Ex iPhone Users - Why Did You Switch To Android?

[madsci954]

- Apple has become too much form over function. When I need a smartphone or computer, I need a tool, not an objet d'art piece.
- Cost. Currently using a Nokia 6.1, paid less than $300 for it brand new. That's my price range going forward, $500 is the absolute most I'm willing to pay for a smartphone.

Until both of these points change, I'm not going back.

 

[Shanghaichica]

You don't know either! I'm sure you're right that people will use the EKG, but when the novelty wears off, I doubt many will continue to use it. Fall detection may not be available on Android, but there are features missing from the Apple watch too - my Samsung vibrates when it gets out of range of my phone. It seems to me that's more useful more of the time than fall detection. The people who are most likely to benefit from fall detection - the elderly - are more likely to leave their phone behind, so why is nobody adding both of these features?

Anyone can have an accident at any time and fall down. Maybe you are doing some work on your house on a ladder and you fall down. Or on a ladder getting things out of your loft and you fall down. So I think it’s a useful feature. I do agree that it would be nice if the Apple Watch sent an alert when it goes out of range of the phone.

 

[Lloydbm41]

Hey guys,

I know a lot of people come from android to iPhone and never look back. I have always used iPhone from my first phone, and would not consider switching. I feel iPhone is more reliable and just works. The animations on android seem a bit choppy at times, and the overall experience is just a bit sub par, for me.

But I would be very interested to see if people have switched from iPhone to Android, if so what model and why?

You "feel" iPhone is more reliable and just works and the overall Android experience is just sub-par? How do you know? You said the sentence before that, that you have never used anything other than iPhone?

I have used both iPhones and Android-based phones for over a decade now. I remember when Android was a horrible mess, that required rooting and loading up XDA based ROM's just to get a functional phone or tablet. It's not like iPhones were perfect from the start either, but after a couple of years, only iPhones gave you a quality experience out of the box. Once Android hit Jelly Bean, both OS's tended to be on par in terms of UI. iPhone still held the lead in quality apps.

Today though, there is very little difference between the flagship phones from Apple or companies like Samsung. All use premium building materials, all have mature OS's and easy to use UI's, and the experience is always really good. I'm currently using my iPhone X, did have a Pixel 3 XL which I returned and have replaced it with a One+ 6T global variant. If you want a real evaluation on what is good and bad about Android, I suggest you try it out on a phone like the 6T. You might be surprised at how good it is and what you have been missing locked behind the gates of iOS.

 

[sracer]

Hey guys,

I know a lot of people come from android to iPhone and never look back. I have always used iPhone from my first phone, and would not consider switching. I feel iPhone is more reliable and just works. The animations on android seem a bit choppy at times, and the overall experience is just a bit sub par, for me.

But I would be very interested to see if people have switched from iPhone to Android, if so what model and why?

I've used smartphones for a long time, even before the iPhone. I've never found one platform to be head-n-shoulders superior to the others so I go where the deals and innovative designs are.

I recently replaced my failing iPhone SE with an LG Stylo 3.

I need a phone with a headphone jack. User replaceable batteries are high on my list. Spending over $300 for a phone is not a wise financial decision IMO. That left out any iPhone.

Why the Stylo 3? My no-contract carrier sells it for $100 (outright price, no monthly payments), replaceable battery, support for microSD card and comes with a stylus. I've had it for 6 months and it has been very reliable and the stylus is helpful (when I remember that the phone actually has one)

 

[Lloydbm41]

I've used smartphones for a long time, even before the iPhone. I've never found one platform to be head-n-shoulders superior to the others so I go where the deals and innovative designs are.

I recently replaced my failing iPhone SE with an LG Stylo 3.

I need a phone with a headphone jack. User replaceable batteries are high on my list. Spending over $300 for a phone is not a wise financial decision IMO. That left out any iPhone.

Why the Stylo 3? My no-contract carrier sells it for $100 (outright price, no monthly payments), replaceable battery, support for microSD card and comes with a stylus. I've had it for 6 months and it has been very reliable and the stylus is helpful (when I remember that the phone actually has one)

Stylo 3 is an excellent phone by LG. I bought one as well a while back, just to play with. The cost is ridiculously low for what you get. Nothing at all wrong with that phone!

 

[epicrayban]

The answer to this thread can be found in The Verge's review of the iPad Pro.

The short answer is iOS.

The roadblocks Nilay feels about iOS on the iPad are effectively the same roadblocks on the iPhone. A smartphone is supposed to be a "computer in your hand."

Everything Nilay complains about iOS in that iPad review is applicable to iOS as a whole. He says, "I don't want to adapt to my computer, I want my computer to adapt to me," which is basically what I've always said of the iOS vs Android debate. Android does it's best to adapt to you. With the iPhone, you must adapt to iOS.

 

[epicrayban]

I would love to see Apple go back to a more industrial looking design for the iPhone. The moment I saw the iPad Pro, I thought the same thing for the future iPhone.

The iPhone 4 era was my favorite looking iPhone.


Stunning iPhone 11 photos tease iPad Pro-style new 2019 iPhone design
https://www.trustedreviews.com/news/2019-iphone-11-3616811

 

[sracer]

I would love to see Apple go back to a more industrial looking design for the iPhone. The moment I saw the iPad Pro, I thought the same thing for the future iPhone.

The iPhone 4 era was my favorite looking iPhone.


Stunning iPhone 11 photos tease iPad Pro-style new 2019 iPhone design
https://www.trustedreviews.com/news/2019-iphone-11-3616811

That's nice, but it wasn't the design of the latest iPhones that caused me to switch back to Android. They could produce an iPhone 11 that looks like the iPhone SE but with a screen and size of the iPhone XS and I still wouldn't buy it... and I suspect that those who left iPhones after the SE's demise feel similarly.

 

[epicrayban]

Apple continues walking back 3D Touch.

3D Touch was something that many of us called out as unnecessary and gimmicky years ago. All those years of expensive and complicated display technologies for a feature that we long said could be figured out in software.


iPhone XR’s Haptic Touch will soon gain another 3D Touch feature
https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/8/...ic-touch-open-notifications-3d-touch-shortcut

.... long-press on your phone’s screen, and a bit of haptic feedback will confirm your selection. It takes slightly longer than a hard press, but its existence seems to underscore just how useless 3D Touch has become. Apple previously told The Verge that it planned to expand Haptic Touch’s capabilities, and letting users expand notifications in iOS 12.1.1 is the first example of this.

It’s a bit weird since, as 9to5Mac notes, this same long-press functionality is already available on iPads without any of them having the Haptic Touch technology introduced with the iPhone XR.

 

[I7guy]

3DT will be supported going forward in all flagship models within one model year. Non-flagship models such as the XR will not have 3dt and Apple will continue to evolve this non-3dt interface.

 

[Zwhaler]

Late 2012 the iPhone 5 just came out and wasn't a whole lot different from the 4S except for the taller screen. Meanwhile, the Galaxy Note II was shaking things up in a big way. The device was just so different from the competition and a solid step up from the first Galaxy Note. My friend and I both switched and had so much fun with all of its quirky features and oddities, not to mention the incredible user-replaceable battery. Got the Note 4 a few years later and the Galaxy S6 edge+ the year after that, and I still use it over 3 years later and am super happy with it. Battery life isn't what it used to be but I'm very happy with it and am waiting for the next wave of foldable devices before deciding on my next phone.

 

[Baldilocks]

I use both iOS and Android, but for me, Android does have a few advantages and features that make it a little more "powerful", in my opionion.

- Notifications. They are still light years better on Android and I still prefer having icons in the notification bar.
- Customization. A given, I can make MY phone my own. From the launcher to the icons. Change it all.
- Share Sheet. Sure, Android share sheet is pretty tacky, but you don't have to enable apps you can share to, or worry that you won't be able to share between apps. It usually just works on Android.
- Picture-In-Picture video. Self-explanatory.-
- Ad Blocking. I can do it system wide in Android pretty easily. Apple keeps removing those kinds of apps from the App Store. (luckily i sill have one installed on the XS Max)
- Split Screen Multitasking. Gotta love it.

I could probably go on.

 

[stockscalper]

I bought the iPhone the first week it was out, but quickly tired of its simple concept. When I saw an Android phone at BestBuy and everything you could do with it I decided to switch. Widgets, customized home screens, changing app themes, etc. Even jailbroke the iPhone couldn't touch what I could do with an Android and a launcher. Whenever I see an iPhone now it looks like the app drawer of my phone. The iPhone is just too simplistic for me and all the reasons people give as to why they stick with it in terms of features and apps I can do on my Android.

Another thing. Every iPhone I owned had crappy reception in marginal areas. A friend of mine now has one and we have the same carrier. In the building where he works he has no reception on his iPhone and I have three bars on my Samsung. The difference in reception was something I immediately noticed once I made the switch.

I was a dried in the wool Apple fan for years, but now I use an Android phone and although I still have a MacBook Pro, I find my Windows 2 in 1 to be superior. I love the touchscreen and ability to write notes, comments on documents or articles I've snipped to email. Sometimes I think we're afraid of what else is out there and refuse to use something else or to give it a fair evaluation. Luckily we have choices.

 

[Plutowillreturn]

With all platforms, there are pros and cons. I have used cellphones dating back to the original Motorola TAC series (dyna, micro, star, etc.) and have been issued various BlackBerries, Androids, and iPhone in my various positions. It is what works for you. I send hundreds of emails every week and bar-none, there was a time I had my personal BlackBerry and work issued BlackBerry and could not imagine sending out messages easily with an Andorid or iOS. Fast forward a number of years and I find that iOS/iPhone provides me with the easiest way to communicate and create calendar events, set alarms, etc. for all of my uses. I also find Apple apps to be much more refined than Android apps.

 

[pika2000]

- Apple has become too much form over function. When I need a smartphone or computer, I need a tool, not an objet d'art piece.
- Cost. Currently using a Nokia 6.1, paid less than $300 for it brand new. That's my price range going forward, $500 is the absolute most I'm willing to pay for a smartphone.

Until both of these points change, I'm not going back.

You need a tool, yet you wasted $300 on a Nokia 6.1, which uses fancy trimmings and material to be, fancy, with middling spec.
For $300, one can get a Pocophone F1, which runs circles around the Nokia 6.1.

So sounds like you're no different than those preferring iPhones. You still want your phone to look cool/good. So much for a "tool."

 

[Plutowillreturn]

You need a tool, yet you wasted $300 on a Nokia 6.1, which uses fancy trimmings and material to be, fancy, with middling spec.
For $300, one can get a Pocophone F1, which runs circles around the Nokia 6.1.

So sounds like you're no different than those preferring iPhones. You still want your phone to look cool/good. So much for a "tool."

Maybe that is the tool that works for them. Some people prefer ballpoint pens and others ink. You are imposing what you value over their set of specifications for their tools.

 

[pika2000]

Maybe that is the tool that works for them. Some people prefer ballpoint pens and others ink. You are imposing what you value over their set of specifications for their tools.

The person I replied to specifically said

When I need a smartphone or computer, I need a tool, not an objet d'art piece.

A smartphone is a smartphone, the tool capability is decided by the spec, not the aesthetics. The OP chose a more aesthetically pleasing device compared to a more capable and higher spec device for the same price. That contradicts the OP's own statement.

 

[Plutowillreturn]

The person I replied to specifically said

A smartphone is a smartphone, the tool capability is decided by the spec, not the aesthetics. The OP chose a more aesthetically pleasing device compared to a more capable and higher spec device for the same price. That contradicts the OP's own statement.

I will ask you to consider that, maybe in the OPs mind, they do not deem the Nokia an aesthetically pleasing device and that the specifications meets their need.

A Ferrari is a highly specced series of high end sports cars. It no doubt outperforms a Volvo. But if a Volvo meets my needs, why is that an issue?

 

[GoCubsGo]

I've had iPhones since they were first released. When the iPhone Xs was announced, Apple said the iPhone X was discontinued. Unlike other releases, they slapped the discontinued tag right on a phone that was just under a year old. That was some next level BS if you ask me. It is not that something new came out, it is how they decided to suddenly formally say a model was discontinued. I don't recall that ever being the case and to me, that said I could go F myself on support somewhere down the line. As I get older and more budget conscious, I simply don't jump to the new phones each year any longer. Slap a discontinued tag on it and I vote with my wallet. It doesn't hurt Apple, I'm one person, clearly.

I moved to a Note 9. I am impressed with how well it does things. I had some issues transferring contacts and such, but that had more to do with a decade in the Apple ecosystem than it did anything else. More or less, user error that caused slight frustration.

Since owning the Note 9 for a month now, I have enjoyed a few things about it. First, the battery life. Holy crap. Even a brand new iPhone didn't last me all day and well into a second day. I find attaching documents such as excel files and PDFs in email to handle better. I didn't think I cared about the stylus, but my Draw Something game is on point now and I've managed to sign a few PDFs and email them from the comfort of a bar on a Friday afternoon.

I don't love the messaging app. I moved to Messages+, maybe that's a Verizon thing, but it limits my messages. It wouldn't let me send a photo one day saying I exceeded my limit in storage. This was very untrue, it is a Message+ limitation. The native messaging app resulted in me not getting photos from iPhone users all of the time. Since I spend a good amount of my time sending BS photos back and forth, this mattered to me.

I haven't felt like there were any real downsides yet. I've had to learn how to do some things and such, but I'm a fairly sharp person and it didn't take me too long to figure out how to use my phone.

I am unsure if I'll go back to an iPhone. I happen to miss my Apple watch more than my iPhone. I assume I can solve that issue by buying a Samsung watch or any other watch that works with Android phones.

 

[pika2000]

I will ask you to consider that, maybe in the OPs mind, they do not deem the Nokia an aesthetically pleasing device and that the specifications meets their need.

A Ferrari is a highly specced series of high end sports cars. It no doubt outperforms a Volvo. But if a Volvo meets my needs, why is that an issue?

You cannot claim that you buy a tool for its function instead of aesthetic (per the person's statement), and then intentionally chose a tool that is aesthetically more pleasant than an obviously more capable tool for the same price. It's contradictory, simple as that.

Going back to your car analogy, it's akin to the poster saying that he/she buys car for the utility (eg. transporting things) and not the aesthetics, yet decided to buy a Honda instead of a Hyundai (which might offer more for the same price) simply because the Honda looks nicer.

 

[Plutowillreturn]

You cannot claim that you buy a tool for its function instead of aesthetic (per the person's statement), and then intentionally chose a tool that is aesthetically more pleasant than an obviously more capable tool for the same price. It's contradictory, simple as that.

Going back to your car analogy, it's akin to the poster saying that he/she buys car for the utility (eg. transporting things) and not the aesthetics, yet decided to buy a Honda instead of a Hyundai (which might offer more for the same price) simply because the Honda looks nicer.

Okay.

 

[AustinIllini]

Pixel 3. Better camera. Google Assistant. Not locked into services. So far, so good.

 

[LIVEFRMNYC]

This was an interesting talk ......

 

[LovingTeddy]

You need a tool, yet you wasted $300 on a Nokia 6.1, which uses fancy trimmings and material to be, fancy, with middling spec.
For $300, one can get a Pocophone F1, which runs circles around the Nokia 6.1.

So sounds like you're no different than those preferring iPhones. You still want your phone to look cool/good. So much for a "tool."

Can you easily purchase Pocphone F1 in North American without going to some suspiciously looking websites? And MIUI skin maybe the deal breaker for some people.

 

[tbayrgs]

This was an interesting talk ......

Oh Please...nothing more than a couple of Android fanboy/Apple haters trying to forecast Apple’s doom based on rumors and speculation, talking out of their asses. If you listen to them you’d think Apple was on the verge of bankruptcy.

Go to the 12:30 mark...guy on the right says he doesn’t use any Apple products and openly calls out the guy on the left as having ‘a vendetta against Apple’.

Do I think Apple has some pricing problems with their product lines? Yup. Mac laptops need some serious reworking too. And the ridiculously powerful iPP hardware needs a more capable OS to better take advantage of all that power. But at the same time, we heard the exact same supply chain rumors last year regarding the X and it turned out to be complete ********, so until we see the earning reports, I’m taking it all with a grain of salt. Every anti-Apple crusader has been latching onto these types of rumors forever, predicting the downfall and doom of Apple. Still waiting...