iPhone vs. Droid phones for apps?

[apnep]

I just got a HTC Incredible for verizon and I LOVE it!! And I am a total Apple lover. I just can't take the AT&T service. I am sticking with Verizon.

Tammy, DH & I were thinking of getting the Incredible, but I was researching it vs. the Motorola's Droid X. Did you check out that one by any chance? I currently have a Palm Centro and I was concerned because I dropped it so many times but man has it been sturdy! Since the Incredible has a plastic bodyI was wondering if the the Droid X would be better because of it's metal body? Any advice?

 

[racechick8293]

I have an Android phone an iPod. The iPhone would win, hands down, for me. My Android phone seems "buggy" to me, while the iPod apps work every time, smoothly and well. And, while there is a good number of apps for Android, IMHO, there are so many worthless apps that only a relatively small percentage are worthwhile.

 

[Mom2Ashli]

I keep trying to figure out which Droid would work best for me. I am leaning more towards the Droid X. Love the fact that the camera is 8mp. But the Droid 2 has the keyboard.

 

[mistysue]

We love our Droids. My brother and I have the incredible and we have two sisters with Droid X's.

Both of the Droid X's seem to have strange bugs to them. The screen causes some dropped calls, occasionally they can't answer and something about them is just less user friendly.

My brother and I have been in love with the Incredibles since we got them. Neither of us have ever had a problem and we download all sorts of questionable crap.

My brother and I were discussing Iphones and Ipods yesterday and agreed that the higher availability of FREE apps for the Droid is a huge plus. There are a lot of apps that charge money through Apple but are free on the Droid, often they are paid for by ads but it basically means you are doing things and there will be a little ticker scroll that you don't even notice at the bottom of the screen.

 

[luvdisney00]

I have a fascinate (droid) and an ipod touch and I have to say although I do love my droid, apple technology just seems smoother and more user friendly. As others have said I went with the droid because I don't want to leave verizon and go to ATT. If verizon really does get the iphone (which I question, they've been talking about it for years) I would definetely get one as my next phone.

 

[bonoriffic]

The simple fact is that Apple's computers are far more secure than Windows and it has nothing to do with market share.

Apple OS X can be hacked in seconds. It is no more secure than Windows. Some argue it is far less secure because of ignorant statements like these, where people don't practice good security practices because of a belief and faith in Apple.

Based on the raw number of exploits found in the first year of Windows 7 compared to OS X Snow Leopard, Windows is more secure.

If you factor in Apple's statistically insignificant market share, the fact that such a high number of security risks are found should cause any Apple owner great concern. To put it simpler, nobody is looking for Apple flaws because nobody is using their computers. 97% of the world uses something else, there isn't any money to be made in finding or exploiting Apple security holes. Even with nobody looking, nobody using, and nobody caring... they still have a massive amount of security flaws. Imagine how many would be found if any of those conditions changed.

 

[MrsWendy]

Apple OS X can be hacked in seconds. It is no more secure than Windows. Some argue it is far less secure because of ignorant statements like these, where people don't practice good security practices because of a belief and faith in Apple.

Based on the raw number of exploits found in the first year of Windows 7 compared to OS X Snow Leopard, Windows is more secure.

If you factor in Apple's statistically insignificant market share, the fact that such a high number of security risks are found should cause any Apple owner great concern. To put it simpler, nobody is looking for Apple flaws because nobody is using their computers. 97% of the world uses something else, there isn't any money to be made in finding or exploiting Apple security holes. Even with nobody looking, nobody using, and nobody caring... they still have a massive amount of security flaws. Imagine how many would be found if any of those conditions changed.

Do you have any actual facts to back up that statement? If so, I would like to know it because I am not aware of any legitimate cases where someone was able to hack into OS X within seconds.

There have been people who have claimed to be able to hack into it within seconds but they always become silent when independent observers ask to see the proof.

There was a hacking contest a few years back that drew headlines when someone hacked into a Mac within about 30 seconds. But that was quickly discredited after people learned that the person who ran the contest gave user id's and passwords to anyone who wanted them and then turned off security settings that nobody in their right mind would ever turn off.

You mentioned the high number of security risks that have been found on Apple computers. What risks? There has not been one single virus out in the wild that affects OS X.

Like I said, if you have actual evidence to back up your claims please let me know. I would really like to hear it.

 

[ssawka]

Do you have any actual facts to back up that statement? If so, I would like to know it because I am not aware of any legitimate cases where someone was able to hack into OS X within seconds.

There have been people who have claimed to be able to hack into it within seconds but they always become silent when independent observers ask to see the proof.

There was a hacking contest a few years back that drew headlines when someone hacked into a Mac within about 30 seconds. But that was quickly discredited after people learned that the person who ran the contest gave user id's and passwords to anyone who wanted them and then turned off security settings that nobody in their right mind would ever turn off.

You mentioned the high number of security risks that have been found on Apple computers. What risks? There has not been one single virus out in the wild that affects OS X.

Like I said, if you have actual evidence to back up your claims please let me know. I would really like to hear it.

How about this one?

http://news.techworld.com/security/5392/worlds-first-os-x-virus-hits-apple/

Or how about any of the items mentioned on this site for examples of security flaws?

http://www.securemac.com/

 

[MrsWendy]

How about this one?

worlds-first-os-x-virus-hits-apple

Or how about any of the items mentioned on this site for examples of security flaws?

securemac

The first article that you pointed to claims that "Leap-A" was a virus. That is false. It was a trojan horse. There is a significant difference between viruses and trojan horses. Viruses can be installed and executed on a computer with no user input. Trojan horses rely on users doing foolish things. Leap-A was one of the amateurish trojan horses that I previously referred to. In order for it to do any damage, a user would have to knowingly download the program, knowingly execute the program, and knowingly enter their password. These types of trojan horses never do any real damage and no operating system can protect users against their own foolishness.

The second article you pointed to listed a bunch of routine security concerns going back nearly 10 years. Few, if any, of the concerns listed are considered to be actual security risks. Instead, they are theoretical risks that are unlikely to expose the operating system to any real threats.

I will again point out that even with that long list of security concerns that you linked to, and despite a small army of hackers who would like nothing better than to be the first person to create a virus that affects OS X, the total number of actual Macintosh viruses in the wild is zero.

 

[ssawka]

The first article that you pointed to claims that "Leap-A" was a virus. That is false. It was a trojan horse. There is a significant difference between viruses and trojan horses. Viruses can be installed and executed on a computer with no user input. Trojan horses rely on users doing foolish things. Leap-A was one of the amateurish trojan horses that I previously referred to. In order for it to do any damage, a user would have to knowingly download the program, knowingly execute the program, and knowingly enter their password. These types of trojan horses never do any real damage and no operating system can protect users against their own foolishness.

The second article you pointed to listed a bunch of routine security concerns going back nearly 10 years. Few, if any, of the concerns listed are considered to be actual security risks. Instead, they are theoretical risks that are unlikely to expose the operating system to any real threats.

I will again point out that even with that long list of security concerns that you linked to, and despite a small army of hackers who would like nothing better than to be the first person to create a virus that affects OS X, the total number of actual Macintosh viruses in the wild is zero.

Do you work for Apple, because this sounds like pure Apple marketing BS. Instead of admitting that there are actual security issues blame the user. Just like when the the iPhone 4 came out and people were complaining about the antenna, how did Apple respond? By stating that the users were not holding the phone correctly.

Malicious code is malicious code! It doesn't matter if the user has to perform and action for it to take affect or not.

As I said in a previous post, I am a Mac user and I like my Mac very much, but I am also not naive enough to believe that the computer is 100% free of security issues and that everything in the Mac world is rainbows and butterflies.

Anyway, we have gotten way off topic of what the OP intended. The OP was asking about the iPhone versus the droid and I simply brought up the virus thing to debunk the idea that the droid phones are full of viruses and bloatware, which simply is not true. Just like the idea that macs are 100% secure and have no possible exploits is also not true.

 

[Onceler]

Do you work for Apple, because this sounds like pure Apple marketing BS. Instead of admitting that there are actual security issues blame the user. Just like when the the iPhone 4 came out and people were complaining about the antenna, how did Apple respond? By stating that the users were not holding the phone correctly.

Malicious code is malicious code! It doesn't matter if the user has to perform and action for it to take affect or not.

As I said in a previous post, I am a Mac user and I like my Mac very much, but I am also not naive enough to believe that the computer is 100% free of security issues and that everything in the Mac world is rainbows and butterflies.

Sorry ssawka, I have to side with Ms. Wendy. Pretty much everything she said is right. I've been dealing with computer security for some 20 years for many different systems ranging from pc's to large server farms so I'm fairly knowledgeable when it comes to the pros and cons of each operating system's security.

To be honest, your statement that "malicious code is malicious code" exposes your lack of expertise. There is a huge difference between the insignificant nuisances that you linked to and actual threats such as viruses and poorly designed operating system security.

You are correct, however, that the Droid phones do not have much of a problem with viruses (as long as the software comes from a trusted source).

 

[ssawka]

Sorry ssawka, I have to side with Ms. Wendy. Pretty much everything she said is right. I've been dealing with computer security for some 20 years for many different systems ranging from pc's to large server farms so I'm fairly knowledgeable when it comes to the pros and cons of each operating system's security.

To be honest, your statement that "malicious code is malicious code" exposes your lack of expertise. There is a huge difference between the insignificant nuisances that you linked to and actual threats such as viruses and poorly designed operating system security.

You are correct, however, that the Droid phones do not have much of a problem with viruses (as long as the software comes from a trusted source).

Your point is well taken and yes I do know the technical differences between a virus, a trojan horse, and a worm. My point was that to the end user it does not matter and Apple wants users to think that the OS X operating system is perfectly safe, which is dangerous and exposes a novice user (which is who Apple tries to market to) to a great deal of risk. I agree with you that I am not a security expert, but I do have 16 years experience in the IT field and a Masters degree in E-Commerce, so I am not some novice user.