Thinking of going to the dark side - iOS to Android cell phone - your experience...

[jbeletti]

I've been an iPhone user since they came out. I'm using an iPhone 5 now. But, I'm thinking about trying an Android OS phone. There are pluses and minuses to changing, but I think I want to try it out.

I'm looking at Samsung and HTC phones. I was favoring Samsung until I consulted with someone far smarter than me on tech stuff. He suggested I consider HTC (better build quality, less software bloat) over Samsung. I'm liking the HTC One. He suggested I wait until the end of March when the latest version of the HTC One is launched (HTC One 2 M8).

I figure if I don't care for the Android OS or I really miss iOS, I can always trade the phone back in and get an iPhone 5S

Is there anyone here who has migrated from iOS to Android and cares to share their experience?

 

[danemayer]

Jim, I was on an iPhone for a couple of generations. Switched to a Samsung Galaxy Nexus a few years ago. Last year I upgraded to a Samsung Galaxy S4. From an app standpoint there's not much to miss in changing to android. There's no Siri, but the Google voice recognition actually works for me - first VR that ever did work with my voice. Voice quality is fine. Data speed is excellent. Battery life is best I've ever had.

One thing I liked about Apple was that they periodically updated the software. Samsung also does. I view that as a critical feature - you should make sure HTC updates.

 

[JohnD]

We just finally switched from our old dumb phones (flip phones) to smart phones.

I really wanted to get the LG G2, but they were out of stock and didn't want to wait for them to come in, so we both got the Droid Maxx!

Large screen . . . 32GB . . . loud speakers . . . and according to all the reviews they have the longest battery life of all of the smart phones available right now!

It zooms when connected to Wifi . . . haven't really done a lot with the 4G internet connection yet.

We've had them for a couple of weeks now and so far we love them!

 

[alex00]

Jim,

After three generations of the iPhone I made the switch about a year and a half ago to Android. I wasn't unhappy with IOS, but a few friends swore by the Galaxy S3. I was tired of waiting for news on the iPhone 5 (August of '12) and got the "buy-me's" really bad for a new phone. My biggest fear was my music collection, and migrating from iTunes to Android.

I can assure you, the switch was easy. Google Play music stores all your songs from iTunes, trouble free, as do any of the Android music players. The apps are all comparable. I have yet to see an app I WANT that is not available. Sure there are platform specific apps, but I'm not aware of what I am missing.

The minuses for me were small. I run Windows computers, so I didn't lose PC-Phone integration. My son has an iPad, but it wasn't linked to my phone.

The pluses were huge.
Giant screen. Make the switch and look at a picture or video on someone's iPhone. You'll wonder how you ever saw anything.
Expandable memory. I added a 64G micro SD card. I will never run out of space for pictures of movies.
Google. I use the Google Now app for everything. It is siri, maps, email, navigation, google, weather, package tracker, you name it all in one app. After a few months of use, it will learn everything about you. Accept that computers and strangers know what you like, this is happening. It will route you to the office or home, tell you what the weather is at work, alert you when amazon ships a package to you. It is AMAZING. The iPhone has it, but it is apparently better on Android.
Swift Key. From an iPhone I had no idea you could buy custom keyboards. Make this your first app purchase. I heeded the advice of a friend, and love it. It is intuitive, like you wouldn't believe. I can text while, um not driving, and barely look at the screen. You can severely fat finger the letters and it still knows your word.

I am due for an upgrade in August. I will be staying with the Android platform. I may upgrade to the Note phone, I've been really happy with Samsung. I even bought a Samsung tablet. I like the size of the Note screen, since I rarely use my phone as a phone. It is a computer, plain and simple. Jump on in, the water is nice. From a former IOSer, you cannot go wrong. (that was not a pun to look like loser, but it sure came out that way)

 

[SeattleLion]

Take a look at the HTC Windows phone. I love it.

 

[wehavefun]

I was a die hard i phone addict myself, then my wife came home with with a galaxy a few years ago, I REALLY liked it, my contract was up, went to Verizon, told the salesman my long story what I liked on each phone, what I disliked. He made it simple, I took home a galaxy 3 home to test drive. Never took it back until the G4 came out. Now I REALLY want the note, I even converted my 18 year old to a galaxy. My youngest is the only hold out with an I phone but secretly I think she is going to get a note when she is eligible for an upgrade. She has been doing a lot of research and waiting for the contract to allow upgrade next month.

I would switch all over again no question!

 

[scottyb]

For business, I've used two generations of the HTC Evo. The 2nd has about 2 - 3 times the battery life as the 1st. My wife uses the iPhone and loves it, along with her iPad. The camera on the HTC blows away the iPhone. One of the new Galaxys are supposed to have an even better camera now. They are almost to the point of not needing to take a digital camera anywhere.

 

[jbeletti]

Thanks everyone for the feedback thus far.

With regard to my current iPhone experience, let me say that it remains amazing. As nearly always, the Apple products "just work". No struggle at all. I "may" miss that if I make the switch.

I think one of my biggest fears in switching to Android is the phone I have targeted (HTC One), currently has 16 GB of internal memory and no external memory option. This is a complete no-go for me as I have 25 GB of music alone on my iPhone. The Samsung and other brands do have external memory card slots. It looks like the HTC One 2 M8 will have 32 MB of onboard memory and possibly a memory card slot. If this comes to pass, then this hurdle will have been overcome.

Another fear is battery life. Apple has battery management down really well. In the past, Android - not so much. I believe this has changed and I'm hopeful that with general daily usage, I wont need to recharge intraday. I'm okay with charging each evening.

Then there's syncronization with my MacBookPro's calendar and contacts. I am already confident on the calendar as I presently share my calendar with Nancy's Google calendar and her's with me. I have already tested getting all my Google contacts to appear in Contacts on my MacBookPro - so I'm feeling pretty good about it. Only thing there is my Contacts on the MacBookPro are my "contacts of record". I think I would need to import those into my Google contacts, then take the time to clean up all the dupes and such. It's a project that needs to be done and I've always wanted a SINGLE contacts database.

I'm warming up to it

 

[DW_Gray]

After conferring with my son, the high tech geek, I upgraded to the Verizon LG G2 (VS980 4G LTE) from the Razr. I have been very impressed with this Smartphone. The battery lasts all day most of the time during moderate hotspot usage. On heavy day usage, I'll plug it in once for about 1.5 hours to recharge while using it. I think most average users will be extremely pleased with the battery life. This phone has 32 GB of internal memory storage too.

Amy has the iPhone and I've never liked it. But on the other hand, she doesn't understand how to use my phone. What I do know, currently, more people visit FWS with their iOS device than Android (about 2 to 1) and the FWS app is downloaded to an iOS device about 5 times more than Android.

 

[jmgratz]

Jim,
I have an I phone 4S and DW has a HTC Droid Incredible 4. We have 3 tablets and they are all Android based. The only Apple based is the I phone. I really like the Android OS and have had no issues with them. The reason I didn't go with the Apple I-pad (got the Motorola Xoom tablet-Android based) is the I-pad doesn't have a way to plug in my thumbdrive and the Xoom does. I would not be concerned with the Android OS as it works great.

 

[Geodude]

The Galaxy S5 is due out next month, so that's the one I'd be looking at. They're claiming to have improved the battery life, de-bloatwared it to some extent, and say it's water resistant (I forget to what degree).

 

[priorguy]

Thinking of going to the dark side - iOS to Android cell phone - your experie...

Have an iPhone through work now. Miss my HTC, so much more user friendly and customizable. DW loves her Galaxy S3 and tablet. I go with a cheapy off brand droid tablet and am always happy with it for the low cost and simplicity.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[mobilcastle]

Re: Thinking of going to the dark side - iOS to Android cell phone - your experie...

I been thinking about making the change myself from my 5s to Samsung S4. I read a lot from my phone and the screen is larger. I was very disappointed when apple dropped the color screens to more of a black & w look. The colors on Samsung are excellent. I grew up when B&W was on our TV and color is so much more pleasing to me-showing my age. I sold my last iPhone on E bay for an excellent price. Good luck Jim.

 

[Shortest Straw]

Re: Thinking of going to the dark side - iOS to Android cell phone - your experie...

I dumped my iphone for the Galaxy S4 and have never regretted the decision. Once you get used to the differences it is hands down a better phone. My daughter and wife tried it out they switched as well. I especially like the scroll feature once your phone "gets to know ya".

 

[TXTiger]

I have the iPhone 5 and love it. Especially the way it syncs to my iPad and MacBookPro. My calendar, notes, and reminders are on all three. The only negative is the smaller size of the screen. Jim, I heard that an iPhone 6 will be out in the fall. Not sure about the screen size but if it is like the Samsung Galaxy it might be worth waiting for. I had a Motorola Razor before and did not like it.

 

[Tallyrver]

I had a iPhone 2 ,upgraded to the Verizon Galaxy2 two years ago. Much better phone .i use an app called Foxfi for a hot spot. Verizon keeps bugging me to upgrade again,but my phone is like new in its Otter-box case

wayne

 

[kakampers]

The Galaxy Note is the BOMB! I have the Note II, and even though people laugh at it's large size, they stop when they see the pics and how well it operates as a GPS using Google Maps....it is much more than a phone it is definitely a computer, hence the name people have given it..."phablet"...who needs a tablet...LOL!

 

[Saildogs]

We were seriously considering switching from Android to the iPhone when the new one is out in September. But we were able to get two Galaxy 5s phones for the price of one. They arrived on Tuesday and both of us love them. The iPhone screen is just too small for these aging eyes. LOL

 

[dave10a]

Android is Linux based. Apple is Apple and M'soft is M'soft. I am biased to Linux because it offers flexibility to people like me. However, unless one is tech nerd they are all fine. Apple requires a lot of huddles for developers to jump for applications, while Android is more friendly towards software developers. That means more applications and free stuff...... for the masses.

 

[danemayer]

Apple OS is based on Unix. And yes Apple does screen apps obsessively to protect themselves and users. The Android environment is wide open to abuse.

App availability is about the same. Most all the major apps work on both platforms.