I have been a die-hard Android user since the Motorola Droid (OG Droid) came out in October 2007. The Apple iOS software world has always felt too restrictive for me, since I am forever a tinkerer.
My current phone is a Google Nexus 6 developed by Motorola, released in November 2014. Unfortunately, it’s showing its age. Google no longer sends OTA updates, so I rely on LineageOS to keep me safe and happy. Even with third-party software, the phone is plagued with problems. From incredibly slow encryption to poor CPU throttling when the battery gets low. The camera is also disgustingly slow, taking between 5-30 seconds to take and process a single picture, but at least the resulting images are beautiful.
There are saving graces though, such as the dual front-facing stereo speakers, amazing 6.0 inch 1440×2560 AMOLED screen, optical image stabilization, HDR, Qi wireless charging, and headphone jack 🙂
Unfortunately, it’s time to put my Nexus 6 aside and find a new phone. My wife has been using an iPhone for years now, after switching from Android (2014 Moto X). Today she got a new iPhone 8+, so we’ve come to an agreement that I need to at least try to use iOS for a while.
So tonight, after she migrated all of her apps and data to the new iPhone, I spent some time setting up all of my apps and accounts on her old iPhone 6s+. It’s already been a very alien experience, almost frightening–seeing how little I actually know about the software and hardware.
My plan is to use the iPhone for at least two weeks, and see how I feel about it. This also coincides closely with the release of the new Google Pixel 2 phones, which I will also be looking at. Last year I was very underwhelmed by the Google Pixel line, and felt that the hardware of the iPhone 7+ was much more advanced. If I’m able to thrive, or at least survive, in iOS then perhaps it’s time for me to truly look at switching platforms.
I’m hoping to write about this experience every day or two so that I force myself to look back at how my transition is going. I’m sure there will be many frustrations early on, but hopefully I’ll also have a good number of exciting moments when I get to experience some new and exciting software.
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