Back to iOS after years of Android use

31 December 2021


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I've been android jumping this past 2 years, and my last iPhone was a hand me down iPhone 5 which decided to die on its own. I decided to jump on the 13 pro max since it appeared to be the only flagship of 2021 that doesnt guzzle its battery like a madman. I got the say, the biggest adjustment I've had to make is with the weird IOS touch targets vs the various android skins I've tried. The UI just doesn't use the same logic as androids. For your keyboard issue, I recommend that you try SwiftKey. It can display a permanent number row, but a permanent comma is a no-go unfortunately. I'll probably keep an android as a backup phone, but I'm quite pleased with my purchase overall.

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    • No matter
    • 0xQ
    • 31 Dec 2021

    Thank you for this article. After iPhone 13 showed up, I fell in love (again) with the shell shape, which was used on previous generations iphones. But buying an iPhone mainly for shape and "not plastic" back is just unwise. After I read about iOS shortcomings and a lack of (even basic) customisation, I finally decided: iPhone is not for me. Yet.

      Anonymous, 31 Dec 2021"Screenshots don't have to be saved - imagine tha... moreIn Samsung we get a option to directly share or save.

        • ?
        • Anonymous
        • nFr
        • 31 Dec 2021

        "The Galaxy S21 has the right components and is nicely pocketable (is also a lot lighter than the 13 Pro) but is plastic on its back and so indistinguishable from every other Samsung that it doesn't strike my ego in any meaningful way."

        Surely an iPhone 13 Pro is at least equally indistinguishable from every other iPhone since the X? Especially given the limited customisation Apple allow.

        And I have to say that I prefer plastic to glass for obvious practical reasons, though if you use a case it won't make any difference to you either way.

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          • Anand
          • CbD
          • 31 Dec 2021

          Why don't you tried Asus Zenfone 8?

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            • DaniLuca
            • n2x
            • 31 Dec 2021

            Thanks much for sharing your experience in such a detailed way. I can't but 100% agree with it, as I have tried iPhone13 Pro Max this autumn (coming from S21+).
            Adding to your frustrations with iOS, I experienced some poor implementation of apps (like Threema for example which I heavily use), or very expensive variants (like keePass implements - 250$ for a life long license).
            The keyboard, missing alarm volume settings, combined with the huge size (went with the max for ultimative battery life) together with the above mentioned points made me switch back to the S21+. Unexciting, but does everything very well. Kinda how iOS should be, if there would not be the typical 'Samsung quircks'.

              • I
              • Iphonenewbie
              • vGc
              • 31 Dec 2021

              Dude , i feel ya and thank god you didn’t chose mini as your first iphone , otherwise you would have thrown it in some garbage by now and went back to s21.
              Fyi, iphone mini have serious navigation issues due to notch interfering in almost everything in every app.
              And thanks to you I finally learned how to edit a word after misspelling it

                AnonD-1030581, 31 Dec 2021"Another thing is that Apple doesn’t have as many usef... morePlease give me a good Tachiyomi equivalent app for Apple devices

                  FatShady, 31 Dec 2021and yet you forgot to mention that you can't even move... moreMost of Apple's "bloatware", or pre-installed apps, are fairly easily uninstallable.

                    As an iPhone 13 Pro user, I do agree with most of the points that the author has made in this article, although I managed to get used to those "quirks" faster and right now I don't mind them as much (not that I find them intuitive, to be clear).

                    I'm extremely confused with the author's stance on photographic styles, though. So in a few cases like this, Apple is actually giving him options - something he seems to be craving for - yet he's somehow criticising it, because it "keeps [him] uneasy all the time"? You know, the app clearly tells you when you're using the other "styles" by showing you an icon.

                    I believe this is exactly why iOS has a limited number of user-customisable settings compared to Android - many iOS users, most of which are non-techie, will immediately start complaining if it stops spoonfeeding them and provides them with options.
                    Imagine hearing ridiculous complaints like "Am I going to forget to put it back in the 'standard' position after I'm done using it?" but 10 times worse, from the userbase that consists of hundreds of millions of people. If I were Apple I wouldn't want to handle them.

                      and yet you forgot to mention that you can't even move your apps around and put them how you like it, instead of having pages of unused apps, and lets not forgot the bloatware that can't be removed at all, sure android has those, but some companies allow the removal of most bloatware in a very easy way.
                      for me, i couldn't care less about these so called security updates that apple and couple android companies brag about.

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                        • Anonymous
                        • xZI
                        • 31 Dec 2021

                        The iPhone was rubbish during the iPhone 8 and X and earlier but has improved a lot then, iOS was forgettable. Made the first switch to iPhone 11 from a Samsung S10 despite some drawbacks with display and iOS was great despite having some limitations. Stopped buying Samsung after display issues in S20 FE.

                        Got a sparingly used iPhone 13 Pro Max recently from Facebook Marketplace for slightly above $1600 AUD and have been enjoying the 120Hz screen. Awesome phone nearly no complaints. Can polish a few bugs and at least make turning off GPS or Bluetooth easier.

                          windows phone < ios < stock android < skinned android
                          so skinned android is the best for me.

                            You can't compare the polished product of a single iOS on the same device year after year after year after year..... Android is far superior in every way. I see co-workers using their iPhones and all I see is the garbage iOS that my wife's iPhone 3G was years ago.
                            I have no issues with using Microsoft Office on my S21U.

                            This article was exactly what that guy a few posts was leaning towards, the iPhone is nothing more than a fake status symbol.

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                              • AnonD-1030581
                              • nDy
                              • 31 Dec 2021

                              Tonberry, 31 Dec 2021I’m a long time Android phone user, and I also have an iPad... more"Another thing is that Apple doesn’t have as many useful high quality apps available."
                              what are you talking about?
                              its the opposite, ios has the most pro polish apps ...on android i dont have the same quality
                              even microsoft office works very beautiful on ipad than it works on android
                              And i dont want to talk about final cut pro or Affinity photos
                              As an Maya user i chose Apple all the time

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                                • AnonD-1030581
                                • nDy
                                • 31 Dec 2021

                                An iphone without a mac...its a half ecosystem baked...so i would never buy an iphone if i had to have windows daily
                                So..iphone is just a piece of the puzzle of an entire ecosystem
                                Airpods are a piece of sh on android for example
                                apple watch another example
                                Apple want you all in, and if you are all in in their ecosystem, everything is top notch...otherwise forget about it
                                iPhone alone is crap...just a nice piece of hardware and thats it

                                  • ?
                                  • Anonymous
                                  • PZa
                                  • 31 Dec 2021

                                  The battery will start turning bad in 6 months. The updates will start introducing a lot of bugs. Looking forward to the long term review.

                                    I’m a long time Android phone user, and I also have an iPad Pro that I got for digital art. It’s amazing for that, the Apple Pencil works great, and iPadOS has some really good art apps.

                                    But the iPad isn’t really that good for a lot of other stuff. One thing that bothers me is the autocorrect. Somehow, it works quite well on Android (with the SwiftKey keyboard, GBoard isn’t as good), but on Apple devices it can be annoying. I can’t use two languages together, and typing anything that’s not in the dictionary is hard. On Android, I can type something, it gets unnecessarily autocorrected, and I just tap backspace to reverse the correction. On Apple, I need to retype the entire word, and make sure to tap the quote above the keyboard instead of just tapping space after the word.

                                    Another thing is that Apple doesn’t have as many useful high quality apps available. I read manga a lot, but Apple doesn’t really have any decent manga readers that could match Tachiyomi on Android, so I use my phone to read manga instead of my tablet.

                                    edit: just found out there’s SwiftKey for Apple devices, I’ll need to check it out

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                                      • Saeed Ghorbani
                                      • 33p
                                      • 31 Dec 2021

                                      I had same thoughts when i changed to Iphone 8 plus from Galaxy Note5 after using all android flagship since Xperia X10!
                                      There was no S-pen but instead i had quick voice notes which was better and typing was not that bad! i switched to 12 pro last year and boy it was and still is a great joy to use 12pro and magsafe wallet everyday.
                                      No need to worry about Software Updates ever ( even iphone 7 has ios15.2 and it works very smooth ) and almost no lag ever , all apps work as they should and phone never loses performance
                                      Easy to use and reliable as always.you always know what happens if you press an app icon on the screen and apps always run as smooth as they ran last time.Siri is not that much intelligent but i rarely use it except when i want to call sone one or put something on the calendar
                                      UI is clean and app drawer is very easy to use
                                      Widgets are smart and beautiful
                                      Iphone is a phone with it’s own compromises but it does the things you really need flawlessly , you can rely on it as a daily driver and it also is a quality made phone that no phone out there gives you the same feeling
                                      In my opinion Iphone is a phone that ticks the necessary boxes and delivers more

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                                        • Hop
                                        • raN
                                        • 31 Dec 2021

                                        Yeah, and on android slide right cannot be set as FWD
                                        FFS!
                                        iOS is better as the touch technology has not yet been figured out by Android.