I missed my iPhone so much!

[Vengeful]

I did the same, I still have the s3 but I'm patiently waiting for the new iPhone. I love the big screen and lte but I miss the auto sync photos, music and games with my iPad and Mac and a few other features and definitely miss some apps. I guess I was just a little bored with the interface but android isn't quite there just yet.

 

[THE JUICEMAN]

I did the same, I still have the s3 but I'm patiently waiting for the new iPhone. I love the big screen and lte but I miss the auto sync photos, music and games with my iPad and Mac and a few other features and definitely miss some apps. I guess I was just a little bored with the interface but android isn't quite there just yet.

Right, I think a lot of people are bored with the interface. I am definitely jailbreaking again with iPhone 5. I have complained a lot about it on these threads. But.... This sounds so apple and cliche but isn't the shouldn't our focus be on the content and not the interface? The interface should just get out of the way and we should forget its there and get lost in the content. Lol apple should hire me for marketing.

 

[andross77]

Came from Verizon IP4S 64gb black, now have Verizon SGS 3 32gb blue.

What I love about the SGS 3:

Color - it's a dark metallic purple or dark metallic grey depending on light
Super light, solid construction (still feels somewhat "platicky" but not cheap; hard to communicate how that is...)
96gb of space, yes please
Screen goes over the edge completely: meaning there is not ridge around the screen for dirt/hair/skin to accumulate. LOVE THIS! Also love the 4.8" size which initially felt like a pancake to my head and now feels totally normal. It's amazing for watching Netflix and web browsing.
Web Browsing - let me say this is the first phone that web browsing on my phone doesn't take second place to my laptop anymore. Meaning, if I have to look something up and my laptop is in the same room, I will still use the phone. It's a combination of the LTE, amazing processor and huge screen but it is GREAT browsing the web.
LTE I'm getting 10-30mb down everywhere (Chicago). I literally cancelled my Comcast home internet today and already have the unlimited Verizon Hotspot feature on my account.
Customizing - Do I want to have a completely clear screen today so I can look at a cool wallpaper? takes 2 seconds to create a blank screen. Do I want a bunch of widgets to keep me up-to-date instantly? done. Do i want a boring app icon layout like the iphone? done. Love being able to change the phone to suit my mood (considering stock phones only, not rooted/jailbroken).

What I miss about IPS4:

Glass construction. Feels like a higher quality product (because it is a HQP )
Smoothness and no redraws - don't get me wrong, the SGS3 is smooth but once you load up 75 apps and have a home replacement like NOVA, there is a SLIGHT hesitation SOMETIMES when you go back to home. It's easy to notice after using iOS for months.
Multi-tasking - I never thought I'd say this. Even with 2gb of ram, I still have apps that when I leave them for 5 minutes will reload. Of course if I'm flipping fast through them (2,3,5,8 doesn't matter) they are all just waiting in the exact spot. But iOS truly FROZE apps. So it isn't true multi-tasking like Android but I liked it better because no matter how long after using an app I could always double click and get back to exactly where I was (I'm thinking about reading apps mostly)
Quality of Apps - I didn't think this would be an issue but I was very wrong. I can mostly speak to gaming, but I also have some other apps I use that aren't as good on android as ios. Logos Bible app (has notes/highlighting and other polishes on ios). The game selection though.....many missing titles from what I had on ios. Also, nothing similar to AppShopper on Android to find when apps you want go on sale. Appbrain isn't even close (it just shows popular apps)
Screen - text is a bit sharper on the iphone 4s and if you read a lot, it will be noticeable. Not hugely, but you can tells it's sharper on the iphone.
Mute toggle - such a good feature. hate having to go past lock screen and click the down volume multiple times. the switch was so convenient.


I will definitely be looking at the iphone 5 since it will have LTE but probably won't have the funds to buy it off contract as I have to from now on if I want to stay on Verizon's unlimited. I consider the SGS3 on VZW and the IP4S on VZW as the two best smartphones on the market. Can't go wrong with either one. As any cell phone fan I wish I could have all the positives of both in one phone, and no negatives

 

[Faux Carnival]

Syncing doesn't require "plugging in" on iOS either, for almost a year now.

Whatever. I'm not good with Steve Jobs' iJargon. All I wanted to say was I haven't plugged in nor synced for a while.

 

[SR71]

Hats off to all of those who actually "tried out" the other devices and went back to what they like.

I really hate reading posts by people who have never tried other OS and have a strong zealous opinion on it. Kinda like trying to discuss theology with a born again Christian. There is just no getting through. (well in most cases, but you get my gist).

I think I still stay on these forums because I like both devices, it's not a matter of trolling or lurking because deep down I want my iPhone back (like another poster mentioned in this thread). I have been a member of MR community for a couple of years now and like it here. Just because I have a new phone doesn't mean I don't have anything valid or relevant to contribute.

In fact, I am taking a friend to buy her first "hassle free" smartphone today. iP4S. I don't think she is able to wait until the next iPhone comes out so it has to be done today.

I'd suggest asking her first, if she'd rather wait a month and a half when the new iPhone is rumored to come out, or if she'd like to upgrade now to a phone that will soon have it's price dropped and be replaced by a newer model in the coming weeks. Personally, I'd rather wait, and I think most other people would if they knew the circumstances, but again, it's personal preference and she may very well not want to wait, but I'd still ask her just in case.

 

[Trimene]

 

[SR71]

Whatever. I'm not good with Steve Jobs' iJargon. All I wanted to say was I haven't plugged in nor synced for a while.

Your contacts, docs, settings, texts, homescreen layout (and folders), apps, photos, music, etc. have been syncing with iCloud in the background, you just haven't noticed.

It just works.

 

[Technarchy]

I was with android for 3 years, and now I am happily attached to my iPhone.

I've tried everything from cupcake to Jelly Bean. And everyone time I play with an android phone for 5 minutes, I instantly remember why I don't want to go back.

 

[Jman13]

I have an android tablet with ICS, and while ICS is a huge improvement on Gingerbread (and I've heard great things about JB as well), it still feels clunky and the apps are just not as polished overall. I like my tablet quite a bit, but I wouldn't want Android on my phone. I recently jailbroke my iPhone 4S, which has been awesome...I get the customization (though jailbreak themers seem to have generally higher class taste than most of the customization options on Android), and a lot of the nicest features of Android (quick toggling of settings, gestures, widgets and bunch of other things), plus a few tweaks you don't have on Android, all while retaining the classy look of iOS (though even better), and the high quality apps and app store.

And, with the nice theming options now available to me, it feels like I have a new phone already.

My current home screen:

 

[Eddie Bombay]

The same thing goes for people who been in android for years and then try an iPhone for a few weeks. It's like wtf? Really hard to compare something you had for years to something you just got. The best thing about android you learn things about your phone everyday. Lol makes me smile because you think you know everything about your phone. It's a techies dream, don't like learning? Go iPhone! Don't like thinking? Go iPhone!

Like they say on XDA Developer Forums, the iPhone should be only for women, leave Android for the men!

Haha I kill myself sometimes lol.

 

[tbayrgs]

Similar situation foe me. I picked up an unlocked Galaxy Nexus to give Android (and specifically, Jellybean) a thorough workthrough and I didn't hate it (as much as I may have wanted to ). I have no significant experience with older versions of Android so I can't state it has improved or not but JB is very smooth, for the most part and the flexibility to customize is an attractive option. There are just a few little things that really kept me from truly loving it and thus, keep me from using it full time.

1). iMessage - a huge portion of my texting is to other iDevices and it's allowed me to keep a cheap grandfathered plan. Moving to Android would require a more expensive plan and would also mean my kids couldn't text me from their iPods/iPad.

2). iCloud - Android just doesn't natively integrate with iCloud and the third party apps help but obviously don't work as well as having native functionality. Moving all of this functionality over to Google accts for the entire family just isn't a viable option.

3). Apps - I don't want to have to repurchase many of my apps. Also, from my limited experience over the past month, the same app just seems better executed/more polished on iOS.

Also, overall feel of Android just doesn't feel as sophisticated or polished. I'm not really positive how to best describe the difference in feel--maybe like the difference between granite and Formica countertops in the kitchen (sorry, just did some remodeling )--both offer similar functionality but one just looks and feels much better. Icons looks better, lines crisper, graphics sharper. Again, just my personal opinion.

On its own, the newest version of Android (and subsequent new devices) is great. If I was just getting a smartphone for the first time AND wasn't so invested in the Apple ecosystem (entire family uses Apple devices), I might very well pick Android, although I'd definitely stick with Nexus devices. That being said, I really still like iOS and Apple's hardware and won't be leaving anytime soon.

 

[SurferMan]

I took the plunge and didn't look back and I was def anti-Android beforehand lol, different strokes for different folks. We still have the iPhones, but do I miss anything about them, not really. Both are great OSs, just once I learned Android and setting it up, love it. Integrates fine with my Apple stuff (some cases a lot easier and faster like mounting the phone as a drive). The custom ICS Rom I'm on is so fast and smooth, battery life is even slightly better than my 4 which was noticeably better then two 4S we've had.

I'll still update one of the iPhone lines this year to whatever the next one is though, and then same next year on another line for the GSII (unless the next Nexus blows me away then I'll purch off contract).

 

[tbayrgs]

It's a techies dream, don't like learning? Go iPhone! Don't like thinking? Go iPhone!

Like they say on XDA Developer Forums, the iPhone should be only for women, leave Android for the men!

Haha I kill myself sometimes lol.

How about some people actually have lives to lead and don't want to have to waste time tinkering and figuring out how to get the most out of our phones .

I'm only being slightly serious but do take offense to statements implying you're unintelligent or not interested in learning if you choose to you an iPhone. I'd argue it's actually the other way around.

 

[nickchallis92]

Hey, I just bought you,
Android's crazy,
But now it's got my number,
So call it, maybe?

And all the other phones,
Try to change me,
But S3's got my number,
So call it, maybe?

Before Cupcake came into my life
I missed iOS so bad
I missed iOS so bad
I missed iOS so, so bad

im a bit annoyed that everyone ignored this. made me laugh

 

[lordofthereef]

What I missed about my iPhone 4S: the quality of the apps, the high quality of the phone itself, the camera, the mute switch, iMessage, and iCloud.

Can you be more specific? You missed the quality of the apps. Which? How were they different? iMessage. What about it? Etc.

 

[Faux Carnival]

Your contacts, docs, settings, texts, homescreen layout (and folders), apps, photos, music, etc. have been syncing with iCloud in the background, you just haven't noticed.

It just works.

Damn! So seamless.

 

[lordofthereef]

im a bit annoyed that everyone ignored this. made me laugh

These meme has been overused and it's only a couple of months old. Perhaps that's the problem.

 

[rman726]

Quality of Apps - I didn't think this would be an issue but I was very wrong. I can mostly speak to gaming, but I also have some other apps I use that aren't as good on android as ios. Logos Bible app (has notes/highlighting and other polishes on ios). The game selection though.....many missing titles from what I had on ios. Also, nothing similar to AppShopper on Android to find when apps you want go on sale. Appbrain isn't even close (it just shows popular apps)

I am an engineer, so I'm a nerd at heart, and I want to mess around with things to make it act like I want. Hell, Chrome IMO is way better than Safari, at least as a Windows user, so I want to use it on my iPhone, but it's clearly taking a step back from iOS Safari in terms of speed, for obvious reasons. Over the last few months, I've been toying with the idea of getting a Nexus because it is relatively cheap at $350, or maybe just waiting until the next Nexus comes out. But then the Nexus 7 was announced. For $200, I could experience Android "as it should be" and know that I wouldn't have to ever worry about fragmentation. And pretty high-end hardware.

But the app issue you mention is the one thing still holding me back. Like you, I speak mostly towards games. I love playing games on my iPhone, especially the ones where I can play for 10 minutes while waiting for whatever to play a few levels, puzzles or whatever. It is just frustrating me to no end with my Nexus at the lack of quality gaming apps on my Nexus. Everything else about the tablet is a great experience. Just the apps, and for me, I spend the vast majority of my time using apps.

As much as I was considering jumping ship to Android, the Nexus 7, as great of a tablet as it is otherwise, has removed all of my desires to do so; at least for my phone.

 

[AppleFanatic10]

So a couple weeks ago I took the plunge and decided to try out the Galaxy S III as my daily driver, and see if this phone was the better smartphone.

At first I was completely wowed and thought I would end up keeping it, but soon enough that "wow" factor wore off.

What I loved about the S III: the big screen, the amazing battery life, how light it is and how amazing it feels in the hand, and a few of the gestures (like swipe with the side of your hand for a screenshot & the ability to keep the screen on just by looking at it).

What I didn't like about the S III: the phone feels cheap overall, especially the buttons, the camera isn't that good indoors, the speaker being placed on the back, how the screen isn't bright enough outdoors and too bright indoors, the delayed response when hitting the home button (even with S-Voice turned off), it's just a bit too big, and the lack of really any way to easily sync your content with it from a Mac.

What I missed about my iPhone 4S: the quality of the apps, the high quality of the phone itself, the camera, the mute switch, iMessage, and iCloud.

All in all, I'm glad to be back to my iPhone as I feel Android isn't QUITE there yet. While I miss the big screen and amazing battery life, the S III has helped me appreciate the iPhone again for it's stellar hardware, amazing apps, and the iOS community.

Have any of you taken the plunge on a different OS recently and come back to the iPhone?

I had a blackberry once and after it kept on breaking on me I got sick of it and went back to iOS...

 

[Wrathwitch]

I'd suggest asking her first, if she'd rather wait a month and a half when the new iPhone is rumored to come out, or if she'd like to upgrade now to a phone that will soon have it's price dropped and be replaced by a newer model in the coming weeks. Personally, I'd rather wait, and I think most other people would if they knew the circumstances, but again, it's personal preference and she may very well not want to wait, but I'd still ask her just in case.

Well the deed is done. I think she will be very happy with the phone. The screen is MUCH larger than her last phone. Waiting wasn't really an option for her.

 

[andross77]

I am an engineer, so I'm a nerd at heart, and I want to mess around with things to make it act like I want. Hell, Chrome IMO is way better than Safari, at least as a Windows user, so I want to use it on my iPhone, but it's clearly taking a step back from iOS Safari in terms of speed, for obvious reasons. Over the last few months, I've been toying with the idea of getting a Nexus because it is relatively cheap at $350, or maybe just waiting until the next Nexus comes out. But then the Nexus 7 was announced. For $200, I could experience Android "as it should be" and know that I wouldn't have to ever worry about fragmentation. And pretty high-end hardware.

But the app issue you mention is the one thing still holding me back. Like you, I speak mostly towards games. I love playing games on my iPhone, especially the ones where I can play for 10 minutes while waiting for whatever to play a few levels, puzzles or whatever. It is just frustrating me to no end with my Nexus at the lack of quality gaming apps on my Nexus. Everything else about the tablet is a great experience. Just the apps, and for me, I spend the vast majority of my time using apps.

As much as I was considering jumping ship to Android, the Nexus 7, as great of a tablet as it is otherwise, has removed all of my desires to do so; at least for my phone.

Agreed. I think I may have found my solution. If an updated ipod touch based on the new iphone 5 hardware is released AND it's $199, then I think i'll buy it so i can play those 150 awesome games I bought during my 7 months of ownership and not waste money on the android versions.

Since I had Appshopper I paid $0.99 for 90% of those games but when I look at them on Android they are all $1.99 to $6.99 depending. By the time I replaced all the games I would have probably spent more than the price of the Ipod Touch and I would be playing them on an inferior GPU (i'm sure whatever is in the next ipod touch has got to be better than the Adreno 225 in my SGS 3).

So yeah, 2 devices is super annoying and what our technological age is supposed to get us away from, but it's my solution for now since I don't think i want to jump back onto iOS for my phone purposes. I still love Android OS and Widgets and Customization and 4.8" screens

----------

Can you be more specific? You missed the quality of the apps. Which? How were they different? iMessage. What about it? Etc.

Even though this isn't my quote I can contribute The truth is, iOS got bigger BEFORE Android. This is important because DEVELOPERS saw a solid REVENUE STREAM in iOS before Android. End result: High quality developers go to iOS FIRST and Android second. This is a GENERAL rule, not 100% accurate.

But as I said before and app I use a lot, Logos Bible App, is more polished and has many more options on iOS than Android. There are also many high quality games that are on iOS and not on Android simply because iOS gets first dibs and they haven't gotten around to the Android version.

Now I think some of this is changing since Android does have over 50% of the smartphone market share, but it's still much more difficult to develop for a platform that has 10 different versions of the OS out there and many different screen resolutions and hardware configurations. But as of right now, since I just owned both platforms within the last 30 days, iOS app quality is MUCH better.

Oh and about iMessage, it was nice, but it wasn't a big plus to me at all. It doesn't use texts so people with older plans or crappy limited plans will care about iMessage. But if you have unlimited texts i don't see the difference.

 

[jonhcox]

I'm listening to Spotify on my GS3 right now but sometime over the next two weeks I plan to return it and wait for the new iPhone. As far as power is concerned it's a truly fast phone. It would be faster if it were running stock Jelly Bean, but that's not going to happen with Samsung. Not while this crap called Touchwiz exists. Plus, I REALLY like Google Now and offline speech to text and I can almost guarantee that it won't make it to the GS3, not while S-Voice is here. S-Voice sucks. Siri wasn't much better, but with iOS 6 the integration was going to be more complete. Maps is a wash- both get you from one place to another. And in 3D now. On my 4s I was running a beta of iOS6 and I found Maps to be about the same across both platforms.

I have beef's with messaging. I enjoyed being on the group texts at work, the ones where we all sit in the cubes and be open, brutally honest and pretty nasty. And if you weren't in the "know" you never knew about it. You had to get invited. I liked iMessage for that. I've tried 3 different messaging apps and haven't found one that works as well or as smoothly, if at all. I'm running Apex as my launcher and it stutters occasionally. Probably because it's running over Touchwiz. The size of the phone is great, has great battery life too. Part of the initial reason I chose the GS3 was the home button. It offered me a "similarity" to what I came from.

Partly, I blame my family and friends. They all have iPhones and I feel more connected thanks to iMessage. I like the way Notes now syncs to Mountain Lion. I take a prolific amount of notes in my weekly creative meetings and I don't use Evernote, so the sync function is pretty big. The Galaxy S3 is a GREAT phone. I love it, but the Apple ecosystem has me pretty well in their corner. I also prefer iCloud and the backing up and syncing. I did think that iTunes Match often had higher quality streaming than Google Music even if GM was free, which was wicked. Yes, many apps that are in iOS are available on Android, but in the end they lack the buttery-smooth functionality and simplicity that makes the apps I frequently use, almost second nature to use.

The best thing about all this is that I know where I stand. I tried the GS3 and have no negative things to say about it. It just didn't fit in with me as well as the iPhone and iOS functionality. So for the OP, it's just about deciding which works best for you. It's very easy to be swayed by a large, excellent display, tons of horsepower, superb battery life and a different experience. If it were running iOS...

As a side note- the 4S feels positively tiny now and not in a good way. Looking forward to a larger form factor. Too bad I gave my 4S to my wife. She'd cut off... well, she wouldn't give it up easily. Have to use a very crappy Go phone in the interim weeks leading up to the new iPhone release.

 

[Shockwave78]

So a couple weeks ago I took the plunge and decided to try out the Galaxy S III as my daily driver, and see if this phone was the better smartphone.

At first I was completely wowed and thought I would end up keeping it, but soon enough that "wow" factor wore off.

What I loved about the S III: the big screen, the amazing battery life, how light it is and how amazing it feels in the hand, and a few of the gestures (like swipe with the side of your hand for a screenshot & the ability to keep the screen on just by looking at it).

What I didn't like about the S III: the phone feels cheap overall, especially the buttons, the camera isn't that good indoors, the speaker being placed on the back, how the screen isn't bright enough outdoors and too bright indoors, the delayed response when hitting the home button (even with S-Voice turned off), it's just a bit too big, and the lack of really any way to easily sync your content with it from a Mac.

What I missed about my iPhone 4S: the quality of the apps, the high quality of the phone itself, the camera, the mute switch, iMessage, and iCloud.

All in all, I'm glad to be back to my iPhone as I feel Android isn't QUITE there yet. While I miss the big screen and amazing battery life, the S III has helped me appreciate the iPhone again for it's stellar hardware, amazing apps, and the iOS community.

Have any of you taken the plunge on a different OS recently and come back to the iPhone?

I have the S3 also and I agree with some of that..I paid full price for mine and I am probably going to just keep it and my 4s until the next iphone is out.

My observations with the S3

1. Screen is huge, but the device does not feel big at all. If i use it for a couple more weeks it will be second nature to me and will just be "normal" like the iphone is/was to me.

2. The screen looks great indoors or at night outside. In daylight, it is hard to see. You can make everything out easily, but it just looks like there is haze over the whole device.

3. Syncing is not an issue if you have Google. I have had and used gmail and picasa for years, everything sync'd right up after logging in. I have about 50gb of photo's available on my device from my Picasa account now which is great. Music is the same also, I signed up for Google music way back when and uploaded about 100GB of music to it and all my music automatically appeared after the initial login into the device. I have not had to plug it in the PC once yet to do anything at all. If you use Google services, they are light years ahead of icloud IMO..

4. Samsung touchwiz i hated the icons, I swapped it out for Apex launcher and the Jelly bean theme from the play store and the phone looks completely different. Much more classy looking and elegant.

5. Colors are grossly over saturated. To the point where you are like WTF are you thinking Samsung??!??!? Then i go back to my iphone 4s and it just looks plane and very washed out since the colors do not pop anymore after using the S3 for awhile now.

6. Camera on the S3 is on par with the 4s out doors or indoors when there is good light indoors. Iphone 4s beats the S3 by about 20% i would say in low light situations. However, the camera functions on the S3 make up for it by a mile, Burst mode and "best photo" are two extremely good features to have. Among the ton of other features I would have to give the S3 the nod in the camera department because of all the extra settings.

7. Battery life is as good or better than my 4s, I am extremely surprised how good the battery is on the phone even when using mobile hotspot connecting 4 or 5 devices to my phone and is it as the internet connection for them.

*EDIT* Here are my screens

 

[nbedros]

Won a Galaxy S3 from a contest. Used it for a few days and decided to sell it because my Google account was hacked shortly after syncing it on the device. I've read about other Android users who had similar issues. There was no way I was going to be switching to a new OS after experiencing this just a few days in. Back on my iPhone 4 now.

I have nothing against Android other than the security issue. I actually prefer it over iOS. I'll be missing the LED notifications (would kill for this on an iPhone) and Swype. The jailbroken Swype version has absolutely nothing on the native Android one.

 

[davidlw]

I have tried them all and I keep coming back to the iPhone. For me it is the best. I use a Mac Computer, iPad, iPhone and having them sync together and JUST WORK is what is important to me.