Many folks are surprised when they seem me whip out my Android phone (Samsung Galaxy S4). It is unusual, I suppose, for such an unabashed Apple fangirl to “stoop” to something outside of the ecosystem.
I did it for several reasons. First and foremost, for the longest time, my carrier (Sprint) didn’t have the iPhone in its arsenal and I really didn’t have the energy to time to mess with switching carriers. Also, I already owned an iPod touch (and subsequently an iPad) so I didn’t need to learn how iOS operated and how apps worked, etc. In my line of work, it pays to stay ahead of the tech curve and experiment with many different flavors of tools. That is why I can operate on Apple, Windows and Linux (sorta) and mouse with either hand!
So, I thought an experiment was in order to force myself to learn how Android worked when it was time to move from my Blackberry several years ago. And it was a good experiment. I learned about the different versions of Android. I also learned how behind some carriers are with updates as they push them out when they are ready (I guess) so I didn’t get KitKat for, what seemed like, a LOOOOOOONG time after I had read about it and wanted the newer features.
I have been thinking about going back to iPhone for a while now. Partly because I want to get everything back on Apple, partly because the new iPhones always seem so cool and I don’t have one and partly because my experiment has done its job.
My new job has exposed me to much more information about IT security and what all is out there “in the wild” in regards to threats for losing or compromising my data (and possibly the data of others) With the announcement of Stagefright and the exploit from a simple text message along with other, seemingly weekly, announcements of other Android exploits, my decision because clear. I needed to go back to the closed ecosystem of Apple.
I can argue both sides of open/closed ecosystems for development. I love the idea of open. Love. It. I want the creative expression that open allows when folks are provided tools for exploration and development. It makes the mind soar what we mere mortal humans can develop and create. However, some of these mortal humans create in order to destroy. I cannot explain why folks invented viruses, trojan horses, malware and the host of other nasty bits and bytes of code out there. But, they are there. And, the open ecosystem of Android means that there are WAY more out there for it than for Apple due to Apple’s review process for apps and controlled release of operating system versions. And, fixes for these are complicated to create and then deploy.
After learning so much about security, I understand and want to be protected from this potential danger. I simply cannot wait for Sprint to decide it will push a fix for Stagefright to me which will only happen AFTER they had to wait for Google to push a fix to them. That is too long. Something bad will happen. Many phones will be affected. It won’t be pretty. I am hoping it won’t be me.
I am moving back to iPhone soon. Probably this weekend. (depends on when my pre-order iPhone 6s shows up)
This is the downside of changing technology – the change part. So, now I have the fun task of migrating data and all that goes with it. I recall changing from cable to satellite TV. That migration was painful only in the fact that I lost all of my “data” on the cable TV DVR. There really was no migration path. But, the DVR had died so I had lost the data anyway – it was just the fact that it was the 5th DVR that had died and I was over not being able to watch the programs I had recorded.
But, I digress.
Back to my phone, I have “things” I want to have all the time:
- selected photos (they are also uploaded to my Flickr account as well – cloud backup storage for the win)
- call logs
- texting logs and texts
- my WhatsApp messages
- contacts
- calendars (I use two different calendars: Exchange for work and Google for personal. It took me WAY TOO LONG to find an Android app that would merge both into an interface I liked and reliably sync both to and from my phone, iPad, office and home computers. Business Calendar Pro was the answer, if you are in Android and have the same issue)
- data from my UP app and Jawbone
- important things like my bowling score app 🙂
I am curious to see how Apple’s new Move to iOS app will work as described when I first read about it this past summer. I have it downloaded on my Galaxy phone ready for action. If the propaganda is true, this will be the easiest migration ever (even moving from Galaxy S 3 to 4 was a pain). The reviews are bad right now so that makes me wonder. But, the comments seem mostly from folks who are mad that Apple would even put this app in the Google Play store. That makes sense. Google does finally play nicely with Apple stuff and I can use my Google ecosystem, of which I am pretty well vested, on either device. If only Apple would put their stuff on Google’s platform and then consumers win as they can pick and choose the device that works best for them – size-wise, cost-wise, memory-wise and so forth.
So, in short order, time will tell if my migration is short and easy or will take time and effort. If short and easy, we may find switchers going back and forth all of the time. Apple may have anticipated that and that is another reason why they are offering the Apple iPhone Forever plan so they keep you locked in.
I will report back how my migration went and what lessons I learned. Stay tuned.