Switching from Android to iPhone: what's good in native iOS?

[Adoniram]

So I'm going to be getting the 7 when it comes out, if the dual camera turns out to be real. I watched the latest keynote about iOS 10, and was slightly concerned about a lack of features in native iOS apps, especially maps. They announced features I've been using for a long time with Google maps that are still only in beta now.... ??

So my question is: What is good that is included in iOS, and what really needs to be replaced with something 3rd party? I generally use my phone for pictures, maps, directions, shopping, listening to music, surfing the web (via Chrome browser), and social media. Other things include stuff that are 3rd party exclusive like controlling my celestron telescope, so that's obviously not platform specific... I transfer all my pictures via USB cable, not via cloud/online.

(edit: I also use 3rd party text apps. Is iOS SMS any good natively?)

Thanks!

 

[C DM]

All those things work fine in iOS, whether with native or 3rd party apps. Is there anything in particular that you want/need to be able to do with any of those things that you aren't sure about? The thing about iOS (or Android or other OSs) is that if the native version doesn't quite have something there are often 3rd party versions that could be used instead without really losing anything in many cases.

 

[Adoniram]

Well my primary concern was maps, but I guess I can just download google maps and make that problem disappear. Other than that, I'd like to have a nice way to organize pictures. The Gallery app does that well on my current phone, but I hear mixed things about iOS, especially in conjunction with iTunes...

Does voicemail download locally to the phone, or do you have to dial in to get it? I use 3rd party for that now and generally hate all the 3rd party options out there... I hate ads, and I think voicemail is something that should be a decent functioning included app...

 

[LoveToMacRumors]

Well my primary concern was maps, but I guess I can just download google maps and make that problem disappear. Other than that, I'd like to have a nice way to organize pictures. The Gallery app does that well on my current phone, but I hear mixed things about iOS, especially in conjunction with iTunes...

Does voicemail download locally to the phone, or do you have to dial in to get it? I use 3rd party for that now and generally hate all the 3rd party options out there... I hate ads, and I think voicemail is something that should be a decent functioning included app...

You can get visual voicemail

 

[C DM]

Well my primary concern was maps, but I guess I can just download google maps and make that problem disappear. Other than that, I'd like to have a nice way to organize pictures. The Gallery app does that well on my current phone, but I hear mixed things about iOS, especially in conjunction with iTunes...

Does voicemail download locally to the phone, or do you have to dial in to get it? I use 3rd party for that now and generally hate all the 3rd party options out there... I hate ads, and I think voicemail is something that should be a decent functioning included app...

Voicemail is built into the Phone app and gets downloaded to be available directly from there. You also have the option to use some 3rd party options if you use Google Voice or YouMail or some other service for voicemail.

As far as photos, the Photos app gives you some ability to organize photos, but depending on what you need/want you might end up using a 3rd party app (and perhaps even a 3rd party cloud service).

 

[eoblaed]

Well my primary concern was maps

The issues with Maps were really blown out of proportion. Yeah, it was a little bumpy at first, but it worked mostly fine for most people most of the time and since that initial launch, Apple has had a huge, very responsive team fixing it all up.

It's been really solid for a long while now.

 

[eyoungren]

I transfer all my pictures via USB cable, not via cloud/online.

You'll have to get used to not transfering that way, unless you have a PC. Even then it's slightly limited.

Otherwise, Google Drive or Dropbox or some other cloud service. Just the way Apple does things.

 

[simon lefisch]

You'll have to get used to not transfering that way, unless you have a PC.

Why is that? I transfer photos from my iPhone to my Mac using the Photos app and the USB cord. From the Mac it goes to iCloud, but why would have to get used to not transferring photos using the USB cable?

 

[eyoungren]

Why is that? I transfer photos from my iPhone to my Mac using the Photos app and the USB cord. From the Mac it goes to iCloud, but why would have to get used to not transferring photos using the USB cable?

On a PC if you plug in an iPhone the part of the iDevice file system that contains the photos will load as a drive. You can then browse those photos and copy them directly from the drive to the desktop.

Other than how you mention you do this, there is no direct way to do this same thing on a Mac. Plug in an iDevice via USB cable and you do not get a drive appearing on your desktop like you would with a USB flash drive. There is absolutely no way to access the stock iPhone file system via Finder on a Mac.

 

[simon lefisch]

There is absolutely no way to access the stock iPhone file system via Finder on a Mac.

If jailbroken, you can use iExplorer.

 

[eyoungren]

If jailbroken, you can use iExplorer.

Or PC Networking, or if on 8.x or less my favorite – Netatalk (Appletalk/Apple File Protocol via WiFi).

Assuming a jailbreak is there for iOS 10 and OP wants to jailbreak though.

 

[M. Gustave]

...So my question is: What is good that is included in iOS...

Siri integration, iCloud (especially Photos), 3D Touch, ApplePay, and Apple Music, top my list. But there are too many nice little touches to even list them all.

Invest the time to learn the OS, approach with an open mind to new workflows, and you'll be rewarded.

 

[Adoniram]

Good idea to invest time to learn the system. I could go through a Lynda.com course or something like that... Unless Apple has any great, free tutorials? (I can get any Lynda.com program free through my employer)

I use PC's almost exclusively, or Ubuntu or scientific Linux when I have to, so I'm glad to hear image transfers aren't an issue. iCould/online storage is ok, but it's limited. I don't feel the need to pay $50/year or whatever for a tiny portion of space when I have over a TB of free space on just 1 of my computers.

I have almost never used Google's version of Siri, or Samsung's whatever-they-call-it. Is it really that great on iPhone, other than "Give me directions home" or "what does a weasel look like?"

 

[M. Gustave]

I don't feel the need to pay $50/year or whatever for a tiny portion of space...

It's $12 per year for 50 GB of iCloud, and then you have all the benefits of using Apple's own integrated solution.

I have almost never used Google's version of Siri, or Samsung's whatever-they-call-it. Is it really that great on iPhone, other than "Give me directions home" or "what does a weasel look like?"

Yes, it is that great on an iPhone, again if you take the time to learn when and how to use it. Setting alarms, creating on the fly playlists in Apple Music, reading back and replying to text messages, setting reminders, are just a few examples.