To Android or to Not

Ok, so I’m at a crossroads here. Before you just read the title and go all android fanboi on me just hear out the scenario, as I know a few others are in it.

I’ve had an iOS device for about 10 years now. My ecosystem at home is all Apple with the exception of my work laptop. Lately, Apple has not done a lot in both of their OS’s to make me convinced to stay. It’s getting tired and some of their features are really just nice to haves not got to haves.

Another point, my entire family, parents, brothers, cousins, wife and daughter, has Apple… let that sync in before jumping the gun as well…

I’m looking to jump, but I’m not sure if I’ll get pissed off and regret everything 2 weeks in. I typically will give a device or tech a couple weeks before I throw it out the window. I would probably go with Pixel mainly cause I can get work email on it. Other aspects are apps… I never really buy apps as I’m a cheap ass, so I’m not 100% concerned about that aspect. I can log into apps that are supported on both systems to still get content.

Here’s where it gets fun, I want simple, which is why I like iOS. So easy my dad can use it. I don’t care about all the tricks and shit you can do with android. Hack it, root it, use it to hack into super secret databases, a la Mr. Robot… I really don’t care. I just want it to work. Data storage is another aspect I have to have. My 6s has 128gb and I’m almost full. Mainly cause I don’t delete things and I have several Plex movies on as I travel from time to time. And my one sticking point is iMessage… with the family on iOS, I’ll miss iMessage. It’s a feature that I like to have mainly because I don’t have to give a phone to my girl and she can use an iPod. But she’s getting older, ugh.

So convince me, or tell me to stop whining and deal with Apple, give me compelling reasons to switch, make a GOOD argument, not just cause Apple is evil and you shoul just hail Google overlords.

I know there are a couple of others in my shoes and I thought it’d be a good topic to bring up to have civil conversations around. I know there are a lot of android fans out there, but I don’t care about the fandom, I want to know facts. Throw in a couple of devices if that’s necessary. For example, Sammy S9 is badass, but S8 is cheaper and does the same if it works on your corporate network. Or, Pixel is awesome don’t need to store photos. Or get the note, cause you have to have a laptop in your hand… btw, the last one was facetious for @Gunny cause he has a note. I don’t want anything big. Gotta be on the smaller form factor side.

Now get to work, slackers. I’ll either update OP or answer any questions along the way.

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Ecosystem is everything. 'droid is fine now (i was early android adopter and it was horrible early) but I can’t imagine switching systems.

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Well, question here is more personal than practical… only 2 phones I would put here would be note 8 and s9. Would you like to feel like you have a tiny computer with the free range of accessibility or would you like to have, what is considered to be the best camera in the market?

Reason I ask these 2 questions is due to the fact that youre surrounded by IOS in which case, it would be better in my opinion, to stay with Apple.

I have a Note 8 and would not change it for anything. Ive had previous Iphone 7 Plus and wife has the Iphone X but after changing to the Note 8. I cant go back. Everything is so much easier on the Note 8 for me and it is not that big of a phone. It actually feels smaller than the Iphone Plus AND I have an otterbox on it.

I go through that issue as well Fish and have just ended up sticking with Apple.

I hate Facebook but a workaround to the iMessage system is to give your kids Facebook Messenger which you as the adult control who talks to them.

Apple does lots of shenanigans. If you end up with an Android phone and no longer see texts from your previous contacts, have a look.

If you are going to miss iMessage, try to get your family to use a messaging app that is independent of OS, like WhatsApp.

I switched from Apple to Android and I’ve never looked back, mostly because of the variety of phones available when I upgrade every 2 years.

I have been an Android fanboi since the beginning due to the openness of the system, however that is becoming less and less of a plus due to phone companies (samsung, Verizon) really locking down there phones and basically pushing their own ecosystems.

Ecosystems they have created are meant to keep you in and it is very hard to break out of. With your whole family on apple it just pains me to say to stick with it. Its not just convincing yourself, you now have to convince your family to use an app that is not apple. Either that or jump through hoops yourself in order to work with apple devices. Cause they certainly do not get along well with each other. You also have to think about other devices such as an apple tv, they will either be a PITA to work with on android or simply not work at all.

The one think Apple does really well is play with itself. It’s also the one thing i hate about them is they only care about playing with themselves and keeping such a closed ecosystem, which makes it so very hard to leave.

Now on the Android front the innovation is still there, which was lost at Apple when Jobs passed. Samsung and LG have done some great work on the OS and implemented a very stable and easy to use platform with a ton of features. Or just go the vanilla route with the pixel. But IMO Samsung has them all pretty much beat.

Just keep in mind if you decide to give Android a go there will defintely be a learning curve as the two systems do the same things in very different ways.

I have an S8+ and its been great. Slightly larger screen then a general 8 bit not as large as the note. There are slight differences on the 9 which comes down to improved hardware, but feature wise they are pretty much the same.

One last plus for switching to Android: Don’t have to use fucking ITunes.

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iTunes is no longer necessary.

I switched from Nexus devices to iOS when the iPhone 6 came out, Im stuck on iOS for now as an app I use has features that are not supported on Android at the moment.

If I went back to Android, I would go with nothing else but a Pixel, unlocked, straight from Google.

I hate Apple, but I think staying makes the most sense for you.

Maybe start with a cheap Android tablet to get a good feel for Android before getting an expensive phone.

I now do the Apple plan for my phone. Yeah it’s always a monthly payment but I can upgrade for free each year and have Apple care included. Plus it’s not locked to a phone carrier.

I agree that a Pixel from Google will give you less bloatware than a Samsung or Sony.

Though I recently got a Huawei running Android and there is very little bloatware. It’s probably my favourite out of those 3 manufacturers.

The pixel 3 will probably be my next phone. Last few have been Motorolas. Currently Droid Turbo 2. Barely any bloat ware.

knowing you as long as I have, stay with Apple.

Unless you want to switch over your whole family and teach them all the new stuff.

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Fish starting fanboi wars!! My device is the bestest!

As someone that has both an Android and an iPhone I can honestly say it doesn’t matter. They all do the same shit and work very well. Samsungs are the top dog in the Android world and are incredible phones. So are the iPhone 8s (I think they discontinued the 10).

One thing to note about the phones are the size. Work gave me an iPhone 8 and coming from a Note and now a LGV20 I just feel the standard size phone is too small. I prefer the larger phones. I know iPhones have a larger phone (my son has one), work only gave me the small size.

Facebook is facebook. Chrome works like shit on both. Email works. Cameras are good on all.

Are Androids harder to use or require hacking to get right??? I don’t get that logic. It’s pretty straight forward and you don’t have to hack the interface if you don’t want to. I do think the Android UI is easier to navigate with. I also prefer the keyboards on Androids better.

You have Macs and iPads, you’re probably better staying in that ecosystem. But if you want to switch I’m sure you’ll be happy with any decent Android device.

These are going to be pretty hard to get in the USA soon. Telecoms are dropping them like crazy and the US government is banned from using them. Verizon and Apple have both dropped their deals with Huawei.

Yeah I heard some stuff about US intelligence agencies saying they should be avoided, at least by their own employees.

Luckily hasn’t affected UK at all, yet at least.

Update:

So I bit the bullet and despite all the statements of just stay in the ecosystem that I’ve built, I went and bought a Pixel2. It’s a nice phone and it’s snappy. I am now trying to get used to the interface.

I went with a clean install and didn’t port anything over. I didn’t want to junk it up with shit I’ve been hoarding for years on iOS. I did back up all my photos on the phone to Google photos which was easy, and since I have drive and gmail, already everything g was pretty much already there. The big thing now is all my contacts are still on my old phone and I have to kinda manually port them over. That is also not too big a deal since I need to clean house anyway.

I’ll post back up and give an update to the use in a little bit, but so far so good.

There are a couple of goofy things that I do not care for but it mainly has to do with the dongle that connects to headphones. It should just work, but if I change apps from PS Vue to a music app, the audio doesn’t always follow. Maybe I just need to get Bluetooth headphones, which I really don’t want to get.

So what apps are good? Any specific email app that you use? Or just Gmail. I still have to set it up for work email, but that’s a process as we are super strict on security and Android isn’t as secure as apple on that front. What other apps are worth checking out? Free is best… I am cheap!

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For email I use the inbox app from google. Don’t recall if it’s on by default.

For work we use VMware boxer.

Other recommended apps: (all free)
Hiya - crowdsourced caller id app. For spam and robots callers
Beautiful widgets - pretty up your screen
One more clock - another pretty up your screen app
Zedge - ringtones, wallpapers and notification sounds
Macrodroid - good for setting up automated tasks. Like when getting in your car, open music app, set screen to always kind of stuff.
Camera MX - not sure about the camera app on the pixel but this app is really good and has good amount of options for a free app.

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I have nothing constructive to add… just bitching about Apple which I’ll keep to myself. Congrats on the new phone. I think you’ll be happy with the switch.

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Ha! Thanks! Still getting used to it, really. Just got the work email installed. It was a process and not a good one, but security is good.