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Old 16-05-2015, 09:43
southlad
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Has anyone made the switch from Android to Iphone?

If yes, what was your experience... Were there things you missed on Android or were there things that were better on IPhone?

Also, why did you switch?

Thanks in advance.
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Old 16-05-2015, 09:58
Gigabit
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Most people switch the other way these days but I have recently come into possession of an iPhone 5S that I am using alongside my Android devices.

iOS is a very fluid OS, everything is animated and the animations are (nearly) always smooth. Some of the animations are far too long though, for example, when you unlock the phone the time between being able to move through your homescreens and the phone first being unlocked is a solid few seconds. On Android there's maybe a one second delay.

I like the fact that the UI is basically identical for every single app that's available, meaning that when you learn one app, you can basically use any other without too much trouble. It's getting better on Android with Lollipop's material design, but it's still not quite as good as iOS.

The app selection itself is on-par these days. I don't think iOS has many exclusives these days.

However, what I do not like is how Apple has one way of doing things and if you dislike that, then that's too bad. For example, why am I forced to have an Apple Watch app and a Tips app. I don't have an Apple Watch and I don't need Tips on how to use my phone. But I can't remove these apps, I can only put them in a folder. I personally prefer the Android way of having what you need on the homescreen but that's down to personal preference. Yes you can get custom keyboards now (finally) but I can't change my homescreen at all really, Apple just don't trust the end user to customise their phone, beyond its wallpaper.

Battery life on the 5S seems fairly average, maybe three hours of screen-on time? But I can't get a number as iOS doesn't give you battery stats. However, if you're running low on battery, just put your phone down and stop using it. It'll drain maybe one percent in a few hours. On Android the phone would continue to suck power, losing maybe 5% an hour (depends on the phone).

So overall, I'd say you're not really missing anything these days. If we'd had this conversation in 2011, it'd be iOS no question but these days, they're both so good at what they do, I can't really recommend one over the other.
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Old 16-05-2015, 10:44
jchamier
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However, what I do not like is how Apple has one way of doing things and if you dislike that, then that's too bad. For example, why am I forced to have an Apple Watch app and a Tips app. I don't have an Apple Watch and I don't need Tips on how to use my phone. But I can't remove these apps, I can only put them in a folder.
Isn't that the same with many manufacturer apps, from Samsung, LG, HTC etc?

Battery life on the 5S seems fairly average, maybe three hours of screen-on time? But I can't get a number as iOS doesn't give you battery stats.
There are battery stats in Settings->Usage->Battery Usage, but I'm not sure it has screen-on as a metric.

However, if you're running low on battery, just put your phone down and stop using it. It'll drain maybe one percent in a few hours. On Android the phone would continue to suck power, losing maybe 5% an hour (depends on the phone).
And the 5S was good, the 6 is better.

So overall, I'd say you're not really missing anything these days. If we'd had this conversation in 2011, it'd be iOS no question but these days, they're both so good at what they do, I can't really recommend one over the other.
Yes, I'd agree they're pretty much at parity. On iOS you get the choice of cloud service apps from Google, Microsoft and Apple, but on Android you lose the Apple ones.
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Old 16-05-2015, 10:49
Gigabit
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Isn't that the same with many manufacturer apps, from Samsung, LG, HTC etc?
What I meant was that on Android you can often disable these apps and you don't have to add them to the homescreen, you can basically just ignore them. It's harder on iOS as they're always there, despite being in a folder, I still know they're there. It's a small quibble but I just thought I should mention it.

Reception on the 5S is quite poor by the way, I remember the iPhone 6 being better, with the iPhone 4S being the best iPhone (actually phone, full stop) I have owned, reception-wise.
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Old 16-05-2015, 10:52
Quackers
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Moved from Galaxy S2 to iPhone 5 in 2012 , no looking back for me, i just love the iPhone in comparison. Have the iPhone 6 now. Biggest thing i found when i switched was i don't 'fiddle' with the phone as much, if that makes sense? I use to fiddle with the home screen putting useless widgets and other crap i don't actually need in places. Now its just unlock phone and my apps are just there and i get one with the task. Cleaner and simpler.
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Old 16-05-2015, 11:00
jchamier
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What I meant was that on Android you can often disable these apps and you don't have to add them to the homescreen, you can basically just ignore them. It's harder on iOS as they're always there, despite being in a folder, I still know they're there. It's a small quibble but I just thought I should mention it.
Gotcha - yes the separate "app drawer" and home screens is quite a different design. I don't mind either but I can see some people get confused there are two ways to get to apps.

Reception on the 5S is quite poor by the way, I remember the iPhone 6 being better, with the iPhone 4S being the best iPhone (actually phone, full stop) I have owned, reception-wise.
I had a colleague with a 5S with poor reception. He eventually got it swapped by Apple who determined it must have had a manufacturing fault. We confirmed as I had a work 5S at the time and in the middle of our town centre office car park I would get 5 bars of 3G signal and he would get 3 bars of GPRS. (both Vodafone). We swapped our SIMs and it was the handset.
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Old 16-05-2015, 11:04
Gigabit
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Moved from Galaxy S2 to iPhone 5 in 2012 , no looking back for me, i just love the iPhone in comparison. Have the iPhone 6 now. Biggest thing i found when i switched was i don't 'fiddle' with the phone as much, if that makes sense? I use to fiddle with the home screen putting useless widgets and other crap i don't actually need in places. Now its just unlock phone and my apps are just there and i get one with the task. Cleaner and simpler.
The Galaxy S2 was out when Android was still mediocre. If you had switched from the Galaxy S4 or S5, I don't think you would have noticed such a difference, to be honest.

I had a colleague with a 5S with poor reception. He eventually got it swapped by Apple who determined it must have had a manufacturing fault. We confirmed as I had a work 5S at the time and in the middle of our town centre office car park I would get 5 bars of 3G signal and he would get 3 bars of GPRS. (both Vodafone). We swapped our SIMs and it was the handset.
This is my second 5S (I had one at the end of 2014 - I try most phones as a sort-of tech reviewer ) and the reception, as far as I recall, was also the same on that as this phone (i.e. bad) so I don't think it is a hardware issue.

But the iPhone 6 was quite good. I remember being able to use Three on one bar of signal much further from the mast than I could on my 2013 Moto X.
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Old 16-05-2015, 11:26
jchamier
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This is my second 5S (I had one at the end of 2014 - I try most phones as a sort-of tech reviewer ) and the reception, as far as I recall, was also the same on that as this phone (i.e. bad) so I don't think it is a hardware issue.

But the iPhone 6 was quite good. I remember being able to use Three on one bar of signal much further from the mast than I could on my 2013 Moto X.
Interesting I thought the 4S and 5/5S were both pretty similar in reception, but I don't often need to work at the margins of coverage

The 6 being physically larger (6 Plus more so) probably makes the antenna team job easier as more space to work with. I assume the Samsung Note range is better than the Galaxy for a similar reason.
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Old 16-05-2015, 11:30
sotek
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However, if you're running low on battery, just put your phone down and stop using it. It'll drain maybe one percent in a few hours. On Android the phone would continue to suck power, losing maybe 5% an hour (depends on the phone).
Are there really any Android phones with battery life this bad? Using that example you seem to be suggesting that some Android phones run out of battery after 20 hours simply by being in standby!

My Sony Z3 loses maybe 2 or 3% while in standby overnight!
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Old 16-05-2015, 15:26
finbaar
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That delay from unlocking an iPhone until you can use, the technical term is "lag". iPhones are very laggy.
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Old 16-05-2015, 15:46
Gigabit
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Are there really any Android phones with battery life this bad? Using that example you seem to be suggesting that some Android phones run out of battery after 20 hours simply by being in standby!

My Sony Z3 loses maybe 2 or 3% while in standby overnight!
The Z3 is a rare exception: it has excellent battery.

My OnePlus One will go from 100% to 65% overnight sometimes. My Moto X may go from 100% to 50%.
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Old 16-05-2015, 16:02
corf
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Yeah my Nexus is the same its a bit random too, I think it's related to the radio's.
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Old 16-05-2015, 16:23
simon123
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Can I just say that it is really refreshing to see an objective thread when it comes to IOS vs Android. Especially on DS!

For once, it is proper debate and opinion rather than two people having a row (although there is still time!)

Ps. I'm a complete android fanboy and geek but I never get involved in which is better etc. Both systems are great and I think it just depends on what you want out of a phone.
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Old 16-05-2015, 16:24
enapace
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I've gone recently from a HTC One as my daily device to a iPhone 6 and have loved the transition was nice and easy to sort it all out. Well apart from ringtones but that was more me not realising you needed encode them in a certain format.

Not experienced the homescreen lag that you guys are on about I put my thumb to scanner it reads and then instantly unlocks and can start using.

I definitely like the uniformity of iOS apps that works well. I especially like Visual Voicemail on iOS has helped out so much it's hard to express.

For a long while I was put off by the iPhone range because of the smaller screen size but that is definitely no longer an issue with the 6 don't regret one bit in moving to iOS.
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Old 16-05-2015, 16:50
lightspeed2398
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Just to add my two pence. I switched from the Nexus 5 to a 6+ in December. I thought it would be a massive change but it wasn't so much to be honest.

Reception does seem better on the 6+ but in the metropolitan North West it doesn't really make a difference.

The software experience is a bit strange at first. Things seem polished in one sense but the amount of popular apps such as BBC Weather and Sky Go that still aren't optimised for iPhone 6 is crazy, when multiple screen sizes on Android means it's the norm for apps to adapt.

Battery is good in that compared to my Nexus I can just leave it as others have said and it will barely drain.

I do miss a couple of things from Android to be fair, mostly related to the feeling of being in control and "trusted". The ability to see the file structure etc but on the whole I probably prefer iOS just for the level of service from start to finish - longer updates in general; I had a problem with my 6+ and Apple replaced it free last month (I haven't got Apple care just standard warranty)
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Old 16-05-2015, 17:19
Anika Hanson
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The Z3 is a rare exception: it has excellent battery.

My OnePlus One will go from 100% to 65% overnight sometimes. My Moto X may go from 100% to 50%.
All the samsung phones that I've used had the same issues in standby too (note 1, S4, Note 3, S5, Note 4).
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Old 16-05-2015, 17:38
lightspeed2398
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All the samsung phones that I've used had the same issues in standby too (note 1, S4, Note 3, S5, Note 4).
With the battery life on Android I often find the overactive Google Play Services to be at fault, although Samsung isn't the best for optimisation.
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Old 16-05-2015, 18:25
Gigabit
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I think it may be something to do with Android's true multitasking and Apple's less true multitasking. I'm pretty sure iOS only keeps two or three apps apps running in the background, whereas Android keeps everything running.
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Old 16-05-2015, 18:41
Roush
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I think it may be something to do with Android's true multitasking and Apple's less true multitasking. I'm pretty sure iOS only keeps two or three apps apps running in the background, whereas Android keeps everything running.
Quite a common misunderstanding.

http://android-developers.blogspot.c...droid-way.html

See especially the section entitled When Does an Application "Stop" ?

Fundamentally, both platforms aim to achieve the same end result when it comes to userland app multitasking - nothing should be running unless it's actually needed.

iOS is more ruthless about killing stuff, and has tighter rules around what is allowed to stay running in the background but the idea that apps always stay running in the background is just as untrue on Android as it is on iOS.
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Old 16-05-2015, 19:20
Gigabit
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Quite a common misunderstanding.

http://android-developers.blogspot.c...droid-way.html

See especially the section entitled When Does an Application "Stop" ?

Fundamentally, both platforms aim to achieve the same end result when it comes to userland app multitasking - nothing should be running unless it's actually needed.

iOS is more ruthless about killing stuff, and has tighter rules around what is allowed to stay running in the background but the idea that apps always stay running in the background is just as untrue on Android as it is on iOS.
On Android, my emails will download in the background; on iOS it will notify me but they won't actually download until I re-open the app. That is the kind-of thing I mean.
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Old 16-05-2015, 19:44
clewsy
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What annoys me about android is that when on a proxy the iPhone will bring in gmail happily as soon as it arrives, however android it won't. You have to force it to look for new emails.

Works fine on a WiFi with no proxy, but just can't get it to play ball on a proxy. Its like the apps on android are more picky and won't use a proxy server ..yes I've put it in the wifi settings and chome works
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Old 16-05-2015, 19:59
d123
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On Android, my emails will download in the background; on iOS it will notify me but they won't actually download until I re-open the app. That is the kind-of thing I mean.
That must be a setting you have set as my emails automatically download in the background on my iPhone. It's not something I've set (that I am aware of, at any rate).
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Old 16-05-2015, 20:45
finbaar
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If your phone is losing 5% an hour on standby then you are doing something wrong. In all fairness Android allows you to do things wrong. My advice to those of you suffering us to get an iPhone as you are not..... suitable to run an Android device.
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Old 16-05-2015, 23:39
jchamier
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If your phone is losing 5% an hour on standby then you are doing something wrong. In all fairness Android allows you to do things wrong. My advice to those of you suffering us to get an iPhone as you are not..... suitable to run an Android device.
You can also do it wrong on iOS especially since 8.x
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Old 16-05-2015, 23:40
jchamier
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That must be a setting you have set as my emails automatically download in the background on my iPhone. It's not something I've set (that I am aware of, at any rate).
It more depends on the email service provider and if you're using iOS mail app or a third party app.
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