Cross Device Household

[nrvna76]

Curious if anybody here has both Android and iPhone devices in their family. I mostly have Apple products (iPhone, Apple Watch, Airpods, Apple TV's, iPad's) and my wife has an iPhone and Apple Watch. Each year I consider trying Android (Note 9) but I don't think a 14 day trial is going to be long enough to decide, so I will have to switch for a whole year. I'm not unhappy with Apple, I really like my iPhone X, just never know if the tool you're currently using is the best for you unless you try the alternative..

Currently we use family sharing to share purchases, photos, calendars. We use iMessage and facetime. However, it is only with my wife's phone. I don't have a ton of iMessage contacts or group chats, etc..

Is it as simple as using different apps such as google photos, hangouts, and Skype? Not sure how to share a calendar between the two so we can both add updates to it.. are there any other necessary workarounds that are difficult on a daily basis?

 

[koigirl]

I switched (husband did as well) from 6s Plus to Note 8 (our first Android devices except for a Nexus 7 tablet I bought years ago to check out Android) last fall. We too were deeply esconced in Apple world with MBA's, iPad Pros, Apple Watches, Apple TVs, Time Capsule and Airport routers. We just wanted to try something new and didn't like what was being offered in X model (notch, no headphone jack, pricing) so we decided we'd give it a try. The first two weeks were kinda tough as we learned Android and tweaked our settings. We got free LTE Gear watches with our phones as well. After a month, we both agreed we were very happy with Samsung and the switch. Google works great cross-platform for photos, also Google calendar and email. I personally prefer Samsung browser. Gboard for keyboard. Whatsapp for messaging and Textra for messaging with technologically-challenged imessage users. I don't use or miss FaceTime but if I did I'd Skype. One concern for me was slower updates but security updates are separate and come much more frequently and the system update (when it arrived) was actually much more polished and glitch-free than the last few years with iOS updates. I was always hesitant with iOS updates on 2+ year devices anyway because *planned obsolescence* and Apple won't leave you alone until you update. My battery life is holding up well after almost a year and no lag has been experienced.

We like our samsung watches as well as we did our Apple ones. I actually like the physical design better and get compliments on my S3 Classic all the time. I only use my watch for fitness, messaging, notifications, and taking calls and it's great for those uses.

We have also just recently switched away from our MBA's (needed to upgrade and didn't like current Mac offerings). My husband bought a Lenovo Yoga 920 and I went with a Surface Pro and we're both very happy with the hardware and ability to run necessary Windows software without the expense of Parallels and Windows to run on Mac. We also just switched our home wireless to Google Mesh and are also very happy with that switch. We both still have our iPad Pros but I find I only use mine for watching Netflix, etc and do most of my browsing, email on my Note 8 bc it has such a great screen and is so comfortable to handle. I could easily get by with my Surface Pro and Note 8 and don't anticipate upgrading to another iPad for a long time, if ever. Also have mostly switched to Roku tv.

However, if you are satisfied with Apple's hardware offerings, the closed ecosystem, and their software (Apple Music, etc.), you should probably stick with iPhone. I was ready for a change bc I wanted choices and more compelling hardware features. No regrets and I can't see myself returning.

 

[flybub]

Wife and I have Android and our 2 kids have iPhones. SMS works fine and we never FaceTime (I think it's a pretty silly feature anyway). If I want them to see a video, I share it through Google Photos. My wife, oldest, and I have a shared Google Calendar for his athletic events. My wife and I have a shared Google Calendar for our work travel schedules. I share notes in Google Keep with my wife for certain things (grocery list, reminders, etc.)

So to answer your question, it is certainly possible to have a cross platform home. It would be easier to attach a video in iMessage, but what we use works. If we wanted to do a video chat, I have Google Duo downloaded on all our devices.

 

[nrvna76]

Thanks for the thoughts! I am definitely game to try it, however I know my wife is extremely hesitant to move away from Apple. She has had some bad Android experiences in the past and want's her phone to 'just work' without any tweaking. If I switched I would use that time to show her what it might be like on the other side of the fence.

For the calendar, if we currently have a shared icloud calendar, and I sync it to google, will it lose any data already in it? Will I be able to provide updates to it that are sent to her iPhone and vice versa?

 

[FFR]

If your all in on Apple it’s not really worth it.

 

[Christoffee]

She has had some bad Android experiences in the past

Bad Android phones damage the ecosystem. My daughter has always been an iPhone girl, she’s now 21. She fancied a change and went into a shop and asked for an android phone with a great camera. They flogged her an Honor 7X for, over 24 months, £384. Its a mediocre £200 phone. She went back after a week and traded it for an 8. Hardly comparing like with like, but the opportunity Android had with her is now gone.

 

[nrvna76]

If your all in on Apple it’s not really worth it.

Well, my household will still be mostly Apple, it would just be my phone and possibly watch that might switch for a time (I think I would still use my Airpods).

Your quote is my default mentality, however if I never take the time to check out the competition and how it would work in our specific situation, I'm always a slave to what Apple's decisions are and the prices they decide to charge. For the most part I'm ok with that, but I don't know what the next few years will bring.

I've heard that the S9 is the most stable entry in the galaxy lineup, seems the Note 9 may be a very comparable option to iPhone X, especially with all of the problems they've had recently with IOS 11...

Bad Android phones damage the ecosystem. My daughter has always been an iPhone girl, she’s now 21. She fancied a change and went into a shop and asked for an android phone with a great camera. They flogged her an Honor 7X for, over 24 months, £384. Its a mediocre £200 phone. She went back after a week and traded it for an 8. Hardly comparing like with like, but the opportunity Android had with her is now gone.

Exactly where my wife is.. it's my fault as I wanted her to test the Android waters rather than doing it myself several years ago, however the phone did not perform as hoped. Now it will be an uphill battle to convince her. If I convince myself first I can provide her that perspective when she is ready for her next upgrade.

 

[tbayrgs]

Well, my household will still be mostly Apple, it would just be my phone and possibly watch that might switch for a time (I think I would still use my Airpods).

Your quote is my default mentality, however if I never take the time to check out the competition and how it would work in our specific situation, I'm always a slave to what Apple's decisions are and the prices they decide to charge. For the most part I'm ok with that, but I don't know what the next few years will bring.

I've heard that the S9 is the most stable entry in the galaxy lineup, seems the Note 9 may be a very comparable option to iPhone X, especially with all of the problems they've had recently with IOS 11...



Exactly where my wife is.. it's my fault as I wanted her to test the Android waters rather than doing it myself several years ago, however the phone did not perform as hoped. Now it will be an uphill battle to convince her. If I convince myself first I can provide her that perspective when she is ready for her next upgrade.

FWIW, our household is overwhelmingly Apple yet I’ve always dabbled in Android since the Galaxy Nexus (occasional primary but usually a secondary phone or tablet). I also use quite a few Google products and services (google account for mail, calendar and contact syncing, Android TV, multiple Google Home devices and chromecast audio).

My opinion is of course, just that but every time I try to switch away to Android, for all the aspects I like about it, the compromises when living heavily in an Apple home are just too much. There are third party solutions for just about every feature and function provided by Apple but they just don’t equal the sum of the Apple parts so to speak. The way everything works well together just can’t be replicated with the same seamless efficiency. And IMO, the Apple Watch is the best overall smart watch option (admittedly haven’t tried Samsung but Android Wear pales in comparison).

Apple’s family sharing also works better and offers greater functionality and management than Google’s.

I could ramble on for quite a while on the specific reasons why iOS works better for me but those reasons are specific to my unique circumstances. You really need to try it for yourself to make an honest comparison, to see if it doesn’t disrupt your preferred workflow. My wife refuses to switch so that alone is a huge factor for me personally.

 

[Shanghaichica]

My husband uses the note 8 and we have a fire Tv stick and a chromecast. The chromecast and fire tv stick were bought as gifts for us. I also have a google home mini and echo dot.

My husband obviously uses his note 8 but everything else we have like iPads, computers, Apple TVs , homepods are all Apple. Outside of his phone I don’t think he really cares what he uses at home. I’ve tried to get him to switch back to iOS but he doesn’t want to. He uses Apple Music though.

I use far too many Apple devices to make any real use of non Apple ones. I think the problem is any time I’ve tried anandroid phone in recent years I’ve had no intention of making it my daily driver. So I carry on using my iPhone and then I don’t really find the android phone all that useful and it ends up in a drawer for weeks. There’s nothing wrong with said android phone it just doesn’t fit in with the ecosystem of devices I have so that’s why I have no use for it. So it’s not an issue with android it’s more my issue of not being willing to put down my iPhone and give the android phone a chance.

 

[Christoffee]

I wanted her to test the Android waters rather than doing it myself

Lol!

 

[Macalicious2011]

The "Eco-system" argument is no longer relevant whether you are an Android of iOS fan.

We have a mix of devices in the household and everything works beautifully. For text we exclusively use WhatsApp and so do 90% of our friends and family. We have What's App chat installed on the Macbook and our work computers so it's dead easy to text each others.

When it comes to photos we share some over WiFi but also use Google Photos as backup making it dead easy to share. Before Android we both had iPhone 5S. There is nothing we were able to do with the 5S that we can't with Android phones in the household.

Video calling is rarely used except when calling grandparents. For that we use Facetime on the iPad purely because it has a stand and large screen. Other than that we have used video calling through What's app.

 

[nrvna76]

The "Eco-system" argument is no longer relevant whether you are an Android of iOS fan.

We have a mix of devices in the household and everything works beautifully. For text we exclusively use WhatsApp and so do 90% of our friends and family. We have What's App chat installed on the Macbook and our work computers so it's dead easy to text each others.

When it comes to photos we share some over WiFi but also use Google Photos as backup making it dead easy to share. Before Android we both had iPhone 5S. There is nothing we were able to do with the 5S that we can't with Android phones in the household.

Video calling is rarely used except when calling grandparents. For that we use Facetime on the iPad purely because it has a stand and large screen. Other than that we have used video calling through What's app.

I'm not saying it's impossible, however I do know that there will be an impact.. for me the ecosystem hit is with my Apple Watch and Airpods and anything that I make my wife download to talk to me. If we used whatsapp I would be the only contact she has in it, so I may use facebook messenger (even though I don't have a facebook account) she does.

Just looking to quantify the impact and do my due diligence. If I try to set up a shared calendar for instance and inadvertently delete her work appointments I will be in very hot water.

 

[flybub]

Just looking to quantify the impact and do my due diligence. If I try to set up a shared calendar for instance and inadvertently delete her work appointments I will be in very hot water.

She could share her work calendar with you, but she can set the permissions so you can only see the entries. I share my work calendar with my wife and my wife shares hers with me, but we have permissions set that I cannot edit/delete/create an entry on her work calendar and vice versa.

 

[djas]

I am all Apple while hubby is Microsoft. We communicate via WhatsApp. We don't know anyone who is not on WhatsApp.

We are on O365 Home and one of the accounts is designated as family account where our personal calenders are shared to.

For media, I use an ezcast dongle to airplay to our LG TV while hubby continuum onto the same tv if he needs to.

So far, we co-exist excellently.

 

[Macalicious2011]

I'm not saying it's impossible, however I do know that there will be an impact.. for me the ecosystem hit is with my Apple Watch and Airpods and anything that I make my wife download to talk to me. If we used whatsapp I would be the only contact she has in it, so I may use facebook messenger (even though I don't have a facebook account) she does.

Just looking to quantify the impact and do my due diligence. If I try to set up a shared calendar for instance and inadvertently delete her work appointments I will be in very hot water.

If you are very happy with the Apple Watch and AirPods then the change to Android for you is undeniably big. It makes perfect sense that you are undertaking big research.

Before I made the leap I visited a phone store 7 times to play with the Samsung S6 Edge Plus a few years back. Unfortunately I don't have much experience getting iCalendar and Gmail to speak.

One thing I would say is that there's great iOS and Android Parity than 4-6 years ago. Both in terms of hardware and software. It's the smaller things and price that makes a difference but overall, you won't experience a leap in usability switching from one to the other.

If you are happy with iOS, love the accessories and don't mind paying premium for their devices then there aren't many big reasons to change.

 

[nrvna76]

If you are very happy with the Apple Watch and AirPods then the change to Android for you is undeniably big. It makes perfect sense that you are undertaking big research.

Before I made the leap I visited a phone store 7 times to play with the Samsung S6 Edge Plus a few years back. Unfortunately I don't have much experience getting iCalendar and Gmail to speak.

One thing I would say is that there's great iOS and Android Parity than 4-6 years ago. Both in terms of hardware and software. It's the smaller things and price that makes a difference but overall, you won't experience a leap in usability switching from one to the other.

If you are happy with iOS, love the accessories and don't mind paying premium for their devices then there aren't many big reasons to change.

I’m not sure I’d state this post and watching online reviews as ‘big research’, but I digress.

I am generally happy.. however I’m not willing to pay an extra Apple tax forever regardless of the quality of products they make. The Note has steadily improved every year including in stability. The extra (or maybe just different) features intrigue me. If im selected for the insight program I can get a Note 9 for %50 off... might be the year to give it a try..?

I’m also not sure if I love the Apple Watch specifically or just smart watches in general. Maybe I’d like the galaxy watch better? AirPods however simply look better than any other truly wireless alternative.

 

[AbeFrohman]

I know this is an old thread recently resurrected, but for the OP as well as anyone else pondering a switch, but worried about playing nice with others in the family... I just went through it.

Decided to switch to a Note 8 after many years of iPhones. I'm not looking to debate the "which is better" aspect - I just switched for my own reasons. My wife stuck with the iPhone. She has no interest in switching and that's fine. So how do we sync and still make different OS integration work? It was actually much easier than I thought.

Samsung's Smart Switch made the actual transition for me effortless. We have both used Google Calendar for our events and share calendars, so that was seamless. Had to find a new grocery list app that worked across both platforms (went to Out of Milk for those that are interested), but other than that, the only real difference was that I'm now a green bubble in text and don't get the read receipts like we did iMessage to iMessage.

Google photos does the backup and sharing, Google Duo or Skype for video calls... there are easy alternatives (and often multiple choices) to the Apple apps.

I wasn't so deeply invested in iTunes music since I stream everything, so didn't lose out on that and the apps that I use for work aren't ones that we would have done the family share anyway, so for me/us, the decision for one of us to switch really didn't rock the boat more than a mild ripple.

 

[nrvna76]

I know this is an old thread recently resurrected, but for the OP as well as anyone else pondering a switch, but worried about playing nice with others in the family... I just went through it.

Decided to switch to a Note 8 after many years of iPhones. I'm not looking to debate the "which is better" aspect - I just switched for my own reasons. My wife stuck with the iPhone. She has no interest in switching and that's fine. So how do we sync and still make different OS integration work? It was actually much easier than I thought.

Samsung's Smart Switch made the actual transition for me effortless. We have both used Google Calendar for our events and share calendars, so that was seamless. Had to find a new grocery list app that worked across both platforms (went to Out of Milk for those that are interested), but other than that, the only real difference was that I'm now a green bubble in text and don't get the read receipts like we did iMessage to iMessage.

Google photos does the backup and sharing, Google Duo or Skype for video calls... there are easy alternatives (and often multiple choices) to the Apple apps.

I wasn't so deeply invested in iTunes music since I stream everything, so didn't lose out on that and the apps that I use for work aren't ones that we would have done the family share anyway, so for me/us, the decision for one of us to switch really didn't rock the boat more than a mild ripple.

It’s not that old of a thread! Thanks for posting your experience! Only way I can justify the cost is if I get in on the insight program (still waiting to hear back, 50% off). If I do I can get the phone with the free dual charger and decide if the iconX are worth $100 extra to ‘replace’ my AirPods. I’ll be out a smart watch for a while..

Are you Staying with the switch or going back?