I’m not going to say it’s a permanent thing, but for a while at least, I will have an iPhone 14 Pro in my pocket and the early impressions are — perhaps unsurprisingly — very good. This isn’t the first time I’ve ventured into the Apple world with a series of posts in 2019 where I spent a month with an iPhone and last year the iPhone SE.
This time things will be a bit different though as there isn’t a specific end date in sight and — I’m not leaving Ausdroid — I’ll be exploring lots of other features over time as well. As a starting point though, one of the aims of this exercise is to show that the ability to chop and change between operating systems is, in fact, far easier than it used to be.
Of course, being the Editor of a primarily Android-based website, I’m starting on Team Android. I’ve got to say, though, that with the aid of the Move to iOS app and some very simple, on-screen instructions, moving to iOS was depressingly easy!
All you’ve got to do is install the app on your Android device, turn on your new iPhone and follow the bouncing ball until you’ve got an option to install from a previous device. Migrating from Android is one of them, and then the magic happens.
Having said that, I believe that a significant part of why the transition was so easy for me is that I’m comfortable in the cloud. Much of my workflow is cloud-based and data is usually stored there too, but I do take precautions along the way with strong password practices and 2FA wherever it’s offered.
What does the Move to iOS app offer?
Well, it’s in the name essentially; the ability to quickly and very easily move from Android to a new iOS device. For me, the move is to an iPhone 14 Pro and even with gigabytes of data transfer, the move took less than half an hour from ripping the first seal from the box although the process wasn’t as seamless as I had hoped it would be.
If you’re choosing to go from a blank canvas, then this process would be even quicker. If you’ve got a setup that’s working for you, then I’m not sure why you would do that though. But let’s take a quick look at the issues I had first: The “promise” is that any free apps on your Android device will be ported over to the iPhone as part of the move.
Most of the apps came over, but not all of them
It’s early stages, and, at this time, I’m not even sure why some of the apps didn’t come across. I didn’t expect sideloaded apps to do so and they didn’t, but the best theory I have is those apps, where the developer has some paid options, or the app names don’t precisely match between platforms, are skipped.
The reality in this is that if you want to change from an old phone to a new one, with your setup as “intact” as possible, you need to be moving from iPhone to iPhone or Pixel to Pixel. Neither is flawless, but right now, to me, this — if you’re looking at is as a competition — is a point to Apple.
The ease of migration was so simple that I truly believe that a technophobic, “older” family member could complete the task without assistance and any missing apps are easily installed.
Initial thoughts of the iPhone 14 Pro
Clearly, being the cream of the crop from Apple, there’s a lot more to explore than my initial thoughts on the device. That will come with time and — I suspect — several, more detailed articles across the next few weeks.
For now, though, the first impressions are that Apple continues to make some of the most immediately recognisable hardware around. The hardware is, well constructed, and the performance of the device is outstanding (thanks to Apple’s own M2 silicon) making it a really enticing package, except for the price…
But whether or not I think a phone is honestly worth $2,599.00 is a discussion for a later day.
Phil, how much on board storage does your iPhone have?
How much more difficult would migration from Android to iPhone be, for someone who uses the cloud as little as possible and instead relies on on-device storage?
1TB model – surely even enough for your backup needs Jeni?
The app mentioned transferred pretty much everything, including files, just a few apps were missed but easily installed from the app store.
well, we will accept your resignation from here. Don’t want iOS crap to start appearing on an Android info platform.
Now I’ve got some stuff sorted out in the background, there will still be plenty of Android stuff happening on the site.
We’re not starting AusiPhone, don’t worry. 🙂
looking forward to the second post for moving from iOS to Android !
In all seriousness, once you have invested in a platform, it makes sense to stick with it. They all offer similar services and hardware choices.
Becasue my email and most storage is in the unlocked cloud… 😉
I don’t feel as though I’m stuck with Android or iOS.
The biggest thing for me is occasionally tripping over an app that I need to pay for again when I already own it on Android.
i was contemplating to move too, got the 13 mini but then i understood that i then need to change my Samsung watch, smart home devices (if i want to operate them using my apple watch which doesn’t have google assist), and finally re purchases all the apps that i bought for daily use (not subscriptions)
Gd luck in moving. eco system is too big to shift now i guess. but never late than ever
Interested to know what the transition and functionality is with the full suite of Google apps as I’m quite entrenched, particularly Google photos really, does it give full functionality or are there limitations? I wouldn’t want to have two different cloud storages icloud and google drive/photos.
Potentially stupid question but did wonder 🙂
So far it’s pretty good. But I’ve not delved too deep as yet!
welcome to APPLE echosystem hahaha
There’s some stuff I’m seeing already that’s far more polished on the Apple platform than Android.
I’m doing my best to be objective with this and am, at least so far, enjoying the change.
Not a stupid question at all!
Google have put a lot of effort into making their apps work really well on iOS and I don’t feel as though I’m a fish out of the water on the platform because of it.
But you’ll have to keep reading the site for more info. 😀
Appreciate the update, sounds promising. My partner has an iPhone and I have been tempted to change for some ease of use considerations between us like being able to Facetime, not having images compress so much over message (mms), etc. But that move from Gmail, google photos, google pay, etc is my concern – I’ve been so entrenched in google since the start of Android (and no he won’t change to Android hah).