Nice overview. I think you emphasized some key points, and that iOS is simplistic, fluid and consistent. I do think android has improved a lot, and I think for those who maybe aren’t used to using iOS as a platform, android works perfectly fine for them, because they don’t have experience with the opposer like iOS. But for somebody that’s been dedicated to iOS, it can’t be an easy transition just moving to android or vice versa.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
iPhone XS Max Anyone Try the Galaxy S10 and Return Back to an iPhone?
- Thread starter nviz22
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Nice overview. I think you emphasized some key points, and that iOS is simplistic, fluid and consistent. I do think android has improved a lot, and I think for those who maybe aren’t used to using iOS as a platform, android works perfectly fine for them, because they don’t have experience with the opposer like iOS. But for somebody that’s been dedicated to iOS, it can’t be an easy transition just moving to android or vice versa.
What? iOS doesn't maximize its processor as much as it can. Productivity is worse on iOS than it is on a Galaxy, especially since the Note line has a stylus and the S line offers software to maximize its real-estate.
Horsepower hasn’t been a problem to me and a stylus offers me no benefit for my professional workflow. iOS, however, has coherent design tropes (tab bar versus hamburger menu) and Apple’s first-party apps like Music Memos, Clips, iMovie, Keynote, Reminders, etc, are all apps I depend upon for prototyping ideas. The stark difference between Samsung and Apple devices to me is that Apple’s design focuses more on being tools for creation. Samsung/Android is no equivalent
I love the stylus on the Notes. Many times I have made notes to myself and with the iPhone you have to open an app and type on the keyboard. With the Note you just pull out the stylus and begin writing. Much faster and greater flexibility.
The s-pen is a great tool, really handy. People who have never used it won't understand. I've had several Note's but the Samsung software drove me to iPhone.
iMessage is highly over rated in my opinion, it's nothing special with the exception of being able to send full size vids.
The S-Pen is a piece of ingenuity. That would be probably the most anticipated feature I wish the iPhone would have built-in, but I told understand Apple doesn’t share that viewpoint, nor does the hardware even allow for a stylus the way the iPhone is designed to include one. But I find things like that useful, because phones are so large, it’s easier to have more Percision when making selections, notetaking, just simple navigating with a stylus makes a huge difference interacting with the display.
Even if Apple were to add Apple Pencil support to the iPhone XS or future iPhone models, that’s great, but I would rather have something more compact and built into the phone itself versus having a separate accessory that I would have to carry with me in order to fully use it.
Makes sense
. If you use Apple apps and rely on them I agree with you that it's difficult to find Android equivalents .For me it's vice versa. Most of Apple apps go in Apple folder (with sub-title useless) on the second or third page that I never access. I use mostly 3 Apple apps - Mail, Calendar, Reminders (on iPhone because they integrate with my work Exchange account) and Notes. On iPad I don't use them at all. I prefer to use GoodNotes because the Notes app has been quite unstable on my iPad (freezes often enough and only restart fixes the issue). On Android I can use the Microsoft TO DO app and still put my reminders as tasks in my Exchange Account in an essence I can find substitutes for the 3 Apple apps I use. As for Notes honestly I try to not use it too much because accessing Notes from Windows PC is a PITA. Google keep is a better choice for me because then I have access to my notes from my computer.
When it comes the Music app I like my Sony Music app on my Sony phone far more. I have access to everything including equalizer and other sound settings (like D2EE, Surround etc). The app is not available in iOS, but Sony has another one (integrated with their Bluetooth headsets) that it is available so I go for that one for music.
I think that if you rely on Apple apps you really would never find the Android phones interesting and that's normal
. If you are in the Apple ecosystem it also makes sense to enjoy iPhone far more than Android phones.
I think the only Apple app I don’t use is maps. Simply because I used google maps first and I’m of the mind set if it isn’t broke don’t fix it. I tend to prefer stock apps first and it’s only if I find them lacking that I will look elsewhere. When I was on android I used most of Samsung’s stock apps too apart from the keyboard which was so bad that I had to use swiftkey and I think I used a third party music app as I found the stock one lacking too.Makes sense
For me it's vice versa. Most of Apple apps go in Apple folder (with sub-title useless) on the second or third page that I never access. I use mostly 3 Apple apps - Mail, Calendar, Reminders (on iPhone because they integrate with my work Exchange account) and Notes. On iPad I don't use them at all. I prefer to use GoodNotes because the Notes app has been quite unstable on my iPad (freezes often enough and only restart fixes the issue). On Android I can use the Microsoft TO DO app and still put my reminders as tasks in my Exchange Account in an essence I can find substitutes for the 3 Apple apps I use. As for Notes honestly I try to not use it too much because accessing Notes from Windows PC is a PITA. Google keep is a better choice for me because then I have access to my notes from my computer.
When it comes the Music app I like my Sony Music app on my Sony phone far more. I have access to everything including equalizer and other sound settings (like D2EE, Surround etc). The app is not available in iOS, but Sony has another one (integrated with their Bluetooth headsets) that it is available so I go for that one for music.
I think that if you rely on Apple apps you really would never find the Android phones interesting and that's normal
Apple stock apps usage makes sense if you have Macbook. I have Windows laptop and accessing files from iCloud is really really slow. Also it does not make sense to use Pages, Keynote and Numbers because I have to convert the files anyway to the Microsoft apps. I go directly to the Microsoft apps and use them both on my computer and my phone.
Add to this the fact that we use Microsoft and Windows at work and every file that we create is with Microsoft Office.
My principle is the same as yours. If the stock app is OK and fits my workflow I use it. If not I find something else. Just in my case the stock apps do not bring me any benefits
.
Well yes I have a Mac as well so using the stock apps just makes a lot of sense. iCloud works really well across my iPads, Mac and iPhone. iCloud Drive isn’t a proper file system but within the Apple ecosystem it works well.Apple stock apps usage makes sense if you have Macbook. I have Windows laptop and accessing files from iCloud is really really slow. Also it does not make sense to use Pages, Keynote and Numbers because I have to convert the files anyway to the Microsoft apps. I go directly to the Microsoft apps and use them both on my computer and my phone.
Add to this the fact that we use Microsoft and Windows at work and every file that we create is with Microsoft Office.
My principle is the same as yours. If the stock app is OK and fits my workflow I use it. If not I find something else. Just in my case the stock apps do not bring me any benefits
We use windows at work too but because I work in healthcare it’s sensitive data which I couldn’t access from my personal computer anyway.
That is true. That works great if you have iOS and Mac device.
Makes sense. I use Windows both at work and at home and the iPhone is actually work phone. My personal one is Android.
Your husband sounds like my brother-in-law. After upgrading my dad from a 2014 flip phone to a RED XR he's now the one obstacle in the family and he's holding my little sister hostage in Androidland. I offered her my XS over the weekend and she wasn't the least bit interested.
Edited for sentence structure.
Last edited:
e
Apple ecosystem integration is what keeps me coming back. Nothing like being able to text natively from the iMessage app on the Mac or taking a call on the iPad while you have your iPhone charging.
Apple ecosystem integration is what keeps me coming back. Nothing like being able to text natively from the iMessage app on the Mac or taking a call on the iPad while you have your iPhone charging.
What’s funny is that I didn’t come back because of the ecosystem. There are workarounds and I found them. But now that I’m back in the ecosystem, it’s just so much easier.
Yeah definitely I was using Airdroid with the Mac.. But you know it kept missing some calls or texts and I was quickly getting frustrated at the Note 9 because of heating up in simple tasks.. Plus everyone I know uses iCloud photo sharing and FaceTime..
My big problem also was how big the Note 9 is, I got so used to the iPhone X size...
I don't know man, what annoys me the most is apps like Instagram not being optimised for the Android platform.. Pictures don't have full quality and then stories are out of the borders of the screens.. Pair that in with the lack of CarPlay on my car which is annoying as hell as it doesn't support Android Auto.
Then it's frustrating yet gain to go to people's house and they have Apple TV and sharing things over there alongside everyone FaceTime to calling me.
Well I'm one of those people that some here don't think can leave the Apple ecosystem. Between me and the wife we have a Mac mini, old ipad pro 9.7, iPad Air 2, 2- Apple watch series 3 Cellular, iPhone XS, iPhone XR, 2- airpods, powerbeats and guess what? I left the apple ecosystem because I could no mater the integrations. I learned long ago to keep my data spread out across many ecosystems to not be locked in to someone's walled gardens. So the wife an I also use Googles ecosystem and Microsoft's as well.
Late last year I decided that I'm done with the constant apple tax levied for the privilege of the so called tight integration of the apple ecosystem. SO I preordered a Samsung S10e and begin my journey back to having options and control over my device and all the customizations that I can have. Since I already owned two Samsung Gear S3 Frontiers Smartwatch is covered. IMO my Gear S3 watches are superior because even if I change phones, they work stand alone and don't need to be always coupled to a specific ecosystem for cellular service unlike the apple watches.
Well now maybe some say well you loose the continuity with you mac mini and iPad, well guess again. I got the Samsung Galaxy Book 2 Windows 10, comes with LTE, keyboard, and you guessed it.... the S-Pen. I can answer calls, text, sync and edit photos right from the Galaxy Book 2. And something even apple can't do on ay of it's devices. I can bring up a window of my phones home screen and run all the apps on my phone with all included functions directly from the galaxy Book 2.
So for those that think it can't be done think again and don't ever lock yourself into one ecosystem which make you subservient to whatever whims and features they decide to give you. For me iMessage or facetime wasn't a lock in as I don't care enough about them as others than here in the U.S. it's not used outside in the rest of the world much at all. Same reason the rest of the world doesn't really buy iDevices in great quantity either. For me it's all about the freedom to tailor my devices to my needs and not have the limitations that ultimately you will find with apple devices in the long run.
Simplicity to me is being able to use my devices as I want to use them without artificial limitations on features.
Late last year I decided that I'm done with the constant apple tax levied for the privilege of the so called tight integration of the apple ecosystem. SO I preordered a Samsung S10e and begin my journey back to having options and control over my device and all the customizations that I can have. Since I already owned two Samsung Gear S3 Frontiers Smartwatch is covered. IMO my Gear S3 watches are superior because even if I change phones, they work stand alone and don't need to be always coupled to a specific ecosystem for cellular service unlike the apple watches.
Well now maybe some say well you loose the continuity with you mac mini and iPad, well guess again. I got the Samsung Galaxy Book 2 Windows 10, comes with LTE, keyboard, and you guessed it.... the S-Pen. I can answer calls, text, sync and edit photos right from the Galaxy Book 2. And something even apple can't do on ay of it's devices. I can bring up a window of my phones home screen and run all the apps on my phone with all included functions directly from the galaxy Book 2.
So for those that think it can't be done think again and don't ever lock yourself into one ecosystem which make you subservient to whatever whims and features they decide to give you. For me iMessage or facetime wasn't a lock in as I don't care enough about them as others than here in the U.S. it's not used outside in the rest of the world much at all. Same reason the rest of the world doesn't really buy iDevices in great quantity either. For me it's all about the freedom to tailor my devices to my needs and not have the limitations that ultimately you will find with apple devices in the long run.
Simplicity to me is being able to use my devices as I want to use them without artificial limitations on features.
Attachments
Last edited:
How do you feel about the XS vs the S10e? I think they're devices worth comparing instead of the XR vs S10e. I like the S10e software wise. Hardware, for the most part, is pretty great. I just don't like the fp sensor or the facial detection. What is your perspective on the biometrics?
I was thinking about iMessage and FaceTime last night. Pretty much all of my family uses What's App, friends use GroupMe for group messaging, and I use SMS to text my friends individually.
For video chat, I can roll with FB Messenger or What's App. I like iMessage's UI and integration, but it's not a necessity anymore. Group FaceTime is overrated considering the issue with privacy recently. Plus, I don't even use Memoji or Animoji at all. I find it a gimmick.
to the Xr is no contest to the s10e. The s10e uses a capacitive power button fingerprint scanner which is great and easy to use. Placement could have been lower but for such a small compact device still good for mostly everyone. Facial detection depends on your preference I don't really use it.
I gave my XS to the wife and got the S10e and sold the Xr so that settles which one I like best. To many better messaging and video chat apps to be locked in to some proprietary apps that can only be used in one ecosystem. Some here complain that the customizations and features are too much and don't grant simplicity and I think it is the exact opposite. I want to be different and not the same as everyone else and apple won't grant me that freedom I go to another that will. Forget the excuse of we are keeping it simple. You can be simple and also have the flexibility to make advance changes and tailor it all at the same time.
IMO my S10e is the superior device that balances out to have the features needed and freedom to tailor it as I see fit.
What about the XS still from your time using your wife's phone? Was the degree that much of a drop off between the XS and XR? I thought the XR was a better value proposition than the XS Max at $1100, but I got my XS Max for $500, so it made it a much easier decision than spending $750.
I can sell my XS Max now for a profit, so I'll probably end up doing that very soon.
I can say with confidence after using both that the price gap between the XR and the XS Max is not a true representation of the quality gap.
The XR is better value wise on price. But the XS will sell better in the long run.
Absolutely. I barely notice the difference in screen quality. Battery life is much better too. The only thing I really miss is 3D Touch but Haptic Touch works on the keyboard for cursor control which is the most important thing for me.
So that being said, could the gap between the S10e and the S10 be even more marginal? I don't find the extra camera, FP in the display, heartbeat sensor, and extra resolution to be as bad as LCD, less network infrastructure, the IP water resistance difference, no 3D Touch, one less camera at the back, and no HDR in a display.