Mobile OS switch experience.

[ponyo]

How long did it to enjoy the experience? Was it instant? Or gradual? Or never?
I'm longtime Android user trying out the iPhone 5S and I feel like I'm suffocating.

 

[RandomFool]

I went from iOS -> WP7 -> Android -> WP8 -> Android (and back to WP8 once I get GDR2).

Every time I've found little things I like and dislike about each OS. Generally after a week or so I find myself not missing them too much. Personally, I'm not sure I'd ever want to go back to iOS.

 

[dma0991]

I was an iOS user first(iTunes and file transfer is still a PITA), then moved on to Android. I still use both and will continue to do so with future iOS and Android devices. They have different ways of doing things and I like them to have their own distinctive traits. Wouldn't be too fun if you only had the same food everyday, the same applies here for me.

I'll probably give Windows phone a try soon enough when the time, price and specs is right.

 

[vi edit]

Did iOS for 2 years. Tried WP8 for a month. Eventually went Android.

If you want a limited, claustrophobic OS, then give WP8 a try. Sure you can resize and color your live tiles incessantly, but outside of that it offers *very* little function.

iOS is very polished, integrated, and easy to use. You aren't going to be tweaking things on end or assigning shortcuts or defaults to a billion different settings. It's slightly less limited in settings than WP8, but it makes up for it in app support and ecosystem integration.

Android is sort of the inverse of either of them. Where they are locked in (keyboards, launchers, tweaks, ect) Android gives you the ability to configure yourself crazy. You can be your own worse enemy there with active wallpapers, high end launchers with hotspot swipes, ect causing lag and crashes. You can also go wild with crazy apps and utils that can access system level files and folders.

Android can be very overwhelming if not dangerous to a person who tinkers without knowing the impact of what they are doing. The apps are typically not as polished and the 3rd party support of accessories and apps and the ecosystem surrounding it isn't as good.

After having Android for a year now, it would be very, very hard for me to go back to iOS or especially WP8. Things like swype, the ability to download virtually any file type, media and folder management and other tweaks and settings are just too handy over the closed system the other two provide.

 

[ControlD]

I went from iOS to Android after having an iPhone for about two years. It took me about .1 second to start enjoying the experience.

Otherwise, what vi edit says above is pretty much my experience as well.

 

[whoiswes]

I went from iOS to Android after having an iPhone for about two years. It took me about .1 second to start enjoying the experience.

Otherwise, what vi edit says above is pretty much my experience as well.

Seconded/Thirded. The first three months I had an iPhone it was great, then I started getting frustrated by not being able to do the simplest of customizations. Moved to Android and never looked back.

Getting rid of iTunes was icing on the cake.

 

[MrX8503]

You could find replacements for key things you did on Android. That should help.

 

[Red Storm]

What made you switch to the iPhone? I agree with Anand in his reviews where he states that a lot of people don't cross-shop the two OSes. They serve different crowds, with some exceptions who don't notice the differences and work fine with either.

I could never switch to iOS for my phone because it's a lot more limited than Android, never mind the tiny size. Did you switch for the heck of it or was there a reason?

 

[vi edit]

I could never switch to iOS for my phone because it's a lot more limited than Android, never mind the tiny size. Did you switch for the heck of it or was there a reason?

I'm on a Note2 right now after coming from an iPhone4. If the rumors are true and Apple is looking at a larger phone than even the 5/5s then I'm somewhat intrigued. Apple still makes a very good piece of hardware, and the ecosystem is second to none. I've got an iPad, Apple TV and a Macbook in the house and my wife and 95% of my friends are on iOS. The app ecosystem and app quality, iCloud integration and general functionality between devices is unmatched. And the 3rd party support of iPhones/iOS is so much better. It's *almost* enough to make me switch back...but I just can't give up swype, the ability to do *real* downloads and attachments and would miss the general flexiability of Android.

 

[ControlD]

I'm on a Note2 right now after coming from an iPhone4. If the rumors are true and Apple is looking at a larger phone than even the 5/5s then I'm somewhat intrigued. Apple still makes a very good piece of hardware, and the ecosystem is second to none. I've got an iPad, Apple TV and a Macbook in the house and my wife and 95% of my friends are on iOS. The app ecosystem and app quality, iCloud integration and general functionality between devices is unmatched. And the 3rd party support of iPhones/iOS is so much better. It's *almost* enough to make me switch back...but I just can't give up swype, the ability to do *real* downloads and attachments and would miss the general flexiability of Android.

That pretty much echoes my experience as well. I went from a 4S to a Note2. If Apple would have had a larger screen device most likely I would have never made the move to Android. However, now that I have made the move chances are very slim that I will ever move back.

 

[lopri]

vi edit summed up my sentiment as well. It started out as a plan to reduce my phone bills, and when I discovered Android I immediately fell in love with it. Esp. Nexus products.

 

[AznAnarchy99]

Well I'm about to give the 5s a shot after never owning any apple product ever. Gonna be interesting.

 

[poofyhairguy]

How long did it to enjoy the experience? Was it instant? Or gradual? Or never?
I'm longtime Android user trying out the iPhone 5S and I feel like I'm suffocating.

What is suffocating you specifically?

 

[jpeyton]

I switched to iOS a couple years ago before switching back to Android.

My main issue is that Google services, which I use heavily, will never be as well integrated with iOS as they are on Android.

My secondary issue are hardware options. I can't go back to a 4" screen after using a 5" one. If anything, I'm thinking about bigger screens in the future.

 

[ultimatebob]

I use both iOS and Android, but I used iOS first. Switching wasn't hard at all, mostly because I was already using GMail and Google apps.

I still think that Apple has a better media player, but Google has better navigation.

 

[ultimatebob]

What is suffocating you specifically?

Yeah, it's a weird comment. I always found annoying hardware restrictions of Apple products (can't add a bigger battery, can't add additional storage with an SD card, proprietary device cables, etc) more suffocating than Android products.

 

[desura]

Generally, what I find most jarring are tiny things. I'm talking like, the acceleration when scrolling through a document. Kind of why Android is probably my least favorite platform. It does get the job done and has plenty of apps, but the scrolling is pretty terrible IMO.

Generally, it's really all about apps and you can find most major apps on any platform. Well, iOS and Android are close to parity, but WP8 is pretty terrible actually for apps.

Right now am using WP8 and I like it enough, though WP8 has little problems and bugs which aren't present in iOS. iOS is the best, but kind of expensive.

 

[Jodell88]

WebOS to Android. I still like WebOS more tbh.

 

[RagingBITCH]

Takes a while. The most difficult thing is figuring out how to do something that's "intuitive" to you in the other. I just got my first Android (tablet), so I feel like a noob looking up basic tutorials on iPhone function.

 

[ponyo]

I switched to iOS a couple years ago before switching back to Android.

My main issue is that Google services, which I use heavily, will never be as well integrated with iOS as they are on Android.

My secondary issue are hardware options. I can't go back to a 4" screen after using a 5" one. If anything, I'm thinking about bigger screens in the future.

Lack of seamless Google services integration is the first thing I noticed. I know I should've expected it but after taking it for granted on Android phones, it's going to take some adjustment. Also the small screen is annoying when web browsing. Again it's something I knew going in but it's going to be an adjustment.

My lack of iOS knowledge and unfamiliarity is probably causing most of my unease. I'm so used to Android way of doing things like calendar, agenda, and Google Keep widgets on the home screen. And since I use Google Voice for everything, I have to open the app every time I want to place a call. It's not much different than opening the phone app but it's less integrated and doesn't feel seamless. I also miss the stock Google keyboard word suggestions. I find myself making more typing errors due to the smaller size screen. Same with web browsing with Safari. It's hard clicking on small links so I miss more often and end up clicking on the wrong links. And scrolling on long web page takes forever and it's tiring to get the bottom since swiping only moves like one page at a time.

I think I need to put away my Android phone and just use the 5S for a week or two. That will force me to learn and get used to iOS.

I do have to give credit to Apple for the fingerprint sensor unlock. It works very well and is fast. Faster than pattern and even basic swipe to unlock.

 

[SlitheryDee]

It seems like I've simultaneously owned Android and iOS devices ever since I started using smartphones and tablets. I never really had any OS switching pains since I learned them at the same time. I guess I'll find out how hard learning a completely new OS is if a windows phone emerges that I like a lot.

A lot of the functions for both Android and iOS are pretty analogous and are found in similar places. Even the voice commands work almost exactly alike now. There are things you can do in Android that you can't do in iOS that you may be used to, but you just have to build new habits around those limitation. I don't even think about it anymore. I just know what I can do with what I'm using and do it.

I can totally see how iOS could feel restrictive if you're used to doing something like using ES file explorer to copy music and video files to your device from a PC or NAS and have built your habits around that method of getting content. Then there's torrent apps and web downloads, which are either not possible, or must be handled differently in iOS. Really though, for all the talk about Android having a wider feature set, I haven't found anything that I can't do on iOS to my satisfaction as well. Of course there are users on the fringe who do things with android that may never be adequate on iOS, like the aforementioned Google services.

 

[cronos]

I switched from Symbian to Android about 3.5 years ago without any problem

Anyway, while I've been exclusively Android for my phone since then, I almost always had an iOS device with me through my iPod Touches (2nd gen at first and currently 5th gen), so I tried to keep up with what iOS has to offer.

Earlier this year I actually started to plan a conversion from Android to iOS in anticipation of this year's iPhone, reading about iOS 7, testing out productivity apps on my Touch (same apps that I use daily with my Android phone or ones with comparable functions), syncing contacts+calendar with Google through CalDAV, etc, thinking that this might just be the year I'd finally get an iPhone. I was pretty much ready, but then I ended up getting a really good deal on an HTC One so there goes that idea.

 

[ponyo]

Day 2 is much better and I'm starting to get used to it and finally enjoying the experience. I spent lot of time yesterday configuring, finding replacement apps, and learning tip and tricks. I think I'm starting to let go some of my bias.

 

[pm]

It took me about two to three weeks when I moved from the iPhone to Android before I was totally comfortable. Now I can bounce back and forth from one to the other without really caring much.

 

[Crono]

I'm currently using Android, Windows Phone, and Firefox OS, and have experience with iOS (mostly on iPad 1 and 4).

Not very hard to switch between devices for me at all. Much less lost in capability between mobile OS' than going from desktop Windows to Linux or back again, though even that transition is easier than ever.