Was a avid iPhone user but Android = WOW!!!

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Ok, I have to admit that it was a iPhone 3GS that I have just come from, and had it from launch day after it had replaced my faulty 3G before that.

So for the last 4 or so years, I've been a Apple advocate.

While waiting for the launch of the "New iPhone" (5?) I thought I'd give the opposition a go, with the intention of selling it on when the new Apple is launched. Therefore, I bought a mint condition Galaxy Note from the forum classifieds.

Now, I must be honest, but for whatever reason, my expectations weren't that high, but having had it for a matter of days, I am completely blown away with the slickness, functionality and all round experience that is Andriod. It is more intuitative than I expected, and in my humble opinion, is light years ahead of Apples IOS. I downloaded the APEX launcher, and the amount of custom tweaks you can add to design the feel of the phone, I have found is absolutely superb. It has been more reliable than I imagined, and has not crashed as I wrongly expected it to do. How did I survive without "Widgets"!!!!

The ironic thing is, I have just given my missus my 3GS, and she can't put it down & loves it to bits, because her previous phone was a cheap Sony Eric... , which just happened to be running an early version of Andriod, abeit unsurprisingly, not very well.

All I will say is that Apple will seriously have to up their game to better whats on offer with Android, and to say I'm a convert is a master of understatement!

It may have taken me a lot longer than others, but I have at last seen the light that is Android!


For the record, the Note is running ICS 4.0.4
 
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Really glad your experience has gone better than you expected.
Thats always a good surprise for you when that happens.

A big jump from a 3GS to a Note.

Ofcourse not everyone will have the same feel as you. Watch out the Iphone fanboys will be after you :laugh:

ICS and Android has made some huge leaps in quality. Gone are the days of the crashing and app problems and UI fragmentation that all the iPhone boys talk of.

It is slick, fast, and very user friendly. iOS and ICS really do compete now.

You will find some things in ICS and Android that you had on an Apple. You will also find stuff on Android that you wished Apple did.

This is inevitable.

I hope your experience gets better and better.

I myself have tried 3 versions of the iPhone, 3 , 3GS & 4. Plus Windows, Symbian and Android. In the end Android works for me, but they are all very good in their own right.

cheers neuty
 
I too a convert recently from iphone 4 to S3 and never going back :)
 
yep i made the switch from iphone 4 (had iphones since launch) to an S3. wouldn't say never going back but i'm like android apart from the keyboard and predictive text - this is much slicker on iphone eg if you misspell a word like "ghone" it will automatically change the word to "phone" whereas the S3 just offers words starting gh
 
neilybealy said:
yep i made the switch from iphone 4 (had iphones since launch) to an S3. wouldn't say never going back but i'm like android apart from the keyboard and predictive text - this is much slicker on iphone eg if you misspell a word like "ghone" it will automatically change the word to "phone" whereas the S3 just offers words starting gh

You can change that in Android keyboard settings for predictive text.

neuty
 
neuty said:
You can change that in Android keyboard settings for predictive text.

neuty

Think I've changed through settings now so cheers for that
 
yep i made the switch from iphone 4 (had iphones since launch) to an S3. wouldn't say never going back but i'm like android

Totally agree - you can never say never, as I'm sure one day Apple will up the anti, but there's nothing that suggests that will be any time soon, so I may well give the iPhone "5" a miss.

Guess we'll just have to wait and see. :)
 
Exactly never say never. A month ago I didn't think I would move away from the iPhone

I've just installed the perfect keyboard from Google play. Seems to be OK for now but still not a polished as apple but then I wouldn't have been able to do that before
 
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Haha I thought I read last night Samsung had released it for the so but its out Aug or Sept apparently
 
Exactly never say never. A month ago I didn't think I would move away from the iPhone

I've just installed the perfect keyboard from Google play. Seems to be OK for now but still not a polished as apple but then I wouldn't have been able to do that before

Have a look at Swype or Swiftkey X for keyboards. Both take a bit of time to master and trust, but really make typing a lot quicker and more accurate.
 
neilybealy said:

Middle boxes need to be ticked



ForumRunner_20120803_060719.png
 
samsungs swype isnt the official swype imo a poor relation to the real thing
 
It seems I am different to others. I cannot let go of my iphone, android is just not doing it for me. I paid a lot of money for a Note and I feel I have wasted my money. Had the same with windows mobile. Just cannot beat iOS in my opinion. But if we were all the same it would be a very boring world.
 
Like the OP I've had a 3Gs which I thought was excellent. I'd jailbroken it and had a play and got it to (nearly) how I wanted it.
Two year contract ended a few weeks ago so I went sim free ready to get an Iphone 5. Decided to avoid the early rush and get an android phone, part out of curiosity - but mainly because once the I5 spec was released I was quite underwhelmed.

Bought a nearly new Samsung Galaxy Nexus off my brother in law. (He's moved to the S3). It running jellybean and is rooted.

I wondered if I'd struggle as I'd never used an android phone, but settled straight into it and one long evening later the phone had all the main apps I wanted that the iphone ran and some more that it couldn't. I'd also set the home screen up to suit me (hidden dock and notifications) and I was very impressed. Printing (pics and A4) over wifi seems to be more stable and the bigger screen makes surfing and docs (pdfs for work) a fair bit easier. Face recognition (lock) is a bit gimicky, but its kept the kids entertained for the last week as they have tried their faces and using photographs to try and bypass it without success! :D
What did help me a lot is that I already had a gmail account so was using google contacts/calendar and drive. Syncing those details with the phone was quick and painless. A godsend really.
I like being able to download straight to the phone and the overall experience does seem very computer/windows which I like as it is very familiar.
iOs is brilliant and intuitive, but I'm quite enjoying not feeling tied to Itunes, not converting via handbrake then sync etc.

Putting aside the fact the 3Gs will be slower (older chip) I'm impressed with the 'slickness' of the Nexus on jellybean. No crashing and it's quick.

I'm keeping an open mind on which phone to go for (S3 or I5) but what was a straightforward decision (I5) isn't anymore as I'm impressed enough to go with the S3. The I5 will really have to be very good when I get chance to have a play otherwise I'll stick with android/S3.
 
It's interesting the OP mentions widgets. This is one area I feel iOS is lacking in a big way now. That so called springboard interface is started to appear seriously outdated.

What about Wifi direct becoming more common now?
 
I'm similar to the OP.

I've had an Iphone for 5 years and I've gradually grown bored of Ios and fancied a change. Wanted a bigger screen (bigger the better really) and a built in FM radio.

Sort advice and it was either Android is great Ios is poor or I phones are great and don't bother with Android. Both opinions can't be right.

Anyhow I took the jump and bought a Samsung Note 2.

I'm happy and don't regret buying it however I see the pro's and cons of each system. There's no best or worse, it depends what the individual wants.

Android:
I enjoy the freedom and customisation options. If you enjoy investing time with your phone and playing around with settings then Android is potentially better than Ios but you need to put in some work to have the perfect phone. I much prefer the home screen widgets compared to folders and icons on the I phone.

Iphone:
There are restrictions but this means everything works and is reliable. Apps are a massive issue with phones and I still rate the Apple Appstore much higher than Google play.

There are much more quality apps for the I phone whereas some apps for Android are really amateurish. There are loads of music apps, synthesizers and music studios on the I phone which don't exist on Android.

Conclusion:
I'm not biased in the slightest and have many Apple products but after 3 weeks use I definitely prefer Android over Ios and I love the big screen of the Note 2 and hardly use the Ipad now. Some of it will no doubt be novelty factor, it's exciting to learn a new system with so many user options.

My girlfriend though isn't impressed and prefers something simple and reliable, hence she prefers the I phone over Android.
 
Have you installed SwiftKey keyboard? It's fantastic, far better than the stock keyboard.
 
ozzzy189 said:
Have you installed SwiftKey keyboard? It's fantastic, far better than the stock keyboard.

You wait for android 4.2. Just got a nexus 4 and the stock keyboard with swype function is really good, I used to struggle on my lg o2x running ICS but I'm typing a lot faster and more accurate now. I've only briefly used iOS but I really struggle with it over android, I'm sure I could adapt if I had to but given the price difference between the nexus 4 and iPhone 5 I don't see me choosing to switch to ios anytime soon
 
Yup, as good as the keyboard is on my new xperia T, SwiftKey is far better.
 
ozzzy189 said:
Yup, as good as the keyboard is on my new xperia T, SwiftKey is far better.
Yip iphone 4 ebayed
Love the note 2, haven't opened my laptop since
 

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