Who Has Changed Ecosystems? Android to IOS

[Lvmymacs]

My computers have always been iMacs and Mackbook Pros. I have 2 iPods. But, my phone has always been Android for one main reason: battery life. I currently have a Droid Turbo and can go 2+ days between charges if I'm not heavily using data.

Anyhoo, I am now seriously thinking about getting a 7+.

I'm really used to my gmail account being the center of my universe: email, contacts, calendar. There are reasons, though, for me to want to change, so I'm coming to this sage group of advisors.

Who has made the change in Ecosystems? What are the challenges? Was it worth it?

 

[Thor_1]

I am the opposite of you, iPhones and Windows PC. So I never changed eco systems. However, based on your usage, you should be fine. I get 2 days from my 7 (not plus). But if I go data heavy I do have to charge mid day second day.

There is a gmail app, not sure about one for calendars. Your contacts should move over. I have seen them do that in the store.

 

[Black05Hemi]

I use both, switching every few months. Just sold my Nexus 6, and bought a 6s+. I like/dislike things about both platforms, is why I switch between them. I don't think i'll ever be able to choose one over the other longterm.

 

[eyoungren]

My computers have always been iMacs and Mackbook Pros. I have 2 iPods. But, my phone has always been Android for one main reason: battery life. I currently have a Droid Turbo and can go 2+ days between charges if I'm not heavily using data.

Anyhoo, I am now seriously thinking about getting a 7+.

I'm really used to my gmail account being the center of my universe: email, contacts, calendar. There are reasons, though, for me to want to change, so I'm coming to this sage group of advisors.

Who has made the change in Ecosystems? What are the challenges? Was it worth it?

You don't have to use Apple's ecosystem if you don't want to.

It's advertised as the one great unifying thing that binds Apple products together. It does that and allows you to go seamlessly from device to to device.

But it's not a requirement.

I don't use it because I can't. Most of my Macs are PowerPC Macs running Leopard 10.5.8. The one Intel Mac I have is Snow Leopard only. So, I've never been bound to Apple products because of the services. I do use iMessage on my iPhone, but the services I use across my Macs and devices are Google and Dropbox.

All my contacts and calendars are stored in Google.

So you can keep using Google if you want.

Just thought I'd make that point. People seem to assume they have to bind themselves to Apple when they get an iDevice.

 

[BLUEBLASTER]

I went from Note 4 to 7 Plus 128 GB. No complaints. Everything just works.

 

[Channan]

I never switched platforms completely. I got my first iPhone (3G) back in 2008. The Nexus One was the first Android phone I wanted and bought one as soon as that was made available for AT&T. I gave my 3GS to my mom when I got it, but I still had an iPad so I never completely left the iOS ecosystem.

Then the iPhone 4 came out a few months later. I couldn't resist the retina display. Bought it on day one and have since always used both iPhones and Android phones together.

 

[Savor]

Not here. Brands overlap especially in technology. Just because I might use Android for mobile and Mac for desktop, doesn't mean I need everything for be either Google or Apple. Just because I prefer Sony for video games or Samsung and LG for appliances and TV, doesn't mean I need Sony, Samsung, or LG in everything I buy. Ecosystem is kinda like a marketing term almost like some folks need to choose sides and deliberate their merits when you don't need to.

Do you think if Steve Jobs was alive today, everything in his household is Apple? Of course he would buy a competitor since Apple doesn't make everything or is truly the best for everything or the best for everybody. He might own a Samsung Smart TV and used to own Sony products before since he was obsessed with Apple being like Sony years ago. These companies would eventually be rivals but Apple's partners as suppliers.

This is similar to owning a car. People change manufacturers. I doubt majority only buy one specific brand their whole lifetime. After a few years or so, they might want to change it up. People are fickle. You eat McDonald's but you run across Burger King because it is the only fast food available. A rival. Or you drink Pepsi for a day although you prefer Coke. When I hear some say goodbye to a specific brand or ecosystem, it is only temporary. Nothing permanent. Overlap is the name of the game. The switchers will be abundant for being fickle. Brand loyalty is an illusion and waste of time.

 

[T5BRICK]

I've used both Android and iOS. It's been a few years since I've used android at this point, but when I switched to iOS the gMail and Google Music app functioned better on my iPhones than they did on my HTC One.

 

[High Desert]

After using Android smartphones for the past 4 to 5 years, I decided to change over to IOS. Reason, I have a mbp and an iPod Touch, so thought that having a system connected would be better, plus all my family back east uses iPhones. I went with the iPhone 7, with 128 gb. Changing from Android to IOS is not "seamless" as people tell you because there are a lot of things that just are not explained anywhere, unless you "grew up" with iOS. On the other hand, I am now getting used to the system, after a week, will keep the phone rather than moving to a S7. Once you get the phone set up the way you like, it just works! I use gmail, primarily and setup was a snap. The only drawback I have found so far is that there are nowhere near as many apps available for the iPhone as there are for android and apps that are on android (free) cost you on IOS. Was really a tossup between 7 and 7+, but I do not like a big phone and the 7+ did not fit well in my hand for a one handed operation like the 7 does. Also, I do not need dual camera and all the smoke and mirrors that go with that as I have a very good DSLR for serious photography. Basic difference, as I see it, is that 7+ has 3 gb ram, 7 has 2, 7+ dual cameras and slightly larger battery. For me, price and size, compared to 7 was not worth it. I also like having the unlocked version of phone from Verizon, so, imo, try it. You can always return it if not satisfied. Also, folks on the forum are very willing to assist with problems and that helps a lot.

 

[Complex757]

I've always used both. Both have their advantages, because no matter what a fan boy of either says, neither are perfect. Both do certain task well.

The biggest issue is messaging between SMS and iMessage when switching to Android.

One thing I like about both is once I buy an app I have it.

 

[rugmankc]

I like Fantastical for my iPhone calendar--

 

[IFRIT]

You'd be crazy to move from a cross platform ecosystem to lock yourself in to a Apple only one IMO
[doublepost=1477900084][/doublepost]

After using Android smartphones for the past 4 to 5 years, I decided to change over to IOS. Reason, I have a mbp and an iPod Touch, so thought that having a system connected would be better, plus all my family back east uses iPhones. I went with the iPhone 7, with 128 gb. Changing from Android to IOS is not "seamless" as people tell you because there are a lot of things that just are not explained anywhere, unless you "grew up" with iOS. On the other hand, I am now getting used to the system, after a week, will keep the phone rather than moving to a S7. Once you get the phone set up the way you like, it just works! I use gmail, primarily and setup was a snap. The only drawback I have found so far is that there are nowhere near as many apps available for the iPhone as there are for android and apps that are on android (free) cost you on IOS. Was really a tossup between 7 and 7+, but I do not like a big phone and the 7+ did not fit well in my hand for a one handed operation like the 7 does. Also, I do not need dual camera and all the smoke and mirrors that go with that as I have a very good DSLR for serious photography. Basic difference, as I see it, is that 7+ has 3 gb ram, 7 has 2, 7+ dual cameras and slightly larger battery. For me, price and size, compared to 7 was not worth it. I also like having the unlocked version of phone from Verizon, so, imo, try it. You can always return it if not satisfied. Also, folks on the forum are very willing to assist with problems and that helps a lot.

You expect people to read that wall of text?

 

[mikezmac]

Most of android's staple apps run on ios
If you have a family account when you add it to apples email it will give you the ability to sync the gmail contacts and calendars.

On my iPhone I have google app, google trips, duo, Allo, google map and street view, translate, chrome, hangouts, wallet, voice, keep and google drive.

I tried android for 6 months and went back to iOS.

The transition from android to iOS was much easier that iOS to android.

 

[bransoj]

I have an iPhone with a Windows PC but use Google for mail, calendar and contacts inside the standard apple apps and have done since my 3GS. The only slight change in recent times was Google turning off push email etc so i now have it set to fetch email instead but its not a massive issue for me.

Alongside my mail i have all my contacts backed up to Google but also means they are all accessible on my iPad, home PC and work PC whilst for my calendar i use the stock app to run my own calendar, cricket club calendar and then numerous subscribed calendars as well updating all accessible again from my iPad, home PC and work PC. Storing stuff with google and accessing them via the stock Apple apps on iPhones works just fine.

 

[coney718]

I switch back and forth and like others said both ecosystems have their pros and cons. Either way you are going to be sacrificing something. Ironically many of Google's apps actually run better on iOS at least in my experience so you shouldn't have a problem there. In general most apps are a bit higher quality and more optimized on iOS than their Android counterparts (im looking at you IG and Snapchat). Battery life will be comparable if you get the Plus but even then i'm not sure you will go 2+ days. When people say iPhones "just work" its not a gimmick, since there is little you can do in terms of customizing like Android everything is set up to work well straight out the box. You dont have to constantly tinker, tweak, disable and adjust things to make it work like its supposed to like I have to do with my Android phone. I have a S7 Edge and an iPhone 6S+ and I use the iPhone more often because its just a smoother and more fluid UI experience. I really only use the S7 for downloading/watching videos because the screen is amazing. Overall I think you will be satisfied with the 7+.

 

[iApple_man]

Not here. Brands overlap especially in technology. Just because I might use Android for mobile and Mac for desktop, doesn't mean I need everything for be either Google or Apple. Just because I prefer Sony for video games or Samsung and LG for appliances and TV, doesn't mean I need Sony, Samsung, or LG in everything I buy. Ecosystem is kinda like a marketing term almost like some folks need to choose sides and deliberate their merits when you don't need to.

Do you think if Steve Jobs was alive today, everything in his household is Apple? Of course he would buy a competitor since Apple doesn't make everything or is truly the best for everything or the best for everybody. He might own a Samsung Smart TV and used to own Sony products before since he was obsessed with Apple being like Sony years ago. These companies would eventually be rivals but Apple's partners as suppliers.

This is similar to owning a car. People change manufacturers. I doubt majority only buy one specific brand their whole lifetime. After a few years or so, they might want to change it up. People are fickle. You eat McDonald's but you run across Burger King because it is the only fast food available. A rival. Or you drink Pepsi for a day although you prefer Coke. When I hear some say goodbye to a specific brand or ecosystem, it is only temporary. Nothing permanent. Overlap is the name of the game. The switchers will be abundant for being fickle. Brand loyalty is an illusion and waste of time.

And yet we have the brand wars, enjoyed your technical answer tho.


2014 was my first time coming to Apple, before I would switch back and forth with android and Blackberry(BB10), not for Loyalty reasons, but being bored/phone junky reasons. Saying that, ios always had the support and as of 09/2016, I came back to ios after a year of being gone. I can't really see myself switching now. BB10 is dead, android doesn't get software support unless you buy the latest and greatest every 6 months(<---exaggeration there) or root your phone to which I don't do.

Apple supports their phones, so the switch was easy. To be honest, ios 8 was my first iPhone experience and it was familiar and I loved the smoothness, etc....etc. I'm staying now.

 

[Lvmymacs]

Thanks for the food for thought. I'm still on the fence, but this really does help.

 

[Prof Farnsworth]

I just made the switch to iOS myself, coming from a Note 4. My first choice was the Note7, but we saw how that unfolded. After that it was just a process of elimination, No new nexus, pixel is an Htc, and won't own another htc.

It just felt like a good time to see how the iPhone really is. I didn't preorder, but got lucky and found the JB 128g iPhone 7+ I wanted. Transition was fairly easy, and a small learning curve. Haven't looked back.

Sure, I miss the S pen, and there was only 1 app I regularly used that I can't get on iOS, but everything else has fallen into place nicely.

 

[hammy434]

I changed from Android to iOS and it's been pretty good. You get used to it eventually and it's great getting software updates and features as soon as they're released, and I do love my iPhone. As for battery life, iPhones have very good standby time compared to Android phones, especially in poor signal areas, but when you actually start using them, they drain a lot quicker, so depending on your usage that might be a good or a bad thing.

There are a few things that are annoying about iOS itself; simple tasks like moving pictures/music between your iPhone and PC are needlessly complicated, and you can't really download files like you can on Android. On the whole though, I really like the way iOS works other than that, and I'd definitely recommend you give it a try. I am thinking of possibly going back to Android next year, but I personally think both OS's are great. A bit of advice though, I'd recommend waiting for the next iPhone (7s/8 or whatever they call it), as the 7 is a pretty crap upgrade over the 6s IMO. The next iPhone will (based on rumours) be truly special and well worth waiting for.

I hope that helps

 

[cmdrdredd]

I moved from Android to iPhone a couple years back and have been very pleased. I spent a lot of time trying to find a version of an app that worked on whatever device I had on Android, I had to wait for the manufacturer and carrier to release updates (with all kinds of bloatware you can't remove without Root access sometimes). I rooted and put custom roms on there but I felt like I was always troubleshooting the device and how much battery the ROM drained than it was worth.

I guess I like my phone more simple. Apps work if I get them from the app store, none of the "your device isn't supported" or "your version of Android is too new"