[FrAgile]

Originally Posted by SmartCat

I have a PhD degree on this topic. It was so damn frustrating trying to figure out what to do with iTunes and iCloud photos.


I see no difference as such. By the way, HEIC is high efficiency (meaning, low file size), not better quality.

Thanks for sharing. I am aware of these methods but somehow, because the phone had both jpg and HEIC pics, they were not getting transferred due to some error that popped in windows. As that was within the first month of usage, the phone had less pics so I downloaded the pics from icloud(which has 5gb of space that can be used free of cost) and icloud automatically converts HEIC in jpg. After that, I switched to the most compatible mode in settings.

What is weird about apple's file management is dividing the pics in different folders while transferring to windows. Also, whatever albums you make in the photos app in the iPhone, while transferring, they all get mixed and are sorted by date instead of the folders.

Inability to transfer Whatsapp pics via cable to PC was a big let down too, coming from android. When the whatsapp pics are saved in the camera roll, again, the PC cannot identify the different folder of whatsapp(which exists under albums in the photos app on iPhone) while transferring the data, instead, all the pics are mixed and sorted by date!

Good luck sorting out pics that were clicked on iPhone and the pics that were shared on whatsapp(which has 8-10x more pics than what were clicked on the phone itself!). It's like searching valuables out of Junk .

All in all, as many bhpians said in this thread, these are small hiccups that a new android user faces on iOS. Once the user gets over these issues, it's a clean and a smooth experience.


Also, about HEIC, according to some websites and YouTube videos, HEIC is a relatively new file format which uses new methods of compression therefore taking less space on devices and providing a better overall image quality.

Providing the link of Adobe's website where HEIC and JPEG(same as JPG, ) are compared :
https://www.adobe.com/in/creativeclo...c-vs-jpeg.html

[chaosengine]

Excellent thread!

For the longest time, I've been indecisive and switching between Android and iOS. After a bunch of Symbian phones, including the N70 and the iconic N95 8GB, my first ever touchscreen was an iPhone 3GS back in 2009 or so.

I have owned a bunch of Android phones in between. I have had the iPhone 5 (one of my favourite phones I've ever owned) and iPhone 7 Plus. I have also had the habit of changing phones unnecessarily while younger, something I regret for financial reasons.

After moving to the OnePlus 7 Pro in 2019, I had it only for a year before a family member had a sluggish Oppo and I decided to hand it down and get the iPhone 12 Pro. I had been buying all my devices online and I missed the experience of visiting a store and buying a device. And mind you, it was November (8th) 2020 and sick of staying indoors. I decided to go to an imagine store here in Bangalore to get myself a white iPhone 12 Pro. However, the only devices that were available at the time - 128GB variants of iPhone 12. Since I needed to give the OnePlus away ASAP, I did not have the chance to wait for the 12 Pro to arrive in stores. So I got the (PRODUCT)RED iPhone 12 (for the reason it helps fight pandemics), and a red Apple Watch Series 6 and AirPods Pro. These devices joined my iPad Air 3 eventually.

I continued to have tendencies to switch back, because there are genuinely things I miss about Android phones. However, I decided it best not to squander money away anymore and keep the iPhone. Over time, I made up my mind to stick with the "Apple Ecosystem" and acquired a MacBook Air M1 in 2021. Especially since I am involved in Carnatic music, I love how the different devices sync - they also have wonderful audio recording capabilities and speakers. I am thoroughly enjoying the experience of having all the devices stay in sync.

Buying a phone like the iPhone and keeping them for years is similar to a post I saw from GTO. That it's better to buy and own something of quality and hold on to it for years. Following the same thing with a car as well and saving up.

[Abhi5868]

Originally Posted by COMMUTER

I have never used an iPhone for the following reasons.

Poor battery life
Lack of water resistance

Apple iPhone is great but, with the screen on time being the first thing I look up when choosing a device, would never be in my pocket for a long while now.

This is my batter status on my 3 yo device.

iPhone 13 Pro Max literally has the best screen on time for a flagship or for any regular phone for that matter (unless you want a brick instead of a phone). Apple battery woes are a thing of past, and don’t even get me started on the levels of optimisation and performance they’ve produced. Like the op, I’m also a convert from Oneplus 6T to a 13 pro max and the differences have been leaps and bounds to me although I still think they’re priced at a much higher rate than they deserve to.

[NiInJa]

Interesting thread!

I have used both Android and Apple phones since the start of Smartphone era, almost all of them have been the top end ones (Sony Xperia, LG G series, Galaxy S7 edge, iphone 5S and iphone 6S). The last iphone I used was the 6S, up until 2019 when my kid abused it so much that the SIM tray cracked! I could not get a part as simple as the tray in time .Apple stores have some token system to get an appointment to service your device and twice the store said they had exhausted the tokens for the day and I would have to wait until next week. Seriously?? I just felt that these guys were taking me for a ride but I chose to wait, and then the lockdown happened so I left it as it is. Right now I am using a cheaper Android phone, just waiting for my kid to grow a little so that he understand how expensive these things are

Coming to which phone is better Android or iPhone ?
I think both are equally matched, ONLY if we consider the 'flagship' android phones from Samsung

Network connectivity and general software:
I think up until Android 10, the iphones fared better in software with no stutters or call connectivity issues, but recent Android flagship devices have a stable software and network issues too have reduced. My iphone 5S and 6S would not face call drops whereas my wife's android phone would face those issues back when Vodafone did not have a tower nearby our house, surprisingly my S7 edge did not face call drop issue.
My S7edge still works well today, though it has bent frame and shattered glass, the color reproduction was much better than the iphones of that time. The case where Android phones slow down after every major OS update is slowly vanishing, my dad's Motorola E(something) still worked well after all these years.

Cameras:
The S7 edge's camera was great, so was the 6S, but where iPhones can't match Samsung is the image processing algorithms, in case of iphone, you just click one photo and you are done, no need to post-process it or anything. The details too are captured well in any lighting conditions.

Look and feel: Iphone feel better to hold and exude premiumness, but so do the Samsung S series phone.

Software (Personal experience):
Surprisingly, iphone 6S did not have a dedicated voice recorder app. I had to download a third party one and it did not allow me to share the recordings on whatsapp, it wanted me to purchase some pro version. Not sure if it still is a problem.

iPhone lacked one big feature for me personally: the lack of Google Indic keyboard. I write a lot of stuff in my native language (marathi) and the lack of a fast and efficient keyboard that supported English to Marathi conversion was a big bummer.

No Always on display! I like to keep my phone close to my desk and it helps to just glance at the phone and see the time or any mail notification.

I can say that iphones are great to use, the look and feel of their device, be it the UI or physical appearance and touch, everything is spot on. The cameras are excellent, for novice photographers it does not need any fiddling with the settings. The hardware too is great, the charging cable, earphones are of great quality.

So, Why I will stick to Android in future (only the flagship ones from Samsung)?

- As mentioned above, lack of a great indic keyboard. There is simply no match to Google indic keyboard.

- I know I will miss out on the beautiful cameras of iPhone, but I personally use my DSLR when doing proper photography and for the usual stuff, Android Flagship cameras more than exceeds my expectation. I can crop images without losing much on details with a dslr. With phone's camera, it is simply not possible.

- Battery Life: iPhones have good standby time but actual usage time and battery consumption is almost the same as new android phones. I don't care if the apps use more memory in Android compared to iOS or if they are better optimized. As long as it works, it is fine by me.

- Connectivity: Much easier to transfer and manage files on Android than iphone, especially if you not are actively using the Apple ecosystem (ipad, Mac etc)

- Android (flagships or otherwise) are more 'fun': Be it the space zoom or 10x optical zoom lens, the S Pen or the huge and crisp display of Samsung Note or recent Ultra, or IR blasters in-built that will enable controlling your AC, there is always something more to do with Android flagship phones. There is always something going on in Android space that keeps nerds like me engaged. For example: Realme presented a phone whose camera is capable of taking photos at microscopic level, or the open source code that is readily available for developers, my cousin built an app from scratch, that controls his baby's room lights and fan speed, and he is not even a computer/software engineer. iOS feels a little restricted in that sense.

[COMMUTER]

Originally Posted by Abhi5868

iPhone 13 Pro Max literally has the best screen on time for a flagship or for any regular phone for that matter (unless you want a brick instead of a phone)
.. although I still think they’re priced at a much higher rate than they deserve to.

I think that the difference between a 240gm Apple and a 480g brick is just a mind block and not a physical one. The Iphone 13 has a screen on time of 5 hours(which is a vast improvement over the 12). Just like the car makers, they have pulled in customer with the lower prices for entry level devices and left the devices markedly poorer to force the customers to buy up or keep yearning to buy up one day while they keep revering the 'top end' devices inspite of the illogically high pricing. That the apple phones are able to do what a regular phone does in a slightly better manner still cant justify that level of pricing without the perception of luxury they have cooked up with it through careful branding in the mind of its consumers and worshippers. Though touted for being more secure, they are not 'pegasus-proof' either. They do offer software updates but that too wouldn't justify the pricing in itself if the apple device is going to cost more than what any other brand charges for all their upgraded devices launched in the period, for which apple supports its devices for, put together.

I do appreciate the clout they have achieved by way of branding, exclusive pricing and intelligent trade in schemes which make the cost of upgrading the apple phones to be lesser than buying any other brand's 'flagship' device thus keeping their customers locked in to their diaspora hailing it continuosly. That is a winning formula for sure.

I do respect the apple buyers' need to take slightly better mobile photos, send mails slightly faster, feel more secure and attend phone calls with a slightly more luxurious feel, and their 'logic' behind the amount they spend for it, peace.

[Samurai]

I like the Apple hardware, but the closed ecosystem is a big NO for me. If you buy one item, you end up in a quick sand scenario.

I know this happened to a BHPian.

His wife presented him an iWatch. First he was happy, and then he realised he needs an iPhone to make the iWatch useful. So he bought iPhone. Then he realised his car HU didn't work well with iPhone. So he upgraded the HU to support Apple carplay.

It is like NATO expansion...

[androdev]

Originally Posted by Samurai

..So he upgraded the HU to support Apple carplay....

I was expecting to read he upgraded the car to have carplay!!

[Arnav612]

I never liked iPhones since the beginning. I used to think they're merely style statements for the rich (it's not untrue but there's more to it)

Earlier last year I stumbled upon the Steve Jobs Biography and the man's ideologies and the way the digital world progressed in his presence really changed how I looked at an iPhone ever since.
It actually was the beauty in the ideology of never selling the iOS/MacOS softwares to other companies to make small bucks back then, in order to be the most exclusive smartphone today, that caught me ransom.

I personally (coincidentally) use a OnePlus 7T too in 8/256 config. It was all good up until Android 11. The previous OS looked really classy and was much more pleasing to the eye. Let that alone, even performance was way better and bugs were way fewer. The infamous battery issues and the "phone call" bug are only getting worse with every software update hereon.

I remember going for a concert in December at 5 pm, for which I charged it a 100% before leaving. By the time the concert started at 8, it was down to 45 percent, and then it died halfway. Usage in the period included video recording (only through the last 45 percent), WhatsApp and a little bit of Instagram.
That's when I knew it's nearing the end.

My father uses a 13 pro, mother a 12 pro, and sister a 12. Before leaving for university this year I'm sure to change to a 13 in the new green hue to even go well with my 2020 MacBook Pro 13. It loses out on specs as compared to the 7T, but honestly, I'd rather have lower specs better optimised than higher specs with no control. And I don't even use the 90 Hz refresh rate on the 7T. I moved it to 60 a few days after the Android 11 update in order to save whatever's left of my battery backup.

[mvadg]

Originally Posted by dragonfire

This is actually possible - except that its a bad choice. I had installed Android in a very old iPhone some time ago and half of the sensors did not work.

Just do a google search.

Yes, I searched. I know that Apple makes it near impossible to install Android or any other OS on their hardware.

Samsung's flagship phones are pretty good and I've not dabbled in custom ROMs etc for quite some time. But I was salivating over the latest Bionic processors and I know that I would never ever like to be restricted by Apple's walled system. Came across one old project on xda where someone had tried (mostly) unsuccessfully to run Android on an older generation Apple iPad.

We need to start a social media war to get EU to get Apple to open up their systems.

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by dragonfire

1) No truecaller - live caller id is a boon in Android.

I have Truecaller! and it works. If you have only one account and trying to use from 2 phones then it would not work and doesn't show any warning.

I am able to eliminate all the spam calls that I get on the iPhone too

[vb-saan]

I have been on iPhones for the past many years, with intermittent switch to Android (LG G3, Galaxy S10, Pixel 2 XL etc.). The Pixel 2 XL was the phone I used for the longest time – 2 years+. Switched back to iPhone because I did not find a worthy replacement in the Android space. And the way iPhone works with the related accessories (watch, airpods etc.) is another big plus.

With iPhone, it’s so easy to have the boredom factor kicking in. So now I have this strong pull to move from my 12 Mini to the Pixel 6. But unfortunately, it is not sold via Telco carriers here in Singapore and so over-priced if order via Google store (SGD 999 / USD 737 for the regular 6, 128 GB). If I upgrade to 13 Pro instead, it will almost come free with carrier vouchers and other discounts. For an iPhone user, I feel Pixel is the only option in the Android space that can give a matching experience (and vice versa) with super-capable camera system, clean interface etc.

[FrAgile]

Originally Posted by vb-san

With iPhone, it’s so easy to have the boredom factor kicking in.

That's what apple is. All their products are too simplistic which gets boring as time passes. Ironically, the same simple gets complex and troublesome when you don't have an apple ecosystem. Cross platform for apple is a pain. Within apple, it's a breeze.

Apple products are like those introverted snobbish friends who have their own group set and won't like others to join the party

One thing about apple products is that what they do, they do really well. So that's a big plus.

[Carpainter]

Originally Posted by RGK

My wife has been using the One Plus 7 for nearly four years

OnePlus 7 was released less than 3 years ago so that's not entirely true.

Anyway, I'm an Android user since its inception and probably my first Android device was Motorola Defy. Currently I'm using OnePlus 6 bought at launch so it's almost 4 years now. I have been very happy with my phone for the first couple of years but since Android 11 update it's been getting bad. Also just like OP has mentioned I also think Android is getting saturated with so many Chinese and other devices at the same price range with little to no differentiation at all. My device is getting slow and my battery is getting bad so I've been thinking of getting myself a new phone and iPhone 13 is at the top of my shortlist but some iOS restrictions are making me think twice. Like

No true caller support. Not a deal breaker for me but it's always a good to have app.

No call recording option. Again not a deal breaker for me but sometimes I require this option in some special cases. It's better to have than not to have feature.

Limitations like taking screenshot, no suggestions in dialer app, difficulty transferring files between Windows and iOS, very high repair cost, no usb C, incompatibility with my galaxy watch etc are a major factor for me.

But still I want to give it a try and experience it first hand. People say they get bored with iOS because of same looks and lack of customisation etc. Well I'm not high on customisation stuff but I've also kind of got bored with Android so using iOS will be a new experience for me. Also I like to keep my device longer, like 3 to 4+ years and for that iPhone is probably the best. In Android world OnePlus has lost its oxygen OS and prices are stupidly high. Apart from Samsung most OEMs are Chinese with little difference and full of adware and bloatware. Samsung is the only good Android OEM left but their flagships prices are also trying to match that of iphones. But for that high prices I think Apple provide better hardware and long time reliable software support than anyone else. So may be my next phone will be an iPhone but before that I want to use my current OnePlus 6 for as long as I can before I get absolutely bored with it or it becomes unusable because of depleting battery capacity. I just don't see value in changing phones unless I have to. I'm a car enthusiast but not a phone maniac. But then this forum taught me to hold on to cars longer as well.

[QuentinTino]

Congratulations for such a sweet deal on that damn good smart phone.
Just one thing you’ll perpetually miss on iOS is CALL RECORDING.
My lawyer swears by that feature on android and says everyone should have it these days!

[vb-saan]

Originally Posted by FrAgile

That's what apple is. All their products are too simplistic which gets boring as time passes.

It is simple and powerful. Simplicity comes from the fact that everything works in precision. All the apps are highly optimized for iOS and crashes almost never happens. The said boredom is from the fact the everything works as expected and they continue to perfect on perfection. For e.g., the iPhone 12 to 13 update looks more like a facelift rather than a new generation. But they have made the camera even better, the pro models are now battery monsters, and so on. I feel Google also follows similar approach. A major design change came in after 4 generations of releases.

Originally Posted by Carpainter

Limitations like taking screenshot, no suggestions in dialer app, difficulty transferring files between Windows and iOS, very high repair cost, no usb C, incompatibility with my galaxy watch etc are a major factor for me.

Some of the limitations are not really so much IMO. Taking screenshots are easy, As Smartcat mentioned earlier in his post, transferring files between iOS and Windows are not a problem at all. I hardly log in to iTunes. Just yesterday I cleaned up phone photos just by logging into icloud.com/photos and it was as easy as working with Google photos. Two things I still don’t like on the phone are maps and keyboard. Always keep Google keyboard is the default option, and Apple maps still feels inferior to Google maps.

Below is a good video on this topic:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsHrV26dKD8