Other Leaving iPhone after 20 years

[Nekronos]

I don’t see much of a difference between iOS 18 and iOS 26. What was your last iPhone?

I use an Android for work and I still can’t stomach the UI.

I don’t get the Liquid Glass hate. The only valid criticism I can find is that it affects performance on older phones, such as the iPhone 11/12. I have a 17 Pro so it’s as quick as lighting. Even my old 13 ran iOS 26 well.

What's your issue with android's UI? I honestly can't think of a single glaring issue with android's design from a UI standpoint, it's more consistent and responsive than iOS. And over the years both android and iOS have been copying many things from each other.

Liquid glass is basically what vista was for windows, it has introduced a variety of visual inconsistencies and bugs while affecting performance and all for what exactly?

OP makes a great point about this foolish desire of a unified OS, there were countless inconsistencies in user experience (and not just visually but function) across apple's different OSs before, and there many now if not more. All devices need not and should not act or look the same - some shared design works but 26 missed the mark.

 

[Nekronos]

I never had good luck with Android as it always seemed the phones would start crashing right at the 2 year mark. They would always start crashing when it was time to upgrade phones. I switched to Apple with the iPhone 6 and haven't looked back.

My oldest son has switched between Apple and Android phones over the years and he always comes back to Apple.

My youngest son has a Pixel and it has been nothing but trouble for him. He has had it replaced several times under warranty. He is to the point of going with something else.

Experience varies doesn't it? My Galaxy S4 lasted a good 3 years before i needed to swap the battery and then it was fine. Galaxy S9+ ... that thing is still going strong at over 7 years old on the original battery, crashes are rare - it's been an excellent phone, only reason I have an iphone is I got one for free from a family member and decided why not as phones these days are much more similar to each other than a decade ago.

I've experienced more software crashes on the iphone than I ever have on my S9+ that I continue to use a second phone.

You can always get a dud, the S4 was an okay phone, S9+ was the best smart phone experience I've had, the iphone 13 - was a mediocre experience quite many glitches and crashes that forced me to reset the phone on a regular basis, I have an iphone 17 now which has been a better experience than the 13, fewer crashes and odd glitches but i still get my fair share of them and still more inconsistent behaviors than my S9+. Perhaps the 13 was a bad batch, perhaps it didn't age well against the newest OS, either way I'm hoping the 17 holds up better, otherwise I may go back to android.

My experience is android is simpler, offers more customization, takes less actions to do what you need to do, less gimicky regarding visual flare, more function over form.

Also android is far, far superior for having work profiles on personal devices as it allows totally separate and encrypted work vs personal profiles.

 

[Andeddu]

What's your issue with android's UI? I honestly can't think of a single glaring issue with android's design from a UI standpoint, it's more consistent and responsive than iOS. And over the years both android and iOS have been copying many things from each other.

Liquid glass is basically what vista was for windows, it has introduced a variety of visual inconsistencies and bugs while affecting performance and all for what exactly?

OP makes a great point about this foolish desire of a unified OS, there were countless inconsistencies in user experience (and not just visually but function) across apple's different OSs before, and there many now if not more. All devices need not and should not act or look the same - some shared design works but 26 missed the mark.

There is absolutely no way Android is more consistent and responsive than iOS.

Apple controls the hardware, the chipset and the display behaviour along with the system frameworks. This is all fine tuned around a relatively small number of devices which is why the system tends to feel cohesive and optimised.

With Android, Google might design something that looks decent on stock Android but the moment it lands on a Samsung, Xiaomi, Oppo, etc… the UI layer changes. From a platform standpoint that’s less consistent by definition. And that’s before even getting into app design. iOS apps tend to follow the same UI conventions because developers target a fairly predictable set of screen sizes and APIs. Android apps often have to account for dozens of screen shapes, manufacturer skins, and performance tiers, so you end up with more variation and a downgraded experience.

Also, your “Liquid Glass / Vista” comparison is exaggerated to a ridiculous level. All I am seeing is a minor change in visual design with the rest of the UI being identical to previous versions.

Android’s flexibility is its strength. Apple’s controlled ecosystem is its strength. The UI philosophies just reflect those two very different approaches.

 

[bapegg]

Everyone's experiences are going to be different.

I had nothing but issues with Android phones as soon as they turned 2 years old. Granted this was years ago before I switched to an iPhone 6.

My oldest son has swapped back and forth and always goes back to an iPhone. I think he is pretty much done with Android.

My youngest sone had good luck with Android phones when he was using Samsung Galaxies. But he has had quite a few hardware issues with the different Pixel phones. He is currently looking to replace his latest Pixel with either a Samsung or an iPhone. Right now he is leaning towards the iPhone.

 

[Nekronos]

There is absolutely no way Android is more consistent and responsive than iOS.

Apple controls the hardware, the chipset and the display behaviour along with the system frameworks. This is all fine tuned around a relatively small number of devices which is why the system tends to feel cohesive and optimised.

With Android, Google might design something that looks decent on stock Android but the moment it lands on a Samsung, Xiaomi, Oppo, etc… the UI layer changes. From a platform standpoint that’s less consistent by definition. And that’s before even getting into app design. iOS apps tend to follow the same UI conventions because developers target a fairly predictable set of screen sizes and APIs. Android apps often have to account for dozens of screen shapes, manufacturer skins, and performance tiers, so you end up with more variation and a downgraded experience.

I'm not the only one that shares my sentiments - I find it comical for you to claim there is absolutely no way.

There's actually a number of ways, hell, just existing without crashing regularly is an example of consistency. Basic user operation with gestures or touch is another - android is far more consistent than iOS in this regard. I know exactly what my android will or won't do when i swipe in various ways, with iOS its a toss up depending on the app and this is easily one of the most annoying things I've come across. What options you will find within the app vs within settings is all over the place on iOS, android it is much more consistent and frankly intuitive where settings/options are accessible. I'm not going to create an exhaustive list here but I hope you realize your folly.

The irony is that yes indeed Apple controls hardware and software and yet they have so, so many bugs and inconsistencies in how the device functions and this is especially obvious when you compare to other flagship devices.

When I am talking about consistency, I'm talking about user experience not whether or not android looks exactly the same on a Pixel vs Samsung, I would not expect it to as its highly customizable.

Also, your “Liquid Glass / Vista” comparison is exaggerated to a ridiculous level. All I am seeing is a minor change in visual design with the rest of the UI being identical to previous versions.

Again, I'm not the only one to notice the litany of visual and functional inconsistencies across liquid glass, if you want to view this with rose colored glasses, you do you. You calling it a minor change in visual design is an exaggeration in my opinion.

Android’s flexibility is its strength. Apple’s controlled ecosystem is its strength. The UI philosophies just reflect those two very different approaches.

Android's strength over iOS isn't just flexibility and a controlled ecosystem can be a strength in some respects as much as it can be a weakness.

The UI philosophies have little to do with a closed vs open system. That is strictly to do with the Apple knows best mentality.

 

[super chimp]

I don’t see much of a difference between iOS 18 and iOS 26. What was your last iPhone?

I use an Android for work and I still can’t stomach the UI.

I don’t get the Liquid Glass hate. The only valid criticism I can find is that it affects performance on older phones, such as the iPhone 11/12. I have a 17 Pro so it’s as quick as lighting. Even my old 13 ran iOS 26 well.

I’ve always had a foot in both camps but always had an iPhone as my main phone as I thought iOS was the better and more straightforward OS. That gap has gradually narrowed over time and now Android looks the better and more usable OS. It’s highly likely that I will swap to Android as my main device as iOS 26 is the straw that broke the camels back especially the hideous Liquid Glass.

 

[super chimp]

The reason you'll be back is nobody does the seamless integration like Apple. I'm sure you have a library full of paid movies, music, apps, etc. that should all act as serious disincentives to ever consider abandoning Apple. Your friends and family are all using Apple Messages. Your notes are beautifully crafted in Apple Notes. Your photo library is in iCloud and you have shared collections with all your family. Your Watch doesn't work on Android. Your iPad will be disconnected from your phone. Your AirPods perform best when paired with Apple devices. Your Apple Music sounds best when its played using an Apple device.

There is Nothing 4a second good about leaving all this behind.

A lot of my stuff is stored in Google services not Apple so I don’t get tied to one service.

 

[super chimp]

I never had good luck with Android as it always seemed the phones would start crashing right at the 2 year mark. They would always start crashing when it was time to upgrade phones. I switched to Apple with the iPhone 6 and haven't looked back.

My oldest son has switched between Apple and Android phones over the years and he always comes back to Apple.

My youngest son has a Pixel and it has been nothing but trouble for him. He has had it replaced several times under warranty. He is to the point of going with something else.

I’ve owned Android phones miles longer than any iPhone I’ve ever owned and never had any crashing issues my current one is getting on for eight years old & haven’t had a crash in years.

 

[960design]

After 20 years of iPhone today I finally stepped out of the garden.

Good luck and congrats. We will be here if you decide to come back.
If you do not mind, please use this thread to keep us up to date on the good, bad and other things you experience with the transition.

 

[Andeddu]

I'm not the only one that shares my sentiments - I find it comical for you to claim there is absolutely no way.

There's actually a number of ways, hell, just existing without crashing regularly is an example of consistency. Basic user operation with gestures or touch is another - android is far more consistent than iOS in this regard. I know exactly what my android will or won't do when i swipe in various ways, with iOS its a toss up depending on the app and this is easily one of the most annoying things I've come across. What options you will find within the app vs within settings is all over the place on iOS, android it is much more consistent and frankly intuitive where settings/options are accessible. I'm not going to create an exhaustive list here but I hope you realize your folly.

The irony is that yes indeed Apple controls hardware and software and yet they have so, so many bugs and inconsistencies in how the device functions and this is especially obvious when you compare to other flagship devices.

When I am talking about consistency, I'm talking about user experience not whether or not android looks exactly the same on a Pixel vs Samsung, I would not expect it to as its highly customizable.



Again, I'm not the only one to notice the litany of visual and functional inconsistencies across liquid glass, if you want to view this with rose colored glasses, you do you. You calling it a minor change in visual design is an exaggeration in my opinion.



Android's strength over iOS isn't just flexibility and a controlled ecosystem can be a strength in some respects as much as it can be a weakness.

The UI philosophies have little to do with a closed vs open system. That is strictly to do with the Apple knows best mentality.

It’s always funny when someone writes a long post about “consistency” and then uses Android as the example.

First off, the claim that Android is somehow more predictable with gestures is pretty wild. Android literally has three different navigation paradigms (gesture nav, 3-button nav, and manufacturer tweaks to both). Then each OEM tweaks animations, edge gestures, and back behavior. On iOS the gesture language is extremely simple: swipe up = home, swipe from the side = back, swipe down = search/notifications depending on context. The reason it sometimes behaves differently in apps is because apps can define their own navigation stacks, which is the same reason the back gesture in Android occasionally dumps you somewhere completely unexpected.

Second, the “settings are all over the place” criticism is a bit ironic considering Android famously splits configuration across system settings, quick settings, per-app settings, and in-app menus depending on the OEM and version. Apple deliberately centralised many permissions and system controls in Settings so users know exactly where to find them. Whether someone prefers that is subjective, but pretending Android solved the problem is revisionist history.

 

[Nekronos]

It’s always funny when someone writes a long post about “consistency” and then uses Android as the example.

First off, the claim that Android is somehow more predictable with gestures is pretty wild. Android literally has three different navigation paradigms (gesture nav, 3-button nav, and manufacturer tweaks to both). Then each OEM tweaks animations, edge gestures, and back behavior. On iOS the gesture language is extremely simple: swipe up = home, swipe from the side = back, swipe down = search/notifications depending on context. The reason it sometimes behaves differently in apps is because apps can define their own navigation stacks, which is the same reason the back gesture in Android occasionally dumps you somewhere completely unexpected.

Second, the “settings are all over the place” criticism is a bit ironic considering Android famously splits configuration across system settings, quick settings, per-app settings, and in-app menus depending on the OEM and version. Apple deliberately centralised many permissions and system controls in Settings so users know exactly where to find them. Whether someone prefers that is subjective, but pretending Android solved the problem is revisionist history.

You keep trying to bring up differences in manufacturers that implement modifications to android - this is entirely irrelevant to my points and little more than a red herring.

Your second paragraph makes no sense, you talk of android splitting settings, what do you think apple does? Android and apple both have centralized settings but there's a big difference in what you find where and how intuitive it is - android wins hands down - both design and where you need to go for specific options is much more intuitive with android and you have choice in your preference as the same option can often be accessed either centrally or within app settings, which is rarely the case for iOS. You're making a straw man - there's no pretending here, I didn't make any claim about android solving a problem and calling what I've presented revisionist history is a joke.

 

[ayephoner]

I’ve always had a foot in both camps but always had an iPhone as my main phone as I thought iOS was the better and more straightforward OS. That gap has gradually narrowed over time and now Android looks the better and more usable OS. It’s highly likely that I will swap to Android as my main device as iOS 26 is the straw that broke the camels back especially the hideous Liquid Glass.

I think all of the gaps between the two ecosystems have narrowed. I was on android devices for the better part of a decade, but then switched back to iOS. I like iOS better (I think), but could probably pick up any flagship android device and be happy with it.

I think it's rather comical how much people care about one ecosystem over the other.

 

[eyoungren]

I think it's rather comical how much people care about one ecosystem over the other.

People make choices. And they don't like to be wrong in the choices they make. Justifying your choice, defending your choice, championing your choice are all part of confirming to yourself that you made the right choice.

Ecosystem is a well used corporate tool designed to keep people from leaving. Whether it's phones, cable company, internet provider, storage unit, keeping a customer locked in and making it hard for them (or too attractive) to leave is intentional. For most, the effort is not worth the gain. Companies know that and they use it against us.

So, people care because they don't want to feel like they trapped themselves in a bad choice.

What's bewildering to me is that no one needs to be trapped in either ecosystem. Use both, or mix and match. Use third parties. Create your own ecosystem and use it. No one has to be bound to Google or Apple.

 

[Spinarelo]

Damn. I can’t believe it’s been 20 years already…. I remember my dad picking me up from high school and taking the subway to the 5th Avenue store to pick up his new iPhone…. I thought it was the coolest thing I’ve ever seen

 

[eyoungren]

Damn. I can’t believe it’s been 20 years already…. I remember my dad picking me up from high school and taking the subway to the 5th Avenue store to pick up his new iPhone…. I thought it was the coolest thing I’ve ever seen

I wasn't going to quibble this with OP, but since you mentioned it…

Both Google and Wikipedia state that the original iPhone launched in the USA on June 29, 2007. So, even if we start at June 29, 2026, it's 19 years. Not 20.

Unless wherever OP is, they got the iPhone in 2006.

That's not the point of this thread, which is why I didn't quibble over it, but there you go.

 

[960design]

Damn. I can’t believe it’s been 20 years already…. I remember my dad picking me up from high school and taking the subway to the 5th Avenue store to pick up his new iPhone…. I thought it was the coolest thing I’ve ever seen

Nostalgia post:
Still have the original iPhone purchased at an AT&T store, with original box and receipt on the day they were released. I also purchased the dock charger and the weird little black earbud thingy that I wore a total of 5 times.

 

[TumbleDryer]

Nostalgia post:
Still have the original iPhone purchased at an AT&T store, with original box and receipt on the day they were released. I also purchased the dock charger and the weird little black earbud thingy that I wore a total of 5 times.

I still have a boxed original iPod. 🙂

 

[TumbleDryer]

New iOS26 bug today. This is what you get when iOS doesn't like the phone number you're trying to call...

Ironically I like this stripped back design. 🤣

New phone should arrive on the 13th!

 

[Spinarelo]

New iOS26 bug today. This is what you get when iOS doesn't like the phone number you're trying to call...

Ironically I like this stripped back design. 🤣

New phone should arrive on the 13th!

It’s great that you’re making a move that you think is best for you. Having choices as consumers is important….. However I hope you don’t have an illusion in your head that you’re leaving a bug filled universe for a heavenly perfect Utopia lol. That list of bugs you have will just be replaced with a new one just as long. They’ll just be different bugs. Such is the nature of technology. I say this because I use both OS’ on a daily basis. iPhone for personal and a Galaxy S4 for work. Android has just as many, if not more bugs and annoyances

 

[TumbleDryer]

It’s great that you’re making a move that you think is best for you. Having choices as consumers is important….. However I hope you don’t have an illusion in your head that you’re leaving a bug filled universe for a heavenly perfect Utopia lol. That list of bugs you have will just be replaced with a new one just as long. They’ll just be different bugs. Such is the nature of technology. I say this because I use both OS’ on a daily basis. iPhone for personal and a Galaxy S4 for work. Android has just as many, if not more bugs and annoyances

Whaaat?!

Just kidding lol. Of course I know that but it’s time to try something new. The latest iPhones don’t appeal to me. They all look like the competition these days - the Nothing Phone is at least quite different. The only selling point on phones these days other than the software is the camera. The majority of people don't need a 48 mega pixel camera if all they’re doing is uploading to social media but people get taken by the hype of 'its better', fill up their phones then pay more for bigger storage. Doesn't make sense to me.

You only really need more than 12mp if you're printing out on A3 paper (how many people are doing that?) or you're zooming in and cropping but if you're doing either of those you would use a DSLR with a proper lens and use real optical zoom for better quality.

Going back to the software, Nothing OS looks exactly what I've been hoping iOS would be but iOS keeps moving away from that. As for the bugs, they're expected but at least I will have a refreshing new experience, whether it's going to be better I won't know until I receive the phone. Once I've got it and got used to it I'll give my genuine impressions of it here. I've not found any negative reviews about NothingOS.

One thing I will miss is FaceID. Nothing Phone is finger print scan, no big deal just slightly less efficient.

 

[TumbleDryer]

For anyone interested in Nothing™ this is another feature that gets my attention. I didn't even know this existed before I bought the phone but its a very interesting idea and approach which I can see catching on for all phones (except Apple of course they don't want you to customise stuff) 😛 and a legitimate use for AI. Carl Pei is the CEO of Nothing™ just so you know - he's a creative not a bean counter.

 

[txmike418]

New iOS26 bug today. This is what you get when iOS doesn't like the phone number you're trying to call...

Ironically I like this stripped back design. 🤣

New phone should arrive on the 13th!

Is it redacted 🤣

 

[TumbleDryer]

So I’ve had the Nothing Phone 4a for around 24 hours now and I must say I’m extremely impressed. Build quality is fantastic, it looks great and is just a general all round nice piece of kit.

Going from an iPhone 13mini to this thing though is going to take some time to get used to, simply because it’s ****ing massive! Lol. I knew the specs before hand obviously but when you actually have it side by side it’s a full inch taller and at least half an inch wider than the mini. I feel it should have come with a free clothes iron instead of wireless headphones but so far that’s my only gripe about the hardware but I knew it was larger so it’s not exactly unexpected.

The screen is brilliant. CRAZY bright if you want it to be - AMOLED HDR and all that jazz. Mostly it’s dynamically only on about 25-35% brightness. There’s a cool feature when you unlock the phone with your fingerprint, because the screen can be so bright, when you rest your finger on the screen it reaches peak brightness under and around your finger and it kind of makes it feel like light/power is beaming out of your finger into the phone and then it unlocks. Quite subtle but Nothing™ have clearly thought about little things to make it truly their own OS.

The home screen is extremely customisable, and with the built in widgets plus the user made ones you can pretty much set it up however you like and I find its massively more functional than iOS with dynamic shortcut widgets and icons etc. I absolutely love the style of it, so much fresher, clearer and bolder.

Downloaded the apps I need with no issues. I thought my emails were going to be a problem but it works much better than iOS. With iOS if you add an email account it can take minutes to verify (at least it does for me - and always has) but on NothingOS I put in the server info and it verified things so quickly I thought it hadn’t worked. I open the mail app to check and it was already populating my stuff.

Settings are more coherent than iOS and all seemingly in one place for the most part unlike iOS. Im still obviously getting to know stuff so maybe there’s something I haven’t found yet but I’ve managed to get everything how I want without having to google anything unlike iOS these days and that's with having literally no experience with Android before.

I got free Nothing™ earphones worth £79 with the phone. I don’t have AirPods so no idea how they work, I assume its very similar to what I’m about to describe but I took the earphones out of the charging case, and put them in my ears and the phone just knew they were ready to go. ‘Do you want to pair?’ ‘Yes’ job done. There’s a widget I put on my Home Screen showing charging status etc. that changes instantly depending on whether they are in my ears or charging in the case. Really impressed with the sound and the bass is fantastic. They also have pressure sensitive controls on each bud. Again I've no experience of AirPods etc so I'm probably way behind on the tech behind earphones these days but I found it pretty impressive - especially for such quality build and price.

So far NothingOS is brilliant. Clean, clear, simple and looks amazing. Super easy to use and very quick.

One gripe I had, and this is an Android thing and not specific to NothingOS, was getting files onto the phone. Music for example. Because I have a Mac the phone doesn’t just show up as a USB drive, but then again neither does an iPhone. So I had to figure how to go about getting files on there. Turns out I need to download a 3rd party app (because Google Drive won’t let you download multiple files at once on Android for some reason and I'm not manually ticking 250 files!). Open the app on the Mac and the phone and they link up and I can then move files across. Once it’s set up I guess it’s a bit like Apple Music but with a much better interface. So it took a bit of faffing to figure out which app to use that would also work with AndroidAuto but now it's done its a very simple process for future interactions. Open the apps drag files in job done.

Whatsapp was a bit of a nob to set up. I had to scan a QR code on my new phone using my iPhone but iPhone kept saying ‘transfer to iPhone’ even though I was transferring to Android. So that confused me and then on my Android that kept saying continue setting up ‘your Childs phone’. I don’t have a child so no idea why it kept saying that lol. That being said I have everything locked down tight and I know google often asks me to confirm my age as it's unsure I’m over 18 so maybe it was something to do with that. It all worked fine, it was just confusingly worded messages on both the Android and iPhone that kept making me start over thinking I was doing something wrong.

One thing I find odd about Android is it has ‘silent notifications’! I mean WTF is a silent notification? That’s a complete contradiction isn’t it? "Hey I've got something to tell you but I'm not going to tell you!". So some notifications don’t actually appear on the home screen etc you just get a tiny icon in the top left which you then have to go hunt down for the notification. Seems stupid to me, there’s probably a way to change it but I haven’t looked into it too much just yet.

All in all, it’s been WAAAY less hassle than I thought it would be (none at all in-fact), but then again I’m not transferring my iCloud stuff like photos and music etc. Im just doing bits manually. I no longer have my previous SMS messages but I don’t need them so for me that’s not an issue, plus as I said before almost everyone uses WhatsApp in the UK so its only messages like confirmation codes and delivery dates I’m missing.

Haven’t really dabbled with the camera yet as I don’t take many photos. But the few test snaps I took looked great. All in all Im super impressed and everything just feels new and interesting again. iOS for me was incredibly stale and more and more complex with each update, then with LiquidGlass it also became ugly and annoying.

Nothings branding reminds me of when Apple were actually 'cool'. Silhouette iPod vibes and exciting products, I think bog standard Android would bore/annoy me but so far I’m very pleased with my decision to switch to Nothing™, I just need a minion to carry the other end of the phone when Im out and about!

👍

 

[I7guy]

A lot of my stuff is stored in Google services not Apple so I don’t get tied to one service.

No you’re just tied to Google services. Pick your poison.

 

[I7guy]

So I’ve had the Nothing Phone 4a for around 24 hours now and I must say I’m extremely impressed. Build quality is fantastic, it looks great and is just a general all round nice piece of kit.

Going from an iPhone 13mini to this thing though is going to take some time to get used to, simply because it’s ****ing massive! Lol. I knew the specs before hand obviously but when you actually have it side by side it’s a full inch taller and at least half an inch wider than the mini. I feel it should have come with a free clothes iron instead of wireless headphones but so far that’s my only gripe about the hardware but I knew it was larger so it’s not exactly unexpected.

The screen is brilliant. CRAZY bright if you want it to be - AMOLED HDR and all that jazz. Mostly it’s dynamically only on about 25-35% brightness. There’s a cool feature when you unlock the phone with your fingerprint, because the screen can be so bright, when you rest your finger on the screen it reaches peak brightness under and around your finger and it kind of makes it feel like light/power is beaming out of your finger into the phone and then it unlocks. Quite subtle but Nothing™ have clearly thought about little things to make it truly their own OS.

The home screen is extremely customisable, and with the built in widgets plus the user made ones you can pretty much set it up however you like and I find its massively more functional than iOS with dynamic shortcut widgets and icons etc. I absolutely love the style of it, so much fresher, clearer and bolder.

Downloaded the apps I need with no issues. I thought my emails were going to be a problem but it works much better than iOS. With iOS if you add an email account it can take minutes to verify (at least it does for me - and always has) but on NothingOS I put in the server info and it verified things so quickly I thought it hadn’t worked. I open the mail app to check and it was already populating my stuff.

Settings are more coherent than iOS and all seemingly in one place for the most part unlike iOS. Im still obviously getting to know stuff so maybe there’s something I haven’t found yet but I’ve managed to get everything how I want without having to google anything unlike iOS these days and that's with having literally no experience with Android before.

I got free Nothing™ earphones worth £79 with the phone. I don’t have AirPods so no idea how they work, I assume its very similar to what I’m about to describe but I took the earphones out of the charging case, and put them in my ears and the phone just knew they were ready to go. ‘Do you want to pair?’ ‘Yes’ job done. There’s a widget I put on my Home Screen showing charging status etc. that changes instantly depending on whether they are in my ears or charging in the case. Really impressed with the sound and the bass is fantastic. They also have pressure sensitive controls on each bud. Again I've no experience of AirPods etc so I'm probably way behind on the tech behind earphones these days but I found it pretty impressive - especially for such quality build and price.

So far NothingOS is brilliant. Clean, clear, simple and looks amazing. Super easy to use and very quick.

One gripe I had, and this is an Android thing and not specific to NothingOS, was getting files onto the phone. Music for example. Because I have a Mac the phone doesn’t just show up as a USB drive, but then again neither does an iPhone. So I had to figure how to go about getting files on there. Turns out I need to download a 3rd party app (because Google Drive won’t let you download multiple files at once on Android for some reason and I'm not manually ticking 250 files!). Open the app on the Mac and the phone and they link up and I can then move files across. Once it’s set up I guess it’s a bit like Apple Music but with a much better interface. So it took a bit of faffing to figure out which app to use that would also work with AndroidAuto but now it's done its a very simple process for future interactions. Open the apps drag files in job done.

Whatsapp was a bit of a nob to set up. I had to scan a QR code on my new phone using my iPhone but iPhone kept saying ‘transfer to iPhone’ even though I was transferring to Android. So that confused me and then on my Android that kept saying continue setting up ‘your Childs phone’. I don’t have a child so no idea why it kept saying that lol. That being said I have everything locked down tight and I know google often asks me to confirm my age as it's unsure I’m over 18 so maybe it was something to do with that. It all worked fine, it was just confusingly worded messages on both the Android and iPhone that kept making me start over thinking I was doing something wrong.

One thing I find odd about Android is it has ‘silent notifications’! I mean WTF is a silent notification? That’s a complete contradiction isn’t it? "Hey I've got something to tell you but I'm not going to tell you!". So some notifications don’t actually appear on the home screen etc you just get a tiny icon in the top left which you then have to go hunt down for the notification. Seems stupid to me, there’s probably a way to change it but I haven’t looked into it too much just yet.

All in all, it’s been WAAAY less hassle than I thought it would be (none at all in-fact), but then again I’m not transferring my iCloud stuff like photos and music etc. Im just doing bits manually. I no longer have my previous SMS messages but I don’t need them so for me that’s not an issue, plus as I said before almost everyone uses WhatsApp in the UK so its only messages like confirmation codes and delivery dates I’m missing.

Haven’t really dabbled with the camera yet as I don’t take many photos. But the few test snaps I took looked great. All in all Im super impressed and everything just feels new and interesting again. iOS for me was incredibly stale and more and more complex with each update, then with LiquidGlass it also became ugly and annoying.

Nothings branding reminds me of when Apple were actually 'cool'. Silhouette iPod vibes and exciting products, I think bog standard Android would bore/annoy me but so far I’m very pleased with my decision to switch to Nothing™, I just need a minion to carry the other end of the phone when Im out and about!

👍

Op, Good luck. Hope it pans out in the long term. Apple is for me but competition is healthy. Oh, and Apple is still cool. Ask the teenage demographic.