First time iOS user, initial impressions.

[fojar]

So for the past two weeks, since I sold my Galaxy Note 4 and picked up an iPhone 6, I'd been keeping a little notebook of thoughts that I figured to share with the MacRumors community (I've been a reader here for nearly seven years consistently, still remember downvotes).

I'm tech agnostic, and don't get caught up in the fanboy garbage because, well, they're billion dollar corporations who do not care about me. My wife has always been iOS, I've always been Windows/Android. We've both been happy and we both love using one another's devices. But I finally decided that I'd get an iPhone, mainly because of the screen size increase (true story, I have the same size hand as the average NBA player though I am 5'10").

Onto the initial thoughts:

- The iPhone isn't Android and it never will be so don't fight it or it will be as stubborn as a mule.

There's no other way around this. "Tinkering" in iOS is taboo; by taboo I mean struck down with an iron fist. The very first thing I did when I got the iPhone was download Swiftkey because the iOS keyboard is terrible for large handed folk and honestly just bad. Next I wanted to...nope that's it. You can't do much else in terms of customization that you couldn't do on a Nokia brick phone all those years ago. Change your ringtones, change your wallpaper, call it a day.

Sure you can add folders, which is lovely, but that's about it. Not that I have a problem with it, but I usually set my most used apps on the right- and bottom-side of the screen for easy thumb accessibility, and now I find myself having to really get creative with the icons to do such a thing. But whatever, iOS works right out of the box. You don't HAVE to customize anything to get it to work, it just will for you.

2.) Except when it doesn't work for you.

Maybe I have a lemon of a phone (though I suspect absolutely no), but having never really used iOS except on my wife's devices, I did not expect to encounter any bugs. iOS is typically rock solid iOS 8 can sometimes be kind of a mess.

I can't tell if it's swiftkey or iOS, but one or the other is messing up horribly. I've had to force close (swipe up and reload) iMessage/iChat over eight times because of bugs that show non responsive keyboards, alternate keyboards between the stock and swiftkey, etc. And adding contacts with Swiftkey literally shoots text all over the screen in random fields until I switch back, which you can't do until you close it. It's not a major deal, but it's annoying. They shouldn't have even allowed third-party keyboards if they weren't going to integrate it correctly. That's teetering into older Android territory...

And if you receive an incoming text while in landscape and try to reply through the notification in portrait? Except a freeze up. Similarly, the emergency dialer when opened in landscape cuts off half the screen, you would literally not be able to dial 911 in a no service area if you opened your screen up the wrong way. Only fixed with a hard reboot.

I've noticed that apps crash a bit more on iOS. I had always heard of this report floating around that it was in fact true that iOS apps crashed more times than Android apps. I never wanted to believe it because Android can suck so much sometimes that I assumed I'd been saving the best for last (grass is always greener).

Nope.

Both iOS and Android apps crash infrequently, but in my experience iOS has clearly taken that crown.

4.) Email is pretty bad, the phone needs more RAM I think so things don't continuously reload after you leave them, and the screen needs an upgrade.

The first two are obvious though I am getting used to Mail because it's just kind of fun to use, but the third...there's nothing wrong with the iPhone screen AT ALL. Still, if you've spent any amount of time with a higher pixel density screen, you'll notice it a whole lot with the iPhone. It's just a tad grainier. But the color reproduction is second to none, and at times I find myself in amazement that it's even an LCD panel at all.

5.) It's the overall package that's nice, though.

With an iPhone, you just kind of have to immerse yourself into the ecosystem for it to work. The gap between the two systems isn't major, and at this point the two are on equal footing -- it's just preference. But with an iPhone you really have to do things their way. It's best to use the stock keyboard, it's best to use Safari (snappiest ever), it's best to use Apple Maps, Siri, and iCal.

If you give in and use all the stock apps, you'll do just fine. It honestly cuts down on some of the time wasted tinkering with settings on an Android phone. It may not be your preferred method of doing things, but it will do them just fine.

- TouchID is epic. I managed to program my damn nose into it and get it to work consistently (took forever though).

- I just feel more secure. I love how iOS handles permissions for apps, and to be quite honest even though I've never used an Apple product before I still trust them more than some shady apps on Google...or Google. They're a big corporation so my level of trust ranges from non-existent to next to non existent, but Apple has really taken measures to the next level in terms of security.

- Some Android cameras may be better, but the iPhone has the best camera experience in my eyes. No other way around it, I simply love the experience. It's so easy, and I have never taken better pictures than I have with an iPhone. I am an AWFUL photographer, to the point where my friends would rather hand the camera off to someone else than give it to me (big hands get in the way too much), but for once I was allowed to take pictures. Nice feeling. It's all just so easy.

- Battery life makes more sense on an iPhone. It's hard to explain, but on an Android phone battery life can be, at times, unpredictable. But with an iPhone if I turn off the screen at 70% and leave the phone alone for a few hours, I'll still be at 70%. That reassurance has me much happier overall, as Android phones do not sip battery sometimes; they gulp it down.

Overall, very happy. Thanks for reading! Anyone else have similar experiences?

 

[upnorth85]

I too switched from Android (SGS5) to an iPhone 6+. The problem you are having with the keyboard is because of the swype keyboard. Once I stopped using it, my problems went away. I tend to use voice dictation now a days. I am yet to use Siri. I also find Apple's keyboard much more intuitive. The disappearance of the board has gone away after I removed the Swype Keyboard.

 

[mattopotamus]

I thought this was a very good post. I agree with most of what you said. I constantly switch phones and platforms. When I am using IOS, I do switch everything to apple b.c, like you said, everything works better if you are using apple services (mail, calendar, notes, etc.)

The problem you had with swiftkey is a problem with all 3rd pary keyboards. They just flat out stink and are glitchy on IOS.

One question: What do you use to take your notes on

 

[fojar]

I too switched from Android (SGS5) to an iPhone 6+. The problem you are having with the keyboard is because of the swype keyboard. Once I stopped using it, my problems went away. I tend to use voice dictation now a days. I am yet to use Siri. I also find Apple's keyboard much more intuitive. The disappearance of the board has gone away after I removed the Swype Keyboard.

Maybe I'll try that out. I just really, really don't like the stock iOS keyboard. I can't swipe, and pecking for someone with larger hands is an arduous task (especially when they're a grammar nazi. Siri isn't bad, most of the times she's correct.

----------

I thought this was a very good post. I agree with most of what you said. I constantly switch phones and platforms. When I am using IOS, I do switch everything to apple b.c, like you said, everything works better if you are using apple services (mail, calendar, notes, etc.)

The problem you had with swiftkey is a problem with all 3rd pary keyboards. They just flat out stink and are glitchy on IOS.

One question: What do you use to take your notes on

Thanks! Glad to find someone who can relate. As for notes, right now Evernote is serving me perfectly, but I won't lie OneNote has also been fantastic as well.

 

[mattopotamus]

Thanks! Glad to find someone who can relate. As for notes, right now Evernote is serving me perfectly, but I won't lie OneNote has also been fantastic as well.

Evernote is great. I had the note 4 for a little bit and loved the way s-pen notes could automatically sync to evernote.

I was just being funny b.c you came from a note 4 and you said, "you have been taking notes" on the differences

 

[Bahroo]

So for the past two weeks, since I sold my Galaxy Note 4 and picked up an iPhone 6, I'd been keeping a little notebook of thoughts that I figured to share with the MacRumors community (I've been a reader here for nearly seven years consistently, still remember downvotes).

I'm tech agnostic, and don't get caught up in the fanboy garbage because, well, they're billion dollar corporations who do not care about me. My wife has always been iOS, I've always been Windows/Android. We've both been happy and we both love using one another's devices. But I finally decided that I'd get an iPhone, mainly because of the screen size increase (true story, I have the same size hand as the average NBA player though I am 5'10").

Onto the initial thoughts:

- The iPhone isn't Android and it never will be so don't fight it or it will be as stubborn as a mule.

There's no other way around this. "Tinkering" in iOS is taboo; by taboo I mean struck down with an iron fist. The very first thing I did when I got the iPhone was download Swiftkey because the iOS keyboard is terrible for large handed folk and honestly just bad. Next I wanted to...nope that's it. You can't do much else in terms of customization that you couldn't do on a Nokia brick phone all those years ago. Change your ringtones, change your wallpaper, call it a day.

Sure you can add folders, which is lovely, but that's about it. Not that I have a problem with it, but I usually set my most used apps on the right- and bottom-side of the screen for easy thumb accessibility, and now I find myself having to really get creative with the icons to do such a thing. But whatever, iOS works right out of the box. You don't HAVE to customize anything to get it to work, it just will for you.

2.) Except when it doesn't work for you.

Maybe I have a lemon of a phone (though I suspect absolutely no), but having never really used iOS except on my wife's devices, I did not expect to encounter any bugs. iOS is typically rock solid iOS 8 can sometimes be kind of a mess.

I can't tell if it's swiftkey or iOS, but one or the other is messing up horribly. I've had to force close (swipe up and reload) iMessage/iChat over eight times because of bugs that show non responsive keyboards, alternate keyboards between the stock and swiftkey, etc. And adding contacts with Swiftkey literally shoots text all over the screen in random fields until I switch back, which you can't do until you close it. It's not a major deal, but it's annoying. They shouldn't have even allowed third-party keyboards if they weren't going to integrate it correctly. That's teetering into older Android territory...

And if you receive an incoming text while in landscape and try to reply through the notification in portrait? Except a freeze up. Similarly, the emergency dialer when opened in landscape cuts off half the screen, you would literally not be able to dial 911 in a no service area if you opened your screen up the wrong way. Only fixed with a hard reboot.

I've noticed that apps crash a bit more on iOS. I had always heard of this report floating around that it was in fact true that iOS apps crashed more times than Android apps. I never wanted to believe it because Android can suck so much sometimes that I assumed I'd been saving the best for last (grass is always greener).

Nope.

Both iOS and Android apps crash infrequently, but in my experience iOS has clearly taken that crown.

4.) Email is pretty bad, the phone needs more RAM I think so things don't continuously reload after you leave them, and the screen needs an upgrade.

The first two are obvious though I am getting used to Mail because it's just kind of fun to use, but the third...there's nothing wrong with the iPhone screen AT ALL. Still, if you've spent any amount of time with a higher pixel density screen, you'll notice it a whole lot with the iPhone. It's just a tad grainier. But the color reproduction is second to none, and at times I find myself in amazement that it's even an LCD panel at all.

5.) It's the overall package that's nice, though.

With an iPhone, you just kind of have to immerse yourself into the ecosystem for it to work. The gap between the two systems isn't major, and at this point the two are on equal footing -- it's just preference. But with an iPhone you really have to do things their way. It's best to use the stock keyboard, it's best to use Safari (snappiest ever), it's best to use Apple Maps, Siri, and iCal.

If you give in and use all the stock apps, you'll do just fine. It honestly cuts down on some of the time wasted tinkering with settings on an Android phone. It may not be your preferred method of doing things, but it will do them just fine.

- TouchID is epic. I managed to program my damn nose into it and get it to work consistently (took forever though).

- I just feel more secure. I love how iOS handles permissions for apps, and to be quite honest even though I've never used an Apple product before I still trust them more than some shady apps on Google...or Google. They're a big corporation so my level of trust ranges from non-existent to next to non existent, but Apple has really taken measures to the next level in terms of security.

- Some Android cameras may be better, but the iPhone has the best camera experience in my eyes. No other way around it, I simply love the experience. It's so easy, and I have never taken better pictures than I have with an iPhone. I am an AWFUL photographer, to the point where my friends would rather hand the camera off to someone else than give it to me (big hands get in the way too much), but for once I was allowed to take pictures. Nice feeling. It's all just so easy.

- Battery life makes more sense on an iPhone. It's hard to explain, but on an Android phone battery life can be, at times, unpredictable. But with an iPhone if I turn off the screen at 70% and leave the phone alone for a few hours, I'll still be at 70%. That reassurance has me much happier overall, as Android phones do not sip battery sometimes; they gulp it down.

Overall, very happy. Thanks for reading! Anyone else have similar experiences?

its the keyboard thats causing issues, and i havent experienced much app crashes at all on my 6 plus, the apps i use are updated to the new iphones already and have been steadidly getting bug/performance improvements and they been running great

and iphone 6/6 plus cameras is a top 2 camera in a smartphone today (if it isnt like a dedicated camera smartphone like Galaxy K series or Lumia etc)

and i am confused, how did you get the emergency dialer on the lock screen to turn? im pretty sure lock screen cant turn at all ever.

and ehhh, i dont entirely agree with you on the use the "iphone way or no way", there are bunch of options and different apps really to use. Yeah Safari works great and is probably the fastest browser on iphone right now, and the stock keyboard is very stable and works fine, but you DONT have to use them. you dont have to use Apple Maps, you can use Google Maps (which works fantastic on iOS btw, better then Androids version when scrolling around the map etc, and also has material design) Google Chrome on iOS for your bookmarks etc etc( though all other browsers use same Nitro javascript engine as Safari)

alot of google's apps on iOS are actually pretty good and google has a pretty deep ecosystem in iOS aswell(google now works good on iOS, not that exact intergration like it is on Android but works essentially almost the same, etc etc)

 

[eyoungren]

Just speaking in regards to customization for the OP.

OP, you can jailbreak your iPhone. Then you can customize it the way YOU want and ignore Apple's lockdown.

Just food for thought.

 

[fojar]

Evernote is great. I had the note 4 for a little bit and loved the way s-pen notes could automatically sync to evernote.

I was just being funny b.c you came from a note 4 and you said, "you have been taking notes" on the differences

This is a feature that I really, really miss. The S-Pen and S Notes, if you used it, was amazing.

----------

its the keyboard thats causing issues, and i havent experienced much app crashes at all on my 6 plus, the apps i use are updated to the new iphones already and have been steadidly getting bug/performance improvements and they been running great

and iphone 6/6 plus cameras is a top 2 camera in a smartphone today (if it isnt like a dedicated camera smartphone like Galaxy K series or Lumia etc)

and i am confused, how did you get the emergency dialer on the lock screen to turn? im pretty sure lock screen cant turn at all ever.

and ehhh, i dont entirely agree with you on the use the "iphone way or no way", there are bunch of options and different apps really to use. Yeah Safari works great and is probably the fastest browser on iphone right now, and the stock keyboard is very stable and works fine, but you DONT have to use them. you dont have to use Apple Maps, you can use Google Maps (which works fantastic on iOS btw, better then Androids version when scrolling around the map etc, and also has material design) Google Chrome on iOS for your bookmarks etc etc( though all other browsers use same Nitro javascript engine as Safari)

alot of google's apps on iOS are actually pretty good and google has a pretty deep ecosystem in iOS aswell(google now works good on iOS, not that exact intergration like it is on Android but works essentially almost the same, etc etc)

I definitely like Google's Suite of Apps over on iOS. They have been suiting me just fine. I downloaded Google Maps but I'm still trying to give Apple Maps a try because it's something different. So far, so good.

But the keyboard, I mean I just can't use it to type anything up. I miss keys, have tons of typos, and predictive text just isn't for me. I like being able to swipe in the general vicinity of letters without sniper precision accuracy to spell words.

As for the emergency dialer I don't know the exact process, but I had no service at the time and was just fiddling with the phone trying to connect to a cell, so I opened up emergency dialer and noticed the numbers were all cut off. I had to reboot to fix it.

 

[SeilerBird]

I too recently switched from Android to Apple and I am extremely impressed. I have not had one app crash in three months. But then again I left it all stock and I only have added a few apps, none that would replace an Apple app.

 

[Dezryth]

I've a hunch your app crashing is all 3rd party keyboard related. I've yet to have an app crash on me since I've had the iPhone 6, other than my Mint app freezing up on me, but I think that was just that particular app and not iOS.

Idk if it's iOS that's not handling 3rd party keyboards or the 3rd party keyboard developers still having some kinks to work out. It's a shame if it's the latter because it's hurting Apple's 'just works' image.

 

[a.guillermo]

I can see where OP is coming from, but I've had Apple for two phones now (iphone 5s and now 6) and before that I had a Blackberry Torch. I've never really played much with Android, though I am tempted to try sometime in the future; I kinda like the idea of having COMPLETE control over the device, like OP stated.

 

[GoingDark]

Third party keyboards are a dumpster fire on iOS 8. When I switched back to iOS from Android (I was using an HTC One before the iPhone 6), SwiftKey was one of the biggest reasons I didn't hesitate.

It is absolutely NOTHING like the Android version. It might as well be a completely different keyboard.

In addition to the frequent crashes and bugs in Messages and other apps, both swipe typing and predictive text are far worse than on Android.

I don't know who to blame (SwiftKey or Apple) but if the feature doesn't work properly, they should have held back until it did.

 

[iDento]

Apps

Dear OP, I agree, but you can use 3rd party apps instead of the Apple ones and your iPhone will be even better! For instance:

I use Fantastical, not Calendar.app
Things for Reminders
Plex for Videos, not Video.app
Together for Notes

They work pretty well, as good as the stock apps with more features.

 

[mattopotamus]

Dear OP, I agree, but you can use 3rd party apps instead of the Apple ones and your iPhone will be even better! For instance:

I use Fantastical, not Calendar.app
Things for Reminders
Plex for Videos, not Video.app
Together for Notes

They work pretty well, as good as the stock apps with more features.

I think he was mostly referring to the way they tie into the eco-system. The stock apps all react to siri voice commands and have all of the sharing options.

 

[fojar]

Dear OP, I agree, but you can use 3rd party apps instead of the Apple ones and your iPhone will be even better! For instance:

I use Fantastical, not Calendar.app
Things for Reminders
Plex for Videos, not Video.app
Together for Notes

They work pretty well, as good as the stock apps with more features.

I'll definitely be giving some of those a shot.

----------

Third party keyboards are a dumpster fire on iOS 8. When I switched back to iOS from Android (I was using an HTC One before the iPhone 6), SwiftKey was one of the biggest reasons I didn't hesitate.

It is absolutely NOTHING like the Android version. It might as well be a completely different keyboard.

In addition to the frequent crashes and bugs in Messages and other apps, both swipe typing and predictive text are far worse than on Android.

I don't know who to blame (SwiftKey or Apple) but if the feature doesn't work properly, they should have held back until it did.

That's kind of how I feel. I was expecting a lot better integration. It's so bad by comparison someone really ought to, at least, have been demoted. The transition is slightly harder without that feature, but I'm still managing alright outside of that one quirk.

 

[Mxbzz]

I'll definitely be giving some of those a shot.

----------



That's kind of how I feel. I was expecting a lot better integration. It's so bad by comparison someone really ought to, at least, have been demoted. The transition is slightly harder without that feature, but I'm still managing alright outside of that one quirk.

The third-party keyboard integration is quite terrible on iOS(at least by an Android user's standards). I wound up deleting all the keyboards and sticking with the tap-and-peck method. I miss swiping every now and then but the stock keyboard is nice and bug-free so I can manage.

One thing I really miss from Android is the sharing feature. If I wanted to share a link from one app to another, or send it as a text, it was easy as pie on Android. With iOS, it becomes a chore to copy the link, open the destination app, and paste, then go back to the source app to resume activity.

Worse is when one of those apps constantly refresh after resuming from it's suspended state (I'm looking at you, Slickdeals app!).

But even with all my quibbles about iOS, I still feel that has a more polished, refined feel compared to Android. I enjoy both systems and switch amongst them to have the best of both worlds!

 

[lordofthereef]

The incredible lockups that you are experiencing sounds like siftkey, at least partially. The easy was to test that is to just delete swiftkey. I haven't found a good thrid party keyboard that actually worked to my liking.

I have seen the screen get stuck in landscape. Never in dialer. That's kind of crazy/scary.

I do agree that this phone is the least polished of the bunch. Our 5S on iOS 8 didn't have these issues, so it's not an overall ioS 8 issue.

 

[cbreze]

I'm also brand new to iOS with a 6+. Use a Mac and iPad also, but first iPhone ever. Totally stock and love the stock kb as well, no issues at all and can type very quick with a rare error.
Just thought it was time I tried an iPhone to see what all the hype was about. Had it two months and love it so far. My only complaint is the chrome browser app from the store worked very well at first but now takes me to the App Store app a lot for no apparent reason. Replaced it with Mercury browser and like that better. Not sure why people have such complaints about safari, it works great for me and very fast. Came from Symbian, BB, windows mobile, android, windows phone to here. No issues for me and my 6+ and very rarely does an app close or crash. I do keep the memory pretty cleaned up with bat doc and do a reboot once every few days. I'm very happy with my choice.

 

[keatth]

Go back to Android! I'm proud to say I've never owned an Android phone.

 

[fojar]

Go back to Android! I'm proud to say I've never owned an Android phone.

I'm proud to say we aren't friends. What you say has zero relevance to the topic at hand.

----------

Just as an update: the freezing up is definitely swiftkey or iOS and Swift Key not playing well together. Is there any way, and I know this is s ridiculous question, to grab a logcat from iOS so I can see the source of the crashing?

I'm trying to get used to the stock keyboard and relying on autocorrect more often. But Apple should be banning these apps which Bork the phone

 

[iDento]

I think he was mostly referring to the way they tie into the eco-system. The stock apps all react to siri voice commands and have all of the sharing options.

I would 100% agree if we're still on iOS 6.

On iOS 8 Mail.app for instance doesn't support Extentions, that's why I think you should download an alternative if you rely on your iPhone for emails.

 

[Zaft]

I bought protube and now regret it. How come it does not show my playlists? It also does not continue playing when I lock the phone like youtube..

 

[CEmajr]

Delete Swiftkey and use the stock keyboard. The iOS version is buggy and doesn't yet compare to the Android version. The larger keys are one of the reasons I like the 6 Plus over the 6.

Use Google Maps instead of Apple Maps. Google is so far ahead of Apple in the Maps department now that they're lapping them. It's really not even close on any front other than in my opinion Apple Maps is more aesthetically pleasing.

That would take care of most of your issues and almost all crashing. Apps rarely crash on iOS, if at all for the most part.

 

[keatth]

shhhh go back to android

 

[johnnyturbouk]

Use Google Maps instead of Apple Maps. Google is so far ahead of Apple in the Maps department now that they're lapping them. It's really not even close on any front other than in my opinion Apple Maps is more aesthetically pleasing.

Yes, i tried apple map to navigate around kathmandu, ie a simple journey that was 3km walk, it wanted me to detour via Beijing, a couple thousand miles on foot??? Although this was a few years back