30 Days Later: From iPhone 5 to Android

Photo Credit: geeksect.com

Photo Credit: geeksect.com

My interest in Apple products is innate. My dad teaches electronics and computer technology at Indiana State University, and so I literally grew up on campus, surrounded by dozens of computers and servers in his office. Each one was a Macintosh, and as I got older I watched the development of Apple computers change over time. Why am I taking you on this historical road trip through my childhood? It’s necessary to understand why I’ve been hooked on Apple products for my entire life. While Microsoft was present and I was certainly aware and used to it, it was not my preference, and when it came to making my own decisions on purchasing laptops and phones as an adult, Apple was a no brainer.

My first iPhone was a 3GS. Later I would get the 4 (in which I stayed home from work on the day FedEx was scheduled to drop them off), and then the 5. For four years, all I knew was iPhone. So why switch? With a phone being the most important device I own, why would I want to learn to use something that is completely different?

Reasons for switching:

1. My boyfriend replaced his iPhone 5 twice due to how his toggle button quit working, which is essential to turning off the screen on the phone. He could use an accessibility feature to band-aid this problem, but when you pay so much for a phone, you want it to work they way it did when you took it out of the box. Also, being out of warranty made a future replacement a $200.00 purchase we weren’t interested in.

2. The iPhone 5 became limiting. More on this when I discuss the differences below, but the iPhone originally felt out-of-the-box perfect, right? It was set up for everything I needed, but the more I used it, the more I realize my desire to customize the experience.

3. Boredom. Yes, I was flat out bored with iOS. The iOS 7 release was cool, but it wasn’t ground breaking.

4. Battery life was going downhill, fast. With social media a full time job, I use my phone a lot. I’d end up at 20% or less battery each day from regular use, and would charge multiple times if out and about.

Pros of switching to Android

Apps – First I’ll say that I never bought a ton of apps for my iPhone 5. I paid for Tweetbot to manage multiple Twitter accounts and a few games, but that was it. Many people warned me that switching from iOS to Android meant that I couldn’t keep my iOS purchased apps. Well, duh, but that wasn’t a problem for me. Instead, Android enlightened me to their wide range of apps that can take over stock applications such as messaging, contacts, settings, etc. iOS had some of those, but not many. I enjoyed customizing my phone through various third party apps. There is a downside to this as those apps may not be supported or updated frequently, but I’ll take that chance.

Ergonomics – Huge. It. Is. Huge. The entire body of the iPhone 5 can fit inside the screen of my LG G2. Getting used to holding this phone differently has been a small challenge, and buttons on the back instead of the side are also a new adjustment. Other than that, it really isn’t much different. My iPhone 5 was cradled in a giant Otterbox Defender case, a heavy, bulky protector to keep me from paying $$$ to fix a shattered phone (I dropped it, a lot). The LG G2 does have Otterbox cases available, but the phone itself feels stronger and capable of handling a fall better than the iPhone 5. That may be just my opinion, but I had the iPhone 4 and it shattered after a small fall… onto carpet. Call me paranoid.

Micro USB – Love your iPhone lightening cable? Well, I hope you enjoy carrying around cables with only one purpose. While I don’t have too many devices that connect via Micro USB, my Kindle does, and the cords I use for my phone will work with it as well. Micro USB cables are also much cheaper than buying a new lightening cables.

Battery Life – The LG G2 battery life is simply stunning. I cannot believe how it keeps up with me and leaves me at 50% after a long day of use.

Cons of switching to Android

Bluetooth – My iPhone 5 paired with the bluetooth in my 2014 Subaru perfectly. Once it was paired, it didn’t matter if I shut the car off, went to work, and got back in 8 hours later – it would start playing music from Spotify as soon as I turned the car on. This is not the case with my LG G2. I have to go into my settings and ask the phone to pair with my car each time. Sometimes I have to click it two or three times to get it to pair, and it takes about 10 seconds to pair. Not a huge problem (certainly better than plugging the phone in via aux cable each time I get in and out of the car) but it is not as seamless as I hoped it would be. I’ve tried a few apps that are supposed to make Bluetooth connections stronger, but nothing has fixed the problem just yet. Suggestions are welcome!

So much customization, so little time – The thought of customizing my phone? Super cool. Actually doing the research, downloading the right apps and implementing them? Takes precious time I don’t have. When asking my Facebook friends about my desire to switch, I received one great piece of advice to not try and learn about the whole phone at once. Take small pieces of it and digest it accordingly. Apps like Android Central and Drippler have helped me find apps and learn why people do certain things to their phone that my previous iPhone 5 self was not aware of.

iMessage – HUGE problem. I turned off iMessage on all of my devices prior to switching to Android. But several of my friends with iPhones and iMessage can’t text my Android phone. They’ve tried deleting me from their contacts and reading me as a mobile phone and not iPhone, and it still doesn’t work. Some friends have been able to make it through this iMessage wall of Hell, and some haven’t figured it out yet. Others have just turned iMessage off on their phone completely. That’s not fair. They shouldn’t have to do something because I switched phones. From what I can tell, this is a problem for many and has not been fixed yet.

Camera – My iPhone 5 camera is superior to the LG G2. The LG G2 is 13 MP and the iPhone 5 is 8, but that’s not the problem. The iPhone 5 camera is more responsive. If I try to take a picture of my dog in motion, the iPhone 5 will snap it clearer and faster than the LG G2, which struggles to catch up. The VSCO Camera app is pretty cool and creates a clearer, more responsive picture, but it’s not quite the same.

Final thoughts

Do I love the phone? Yes, I do. I love reading Kindle books on it, checking email, viewing photos and its overall general use? Yes. Do I still experience a desire to have iOS features and capabilities? Yes, of course. For being only 30 days in, I think I’m doing pretty good. I look forward to writing a follow-up article 60 or 90 days to share what I experience moving forward. If you use an Android phone, I’d love to hear about your favorite apps and why you chose Android over iPhone in the comments below! 

6 Responses to “30 Days Later: From iPhone 5 to Android”
  1. brewner says:
  2. Cris Goode (@crisgoode) says:
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