Considering moving to android!

[matt869]

I'm not sure this is the best place to ask this, lol, but I value your opinion.
I started out my smartphone adventure with an iPhone 3G. It was too long ago to remember why but I then changed to android with a htc desire. Android was in its infancy and the htc desire had its fair share of problems. This prompted me to jump ship again back to the iPhone. I've since had the iPhone 4S and the iPhone 5C. I've been fairly happy up until recently where many issues have left me frustrated. I feel apple have really been dragging their heels when it comes to fixing bugs and apple music, for me at least, is horrible. So here's the reason for my post.
Where next?
I am due an upgrade in October and I am really toying with the idea of an android phone (possibly looking at the new S6) but I don't want to live to regret it. The main reason for me contemplating the change is price. That and the fact android is much more mature now and I hear a lot less complaints.
I can get an S6 32gb for almost £10 cheaper a month than a 16gb iPhone 6. So that would be a year old phone with half the storage, yet more expensive. As well as googles apps (namely gmail, maps and Photos) being really good with everything integrated better. That's always been a problem with iOS for me. Non apple productivity apps just don't work as well as the apple ones and I quite often end up sticking with the inferior apple app just because it is quicker to search or be able to use Siri.
Has anyone else moved but regretted it? Or anything you have missed since moving?

Cheers
Matt

 

[Flow39]

I bought a 2014 Moto X as a second phone in February. I really like the phone, but in the end I switched back to my iPhone after 2 weeks of using the Moto X as my main phone. The small frustrations really started to add up and prompted me to switch back. I had pretty bad battery life (2-3% drain per hour while on standby), home screen redraws, and a not-so-great camera. Some of these things have been improved since Android 5.1 has been released for the Moto X though.

Once I moved over, I immediately missed the integration between my iPad and iPhone. I couldn't use continuity or iCloud features on my Moto X. This, combined with the small annoyances, made me switch back to iOS.

If you really want to try Android, it wouldn't hurt, but I would stay away from Samsung devices and get something that runs stock Android like a Nexus 6, 2014/2015 Moto X, or a OnePlus Two. Stock Android is the most reliable and has better performance because it doesn't have hardly any bloatware. I think iOS 9 will be great and will fix a lot of the issues we are having in iOS 8. Android isn't a terrible operating system by any means, so if you want to try it, I don't think you will be disappointed. It all just comes down to personal preference.

 

[Zwhaler]

It's pretty likely that in October the next iPhone will be available, with the iPhone 6 as an even cheaper option. I switched form iPhone 4 to Galaxy Note 2, to the Note 4, and probably to a new Galaxy device such as the S6 Edge+ soon. I much prefer Android. It has a user accessible file system, which the iPhone doesn't, and depending on what brand you take, your experience will vary pretty widely as TouchWiz (Samsung) is different from Stock Android (Google Nexus). Having Google apps native is so nice. No regrets here. Play around with the phones in the store. Remember you can customize the skin (launcher) to your liking, or install a new one. There's a lot more flexibility on Android, that's for sure.

 

[matt869]

Yea I think I'll have to do a lot of playing in the stores. I do like the idea of customisation though.

 

[nepalisherpa]

...I feel apple have really been dragging their heels when it comes to fixing bugs and apple music, for me at least, is horrible....
Cheers
Matt

If you feel that Apple is slow at fixing bugs then you will be even unhappier with Android. Unless you get a Nexus device, updates on other manufacturers will take months. For example, the latest Android version is 5.1.1; however, my AT&T Note 4 is still stuck at 5.0.1.

 

[MikeAnd]

I can get an S6 32gb for almost £10 cheaper a month than a 16gb iPhone 6. So that would be a year old phone with half the storage, yet more expensive.

I wouldn't do the price comparison right now since Apple is virtually certain to roll out new iPhones next month. At that point you'll either be able to get the iPhone 6 at a lower price than today, if that's what you want, or you'll be able to get the new iPhone 6S at today's iPhone 6 price.

 

[MRU]

If you go to Android. Remember it can take a while to adjust. The grass isn't always greener, often it's the same grass just in a different field.

Make sure you try various Android devices because each of the manufacturers use different skins that can make your experience very different between them.

Try and get as much hands on experience in stores and failing that watch not only reviews, but research each manufacturers actual android UI. YouTube will be a great friend in this regard.

 

[timeconsumer]

Yea I think I'll have to do a lot of playing in the stores. I do like the idea of customisation though.

Customization is the reason I do not use android. I was constantly trying to customize my phone that it overwhelmed me. I understand not everyone will have this issue, but it prevented me from actually using the device because I was constantly tinkering the UI. Having said that, testing out android allowed me to appreciate the simplicity of iOS.

 

[matt869]

If you feel that Apple is slow at fixing bugs then you will be even unhappier with Android.

This was part of the reason I left after the htc desire but I didn't think they were as bad now?

I wouldn't do the price comparison right now since Apple is virtually certain to roll out new iPhones next month.

Im totally aware of this but again it's part of my point. For the price of a brand new android phone, I'll be getting at least a year old iPhone. I just find it hard to justify such a high cost for a phone when there's others out the that would be doing a very similar job (better or worse depending on opinion) for a reduced price.

Try and get as much hands on experience in stores

Cheers, I will do.

Customization is the reason I do not use android.

I can totally see this as a valid point aswell. I see so many images of home screens that just look a mess. Just awful. And it makes me wonder whether I'll be able to find one I like or that that's just android.

 

[The Game 161]

Making the home screen as you want is a big plus on android but with the home screen widgets on my iPad got to say I'm not missing my widgets on my S6 edge at all really

 

[matt869]

Making the home screen as you want is a big plus on android but with the home screen widgets on my iPad got to say I'm not missing my widgets on my S6 edge at all really

Is you iPad jail broken?

 

[The Game 161]

Is you iPad jail broken?

No. I would never jailbreak my devices personally

 

[matt869]

No. I would never jailbreak my devices personally

I hope I'm not being stupid here then but what home screen widgets do you mean? Care to share a pic of your home screen?

 

[The Game 161]

I hope I'm not being stupid here then but what home screen widgets do you mean? Care to share a pic of your home screen?

I mean in the pull down Notification Center

 

[matt869]

I mean in the pull down Notification Center

Ah I see. I really don't find it useful enough. There's not enough control over the information added and how it looks. Either there's too much or not enough.

 

[Lloydbm41]

Based off everything I just read from you Matt, the phone for you is Nexus.

Keep it stock, with the Google stock launcher. This gives you the feel of iOS in its simplicity, quick OS patches/updates and none of that bloat crap, but with the added benefits of Android like customization, file system access and full NFC functionality.

 

[matt869]

Based off everything I just read from you Matt, the phone for you is Nexus.

Keep it stock, with the Google stock launcher. This gives you the feel of iOS in its simplicity, quick OS patches/updates and none of that bloat crap, but with the added benefits of Android like customization, file system access and full NFC functionality.

Thanks for the tip. I'm happy to wait till the new nexus phones come out till I make my decision. I certainly don't want to rush it, and my upgrades not due till October. Just wanted to take some time to research and try out the competition. I'll certainly be looking them out when they become available.

 

[TheMacApple]

Since you do not jail break, it's unlikely you will root your android phone.
I left iphone, almost 6 year's ago and have not missed it as with a rooted Android phone, one can do so much.
That said, I am switching back to the 6+ next month....why?
Rooting is challenging and used to be fun, there are nexus phones that can still root depending on your carrier.
Anyway I have a note 4 and loved it...just a pain to keep it rooted as firmware updates, many are bricking there phones and get one big headache.
So if your not gonna root, stay with iphone...this is at least why I am switching back....with sammy making there phones without an sd card option or battery that comes out....it might as well be an iphone...since it wants to be like one, why not just get one.
Android leaves you high and dry with updates quite often, so weigh your options since you do not care for apples support.

 

[Aika]

I switched a couple of years ago, no regrets.

This is a great chance for you to get off the expensive phone contract treadmill. Buy the new Nexus 5 off contract when it comes out in the next couple of months and save some money!

 

[spriter]

My only advice would be to trial a number of phones for a week each, taking advantage of return policies, before you decide.

Even tinkering with phones in stores can't replicate things like signal coverage, battery life for your way of using a phone, real world camera usage, feel in the hand over a longer period of time, and so on.

 

[page404]

I am a lonely iPhone guy in a company full of Android fans. One thing I always notice when calling one of them, is the lousy call quality on their site. Difficult to have a decent conversation. This is not the case for the top-of-the-line Galaxies and Nexus phones of course, but most of them have mid-price or budget phones.
So if calling quality is thing for your (or mic/speaker) in general, be careful with the Android phones.

 

[gadgetgirl85]

I find it hard to decide...I love Android but I miss the sync ability of phone to mac and vice versa. Android is heaps more fun and flexible though.

 

[The Game 161]

Ah I see. I really don't find it useful enough. There's not enough control over the information added and how it looks. Either there's too much or not enough.

Guess it depends what you have on it

I have

Quick toggle widget
ESPN
Cbssports
TheScore
BBC
Eurosport
Sky sports
Twitter
Calendar
Reminders

So everything I need

 

[The Game 161]

I find it hard to decide...I love Android but I miss the sync ability of phone to mac and vice versa. Android is heaps more fun and flexible though.

That is the thing I'm loving by doing notes on my Macbook and it appearing on my iPad

 

[ozaz]

If you feel that Apple is slow at fixing bugs then you will be even unhappier with Android. Unless you get a Nexus device, updates on other manufacturers will take months. For example, the latest Android version is 5.1.1; however, my AT&T Note 4 is still stuck at 5.0.1.

This was part of the reason I left after the htc desire but I didn't think they were as bad now?

Waiting for the whole-OS updates is still slow unless you go with Nexus. But since you were last on Android, I think Google performed a masterstroke by decoupling the Google apps and (crucially) Google Play Services from Android.

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013...oems-step-aside-google-is-defragging-android/

Because of this, I only care minimally about new versions of Android. The overwhelming majority of the good stuff about Android is rapidly updated directly by Google on all relatively recent versions of Android. So quite quite probably bug fixes and improvements to Google apps and services (including some ostensibly OS-level things like location APIs and Google Cast) happen quicker on Android than they do to a lot of Apple apps and services on iOS; If I recall correctly, apps like iOS Mail and Calendar for example require an update to the whole OS. Airplay certainly does.