Considering jumping from Apple to Android - Who's done it?

StalkingIbis on 03/11/2015 - 19:04
Last edited 03/11/2015 - 19:05

Its time to upgrade my 5c. Ive had iphones for the last 6 years, i like they way they feel, i like the way they look, i like the support you get for them and all the accesories available. I seem to be part of a minority that actually likes itunes (all i use it for is to organise music and sync my phone). I like the simple operating system on the phones….But the battery life is starting to suck, i want a bigger screen…. and the 6S is $1200!!!!!

im heavily considering getting the nexus 6p for 744.

I dont use any apple specific apps. What can i expect going from apple to android? whos done it? what surprised you? what did you miss? what do you like better about android?

please no fanboys, they are all good phones and people arent stupid for picking one or the other.

Mobile

Comments

  • try2bhelpful on 03/11/2015 - 19:34
    +21

    I suggest you do as much research as you can on the Apps you normally use and see how they work on the Android phones. I used iMessage a lot and found setting up the Android alternative was a pain; particularly as my other half still had is iPhone. Overall I just wasn't happy with the ecosystem of the Android phones, or the App stores, so I passed it on to my brother and went back to my iPhone 4s. I now have an iPhone 6+ and am very happy with it. Not negging Androids, they are usually good hardware, they just didn't work out for me.

    • StalkingIbis on 03/11/2015 - 20:42

      yeah that used to be a major draw card with me especially with ltos of friends overseas, but i have a sweet deal, unlimited texts and calls, unlinited overseas texts and 300 mins overseas calls a month :) so thats not so much of a drawback to me anymore

      • lolmao on 05/11/2015 - 20:23
        +2

        amaysim :)

      • Michael15286 on 07/11/2015 - 00:23
        +8

        Remember they still have to text you back though!

        Seriously, if you like iTunes and enjoy the system stick with it. The 6+ has a decent battery life and is probably big enough for you.

        The price is just the premium you pay for sticking with Apple. If you think staying with whats familiar is worth $500 extra, stay. If it's not value to you, or you want to try something new, go for it!

        Having used both, I personally prefer android for the freedom it offers over stock iOS. AND removable storage.

        • itbargainhunter on 09/11/2015 - 17:59

          Don't forget the resell value of old iphone.

          I just get a new contract of IP6 64GB and sold my 2 yr old IP5S GOLD 32GB at $340 without a sweat.

          Not saying it is impossible to find a buyer for any 2 yrs old Andriod phone, it is just much harder.

        • macrocephalic on 09/11/2015 - 21:11

          $500 extra if you go with another premium phone. You can get a Xiaomi Note Prime for about $270.

      • Abaddon on 07/11/2015 - 17:21
        +6

        And there is always Skype, Facebook Messenger and Whatsapp

        • knk on 08/11/2015 - 11:34
          +2

          Exactly, I find being locked in to something which only works on one operating system ridiculous. Plenty of great alternatives to imessage, many of which work across pc too.

        • macrocephalic on 09/11/2015 - 21:12
          +2

          @knk: google hangouts works pretty well, I often use it from my PC to message my wife - knowing that she'll get it on her phone and vice versa.

        • knk on 11/11/2015 - 11:24

          @macrocephalic:
          We use hangouts too, its great! Im assuming there's an ios client too.

    • Randxyz123 on 05/11/2015 - 20:53
      +1

      What try2bhelpful said x1000 do your research make sure everything you do on your iPhone you can do on android!

      I made the switch in 2011….It lasted 8 months and I did;t like it so I got a iPhone 5…. Now I have a 6+ and couldn't be happier :)

      I went back to Apple because :

      • I had several friends and family using iPhones therefore no iMessage was a pain

      • Support

      • Battery life

      • I use iCloud for my calendar and email that was a pain to set up on android. I spent like $10 on different apps.

      • The way my Mac, iPad (at the time) and now iPhone integrate together.

      • The android app store(play store) was s& back in 2011 it might have improved now though.

      • I could never get the music player to work properly'

      To be very clear now there are some very tempting androids out there and they are great for some people but not me.

      Look around for good deals on contacts.

      • johnno07 on 06/11/2015 - 02:36
        +28

        Forgive me if I'm missing something (have never owned an iPhone) but what the heck is the big deal with iMessage? Can't you just use Facebook messenger? Or just text?

        • ShortyX on 06/11/2015 - 08:28
          +10

          You don't want to be the green text guy. :)

          iMessage is convenient in a group of friends but you're right, Facebook Messenger is an alternative.

        • Randxyz123 on 06/11/2015 - 10:36
          +1

          iMessage is like whatsapp or facebook messenger it is free iPhone to iPhone messaging it uses the internet and not your text allowance.

          I guess it is just convenient if your friends, your girlfriend/boyfriend/wife/partner use iPhone to contact them.

          Yes you can just text but some people don't have a large calls/text allowance but have heaps of data.

          You'd be amazed at how many people don't have the messenger app installed so they can't get messages on their phone…

        • ozhunter on 06/11/2015 - 13:28
          +5

          @Stix:

          but I doubt any one person just uses imessage, considering the amount of whatsapp, facebook messenger, telegram, and android devices out there.

        • amkssg on 06/11/2015 - 15:57
          +12

          @knick007: However, more people have whatsapp on their phone than iMessage. So, I don't really see the superiority of iMessage. (To note: you can get whatsapp on your computer as well.)

        • Randxyz123 on 06/11/2015 - 17:11

          @bsmksg: If you have a mac you can have iMessage on your computer

        • johnno07 on 06/11/2015 - 18:36
          +7

          @knick007: I still don't really understand the attraction to iMessage. There are plenty of other apps that you can use, most of which have the added benefit of allowing you to actually speak to people on other platforms…

        • lalala1111 on 06/11/2015 - 20:08
          +1

          I find imessage convenient because if my friends doesn't have mobile data / isnt connected to wifi the message can still go through as sms and can still get it

        • amkssg on 06/11/2015 - 21:33

          @knick007: Clearly you didn't read what I wrote.

          (To note: you can get whatsapp on your computer as well.)

          Regardless of whether you use a Mac or a PC, you can have WhatsApp on your computer.

        • ITveteran on 07/11/2015 - 08:36

          I guess it's just a fashion. Surprised to see nobody mentioned about Skype. Skype is with longest history, sophisticated, cross platform and more than just messenger app.

          Generally speaking most Android phones tend to have inferior battery life, smoothness and stability compared to iPhones.

        • take on 07/11/2015 - 14:40
          -1

          Whatsapp on pc? I dont think such a thing is available

        • illumination on 07/11/2015 - 15:32

          @take:

          Not really in the way that you're thinking.
          It's called web whatsapp and it doesn't install anything. It also requires your phone to have an internet connection, so you still need a phone to be able to use web whatsapp.

        • take on 07/11/2015 - 16:05

          @illumination: Kinda defeats the purpose then. Much rather prefer viber over it

        • xuuj on 07/11/2015 - 16:18

          The primary benefits are also that you can text from Macs and iPads and vice versa. So free texting and multi platform texting. Now it may not seem like a big deal and if people like you said all used Facebook Messenger thats great, but now more and more people are facebook agnostic and refuse to agree on an alternate messaging system it is very useful.

        • compugrid on 07/11/2015 - 16:50

          @bsmksg: I don't think whatsup is independently installable on PC without opening mobile phone account first.

        • illumination on 07/11/2015 - 17:14
          +2

          @take:

          No way. It's so that you don't need to use your phone to text. I find it super useful for 3 reasons:

          • I type much faster on computer than phone (regardless of which phone keyboard I use, e.g. Swype, swiftkey)
          • You can leave your phone somewhere charging, use your computer somewhere else and still be able to whatsapp
          • I can use it on my work computer at work, text from my computer which is probably more subtle than holding my phone texting.

          I don't like Viber because the interface feels a bit kiddy. And I recall not ever being able to figure out how to turn off vibration.

        • quaddie on 07/11/2015 - 17:29
          +2

          @knick007:
          Whatsapp has a really good web interface

        • take on 07/11/2015 - 17:32

          @illumination: Sorry i meant it's just inferior to the viber windows counterpart where it syncs through viber itself rather than your phone. So you don't have to have your phone within wifi range for it to work.

        • Randxyz123 on 07/11/2015 - 18:14
          +1

          @ITveteran: Skype WAS the best now Microsoft have completely ruined it

        • onlyletters on 08/11/2015 - 00:21

          its all centralized, simple, and provides delivery receipts and read receipts..

        • try2bhelpful on 08/11/2015 - 00:32

          @bsmksg: iMessage just works out of the box; very little setup required. I tried to get Whatsapp to work on my Samsung S4 and gave up in despair. I gave the S4 to my brother and went back to my iPhone 4; I found out later my brother had all sorts of reliability issues with the S4 so I owe him an apology.

        • ozhunter on 08/11/2015 - 01:45

          [@eXtremist]

          its all centralized, simple, and provides delivery receipts and read receipts..

          Isn't that the same with most messaging apps?

          @try2bhelpful:

          iMessage just works out of the box; very little setup required

          Well imessage is preinstalled. AFAIK the setup is the same as whatsapp and telegram. I don't think hangouts or facebook messenger even require a phone number.

        • amkssg on 08/11/2015 - 05:13
          +5

          @try2bhelpful: Look, it's totally personal preference. If everything you own is made by Apple, then stick with the Iphone. It makes your life a lot easier. Plus, iOS is pretty much idiot-proof, with everything set up nicely for you.

          In my case, I prefer Andriod because:
          1) I use google calendar (which syncs nicely with my phone)
          2) I use google drive / dropbox / etc. (which also syncs nicely with my phone)
          3) It gives me flexibility to decide what apps I would rather use, as opposed to forcing me to use the default.
          4) Quite simply, all my stuff are on Google's ecosystem.

          Like I said, if you use iMessage, iCalendar, and all the "i" stuff, then your life revolves around Apple's ecosystem, and trying to move over to Android might not be the wisest/easiest thing to do.

          Now, about Samsung. Samsung likes to heavy-handedly tweak/modify "stock Android", which is where all the issues come from. So, let's just say that the issues you faced were more of a Samsung issue than an Android issue.

        • try2bhelpful on 08/11/2015 - 12:49

          @bsmksg: I completely agree with you, it is personal preference. My experience with Android was not great, so I went back to Apple. I'm glad Android works for you, if only because it is damn difficult to get an iPhone within the first few months they are released; if everyone wanted one it would be a nightmare.

        • congo on 08/11/2015 - 17:58

          @quaddie: it does? When I go to the what's app web interface. I give me a qq code to download the app?

        • quaddie on 08/11/2015 - 20:25

          @congngo That's weird, I go to the page,scan the qr code from within WhatsApp on my phone and am good to go.

        • mmd on 08/11/2015 - 20:55

          @illumination:
          I also find it quicker to send links/web addresses via pc than on my phone.

        • RocketSwitch on 09/11/2015 - 12:08

          @lalala1111:

          Hangouts does the same thing, so there's an Android alternative.

      • Xebozone on 06/11/2015 - 16:12

        You can get refunds on paid apps if you don't like them or if they don't work… you just go to the Play Store page and click 'REFUND'.
        Doesn't work for in-app purchases though… but you can still get them refunded if you email the developer of the app.

        • RocketSwitch on 09/11/2015 - 12:08

          Love this feature, really helpful if the an app doesn't work well on your device.

    • Dariush78 on 07/11/2015 - 09:54
      +11

      Hangouts is the android response to imessage. Just turn sms on in the hangouts app.

    • onlyletters on 08/11/2015 - 00:07

      I agree, the whole migration to Android or from Android to Apple is a pain!!

    • Skinnerr on 08/11/2015 - 09:27
      +1

      apple shares just went up 0.0002%

    • Chochkee on 08/11/2015 - 17:06

      +1 Especially if you use Apple Computers. Being able to send texts and photos straight from your computer to text contacts is incredible. And even being able to call and take calls people from your computer using your phone, they don't even need an iphone.

      Android has a lot more modification, but as a daily phone I use a couple apps, email, and web browser. And it really doesn't have any difference. One pet-peeve is the android keyboards, they are good, but they just aren't as good as Apple for ease of use or as quick to launch when you need it. I have a brand new Samsung S6 and there is a slight delay that develops with swype, google keyboard annoys me, and stock keyboard doesn't have the features I need.

      • ESEMCE on 09/11/2015 - 12:45
        +1

        Funny you mention keyboards, cause I think the Apple keyboard is the most confusing, annoying and slow keyboard ever!
        1) Always displays capital letters whether you're in lower case or not.
        2) no long press to get Numbers or Symbols
        3) no swype style input

        It's all about what you get used to, but for the life of me I cannot understand how anyone can think that Apple Keyboard is better than just about any of the Android keyboards (unless they haven't gotten used to the feature set of the keyboard coming from the Apple Keyboard that has no feature set at all).

        • Asian Boyfriend on 10/11/2015 - 02:11
          +1

          Don't know what you are talking about. iOS 9 has at least 2 points you mentioned.
          1. New keyboard only displays capital letters only when you're in upper case
          2. There is 3rd party keyboard option. Yes, swype style input is on iOS now.

        • ESEMCE on 10/11/2015 - 07:56

          @Severus Snape:

          So, your pet peeve has only started in the past few months since iOS 9 was released?
          Or did you happily consider Apple's previous 8 totally gimped (and no you can't use a third party keyboard) versions also superior?

        • iridiumstem on 10/11/2015 - 18:04
          +1

          @scubacoles: Having an option to use third party option do negate the negative aspect of stock ones, in my opinion. That said, I find it funny since on the same page (around 20 comments below this one?), you see people complaining about how awful Android stock apps are.

        • amkssg on 11/11/2015 - 03:09

          @Oversimplified: I think the general consensus is, die-hard Apple users like things to be simple and idiot-proof, while die-hard Android users like to customize stuff.

          This explains why Apple users like stock apps while Android users hate stock apps.
          The simple reason why Android's (and Apple's) stock apps suck is… they are designed for non-tech savvy people.

          Think about it this way:
          Option 1: Create stock apps that are simple, idiot-proof, and doesn't allow for customisation
          Non-tech savvy users will buy the phone because it is simple to use.
          Tech savvy users will buy the phone even though the stock apps suck, because they know they can easily ditch those apps, and download better ones.

          Option 2: Create awesome stock apps that gives you all the features that you want
          Non-tech savvy users will NOT buy the phone because it is too complicated, and they find it difficult to use.
          Tech savvy users will buy the phone.

          Conclusion
          Dumb down the apps as it increases sales.

        • iridiumstem on 11/11/2015 - 03:15

          @bsmksg: I simply found the irony hilarious. Both party complains about the stock apps, someone brings in third party option. You see someone complaining about how stock apps still suck from both sides and they try to make a big deal out of it when you can replace them basically.

          I found the stock apps on my phone to be adequate enough for many cases (I've listed them on the comment about stock app comments). Most of them do what I want them to do, some don't but it's no big fuss in my opinion.

          I personally think stock apps having less features is cost and time related, more option and more support means more time needs to be spent for bug testing and some of them probably have licensing fees attached to it. It's not impossible to make an app that caters people who customise their phone a lot and those who don't.

        • [Deactivated] on 11/11/2015 - 12:02

          I think the general consensus is, die-hard
          Apple users like things to be simple and
          idiot-proof, while die-hard Android users
          like to customize stuff.

          I wouldn't say that. Apps are apps to me - what customisation - I just install them, and didn't know you could customise anything. So if you can, it covers both - people that do and don't customise.

          Regarding someone's comment/s about android stock apps… Not sure what they mean. I didn't read everything - but I did see one comment below about the stock music player. However - again - apps are apps - and there are plenty of alternatives. e.g. I tried to play a movie in android by opening the file manager, and clicking it. It said it couldn't play it. So I downloaded VLC - and it played. VLC has great controls too - you just put your finger at the bottom, drag left or right to go forward/back… Finger to the right of the screen and move up/down to adjust volume… Brilliant!

  • Peace Maker on 03/11/2015 - 19:43
    +18

    Look at the LG G4. One of the biggest batteries out there for phones. I changed and tried to go back to iOS but didn't even last a week. I have a work iPhone 6 I don't even use.

    • Rodgort on 06/11/2015 - 14:55
      +1

      You should really sell the iPhone…

      • blighst on 07/11/2015 - 22:58
        +1

        If it's a work one they might not be able to.

  • Paul Atreides on 03/11/2015 - 19:53
    +16

    make sure you turn off imessage before you switch

  • tomleonhart on 03/11/2015 - 19:53
    +1

    I did. Android lasted me 1 year and now I'm back to Apple !

    • StalkingIbis on 03/11/2015 - 20:42

      why? this is my fear

      • tomleonhart on 03/11/2015 - 21:53
        +3

        Imessage and the android eco system that I couldn't get used to.

        • RocketSwitch on 09/11/2015 - 12:10

          What did you find hard to get used to in Android? Very similar to iOS, but with more customisations.

  • supnigs super skids on 03/11/2015 - 19:55
    +1

    I've jumped to and from many times the past 3 years. Iphone5 - s3 4g - 5s - galaxy J - note 3 - G3- z3 - iPhone 6 - z3 mini - back to the 5s.

    What really got me was I liked the iMessage and it's voice calling, the way iPhone aggregated my emails, and fast camera from lock screen. Missed the battery life of the z3 mini.

    I would go the z3 mini if I wanted android. Plain vanilla android - exceptional battery life. Best thing about android are emulators if you are a gamer, quick charging, and cheap store credit using Telstra prepaid. Just don't be tricked about storage - especially 16gb models. Even if you add an sd card you are still limited what you can do with it as apps may not install. It's different to iPhones.

    • ProjectZero on 03/11/2015 - 20:22
      +1

      I would go the z3 mini if I wanted android. Plain vanilla android - exceptional battery life.

      Technically not true, Sony actually uses their own skinned android, still good (I currently use a Z3) but for pure android, I think the only course of action now is to go for the nexus phones or perhaps motorola (?)

      • supnigs super skids on 03/11/2015 - 20:44

        Thanks I stand corrected. It's a lightly skinned android and probably the best android i reckon. I just couldn't get the samba share to work. It was built to support that straight out of the box along with a nifty in phone answering machine.

    • Randxyz123 on 05/11/2015 - 20:56

      Iphone5 - s3 4g - 5s - galaxy J - note 3 - G3- z3 - iPhone 6 - z3 mini - back to the 5s.

      Why back to the 5S instead of the 6?

      • supnigs super skids on 05/11/2015 - 21:39
        +2

        Went through the phase of large phones but found that smaller ones were much better to my liking. 5s and 6 is not much differnt anyway besides the size.

  • rgr on 03/11/2015 - 20:08

    I really miss Train Tracker and Phone leash since switching to the iPhone. However, I love that quality build feel and the tighter scrutiny on apps, it just helps everything work nicely.

    • SlickMick on 04/11/2015 - 13:14

      Thanks - phone leash looks like a great app.

  • hilariouspowerr on 03/11/2015 - 20:13
    +15

    I moved from iPhone 5 to Samsung Galaxy S5 in mid 2014. Still have the S5.
    Personally, I really enjoyed the freedom of storage without dealing with itunes, which would always say it's out of space.

  • ProjectZero on 03/11/2015 - 20:20
    +3

    I went from an iphone 4 to a Sammy GS3 a few years back, there wasn't much of a difference when I did it tbh. I would suggest you go to a store or ask someone who hasa spare android phone to let you fiddle around with it ad see if there was anything you couldn't understand.

    I find the Android system is just as intuitive as iOS but there will be slight differences in the settings

  • onggie on 03/11/2015 - 20:35
    +3

    Some people just can't make the switch from either eco system. Android does have the freedom iOS can't provide. Be prepared that stock apps might not cut it. Eg music player and you will be looking for alternatives on the Play Store.

    • StalkingIbis on 03/11/2015 - 20:44
      +3

      oh good point.

      would other people who have switched agree that the android music player is not up to par?

      • ProjectZero on 03/11/2015 - 20:50
        +2

        I've hardly ever used my android for music… but poweramp is by a really popular music app for adroid it seems. I personally use it and it has a lot of features.

        I've paired it up with VIPER4ANDROID on my rooted GS3 and it changes it from a spare phone to a portable music player

      • [Deactivated] on 03/11/2015 - 21:36
        -6

        Press play, it plays music. Press pause, it pauses music. The android app is fine. iOS users are just morons.

        • StalkingIbis on 03/11/2015 - 22:43

          why are we morons?

        • tomleonhart on 05/11/2015 - 14:40
          +3

          @Calam05: I see tendollar bagging apple products on every thread. seems like a troll. Do not feed.

        • goraygo on 06/11/2015 - 06:21
          -2

          @Calam05: android fanboy mostly act like tendollar. ;)

          Hope you are not Apple Music user or else it won't work on Android till they release the app

        • smartazz104 on 06/11/2015 - 10:13
          +1

          Nah, more likely that you're just a shit-for-brains troll.

        • dlovep on 09/11/2015 - 09:07
          +1

          According to your theory:
          If IOS users are morons then… android users are idiots ?

          see the OS in morons then IDO in android.

      • onggie on 04/11/2015 - 06:40
        +2

        Stock app plays music if that's all you want. Poweramp gives so much more flexibility.

      • Mobe1969 on 04/11/2015 - 06:52
        +2

        Now THAT I most definitely agree. It sXXts me when software manufacturers of music players ignore something pretty fundamental, and something that EVERY PRIOR music format prior to MP3 handled just fine, from Edison's first wax cylinder. Gapless playback. FXXking lazy software developers who think gapless is not a must have requirement. IPods have been gapless since the 4th generation (too slow for my liking). Andriod, only recently has it handled gapless, and then even now most players, including Sony's Walkman are rubbish that can't handle gapless. And for those ADD track shuffling of you who are asking what gapless is, it is listening to an album where tracks segue from one to the next (and there are lots, from classic rock to dj mixes) or a concert and not having the player LAZILY introducing various JARRING blank sound gaps between tracks. And even ignoring gapless I find the music organisation of apps, including walkman and google music just rubbish at actually organising music. I have two or three albums from various artists with the same name. Both these other players think they are the same album, even though stored in diofferent frigging folders, and tagged with different frigging artists. IT is just rubbish. So with android you have to search for a decent player. I use Rocket player with the paid unlocker. I still don't like it enough as the itunes one though. And in itunes, I had one player for music, audible audiobooks, and non audible audiobooks. In android I need a different player for each one.

        Windows phone you are out of luck for gapless I believe.

        • merill on 06/11/2015 - 09:37
          +1

          The Windows 10 version (both desktop and mobile) now support gapless.

        • Mobe1969 on 06/11/2015 - 09:45
          -3

          @merill:

          Wow. How long did that take? Just pathetic that something so fundamental isn't a release feature, and takes, what, 10 years of Windows mobile OS to get it? You couldn't pay me to touch a windows phone. And I'm a windows developer.

      • Tnetennba on 05/11/2015 - 14:38
        +2

        The stock player is a bit messy, google has tried redesigning it, making it do different things that plenty of people don't really want.

        I use Shuttle as my music player, it's very minimal/stock-based, easy to use, feature-rich, etc.

        To me, poweramp (and this may be an unpopular opinion) is pretty ugly (it does have skins, but never quite seems right), doesn't follow android material guidelines, however on the plus side it offers a lot of advanced features and power users/music enthusiasts will definitely like that. So if you want features, go with poweramp, if you want a nice, beautiful music app, go with Shuttle.

      • Blackrose on 06/11/2015 - 10:36
        +1

        Jet audio plus, I tried many music players from the play store, most lasted no more than a week on my devices.
        I tried jet audio and it sounded better than all others so I got the plus version.
        The eq and plugins available make it very suitable too many devices.
        I'm using an old HTC Incredible S phone(custom Rom with almost everything disabled) for a music player with jet audio plus and it works fantastic.

      • tiggyspawn on 07/11/2015 - 11:35
        +1

        I switched to android, and music was my biggest concern. Hasn't been a problem yet! All my music's still in iTunes, and I just click and drag music into my phone's music folder. Easy!
        Hot Tip: right click on a song in iTunes, and Click "Show in Finder". That takes you to iTunes' file system. I drag all my music from the folders there, so it remains sorted in my phone's music folder.

        The best app I've found so far is "GoneMAD Music Player". I bought like 8 different music apps to test them out, and It has the best UI out of any of them.
        It never lags, and it doesn't look cluttered at all. Best part for me is that plays Apple's Lossless music files, so I didn't have to convert my music to FLAC or anything.
        It's customisable as hell, so you can change the position and colour of all the menus. Highly recommended!

      • RocketSwitch on 09/11/2015 - 12:14

        Honestly, the Android default player is fine.

        But if you want more features go with PlayerPro (my choice, has some awesome themes to make it look rad) or Poweramp.

        VIPER4ANDROID might be a little advanced for you until you know more about how to root your device.

    • twister292 on 05/11/2015 - 01:45
      +2

      I swear…the stock music player is the biggest POS app ever. It just never reads playlists properly (those that I sync from my computer, and I've tried syncing them through iSyncr, Mediamonkey, DoubleTwist). Poweramp and Rocket read them perfectly. Plus they can be forced to rescan your library…the stock app sometimes takes hours to show up new songs added to playlists, sometimes they never show up in the playlists, but do show up in the all songs list.

    • iridiumstem on 05/11/2015 - 01:53
      +3

      I have a small question, I don't disagree with or anything like that, but what are you referring to when you say stock apps? Do you mean Google stock apps, Samsung ones, Sony ones, LG ones, etc etc?

      I do agree that generally speaking, stock apps suck, third party ones usually offer far far more. That said I think it's unfair to clump everything into "stock apps" when there are many different stock apps out there. Some are decent, many are not, some are adequate enough depending on what you want, etc.

      Personally speaking, I usually drop the default launcher regardless of the brand (some are better than the other ones, though I usually drop them regardless), because Nova provides so much room to muck around (also might as well utilise Nova Launcher Prime).

      Unless you have a function you want, I found that many stock apps on my device are reasonable. I don't listen to any of the live albums, so stock music app is fine for me (I know that poweramp and neutron player is there if I want one with gapless playback). I personally would've been fine with the movie app that came with the phone. That said, I grabbed MX player anyways because of some codecs I may or may not end up requiring + their implementation of multiwindow isn't that bad (stock one does it better though). The gallery app is fine for me on phone, but on tablet, since I read manga and stuff, I have Perfect Viewer on there. I found the camera app on my phone to be reasonable (though I have "Better Camera Pro" from one of the Amazon deal because it was free, I didn't feel the need to change nor found it better). I find file explorer on my device to be reasonable, recent apps and files filed into categories actually make things easier for me sometimes (though features like root explorer do not exist).

      • twister292 on 05/11/2015 - 06:48
        +2

        I mean the Google Play Music app.

        LG's music player handles playlists synced by iSyncr way better, but is very spartan when it comes to managing the library and EQ settings. Also, I don't like the white/purple color scheme with no other options…it's distracting when I'm driving.

        I bought poweramp yonks ago when it was $2. I would pay $5 as well if I had to (the current price). Cheap Telstra starter packs FTW.

        • iridiumstem on 05/11/2015 - 07:19

          I personally try to try as far away from Google Play stuff as possible (nothing major, it's just that Google stuff tends to be the cause of the battery drain for me for some random reason). So I have no clue how it performs.

          Anyways, I think people take "stock app" differently, some mentioned Sony above, I think of Samsung ones when you say "stock apps".

          I bought Shuttle+ music player, it was only $1.30 ish (bought using Google survey money). I personally don't think it adds much to the experience. It certainly looks better, black and red looks nice in my opinion (though the theme option on some Samsung flagship is negating the needs to change the app for better colour scheme a bit). I might look into Neutron player (some people on a forum I go to did hype it up for me a bit), though I doubt I will pay to get it. Many stock apps I find are reasonable for basic usage (I don't listen to live or classic that often, I have other means for those anyways). I could go for something better, but the stock music app on my phone is not making my phone explode or bother me enough to make me want to change it.

        • twister292 on 05/11/2015 - 07:36

          @Oversimplified:

          I'm not a fan of neutron…it's UI seems ancient.

          I bought Poweramp simply because it reads M3U playlists properly. The Google music player used to work fine, until ICS/KK when the media scanning mechanism was changed…Google Play music simply refuses to read my M3U playlists and keep the songs as they are. And I have no clue how it sorts them…

          Poweramp, Samsung and LG's music players are all OK. But back when I had a Nexus S, I had either Google or 3rd-party.

        • iridiumstem on 05/11/2015 - 07:39

          @twister292: I've heard good things about what Neutron can do (heard that if you want something nice looking or easy to use, go for Poweramp). I've heard that it's for "audiophiles", whatever that means.

          Probably has better EQ bands at the very very very least.

          In terms of playlist, that's slightly above my head as well (I am very chaotic in the ways I listen to music, I change music from Ariana Grande to Slipknot to Skrillex for random reasons like I feel like it).

  • cheapgeek on 03/11/2015 - 20:44
    +2

    I've done it… as most people said pros & cons each way

    for the apple - android messaging, try something like whatsapp or viber…seems to work quite well cross-platform…

    • rheggiey on 06/11/2015 - 04:26

      The problem is, all his friends are using imessage. You cant use whatsup or viber to send a message on imessage.

      • ozhunter on 06/11/2015 - 06:36
        +5

        Every single one? No one he messages has an android phone?

        • Duoka on 10/11/2015 - 18:53

          No one likes green bubbles. So he just cut them off.

    • DadBangr on 07/11/2015 - 11:34
      +4

      Why is imessage such a big feature people rave about? I swear every person I know has unlimited text or at least a ridiculously high cap each month making the free imessage texting argument invalid.

  • Mobe1969 on 03/11/2015 - 21:03
    +13

    I did it. I still use iTunes to organize music. I use isyncr to sync to my phone.

    It took a while to adjust, but I'd never go back now. I like simple things like being able to have a wallpaper changer cycling photos. And I like having some actual choices for hardware. The Google native apps are good now. So having decent account sync including bookmarks and autofill across everything, pc mobiles etc is great. I don't even bother backing up manually anymore.

    I do find apple hardware overpriced. And poorly designed. They have so much wasted space on them. My Z3is smaller than the big iPhone but with a bigger screen. And their support atrocious. The iTunes app is an abomination, but for what I use it for, no real alternative. Their store should be a frigging web site.

    For apple Android messaging just use Google hangouts. Voice even works. My wife is still Apple.

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