We see plenty of iPhone users switch to Android for a period of time and then write about their experiences. For example, we recently read an account from an Apple fanboy who couldn’t stand using the Nexus 5 even for a full 24 hours. We also see plenty of stories from Android enthusiasts who try to stomach the iPhone for a period of time. These stories are often written from the perspective of fanboys on both sides, however, so they rarely offer much substance. One iPhone user took to Reddit on Thursday to describe his experience using Android for six months though, and he provided an uncommonly succinct and level-headed account of his impressions after moving back to his iPhone 5.
Writing under the user name “HairOnTheHead,” the Redditor explained in a post that the first thing he noticed when he switched from his iPhone 5 to a Samsung Galaxy S4 was the difference in perceived quality between iOS apps and Android apps. “The app store and the apps themselves are a definite ‘step up’ over Android,” he wrote. “Things such as my banking app, Starbucks app, etc, not only work better… they just… look better. My S4 commonly had apps that looked like they scaled awkwardly with graphics that aren’t as crisp as they should be. This drove me nuts at first but I learned to deal with it.”
This is a sentiment shared by many, and we have discussed it at length here on BGR — most recently when we named the iPhone 5s the best smartphone of 2013 thanks largely to the mobile software ecosystem Apple has fostered.
He went on to describe a few other qualms with Android, and with the Galaxy S4 specifically. Noted issues include buggy features and app crashes, battery life that didn’t measure up to his iPhone 5, and a distaste for Samsung’s TouchWiz “bloatware.”
Things weren’t all bad though, and the Redditor listed a number of things about the Galaxy S4 that he misses now that he has switched back to the iPhone 5. Among them are the swappable battery, the ability to send and receive SMS messages from a desktop computer using MightySMS, and the phone’s tight integration with Google services; he describes himself as a “Google junkie” who relies on Google Drive and other Google services.
“It’s hard to explain,” he concluded. “The iPhone has a smaller screen – no expandable battery – and alot [sic] less ‘options’ than what I was used to with the S4… but maybe that is it’s [sic] strength. Apple is focused on doing one thing very well – making a great phone with great apps. It’s that focus that I’m happy to have re-discovered.”
The full account is a good read and it’s linked below in our source section.
