Help Should I trade my iPhone 5 for the Galaxy Note 2?

[TMD78]

As an ex-iPhone user (iPhone 4), I can say that I'm totally satisfied with my Note 2. I got sick of iOS with its incremental updates and sorely outdated UI. The iPhone 5 wasn't a huge upgrade from the 4/4S IMO. The longer 4" screen was a joke and the fact that Apple was pushing this out as the best iPhone yet? Come on. I think they could've done A LOT more then just making it longer but, oh well.

The switch from iOS--->Android is a little different but nothing that you won't be too unfamiliar with. Having spent oodles of money in the Apple App store, I was a bit hesitant leaving all those apps behind however, I also have an iPad so it wasn't too bad. As far as apps go, the first you'll notice is that the Droid apps are not quite as well developed as iOS apps. Obviously there are more apps in the Apple App store then in the Android App store but that's a given. Most apps should be compatible with your phone however you'll run into some that aren't. This is where the whole fragmentation of Droid thing comes into play. Pretty much all the name brand apps like Angry Birds, banking apps, eBay, Hulu, etc are all in there. Prior to getting my Note 2 I looked in the Google App store to see what apps they had and which ones I'd be losing. You might wanna do the same just to get an idea of things. The one thing that REALLY irritates me about the Android Apps is that a lot of them are loaded with ads or will automatically place shortcuts on your homescreen for more apps. Again, really irritating since I used to be shielded from that crap in iOS. That's probably the biggest change you'll notice there.

As for the phone, I've played with the iPhone 5 a bit and, well, it's an iPhone; just the same as the previous models in terms of UI and such. Nothing really new for me which is why I went the Note 2 route. Having done so, I have 0 regrets. The screen size alone more than makes it worthwhile. I watch a lot of movies/YouTube/etc on my phone and the big ass screen REALLLLLY makes a huge difference. Even for gaming it's nice to have more real estate to use on the app. I'm to the point now where I can't even look at an iPhone without a small measure of contempt/disgust.

Taking the plunge from iOS to Droid means shifting all your media from iTunes to Kies/DoubleTwist. That will take some time TBH. It took me about 2-3 days to get everything transferred over which was a pain in the ass but now it's okay since everything has been migrated. Now it's just a matter of updating libraries once in awhile. The comfort of iTunes being your all-in-one spot for media will change. You'll probably have to use 2-3 different programs to manage all your media and such. And, with the addition of the microSD card slot, you might have to copy/paste items more than you're used to. Another thing is the UI between the two. iOS was very simplified in terms of how you navigate through the menus and operating the apps/phone functions. Droid is somewhat similar to it however the menus often go much deeper so you'll have to familiarize yourself with all the settings/menus and such.

All in all, after about a week or so, you'll get the hang on Droid. It's not as intuitive as iOS however it's more flexible so there will be that slight learning curve. Having my iPad and Note 2, I get to whore myself out to both OS's which is nice In all honesty, migrating all your media from iTunes to Droid will be the biggest headache but it shouldn't take too long. Everything else you'll get the hang of in short order.

This post pretty much sums up my history and current situation to a T. I'm only a week in to the Note 2 coming from the 4s (same bored with iOS story) and still have an iPad, Macbook and the GF has the iPhone 5. There are some hurdles and i feel like an immediate reaction is to doubt or regret your decision when something doesnt work as you would have expected it to in iOS. I'm doing my best to be patient and accept that i signed on for "more control" and therefore "more involvement" in how my phone functions. There are pros and cons but I was just so bored with iOS and in the end can still experiement with both since I have other devices. As a complete Android newbie it's overwhelming. I felt so up to speed on iOS and now i'm a fish out of water, but that's exactly what I was looking for...something new to figure out.

 

[smilesandwaves]

It is a security issue, but most people I know don't really care. They were either forced to lock the phone (by company Exchange policy) or want to lock it to protect other information on the phone and prevent others to dial out. Most people don't care much about SMS, emails, or miss calls being seen by others though. And you can turn them off. Having an option is always nice.

It's not an option if you cant turn it off.... it's a FLAW. For jobs like mine, which is very security heavy, I can't have this. Also, for my personal security I wouldn't want this.

Its not a matter of minding... its a matter of security and options which IOS does not provide.

 

[is250sp]

1. popup on lockscreen (Yes they do, they pop up in the status bar on the lock screen)
2. group chat (Yes you can, you simply type multiple names into the recipient bar)
3. if you send multiple pics or pic with text, it treats it as an MMS slideshow, downsize the pic, and wont let you resize the pic. You have to save the pic, then go into your downloads to resize which is a pain. You can only resize within the sms app if you/they send a single pic with no text (The app will re-size images automatically (I send pictures all the time... NEVER have I had an issue outside of a bad signal which is a carrier problem))

1. display in notification bar is not the same as popup
2. u can send to mutiple people but when they respond, it creates a new message....not the same as group chat when everything is in a single thread
3. not sure what you mean by this

 

[is250sp]

It's not an option if you cant turn it off.... it's a FLAW. For jobs like mine, which is very security heavy, I can't have this. Also, for my personal security I wouldn't want this.

Its not a matter of minding... its a matter of security and options which IOS does not provide.

Incorrect. iOS does have the option to NOT display the popup on lockscreen which is what Icneed is trying to say.

 

[smilesandwaves]

1. display in notification bar is not the same as popup
2. u can send to mutiple people but when they respond, it creates a new message....not the same as group chat when everything is in a single thread
3. not sure what you mean by this

1) No, not the same. But there are apps that offer this functionality. Something which you cannot change in iOS
2) You're referring to iMessage, not group chat. Yes, this is an apple thing and is just another thing apple has in place to prevent people from moving from their OS. There are similar apps in the play store that allow this.
3) Not sure how to simplify: "The app will re-size images automatically" other then by adding "The messaging application in Android" in front of it.

 

[smilesandwaves]

Incorrect. iOS does have the option to NOT display the popup on lockscreen which is what Icneed is trying to say.

OK, to better state my point...

Android will allow you to preview the message in the notification bar while the phone is locked, and still keep the phone locked so Joe Shmoe can't access anything but the preview.

For iOS, if you want to see a preview of the message on the lock screen you can, but you open yourself to the security flaw that allows Joe Shmoe to access all of your messages.

The security flaw still remains in iOS.

 

[is250sp]

OK, to better state my point...

Android will allow you to preview the message in the notification bar while the phone is locked, and still keep the phone locked so Joe Shmoe can't access anything but the preview.

For iOS, if you want to see a preview of the message on the lock screen you can, but you open yourself to the security flaw that allows Joe Shmoe to access all of your messages.

The security flaw still remains in iOS.

You are incorrect again. The popup on iPhone only displays new messages and does not unlock the phone for joe schmoe.

 

[Risley]

I would just be worried that there aren't enough apps, it won't be as fun to use, and I'd miss out on apple stuff.

Of all the apps I had on my iPhones if I remember correctly there was only one that I couldn't find for the Android, it was a construction type calculator.

 

[is250sp]

1) No, not the same. But there are apps that offer this functionality. Something which you cannot change in iOS
2) You're referring to iMessage, not group chat. Yes, this is an apple thing and is just another thing apple has in place to prevent people from moving from their OS. There are similar apps in the play store that allow this.
3) Not sure how to simplify: "The app will re-size images automatically" other then by adding "The messaging application in Android" in front of it.

Of course there are apps that can do all of the above, but there isn't one yet that can do all of it in a single app. If someone can create an exact iPhone sms app I will say Android is god.

 

[lcneed]

You know, we could argue this message thing to the death and would still disagree. Personally I do believe the iPhone MMS system is better than the stock Note II one. As for group messages, the stock Note II one is not sending out "group message". It is really just messages to multiple people which any phone could do. Group message is that when someone reply, it should be grouped in the same thread and everyone would see it. It like the difference between Reply and Reply All in email.

I don't lock my Note II, so I could use the pull down notification screen to see all the notifications easily. But I can certainly see that it would be annoying for people who locks their phones. I don't get SMS much these days because my family had cut me off from their group SMS because I don't have iMessage and it costs them money to send SMS to me.

 

[IdRatherDrum]

Thanks for all your responses. I am still not sure if I am going to go through with it. If I do it may be tomorrow. Android is looking to be pretty confusing. Plus I like iMessage and it looks like you can't group chat on a Note 2

 

[ceva321]

^^^

OMG its just a phone...so did you do it???