- Jan 1, 2013
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UPDATE 12/17/19 (one day after original post below)....I think someone is playing a cosmic joke on me. I updated the iphone 2 days ago to ios 13.3 and everything was working fine until yesterday afternoon. Driving home from work my 2018 Accord would not bring up Apple carplay when I plugged in the phone. This happened with an ios update a few weeks ago (to 13.2.3 I think) and I followed some online advice to "forget" the Honda in the phone's Bluetooth settings and then repair it to the car - which worked. I tried doing that again yesterday and nope, didn't work. I then tried a whole bunch of other advice I found online: tried different lightning cables, tried deleting the iphone from the Accord infotainment menu settings, and even tried doing an equivalent of a factory reset on the iphone. Mother f-ing carplay still won't come up. The phone pairs to the car via Bluetooth just fine, but no carplay. This is a 1000% deal breaker for me if not fixed. I shop for cars with the requirement they support android auto and apple carplay.
I'm going to try and schedule an appointment at the genius bar at my local Apple store this weekend to see if they can run a diagnostic on the phone. If they can't find anything then the phone (and the new ipad I bought, ugh) are going up on ebay. Luckily my galaxy s10 and tab s5e did not go up on ebay yet. I already put the sim card back in the s10 and took it the gym this morning (Android auto worked fine). One good thing is that the airpod pro earbuds I bought still work fine, and the controls all work the same as they did on the iphone (pause, skip forward, etc). And they still have in-ear detection so they stop playing when you pull out one bud. I'll just keep them since I like how they fit and sound and the active noise cancellation is good.
Just...wow. I cannot believe how glitchy ios is. I've had 3 version updates in the 3-4 weeks I've had it, with 2 of them breaking carplay and a freakin Honda Accord. Someone I know at work has the exact same 2018 Accord as me, but since he is using an iphone 8 he hasn't had any problems. The myth of "it just works" is really an urban myth at this point. Really disappointed in it.
End of update....
So I've been an Android guy forever. Droids ->Nexus 5-->Nexus 6p-->Note 7 (2 weeks!)-->s8-->s9+-->s10 ----->>iPhone11. I've had multiple Android tablets (s5e most recent) and a few ipads over the years for work. Switched to the iPhone a month ago because my 17 yr old son will be going away to college next year and my 14 yr old daughter just switched to a 6s from her Androids. Wife is still rocking s9+ while the rest of the extended fam has always been on iPhones. Everyone else I know is on iPhones except the IT guys at work (lol!). I know my wife will want to be able to facetime with our son when he is gone away to college in a year, so I made the switch now to get a head start and be in on the family group chats when we go on a cruise 2 days after Christmas this year. Last time my wife and I got left out of a handful of group chats because iMessage.
I went all in by getting the iPhone 11 128 GB, a current iPad air 64 GB and airpods pro. Some observations to those considering the switch from Android.
THE BAD
Contacts: Moving from Android is hell. The apple app to transfer stuff (download from Google Play store) moved all of my contacts including my 1,300 work contacts into my iphone directly. I had to download an app onto the iPhone to be able to select all of my contacts to delete them at once and then selectively keep my 20 or so personal contacts to keep on the iphone. I then separately logged into my work account to keep those separate. Ironically a few days later I was given a separate work iphone so then deleted the work account anyway.
Photos: Also, the app moved all of the pictures ONLY from my s10, which only had about 1 years worth of pictures from the camera roll. And they seemed to be out of chronological order, so I then deleted everything from the iphone camera roll. If you use Google photos as your primary photo backup method you won't be able to import those to your iphone camera roll, but that is fine because Google photos syncs just fine with the iphone camera roll too. And it eats up less of your icloud storage (UGH) that way.
Home Screen: The way your app icons fill in from the top on down is really super aggravating. If I want a certain app to be within easy reach of my thumb and therefore on the right side of the screen, I need to fiddle with rearranging the apps so they keep pushing other apps on over/down a slot. Can't just put an app in a spot and have it stay. I hope apple gives us the option to do that some day because it is a pain. Also having to long-press to get them wiggling just so you can move them or delete them is a pain too. I spent hours downloading/logging back into my many apps that require a log-in. Like 8-ish hours. And not being able to change the swipe left to see the useless list of notifications (or whatever they are) also sucks. I have no use for that screen. This was the biggest pain about moving from Android and is still annoying.
Storage: To have your settings, including stored passwords and downloaded apps, backup up for safety and future phone upgrades you need to use iCloud storage. The free amount is a joke and I had to upgrade to the $0.99 monthly upgrade to 50GB. When my wife moves over we will probably pay for the shared family storage and 1TB at $10/month. BS as far as I'm concerned, but if it makes upgrading easier than fine.
iTunes: To change your ring tone to something custom, you either need to download an app (which costs $$) or use iTunes to move the file onto your phone by plugging it into your PC. This was 4 hours of absolute hell for me. I simply wanted to make an mps file (clip of a song I like) my ringtone, which has been the ringtone on my last 2 android phones. I'm still not sure how I got it to work, but it was only after finding an online conversion site (google zamzar mp3 to m4r) that it finally worked. Online tutorials and videos didn't help. iTunes is the absolute worst and must be killed off for the good of everyone. Even lifetime iPhone users at work can't figure it out and hate it.
Misc: Siri generally sucks, providing web listings for most questions you ask instead of answers. It will set a timer, call someone, or tell you the forecast. But most odd questions you can get a verbal answer from Google give you web results in Siri. Most decent apps either cost you a 1-time purchase, or more annoyingly monthly/annual subscriptions. The subscription thing is more annoying, and more apps seem to be going that way. Between this and video streaming services you can by subscribed into bankruptcy quickly.
THE GOOD
Apple Car Play: It is actually good in my 2018 Accord. I like it better than Android Auto. Siri actually works more consistently than Google did for Android Auto. AND, you can tell Siri to play a song "...using Spotify/Youtube Music/Google Play Music" or navigate "..using Waze) and it will use the other apps. Major nice feature. And XMSirius app works much better on Car Play than on AA, where it was a laggy mess.
Apps Generally: It is interesting to see the differences in apps on iOS. Even Youtube Music has different design elements than it did on my Android stuff. Apps generally work better too.
Face ID: It asks you if you want to use this to remember passwords for apps and unlock them that way. It is really, really nice because I use a lot of apps that require log-in every time you use them (banking, insurance, etc) and it is near-instant with Face ID. And picking up the phone unlocks it as soon as I am generally looking at it. I could never get the s10 fingerprint reader to work well for me.
Ecosystem: Airpods Pro are really, really nice. Sound great, fit in your ears and stay in while working out, and I'm sure will have excellent clarity if/when I use them for a call. The ipad integration is great too for messaging and even phone calls or facetime. BTW facetime is great when you have a good connection.
Camera: The camera in the new iphone is every bit as good as my s10, including night pics. Ultra wide angle is nice. Being able to airdrop pictures to everyone (except the wife) is also nice. I'll probably get the "pro" iphone 12 next year for the third camera and 5G but the regular 11 2-camera setup has been fine.
Upgrades**: This is an assumption** here, but I'm assuming when I upgrade to the iPhone 12 all of my apps/passwords/settings will just move over. I'm hoping the home screen will be set up exactly the same too. Keeping finders crossed on this one.
I will say I miss some of the customization of Android, but it is becoming less annoying by the day. I've already gotten 3 updates in the month I've had it. ios 13.2.3 broke Car Play, making it disconnect within 10 seconds of plugging in my phone. I had to forget the bluetooth connection with the car and re-establishing fixed it. ios 13.3 did not break it again. So it is not perfect but at least the patch issues quickly. Having an apple store is nice, and I forked over the $29 one-time apple care fee for the Airpods Pro for 2-years of coverage in case they break. I also currently have the monthly apple care on the phone ($8 I think) until I get through the cruise later this month then will cancel. Definatley more phone/ipad cases and accessories available to purchase. And the resale on all this stuff will be better than Android/Samsung stuff.
Anyway, to those considering the switch those are my pros and cons. It was painful for the first week, but I have already adjusted so that 99% of the time it doesn't bug me. And sometimes I am liking it better. It was fun while it lasted, but change happens for everyone I guess. Off to 9to5 Mac....
I'm going to try and schedule an appointment at the genius bar at my local Apple store this weekend to see if they can run a diagnostic on the phone. If they can't find anything then the phone (and the new ipad I bought, ugh) are going up on ebay. Luckily my galaxy s10 and tab s5e did not go up on ebay yet. I already put the sim card back in the s10 and took it the gym this morning (Android auto worked fine). One good thing is that the airpod pro earbuds I bought still work fine, and the controls all work the same as they did on the iphone (pause, skip forward, etc). And they still have in-ear detection so they stop playing when you pull out one bud. I'll just keep them since I like how they fit and sound and the active noise cancellation is good.
Just...wow. I cannot believe how glitchy ios is. I've had 3 version updates in the 3-4 weeks I've had it, with 2 of them breaking carplay and a freakin Honda Accord. Someone I know at work has the exact same 2018 Accord as me, but since he is using an iphone 8 he hasn't had any problems. The myth of "it just works" is really an urban myth at this point. Really disappointed in it.
End of update....
So I've been an Android guy forever. Droids ->Nexus 5-->Nexus 6p-->Note 7 (2 weeks!)-->s8-->s9+-->s10 ----->>iPhone11. I've had multiple Android tablets (s5e most recent) and a few ipads over the years for work. Switched to the iPhone a month ago because my 17 yr old son will be going away to college next year and my 14 yr old daughter just switched to a 6s from her Androids. Wife is still rocking s9+ while the rest of the extended fam has always been on iPhones. Everyone else I know is on iPhones except the IT guys at work (lol!). I know my wife will want to be able to facetime with our son when he is gone away to college in a year, so I made the switch now to get a head start and be in on the family group chats when we go on a cruise 2 days after Christmas this year. Last time my wife and I got left out of a handful of group chats because iMessage.
I went all in by getting the iPhone 11 128 GB, a current iPad air 64 GB and airpods pro. Some observations to those considering the switch from Android.
THE BAD
Contacts: Moving from Android is hell. The apple app to transfer stuff (download from Google Play store) moved all of my contacts including my 1,300 work contacts into my iphone directly. I had to download an app onto the iPhone to be able to select all of my contacts to delete them at once and then selectively keep my 20 or so personal contacts to keep on the iphone. I then separately logged into my work account to keep those separate. Ironically a few days later I was given a separate work iphone so then deleted the work account anyway.
Photos: Also, the app moved all of the pictures ONLY from my s10, which only had about 1 years worth of pictures from the camera roll. And they seemed to be out of chronological order, so I then deleted everything from the iphone camera roll. If you use Google photos as your primary photo backup method you won't be able to import those to your iphone camera roll, but that is fine because Google photos syncs just fine with the iphone camera roll too. And it eats up less of your icloud storage (UGH) that way.
Home Screen: The way your app icons fill in from the top on down is really super aggravating. If I want a certain app to be within easy reach of my thumb and therefore on the right side of the screen, I need to fiddle with rearranging the apps so they keep pushing other apps on over/down a slot. Can't just put an app in a spot and have it stay. I hope apple gives us the option to do that some day because it is a pain. Also having to long-press to get them wiggling just so you can move them or delete them is a pain too. I spent hours downloading/logging back into my many apps that require a log-in. Like 8-ish hours. And not being able to change the swipe left to see the useless list of notifications (or whatever they are) also sucks. I have no use for that screen. This was the biggest pain about moving from Android and is still annoying.
Storage: To have your settings, including stored passwords and downloaded apps, backup up for safety and future phone upgrades you need to use iCloud storage. The free amount is a joke and I had to upgrade to the $0.99 monthly upgrade to 50GB. When my wife moves over we will probably pay for the shared family storage and 1TB at $10/month. BS as far as I'm concerned, but if it makes upgrading easier than fine.
iTunes: To change your ring tone to something custom, you either need to download an app (which costs $$) or use iTunes to move the file onto your phone by plugging it into your PC. This was 4 hours of absolute hell for me. I simply wanted to make an mps file (clip of a song I like) my ringtone, which has been the ringtone on my last 2 android phones. I'm still not sure how I got it to work, but it was only after finding an online conversion site (google zamzar mp3 to m4r) that it finally worked. Online tutorials and videos didn't help. iTunes is the absolute worst and must be killed off for the good of everyone. Even lifetime iPhone users at work can't figure it out and hate it.
Misc: Siri generally sucks, providing web listings for most questions you ask instead of answers. It will set a timer, call someone, or tell you the forecast. But most odd questions you can get a verbal answer from Google give you web results in Siri. Most decent apps either cost you a 1-time purchase, or more annoyingly monthly/annual subscriptions. The subscription thing is more annoying, and more apps seem to be going that way. Between this and video streaming services you can by subscribed into bankruptcy quickly.
THE GOOD
Apple Car Play: It is actually good in my 2018 Accord. I like it better than Android Auto. Siri actually works more consistently than Google did for Android Auto. AND, you can tell Siri to play a song "...using Spotify/Youtube Music/Google Play Music" or navigate "..using Waze) and it will use the other apps. Major nice feature. And XMSirius app works much better on Car Play than on AA, where it was a laggy mess.
Apps Generally: It is interesting to see the differences in apps on iOS. Even Youtube Music has different design elements than it did on my Android stuff. Apps generally work better too.
Face ID: It asks you if you want to use this to remember passwords for apps and unlock them that way. It is really, really nice because I use a lot of apps that require log-in every time you use them (banking, insurance, etc) and it is near-instant with Face ID. And picking up the phone unlocks it as soon as I am generally looking at it. I could never get the s10 fingerprint reader to work well for me.
Ecosystem: Airpods Pro are really, really nice. Sound great, fit in your ears and stay in while working out, and I'm sure will have excellent clarity if/when I use them for a call. The ipad integration is great too for messaging and even phone calls or facetime. BTW facetime is great when you have a good connection.
Camera: The camera in the new iphone is every bit as good as my s10, including night pics. Ultra wide angle is nice. Being able to airdrop pictures to everyone (except the wife) is also nice. I'll probably get the "pro" iphone 12 next year for the third camera and 5G but the regular 11 2-camera setup has been fine.
Upgrades**: This is an assumption** here, but I'm assuming when I upgrade to the iPhone 12 all of my apps/passwords/settings will just move over. I'm hoping the home screen will be set up exactly the same too. Keeping finders crossed on this one.
I will say I miss some of the customization of Android, but it is becoming less annoying by the day. I've already gotten 3 updates in the month I've had it. ios 13.2.3 broke Car Play, making it disconnect within 10 seconds of plugging in my phone. I had to forget the bluetooth connection with the car and re-establishing fixed it. ios 13.3 did not break it again. So it is not perfect but at least the patch issues quickly. Having an apple store is nice, and I forked over the $29 one-time apple care fee for the Airpods Pro for 2-years of coverage in case they break. I also currently have the monthly apple care on the phone ($8 I think) until I get through the cruise later this month then will cancel. Definatley more phone/ipad cases and accessories available to purchase. And the resale on all this stuff will be better than Android/Samsung stuff.
Anyway, to those considering the switch those are my pros and cons. It was painful for the first week, but I have already adjusted so that 99% of the time it doesn't bug me. And sometimes I am liking it better. It was fun while it lasted, but change happens for everyone I guess. Off to 9to5 Mac....
Last edited:
. I realized I haven't changed my launcher (Nova Prime) settings or layout in 3 years, and I think I've been using the same icon pack that long as well. I turned 50 in August and care less and less about screwing around with those settings. Getting old and set in my ways I guess.
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