Just to be clear, this is a genuine query and not intended to spark WWIII...

I've never had an iPhone, and I've used Android since the days of the original HTC Desire.

However, I'm now heartily sick of the delays in receiving security updates, major firmware updates failing to become available until a year or so after their stock release, lack of universal access to network features like VOLTE and VOWIFI etc....

So I'm thinking iPhone. Which brings me to the queries that I'm hoping that more experienced folk might be able to answer:

For those that have made a similar move from Android to iPhone - what will I miss, if anything?

Apart from the points I've mentioned above - what will I gain?

Is it likely to be a steep learning curve?

Finally, would there be any great benefit in going for a 6S over a 6?

Huge thanks for any insight and help you can provide....

The notification pane is much worse on iOS, other than that the only thing I really miss from Android is that you can share links etc between pretty much any app on the phone, where's iOS relies on the share sheet extensions, which not all apps support.

In terms of learning curve, it takes a while to learn not to rely on a back button and that you tend to have to swipe from the left side of the screen, or find a button on screen to go back to a previous page.

If you're planning on keeping the phone for a while I'd recommend the 6S for the 2GB RAM, better cameras, faster touch ID, faster processor etc.

Thanks BH - that's a good point, I'm pretty reliant on some Google stuff (mainly Gmail and Drive) and MS Onedrive. I'm fairly certain they all have iPhone apps, but have you any idea of I could, for example, easily share a photo via Gmail, or continue to have photos auto-uploaded to Onedrive?

I'm sure there are workarounds for most things, but I am nervous about regretting the move after shelling out a load of cash. I'm sure you're right about the 6S being the sensible option though.

All the stuff you listed will work fine.

That's a relief - many thanks!

I moved from Android to IPhone just under a month ago and its seems fine.
If anyone had asked me this last year I would have said I was not sure about getting an IPhone.
Ok its the IPhone 5s 32gb I moved to as I got it only as someone I knew sold me it for just over half price after they managed to get an upgraded mid contract to the IPhone 6s.
All seems to just link up with my IPad Mini 4 that I got at the beginning of the year.
Had a Nexus 4 and Nexus 7 before that and had always had an Android phone since I moved to a smartphone over 5 years ago up until just under a month ago.

Darren

Definitely go for the 6S if you can afford it and the learning curve is not that great too be honest and your reasons for looking into the iPhone is EXACTLY why I moved from Android.

Avoid the 6. Either the 6S or SE are the ones to go for. The 6 plus has a place as a cheaper big screen phone though.

Come back and let us know how you get on.

My accountant is deeply unimpressed with my idea - he's not anti-iPhone by any means, but he says it 'can't be justified' financially...

To be fair, in the cold light of day the idea of shelling out £650 for a phone, £109 for Apple Care, plus god knows what for the additional proprietary cables and accessories I'll undoubtedly need (want?) does seem a little crazy. It would probably come to the same amount I paid for my current laptop.

Hmmmm, maybe old boring-@rse accountant has a point.

Would you prefer to buy it sim free then over a 12 or 24 month contract?

I doubt you'll miss much.

Over the years, Android has become like iOS and iOS has become more like Android. They both pretty much have the same apps on their stores and the design isn't that different. Android is a little more customisable and iOS is a little more (shall we say) familiar.

I personally think AppleCare is a bit of a false economy. It's actually cheaper to not have it.

If you drop your phone and crack the screen Apple will replace it for £106 without AppleCare. With AppleCare it'll cost you £79 fee plus the £109 AppleCare cost. So if you only drop it once not having AppleCare means you've saved yourself £82. Drop it twice and you pay £267 (£109 for AppleCare plus £79x2). Without AppleCare you'd have paid £218. So no Apple care saves you £49. 3 replacements? With AppleCare it's £346 without its 327.

AppleCare only becomes worthwhile if you have your phone replaced 4 or more times, which you can't do anyway as you only get two replacements for accidental damage. Warranty issues are covered anyway as If you buy direct from Apple they will honour the EU two year warranty.

If you're someone who drops your phone often then something like a life proof case would be cheaper than AppleCare.

What proprietary cables will you need that aren't included? The lightening cable included connects it to your PC and charges it. What else needs doing? Having owned iPhones for years the only cable I've ever needed has been the one included. Plus certified cables are about £5 of Amazon.

That said it is expensive, but no more expensive than buying a flagship android outright.

I think the biggest change will be the lack of back button.

Seconded - the 6s is dramatically faster than the 6. It also supports 4G+ if you are on Vodafone or EE with a high enough price plan.

The SE is a good phone, but its got the 4G chip from the 6, and the touchID button from the 6, not the 6s - but the CPU is the 6s.

And also, although I'm someone who tends to always buy this year's model, in my opinion the 6-6s step was not that major. You could probably pick up a decent second hand 64GB 6 for about £400. I have a 6S Plus.

If you're sick of the lag in updates, why not look at a Google Nexus phone? I have a vanilla Nexus 6P and get the updates within days of them being published.

I think from his post he is looking at iPhone's because of the support from all the networks for wifi calling, 4g calling

Besides unless things have changed there is still a good amount of lag between OTA releases being available to all Nexus users.

It's not all users at the same time like with Apple.

Your accountant should be reminded that the iPhone also holds its value better than the android phone, when you decide to sell after a year or so the iPhone might still be worth 50%-60% of it's original price while the android handset is now worth pocket change .

If you have a look at completed listings on ebay that doesn't appear to be true. Sales of the HTC M8 compared to sales of the iPhone 5s (that came out six month earlier) and the 6 (that came out six months later) you'll see the 5s is generally cheaper and the 6 is more expensive, with the M8 averaging in the middle. There are clear outliers, like iPhones 6 sold BNIB for example, but not much of a difference on average.
The HTC comes with a two year guarantee, which helps....

I've been back and forward a couple of times (and may go back to iOS next time - maybe it's just because I got a 'budget' phone i.e. Nexus 5X but it's painfully laggy. I miss everything being smooth and snappy when I had my iPhone 6. Also the battery life is atrocious. I know "it must be a dodgy addon, just remove all the things!" - no, it's a known bad SoC. Apps and addons were never a problem on iOS.)

You will miss the back button. Going back a screen in apps becomes a bit of an easter egg hunt of "where have they placed the backward navigation in *this* app?". You will miss being trusted with the ability to allow third party control over system functions or sideload apps etc. And you will miss the ease of organising all your apps and may find the "just dump them all on the homescreen" system a bit "last decade". If you still organise your music like someone from the 90s (remember MP3s and file systems before all this nice cloud hosted stuff?) you will miss being able to dump them in a directory on the device.

Those are the main things I can think of.

With the iPhone 6 that isn't true - an iPhone 6 64gb that was one year old in Sept 2015 only achieved £200 at trade in store in A grade condition. A nice price but not the £350 that people used to get.

The only think I'm Not to keen on with Apple stuff is that you need to buy a genuine IPhone/IPad changing cable at a dearer price if you want a spear cable as some of the cheaper ones are not always garantted to keep on working after a while.
Where as with Android almost any Micro USB will work.
Apart from them Apple seems very good.

Darren

Just buy a decent one from someone like Anker who make some very good cables that don't cost the earth.

Yes, a fiver gets you an Anker lightning cable from Amazon. They work very well.

Your accountant sounds like a top man - thank god for someone with common sense. The thing with the mobile industry is they know the biggest buyers of phones are younger people and they also know they are the biggest impulse buyers and the worst demographic when it comes to managing money.

You only have to look through threads such as this to see people changing their phones more often than they change their pants and in the main these are high end phones - total madness.