What sort of apps would you like to be available, but aren't available due to restrictions imposed by Apple?

do they not still block anything with in-app payments for example ?

Such as forcing kindle to go through itunes payments ?
Sony e-book reader app ?
Google Voice ? (in fact many of the google apps)
Alternative keyboards/customisations ?

To many this wont matter ..... of course Apple block Google Voice and then miraculously invent Siri a couple of years later

If they just stuck to limiting viruses/malware then it would be great but they seem to be rather more controlling than that.

A quick google shows they have previously blocked Financial Times apps and Android magazine apps too

i just dont really want a company deciding what i can and cant use on my kit .....

Thinking that this is a negative is a very misguided notion.

Third party payment systems were only allowed by Google because, in their panicked rush to respond to Apple, they launched a load of incomplete services that forced developers to look elsewhere as they weren't providing those services at that time.

Now that Google Wallet is established things are going to change fast, but not before the damage of fragmentation has been done.

And just to demonstrate how misguided your notion is - Google have just banned third party payment services on all apps in Android Market ( / Google Play).

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/...m_campaign=rss

There's going to be a few more of these sorts of changes on the horizon for the Android ecosystem too.

hmmmmm...... still doesnt cover all the examples.

Im the first to admit that to most people this wont be a problem. They will be quite happy with Apple nannying them and deciding what is and isnt allowed...... to me its just leaves a bitter aftertaste....

And dont forget with Android you always have the option of using informal markets or even side-loading apps (by use of a simple tickbox enabling the feature - im not talking rooting/jailbreaking here !)

I do love all this 'panic rushed' style thinking tho ... Android existed before iOS (although admittedly not owned by Google). I assume you knew that though ?

iPhone launch date: 29 June 2007

Apple App Store launch: 10 July 2008

First Android phone (HTC Dream) & Android Market launch date: 22 October 2008

Apple were first to market with the OS by 481 days

android Inc founded 2003 and purchased by Google 2005 .....

Oh and app stores existed waaaaaay before 'apple' invented them .....

Apple Inc, founded in 1976

Oh, and you realise that iOS is certified UNIX, and therefore can trace it's roots right back to the very first version of UNICS in 1969?

And I never said Apple invented the app store, I just gave the date they launched theirs.

I'm very amused by the fact that your only responses are to take my words out of context

I read though Android of that time bore little resemblance to the Android that eventually made it to market. It started out more of a Blackberry OS ripoff. It's only after the success of the iPhone that it 'transitioned' to something more iPhone-like.

Microsoft tablet pc, released 2001.

So what is your point..

You've obviously not used iTunes in a long time then?

I'll be the first to admit that I hated iTunes at first (with a passion) as I was in the conversion stage from using simple windows based systems for music.
But with 2x IOS 5 devices, I had to stick with iTunes for handling my music and had lots of problems with it, which were all down to me not knowing how to use it properly.

Now I've learned more about it, I have found its a very powerful piece of software that does it's job very well. After being a fan of WMP for years, through its simplicity of use and good looks (imo) iTunes quite frankly wipes the floor with it.

A friend of mine used to say get a mac, when I had problems with iTunes, but after looking at it on her mac and on my pc it looks and runs the same

Judging by your posts in this thread you're doing everything possible to convince yourself that anything Apple is dire and awful.
I used to feel the same, I used to take the pi$$ out of everyone with their iPhone's, saying how crap they were and how bad Apple is. I even vowed I would never own one of Apples devices.
A year later I own an iPad2 and an iPhone 4S, and I love both of them as they work with each other and suit my needs.

I don't really see much of that as a problem, because none of it seems to stop me using any particular kind of app - its more about how payments are made, or not being able to customise iOS.

I get your point, but I don't think the numbers of apps blocked for unreasonable reasons amounts to very much.

I think there's a big difference between a walled garden where the company serves up a very narrow range of content, and a walled garden where very few things are blocked, and more often than not blocked with good reason.

Google Voice and Siri are totally different types of applications, a rather obtuse comparason.

Yes, Siri has the usual restrictive 'more cash' Apple marketing whilst Google stuff works across devices.
Apple certainly have good business sense.

The standard anti-apple response from you I see, do you go into every Apple related thread to spread this nonsense...

They aren't even the same type of apps, you may as well compare Angry Birds to Google Voice..

My point is that I agree with you!

There are a lot of people who genuinely believe that apple invented this stuff ......

Microsoft ...... Nokia ...... been doing this for ages ..... and I was responding to a post that someone made about android rushing out android as a copy of iOS. My time frames were stated to make it pretty clear that android was around conceptually since way before the first iPhone. As were various other app stores and touch screen devices.

Even windows mobile has been around longer (I loved my windows HTC Raphael! )

If you read my posts I'm not saying apple products are bad. What I'm saying is that it shocks me that people follow a brand so closely that they will buy products unseen and untested. My son has an iPod touch and loves it. Until recently there were also 3 I pods in the house. I do have recent experience of iTunes. One of my bugbears was that for 4 different devices there was no easy way to manage separate syncing without setting up 4 different windows user ids?! And that if I buy songs through iTunes I can't easily port them to a non apple player.

We do agree. Some people will not see this as an issue. In my case I do. Its all about walled gardens. My thoughts are that as more people own android they will see a benefit of being completely android in the same way as those with iPhones get the benefit of cross syncing with ipads.

Oh ..... and Google are denying the wallet issue ..... but I'd wager that's down to the bad press it was getting rather than their preference

Not sure about buying things untested - I've had a look at iPods in stores, and ordered a new one unseen. But I have every confidence that its going to work as advertised. And if it doesn't, it'll come with a guarantee.

With the syncing on multiple devices, create a playlist for each device, and set each device to sync with its playlist.

There's certainly a benefit to being within a particular eco system, whichever it may be.

And whilst I get the principle about the walled garden thing, there may be an irony in that there's more available within Apple's walled garden than there is with Android.

The playlist option was the only one i found but didnt really suit needs (my daughter kept overwriting everyones ). Ended up creating different windows 7 profiles but that was a pain with the main computer being plugged into the TV as a media player .....

My point wasnt aimed at those who had tried and tested products, it was more at the proportion who are in the 'apple have released a new product therefore i must buy it' category. I just cant think of another brand where people would pre-order a very expensive item without first seeing reviews or even what the specification is ??

If my Dad was after a tablet I would recommend an iPad as he is 70 and not very techie. If my kids want a tablet i'd recommend Android as they have now caught their Dads obsession with tinkering and customising !

What i would never do is recommend someone spends their hard earned cash on something because of a brand rather than the product itself. Im aiming my concern at the small minority who would camp out ouside an Apple store to spend hundreds of pounds on something that has never seen a review !?

Agree with you on the app front. Android does need more apps that have been optimised for tablets. However I have not come across an app that hasnt worked on my tablet yet.

This is an interesting Comparison chart between the ipad3 and the samsung galaxy note 10.1.

I wouldn't need to if users supported each other a bit more.

Android and even Windows users often have the upper hand over the the money takers.

I saw that chart the other day. I love how they've kind of repeated the "can use two apps side by side" four times!

Essentially, if you want to use two apps side by side, and use a stylus, then the Note is for you.

So the playlist option was fine - I don't think you can blame Apple for your daughter messing it up for everyone else!

And yes, I agree that people camping out for a week are a bit extreme. And I take your point about "its Apple, so I must buy it" (although I suspect most of those already own Apple products, know they like them, and have a pretty good idea about what they're going to be getting.)

Apple bought siri, they didn't invent it.
As someone has already said, Google Voice is a unified telecom solution, siri is an assistant app. It's like saying that a helicopter is a rip-off of a bike.