7 causes I transformed to iPhone from Android

The crux of my dispute over the iPhone vs Android debate has lengthy centered on my razor-sharp-witted, cut-throat, and mirth-filled group chats. I used to be late to the smartphone adoption sport, so I spent my school profession with brick flip-phones that promised water-resistance and drop safety. My mates dubbed me a techy luddite early on. So, I used to be that particular person with a inexperienced bubble in group chats as the one Android person for nearly ten years.

Lastly, April 2023 got here round, and I needed to name the time of loss of life on my favourite four-year-old Samsung Galaxy S10 — whose display had a gap in it for 3 of these years — which after all made on a regular basis work duties a bit troublesome to finish, however I used to be undeterred and used it till its final breath. I stubbornly clung to my acquainted platforms even when software program bloat and battery points plagued my telephone in its first 12 months.

In the event you can relate to the concern of studying an entire new telephone working system or the panic that comes with transferring information — I’ve bought your again. I made the swap to a new iPhone SE (2022) after by no means proudly owning an Apple gadget, and I’ve to confess: My group chats had been proper. I am by no means going again to an Android telephone. I will clarify why under.

1 Person-experience

Beginning up within the Apple ecosystem for the primary time

Earlier than my swap to the iPhone, I believed the promised intuitive user-experience was over-inflated. I’m blissful to confess I used to be, once more, mistaken. I used the handbook setup possibility when activating and using my iPhone for the first time, finishing the step-by-step directions in about 20 minutes. By the tip of my first week, I felt like an iPhone wizard. Widgets look beautiful, homescreens are straightforward to edit, and finding system settings is a breeze. I will speak concerning the digital camera a bit extra under, however the digital camera user-experience is one among my favourite enhancements.

One 12 months on, and the serendipitous discovery of a cool new characteristic on my iPhone nonetheless occurs every week. Every epiphany is a enjoyable addition to my habits, not one thing that I used to be lacking for fundamental performance and leisure. All of us have totally different studying types and points of interest to sure software program design. Personally, I discover the iPhone to higher meet my must intuitively function my gadget than my earlier Androids.

I respect the rare however useful notifications that pop up reminding me of the totally different entry I’ve allowed sure apps to must my photographs and information — and the choice to vary them shortly. As a former librarian and data skilled, information privateness is an ever-present concern, and this permits my telephone to deal with a few of this nervousness.

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2 Picture sharing and Airdrop

Fast sharing throughout the room

I argued with my mates for a decade that they simply wanted to download WhatsApp to share photos and movies with me, to which they refused and continued to ask me if I had despatched them CCTV footage from 1996 each time I despatched a video — as I mentioned earlier — cut-throat, however witty. Airdropping foolish photographs to my companion from throughout the room is a brand new pleasure and favourite sport.

Whereas a few of the media sharing ache factors might grow to be historical past quickly, the screenshot examples above had been from as not too long ago as January. In a bunch chat with just one Android person, my mates needed to share their unbelievable journey to Italy over the vacations with 5 different mates. They’re each fairly personal and do not submit to social media, so group chats and emails are how we sustain with these two. Because the beautiful, however grainy, pictures got here in, I lastly skilled the opposite aspect of the picture sharing ache.

I now get reside pictures, movies, and portrait mode snaps of my favourite 11-month-old who lives six hours away. I used to be fortunate to have such nice mates who would discover methods to share pictures of their toddler with me working round my Android. However, with an iPhone, sharing pictures and movies is easy. It permits them to share a single picture album with all of us, and it is simple for me to view their weekly updates with two button faucets to my shared picture albums.

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3 Software program bloat

Bixby was the bane of my existence

I not often get a pop-up or working system notification from my iPhone. And to date, knock on titanium, and I’ve but to by chance allow Siri to take over my display once I don’t need it to. Sadly for my Galaxy S10, the Bixby aspect button hit my hand at the least 4 occasions a day, till I used to be aggravated sufficient to search for easy methods to disable that characteristic. Followers of preinstalled bloatware and apps are few and much between, however I am significantly vicious in direction of them.

Certainly one of my first steps when activating a brand new gadget is to undergo apps and settings and switch off, take away, or uninstall pointless apps for my way of life. I am delighted to say that I spent about quarter-hour whole eradicating pre-installed software program after activating the telephone and there have been solely a handful that needed to keep, not like my earlier Android which was packed to the gills (or gigabytes) with Samsung apps and settings.

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4 Battery life and fast charging

You imply I do not want an exterior charger on me always?

Charging occasions and longevity have impressed over the previous 12 months I’ve used my iPhone SE. Whereas it is a new telephone versus an older Galaxy mannequin I changed it with, it is not a 2023 or 2024 launch, it is a 2022 one. I’ve but to expertise a battery drain like my previous Android’s skilled after a 12 months of use. I additionally reside in a really chilly local weather and to date have been in a position to preserve my iPhone in my coat pocket with out worrying that the slight publicity to the chilly would tank my battery.

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5 Digital camera and screenshot simplicity

Simple images with excessive decision

I am a degree and shoot digital camera person. I will goal for cool angles and attempt to seize visually attention-grabbing frames — however I am not one to mess around with settings. My photographs are for Instagram and close friends solely, and infrequently work. Androids and iPhones cross the baton of digital camera greatness forwards and backwards all 12 months with new mannequin drops and software program replace releases. There are professionals and cons to each mannequin, particularly should you just like the addition of generative AI. For instance, the recent Google Pixel 8 collection and Samsung S24 phones are filled with the newest AI features enhancing their cameras.

The iPhone’s digital camera provides simplicity for fundamental customers like me, whereas nonetheless offering all of the bells and whistles for extra professional customers. Even when it was model new, I struggled with the over-eager alerts, additional recommendation, and fixed ideas and methods that had been on full show in Samsung’s digital camera app. Reside pictures, portrait mode, and shortly altering aspect-ratio are a few of my most used iPhone digital camera options.

Screenshots play a extra essential a part of my life than I ever thought they might. I now take screenshots always for product critiques, app directions, and generally nonetheless to roast my mates in group chat with a Fb submit from 2009. I respect the fast edit choices on my iPhone SE to crop, share, after which delete the screenshot, stopping my image storage from taking such successful.

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6 Streamlined group and app administration

Between storage, looking out, and options, my data group coronary heart is blissful

My iPhone has just a few group options that edged out my previous Samsung mannequin. I like the fast set-up and visually dynamic folders on my homescreens in addition to the App Library group on the again finish. I edit and customise these each couple months, relying on what I am utilizing most frequently. The drag and drop contact controls are user-friendly and do not take surgical precision to edit, one thing I discovered points with on my Samsung mannequin.

Whereas I have never upgraded my cloud storage on my telephone, I discover the occasional replace cycle offers me sufficient suggestions on my present storage capability — organized, simply findable, and highlighting my utilization — that I do not thoughts popping into my apps for a fast delete of unused apps taking on house. The truth is, I actually want this and use it as my common telephone cleaning to purge apps I believed I might use, that did not make the reduce after just a few weeks. It makes my gadget really feel extra usable to eliminate additional bells and whistles. I find yourself utilizing it for its precise goal, extra so than dwelling my life scrolling.

The OCR features on iPhone are such a delight too — I not too long ago photographed all my bookshelves with Reside Textual content on in order that I can search my picture library to find guide spines I am unable to keep in mind the place I final positioned. There’s at all times a brand new approach to make use of an older operate that ranges up my iPhone sport.

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7 Group chats customization

Stickers, textual content results, reactions, and extra

Whatever the bullying to get an iPhone from my mates, I really benefit from the group textual content features and options. The straightforward act of naming a bunch chat, reacting with hearts, haha, or exclamations, and replying on to threads bought me on my iPhone on the primary day. As all of my causes listed below are subjective, I feel this one is essentially the most based mostly on exterior forces.

My Android was trusty when looking for previous pictures shared in group chats or messages, a characteristic iPhone shares, however monitoring shared hyperlinks on the iPhone is an unbelievable enchancment. My companion and I’ve been the stereotypical Millennial house-hunters, always sending Zillow hyperlinks to properties we won’t afford to everybody we all know. Between house-hunting and planning a number of bachelorette events in 2024, finding the previous hyperlinks in a messaging thread has saved me hours of frustration.

Perhaps it is a generational pull or regional choice, however I bought sick of being the one inexperienced textual content in my circle. At any time when the mixed iPhone and Android group chat used reactions, I acquired a play-by-play textual content of the response, absolutely written out.

Finally, you might have to drift if the dam will not break. However should you resolve to remain loyal to both aspect of the iPhone and Android battlefield and may’t take the warmth of your humorous mates, take a look at my colleague Hillary’s directions on easy methods to depart a bunch chat under.

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