Switching from iOS to Android - thoughts of someone who just did that.

Forums › Android › Switching from iOS to Android - thoughts of someone who just did that.

Geektastic

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#205108 30-Oct-2016 13:24

I thought I would jot down some random-ish thoughts on swapping from one phone ecosystem to another, in my case from iPhone 6 Plus to Sony Xperia XZ in case they were useful to anyone wandering in here who was thinking about doing that. I know I had a lot of questions and concerns when I was in that position.

It's not the huge moral conundrum that some online pundits would have you believe! It's not that hard to do and your soul will not be imperilled should you do it
Apple Music is available in the Play store and works more or less identically on Android as it does on iOS so you won't loose access to any of your music life
Email switches over easily: I use Newton (formerly CloudMagic) on my Mac devices and if you have a Newton account, you just download Newton for Android, log in and hey presto all done
The often-mentioned 'iOS is more secure' thing - whilst almost certainly true - seems overhyped. As long as you do not download apps from dodgy developers etc you'll likely be fine it seems to me and some anti-virus products (such as AVG and Bit Defender) will work on your phone at little or no extra cost if you are using them on your computer already
Some elements of Android are actually better than iOS and vice-versa. Live with it!
In the case of Sony, the software implementation is good I think - very fast, no lag, very little bloatware although it is annoying that you cannot actually delete apps you do not need. For example I do not have a Playstation - so I have no need of an app to make my phone work with one
Calendar syncing is a little bit of a PITA but an app called Smoothsync works brilliantly
Chrome is not the best browser; filling in these GZ reply boxes on the full site is hard - the text is all over the place and often runs over the green Post button etc for example
One significant annoyance is that you cannot use Apple Airplay devices (such as my B&W Zeppelin Air) with an Android phone unless the phone is rooted and you use a third party app; I am not prepared to root my brand new, reasonably expensive phone...!

Overall I have found the experience fairly pain free and it seems as though both Android and iOS makers have decided to grow up a bit and accept that we switch from one to the other sometimes and making it a misery is not helpful.

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PoHq

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#1660872 30-Oct-2016 13:34

If you're looking at a high end ish handset there is no bad choices anymore (note 7 aside 😂)

Both Android and iOS have their pros and cons. It's just about personal preference.

I'm to invested in Apples hardware to switch (exactly what they want) but I'd be tempted for the pixel phone if I weren't. Especially as I use all Google services on my iPhone.

Batman

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#1660877 30-Oct-2016 13:47

I'm the opposite, was using Android the day i bought the Samsung GS2. Got sucked by advertising and updated to GS4 because I hated the S2. I hated the S4 more. Not sure if it was the plastic phone, the touchwiz or the fact that I spent most of my waking life flashing the phone and tweaking my rooted files and hacking save game files and what not, Or the hopeless apps that don't work properly.

So when the mother who doesn't know how to use the VCR learnt how to facetime, i picked up the wife's old iPhone and allowed myself to be handcuffed into iOS. It's so restrictive I can't be bothered doing anything other than Txt and browse. (I carry a laptop around when i can)

Now I'm itchy and thought about the next nexus or note 7 until the idea went up in flames. Maybe I need the XPS 13!

Involuntary autocorrect in operation on mobile device. Apologies in advance.

RunningMan

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#1660958 30-Oct-2016 15:29

Geektastic:[snip]

Some elements of Android are actually better than iOS and vice-versa. Live with it!

That one point pretty much sums it up.

1eStar

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#1660975 30-Oct-2016 16:12

Point 6

You can disable most apps, head into settings/apps and find all apps, find your unused app and disable it.

networkn

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#1661024 30-Oct-2016 18:12

Re Point 8, what's awesome about Android is if you don't like something you aren't prevented from changing it, including launchers, browsers, keyboards, themes etc.

Dolphin Browser works fine for me.

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#1661040 30-Oct-2016 18:40

RunningMan:
Geektastic:[snip]

Some elements of Android are actually better than iOS and vice-versa. Live with it!

That one point pretty much sums it up.

Can't agree more

Involuntary autocorrect in operation on mobile device. Apologies in advance.

d3Xt3r

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#1661070 30-Oct-2016 20:22

Geektastic:

it seems to me and some anti-virus products (such as AVG and Bit Defender) will work on your phone

Anti-Viruses on android are practically useless - due to the way Android's permissions work (eg: an antivirus cannot modify the /system partition or modify other files or apps to clean them - but then again, neither can a virus). You'd be better off following safe computing practices, and installing an ad-blocker to deal with web-based annoyances.

I'd recommend reading this for more info: http://www.androidcentral.com/antivirus-android-do-you-need-it

Geektastic:

Chrome is not the best browser; filling in these GZ reply boxes on the full site is hard - the text is all over the place and often runs over the green Post button etc for example

While Chrome has it's issues, GZ not rendering properly is hardly Chrome's fault:

https://validator.w3.org/check?uri=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.geekzone.co.nz%2Fforums.asp%3Fforumid%3D97%26topicid%3D205108&charset=%28detect+automatically%29&doctype=Inline&group=1&user-agent=W3C_Validator%2F1.3+http%3A%2F%2Fvalidator.w3.org%2Fservices

https://html5.validator.nu/?doc=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.geekzone.co.nz%2Fforums.asp%3Fforumid%3D97%26topicid%3D205108

But unlike iOS, you're free to use a different browser (with a different engine), and even set it as your default browser.

Geektastic:

One significant annoyance is that you cannot use Apple Airplay devices (such as my B&W Zeppelin Air) with an Android phone unless the phone is rooted and you use a third party app;

Unfortunately, AirPlay is a proprietary Apple protocol, so that is to be expected. It's Apple's fault that they don't embrace open standards and deliberately build an ecosystem to lock-in its users.

Geektastic:

I am not prepared to root my brand new, reasonably expensive phone...!

It's probably too late now, but just an FYI: there are plenty of other capable Android devices which can be rooted without voiding the warranty or having any adverse side-effects, such as the Nexus 6P, OnePlus 3 and the Nextbit Robin. These phones also run stock/stock-ish Android and are bloatware-free, unlike Sony, Samsung, LG and Huawei devices.

blackjack17

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#1661077 30-Oct-2016 20:41

For point 8 give opera a go

for point 9 http://www.airsquirrels.com/airparrot/ I haven't tried it on a phone but for windows it works quite well

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Technofreak

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#1661081 30-Oct-2016 21:00

Another plug for Opera browser, that is Opera not Opera Mini. Opera Mini is OK but Opera for me is still the gold standard in mobile browsing.

Sony Xperia XA2 running Sailfish OS. https://sailfishos.org The true independent open source mobile OS
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Geektastic

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#1661106 30-Oct-2016 22:03

blackjack17:

For point 8 give opera a go

for point 9 http://www.airsquirrels.com/airparrot/ I haven't tried it on a phone but for windows it works quite well

Yes I have something (might be that) running on my Surface Pro 4 and it works just fine.

Android (apparently - way above my pay grade) does not allow apps to capture the audio and output it unless you root the phone. Maybe someone will tell me that is not so but that was what I found in several places on the net.

Geektastic

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#1661107 30-Oct-2016 22:05

d3Xt3r:

Geektastic:

it seems to me and some anti-virus products (such as AVG and Bit Defender) will work on your phone

Anti-Viruses on android are practically useless - due to the way Android's permissions work (eg: an antivirus cannot modify the /system partition or modify other files or apps to clean them - but then again, neither can a virus). You'd be better off following safe computing practices, and installing an ad-blocker to deal with web-based annoyances.

I'd recommend reading this for more info: http://www.androidcentral.com/antivirus-android-do-you-need-it

Geektastic:

Chrome is not the best browser; filling in these GZ reply boxes on the full site is hard - the text is all over the place and often runs over the green Post button etc for example

While Chrome has it's issues, GZ not rendering properly is hardly Chrome's fault:

https://validator.w3.org/check?uri=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.geekzone.co.nz%2Fforums.asp%3Fforumid%3D97%26topicid%3D205108&charset=%28detect+automatically%29&doctype=Inline&group=1&user-agent=W3C_Validator%2F1.3+http%3A%2F%2Fvalidator.w3.org%2Fservices

https://html5.validator.nu/?doc=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.geekzone.co.nz%2Fforums.asp%3Fforumid%3D97%26topicid%3D205108

But unlike iOS, you're free to use a different browser (with a different engine), and even set it as your default browser.

Geektastic:

One significant annoyance is that you cannot use Apple Airplay devices (such as my B&W Zeppelin Air) with an Android phone unless the phone is rooted and you use a third party app;

Unfortunately, AirPlay is a proprietary Apple protocol, so that is to be expected. It's Apple's fault that they don't embrace open standards and deliberately build an ecosystem to lock-in its users.

Geektastic:

I am not prepared to root my brand new, reasonably expensive phone...!

It's probably too late now, but just an FYI: there are plenty of other capable Android devices which can be rooted without voiding the warranty or having any adverse side-effects, such as the Nexus 6P, OnePlus 3 and the Nextbit Robin. These phones also run stock/stock-ish Android and are bloatware-free, unlike Sony, Samsung, LG and Huawei devices.

I actually had to come and read this on my Mac, because on the phone, the right hand half of the page is off screen and won't scroll across!

Not sure what all those validator things are but one threw up 399 errors..!

NikT

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#1661141 31-Oct-2016 01:10

Always interesting to hear thoughts from folks shifting between platforms. I use both Android and iOS myself depending on the time of year and who's doing the most interesting things in software and hardware, so usually have ~3 phones on me. Android remains my preference, although iPhones have been my daily driver more often than not since Apple first released a model large enough for me to use as a primary computing device (i.e. the 6 Plus). There are pain points with both. I'd go as far as to say Apple's hardware design is currently at the bottom of the flagship pack, super generic with enormous bezels, slippery materials, and too thin, with the missing headphone jack in the 7 series a significant and poorly judged omission. If they move to OLED, I won't be back, I have no interest in using screens that burn out anymore. MicroLED would be a different story.

There are essentially very few advantages to choosing an iPhone over a high-end Android handset if you are not otherwise invested in Apple's platforms. Can't stand MacOS myself, so I can merrily juggle phones all day without missing too much from one side or the other.

iOS itself is largely good as long as you don't want to do the things it doesn't do well/at all (Like file management, NFC, or USB OTG), and there's some serious omissions - like not being able to see the size/resolution/file details of photos or downloaded images in the gallery - it's just a bit dull, and could use a fresh coat of iconography at the least. Android allows me to do things my way rather than deciding what's best for me, but suffers from being a bit of a mishmash of implementations between vendors, plus the system update coordination issues are real. Google's vanilla interpretation is too bland, Samsung's TouchWiz is still too clunky, others are great - I like Meizu's Flyme, Huawei's EMUI, Xiaomi's MIUI, OnePlus' OxygenOS, Sony's skin, LG's skin, and HTC's Sense (Except the unforgivable sin of two lockscreen clocks) more than vanilla Android. The apps I use are equally good on iOS and Android. Bring on an x86 Surface phone for something fresh. Windows is fascinating these days.

Re: Browsers on Android, I'd highly recommend everyone with a Snapdragon-based device (Which includes the XZ) give this a shot.

Long story short, phones work best with browsers optimised for their processors. Samsung's browser works best and fastest on their Exynos handsets, Safari works best and fastest on iPhones. Qualcomm's Coda Aurora Forum makes a fork of Chromium (The open-source base of Chrome) that works better on Snapdragon devices, and TugaBrowser is the most frequently-updated version thereof. Includes adblock out of the box and is significantly smoother than Chrome itself.

Product Manager @ PB Tech

https://pbtech.co.nz/smartphones

Geektastic

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#1661185 31-Oct-2016 08:49

I agree with @NikT re the Apple hardware - which is how we come to be having this conversation in the first place. All the mobiles I ever owned were Nokia and all the smartphones were iPhones. Then the 7 turned up. Meh. My wife has one and actually preferred her 6.

I'll investigate the browsers. I'm no expert in these things (at all!) so I am curious as to why a tech site like this throws up so many errors. On Safari on an iPhone the right hand part of the screen is also missing and cannot be read - although not to quite such an extent as it is in Chrome on the Android phone.

Dairyxox

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#1661380 31-Oct-2016 13:12

You've asked this question soo many times now, and even BDFL has explained it to you....but you keep asking.

Geektastic

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#1661410 31-Oct-2016 13:53

Dairyxox:

You've asked this question soo many times now, and even BDFL has explained it to you....but you keep asking.

If you say so. I have a bad memory. Edit - or else the explanation did not stick!

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