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I switched from iPhone to the Pixel 2: One-week report

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Re: I switched from iPhone to the Pixel 2: One-week report

#11

Post by wanderr »

ScottBurson wrote: post #3

Interesting to read this since I'm considering getting an iPhone; so far I've only used Android. Does anyone have comments who has done the switch in that direction?

I switched to iPhone for a few months after being on Android since the Motorola Droid. All of Android's little annoyances and failed promises to fix problems for years finally annoyed me into trying out an iPhone (6s). Apple's build quality and UX were a welcome improvement, but after a while I found some different issues that were equally annoying. I think iOS is still better overall, but not better enough to justify the cost for me. Both have their drawbacks and both are good enough.

The 6s's crappy camera made me decide it was time to upgrade to something with a good camera, and I was able to get a Pixel 2 for way less than an iPhone 8 so that's the route I took. If the cost was around the same I would have stuck with iPhone for the wireless charging.

Re: I switched from iPhone to the Pixel 2: One-week report

#12

Post by acchow »

Android was a breath of fresh air after using the original iPhone and every generation all the way up to the 4S..... for the first 2 months.

Then it just got progressively slower with crappier battery life. Switched to a different Android phone (from a Galaxy to an Xperia, and then a newer generation Galaxy).

Back to iPhone now. Will probably never get Android again.

Re: I switched from iPhone to the Pixel 2: One-week report

#13

Post by jcims »

ScottBurson wrote: post #3

Interesting to read this since I'm considering getting an iPhone; so far I've only used Android. Does anyone have comments who has done the switch in that direction?

Just got a iPhone 8 at the beginning of the year after probably 7 years of Android, mostly Samsung devices.

Can’t wait to go back to be honest. Part of the problem was that iOS 11 was super buggy at the beginning. That really soured me to start and I haven’t found anything particularly worth changing my mind over since.

Re: I switched from iPhone to the Pixel 2: One-week report

#14

Post by ArmandGrillet »

I've switched for a month while traveling and I agree with the author, some additional points:

- The phone is too smart. E.g. it transforms your voice messages into text messages which is magic but also pings you after you visit something "Hey, wanna rate the store you just visited?" "Hey, you took pictures of this place today, wanna share them?".

- The pictures are outstanding, particularly in low light. The portrait mode works much better than on the iPhone X.

- Third-party apps are not as polished, e.g. Instagram Stories do not work well.

- The design is good but placement of the buttons is awful. After a month I was still shutting down my phone while taking a picture because you can press on the volume button to shoot which is right next to the power button.

- Project Fi is perfect (the price is the only downside I've found and it is a subjective argument) and should have an Apple counterpart, not only Apple SIM on the iPad.

All in all I liked it and it was great to go back to Android for a month, but I went back to the iPhone. I have an Apple ecosystem and the iPhone is just too well integrated to leave it. It feels like the Pixel is one of the few Google hardware devices that is not an experiment but Apple offers me an entire ecosystem that is coherent and enjoyable for my daily life.

Re: I switched from iPhone to the Pixel 2: One-week report

#15

Post by saagarjha »

> Universal back function: It’s great having a global “affordance” for the super-common thing that people want to do. It works well, too: its meaning subtly changing in the right way, depending what you’re going back from.

Funny, I always hated this. I could never figure out just where the back button would take me.

Re: I switched from iPhone to the Pixel 2: One-week report

#16

Post by bdamm »

After 7 years Android user across three phones, I decided to try iPhone. Now 2 years in, on my 2nd, and never going back. Android tends to slowly slide into glitch land and demands you throw away your phone far more aggressively than iPhones do. The 911-crash on Android was the last straw. That's when you call 911, and the phone crashes instead of, you know, calling for help.

iPhone might not be latest and greatest. But the overall package is better. Definitely not perfect - I've experienced a disabled Phone app on iPhone where I would not have been able to call 911 had I needed it - but all my i-devices have been glitch resistant in a way none of my Android devices ever were.

Re: I switched from iPhone to the Pixel 2: One-week report

#17

Post by techsupporter »

hellofunk wrote: post #8

> Much more transparency about what the phone is doing This is a curious point, especially considering the recent FB Android app revelations about lots and lots of things the phone was doing that nobody realised, things that cannot happen on iOS due to stricter privacy enforcement. I suppose no month is complete without an iOS/Android flame war, but hopefully that won't happen here. For what it's worth, smart phones…

This is the crux of the issue for me:

> it's privacy and security, of which Apple is far different

I simply don't trust Google to act in my interests when it comes to use of very private data by them or how their operating system permits use of that data.

Frankly, I think Android is great. I love myriad things about it:

- Set a default e-mail app

- Set a default browser that isn't Safari (my kingdom to use Firefox Mobile with all of its attendant add-ins on my iPhone)

- Put icons wherever I want, like the author mentions

- A WILDLY better--in my opinion--notification system, again like the author mentions

- Themes, widgets, and other customizations

- Automation with things like Tasker

- Background tasks

I'm gonna stop here because I could keep going for much longer. But the point remains that my iPhone and iPad do 90% of what I want on a day-to-day basis and I'm used to the quirks and, more importantly, Apple has shown a propensity to keep what it knows about me primarily on my own devices or, when actually transmitted to Apple, under much more restrictive policies than Google has.

I'd love it of Apple could do both, the astounding customization of Android with the privacy and security features of iOS. But maybe you don't get one with the other for some inherent reason. I'm not sure, so I stick with the one in which I'm more confident.

Re: I switched from iPhone to the Pixel 2: One-week report

#18

Post by dogweather »

ArmandGrillet wrote: post #14

I've switched for a month while traveling and I agree with the author, some additional points: - The phone is too smart. E.g. it transforms your voice messages into text messages which is magic but also pings you after you visit something "Hey, wanna rate the store you just visited?" "Hey, you took pictures of this place today, wanna share them?". - The pictures are outstanding, particularly in low light. The portrai…

> The placement of the buttons is awful, after a month I was still shutting down my phone . . .

Lol, yeah, that's taken some getting used to. I bet they did that so that the phone would work smoothly in the VR headset. It is supported on the left side edge, and doesn't work the other way around because the buttons get pressed.

Re: I switched from iPhone to the Pixel 2: One-week report

#19

Post by dogweather »

chrischen wrote: post #6

I had the same experience when first switching to Android after a lifetime on iPhone. But after a year of really getting to use Android features it eventually became apparent Android has its own problems, and I ended up switching back to iOS. It'll seem great at first since it does things differently and improves on many aspects of where iOS fails at while it's fresh in your mind, but you'll need to spend much more t…

I'm crossing my fingers that "the time is right" for Android, especially on a Google device.

Re: I switched from iPhone to the Pixel 2: One-week report

#20

Post by chrischen »

dogweather wrote: post #19
chrischen wrote: post #6

I had the same experience when first switching to Android after a lifetime on iPhone. But after a year of really getting to use Android features it eventually became apparent Android has its own problems, and I ended up switching back to iOS. It'll seem great at first since it does things differently and improves on many aspects of where iOS fails at while it's fresh in your mind, but you'll need to spend much more t…

I'm crossing my fingers that "the time is right" for Android, especially on a Google device.

Maybe they've improved their OS and features, but as far as I know their revenue model is still advertising based.
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