Why I switched from iOS to Android and a review of the process
A long going battle of iOS vs Android that before I thought I had no place in because I had never truly used an Android device. Now I can say I have a strong opinion after a short amount of time using the Samsung Galaxy S9+.
I have owned an iPhone for 5 years now and most recently had the iPhone 7+. Great phone and nothing to complain about it. Now looking back, I was complacent with it and didn’t even realize the potential I had if I were to own another device. My stance may be to clear here but I will say iPhone and the “Apple environment” is awesome, but not for me. For context, I also run a PC laptop and own no other Apple devices.
Why I Switched?
It was time for to get a new phone for me (sadly after only 2 years with a phone this is a reality) and I had my eyes on the newly released Galaxy S9, simply because I wanted to try something new but I was also a little disturbed by the then-recent Apple accusations about them throttling the performance of older devices in the loom of them releases the iPhone 8 and 8+. Read about it here
I thought about me owning an iOS device for another two years and didn’t like the sound of it. I was not planning on buying any other Apple products in the near future so felt the time was now to switch my phone and dry my hands of any Apple products.
To be honest the hardest part about making this switch is that all my friends and family seem to be using iOS so it was hard to let go of those blue messages and things like FaceTime. Knowing that there were alternatives to these apps, I didn’t want to be a burden to anyone. But ultimately, I told myself that there is an adjustment period with any change and if it was too big a hurdle I would switch back.
The day came where I pre-ordered the Galaxy S9+ and I was eager to get my hands on it. I couldn’t wait to spend hours configuring the phone to exactly how I liked it. I found myself watching endless amounts of YouTube videos on the phone I didn’t even have yet, and it got me even more excited. The main sell for me wasn’t the camera, screen, or speakers it was the OS. I wanted to try Android more than anything.
A Review of the Switch
Here I want to talk about the process of switching from iOS to Android and what you can expect for transferring your data from phone to phone. All in all, I was very impressed and it was much better than in the past if you were to do this switch.
Out of the box the Galaxy (Verizon) turned on and prompted me through steps to activate the device through the carrier. After this was complete the device turned on and was bone dry stock. None of my data was transferred yet but no worries. My iPhone, although deactivated, still worked and was usable.
Next step was to used Samsung’s Smart Switch app. Already installed the Galaxy I opened the app and connected my iPhone and Samsung together using a lightning cable to USB-C with the adapter that comes with the Galaxy. This app is so cool and easy to use. It literally takes everything from your old device and puts it on the Galaxy. Contacts, Text messages, photos, and even some apps.
After this process, all my personal data was on the device and it was just a matter of downloading apps and organizing things to how I liked it.
I will say one suggestion I would do is with photos. I would back up all your photos on the iPhone to Google Photos and this will make for a much quicker transfer of all your photos. When in doubt just use any Google service if you ever see yourself changing from iOS to Android. A simple login to your Google account will transfer more data than you can imagine into just about everything. Luckily for me, I was already a big Google user when it came to email, calendar, browser, photos, and drive so all this movement was seamless.
I hope this gives you a better idea of what to expect if you were to ever make the switch, all in all, it's simple and easy.
Stay tuned and I will follow up with a full review of the Samsung Galaxy S9+ as I continue to run it through its paces with day to day use. It isn’t all perfect so should make from some read-worthy thoughts.
Let me know what you think.