Just moved to IPhone after a Decade on Android - Here is what I like… and don’t

Submitted by ContractorCarrot t3_11cj61l in iphone

Just got an iPhone 13 after my whole life on androids. I always held the position that the apple ecosystem was a trap and that once you were in, you had to pay to stay and to pay even more to get out.

I still do. Kind of.

Pros:

Ecosystem

I do really appreciate some of it’s functions. Airdrop is so cool and so much fun to just randomly send my friends stuff but also a genuinely practically function. This part of the ecosystem is really brilliant

Interface / feel

The general interface is absolutely stunning, so slick, addiction inducing levels.

Camera

The camera of course is superb. I would add though that Samsungs and other competitors also have very good cameras now too.

Cons

SD Card Slots / Second SIM Card

iPhones do not have a second slot for an extra sim or storage. This forces you to buy alternative storage, in my instance, I have continued my Google storage from my android but this is one of my biggest issues with iPhones

For travelling, the second sim is so incredibly handy. I like to travel to rural areas and developing countries, it’s often I find myself in situations where I need to act quickly and carefully and I need my phone to just perform, sometimes this means accessing my home phone number. Having to take my sim out and replace it, somewhere possibly outside or dusty, such as a border post is very inconvenient and frustrating

Hot Spot

The hot spot sucks. Trying to get it to actually turn on and appear for other devices to connect is a pain in the bum and so much less responsive than my previous budget phone for about 1/5 the price

Back Button

Sitting waiting for adverts, or stuck on badly designed websites, on an android can easily be solved by the back button. On IPhone you’ve just go to wait.

New Developments - Wireless Charging / Waterproofing

Samsung was first to the game on both of these developments, my current iPhone has both, but an advantage of Samsung is they are generally first to newer functions.

Overall, for typical daily use the iPhone is undoubtedly brilliant, but when it comes to travel, the versatility of the 2 SIM card slots, the more reliable hot spot and in my experience generally tougher build, androids win without a doubt.

For fellow converters and holdouts, what are your thoughts?

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Comments

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Alwaysaprairiegirl t1_ja3e6rk wrote

The second sim can be solved really easily by making your primary an esim.

As for the back button, you’ll get used to swiping before you know it. I’ve only had an iPhone for four years and it didn’t take long to transition at all.

A little trick for typing. I think that you have to enable it but I’m not sure. Try double tapping the space bar when you want a period. If it doesn’t work, you might need to go into settings.

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bakogee t1_ja3lost wrote

With the 14 I have only esims. For travel I use an app called Airalo which provides travel esims. You buy it at home install and get off the plane like you’ve never been offline. There’re other options/apps as well though. Never going back to plastics. I admit sometimes it can be more convenient.

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Knuifelbear t1_ja55zts wrote

That’s handy. Thanks. I was not looking forward diffing through mails to see what I purchased last time for a sim. Esim is so much easier.

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DelusionalSocialist t1_ja56a7y wrote

I just checked. With this post. Double tapping world to get a period. Thanks for the tip.

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Soace_Space_Station t1_ja5ohev wrote

Personally,i use Iphone gestures on my phone because my thumb can't reach all 3 buttons and the iPhone gestures solve that but that was not a problem for me at the time and i was more worried about the lost screen real estate with buttons,so i started using the gestures and it was great and easy to learn

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ContractorCarrot OP t1_ja66zmr wrote

Will definitely look into an Esim, not something I’m familiar with thank you.

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anakaddo t1_ja3u39e wrote

I was an Android evangelist for say, 12 years. Like, a really really proud fan.

Then, while I was developing an app for the Google Voice Assistant, Google suddenly released an update that essentially sabotaged the entire API, making my project and so many others infeasible. It was really frustrating. So, I got an iPhone.

I first had similar complaints - I disliked how you couldn't swipe back from either side, and I disliked not having an SD card. But now I am SO glad I did. It's been such a joy - the iPhone has literally changed my relationship with my computing devices.

You can see every Apple app was carefully designed with human beings in mind. For example, I'm always making stupid early turns with Google Maps. With Apple Maps, it tells you "pass this light, and then turn right at the next light". Crystal-clear. On Photos, I can just tap the phone number on a picture of a business card and call them straight away. I could talk endlessly too about Universal Clipboard, AirDrop, the unified Call Log, and the much much longer battery life.

But the real reason I know I can never go back to Android is because of Shortcuts. Shortcuts allows you to do anything you could possibly imagine with a phone, with a simple tap. I use Shortcuts to clean out my many search engine tabs in Safari, to quickly voice record my thoughts (with date, location and time), to track my time with friends, to have my phone give a funny retort whenever I put it on charge when it's too low... At one point, I literally had my iPhone give guidance when it realized I was spending too much time on YouTube or Video games for the day (by connecting to APIs).

It's changed my life for the better, tbh. There are a few things that Androids win at for sure, but I really think you'll like the iPhone the more you use it.

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TheeSlyGuy t1_ja4907y wrote

Expand more on shortcuts and why can't android do this?

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anakaddo t1_ja4mv1o wrote

Shortcuts is a stock app that allows you string together actions to do any task you need to do. They’re called “shortcuts”. Then, you can call these shortcuts from anywhere - Siri, the lock screen, the Home Screen, a back tap on the phone… What is really nice is that many apps add their own actions to Shortcuts, so you can have access to their resources or control them in anyway you need do.

An example: I made a shortcut called It’s time to run”. Whenever I step outside, and I’m ready to jog, all I’ve got to do is say, “it’s time for a run” (while holding the power button) and my iPhone will immediately

  • start a workout on my watch

  • choose a random address from my “running locations” notes and give the directions to run there

  • Start tracking “Running” to time tracking app, Toggl (I like to track how I spend my time)

  • Set the volume to 0

  • Shuffle my running playlist and play it

  • Slowly automatically crank up the volume as I get running

Then, when I come back home, my iPhone automatically runs a location based shortcut to stop my time tracking and log that I ran that day with my habit tracking app.

It’s easy to link all these half a dozen apps together with one tap of the finger or spoken word.

If you want to do more complicated things, you can, too. A few months ago, I saw someone make a shortcut that they could activate while in Photos to quickly send the photo they were looking at to an external AI so it’ll tell them what car model they were looking at. I’ve seen shortcuts to download YouTube videos right in Safari, some to schedule WhatsApp or iMessage messages. It’s limitless (and you can share shortcuts too).

No coding is required. All you need to do is drag a few actions and link them together. It’s like playing with virtual Legos.

There is also Shortcuts for macOS and iPadOS, watchOS, and all the shortcuts you create on one device are generally usable on other devices.

There’s doesn’t exist a mechanism in Android that comes close to Shortcuts.

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MJDidSpacejam t1_ja4qnfl wrote

Yes, Bixby Routines does the same thing. Nothing similar exists on Pixel though (at least not out the box). I honestly prefer routines as it is simpler to use and has a better UI, but both are plenty powerful.

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TheeSlyGuy t1_ja4sk39 wrote

Also a lot of this functionality is built into android by default, I can make custom shortcut icon to do tasks, my galaxy watch starts workouts automatically, and apps like tasker can automate everything. So I really can't see this as a ios only must have feature

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ContractorCarrot OP t1_ja67b0s wrote

Really interesting comment, thank you for sharing your experience.

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iainttryingnomore t1_ja51hoh wrote

Samsung was not the first to come up with waterproofing. Sony was developing waterproof phones and then they made even their flagship phone Xperia Z completely waterproof. This was a big selling point and the industry quickly caught up with that.

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Soace_Space_Station t1_ja5oo4o wrote

If those are waterproof,then explain why i cant submerge it below 100 meters for 10 minutes?

Yeah, because Water RESISTANCE is not equal to Water PROOF

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iainttryingnomore t1_ja5r3f8 wrote

Stop being so pedantic space station. You are dragging away from the conversation point

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nptraveler21 t1_ja3af2m wrote

I agree with everything you said. The fact that there’s no dedicated back and menu buttons drives me crazy. Even apps that do have back buttons implement them differently. Inconsistent app control is my biggest complaint with Apple devices. This is something Android does much better.

And yes the hotspot is awful but it has gotten better. It was an F. Now it’s a D, maybe C-. iOS keyboard is also lame. Why do I have to go to an alt view to get to basic punctuation? Then you have to go to yet another layer to get to a # sign. It’s idiotic.

Also the lighting interface is lame too. I have to carry a separate cable for this stupid thing while everything else I own shares a USB C cable, including my iPad ffs.

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novus_nl t1_ja3j5ce wrote

For the back button you can just swipe left on the page itself

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ThorDiePie t1_ja3wglw wrote

Not every app allows this.

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novus_nl t1_ja43npv wrote

He was specifically referring to browsers. Safari, Chrime and Firefox support this on iOS.

Even besides browsers most apps support it, where it makes sense anyway.

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ThorDiePie t1_ja7ncf3 wrote

Who was referring to that? I thought this is about the general iOS experience lacking the back button. It truly is a mess.

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novus_nl t1_ja7xhx5 wrote

You, by saying "you just have to wait" which is weong as you can just swipe left in all browsers and most (if not all common) apps

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ThorDiePie t1_ja81nsu wrote

I'm sorry, where did I say "you just have to wait?"

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iainttryingnomore t1_ja51svp wrote

This doesn't work if there is horizontal scrolling on the page. Also not all apps support it like Amazon for example. It is really inconsistent.

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pxr555 t1_ja62b14 wrote

Do not swipe on the page, swipe into the page from the bezel.

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Medo73 t1_ja6k02c wrote

Amazon does support it. In + 10 years with an iPhone I still haven't met an app or a website that doesn't support it

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ContractorCarrot OP t1_ja3anjn wrote

IPAD IS USB C😳😳😳 oh for god sakes…yes agreed the keyboard is so dumb like there literally is not a full stop on the front page.

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plaid-knight t1_ja3o5g4 wrote

On Apple’s keyboard, you can type symbols, etc. very quickly because the modifier keys work just like a real keyboard. For example, when on the letters keyboard, hold the 123 key with your left thumb, then tap any character with your right thumb. You can even swipe from the 123 key to any character. These gestures also work with other modifier keys, including shift and ABC.

Plus, you can double-tap shift to enable caps lock, hold space to enable trackpad mode, double-tap space for a period, and hold many characters for secondary characters.

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Unusual-Editor-4640 t1_ja6xr69 wrote

The keyboard is really disappointing. Trying to give it a chance but probably just gonna get swiftkey which is what i used on android

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santiagoges t1_ja4chq3 wrote

Regarding the sim card slots issue: You can have 2 e-sim if you have an american model. 2 e-sim and a sim on any other model. And surprisingly: depending on the market you can find with 2 e-sim and 2 sim card slots (I have a colleague who got a 14 pro max in Pakistan and he has this).

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tekwani99 t1_ja8h721 wrote

I have a Chinese 14 and it has 2 regular sim slots. (Albeit it lacks satellite connectivity)

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TheeSlyGuy t1_ja39cm3 wrote

Been with Android 13 years and don't plan on ever leaving, I just like lurking in this sub

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T0S_XLR8 t1_ja480lr wrote

same, but i just got a killer deal for a 14 pro, idk if i should give up my s22u for it and join the dark side

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Humorous-Prince t1_ja4zad8 wrote

The iPhone keyboards are the best to type on. I’ve got Android people at work who have configured iPhones for customers and complimented the keyboard. I’ve got a Samsung work phone and a 14PM for personal. Hate that Samsung shit, keyboard is awful.

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Unusual-Editor-4640 t1_ja6xw56 wrote

Really? Best how? The default iOS keyboard is one of my biggest disappointments switching to iphone

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theatreeducator t1_ja79emz wrote

There’s another thread about how terrible autocorrect has gotten. Keyboard experiences are highly variable.

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Humorous-Prince t1_ja7h1s5 wrote

Autocorrect I can agree on. I’m talking about the keyboard itself.

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novus_nl t1_ja3k17d wrote

The SD card can be seen as a missed feature (although I never replaced my SD cards in android phones.

The iPhone supports a second simcard through E-sim, which most modern phone companies support.

I never had problems with the hotspot, although maybe that is because my other devices are Apple as well.

New developments is a bit of a mute point. In the last 5 years nothing notworthy came out on either side. Innovation in phones seems dead.

Androids with tougher build qualities? I have to disagree on that I suppose. iPhones are build like tanks, their latest advertisement even use it as the main selling point

edit: back button is there by sliding to the left in a browser

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parksoha t1_ja3rnbq wrote

Never had a problem with hotspot too. I always share with friends that use android too. On iPhone 11.

On my iPhone 5S it’s other story… It just takes so many tries to be able to be connect or if it does there’s no data transmission.

Sometimes it works but never figured out how I made it work.

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iainttryingnomore t1_ja53u9h wrote

Another lifetime android user here who moved to the iphone.

Main reason for moving was the iPhones battery life was just better than any phone out there. The Haptic engine is more natural and the whole phone is really smooth. You can switch between apps without stutter. I can play call of duty without the phone getting hot.

However there are drawbacks that I didn't know about

By default location permissions are only enabled while you use the app. Because of this Google maps couldn't record my timeline. When I enabled location always on the battery went down 5%

Sharing from the photos app has been quite buggy. I simply share from the app instead

There is no builtin call recording like my Samsung had. I don't trust third party apps

Siri and Carplay are mostly garbage. The default keyboard is garbage too. This has been a major downgrade for me.

Many a times I can't download files from web. "File cannot be downloaded at this time". Has been pretty annoying.

The lightening port cannot power ssds or dashcam while my galaxy could easily do it.

The phone is really difficult to use one handed. I really miss the swipe from anywhere on Android and no, the swipe left on iphone is not a good substitute nor is it as ergonomic as swipe from right.

After having used both Android and iPhone, the perfect phone for me would be Apples silicon and hardware, Googles software and Samsung designs which I find lightweight and so ergonomic in the hand.

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ansky201 t1_ja7rx9q wrote

I agree about Carplay. It's terrible compared to Android Auto. I can't even get Google Maps or Waze to work reliably on Carplay. Surprisingly, Siri actually works very well with Youtube Music on Carplay.

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ahfmak t1_ja7l7rv wrote

I have never used android. But to your point on hotspot, do you only have certain phones that you want to share with? The key is to pair those phone with yours via Bluetooth (just have to do once), then connecting on the hotspot will be much more reliable.

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ContractorCarrot OP t1_jaaphhu wrote

That is interesting, it’s my laptop in particular, an non Apple laptop at that

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wreakon t1_ja52n3t wrote

I'm the opposite, just moved to Android. Feels good to be out of the "empire;" and frankly don't miss it much. The funny thing some of my iPhone lads complained more than I suffered in any way, just tells you how strong the network effect is... but I am happy to be the outlier and enjoy my life on the frontier.

Looking forward, I am looking at disruptors, possibly new phones on Android or other that I will be able to easily migrate to.

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assault_is_eternal t1_ja5gib3 wrote

My work phone is a Galaxy.

Swipe down twice and there's a power button. You can shut down or restart.

You generally have a choice to show or hide characters in a password field on Android, whereas the iPhone WILL NEVER ALLOW IT. There have been times when I can't copy/paste from my password manager, forcing me to manually type in my 30+ character Apple ID password while praying that I didn't make a mistake. C'mon Apple, you're making responsible people suffer to protect others that probably use "Password#1" for every website

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