Apple Debuts Revamped 'Switch' Site to Lure Android Users to iPhone [Update: New Videos Added]

[symphara]

This discussion isn’t about iPads. I have no experience with them and thus no opinion.

I do have one, and since it runs the same OS and has similar hardware as the iPhones, I can form an opinion.

You have a wealth of choice between rubbish and good phones, that is precisely my point. All of them still suck when it comes to receiving (timely) OS updates. Moreover, if you want to have the ’stock experience’ that Google designs Android for, your choices are limited.

I think very few Android phones today are rubbish. Most are pretty good, a few exceptionally good. The 'stock experience' is overrated - after a string of Nexus phones I went for a non-Nexus and discovered it's tinkering and nothing to get overly upset about.

I claim it is not that easy at all. Sure, this phone seems to impress now, in reviews and on spec sheets. Many Android phones do on release, admittedly. The interesting aspect is how well they do after a while and it is here where most Android phones fall apart in my opinion. Huawei, for instance, has a poor trackrecord when it comes to updating the software. As I said, there’s always a caveat.

This is mostly academic speak. I have no Android phone that has fallen apart. My own Huawei - despite your track record reservations - has received fairly timely updates and it works perfectly.

As someone else noticed, it's always iPhone fans who decry loudly Android updates, while Android users don't particularly care that much about them.

This is because as an Apple aficionado and iPhone user, you think updates are essential. Since Apple has a monolithic OS/base software system, if they want to fix a spelling error in the music player, they have to push a whole OS update.

On Android, not only every single app comes separately, but a big part of the OS is Google stuff (e.g. Play Services) which are also independently updated.

For example, my own phone got Google Assistant overnight, without any visible update (it was done through the normal app update schedule). This was a big change - imagine Siri appearing on your phone.

Which phones did you have then?

From Samsung, I have an Alpha which still works fine, it's a backup phone for travelling abroad. It's not particularly fast but not particularly slow either. Like you, I feared TouchWiz, while in the real-life experience it was fine, perfectly usable, does all the usual smartphone stuff.

You have experienced no issues, I did and I hear constantly about them from others. Based on my experiences, I will thus never recommend an Android phone when asked, unless there are budget constraints.

You still haven't explained what actual issues you've encountered, it's mostly "I hear constantly about them from others", i.e. rumours and unsubstantiated crap.

My favourite innuendo is "Android applications crash", when I think I had no pattern of crashing apps in 10? years of Android phones, not even one crash with my current phone, and ironically, the one app I consistently have trouble with is Safari on the iPad ("a problem occurred with this web page so it was reloaded").

There's no perfect phone, and the iPhone is far from being perfect. Now I understand that if you spend $700 - $1000 for one you might be tempted to declare very loudly that it's perfect, lest you feel yourself foolish for spending so much money for something merely mediocre.
[doublepost=1495553765][/doublepost]

not at all! I am using my S8 now for 3 weeks. I am already used to take my S8 out of my pocket with my finger on the scanner and once my phone is up to my face its allready/instantly unlocked.

I'm happy you like yours. The general impression in most reviews was that the placement is poor, and I agree with this, having tried it myself. I have large hands and couldn't even reach the S8+ sensor properly. I'm not sure I could get used to it.

But if it works for you, that's fantastic. I'm not being sarcastic, the phone is otherwise rather amazing. Personally I'd prefer a centered sensor placed a bit lower.

 

[Zirel]

Sheer nonsense. It's like declaring the Macbook a flop because VW sold a lot more Golfs.

By all sensible accounts (i.e. expectations vs reality), the S8 looks like a major success for Samsung. Which is a bit surprising to me, given the Note 7 scandal, the lack of clear camera improvement (admittedly pretty good to begin with) and the poor fingerprint reader placement.

"Major success" because it didn't completely flop…

No nonsense at all!

 

[rohanparekh]

You know you can use either volume button, right?

haha....you will love your car only if you know how to drive. otherwise even a Rolls Royce is a piece of crap. You can open camera app from iphone's locked screen by swiping left, and also you can take pics with volume buttons. Ive might have though of this before all of us

 

[mi7chy]

For me to switch back to iPhone Apple need to not only improve the design (3 generations old with huge ugly bezels and antenna lines), technology (750p) and services (Siri, Maps, iCloud) but also iOS which is dumbed down, restrictive and unintuitive with a mess of a menu hierarchy.

 

[UL2RA]

And that's a 2 year old phone. Apple's memory management and app freezing/restoring is still unmatched. Android is definitely improving though. Will be cool to see an iPhone 8 with iOS 11 vs the Galaxy S8 with Android O.

 

[potentmf]

It's not superior at all.

Take a very simple use-case: you're in an app and you want to connect to the WiFi (or some Bluetooth device), then go back to the app.

In Android, this is very quick and simple: drop down the settings, long press the WiFi or Bluetooth icon, select the network or device, press Back and you're done.

In iOS, this is an unholy mess. You have to exit the app, hunt for the screen with the Settings, enter the Settings app, select the appropriate category, then there's no immediate way to go back to your app. Doing it by task switching means double-clicking the button, swiping to the app and selecting it. Way too convoluted.

This in a nutshell describes iOS vs Android daily use. Android has a flow from app to app, sharing is much better, you can select default apps, notifications are way better and easier to handle, you can access its filesystem, the app settings are where they should be, and everything takes fewer taps, clicks and swipes to do.

It doesn't matter how fast the latest A-whatever processor is, when you put in on a byzantine, convoluted OS that's mostly designed to make Apple more money by funneling its users into using Apple's monthly subscription services. The users will be poorer and less productive. But they look fashionable and upwardly mobile at Starbucks so I guess that's ok.

Finally somebody said it. That is by far the thing I hate most about IOS. Getting out of a screen just to turn BT or Wifi on or off is just ridiculous. Not to mention the glitchy swipe up method, this only works for me if I'm on the home screen or there's blank space in the background of whatever app I'm on.

Since I'm at it. What is up with the putting the phone on mute only to hear ads loud as day when playing a game. What's funny is some days it plays and some days it doesn't. My only solution has been to turn my ringer all the way down to ensure nothing plays.

 

[cmwade77]

Finally somebody said it. That is by far the thing I hate most about IOS. Getting out of a screen just to turn BT or Wifi on or off is just ridiculous. Not to mention the glitchy swipe up method, this only works for me if I'm on the home screen or there's blank space in the background of whatever app I'm on.

Since I'm at it. What is up with the putting the phone on mute only to hear ads loud as day when playing a game. What's funny is some days it plays and some days it doesn't. My only solution has been to turn my ringer all the way down to ensure nothing plays.

My Google Pixel has a completely silent feature and I can set it to stay on indefinitely or tell it I want silent for X number of hours.

Really, overall Android is a much better experience these days than iOS, but let's assume just for a minute that everything Apple has said is 100% accurate. Here is the bigger issue that no manufacture want to address with switching between Android, iOS and even Windows Phones:
PAID APPS
Granted there aren't a ton of apps that I have paid money for outright, but there are a few and it probably adds up to $150 or so (not counting apps that are free with paid add ons that would transfer), the problem with switching is that I would have to repurchase all of those apps and most of them or their equivalents cost even more on iOS than on Android.

Again no manufacture has come close to touching that one and figuring out a solution, because if they did it would be a game changer.

 

[B4U]

Not necessarily, in response to the no one would complain part. Some people just like to complain for the sake of complaining. Many who probably don't even have an iPhone.

In this case, I can say that the issue had hit me before.

 

[Cromer733]

TRUE! If only they made a inexpensive adapter... then I could just put the adapter on and I wouldn't have to keep complaining about it.. someday Apple, Some day..

[doublepost=1495583102][/doublepost]They do. They include the adapter right in the box with the phone.

 

[mib1800]

Finally somebody said it. That is by far the thing I hate most about IOS. Getting out of a screen just to turn BT or Wifi on or off is just ridiculous. Not to mention the glitchy swipe up method, this only works for me if I'm on the home screen or there's blank space in the background of whatever app I'm on.

Since I'm at it. What is up with the putting the phone on mute only to hear ads loud as day when playing a game. What's funny is some days it plays and some days it doesn't. My only solution has been to turn my ringer all the way down to ensure nothing plays.

Basically, I am quite amazed how some Apple fans can loudly and naively declare Android is difficult and Iphone is easy to use. They are so out of touch with reality. I am not even talking about complicated workflows. Just typical everyday usage scenarios are more complicated and inefficient on Iphone. Most of the time you have to do at least twice as many taps/steps on Iphone compared to android.

 

[hippielover]

"Than"

 

[mi7chy]

Basically, I am quite amazed how some Apple fans can loudly and naively declare Android is difficult and Iphone is easy to use. They are so out of touch with reality. I am not even talking about complicated workflows. Just typical everyday usage scenarios are more complicated and inefficient on Iphone. Most of the time you have to do at least twice as many taps/steps on Iphone compared to android.

iPhone is easier because it has fewer options. It's like comparing a golf cart (iPhone) to Tesla (Android). The Tesla is actually much smarter but the golf cart has much fewer options so it's easier for some people.

 

[potentmf]

My Google Pixel has a completely silent feature and I can set it to stay on indefinitely or tell it I want silent for X number of hours.

Really, overall Android is a much better experience these days than iOS, but let's assume just for a minute that everything Apple has said is 100% accurate. Here is the bigger issue that no manufacture want to address with switching between Android, iOS and even Windows Phones:
PAID APPS
Granted there aren't a ton of apps that I have paid money for outright, but there are a few and it probably adds up to $150 or so (not counting apps that are free with paid add ons that would transfer), the problem with switching is that I would have to repurchase all of those apps and most of them or their equivalents cost even more on iOS than on Android.

Again no manufacture has come close to touching that one and figuring out a solution, because if they did it would be a game changer.

Yes putting your phone on silent should not be that hard. I mean mute works for phone calls but I guess they forgot about the folks that want to play a game quietly. Some programmers have a sound button on the ad so you can press it quickly to turn the sound off, but some don't have that option.


My 7+ is my first iPhone, I had a Note 5, Nexus 6, Note 3. That was one of the things that worried me when I thought about switching. I had numerous paid apps but I have been able to avoid repaying for apps by finding an equivalent in the App Store. My main paid app was for podcasts but I use Apple's Podcast app to play those. My other paid apps were rooting apps. I haven't paid for any apps since moving over to iOS. Plus I'm able to still use Google apps as if I'm still on Android. The only thing I miss is being unable to have Siri control my GAPPS, which sucks while driving. I'm hoping the Assistant will help with that before I go back to Android.

The no headphone jack issue hit me this past weekend. We all went out of town and my aunt brought her portable speaker. She wanted me to play my playlist. Of course my dongle is connected to my headphones BACK AT HOME. That became a topic of conversation, "Why don't you have a headphone jack again?"

 

[Gerlandano]

Apple is good at this. Loved the Get A Mac adds.

 

[Tech198]

Lures like a huge fishing net... (Apple needs a to catch quite a few) and not talking Pok-eee--mon.

 

[smacrumon]

I get great battery life with my SE. Did you upgrade an older device over top of the existing installation? That's known to have issues, and doing a fresh install quite often solves them.

There's other factors, too. Do you disable WiFI and Bluetooth when you don't need them? Do you let the device power-manage itself, such as adjusting the screen brightness? Do you have any bad actor apps that may not sleep properly when not in use? I have a few apps like that, and quitting them solves the issue.

Fresh install new iPad mini.
Thanks. All those other things should be managed by iOS. I usually quit all apps when not in use.
iOS10 has a performance hit regarding battery compared with earlier versions.

 

[mib1800]

iPhone is easier because it has fewer options. It's like comparing a golf cart (iPhone) to Tesla (Android). The Tesla is actually much smarter but the golf cart has much fewer options so it's easier for some people.

I think some apple fans may raise hell with your analogy.

But the crux of it is that if someone can drive a golf buggy, he should have the basic knowledge to drive a tesla. You just need to press ignition, put into gear and press gas. If the user turn a blind eye to all the other extra buttons/functions, the tesla is just a moving vehicle like the buggy except faster.