10 Thoughts About Android from a Former iPhone Addict

Every day, people switch from iPhone to Android. Some people also switch from Android to iPhone, but those people don’t make good storylines for an Android blog like One Click Root. Anyways, one Reddit user named u/Macchinario recently switched from an iPhone to a Nexus 4. The Nexus 4 is a relatively old Android device at this point in time, but Macchinario seems to appreciate his Nexus 4 and shared 10 thoughts with the r/Android community. Here are those 10 thoughts. The thoughts are in bold: 1) “I really really REALLY miss my dictionary…Since English is not my mother language this [is] a big deal for me.” Fair enough. With iOS, you can simply tap and hold on a word and hit ‘Define’ to read a definition. For most users, however, this is not a big deal.

2) “Things in Android are a little more complicated, convoluted or just plain confusing…The camera APP doesn’t have a way to take you directly to the Gallery” Uhh, actually it does: just swipe left or right on Nexus devices from the camera screen. On other Androids, just hit the gallery button in the bottom corner of the screen. 3) “I still cannot figure out how to change the default apps.” This one is really easy to change. If you want to change the default app for something, simply go into Settings > Apps > [The default app you want to change] and tap Clear Defaults. This is useful if you want to change your default browser or music player, among other important apps.

4) “iTunes Match is easy to replace…I uploaded everything to my Google Drive, then disabled iTunes Match and created a new iTunes library pointing to the new folder. On the Android and iPad I looked for an app that could stream music from the GD (Google Drive). CloudAround works beautifully…” A smart solution to a classic problem. Good job.

5) “I really like the way Android handles text editing…selecting text, correcting, prediction, everything is way easier and faster.” One reason I have never bought an iPhone or iPad is the text input. I can never get used to the keyboard and found the text prediction overly restrictive. And as with everything on Apple devices, you can’t switch to a new keyboard if you don’t like the native iOS one. 6) “Holy crap, is this thing modular. [I installed] toggles, widgets, keyboards, shortcuts, and services way beyond anything I could do with iOS, in a stock system.” This is one of the largest benefits of using Android over iOS: you’re not pigeonholed into using Apple’s services or Google’s services. You’re free to use your device how you want.

7) “I don’t miss my apps at all. Everything is here on Google Play, or it have a different app that does the same thing the same way.” One of the biggest complaints about Andorid a few years ago was that there were too many good iOS-exclusive apps. Nobody wanted to give up these apps to switch to Android. Today, things have changed, and you’d be hard pressed to find a popular iOS app that isn’t on Android. If there isn’t an exact copy of the app from the same developer, there’s likely an improved version (like with Carbon for Twitter and Reddit Sync).

8) “A filesystem! I can download a TXT or MPG file to a folder that every app can access.” It blows my mind that Apple has never given its users access to a filesystem. It’s a basic human right! 9) “The OTA (Over The Air) system update is kinda silly. My Nexus came with 4.2, and to have the latest KitKat I had to do three reboots…Why not jump directly to 4.4.2?” Good point. Android’s update system is far from perfect, even on Nexus devices.

10) “Where is my shiny new interface that was supposed to come with KitKat? I still have black bars and older docks and stuff.” The best KitKat features are currently only seen on the Nexus 5 and other high-end devices. Unfortunately, the Nexus 4 hasn’t quite made the cut – yet – but it should have it in the near future. Once again, you can read Macchinario’s full thread here along with responses from Android fanboys/users: http://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/1usmpm/10_things_about_android_from_an_ios_guy/ It provides an interesting glimpse at what an average iOS user might experience when coming to Android with an open mind and a bit of technical know-how. The most important part of the thread is one comment response from Macchinario which states: “HEY now I feel dumb. And this is much better than iOS, thanks!” We agree, Macchinario.