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Apple's First Android App Makes It Easy To Move To iOS
Mark Wilson writes: Apple has released its first ever Android app. No, there's not an Android version of Safari or anything like that, but a tool designed to simplify the process of switching to iOS. The predictably named Move to iOS will appeal to anyone who was persuaded to switch allegiances by the release of the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus, or indeed iOS 9. The app can be used to move contacts, messages, photos and more to a new iPhone or iPad, and is compatible with phones and tablets running Android 4.0 and newer. It works slightly differently to what you may have expected. Rather than uploading data to the cloud, it instead creates private Wi-Fi network between an Android and iOS device and securely transfers it.
Rate the chances of a reverse app to assist migrating from iPhone to Android making it into the Apple store?
I'll go with never.
I pre-ordered an iPhone 6S and I'm moving over from years of being on Android phones. I'm very interested in this app. I took a look at the review on the Play Store (which are mostly one-star reviews), and they all seem to be from Android fan boys about how switching to an iPhone will be the worst decision one can make. Other reviews seem to criticize the apps design scheme.
These are phones, people. It's not a religion. These things aren't your children.
"Allegiance" is such a harsh-sounding word. I prefer "inertia-induced lock in".
Free, as in your money being freed from the confines of your account.
The reason people started moving to Android, and kept using android, wasnt because iPhones migration options were hard. iTunes integration was a breeze and contact synchronization was always done through a quick vcard dump.
Mac became too expensive. it was always too expensive for a majority demographic of americans that earn minimum wage or work paycheck to paycheck, but it really got bad during the financial collapse of 2008. a $600 iphone left a very bitter taste in the mouths of most consumers, but they soon found flavours like kitkat, lollypop, and eclair that were not only just as good as iPhone, but much cheaper. Google maps came with an option to select and search for public transportation routes whereas apple maps just assumed you had a car. Googles ecosystem of phone apps also didnt require special software to sync music, whereas it was assumed iphone owners had bought into the full mac experience and already owned an itunes account. finally, durability. most iPhone users were accustomed to enduring spiderweb screens until their next upgrade, but increasingly more and more android users were finding the phones to be not only more durable, but simpler and cheaper to replace.
now the same corporation that released a ten thousand dollar wristwatch is banking on the return of customers thanks to, a sync app?
Good people go to bed earlier.
Does it deposit $400 in my back account? Because that's about the price difference between the lowest priced current iPhone and what I spent on my last 2 phones, which were previously Android, and currently Windows. I don't particularly like iOS, and probably wouldn't choose it anyway, but the high price of the devices is what really keeps me away from even considering it. Especially considering that my last 2 phones have been very sufficient in their specifications, and I really don't think I'd have a better experience with my phone if it was 3mm thinner, or had a slightly faster processor.
The other thing I like about Android and Windows is that with the phones I choose, I can use an SD card to expand the storage. This is something that's important to me because even a small amount of media (videos, photos, music) can quickly fill up the 16GB iPhone. For $15 I can get a 32 GB MicroSD, and be able to bring way more stuff with me than I could on an iPhone, for a fraction of the price it would cost to upgrade to an iPhone with a reasonable amount of storage.
Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
I have never owned an iOS device, in fact I stick to Nexus devices with a 3 month S4 stint few years back.
I still don't want to move to iOS, but I am pissed at the android manufacturers.
Why can't they give me better battery life, LG G4 has a 3000mah battery, iPhone 6 has 1810mah, then how the hell does it manage to last longer than the G4.
Fortunately Camera's are starting to compete and exceed, but the battery life still sucks.
Yes, I know the android's do more, the services from different apps keep running, but thats the wrong design IMO. All apps should rely on push from servers which Google should take ownership, how it will work in the most efficient way.
So basically, few years of nexus from one to 5 and a few tablets like 7 and 10, I am at a loss.
Wife has the iPhone, and clearly, I don't like what I see there and the Android guys haven't got their act together where they can give me a price/feature benefit as well as a device "better" in all respects to iPhone, which fortunately ot unfortunately is still the king.
My last several phones were flagship phones from Samsung and Motorola.
I don't want to turn this into an 'Android vs Apple' debate, but I'll list my current grievances with Android:
Updates. Updates suck and are always cause for panic. Sometimes they work well, sometimes they don't. And if they don't, it takes a long time for a fix to come out (if at all). I had this problem with my Galaxy S3. There was an update that killed the battery life. No fix for it ever. The S5 recently (February) had an update to 5.0 and it caused tons of issues. Most people are still dealing with those issues.
Anywhere in the Google/Manufacturer/Carrier chain updates can be blocked because someone doesn't want to support or test them, or because they just want you to upgrade to a newer phone. The Moto G may skip the carrier portion, I'm not sure.
Every day I need to cancel the scheduled update to my phone. It pisses me off. I don't want it. But evey morning I need to stop it from happening or I'm going to get it anyway. And if I accidentally hit the wrong button in a waking up fog, I'm screwed.
I don't like the way Notifications work in the newer Android OSs.
Google Play Services & other Google apps seem to start eating into my battery life.
Apple solves a lot of these problems:
Updates. Apple has gotten these wrong in the past, for sure. But at least they fix them and do it quickly. Tons of people bitch and it makes the news. Things get fixed.
Updates come right from Apple to the phone. They don't have to go through the carrier at all. Apple's current (and upcoming) iOS work on devices all the way back to the iPhone 4S (which dates back to 2011). That's product support. Hell, Verizon still sells iPhone 5Ss new and CPO iPhone 5s. That's not to say that I'd have an iPhone that long, but knowing it'll be supported is good and help resale value quite a bit.
I can choose when updates come in. I don't get bugged every day. If I deny an update, it doesn't ask me again and again.
Notifications/Silence/Vibrate works a lot better than on Android Lollipop. I know it's a feature that they originally stole from Android.
Decent music/album art/photo syncing with a computer.
It sucks that the latest crop of Android devices don't have removable batteries anymore. I really liked that feature.
Things I'd miss on Android phones:
The blinky light LED on the front. I really like the notification light. I like being able to glance at the phone and see what I've missed.
The goddamn 'Back' button on the hardware. There's no reason not to have it.
Removable external storage.
Install apps from anywhere. I hate Apple's 'walled garden' approach.
On the information superhighway, cool wind in my hair,
Warm smell of Doritos, rising up through the air
Up ahead in the distance, I saw a touchscreen with light
My laptop's too heavy and my dumb phone sucks
I had to stop for the night
There she stood at the genius bar;
I heard The Joshua Tree
And I was thinking to myself,
"This could be Heaven or this could be Siri"
Then she swiped to unlock it, and she showed me the way
There were hipsters down the corridor,
I thought I heard them say...
Welcome to the Hotel Cupertino!
Such a lovely place
Such a lovely interface
Plenty of apps at the Hotel Cupertino
Every other year
Have to buy new gear
Her mind is Tiffany-twisted, she got the Mercedes bends
She got a lot of app developers she calls friends
How they code like some monkeys, in a shop filled with sweat.
Some code to remember, some code to forget
So I called up the CEO,
"Please bring me my 'i'"
He said, "We haven't had that spirit here since 2009"
And still those hipsters are calling from far away,
Amber alert in the middle of the night
Just to hear them say...
Welcome to the Hotel Cupertino
Such a lovely place
Such a lovely interface
They livin' it up at the Hotel Cupertino
Alibis you bring...
There's just one more thing...
Selfie sticks now with bluetooth,
Instagrams look like ice
And she said "We are all just prisoners here, of the Apple device"
And in the Apple store,
Nobody ever feels fleeced
They trade in all their old device,
But they never pay the least
Last thing I remember, I was
Running for the door
I had to find the passage back
To the OS I was on before
"Relax, " said the genius,
"It is programmed to receive.
You can check-out any time you like,
But you can never leave!