You can do that with Android Device Manager, too, which is a Google-owned app and is also free.
AWESOME, thanks. I had been wondering about that very thing!
Personally, I’d wait a few months until the Galaxy S6 comes out, and see how much S5s are going for. They’re good, solid phones- maybe not as trendy and “cool” as the Apple phones.
Beyond that, the bigger question is whether you want to go Apple or Android. It’ll likely lock you in for a long time. In a nutshell, Android tends to have spiffy features first, is more likely to have bugs, and oddities, while Apple has rock-solid UI and implementations of new features, although often months if not years after Android. Plus, Apple tends to be very dictatorial about what you can and can’t do with an Apple device, while Android tends to be much more free in that regard. Google “Apple walled garden” and “Android rooted” to get an idea of what I’m talking about.
I have a Galaxy S5, and am as pleased as punch with it. I personally can’t get behind the walled garden concept and the idea that Apple knows best, even if that makes things slightly more risky. Plenty of people don’t care, and they get the advantages of the walled garden.
To be honest, I don’t think you’re missing out on much. I too had a long look at the S5 before deciding to get an S4 LTE+ at half the price, and near as I can see they are virtually identical performance-wise. Same storage capacity, same RAM amount, same system chip, and so on. The S5 does admittedly have a better camera and some extras like moisture resistance, a fingerprint scanner and a pulse meter, but I just don’t feel that there’s enough value in that to justify the extra cost.
Also, subjectively I like the S4 screen better. The S5 may have a slight edge in size, but the S4 looks brighter and crisper to my eyes.
For what it’s worth the equivalent app for your husband is Find My Phone. It makes noises, shows the location (stationary or moving), etc. If you think the phone has been stolen you can send the miscreant a warning message or just direct the phone to lock itself and/or erase everything.
IME, it’s not anything to be worried about. Between my husband and me, we actually use 3 different mobile ecosystems – an iPad (2, so it’s still on an older iOS by choice) and Nexus 7 tablet, his Android phone*, and my Windows Phone (which I fucking love the pants off of, btw).
We both had iPhone 4 handsets before our current phones (and I had the OG iPhone 2G before that); changing to different OSes hasn’t been an issue for us at all.
- though he’s due for an upgrade and despises his current phone, so he’ll be getting a new one soon. He’ll probably stick with Android, but he may switch around.
I’ve had no experience with the iphones, but I have had the Galaxy S3 and now the S4 and fully plan to get the S5 or S6 the next time around. I’ve been very happy with mine. It does everything I want it to and easily.
A few points from an Apple user:
[ul]
[li] The 5C came out in 2013, but it is essentially an iPhone 5, which came out in 2012.[/li][li] If you like the iPhone 5/5C/5S form factor, go for the 5S for two reasons: First, the hardware is only one generation old, not 2. Believe me, this makes a difference. Second, it has TouchID. I cannot stress enough how great it is to have a way to unlock your phone without using your passcode all the time. Fantastic feature. Also, the camera is much better than the 5C. Until the iPhone 6 came out, the 5S was widely considered to be one of the top camera phones (except for low light performance, which was only fair–that’s much improved in the 6 models).[/li][li] Since you already have an iPad, there are several key benefits of staying in the ecosystem. One of my favorites is iCloud keychain. It acts as a password manager for all your website logins, and will sync seamlessly between devices on the same iCloud account. Also, since iOS 8 (or maybe 8.1), when your iPhone and iPad are on the same wifi network and in Bluetooth range, the iPad can use the phone to relay calls and regular SMS messages (not just iMessages). So if you’re sitting in the living room with your iPad and the phone rings in the other room, your iPad will ring and you can answer the call without running for the phone. I love this.[/li][li] Apple has now enabled sharing of purchases across multiple iTunes/App Store accounts in the same household, subject to the agreement of individual content vendors (so some apps allow it, others don’t).[/li][/ul]
On the cost issue, the major carriers pretty much uniformly subsidize iPhones on contract by $450. We’re on the AT&T family share plan that has a fixed base price ($100/month for 10GB data and unlimited talk and text) plus either $15 or $40/month/phone, depending on whether the phone is unsubsidized or subsidized. So the on-contract phone costs an additional $600 over the 2-year contract, $150 more than the value of the subsidy. We’re now buying our phones unlocked and full-price.
Yep. It’s easy to use, and really works.
Based on these, I’d say get the Android.
I’m a happy iPhone user, but 8GB is really limiting on a smartphone. You’ll run into it pretty easily if you’re taking pictures or listening to podcasts or have a few games installed. It’s frustrating. And it sounds like, philosophically, you like the Android platform’s ethos more.
On the other hand, the iPhone is likely to have better battery life. Battery management is a major focus of Apple, and part of the reason they can do it better is that their platform is more restrictive. And I tend to think that it’s a better phone in general, though obviously that’s just one man’s opinion.
For me, it almost entirely comes down to how I feel about iTunes. Personally, I hate it. I hate being locked into using iTunes to upload or download everything. It drives me nuts.
So for me, Android beats Apple any day.
If you like the integration of iTunes, then Android might make you pull your hair out.