Apple's First Android App, Move To iOS, Is Getting Killed With One-Star Reviews

An anonymous reader writes: Apple today launched Move to iOS, the company's first Android app built in-house. As we noted earlier, "It should surprise no one that the first app Apple built for Android helps you ditch the platform." The fact that the app is getting flooded with one-star reviews is not particularly surprising, either. At the time of publication, the app has an average rating of 1.8. The larger majority (almost 79 percent) are one-star reviews, followed by five-star reviews (almost 19 percent).

Comments

Dupe

[halivar]

This app, and the Android-fan 1-star reviews, is discussed ad nauseum already.

Re: Dupe

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

The competition has certainly been good. The features iOS has ripped off of Android are great. I can't believe it's been 8 years and we FINALLY have back button and a keyboard that shows us which case we're typing in.

It's a pity we can't discuss that without the word 'invent' being thrown around by everybody except Apple.

Re:Dupe

[ceoyoyo]

Wait... you're saying crusty nerds are just hipsters? A clever disguise, the overgrown beards and body odour....

Re: Dupe

[guises]

I've read the posts you replied to and the summary, and even went so far as to consider reading the story, but I still don't know what you're talking about. I see no one in this comment thread using the word 'invent' except you (and now me).

Re:Dupe

[xantonin]

Are Fandroids like Fapples?

Re: Dupe

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

No. Fapples love their phones. Fandroids are openly hostile to everyone else's phones.

Re: Dupe

[BronsCon]

I've seen both on both sides of the fence. One of my Apple-loving friends is hostile toward my Android phone despite never having used one as a primary device, while my Apple-loving wife switched to Android for a little over a year before going back to the iPhone; she doesn't dislike Android, she just wanted to go back to using the apps she had already gotten used to (and paid for) on iOS. Meanwhile, I only ever hear my Android-using friends and colleagues poke fun at Apple users in a joking manner; most of us are also Apple users, just not when it comes to our phones. Personally, that means an iPad (original), iPad Air, Apple TV, iPod Classic, iPod Nano, and two MacBook Pros; for my best friend that means two MacBook Pros, an iPad Air, and an iPod Touch; almost every one of my friends and colleagues has at least one Apple device that they use regularly, though, for most, that device is not their phone.

Poking fun at a group of people of which you are a member is not a form of hostility. Grow up.

Re: Dupe

[BronsCon]

Oh the irony.

Indeed.

Re: Dupe

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

That's just wimpy. If you really want to annoy an Apple fan try bringing up that the first iPhone they purchased was obsolete. The odds are pretty good that they purchased their first iPhone only a few months before the release of the next new whiz-bang model. Certainly soon enough to start hearing about how woopy and hooray it is but so soon that they'll have to wait more than a year to have their new shiny. Then, no matter what they paid (most paid $200 on contract, which is why your insult won't typically work) you can play on their feelings of envy for the latest and greatest.

You can also mention that the Lightning cables break too easily. There's a decent chance they've had to visit an Apple Store (or paid $30...) to rectify it.

Re: Dupe

[freeze128]

Is that what we're doing now? Putting an 'F' in front of the phone platform? It doesn't work so well with Fwindows or Fblackberries.

Re: Dupe

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

When you get home from work go look up what 'fap' means.

Re:Dupe

[LifesABeach]

I RTFA, being a software type, my curiosity was peaked at maybe learning some new aspect of Android vs. Apple. Yawn, Apple's program is a simple interface that allows copying data from one phone type to another phone type. This is a nice project one would give to a third world intern so that they can't screw up to badly, and feel horrible.

Re: Dupe

[TheRaven64]

Better than what was available previously? That's a pretty low bar (though I'll note that my pre-Android, pre-iOS Nokia N80 supported SIP out of the box for cheap calls over WiFi and integrated nicely with the system without third-party apps and could sync over Bluetooth without requiring cloudy things). All of the modern phone offerings suck. Microsoft is the only company that has a UI that feels as if they've actually done some competent user studies and their platform is going to remain a niche as long as there's no useful software for it.

Re:Dupe

[Maritz]

Needs more "and over".

Re: Dupe

[gsslay]

You are seriously out of touch. You must either love Android, or you love iPhone, and you must hate the other with a passion. You must pick a side for the forthcoming religious Smartphone Wars, that will lay waste to the internet.

People like you will be shunned by both sides as contemptuous cowards. Your execution will be streamed for all to see, right after the shooting of the heretical Windows Phone users.

Re: Dupe

[jellomizer]

The big fear is your choice will be irrelevant so all your investment financial and emotional in the product could be loss of the product is a dud. Like Zune, Apple Newton, BeOS, OS2 Warp...
If you got one of these dead end product you somehow feel embarrassed for jumping into the camp that didn't stay.
The fact that even these dead end product may have still been valuable to you.

Re: Dupe

[macs4all]

But it's true. They target below average tech users to make it simple and lock out everything, have terrible user-facing business practices (price gouging, price fixing, choice restriction) and generally rely on user ignorance.

Wrong.

They "target" average people, who, for the most part, are not particularly "technical".

They tend to not provide GUI controls for things that are more "dangerous" than useful for most people; but you can almost always still get to those features through the Command-Line

As far as the rest of your baseless rant; it doesn't even rate a response.

Re:Dupe

[doccus]

It's a little unclear to me why they would even make an app like this.. It's not like it's just switching OS's.. you have to actually replace your phone, too. It's just, essentially, then, nothing more than nagware.

I wonder

[thaylin]

How many of the 5 star reviews are coming from users who already use IOS over andriod.

Re:I wonder

[Anonymous Coward]

I presume that all the 5-star reviews are from people happy about how easy this app made switching away from Android, and it will be their last Android app review.

Similarly, the 1-star reviews are from people who have not used the app, will not use the app, and have an odd desire to murder anyone who does use it.

Re:I wonder

[Anonymous Coward]

I wonder how many of the 1-star reviews are from users who do not own an iOS device.

Re:I wonder

[NatasRevol]

Rounded to the nearest 1 percent? 100 percent.

Re:I wonder

[thaylin]

Yea, because IOS users would never troll Andriod users, it is always the other way around.

Re:I wonder

[Flavianoep]

All of them. There is no point in installing that app if one does not already use iOS and finally got an easier way to move all that stuff from the old Android phone.

Re:I wonder

[Anubis IV]

In just skimming the top reviews, it looks like:

the 5 stars are mostly Apple fanboys who have never used Android but have invaded Google Play so that they can stick up for their platform of choice, despite having no device on which to actually use the app to see whether it works as described.

the 1 stars are mostly Android fanboys who have never used iOS but are posting reviews anyway so that they can stick up for their platform of choice, despite having no intention to switch platforms or use the app to see whether it works as described.

In a perfect world, app reviews would tell you whether the app does what it's supposed to do and how well it does it, then leave it up to other users to decide if that's something they want. In the real world, that actually useful information gets buried under thousands of pages of useless drivel between fanboys for each side.

Re:I wonder

[Feral Nerd]

How many of the 5 star reviews are coming from users who already use IOS over andriod.

And how many of the 1 star reviews come from Android users who hate iOS despite never having used it? ...welcome to the computer operating system holy wars.

Re:I wonder

[rsmith-mac]

You have to use the app to rate it, which means you need to own an Android device. Which doesn't entirely prevent stuffing, but iOS users aren't likely as a whole to have an Android device sitting around.

Re: I wonder

[slaker]

I believe the only requirement to review an app on the Play Store is a Google account. I say that because I don't have a Google+ account and Google keeps telling me (as recently as last week, in fact) I have to have one to leave developer feedback.

Re: I wonder

[Anubis IV]

I went to the Google Play page from a desktop PC and saw the "Write a Review" button available. I didn't click it, but given that it was presented to me and that I don't have an Android device, I'd assume anyone at all would be able to write a review.

Re:I wonder

[MrNaz]

Obligatory:
https://xkcd.com/937/

Re:I wonder

[mark-t]

In other words, this app has been flooded with fake reviews.

I'd suggest that's immature on both android users and iphone users' parts for misrepresenting their experience with the app.

That one may be able to extract an estimate of average maturity of android users compared to that of iphone users based on the fact that their complaints about the app so vastly outnumber the 5-star reviews and cross referencing that imbalance with the ratio of android users to iphone users in general is left as an exercise for the reader.

Re:I wonder

[mark-t]

Actually. IOS users are *more* likely to have access to an android device than android users, because android emulators exist that can be run in Windows, while ios emulation is currently only possible on a mac.

Re:I wonder

[Anonymous Cow Ward]

You actually only need a Google account to review an app.

Re:I wonder

[CptChipJew]

Incorrect. You need to have downloaded the app as well. And I know this because I just tried.

Re:I wonder

[k3vlar]

> Missing filesystem access
Why the F*** do you even want filesystem access? Wouldn't it be nice to not have to deal with all of that BS?

> being unable to download arbitrary content using a web browser
You've been able to do that since iOS 5 or 6, as long as you have an App that will handle the content you want to download, or a storage app that will let you manage and browse arbitrary content (See Dropbox, Documents, etc.)

> being forced to use a media player for system management tasks etc
Last time I checked, you don't need to use iTunes for anything other than transferring music & movies. You don't even need it to activate the device...

Re:I wonder

[damnitalready]

Really? What twit needed an app to switch phones? Did anyone really consider this a barrier to changing their phone OS?

Re:I wonder

[tomhath]

I presume that all the 5-star reviews are from people happy about how easy this app made switching away from Android

Why would you presume that? Astroturfing is far more likely.

Re: I wonder

[drinkypoo]

ISTR the play store requiring you to have an app installed, or at least to have had it installed, before you can review it. But you could always just install to the emulator and then write a review.

Re:I wonder

[slaker]

> Why the F**** o you even want filesystem access? Wouldn't it be nice to not have to deal with all of that BS?

My organization has a couple VIPs who want to use iOS as primary computing devices, which required an almost complete change in the way some data is handled, all for want of the ability to store some data they'd be able to download with a web browser on any other platform.

I also think it's nice to be able to segregate personal and business data instead of lumping
everything together. In addition to missing the concept of end-user access to directories, it also still doesn't have multi-user support. iOS treats data as an undifferentiated lump, which is particularly awesome when you get to see somebody's Hedonism II vacation memories mixed in with photos of in-process construction projects or something (fortunately, that wasn't someone who worked for my company, but it sure did liven up that particular meeting).

> You've been able to do that since iOS 5 or 6, as long as you have an App that will handle the content you want to download, or a storage app that will let you manage and browse arbitrary content (See Dropbox, Documents, etc.)

The keyword here is arbitrary. Dropbox supports a lot of data formats but arbitrary it is not.

Dropbox for iOS won't handle arbitrary content, only content for which it and/or the device has a viewer. Why would you want to copy arbitrary content to an iOS device? Because it has multiple gigabytes of potentially encrypted flash storage, maybe? To keep something that doesn't belong in cloud storage out of cloud storage and on a thing that users are unlikely to lose, break, wash or allow to leave their grubby hands for even a single moment.

> Last time I checked, you don't need to use iTunes for anything other than transferring music & movies. You don't even need it to activate the device...

You CAN need it to copy data on and off the device and assign it to apps, particularly if that data is not directly accessible from the web somehow. This is particularly obnoxious if you have apps that handle the same sorts of data but won't talk to each other. Maybe they both support Dropbox. Maybe.

Re: I wonder

[Karlt1]

You can drop arbitrary content onto iOS without using iTunes. You can copy files to DropBox, Google Drive, iCloud Drive, Box, etc. from your computer and have full access to those files. You can download any file from Safari into one of those services. With iOS 9 you can attach a file from any of the cloud storage providers into an email. You only need an app to view files that are not natively supported by iOS. Yes iCloud Drive is a separate app in iOS 9 that works like DropBox

Re: I wonder

[slaker]

Safari isn't downloading the file to the device if it's being put into Dropbox et al, is it? And if that data doesn't belong in the cloud? If the device doesn't immediately have a viewer, the device can't interact with it, however useful it might be to have on local storage.

I think you misunderstand the definition of the word "arbitrary."

Re: I wonder

[topologicalanomaly47]

You assume wrong. I have more than one Android device, never installed this app and trying to review gives: "You must install this app before submitting a review."

Re:I wonder

[topologicalanomaly47]

Wrong

Re:I wonder

[Anubis IV]

lol, if we're talking maturity...

Android users don't line up for hours to get a phone which is readily available.

Yes they do, though not to the extent Apple fans/fanboys do, of course. In fact, in several cases, Samsung has hired paid actors to line up on launch day, just so that they could generate launch day buzz in the news.

A lot of Android users care that you can't even HAVE a similar app on the i store because of APL's super-anti-competitive practices.

And that's a perfectly valid and reasonable concern to have. It should definitely be taken into account when choosing your platform of choice. But there are equally valid concerns on the other side as well (e.g. privacy, security, support lifetime, resaleability, etc.), plus others that favor Android that you didn't mention either (e.g. ease of rooting, more hardware options, more expansion/ports). If the apps affected by "APL's super-anti-competitive practices" aren't ones that you want or care about (i.e. Apple's policies allow for all of the apps you want), then that concern won't matter to you. Likewise, if you're okay with carriers and manufacturers having more control over whether and when you receive updates, then the concern over support lifetimes won't affect you either.

Pick which concerns you care about and then pick the ecosystem that best aligns with your interests. That's all there is to it. In the meantime, be honest about the benefits and drawbacks for both sides and about the shady practices that both sides are engaging in. Neither side has clean hands in this, neither side is flawless, and neither side is a perfect fit for everyone, since each differentiating factor for the sides comes with it its share of drawbacks.

Re:I wonder

[macs4all]

Yea, because IOS users would never troll Andriod users, it is always the other way around.

Actually, by and large, most iOS users don't even acknowledge Android users. But the other way around...?

Re:I wonder

[macs4all]

Because it's my FUCKING computing device that I paid my FUCKING hard-earned cash for and I don't buy a computing device just so I can be FUCKING locked out of it.

By your definition, assuming you own them, your Microwave oven is a computer; your DVR is a computer, your set-top box is a computer, your TV is likely a computer, your A/V receiver is likely a computer, your dishwasher is a computer, your washing machine and dryer may be a computer, your car has a computer, your car's stereo is a computer, your personal music player is a computer, your blood pressure monitor is a computer, your blood glucose monitor is a computer, your computer monitor is a computer, et FUCKING cetera!

So, why aren't you all butthurt and posting all over the internet that you will never buy a Panasonic Microwave because you are locked-out of "rooting" it?

It's just that some people's attitudes are actually BEHIND the times: Just because a thing is an embedded system, doesn't mean that it automatically is transformed into a GENERAL-PURPOSE computing device, FFS! And just because it has SOME attributes in common WITH General-Purpose computing devices does NOT mean it has to go all the way. For example, if I purchase a high-end audio mixing console, and it allows the installation of software "plug-ins" for audio-processing, does that mean you have to be able to install Linux on it and expect it to run ERP software, or the manufacturer is "locking you out"?

Grow up! Get into the 21st century. "Computers" are EVERYWHERE; but they don't ALL have to be the same, just because they might share SOME (or even most) of the features of a General Purpose Computing Device.

Re:I wonder

[macs4all]

I tried to take a picture of a document, then convert to PDF and upload to a website on an i device. I need to do this for the CRM system my company uses. They explicitly require PDF format.

Please tell me how to do this without pre-loading the PDF. I want to do this exclusively with just one device / phone / computer.

You're a TROLL, and/or a MORON.

A quick look at the iOS App Store (ya know, the one loaded on EVERY "iDevice") turned up a metric ton (I stopped counting at FIFTY) of Apps, some even FREE, to do EXACTLY that thing.

Point 2: If you're on a metered connection or a bad connection (say, in another country), and you just want to quickly download a file where you don't have a handler, how can I download it NOW (say, it's a limited time offer) without downloading another 50MB+ handler?

You haven't given enough information; but I would suggest one of the MANY ftp clients, or use something like GoodReader, which not only can down/up load from USB, peer-peer WiFI (from within the App!), and from/to FTP/SFTP, WebDAV, HTTP, AFP, SMB, DropBox, SkyDrive, GoogleDrive, SugarSync, POP/IMAP Servers. Plus, it has intrinsic "Viewers" for MANY file types, including, but not limited to, PDF and all "MS Office" types, media files, plus you can Open any downloaded files in any App that can handle that file type. It can handle ZIP and RAR archives, and maybe even others. Heck, it will even let you encrypt and decrypt files. And I think the newer versions can even do some cool stuff like PDF Annotations. Pretty cool for 5 dollars US.

] So, what was your objection again?

Re: I wonder

[Karlt1]

All of those services let you keep a copy of the file on your device and in the cloud (ughhh I hate I just said that). How do you "interact" with a file if you don't have anything that can read it? All you can do with it is send it somewhere else and store it. You can do both with iOS without a viewer for the file? You don't have to have an Internet connection to use a file in DropBox if it's on your device. I can open a word file that's in DropBox with Word on the iPhone without an Internet connection.

Re: I wonder

[Zeroko]

Suppose someone wants to take some blob of data from one location to another without having to upload & later download it (say, the connection at one or both ends is significantly slower than the flash storage on their phone, or the data is sensitive (but no so sensitive that it warrants a dedicated storage device...perhaps this case is rather unlikely)). They are not going to use it on the phone, so no need for a viewer, but they still want a way to transfer it (without having to find & keep track of a memory card, since they are already carrying their phone).

Well, I suppose one answer is to convince the device it is some supported file type & then fix that at the other end. But that seems silly.

Re: I wonder

[Karlt1]

You don't have to "convince" the device of anything. If you just want to store a file and transfer it, iOS doesn't need to know what kind of file it is. But really how often are you really without Internet access where you need to transfer a file to someone else? If I need a file on my device to use without Internet access, I would load it into one of the shared folder solutions (iCloud Drive, Dropbox, Google Drive, etc.) and make sure it's on my phone.

If I just had to get the file off of of my phone to a computer with a wired connection. I would have to install iTunes or a third party file browser.

Re:I wonder

[Zontar The Mindless]

My microwave is not a general-purpose computing device and doesn't contain things like my address book, call records, email, browsing history, location, etc.

My phone certainly is and does.

Re:I wonder

[RockDoctor]

Did anyone really consider this a barrier to changing their phone OS?

The Marketing Department of Apple ^H^H^H^H^H^H the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation (a " bunch of mindless jerks who'll be the first against the wall when the revolution comes.")

Actually, since DNA was well known as an Apple Fan-boy (and wasn't afraid to parody himself over it), it's moderately amusing to watch Apple's slavish following of the Sirius Cybernetics model from the outside.

Apple should charge for it

[Anonymous Coward]

then only people that actually want to change platforms would download it.
Would get rid of all the negative review from people that don't have or want Apple products.

I have a feeling that

[Anonymous Coward]

If someone made an app to make it easy to move stuff from IOS back to Android, Apple would ban it from being released onto IOS and the only way you could get it would be with a Jailbreak.

So, as many apply fanboys wish to bash the reviews on this, it is still better for them than what would happen if it had been the reverse.

Personally, I have used both and I prefer the freedom of Android and would only go the IOS route again if I needed to and would require a jailbreak before I would even bother.

Re:I have a feeling that

[knightghost]

Apple is about toys and status. Android is about work. Most people avoid work.

Re:I have a feeling that

[Anonymous Coward]

I disagree completely. I have been using Apple phones for quite some time and for me, they "just work".

I don't have to worry about vendor installed apps and intrusive branding, I just get a device that works and thats that.

I dont buy the phone because of status, I buy it because in my opinion its the best designed piece of equipment I can get to do the job i need it to do.

Re:I have a feeling that

[Guy Smiley]

Who cares of the device works or not, can you do work on it? Can you edit a Powerpoint presentation and forward it on to your boss's laptop for him to use at the next sales meeting?

Yes, you _can_ edit a Powerpoint presentation on your iPhone/iPad. All of the Microsoft Office apps are available for iOS for free:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/de...

Re:I have a feeling that

[BronsCon]

I don't have to worry about vendor installed apps and intrusive branding, I just get a device that works and thats that.

Like a Nexus device?

Re:I have a feeling that

[Anonymous Coward]

So how much work are you able to do on the phone? Did you apply to McDonalds on your iPhone?

No, but I've easily VPN'ed into my work network, connected to our host provisioning system, spun up 7 new virtual machines and provisioned them, then logged into each to validate they're properly working, tweaking settings as needed over a terminal system, then emailed my coworkers a status report saying "I'm walking around downtown with my girl right now, so my connection is spotty, but ping me if you need my help with anything else."

Oh, and then I updated an excel spreadsheet with the relevant server info, sent it to my team to keep them in the loop, and followed up with a skype call to a client to make sure he was happy with the scale-out work.

Yep, can't do "real work" on an iPhone or an iPad at all. You're clearly right.

Can you edit a Powerpoint presentation and forward it on to your boss's laptop for him to use at the next sales meeting?

Yes, actually, I can. But if that's what you call "work," then maybe you should go back to school.

Re:I have a feeling that

[slaker]

To be fair, you also weren't using any special capabilities of your fruit to do that, either. It was a dumb terminal from the moment the VPN connection was negotiated. I can exactly the same tasks you just described on anything with a reasonably high resolution screen and a functional 3G or 802.11 connection, even a Palm or WinCE device.

Where does the "just works" part come in?

Re: I have a feeling that

[IANAAC]

I have an honest question that you, as an iOS user maybe can answer: Is there a decent database app available? Something similar to Memento for android? I use that app heavily and would have a hard time finding a replacement for it, even on android. Some of my friends that use iOS have liked what they've seen in the app and would like to use something like it, but I have no idea what to recommend.

Re:I have a feeling that

[LynnwoodRooster]

No, he means the iPhone with the pre-installed iMessage, iTunes, and other vendor-installed apps. And the big Apple logo branding on it. That device that's free of vendor-installed apps and intrusive branding.

Re:I have a feeling that

[BronsCon]

I see you've brought your sense of humor with you today.

Re:I have a feeling that

[macs4all]

Can you edit a Powerpoint presentation and forward it on to your boss's laptop for him to use at the next sales meeting?

Yes. I counted about NINETEEN Apps (some even FREE), including, shock, Microsoft PowerPoint that purport to do EXACTLY that.

But you should really clue your boss in to Keynote. It obliterates that toy, PowerPoint.

Next?

Re: I have a feeling that

[macs4all]

I have an honest question that you, as an iOS user maybe can answer: Is there a decent database app available? Something similar to Memento for android? I use that app heavily and would have a hard time finding a replacement for it, even on android. Some of my friends that use iOS have liked what they've seen in the app and would like to use something like it, but I have no idea what to recommend.

Besides a plethora of specialized databases, I saw no less that a dozen standalone databases (some even FREE. Tap Forms LITE looks pretty cool) some fairly simple, others pretty full-featured, plus mobile clients for MS SQL, Access, Oracle, Sybase and others, a complete SQL Database manager, and more.

Just search for "Database" in the iOS App Store.

How come Google approved this app

[Spy Handler]

but Apple rejected the "Ditch Apple and switch to Android" app in iTunes?

Re:How come Google approved this app

[thaylin]

Google does not reject aps. They may ban them if they are discovered to have maleware, but if you get the developer license then you can post your apps.

Re:How come Google approved this app

[Anonymous Coward]

Didn't Google ban ad blockers from the Play Store?

Re:How come Google approved this app

[cdrudge]

They were deemed malicious to Google's bottom line.

Re:How come Google approved this app

[amicusNYCL]

Check section 3.1 of the Apple app store review guidelines:

Apps or metadata that mentions the name of any other mobile platform will be rejected

So maybe you could publish an app that transfers your data from iOS to Android, you just can't use the word "Android".

What's the reason why Apple would simply ban apps that mention Android in the title? What's the point? Anyone have a good answer for that?

Re:How come Google approved this app

[Anonymous Coward]

Speaking as someone who has apps rejected, Google does indeed reject apps. In fact, if you get 3 policy strikes you lose you developer account and they close any associate Google accounts (GMail, AdMob, AdSense) and you are dead to the world.

Re:How come Google approved this app

[njnnja]

I don't work for Apple but my guess is that it would be attractive for a scammy app to give itself a name like "Android mail" or something that could fool unsophisticated users into downloading it, just because their friend has mail on their android phone. So it is much more likely that a label like "android" will be abused so it is easier to just make developers of legitimate apps use a different name.

Re:How come Google approved this app

[phayes]

and now that iOS9 makes it possible to ad ad blockers to safari, they are rising to the top of the app store sales in days.

Re:How come Google approved this app

[amicusNYCL]

Seriously? You seriously think that's the reason why Apple flat-out rejects apps with names that include Android? So Apple's way to help get rid of "scammy" apps is to restrict the naming conventions? Not by actually curating the apps and determining whether or not they are "scammy", but by restricting the words that people can use in the app names. That's the explanation you're going with. Why did they single out only other mobile platforms as banned names?

I don't work for Apple

With that explanation, you could have fooled me.

Re:How come Google approved this app

[freeze128]

What do they do if the apps have femaleware in them?

Re:How come Google approved this app

[mjwx]

Google does not reject aps. They may ban them if they are discovered to have maleware, but if you get the developer license then you can post your apps.

Not strictly true,

They reject applications that are illegal or harmful. But Google do not reject applications out of whimsy, blind ideology or because they're afraid they'll be better than the stock apps.

Beyond this being rejected from Google Play isn't the end for an application. This is a bit of a double edged sword, but it's still the reason I like Android and the way Android does things, the benefits outweigh the flaws and it gives me, the owner of the device, the power to choose how I want to use it.

Re:How come Google approved this app

[macs4all]

Check section 3.1 of the Apple app store review guidelines:

Apps or metadata that mentions the name of any other mobile platform will be rejected

So maybe you could publish an app that transfers your data from iOS to Android, you just can't use the word "Android".

What's the reason why Apple would simply ban apps that mention Android in the title? What's the point? Anyone have a good answer for that?

FIrst, is there any evidence that they would, or have; or is it just Apple Hate?

Re:How come Google approved this app

[amicusNYCL]

Any evidence that they would reject apps with "Android" in the title? I think there's some evidence, let me try to find the app store review guidelines somewhere and I'll get back to you with some rule about how they will reject apps that mention the name of any other mobile platform, if such a rule exists.

Re:Reddit

[Anonymous Coward]

And for anyone that doesn't read the exact subreddits to which the story was posted? Or who don't follow reddit at all? Well, the fact that it was covered first at reddit is pretty moot then, isn't it?

How does it help you move?

[jdavidb]

It would be nice if there were more of a specific description of what this app does. How does it help you move to iOS? I'm assuming it doesn't (couldn't) overwrite the existing operating system on your android device with iOS, so what does it do? Advertise?

Re:How does it help you move?

[Anonymous Coward]

Apparently it uses wifi to transfer things like contacts over to your new iOS device.

Re:How does it help you move?

[nicholasjay]

The app creates a secure wireless connection directly between your new iPhone and your old Android phone. It then moves over your contacts, pictures, and videos. Any app that's on the Android phone that's free in the App Store will get downloaded to the iPhone. Any app that requires a payment will be put in your Wish List in iTunes.

Re:How does it help you move?

[Anonymous Coward]

OFFS! http://www.apple.com/iphone/sw... Heaven forbid you go look at an Apple web page and find out for yourself.

Re:How does it help you move?

[Huge_UID]

Your post is already +5, so "Thank You"

Re:How does it help you move?

[RDW]

It would be nice if there were more of a specific description of what this app does. How does it help you move to iOS?

I can't tell you exactly what it does, but you might find my experience useful. After vaguely thinking that it might be interesting to get an iPhone for a change, I installed the app yesterday and ran it in the normal way. At first, nothing seemed to be happening, but then a faint rotating spiral appeared on the screen. As the beautifully designed pattern became gradually more intense, the phone began to play a strange pulsing harmony and the flash LED blinked softly in time to the music. At that point I began to feel strangely tired, and the next thing I knew it was half an hour later. I have no memory of what happened in that missing 30 minutes, but I see that a $949 transaction has been made on my credit card and a 128GB iPhone 6s Plus seems to be on pre-order from my brand new account at the Apple Store. I hope it comes quickly and my data has been transferred, as all my Android phone will now do is display random quotes in Helvetica like "Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower" and "Just avoid holding it in that way".

Play store review fail: reviews by non-owners

[mveloso]

Why can non-users review an app? That seems to be a play store fail.

Re:Play store review fail: reviews by non-owners

[danbob999]

maybe they downloaded, rated 1-star, and then deleted it.

Re:Play store review fail: reviews by non-owners

[Anomalyst]

maybe they downloaded, rated 1-star, and then deleted it.

a) skip step 1
b) profit!

Re:Play store review fail: reviews by non-owners

[alvinrod]

Then funny part is that even the people hating on it count as a download, which means Apple can claim that a huge number of people downloaded it within the first x days, which gives an impression that there was an even larger migration from Android to Apple.

Re:Play store review fail: reviews by non-owners

[BronsCon]

They can. Visit this page from your iPhone, sign in with your Google account, click "Write a Review".

So many jokes....

[Mike Van Pelt]

Google does not reject aps. They may ban them if they are discovered to have maleware...

... But manfully deciding to post none of them.

Re:Same-day-dupe

[halivar]

Not in the least. In fact, it gives me a bit of nostalgia for the old days, when you got to have every exact argument at least twice a week.

Why would Apple or switchers care about review?

[perpenso]

Do you really think Apple or Android users looking to switch to iOS care about the reviews or ratings?

Re:Why would Apple or switchers care about review?

[vux984]

Do you really think Apple or Android users looking to switch to iOS care about the reviews or ratings?

Yes. If I thought it would move all my photos, contacts, videos, notes, whatever else...

I'd probably consider a 5-star app, on the presumption that it's easy to use, efficient, and does what I'd expect it to do well.

I wouldn't bother with a 1-star app, on the presumption that it would be a complete waste of time.

Re:Why would Apple or switchers care about review?

[perpenso]

Do you really think Apple or Android users looking to switch to iOS care about the reviews or ratings?

Yes. If I thought it would move all my photos, contacts, videos, notes, whatever else... I'd probably consider a 5-star app, on the presumption that it's easy to use, efficient, and does what I'd expect it to do well. I wouldn't bother with a 1-star app, on the presumption that it would be a complete waste of time.

I expect most Android users looking to switch to iOS would not make any such presumption regarding a 1-star review. This is an extremely "politically incorrect" app for an Android app store and obviously sets off the zealotry of platform fanboys. Reviews are surely going to be skewed as a result. Would be switchers would likely take that into consideration. The fact that it is an official Apple app and is important to Apple's Android to iOS switching efforts would probably far outweigh a bunch of likely bogus reviews.

Re:Why would Apple or switchers care about review?

[phayes]

Yeah, you would ignore that the insincere 1 star reviews are from people who transparently want to bash apple & not people who wanted to migrate their contacts, pictures etc off android & to an iPhone. Better off keeping to Android than being accused of apostasy eh?

Re:Why would Apple or switchers care about review?

[perpenso]

I really want to see Google try to publish Move to Android in the Apple store

You assume that Google could write such an app. Sandboxing would probably prevent direct access to the relevant data by a 3rd party app.

My understanding is that the tools for such migrations actually work off of phone backup files on the computer.

Re:Why would Apple or switchers care about review?

[macs4all]

I just moved my mother from one droid to another, total time 10 minutes.

About the same time (maybe more) than it took to move from my previous iPhone to my new one.

Encrypts your media, adds DRM, and watermarks mp3s

[raymorris]

I figure it prepares your data for use on an iOS device - encrypting videos you've shot and adding DRM, watermarks your mp3 with your email address/Apple ID, and converts any patent-free codecs like Ogg Theora to mov with an Apple-patented codec.

Re:People like me

[Anonymous Coward]

I wonder where people like me fall in the spectrum. I use all three major (or two major/one minor) platforms and generally don't care.

You fall in the sane human being category that would rather get work done than talk about what tools s/he prefers to do them.

Are the reviews useful?

[soft_guy]

If I was planning to switch from Android to iOS, I would consider using an app like this. The question is, do the app itself work well for the use case it is advertised for? Does it actually move your data over to iOS? What data does it specifically move? What does it not move?

I don't care what kind of computers other people use. I write MacOS X software for a living. I chose MacOS X as a user and as a developer for a variety of reasons, but I recognize those reasons may no longer be current. I haven't used Windows since Vista - and my use of Vista was doing development on a cross platform Windows/Mac/Linux app I wrote. I have written software for iOS (before it was even called iOS) and some iPhone apps I've written have been commercially quite successful. I thought about writing software for Android, but I haven't because my understanding is that Android users don't (in general) spend money on apps. I don't like "freemium" apps. I prefer to charge up front or else have it free. These days, I'm really more interested in MacOS X software and Linux software.

That said, I don't care what phone you like. I am very glad there are multiple viable phone platforms. I think iOS is cool. I don't like having to ship software through the App Store. That said, I've certainly sold more through the App Store than I ever sold through other channels like Kagi.

Anyway, I'm disappointed that the conversation here isn't focused on whether the reviews are useful. That's what I would care about.

Re:Are the reviews useful?

[Coren22]

The reviews aren't useful. The app was released today, the 5 star reviews are ad agencies and the 1 star reviews are people trolling Apple, likely Slashdot and Reddit users.

Re:Are the reviews useful?

[Skater]

Personally, I'm glad there's competition - it keeps both of them getting better. I missed the "back" button on Android on my iPhone, but I see iOS 9 is will have that functionality, so good. (I guess there's actually 4 competitors - Windows phone and Blackberry - but iOS and Android are the leaders.)

Re:Are the reviews useful?

[Nemyst]

From what I can tell, the app seems to do as it says and helps you move your data to iOS. I think the biggest reason for the criticism is that such an app would have a snowball's chance in hell of being approved on iOS for moving the other way around.

Re:Are the reviews useful?

[david_thornley]

At the price I pay for iPhone apps, I can buy a lot of duds and still wind up with apps I really like at a low price. The permissions system makes a lot more sense on iOS, so I don't feel like I have to be cautious.

FWIW, Jobs traded some Apple stock for the rights to the PARC GUI components, and went ahead and made a far better UI with the components. I've seen shots of the PARC interface and it's far inferior to the original MacOS GUI. So, Jobs didn't rip off anything from PARC, and didn't rip off the entire GUI but rather had Apple make its own.

Re:Are the reviews useful?

[macs4all]

And this is a prime reason to move to Android - the plethora of free apps - and quite useful and usable apps at that.

There are a plethoraplex of Free Apps of all types on the iOS App Store, too. I can't seem to find a statistic for either the Apple App Store or Google Play; but suffice it to say that I have NEVER searched for an App in the Apple App Store that didn't pull up many results, both Free and Paid. And even most of the Paid Apps are $5 or less; which is essentially "free" for most people that can afford ANY smartphone.

Sadly...

[dav1dc]

Sadly, after reading the article - this appears to be an indication of the level of "iOS Hate[rs]" in the Andriod community, rather than a cogent assessment of the application's quality or ease of use.

I'm almost certain most of the 1-star reviews come from people who recently made the jump in the other direction, from iOS -> Android.

Re:Sadly...

[thegarbz]

I'm almost certain most of the 1-star reviews come from people who recently made the jump in the other direction, from iOS -> Android.

I wouldn't assume rabid fanbois for either platform are recent converts.

Re:Haters gonna hate.

[Falos]

I'm IT in the local school district, which has plentiful amount of mac. I looked up the current power cable for macbook airs on a whim; I was morbidly curious about how much apple charges for one.

I'm not sure why Apple put a rating system into their own site's products. Especially when it ends up like this.

Pages of people with appleIDs, and pages of their handwritten, one-star reviews.

Re:The cost of privacy and security

[amicusNYCL]

This just in: Android and Samsung are not the same thing.

You can find your unlocked flagship Android phone here for less than $350:
https://oneplus.net

Re:People like me

[Coren22]

Emacs totally sucks, Vi is awesome! Only losers use Emacs.

It is an argument as old as computers, likely Ugg argued with Ack about what size rock to use to crack a herbivore's skull.

I am going to put up a poster in a nearby church!

[EmperorOfCanada]

I am going into my nearby church later today and I am going to put up a poster for a different church of a very different sect that is just down the road. I wonder how that is going to go?

Keynote is $10

[tepples]

can you do work on [an iOS device]? Can you edit a Powerpoint presentation and forward it on to your boss's laptop for him to use at the next sales meeting?

Keynote is $10 on the App Store. Is that close enough?

Re:Keynote is $10

[laird]

PowerPoint does a fine job of editing PowerPoint. MS supports iOS with surprisingly good versions of PowerPoint, Word, Excel, OneDrive, Outlook, etc.

Assuming that "doing work" involves writing and sharing MS Office documents, then iOS is great at "doing work".

Re:Keynote is $10

[BronsCon]

I know this quite well, as I use the MS Office suite of applications on my iPad. But, the question that was asked was, with context, "Keynote is $10 on the App Store. Is that close enough?" If Keynote can edit PowerPoint presentations, the answer to that question is "yes"; if not, it is "no".

Must be why Apple is near bankruptcy.

[Brannon]

Finally that mystery is solved.

Absurd nonsense.

[Brannon]

Lots of people use Apple devices for work.

Laugh

[koan]

"The app can be used to move contacts, messages, photos and more to a new iPhone or iPad,"

Probably uploads it to the "cloud" too.

How many of those reviewers actually tried the app

[mark-t]

I mean, if the point of it is to move your content from an android phone to an ios phone, then that would require that you actually *have* an ios phone to move the content to.... and most of the reviews that I saw looked like they were from people that wouldn't touch an iphone with the metaphorical 10 foot pole, so I suspect they didn't actually try the app out, but are simply utilizing the review process to diss Apple.

Not that I'm suggesting that Apple isn't necessarily deserving of dissing, but if that were genuinely the case, then certainly one should be able to do so on legitimate grounds rather than representing oneself as having tried an app that they very obviously would not have ever actually wanted to bother with.

Re:Reddit

[BronsCon]

pretty moot

You're thinking of 4chan.

Moral of the story

[mrun4982]

79% of the reviewers are simply Apple haters and didn't use the app (and probably never used an iPhone either for that matter).

Re:I am going to put up a poster in a nearby churc

[david_thornley]

I don't know. Back when I was in Sunday School at a Congregationist church, they spent a year showing us all sorts of different Christian denominations.

Re:Same-day-dupe

[Zontar The Mindless]

In the old days, we got to have the exact same argument at least twice a day.

we know iOS does these things. Not secret

[raymorris]

> Android is DRM free, then iOS needs to be DRM free.

We know iOS is not at all DRM free. No amount of logic about why they shouldn't use DRM will matters. It's no secret that Apple media is restricted.

> If Android handles pictures without watermarks, then iOS needs to avoid watermarks.

Again, iOS does in fact watermark your files. They may "need" to change that, but they haven't.

  iOS markets to a different niche than Android, so they don't need to be "better" in terms of freedom, etc. For their market, they need quality physical construction, high quality displays, and ease of use for the most common tasks.

Re:we know iOS does these things. Not secret

[Anonymous Coward]

What is really messed up is that I tried emailing my sister a link an mp3 on the web so she could download it to her iPhone.

It is impossible. You have to download it to a pc/mac using itunes, and then sync it.

Android... Save As..

iPhone... no luck

Re:we know iOS does these things. Not secret

[macs4all]

What is really messed up is that I tried emailing my sister a link an mp3 on the web so she could download it to her iPhone.

It is impossible. You have to download it to a pc/mac using itunes, and then sync it.

Android... Save As..

iPhone... no luck

What are you smoking?

ps -that's the joke

[raymorris]

> If Apple is up to something sinister, they would do it at OS level, not app level.

That's the joke. That's why my post is mod 5 funny. The OS DOES do that. So "preparing your files for iOS" would mean watermarking them, adding DRM, and using patented codecs - BECAUSE those are the types of files iOS uses.

Heads Up Apple!

[LifesABeach]

You want to impress us with your collection of H1B slaves? Have them write an OpenGL app in iOS, and Android; then have them compare the respective sources. Then submit the results, and sources to SlashDot. Or was the Joker right about your reproductive systems?

Maleware?

[antdude]

What is that?

let me Google that for you

[raymorris]

http://www.cnet.com/uk/news/it...

Re:Is there a MOVE at the App Store?

[macs4all]

To move from Apple to Android? Would it? Could it?

One half second of search in the iOS App Store turned up the App "My Contacts Backup Tool" (FREE!), that purports to transfer at least your Contacts OUT of iOS into a .vcf file, to import wherever. There are others, too, some with useful stuff like Excel Support.

However, all I see are "Contacts" exporting Apps. But it seems like iOS native Apps such as Mail and Photo already have some "Data Migration" features built-in, and every iOS App that has files has a "Share" button, so it seems like that covers it. because you can "share" (export) multiple data items (files) at once.