Who-sane's

As I’m an Adroid advocate, when I’m not doing PR for a living, Dubai-based Shufflegazine recently asked me to write an article for them on why I chose Android as my preferred mobile OS.

I happily obliged and this was the result:

Why I love Android

I’ve always been a big fan of Google. My fascination has nothing to do with the fact that they can kill you or me. But it’s mainly because I always thought of them as a “good company” that does no evil, and “good things” are what they’ve been doing for the past 12 years.

But this is not the reason why I like the Android operating system (OS).

My relationship with Android started in October 2008 when T-Mobile launched the G1 (the first Android-powered mobile, manufactured by HTC). I feel the need to highlight that I am no smartphone newbie, and the Android is not the first smartphone I’ve ever owned. In fact, prior to my first Android phone, I had an iPhone, and a Windows Mobile device before that.

First of all, the Android is an open-source OS, and that’s why some of the world’s biggest mobile manufacturers are venturing into the Android OS: Motorola, HTC, Sony Ericsson, Acer, Dell, Samsung, and many more.

Unlike other mobile operating systems, you can choose your Android handset from your favorite mobile vendor depending on your hardware requirements. In my case, I opted for the Motorola Milestone, aka the Droid, because of its superior features and outstanding hardware; this is my third Android phone. But I’ll only be talking about the software bit here.

One of the main reasons I really like Android is its ability to multi-task. Multi-tasking you say? Yes! And it’s not just on the pre-installed Google apps.

See, for example, I could be listening to my music on my Milestone, while playing a game of Archipelago – all this is out of working hours, of course – when I receive an email notification and as I’m replying to that email, I get distracted by a tweet notification. That reminds me to add that the notification mechanism on the Android is superior to any other mobile OS that I’ve tried. So I check the tweet – which is most likely from Guy Kawasaki – then I simply hit back and continue composing the email, all while listening to music and my game still on pause.

That was just a quick example of the multi-tasking you can do with Android. Of course, all that multi-tasking consumes more battery, but at least I’d like to have that option. I also like having the option of expanding my memory as I see fit, which I’m currently content with the pre-packaged 16 GBs that comes with the Motorola Milestone.

Next, Android’s user interface is just brilliant. It’s highly customizable and very user-friendly. You don’t have to scroll through dozens of pages to get to your desired app. Simply, a long press on the app’s icon and you can drag it on to your desktop. You have three home panels, i.e. desktops (5, 7 and 9 home panels on the Android 2.1) which you can customize to your preference. You can create different folders on your desktops and even add some widgets here and there, which could really make your life much easier.

You can set up a Facebook or Twitter widget on your desktop, for instance, which will feed the widget with your friends’ latest updates. This eliminates the need to even open the app to know what’s going on. You simply look at the widget on your desktop. Set up a news or weather widget on your home screen and stay updated with the latest breaking news or weather reports, right off your screen. Neat, eh?

Another reason I like Android is that it excels in contact-syncing. The moment I add or update a contact, or modify a calendar event, my phone immediately synchronizes it with my Gmail contacts and calendar. And if you’re like me, a heavy Gmail user, then Android is the OS you want to be considering for your next mobile.

Another important reason to consider the switch is Google’s active approach to constantly updating its OS. Only a few months after launching the G1, Google launched Android 1.5. Less than four months later, it launched 1.6 (the Donut) and a month after that came the Eclair 2.0. A few months ago it launched the latest Eclair 2.1, (and very recently, Google has announced the Froyo 2.2) see the pattern here? Updates are sent over-the-air, getting rid of the need to connect your device to a computer.

The one thing I probably don’t like about Android is its lack of Arabic support. However, it’s the almighty Google, so I can see that flaw being solved in the near future, especially now that Motorola has officially launched the Milestone in the region.

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1. Hasta la vista, Android!