I was iPhone since 2009. A 3G, then a 4, then a 5S and 6 Plus.
After reading hundreds of reviews and forums, I bought a Pixel 2XL in October 2018.
Here are the apps I've found made the transition easier and Pixel life in general better:
APPS
Data Monitor - This app is everything. It shows a persistent banner on the lock screen and the notification shade of all the data used, on WiFi or cellular, and you can set a custom limit that matches your data plan. A great visual representation of everything you need to know.
Netify - Great app, it notifies you with a sound whenever you disconnect or connect to Wifi or 4G/LTE. I have it set to use the Gentle Gong sound. Unobtrusive and useful.
Glimpse Notifications - This, in my extensive experience, best replicates the "push" notifications of the iPhone for any power user switching. I shut off the always on display almost immediately and use this to push notifications to the lockscreen. It's superb.
TypeApp: I read a lot of newsletters to start my day. There was no reason to have them in my primary Gmail account, and I already had something similar going on before with iCloud. This app is clean, has larger typefaces, and a dark mode. It is ideal for centralizing newsletters and daily emails, wherever they may be coming from or their topic.
Brave - I discovered right after installing that the Brave browser allows you to play all media, including TV channels from various sources, in the background with the screen shut off. All you have to do is select what media you want to hear, press play, exit the app, pull down the notification shade, and press play again. CNN, NBC; anything you could want, playing in the background with the screen totally shut off.
Simple Sleep Timer - this nifty little app gives you a timer that can shut down any app after a preset amount of time. I primarily use it to shut off the Google Podcasts app after 1 hour in the nighttime.
TWEAKS
You really don't need adaptive battery. Wisdom is key here. There's no real reason to have screen brightness more than 30%. Bluetooth does not need to be on all the time. You get the drift. I'm averaging about 30 hours of standby and 6 hours of screen on time, which is impressive. I have a black wallpaper and I shut off most animations. Pure efficiency. I like to think of going to the Pixel from the iPhone as going from a sturdy Lexus to a BMW. You'll notice I didn't say Maybach or Mercedes. It's not a Mercedes; it's a BMW. A few performance tweaks and it will serve you well as a very efficient machine.
If there are other Pixel converts, please chime in.
After reading hundreds of reviews and forums, I bought a Pixel 2XL in October 2018.
Here are the apps I've found made the transition easier and Pixel life in general better:
APPS
Data Monitor - This app is everything. It shows a persistent banner on the lock screen and the notification shade of all the data used, on WiFi or cellular, and you can set a custom limit that matches your data plan. A great visual representation of everything you need to know.
Netify - Great app, it notifies you with a sound whenever you disconnect or connect to Wifi or 4G/LTE. I have it set to use the Gentle Gong sound. Unobtrusive and useful.
Glimpse Notifications - This, in my extensive experience, best replicates the "push" notifications of the iPhone for any power user switching. I shut off the always on display almost immediately and use this to push notifications to the lockscreen. It's superb.
TypeApp: I read a lot of newsletters to start my day. There was no reason to have them in my primary Gmail account, and I already had something similar going on before with iCloud. This app is clean, has larger typefaces, and a dark mode. It is ideal for centralizing newsletters and daily emails, wherever they may be coming from or their topic.
Brave - I discovered right after installing that the Brave browser allows you to play all media, including TV channels from various sources, in the background with the screen shut off. All you have to do is select what media you want to hear, press play, exit the app, pull down the notification shade, and press play again. CNN, NBC; anything you could want, playing in the background with the screen totally shut off.
Simple Sleep Timer - this nifty little app gives you a timer that can shut down any app after a preset amount of time. I primarily use it to shut off the Google Podcasts app after 1 hour in the nighttime.
TWEAKS
You really don't need adaptive battery. Wisdom is key here. There's no real reason to have screen brightness more than 30%. Bluetooth does not need to be on all the time. You get the drift. I'm averaging about 30 hours of standby and 6 hours of screen on time, which is impressive. I have a black wallpaper and I shut off most animations. Pure efficiency. I like to think of going to the Pixel from the iPhone as going from a sturdy Lexus to a BMW. You'll notice I didn't say Maybach or Mercedes. It's not a Mercedes; it's a BMW. A few performance tweaks and it will serve you well as a very efficient machine.
If there are other Pixel converts, please chime in.
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