Any advice/tips/pearls of wisdom from switching from Apple to Android?

[joe360]

The time has finally come for me to switch from my Apple to Android. I'm mostly switching out of necessity due pricing (will be the first time I need to buy a new phone but buy outright).

The one thing I honestly liked about Apple was the whole "it just works" mentality (I know, I know)..but seriously, I find them very easy to use - I was never one to really spend time customizing my phone. But since I will be now switching, I want to make the most of it.

My question is if anyone has any advice or tips or pearls of wisdom from using both systems. (e.g. should I get rid of samsung "bloatware" or should is it good out of the box? etc.).

Not exactly sure which phone I would get yet but most likely will be the S7, or Pixel (depending on what it's like) or maaaaaaybe the OP3 but I'm too nervous about the company/quality.

 

[Kazukian]

If $ is an issue, it is for me, check out swappa and go used. I'd rather stay a generation behind the bleeding edge and save a ton of $. Or wait for refurbished stuff on eBay.

I suggest going with a nexus, one of my biggest bitches about Android is the flipping OS updates by manufacturers.

https://swappa.com/listing/QVW554/view

A little help with migrating: https://www.android.com/switch/

 

[core2slow]

If you're accustomed to Apple and are not going to tinker/customize your phone much, then i'd say Nexus/Pixel as the natural progression. You don't have to deal with carrier/mfgr bloatware as much and you'll get security updates on time not to mention OS upgrades for a guaranteed 2 future versions. Just know that the nexus line is not known for their bleeding edge hardware and are generally a year behind (supposedly the pixel line will ship with snapdragon 820/4gb ram, etc) compare to the major mfgrs out there, but coming from Apple, you probably wont be able to notice a difference anyway.

 

[KeithP]

The only Android phones you should be considering are the Nexus/Pixel/Pixel XL (if rumors are correct). Updates are too important and anything else you buy will most likely get very little in the way of updates compared to the Google phones or iOS.

-KeithP

 

[joe360]

If $ is an issue, it is for me, check out swappa and go used. I'd rather stay a generation behind the bleeding edge and save a ton of $. Or wait for refurbished stuff on eBay.

I suggest going with a nexus, one of my biggest bitches about Android is the flipping OS updates by manufacturers.

https://swappa.com/listing/QVW554/view

A little help with migrating: https://www.android.com/switch/

If you're accustomed to Apple and are not going to tinker/customize your phone much, then i'd say Nexus/Pixel as the natural progression. You don't have to deal with carrier/mfgr bloatware as much and you'll get security updates on time not to mention OS upgrades for a guaranteed 2 future versions. Just know that the nexus line is not known for their bleeding edge hardware and are generally a year behind (supposedly the pixel line will ship with snapdragon 820/4gb ram, etc) compare to the major mfgrs out there, but coming from Apple, you probably wont be able to notice a difference anyway.

It seems that the common theme is definitely the lack of timely updates. Does it impact the functionality of the phone significantly? Or is it mostly security threats? Or both? Could someone elaborate?

Regarding bloatware, is it similar to the bloatware that came with laptops? Could you just do a "clean install"?

 

[sweenish]

Less so lately, as the updates have been incremental, but it's still not insignificant. For example, N's multi-window and quick switching alone are great features.

Features and security. A ridiculously large amount of phones are still vulnerable to Stagefright, and non-Google phones (with the exception of Samsung flagships) just don't get security updates.

There is no "clean install" unless you go the whole root + ROM path; it is possible to mitigate some of the bloat by disabling apps and all that.

And something completely different for Android is that if you don't like how your phone does a thing, you can find an app to do it the way you like most of the time. The flipside is that certain things still cannot be changed, and that's the bloat I warn against. So, like everyone else, unless that non-Google phone has a specific feature you must have, a Google phone will be the way to go.

 

[bradly1101]

The time has finally come for me to switch from my Apple to Android. I'm mostly switching out of necessity due pricing (will be the first time I need to buy a new phone but buy outright).

The one thing I honestly liked about Apple was the whole "it just works" mentality (I know, I know)..but seriously, I find them very easy to use - I was never one to really spend time customizing my phone. But since I will be now switching, I want to make the most of it.

My question is if anyone has any advice or tips or pearls of wisdom from using both systems. (e.g. should I get rid of samsung "bloatware" or should is it good out of the box? etc.).

Not exactly sure which phone I would get yet but most likely will be the S7, or Pixel (depending on what it's like) or maaaaaaybe the OP3 but I'm too nervous about the company/quality.

I have an S7, and never had an iPhone, but my partner made the switch to Android a long time ago. He's not a techie, and never customized one thing, but the switch was seamless.

As far as bloatware, I tried the best rated app. to remove bloatware from RAM, but it disabled the browse to locations when finding or saving things, so that didn't work. But it matters not as the phone works great with the bloatware.

 

[sweenish]

It's worth saying that battery savers, RAM cleaners, etc. are all garbage, and you should never install them. It's sad that still has to be said.

 

[Eug]

Remember to deactivate everything on your iPhone like iMessage, etc. and deregister the iPhone before you switch to Android. There are instructions online.

 

[monkey333]

If you'd like to tinker a bit, consider buying nova launcher, let's you customize your experience. There is a free version, but it's so good, worth the price. No root required.

 

[pauldun170]

The time has finally come for me to switch from my Apple to Android. I'm mostly switching out of necessity due pricing (will be the first time I need to buy a new phone but buy outright).

The one thing I honestly liked about Apple was the whole "it just works" mentality (I know, I know)..but seriously, I find them very easy to use - I was never one to really spend time customizing my phone. But since I will be now switching, I want to make the most of it.

My question is if anyone has any advice or tips or pearls of wisdom from using both systems. (e.g. should I get rid of samsung "bloatware" or should is it good out of the box? etc.).

Not exactly sure which phone I would get yet but most likely will be the S7, or Pixel (depending on what it's like) or maaaaaaybe the OP3 but I'm too nervous about the company/quality.

Unless you pick a phone with limited storage or a cheapo discount phone, bloatware shouldn't be an issue that needs to be addressed. Custom skins (Touchwiz) shouldn't even be on your radar yet. Same goes for launchers.
Go on forums and everyone is a "phone connoisseur" who must have the purest form of blah blah blah and everyone has their own personal taste in launchers and features and whatever. You can deal with that later when you get a better feel of the OS and the phone that you buy. Of course, Nexus phones are an option, but in some cases there will be tradeoffs. Do you want a phone where you can mess around with software and take "ok" pictures or do you want something like an S7 where photos are great and everything is basically point and shoot?
Do you want an option to bring all your music with you (FYI: Drag and drop when transfering files....no ITunes or special software needed) so space is going to be a be requirement? Then something with expendable storage is going to be priority (unless you want to go through the same old bs of paying $$$$ for higher capacity versions of phones).
When it come to hardware and brands, you will get a lot of great advice.

My wife is Mrs iPhone and I'm the Android guy
You should think about what you want to save from your iPhone and a migration path for all your ecosystem specific assets. How to export all the "i"Stuff and save it or if you are going to maintain your apple accounts and continue to access them through other means.
Example for text messages
https://www.imobie.com/support/transfer-text-messages-from-iphone-to-computer.htm
What about your Calendar? Old emails? How much crap do you have locked up in iCloud?

 

[Megatomic]

The time has finally come for me to switch from my Apple to Android. I'm mostly switching out of necessity due pricing (will be the first time I need to buy a new phone but buy outright).

The one thing I honestly liked about Apple was the whole "it just works" mentality (I know, I know)..but seriously, I find them very easy to use - I was never one to really spend time customizing my phone. But since I will be now switching, I want to make the most of it.

My question is if anyone has any advice or tips or pearls of wisdom from using both systems. (e.g. should I get rid of samsung "bloatware" or should is it good out of the box? etc.).

Not exactly sure which phone I would get yet but most likely will be the S7, or Pixel (depending on what it's like) or maaaaaaybe the OP3 but I'm too nervous about the company/quality.

Joe, I've been using my Oneplus One for almost 2.5 years now. It's as solid and reliable a phone as I can imagine. It's survived conditions that ruined 2 iPhone 4Ss for me before I left for Android land. For the money there is no better phone than a OP3.

 

[tsupersonic]

Joe, I've been using my Oneplus One for almost 2.5 years now. It's as solid and reliable a phone as I can imagine. It's survived conditions that ruined 2 iPhone 4Ss for me before I left for Android land. For the money there is no better phone than a OP3.

Hardware on Oneplus is decent for the money. Everything else like customer service and (major & security) updates are horrible/slow. If you go with the active development community, you can install custom third party ROMs.

I'd stick with a Nexus or rumored upcoming Pixel devices for speed of updates.

Sent from my Nexus 6P

 

[Megatomic]

Hardware on Oneplus is decent for the money. Everything else like customer service and (major & security) updates are horrible/slow. If you go with the active development community, you can install custom third party ROMs.

I'd stick with a Nexus or rumored upcoming Pixel devices for speed of updates.

Sent from my Nexus 6P

For what it's worth, I'm waiting to see what the Pixel/Pixel XL are before I buy my next phone. As of right now the OP3 has no competitors as I AM an active participant in the XDA scene for the OPO and the OP3 has a vibrant community already. But the Pixel could be enough for me based on what I've read so far.

 

[blankslate]

As Kazukian said look at Nexus devices first because they have an update regimen that most closely resembles the one for iPhones.

Other than that it's just a matter of learning the ins and outs of a new platform.


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