I Switched from iPhone to Android, and it doesn't matter

photo used without permission from Luke Westaway, CNET

Towards the end of 2013, I was tired of my iPhone 4S's poor battery life. I'd had it for a year and a half. So I checked out a guide on iFixit.com and ordered a replacement battery from Amazon. That went really well. But then I was dissatisfied with the screen size. Especially with ads at the bottom of seemingly every webpage I visited (and sometimes at both the top and bottom). It had me incessantly scrolling because I could only get one sentence at a time on the tiny screen. I was due for an "upgrade" but I didn't want to get locked into another contract, and the iPhone 5S was too expensive to buy outright. And frankly, it's screen is too small too. So I found a guy selling a Nexus 5, and took the risk of making the transition.

I had already seen Eric Schmidt's post about switching from iOS to Android and bookmarked it. So I had instructions to follow and I was convinced this was an "okay" thing to do. I also read up on others who had done something similar. There are helpful guides out there like this one from CNET, or this one. And really, there's not much difference between the two platforms. You can use the devices to do the same things, just like this article points out. So, having been convinced that I wasn't betraying any loyalties to Apple for a lesser experience as typical Apple fans convince us of, I jumped in. Because I wanted a bigger screen!

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A Few Issues

There were a few annoyances. First, I wasn't used to how Android handles notifications. That took some adjusting. Especially how they appeared on the lock screen (they didn't without some third-party app). Which brings me to the next quirk that bugged me: the lock screen. I was used to sliding my finger, then typing in my PIN to unlock the iPhone. With Android it wan't that simple, and seemingly unsecured. The stock Android lock screen would not show notifications the way I wanted, and to use another lock screen app meant the PIN lock feature wouldn't work. I finally found a combination that I liked, but it was a short struggle. And, I had to get used to hitting enter after typing in my PIN. Finally, (and this isn't an Android problem, but a hardware problem) the power button on the Nexus 5 is directly across from the Volume rocker buttons. Too often I change the volume when I'm trying to put the device to sleep, or vice versa. It looks like other devices have the same layout, and possibly the new iPhone 6 will struggle with this too. It seems to be a problem with larger-screen devices.

Overall Impression

Overall, it really wasn't that big of a deal. Actually, I really like the Nexus 5. It's a great device, and Android does everything I used to do on the iPhone. At first, I thought the Nexus 5 was just going to get me by until the bigger iPhone came out, but now that I have it, I may just keep it. Except one thing: AirPlay. I have an Apple TV. I guess there are some apps that allow AirPlay from Android, but not the way that iOS does. So I may switch back at some point.

Does It Matter?

So what difference does this make, really? None. It's a true FWP. Although...we could talk about whether or not free market competition helps or hurts innovation. On one hand, the competition pushes people on to do new things. On the other hand, what if we worked together instead of against? Couldn't there be so much more accomplished? That's the spirit of Open Source. We contribute together. So, there's a slight connection to the church: we need an Open Source spirit so we can work together for the good of everyone.