It's been over a year since I switched from an Android device to an iPhone as the main
phone that I use.
And I'm going to take you through my experience over the past year, the benefits to using
an iPhone, what you miss out on when you switch away from Android, and who ultimately I think
should make the switch.
So let’s start with the benefits of switching to an iPhone and the first one for me has
been the Apple Ecosystem.
And what I'm referring to with that term is how well all of Apple's devices work together.
And as you acquire more Apple devices, the better the overall experience gets.
Now for the iPhone, the first Apple ecosystem feature that has really benefited me is with
certain AirPods and Beats headphones.
YYou can effortlessly switch the audio between your iPhone, Apple Watch, Mac, and iPads which
is something no other headphones can do with these devices and is very covenant if you’re
listening to something on your Mac or iPad and need to go outside and pick up your iphone
and start playing media on it.
Another benefit of the AirPods ecosystem is spatial audio with movies and TV shows.
When you watch something on your iPhone with a compatible set of AirPodslike my AirPods
Max which I absolutely love or certain Beats earbuds, when watching content it’ll sound
like you’re watching with a surround sound system even though you only have headphones
on.
This feature is really impressive and so far, no one has been able to execute it as well
as Apple has.
Now, the next feature in the Apple ecosystem that you get a benefit from when you have
an iPhone is called continuity.
CContinuity with your iPhone allows you to pick up where you left off in an app on your
iPhone on another device like my iPad Pro, or my favorite feature, universal clipboard,
which allows you to copy text or a link or even an image on your iPhone, and paste it
on another Apple device.
AirDrop is another Apple ecosystem feature that I use a ton with my iPhone. and while
yes, Android does have Nearby share that works well between Android devices, it doesn’t
actually compare to AirDop in situations where you’re trying to get a file from your phone
to a Mac or iPad, only AirDrop or Bluetooth sharing can do that, but AirDrop in my experience
has been the more convenient and faster option.
Another Apple Ecosystem feature that I've been using a lot with my iPhone is focus mode
syncing.
Whenever I have a focus mode enabled on my iPhone, it'll sync to all of my Apple devices
which is extremely useful and beneficial to my productivity.
I also love how tightly integrated my HomePod Minis are with my iPhone, allowing me not
only to hear and reply to text messages from the speaker but also make outgoing phone calls
and switch incoming phone calls over to my HomePod Mini as well, which is something I
can’t do with my Google speakers and works very well.
The last Apple ecosystem benefit that I've enjoyed while owning an iPhone over the past
year, is being able to use an Apple Watch.
The Apple Watch is arguably still the best smartwatch on the market today and only Samsung
has come close to matching everything it offers for Android users,
The Apple Watch to me acts as an extension of my phone.
I use it to screen notifications without having to take my phone out to check something, for
tracking my fitness and sleep, being able to see information like the weather, time,
calendar events etc at a glance and one of my favorite things about the Apple Watch,
music controls through the now playing screen.
It makes it incredibly convenient to set my phone down with some headphones in and be
able to still have full control of the media playing from my phone on my headphones with
the Watch.
So those are the things with my iPhone and the Apple ecosystem that I really like.
Now the next benefit that I found using an iPhone is iMessage.
Now this might be more of a US-centric benefit since I know in other countries people use
WhatsApp or other platform agnostic messaging services.
But here in the US at least in my family and friends circles, pretty much everyone uses
iMessage.
Only like two people I text with on a regular basis use Android.
This makes for a very consistent messaging experience, with the only downside being that
the social pressures of staying within the iMessage ecosystem which makes it very hard
to switch back to an Android phone.
Now I did switch to an Android phone for a year and I survived.
So for me at least, the social pressure to stay on iMessage, it's not as key.
But what is, is how easy iMessage makes it to sync all of my messages across all of my
Apple devices, which on Android is somewhat matched by Google’s messages web app, however
in my experience, having dedicated apps for messaging on my Mac and iPads has been a better
and more reliable experience than my experience with Android messages through the web on iOS
devices.
Another benefit of owning an iPhone that I'll mention is iOS first apps.
Sometimes I’ve noticed that smaller developers of hardware devices or services will sometimes
still develop for iOS before Android.
When using an iPhone, I haven't run into the scenario where an app is available on Android,
but not iOS.
Now, that could just be where I'm located here in the US, the iPhone does have a pretty
significant chunk of the smartphone market share, but still, it is a scenario that I
ran into when I was on Android, where something was available in iOS but not for Android.
I haven't run into it so far while being on iOS.
Or you run into a scenario like I did where a beloved app is just gobbled up by Apple
and made an iOS exclusive app like Dark Sry, that’s another benefit of being on iOS,
you can still use Dark Sky and Apple’s new excellent weather app that includes a lot
of the info from the Dark Sky app.
Google’s default weather app on Android isn’t as good in my opinion.
Another thing I much prefer with the iPhone and iOS is having not only a back, swipe gesture,
but a forward, swipe one as well in certain apps like Chrome and Safari.
The last main benefit I've noticed about owning an iPhone is the hardware accessory ecosystem
that has been built up around it.
Because Apple sells millions of these devices every year, that means there are thousands
of iPhone accessories to choose from like cases, screen protectors and car mounts.
Depending on what Android device you have, because there are so many different devices
out there and some sell better than others, unless a major Android phone like those made
by Samsung, you’re not likely going to have the same level of choice in accessories to
choose from as you would have with an iPhone.
All right.
So that's everything I've enjoyed about switching over to an iPhone.
Now, let me take you through some of the things I miss about Android.
The first feature I miss is smart lock, which can keep your phone unlocked when its on you
as well as being able to stay unlocked in a specific location or when connected to a
certain bluetooth device like my car.
The iPhone just doesn't have anything comparable to this great quality of life feature on Android.
Now, another thing I miss about Android is it's notification system, Android is still
superior with notifications grouping when you pull down the notifications shade, sectioning
off conversations from alerting notifications and then silent notifications.
The spacing and stacking also just looks much better than it does on iOS.
Also, there are some notifications like from my camera feed from my Nest doorbell that'll
actually show little clips in the notification itself which is super useful and something
my iPhone can't do.
Also Android as an OS in general is just more open.
The UI is more customizable and flexible which is something that I appreciate.
You can place widgets and icons where you want, without adhering to a certain order
like on iOS and I love the new Material You automatic colors and icon matching you get
with Android 12.
It makes the OS look much more in sync with my phone’s hardware design compared to my
iPhone.
Another huge benefit of Android is the OS allows you to sideload apps like Fortnite.
Now, a lot of people in some tech pundits have made a big deal about how hard it seems
to sideload an app on an Android phone but in my experience it's not that hard at all.
Like if you can side load an app on a Mac you can side load an app on an Android device.
It's really not that hard.
This flexibility is something you don't get on iOS.
Though Apple is certainly capable of implementing a similar system, like they do on their Mac,
they refuse to and force everyone to download apps through their App Store.
Android's flexibility here is something I really appreciate.
Now, another Android feature that I missed quite a bit, is the always-on display, it’s
still something Apple hasn’t implemented and I like having the flexibility to enable
this feature on Android and be able to see the little app icons to see what apps I have
notifications from, which at a glance contextually, is very useful.
So if I see it's just a notification from a news app, I'm not going to bother opening
up my phone to go view that notification, But if I see the Snap icon, I'm definitely
opening up my phone because I likely need to respond to someone.
Cast support is another thing I miss about Android.
If you have a lot of cast enabled devices like Google and Nest speakers in your home,
Android has way more options to connect to and cast media to these devices than iOS does.
Now, another thing I miss about Android and I find very cool, is how easy it is to switch
from one phone made by manufacturer to another phone made by a different Android manufacturer.
Android has a lot more experimentation with form factors than iOS does, like flip screen
phones from Samsung, or Google’s new Pixel phones with their custom Tensor chips which
enables all sorts of cool features.
The last thing I miss about my Android devices is USB-C. Most Android devices nowadays have
USB-C as the charging port of choice where Apple stubbornly refuses to switch to USB-C
for their iPhones even as other apple devices like the iPad Air, iPad Pro and Mac lines
have all switched to this port.
All right, so that's everything I like about using an iPhone and what I miss about using
an Android device.
Now, let's talk recommendations.
After spending one year on Android and now one year back with an iPhone, here’s my
general advice on which phone ecosystem is better for certain use cases.
You’ll notice that I spent a lot of time with the iPhone talking about the Apple Ecosystem
experience.This is where I think the iPhone sells itself, really well, If you already
have Mac, iPad, Apple TV, etc.
Getting an iPhone seems like a no-brainer because having all of your devices in one
ecosystem is just going to be easier.
And the more Apple devices you have the more features and benefits, you'll get out of the
ecosystem as a whole.
Now, if you really like having a Mac and an iPad but you really want an Android phone.
It's not like when you get an Android phone, you're going to lose out on all of the Apple
ecosystem functionality.
you’ll still get automatic headphone switching between your mac and iPad, you can still use
spatial audio on an Apple TV etc, What you do miss out on are features tied to iMessage
and phone calls which can actually matter a lot.
like all of your messages syncing across all of your Apple Devices, being able to take
phone calls on a Mac or iPad, switch which device you’re listening to a call with in
real time and you’ll loose out on being able to send text messages with your HomePod
Mini which is something you cannot do with a Google Assistant or Amazon speaker with
an Android device.
Now, if you're not already in the Apple ecosystem, you don't necessarily see the benefit of being
in it, or you just absolutely are dead set against locking yourself into the Apple ecosystem.
Like totally get it, or you're someone who you've already got a PC, you've got an Android
tablet, etc, An Android device in those use cases, that's
likely going to be the best way to go.
YYou’ll get the flexibility to own a wider variety of phones from different manufactures
in different form factors that come with their own software and hardware benefits, and with
Windows especially, you’ll be able to have your phone sync well with that OS.
Now, if you're curious, which one I'm going to continue using, I have acquired so many
Apple devices over the past year for reviews on this channel.
And I've continued using almost all of them.
I am very deep into the Apple Ecosystem at this point and I really appreciate how tightly
integrated all of my Apple devices are.
so for now, even though I’m very tempted to switch over the Pixel 6 I bought or the
Pixel 6 Pro I got from Google, which we’ll be reviewing soon, so subscribe to see those
reviews.
I’m tempted to switch to an Android phone because of the creature comfort features and
more flexible OS, but for now, personally I think I’ll be sticking with my iPhone
as my main phone.
Now, if you have any questions remaining around switching from Android to iOS or vice versa,
because I've done that as well, or you want to share your experience switching from one
of these phone operating systems to the other, leave a comment below, hit that thumbs up
button Ii you like this video and found it helpful, and subscribe to the channel to see
more videos like this one.
For 6 Months Later, I'm Josh Teder, thanks for watching.