Switching to Android from iOS, any advice?

[venture93]

Hey guys, I'm sure there's a fair few of these types of threads on here somewhere, I'm not even quite sure if I've put this into the correct sub forum but here we go nevertheless, I'm generally a bit of an Apple fan, I'm currently pretty hardcore locked into the Apple ecosystem, with an iMac, MacBook, iPad, iPhone, Apple TV etc. and I've honestly used iOS for as long as I can remember, taking me back to the iPhone 3G, that's a pretty long time using the same operating system and quite frankly I'm getting to the stage where I'm getting sick and tired of iOS and using the same system day after day. It gets very tedious and boring waking up to the same device/OS and using the same apps, and everything. I'm sure there are many of you who feel/have felt the same way with a certain phone in the past.

I'm really looking hard at the Galaxy S7/S7 Edge. Genuinely there are quite a few features that are very enticing from my point of view, fast charging being one of them, I have to charge my current iPhone at least once maybe twice a day just to get through my average work day and it's getting a bit annoying, also not to mention the fact that it's a 16GB. I don't understand how ANY PHONE in this day and age can have 16GB of space now with the technology we have, and the Galaxy S enables me to add more space with an SD card, that's brilliant for me. I also like the wireless charging and the screen on the device, if you have to compare, yes the iPhone display is gorgeous with the retina display - but let's be honest, the Galaxy S screen has to be the best out there currently.

I'm a little worried about losing iMessage and FaceTime though. I can cope with losing Apple Music and start using Spotify again, but I'm genuinely a little skeptical about the move. If it helps, I HAVE used an Android device previously, I did fail though, because I rooted the device and bricked the phone when loading up custom ROM's, a mistake i won't make ever again.

Does anybody have any advice/success stories of a switch that would be any help to me? As currently i'm standing still and really pandering the thought of switching. I've always liked the idea of trying something new again, it's pretty exciting to think about it but will it be a risk for me? If anybody could give any insight or give me their input I would much appreciate it!

Thank you

 

[kramer5150]

Re: Making the switch, any advice? iOS to Android.

I am a pretty basic user in general and for me the transition form iOS to Android was a piece of cake... NO WHERE NEAR as difficult as I was led to believe.

You are starting off on the right foot, just being here. Ask questions and follow the advice of the moderators and more experienced members here. Just because you can download apps from all over the place, doesn't mean its smart or safe to do so. I stick with the play store and aptoide for my apps. Just ask, there are a lot of helpful very experienced members here.

 

[venture93]

Re: Making the switch, any advice? iOS to Android.

I am a pretty basic user in general and for me the transition form iOS to Android was a piece of cake... NO WHERE NEAR as difficult as I was led to believe.

You are starting off on the right foot, just being here. Ask questions and follow the advice of the moderators and more experienced members here. Just because you can download apps from all over the place, doesn't mean its smart or safe to do so. I stick with the play store and aptoide for my apps. Just ask, there are a lot of helpful very experienced members here.

That's great! Thank you for the response, I didn't necessarily think it would be too hard to make the switch it's just the things I'd miss out on with Android etc and actually making the jump over, you hear many stories of people moving over then switching back etc but also many a success story and I just wanted to hear from a few or have people's input, hopefully I get a few replies today.

 

[Golfdriver97]

Re: Making the switch, any advice? iOS to Android.

That's great! Thank you for the response, I didn't necessarily think it would be too hard to make the switch it's just the things I'd miss out on with Android etc and actually making the jump over, you hear many stories of people moving over then switching back etc but also many a success story and I just wanted to hear from a few or have people's input, hopefully I get a few replies today.

Mod note: thread moved from the Lounge to General Help and How to, for better traffic.

You might be interested in looking at this from the AC blog: New Apple iMessage de-registration tool lets you switch to Android and reclaim your SMS | Android Central

Before making the switch, and if you are looking at the S7 (which I don't blame you...I'm not much of a Samsung fan but the S7 impressed me), there is a little bit of time before the actual release. Using that time to prepare for the switch would be a good idea. Let friends know you may be leaving Apple, set up your current phone to not utilize iMessage, etc.

 

[venture93]

Re: Making the switch, any advice? iOS to Android.

Thanks for moving it, couldn't find this specific help and how to sub forum for some reason, hopefully I get a few more responses here, and yep you're right, I have some time to think about the decision and actually research the devices i'm looking into getting way before I have to make a choice, the S7 really impressed me a lot, I know there are some really nice phones out there now, the LG G5 impressed me too, I just have to pick a phone, and then actually make that switch, it's pretty hard considering how long i've been using iOS, I use a LOT of Google services, because actually pretty much all of them are on iOS, so that would make life a lot easier, like you said, it's just making that push away from iMessage and FaceTime.

Thanks for the response, I also found a few other posts on here that are quite helpful too.

 

[kramer5150]

Re: Making the switch, any advice? iOS to Android.

Cool deal... Sounds like you and I are similar types Apple users, Running the google ecosystem within iOS and OSX. I think thats a big part of why I found the transition so easy. The only tricky part is finding a text message client/app that carries over from iMessage to the google world. I am using the Verizon text message bloat tool that comes pre-installed. It works OK. But the one thing I find limiting is it only works with cellular activated devices. So it doesn't work with my kids and their cousins who only have ipod touches under the family wifi.

Also if you are like me SURROUNDED by iOS users, you may appear as a little bit of an anomaly... from their end.

 

[Joshua Luther2]

Re: Making the switch, any advice? iOS to Android.

Don't be surprised if people give you funny looks and look confused as to why you'd leave something that "just works" to something as "foreign" as an Android phone.

I just made the switch back to Android from iOS after almost two years. I had to force myself to give up the rooting and flashing Roms because I found myself flashing a different ROM almost daily.

Leaving imessage was a concern for me as well although I'm not as deep into the Apple ecosystem. When I switched over, all my text messages were backed up to Google and Verizon. So all my messages synced to my new phone. I've been trying different text apps and I really wanted to like Verizon's messaging app but it's kind of slow and laggy. Google messenger is a good one. But I think I've settled on Textra. It's simple but has a fair amount of customization built into it.

One thing to keep in mind, Android is totally different than iOS in that you can't expect to use both in the same way and capacity. Both excel in different things. As long as you don't expect the same experience on Android as you had on iOS you'll be fine.

I'm amazed at how much I've forgotten I could do on Android, even being gone for 2 years.

You can prepare yourself by watching some YouTube tech channels reviewing different "replacement" apps to use once you do make the switch. There are a lot more choices when it comes to finding the right apps. But the beauty is that you can try many different apps and if you don't like a particular one you can uninstall it. I have found myself doing that trying to find just the right text app.

 

[redlinecoatings]

Re: Making the switch, any advice? iOS to Android.

I made the switch just over a year ago with my wife using an iPhone and having a MacBook and ipads. I'd never go back to an apple phone again. Yes you lose iMessage. But Skype is a perfect FaceTime substitute and I use textra for messaging. Never really sent many videos to begin with. I installed Google music manager on my MacBook which put all of my iTunes playlists in Google play music and syncs any new songs I get from there and also syncs the songs I get on Google to my Mac.

 

[Joshua Luther2]

Just thought I'd revive this topic. With the release of Android N just around the corner and the two new apps from Google, Allo and Duo, SMS and video messaging app, it seems that it will be able to compete with imessage more.

I know that iMessage is a big reason people stay on iOS. So with these two new apps, will it convince anyone to make the jump. I know it's still early and the apps aren't even available yet. You can register for them on the play store. It will be awesome if they will be available on Apple's app store as well.