Moving from iPhone to Android is Painful

Dwalls90 · Aug 5, 2012

I really feel like mostly everyone responding to this thread fails to notice that this is my opinion of my experience. I think it's a fact that iCloud is important to me than the average Apple user. I leverage all aspects: iTunes Match, Contacts syncing, Mail, App unification, iMessage across three devices. If I switch to Android, all of a sudden I now have to manage two subsets of these cloud services, which overcomplicates things.

As I already said, had I been a smartphone only user with no Mac or iPad, maybe it would be easier switching as there are no ecosystem switching costs. But even if Android is superior, I can't justify using two sets of cloud services just for an incrementally superior phone (if at all, that's opinion too!)

Bobby.e · Aug 5, 2012

Dwalls90 said:
Out of pure curiosity to see if I was truly using the best platform for me, I bought a refurbished Galaxy S II. And after about a day, I came running back to iOS.

Why?

Music: Where is the Google iCloud music alternative? I have music on my laptop in iTunes, I don't want to upload ALL of it to the cloud to hear it on my phone. Even syncing music through OSX was painful, and not nearly as intuitive as iOS. I felt so lost by the disorganization and lack of simplicity that iOS offers with iTunes Match and iTunes

iMessage: A missed feature as I use messages on my iPad and Mac. It's not worth splitting conversations between Android and Apple, so I definitely missed iMessage too much. Plus the little features of delivery receipts and others were missed.

Contacts: Syncing or moving contacts from my address book to Android shouldn't be difficult. For other Apple devices, before iCloud (which now automatically manages this), I would just export Vcards and import them into the new device. I tried this via email on my GS II and it wouldn't read the Vcards. You would think given how Android wants to adopt more iOS users, they would implement a more convenient solution. Also, I don't want random email addresses that I once used from my Gmail account populated in my contacts.

Apps: Too many bloatware or flakey apps, not enough high quality ones as compared to iOS. The app store seemed confusing not as easy to browse as iOS. Let's not start on the trojans ...

Jailbreaking/Rooting: I missed the root access of my iPhone and installing jailbreak apps. I couldn't even ROOT my "open" GS II on 4.03! Without a doubt, jailbroken iOS > Android. I couldn't uninstall the crappy AT&T preloaded software.

Other: Why the heck does the average user want access to the hundreds of "apps" that are core portions of Android? I am pretty tech-saavy, and even I don't want to view the components of my mobile phone OS like "USB drivers". It should just work ...

Camera: Wow! I was stunned at how poor the camera was. Yes, it has the same MP count, and maybe even better flash technology, but I was amazed at how inferior the picture quality was in comparison to my 4S

However, things I did appreciate were the larger screen and high speed wireless connectivity. It's nice that rumors point towards Apple closing the gap in regards to these categories with the new iPhone though.

In total, having lived in the Apple ecosystem with my iPad, Macbook Pro and iPhone, leaving it seems impossible. Yes, for better or worse, I am trapped and I think I like it that way.

I can understand that there wouldn't be the same kind of separation anxiety for someone who doesn't own an iPad or use cloud services in connection with a computer ... or like to have easy access to their music, but that person is not me. I NEED my media and information seamlessly up to date across my devices now that I have been spoiled by Apple, and I don't think Android is able to fill that gap well at all.

More glad than ever to be an iPhone user and am that much more thrilled for the new iPhone in a month! I would like to say in closing though, that iOS un-jailbroken feels severely limited. If jailbreaking became impossible, I'm not sure if I could stay with iOS, but that bridge will be crossed when necessary.

I have a Galaxy Nexus. I was already using Gmail for email and contacts on my iPhone. You can import the vcf card into gmail.com I actually prefer Google music.

ChazUK · Aug 5, 2012

If iCloud/iTunes match is the be all and end all to your cloud services then nothing other than iOS will ever be an option for you.
You got locked into a single vendor and are now suffering (or not, you most likely enjoy living in Apple's grasp) the consequences of that lock in. That is no fault of the Android, Windows Phone, BlackBerry or whatever other platforms you may choose to dabble in in future.

We all suffer some kind of lock in at some time. Would it be right in complaining about Microsoft's console efforts just because it didn't play that PS3 Blu-ray game you already bought?

annk · Aug 5, 2012

Dwalls90 said:
Actually I bought the phone in hopes of finding compelling reasons to like it and haven't found any.

You wrote in your first post that you went running back to your iPhone after a day. That suggests you simply didn't spend the time you need to in order to get used to a new system.

SurferMan said:
You just didn't lookup/research of how to use it. Plenty of us already posted what to do and gave you tips etc. I have the same phone as you along with my 4S, i777, and don't have the issues or complaints you do... Can't just jump into a different OS like it's 2nd nature, even from another going to iOS applies as you still have to setup and tweak itunes and everything else...

I would tend to agree with this. It does take a bit of time to get used to a new OS.

OP, I'm not trying to convince you that you should keep at it. There's nothing wrong with deciding that you prefer the iPhone. I don't think those of us responding to you are failing to notice that this is your opinion of your experience. We're just a little surprised that you formed your opinion in one day.

Calidude · Aug 5, 2012

Bobby.e said:
I have a Galaxy Nexus. I was already using Gmail for email and contacts on my iPhone. You can import the vcf card into gmail.com I actually prefer Google music.

Yeah that was the easiest thing in the world. I just went to icloud.com, exported a vcf file into Gmail and that's it. That's literally the only thing I needed to do in order to get my Nexus up and running.

Bobby.e · Aug 5, 2012

Calidude said:
Yeah that was the easiest thing in the world. I just went to icloud.com, exported a vcf file into Gmail and that's it. That's literally the only thing I needed to do in order to get my Nexus up and running.

Yea. That's why I'm confused with the OP's first post.

ritmomundo · Aug 5, 2012

Bobby.e said:
Yea. That's why I'm confused with the OP's first post.

The OP got behind the wheel of a manual transmission speedster, when all he knew how to drive was an automatic. Now he can't get the car moving because he didn't bother to (or doesn't care to) learn.

jeffe · Aug 6, 2012

Bobby.e said:
Yea. That's why I'm confused with the OP's first post.

It sounds like the OP tried to import all there contacts into the phone itself. Maybe that is how you do it on the iphone but with Android it is much better to batch import contacts into your google account and then allow your devices to sync with your google account..

Tarzanman · Aug 6, 2012

Dwalls90 said:
Out of pure curiosity to see if I was truly using the best platform for me, I bought a refurbished Galaxy S II. And after about a day, I came running back to iOS.

A galaxy S II? That is mistake #1. Yes, its a decent phone, but in the Android world it is old Tech.

Why?

Music

Lol. I'm not even going to dignifiy this with the solution. If you haven't figured out what the google alternative is to iCloud, then you should really go back to iOS. BTW, iCloud is more or less a copy of Google's cloud services (yes, including the music).

iMessage:

If you like iMessage then use iOS. Google talk is seamless (between tablet/phone/web browser) and allows you to do voice/video chat on any of those devices (even 3G, without extra charges). It is completely seperated from SMS text messaging, so you won't have compatibility problems with non-android devices. In contrast, when an iPhone user sends out group messages, i get all sorts of repeated texts coming in on my phone.

Contacts:

lol, LOL. Your Galaxy S II is *definitely* too complicated for you. You could just put the phone down, open any web browser and import your contacts into your google account that way.... but you should probably really just go back to iOS since iTunes is such a bug-free joy to use

Apps:

Actually, android apps crash less often than ios apps.... but you're right. Google play is definitely too complicated for you to figure out. You should just cut your losses now and sell your galaxy S II

Jailbreaking/Rooting:Without a doubt, jailbroken iOS > Android. I couldn't uninstall the crappy AT&T preloaded software.

Lol. Shaking my head, man. If you can't figure out how to get your music onto google listen, or import your contacts... then WHY THE HECK would you think that you're ready for root access? You aren't, and I doubt you ever will be.

Other: Why the heck does the average user want access to the hundreds of "apps" that are core portions of Android? I am pretty tech-saavy, ......

Yes, you certainly sound very tech savvy. Especially when you declared that an OS hack/tweak like jailbreak is superior to the system level access of rooting the device.

-EDIT-
Hey, good job trying Android, but it isn't for people who can't understand it

Ishmumrhmn · Aug 6, 2012

I switched from an i4S to an SGS || i9100 and ecerything you said isn't true. Not even ONE fact. For starters, O migrated contacts using iDrive Lite. Why would you want your music in the cloud? Why not just keep it in your phone?
Why would you even bring up the topic of iMessage, that's an iPhone exclusive feature, just like Android's Play Store.
Please don't even bring up the topic of rooted Android vs Jailbroken iOS, CLEARLY Android wins. When was the last time your iPhone had a custom ROM/IPSW with Tonnes of new features like DSP/Beats audio? When could you swap out the crappy iPhone battery? When was it that your iPhone got a major UI overhaul? The first iPhone and the 4S have very little in UI differences.
Face it. Android is open source. iOS is closed source. You tell me what's better, having a car yo which you can do abything, or having a car to which you can only do certain things? I know how much of a PAIN it is to unlock an iPhone, vs Unlocking an SGS || which takes 20 secobds and is FREE.
Switching was a breeze for me.

ugahairydawgs · Aug 6, 2012

I don't get it. OP, did you think going in that an Android based phone would integrate as seamlessly with the Apple ecosystem as an iPhone?

JoeBlow74 · Aug 6, 2012

Dwalls90 said:
Out of pure curiosity to see if I was truly using the best platform for me, I bought a refurbished Galaxy S II. And after about a day, I came running back to iOS.

Why?

Music: Where is the Google iCloud music alternative? I have music on my laptop in iTunes, I don't want to upload ALL of it to the cloud to hear it on my phone. Even syncing music through OSX was painful, and not nearly as intuitive as iOS. I felt so lost by the disorganization and lack of simplicity that iOS offers with iTunes Match and iTunes

iMessage: A missed feature as I use messages on my iPad and Mac. It's not worth splitting conversations between Android and Apple, so I definitely missed iMessage too much. Plus the little features of delivery receipts and others were missed.

Contacts: Syncing or moving contacts from my address book to Android shouldn't be difficult. For other Apple devices, before iCloud (which now automatically manages this), I would just export Vcards and import them into the new device. I tried this via email on my GS II and it wouldn't read the Vcards. You would think given how Android wants to adopt more iOS users, they would implement a more convenient solution. Also, I don't want random email addresses that I once used from my Gmail account populated in my contacts.

Apps: Too many bloatware or flakey apps, not enough high quality ones as compared to iOS. The app store seemed confusing not as easy to browse as iOS. Let's not start on the trojans ...

Jailbreaking/Rooting: I missed the root access of my iPhone and installing jailbreak apps. I couldn't even ROOT my "open" GS II on 4.03! Without a doubt, jailbroken iOS > Android. I couldn't uninstall the crappy AT&T preloaded software.

Other: Why the heck does the average user want access to the hundreds of "apps" that are core portions of Android? I am pretty tech-saavy, and even I don't want to view the components of my mobile phone OS like "USB drivers". It should just work ...

Camera: Wow! I was stunned at how poor the camera was. Yes, it has the same MP count, and maybe even better flash technology, but I was amazed at how inferior the picture quality was in comparison to my 4S

However, things I did appreciate were the larger screen and high speed wireless connectivity. It's nice that rumors point towards Apple closing the gap in regards to these categories with the new iPhone though.

In total, having lived in the Apple ecosystem with my iPad, Macbook Pro and iPhone, leaving it seems impossible. Yes, for better or worse, I am trapped and I think I like it that way.

I can understand that there wouldn't be the same kind of separation anxiety for someone who doesn't own an iPad or use cloud services in connection with a computer ... or like to have easy access to their music, but that person is not me. I NEED my media and information seamlessly up to date across my devices now that I have been spoiled by Apple, and I don't think Android is able to fill that gap well at all.

More glad than ever to be an iPhone user and am that much more thrilled for the new iPhone in a month! I would like to say in closing though, that iOS un-jailbroken feels severely limited. If jailbreaking became impossible, I'm not sure if I could stay with iOS, but that bridge will be crossed when necessary.

I jumped on the HTC EVO4G bandwagon when Sprint first launched this phone back in the old days.

This phone worked good as a phone and internet surfing machine, but other than that, it sucked as an all-in-one device. I now have a Iphone4S and it just works. I mean it just works. Everything in the Apple ecosystem plays nice with each other and things just are so easy to use.

If Google wants to step up to the next level, there needs to be some major players who provide support to their phones and create a universal standard for which all phones use. Really!! The issue that I had with my HTC is that there was no support for my phone what so ever. Nothing! If I messed up my phone, good luck. I had to use 3rd party buggy software to load music on my HTC, I had to use buggy 3rd party software to do anything on it. I had this powerful super computer in my hand and I could not use it. The app store was a complete joke. Again, there was no standardization in the Google ecosystem. A lot of people talk smack about Apple, but Apple has made a very good product with very good support and a very good ecosystem.

Dwalls90 · Aug 6, 2012

I'm still giving it a chance. Contacts, calendars and whatnot are now synced seamlessly across all devices.

But, given how much I love my music, I'm not pleased with Google Play/Music.

It keeps running into difficulties in terms of being able to upload music ("Upload failed") and I'm a little in awe that it really needs to upload all 11K of my songs. This is where I miss the matching function of iTunes Match.

Other than that, I also miss iMessage, but things are improving! I promised myself I would try it out for 30 days.

Wrathwitch · Aug 7, 2012

pear21 said:
I am thinking about switching to the Galaxy SIII if the new iPhone is like all of the rumors. I have not heard good things about music on the androids though so that is one thing I am worried about. I do not have a macbook so I wont miss anything there, but I do have the new iPad so I will lose some stuff there, but I want a larger screen that is also wider unlike all these rumors and I was not happy with what they showed us with iOS 6.

Here is what I, as a NEW Android user going from iPhone4 (2 years) have discovered.

Firstly, if you like iTunes and have music there and want to keep your media there, there is iSync Wifi that syncs all of your music to and from iTunes quite painlessly. This includes video but not the protected movies that you may have purchased.

The media player itself depends on the device, and there are also choices of that for music. As far as other sources of music, I haven't gotten there yet as I am switching out but still have my iMac as my main computer.

Wrathwitch · Aug 7, 2012

ChazUK said:
Some people have different perspectives and have credible counter points.

I may as well have hit out with "I knew before even clicking on this reply that batting1000 would have made a sweeping generalisation towards "all the Android users""

Doesn't really add much to the discussion does it?

I had to smile at this because it is oh so true!

Dwalls90 said:
Not as easy as it sounds. I know how to enable USB disk mode on the device, and it's not recognizable by OSX 10.8. Yes I can dual-boot to Windows 7, but that's besides the point (not even sure if that recognizes it either). All of my software is always up to date across the board.

I like iMessage because it's integrated into the app. And I have way more friends that use iMessage with iPhones than those across other mobile softwares that use Whatsapp.

Um, actually yea, syncing my music, contacts, calenders, ect. works right out of the box on my iPhone, it took you a lot of time how to click the sync button and check a box in iTunes

And actually I enabled thats sync option and they STILL don't appear on my Android device.

And I don't CARE When the rest of the world received a device, I care when I, the user, had acces to use it. As far as I'm concerned, the GS II is the competitor in all equal facets to the 4S.

I'm not looking for people to call my reasons invalid. It's a concrete point, that for me, Android doesn't play well with the well-working Apple ecosystem I have established across my Mac and iPad. Play it how you want, there are third party solutions that try to mimic iCloud, but I don't feel Android is anywhere near as intuitive or helpful as iOS.

And I intentionally didn't research. I had cash to play with, bought a refurbed one to see what Android was about, and was let down. I promised myself I'd continue to play with it for a few days or weeks, but I find myself having a hard time making it my daily phone for the time being.

As Yoda would say "And this is why you fail". Seriously, not to harp, but going from a completely different OS "hoping" that it would compel you in?? Dude, I was a hardcore Apple chick and I did 3 solid months of research on the SGS3 before I took the plunge because I didn't want to waste my time and money on something I was initially very unsure of!!

Regardless of anything, you have made up your mind and it is YOUR money and YOUR time so trying to convince you or help you by showing you options or ways to make the device work nicely for you, is pointless. So was making your post. The purpose of your post was to share your ONE DAY attempt at a device in a forum that has known Android lurkers here, seems like a waste of effort on your part because you know were not going to be sympathetic....

daveathall said:
A month ago I changed from a 4S to a SGS3 fully expecting to go back to the iPhone. Today I sold my iPhone 4S, seems like my experience is different to the OPs even though the majority of my devices are Apple branded..

Different strokes for people who have an open mind and do some research.

Mac.World said:
This made me chuckle. I instinctively keep looking for a back button on my ipad now. Once ICS comes to the Tab 8.9, I am gonna be using that and selling my ipad2.

OMG ME TOO!!!

Dwalls90 said:
Actually I bought the phone in hopes of finding compelling reasons to like it and haven't found any.

Again, this sums up exactly what I was on about in my first paragraph. You took a tool that you had no idea how to use, considering that you were used to something else. Got lost in the woods, and ran back home and put a post to complain about it.

Yes, Apple is amazing for transferring over things, the devices play excellently together, support is excellent and it requires little effort to use it. By all means, stick with the device you prefer, but please don't go saying oh I tried it but it didn't work. This would be incorrect. It did not work for you because you did not take the time to discover what was different and would be required to make the device work as you wished. Two different OS, two different methods of making them work.

Oh and for those of you in here that talk about Google Music, just as an FYI, we don't have access to that in Canada yet, so that solution is not viable.

OP. I didn't even have Gmail before I bought the GS3. So I didn't have existing google contacts to sync. What I DID have though,was my Mac Mail that I could then check sync with Google and thus import my address book from my iMac to my GS3. None of that was instinctive, I had to do research. Also had to learn about things like DoubleTwist (I prefer iSync WiFi) for transferring all of my music to my phone. My main email provider is Yahoo and all of my email folders and addresses came over seamlessly. So after doing a bit of research, NOW my phone works as I wish it to. Quite seamlessly. I have even found an app that looks like it should work as well as iTunes for complete phone back up (unrooted).

The reason your experience didn't deliver you what you had hoped was simply that you didn't take the time to do it right.

Dwalls90 · Aug 7, 2012

I am going to try it out for 30 days as I promised myself, but the transition was a little rough.

But I'm telling you, iTunes Match and syncing simplicity is huge for me!

I really wish Google Play/Music was better about uploading/matching songs

AustinIllini · Aug 7, 2012

Dwalls90 said:
I am going to try it out for 30 days as I promised myself, but the transition was a little rough.

But I'm telling you, iTunes Match and syncing simplicity is huge for me!

I really wish Google Play/Music was better about uploading/matching songs

Honestly dude, I'm with you on that. Go with Amazon Cloud Player. It's the same price as iTunes Match and it matches as many songs in your library as it can.

Dwalls90 · Aug 7, 2012

AustinIllini said:
Honestly dude, I'm with you on that. Go with Amazon Cloud Player. It's the same price as iTunes Match and it matches as many songs in your library as it can.

Can you comment on how Amazon fares on Android compared to iTunes Match on iOS?

Right now music is the one thing that is really holding me back.

I would rather go pure google or pure apple, but without a good cloud music solution I'm still very iffy.

AustinIllini · Aug 7, 2012

Dwalls90 said:
Can you comment on how Amazon fares on Android compared to iTunes Match on iOS?

Right now music is the one thing that is really holding me back.

I would rather go pure google or pure apple, but without a good cloud music solution I'm still very iffy.

My complaint with Amazon player so far is it doesn't feel native to the device. It works quite well, and the match is almost as good as iTunes, but the library is a little smaller. The streaming services currently on it are fantastic.

It's good enough to make me feel content with its service on android, and overall it's a solid interface and a little better than iTunes match.

SurferMan · Aug 7, 2012

Google Music works fine and seamless for me, not sure what issues your having unless I mis-read what you meant?? Are you on Mountain Lion? B/c there's been reports of glitches with Google Music and ML but there are threads/post on how to fix it.

Dwalls90 · Aug 7, 2012

SurferMan said:
Google Music works fine and seamless for me, not sure what issues your having unless I mis-read what you meant?? Are you on Mountain Lion? B/c there's been reports of glitches with Google Music and ML but there are threads/post on how to fix it.

My two MAJOR issues with Google Music:

- It takes WAY too long to upload songs, their servers must not be fast enough because I get fast upload and download speeds yet I'm lucky to see 1Mb/s. Given I have 11K+ songs it will take forever for this to upload. This is where matching through iTunes is a HUGE bonus.

- About 10-20% or so of my songs that attempt to upload, Fail! I've tried from Windows 7, XP, 10.7 and 10.8. The music files are legally purchased and upload fine through iTunes Match, as well as playback fine without issues. Google has some serious problems in regards to this, as it's way too finicky with uploading music files:

http://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/apps/PzakOieZSUI

----------

AustinIllini said:
My complaint with Amazon player so far is it doesn't feel native to the device. It works quite well, and the match is almost as good as iTunes, but the library is a little smaller. The streaming services currently on it are fantastic.

It's good enough to make me feel content with its service on android, and overall it's a solid interface and a little better than iTunes match.

I'll try it out at some point. I'm just really frustrated with the lack of native cloud music services that just work properly and quickly. I would rather rely on one party for my cloud services (Apple OR Google), rather than Google, Apple, Amazon, Dropbox, ect.

ChazUK · Aug 7, 2012

Just one question. Do you really need access to all 11,000+ songs immediately?

I uploaded my whole collection (around 32GB worth) over 3g tethering and had no issues with upload speeds, even though I'm in the UK. I just listened to what was available when it came available on my phone.

I can imagine iTunes match is handy (especially if your collection is of a low bitrate) but with Google Music I am able to download my whole collection of I lose it in the original format I uploaded it (even my FLAC rips). Not only does it act as a streaming service, I consider it a backup alongside my backup I have on a second HDD.

Edit: I will say I had some uploads that failed but by the time it had finished it uploaded the failed tracks. Must have done it between restarts.

daveathall · Aug 7, 2012

Sorry, Im a bit confused here (Not hard) but when I go to google music I get a page that states that it is not available in the UK yet. Is it something that I am doing wrong?

ChazUK · Aug 7, 2012

daveathall said:
Sorry, Im a bit confused here (Not hard) but when I go to google music I get a page that states that it is not available in the UK yet. Is it something that I am doing wrong.

I used this guide to enable it for me (and the wife)

http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/19/how-to-use-google-music-from-anywhere-yes-outside-of-the-unit/

Worked perfectly!

daveathall · Aug 7, 2012

ChazUK said:
I used this guide to enable it for me (and the wife)

http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/19/how-to-use-google-music-from-anywhere-yes-outside-of-the-unit/

Worked perfectly!

Excellent, thank you very much.

much appreciated.

Moving from iPhone to Android is Painful

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