News I ditched Android for iPhone SE for a month — here’s the pros and cons

[admin]

I used an iPhone for a month after owning Android phones for 10 years, and I wasn’t very impressed with iOS or the Apple ecosystem.

I ditched Android for iPhone SE for a month — here’s the pros and cons : Read more

 

[pradhanbalter]

I did this same experiment but for 6 months. Honestly, I hated my I-phone for its absolute inflexibility. You can't move an icon to a location you prefer. Nothing is customizable. It forces the user to conform to it, as opposed to allowing the user to make it their own.

 

[rcepuch]

I did this same experiment but for 6 months. Honestly, I hated my I-phone for its absolute inflexibility. You can't move an icon to a location you prefer. Nothing is customizable. It forces the user to conform to it, as opposed to allowing the user to make it their own.

It's easy to customize an iPhone screen by moving icons. Simply press on an icon until an x appears and then drag it wherever you want it to be.

 

[doostend]

I appreciate your attempt to try Apple as an Android user. iOS does do things differently. After you created your list of cons and before you published, you should’ve asked an experienced iPhone user if you were missing anything. Your complaint about how difficult it is to open apps without app menu wrong. Apple just does it differently and easier. Just swipe down from anywhere on a page and you get a list of recently used apps that you can open and a keyboard. Type a letter on the keyboard to get a list of all of the apps that start with that letter as well as other relevant apps. I have over 100 apps and can open any one of them within two seconds with a swipe down and two taps. No need to flip through screens
You certainly can use custom ringtones. I have several. If you had Googled “iPhone ringtone “, you would have found this from Apple explaining how to do it. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT207955.
To get to any punctuation, don’t tap the 123 key, use it as you described for the period key in Android. Place your finger on the key and slide to the comma or any other key. It will place it and return to the main keyboard.
I’m sure other can address some of your other issues.

 

[Feliciasnh]

I wish that Android had a similar service

With regard to Apple Arcade - Android does, it is called Play Pass. $5/month gets you access to many games, apps, and other things, on the Play Store.

 

[kurtaj]

I appreciate your attempt to try Apple as an Android user. iOS does do things differently. After you created your list of cons and before you published, you should’ve asked an experienced iPhone user if you were missing anything. Your complaint about how difficult it is to open apps without app menu wrong. Apple just does it differently and easier. Just swipe down from anywhere on a page and you get a list of recently used apps that you can open and a keyboard. Type a letter on the keyboard to get a list of all of the apps that start with that letter as well as other relevant apps. I have over 100 apps and can open any one of them within two seconds with a swipe down and two taps. No need to flip through screens
You certainly can use custom ringtones. I have several. If you had Googled “iPhone ringtone “, you would have found this from Apple explaining how to do it. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT207955.
To get to any punctuation, don’t tap the 123 key, use it as you described for the period key in Android. Place your finger on the key and slide to the comma or any other key. It will place it and return to the main keyboard.
I’m sure other can address some of your other issues.

This illustrates quite well why Android users roll their eyes at iPhone users: Condescension.

"Your complaint...is wrong." It's not wrong; it's his experience. Apple's watchwords have always been "intuitively obvious." Clearly the user experience here is poor unless you do special research which means it's far from intuitive.

"Apple just does it differently and easier." It's not easier and Apple is apparently taking steps to make the experience of managing apps more like Android.

 

[d0x360]

With regard to Apple Arcade - Android does, it is called Play Pass. $5/month gets you access to many games, apps, and other things, on the Play Store.

I was just going to bring that up. Early adopters even got it for $1.99 a month for 12 months and it works with uo to 5 family members so I share it with with my wife, daughter and sister.

Personally I don't like iPhones...not at all. I admit they CAN be more user friendly but that doesn't mean they always are. I'll take Android any day honestly. Hell, instead of switching to at&t when the original iPhone came out I bought the terrible terrible Verizon designed "smartphone" because I didn't like apple.

It was probably the worst phone I've ever owned by a massive margin except for the Samsung glyde..slyde? I forget what it was called but it was touchscreen while also not a smartphone and it became impossible to use because the touchscreen was horrid and the dialed was the screen lol.

Soon after Android came out and I got the HTC G1 on day 1. I had to switch to T-Mobile to do it and their service in my area was awful compared to Verizon but at least I finally had a smart phone. A year? Later I upgraded to the nexus one on its launch day and from that moment forward I never looked backed... although the way Google now demonizes rooting a device these days has me wishing for a 3rd option.

 

[joeroyhud]

Marshall, I'm curious how the battery life was on the SE.

 

[doostend]

This illustrates quite well why Android users roll their eyes at iPhone users: Condescension.

"Your complaint...is wrong." It's not wrong; it's his experience. Apple's watchwords have always been "intuitively obvious." Clearly the user experience here is poor unless you do special research which means it's far from intuitive.

"Apple just does it differently and easier." It's not easier and Apple is apparently taking steps to make the experience of managing apps more like Android.

I did not mean to be condescending in my tone. I think both platforms have their strengths and weaknesses and we are all richer because of the competition between them. They both borrow from each other. I do regret using the word easier there. It was presumptuous.
Both platforms have so many features built in that nobody is going to stumble upon them all in a month or ever. I also disliked the iPhone keyboard’s lack of a comma and it was actually this article’s mentioning of Android’s use of the period that lead to my discovery the 123 key worked the same way.
I never said he was wrong, I simply pointed out some features he had not discovered that would mitigate some of his cons.

 

[Zukofff]

I switched and lasted one day:

• My non-polarized sunglasses just about wiped out the gorilla glass screen
• No picture in picture--I use Google maps all day, and like to have my email open as well
• Can't text from my PC.

By the way, if you switch back to Android be sure to turn off imessages and facetime, before moving the sim card back to the Android or you will not receive SMSs from iPhones. Took a LOT for me to figure that out!

 

[NerdyNerd]

"it crams a lot of resolution into a small space"

I cannot believe this has gone through Editorial review from a Tech orientated site


For info


NOT even 720p

Dirt cheap Android phones now shipping with 1080p

 

[RockwellB1]

"it crams a lot of resolution into a small space"

I cannot believe this has gone through Editorial review from a Tech orientated site


For info


NOT even 720p

Dirt cheap Android phones now shipping with 1080p

It's actually slightly higher than 720p if you'd actually do some research. But the phone design is basically from 2014 with the iPhone 6. Yes it's closer to the 8 because the glass back from adding wireless charging, but that overall design dates to the 6.

I'm a longtime Note user, the Note 2 was my first smartphone and I currently use the 10+ 5G, so not an Apple fanboy by any means. I think the UI is horrible for many reasons (even after testing out iOS 14), but I can't knock the hardware. But you really can't compare iDevices to Android devices. It's the old PPC Macs vs PC all over again.

What's good about the SE though (and this went for the original 2016 model too) is that it's their current flagship hardware in an older, more manageable case. I know plenty of people holding onto older phones because they don't want the giants of today's flagships. Why shouldn't they have access to the flagship speed too?

 

[NerdyNerd]

Correct, I should have said just about 720p

But you know what I really meant

 

[RockwellB1]

Correct, I should have said just about 720p

But you know what I really meant

I totally get where you're coming from though since modern Android phones are normally at least 1080p. This is just a case of Apple being Apple. Reuse as much of the old parts from that phone design as possible (the camera is from the 8 as well) instead of even just bumping up the resolution. I will say at the screen size it doesn't look bad, plus with it still being LCD it helps battery some.

 

[Skydaver]

I'm about to switch from Android after 10? years to an iPhone SE, in part because there an incredible sale via Walmart ($200 off), and my old Moto5G is stuck at Android 8 (and is having problems, and the battery doesn't last like it did new)

Looking at some of the intro videos, it appears you can get to the main home screen from any app by swiping up from the bottom. Am I misunderstanding?

 

[RockwellB1]

I'm about to switch from Android after 10? years to an iPhone SE, in part because there an incredible sale via Walmart ($200 off), and my old Moto5G is stuck at Android 8 (and is having problems, and the battery doesn't last like it did new)

Looking at some of the intro videos, it appears you can get to the main home screen from any app by swiping up from the bottom. Am I misunderstanding?

Doesn't work that way on the SE since it still has a home button still. You want to see how the SE functions, looks at videos of the iPhone 8 or the original SE. The original SE currently runs the same iOS version as the new one and will be getting 14 too. I currently have the 14 beta on both and I'm not impressed with the UI at all still. Still very limited compared to Android and the new widgets and app drawer (or whatever they are calling it) is still living by Apple's rules with very little customization. Something that really annoys me on iOS is text selection and moving the cursor. Can't select text in most apps like on Android, and moving the cursor is clunkier. Unless you're in the Apple ecosystem, it's best to look elsewhere imo.

The S10e is a nice phone, and the new A series isn't bad. The Note 9 is still a beast and can be found for cheap. Android makers may not support their devices as long as Apple, that blame goes to Google for not requiring them to, but that's where rooting comes into play. I've got Android 10 installed on my old Nexus 6P. My Note 4 was running 9 before I upgraded to the Note 9. And I've got 10 installed on my mom's S8. Just need to have something with good community support on XDA.

 

[Skydaver]

Well, hopefully we won't have buyer's remorse; we placed the order a couple of days ago. For $250 for the 128 Gbyte model, I guess we'll learn new ways.

Our house is quite ecumenical; I ran W7Enterprise on my work computers until I retired, have had a Macbook for personal use since 2009, we used Android phones for our smart phones since we switched to smart phones, and the wife has a W10 computer.
When I get around to it, I'm going to put Android 9 or maybe even 10, onto my HP Tablet that I got when HP put them on ridiculous prices.

 

[RockwellB1]

Well, hopefully we won't have buyer's remorse; we placed the order a couple of days ago. For $250 for the 128 Gbyte model, I guess we'll learn new ways.

Our house is quite ecumenical; I ran W7Enterprise on my work computers until I retired, have had a Macbook for personal use since 2009, we used Android phones for our smart phones since we switched to smart phones, and the wife has a W10 computer.
When I get around to it, I'm going to put Android 9 or maybe even 10, onto my HP Tablet that I got when HP put them on ridiculous prices.

The SE is still a great device, don't get me wrong. I loved my original SE and the new one is even better. My Note is my main device, but I got the SE for cheap so I got it to use in situations where having such a large phone with you all day gets annoying. Like going to an amusement park or when driving my C3 and have nowhere to put a phone but my pocket.

 

[Skydaver]

I took your advice, and watched one iPhone 8 video; it seemed like he was getting back to the home screen just by pressing the home button. Of course, he wasn't in many apps other than settings in the video, but I'm still questioning (without the ability to test until tomorrow night) the comment about the home button in the original article.

 

[RockwellB1]

I took your advice, and watched one iPhone 8 video; it seemed like he was getting back to the home screen just by pressing the home button. Of course, he wasn't in many apps other than settings in the video, but I'm still questioning (without the ability to test until tomorrow night) the comment about the home button in the original article.

The SE home button is kind of unique, at least compared to what you've probably experienced on an Android. It's not a real button but a pressure sensitive one. So no click but instead haptic feedback when it's pressed. Takes a bit of getting use to, but I like it. Pressing the home button takes you home, no matter where you are at in an app. Double clicking opens the app switcher. Holding it triggers Siri if you have that enabled. You can also add limited triple click options in accessibility settings (I have mine set to lower the white point of the screen). To go back, you have to use the back button provided in the app, and Apple doesn't have a rule about where it needs to be placed. What isn't mentioned in the article though is that you can usually go back to the previous page/screen within the current app by swiping in from the left of the screen. And there are plenty of other tricks like that in iOS that you'll discover through use or by reading online.