Quora: Why would anyone use Android if they can get an iPhone?
Why would anyone use Android if they can get an iPhone? Because Choice. It's that simple. Choice. It may sound like a buzzword, and it kind of is, but that's what Android was designed for. Android is designed, in pretty much every software stack, to be the antithesis of iOS, and as a result can be manipulated for a vast array of devices and carriers. While some may complain that Android has too much choice, I'm going to have to disagree, and the sales reports of Android vs. iOS proves that point.
The result is that, essentially, different people have different contexts. They like or dislike different things. They use their devices in different ways. One single phone can not possibly hope to account for every type of user. Android, on the other hand is simply a platform and, by definition, is agnostic to both the hardware and interface. Meaning they can be completely different, yet Android still ticks away in the background, doing its job. If I want a phone with a physical keyboard, I can't get an iPhone without sacrificing that. I like having dedicated search and back buttons. I like being in any app, pressing the search button, and being able to do a contextual search. I like constantly knowing where the back button is, because it never changes. The menu button hides settings and options when I don't need them so I can see more of an app's UI, instead of settings buttons. I perhaps want a screen that is larger than 3.5" (like 4", 4.3", 5" even), because I might have big fingers. Or a screen smaller than 3.5", because I have small fingers. If I want to use a different keyboard than the one iPhone supplies me with; sorry, you're out of luck. If I dislike the Dialer app for my Android phone, I can just change it. Also, I happen to dislike iPhone's implementation of Messaging; sorry, you're just stuck with it. Maybe I like having the weather on my main page to see what the temperature is going to be tomorrow, without having to click. Sorry, on the iPhone you must go into an app first before it tells you. Perhaps I'm not happy with the Launcher (home screen) that iOS uses--you're stuck with it. Android allows users to go to the Market and simply download another one. Safari is not bad, but I would like my default browser to be Firefox. No can do. Default apps cannot be replaced on the iPhone. I desire having certain apps persistent in the background which routinely check for my location in the world and change settings, such as disabling wifi when I'm not at home, and disabling GPS when I am at home. Oh, you can't do that. Also, checking for when I turn it on silent so it can ask me how long I want it to stay silent for, so it can turn itself off silent after that time. Nope, can't have that either. I dislike iTunes, and prefer using other software for media. iPhone requires a person to sync with iTunes on a single computer (it can not use another computer's session without removing all media and starting again from scratch). They simply do not have the choice to use anything else. Android does not require me to use anything, not even a Gmail account if I don't want to. But if I do, there are options which allows me to sync with media software either through USB (doubleTwist), or over wifi (Winamp, doubleTwist's AirPlay, and also Google's Music).
I like that I don't have to plug my phone into my computer when I first buy it, and can simply start using it straight away (one can sign up or log into Gmail, but that's about it, and is certainly skippable), without having to download and install iTunes to activate my phone or device (what happens if I don't even have a personal computer to use?). Android also has a 'cloud-to-device messaging API' which allows a user to send an Android intent to a device, and have your phone react (example: browse the Android market website, select the app you want to install, send to your phone, and your phone will download it automatically). If I want to make apps (and I do), I don't need to go out and buy a Macbook, iMac, or Mac Mini, nor do I have to spend hours trying to force Mac OS X to work on my Windows machine. I can simply download the SDK, and the emulator is up and running. If my computer uses a variant of Linux, the SDK is also available there. Also, if I am a Mac user, I can still download the SDK and use it there. Choice: all major bases are covered. I happen to be a strong user of Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Search, Google Talk, Google Docs and Google Maps. The mobile implementations of all these are fantastic, and sync up automatically in the background. When I make a change on the web version of these apps, the mobile version also changes. When I draft an email, it's available minutes afterward in the Gmail app. When I perform a search on the web version of Google Maps, my phone remembers that search and offers it as a suggestion when using Google Maps Navigation. The same can be said for Google Search. Android is very closely interrelated on these Google services, and as a result is a pleasure to use. I also have the choice of not using any of these.
Android is available on nearly every major carrier, with support from nearly every major hardware vendor. This, again, amounts to more choice.
So there you go. That's the reason Windows won the war, and it's the reason Android will this time around. Choice. As Yishan Wong has on his bio: "Quantity has a quality all its own".
Note: I did not mention specific carriers, because the person asking the question might not actually be an American (and I do see many American-centric answers already). Also, I did not mention rooting capabilities for Android devices, because the iPhone can be jailbroken (jailbreak'd?) to do some pretty incredible things, too. However, these are still limited by iOS; you wouldn't necessarily see MIUI or CyanogenMod on the iPhone, for example.
There seems to be no advantage. Some people say "Android is open and will have more apps than iPhone", but all the Android apps so far are pretty bad and are far worse than iPhone apps.
My Answer
The result is that, essentially, different people have different contexts. They like or dislike different things. They use their devices in different ways. One single phone can not possibly hope to account for every type of user. Android, on the other hand is simply a platform and, by definition, is agnostic to both the hardware and interface. Meaning they can be completely different, yet Android still ticks away in the background, doing its job. If I want a phone with a physical keyboard, I can't get an iPhone without sacrificing that. I like having dedicated search and back buttons. I like being in any app, pressing the search button, and being able to do a contextual search. I like constantly knowing where the back button is, because it never changes. The menu button hides settings and options when I don't need them so I can see more of an app's UI, instead of settings buttons. I perhaps want a screen that is larger than 3.5" (like 4", 4.3", 5" even), because I might have big fingers. Or a screen smaller than 3.5", because I have small fingers. If I want to use a different keyboard than the one iPhone supplies me with; sorry, you're out of luck. If I dislike the Dialer app for my Android phone, I can just change it. Also, I happen to dislike iPhone's implementation of Messaging; sorry, you're just stuck with it. Maybe I like having the weather on my main page to see what the temperature is going to be tomorrow, without having to click. Sorry, on the iPhone you must go into an app first before it tells you. Perhaps I'm not happy with the Launcher (home screen) that iOS uses--you're stuck with it. Android allows users to go to the Market and simply download another one. Safari is not bad, but I would like my default browser to be Firefox. No can do. Default apps cannot be replaced on the iPhone. I desire having certain apps persistent in the background which routinely check for my location in the world and change settings, such as disabling wifi when I'm not at home, and disabling GPS when I am at home. Oh, you can't do that. Also, checking for when I turn it on silent so it can ask me how long I want it to stay silent for, so it can turn itself off silent after that time. Nope, can't have that either. I dislike iTunes, and prefer using other software for media. iPhone requires a person to sync with iTunes on a single computer (it can not use another computer's session without removing all media and starting again from scratch). They simply do not have the choice to use anything else. Android does not require me to use anything, not even a Gmail account if I don't want to. But if I do, there are options which allows me to sync with media software either through USB (doubleTwist), or over wifi (Winamp, doubleTwist's AirPlay, and also Google's Music).
I like that I don't have to plug my phone into my computer when I first buy it, and can simply start using it straight away (one can sign up or log into Gmail, but that's about it, and is certainly skippable), without having to download and install iTunes to activate my phone or device (what happens if I don't even have a personal computer to use?). Android also has a 'cloud-to-device messaging API' which allows a user to send an Android intent to a device, and have your phone react (example: browse the Android market website, select the app you want to install, send to your phone, and your phone will download it automatically). If I want to make apps (and I do), I don't need to go out and buy a Macbook, iMac, or Mac Mini, nor do I have to spend hours trying to force Mac OS X to work on my Windows machine. I can simply download the SDK, and the emulator is up and running. If my computer uses a variant of Linux, the SDK is also available there. Also, if I am a Mac user, I can still download the SDK and use it there. Choice: all major bases are covered. I happen to be a strong user of Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Search, Google Talk, Google Docs and Google Maps. The mobile implementations of all these are fantastic, and sync up automatically in the background. When I make a change on the web version of these apps, the mobile version also changes. When I draft an email, it's available minutes afterward in the Gmail app. When I perform a search on the web version of Google Maps, my phone remembers that search and offers it as a suggestion when using Google Maps Navigation. The same can be said for Google Search. Android is very closely interrelated on these Google services, and as a result is a pleasure to use. I also have the choice of not using any of these.
Android is available on nearly every major carrier, with support from nearly every major hardware vendor. This, again, amounts to more choice.
So there you go. That's the reason Windows won the war, and it's the reason Android will this time around. Choice. As Yishan Wong has on his bio: "Quantity has a quality all its own".
Note: I did not mention specific carriers, because the person asking the question might not actually be an American (and I do see many American-centric answers already). Also, I did not mention rooting capabilities for Android devices, because the iPhone can be jailbroken (jailbreak'd?) to do some pretty incredible things, too. However, these are still limited by iOS; you wouldn't necessarily see MIUI or CyanogenMod on the iPhone, for example.
