Ex iPhone Users - Why Did You Switch To Android?

[nordique]

I dabbled with Android over the years but never found it a superior experience to the iPhone until the S7 came out

What that phone did relative to competition was incredible. OLED, wireless charging, ip68, always on display, very good battery life with the black wallpapers and customizable themes...

The customization and widgets kept me with my Droid. I loved that phone.

Went back to iPhone because iMessage is important to me. Most of my family overseas uses iMessage and FaceTime, it’s a large family, and they aren’t on the WhatsApp train so back to iPhone I went.

To me they are 90% the same. They both have pros and cons.

I could go back and forth, to me they’re both great.

 

[rbrian]

I dabbled with Android over the years but never found it a superior experience to the iPhone until the S7 came out

What that phone did relative to competition was incredible. OLED, wireless charging, ip68, always on display, very good battery life with the black wallpapers and customizable themes...

The customization and widgets kept me with my Droid. I loved that phone.

Went back to iPhone because iMessage is important to me. Most of my family overseas uses iMessage and FaceTime, it’s a large family, and they aren’t on the WhatsApp train so back to iPhone I went.

To me they are 90% the same. They both have pros and cons.

I could go back and forth, to me they’re both great.

I'm typing this on my brand new S9, which I picked up yesterday. The widgets are great, saving me seconds every morning (doesn't sound like much, but it adds up), the screen is way better than my iPhone 7, and it's half the price of an iPhone XS. Still getting used to the customisation options, but once I settle on defaults it'll be a better experience I think. My family all use WhatsApp (except my throwback brother, who still uses SMS on a Blackberry!) so iMessage isn't a consideration.

 

[balph]

Android = freedom

iOS = straightjacket

If you call the excessive tracking that Google does "freedom".... https://www.zdnet.com/article/want-google-to-track-you-less-get-an-iphone-ditch-the-android/

For me this is the biggest reason to never switch to Android, I don't like the idea of Google tracking my whole life at all. I know it also happens on iPhone but apparently far less, and you have more control over it (by never installing Google's apps for example).

 

[lowendlinux]

If you call the excessive tracking that Google does "freedom".... https://www.zdnet.com/article/want-google-to-track-you-less-get-an-iphone-ditch-the-android/

For me this is the biggest reason to never switch to Android, I don't like the idea of Google tracking my whole life at all. I know it also happens on iPhone but apparently far less, and you have more control over it (by never installing Google's apps for example).

Freedom also means replacing the SW that comes preinstalled to include GMS..and that is actual freedom

 

[Vegastouch]

If you call the excessive tracking that Google does "freedom".... https://www.zdnet.com/article/want-google-to-track-you-less-get-an-iphone-ditch-the-android/

For me this is the biggest reason to never switch to Android, I don't like the idea of Google tracking my whole life at all. I know it also happens on iPhone but apparently far less, and you have more control over it (by never installing Google's apps for example).

Lol, funny. You know Apple does it but you presume less, but not sure.
And, you can turn off Google stuff if you want. Like location for one.

 

[balph]

Lol, funny. You know Apple does it but you presume less, but not sure.
And, you can turn off Google stuff if you want. Like location for one.

Check the paper that's mentioned in the article (in particular page 14): link
It really looks like Apple is doing it far less than Google.

 

[woozor1]

I was on android for years but the lag I had enough with so I moved to the iphone 6 on release. Damn I regretted that phone it was too small but i kept it for its two year contract. I then moved to the 7 plus it was nicer to have a bigger screen but I was bored with that phone, luckily I was on an annual upgrade plan for that new contract. Then the plan was to upgrade to an xplus which never happend and the X released and I cant deal with small phones so I made the jump back to android on the note 8. The first two weeks of owning the note 8 I struggled tbh I was so used to apples ways and was overwhelmed with setting the note up as theres so many hidden little features you need to dive into to really get it running at its best. But one year later Its been a great phone I cant fault it besides me wanting better cameras.

now I am due my annual upgrade next week and I am unsure what I will do tbh. Cost is no issue so xsmax 256gb note 9 512gb or pixel 3xl 128gb are my options they all have there pros and cons. I really enjoy taking photos so it dissapoints me how the note 9 camera is inferior here.....gr....

 

[nordique]

I'm typing this on my brand new S9, which I picked up yesterday. The widgets are great, saving me seconds every morning (doesn't sound like much, but it adds up), the screen is way better than my iPhone 7, and it's half the price of an iPhone XS. Still getting used to the customisation options, but once I settle on defaults it'll be a better experience I think. My family all use WhatsApp (except my throwback brother, who still uses SMS on a Blackberry!) so iMessage isn't a consideration.

The S9 is a great phone. I have one for my work line. I still love the customization (dark/black themes are the best and extend battery life so much), I love the always on display, and the implementation of widgets is still better than what iOS does. It's useful for my schedule to access weather, emails, calendar, texts etc all from my home screen without opening up an app.

It took me about 4 months of committed use to get used to my S7 back in the day.

 

[mib1800]

I really enjoy taking photos so it dissapoints me how the note 9 camera is inferior here.....gr....

Why inferior? In daylight, note 9 is neck and neck with xs max. The difference is mostly nitpick.

But in low light, note 9 with its superior dual aperture is considerably better.

So with xs max, all your low light photos are borderline crap but a nitpick better daylight photo.

With note 9, you have best of both day and low light photo. Easy choice for me.

And Samsung has released firmware for Note 9 to improve day light and hdr photo. Unfortunately, for xs max in low light, no matter what apple do to software, it is still limited by hardware.

 

[I7guy]

Why inferior? In daylight, note 9 is neck and neck with xs max. The difference is mostly nitpick.

But in low light, note 9 with its superior dual aperture is considerably better.

So with xs max, all your low light photos are borderline crap but a nitpick better daylight photo.

With note 9, you have best of both day and low light photo. Easy choice for me.

And Samsung has released firmware for Note 9 to improve day light and hdr photo. Unfortunately, for xs max in low light, no matter what apple do to software, it is still limited by hardware.

Is that what dxomark says...or is it just your opinion?

https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...-of-the-best-smartphone-cameras-ever.2145252/

 

[mib1800]

Is that what dxomark says...or is it just your opinion?

https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...-of-the-best-smartphone-cameras-ever.2145252/

When was it again that Apple fans said dxomark rating is totally bias and untrustworthy?
Werent you one of them?

 

[I7guy]

When was it again that Apple fans said dxomark rating is totally bias and untrustworthy?
Werent you one of them?

That's correct, but if I had to two chose between the FUD of an anonymous internet poster or dxomark, dxomark wins every time. It's the antidote to FUD.

 

[mib1800]

That's correct, but if I had to two chose between the FUD of an anonymous internet poster or dxomark, dxomark wins every time. It's the antidote to FUD.

Posts from an anonymous internet poster who flip flops depending on the agenda... >> /dev/FUD++

 

[I7guy]

Posts from an anonymous internet poster who flip flops depending on the agenda... >> /dev/FUD++

I'd like to see your citation. You can't, FUD doesn't have one.

 

[mib1800]

I'd like to see your citation. You can't, FUD doesn't have one.

Eat your words?

https://www.androidpolice.com/2018/10/09/displaymate-says-pixel-3-xl-display-gets-rating/

 

[I7guy]

Eat your words?

https://www.androidpolice.com/2018/10/09/displaymate-says-pixel-3-xl-display-gets-rating/

Well, not really, DXOMARK disagrees. But I guess we could endlessly debate the veracity of each "opinion" on the internet. But I'm sure your words, don't taste like whip cream.

 

[woozor1]

Why inferior? In daylight, note 9 is neck and neck with xs max. The difference is mostly nitpick.

But in low light, note 9 with its superior dual aperture is considerably better.

So with xs max, all your low light photos are borderline crap but a nitpick better daylight photo.

With note 9, you have best of both day and low light photo. Easy choice for me.

And Samsung has released firmware for Note 9 to improve day light and hdr photo. Unfortunately, for xs max in low light, no matter what apple do to software, it is still limited by hardware.

for taking pictures of people the notes camera is bad just like my note 8 it over exposes skin badly. And street and fashion photography is what i do alot. If we are talking just landscape photography then sure samsungs camera is just fine.

Sadly there camera is designed around the asian market and there skin tones.

 

[Harthag]

If you call the excessive tracking that Google does "freedom".... https://www.zdnet.com/article/want-google-to-track-you-less-get-an-iphone-ditch-the-android/

For me this is the biggest reason to never switch to Android, I don't like the idea of Google tracking my whole life at all. I know it also happens on iPhone but apparently far less, and you have more control over it (by never installing Google's apps for example).

Genuine / respectful question here. How else can all of this technology advance without tracking us? Everyone complains how far behind Siri is or what Google Assistant can't do yet. The only way for software to progress and "get smarter" is to track and learn, no? I sold my soul to Google long ago with Gmail and now optimization for my business. I have nothing to hide, don't use torrents, etc. So what if Google wants to anonymously track my activity. If in the long run it makes my devices smarter and improves my life, I'm all for it. Nothing is private anymore, including the walled garden of Apple.

Close cousin in my mind of "NIMBYs" (not in my backyard) people who complain about poor cellular coverage but object to cell towers going up in their area. How else do you expect coverage to get better.

 

[IdentityCrisis]

Why inferior? In daylight, note 9 is neck and neck with xs max. The difference is mostly nitpick.

But in low light, note 9 with its superior dual aperture is considerably better.

So with xs max, all your low light photos are borderline crap but a nitpick better daylight photo.

With note 9, you have best of both day and low light photo. Easy choice for me.

And Samsung has released firmware for Note 9 to improve day light and hdr photo. Unfortunately, for xs max in low light, no matter what apple do to software, it is still limited by hardware.

Haha, no. The Max is much better outside in the light. The Note 9 overblows the light on many pictures. Your opinion is wrong as usual. Even DXOMARK agrees.
[doublepost=1539284037][/doublepost]

Watch out for unresponsive screens and the fragile spen

And a Camera that locks up every few seconds when using video. Samsung won't fix it either.
[doublepost=1539284183][/doublepost]

You are in the alternatives section dear heart.. Who's now hanging round in the wrong forum.. bringing up age old sayings that wernt true then, and they most certainly aint true now... run along....

It is still true. As I currently use android flagships, and you still have to fix stuff on them to make them work properly where the iPhone, just turn it on, and it works all the time just fine.
[doublepost=1539284297][/doublepost]

I disagree. I think the X/XS are pretty great to use one handed, it was one of the reasons I got one. They are the right combination of physical and screen size to be comfortable for my hands at least. The reachability feature which is activated by pulling down from the home bar brings the top of the display closer so you can click things on it easier. I do like the one handed mode on the Note 9 better though as its size is customizable, the XS Max is uncomfortably big to me to use one handed.

The multitasking looks pretty nice. Apple has done a poor job in supporting split screen multitasking overall. XS phones should have it available should you want to use it and even on an iPad where it is more useful a lot of 3rd party apps especially from Google just don't support it at all. Apple needs to tell developers that it is a requirement to support split screen multitasking instead of this "support it if you want to" nonsense. Personally I never used the split screen multitasking feature on my previous Android phone because I felt switching between two apps was faster.

Agreed. It works great one handed.

 

[mib1800]

Haha, no. The Max is much better outside in the light. The Note 9 overblows the light on many pictures. Your opinion is wrong as usual. Even DXOMARK agrees.
[doublepost=1539284037][/doublepost]

And a Camera that locks up every few seconds when using video. Samsung won't fix it either.

It does not overexpose all the time. Dont exagerate. It only happens when the foreground object in focus is in a dark area. When you see this on the view finder, you can adjust the exposure or you tap to focus on the background. No big deal.

And samsung is pushing out camera update that will improve the HDR and exposure and solve all the issues you said and I quote "Samsung won't fix it either."

[doublepost=1539284183][/doublepost]
It is still true. As I currently use android flagships, and you still have to fix stuff on them to make them work properly where the iPhone, just turn it on, and it works all the time just fine.
[doublepost=1539284297][/doublepost]

FUD. What is there to fix? If you expect an Android to be like an Iphone out of the box, then the problem lies with you. Since you dare not rebut my list in the other thread, let me just give you a few things that needed to be fixed on iphone like the following:

- you have to go close camera app to change setting
- icons cannot be move anywhere on screen.
- cannot transfer files to non-apple device with BT / wifi direct
- No file system - you have to resort to complicated and expensive workarounds
- No usb host support. Cannot plug in directly to usb (like every other computing devices on this planet can) to transfer or copy files etc.
- No support for anything NON-APPLE. Can't even mirror to a TV without an apple tv box.
- and SO MANY OTHERS.

Agreed. It works great one handed. People need to start ignoring MIB1800 as he is just trolling this forum and getting people riled up.

- Gesture navigation is poorly thought out in Iphone. Swipe from bottom for home/task and swipe from left for back or the top for control/notification. If you are holding your xs max with your right hand, it is near impossible to reach the bottom or the left side with your thumb without shifting your hold. Even with the smaller xs , it is still difficult to do the swipe requiring big movement of the thumb.

Samsung one-hand-operation+ gesture is so much better. You easily swipe from the right side of screen where your thumb is when using phone one handed. It supports total of 6 customizable gestures. 3 gestures with swipe (horizontal, diagonal up, diagonal down). Another 3 gestures with swipe and hold (horizontal, diagonal up, diagonal down).

 

[Michael Goff]

It does not overexpose all the time. Dont exagerate. It only happens when the foreground object in focus is in a dark area. When you see this on the view finder, you can adjust the exposure or you tap to focus on the background. No big deal.

And samsung is pushing out camera update that will improve the HDR and exposure and solve all the issues you said and I quote "Samsung won't fix it either."



FUD. What is there to fix? If you expect an Android to be like an Iphone out of the box, then the problem lies with you. Since you dare not rebut my list in the other thread, let me just give you a few things that needed to be fixed on iphone like the following:

- you have to go close camera app to change setting
- icons cannot be move anywhere on screen.
- cannot transfer files to non-apple device with BT / wifi direct
- No file system - you have to resort to complicated and expensive workarounds
- No usb host support. Cannot plug in directly to usb (like every other computing devices on this planet can) to transfer or copy files etc.
- No support for anything NON-APPLE. Can't even mirror to a TV without an apple tv box.
- and SO MANY OTHERS.



- Gesture navigation is poorly thought out in Iphone. Swipe from bottom for home/task and swipe from left for back or the top for control/notification. If you are holding your xs max with your right hand, it is near impossible to reach the bottom or the left side with your thumb without shifting your hold. Even with the smaller xs , it is still difficult to do the swipe requiring big movement of the thumb.

Samsung one-hand-operation+ gesture is so much better. You easily swipe from the right side of screen where your thumb is when using phone one handed. It supports total of 6 customizable gestures. 3 gestures with swipe (horizontal, diagonal up, diagonal down). Another 3 gestures with swipe and hold (horizontal, diagonal up, diagonal down).

Are you serious?

 

[I7guy]

It does not overexpose all the time. Dont exagerate. It only happens when the foreground object in focus is in a dark area. When you see this on the view finder, you can adjust the exposure or you tap to focus on the background. No big deal.

And samsung is pushing out camera update that will improve the HDR and exposure and solve all the issues you said and I quote "Samsung won't fix it either."



FUD. What is there to fix? If you expect an Android to be like an Iphone out of the box, then the problem lies with you. Since you dare not rebut my list in the other thread, let me just give you a few things that needed to be fixed on iphone like the following:

- you have to go close camera app to change setting
- icons cannot be move anywhere on screen.
- cannot transfer files to non-apple device with BT / wifi direct
- No file system - you have to resort to complicated and expensive workarounds
- No usb host support. Cannot plug in directly to usb (like every other computing devices on this planet can) to transfer or copy files etc.
- No support for anything NON-APPLE. Can't even mirror to a TV without an apple tv box.
- and SO MANY OTHERS.



- Gesture navigation is poorly thought out in Iphone. Swipe from bottom for home/task and swipe from left for back or the top for control/notification. If you are holding your xs max with your right hand, it is near impossible to reach the bottom or the left side with your thumb without shifting your hold. Even with the smaller xs , it is still difficult to do the swipe requiring big movement of the thumb.

Samsung one-hand-operation+ gesture is so much better. You easily swipe from the right side of screen where your thumb is when using phone one handed. It supports total of 6 customizable gestures. 3 gestures with swipe (horizontal, diagonal up, diagonal down). Another 3 gestures with swipe and hold (horizontal, diagonal up, diagonal down).

I wonder why Apple makes as much money in a quarter than Samsung makes in a year. Some guesses:
- no file system, iphone users generally don't want one
- less customization options, iphone users generally just want a device that works
- less convoluted gesture navigation. Don't have to stand on your toes, while tapping your head to get things done on an iphone

Apple produces a product that people want to buy, in droves. How are the sales of the s9 or note 9?

And then there is the standard FUD. You do not need an apple tv to mirror your iphone to many modern tvs. (And as a bonus, the iphone camera is better than Samsung offerings, if one believes in such rankings)

Buy what you want, what works for you. Apple doesn't care. But the people have shown that your "list" is irrelevant to the iphone buyer.

 

[IdentityCrisis]

I wonder why Apple makes as much money in a quarter than Samsung makes in a year. Some guesses:
- no file system, iphone users generally don't want one
- less customization options, iphone users generally just want a device that works
- less convoluted gesture navigation. Don't have to stand on your toes, while tapping your head to get things done on an iphone

Apple produces a product that people want to buy, in droves. How are the sales of the s9 or note 9?

And then there is the standard FUD. You do not need an apple tv to mirror your iphone to many modern tvs. (And as a bonus, the iphone camera is better than Samsung offerings, if one believes in such rankings)

Buy what you want, what works for you. Apple doesn't care. But the people have shown that your "list" is irrelevant to the iphone buyer.

Especially when his list isn't correct. And we know arguing with him is like arguing toward a brick wall.

 

[mib1800]

I wonder why Apple makes as much money in a quarter than Samsung makes in a year. Some guesses:
- no file system, iphone users generally don't want one
- less customization options, iphone users generally just want a device that works
- less convoluted gesture navigation. Don't have to stand on your toes, while tapping your head to get things done on an iphone

Apple produces a product that people want to buy, in droves. How are the sales of the s9 or note 9?

And then there is the standard FUD. You do not need an apple tv to mirror your iphone to many modern tvs. (And as a bonus, the iphone camera is better than Samsung offerings, if one believes in such rankings)

Buy what you want, what works for you. Apple doesn't care. But the people have shown that your "list" is irrelevant to the iphone buyer.

Are you confused?

The last I check only 2 out of 10 people bought an iPhone. And those 20% happily put 80% whole market profit into apples pocket. Out of those 2 people one is from US.

So it is not drove of people more like a trickle outside of US

 

[I7guy]

Are you confused?

The last I check only 2 out of 10 people bought an iPhone. And those 20% happily put 80% whole market profit into apples pocket. Out of those 2 people one is from US.

So it is not drove of people more like a trickle outside of US

confusion reigns supreme and is the enemy of clarity.

Last article said Apple gets 90% of the profits from the smartphone sector. So stick with your “market share is better” fallacy.