Hello, I am new here and recently got an iPhone 5. With this, I have now owned all operating systems on a cellphone including windows phone android and even webos. However, in a time where people seem to be leaving apple for android, I have moved to it. I actually owned a epic 4g touch and a HP touchpad with android on it. Now I have an iPad 4 and iPhone 5, so why the switch?
Don't get me wrong here, I do like android. I think between jelly bean and ice cream sandwich, google has really gotten a lot right. I despised android up until the release of ics because it just felt so bulky and in intuitive, however now that's not the case. The reason I switched was because, while android is awesome in its purist form, the platform is a mess. Getting updates is ridiculous and the skins that you are forced with can be annoying but since Samsung seems to make the most well balanced phone, you get stuck with touchwiz, which to me, is the worst skin of them all. Also, due to its different handling of background tasks and vast different manufacturers, not only is it harder to get updates, but there are less polished apps, and battery life is horrible and gets worse and worse. I had never owned an iPhone and had a couple ios devices in the past, but wasn't sure if the iPhone would make a daily driver. It wasn't until I decided to get an iPad I thought about getting an iPhone. Unlike android, ios devices have a better sync between each other. I liked this and was one reason I decided to check out the iPhone. I also was looking for a phone that just worked, not one I needed to root and put roms on to relieve stock issues that hadn't been fixed by Samsung yet. I also wanted my phone to last all day even if I used it once in a while.
When I jumped over, the battery was my first huge appreciation! Never on any platform would I have 30+ percent left at the end of the day before recharging... Even after being on vacation for 3 days with no wifi 4g on with jumping signals, and usage around 2-3 hours, I had no issues with needing to charge. As of now my phones been off charger 10 hours with 2 hours Osage with wifi all day and I have 80 percent. I just cannot be happier with battery life. I'm sure it could improve more, I do notice some things drain battery far quicker than others so if apple can improve usage time even further, that would be awesome!
Other than battery life there is definitely a sense of more high quality apps. Many android apps are pretty damn ugly when you get past the big commercial apps, I have also noticed even some commercial apps are slightly more functional. Like the Facebook app, which allows me to post photos in bulk to Facebook as well as tag them and add filters to them.
I also found the camera to be quite awesome. I wasn't sure what to expect with all the talk of purple lights, but after use and research, its really only caused when taking pictures with light just out of the lens. This is normal on any camera, although the purple effect is worse than others, probably due to the sapphire lens. It's completely avoidable and even visible before taking a shot so I have not had one picture with this purple haze. The camera stands up really well against my Nikon cool pix 9300. In some cases the pictures are actually sharper and in many cases there's no real noticeable differences, even in some low light situations, although I would definitely still use my Nikon in very low lighting. I really don't see much difference when using HDR though so not entirely sure if ill ever use it. On my old android phone, HDR cameras had more of a difference. Compared to my old phone, pictures are much sharper which I really like.
So far, I haven't noticed many major inconveniences of the switch. I don't like the email/contact situation, specifically with gmail, but there are work around.
Some things I'd like to change about ios would be the ability to have default apps, better integration of other apps, with each other, and a refreshed design. I noticed that the iTunes, App Store, and music app have had refreshes and would like to see that idea unified around. I am a designer so I notice very subtle things and the new look is nice. I don't believe in eliminating the themes that some apps have, but maybe modifying some of them from that ugly brown leather to a more sophisticated black or dark brown leather with thin minimal stitching. Overall ios is pretty great, needs some customization and an easier method to get ringtones that doesn't involve buying them or lots of different steps.
As far as android goes, it needs to drastically improve battery life and use more standardization in order to improve update frequency and app quality. I hope that with all android phones moving to 1080p resolutions, this may fix the problem. If android phones can stick to 3 resolutions, 1080p, 720p and one other resolution for small screens, it would make it much easier for debs to work with. Using similar specs would also help. As far as software goes, google needs to allow "skins" to be independent of the OS so that updates can be pushed by google and manufacturers can update their skins to work with the updates, or their skins will not be used until they update it. This would also allow users to turn on or off skins and features so they don't have to be forced to use skins they don't like.
I will continue to update this as I discover more. I am undecided on whether I will stick with ios for the long hall or if it will just be this phone cycle. I look forward to seeing what ios 7 and key lime pie have in store as well as iPhone 5s, galaxy s4 and the Motorola x phone.
Don't get me wrong here, I do like android. I think between jelly bean and ice cream sandwich, google has really gotten a lot right. I despised android up until the release of ics because it just felt so bulky and in intuitive, however now that's not the case. The reason I switched was because, while android is awesome in its purist form, the platform is a mess. Getting updates is ridiculous and the skins that you are forced with can be annoying but since Samsung seems to make the most well balanced phone, you get stuck with touchwiz, which to me, is the worst skin of them all. Also, due to its different handling of background tasks and vast different manufacturers, not only is it harder to get updates, but there are less polished apps, and battery life is horrible and gets worse and worse. I had never owned an iPhone and had a couple ios devices in the past, but wasn't sure if the iPhone would make a daily driver. It wasn't until I decided to get an iPad I thought about getting an iPhone. Unlike android, ios devices have a better sync between each other. I liked this and was one reason I decided to check out the iPhone. I also was looking for a phone that just worked, not one I needed to root and put roms on to relieve stock issues that hadn't been fixed by Samsung yet. I also wanted my phone to last all day even if I used it once in a while.
When I jumped over, the battery was my first huge appreciation! Never on any platform would I have 30+ percent left at the end of the day before recharging... Even after being on vacation for 3 days with no wifi 4g on with jumping signals, and usage around 2-3 hours, I had no issues with needing to charge. As of now my phones been off charger 10 hours with 2 hours Osage with wifi all day and I have 80 percent. I just cannot be happier with battery life. I'm sure it could improve more, I do notice some things drain battery far quicker than others so if apple can improve usage time even further, that would be awesome!
Other than battery life there is definitely a sense of more high quality apps. Many android apps are pretty damn ugly when you get past the big commercial apps, I have also noticed even some commercial apps are slightly more functional. Like the Facebook app, which allows me to post photos in bulk to Facebook as well as tag them and add filters to them.
I also found the camera to be quite awesome. I wasn't sure what to expect with all the talk of purple lights, but after use and research, its really only caused when taking pictures with light just out of the lens. This is normal on any camera, although the purple effect is worse than others, probably due to the sapphire lens. It's completely avoidable and even visible before taking a shot so I have not had one picture with this purple haze. The camera stands up really well against my Nikon cool pix 9300. In some cases the pictures are actually sharper and in many cases there's no real noticeable differences, even in some low light situations, although I would definitely still use my Nikon in very low lighting. I really don't see much difference when using HDR though so not entirely sure if ill ever use it. On my old android phone, HDR cameras had more of a difference. Compared to my old phone, pictures are much sharper which I really like.
So far, I haven't noticed many major inconveniences of the switch. I don't like the email/contact situation, specifically with gmail, but there are work around.
Some things I'd like to change about ios would be the ability to have default apps, better integration of other apps, with each other, and a refreshed design. I noticed that the iTunes, App Store, and music app have had refreshes and would like to see that idea unified around. I am a designer so I notice very subtle things and the new look is nice. I don't believe in eliminating the themes that some apps have, but maybe modifying some of them from that ugly brown leather to a more sophisticated black or dark brown leather with thin minimal stitching. Overall ios is pretty great, needs some customization and an easier method to get ringtones that doesn't involve buying them or lots of different steps.
As far as android goes, it needs to drastically improve battery life and use more standardization in order to improve update frequency and app quality. I hope that with all android phones moving to 1080p resolutions, this may fix the problem. If android phones can stick to 3 resolutions, 1080p, 720p and one other resolution for small screens, it would make it much easier for debs to work with. Using similar specs would also help. As far as software goes, google needs to allow "skins" to be independent of the OS so that updates can be pushed by google and manufacturers can update their skins to work with the updates, or their skins will not be used until they update it. This would also allow users to turn on or off skins and features so they don't have to be forced to use skins they don't like.
I will continue to update this as I discover more. I am undecided on whether I will stick with ios for the long hall or if it will just be this phone cycle. I look forward to seeing what ios 7 and key lime pie have in store as well as iPhone 5s, galaxy s4 and the Motorola x phone.
...but welcome to iMore and I hope you enjoy your new iPhone 5 to the fullest. Take care and have a great weekend. 
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