Why go Android if you already have a Mac and iOS device?

[epicrayban]

Cause my smartphone is with me everyday, used multiple times throughout said day. As such, customization goes a long way. It's far beyond just aesthetics. A phone that can be catered to your specific needs makes a difference when it's something that's used everyday. The iPhone simply doesn't allow for this. If anything, you have to cater to how the iPhone works. That doesn't fly for me.

Even beyond customization, I argue the day-to-day basics is easier on an Android, too. The back button alone makes a huge difference in daily navigating through your phone (on iOS, you have to actively hunt for the back method versus muscle memory on an Android device). I could go into many more examples.

As for why everything else I own are macs/iPads, well, the short answer is I just don't need to do as much on an iPad, and the Mac is not as limiting as iOS (for example, I can set certain apps as my default). Unfortunately, that seems to be changing. Apple's latest laptop offerings do not seem easier to use, which is why I'm exploring Chromebooks. Sad to see one of my favorite companies go this way.

 

[nviz22]

Easy answer: Android works with iOS and Mac Devices still. For every exclusive feature, there are workarounds for the most part. I can use whats app in lieu of iMessaging. Plus, for a phone, there is more freedom on Android.

 

[epicrayban]

Easy answer: Android works with iOS and Mac Devices still. For every exclusive feature, there are workarounds for the most part. I can use whats app in lieu of iMessaging. Plus, for a phone, there is more freedom on Android.

Honestly, the whole messaging thing is one of the easiest solves, but it's treated like a gigantic loss switching from iOS to Android. Shrug.

Your first answer: on point. Android is friendly to all.

 

[nviz22]

Honestly, the whole messaging thing is one of the easiest solves, but it's treated like a gigantic loss switching from iOS to Android. Shrug.

Your first answer: on point. Android is friendly to all.

I put too much stock into iMessage because of the Mac to iPhone text medium. My What's App Client works just as well. Having all the Samsung features without having to sacrifice because of using shortcuts makes more sense than sticking with Apple. I am going to say so long to them in all likelihood because the iPhone continues to be an expensive toy. I might hold out with a payment plan for $30 a month to go to the 8/8+, but I cannot foresee their phone being that much better than a Galaxy.

 

[epicrayban]

I put too much stock into iMessage because of the Mac to iPhone text medium. My What's App Client works just as well. Having all the Samsung features without having to sacrifice because of using shortcuts makes more sense than sticking with Apple. I am going to say so long to them in all likelihood because the iPhone continues to be an expensive toy. I might hold out with a payment plan for $30 a month to go to the 8/8+, but I cannot foresee their phone being that much better than a Galaxy.

I use both an Android phone and an iPhone on a daily basis. Using both side by side, it becomes painfully obvious the shortcomings of the iPhone and iOS. Android is so much easier to use, from the dedicated back button to the gesture-typing (typing out long messages or emails with the iPhone during one handed use is torturous).

How could an experience that can be catered specifically to your preferences not be easier to use. I've long left Apple for my personal smartphone needs.

 

[Zaft]

I use both an Android phone and an iPhone on a daily basis. Using both side by side, it becomes painfully obvious the shortcomings of the iPhone and iOS. Android is so much easier to use, from the dedicated back button to the gesture-typing (typing out long messages or emails with the iPhone during one handed use is torturous).

How could an experience that can be catered specifically to your preferences not be easier to use. I've long left Apple for my personal smartphone needs.

Tell that to my mom

EDIT: I get what your saying just poking fun

 

[macher]

Honestly, the whole messaging thing is one of the easiest solves, but it's treated like a gigantic loss switching from iOS to Android. Shrug.

Your first answer: on point. Android is friendly to all.

People says it's iMessage that is the biggest loss. Why?

 

[nviz22]

People says it's iMessage that is the biggest loss. Why?

Simplicity, RCS standard, and provides a lot of emojis and cool features. It's like What's App that works natively for iPhones.

 

[macher]

Simplicity, RCS standard, and provides a lot of emojis and cool features. It's like What's App that works natively for iPhones.

I understand. But it seems like iMessage is the deal breaker. I'm an iPhone user and of course I use iMessage. But I don't see it as a deal breaker. People say you can see other people typing etc. Is that such a big deal?

Maybe I don't use iMessage at it's full potential. I text a lot of people on Android and not seeing them typing isn't a big deal to me.

What makes iMessage the deal breaker?

 

[tbayrgs]

I understand. But it seems like iMessage is the deal breaker. I'm an iPhone user and of course I use iMessage. But I don't see it as a deal breaker. People say you can see other people typing etc. Is that such a big deal?

Maybe I don't use iMessage at it's full potential. I text a lot of people on Android and not seeing them typing isn't a big deal to me.

What makes iMessage the deal breaker?

Can only speak for myself..and I'll preface that leaving behind iMessage isn't a personal dealbreaker, but it would mean some serious compromise on my part.

All of my immediate family and the overwelming majority of my extended family and regular contacts all use iOS. Two of my kids and a few neices/nephews don't have phones but have iPads--this affords them immediate messaging options with their family. I'm not signing my kids up for a 3rd party solution, especially the most commonly ones affiliated with social networks AND then having to persuade the rest of the family to adopt that solution.

Yes, read receipts are nice but it's the added baked in functionality that I value---sending media without the heavy compression/limits of use MMS as well as the ability to send most other file formats. I quickly share PDFs, Office docs, and other non-media files all the time--just send a scanned doc as a PDF to my sister via iMessage. I also have immediate access to my family members locations, can share my location, and have summary page of any attachments or media from that conversation all in one location. I find it super useful to be able to send a voice message with the touch of one button. Group conversation also work much better than via SMS. Any for someone like myself that uses a Mac, iPad, iPhone, Apple Watch---the syncing across all devices and ability to immediately send a message/repy (even an SMS to an non-iOS device) is invaluable to me as I don't alway keep my phone on me or nearby.

Yes, you can accomplish just about all of this using alternate solutions on an Android phone/computer but they don't offer the simplicity and ability to quickly accomplish it all in one place. At least, that's my experience trying to do so whenever I switch to an Android phone.

 

[nviz22]

I understand. But it seems like iMessage is the deal breaker. I'm an iPhone user and of course I use iMessage. But I don't see it as a deal breaker. People say you can see other people typing etc. Is that such a big deal?

Maybe I don't use iMessage at it's full potential. I text a lot of people on Android and not seeing them typing isn't a big deal to me.

What makes iMessage the deal breaker?

It's tied into messaging on an iPad and Mac, so people want to enjoy texting from their other iDevices.

 

[macher]

Can only speak for myself..and I'll preface that leaving behind iMessage isn't a personal dealbreaker, but it would mean some serious compromise on my part.

All of my immediate family and the overwelming majority of my extended family and regular contacts all use iOS. Two of my kids and a few neices/nephews don't have phones but have iPads--this affords them immediate messaging options with their family. I'm not signing my kids up for a 3rd party solution, especially the most commonly ones affiliated with social networks AND then having to persuade the rest of the family to adopt that solution.

Yes, read receipts are nice but it's the added baked in functionality that I value---sending media without the heavy compression/limits of use MMS as well as the ability to send most other file formats. I quickly share PDFs, Office docs, and other non-media files all the time--just send a scanned doc as a PDF to my sister via iMessage. I also have immediate access to my family members locations, can share my location, and have summary page of any attachments or media from that conversation all in one location. I find it super useful to be able to send a voice message with the touch of one button. Group conversation also work much better than via SMS. Any for someone like myself that uses a Mac, iPad, iPhone, Apple Watch---the syncing across all devices and ability to immediately send a message/repy (even an SMS to an non-iOS device) is invaluable to me as I don't alway keep my phone on me or nearby.

Yes, you can accomplish just about all of this using alternate solutions on an Android phone/computer but they don't offer the simplicity and ability to quickly accomplish it all in one place. At least, that's my experience trying to do so whenever I switch to an Android phone.

Yea I understand it's baked in but there are other solutions like WhatsApp that can do the same.

 

[Saturn1217]

I have a Macbook Air and an iPad Pro (very happy with both of them). I just got my husband an iPhone 6s to replace his Moto X 2013. It is a great device and I think he is really going to love it (he is resistant to change however and it still using his busted up old phone...).

Since he hasn't been using the iPhone that much yet (until we can get his number ported over) I have of course been playing with it because I can't resist playing with new tech. I love the hardware (and this isn't even Apple's latest and greatest). I really, really WANT to love iOS, but I just don't.

Little things like the scrolling in safari (which feels so slow! Getting down a long page takes forever!) or not being able to move icons to any position on the homescreen, or having settings be split seemingly at random between the actual app and the settings app (how is that easier?!), or how difficult it is to switch between apps (both the 3D touch gesture and double clicking the home button are way harder than just tapping a dedicated multitasking button)...you get the idea.

There are a lot of little details that are annoying. And because it is iOS you can't do anything about these little details. I love customizing my Mac to work for me. I've given up on using my iPad for anything besides very focused single tasks, for which it is great. I need more from my phone and iOS can't anticipate all the ways I need to use my device.

So I'm still with Android, which is not perfect by any means, but at least if there is a problem, there is usually a solution/workaround. With iOS, you are just stuck.

Also on a more principled note, I don't like being stuck in one ecosystem. Apple has this attitude with services that is really crappy (IMHO). I stay away from Apple only services and prefer multi-platform solutions (from Google or Microsoft). Keeping one device out of the Apple ecosystem helps me keep this a priority.

 

[From A Buick 8]

Yea I understand it's baked in but there are other solutions like WhatsApp that can do the same.

I made the switch to Android last fall. At that time i switched everything i could over to google (calendar, contacts, notes) so far that has worked well. For text messages i signed out of iMessage and just used Textra for my texting needs, it worked well enough. I am currently back using iOS on my old 5s (had to return my note 7, now waiting on the S8 to come out) i have not turned iMessage back on.

I may give WhatsApp a try, will that only text to other folks with WhatsApp?

 

[5105973]

I made the switch to Android last fall. At that time i switched everything i could over to google (calendar, contacts, notes) so far that has worked well. For text messages i signed out of iMessage and just used Textra for my texting needs, it worked well enough. I am currently back using iOS on my old 5s (had to return my note 7, now waiting on the S8 to come out) i have not turned iMessage back on.

I may give WhatsApp a try, will that only text to other folks with WhatsApp?

Yeah it seems to work only with other WhatsApp users. My husband and I prefer iMessage but we have no complaints about WhatsApp other than nobody else will text us unless we use iMessage. My daughter's teacher wouldn't text me at all until I assured her I was back on IPhone. (I got an iPhone 7 Plus for Christmas). Once it became known I was back on an iPhone the other parents in the school started texting me again. Texts had all dried up when I was on my HTC 10. I could still receive texts. People just weren't sending any. They were emailing me instead.

The prejudice against Android in the US is kind of insane. We didn't realize it was such a thing until we went exclusively Android for a few months.

The thing is, if my daughter's experiences are anything to go by, something is broken in iMessage when people try to group text on it. It seems multiple group chats get generated somehow. The kids went bonkers trying to kill all the cloned chats. They couldn't and ended up disbanding group texting and just meeting up at school to talk face to face...the horrors!

 

[From A Buick 8]

!

Thanks for the input, i had no issue getting text on the Note 7 when just using the standard SMS text program (i used Textra so not standard but SMS is), anyone sending a text to my phone number would go through just fine.

Now that i am back on my old iPhone 5s i have left iMessage turned off. I guess I will just stick with Textra when i get the S8 (come on samsung release the thing, i have the money ready).

 

[tbayrgs]

Yeah it seems to work only with other WhatsApp users. My husband and I prefer iMessage but we have no complaints about WhatsApp other than nobody else will text us unless we use iMessage. My daughter's teacher wouldn't text me at all until I assured her I was back on IPhone. (I got an iPhone 7 Plus for Christmas). Once it became known I was back on an iPhone the other parents in the school started texting me again. Texts had all dried up when I was on my HTC 10. I could still receive texts. People just weren't sending any. They were emailing me instead.

The prejudice against Android in the US is kind of insane. We didn't realize it was such a thing until we went exclusively Android for a few months.

The thing is, if my daughter's experiences are anything to go by, something is broken in iMessage when people try to group text on it. It seems multiple group chats get generated somehow. The kids went bonkers trying to kill all the cloned chats. They couldn't and ended up disbanding group texting and just meeting up at school to talk face to face...the horrors!

Seriously? That's pretty insane--never encountered anything like this myself. Most of the parents at my kids school use iPhones and sadly a great many are pretty full of themselves but never see a comment about it when I switch to Android.

Are you sure you didn't fall into the iMessage black hole that often occurs when you switch to Android when messages sent from other iPhone think you're still on an iPhone and SMS don't get through? I'd hope it was this, else the level of snobbery surrounding the use of an iPhone (and amongst adults no less) is ridiculous.

 

[5105973]

Seriously? That's pretty insane--never encountered anything like this myself. Most of the parents at my kids school use iPhones and sadly a great many are pretty full of themselves but never see a comment about it when I switch to Android.

Are you sure you didn't fall into the iMessage black hole that often occurs when you switch to Android when messages sent from other iPhone think you're still on an iPhone and SMS don't get through? I'd hope it was this, else the level of snobbery surrounding the use of an iPhone (and amongst adults no less) is ridiculous.

Yeah I was careful about the "black hole". It's not actually snobbery, it is more ignorance. These are very nice people, not a snob among them as far as I can tell. They just could not understand the green bubble. I don't know if they thought it meant extra fees or charges for me or for them or what. They continued to reach me via email or actual voice calls so it's not like I was being snubbed. I can't blame them. I didn't understand about the green bubbles either until I joined this forum and got educated on all things related to smart phones.

Also these people are very intelligent but in fields like law and medicine and the arts and various things my brain can't comprehend easily. So I don't want to come across like I'm making them out to be doofuses. I think people just get caught in their grooves and they're so busy that if something isn't among their interests they just develop a blind spot about it.

It's not quite the same phenomenon I've been reading about women snubbing potential dates who use Android. That's one of those odd modern American dating phenomena that my middle age mind can't grasp along with the concept of "friends with benefits", lol. I was surprised when an article about Android-snubbing came across my news feed. And when another forum member expressed concern about it here a few months ago.

The only texting I continued to get was from a mom who is from India and travels there frequently and uses a Samsung phone. She used to have an iPhone and I remember being very confused myself when one day her texts became enclosed in green bubbles. Lol, so I am guilty, too.

Her daughter, who also owns a Samsung phone, does get excluded from the group chats the kids are having on iMessage, but my daughter and her other friends fills her in on what she's missing via email or they just catch up at school during lunch. I'd confiscate the tech if I were to get wind of intentional snobbery and snubbing. So would the other parents. It's a small country school and we are all like family at this point so cliques aren't really a problem thank goodness.

 

[Badrottie]

Some of my deaf friends have Android but never use Hangout. I don't know if they still use WhatsApp I haven't ask them. I have a LG Pad F 8.0 tablet I use very little. I stick with Apple because of escosystem - iPad Pro, Apple Watch, rMBP, and iPhone 7 Plus
I don't know if Google have a better ecosystem with Chromebook, Android tablet, Android Watch, and Android phone????

 

[5105973]

Some of my deaf friends have Android but never use Hangout. I don't know if they still use WhatsApp I haven't ask them. I have a LG Pad F 8.0 tablet I use very little. I stick with Apple because of escosystem - iPad Pro, Apple Watch, rMBP, and iPhone 7 Plus
I don't know if Google have a better ecosystem with Chromebook, Android tablet, Android Watch, and Android phone????

The disadvantages to android tablets is the apps. I wouldn't know firsthand because I don't own and Android tablet but my husband has a couple of them and always tries to give Android tablets a fair shake. He says there aren't enough quality apps, that it's not as robust an offering as what you get for Android phones.

 

[Badrottie]

The disadvantages to android tablets is the apps. I wouldn't know firsthand because I don't own and Android tablet but my husband has a couple of them and always tries to give Android tablets a fair shake. He says there aren't enough quality apps, that it's not as robust an offering as what you get for Android phones.

I didn't know why you are grumpy because you didn't like android tablet?

 

[5105973]

I didn't know why you are grumpy because you didn't like android tablet?

Lol, I took my user name back when I had to quit caffeine for a time for health reasons. I have been back on caffeine for awhile but may have to quit again in the next couple of weeks. Be afraid. Very afraid.

 

[jamezr]

Lol, I took my user name back when I had to quit caffeine for a time for health reasons. I have been back on caffeine for awhile but may have to quit again in the next couple of weeks. Be afraid. Very afraid.

lol....a yawn is a silent scream for coffee.....and caffeine....

 

[octoberdana]

Forgive me for being a little late to the conversation but up until last week I had a Mac, an iPad, and a Samsung Galaxy S6. Since I used my phone for different purposes than my tablet or laptop it didn't really bother me. However, I will say that switching to the iPhone has made my experience better, everything syncs to the cloud and I don't have to use cables. Also, I may even be able to eliminate my iPad and just my iPhone.
But honestly, it was fine having my phone be separate too.

 

[mrex]

what does iphone that S6 didnt that you eliminate ipad??