For those of you that have followed me for awhile you know that I’m not a fan of the iFad and I lean toward Google and PCs with my fandom in general.  That said, my recent experience with Android devices has me losing some of my trust and excitement for the platform.

I was one of the first people to get a Motorola “Droid” when it first launched with Verizon over 2 years ago.  What a great device!  While I did find myself running out of memory, the phone itself performed great and I watched the Android app availability grow to match that of Apple.  I was impressed with what was happening and became a big supporter of the platform in general.

2 years later it was time for me to upgrade to a new device.  And, oh boy, 4G comes to Verizon.  Having jumped right into a brand new device before with the Droid I didn’t think twice about getting the HTC Thunderbolt.  Well, that was a mistake I guess.  Just 2-3 months with the Thunderbolt and I couldn’t have been more disappointed.  Whether it was the poor battery life, my face hanging up on people, or finally the phone just restarting for no  reason, day by day my experience was more and more frustrating.  So frustrating that I gave up on the phone and decided to try a different brand with the Samsung Charge.

Well, the story really doesn’t stop there unfortunately.  While the Charge is most definitely superior to the Thunderbolt, it’s clear to me that the Android platform in general has some hang ups.  I have an iPod touch that I’m using to compare, but here is where I think Android falls short.

1. Visual Voicemail is an extra charge – This is bogus

2. The brand variances in each device’s OS is kind of annoying – Why wouldn’t it be the same for Motorola, HTC, Samsung, etc.?  (HTC’s was the worst application)

3. The general email app that comes with each device sucks (not Gmail) – Apple’s mail app is fantastic in comparison

4. Android apps in general don’t seem to have the best updates or features compared to Apple apps – For example, the Android Twitter app does not allow multiple accounts to be added to it, and the Facebook App doesn’t easily let you manage Pages you admin.

5. Battery life with these big screens is terrible – Without changing a bunch of settings and leaving the screen brightness always at its lowest I’m dead by mid-afternoon most days.  (Not 100% an Android issue in general, but a problem for them regardless.)

I could go on I suppose, but those are my top 5.  Apple has it’s downsides as well.  No Flash is the biggest issue for me, but I also don’t think their “sharing” and menu functionality is as good as Android.  These are definitely two big things I like better about Android.  However, while these two things had me leaning way over to the Android side, my experience with the Thunderbolt left a bad taste that has me on the fence now.  Show me an iPhone 5 with 4G capability and I could be convinced that Flash and better menus aren’t worth it anymore.  The iCloud is a big selling point now as well.

That said, Google, are you listening?  I hate to tell you to reel things in, but be careful not to let them slip away.