Android To iPhone: 6 Months Later
Overview
It’s been at least 6 months since I switched from Android to iOS cold turkey.
I still have and use an Android tablet running Marshmallow so I do swap between the two platforms on a daily basis although I use my phone more than my tablet. Here are some things I have experienced which I thought are important or obscure.
Background Processes
Although iOS 4 came out with support for background processes in 2010, fast forward to 2016 and iOS9 and I found it woefully lacking compared to Android’s system. Numerous times I had found Dropbox stopping in the middle of an upload especially for videos. I could understand the trade off between battery eating apps but at least give me the option.
Android was the opposite in that there were no limits and it didn’t give you the ability to stop apps from running in the background on a per app basis. it does have a great battery monitor though so you could vote with the uninstall button.
Touch ID
Touch ID worked extremely well and quite a few apps support it. I wish I could store all my fingers rather than the limited set of 5 and yes on occasions I used a finger that wasn’t registered before remembering. The integration into the things like Apple Pay, the App store, etc was done very well.
I noticed a fair few apps also support the technology which was great. Shame all the banking apps I use do not for some reason…
I would love to see how Android is getting on with Imprint since the release of the Nexus 5x and 6P includes a finger print reader.
Settings
The settings (app?) did not change and gotten worse since I came back. It needed an overhaul because it seems like Apple just added more and more settings to the point I found it confusing which category a particular setting was in. For example there’s a “Storage & iCloud Usage” under general but there’s also an iCloud setting at the same level as General.
The search also didn’t help. Sometimes it would find what I want but most of the time it did not so I had to dig through the setting menu system to find it.
Apple Pay
I have used Apple Pay at least once a month but it averages out to once a week. It has been a life changing experience for good and bad. For one a lot of places support contactless payments that I have noticed / realised. I wish more places accepts them. For example Tesco only have the contactless payment terminals at certain checkout points.
Also the technology was hit and miss. The London Underground was a big culprit in this area causing the most I convince when it didn’t work and so random as to when it is successful and fails. I was instructed by the member of staff to just keep trying and low and behold it worked eventually. Not something I would rely on during rush hour.
A more interesting people side was when a staff asked for the payment method. I would say card and they waited for me to produce a card before selecting the payment method. That awkward “is he going to get it out” v.s “My finger is on the sensor and ready to roll” stand off happens every now and then.
The way Apple Pay worked in that you can double tap the home button and it will bring up your wallet and selects your default payment card was really slick. From the same screen I was able to reselect the card. The only thing left to do was to rest my finger on the finger print reader and hold it up to the payment device. With the Nexus line of phones the finger print reader was on the back. How you can rest your finger and still place it onto the payment device with the screen up to tell if the payment went through is beyond me. Or if it does face up will your finger on the back get in the way of the payment reader? I’d love to see how this works when it comes to the UK.
Notification & Control Centre
The 2 pane / tab notification didn’t work for me. I was use to or prefer the Android’s single notification system. I found I was always in “Today” because I wanted to see the date or access the notification shortcuts. This meant I was missing out on the notifications unless it popped up or were on the lock screen. Also I found it frustrating for the lack of actions I could do in the notifications. For example in Android I could tap on the wifi to see a list of access points and select one to join. In the iPhone I have to did through the settings to do that. The advantage of this was I didn’t have to leave the app I was in.
Control Center tried to mimic the quick settings in the notification but it only had toggles. What made it worse was in some full screen apps (like Pocket) I would swipe up from the edge of the screen to access the control center but a a bat with an arrow would should. I would have to swipe up a second time for it to open. I didn’t get how I could accidentally performs that I needed a warning before it opened!?
Summary
I’m currently having a love hate relationship with the phone. In some areas I love the way it works and done like the in others you can see Android has made a real advancement like the battery indicator, granular permission in line with Apple.
