Switching from iPhone to Android?

#1

Hi all,

I’m considering switching from iPhone to Android (the rest of my mac ecosystem may get the boot eventually). I’m currently using an iPhone 6s 64GB, which I like, but Apple’s proprietary systems are bothering me. A lot.

So I’m asking you fine folks if there are things I should consider before making the switch. Here are things I already know about:

-One has to turn off iMessage to ensure iphone messages come through after the switch. I’ve already done this.

-All of the people I share iCal calendars with will have to communicate with me via Google Cal, which I think will be fairly straightforward.

-iCloud photos and other data won’t sync to Android (obviously) - this isn’t such a big deal for me as I have avoided using iCloud from the beginning except in the case a calendar sync.

For reference, I am considering switching from iPhone 6s: http://www.gsmarena.com/apple_iphone_6s-7242.php

To Moto Z2 Force Edition: https://www.motorola.com/us/products/moto-z-force-edition-gen-2?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIvqjQ8oyq1QIV2YizCh2gSgnXEAAYASAAEgJifvD_BwE&dclid=CO766P2MqtUCFQd4AQode9sIbQp

Those specs make the Moto look a lot more powerful. For example, iPhone 6s has 2GB ram, and ZForce has 4GB. Does anyone know if the android operating system will actually be faster with this improvement in RAM? I know iOS is much more efficient, I’m just wondering if it’s that much more efficient.

I’m also interested in the MicroSD slot (up to 2TB?!?!? that sounds awesome) - has anyone used android expansion slots like this? Am I able to store photos and music directly on the slot with ease? Can I set up the default storage location for photos to be this external slot, for instance?

Anything else that comes to mind would be helpful. It’s going to be a pain to switch but I think it might be worth it. What do you think?

Thanks in advance :slight_smile:

1 Like
#2

I am so thinking about making the switch as well. I love the fact that the OS is so much more free and you are able to do more than with an iPhone, I thought Id never say this but apple is boring me. I am going to keep an eye on this thread and see what others have to say and people that have already made the switch, do you guys regret anything switching from Apple to Android?. :grin:

1 Like
#3

I cannot help you with the ecosystem migration, but for the target phone you should think about two main decisions:

  • replaceable battery or not. Replaceable battery is where you pry off the rear of the phone, then pull out the battery. The cover and battery are designed for it. I have one like this which is the Moto G4 Play. The advantage of this is you can carry a spare charged battery, so one full recharge which is instant recharge with the phone off for a few seconds, and that spare full recharge is tiny in comparison to any external powerbank as there is no energy conversion loss and no charging circuits. Such phones are often thicker as a result.

  • SD slot or not. SD slots can be on the outside side or under the cover you pry off. In the mentioned Moto G4 Play it is cover off, battery off, then can pull the SD card. Advantage of SD slot is you can better survive phone destruction, you can have your data like photos stored on the SD slot (you can configure apps where to store data) and can backup to the SD card (e.g. using Titanium backup). Disadvantage is SD is slower and its another thing to go finnicky. If you do go with SD slot go with 16GB or better 32GB of built-in storage so all your apps run at fast memory speeds, and SD slot for media, backup.

You can buy two or three Android phones for price of one iPhone, so consider two phones, say one for backpacking which is smaller with SD slot and replaceable battery and carry a spare battery, with a small solar panel for a very light minimalist off-grid setup, and say a larger more powerful phone for more urban regular use with access to mains power.

I recommend the OnePlus3T for your powerful system, and there are are plenty of lower power ones too.

I keep my data on a Raspberry Pi and use rsync over SSH so I’m not invested in Android system, and Chromebooks and Android work well together as they use Google mail, calender, docs, etc.

2 Likes
#4

I switched way back after using the iphone 4 for three years. It was a beautiful phone, it just became slow and buggy.

I switched at the time mainly because android had flash player and I can watch w.e i wanted to on the browser.

I love the constant innovation android phones are bringing to the table (more competition amongst themselves) and the phones are improving drastically every year as the companies producing them are neck and neck in competition. Software and hardware is improving at a much faster pace than Apple’s and I an encouraged by that as well. Only a couple of years ago, android was still buggy or not as fluid as apple but times are changing.

Most android phones will have about 3-4 gb of RAM but apple is good at making their apps run efficiently. Try to get a phone with 4gb of ram of even 6gb (some makers like huwei makes phone with 6gb). You can also wait for 3-4 weeks and watch for the annoucement of Note8 and think about switching to that then.

I currently have the samsung s7 and i love it, I love the s7 edge even more. I believe i have a 16gb SD slot as additional storage and its awesome, you can download your games on there and store anything with ease. Who needs subscription to iCloud storage when you can have crazy amount of extra storage with SD slots? :stuck_out_tongue:

2 Likes
#5

Hey Ryan,

I’ve been using Android devices for a while now, and I much prefer them to Apple’s iOS.

Regarding your questions…

I have a Moto G4 Play with 2GB ram, and it runs pretty smooth even when I’m running multiple programs simultaneously. Add another 2GB in your case, it’d probably run as smooth as butter.

MicroSD is another great feature of Android phones. And yes, managing the data on the SD card is actually very intuitive. Moto phones have a file manager built into the phone, but I recommend Amaze File Manager on the Google Play Store for even tighter control.

And finally, if you like to take a lot of photos, Google Photos offers free unlimited storage of pictures and videos using their High Quality option, which means you won’t have to worry about pictures and videos clogging up your phone’s storage.

If you decide to make the switch, more power to you. It’s never been a better time.

2 Likes
#6

Android devices are awesome, lot’s of different devices available. Go for the Pixel/Samsung/OnePlus range, for latest updates to Android. I currently use a OnePlus X, sadly discounted by OnePlus.

#7

Hey Ryan, All I can add is that you have to be patient as the UI is quite different.

The pull ups and downs are different. There are even differences between different Manufacturers of with Android. I use an Ipad for work and find it frustrating because it is different not because one is better than the other.

Little things like correcting a mistake when typing will drive you nuts at first but you have a choice of hundreds of customization keyboards and you can even download the apple keyboard for whatever ios you liked the best from the play store for free.

After a couple weeks of playing around you will be tweaking things like a pro.

I use two calendar apps together as “smooth calendar” has a great widget for the home screen and when I click the widget it brings up “A calendar” which I find has all the features for appointments, sharing in a great and easy interface and it seamlessly integrates with my sons ical.

Good luck and happy shopping. Sorry I don’t know anything about the Moto as my last couple have been HTC but I am getting bored with HTC so I will be on the look around Christmas time as well.

PS. If there are any questions about how to do something on your new device just ask us on this forum as I am sure one of us will know how to work it out. :sunglasses:

1 Like
#8

Can I talk you into LG G6?

Super wide angle camera lens
Also 4gb ram, SD card up to 2TB
The phone looks awesome! Imo at least
Water resistant

#9

Besides those somewhat impressive specs what is better about it than say the Galaxy S8+? (phone Im currently wanting to get) :grinning:

#10

Don’t do it.

No reason

LOL

2 Likes
#11

But can we have a reason? Lol

#12

Just that I have tried a few Androids during my high school and colleges years

And I was also quite hesitated between samsung and Iphone

At last I chose Samsung.

And I used it for like half year

During that time,

I always thought of buying an Iphone

Then my samsung got stolen.

LOL

Maybe because I don’t treasure it so well.

And now,

I lived with my Apples, ever since.

:grinning::grinning::grinning:

Still, doesn’t feel like I have gave you a reason.

Just my personal experience :sweat_smile:

2 Likes
#13

Seems like Find My iPhone was the culprit here. Android didnt have that apparently lol

#14

Moto z2 doesn’t look like it’s more powerful than your 6s.
engadget review
Why not a galaxy s8?

#15

I think it’s cheaper. I don’t like the curved screens (distracting reflections mainly) Not a big Samsung fan. Battery life is a bit better I think.
Also aspect ratio is 18:9 vs 18.5:9 but not sure that matters at all.

I’m not sure of any advantages LCD screens have over OLED at this point, though.

Also Samsung screens are not way ahead of the rest of the industry anymore. LG is pretty darn good.

If you care about stock software, I might prefer LG’s UX slightly more.

LG is better at software and security updates

But that wide angle camera lens!

Don’t get me wrong… S8 seems like a good phone too. I don’t think anyone really needs the latest and greatest though. Buy in 2 years or so

1 Like
#16

Oh man I hadn’t thought about that. I’ve used find my iPhone a lot.

1 Like
#17

I’m interested in trying out all these mods. Particularly the the 360 camera and projector. I take photo spheres a good bit and I think the 360 camera would make it easier. There’s also an optical zoom camera mods as well.

There’s a lot of mods out there. The price for the phone in the US on verizon is now $300 and the projector mod comes with it. I’m interested to see how that works. Also, that seems like a really good deal.

#18

OLED allows for individual pixels to be lit up, thus allowing for darker blacks and overall better colors as there is less bleeding of lights. This also allows the phone to conserve energy as the phone is only displaying the pixels needed to be lit and not the whole screen every time.

I agree that if a user does not like the curved screen, LG G6 is not a bad option. But i’ve seen some videos of speed test runs of LG G6, Pixel XL, S8, and Iphone 7 and the LG G6 seems to come in dead last every time. It did show in their financial performance as the G6 didnt perform as well as expected for LG even though they did net some gain in income.

I agree also that the S8 UI is always a funny story; however, they have been doing a very good job in minimizing the bloatwares and I believe it always gets better every year and this year’s phone is one of the smoothest yet.

I’ve always believed the Pixel was too overpriced for this year’s model and seeing how s8 and the G6’s prices arent too far apart, the S8 would be a better option (assuming that the user doesnt mind the curved screen).

I also love and LOVE and LOVE the samsung pay feature. Totally different from Android pay and apple pay, as the technology mimics the magnetic vibration from an actual card transaction so no chips are needed on the cashier’s end. I dont know how many times the cashiers told me how my samsung pay wasnt gonna work and it just left them speechless when they hear the beep and the receipt is printing out.

1 Like
#19

If you dont mind the curved screen and dont mind the position of the fingerprint sensor, I believe S8+ to be a solid option. More screen than G6 and an AMAZING feel of the phone. They really did a nice job this year making the phone feel more unibody than previous years.

the Galaxy s6 was a solid phone but the way the body and the screen fit together wasnt too comfortable on the hand, as I felt the edge a little bit too much pressing against my palm (this was because the back was flat while the screen was curved). The s7 improved on this and did a VERY good job. The Phone felt amazing on the hand due to the curved glass back. It felt more natural.

S8 further improves on this by attempting to make the glass and the back more uniform and implement a unibody-like design. It feels amazing and it feels like the phone is one. The casing and the screen meshes well together and I think it feels yet again, amazing on the hand.

4 Likes
#20

Although I don’t have a Moto, from experience Android phones are typically slower than their specs seem. For one, the operating system is not as optimized as Apple. Then there’s the bloatware that you have to deal with. Bloatware typically varies between carrier and phone model, but unless you get an unlocked Google Nexus or Pixel, you will always have some sort of bloatware to deal with. SD cards are useful, especially for storing music, videos, pics, etc. But most microSD cards are too slow to run apps. I don’t see why you’ll need such a large microSD… Ultimately, it is you choice, but I suggest that you do more research into this decision.

2 Likes