HELP! I’m Dating an Android (user)

June 9, 2023 Keith

Story Highlights:

iPhone and Android users are generally different people
The 10x optical zoom made me do it
There are apps that can bridge the gap
Moving from Apple to Android (not for the faint of heart)
iPhones are easier to use, but the S22 Ultra camera makes Android well worth it

A tale of two worlds

There are some people who could say that the world is divided up into two different people: iPhone and Android users. The reliance we have on our smartphones has become so important that it is now a top five characteristic in who we choose to date. Wait… what??? Oh, come on now. You can’t tell me that you haven’t mildly judged someone for having a smartphone of the opposite brand. These phones are like an extension of our brains, and the two operating systems are definitely different from one another.

The notion is that iPhones are more chic and svelte, and Android phones are more rugged and techie. You can usually tell if someone is on the other side, because texting goes from blue to green. Interestingly, there are some demographics that show some key differences between the two camps. For example, iPhone peeps are more spenders, while Android users are more savers. There are more iPhones in the city, while the Androids are more prevalent in the country. iPhone owners typically have more money and have more professional jobs than Android owners. There are plenty of interesting demographics between the two. Here’s a link if you want to go deeper (link).

In 2022 I switched sides. I’ve been an iPhone user since 2007. I was in line to get the first version that came out. Yes, one could easily say that I was drinking the Apple Kool-Aid. But last year, I strayed from the path. Samsung came out with a beautiful 10x optical camera on their S22 Ultra phone. iPhone had nothing even close to it. Since I’m a photographer by heart, I decided to leave the Apple club.

Breaking up is hard to do

For those of you who are thinking to switch from iPhone to Android, or vice versa, I’ve got some news for you. You have to be strong. You have to be bold. You have to be nuts! Yes, it is possible to move from one platform (aka ecosystem) to the other, but oh my lord it’s not for the faint of heart. With my very extensive experience, I was able to move everything from iPhone to Android without losing any contacts or pictures or music, but it took me over 12 hours to make it happen.

Apps that connect the two sides

If you’re in a relationship with someone who has the opposite type of phone from yours, there’s still a way to keep in touch.

Location Sharing – If both people have Google Maps installed, you can use the location sharing feature to where the other person is in real time
Texting – Use WhatsApp instead of the default texting apps. Most people don’t know that if you text from Apple to Android, the text is not encrypted and privacy is lost. I’ve also found that not all messages are delivered when going between Android and Apple. WhatsApp is both encrypted and is feature rich. You can even send pictures in full resolution this way.
Video calls – There’s no FaceTime on Android, so a secondary service will be needed. Use Google Meet; Zoom.us; Microsoft Team; or Facebook Messenger
Sending money – Apple has a cool feature to send money to other people through the text messaging app. This is only available Apple-to-Apple. If you need to send to an Android user, use one of these instead: Google Pay; Cash App; Zelle; Venmo; or PayPal

How to make the switch

Below is strictly an overview of how I went from iPhone to Android. Some might think that going to the cell phone store is all that’s needed, but I can promise you that they don’t have time to take care of the intricacies. Moving your phone number is fairly easy, but moving all your personal data over is a surgical procedure. The items below can be used as a guideline. It’s best to have both devices comfortably at your home to do this properly. Doing it in a rush won’t end well.

Google is your friend

Google apps are a part of the Android experience out of the box, and they are also fully available for download on the Apple App Store. You will use these Google apps to handle all the heavy lifting of your data.

[Tip] Create a Google account – You’re going to need this to convert everything from the Apple space.
[App] Google Photos – You can transfer all your photos from Apple to Google. Here’s the link to tell you more (link).
[Tip] Contacts – Sign into your Google account on the iPhone using the built-in apps, like Mail and Contacts.
[App] Google Chrome – Use this app instead of Safari. Make sure to enlist in the Sync feature on the iPhone. This will copy all your saved passwords and bookmarks
[Tip] Email – Though you can sign into your Apple email via Gmail, it’s best to have a Gmail account as your main email since it works nicely on both iPhone and Android.
[Info] Text messages – This is a hard one to swallow. You can download all your text messages from you iPhone to a Mac computer using a tool called PhoneView, but you will not be able to bring them to your Android phone. You will have to start new conversations and just reference the old ones on your Mac, or your iPhone if you decide to keep it around.
[Info] Visual Voicemail – This is another item that won’t transfer over, so clear them out. For old voicemails that you want to keep forever, you can save messages on the Android by playing them on the iPhone speaker and using a voice recorder app on the Android.

This is just a brief list of items that you’ll have to consider when moving from an iPhone to an Android. If you are considering transferring over, I highly recommend consulting a skilled IT person to do this for you, as it’s a very complex procedure.

Greetings from Planet Android

Now that I’ve been in the Android ecosystem for about a year, I can report that it’s going very well. Admittedly, iPhones definitely give a smoother experience overall, and it’s easier to move between apps and adjust settings. Android phones are more customizable, but the settings are in unintuitive places. I would be tempted to move back to iPhone in the future, but for now the camera in my Samsung S22 Ultra is the best I’ve ever had in a smartphone. Enjoy some samples below.