Switching from Android to 6 Plus - Ditch Google for iCloud?

Peter Rokkos

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Pretty close to jumping back to iOS after a few years on Android. Had switched over when I found the iPhone 5 to be disappointing and wanted a bigger phone. After a couple of years on Android, ready to go back to iOS and the 6 Plus seems huge but the best option. I'm coming from a LG G3. Got to admit I like the fact that newer big screen Android phones like the Moto X Style or the G4 seem to cram the big screen size into a smaller form factor, but I guess I'm willing to trade that off for the benefits of iOS. At least I hope so.

More importantly, coming back to iOS from Android seems easy enough. My whole family and media collection is on iTunes so Music, Podcasts, TV etc. all should be fine. I'd been using some extra software to sync with iTunes already so it will be nice to go back to crappy but best available tool that iTunes provides.

My question however is what to do about Google. I use Gmail, Contacts, Calendar, Maps and Chrome for everything as we use Windows PCs. No switching to Macs any time soon. Seems like the best option will be to use Gmail, Chrome and Calendar on the iPhone. Am I right? Am I losing much in using an iOS version of these that I had on Android (Gmail, Google Calendar, Chrome for iOS)?

Am I missing much of Apple native apps for these and then linking them to Google for the data? I think I'd like to continue using Gmail and Google overall but am looking for suggestions if iCloud would be a better complete switch. And if I understand right, iOS apps don't sync great with Gmail, Contacts, etc.

Seems like Google Maps is still better and if I'm sticking with Google, seems to integrate better with PC use (remembering what I searched for on PC, etc).

I'm not really a huge fan of iCloud overall - seems like Google PC tools for Gmail, Contacts, etc. while imperfect are better for a Windows user.

Bottom line - any suggestions on whether for a Windows PC user switching back to iOS, on whether it makes more sense to switch completely to iCloud from Google tools?
 

turbodave38

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I made the switch and loving every second of it. The IOS is SO MUCH smoother and trouble free than the Droid OS (which seemed to always be a different itteration on every platform).
Can't help with all or your questions but.... I do use Gmail on my 6+ and it's flawless. I also use Google maps and it's actually much better on my I phone that it was on my Android phone!!!!
 

Spencerdl

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Welcome to iMore. Google tools and gmail works great with the iPhone and Apple products as a whole. C'mon over you will ENJOY a trouble free platform. The only thing I miss from Android is the customizable aspect out of the box, where as you have to Jailbreak the iPhone to add total customization, but thats it.
 
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racedog

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I just switched last week from the S6 to an iPhone 6 plus. I'm still using Google's services because I've used them extensively for such a long time and because they work well. Before I made the switch I made SURE that I could continue to use them as not being able to do so would have been a deal breaker for me.

I'm very happy with the 6 plus although I have to admit that it's taking some time to get used to the sheer size of the thing, but in most other ways I'm very happy with it.
 

Jaggrey

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I recently switched from an LG G4 to the iPhone 6+ myself. I added my Google account via Mail Contacts Calendars and all my contacts and calendar events came over. I have Google Calendar installed also since I like the input method, but I like the native calendar since it integrates with Apple's Today pull down and it integrates with Exchange. I turned off the Mail sync since I use the Gmail app.

It's weird I have both the Google and the iOS version of apps next to each other so I can decide which one I'm going to use more consistently. Definitely still using Google Maps. And I also set it to store new contacts in the Google account instead of iCloud just to keep everything consistent.

Regarding the browser, I go back and forth between Chrome and Safari. I like how Chrome syncs across all my devices (mostly Windows), but the default browser is Safari with no way to change it, so I've been using both. Gmail links from the app open in Chrome.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

racedog

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For the browser I use Dolphin. I'm just not all the familiar with the icloud services so I am not using any of them. I may try them out after I've become more familiar and more comfortable with IOS. I have to admit that I despise iTunes. I wish there was another way around it. I like just being able to keep my music in folders and move them around as I want them. I have a ridiculous amount of music, and, as a musician I want it MY way, not Apple's way. But, I am learning to live with it. It's a major nuisance but not a deal breaker for me.
 

anon(39328)

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If you are happy with Google, I would stick with Google. Google works great on iOS. Plus, since Google works good on other platforms, you won't have any future issues if you should decide to change platforms again.
 

mattmatt299

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I switched to iOS and OSX several years ago. Some of my stuff like my calendar, contacts and some email are iCloud based. I never did like the fact that Google reads all my email.

However, iCloud storage has compatibility issues with many apps. For that reason I still use Dropbox for file storage and syncing (for OSX, Windows PCs and mobile devices).

iCloud Photos is a horrible mess. I strongly recommend against it. Even if you ignore its poor performance, it is very confusing to use and feature poor.

For example, one of my goals for Photos was to share my entire photo library with the grandparents. There is not way to do that with iCloud Photos. The iMore staff will tell you I am sharing my photos wrong, but that is want I want to do.

So, for Photos I use OneDrive from MS. I have 1 TB of storage that I can share and upload uncompressed photos and videos. Note that most other services like amazon, Google and Flickr compress uploaded photos. I get Office365 for the family (5 installations) and each user gets a TB of storage. The price ($75/yr if you buy a key on Amazon) is great even if you just get the storage - 1 TB for for each of 5 users. But you also get Office for Mac and Windows. Office is still much much better than Pages and Numbers.

Bottom line - mix and match for what works best.
 

alias3800

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Hmm... I just made the same switch. And I have a 2015 Chromebook Pixel (so maybe my opinion is slightly biased haha) - but, do NOT give up Google services!

This is not fact, but opinion: Google does software, Apple does hardware. So have the best of both worlds! In any case, if you have to keep one thing around, keep Google photos and don't let Apple anywhere near your photos. It's simply not as good a backup service. Personally I like using google calendar and Inbox or Gmail or email services, Google Photos for photos (duh), and I let Apple keep my phone backup on iCloud, because that's essentially what it does best. Oh, and how could I forget - Google Maps! I still don't trust Apple maps, although I'm more inclined to use it these days if it opens natively when I click on a direction. Youtube has no replacement (obviously) and neither does translate.

The others that I use are simply because Google Drive works so damn well and I have over a terabyte of free space on it, but Docs and Sheets are great too. All my actual excel work I do at work, on a Windows computer.

Love this damn iPhone 6 Plus though.
 

jsntrenkler

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Over the years I did so much platform jumping that I have my information all over the place. I will tell you that my preference is using iCloud for all my syncing. I have found it to be very reliable, at this point I believe it is a matter of preference, and for my usage I find iCloud to be the superior solution.
 

Jaggrey

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Anybody have any suggestions regarding getting Google Keep notes on the iPhone? The two most popular apps for this in the app store basically just show the mobile version of the site and don't work that well.
 

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