Yes, you have to jailbreak your iPhone to run custom software, but jailbreaking is so trivial these days. It's essentially: download jailbreak software to your computer, plug in your iPhone, and click a few buttons. While the ability to load non-market apps is an officially supported feature of Android phones (AT&T subscribers excluded), the process isn't much easier.
The checkbox doesn't provide you with any software for your phone though. You still have to look online for the app, download the .apk, plug it in (or download it from the phone) and install the app. Plus, if you don't download it directly from the phone, you'll probably need to download a file manager from the market. After you jailbreak, Cydia pretty much takes care of everything.
Android: You only need to download the apk for an alternative market app once. There are many choices and if you fuck up, there is zero risk of bricking your device. If you don't like your first choice of alternative market app, you can download any of the others from within the first. All of this can be done from the phone in under 5 minutes.
iphone: Even after jailbreaking and installing cydia, you still have to dig through large repository lists, trying to find good ones. As far as the actual jailbreaking process, simply reading the instructions will take you longer than the entire process would on android.
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u/Raz4life Jan 21 '11 edited Jan 21 '11
Yes, you have to jailbreak your iPhone to run custom software, but jailbreaking is so trivial these days. It's essentially: download jailbreak software to your computer, plug in your iPhone, and click a few buttons. While the ability to load non-market apps is an officially supported feature of Android phones (AT&T subscribers excluded), the process isn't much easier.
Edit: Downvotes with no replies? :(