Current iPhone 4 owner - Stay with Apple, or move on?

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Downhome

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Long story short, my wife and I each own a 16GB iPhone 4. They were both of our first smartphones and we bought them right before we got married back in 2011. We have put off updating them over and over saying we would get the next one, but by the time we can we start saying we'll put it off and wait, again, for the next one. I'm sure a lot of people get stuck in this rut.

Anyway, we are now thinking about ditching Apple altogether and jumping into the Samsung Galaxy S5 Active perhaps. More than anything, the still and video camera features are important to us. My wife likes to scrapbook a lot and having as great as quality pictures as possible is huge to her. After that would likely be storage capacity. Again, we take a ton of pictures and I also download and listen to a lot of podcasts. As a result of all of that I am always fighting a constant battle with deleting files to free up space.

We play games every now and then, and we use shopping apps and things like that all the time. Apps to search for things, directions, the normal type of stuff.

What would be some negatives to finally moving on from the iPhone to something else? From what I hear, even the rumors on the iPhone 6 doesn't seem like as much of a jump that I'd like to make. I'm sure you can all imagine just how freakin' slow our old iPhones are at this point. It's insane and sometimes things just flat out don't load anymore.

We are on AT&T and would be considering trying out the Next program, where you pay each month and then trade it in for an updated phone after a year if you want. It sorta sounds like leasing a car, but what do I know.

I did a search for this sort of thing and found a few threads but none were as recent to talk about the S5 when talking about the iPhone as well. It's been a number of months as well, so I figured what the heck. For those that went from iOS to Android, what do you miss the most? Just how lacking is the app store for the phones? Heck, did you even really notice that much of a difference?

The app I use the most on my iPhone is Downcast, and I see that one wouldn't be available. I assume there are some decent alternatives though.

What say you?

EDIT:

No, we do not have a Mac, Apple TV, or any other things like that which implements with the iPhone. We use our Roku, Chromecast, and will likely get the Amazon Fire once a few other apps are added to it.
 
I'm an Android user now, after switching from an iPhone. I like my phone (HTC one), but I may switch back to Apple with the 6.

I miss imessage and facetime. And all my friends have iPhones.

I'd say wait for the new iPhone.
 
Do you have a mac? I'm tempted to get an iphone just because of the upcoming connectivity features (i.e. answering a phone call on my computer)
 
Downhome said:
What would be some negatives to finally moving on from the iPhone to something else? From what I hear, even the rumors on the iPhone 6 doesn't seem like as much of a jump that I'd like to make. I'm sure you can all imagine just how freakin' slow our old iPhones are at this point. It's insane and sometimes things just flat out don't load anymore.
Click to expand...

I don't really understand where you're coming from here. The 5S is so much faster than the iPhone 4 the performance would blow your mind, and the 6 will be even faster. That's not even mentioning improvements to pretty much every facet of the hardware: a much much better camera (which seems to be very important to you), better screen, better noise cancellation, LTE speeds, etc.

The 6 will be a massive improvement for you.

With video and still photos being important to you I think you would be best served by the iPhone 6, especially considering all your apps will still be useful to you.
 
Downhome said:
Long story short, my wife and I each own a 16GB iPhone 4. They were both of our first smartphones and we bought them right before we got married back in 2011. We have put off updating them over and over saying we would get the next one, but by the time we can we start saying we'll put it off and wait, again, for the next one. I'm sure a lot of people get stuck in this rut.

Anyway, we are now thinking about ditching Apple altogether and jumping into the Samsung Galaxy S5 Active perhaps. More than anything, the still and video camera features are important to us. My wife likes to scrapbook a lot and having as great as quality pictures as possible is huge to her. After that would likely be storage capacity. Again, we take a ton of pictures and I also download and listen to a lot of podcasts. As a result of all of that I am always fighting a constant battle with deleting files to free up space.

We play games every now and then, and we use shopping apps and things like that all the time. Apps to search for things, directions, the normal type of stuff.

What would be some negatives to finally moving on from the iPhone to something else? From what I hear, even the rumors on the iPhone 6 doesn't seem like as much of a jump that I'd like to make. I'm sure you can all imagine just how freakin' slow our old iPhones are at this point. It's insane and sometimes things just flat out don't load anymore.

We are on AT&T and would be considering trying out the Next program, where you pay each month and then trade it in for an updated phone after a year if you want. It sorta sounds like leasing a car, but what do I know.

I did a search for this sort of thing and found a few threads but none were as recent to talk about the S5 when talking about the iPhone as well. It's been a number of months as well, so I figured what the heck. For those that went from iOS to Android, what do you miss the most? Just how lacking is the app store for the phones? Heck, did you even really notice that much of a difference?

The app I use the most on my iPhone is Downcast, and I see that one wouldn't be available. I assume there are some decent alternatives though.

What say you?
Click to expand...

I mainly switched because I wanted a bigger screen and I couldn't stare at those same 5 rows of icons anymore, after years of unlocking my phone and being bored with what I was looking at.

There are only two things I miss about iPhone:
1.) The lock screen notifications. Android has a great pull-down notification bar, but its way behind the times when it comes to lock screen notifications. I use some third party apps to get it as close to iphone lock screen notifications as I can, but I shouldn't have to do all that.

2.) You can move around an iphone fluidly. Its a smooth experience entering and exiting apps and rarely, if ever, gets hung up on anything. My galaxy s4 has gotten "hung up" on things more in the past year than my iPhones ever had in 3 years.

Having said all that. I LOVE my galaxy s4. I am glad I switched and would not consider going back to apple unless some major things were changed. iOS8 shows the company is willing to move into the direction i'm looking for. But screen size and home page/lock screen customization are the two next things they will have to revamp for me to come back.

As far as the app store... i can't think of one app that I want that iOS has that we do not.

For you and your wife, I think the main things that you have to ask yourself are how much the screen size matters and how much customization matters to you. If you guys just want good, reliable phones that take great photos, are fast, and come in larger sizes for hard drive space.... then get iPhones. The 5S will take great photos and be reliable.

If you want a bigger screen, removable storage, and you like to tinker with your home screens and really make the phone your own... then get the galaxy S5.
 
OP you won't miss shit if you go to any premium smartphone.

They are all good these days. Anything you get is going to be a huge upgrade over your 4.

Don't listen to the phone fanatics who are about to invade this thread.
 
I'd say make the switch, just for the sake of spicing things up, see how green the other grass is. I doubt you'll miss anything as both OSes are mature now and have massive app stores. There are pros and cons on each side. iOS has iMessaging, some exclusive apps, and a few more games if you're into that. Android has Google Now, it's own exclusives, and more freedom to do what you want with your phone.

It sucks that you want a nice camera lol, because Samsung isn't really representative of a nice Android phone, but THEY DO have some of the nicest cameras...
 
I don't know what camera specs and features are in the S5, but I'd assume the iphone 6 would be competitive out of the box or with an app.

The biggest thing stopping me from getting an adroid is the OS. I just don't like the look and feel. A family member has a G2 with kitkat that I've messed with.
 
Wait till the iPhone 6 is announced.

However, with the new updates in iOS8, I'm definitely sticking with Apple.

They now have everything that I wanted from Android without the negatives.

Still very expensive and no ability to set default apps but I can live without that.
 
Id say wait to see what the iphone 6/iOS 8 ends up looking like, then make a decision. I've got a 4S and am gonna get the 6.

Edit: should also mention my wife has a GS4 and hates it compared to her old iphone, she's wants to go with iPhone 6 now...if that helps at all lol.
 
As far as transitioning away from Apple:

Do you have a mac that you work for hours on? As mentioned above, ios8 has some great integration features coming out that work well with mac osx.

Do you have Apple TV? Streaming content from your phone will be gone.

As far as "re-buying" app. Every app that I wanted on my new S4 was free. And if you paid for something on iOS, i'm sure its worth the few bucks to just get it on your new phone.
 
I also own an iPhone 4 and am going to upgrade within the next week, likely to an iPhone 5S. I have too much invested in the Apple ecosystem in terms of music/apps to switch to Android. I also don't want a > 4" screen (another reason to get the 5S and not an Android or the next Apple phone).
 
android is overrated IMO. unless you're getting a performance phone, everyone is underspeccing as much as possible so the OS will run like crap.

at least with iPhone there's one model and one maker.
 
I went with the HTC One last May after using iPhones for the last several years. It's a great phone but what killed the experience was the terrible firmware update system. I know it's a nitpick but I hated having to wait for the latest updates on important features. Also, I didn't find the battery life nearly as good as an iOS device.

I switched back at the end of December with an iPhone 5s.
 
You have no idea about the hornet's nest you've just karate chopped.

But seriously, any flagship phone you get right now (or in a few months if you wait for new iPhones) is going to be a monumental upgrade over your iPhone 4. That was an outstanding phone in its time, but today's flagships of every OS crush it in everything except maybe design, which is subjective anyway.

Go to a store, mess around with demo units (the ones that actually work...), ask friends if you can mess with their phones. Heck, my friend traded me phones for a while and we swapped SIM cards so I could see if I would like an older HTC phone, so you can do that too if you have someone on the same carrier as you who is willing.

Basically, don't let someone push you into a phone because they think it's cool. Get whatever makes YOU happy, and whatever YOU want. If you want the most unbiased reviews, checkout anandtech and see if they reviewed the phone you're looking for. I won't say they're completely unbiased in their reviews, but they are certainly much less so than any of the other major tech sites.
 
Switched from an iPhone 4 to an HTC One a while ago, I freaking love this phone, it's freedom and everything, but other than some small little things, I don't do a lot of things differently than what I did on iOS, so that "freedom" didn't even matter anyways. If the 6 delivers, I might be considering going back to iOS.
 
Also, Google Opinion Rewards. I've raked up dozens of dollars in Google Play credit. I don't remember the last time I paid for a paid app.

davepoobond said:
unless you're getting a performance phone, everyone is underspeccing as much as possible so the OS will run like crap.
Click to expand...

I have never heard of this
 
If you're happy with iOS and Apple's ecosystem, I would recommend waiting until the iPhone 6 gets released later this year.

However, if you decide to switch to Android, that's fine as well.

Be sure to get the phone(s) that you and your wife want (not the phones that people want you to get). I upgraded from my Droid to a iPhone 4 and while the 4 is/was a good phone, I wasn't happy with. I've got a Nexus 4 now and I totally love it.

Hangouts has pretty much replace iMessage for me since it's cross platform.
 
Ditch Apple and Andriod and go with a Nokia Lumina if you want the best camera. The fluid movement of the Windows phone is amazing, even for the lowest phone. A 520 is just $50 if you buy it outright without messing with your contract. Then you can test the waters with it and not feel obligated to it.

I'm also a 4 user, but the newer iphones just don't hold the appeal for me. Neither does the galaxy phones. I'm a long time Nokia user; my last phone was an E71x before I upgraded to the iphone over 2 years ago.
 
I've had my Nexus 5 for about a year and I'm planning to switch back with the iPhone 6.

  • iOS 8 will pretty much have fixed all my problems with iOS (third-party keyboards, extensibility, widgets).
  • iPhone 6 will have large screens, the real reason I transferred to android.
  • Mac integration looks excellent with calls and messaging.
  • The camera on my iPhone 4S (2011) is just flat out better than the one on my Nexus 5 (2013).
  • The plastic feel of Nexus 5 is just really bad compared to my sister's iPhone 5s/my older 4s.
  • I have an established presence in the apple ecosystem with a lot of apps and music.
  • Pretty much all google services can be found on iOS
  • Consistent quality of apps and UI, a lot of the apps on Android are still stuck in the days of pre-holo
  • I've tested a 5s for a few days and the touch ID is actually really convenient and works 95% of the time
I used to dream about the freedom I could get on Android but now that I actually have one I really don't do anything to it. I flashed a few custom roms but they were all really bad so I just went back to stock.

The only thing I really like about Android is how I can just drag + drop without needing to use iTunes

So yeah, I would probably recommend waiting just a little longer for an i6.
 
Loki said:
have too much invested in the Apple ecosystem in terms of music/apps to switch to Android.
Click to expand...

This is the main reason I still buy iPhones. Works great with all of my Apple devices...

Unless you really love iOS or are extremely "Apple-connected," just get a flagship Droid phone... All flagship phones these days are good.
 
No, we do not have a Mac, Apple TV, or any other things like that which implements with the iPhone. We use our Roku, Chromecast, and will likely get the Amazon Fire once a few other apps are added to it. I'll add this to the OP.
 
Don't both make the jump to Android, maybe one of you should try it first to see if you like it?

I've tried jumping to a Galaxy S5 and it really was not my cup of tea, and now I'm back happily with a 5S, at a cost to myself which kinda sucks.

Quite happy with the changes coming with iOS 8 too.
 
Downhome said:
For those that went from iOS to Android, what do you miss the most? Just how lacking is the app store for the phones? Heck, did you even really notice that much of a difference?
Click to expand...

I switched from the 4S to the Nexus 5 when it came out because I felt like I wanted a change. I have no problems with Android but using it let me realise some of the subtle things I like about iOS. I'm planning to get the next iPhone when it releases because I don't actually use the two much differently and I actually prefer iOS, especially seeing the improvements in iOS 8 and how it functions with Yosemite.

The Play Store is fine, the only thing I noticed while using Android was that iOS really does feel like the lead platform for a lot of games or apps and there might be the new "thing" that everyone is playing and talking about but it will take a bit for an Android version to release, if it even does.
 
Anyways, if you were to jump into Android, avoid Samsung at all costs, their OS is still laggy for whatever reason, check out HTC, Sony, LG, or Google themselves.
 
I don't think it matters what phone you get these days (our of the flagship phones) but the OP reminds me of when the iPhone 4 came out.

Best smartphone ever for its time. Took like a year or two for Android phones to catch up (whenever jelly came out).
 
haZethew0rld said:
Anyways, if you were to jump into Android, avoid Samsung at all costs, their OS is still laggy for whatever reason, check out HTC, Sony, LG, or Google themselves.
Click to expand...

My dad got a galaxy note and it awful. Ugh. OP I suggest going to the store and trying out the different phones. Maye wait until iPhone 6 comes out to see what it has to offer.
 
haZethew0rld said:
Anyways, if you were to jump into Android, avoid Samsung at all costs, their OS is still laggy for whatever reason, check out HTC, Sony, LG, or Google themselves.
Click to expand...

It's because Touchwiz is a fucking piece of shit.

My wife bought me a Galaxy Tab 3 7" for my deployment and I can't stand the damn thing. Really wish I could remove all of Samsung's crap and make it stock Android (yes, it's rooted).

Someday's, I really wish Samsung would just fully move to Tizen like we all know they want to.
 
linkboy said:
It's because Touchwiz is a fucking piece of shit.

My wife bought me a Galaxy Tab 3 7" for my deployment and I can't stand the damn thing. Really wish I could remove all of Samsung's crap and make it stock Android (yes, it's rooted).

Someday's, I really wish Samsung would just fully move to Tizen like we all know they want to.
Click to expand...

It really is, My HTC One M7 was more responsive than my friends s5 with sense 5, and now with sense 6 it's even faster.
 
I jumped from an iPhone 4S to an iPhone 5 and felt that it was a huge jump. Couldn't imagine how I would feel going from an iPhone 4 to an iPhone 6. Would be mind blowing.

I think you should just go on to the iPhone 6 since you've been using the iPhone 4 for so long.
 
grungy gamer said:
Keep in mind, Google I/O 2014 is coming up in a few weeks. You could wait and see what Google has up their sleeves.
Click to expand...

I'm praying that they don't kill the Nexus line, but it's looking like that's going to happen. If\When they do, I hope they realize there's still a market for phones around the prices that the Nexus phones were sold at.
 
linkboy said:
I'm praying that they don't kill the Nexus line, but it's looking like that's going to happen. If\When they do, I hope they realize there's still a market for phones around the prices that the Nexus phones were sold at.
Click to expand...

With the popularity of the Moto G, and the release of the OnePlus One, I'd say that manufacturers are starting to realize that part of the market.
 
Honestly? You'd be perfectly fine with either.

Flagship Android / Apple are both great choices, so if you want to try something new, you really wouldn't be losing much at all.
 
You are at the point where all of the contenders are good as well.

I stick with my Iphone because i generally find Android's os to just be "messier".

But in terms of functionality android has surpassed apple in many ways. Apple is just able to maintain a more polished user experience.
 
Downhome said:
No, I have continued to update the OS. That is likely why I'm having so many problems with it now.
Click to expand...
Defo would be the case - I remember my iPhone 3g being so fast when I first got it.

Use one on whatever the latest fw was they supported and its awful..
 
If you're a Mac user try and wait for the 6. Or get a 5S. They're really nice. Hell, I have a 5C and I love it. I came from a 4S.

Edit: Just saw your edit.
 
I started with an OG Droid, learned to hate Android, switched to iPhone with the 4S, but eventually decided to give Android another go this February. It has improved dramatically since I last tried it, but there are still annoying quirks about the OS that I didn't experience on iOS. Definitely upsides and downsides, but I think I finally realized that I don't care *that much* about having file level access to my phone. This will be even less of a concern with iOS once the new iCloud improvements come with iOS 8.

Anyway, I have a premium Android phone at the moment, and while it's nice, I'll probably return to iOS with the next release, assuming it has a decently sized screen.
 
Georgiee85 said:
Defo would be the case - I remember my iPhone 3g being so fast when I first got it.

Use one on whatever the latest fw was they supported and its awful..
Click to expand...

That's why I don't entirely get the whole "But iPhone gets updates!" bragging that often happens. In my experience, running new iOS updates on older hardware is a performance downgrade, it just makes you want to buy a new device.
 
I went from Apple to Android and back. Currently use a mixture of both and also develop for both. I'll be short, get yourself and your wife an iPhone 6.
 
OP, it makes absolutely no sense to jump ship if the camera is one of the most important aspects to you; apart from Nokia, Apple makes by far the best smartphone cameras.

Apart from that, it seems to me a bad time to make the jump; WWDC brought some pretty big changes to the platform, so much so that I'd say that most (if not all) of the advantages Android used to have due to their openness/inter-app communication features will be gone bu the time iOS8 is out. And hell, the iPhone 6 is
practically confimred
to have a bigger screen.

As for the last point w/r to the perceived speed of the new iPhone - the Galaxy S5 isn't even faster than the iPhone 5s, so I'm not sure where you got that it's "not going to be as big of an upgrade" as you wanted...
 
Any high-end smartphone is good these days - the 5s, the S5, the One M8, LG G2, even the Lumia Ion if you don't mind WP.

Buuuut, unless there's something very specific you want from Android, I'd just wait for the iPhone 6. iOS is really solid and the app selection is amazing and camera is still much better than everything not from Nokia. Why change?
 
If you are going to Samsung, I would wait till they actually deliver a good phone with specs that will last for about 6 to 8 months. Right now, its a tiny update to S4.

I own a Galaxy S2 and I've been waiting to upgrade, but waiting till a new android or iPhone comes out that really becomes the phone to get for the whole year.
 
Yeah, I think the iPhone 5S camera is best in class right now if what you're looking for is a simple point and shoot device, which is all you should be looking for in a smartphone camera.

I have the Sony Xperia Z1s, and while it should have a better camera, in practice, it kind of sucks. This has been my experience using other people's non-iPhone 5S smartphones, too.
 
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