Going to the other side? Android

[Indecisi0n]

I have had the iphone since forever. It was my first smartphone and I have stuck by it ever since but now its losing its appeal. I currently have a 4S which is dying on me. I anticipated the new S would have a larger screen but I was mistaken. Now I do not want a note or anything but I think the 3.5 screen is really getting in the way - texting/surfing the web. I know the 5 series is a little longer but for me that's not enough. My other grip is I am not on LTE which I really need to be with my current usage

So I been talking to some buddies and I am going to start looking into Androids. I have to admit that I am a little intimated since I been with the iphones for so long. I wont really lose any features because I use Gmail for all my information so everything will just port over but my question is for people who have gone from iphones to androids did you regret your decision?

I was told by a few people to start looking into the Moto X. Anyone have one can share their experience?

Thank you for listening.


Sorry for mispost, I never really posted outside the iphone section.

 

[jamojamo]

There are many threads already started in this subforum. You can find a wealth of information in those.

 

[Stuntman06]

You could try one at a store or if you have a friend who owns an Android phone, ask if you could test it out. There are some subtle and some not so subtle differences in the UI that may or may not be to your liking. Certainly there are capabilities that Android has that you will not find on iOS. Whether or not they are important to you depends on what you need.

 

[Holte139]

I regret going to Android, which I did after having some problems with my iPhone 5 and selling it. I've got a HTC One, which in itself is a brilliant phone, but IMO it's spoilt by the Android OS. My notifications don't always come through, and the apps generally don't run as smoothly as on iOS. It would be slightly OTT to say they're a daily occurrence, but I tend to suffer with a handful of app crashes a week, and if something doesn't crash, something else will go wrong that stops things working. For example, I have to refresh my Instagram feed 4 or 5 times before it actually loads whenever I open the app, even though there's no problem with my internet connection.

The OS itself still suffers from horrible amounts of fragmentation too. Up until about 2 weeks ago ITV Player wasn't available for any non-Samsung device. It was at a point where Samsung devices that were a year or more older than the One were supported but the One wasn't despite having better hardware!

If you want more openness from an OS then you may like Android, but what I'd say is that it comes at a price: the overall user experience is nowhere near as good, because it creates more potential for things to go wrong.

The long and short of my Android experience has been that, while it's opened my eyes a little, it really isn't as great as what some would have you believe. Before I moved, people spoke to me about widgets like they were some strange, mystical beings that I could do anything I wanted with, so I tried the Twitter one. In reality, all it did was take up homescreen space and use up battery. The Tweets weren't even up-to-date, I would open the app and see my most recent Tweets as normal, but the 'most recent' Tweets displaying on the widget were up to an hour old! And that was with it apparently syncing every 5 minutes!

As soon as the 5S I've ordered from Apple lands on my doorstep, the HTC One will be sold.

 

[Indecisi0n]

Thank you for that review. I been watching some reviews and it looks like Android is packed with tons of features but features I don't think I'll even use. I will try and get hands on with one this weekend. Thank you for the posts guys.

 

[BlueGoldAce]

I have owned a iphone 4s, 5, and now I have a 5s. I had android before the 4s, and in between each subsequent iPhone.

Every time I went away from ios, I missed it. I would always convince myself that the new, shiny thing or feature on the brand new powerhouse of a phone running android would suit me better. It never did.

For me personally, iOS continues to be better. I wish the screen size was at least 4.5, but it doesn't bother me, and it is worth it having the iphone.

That being said...you may LOVE android, and be happy you tried it out.

 

[samcraig]

I've had the reverse experience. Everyone has a different use case.

I switched initially just to try it and because of the bigger screen(s).

I kept my iPhone because I thought for sure based on everything I read that I might want to switch back. I also am heavily invested in the Apple ecosystem.

That was about 19 months ago. I just upgraded to an S4 (from a previous Samsung Skyrocket) and couldn't be happier. And the iPhone I had? It was pretty much collecting dust. Not because it's not a great phone with a great OS. Just because everything I wanted and needed in a phone, Android delivered. Again - it really depends on your use case.

You really can't go wrong these days if you're going the "premier" phone route. The HTC One, S4, iPhone, etc - all great phones - and great OSes. Both have their quirks, pluses and minuses. Lockups and freezes on both.

BTW - I literally JUST sold my iPhone about a week after I got my S4. I held onto it for a LONG time and probably could have gotten a lot more money - but it was my "safety" blanket in case I ever became frustrated. It simply never happened.

I'm not sure I could go back - no matter how enticing some features are. Now that I have a nearly 5" screen - 4" is just too small for me. I know it's fine for millions. But not for me anymore.

If Apple ever decided to go between 4.5-5" - I would strongly consider going back. But I don't see that happening for awhile. I also love a few things about Android's OS that will never happen on iOS. So it would be tough to give those up...

But who knows - in several years anything can happen...

 

[Darryjr]

I came from iOS to android and couldn't be happier. A lot of people say android lags, freezes, stutters, force close. Not anymore, if you get a good device, with 5.1 or above, its perfect. I have the HTC one and by far, is the best device I have had. I don't care for a screen thats 5 inches. This is perfect. Plus with new contract amazon is offering for a penny right now.

 

[TacticalDesire]

Stock android is really the only android experience I trust. Problems with an OEMs version of android could be due to any number of things and likely due to their skin. Whereas with stock I haven't had any issues that I haven't with iOS. I've had the very rare crash (can probably count on one hand since January). And no complete hangups at all. But that's with a Nexus 4. Android for me is just as dependable as iOS or WP8 but that's stock with no OEM or carrier skins or bloat.

 

[T5BRICK]

Android is great. I sold my iPhone and bought an HTC One in June and it is the best phone I've ever owned.

I got a little tired of Sense(the HTC "skin" running on top of Android) so I unlocked my bootloader and installed the Google Edition ROM. I decided I wanted to try something else, so I installed one of the AOSP ROMs. I can pick which Keyboard I like best, or just use the stock one. I can download files with my phone and later copy them onto my computer. I even downloaded a different ROM, using my phone, and flashed it while I was on my lunch. I didn't need a computer to do any of it.

Basically, you're free to do whatever you want with the OS, instead of being locked down.

 

[mattopotamus]

Stock android is really the only android experience I trust. Problems with an OEMs version of android could be due to any number of things and likely due to their skin. Whereas with stock I haven't had any issues that I haven't with iOS. I've had the very rare crash (can probably count on one hand since January). And no complete hangups at all. But that's with a Nexus 4. Android for me is just as dependable as iOS or WP8 but that's stock with no OEM or carrier skins or bloat.

I feel very similar. If not for stock android, I would probably still be using an iphone. Granted it seems like the OEMs are trying to become pure as possible eg moto x and lg g2.

It may sound silly, but one of the few reasons I cannot go back to the iphone is pages of apps. They really need to implement an app drawer or allow some customization. I use both android and IOS very similar and that is really the main difference. IOS 7 addressed most of the other issues I had with the iphone.

 

[The Game 161]

moving from the iphone to android was the best thing i ever did..no more tiny screens that restrict you with what you want to do. happy to move.

 

[mattopotamus]

moving from the iphone to android was the best thing i ever did..no more tiny screens that restrict you with what you want to do. happy to move.

This also seems to be most people's deciding factor, screen size. I prefer a small screen, but if you want an iphone you do not have a choice

 

[The Game 161]

This also seems to be most people's deciding factor, screen size. I prefer a small screen, but if you want an iphone you do not have a choice

Yeah hopefully the small screen works for people and if it does? it's good...depends on people's needs.

 

[Stuntman06]

Before I moved, people spoke to me about widgets like they were some strange, mystical beings that I could do anything I wanted with, so I tried the Twitter one. In reality, all it did was take up homescreen space and use up battery. The Tweets weren't even up-to-date, I would open the app and see my most recent Tweets as normal, but the 'most recent' Tweets displaying on the widget were up to an hour old! And that was with it apparently syncing every 5 minutes!

There are some really bad widgets out there. The Twitter widget is one of them. The Facebook widget is another. There are a lot of developers and companies who seemed to make a widget just for the sake of saying they have a widget. It the same with apps. Look at some of the apps on the Apple App Store. I'm sure some of them are a waste of space.

I happen to use a number of widgets on my phone that are actually useful. The SoundHound widget (shortcut) immediately starts identifying the song with a single tap. Weather widgets that display info on not just the current temperature, but also a short term forecast. TheScore widget displays sport scores that I can cycle through without having to open the app. Volume widget allows me to silence notifications (while keeping the alarm and ring tone on) before going to bed and turn them back on when I wake up. I also have a widget that displays tweets (and it is not the Twitter widget).

It is unfortunate that that your experience with widgets are with an utterly useless one. Just don't judge the widget feature on Android phones based on the Twitter widget. Also, not everyone likes widgets.

 

[KentuckyHouse]

I regret going to Android, which I did after having some problems with my iPhone 5 and selling it. I've got a HTC One, which in itself is a brilliant phone, but IMO it's spoilt by the Android OS. My notifications don't always come through, and the apps generally don't run as smoothly as on iOS. It would be slightly OTT to say they're a daily occurrence, but I tend to suffer with a handful of app crashes a week, and if something doesn't crash, something else will go wrong that stops things working. For example, I have to refresh my Instagram feed 4 or 5 times before it actually loads whenever I open the app, even though there's no problem with my internet connection.

The OS itself still suffers from horrible amounts of fragmentation too. Up until about 2 weeks ago ITV Player wasn't available for any non-Samsung device. It was at a point where Samsung devices that were a year or more older than the One were supported but the One wasn't despite having better hardware!

If you want more openness from an OS then you may like Android, but what I'd say is that it comes at a price: the overall user experience is nowhere near as good, because it creates more potential for things to go wrong.

The long and short of my Android experience has been that, while it's opened my eyes a little, it really isn't as great as what some would have you believe. Before I moved, people spoke to me about widgets like they were some strange, mystical beings that I could do anything I wanted with, so I tried the Twitter one. In reality, all it did was take up homescreen space and use up battery. The Tweets weren't even up-to-date, I would open the app and see my most recent Tweets as normal, but the 'most recent' Tweets displaying on the widget were up to an hour old! And that was with it apparently syncing every 5 minutes!

As soon as the 5S I've ordered from Apple lands on my doorstep, the HTC One will be sold.

OP, first and foremost, go hands on with the Moto X. It's the closest Android phone that will feel like the iPhone. And with the upcoming update, the camera is going to get a lot better (it's not as bad as people make it out to be as it is).

Or, wait for the Nexus 5. It's sounding like a world beater and should be right on par with the other flagships without the lag or stuttering.

Now, in reference to the person quoted above. I'm sorry you've had a bad experience, but you're blaming the wrong entity for your woes. Everything you described has nothing to do with the Android OS but rather the Sense 5 skin running on top of it. That's HTC's fault, not Android. Same goes for my S4 and TouchWiz. I've had the One, so I know the lag and stutter you speak of. I'm now using the Moto X and it's basically running stock Android with some nice software tweaks that are actually something you'll use. No lag, no stutters, just smooth operation. It's night and day from the others.

 

[Holte139]

There are some really bad widgets out there. The Twitter widget is one of them. The Facebook widget is another. There are a lot of developers and companies who seemed to make a widget just for the sake of saying they have a widget. It the same with apps. Look at some of the apps on the Apple App Store. I'm sure some of them are a waste of space.

I happen to use a number of widgets on my phone that are actually useful. The SoundHound widget (shortcut) immediately starts identifying the song with a single tap. Weather widgets that display info on not just the current temperature, but also a short term forecast. TheScore widget displays sport scores that I can cycle through without having to open the app. Volume widget allows me to silence notifications (while keeping the alarm and ring tone on) before going to bed and turn them back on when I wake up. I also have a widget that displays tweets (and it is not the Twitter widget).

It is unfortunate that that your experience with widgets are with an utterly useless one. Just don't judge the widget feature on Android phones based on the Twitter widget. Also, not everyone likes widgets.

I agree, I'm not saying that all widgets are bad, just that the ones that I would use the most haven't proven to be very good, so for me one of the plus points about having an Android device has been taken away because they aren't useful to me.

Now, in reference to the person quoted above. I'm sorry you've had a bad experience, but you're blaming the wrong entity for your woes. Everything you described has nothing to do with the Android OS but rather the Sense 5 skin running on top of it. That's HTC's fault, not Android. Same goes for my S4 and TouchWiz. I've had the One, so I know the lag and stutter you speak of. I'm now using the Moto X and it's basically running stock Android with some nice software tweaks that are actually something you'll use. No lag, no stutters, just smooth operation. It's night and day from the others.

That's true, it's just that for me, the HTC One is the only Android phone I've ever owned, so even if it is the HTC skin that's causing the problems, in my head it's associated with Android! All I did was post my own experience, I wanted to try Android before making a decision on it, and I've found that iOS suits me better at the moment. Now that I have tried Android, I know about the problems I have with it, so in the future I can keep a look out to see if those things change with a view to eventually giving it another go.

 

[KentuckyHouse]

I agree, I'm not saying that all widgets are bad, just that the ones that I would use the most haven't proven to be very good, so for me one of the plus points about having an Android device has been taken away because they aren't useful to me.



That's true, it's just that for me, the HTC One is the only Android phone I've ever owned, so even if it is the HTC skin that's causing the problems, in my head it's associated with Android! All I did was post my own experience, I wanted to try Android before making a decision on it, and I've found that iOS suits me better at the moment. Now that I have tried Android, I know about the problems I have with it, so in the future I can keep a look out to see if those things change with a view to eventually giving it another go.

Fair enough. I just wanted to make sure you knew not all Android phones are like that. Especially stock or near stock Android phones like the Moto X or Nexus 4.

But yeah, use what works best for you. That's how it always should be. :thumbup: