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I Switched To Android And I Have No Regrets

Did you switch from iOS to Android? Android to iOS? Back and forth?

  • iOS to Android

    Votes: 61 29.9%

  • Android to iOS

    Votes: 36 17.6%

  • I switch back and forth

    Votes: 107 52.5%
  • Total voters
    204
AustinIllini said:
Doesn’t work for me either. I’ll likely be selling my 3xl
Click to expand...

I'd like to hear your thoughts, and what phone are you sticking with? I have a xs max and have only had Apple phones the past 2-3 years, my last full time Android phone was a Note 7 before they recalled them. I just got a Pixel 3 XL for super cheap and wanted to play around with Android again, especially vanilla Android. But I didn't really like Android at all, weirdly enough I feel as if it's actually behind iOS in many aspects and just has too much stuff that seems like Google has poor focus. The main things I love are the split screen, and the Night Sight features, but otherwise I could definitely leave Android and never look back, especially with all the privacy issues Google has. I'm thinking about what to do as it's now just sitting in a drawer doing nothing, most likely I'll just throw it on Swappa but I'm tempted to see what Android Q brings.
 
spinedoc77 said:
I'd like to hear your thoughts, and what phone are you sticking with? I have a xs max and have only had Apple phones the past 2-3 years, my last full time Android phone was a Note 7 before they recalled them. I just got a Pixel 3 XL for super cheap and wanted to play around with Android again, especially vanilla Android. But I didn't really like Android at all, weirdly enough I feel as if it's actually behind iOS in many aspects and just has too much stuff that seems like Google has poor focus. The main things I love are the split screen, and the Night Sight features, but otherwise I could definitely leave Android and never look back, especially with all the privacy issues Google has. I'm thinking about what to do as it's now just sitting in a drawer doing nothing, most likely I'll just throw it on Swappa but I'm tempted to see what Android Q brings.
Click to expand...

According to our rumors, Q should help with one of those issues. Apparently the settings are getting a "privacy" section.

https://www.theverge.com/2019/1/16/18185763/android-q-leak-dark-mode-new-privacy-settings
 
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Wildo6882 said:
I agree with what others said. I'd like to hear what you have to say. Not to bombard you, you just seemed like the 3XL was the perfect device for you.
Click to expand...
I work for a company that develops apps for Windows, but we're moving into an area where we need iOS support. Fortunately/unfortunately that means I get a free iOS device.
 
I was playing around with my 3 XL last night and really have to reiterate widgets on Android really suck. It's comical because I used to stand up for Android in large part because of the widgets. But they just seem so disjointed, really bad looking with titlebars that are too thick and haphazard functionality. Plus there is no common design language, which I'm surprised Google would allow, colors, fonts, sizing, functionality and even just the way they fit onto the home pages is almost completely different from widget to widget, plus you can't vertically slide a home page so can't have all your widgets on one page. I was reading through some dev forums and apparently it's a pain to code Android widgets for many reasons. I am seeing very few widgets on Android for my most used apps, I see a lot more widgets on iOS which is a weird reversal from a few years ago.

On a good note I found Google has been slowly introducing dark themes to some of its apps, although the effect is inconsistent and really odd in that some dark mode apps such as Google Feed open into non dark mode apps such as Google News and Chrome. For web browsing the Samsung browser is absolutely the best because it's Night Mode actually changes webpages to become dark, very nice.
 
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spinedoc77 said:
I was playing around with my 3 XL last night and really have to reiterate widgets on Android really suck. It's comical because I used to stand up for Android in large part because of the widgets. But they just seem so disjointed, really bad looking with titlebars that are too thick and haphazard functionality. Plus there is no common design language, which I'm surprised Google would allow, colors, fonts, sizing, functionality and even just the way they fit onto the home pages is almost completely different from widget to widget, plus you can't vertically slide a home page so can't have all your widgets on one page. I was reading through some dev forums and apparently it's a pain to code Android widgets for many reasons. I am seeing very few widgets on Android for my most used apps, I see a lot more widgets on iOS which is a weird reversal from a few years ago.

On a good note I found Google has been slowly introducing dark themes to some of its apps, although the effect is inconsistent and really odd in that some dark mode apps such as Google Feed open into non dark mode apps such as Google News and Chrome. For web browsing the Samsung browser is absolutely the best because it's Night Mode actually changes webpages to become dark, very nice.
Click to expand...
Yeah, widgets aren't good anymore. Android and developers have essentially thrown them aside. I can only speculate it has to do with the fact that a widget displays static information you need to view one time and after that it's just something you scroll through.
 
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mackie8 said:
Guys when u move to android. what is your smart watch alternative?
Click to expand...
The Fossil Sport got some good reviews. If you have a Samsung phone, their watches are fantastic and really complete with Apple Watch. Actually I think that look nicer.

Wear OS is a mess though. Another option is to get a Fitbit Versa.
 
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spinedoc77 said:
I was playing around with my 3 XL last night and really have to reiterate widgets on Android really suck. It's comical because I used to stand up for Android in large part because of the widgets. But they just seem so disjointed, really bad looking with titlebars that are too thick and haphazard functionality. Plus there is no common design language, which I'm surprised Google would allow, colors, fonts, sizing, functionality and even just the way they fit onto the home pages is almost completely different from widget to widget, plus you can't vertically slide a home page so can't have all your widgets on one page. I was reading through some dev forums and apparently it's a pain to code Android widgets for many reasons. I am seeing very few widgets on Android for my most used apps, I see a lot more widgets on iOS which is a weird reversal from a few years ago.

On a good note I found Google has been slowly introducing dark themes to some of its apps, although the effect is inconsistent and really odd in that some dark mode apps such as Google Feed open into non dark mode apps such as Google News and Chrome. For web browsing the Samsung browser is absolutely the best because it's Night Mode actually changes webpages to become dark, very nice.
Click to expand...

Yes, the majority of widgets are bad or mediocre. But the good ones are really good.

My favorites are .....

Power Toggles, UCCW, and Beautiful Widgets(pic below) is a must have for me.

20190302_231054.jpg
 
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I don't know. I've been using the following widgets and they've been very useful:

Google News
ESPN
Spotify
Play music
Now Playing
Google Calendar
Chrome Bookmarks
 
I switch back and forth. The only Android device I can tolerate for a long period of time is OnePlus. I think it's OxygenOS that keeps me interested. I don't foresee myself buying anything outside of OnePlus and iPhone for a very long time.
 
spinedoc77 said:
I was playing around with my 3 XL last night and really have to reiterate widgets on Android really suck. It's comical because I used to stand up for Android in large part because of the widgets. But they just seem so disjointed, really bad looking with titlebars that are too thick and haphazard functionality. Plus there is no common design language, which I'm surprised Google would allow, colors, fonts, sizing, functionality and even just the way they fit onto the home pages is almost completely different from widget to widget, plus you can't vertically slide a home page so can't have all your widgets on one page. I was reading through some dev forums and apparently it's a pain to code Android widgets for many reasons. I am seeing very few widgets on Android for my most used apps, I see a lot more widgets on iOS which is a weird reversal from a few years ago.

On a good note I found Google has been slowly introducing dark themes to some of its apps, although the effect is inconsistent and really odd in that some dark mode apps such as Google Feed open into non dark mode apps such as Google News and Chrome. For web browsing the Samsung browser is absolutely the best because it's Night Mode actually changes webpages to become dark, very nice.
Click to expand...
I just picked up a OnePlus 6T as my first Android device since a while, and you're completely right about the widgets. I was actually a bit shocked to find that the Google Maps transit widget I use every day on iOS simply doesn't exist on Android. So a GOOGLE app on Google's own OS has LESS widget functionality than their iOS version?? W T F.

And yes, on top of that, the widgets which actually do work at least okay are a pain in the arse to place and resize properly. I have one for the Berlin city public transport which works similarly to the GMaps transit widget on iOS but its font and content just cannot be resized to fit in with the rest of my homepage setup, so it looks like some buggy crap widget from six years ago.

I picked up the 6T on a deal basically just to get an OLED screen for less than half of what the freaking expensive XS Max costs, but to my actually pretty big surprise I'm not liking Android anywhere near as much as I did way back when I wielded the Note 2. Not sure this is gonna work out tbh.
 
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Oohara said:
I just picked up a OnePlus 6T as my first Android device since a while, and you're completely right about the widgets. I was actually a bit shocked to find that the Google Maps transit widget I use every day on iOS simply doesn't exist on Android. So a GOOGLE app on Google's own OS has LESS widget functionality than their iOS version?? W T F.

And yes, on top of that, the widgets which actually do work at least okay are a pain in the arse to place and resize properly. I have one for the Berlin city public transport which works similarly to the GMaps transit widget on iOS but its font and content just cannot be resized to fit in with the rest of my homepage setup, so it looks like some buggy crap widget from six years ago.

I picked up the 6T on a deal basically just to get an OLED screen for less than half of what the freaking expensive XS Max costs, but to my actually pretty big surprise I'm not liking Android anywhere near as much as I did way back when I wielded the Note 2. Not sure this is gonna work out tbh.
Click to expand...
I think it's just a matter of getting used to the OS and the little tricks. Great example, for maps, I like to turn on Navigation on my way to work and then put it on picture in picture. That way, destination time appears both in my lock screen or an even cooler version on my home screen

e876ba34da49db9067ab18375e7cac0d.jpg
 
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Oohara said:
I just picked up a OnePlus 6T as my first Android device since a while, and you're completely right about the widgets. I was actually a bit shocked to find that the Google Maps transit widget I use every day on iOS simply doesn't exist on Android. So a GOOGLE app on Google's own OS has LESS widget functionality than their iOS version?? W T F.

And yes, on top of that, the widgets which actually do work at least okay are a pain in the arse to place and resize properly. I have one for the Berlin city public transport which works similarly to the GMaps transit widget on iOS but its font and content just cannot be resized to fit in with the rest of my homepage setup, so it looks like some buggy crap widget from six years ago.

I picked up the 6T on a deal basically just to get an OLED screen for less than half of what the freaking expensive XS Max costs, but to my actually pretty big surprise I'm not liking Android anywhere near as much as I did way back when I wielded the Note 2. Not sure this is gonna work out tbh.
Click to expand...

Agreed about widgets. I use two on my Pixel (Authy and GroupMe) and it's purely for functionality, not aesthetics. Given a choice, I'd use iOS implementation on Android.
 
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I switch back and forth between IOS and Android phones all the time. I really enjoy some things about both operating systems.
I enjoy having widgets on my home screen like Beautiful Widgets as @LIVEFRMNYC has on his screenshot.
Being able to customise my home screen to display what I want a glance is extremely helpful.
After seeing the weather temps on the screenshots from @mjschabow and @LIVEFRMNYC im glad I live in Arizona where it was 70 yesterday! :)
 
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jamezr said:
I switch back and forth between IOS and Android phones all the time. I really enjoy some things about both operating systems.
I enjoy having widgets on my home screen like Beautiful Widgets as @LIVEFRMNYC has on his screenshot.
Being able to customise my home screen to display what I want a glance is extremely helpful.
After seeing the weather temps on the screenshots from @mjschabow and @LIVEFRMNYC im glad I live in Arizona where it was 70 yesterday! :)
Click to expand...
Lol the last month has been brutal!
 
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Just curious..
Coz i noticed my pocophone is having stronger wifi signal than my iphone x...
Do u have same experience from switching to android from ios?
 
jamezr said:
I switch back and forth between IOS and Android phones all the time. I really enjoy some things about both operating systems.
I enjoy having widgets on my home screen like Beautiful Widgets as @LIVEFRMNYC has on his screenshot.
Being able to customise my home screen to display what I want a glance is extremely helpful.
After seeing the weather temps on the screenshots from @mjschabow and @LIVEFRMNYC im glad I live in Arizona where it was 70 yesterday! :)
Click to expand...
I do that too, but I get bored fast of iOS. It just looks stale and the UI is so outdated and static. If I don't like how something looks on Android I just change it. If I don't like how something looks on iOS, I have to live with it hahaha. nope.
 
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Used Note8 briefly from April to September last year.


That's how much it took for me to try and enjoy all the benefits of Android such as placing icons on your home screen in different order and, using some widgets...and...uhm...well...I think that's it.


It's been a fun while it lasted. Returning to iOS was like returning home after a long journey.
 
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