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

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it's not so big a deal. Either way you are basically doing the same thing in a slightly different way. They are both great OSes at this point with some good choice in hardware considering Apple is going 4.7"+ this Fall and I bet will transform the "C" line into the smaller device that they will keep around.

If you want to upgrade right now, you could get the Nexus 5 or Moto X for cheap off contract and your current bill will be exactly the same.
 
Try a HTC One.

Do you research by actually borrowing a device to try it out, or to read about how you can accomplish your common workflows on Android. You may be surprised by the minor things that bother you.

In my case, I will stay in the Apple ecosystem, but if I had to switch I would not buy a Samsung. The industrial design and the custom software are deal-breakers for me.
 
As someone who had been using an iPhone 4 from it's release until getting 5S just earlier this year, I can definitely recommend the upgrade. Everything's familiar, but just vastly better.
As insignificant as it may sound, I actually found the most impressive thing to be how light the phone is in comparison. 4 feels bulky as hell whenever I hold one now, much in the same way past iPads feel in comparison to Air.
 
We are at the point that if you are not invested in any ecosystem too much you can get any high end smartphone and will be satisfied.

Just check see what design you like most and forget about windows phone
 
With the advent of iOS 8, it would be unwise to move on as you might miss the venture into a new frontier.
 
I switched to a 5s after having a Droid Incredible for years. I spent plenty of time on my girlfriends Galaxy S4 to see that the overall clunkyness of Android was still there. Now I am really enjoying how easy the regular phone tasks are on the iPhone.

The camera is also amazing on this thing. Low light shots are great and the video is free of the shaky cam look.
 
Fezan said:
We are at the point that if you are not invested in any ecosystem too much you can get any high end smartphone and will be satisfied.

Just check see what design you like most and forget about windows phone
Click to expand...
Windows phone can work to if you can get by without a few big apps.
 
Zaphod said:
I switched to a 5s after having a Droid Incredible for years. I spent plenty of time on my girlfriends Galaxy S4 to see that the overall clunkyness of Android was still there. Now I am really enjoying how easy the regular phone tasks are on the iPhone.

The camera is also amazing on this thing. Low light shots are great and the video is free of the shaky cam look.
Click to expand...

Like 75% of that can be put on Samsung
 
Zaphod said:
I switched to a 5s after having a Droid Incredible for years. I spent plenty of time on my girlfriends Galaxy S4 to see that the overall clunkyness of Android was still there. Now I am really enjoying how easy the regular phone tasks are on the iPhone.

The camera is also amazing on this thing. Low light shots are great and the video is free of the shaky cam look.
Click to expand...

Hey look two shitty phones compared to a nice phone.
 
If you're looking at Android, I 'd recommend a Sony, HTC or an LG. Samsung built quality is pants.

Also waterproof phones are amazing. Listening to music in the shower is 10/10.
 
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...

There were always too many bugs with each update that I never had an interest in upgrading. I'm still on 5.1.1. Only on occasion do I run across an app that's not supported. But there's nothing I can't live without.

My phone still runs at its best without being buggy from iOS 7 update.
 
I moved on from the iPhone 4 last year, had an iPhone since the 3G. The biggest difficulty I had was getting used to a store without a lot of apps, as I went Windows phone. The other pain was just transferring contact info over.

But, I am happy that I moved away from apple. Don't have anything else apple in our house, besides an iPad, so wasn't a big deal. The phone I have has a real GPS in it, has a better integrated finance app and is a little more customizable.

No mater what phone you go with though, you will probably wish you waited, or think that some other phone is better. Just get what you want.
 
if you want the GS5 Active, get the GS5 Active.

Apple has shown their hand, no need to wait on an unveiling of a medium size phone with shit Android had 8 years ago.

if you really do want to wait until the fall though, the 2014 mobile flagship launches then.

the Samsung Galaxy Note 4.
 
I would imagine the iPhones will continue to have the best photo/video capabilities of mainline phones. Not to mention you are both used to the OS already. An iPhone 5S and up will be incredibly fast for general use. And, at least in my experience, the Android podcast experience (circa 2013-12 at least) doesn't touch the iOS native app. Some of the pricier apps might solve that though.

Id just get an iPhone unless the waterproof feature is really important to you.
 
I've been switching between iPhones and Android phones every 6-12 months for the past 7 years (currently switching off between the HTC One M7 and iPhone 5S and here's my take on it

Pros

iPhone just delivers most of what you need in a trouble free, aesthetically pleasing, "it just works" package that you just can't get in Android. Timely updates, great hardware, and of course the far superior App Store.

Hangouts doesn't come anywhere close to iMessage despite what people say.

Superb camera, great accessory support, great ecosystem, seamless integration if you have other Apple products. And iOS8 seems to be headed in the right direction and the jailbreak community is always fantastic. Widgets, theming, better multitasking, file system and many other things have been available long before they were officially released.

Cons

The static row of icons get extremely boring to look at which is mostly the reason I switch around.

The tiny screen. 4" was a decent upgrade from 3.5" but it still wasn't enough.

Still can't set default app permission except for browser and maps via jailbreak

Having to use iTunes

Overpriced storage options

low RAM

Android

Pros

Insane number of options for any type of phone you want

options for removable storage

Great customization within the OS

Certain phones have great specs you won't see on an iPhone anytime soon (1440p display, huge battery,etc)

A file system

A back button

'Better' multitasking

Google Now

Awesome support for media. Plays anything you throw at it seamlessly without having to jump through loopholes like in iOS

Cons

Most if not all Android phones have pretty bad design in hardware. Personally plastic just doesn't do it for me when I'm paying 650-750 dollars for a phone. Even the HTC One while it looks decent still feels like a step behind the iPhone

Play Store doesn't have a lot of the greatly designed apps you can find in the App store especially games

Skins. God I hate these things. Sense 6 is actually pretty nice but everything else I've used has been utter shit and ruins the experience. ESPECIALLY Touchwiz. You can cover it up partially (only the home screen) with a launcher but the rest of it still haunts you

Bloatware. Unlike the iPhone, the carrier and manufacturers have no restrictions on what they can put on the phone and 99% of the time, it's garbage


TLDR version

All in all, Apple provides the best all in one package imo. Android has some phones with certain specs that are better but usually something else is always lacking. Basically just decide what features are more important to you and go from there. I'd recommend going pure Android via A nexus device if you decide to go the Android route. DO NOT go Samsung.
 
I was also thinking about switching from iPhone to Android this year. WWDC's announcements changed my mind though, mostly since my main computer is a MacBook Air.
 
The switch I made from the iphone 4 to the galaxy s4 was one of my best tech-related decisions I've made. It's wonderful being out of the apple jail cell ecosystem. Android has become an awesome platform. If this thread was made 5 years ago I'd say stick to apple, but not anymore.

And the S5 camera is really good, what I've used of it.
 
I'm in the same crossroad. I've been wanting to switch from iPhone 4 to an Android phone, maybe the new Sony phones since they look as good as iPhone for me. The problem is, while I'm already used to Android ecosystem via my Galaxy tablet, the only thing I'm still not used to is their music management.

I know people complains a lot about iTunes but IME, I find it easier to import music through it and adding lyrics etc than using other music app on Android. On Android, I often experienced repeat transfer failure as well as instances where the lyric will look smushed together when I put them on the device.

This is probably a minor issue to most people but to me my phone also needs to be my music player since I often ride a bus longer than 30 min or go jogging with it. I don't want to carry 2 devices just to have a phone and an easy to use music player.
 
VoxPop said:
Didn't Moto say they weren't making phones anymore? Heard their US factory is getting shut down.
Click to expand...

Nope.

They closed the texas factory and moving that production overseas with the rest of their stuff. Lenovo bought Moto to get into the mobile space.
 
I'm sick of thinking about it any more. Going back to iPhone and just not going to fall prey to "potential." The smartphone has to be a tool to me, now, nothing else.
 
TheBryanJZX90 said:
If you want a quality camera and storage space, get a Nokia 1520. Awesome camera and up to 128GB SD card support.
Click to expand...

This is your best answer. One of the best cameras (only Lumia 1020 is better)and your photos can be set to automatically upload to one drive which can be accessed and shared from any device. No connecting or manually uploading.

You also mentioned podcasts and WP 8.1 comes with a great podcast app. I switched to Windows Phone from android a year ago and even though there aren't technically as many apps available, the ones you want are there or there is an alternative app that does the same thing. I've never been left "wanting" with the 1520 and everyone is blown away with the pictures I take.
 
I sold my iPad Air and iPhoone 5s to buy a Xperia Z2 tablet and phone. No need for an apple tv anymore, nor a mac. Plus I just love the Z2 phone build quality. I doubt I will ever go back to Apple.
 
VoxPop said:
I've been switching between iPhones and Android phones every 6-12 months for the past 7 years (currently switching off between the HTC One M7 and iPhone 5S and here's my take on it

Pros

iPhone just delivers most of what you need in a trouble free, aesthetically pleasing, "it just works" package that you just can't get in Android. Timely updates, great hardware, and of course the far superior App Store.

Hangouts doesn't come anywhere close to iMessage despite what people say.

Superb camera, great accessory support, great ecosystem, seamless integration if you have other Apple products. And iOS8 seems to be headed in the right direction and the jailbreak community is always fantastic. Widgets, theming, better multitasking, file system and many other things have been available long before they were officially released.

Cons

The static row of icons get extremely boring to look at which is mostly the reason I switch around.

The tiny screen. 4" was a decent upgrade from 3.5" but it still wasn't enough.

Still can't set default app permission except for browser and maps via jailbreak

Having to use iTunes

Overpriced storage options

low RAM

Android

Pros

Insane number of options for any type of phone you want

options for removable storage

Great customization within the OS

Certain phones have great specs you won't see on an iPhone anytime soon (1440p display, huge battery,etc)

A file system

A back button

'Better' multitasking

Google Now

Awesome support for media. Plays anything you throw at it seamlessly without having to jump through loopholes like in iOS

Cons

Most if not all Android phones have pretty bad design in hardware. Personally plastic just doesn't do it for me when I'm paying 650-750 dollars for a phone. Even the HTC One while it looks decent still feels like a step behind the iPhone

Play Store doesn't have a lot of the greatly designed apps you can find in the App store especially games

Skins. God I hate these things. Sense 6 is actually pretty nice but everything else I've used has been utter shit and ruins the experience. ESPECIALLY Touchwiz. You can cover it up partially (only the home screen) with a launcher but the rest of it still haunts you

Bloatware. Unlike the iPhone, the carrier and manufacturers have no restrictions on what they can put on the phone and 99% of the time, it's garbage


TLDR version

All in all, Apple provides the best all in one package imo. Android has some phones with certain specs that are better but usually something else is always lacking. Basically just decide what features are more important to you and go from there. I'd recommend going pure Android via A nexus device if you decide to go the Android route. DO NOT go Samsung.
Click to expand...

I don't understand how you can praise the jailbreak community saying they are ' fantastic. Widgets, theming, better multitasking, file system and many other things have been available long before they were officially released' and say nothing about the android community, especially when you complain about the skins and bloatware which can be replaced or removed entirely.
 
Considering just how long you've had your smartphone, anything is going to feel like a quantum leap. I retired an iPhone 4S for an iPhone 5s, which isn't nearly as big a leap as you'd make, and I was astonished by some of these changes. Normally I might say wait for autumn, but man, go on ahead. Whatever you choose will be astonishing.

iPhones are well supported with OS updates and you don't voice big complaints with the 4, so maybe stick with the iPhone models! My 5s has proven outstanding, but aluminum is more malleable than the steel used in parts of the 4S, so a case might be even more essential for you. Still, beautiful phone. Nexus phones historically get well-treated by Google for updates, more or less, and the Nexus 5 phones I've played with have been quite pleasant. The HTC One is probably one of the best-built phones available today, but I have a hard time recommending a phone from a company struggling to even make the phone because it's bleeding so much cash.
 
NinjaFridge said:
I don't understand how you can praise the jailbreak community saying they are ' fantastic. Widgets, theming, better multitasking, file system and many other things have been available long before they were officially released' and say nothing about the android community, especially when you complain about the skins and bloatware which can be replaced or removed entirely.
Click to expand...

I don't care much about custom roms and this was just my personal opinion. Only really extensively used ARHD and a GPE rom. Experience wasn't any different from using a stock device aside from me needing root for a particular permission. The average casual user doesn't even think about rooting and whatnot nor would they jailbreak. Everyone I know with an Android doesn't even know what version they're on nor do they care. All those things I mentioned were things iOS desperately needed and were made available. Putting a custom Rom didn't do anything for me except give me the ability to get rid of a bunch of crap on my phone.
 
Could wait a few months for a most likely way larger iPhone, but android shines (in my opinion) with cheaper phones that are close to being AOSP like the Moto X/G and hardware related cousins on Verizon or the Nexus line. If big numbers got your interest, HTC and Sony rule the hardware build quality roost. Windows Phone is also looking great with the soon to be coming update
 
It's nice to see some of the more balanced opinions in this thread.

I'm currently using a Nexus 5 (my fourth Android phone.) It's a good value proposition, and it's also the first Android phone that I've had that has left me all-around pleased and not wanting too much. It's fast and smooth, and system updates are timely from Google.
 
Downhome said:
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.
Click to expand...

If that's huge to you, stick with Apple. The iPhone 5s camera is much better than the GS5 camera, and it really isn't even close. I've done head-to-head comparisons on both. I own both devices, and I can definitely, DEFINITELY say that the GS5 camera is sub-par compared to the iPhone 5s. Heck, even the iPhone 5's.

Granted, the S5 does shoot in 4K, but when it comes to still photos it's not even close. Stick with the iPhone if camera quality is your number one priority as you state.
 
As a 4s owner, I am patiently waiting to see what the i6 is about. 4.7" would be great as the 4s screen is tiny and 5s isn't big enough of an upgrade.

If the phone is lacking, I will go S5 likely.
 
thecharrr said:
Could wait a few months for a most likely way larger iPhone, but android shines (in my opinion) with cheaper phones that are close to being AOSP like the Moto X/G and hardware related cousins on Verizon or the Nexus line. If big numbers got your interest, HTC and Sony rule the hardware build quality roost. Windows Phone is also looking great with the soon to be coming update
Click to expand...

Speaking of the Moto X, they are having a "Try Then Buy" promotion on June 9th. You order a custom Moto X for $0.01, try it out for two weeks, then you either buy it or send it back. Might be a good way to check out a more current Android handset and its up-to-date OS.
 
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