# Convince me to switch to Android and give up my iPhone **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 20, 2014, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/convince-me-to-switch-to-android-and-give-up-my-iphone/696006 "2014-08-20T15:35:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2014, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/convince-me-to-switch-to-android-and-give-up-my-iphone/696006/21 "2014-08-21T01:46:04Z")
Not sure if this is still an issue, but Apple used to ban stuff from the app store for stupid reasons like “making fun of public figures”. A political cartoonist was blocked from providing an app of his cartoons, but after a stink was raised the app was allowed. That was some time ago, so maybe they are more open now. ---
**Author:** ![urban1a](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e47c2d/32.png) [@urban1a](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/urban1a)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2014, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/convince-me-to-switch-to-android-and-give-up-my-iphone/696006/22 "2014-08-21T02:35:14Z")
> [@el\_nombre](#): > > The biggest selling point for me is the micro sd card slot most androids have. I can fit every song i own on one. Upload all of your music (up to 25,000 tracks I belive) to the Google Music service and it is immediately available on any Android device you have regardless of whether it has an SD card. Bpb ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2014, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/convince-me-to-switch-to-android-and-give-up-my-iphone/696006/23 "2014-08-21T02:39:29Z")
> [@Heracles](#): > > “Better” may be too strong a word. Functionally, a modern iPhone and a high-end Android phone are basically equivalent and cost about the same. > > Pluses: > > - You have a wider choice of models on Android, some having larger screens. > > Minuses: > > - Accessories for an Android phone are a bit harder to find, because there are so many different models. > - Similarly, your car audio system will pair (via Bluetooth) with any smartphone, but if you use your phone as an iPod in the car (connecting it via USB), an Android probably won’t work. > > But these are minor points. My Android phone works just fine via Bluetooth with my car stereo. I use Google All Access as my primary music source now. I can also plug into my stereo via USB cable. Also, the Apple implementation of Bluetooth doesn’t support all Bluetooth profiles so there are devices it will never be able to sync with. My SO has written an app that connects via Bluetooth to our home solar inverter and generates graphs of the power output of the system. He’s had multiple requests to port his app to iOS but it can’t be done because it’s an unsupported Bluetooth profile. I also remember having similar problems with the Kodak photo booths where I used to work until Kodak introduced a work-around (IIRC, they introduced an iDevice plug; the Bluetooth connection couldn’t work with iPhones because of the missing profiles). That was quite a few years ago. An Android feature that I love, even though it is one tiny little thing, is that the keyboard changes the case displayed on the keys when you tap the shift key. Never understood why iPhone doesn’t; it’s just one of those little niceties. I love Swype SO MUCH. Tapping out words letter by letter now feels like such a chore. It took maybe 48 hours to start getting comfortable with Swype and now I couldn’t be without it. I have the HTC One M8 with the dot cover. Enormous phone (downside for me with my tiny hands) but amazing clear sound from the front facing speakers. Tap to wake the screen. Accept/Reject calls without opening the cover. Crappy camera. Nice interface - better than Samsung. I’ve skinned it so the home screen looks like an old-school LCD screen with custom icons and a matching weather/clock widget because that amuses me. Now this is usually the point in the conversation where the iPhone fanboys come in and say “I don’t have a solar inverter, I don’t print my photos at a Kodak booth and skinning your phone is lame, childish, trivial and a waste of my precious time so I wouldn’t want to do any of that anyway, which is why I prefer the iPhone because it does the things that matter and doesn’t make things confusing with complicated choices that I don’t want.” Don’t, ok? You look stupid. You’re arguing that your phone is better because it does less. You’re arguing that you’ll never want to do something with it that you haven’t done before, that because the specific examples I mentioned don’t apply to you then nothing else ever will, and you’re arguing that having that functionality exist dormant in the background will somehow complicate your day to day use of the phone. What you’ve got is a device that has decided for you that none of those things are ever an option no matter what changes in your life, and you paid as much or more for it as you could have for a phone that does everything. There may be valid reasons to argue for the superiority of your device, but it isn’t superior for lacking features. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2014, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/convince-me-to-switch-to-android-and-give-up-my-iphone/696006/24 "2014-08-21T03:03:38Z")
> [@OneCentStamp](#): > > I took **bup** ’s post as a lighthearted attempt to do exactly what the OP requested. 😉 I’m surprised that it worked. (The OP immediately obeyed.) 😃 . ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2014, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/convince-me-to-switch-to-android-and-give-up-my-iphone/696006/25 "2014-08-21T07:22:29Z")
Android encourages competitition in the hardware makers. Apple discourages competition and would let the hardware flounder and become poor quality, if left to win a monopoly. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2014, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/convince-me-to-switch-to-android-and-give-up-my-iphone/696006/26 "2014-08-21T07:44:29Z")
Cost is a huge factor as well. A really good budget Android phone, contract and sim free, (a Moto G) costs £300 less than an iphone and I’ve yet to come across a feature that I need that is missing from it. The iphone may be theoretically more powerful but if you don’t access that power then your money is better spent elsewhere. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2014, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/convince-me-to-switch-to-android-and-give-up-my-iphone/696006/27 "2014-08-21T11:16:47Z")
> [@urban1a](#): > > Upload all of your music (up to 25,000 tracks I belive) to the Google Music service and it is immediately available on any Android device you have regardless of whether it has an SD card. > > Bpb My iPhone does that, too. There are apps that let you download your music from the Google cloud and play it on your device. There’s also an Amazon app that does the same thing for your Amazon cloud music. ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2014, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/convince-me-to-switch-to-android-and-give-up-my-iphone/696006/28 "2014-08-21T13:02:00Z")
Android: No iTunes- instead, everything is Drag-and-Drop SD Card- so you’ve got as much storage as you want Replaceable battery Google integration- this is a big one for me. I use GMail, Google Calendar, Google Voice, Hangouts. Easily rooted- so you’ve got more control over every aspect of your phone User-customizable UI- you have total control over the look of your phone’s layout Easy to install apps- I can open up the Play store on my computer’s browser and tell it to install an app to my phone, without ever even having to wake up my phone. Most apps update themselves, rather than waiting for you to start the download (unless the app permissions have changed, in which case it asks you) iPhone: Better third-party hardware integration- my car stereo, for example, can easily connect to my iPad… but I can’t do the same with my Galaxy s3. There are also a lot more headsets available for the iPhone- but only a few that completely work with the Galaxy, because the pinouts are different. Better hardware- the iPhone feels solid in my hand. Better UI- Apple’s UI is very well designed, and is propagated across almost all of the apps. A much larger App store. Siri- a lot of people don’t like it, but I found it to be very useful over my car’s bluetooth radio. Regular updates- everyone gets the next version of the iOS at the same time. On the Android, however, it can be months (or even years) before your cell provider approves the update (usually by adding in their own bloatware). Even just a few months ago, my wife and I were planning to switch back to iPhones when the next version came out. We’ve changed our minds, though- now we’re going to upgrade to the next version of the Samsung Galaxy when it comes out. ---
**Author:** ![Sleel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/73ab20/32.png) [@Sleel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleel)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2014, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/convince-me-to-switch-to-android-and-give-up-my-iphone/696006/29 "2014-08-21T13:13:08Z")
One of the tech blogs I read — I forget which — put it very succinctly: If you like to tinker, Android can be very rewarding. If you just want to use it and have it work, get an iPhone. If you’re actually interested in making a switch, know what you’re getting into. If you don’t have a significant investment in the iOS ecosystem, and don’t use any platform-exclusive apps (there are fewer of those now, and even as an iOS user I consider that a good thing) then switching will probably not be particularly difficult. If you just want an equivalent experience, Android 4.x is by all accounts pretty similar to iOS in all major areas. If you want to actually benefit from the switch, you’ll have to invest some time and effort, though. Android is power-user friendly, but you have to do your research. Let me repeat that: YOU HAVE TO DO YOUR RESEARCH. Many Android phones which were supposed to be upgradable were later not supported for upgrade paths, officially, by either the carrier or the maker, and either of those entities could be a roadblock to upgrading. That has gotten better as Google became more Apple- (or Microsoft-) like in centralizing control in part by [threatening to pull access to Google services](http://bgr.com/2014/02/11/android-fragmentation-google-plans/). The current version of Android, KitKat, will not be supported by some future and quite a few currently-available handsets. [Here’s a list](http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/android-4-4-kitkat-phone-list/#!bHehrv) of those that will. This list is by no means inclusive of the hundreds of handsets from different makers out there being sold _right now_. Again: DO YOUR RESEARCH and have a short list of models you know you want, or you run the risk of having an inexpensive, superficially attractive, but limited model pushed on you by your carrier store. In contrast, the iPhone 4, which was released over 4 years ago, is capable of running the current version of iOS 7, though it is not slated to receive the upcoming iOS 8. (The 4S, released in late 2011, will, however.) In general, Apple supports upgrades for much farther back than Android manufacturers do. What’s the alternative to waiting for an official carrier/manufacturer update on an Android phone? Root it. But then YOU HAVE TO DO YOUR RESEARCH again because some phones can’t be rooted at all, and you’re also putting yourself into an unsupported state. You can be damn sure the official channels will laugh at you if you expect them to fix something you willfully broke. If you want access to future updates, iOS is the better bet, even if you’re willing to “roll your own” and deal with all the technicalities that entails. If you’re not comfortable rooting your phone and performing self-support and troubleshooting, and/or you are not sideloading apps, you are probably not going to see much, if any benefit from switching to Android from iOS. Google Play and the iTunes store are roughly equivalent now, though many apps are iOS first, or iOS exclusive. On the flipside, there are entire classes of apps like keyboard replacements on Android that are not _currently_ available for iOS because of App Store rules. That may change in the future — for example, [Fleksy will be available in iOS 8](http://fleksy.com/ios8/) when it’s released — but if there are features that you really really want that you can’t get in the Apple App Store, don’t hold your breath waiting for a change. You’re also taking on the burden of DOING YOUR RESEARCH when it comes to downloading apps. [Malware](http://www.androidcentral.com/tag/malware) is a non-trivial problem, especially when running older versions of Android that have known security holes. Sure, if you only install apps from the Google Play store, you’re probably ([probably](http://bgr.com/2014/06/18/google-play-store-android-malware-app/)) ok, but then you’re ceding one of the touted benefits of Android over iOS; “openness”. If you do your homework, the risks are pretty damn low, but you do have to pay a minimal amount of attention and be technically literate, if not necessarily technically savvy. ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/848f3c/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_Dunlop)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2014, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/convince-me-to-switch-to-android-and-give-up-my-iphone/696006/30 "2014-08-21T16:06:14Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > Why would you make more typos on Android? Android has auto-correction and it works pretty well out of the box on all phone I’ve tried. And don’t you read over what you’ve typed before you send it? > > Android also makes it easy to change to other keyboards that have different features or layouts. The iOS keyboard is ok, but the biggest annoyance for me now that I’m used to Android is that the iOS keyboard doesn’t change to lowercase when I’m typing lowercase. I didn’t make more typos. The Android auto-correction works so much worse that my text messages were harder to read. I wouldn’t have expected it to be noticeable but it was highly noticeable for me. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2014, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/convince-me-to-switch-to-android-and-give-up-my-iphone/696006/31 "2014-08-21T16:36:36Z")
> [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](#): > > The Android auto-correction works so much worse that my text messages were harder to read. I wouldn’t have expected it to be noticeable but it was highly noticeable for me. My experience is that there’s no significant difference between them, but there may be multiple implementations on each OS. ---
**Author:** ![jacobsta811](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jacobsta811/32/2893_2.png) [@jacobsta811](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jacobsta811)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2014, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/convince-me-to-switch-to-android-and-give-up-my-iphone/696006/32 "2014-08-21T17:03:38Z")
In the class of things “not at all possible with IOS, but doable with Android”, the biggest is Ad Blocking: [Free Ad Blocker For Android - Adblock Browser](https://adblockplus.org/en/android-install) Now google won’t let Ad blocking apps into their store itself, because that is how they make their money, but it is otherwise easy enough to install, and the fact that you even CAN install an app not allowed in the store is an advantage as well. And frankly I’d say you need ad blocking a hell of a lot _more_ on a mobile device than you do on a desktop, even though it is harder/less popular. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2014, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/convince-me-to-switch-to-android-and-give-up-my-iphone/696006/33 "2014-08-21T17:37:12Z")
> [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](#): > > I didn’t make more typos. The Android auto-correction works so much worse that my text messages were harder to read. I wouldn’t have expected it to be noticeable but it was highly noticeable for me. If you weren’t making typos then what made your messages hard to read? Give me an example. I have typed tons of stuff on an iTouch 3g an HTC Evo View tablet, and a Moto Photon with Android 2.3. Their autocorrects are different but I wouldn’t say one is materially better than the other. Plus with Android you optionally have entirely different keyboards from entirely different vendors to choose from, and they’re not hard to install. They install like any other app, then you switch keyboards by long-pressing a text input blank. > [@jacobsta811](#): > > In the class of things “not at all possible with IOS, but doable with Android”, the biggest is > Ad Blocking: [Free Ad Blocker For Android - Adblock Browser](https://adblockplus.org/en/android-install) > Now google won’t let Ad blocking apps into their store itself, because that is how they make their money, but it is otherwise easy enough to install, and the fact that you even CAN install an app not allowed in the store is an advantage as well. > And frankly I’d say you need ad blocking a hell of a lot _more_ on a mobile device than you do on a desktop, even though it is harder/less popular. Yeah AdBlock on Android is huge. I am so spoiled I forget I have it. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2014, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/convince-me-to-switch-to-android-and-give-up-my-iphone/696006/34 "2014-08-21T17:54:21Z")
> [@jacobsta811](#): > > In the class of things “not at all possible with IOS, but doable with Android”, the biggest is > Ad Blocking: [Free Ad Blocker For Android - Adblock Browser](https://adblockplus.org/en/android-install) > Now google won’t let Ad blocking apps into their store itself, because that is how they make their money, but it is otherwise easy enough to install, and the fact that you even CAN install an app not allowed in the store is an advantage as well. > And frankly I’d say you need ad blocking a hell of a lot _more_ on a mobile device than you do on a desktop, even though it is harder/less popular. Not exclusive to Android. Safari doesn’t have adblocking, but there are browsers on the App Store that do have built-in adblocking. Mercury Browser is one that comes to mind. ---
**Author:** ![jacobsta811](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jacobsta811/32/2893_2.png) [@jacobsta811](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jacobsta811)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2014, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/convince-me-to-switch-to-android-and-give-up-my-iphone/696006/35 "2014-08-21T18:22:36Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Not exclusive to Android. Safari doesn’t have adblocking, but there are browsers on the App Store that do have built-in adblocking. Mercury Browser is one that comes to mind. First, having to install yet another app that won’t get used by default by siri, etc isn’t exactly the same as having adblock. But even more than that, adblock for android is _not_ just for your browser, it blocks ads in apps too, which is IMHO far more important since the best experience for most things on mobile is through a dedicated app. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2014, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/convince-me-to-switch-to-android-and-give-up-my-iphone/696006/36 "2014-08-21T18:54:02Z")
> [@jacobsta811](#): > > First, having to install yet another app that won’t get used by default by siri, etc isn’t exactly the same as having adblock. But even more than that, adblock for android is _not_ just for your browser, it blocks ads in apps too, which is IMHO far more important since the best experience for most things on mobile is through a dedicated app. Yep I keep wondering why the Weatherbug app leaves so much empty space on their map screen, but it is where ads would appear if I wasn’t running Adblock. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2014, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/convince-me-to-switch-to-android-and-give-up-my-iphone/696006/37 "2014-08-21T18:55:17Z")
> [@Jman](#): > > This is not an Android pro. You’ve always been able to share apps across multiple iOS devices without repurchasing them… Ok, thanks, good to know. I’m out of date, I remember having great difficulties with my wife and I on separate iTunes accounts, but trying to manage sharing in a sane way. It’s possible that it was always doable but that iTunes just made it a horrible clumsy mess (e.g. plug my phone into wife’s laptop by mistake, playlists and apps start syncing wrong, much cursing ensues). ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/848f3c/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_Dunlop)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2014, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/convince-me-to-switch-to-android-and-give-up-my-iphone/696006/38 "2014-08-21T18:56:33Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > If you weren’t making typos then what made your messages hard to read? Give me an example. Did I say I wasn’t making typos, or did I say I wasn’t making \*more \*typos? iPhone fixes my typos correctly; Android fails to. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2014, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/convince-me-to-switch-to-android-and-give-up-my-iphone/696006/39 "2014-08-21T20:09:22Z")
> [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](#): > > iPhone fixes my typos correctly; Android fails to. I don’t know what to say but I think your experience isn’t the norm. It’s certainly not true for me; I’ve had both and didn’t notice any difference. ---
**Author:** ![Nickel\_Please](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b19c9b/32.png) [@Nickel\_Please](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nickel_Please)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2014, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/convince-me-to-switch-to-android-and-give-up-my-iphone/696006/40 "2014-08-21T23:01:56Z")
Gaming. You can buy emulators at the Play Store. You can get emulators on iPhone but it is a harder process and it may mess up your phone. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/convince-me-to-switch-to-android-and-give-up-my-iphone/696006.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/convince-me-to-switch-to-android-and-give-up-my-iphone/696006.md?page=3)