I want to switch to android
I want to switch to android
I am currently an IOS user, however, as the title suggests, I wish to switch to android. This is because I would prefer to use free software and not be locked into the apple ecosystem. That being said I am already locked into apple and would like to know how anyone else here has managed the switch.
I for one know I will face problems regarding group chats with friends and family on IOS, I will lose out on iCloud+ features, I will have to buy a replacement for my HomePod, I will need to replace apple home, etc.
How did anyone else here who has made such a switch replace or solve these issues?
Apple's Messages app is a total dumpster fire. Literally every other chat platform out there has figured it out. Snapchat, Telegram, FB Messenger, WhatsApp, Line, etc., all work just fine across platforms. Only Apple wants it to suck for their users whenever a non-Apple device enters the conversation. I can't understand why people willingly subject themselves to that misery and still somehow feel smug about their iOS echo chamber. Pathetic.
What are the chances that the decision to make it suck was deliberate? This is apple we're talking about here, after all.
it's deliberate. Tim Cook and team have essentially said "yeah we know it sucks but we're keeping it this way for business reasons". Can't find a quote but just look at how they treat literally anything non-Apple.
Probably because most people have iOS devices, atleast in the US. In my group of friends and acquaintances of say 30-40 people I am the only one with an Android phone.
I also work in IT services for small businesses (setting up email, etc.) and rarely come across Android phones. iPhones are everywhere.
So if everyone has iOS in the group chat it's not really an issue.
Android market share is around ~45%. https://gs.statcounter.com/os-market-share/mobile/north-america
Globally, Android is ~70%. https://gs.statcounter.com/os-market-share/mobile/worldwide
There are regional bubbles for each of course.
pretty sure Snapchat is still not very cross platform, can't use it on pc
You can use it on pc though.
Who is bringing a PC into a discussion about mobile cross platform apps? Many apps have the option, but I don't think anyone primarily thinks of anything but being able to work across iOS and Android.
Plus it seems once it works outside of Apple's fortress, it can find a way to work on a non mobile device. It's kind of in the DNA.
iMessage is the biggest hurdle. I recommend that you ask your friends and family to switch to another messaging app to talk to you to avoid the green bubble frustration. (begrudgingly recommend Signal, though Sup. by the guy who made PixelFed looks interesting and can help grow the Fediverse)
It's not going to be easy though.
What’s wrong with a green bubble? Just curious.
by default iPhone messages for things like images and videos have worse quality Windows Mobile phone from fucking ages ago.
i had to mess with the network settings in brother's phone for him to get standard MMS because depending on your carrier it needs to be configured manually on iOS.by default iPhone messages for things like images and videos have terrible quality.
i had to mess with the network settings in brother's phone for him to even get standard MMS because depending on your carrier it needs to be configured manually.
Most of my friends & family use telegram. I've always liked it.
Telegram is entirely unencrypted by default, so you shouldn't use it for anything you wouldn't say out in public.
iMessage is absolutely an issue, and I don’t think I will overcome it if I make the switch because of how integral it is to my family. I’ve heard of software I can run on a Mac that forwards to my phone. I have an old Mac so does such software still exist and work?
Sounds like their tricks work.
Permanently Deleted
I did this years ago and getting sms disentangled from imessage was a fucking nightmare. I don't even remember how I finally managed it. Idk if it's gotten any better, but don't be surprised if there's a headache. Good luck!
I’ve had this issue in the past. I had to spend hours on the phone with apple support to get them to manually remove my number from the iMessage database of known numbers. Then you also have to wait for that to sync back to everyone’s devices who has you as a contact. It was awful and still didn’t fix it 100%
If you want to switch specifically for free software, make sure that the phone you're buying is bootloader-unlockable. The Pixel phones (not from a carrier, but unlocked) are good options.
If not, you will simply be locked into Google's ecosystem (along with whatever OEM, such as Samsung's), which isn't much better than Apple's.
As for ROMs, I'd recommend either GrapheneOS or DivestOS. Both are free of all Google services by default, and are as FOSS as Android allows for in the modern age.
To deregister iMessage, visit this site: https://selfsolve.apple.com/deregister-imessage/
In the future, I'd look into Linux phones, but as of right now, they are not usable for daily driving IMO. You can also test Linux mobile on most modern Android phones using Halium with a distro like Droidian.
Also check out privacyguides.org for alternatives to proprietary apps/services.
This is indeed my main reason for a switch, so thanks for the recommendations! I really want to try a Linux phone when it’s ready with either phosh or gnome shell mobile (I love libadwaita), but it’s just not there yet for me.
I would definitely recommend trying Droidian (Mobian for Halium) and UBPorts (although UBPorts is less traditional Linux, as it uses Snaps and has an immutable filesystem by default).
Manjaro is also available, but I don't recommend Manjaro in general due to untimely security updates.
You can use Waydroid as an Android compatibility layer.
Well, first I would like to adress the elephant in the room. Samsung/Google Pixel is not in it's entirety Android. There are lots of other brands out there, each and every one of them offers different things to different people who ask for different features.
About what you're asking for, can't actually help with group chats (the US has a culturally attachment to iMessage, which is locked down to iOS), but for iCloud well, you can have your stuff in google drive, or on a offline drive (most of modern android have otg capabilities), or even selfhosted if that's your kind of thing.
Seriously, give it a try and see for yourself how mature now is the OS and ofc see if you're staying ;)
The cultural attachment you speak of is what concerns me the most. I as a person am lucky enough to have a strong enough presence that I could get away with going against the flow, but it would significantly hurt my ability to socially network.
On the note of iCloud, I’m considering buying a Mac mini and putting asahi on it (not because apple because it’s got that sweet M2) and running a nextcloud server.
I’m quite excited to give it a go, might even try some things like lineageOS or /e/os out!
if you're going for the privacy flash a custom rom onto a pixel (or fairphone 4 and later if you decided on calyx) there's copperhead os too if you want to piss of daniel micay I don't recommend liniage on a pixel or the fairphone 4 liniage also needs some degoogleing+ aosp keyboard is garbage from what I've heard
Out of curiousity what is it about the pixel (hardware?) That made you suggest it specifically if you're going to flash the OS anyway
Graphene OS only supports Pixels, and Pixels have good custom ROM support (make sure not to buy from a carrier, or you probably can't flash them)
because pixel was a developer focused device
it allows unlocking and re-locking bootloader with your own custom keys and still retains warranty
most android OEM like Samsung, oneplus provided support in the past, but are now locked down for some reason
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203042 This article should take care of any imessage issues you may encounter
If you've purchased any videos via iTunes, be sure to link it to Movies Anywhere so you can watch them on your Android. Most movies are supported except those from Paramount, last I checked.
Huh, after reading your post and some comments I am just glad iMessage never picked up in my country lol.
I moved from my iPhone to an Android phone without a hassle because most of my third party apps were multiplatform and here nobody uses SMS (it is even weird to mention it in 2023 lol) sadly the alternative ain't better, here everybody uses WhatsApp, at least I talk with my closest friends with Telegram.
Don't use telegram for personal stuff, it's not encrypted and therefore less private than whatsapp.
I haven't made the switch because I've never used iOS but if you have a Mac I remember there used to be a way to get iMessage working, maybe look into that.
Yes, iMessage works seamlessly on Mac, even with me never having had an iPhone.
Not really helpful here, but I have only ever used Mac's and have never used an iPhone and I have 0 problems. If you have a Mac or an iPad, you should be able to access everything that's Apple that use you use on your phone. I can easily put items in my Google calendar from my Mac or my Pixel. I can access files on my Google drive on all devices just the same. The Apple weather widget is less accurate than the Google One which is less accurate than just about every 3rd party app. I use Firefox which syncs between all devices. Pretty much everyone I know has an iPhone and not a single person complains about my green texts. I read the other comments about group chats, and I'm in those too and no one complains. Either my friends don't use any of these features, or it's gotten better. I felt that Android phones just work more easily than iOS (which is weird because I feel that Mac's work more easily than Windows, and this is kind of the same argument). You are going to run into a lot of issues, but maybe they really won't be all that bad in the long run. You probably won't get your texts to port over, but you can start new threads and in a couple of months you might not notice. Hopefully it goes well!
The thing about the android side is that you're pretty much locked into the Pixel and Google Fi if you want to avoid manufacturer bloatware or cell carrier bloatware. I did Metro PCS for a solid decade to provide service, but at the end, I was paying for unlimited and if I wasn't on WiFi, the service over cellular was complete fucking garbage.
Google at least provides decent rates and their service is good when I need it Yes, all of the eggs are in the same basket, but at the same time, maybe it's not a bad thing with the frequency of beaches these days. The Pixel? Best phone I've ever had (I only buy the "a" versions because I'm a cheap ass). It's fast and has great battery life.
Good luck!
Welcome to the world of Sd cards and downloading what ya want. There's google drive. Idk what apple home is cause i despise Macintosh, but there's Chromecast and that stupid Alexa thing.