iOS to Android - The Journey of 2 days so far

[slooksterPSV]

Hi all,

I gave up my iPhone 12 Mini and went with a Google Pixel 6. While I'm not a fan of Google, or Android for that matter, I will say the iOS was getting a little boring for my tastes (using it for the past 4-5 years). So why the Pixel 6 and not a Motorola or Samsung?

Well, the Pixel 6 has a custom SoC like Apple's own Silicon, which is intriguing.
The display alone is what... 6.4" diagonal!? Its huge!
Motorola and Samsung, I can't guarantee their OS Updates but the Pixel 6 is guaranteed until 2024. I know there's legislation trying to push Android phone makers to update phones for a min. of 5 years (Apple's way ahead of the curve as they still push out Security updates for iOS 12).

How has it been? Honestly, not as bad as I was initially expecting. Apps run decently. A lot of the commands I used on iOS are there like slide from bottom to switch apps, swipe back to go back, swipe right.... I'm not sure if that does go forward or not... a few apps it didn't seem to work like that.

Pros:
Battery life is awesome. It's been lasting 1+ days on a single charge + heavy usage with Apple Music, YouTube, and some idle clicker games.
USB-C - most of my devices have been using USB-C like mouse, keyboard, headphones, speakers, chargers, etc. so its nice to just have one lying around instead of hunting for lightning cable. A lot of the lightning cables we've had, have broke or become frayed so we keep buying more or they get lost.
Display - 90hz display is awesome actually. It feels so fluid!
Storage - 128GB is really great to have.
Under-screen fingerprint Reader
Camera - the camera is actually amazing, I'm shocked. It's as good as iPhone's camera system. Weird right?
Flashlight/Torch - that sucker is bright!

Cons:
(Ignore the first few that are iOS specific)
No iCloud Support - I still have my family plan with 2TB and my images are there and will be there. I have no plans on moving them out of iCloud.
No Apple News+ - yeah its Android, so that means only my iPad can access it.
No Apple Pay - I have an apple card sure, so it sucks I can't use it like I can on Android - there's Google Pay, maybe its the same thing??? I have no idea, but I don't really trust Google.

Chrome - Google Chrome, it is the bane of my existence. I use Firefox though + extensions for adblocking. Much nicer.
Games - unless they use facebook - don't transfer over data like Eggs Inc. or Adventure Capitalist - so I'm starting those over from scratch
Speakers - They're kind of weak. Sure I use headphones most of the time, but the speakers aren't that great on the Pixel
Automatic Dimming - ugh it goes too dim where I have to bump it up if I go outside.

Common Ground Complaints:
Both iOS and Android don't seem to update Apps automatically half the time.
Android is becoming very iOS-esc - I mean this could be spoofed really easily.
I can use Messages on my Windows PC for Android like macOS can do with iPhone. It's.... different? I guess...? We'll leave it at that.

Overall thoughts:
I do miss iOS, there were things that were just extremely seamless on it. In a year, I'll switch back - I know I will because I've bought into the eco-system of Apple so much. However, iOS I didn't worry about what I downloaded on the App Store. Google? Yeah, I have AntiMalware installed because you never know. While there's many more apps I can use on Google that I've been wanting to have on the side (ones iOS bans or that), that's just one of the key differences. If you're using iOS and connected to iCloud services and subscriptions, it may be best to stay on iOS. If you know how to work your way around the systems, switch if you'd like.

I'm good, it'll be nice for a change. If you have any questions about the Pixel 6, let me know.

Thanks!

 

[Scarpad]

i only lasted a month on the zflip 3 the battery life was abysmal, the pixel 6 is a better phone, but overall i missed IOS's snappiness, and the apps were so much better, i'm glad to be home i won't switch again

 

[ian87w]

The Pixel 6 seems to be a great phone, no doubt about that. But using the iPhone 12 mini for battery comparison? The Pixel 6 has more than double the battery capacity of the 12 mini. Obviously it should have better battery life.

 

[slooksterPSV]

And... I'm back on an iPhone 13 now. So the Pixel 6 was a great phone, not going to lie, but I hit some issues with it pretty quick after a few more days.

1) The phone would randomly reboot. I would set it down, continue to work, pick it up and it would say "Enter your passcode because the device has restarted." ??? This happened multiple times.
2) Trying to "Share" something would bring up random numbers. Not who I recently text or contacts in my messages, nope just random phone numbers.
3) Reset the device, nothing changed. Removed apps I didn't need, nothing changed, still had issues with #1 and #2.
4) The camera, was fantastic, but videos had a weird graininess to them that I can't explain. Good lighting, low light, all of them had a weird graininess on it like I was shooting an old-time camera. No filters on either.
5) Play Store wouldn't automatically update apps after a bit, so I had updates from about 4 days prior (what!?).

I took it back to the carrier and they advised multiple people have been having similar issues and been returning them. Overall, I'm glad to be back on iOS. Android is still a buggy mess!

 

[Aneres11]

Lol. You were never ever going to last with a Pixel. Your first post "I don't like Google or Android".
And you bought a Google phone running... Android. ?.

Enjoy your 13 ?

 

[Tig Bitties]

Wow that didn't last long LOL

To be fair when switching to different OS's you gotta give it 30 days one month. Put the old phone in a drawer and just use the new one. After a couple weeks you'll start to get comfortable.

Only giving it 5 days is not fair. Your still thinking of how the other phone operated.

The bugs and stuff you mentioned on your Pixel 6, I have the 6 Pro and 6 and never had anything like those issues.

I find stock Android way better than iOS. But I don't own any other Apple products. iWatch never. A iPad nope. Mac computer, hell no I build custom gaming PC's for myself.

Different strokes, for different folks I guess.

 

[nickdalzell1]

I haven't had a random restart on Android since 2010! Back in the 2.3 days it happened a ton if so much as a bad SD card read happened. Any time the launcher or system UI crashed you'd get asked for your secure lock PIN or such and a statement that your 'phone restarted'. Basically the same thing as explorer.exe crashing on Windows.

But I've never had a modern phone do this.

I'm on a motorola G Stylus now, an excellent phone. If you think 6.4" was huge, try 6.8! However with the minimal bezel it's actually small in a pocket.

I still prefer Moto's gestures over Google Pixels. Given Google's bad support of any app they make, I'd hate to have a phone that only runs their apps out the gate get severely gimped when they kill an app. Pixels can run alternatives but the integration of Google is part of the point of a Pixel. I just can't trust their support, updates or apps. They killed Inbox and most recently Google Play Music, and it's possible their Play Books app might get the axe, as it's not getting updates or even an updated icon like their other apps.

I always run alternatives since I can never trust that one day, I'll need navigation help and launch Maps to be told Maps is no longer a thing, and remain lost.

For those wanting more iOS in Android, I've found a great launcher called Launcher iOS 15, that has app library, siri suggestions, and control center and lock screen and it really does a decent job of implementing a lot of the goodies of iOS 15.

 

[Awesomesince86]

Yeah I call BS. I haven't had a random reboot on and Android phone in years.

 

[animalx]

Yeah I call BS. I haven't had a random reboot on and Android phone in years.

Yeah I'm calling BS too. I haven't had a random reboot in probably at least 10 years, and even then it was rare. Then the thing he said about his phone suggesting random numbers he hasn't texted and aren't in his phone (when he hits share), is complete bull. The share suggestions come from your phone, so it couldn't just generate a random phone number to share to. This guy just sat here and fabricated an entire scenario just to try to prop up his precious iphone. lol sad.

 

[ian87w]

And... I'm back on an iPhone 13 now. So the Pixel 6 was a great phone, not going to lie, but I hit some issues with it pretty quick after a few more days.

1) The phone would randomly reboot. I would set it down, continue to work, pick it up and it would say "Enter your passcode because the device has restarted." ??? This happened multiple times.
2) Trying to "Share" something would bring up random numbers. Not who I recently text or contacts in my messages, nope just random phone numbers.
3) Reset the device, nothing changed. Removed apps I didn't need, nothing changed, still had issues with #1 and #2.
4) The camera, was fantastic, but videos had a weird graininess to them that I can't explain. Good lighting, low light, all of them had a weird graininess on it like I was shooting an old-time camera. No filters on either.
5) Play Store wouldn't automatically update apps after a bit, so I had updates from about 4 days prior (what!?).

I took it back to the carrier and they advised multiple people have been having similar issues and been returning them. Overall, I'm glad to be back on iOS. Android is still a buggy mess!

Android 12 is brand new. Just like iOS 15, bugs exist.
In terms of updating apps, it’s all done automatically in the background when you’re not using the phone. Sure, it might not update the apps right on the dot when the developer pushed the update, but does it matter? It’s a set it and forget it. I only initiate all apps update manually when I first set up a new phone. After that, I just forget about it. I have better things to do than micro managing them.

 

[nickdalzell1]

Auto updates can degrade performance too. Not only do updated versions eventually tax the specs of especially budget devices, but the 'optimization' post install can cause stuttering or freezing momentarily if you're using it when it's doing background updates. I recommend turning auto updates off entirely.

I don't get the obsession with hitting the 'update' button. It's odd on forums such as Android Central and so on, people get impatient for updates, then complain about the changes. No one is ever satisfied and enjoy just using the device. Also, task killers. STOP. To this day, Task killers, battery savers, and cleanup apps are the bane of newbie Android users. I'll bet OP installed some and got malware or something.

I remember at one time a carrier store such as a Verizon or AT&T store had reps install garbage task killers and tell people to install them. Most of the apps come from Cheetah Mobile. Back in the Android 2.3 wild wild west days, there were such things as 'airpush spam' from installing garbage apps, which put 'notification icons' up top that were actually ads.

 

[slooksterPSV]

...

I don't get the obsession with hitting the 'update' button. It's odd on forums such as Android Central and so on, people get impatient for updates, then complain about the changes. No one is ever satisfied and enjoy just using the device. Also, task killers. STOP. To this day, Task killers, battery savers, and cleanup apps are the bane of newbie Android users. I'll bet OP installed some and got malware or something.

...

Nope; actually most the apps I downloaded were ones I've used on iOS and check thoroughly through security sites to validate they weren't under any kind of scrutiny. The first article to pop up in the news section on the left said to remove Chrome immediately from your phone as Google is selling your browsing habits to advertisers.

In addition, besides have one of the best AntiMalware apps out there on the device (need to deactivate license come to think of it), many people with the Pixel 6 had the same complaints I had - even long time android users. Sure Android 12 can be buggy at first, but I thought I read that the Pixel 6 wasn't supposed to get it yet, yet its pushing out to phones. The 4 and 5 were supposed to get it with the 6 later on.

I didn't use task killers, battery savers, or clean up apps; why? It had 128GB, it has a Linux kernel so memory management is handled very well. Battery life, its the same as any other smart-phone that uses indexing, it takes time to balance out. Think of Spotlight on macOS, if you have a large amount of data, your battery could suffer, but I think it now only does indexing when plugged in or if idle?

Anyways, I look into what I download before I download it. Its better to be safe than sorry. You get a root kit that's hit the primary image? It may never come off of there. BLU Phones? They had pre-installed Chinese malware on them where the FTC got involved.

 

[nickdalzell1]

That Pixel likely has better specs than the Motorola G Stylus I'm using which runs perfectly fine. I disabled both updates and Google Play Store day one. I dunno what's different on yours so all I can do is guess you had installed a task killer or some other app posing as a cleaner, because that's how a majority of folks reduce Android performance to zero. Also causes random reboots which really you have to try hard to do because it was far more common in Android 2.3 or older, due to how storage was working at the time.

I also caution you following the Play Store review stats--90% of them are fake. Experienced Android users have seen many games and apps 'unlock' premium features by you giving them a 5-star review. So they're not nearly as accurate as those on the App Store.

I also turn off sync, background data, and anything to do with streaming or the cloud since it causes battery drain, performance loss, data usage, and I never use that crap. I get great performance over YEARS, and battery life measured in days vs hours.

 

[ian87w]

Nope; actually most the apps I downloaded were ones I've used on iOS and check thoroughly through security sites to validate they weren't under any kind of scrutiny. The first article to pop up in the news section on the left said to remove Chrome immediately from your phone as Google is selling your browsing habits to advertisers.

In addition, besides have one of the best AntiMalware apps out there on the device (need to deactivate license come to think of it), many people with the Pixel 6 had the same complaints I had - even long time android users. Sure Android 12 can be buggy at first, but I thought I read that the Pixel 6 wasn't supposed to get it yet, yet its pushing out to phones. The 4 and 5 were supposed to get it with the 6 later on.

I didn't use task killers, battery savers, or clean up apps; why? It had 128GB, it has a Linux kernel so memory management is handled very well. Battery life, its the same as any other smart-phone that uses indexing, it takes time to balance out. Think of Spotlight on macOS, if you have a large amount of data, your battery could suffer, but I think it now only does indexing when plugged in or if idle?

Anyways, I look into what I download before I download it. Its better to be safe than sorry. You get a root kit that's hit the primary image? It may never come off of there. BLU Phones? They had pre-installed Chinese malware on them where the FTC got involved.

Wait. The Pixel 6 ships with Android 12 out of the box. How could it “get it later”?

And what anti malware? Stock Android “anti malware” is transparent via the Play services. There’s no “license” to deactivate.

Are you sure you actually have a Pixel 6?

 

[nickdalzell1]

I think OP bought an antimalware app or IAP within one, like the many with reputable names based on the OP's PC app of the same name or something. Avast, Malwarebytes (this one is garbage based on the issues it causes the work PC) and McAfee all have respective Android apps but they're mostly garbage, cause performance issues, incorporate their own task killers, or battery savers within. You don't need antivirus on Android, just smart browsing habits.

Android 12 might have officially launched but all I see lately is it's in beta. You can install a beta copy on a Pixel just as you do on iOS.

 

[mrex]

And... I'm back on an iPhone 13 now. So the Pixel 6 was a great phone, not going to lie, but I hit some issues with it pretty quick after a few more days.

1) The phone would randomly reboot. I would set it down, continue to work, pick it up and it would say "Enter your passcode because the device has restarted." ??? This happened multiple times.
2) Trying to "Share" something would bring up random numbers. Not who I recently text or contacts in my messages, nope just random phone numbers.
3) Reset the device, nothing changed. Removed apps I didn't need, nothing changed, still had issues with #1 and #2.
4) The camera, was fantastic, but videos had a weird graininess to them that I can't explain. Good lighting, low light, all of them had a weird graininess on it like I was shooting an old-time camera. No filters on either.
5) Play Store wouldn't automatically update apps after a bit, so I had updates from about 4 days prior (what!?).

I took it back to the carrier and they advised multiple people have been having similar issues and been returning them. Overall, I'm glad to be back on iOS. Android is still a buggy mess!

and cows are flying…