I, an Android user for years, used an iPhone as my main cell phone for three months: my conclusion.
I have been a loyal Android user for 14 years, starting with the first Samsung Galaxy Tab running Android 2.2 Froyo. Despite a brief but impressive foray into the iPhone 4S, I remained loyal to Android – until recently.
For my job, I decided to try out the iPhone SE 2022 and completely immersed myself in the Apple world for three months, complete with a Macbook for work.
I fully expected that I would switch back to Android after just a month. But what I thought would be a torture tour turned out to be a pleasant excursion.
Before the change: doubts and concerns
Why I never switched to an iPhone: There are two main reasons that many of you can probably understand.
- I’m used to Android, happy with it and don’t want to go through a migration process that could potentially cost a lot of time and nerves.
- Price-performance: (New) iPhones are often very expensive and many mid-range Android phones offer features that are only found in the Pro versions of Apple’s phones.
I’m also pretty firmly anchored in the Google ecosystem. I use Chrome, Keep, Docs and other Google products regularly and I always thought that moving to the Apple system would be very cumbersome.
Now I finally had the opportunity to try it out.
The first steps: It’s all a matter of getting used to it
Setting up the iPhone for the first time was unsurprising, not complicated and fairly easy. Thanks to the “Transfer to iOS” app, the most important data was transferred quickly and easily. What was particularly important to me was transferring my passwords and logins to the Apple keychain and that wasn’t a problem at all.
After setting it up, I laid eyes on the iOS 17 home screen for the first time. And to my surprise, the Apple home screen hasn’t changed much in all these years. I noticed exactly the same thing with MacOS Sonoma.
The iPhone SE 2022 after I customized the home screen.
What I immediately found took some getting used to: 60 Hz. The screen refresh rate actually has little to do with the phone’s operating system, but with Apple it somehow does.
- If you want an iPhone with 120 Hz, you currently have to go for the expensive Pro models. The non-Pro models all only have 60 Hz.
- Personally, I noticed the difference quite clearly at first. However, after getting used to it for a while, I no longer noticed it. Of course, this could look different for you.
In the first few days I had to find my way around using iOS: The operation on Android is fairly homogeneous in every app.
On the iPhone, it often happened that the back gesture worked in one app and not in another: I then had to tap a “back” button on the display or use an app-specific gesture.
- Striking example: In many iOS apps, I can swipe from the left edge of the screen to the center to activate “Back”. This doesn’t work in the YouTube app when watching a video. Then I have to take the video and swipe down. The “Back” function works without exception in all Android apps.
However, this is purely a matter of habit and not necessarily a disadvantage. However, it is something you should be aware of if you are planning on making this change.
Three months later: It’s not that different
App Store vs Play Store: When I owned the iPhone 4S over 10 years ago, there was a big difference in the selection of apps available between iOS and Android. Today that is no longer the case.
- All the apps that I personally used on my Android phones are also available on iOS. This also applies to Google apps: Keep, Docs, YouTube Music and even the Google Photos app including AI functions such as Magic Eraser are available.
- But there are still exceptions: For example, there is also the Xbox Game Pass app for iOS, but it does not offer the option for cloud gaming for iPhones. Instead, I had to use a browser to do this.
Home screen and app drawer: Before I switched to iPhone, I was worried that I would miss the high customization of the home screen of Android phones.
I love keeping my home screen as tidy as possible and only placing important widgets on it. A cell phone without an app drawer would be out of the question for me. But I was wrong:
- Like Android, iOS offers you the opportunity to place widgets in all possible shapes on the home screen.
- If you swipe to the right on the home screen, you will find a widget center where you can only place widgets in a vertically scrollable view.
- Apps can be removed from the home screen just like on Android.
- You can find an “app drawer” if you swipe all the way to the left on the home screen. Apps can also be searched for here using the search line.
As with Android, you can design the home screen according to your preferences.
So I was wrong. iOS is no longer as limited as I remembered. Anyone who likes to customize the look of their cell phone to their own preferences can now do this very well with an iPhone.
Macs and iPhones work seamlessly together: You can’t imagine how impressed I was that I could copy text or even images on my iPhone and then paste them on my Mac – all without having to set anything up first. It just worked.
I was also able to easily select my iPhone as a webcam on my Mac. Again without my intervention. The settings required for this were all already activated by default.
Apple has done a fantastic job of expanding its ecosystem and anyone who uses multiple devices from the manufacturer will be rewarded for it.
What I was actually missing: I really enjoy using Google Discover. This is the news feed that you see when you swipe right on the home screen on an Android phone.
Not only did I discover cool topics and articles that interest me, but the feed also gave me inspiration for my own ideas. To access Google Discover on your iPhone, you must first open the Google app or the Chrome browser.
Because of this small hurdle, I looked at my Discover feed much less often over the three months.
The future: It’s best at home
After these three months, I picked up my Nothing Phone 2 again and turned it on again full of homesickness.
Nevertheless, my experience with the iPhone was not one of disappointment: the three-month experiment was more of a nice trip from which I am now returning.
The iPhone SE 2022 is still a very beautiful and, above all, handy device.
Why am I changing back?
- I still prefer the homogeneous operation of Android apps.
- There is simply a lot more choice of different devices for Android.
- Google Discover is just a swipe away.
- I like using Xbox Cloud Gaming to play games in handheld mode on my phone. This works on iPhones too, but I prefer to use a dedicated app, i.e. a web browser.
In addition, there are two personal reasons: My iPhone is “only” the iPhone SE 2022 and I prefer large cell phones. And I just like the design of Nothing OS and the Nothing Phone 2 more. The iPhone stays with me as a second cell phone.
I really like the look of NothingOS and the iPhone SE 2022 is a bit too small for me personally.
Will my next phone be an iPhone? Perhaps. Apple cell phones will be included in my selection in the future. I really liked the iPhone 15 Pro with its 24 megapixel mode. I’m curious to see whether Apple can convince me to make a permanent switch with the iPhone 17 or 18.
Want to know what it’s like when someone switches from years of iPhone loyalty to an Android phone? Mirco tried it out and you can read his report here:
Are you also considering switching from Android to an iPhone? Then I hope that my little experience report could help you make your decision. If you have any other questions that I haven’t covered here, feel free to leave them in the comments and I’ll answer them as best I can!