Android to iOS: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

[ITg33k]

Having gotten to the point of becoming disgusted with all things Google and un-trusting of the Android OS and Google's Play Store, a couple weeks ago started moving over to Apple/iOS.

These will probably be updated, in-place, as time goes on and we get more experience with our new devices.

The Good

I trust iOS. To the point that I've even put a card, my oldest card, from the issuer that first gave me a form of credit, the card I plan to take with me to my grave, which has the same number I was originally issued, in my Apple Wallet. To the point where I trust my digital keyring to iPhone, iPad and iCloud. To the point where the management app for my retirement account will be installed on phone and tablet, as well as our financial institution's app.

I cannot argue with the hardware quality. True, my wife and I have usually gone with the "economical" choices in Android gear, so not an apples-to-oranges comparison, but, still: These devices speak "quality."

The WiFi on both iPads and on my iPhone 6S have worked very well. Solid as a rock.

Wireless performance on the iPhone 6S is solid. So is the GPS.

The cameras are the best we've experienced on any of the mobile devices we've owned.

Oh, how I've longed for voice dialling in my car that worked. My iPhone 6S, Siri and the Jabra Tour speakerphone in my car work flawlessly together. Google Now had been more miss than hit. I hated it. With a passion.

The fingerprint sensor is neat, but, seems a bit pickier about finger position and condition than that of the iPhone 6S'.

The battery life on the iPads is terrific. (The iPhone 6S: Merely "acceptable.")

Video and audio quality are terrific. (But, only one speaker? I know these 2017 9.7" iPads are the "budget" model, and they're nice for the price, but... one speaker?)

The provided suite of native apps is superlative.

The Bad

These are mainly just annoyances, though a couple of them are very annoying.

Apple seems to go out of its way to make it difficult to get content on and off your iThings. Tried to hook my iPad up to my Linux box. Got an error message on the Linux machine. Researched it. Bottom line: Apple makes a change to the protocol they use for communicating with tethered devices. The Linux devs fix the problem. Apple makes another change, breaking it again, the Linux devs fix it, ad nauseam. Can't get music into iTunes without a MS-Windows or Apple Mac computer. I've got a bunch of notes in plain text file format. Looks like I'd have to copy them in to the Notes app, one-by-one. (I think I'll just leave 'em in Dropbox.)

Wireless and WiFi connectivity are very good, but, both devices are slow to see networks of both types. The iPhone is slow to transition from the T-Mobile network to roaming, slow to transition back, and slow to find a network from a "no service" state. (Experienced alongside a Motorola Moto G 3rd Generation.) And, by "slow," I mean painfully slow.

If you use a messaging application such as Signal Private Messenger, regular IMs still go to iMessage. Only other SPM users' messages go to SPM. Unhandy.

Lightning cables. I'm sure there must be some advantage to them, but, for the life of me: I've no idea what it is. I do know they're widely-reviled for a short lifespan, regardless of who's you use.

Allegedly there are more apps on Apple's App Store than there are on Google's Play Store. Maybe so, but, I'm not seeing it. Not for the apps I want/use. Some examples: I was not able to find an email app that, to me, worked any better than Apple's own mail app. And, while it's ok, what's up with it only doing push notifications for iCloud and no other servers? How about an option for displaying full headers?

The Ugly

And, boy, are they ever! These are nearly show-stoppers.

Dear Apple: What in the Wide, Wide World of Sports is up with Bluetooth and navigation app turn-by-turn instructions? Pair my Jabra bluetooth speakerphone with my iPhone 6S, which works great with phone calls and Siri, and, navigation turn-by-turn instructions don't merely not go to the speakerphone, but disappear entirely! Near as I've been able to tell: This is a long-standing problem. For the love of sweet potatoes: Get it together, Apple!

Getting my own copy of photos... *sigh*. Apple, were it not for the fact I feel you're my last recourse for "smart" mobility devices, this would be enough to send me back screaming to Google and Android. Lacking either an MS-Windows box or an Apple Mac, the only way to download photos is via the iCloud web interface one at a time! Ctrl-Select and Shift-Select don't even work, as they do with 99.999% of all other web interfaces on the entire Internet. Getting my music into your ecosystem is one thing, as would be getting music I purchased out, but, getting my own photos off? What. The. Heck. Apple?!?! (Addendum: Looks like I can get around this with the "Remote File Manager" app, but, still...)

 

[twerppoet]

PhotoSync by touchbyte is a pretty good app. You won't be able to use the Windows and Mac companion apps, but there is also a web browser option you can use to transfer photos on/off the iPad.

Quite a few file transfer and managment apps have this feature. The app supplies you with a URL that you enter into your computer's web browser. It's not a great experience, but it should work on any operating system, including the various flavors of Linux.

You have to be on the same wi-fi network, of course.

Addendum: Right after I posted this I saw that Photosync has an update. It now supports SMB.

 

[jmiked]

"Apple seems to go out of its way to make it difficult to get content on and off your iThings."

Yes, it is difficult without being logged into your account via Windows or Mac OS. This is due to Apple's focus on security. The intent is to not allow access (or easy access) to the file system from just any computer file browser that happens to be connected. This includes music and photos.

As far as Lightning cables, I'm using the same ones I bought two years ago with the devices. They still work perfectly. The advantage to them is that they don't have polarity, i.e. there is no "upside down" way to plug them in. The IEEE (?) committee responsible for finalizing the USB-C standard fiddled around for so long that Apple went ahead and designed their own connector. Lightning is also smaller than USB-C. At some point, I expect them to switch to USB-C, though.

I have noticed the voice turn-by-turn problem when connecting with my car radio, though. Annoying. Not idea what the cause is. I need to experiment more to narrow down a cause.

I use Spark for an email program. As far as I know, it will do push notifications from any service that uses IMAP.

"both devices are slow to see networks of both types." I haven't experienced this.

I had three Android phones before switching to an iPhone. Most of the things Android users complain about on the iPhone are due to Apple's passion for security. This means a lot to me, and I'll put up with a degree of inconvenience for it.

I got a Galaxy S7 last month. I used it for almost a month, then put it back in the box and returned it and went back to my iPhone 6. After 2 years of iPhone, I don't want to go back to Android. Yes, there are some annoyances, but I'll put up with them to have guaranteed OS/security updates that the carrier can't block. I'm big on security and privacy. Plus, I think the apps look nicer on iOS.

 

[ITg33k]

"Apple seems to go out of its way to make it difficult to get content on and off your iThings."

Yes, it is difficult without being logged into your account via Windows or Mac OS. This is due to Apple's focus on security. The intent is to not allow access (or easy access) to the file system from just any computer file browser that happens to be connected. This includes music and photos.

I bet, if they wanted to, they could achieve the requisite degree of security and still greater freedom for users via MTP (Media Transfer Protocol).

But, I don't want to spend a bunch of time on this issue. It's an annoyance, to me, but, a relatively minor annoyance because I simply do not much listen to music on my mobile devices.

I have noticed the voice turn-by-turn problem when connecting with my car radio, though. Annoying. Not idea what the cause is. I need to experiment more to narrow down a cause.

Apple uses multiple BT protocols when connecting. Sometimes it's necessary to enable them in the car audio system. My speakerphone, however, has no such capabilities. Note: I'm not blaming the iPhone for this problem. In fact I've entered a support request with Jabra.

However, it would have been nice if Apple would have foreseen the possibility of less-capable devices needing to handle turn-by-turn navigation instructions, and allowed the user/apps the ability to choose the protocol with which to so.

I use Spark for an email program. As far as I know, it will do push notifications from any service that uses IMAP.

Thanks. I think I tried that one. I'll look again.

I had three Android phones before switching to an iPhone. Most of the things Android users complain about on the iPhone are due to Apple's passion for security. This means a lot to me, and I'll put up with a degree of inconvenience for it.

I, too, was on my 3rd Android phone. And I agree with you. Which is why I'll tolerate these annoyances.

 

[jmiked]

One of the things that really annoys me is that when I get in my car after not using it for a while and start it up, the iPhone will frequently connect to the radio bluetooth and start playing a random piece of music from the Apple music player, which I never use, since I don't listen to music in the car. I listen to podcasts. I can make a number of stops during the day and the podcast app will re-connect where it left off, but if I go a week or so, it will use the music app. Very strange. I seem to recall my Galaxy S3 phone doing the same thing, so it's likely not the phone. One more reason I won't own another Pioneer car radio.

 

[scifan57]

Closed Apps are held in the app switcher for a time after you close them and will resume where you left off. If you don't use your iPhone for a while, these apps will be removed from RAM and won't remember where you left off. This could explain what's happening in your car.