It would be almost impossible to list all the differences in how things work on the iPhone compared to the Android phone. However, for those who come with Android, there are a few things that might annoy you.
When I decided to try the iPhone for a while, I was ready for most of the big differences. Things like lack of flexibility, a very different notification system, fewer options for “default” applications and the importance of iMessage. However, what was more annoying were a few things I hadn’t even thought about.
iPhone keyboards are bad
The iPhone got support for third-party keyboards back in 2014 with iOS 8. I expected the situation to be similar to Android, but I was wrong.
The standard Apple keyboard is All right but there is so little adjustment. I can’t add a row with numbers or resize to work better with my big hands. I’m also crazy that the semicolon keys aren’t in the main layout.
Okay, use a different keyboard, right? I tried Google’s Gboard and quickly realized it was the shell of his Android counterpart. It has themes and some integrated features like Google Search and Translate, but overall it looks like the Apple keyboard has been redesigned.
In general, the implementation of third-party keyboards on iOS is simply not nearly as good as Android. IPhone users have no idea what they are missing. Eventually I got tired of the problems and went back to the Apple keyboard.
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Auto-correction is worse than I thought
Speaking of typing, let’s talk about one of the most notorious features of the iPhone – auto-correction. It’s not a foreign car fix, it also exists on every Android device. However, auto-correction on the iPhone is truly a beast in itself.
Most Android keyboards correct words as you type, but the iPhone will literally correct words after press send. This was very frustrating for me in the first few days after I changed.
You can see the word you want to use in the text box, and then when you press send, a completely different word appears in the message. For example, I once wanted to say “jk”, but it was constantly replaced with “hello”. It is extremely embarrassing to double check what you typed just to see that it is “corrected” after you press send.
In the end, I simply turned off auto-correction, but now I have to manually write the capital letter “I” every time I type it in the middle of a sentence.
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Managing files is a pain
This may not be so surprising, but file management on the iPhone is still not great. It’s certainly miles ahead of what it used to be, but it still can’t hold a candle for Android.
Apple’s default “Files” application is very simple and easy to use, but don’t expect to do any difficult file management. In addition, the situation with a third-party file manager is very limited. This is partly a good thing because iOS doesn’t allow apps to access your media as easily as Android. But what’s even more annoying is the lack of file support.
For example, I downloaded the M4A file from Google Chrome on iPhone. First of all, it wouldn’t play on the Google Drive mobile page (on Android). Second, I could not play the file from the Files application or the VLC application. Something that works without thinking on Android seemed almost impossible on the iPhone.
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The application library is super restrictive
The app library is one of the latest additions to the iPhone home screen and I was excited to try it out. I like the idea of automatically generated folders showing your most used apps. It is convenient to be able to run the application without opening the whole folder.
However, there is one rather big problem with the application library. There are almost no customizations or adjustment options. There is literally one (1) option for the application library in Settings — show or hide notification badges.
Why can’t I rearrange the folders as I can on the home screen? Why can’t I remove folders I don’t want? Why can’t I rename folders? Why can’t I anything? The app library is cool, but it’s completely controlled by Apple’s algorithms, and that’s pathetic.
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The control center is underused
The Control Center is the obvious answer to the Android Quick Settings panel. Overall, that’s a good feature, but Apple doesn’t do enough with it. You will be very disappointed if you expect to replicate Android Quick Settings.
Like the app library, there aren’t many customizations here. You can add and remove various controls, but they are all from Apple. Third-party applications cannot control. I would not be surprised if this changes in the future.
At the time of writing, many of the controls available are simply not as convincing. It’s nice to have the basics, such as shortcuts for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, screen brightness, media controls, and volume. But I want more. My one big question would be a shortcut to the Settings app.
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There is no double pressing of the power button to start the camera
Here’s a little thing I didn’t know I’d miss so much – press the power button twice to open the camera. This is an almost universal shortcut in the Android world and I use it all the time. You can start opening the camera before removing the phone completely from your pocket.
I admit that the iPhone’s “Raise to Wake” feature is good enough that you can start the camera pretty quickly using the lock screen motion. Still, it’s slower than any Android phone I’ve used.
What makes this even more annoying is that Apple actually allows you to customize the long press action. The problem is that your only options are Siri, “Classic Voice Control” or nothing. Let me use it for the camera!
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Inconsistent movements for the intelligence center
Notifications on the iPhone are quite confusing – I’ve dealt in detail with issues with iPhone notifications. However, not everything is in big differences. You may notice some small inconsistencies.
One such inconsistency is the gesture to open an Intelligence Center. In most places, this movement is dragging down from the upper left corner of the screen. This is very familiar to Android users.
However, the gesture is just the opposite on the lock screen. New notifications — the ones from the last time you unlocked your phone — appear in the front and in the middle. To see any of the existing previous notifications, you must swipe up to open the Notification Center. Strange.
RELATED: Android notifications are still miles ahead of the iPhone
Quiet mode can only be enabled with a physical switch
An interesting little thing that has somehow stuck with the iPhone all these years is the physical bell / silent switch. I can’t think of any modern Android phone that has a similar switch. He is surprisingly handsome, but also a bit awkward.
I was shocked to find that there were no software controls for silent mode in the settings. The physical switch is the only way to mute your phone. I discovered this after my iPhone was accidentally thrown out of silent mode several times by putting it in my pocket.
What if the switch stops working? There should be some sort of “override” function to control the ring mode / silent without the need for a physical switch. There are some workarounds, but nothing great.
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Portrait mode requires faces
The Portrait Mode function in the iPhone camera app is very good. It may even be better than Google’s very popular portrait mode on Pixel phones. However, there is one thing that hinders it – it only works with faces.
I use Portrait Mode on Android phones to take photos of inanimate things all the time. Sometimes it’s nice to be able to blur the background a lot. It would be much more useful if Apple allowed to work with any person, animal or object in the foreground.
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Audio priority inconsistency
We’ll end things with a little inconsistency with the sound. Let’s say you listen to Spotify in the background as you scroll through Instagram. If the video starts playing audio, the music will pause, as expected. The problem is that music doesn’t always start again when you switch to video.
What is embarrassing about this is that it is very inconsistent. Sometimes the background sound will start playing again, other times I have to manually press play. I can’t find a rhyme or a reason for that. Admittedly, that sometimes happens on Android, but I got hooked on the iPhone.
While all of these things are annoying to varying degrees, I wouldn’t say any of them are definitely breaches of contracts. With that in mind, you’ll need some time to adjust if you’re coming from an Android device. Apple’s philosophy on many things with the iPhone is simply very different from that of Google and other Android phone manufacturers. Know what you are getting into.
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