I have an iPhone – Part 1

I’ve owned many phones over the years and for the past 6 or 7 years. I’ve owned nothing but Android-based phones. Android has suited my purpose very well. It’s flexible and very customizable (I desire features), and I have many options. Sadly, I’ve powered down my Pixel 3 (Hidden in my bag) and powered up a job-issued iPhone XS.

I’ve been on the Apple hate bandwagon for so long that I’m struggling to give it a non-biased opinion. I understand that design aesthetics and wow factors draw people in. Most marketing (Apple does a wonderful job of marking) is designed to get you to buy the hardware and get you hooked to their ecosystem (the services typically tied to the hardware you’ve purchased). This is good and bad for a couple of reasons. Yes, having an all-inclusive environment that serves most of your needs with minimal setup is nice. Still, the problem is it’s next to impossible to leave that ecosystem or share and collaborate outside it. I host my cloud-based file server, and I sync my files, contacts, calendar, and pictures to and from it so that I’m not so dependent on any particular ecosystem. I have a few dependencies I’ll cover in my list below.

I’m not ready to give up on my Pixel!

Pros:

1. Face unlock works well, and Google seems to think this is the way to go, adding it to the Pixel 4.
2. Granular controls for what notifications are displayed are great.
3. The user interface is simple and easy to get used to.
4. The pulsating vibrating feature is nice.

Cons:

1. I have to repurchase applications I’ve already purchased from Google.
2. Siri is ok, but it’s no match for Google Assistant.
3. I cannot add my bank card to Apple Pay for some reason!
4. Google Voice (I know, I’m hooked on a Google product) is not well integrated.
5. I struggled to get my old Apple ID, so I was forced to create a new one.

Stay tuned for my follow-up…

Written by Charles.D.