I have had an iPhone (3G and 4S) for the past 5 years. I am thinking about switching to a Samsung Galaxy s5 or Note 4. How hard is it to switch from one operating system to another? The iPhone is the only smart phone I have ever had. For the ones that have made the switch, for better or for worse, what did you like or not like about Android over iOS?

I use my phone all day for work, so email is important. Can you tell a difference in the email interface between the two operating systems?

Sorry if this has been discussed at length already...

TIA

before the pissing match starts:

there may be a few differences still, but the latest iOS and the latest Android updates have taken everything the other does and added it their OS.

the only thing I would caution is to make sure that the apps you must have are available on both systems, or you may be spending some time finding an equivalent

Email experience on iPhone >>>>>>>> Android

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the only thing I would caution is to make sure that the apps you must have are available on both systems, or you may be spending some time finding an equivalent

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Good point. I really only use the email and browser "apps" for work

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Email experience on iPhone >>>>>>>> Android

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Why? Can you expand on that?

If you do switch, and you currently use iMessage, be sure to log out of all you devices and change your email address for those or if you attache the same email to the Android, you will be able to send messages but all the responses will go to the other devices.

Personal experience.

It's not very hard at hall. Both systems work well and have their fanboys (See Bary's post above) I have an IPad Air and a Galaxy Note 2 and prefer the Android system.

I prefer the keyboards on Android for passwords because the letters on the keys change between lowercase and caps making it easier to get my password in correct the first time. Although Apple now lets you use a 3rd party keyboard it forces you to use the stock keyboard for all passwords which is were I prefer the Android style the most.

I like the widgets on my android I have picture frames rotating pictures of my kids on my 1st screen, a full page calendar on a second screen, and can check email and tweets with scroll-able widgets all with out opening any apps.

The lack of back and menu button on Apple bothers me also. sometime the app you are using doesn't have an intuitive layout and they all can be a little different. After getting used to being able to back up to the previous screen and select menu in the same place for every app I really miss that function on my Ipad.

I also like that all new apps are put in an app drawer in alphabetical order instead of added to the last home screen in the order they are downloaded.

I also hate ITunes and being tied to the Apple System. I like that Books, Music, Movies etc that I buy in the Google play store are accessible anywhere (Including my Ipad), but anything purchased through iTunes is tied to Apple products without a lot of work to get it off.

I also like having access to my file system and being able to just move and organize files however I want. I had several textbooks that had a PDF for each chapter and for my Android device you just copy the folder over, but it was a pain in the back side to move them over with iTunes and then they had to be reorganized according to which book each chapter went to.

Size, used to be an issue as well, but with the IPhone 6 Plus that is a push.

Android offers a lot of flexibility if you want to use it, but is also easy to use if you just want to set it up and go. My 5 year old has been using my rooted Nook Tablet since she was 2, so it not a difficult system to learn, but it will be a little different that you are used to.

I just switched back from android to Apple. Basically both systems do the same thing. It all depends on which ecosystem and interface you prefer

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I just switched back from android to Apple. Basically both systems do the same thing. It all depends on which ecosystem and interface you prefer

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I'm an android guy but I basically agree with this.

Used, and using currently, both platforms at the same time. At no point to do I say "gosh, I wish this platform did this thing". They are basically the same in terms of features I care about. UI just comes down to what you prefer.

However, if you are only considering switching to a Samsung phone, then you aren't really asking an iOS vs Android question. Samsung is it's own animal entirely.

Edit: and to answer another question, it did take some getting used to when I picked up Android for the first time. It wasn't particularly "hard" to switch, but you will have to take a couple days to learn the system.

Agree w/most of the above. I've gone back and forth b/w the two. I'm not a big tinkerer with my phones which lead me back to the iPhone originally. I switched again with my last upgrade.

There are things that seem so intuitive on the iPhone - it's definitely easy, but you could argue that if you use any OS long enough everything seems "easy".

it took a bit to get used to the Android, but I have no qualms with switching. The iPhone IMO is easier to use for someone using a phone for the first time - point for it. I like that the android UI can be customized more without having to install special programs or jail breaking it.

All of that to say - ignore fan boys of either side. If you feel like switching and have the mindset that some things will seem frustrating at first, just do it. You can always go back. During my back and forth I've found features from both phones, stock out of the box, that I wish the other had.

I have and use both right now. iphone is for work, android is my personal. The iphone email client is pretty awful, I imagine the android one isn't any better. I only use gmail on my personal, so I don't really have familiarity with the native email client. For a good email client you have to get a blackberry, and that's just not a reasonable option anymore.

iphone and android are so similar at this point. They've each ripped off the good features from the other one, so there really isn't much difference. The android keyboard is better, and you can always use a third party if you like. Android lets you put widgets on the home screen, which is handy, but I imagine you would get used to just checking the notification area on the iphone instead. The iphone camera is much better, at least compared to my device (nexus 4), and I don't know of any other phone that can match Apple's quality on cameras. Not important for work, but there it is. We just got iphone6's at work yesterday, and it's actually a reasonably sized phone now instead of the sub-compact iphone5, so it's a lot more usable now. One major problem with the iphone as it relates to work usage is that native calendar will cut off the meeting notes if it goes a bit long. This is a huge PITA.

Both phones are fine, don't listen to anybody who tells one is vastly superior to another. My preference is android, iphone just feels outdated and clunky to me, but I'm sure if you're used to that it's not noticeable.

As far as getting used to it, it always takes time. There is absolutely nothing intuitive about computers, at all. Nothing is instinctive, everything is learned. It may seem more "intuitive", but it's really just more familiar, and it just takes time using it to become familiar with it.

Agree as well. I use a note edge for my phone and an Apple iPad mini for all my media storage and travel. It did take a few days to learn, but there are a ton of online articles/videos to help you familiarize yourself with your new device. I also believe most carriers will help you move over your contacts and such. I wanted to learn on my own, but ATT did ask if I needed assistance. I also think most carriers give you a grace period to return the device plus some minor restocking fee, so you could switch back within x amount of time. Again I can only speak for ATT but they gave me 14 days from point of sale.

I just got a Note 4 after having an iPhone for 6 years. I had a 4, 5, and 6. I have ONLY had iphone smart phones up until now....so I can tell you my experience without being a 'fanboy' of either. Before I start, I DO like my Android. Now, if I had to summarize the feel of both phones, it would be like this:

iPhone: Hardware and software in solid sync with each other, carefully built together for a positive, effective user experience. Literally....like the slogan...it just works.

Android: Something that should still be in beta testing, with its devices.

That's how I feel about it. Honestly. Here are my gripes and likes about both.

iPhone Hate:
Lack of customization. There are precious few options for most things, but they are usually things that are merely a preference rather than a need.
Lack of battery that is easily changed
Having to use iTunes to get music on it
Having to buy a more expensive phone if I want more storage
Screen size (not really an issue any more)
Piss poor battery life

Iphone Love:
Airplay
Things work. When you select an option, it will work. Every time.
The device and software are tuned together, its smooth running, its efficient. I don't really recall 'rogue apps' with it.
Regular software updates pushed immediately to my phone.
Call quality
CAMERA...let's face the music folks....Android doesnt currently have a camera that is even remotely up to snuff or even in the same league as the iPhone camera....Ill even say my iphone 5 camera is better than any current offering on any android device. This was and is a HUGE deal.
SYNC AND BACKUP AND RECOVERY via itunes and cloud. Its seamless. Its easy. Android falls WAY short here.

Android Hate:
Apps/OS is buggy as all hell. It just is. Sometimes things work, sometimes they don't. Maybe a reboot of the phone is needed, but if not, there is probably a check box buried 432 pages deep somewhere or maybe developer options...did you check there? Oh you have to turn that on...go read up on google how to do that.
Software is a bit choppy....its pretty intense and clearly overloads the device hardware at times.
Lack of Airplay. You can use DLNA, and some apps have airplay, but it generally sucks balls.
Bluetooth is 'skippy'....its documented all over the internet. Sometimes its worse than others.
Syncing things on google, and making sure its only google and not on the device, or from the SD card is a huge giant pain in the ass
complete lack of any sort of organization or intuitive design for menus or where things go when you take a picture or download something....SD card? Device memory? A folder somewhere else? SURE....any of those...check them all!

Android Love:
Huge screen
Widgets...LOTS of them
Options out the ass for things....you want your stupid LED to be different colors for email or phone? No problem...apps all over for that.
Calendar....I like the way its laid out.
GOOGLE sync....this seems to work well....all contacts are synced up.
SD card storage....you want a billion GB of data for mp3 or porn or whatever...no problem....open the case, put it in....
While you have the case open you can also put in another battery.....or not...its your call. You have the option.
There are at least some cumbersome means of backing up your phone. It may require 4 different apps and methods, but its doable.
Camera...its OK. Slow. REAL slow.
NFC...transfer photos and vids really quickly.
Space...did I mentiond **** tons of space via SD card? Thats really awesome.
Nicer screen (more pixels, sharper) and I feel like my Note 4 performs better in direct bright sunlight than my old iphone.
When I click on a contact from my call log, the option to text is RIGHT THERE. I can also put the phone to my ear and it will dial. Its not a big deal, but its handy.
I like how my settings for my email are in my f-ing email app. Settings for the app are IN the app, not in a centralized location.

I honestly cannot say that there is anything my Note 4 won't do that my iPhone did. A lot of things are different, but they are still able to be accomplished. Some things like airplay just don't work well....thats an apple thing anyway so I can't fault them much. There are apps that work 'meh' for it. I prefer DLNA type apps for it though. Bluetooth stuttering during playback is irritating, but its not often that it does it.

Mostly, its just a different way of doing things and thinking about your OS. I find quite a few things that I like about my Android and a few that are really WTF moments. Likewise, there are a few things on iPhone that I liked better.

I still stand by my original statement that iPhone still feels like a refined piece of technology, though. But it should....perhaps the Nexus runs as well. All in all....would I go back to iPhone? Maybe. I would give it another look when the time comes, but I won't go running.

Edit: I have a note 4. It is android bases but not pure android because...Samsung. So some of my complaints may be due to that. That also highlights why android smokes apple in specs but apple smokes android in real life benchmarks.

Whoa! Kudos to Brazos Dog for the thorough, non-fanboi-ish review!

And to the dude that said this:

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For a good email client you have to get a blackberry

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I just lot all respect for you.

If you decide to switch just make sure you turn off your iMessages from your iPhone first. I didn't and everyone I normally iMessaged with could not text me because it still thought it was an iMessage instead of text.

Now between the two operating systems. I switched to android in April with the Note 3 and just switched back and got the 6plus.

I did love the customization of the android and how it had a physical back button.

Other than that I love everything about IOS better. Easy to sync and use. I love the mail app more than the androids.

My whole office is also synced up with iPhones so it's easier to communicate and share things with them. iPhones just work while androids get very buggy and crash.

Androids are fun to have for a while but iPhones are just easier and the way to go.

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Whoa! Kudos to Brazos Dog for the thorough, non-fanboi-ish review!
And to the dude that said this:

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For a good email client you have to get a blackberry

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I just lot all respect for you.

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Yeah, I know it's a sin to speak highly of anything blackberry. It's still the best email and calendar interface I've used on a smart phone, and it isn't close. You'll also notice I said blackberry is not a reasonable option anymore

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Whoa! Kudos to Brazos Dog for the thorough, non-fanboi-ish review!

And to the dude that said this:

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For a good email client you have to get a blackberry

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I just lot all respect for you.

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I had iOS for 4 years before android, and I can verify that pretty much everything he just said is true.

Some of the things written here are dumbfounding. How on earth is Blackberry's email special? How can Barry grossly exaggerate the email superiority of the iPhone? And there is no Android phone camera as good as the iPhone? There are dozens of Android phones. Some have OK cameras, and the opinions of pro reviewers (who I trust at least slightly more than most here) say SOME Android cameras are excellent.

Email....I use my LG G2 with 4 email accounts, one Exchange based. Even before the new Gmail inbox it did everything I want out of email. My friends with iPhones like their email just fine, but nothing about it is orgasmic.

I think the #1 reason to go IOS is because that is what you already like and you buy into Apple's complete control over their hardware and software. If you want more choice in everything, Android is a better choice. Want a waterproof phone? There are several. Want a replaceable battery? Memory cards? Etc.

I agree with the blackberry comment; don't fret about technology drive-by swipes by lesser minds. Those comments are generally made by folks who just follow the trend that is propagated by non-technical folks.

I have a droid razr maxx hd and an ipad 2.

I have had a lot of issues with android. Unless you have a flagship, like Samsung, you are getting screwed out of updates. The phone has a lot of issues locking up and I cleared out all of the crap software as well that I installed at one point or another.

iPad I have little to no issues with. An iPad 2 has iOS 8 on it. You will never see that on Android. I doubt even Samsung gets that many updates. I find it much simpler and easy to use. I don't really take advantage of more unique features on android simply because I don't need to. I am planning on switching over to iPhone in 2 months to get with the rest of my family. (If your family has iphones, I would make make the case that you should consider staying, if anything for the iMessage and video talking over the cameras)

I've got an iPhone 6 (after having had an iPhone 5, and an iPhone 4 before it and an iPhone 3G before that) for my normal/9-5 number. I've got a Nexus 5 (running Lollipop) and a OnePlus One (running CM KitKat) that I go back and forth between for my consulting phone line. I also have a Nokia Lumia 521 for testing.

In addition, I've got an iPad Air, an Asus Transformer Prime TF700T (running CM ICS) and a Surface Pro 2 for tablets.

The biggest gripe I have with Android is what some consider the best feature; customizability. The e-mail application is stock on every device I've had. Every single Apple phone's e-mail has worked at least 95% the same way. The general location of buttons and their action has been consistent. On my Android devices the e-mail apps have varied in operation and layout between software revisions and between devices. My Nexus 5 did an update where the GMail is supposed to handle my various mail accounts (GMail and non-GMail) but it didn't deactivate the alerts for the pre-existing mail accounts, so now, I get two alerts for a single mail message, and on top of that, I haven't been able to find out where to disable the pre-existing mail account alerts or remove the account from that program. I'm sure if I were to reset it to stock and re set it all back up it would work fine with only the GMail app handling it; but why should I have to do that when other devices and softwares get it right.

Widgets are neat. However, I rarely have much need for them, and I really don't need them clogging up my screen, eating up the little extra they eat in battery (live updating information uses battery, even just changing the background uses some battery to spin up the processor to handle it) and taking up resources from the RAM and processor sometimes requiring swapping to handle it all.

What I don't like on iOS is the factory keyboard. It's useful but could be a LOT better. I did try the Swype when it first came out on iOS 8, but wasn't impressed and have waited to try it again. I don't really keep a lot of MY music local to the phones, as I don't listen all that often and when I do, I simply use my Plex app to stream from home or Songza so I've quite literally never plugged my last two iPhones into iTunes at all. I wasn't a big fan of iTunes last time I used it however...

Battery life has been fine for me on all of the devices, and I use them quite a bit. My daily carry on the tablet is the iPad air with a Belkin keyboard case. That, $10 worth of PDF editing software, Office (free), Dropbox (free) and I've replicated almost 90% of what I use the SP2 and my work laptops for. Before I had the iPad Air, I used my TF700T for that with it's keyboard case (extra battery built in is very neat).

So make sure what you use on a daily basis on your iPhone is available on the Android device of your choosing and 95% of the time you'll be fine. That's the big deal.

Just thought of something else I like on my Note 4. NFC file transfers. My iphone 5 had air drop and that was handy but I recall thinking it was slow. I just took a 1gb movie and transferred it to the wife's phone using nfc is less than 2 minutes.

When I said the cameras are worse than my 5, it's not just quality. And when I say the quality is worse, I'm specifically talking about low light. My wife's samsung with image stabilization turned off, in less than bright sunlight takes 5 seconds to acquire, measure and shoot a picture. Do you know what that means when it's a class of 3 year olds? It means shirt blurry pictures. IPhone never had any problem with clean crisp, albeit sometimes noisy pictures. My Note 4 is betterrible but it's not an iPhone camera. Also opening camera from the lock screen is painfully slow compared to iPhone.

Another win for iPhone is the lightning cable. Seriously. You don't realize how sweet it is until you plug your android in the dark and fumble around flipping it over and back and fort . But yiu also lose the ability to use a micro usb that pretty much everything uses so YMMV.

pretty good answers here. former Galaxy S3 user, now have an iPhone 5c.

minor differences I'll post:

e-mail client is no better on either platform.

android keyboards are FAR preferable. on my iPhone, I have swiftkey installed. However, iOS does not handle 3rd party keyboards seamlessly, yet. Sometimes I'll open a text message composition window and will have NO keyboard whatsoever. I have to close the app and open several different ones and come back, then it usually opens. (I have Swiftkey set as default).

Battery life on my 5c is FAR FAR better than it was on my S3.

Don't use airplay or Bluetooth streaming or NFC, so can't say.

If I was buying a new phone today, I think I'd get an Android.

The biggest plus I've experienced in my forced switch to an iphone 6 is the battery life. Coming from all Nexus devices (back to the original N1), battery life was always a concern on long days (not a problem on most, just a concern). Now, I regularly make it 24 hours between charging.

I do prefer the Android OS to the Apple iOS though and would switch back if given a non-monetarily influenced choice.

Whichever platform you go with, be sure to vigorously defend your choice and rip buyers of the one you didn't choose. And make sure you call them "fan boys"....but make sure you make it clear that you are not a fan boy.

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However, if you are only considering switching to a Samsung phone, then you aren't really asking an iOS vs Android question. Samsung is it's own animal entirely.

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Absolutely this, and it changes my personal opinion up entirely.
Nexus / plain Android > IOS >>>>> Samsung

I think the question you need to ask is, "Which ecosystem are you tied to most?"

if you own several apple devices, laptop etc. an iphone is the way to go. If not, android might be a better option. I currently have an Galaxy S5 and love it. The battery life is great, it recharges quickly via the usb 3.0 cord, and the ultra power saving mode has been a life saver. The email clients for both are pretty crappy which is fine for me. I have gmail set as my default client which is great. I think thats the big plus for me is being able to choose default apps. I can pick and choose which browser, text messenger, keyboard etc.

thats not to say IOS is bad, I just prefer android

My reasoning to going with a Note 4 over the iPhone 6 Plus was the battery life. At the time, there werent any reasonable benchmarks, but if the Note 4 battery life isnt better, Id be a little surprised. 27 hours is my current record between charges, but it was not to 0%, it was only down to 33% when I charged it. I don't trust batteries. LOL. I did close all my apps and do a phone restart just to make sure there wasnt any weird crap running. I did my usual surfing.

I just switched from an iPhone to a Samsung Galaxy S5 and am having buyers remorse. This threat is helpful. One question I do have is why is Samsung it's own beast in terms of operating systems?

Samsung is different because their own custom UI is very, very different from stock Android. The prevailing thought over there seems to be "more features are always better". From what I have seen, you end up with an OS that takes a ton of RAM just to keep from crashing, and it has a lot more problems keeping up than other phones running a less heavily skinned version of Android. And, most likely, you won't use half of the features that they cram in there.

Basically, all those things you heard about "android lag" in the first few years of the platform are gone, except for on Samsung. If you can still trade it in and are looking for something else, I went from an iPhone to a Moto X and it was a really easy transition.

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Email experience on iPhone >>>>>>>> Android

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except the whole attachment thing that every other mobile OS had in version 1.0. So, not really.

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Email experience on iPhone >>>>>>>> Android

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except the whole attachment thing that every other mobile OS had in version 1.0. So, not really.

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I don't get this one. To me the email experience on Android is much superior to iOS. I can even default what email app I want to use (ingenious I know - maybe that'll finally be included in iOS 12).

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Email experience on iPhone >>>>>>>> Android

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except the whole attachment thing that every other mobile OS had in version 1.0. So, not really.

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I don't get this one. To me the email experience on Android is much superior to iOS. I can even default what email app I want to use (ingenious I know - maybe that'll finally be included in iOS 12).

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Its Barry. Android could have a phone that works on thought alone and apple still on the original iphone and he would say that iphone is >>>>>>>>>better than android.

I'll pile on Samsung a bit, and recommend you look at other phone manufacturer seriously. IMO, Samsung's have the worst hardware and software of any of the majors.

Love my moto, lg was good, haven't had an HTC in a long time but they were both solid for their day. S3 sucked. Had it replaced multiple times for hardware failure and I couldn't go to a custom ROM (OS) fast enough. Battery was horrid on stock and I just didn't care for their tweaks.