Android fan might go iphone. help.

[01ds650]

Hi.
I'm a long time Android fan. I have only had HTC Android phones. I consider the HTCs to be the most polished Android "face" although the GS3 is nice.

Here's the hitch... I own a few ipods, an iPad3, a MBP 15" & Apple TV. I'm wondering if it isn't time to complete the family so to speak.

Like a said I'm an Android fan & personally comparing the new HTC DNA to the Iphone5 at Verizon I still feel like the HTC is superior. (albeit too large, while the iphone would be perfect at 4.3 IMO)

But the ability to Facetime my son on the go to his ipod, the fun with Apple TV, the photostream to my Mac. (I currently use Dropbox to try & achieve the same thing) through the purchase of an iphone5 all appeal to me.

While I like the Android system for it's power & features, I feel totally comfortable on IOS on my iPad which I use daily. Much like Chevy vs Ford the Android vs IOS argument is endless......

So a couple of questions....
What types of features will the new iphone5 do I've not listed that a GS3 or HTC DNA will not do?
What will I miss going from an Android to an iPhone that I'm not even thinking about yet?

Also, it sounds childish but my friend & I like to photoshop our other friends onto naked people, porn etc. We then text those pics to everyone, sometimes with a short sound/song that plays. I'm told the iphone would NOT send sounds or ringtones through text? Is that really true? If so, is there an app where a pic & song play at the same time when the text is opened like my HTC does?

Also, I think I may buy the 32gb iphone off Verizon contract. It's at I think $759 at the Verizon store. Is there somewhere I would find a better deal?

What is the difference between walking out of Verizon with a phone off contract as opposed to the same phone from Apple off contract & unlocked?

Thanks for all the help guys.

 

[w00t951]

• My main reasons for using iOS are that the apps don't suck and iTunes is supported.
• I miss AdAway and the larger screen of my Galaxy Nexus, but aside from web browsing, literally everything else is better on iOS.

 

[2ndchancephones]

I'm all about the Apple ecosystem. That's it...plain and simple.

 

[Afbar1114]

first everything works better with iCloud when you have everything.. i went all apple this year and finally completed with the iPhone about a month ago. I went from a Galaxy nexus to a iPhone 5 was getting sick of all the glitches in Android. I couldnt be happier havent had one single problem with OS but hardware was an issue but i took it to an apple store and they gave me a new one right away no problem at all...if your using iOS already and mostly apple products there shouldnt be an issue with the switch.

 

[w00t951]

Yeah, Android 4.2+ has been unusually buggy. As in, the multitasking bar is extremely choppy, battery life is inconsistent, and some apps are finicky.

 

[isephmusic]

i didint like the switch too much. the htc one line is really some of the best android phones out. the gs3 has so many roms you cant imagine. the camera on the iphone 5 is a huge let down. the ecosystem does work tho. icloud backups are super cool. if you have an apple tv and macbook thats the only reason i switched. well not really i switched because of how well the product holds its value over the years.

maybe i should give it time before i keep putting iOS down vs android. its just so goddamn limited they dont want you to touch anything !!

 

[Prime85]

The ecosystem is probably the best thing about iOS. I can be working on a report on my Mac and answer texts directly from my computer.

The phone does everything it is supposed to do without all the gimmicks that many android phones have like split screen (why does anyone need split screen on a phone) and pip video ( only used this once on my S3 when I had it because there is no reason to use it)

In the end it's a phone that will work properly without all the glitches.

 

[unagimiyagi]

If your friend wants to use devices across screens seamlessly, then the iPhone makes sense. What I mean is, if he wants the iPhone to work with a laptop and tv and a desktop, this is where mac os x / ios excels.

It's going to be ugly and unwieldy trying to accomplish similar levels of integration using Android. No open source solution is going to be as bugfree and smooth. You'll likely spend hours configuring and reading online to figure it out.
It depends if you consider this type of knowledge useful or not.
Coordinating desktops laptops tvs, and phones is not trivial, and only Apple has the focus as a company and attention to detail to accomplish this. I fully believe that Google could accomplish similar things, but they as a company are more focused on what I would consider groundbreaking innovations (self-driving cars, Google glass) than polishing their existing products.

The open source community could accomplish seamless integration as well, but again it's time-consuming to get diff codebases to play nice for the end user to the point that it's zero configuration. There's only 24 hours in a day for everyone, and Apple chooses to invest alot of their 24 hours in the integration area b/c they believe it's crucial to the user experience. Most people aren't willing to trudge through the minutiae required to get everything to sync up. Look at Dropbox. This is the only file sync software that can sync everything properly (metadata screws up other services, hidden files for coding projects). Box, fail. Sugarsync, epic fail. Skydrive, Google drive, they all fail. Attention to detail is only being done by Dropbox and they know it, hence the much higher charge per month. Is it worth it? It is to some, it is not to others.

I believe in about 1 year I'll be ready to switch to Android since I hold out hope that the Nexus devices will be stable enough for prime time. And I dislike Apple's philosophies and controlling nature, yet I do realize that overbearing control is the only way to get the type of quality that I expect for apps and hardware that I use every single day. Only by reigning in their carriers or circumventing other OEMs has the Android platform garnered critical praise. The Nexus devices are very nice now. No one likes a skin on top of Android.
In the laptop world, it's going to be probably a decade before I could go back to windows or ubuntu full-time for the singular reason that the one button trackpads are completely unusable on any other machine besides a macbookpro or air. If manufacturers would go back to using two button touchpads, I would be more willing to switch back. Apple's lead in the usability of macbooks over windows laptops is much larger than their lead over Android. The other 93% of the laptop using world does not know what they are missing by continuing to use a windows laptop.

 

[01ds650]

Thanks guys.
Honestly if the syncing of my other Apple items wasn't important I'd just buy the new HTC Android.

But since it is I'm seriously giving the iphone 5 a real look. Still on the fence right now....Just cant decide.

 

[Wuiffi]

I got nearly the same "setup" as you (mbp, ipad, ATV) and I owned an android HTC phone for quite some time. I now switched to an iPhone 5 and I can say, I don't regret it at all. All the customization you can do to your android phone is not needed here. You can mod a rooted Android phone to be faster, to have a better battery life etc ... - the iPhone does it all better without any special treatment.
There are a few thing that I do miss (widgets are not!). I miss the T9 dialer, the unlock pattern, and one or two other things I can't think of right now.
In the end (imo) the app quality on ios is superior to android, and syncing between apple devices is awesome!

 

[clark85]

apple needs to watch out

google improved android with 4.1.x drastically. just the little fact, that iphone sales are declining, is showing that apple really needs to do something with ios.

http://www.statista.com/statistics/12761/revenue-of-apple-iphones-since-2007-by-quarter/

a year ago i was blown away how much better ios was than android.. but ios is gettin boring (i still love the hardware & design).
even the cloud is something to brag about:
i tunes (music/movies) - google music/movies
contacts, calender, mail - google mail/calender
documents - google drive
safari - chrome
photostream - picasa/google +
i books - google books
apple tv - miracast (official 2013)

google only lacks a decent backup solution... maybe ios 7 will bring something new.

 

[01ds650]

wuiffi, Thanks for the advice. I may make the jump & see. Like I said, I like Android better but Im used to IOS from my ipad & the ability to work together is great.

Clark85, I'm not worried about ibooks vs google books as I use Amazon usually so I can read from anywhere/any device.
I wouldnt compare photostream to picasa either. Kinda not the same i my eyes.

What I'm worried about is losing the unlimited tinkering of Android, the sweet dialer & of course Google voice (like Verizon Visual Mail) & Google Maps since Apple maps seems to be a joke.

If I do this I plan on buying the black 32gb iphone at full price so I'm not in a contract. That way if a new iphone comes out in 6 months like the ipad or a new high end Android comes out I can sell mine & buy one of those. I hate to be stuck for two years with a device that might bore me.

 

[Stuntman06]

Here's the hitch... I own a few ipods, an iPad3, a MBP 15" & Apple TV. I'm wondering if it isn't time to complete the family so to speak.

If you are quite entrenched into Apple's ecosystem and products, an iPhone will fit in nicely and better than any non-Apple product.

But the ability to Facetime my son on the go to his ipod, the fun with Apple TV, the photostream to my Mac. (I currently use Dropbox to try & achieve the same thing) through the purchase of an iphone5 all appeal to me.

With regard to Facetime at least, there are other products that allow you to video call people. I have an Android phone and can video call my wife who has an iPhone using GTalk. The iPhone app she uses is VTalk.

While I like the Android system for it's power & features, I feel totally comfortable on IOS on my iPad which I use daily. Much like Chevy vs Ford the Android vs IOS argument is endless......

It's more of what suits you the best. If you are comfortable with your iPad already, a switch to an iPhone won't be very difficult for you.

What will I miss going from an Android to an iPhone that I'm not even thinking about yet?

I don't know how anyone can really answer that question. If you can list some things you do on your Android that you cannot or will have difficultly doing without, perhaps we can help you.

Thanks guys.
Honestly if the syncing of my other Apple items wasn't important I'd just buy the new HTC Android.

But since it is I'm seriously giving the iphone 5 a real look. Still on the fence right now....Just cant decide.

Depending on what you are syncing, you may still be able to accomplish that with an Android phone. You will need to look for those methods to sync your Android with iOS. If you don't want to really look into this, getting an iPhone will be the easiest thing to do.

 

[01ds650]

Well I've been using my iphone5 for a few days now. It's been somewhat of an adjustment & I'm still feeling like it's actually a step down from Android. I'm going to keep an open mind & see if it grows on me more. I like how it falls into place with all my other Apple products, that's the first pro so far.

 

[MrGuder]

I've had my iPhone 5 about 1 month. I came from Android had an Htc droid inc 1 that I used for 2.5 yrs. The first thing I missed the most was the widgets on my homes screen such as toggles to turn on/off Bluetooth and wifi. It was so quick and easy now I have to use setting then Bluetooth then turn on its like 3 steps for each function.

What I don't miss with android are all the factory resets I had to do ever time they issued an update froyo gingerbread it would mess up my phone and would require a reset and lose everything.

I had a classic iPod 5th gen for over 5 yes so I was heavily invested in iTunes. I have 32gb of music in my iPhone and it just works perfectly with the cover art and I can play it for hrs and doesn't use much battery unlike my android which would use lots of battery just to listen to music.

My HTC droid inc1 was 3.7" and I thought I would not see much difference with 4" but it works for me. I didn't want 4.8 or higher too big to carry around in my pocket. I won't lie though 4.3 is probably the perfect size but with the retina display on the iPhone that just sets it apart from other screens. The clarity is amazing. The camera on the iPhone was also a selling point for me. When you take everything in consideration the iPhone 5 was the best decision I made.

 

[harcosparky]

Thanks guys.
Honestly if the syncing of my other Apple items wasn't important I'd just buy the new HTC Android.

But since it is I'm seriously giving the iphone 5 a real look. Still on the fence right now....Just cant decide.

Hey look, if you go with the iPhone 5 and do not like it .... maybe we can work out a deal.

I am thinking of going from an iPhone4 to one of the new larger screen Android phones. Maybe a Samsung Galaxy S III

If I don't like the S III and you don't like the iPone 5 we could trade!


I am joking a bit about that, but not about switching to the S III.

 

[Megalobyte]

I'm sorry, what was the part before, and after, porn?

 

[MrMister111]

I had 3Gs, then an iPhone 4, then when 4S came and was basically the same as my 4, I decided to go Android for a try, I bought a HTC XE bit heavy and bulky, then got a S3, which have currently which is great, if a little too bulky.

I'm mainly an Apple man, with an iMac, iPads, iPods,Apple TV. I would say I'm nt too embedded int the Eco system, and although I use iTunes, it's all Mp3 so can play anywhere, movies I don't rent or buy off iTunes anyway.

We've just this week bought our daughter a iPhone 4 SIM free, and I love it again, although the screen is sharp, the size is a worry.

I'm tempted to get an iPhone 5 white, but am worried and the come down in screen size, I do a lot of surfing on it when out and about, I'm on unlimited 3G data here in UK.

I love e hardware side of the 5, but also heard probs wi scuffing and the camera not being that good. I've only had my S3 6 months, and should really wait for the 5S before going back, but.....

 

[iHailCarlo]

i gotta have my iTunes.

 

[Oppressed]

google improved android with 4.1.x drastically. just the little fact, that iphone sales are declining, is showing that apple really needs to do something with ios.

http://www.statista.com/statistics/12761/revenue-of-apple-iphones-since-2007-by-quarter/

a year ago i was blown away how much better ios was than android.. but ios is gettin boring (i still love the hardware & design).
even the cloud is something to brag about:
i tunes (music/movies) - google music/movies
contacts, calender, mail - google mail/calender
documents - google drive
safari - chrome
photostream - picasa/google +
i books - google books
apple tv - miracast (official 2013)

google only lacks a decent backup solution... maybe ios 7 will bring something new.

That bar graph you linked doesn't really show a decline. It is spot on for a fiscal 4th quarter earnings which year over year have actually increased. Q1 or the holiday quarter will show tremendous earnings. Also I guess it is some what on topic but the iPhone 5 sold 2 million units the first weekend in China which broke all other records.

 

[Infinitewisdom]

I had 3Gs, then an iPhone 4, then when 4S came and was basically the same as my 4, I decided to go Android for a try, I bought a HTC XE bit heavy and bulky, then got a S3, which have currently which is great, if a little too bulky.

I'm mainly an Apple man, with an iMac, iPads, iPods,Apple TV. I would say I'm nt too embedded int the Eco system, and although I use iTunes, it's all Mp3 so can play anywhere, movies I don't rent or buy off iTunes anyway.

We've just this week bought our daughter a iPhone 4 SIM free, and I love it again, although the screen is sharp, the size is a worry.

I'm tempted to get an iPhone 5 white, but am worried and the come down in screen size, I do a lot of surfing on it when out and about, I'm on unlimited 3G data here in UK.

I love e hardware side of the 5, but also heard probs wi scuffing and the camera not being that good. I've only had my S3 6 months, and should really wait for the 5S before going back, but.....

By virtue of the fact that you're scouring these forums and posting stuff like this, I say just get it. You'll end up getting it eventually. Trust me, I go through these cycles all the time.