“The issue took center stage at the big Google Zeitgeist event in London yesterday when Google co-founder Larry Page proclaimed that if your Android phone isn’t giving you 24 hours of usage, there’s something wrong,” Goldman writes. “But instead of taking ownership of the issue, and taking responsibility for a platform that doesn’t adequately power-manage all the software his phones can run, Page committed the cardinal sin of blaming Google’s third party applications developers instead.”
Goldman writes, “It’s their programs, and users running them all the time that suck up all that juice, not our phone.”
“Naturally, with Apple’s support of multi-tasking [in their forthcoming iPhone OS 4 for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad], there were instant questions about how this would affect iPhone’s battery life, and Jobs was quick to address it: ‘It’s really easy to implement multitasking in a way that drains battery life. If you don’t do it just right your phone’s going to feel sluggish and your battery life is going to go way down. We’ve figured out how to implement multitasking of third-party apps and avoid those things,’ he said last month,” Goldman writes.
“Hmmmm. And therein lies the difference between Google and Apple when it comes to innovation,” Goldman writes. “Google: The Android battery life is sub-par and we blame you, the developers, our partners out there who are slaving away at trying to expand the platform. Apple: We’ve identified an issue in our platform and we have come up with an innovation to address it, so that we can help you the developers, our partners out there who are slaving away at trying to expand the platform.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Excellent article except for one thing: Goldman makes it sound like multitasking is an “issue” specific to Apple’s platform, but multitaking is an “issue” for every platform; as it has always been in computing, mobile or otherwise. Apple has approached multitasking in pretty much the best possible way for mobile devices, while Google et al. — without having Apple’s implementation to copy — have wrongly applied the desktop OS concept of multitasking to mobile devices that, by design, carry limited battery space (“desktop OS” meaning devices that are plugged into the wall and notebooks with relatively large batteries).
Apple gave the rest of the world the template to create the modern smartphone (really a computer in your pocket). The Googles of the world promptly knocked it off as best they could, based perhaps on what their bespectacled mole could remember before he started recusing himself. In places where Apple didn’t rush to market, but instead worked on the details in order to get them right (cut-copy-paste, multitasking, etc.) the knockoff artists plowed ahead “Microsoft Bob-style” with little or no thought as to how the things they were implementing would negatively impact the user.
Clearly, Apple leads while others, like Microsoft, Google, etc., follow years later. Where Apple takes extra time to get things right (or has patents), the followers strike out wildly and blindly on their own.
Without Apple’s hand to guide them, they are lost.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Robert C.” for the heads up.]
MDN:
Your take is SPOT on!!! Certain people deride Apple for being a control freak. But they have not really put any thoughts into design their products the Apple does. But, despite all of this, I know that Apple will always be scoffed at for doing it their way. It’s the nature of being a genius.
One would think that Google IS the new Microsoft.
I think this proves it. Blame it on someone else if your software was not clearly thought out.
Then again, they may have been around Microsoft computers all day and could not see the problem anyway.
Beautiful! Nothing else to say.
This is precisely how the the wise “control” Apple exercises over its platform improves user experience.
It’s Apple’s platform. The primary purpose of the platform is to sell Apple hardware, not to advertise or to collect user data. Therefore, user experience is key. One key to user experience is defining and enforcing limits to what developers can do.
Exact A Munndo!!!!
The hype around Android is ASTONISHING!!!!
iPhone 4.0 will put this multiple tasking issue to rest.
OH!!!! And while Android users are @ it… QUICK!! Get ur hands on that wonderful Adobe Flash mobile 10.1!!!!!!!! What a JOKE!!!
“Google blames third-party app developers for Android phones’ terrible battery life”
HAHAHAHAHAHA!
Nobody blames Flash? I’m sure it’s in there somewhere, behind the scenes, sucking up clock cycles. It’s sneaky like that….
Like blaming forest fires on the damn trees.
This is exactly why the Apple business model is so far superior to MS or Google — Apple controls the user experience. Maybe you don’t get every useless widget you think you need, but what you get functions incredibly well.
Flash is not yet on the Android – but when it comes, the poor battery life will be no longer poor – it will be dreadful.
well thats smart… tell your developers that they suck…. good one
MDN:
Excellent article except for TWO things: Your thing plus:
Apple’s battery life on its laptops is significantly superior to the competition due to battery and power saving innovation on Apple’s part.
And, battery life on the iPad is absolutely stunning, again, compared to the competition. Remember Mr. Apple Is Lying If They Say They Have 10 Hours Of iPad Battery Life who was so effectively eviscerated?
So, yes, battery life is an issue, but, again, Apple is significantly better than everybody else, particularly on their laptops and the iPad.
(in fairness, not so much on the iPhone, relative to some of the competition, particularly RIM. But lets see iPhone 4).
MDN word: method – Apple has a method of working out issues like battery life that others can’t seem to copy
It is not the developers fault. If the users just did not turn their Android phones on, battery life would not be a problem. So Page should put the blame where it belongs: on the customers!
The devil is always in the details. Obviously, Google hasn’t learned that lesson yet.
Sometimes Walls serve a purpose; holding up a roof, blocking out the elements, preventing erosion, keeping out pests… The whole “Walled Garden” spin is weak to begin with.
I don’t see where he finds multitasking to be an “issue” for the iPhone. We all know that except for the supplied apps, multitasking hasn’t been possible. Apple states that pretty openly.
Now, with OS 4.0, we will get the equivalent of multitasking, that for most purposes will be just as good, and ill work better. He notes that.
The article is clearly up on Apple and down on Google.
Perhaps some better reading comprehension ability is needed on MDN’s part?
Android is a great platform unless you install apps that kill the battery or accidently download some malware. Great hardware doesn’t equal a great device.
It’s the disease of the day, like Adobes dumb CEO blaming Mac OS because Flash takes down browsers!
The grass is always greener on the other side.
Until, of course, you GET to the other side and discover that the “grass” you were hoping for was actually Easter Basket filler: colorful, shiny, plastic, and completely fake. All hype, no delivery. Pretty, but pointless.
Reality eventually trumps Potemkin Villages every time.
oh, the irony
Android customers are being jerks.. they should make phone calls ONLY. Android developers are bigger jerks… they should be making static web apps that have little to no multimedia / entertainment value! And Apple is the biggest jerk of them all! They should stop making Google look so dumb.
Poor Google. Everyone is such a big d*ck to them.
Looks like their batteries are used up in a ‘Flash!’
I don’t know about anyone else but I’ve never gotten 10 hours, let alone 10+ hours on my iPad. When I play Plants vs. Zombies (awesome game btw) my battery life is SIGNIFICANTLY diminished, like more than half. Might as well have Flash. I look forward to multitasking but Iam afraid if my battery can handle it.
MDN: I personally don’t see where the author was singling out Apple as having a problem with multitasking. It was simply being used to illustrate a point as to how Apple acknowledges, addresses, and moves on to the next innovation.
What a way to endear themselves to their developers. Android developers must be feeling great right now.
I Have no problem getting 10 Plus Hours and even playing games also, so it looks as if the Game itself may need to have some code thinned out and cleaned up to get better battery life.
And this all falls back to Job’s and the 3rd arty app Cross Platform kits, You may be able to port them to all different platforms but you will lose out on some very important savings in battery life and quality.
Fact are a more Streamlined code will give better battery life then a half backed app the has allot of unneeded code that is redundant and this in turn causes the Cpu/ GPU to work harder and use more power to process to get the same result..
Also, I am not saying that you don’t have problems with the battery life, all i am saying is clean code runs faster and uses less power, maybe you game has allot of “dirty Code” that needs to be cleaned up and maybe in a Update from the game developer you will se an improvement.
But under the Battery life Test that Apple has Posted, Using the “SAME” test they use, You will see the 10 Hours Plus.
Also to increase batter Life Turn Off your Wi/Fi Connection if not needed, You will see an increase by 25% due to the radio not searching all the time, Also setup Power settings to dim the screen after a period of time if you walk away, This Makes a BIG Difference in power Conservation.