My Take on Owning an Android Smartphone

I recently joined the modern age and acquired a smartphone with a data plan. Prior to this tech milestone, I had been using a very simple Nokia flip-phone on a plan with T-Mobile. Aside from having a phone that would sometimes make me sound like I was making calls while submerged, my experience was positive. T-Mobile always provided me with solid customer service, and as far as I can tell the coverage was decent.

Things changed when my lovely girlfriend, Lauren (see image,) became a Verizon employee. To make a long story short, she was able to give me the opportunity to have a phone plan with data for less money than T-Mobile was charging. I'd been feeling the bug to get a smartphone, so I jumped ship. The following is a summary of my initial impression of what it's like to be both a smartphone owner, and an Android user.

First, I'm not sure if a lot of people are aware of what it means when somebody says the word "droid." Android is an operating system (OS), just like Windows. In the general sense, it is considered a mobile phone OS, but it is also used in mobile GPS units and some other gadgets. The OS is actually owned and developed by Google.

The term "droid" gets thrown around a lot lately, and in fact can be used in a number of ways. Motorola has produced a line of phones that are actually called Droids (Droid, Droid 2, and the Droid X.) Most people use the term to refer to an Android based device. The iPhone, which runs an operating system called iOS doesn't have an analogous shorthand nickname. You also don't hear people calling their iPhone an "iOS" based device. This is because there is only one mobile device that uses iOS (shhhh about the iPad), while there are numerous that use Android. The range of devices that are available with Android is comparatively vast, and in a significant way that abundance of variety is a reflection of what Android users value.

While both the iPhone and Android communities are rife with, for lack of a better word, hackers, it is my opinion that Android users are cut of a much nerdier cloth. The biggest difference between the iPhone and the Android fleet is in uniformity. Apple is the only company that makes the iPhone. Every iPhone 4 that rolls off the assembly line is the same. Every single one comes with the same apps, interface, music player, screen, etc. They're all identical.

Android phones, while they all are based around the same OS, exhibit immense variation. Even my phone, which is made by Samsung, has different varieties. The one Verizon carries is branded the "Fascinate." Sprint has the same phone, except it's called the "Epic 4g." Even though it has the same internal hardware as the Fascinate, the Sprint model has a slide out keyboard and a front facing camera. The Galaxy-s, as the hardware is called, is also carried by At&t and T-mobile.

The differences go even deeper with Android phones. Imagine that the iPhone was produced by companies other than just Apple, for a variety of different service providers (gasp, imagine that.) Each of these providers is going to want to set their iPhone apart from the others by tweaking it. Sometimes the tweaks come in the form of the Epic 4g with its significant external modifications. Other changes are embedded in the way you interact with the device: the interface.

With Android, cell providers have the freedom to alter the user interface. This can help make the phone unique, offering little bits of usefulness that other Android phones might not have. For the average (non-hacking) user, these variations might be the difference between being on Sprint instead of Verizon. Specifically, these differences usually are widgets and the overall "feel" an interface provides. iPhone users know what I'm talking about. Although the basic layout between the latest Android phones and iPhones is similar, the two Operating systems offer very distinct experiences.

The variation and freedom of choice offered by the Android lineup is refreshing when compared to the single offering from Apple. Conversely, the uniformity found in the iPhone might be its biggest strength. At this point, I'll finally dive into my first impressions of owning a "droid."

People have been hacking iPhones for as long as they've existed. The process is called "jailbreaking," and it offers users the chance to utilize their device's full potential. The analogous process with an Android phone is called "Rooting." There are similarities between the two processes, but for all intensive purposes they're the same. I decided to get an Android phone because of a couple of things. First, I had a distinct impression that the community of users was huge, helpful, and mischievous. Jailbreaking is the only way to do certain things to an iPhone. With Android devices, not only do you have the option to root, but the OS its self offers the user a degree of non-warranty voiding hackery that the iPhone can only dream of. I like to customize things and Android gave me that in a way the iPhone never would. The second primary reason for wanting to go Android is because of the bullshit exclusivity Apple has with At&t. One of my goals in switching providers was to pay the same or less than what T-mobile charged. That just wouldn't have been possible with At&t.

Since I started using my Fascinate, just a handful of weeks ago, I've had a mixed experience. The degree of customization options available to these phones is mind blowing. Through the Android Market (read: like the App Store,) you have access to something like 70 or 80,000 apps. The world is your oyster with Android if you like to constantly be changing your phone. Have a Fascinate, but want to make your interface look like an HTC Incredible? You're only a few downloads away from throwing the UI Verizon wanted you to have right out the window.

The options are seemingly endless. Aside from all the apps you can download, the visual tweaks you can do to an Android phone is incredible. Live wallpapers, custom icons, mountains of widgets for almost anything you can imagine. While these elements are all there in the iPhone, the control over how you interact with them is much greater on a droid.

It is my opinion that this variety is Android's greatest asset, and its greatest curse. Android its self, which is actually based on a modified version of Linux, is (like Linux,) considered "open source." What that means is, for app developers and cell providers, all the code for the core of Android is there for anybody to have. This concept allows cell providers to alter the OS's code (as long as any changes are available to the public) to establish a distinct user interface for a device that might be available on three or four carriers. It also lets app developers accomplish degrees of integration with their software that wouldn't be possible in a closed source environment.

Open source promotes development by all. Have a knack for coding and want to provide a tweak to Android that you think would benefit others? The opportunity is yours. Want to make money while you do it? Android has software that can integrate adds into your app for you. What I've found though is that in this never ending list of variations and modifications that any Joe on the street can do to their phone, they aren't all stable.

It's taken a while to come to grips with the fact that apps aren't guaranteed to be stable. The reality of owning an Android phone is that sometimes there are too many choices available. Since you dont know which app is going to both fill your needs and run smoothly, sometimes it feels like a minefield. At times you'll find something you've been looking for, or even something that was recommended to you by many in the Android community, and after installing it you'll realize that it only works right some of the time.

On the whole, the learning curve with this phone has been steep. People say it a lot, but the iPhone is much more user friendly and a lot less buggy. Now, keep in mind that the variation of the Galaxy-s phone that I'm using is in essence brand new. Even the iPhone had its problems when it came out.

One thing that keeps me going with my hacking adventures is this: there's no way it's this rewarding to mod an iPhone. The added complication makes it feel so good when you figure out how to do something you've been struggling with. I just don't think a lot of users will see the beauty in that struggle. Lucky for Lauren I get to figure everything out on my phone before I share it with her.

Thanks for reading,

Colin