From Android to iOS

Confessions of disappointment

I have recently bought an iPhone. I have used Android since 2010, but the deal I got on the iPhone caused me to take the plunge, and make the switch to iOS. There’s not much difference, really; if anything iOS is more stable than Android, which generally causes fewer headaches. There are, however, a number of things that Android has got right, and that Apple would do well to emulate.

Something that is not really very important is the difficulty of changing the ringtones. I used to wonder why iPhone users all had the same ringtone. Now I know that it’s because you have to sacrifice your firstborn in order to be able to change it. Well, almost.

On Android, you open a music file, go into the menu, and set the file as a ringtone — either for the phone, SMS, or for a particular contact. Not so on the iPhone. In iOS, you have to connect your phone to a computer, open iTunes, recite incantations to the ghost of Steve Jobs, and perhaps then your ringtone will change. It’s simply a pain in the arse. Much better to pretend you like the banal, ubiquitous ditty that ships with the phone.

Speaking of iTunes reminds me of the first thing I noticed on iOS that rubbed me up the wrong way: there’s no access to the file system. I might have music on my phone, but I don’t know unless I go through iTunes. I can’t create a directory and place music files in it. Or if I could find a way of doing that, I’d only have access to them in the way Apple designates. On Android, you can place your files wherever you want, and you can go straight to them without asking anyone’s leave.

But there are more important problems with iOS than the superficial matters above. Most crucially, typing on iOS is a pain. On Android, there are a number of ways of inputting text. It ships with two or three different kinds of keyboard, and you can choose whether you want to tap each character, go retro and key in the text with T1, or swipe in whole words on a keyboard that recognises the patterns words make on the keyboard. If none of these methods of text input are to your liking, you can install one of the plethora of alternatives available on Google’s Play Store.

Apple has not embraced Android’s flexibility on text input. I preferred the swiping option on Android, and became quite efficient at swiping emails, text messages, and calendar entries into my phone; on iOS, however, I am forced to tap each letter — there is no alternative. Each tap brings with it the possibility of error that simply was not present with a keyboard that recognised word patterns. As a result, my typing has become less efficient, and I hesitate to write as much as I did on Android.

It’s not all doom and gloom, however. The iOS keyboard remembers on an app to app basis which language you last used. For me, this means that I can write my text messages in Norwegian, and my emails in English, without having to remember to change the keyboard language every time I switch apps. Good one, Apple.

The final eye-opener for a long-time Android user is the lack of widgets on the iOS home screen. iOS doesn’t do widgets, which I find a shame. I came to rely on having calendar entries and to-do lists available without having to open the apps. They nagged at me from the home screen itself, helping me lay aside my propensity to procrastinate. On iOS, all I have is little red badges on the icons, telling me how many things that would vie for my attention, were I to open the application. Even sticky notes are contained in an app, which renders them more or less useless, as far as I am concerned. Sometimes, in the short term, it’s just more pleasant not to look. Widgets are good things.

On balance, with the annoyances mentioned above — not having access to the file system, having to cater to the whims of the keyboard instead of changing it to suit me, and having to open app by app, instead of placing their information immediately on the home screen (not to mention the advent of biometric locks on their newest models) — I’m not sure my next phone will be produced by Apple.