iOS: Adapting
I’ve been using Kristin’s old iPhone 5 for a number of days now and have been very impressed with my ability to adapt quickly.
Since a lot of my opinions and preconceptions about iOS were probably firmed up around the iPhone 3GS/4 era, it’s clear that a lot of helpful adjustments have been made that make switching into the ecosystem, especially for an Android head like myself, not really a big deal.
The ability to run Chrome (even though it’s just a skinned Mobile Safari) has been invaluable to keep the bookmarks synced. I gleefully disabled the vast majority of iCloud (I only see Notes, Wallet, Keychain, Find My iPhone, and the bare minimum of iCloud Drive enabled), especially the Photos stuff. After spending a few hours agonizing over iCloud Photos for Kristin’s 6S+ setup, I’d be happy to never see iCloud Photos again.
The “Back”/“Home” concept clearly still differs from Android in a pretty much not-good way for me, but clearly recent-ish improvements to iOS have sprinkled breadcrumbs throughout the navigation at tough spots. The double-press on the Home button also has gotten me out of jams without having to go through the home screen and hope it remembers my place in the other app.
I’m not using iTunes to sync music; rather, I’ve just installed Google Play Music and have relegated the built-in music functionality to my “Extras” folder on the last page of the home screen. All my MP3s are synced into Google Play Music, so I can download anything to the device whenever I want.
I’ve yet to sync with iTunes on the laptop. I imagine the first and only time I will do this is to make a local backup of the phone when I (probably) purchase my 6S. Especially since I’m not syncing media with iTunes, there’s really no reason to plug the phone into a computer unless I’m about to wipe it.
My apps are all solid, maybe a little better than the Android versions but not by much. I thought I might switch podcast clients but didn’t end up wanting to after trying out the competition.
Funnily enough, I will deeply miss Android’s alarm management features, which were deceivingly advanced and clever in terms of snoozing, deferring, temporarily suppressing, etc. I am too chicken to use a third-party alarm app, so I’ll just have to be more mindful of the alarm setup at bedtime.
I already appreciate the quality of the camera vs. my Motorola. iMessage is handy.
I miss my Android webcam monitor program, but as long as we retain that on the Android baby monitor tablet we’re fine. Amazing there isn’t a top-notch option in the App Store.
I somewhat miss the Intents setup in Android, where you can set the default app for nearly everything. It’s annoying that the “Siri Screen” railroads you into Apple Maps and Safari and Apple News without allowing changes to the defaults.
I am shocked how much faster this aging, 2.5 year old phone is compared to my relatively new Motorola. Much faster than my flagship X of about the same age as the iPhone.
It’s a little disappointing that the Wallet features are so spartan in terms of adding loyalty accounts. Looks like I’ll need to use Android to add loyalty cards, then go to a Google webpage from my phone and import them into Wallet. Since Android is also in the process of screwing up its loyalty card management, this could all just be a futile effort in a few months’ time.
Now I’m scratching my head about when to make the jump to the 6S, if at all. I want the old phone as a work e-mail drone (SIM-free), so it’s not like it will go to waste. But with TouchID and Apple Pay being the only major draws besides the bigger screen, it’s actually hard to go drop the cash to make the upgrade. I’m going to make sure the Clock app doesn’t drive me nuts with the alarms and then maybe make the jump in the next weeks or months.