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Moving from iPhone to Android Phone

posted May 4, 2013, 2:46 AM by Daryl du Plessis   [ updated May 4, 2013, 2:50 AM ]
I've been an iPhone fan for a number of years and do believe that Apple have been leading the market with their smartphone for a long time. But, as is always the case, technology moves at a rapid pace and I was at a point where I needed to renew my mobile phone contract and look at getting a new phone. This got me re-assessing the iPhone as the phone of choice. The negatives of staying with the iPhone were that the iPhone 5 had a new connector (requiring me to change my iPhone accessories) and I just didn't like the long and skinny look of the new iPhone. On top of that I thought that the glass front and back cover were liabilities as they made it heavy and required replacing, at significant cost, whenever they cracked (and this happened too often, despite using a protective case). With the iPhone 5 the cost of replacement screen is even higher with estimates of over $300. 

I had been admiring the Samsung Galaxy range phones (which run Google's Android operating System) as I liked the look and feel, light durable plastic cases and large screens.  The only challenge was to move out of the Apple ecosystem for my apps, calendars and email. I decided it was worth the challenge and so I purchased the Samsung Galaxy S3. I am very happy with this phone as it does everything I need. I had to learn how to do a few things differently, but essentially the same functionality existed, in fact the Galaxy has more flexibility than the iPhone in terms of customisation. From an apps perspective I have found all the equivalent apps I was using on my iPhone. The biggest challenge was getting my existing iCloud contacts and calendars to work with the Android system. After a few failed attempts this I found recommendations for 2 apps that allowed for synchronisation between iCloud (Apple) Calendars and Contacts and the Android system. The apps are called SmoothSync for Cloud Calendars and SmoothSync for Cloud Contacts. For a little over $5 I now have seamless access to contacts and calendars between my iPad and Android phone. There is no need to manually export and import these items, the synchronisation just takes place automatically.

Overall I am very happy with the Galaxy S3 and the Android OS. The only complaint would be the battery can drain a lot quicker due to the larger screen size, but there are ways of managing this so you can get a full day without recharging. If Apple allowed their iOS to be used on other vendors' hardware I would probably have stuck with it, but on balance the move was worthwhile. Note that the Samsung Galaxy S4 has just been announced and will likely be in the shops over the next couple of months, so keep a check at your favourite retailer if you're considering a new phone.
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