iOS to Android: Week 1
Well, week 1 with Android is over, and it’s been a lot of fun. Here are some general thoughts.
The Android Experience
The Android experience has been enjoyable. Accessories notwithstanding, the experience has been generally pleasant, as delivered by the Pixel 3a XL.
I’ve had to learn new ways to do simple workflow things like going back to the home screen, switching between apps, quickly enabling the camera, etc. The learning process slowed me down a little. However, once I got the hang of it, it started feeling natural.
The base experience is excellent. On par with iOS, with some exceptions. Like the quality of the accessories.
The Accessories
Speaking of accessories: the Android ecosystem so far seems weaker than iOS. However, I see a glimmer of hope.
I was using two essential accessories with my iPhone that I’ve not yet replaced to satisfaction: the AirPod Pros and the Apple Watch Series 5. At the offset, I used an old pair of AirPods (non Pros) and the Skagen Falster 3.
The AirPods were admittedly a stop-gap. I wanted to limit my investment in the Android ecosystem, as I explored. The experience wasn’t great. Connection drops were frequent. The lack of active noise cancellation was noticeable and annoying now that I’m accustomed to this feature in my earbuds.
I went ahead and bought some cheaper earbuds with active noise canceling, the Mpow X3 for $49.99 (using a $10 coupon). They are a little awkward but work better than the Airpods with the Pixel 3a XL. They are not a terrible product — but do not come close to the AirPod Pros. Is there an option that does? I’m holding out hope that something like the Sony WF-1000XM3 will be similar in experience, should I choose to stick it out with Android for the next year.
The smartwatch is a different story altogether. However, as I said, there is a glimmer of hope.
I decided to go with the Falster 3, a strategic choice (meaning, I was not planning on replacing it any time soon), because I wanted to stay in the Google family (Google Wear OS on the watch to go with Google Android on the phone). After some research, this seemed like a good option.
And I was wrong. The laundry list of disappointments is long:
- Battery life was terrible — I could not get through a full day without taking it off to charge.
- The watch would continuously start-and-stop charging when it reached 100%, making an annoying sound. At first, I turned off sound, but then I started shutting off the watch overnight off the charger because it just didn’t seem healthy for the device. Coupled with the poor battery life, this meant my watch spent more time on the charger than I was comfortable with.
- The watch face brightness was terrible. It has an auto-adjust feature that was pretty terrible. And in direct sunlight, even with boost, was heard to see.
- During workouts, monitoring things like pace, distance, and HR all at the same time was not possible. Not that it mattered, because unless I was doing pre-dawn running, it was useless.
- The GPS functionality was terrible. It was inaccurate, making workout maps useless. Google Fit struggled to reconcile reported data points with the GPS points, translating to a lost week of useful statistics. Terrible.
The glimmer of hope? I returned the Falster 3 and picked up the Samsung Galaxy Watch Active2. In hindsight, I probably should have picked this up from the getgo. I’ve only used the watch for one day (today), so I’m reserving judgment. But right off the bat, many of the terrible things of the Falster 3 were resolved. And some things were better than the Apple Watch Series 5! We will see.
I was sad at first about the smartwatch experience with the Falster 3 because unless this got better, I would feel obliged to go back to iOS. Today, I’m feeling much more optimistic.
Features I like, features I miss
Some features that are unique to Android (or at least I think they are) that I’m enjoying:
- Google Assistant is lovely. A quick “Hey, Google,” and I can do a lot of useful things. It seems like it can handle more complicated commands than Siri. I can do things like turn on my flashlight, start timers, open apps, quick arithmetic, read notifications and messages, etc. Maybe Siri can do all this, too. I don’t have great memories of Siri.
- Google’s call screening feature is fantastic. When Google decides to screen a call, Google prompts the user to speak a message that it will transcribe in real-time. I can then read the transcription and decide to pick it up, reject it, or roll to voicemail. You can tweak which calls get screened (for me, Google screens all calls unless you are in my Contacts). It has already been effective at letting me manage unsolicited phone calls. You can get this feature on iOS by forwarding all calls to Google Voice, so if this interests you and you use an iPhone, look into it!
- The battery life is impressive. I can go days without charging my phone. I don’t think I’ve ever been able to go more than a day with an iPhone ever.
- The always-on screen is so good. Love it.
- Notifications management, regarding levels of notifications and how to respond to them, is excellent in Android. Most notifications have meaningful actions you can take from the notifications screen. And a unique type of notification — called “silent” — lets you make some notificaitons still appear in your tray but not alert you to their presence.
- The Bedtime feature is not as useful as on iOS, but it’s still good. And it has a feature not seen on iOS (as far as I’m aware) where the phone’s screen slowly lights up as it nears your alarm time. My girls have alarm clocks that do this, but I’ve never had one. It’s neat. I also like how optionally you can turn the screen grayscale during your bedtime hours — a good reminder that you probably shouldn’t be looking at your phone. Well played.
- I like the navigation style, how you unlock the screen with a fingerprint scanner on the back (very natural), switch between apps, quickly close an app (or all apps), etc.
- GPay and Apple Pay are similar enough, but I give GPay an edge because I can control the cards’ order. I don’t think I can do this in the Apple Wallet, as far as I’m aware.
Here are the features I miss from iOS:
- I miss Face ID. Face masks notwithstanding, being able to unlock with your face is a magical experience. It’s the kind of transparent security that is game-changing.
- While I like some aspects of the Android bedtime feature on the Pixel, I still miss the iOS implementation of this idea. For example, the alarm sound starts soft and increases.
- I miss the Apple Watch. Not strictly iOS, but it counts because it’s what iOS enables. The quality of accessories and their connection to the phone is a big thing. It has to get better for me to stick to Android.
- I miss the flagship phone experience. Features like Qi charging or top-of-the-line processing power. Comparing a Pixel 3a XL to an iPhone 11 Pro is not fair, and I know this. But until I upgrade to the Pixel 5, should I choose to upgrade, this is going to be something I will miss.
Switch tablets?
For now, I’m sticking with the iPad Pro. Early exploration of the Android tablet ecosystem reveals that while the hardware side is impressive, the software side lacks the same breadth of productivity apps.
Working with an iPad without using an iPhone has so far not been a problem. And I will keep exploring.
Closing thoughts
Some good. Some not so good. And every minute has been fun. I love exploring new technology. And Android, while not generally novel, is new to me. Exploring the little nooks and crannies have been surprising.
I’m not ready to say Android is better than iOS. If anything, I’m closer to conclude it’s decidedly not better. But I’m also learning that I cannot justly compare these two ecosystems. They are different, each with their strengths and weaknesses. They both solve the challenge of communication, productivity, and collaboration equally well and in different ways.
In other words, I’m pleased.
