Gotchas - moving from iphone to android

[Doozer]

I know everyone has their opinions, and it's not much different than a Ford vs Chev debate.

But me and the wife have had iPhones for years and years, and I'm thinking about making the switch to a Samsung S9. Bang for the buck just seems to be way better with the Androids these days.

So this isn't a debate about which is better. I'm still not 100% sure that I'm going to switch. But I'm trying to figure out any "gotchas" going from long-term iPhone use to Android. I'm more techy than she is so I'm not worried about myself figuring things out, but I need to know what I'm getting into as far as making sure SHE'S happy!

So far, I've got the list below:

- She'd need to have a google account to access the Play store
- No straight restore from an iPhone backup, so all apps will have to be downloaded and configured from scratch again
- Any apps that aren't connected through Facebook probably won't be able to port over progress. This would mostly be an issue for the games on the phones that our kids play.
- BIG ONE - we have our iPhone calendars synced to be able to see all appointments for the family, and we'd need to do this again on the android phones. So I'm assuming we'd have to switch to Google Calendar or something? This allows synced calendars? Anyone know if it allows an import of an Apple calendar or would we have to enter everything again?
- Just getting used to the small differences in navigation - settings, etc.

Anyone think of any other major changes I'd need to plan for before making the switch?

[Brent.ff]

biggest thing for me was imessage. We have a 10 person group chat with my family (my mom only uses an Ipad for her access to it). That's my Gotcha on it..

[jwslam]

-Google Pay has a lot more limitations than Apple Pay i.e. you won't get boarding passes, some banks you'll need the bank app
-Purchased / premium apps will need to be purchased again
-Apple music subscriber?
-Cloud storage for photos? iCloud vs Google.
-Cable chargers? for work, for car, etc.
-Cross platform use at home; i.e. do you have AppleTV / iPads

Other considerations:
https://www.androidcentral.com/switching-iphone-android

[mzdspd]

When you say better bang for your buck with android.. One thing to think about..

iPhones are extremely easy to sell and they hold value very well. I have sold probably 5 iphones in the last 5 years and they have all sold on kijiji with 6 hours of posting and all for great prices. For instance, wife got her 6 stolen (back in 2015), the police found it and it was returned. At that point, she had already purchased a brand new one 6.. We sold her old for 80% of what she had paid for the new one.

Last year I sold her almost 3 year old 6 for 400$.. So 50% of what it was new after the phone being 3 years old..

Right now I am trying to sell a 11 month old Pixel XL for 400$.. This phone was over 1000$ a year ago.. I haven't got a single reply or interested buyer on it.

[civicHB]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

biggest thing for me was imessage. We have a 10 person group chat with my family (my mom only uses an Ipad for her access to it). That's my Gotcha on it..

WhatsApp can easily handle this for you on any devise.

[rage2]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

WhatsApp can easily handle this for you on any devise.

Except his mom is on an iPad. There is no WhatsApp on an iPad, nor does the device have a phone # to link to the WhatsApp account.

iMessage is a big one, you will unintentionally lose some friends in real life.

[Doozer]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

biggest thing for me was imessage. We have a 10 person group chat with my family (my mom only uses an Ipad for her access to it). That's my Gotcha on it..

Good call here. We use iMessage, but I don't think I have any multi-person message threads going so it's not a deal-breaker, but good to know.

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

-Google Pay has a lot more limitations than Apple Pay i.e. you won't get boarding passes, some banks you'll need the bank app
-Purchased / premium apps will need to be purchased again
-Apple music subscriber?
-Cloud storage for photos? iCloud vs Google.
-Cable chargers? for work, for car, etc.
-Cross platform use at home; i.e. do you have AppleTV / iPads

Other considerations:
https://www.androidcentral.com/switching-iphone-android

Good stuff here, that link is great too. I don't bank on my phone (call me an old fart, but I prefer to do it on a wired device), although my wife does. We also don't use ApplePay for anything, except for the first time this month we used it for boarding passes for a trip we took. Cable chargers is a good one too, although I'd probably just go to monoprice and order a dozen new ones - that's what I did for the iPhones when they switched to the lightning adapter.

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

When you say better bang for your buck with android.. One thing to think about..

iPhones are extremely easy to sell and they hold value very well. I have sold probably 5 iphones in the last 5 years and they have all sold on kijiji with 6 hours of posting and all for great prices. For instance, wife got her 6 stolen (back in 2015), the police found it and it was returned. At that point, she had already purchased a brand new one 6.. We sold her old for 80% of what she had paid for the new one.

That's interesting - I've never sold an old phone in my life. Either the kids play with it, or I've just used them long enough that I wouldn't feel right dumping my old crap on someone else. For example the 6+ phones that my wife and I have are both struggling with battery life I'm on my 3rd replacement) and I wouldn't even think about trying to sell them.

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

Except his mom is on an iPad. There is no WhatsApp on an iPad, nor does the device have a phone # to link to the WhatsApp account.

iMessage is a big one, you will unintentionally lose some friends in real life.

Haha, in my 40s, I'm probably not losing any friends over a texting app, and if I do, good riddance to them! (also of note, we could still use WhatsApp with our friends since there's no one I can think of other than my kids who use an iPad without cellular to communicate)

[Doozer]

Good stuff guys, keep it coming. Another one I just thought of was a balance on my iTunes account. Still have $20 sitting on there that's probably not going to be used up very quickly if/when I'm on Android.

[Doozer]

I guess it didn't matter ... Best Buy has a good sale this weekend with the iPhoneX for $99 with a plan, so wife and I are sticking with iPhones for a couple more years anyway...

[firebane]

Man let me tell you... My work just gave me an iphone and being an Android person... the phone makes my head hurt with the lack of customization and things like a damn BACK button.

Its crazy how much stuff Android does that makes using a phone so much more friendlier and things are common sense.

[Buster]

Apple has quite the ecosystem :

- itunes
- icloud
- apple pay
- all of your friends

[rage2]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

Apple has quite the ecosystem :

- itunes
- icloud
- apple pay
- all of your friends

Sums it up. We'd hang out more if it wasn't for the unreliability of the green bubbles.

[firebane]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

Apple has quite the ecosystem :

- itunes
- icloud
- apple pay
- all of your friends

Google Music
Google Drive/Photos
Android Pay
Some of your friends

[cam_wmh]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

Man let me tell you... My work just gave me an iphone and being an Android person... the phone makes my head hurt with the lack of customization and things like a damn BACK button.

Its crazy how much stuff Android does that makes using a phone so much more friendlier and things are common sense.

Please share those custom changes that you do on Android, to make the phone easier to use.

[dirtsniffer]

Nvn

[Kavy]

I have about 5 friends who are hold outs with android phones and just like rage said they are excluded from a lot of group messages, gif jokes, links etc all through iMessage.

I get there is messaging apps but then I need to have everyone install those message apps. Then convince them using that and text is a good idea. Friends come over and unlock their iPhone....boom I get a prompt to share my wifi info with them, I can text them my location when I’m downtown if they are lost.....right from the iMessage no extra apps needed.

Let be honest here there is nothing easier about Android it’s just that your used to the ecosystem and OS so everything else is foreign to you. It’s just like if an iPhone user switched to android they would be flustered. I have thought about switching a few times over but my daughter, mom, mother in law, and countless others have iPhones and iMessage is serious sticking point.

[firebane]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

I have about 5 friends who are hold outs with android phones and just like rage said they are excluded from a lot of group messages, gif jokes, links etc all through iMessage.

I get there is messaging apps but then I need to have everyone install those message apps. Then convince them using that and text is a good idea. Friends come over and unlock their iPhone....boom I get a prompt to share my wifi info with them, I can text them my location when I’m downtown if they are lost.....right from the iMessage no extra apps needed.

Let be honest here there is nothing easier about Android it’s just that your used to the ecosystem and OS so everything else is foreign to you. It’s just like if an iPhone user switched to android they would be flustered. I have thought about switching a few times over but my daughter, mom, mother in law, and countless others have iPhones and iMessage is serious sticking point.

Wrong... everything is easier with Android. I have given my work phone a good chance and the fact its so locked down is annoying.

Android I can remove and delete home screens as I wish
I can remove shortcuts from the home screen without deleting the actual app
Shade pull down option in Android is so damn nice, clean and convenient
Having the ability in Android to reduce or turn off animations is another

I could keep going.

[Buster]

Every time I pick up an iPhone, I feel like I'm using My First Smartphone.

Then I go back to my Pixel2, and think...ahh...back to Power User Land. Integrated google shit works so much better, I have side-loaded APKs for a couple of things, Google Maps integrated into a google phone is way better.

But I can't send GIFs to all of my buddies on iPhones! oh noz!

[dirtsniffer]

Expendable storage? The fuck?

[Kavy]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

Wrong... everything is easier with Android. I have given my work phone a good chance and the fact its so locked down is annoying.

Android I can remove and delete home screens as I wish
I can remove shortcuts from the home screen without deleting the actual app
Shade pull down option in Android is so damn nice, clean and convenient
Having the ability in Android to reduce or turn off animations is another

I could keep going.

Fanboys be fanboys
I like something different. It’s easier for me, it’s not easier for you because it’s a different ecosystem and you’re not used to it. I’m not saying Android is worse or that it’s garbage I’m just saying it’s not for me.

Relax.