Power Android user contemplating a return to iOS.

[robertmphotography]

Using now: LG G5
Used in the past: I had the first 3 iPhones then went Android with Samsung, LG and HTC over the years.
Considering: iPhone 8+

My line is upgrade ready with AT&T so it's time to phone shop again. I have been an avid Android user as well as VERY integrated into the Google ecosystem for a very long time. I really love the flexibility of Android and over the years have rooted my phones, added launchers, played with many configurations, etc. I absolutely have never just used my phones "as is" out of the box. That said, I never really considered going back to Apple after all these years until my wife (never had anything but iOS) and now one of my sons got their new iPhones a few days ago.

Long story short, I love the hardware fit and finish and it seems like Apple has made strides to add things that would make my experience much better than all those years ago. I also am getting slightly tired of there always being SOMETHING not working just quite right on my phone which in my experience, iPhone users experience much less than Android.

My main hesitation, believe it or not, is centered around one thing I can do with my Android phones that I thing iOS can't do; front and center todo lists.

I don't want to launch an app to see what I have to do. I also don't want to have to swipe right to get to the widget screen to see whatever I can present there. Anyone have any thoughts that would make me feel better about losing something that I credit with helping me get things done in my life? Thanks in advance for answering.

 

[Just_Me_D]

re:

If you haven’t had an iPhone since the iPhone 3GS, you’re in for a treat because a lot has changed about the iPhone and iOS since 2009. In addition, your Google apps will run smoothly in the iPhone 8, and yes, I have an iPhone 8 in addition to an iPhone X. Plus, syncing and sharing music and apps with your family who are already on iOS should be enjoyable. Anyway, you should really consider getting the iPhone 8, in my opinion.

 

[briareos4]

re:

8plus FTW. As someone who has flip-flopped between IOS and Android over the years I've pretty much settled on IOS because my family is in the eco-system (wife, daughter, son), and it's just become too painful to not have that level of integration with them. We now share app-purchases, family apple music plan, not to mention all the other neat things the 'family' integration provides. Plus iMessage, obviously, is something that Google has never been able to duplicate and still fumbling with possible alternates.

You just have to take a long breath and release any need you might have to customize your home screens, root/mod, etc... and just enjoy the apps themselves. Plus you'll be absolutely amazed with the battery life the 8plus will give you. Ignore the foolish battery comparisons on Youtube. Real-world usage on the iphone kills android phones because the idle-drain is 10x less.

 

[robertmphotography]

re:

Thanks for the responses so far everyone! Yea, the deed is almost done. I am 99% sure I'm going to get the iPhone 8+ since my mom is getting an iPhone 8 with me and we're going to do the BOGO deal. I want to help her out so that's a good motivation.

I am excited for the "newness" that iOS will bring into my world but scared too that I'll really miss some of the custom features I really used a lot.

Does anyone have any specific experience using the widget for tasks? Does it work well? How many does the widget display?

 

[TripleOne]

re:

Thanks for the responses so far everyone! Yea, the deed is almost done. I am 99% sure I'm going to get the iPhone 8+ since my mom is getting an iPhone 8 with me and we're going to do the BOGO deal. I want to help her out so that's a good motivation.

I am excited for the "newness" that iOS will bring into my world but scared too that I'll really miss some of the custom features I really used a lot.

Does anyone have any specific experience using the widget for tasks? Does it work well? How many does the widget display?

I would recommend checking out Todoist.
It’s a fantastic app and I’ve been using it for years on iOS.

 

[vpblaze]

re:

Thanks for the responses so far everyone! Yea, the deed is almost done. I am 99% sure I'm going to get the iPhone 8+ since my mom is getting an iPhone 8 with me and we're going to do the BOGO deal. I want to help her out so that's a good motivation.

I am excited for the "newness" that iOS will bring into my world but scared too that I'll really miss some of the custom features I really used a lot.

Does anyone have any specific experience using the widget for tasks? Does it work well? How many does the widget display?

I use my calendar widgets for upcoming events and reminders.
Not so much tasks, but I feel it does a good job viewing them and letting me know what’s upcoming.

I think it will be a good change, however just keep in mind you lose a lot of homescreen customization. That’s pretty much the only thing I miss from Android. Being able to put the icons where I want them!!!

 

[Jude526]

re:

I came over from Android and Samsung in January. I am really pleased. I was hesitant but in the back of my mind I had contemplated because I was done when the Note 7 debacle happened. I had been toying with the 7+ in the store and just decided it was time to switch. I will be getting the 8+ soon myself. I really like Siri. I use a lot and so great to have her set up my appts on my calendar. I also still use my Google apps and they work even better on iOS than Android. Weird but its true. I love Apple Music though. Battery life is amazing. I am just impressed with iOS as whole and how Apple does things. Updates are not delayed. I have made the switch over completely. All Apple now.

 

[TripleOne]

re:

I came over from Android and Samsung in January. I am really pleased. I was hesitant but in the back of my mind I had contemplated because I was done when the Note 7 debacle happened. I had been toying with the 7+ in the store and just decided it was time to switch. I will be getting the 8+ soon myself. I really like Siri. I use a lot and so great to have her set up my appts on my calendar. I also still use my Google apps and they work even better on iOS than Android. Weird but its true. I love Apple Music though. Battery life is amazing. I am just impressed with iOS as whole and how Apple does things. Updates are not delayed. I have made the switch over completely. All Apple now.

Updates is one of the reason why I love Apple.
It’s right away, unlike Android hahaha.

 

[vpblaze]

re:

Updates is one of the reason why I love Apple.
It’s right away, unlike Android hahaha.

I also really like the fact that they aren’t carrier dependent.
Apple releases a update and I don’t have to wait for Rogers Wireless to mess it up and then send it out.
Definitely don’t miss that part from Android.

 

[TripleOne]

re:

I also really like the fact that they aren’t carrier dependent.
Apple releases a update and I don’t have to wait for Rogers Wireless to mess it up and then send it out.
Definitely don’t miss that part from Android.

Exactly!

 

[Jude526]

re:

I also really like the fact that they aren’t carrier dependent.
Apple releases a update and I don’t have to wait for Rogers Wireless to mess it up and then send it out.
Definitely don’t miss that part from Android.

I agree 100%. I am really impressed with Apple. I never thought I would be. But I am completely in with it.

 

[Jude526]

re:

Oh Android this and Android that. And when there is a problem they complain too. I left because of it. I have had a couple of glitches but nothing like I had when I was on Samsung and Android. Get an update, had to always factory reset for it to work. I haven’t had to do that on Apple, but when I get my 8+ I will set up as new. I do believe setting up new is better for the phone

 

[robertmphotography]

re:

Ok everyone... update. First, thanks for the advice. I pulled the trigger and could not be happier. Per my OP, I have found that the stock reminders app and the widget moved to the top of the widget screen solves my todo list problem nicely. In fact, since those "current" reminders are on the lock screen too, they are even more front and center than when I had the widget on my home screen on Android. I got the 8+ and I love most everything about it. Yes, there are some little hiccups but I find I don't really care. The strangest thing of all is how I care about apps again. I remember all those years ago on iOS I used to pay attention to when apps came out, try them, sometimes buy them, etc and when I was on Android, I didn't really bother much. I guess that's a good thing and bad thing but overall, it's interesting to me how now I enjoy the process of using apps whereas with my Android phone I basically spent time configuring the phone, widgets, etc and then left it that way.

So I love my new iPhone and really don't miss my Andriod at all which is surprising as hell.

 

[robertmphotography]

re:

Oh... and one more thing SIRI is WAAAAAYYYYYY better, and I mean not even close, better at speech recognition than Google assistant. In fact, the speech recognition basically works 100% of the time on iOS which is a huge improvement over Android where it would work maybe 50% of the time. I really never used speech to text or speech recognition on Android for this reason. Now I use it all the time.

 

[krishnansasikumar]

re:

Siri is definitely not better than Google Assistant. Google Assistant is the best voice assistant in the market at the moment. With my Indian accent, Google has no trouble understanding me while Siri struggles. And contextual awareness is missing in Siri.

I have both 8+ and Note 8 and I find each of them had their own strengths and weaknesses.

 

[Raptor007]

re:

I used Android for years with iOS mixed in throughout that time. i would get 4-6 new Android devices a year based o the latest toy and to get the latest OS iteration. There were many reasons to go iOS, in part my computer is a MBP, my wife has been iOS since her first smartphone which was a 6 then a month later a 6+ then a 6S+ which she won't upgrade due to the loss of the headphone jack and fake home button.

iOS is not perfect, Apple does not allow us to customize it the way we want, they won't even allow developers to offer the ability to help us customize it. I used to root my Android devices too, try out tons of custom ROM's to get cool features built in. In time the OEM started making that harder too.

A big benefit of iOS is if you live near an Apple Store, you can get immediate help on hardware issues and AppleCare+ replacements without waiting for it to ship.

I use both Fantastical and Readdle Calendar 5 depending on my needs. Both allow me to add my tasks to my calendar.

If Android OEM's focused less on trying to customize Android OS and instead customize the hardware they could use pure Android and push patches and updates more often which in turn would keep users in their ecosystem and become more brand loyal. I feel that is a key to iOS, regular updates that go from one model to the next, until you get 3-4 models back then you get the OS update but not all features due to hardware limitations, but that is normal.

 

[anon(41073)]

re:

Siri is definitely not better than Google Assistant. Google Assistant is the best voice assistant in the market at the moment. With my Indian accent, Google has no trouble understanding me while Siri struggles. And contextual awareness is missing in Siri.

I have both 8+ and Note 8 and I find each of them had their own strengths and weaknesses.

Google Assistant is way better than Siri in my experiences. Most if not all online comparisons seem to agree.

 

[purwater]

re:

I just switched back to the iPhone 8 Plus myself over the weekend. I too have gone with iOS and Android over the years since the original "Droid" on Verizon. I was iOS from iPhone 4 through 6S Plus. Then my wife and I went to Galaxy S7 Edge and S8+ over the past year. One thing I always missed when using iOS in the past was the widgets. Constantly complained that Apple wouldn't let us use them. Turns out when I went back to the Galaxy phones I ended up using only one widget and that was the built in weather one. I didn't miss them as much as I thought. Now back on iOS I'm loving it again. I had upgraded to the newest regular iPad last month and enjoyed the smoothness of it. That spurred me to pay the early upgrade fee and trade in my S8+. Been very happy with my decision. My wife said you got me switched over to the Samsung and now you've gone back to Apple. Lol. She says she's staying with Android now, but we will see over the next few month. As far as Siri vs. Google assistant I've never really used either for much of anything. Both seemed to be hit or miss, but I do have a bit of a country accent so there's that.

 

[TripleOne]

re:

Ok everyone... update. First, thanks for the advice. I pulled the trigger and could not be happier. Per my OP, I have found that the stock reminders app and the widget moved to the top of the widget screen solves my todo list problem nicely. In fact, since those "current" reminders are on the lock screen too, they are even more front and center than when I had the widget on my home screen on Android. I got the 8+ and I love most everything about it. Yes, there are some little hiccups but I find I don't really care. The strangest thing of all is how I care about apps again. I remember all those years ago on iOS I used to pay attention to when apps came out, try them, sometimes buy them, etc and when I was on Android, I didn't really bother much. I guess that's a good thing and bad thing but overall, it's interesting to me how now I enjoy the process of using apps whereas with my Android phone I basically spent time configuring the phone, widgets, etc and then left it that way.

So I love my new iPhone and really don't miss my Andriod at all which is surprising as hell.

Congratulations on your 8 Plus!

If you’re a To-do list type of person, be sure to check out Todoist

 

[Almeuit]

re:

Oh Android this and Android that. And when there is a problem they complain too. I left because of it. I have had a couple of glitches but nothing like I had when I was on Samsung and Android. Get an update, had to always factory reset for it to work. I haven’t had to do that on Apple, but when I get my 8+ I will set up as new. I do believe setting up new is better for the phone

Any can have glitches but yes Samsung ones are known for lag after awhile and what not. That is why I like the Pixel and such since you get updates from Google directly. If there is a bug you can expect a fix.. Just like with Apple .

Software isn't perfect but Apple with their tighter control does help with things possibly running wild. Either way you can't really go wrong.