we, as players, would be getting in on the ground floor of a particular game. One of the best side effects of this, though, was that we got to play the game early and we got to play for free. This, however, is actually the core issue behind this debate: whether or not to have a beta open to the general public.

Bringing the public into a beta can be extremely useful, but it can also be very problematic. When a game is far enough along in its development that it is ready to enter a public beta, it tends to create a lot of buzz and excitement. The fan base starts becoming restless with anticipation and they eagerly await the day they get that beta key comes in the mail. When that day comes and they log into the game for the first time, all of that anticipation comes to a head. Without something for all of that energy to be focused on, assumptions can be made very quickly and opinions can run wild quite easily.

The danger of releasing an unfinished product to the public is that the public itself can be very fickle. Someone’s opinion on a game can change in a few mouse clicks if things do not go well for any possible reason. If a login server is down, players get disheartened. If the patch client is broken, players get frustrated. These are still all issues found before the game even starts. Once someone is actually in-game, though, things get even more tricky. Issues like lag, graphical errors, glitches and exploits can all be solved through patches, but people will not always wait for that. In instances like this, most people tend to look to the development staff for answers. The best way to solve this kind of turmoil is communication, but that is easier said than done. During this time, that same team is normally working to fix the problems, not blog about them. Tracking down a customer service representative can be nearly impossible in cases like this and all that does is heighten the frustration.

Many players walk into these sorts of issues with open minds, but many others see it as a sign of weakness from the developer’s end. With these sorts of problems, players often run off and judge the game without giving it a second thought. More often than not, people skip over the word “test” in the phrase “beta test” and that is the root of the issue. If someone walks into a beta seeing it as a free trial, they have already gone into it with the wrong mindset. What is even worse is when someone does this during a very early stage of open beta, or even a stage of closed beta. It becomes difficult to retain a good public opinion when player communities are whispering about glaring flaws in a games design even months before it is set to be released.

Beta testing is not all bad and, even though I may have painted a negative picture about the process, it has some significant merit. If the development team has access to a set of good, understanding beta testers, it will often gather a great deal of important information from them. Working hand in hand with a developer should give anyone a stronger sense of pride and that is something many beta testers take to heart. Giving constructive criticism, suggesting features and tweaks, reporting bugs and exploits, and actively participating in the community can all help to build a better MMO. If a beta test goes very well, there is a chance that word will spread in a positive fashion and then flocks of people will line up to buy the game. If a development team is honest, communicative, forthcoming and open to its community, the community will begin to trust the developers. This trust can often be worth much more than good publicity ever could. Knowing that you have a dedicated player base is something any developer would love to have.

When it is all said and done, beta testing can be both a blessing and a curse. Bringing a game’s features into the public can be very helpful, but the opposite is true about any flaws that the game might have. The most important thing to remember is that being able to play a game early on is a privilege and it should be looked at as a test, not free game time. Developers understand this because they are on the other end of the story, but many players do not and that tends to cause problems in any MMO community. People running away from a game and blabbing about how it is bug-ridden is harmful for two reasons: It is giving other players a false impression of the game and it is usually breaking the non disclosure agreement you accept when joining the beta. I feel that beta tests can be helpful, but public beta tests, especially fully open betas, are best left for stress testing and not actual feature testing. Keep that core group of loyal players. Reward them by making them feel like they are a part of the development process because, when it comes down to it, they really are. Developers should be honest with their communities and, in turn, communities should have faith in their developers. When these two things happen, great MMOs are born.