Mango vs iPhone 4S

[JVH3]

This thread is dedictated strictly to specific advantages / disadvantages / differences / similarities of Mango compared to the iPhone 4S.

READ THIS ENTIRE POST BEFORE POSTING IN THIS THREAD

Both platforms have strengths. Both have weaknesses.

It will also be dedictated to differences in some core applications.

Some applications are not available to both platforms. Those will also be identified.

I will be reserving the first 5 posts to update specific differences.
I will also be reserving the next 5 posts, in case I want to expand to additional differences or comparisons.

I currently own an LG Quantum with Mango and an iPhone 4S. The Quantum is my personal phone. The iPhone was provided by work. I am not restricting the comparison to 1st generation Windows Phone hardware, but it is all I have to test with. Mango is Mango though, with few exceptions.

I actually really like both phones.

Post #2 dedicated to advatages of Windows Phone.
Post #3 dedicated to advatages of iPhone 4S
Post #4 dedicated to application differences.
Post #5 dedicated to application availability.

Please post replies with information you would like to see added to the posts.
Please post replies with other things you would like to see compared.

Keep all posts on topic. Be respectful. Do not bash other users or their posts.

I do not have an Android device. This thread is not a comparison to Android. Posts about android will be considered off topic and should not be responded to.

Keep in mind the forum rules and rule 15 regarding staying on topic.

As I discover information, I will update the 1st 10 posts as needed. Also, based on user posts, I will update the 1st 10 posts, if I am able to verify the information.

This thread is about specific advantages and disadvantages. So, when posting, please provide specific details. It is also intended to not be opinion based. Some opinion will be unavoidable, but facts should always be given. When posting for something to be added, it is also helpful if you can come up with the line to add to describe the advantage. I can usually do this, but copy and paste is alot easier.

Again:

This thread is about identifying specific advantages / disadvantages / differences / similarities between the two. Specific being the key.

General statements serve no purpose and only clutter the thread. There are 11000+ views of this thread. If everyone posted general opinions, the thread would quickly lose value and no longer be maintainable by me. I would be forced to close it or not maintain it.

I welcome and encourage posts that identify specific advantages / disadvantages / differences / similarities between the two platforms. Of course the first 10 posts should always be checked first to see if they have already been identified.

Thanks

JVH3

 

[JVH3]

Mango Advantages

1. Pairing with blue tooth headsets and car stereos is more consistant. Although the iPhone 4S supports A2DP to play music. The iPhone 4S will not automatically pair to play audio through my Pioneer 7000BT. My Mango phone does. The iPhone does automatically pair to support phone calls through bluetooth. There are also some A2DP devices that the iPhone fully supports, but not all. Even when my iPhone 4S is paired with my car stereo for music, the car stereo controls do not work to control the track. This is because the iPhone 4S does not support AVCRP for many devices.

2. Large tiles make it easy to operate with one hand using your thumb. Live Tiles also have larger text making things easier to read. Clicking the icons on an iPhone is not as easily done in a one handed if you have big thumbs.

3. The people hub. A whole post could be dedicated to this. Post dedicated to the People Hub There was also a good write up on this at wpcentral WPCentral - People Hub Overview

4. A back button. Many screens on the iPhone put a back type button on it. It generally is in the upper left. It does not usually say back. And it is not always there. It is up to the app dev to put it in.

5. Many common tasks do not require a seperate app. See Post #23 for some examples. Most of these tasks have free apps available for iPhone, so it is not a huge advatage. But the integration of all this is very nice on Windows Phone 7. Facebook, Twitter, Linked In.

6. Choice of hardware. Some phones have a physical keyboard, such as the LG Quantum. No iPhone has a keyboard. The new Nokia 900 has a screen that is also good in sunlight like the iPhone.

7. Linked Inbox or multiple linked inboxes for selected accounts without linking all accounts. You can keep your work email in a seperate pinable account than all your personal accounts. This is very useful so the indicator will let you know if you have an email that is for work. And other non work emails will increment the indicator on the other tile or tiles.

8. Picture hub - Gives access to all you pics, including facebook pics and facebook contact pics. There was also a good write up on this at wpcentral WPCentral - Picture Hub Overview

9. Me hub - lets you update facebook status and see facebook updates that you care about.

10. (this was a duplicate, so I removed it, but left it in it's place rather than renumber)

11. Browser allows pinch to zoom when rendering a site usintg HTML5 and Canvas. (Tested with both using a site internally developed at the company I work for.) Ironically the web application was designed for the iPad. I can actually use it with Windows Phone 7, but everything is too small on the iPhone to be useful. I cannot share the URL. Work would not like that. Of course, since it is targetting the iPad, it works well on it.

12. Seperate list that shows unread mail. iPhone only gives and indicator by each unread message. This makes reading your unread mail easier.

13. Live Tile indicators for email and messages are not unread messages, but amount of new messages since you last pressed the tile to see the messages. (I don't need to mark 50 messages as read to get rid of the notification). Seeing the list is enough to clear the indicator. You can still see which ones have not been read.

Some advantage pointed out by sayonical here Post 31

14. Micorosoft Office is included at no extra charge.

15. Turn By Tap directions. Although you need to tap, it will recalculate if you deviate from the route after a tap.
Some OEMs such as HTC and Nokia provide applications built in to do tap free Turn by Turn directions. With the iPhone a 3rd party not built in app is always required to accomplish this.
Both HTC Locations and Nokia's app also provide offline navigation.
HTC Locations offline mode is free for 30 days, but Nokia's app is free with a Nokia phone.
HTC Locations online mode may be free after the 30 days. Someone that is using it for more than 30 days or can no longer use it after 30 days, please post so I can update this.


16. Bing integrates alot of functionality, such as barcode reading, music identification, applications for your search, local scout. (There is a Bing app for free for the iPhone by Microsoft, but it's included with Windows Phone)

17. Ability to edit meeting notes to meetings that you did not create. The edits are for you only, but do make the update in exchange. Post 41

18. SIP Keyboard (on screen) is bigger and changes the display to reflect the case A vs a, so you know what you are going to type. Useful when entering passwords.

19. Built in AM/FM Radio. Data is not needed to get music. Useful when at work on a company plan with data limits and WiFi Restrictions. Also useful an health clubs to listen to the audio for the TVs. Also, see Post 41

20. Automatic word suggestion when typing. Shows a list of words to pick. The iPhone automatically corrects words and suggests a single word.

21. Tell Me - It has similarities to Siri, but there are some things Siri does better, just like there are some things Tell Me does better. I am putting this as an advatage for both. I will use a post to outline some differences.

22. Zune Pass

23. Unlimited Sky Drive space for Photos for Free.

24. Ability to directly share a photo in Facebook, while viewing the photo and not first being in Facebook. details: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=20815029&postcount=99

25. Ability to set the fetch frequency and enable or disable push email on a per-account basis. iPhone fetch frequency is a setting for all accounts. With the iPhone, you can have multiple push accounts and multiple poll accounts. But the poll accounts all poll at the same frequency. With Windows Phone, I can have one account poll every hour, another poll every 15 minutes, and another be a push account.

26. (For Windows users only) Pictures taken on a Mango phone display properly on Windows computer's default programs. Windows 7, Vista, and anything earlier do not properly support the rotational information in the EXIF information on jpegs. It does actually support EXIF, just not the rotational information when rendering. iPhone uses EXIF to set the rotation. Also, no web browser other than Safari supports EXIF for orientation. Although the fault lies with Microsoft for viewing in the OS, the result is extra work to make the pictures taken from an iPhone display with correct orientation on Windows machines. Other programs can be used to view the pictures and there are lossless ways to rotate them. Nonetheless, it is still additional work to view them on Windows computers. Less work for those you share with is an advantage.

27. Ability to use full website without being redirected to a mobile version. On the iPhone, some sites redirect you to the mobile version. And there is not a way to use the full version unless the site provides a link to it. Not all sites provide this. There are apps for the iPhone (JourneyLite and Mercury are 2) that allows full browsing after telling it to simulate IE9.

28. Multiple User Groups - link to post with details - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=21419216&postcount=153

29. Bing Maps can find some old established addresses correctly that the iPhone Maps cannot. (note Bing Maps is available for free on the iPhone, but Siri and most, in not all, integrations will not use it). (I will edit this if anyone can post a verifiable address that Bing incorrectly finds, but the iPhone maps correctly finds.) discusssions on this start here

30. Ability to snooze an appointment. With the iPhone, if you have a meeting scheduled for 2:00 PM and are set to be reminded 15 minutes before, you will get notified at 1:45 PM. But there is not way to snooze for 10 minutes and get notified again at 1:55 PM.

31. Rescheduled appointments from Exchange work properly. The iPhone asks if you want to rescheule the meeting or all meetings, even though the original rescheduler defined this when rescheduling.


...
more to come

 

[JVH3]

iPhone Advantages

1. The 4 column grid lets you see more applications at once. The pages of apps to launch also makes it so it is easy to find the applications that you have.

2. Applications are very mature on this platform. Some include additional features or details not in the Windows Phone version.

3. There are more applications available. They are normally cheaper as well.

4. The physical switch to turn off the sound.

5. Battery life. With WiFi on and in use all day on my iPhone, I still have 75% charge. My Quantum has had WiFi and BlueTooth turned off and only has 50% power left. This may be a gen 1 vs gen 2 issue for Widows Phone 7 devices, but it is all I can compare. Maybe some new Titan users can comment.

6. iPhone allows any type of background process. This means that any app, such as Glympse can update send your location while in the background. It also means that features in some apps will not be present in the Windows Phone 7 version that do this, because Windows Phone does not allow this. See Post #142 for details.

Items 7 to 16 were identified by Vetvito here: Post #34

7. "Cut" - both have copy and paste.

8. Games: In game voice chat - able to trade game items with other players

9. browser has a forward button and find on page function (confirmed to not be in Win Phone 7)

10. Integration with all apple products including apple tv

11. Video MMS - iPhone can send and receive. Windows Phone 7 can receive them and play them, but it can not send them.

12. notification bar with widgets and unified notification access from the lock screen

13. Basic photo editting is built in.

14. iTunes Match - 14, 15, and 16 described here: Post #40

15. emoji icons

16. Safari Reader - removes distractions, such as ads and makes it mpore like a pdf.

17. Massive amounts of hardware made specifically for iPhones which ensures full compatiblity.

18. Compass is perfect on the iPhone. Often times, it is incorrect on my LG Quantum. Maybe someone can comment on a Gen 2 Windows Phone 7 or a different model to see if it is better.

19. Landscape support when playing music.

20. Siri - It has similarities to Tell Me, but there are some things Siri does better, just like there are some things Tell Me does better. I am putting this as an advatage for both. I will use a post to outline some differences.

21. Music - shake to shuffle - takes you to a different song if you don't want to listen to what is playing. (can't use back arrow to go back to the song though)

22. Better backup and restore system. (backs up more than just purchased apps and everything can be in iTunes or the iCloud by user choice).

23. On January 1st there will be no YouTube player for Mango that supports HD video.

24. Ability to enable and disable location services on a per-app basis in settings.

25. Setting up caldav and subscribed calendars in iOS is a snap, where that capability doesn't exist on WP7. CalDav link for those that don't know what this is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CalDAV

26. Able to view Comcast video on demand through the xfinity.tv app. Although with a Blast Extra subscription many shows available on your laptop will not play through the app. More Details: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=20830665&postcount=111

27. Able to Stream Dish Network video with an app from the DVR if the DVR receiver is new enough. Ability to use DirectTV Nomad app with $150 additional hardware to get direcTV videos onto the DirecTV DVR

28. Safari on the iPhone 4S renders some mobile sites with slightly incorrect HTML or CSS better for the user where some mobile sites are not usable in the mobile version by Windows Phone 7.

29. Ability to take screen captures, which is very useful when asking for help or illustrating steps.

30. Ability to group programs into folders

31. iMessage - this allows iPhone users to text message iPhone users without counting as text messages. This spans carriers. There are many free messaging programs available to all platforms, so this is not a huge advantage. Windows Phone 7 delivers free messaging through Facebook integration so long as the users are friends on Facebook. Pick your evil here. To text for free using the built in solutions, with the iPhone friends all have to support Apple or on Windows Phone friends all need to be friends on Facebook.

32. Outlook Syncronization through USB. This is not possible with Windows Phone. Windows Phone requires over the air syncronization, such as with an Exchange Server or gmail or Windows Live. Many don't consider this to be a huge issue, since there are plenty of free over the air solutions and the growing trend is to not tie devices to a PC. (the cloud is the future). But if you feel strongly that you need to tether to Outlook, Windows Phone will not do that.

33. iCloud syncronization with other devices - With Apple products, iCloud will automatically sync apps, music, video to all devices registered with the Apple Id.

34. Better pixel density and resolution.

35. FaceTime is built in - (Video Messaging for iPhone to iPhone or other Apple product such as an iPad). Advantage is not great since Skype and Tango are free and available on all major platforms. FaceTime is only available for Apple products.

36. PhotoStream - streams pictures from the phone over WiFi to your computer. Full resolution is preserved. With Windows Phone - Sky Drive, it syncs over the air and does not require WiFi, but it adjusts the pixel resolution (I need to verify whether this is configurable).

37. Ability to open links from a page in a new tab without navigating switching to the tab. (considering dedicating a post to browser advantages and disadvantages) Safari for iPhone vs IE for Mango





...
more to come

 

[JVH3]

Application differences

Windows Phone 7 applications tend to use the Metro UI to be consistent with the platform.
The iPhone tends to be consitent with the way iPhone applications run.

Facebook
Seemed to be pretty much the same on both.
The iPhone app does give easier access to the features and might let you do more.

Twitter
Seemed to be pretty much the same on both.

Foursquare
Seemed to be pretty much the same on both.

Glympse
Windows Phone 7 does not update your location when the app is not the foreground application.

iHeart Radio
Seemed to be pretty much the same on both.

Tango
Seemed to be pretty much the same on both.

Angry Birds
Seemed to be pretty much the same on both. iPhone has more versions and levels.

Flashlight Apps
Both have Flashlight apps that work identically. See post #14 for a link to download the Windows Phone 7 app (Flashlight-X) that works just like iTorch4.
Note: This requires an LED flash. All iPhones have and LED flash. All Windows Phones have a flash, but LED is not required. If a flashlight app is required, make sure to get a phone with an LED flash.

LG Panorama Shot vs Dermandar - Both are free apps to create panoramic pictures.
On the iPhone, you can do a full 360, are just any interval in between. It will also create a 3D type viewing of the area. But both make excellent panoramic pics with no visible problems near the stitching.

Yelp (finds nearby businesses)
Seems very similar on both platforms. iPhone wanted alot more info on the start that can be skipped.

DirecTV (Not Nomad)
Both are pretty similar and let you do the same things.

 

[JVH3]

Application Availability

This is not going to include all applications. There are almost 50,000 available for Windows Phone 7. There are more available for the iPhone. I am not going to include apps that are alternate interfaces to other services.

Available on iPhone, but not Windows Phone 7
Most versions of Angry Birds.

Available for Windows Phone 7, but not on iPhone

Availbable for both
Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, Glympse, Shazam, Tango, You Tube, Angry Birds, Flixster, Fly Delta, Adobe Reader
Apps for Google Voice, Pandora, Skype

Games
There are games available only for Windows Phone 7, that are not available for iPhone.
There are games available for iPhone that are not available for Windows Phone 7.
I am not going to list them for either.

Updates:
Since MetroRadio works for Pandora on Mango, I removed Pandora from the list of unavailable apps.

 

[JVH3]

Similarities

Positive
Both easily let you sync with an Exchange server. (Email, Appointments, Tasks, and Contacts)
Both let you easily find and install apps.
Both autmatically notify you of application updates.
Both let you text message by voice.
Both have ways of streaming music and video.
Both have built in maps with navigation.
Both will give you weather updates.
Both support HTML 5.
Both give fast access to the camera when the device is locked.
Both support and have multi player games.
Both have Google Voice Applications.

Negative
Using either Bing on Mango or Maps on the iPhone to find nearby locations often times does not find the closest option. Each is better or worse depending on the location. iPhone is better in some areas and Bing is better in others.
BOTH still lack the ability to create complex repeat patterns for appointments.

 

[JVH3]

Differences

Swipe left on iPhone to get to search. On Windows Phone 7, there is a search button.

Live Tiles vs icons. It seems that some icons do update on the iPhone, such as the Calander, but the weather icon always says 73 degrees. On Windows Phone 7, the tile shows the temp.

iTunes verses Zune.

Press the button to then launch camera without unlocking verses pressing and holding the dedicated camera button.

 

[JVH3]

iTunes vs Zune

iTunes
Create ringtone by converting to m3a and renaming to m3r. Then drag to Tones.
Backs up all apps to your computer from the phone.
File-Add File to Library or Add Folder to Library. No way to remove a folder. Must remove songs 1 at a time.

Zune
Create ringtone by setting genre to Ringtone.
All app purchases will automatically restore if you need a replacement phone or restore.
Backs up phone OS to computer when updating. Not sure about settings and accounts.
Easy to add and remove directories for Zune to automatically add to it's library while keeping the music in the original location

Both
Easy to make and manage playlists.

More to come.

 

[JVH3]

Reserved for future comparisons 4

Reserved for future comparisons 4

 

[JVH3]

Reserved for future comparisons 5

Reserved for future comparisons 5

 

[JVH3]

The People Hub in Mango

This will be dedicated to the People Hub.

 

[ceesheim]

Nice to see you here on wp7

nice and clean thread for now.
lets hope it will stay like that, we don't want a war here.

do you need this post place to ?
if yes I can remove it for you.

 

[JVH3]

Nice to see you here on wp7

nice and clean thread for now.
lets hope it will stay like that, we don't want a war here.

do you need this post place to ?
if yes I can remove it for you.

I want to keep this thread objective and clean. So many are lopsided and become war zones.

I have enough posts reserved for anything else I may want to add

I've had my Quantum since the end of August. And work just gave me an iPhone 4S, so I figured I'd do a side by side comparison.

Coming from Windows Mobile and custom ROMs, I did not expect to like either, but have found both to be very good.

 

[dada051]

You can find, on MarketPlace, apps that not blinking the camera led flash.
One example : http://www.windowsphone.com/en-US/apps/2638b778-5eab-45f1-a511-a08e1dbde751

 

[JVH3]

You can find, on MarketPlace, apps that not blinking the camera led flash.
One example : http://www.windowsphone.com/en-US/apps/2638b778-5eab-45f1-a511-a08e1dbde751

Nice tip. I am installing and testing it now.
Tested and verified. I am updating the post now.

 

[dada051]

I believe that it exists exclusive app in marketplace in the US.

Arcane's Tower Defense is an exclusive WP7 game.

 

[z33dev33l]

Wp7 certainly feels smoother and the apps that aren't simply ports seem to run smoother on wp7. Words by post for instance is much smoother on wp7.

 

[scoobysnacks]

Nice objective comparison!

I own a quantum as well and I love it.

Perhaps one difference you can point out is that on wp7 you have choices of different hardware (like a physical keyboard if that's important to you)

 

[PG2G]

I think Angry Birds on iOS/Android has significantly more levels.

Foursquare for iOS5 allows for the Radar feature (http://blog.foursquare.com/2011/10/12/the-real-world-now-in-real-time-say-hi-to-foursquare-radar/) which, like Glympse, won't be possible until Microsoft provides a background location service.

Other apps affected by the lack of background location services include GPS and the run tracker type apps.

Maybe you should include a section about multitasking in general.

 

[domineus]

great idea for a post it can help a lot of people who may or may not want to switch