I recently had the opportunity to test an iPhone, 5S. Keep in mind as I continue I began this as an Android fan-boy. But in my new position I have been asked to test specific phones to decide on which one best works for me.
So, several weeks ago, I began my journey to the Apple iPhone. Before I go on I will say that before I wore it out I had an Apple iPod, Classic 80 and it could not be beat by any other mp3 player on the market. If they had not been discontinued I would own a newer now but oh well, life goes on. So, it is not like I absolutely cannot stomach their products, I really liked my iPod.
Since I previously worked in the cell phone industry, I could use most any phone made. However, I have started out with and remained loyal to Android phones since they came out. No reason other than the iPhones were more expensive and I didn’t really think the features were worth the extra money.
A few weeks with an iPhone may not be a fair comparison regarding years with Android but here is what I think.
The iPhone seems to be snappier in execution of applications. The applications seem to run better and to be more stable than on Android. I did not time anything. It was just a feeling I got as I used it regarding the “snap.” I like the size and width of the iPhone, but more on that later. I liked some of the default apps/abilities loaded on the new iPhone. Since I now have meetings in many different time zones around the world, I like the system because it let me set phones for any time zone and have them side-by-side which was quite convenient. I believe this to have been caused by the carriers but I found that I dropped far fewer calls on the iPhone than I had in the past with Google’s OS.
Those were most of the pros, now some cons. Above, I mentioned the smaller size as a pro. I did like that a lot at first; however, after a day or so I found that I did not like the screen size. It is much smaller than the Galaxy S6 I dumped for this phone. Next, something that has always bothered me about Apple products is the cost. Not only is the hardware pricier but the applications cost you, too. Most every Android app I used for free was 99 cents and up for Apple. Next, the battery life of the 5S was much less than my Android S6.
The largest difference that I grew to dislike on the iPhone was being locked into their “desktop.” How many ways can you say, “boring?” You get the round icons to launch the apps, you can rearrange them and move them to different screens but that is all. No widgets for weather, phone calls, music, video, etc. The desktop contains the installed apps, the date and time and a search and message bar if you swipe down from the top. Android allows you to install widgets for most every application running so you get a live preview any time you look.
In my opinion the android system is much more user-friendly and much more useful than the iPhone. I will stick with my Google based systems. I will also say that I did not hate the Apple OS as much as I thought I would. It is a good system and very functional, but just like my computers I will stick with Windows PCs (with some Linux) and Android for my phone. You may not like what I said but now I have actually tried one out.
