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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.
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!
The phone is expensive, no question, but my last iPhone lasted me 4 years and I expect this new one to do the same. I get support during those 4 years and I don't have to wait for updates. The resale value is really good, too. The cost of an iPhone is a lot less if you consider how much you can sell a phone that's still in good shape.
But these are all trade-offs, and I won't pretend they're not. I get a lot of things that are important to me by buying an iPhone, but I trade off being able to buy a new, cutting edge phone every year because it costs way too much. If I want to sell it, I can, but I have to go through the ordeal of selling it.
I *do* regret buying a 16GB phone (I thought I would be okay because 16GB was always plenty on my iPhone 4, even with a healthy music playlist), but streaming music and some smart cloud offloading definitely make this phone liveable, even with games and apps and podcasts. If there's one complaint I have--and that the Apple community and pundits have--it's that stupid 16GB tier.