Going from iOS to Android. What do I need to know?

[ono]

I've been using Apple products for 10+ years, including the original iPhone, but things are starting to turn sour and I'm considering moving on to Android. On the computer side, I've already move since laptops that only have USB Type C ports make no sense for me right now. On phones, it's the dropping of the headphone jack. I'm aware that's the trend on the Android side too, but there are still some out there with them, so I'm thinking of going that route to delay upgrading my headphones for a few more years.

 

I'm currently thinking of the LG V30. Headphone jack. Decent DAC. More sane thumb print sensor than Samsung.

 

But I digress, this thread is meant for me to query you folks about what I should know about for transition from iOS to Android. Gotchas, what I'll be losing, etc.

 

I have iTunes music purchases (plus some movies via old digital copy codes; but it's mostly Vudu now) and I have a lot of months left on my Apple Music sub. I hear there is an Apple Music Android app, so I think it'll be a fine transition here. I haven't purchased anything from their iBooks. I have some game apps I bought, but those don't matter since I play them any more. I'll need to find an alternative books app to manage my PDFs (academic journal papers, free textbooks, etc). Suggestions for photo managers would be nice as well. Particularly one that can hook up with a cloud drive. I currently use OneDrive due to my Office sub. I guess the OneDrive app itself would be good enough if it functioned properly. At least in iOS it is a bit garbage with frequent crashes and me having to log out and in again for it to refresh content.

 

What's a good iTunes alternative on Android? By this, I mean an app to use on my Windows machine to manage playlists and such that I can sync with my phone. I'm not going to sync everything I have on my PC. Would be great if I could import my iTunes lib (playlist, ratings, etc.) to it, so that I don't have to recreate everything again. Not a big deal right now since I'll continue to use Apple Music, which syncs to my iTunes playlists, till my sub is up or maybe I'll continue if I can't find a suitable replacement.

[lieder1987]

First you will loose iMessage. That will be rough. 

 

There are apps to help with the video and audio purchases.

 

i understand your thoughts and I bought an SE on Sunday because it was cheap under 130 bucks. I don't know what I want and my phone is dying so it is temporary. I am considering the s8 but I don't like the feel and want the newest so releases so considering the pixel. I am considering going android as well but the loss of iMessage kept me on it for now.

 

Edit...

There are apps that let you sync with iTunes with android on the play store so that shouldnt be a big deal. It will sync your DRM free music, movies, and TV Shows. Remember though DRM free soo...

[LtStaffel]

You need to know that you made the right choice and, as my signature implores, joined the Appleitionist cause!

[Clockwork_princess]

and im going from a life of android to IOS 

[LienusLateTips]

If you use iMessage at all, there's no Android version. Deregister your phone number as every apple user that wants to send SMS to you can't.

https://selfsolve.apple.com/deregister-imessage

[kagarium]

Concerning music, the Apple Music app on Android isn't really good. But I'm not surprised, they want you to use an Apple device.

Personally I use Google Play Music, mainly because you get YouTube Red free with it. Two subscriptions for the same prices essentially. I'm not sure about importing, since I never had to do that. My big apple to android switch was from an iPod 4 to An old HTC junker. And that was back when I just ripped all my music from YouTube or downloaded from Bandcamp.

 

Also, biggest thing.

Your control center is at the top of the screen now (same are as notifications). Don't swipe up for it, swipe down. Swiping up is going to give you your app drawer. It took me a while to get used to that and it frustrated me.

[Mira Yurizaki]

The beauty of most, if not all, Android devices is the storage on them acts like external storage when you plug them into a computer. This opens up the world to how you want to do syncing. And most Android apps don't care where you put the files, they'll scan the entire storage for them. With the exception of the Camera due to conventions. But if you're used to iTunes or other apps doing most of the things for you, this may be something of a rough spot to get used to if you can't find an alternative app to do the syncing.

[ono]

56 minutes ago, lieder1987 said:

First you will loose iMessage. That will be rough. 

I'm ignorant here. What exactly will I be missing leaving iMessage for regular SMS? Practically my whole family uses iPhones so I'm curious what the issue here will be. We don't use FaceTime for whatever reason, so loosing that is moot.

 

EDIT: To clarify, we just text with the occasional photo. I'm aware iMessages using wifi if available but IIRC we do have unlimited text on our family plan anyway. Not sure how photos are impacted. I already do miss not being able to message via my computer having to switch Windows, but that's already done regardless if I keep iPhone or move to Android since I don't see myself going back to Apple computers any time soon.

50 minutes ago, JDE said:

If you use iMessage at all, there's no Android version. Deregister your phone number as every apple user that wants to send SMS to you can't.

https://selfsolve.apple.com/deregister-imessage

Great. I'm glad I made this thread. This is a gotcha I totally didn't know about. Thanks for the heads up!

[LienusLateTips]

1 hour ago, ono said:

I'm ignorant here. What exactly will I be missing leaving iMessage for regular SMS? Practically my whole family uses iPhones so I'm curious what the issue here will be. We don't use FaceTime for whatever reason, so loosing that is moot.

 

EDIT: To clarify, we just text with the occasional photo. I'm aware iMessages using wifi if available but IIRC we do have unlimited text on our family plan anyway. Not sure how photos are impacted. I already do miss not being able to message via my computer having to switch Windows, but that's already done regardless if I keep iPhone or move to Android since I don't see myself going back to Apple computers any time soon.

Great. I'm glad I made this thread. This is a gotcha I totally didn't know about. Thanks for the heads up!

Just get them to sign up for WhatsApp or something if you want to send photos (if you have MMS charges).

 

 

Otherwise no difference. If you use Samsung, you can text from the computer with side sync, but their phones aren't the best.

 

If you sign up with LINE they have good video call feature and texting (and a app on Windows and Mac and Chromebook)

[ono]

I made the jump to LG V30 and have been using it over the weekend. The iMessage issue meant I missed some texts during the transition, but appears to be working now. I haven't had any issue with Apple Music so far, so I don't feel compelled to switch that out yet. We'll see when my sub runs out if I'll explore something else. So pretty smooth transition on the software side

 

Some annoyances on the hardware side. While I knew mics on the headphones I used on my iPhone wouldn't work due to different jack standards, I didn't realize the remote control of volume control would also not work (track control works though). So my pricey noise cancelling pair's remote no longer completely works. Sounds like I could get a converter to get the mic working (not that interested in getting a working mic for this pair though), but I'm not sure if that'll fix the volume controls.