Coming back to iPhone after 8 years

In 2018 I decided to ditch my iPhone and join #TeamPixel. As a tech enthusiast I spent my teenage years watching MKBHD, Unbox Therapy, Austin Evans, Linus, Jonathan Morrison… if they made tech videos I probably watched them. Everyone said the Pixel 2 had the best camera of any smartphone and a clean stock Android experience made this the Android phone to beat. Not to mention the panda colour way! So when the Pixel 3 came around I decided after only ever knowing iOS it was time to make the switch. My brand new Pixel 3 XL arrived and it began my 8 year journey with Android.

Before I unboxed my Pixel, I’d grown up using an iPod Touch and then graduating to my Dad’s second hand iPhone 3GS. Every few years I’d get a new iPhone (until the iPhone 7 plus was my last). My family was and is an Apple family we grew up using Macs, so it made sense for me to follow suit. I never knew Android other than what I saw online. However for the longest time it just didn’t interest me, plastic back phones and… TouchWiz… But my curiosity to switch grew and grew as the hardware design focused more on metal and glass as well as the software being more refined. Enter Pixel 3XL.

In 2018 I was more than curious now, the iPhone XS was about to be announced and the Pixel 3XL was also about to hit shelves. The only thing was that notch… I was shocked by the notch on the iPhone X, at the time it felt so unlike Apple to me. But as I got used to it the then even larger and more obtrusive notch on the Pixel 3 XL didn’t seem as offensive. Looking back I don’t know what I was thinking. I was so curious about this stock Android experience, the fancy single lens camera and the Google Assistant, I took the plunge.

I’d been in the Apple world for a long time and I used a Macbook Pro at the time. There were some issues at the start, Airdrop being a large one. I never found a seamless workaround that worked well for me in that regard but I was happy to look past it. The main issue was that notch. As the honeymoon phase ended the notch became such a distraction, phones are expensive and I had committed to this experience so I couldn’t go back. There were upsides: the stock Android experience was amazing, the notification system was perfect and the ability to customise my phone was a welcome change. I enjoyed my time on the Pixel and I look back at it nostalgically.

Very quickly however the notch and its chin made the design of this phone look incredibly outdated, arguably it was outdated from the beginning. After landing my first job out of uni it was time to upgrade. Introducing the Oneplus 8T. Being on tech twitter and youtube I was well aware of this brand and the legendary Carl Pei. Carl also happened to leave Oneplus the same year I got my 8T much to my disappointment as I was eager to support this brand which seemed to prioritise the feedback from users and its community. As well as the phone having a stock experience, it seemed like it would be a hit for me. What I soon learned was the camera lacked significantly, adding on a lack of wireless charging (which I knew going in). But what really appealed to me was the much more modern design. Speaking of design and Carl Pei…

Nothing. Nothing changed the game for me. Their design language is like no other I’ve seen, it feels retro, its playful and most importantly it tries something different that nobody else in the market is trying today. I bought the Nothing Ear (1), I then bought the Phone (1). I loved them both, the glyph matrix may have a gimmick but it was cool. It was a cool phone and it worked well. Not only did the phone have premium hardware but it had premium software to match a unique take on Android that was heavily optimised and not only that the products Nothing made were community driven and still are today. This was what I had missed from my Oneplus experience and is something I admire Carl Pei for. I used the phone for two years, skipping Phone (2) and then waiting for Phone (3) to come around. But cracks were beginning to form since I got my Pixel.

Software support, polish and convenience. iOS always gets better 3rd party software support and whilst using my Android phone I’d been using my iPad all this time. I was still up to date with the current iOS experience. There were so many small things, animations and quirks that made iOS still stand out for me. But the reason for my switching back to iOS isn’t some grand philosophical one or a stand out feature, to be honest it’s quite simple. The battery on my Nothing Phone (1) only lasted for an hour or two and my Dad offered me his old iPhone 15 Pro. Of course I accepted, my Phone (1) was constantly plugged in charging. When I setup the iPhone I thought I knew what to expect and I was prepared to swap out to the Phone (3) when it released. But frankly I was surprised by what I found.

Despite watching iOS release keynotes and reviews every single year I was surprised. Even though I knew all the features to expect and how it would work the experience was seamless. The “Apple Magic” is something I don’t really know how to describe but it was clear there was an increase in quality in some areas. Such as apps, apps were smoother and more polished. Smoother animations within the OS and the OS feels more consistent and smartly laid out. It’s hard to describe but the subtlety of iOS and polish is something you can’t read on a tech spec sheet.

Will I go back to Android? Maybe. But probably not. It could be that the grass is always greener and I’ve been away from the iPhone for so long I’m going through another honeymoon period similar to Android. There has been only one negative for me, the notifications. Come on Tim, we need to get that sorted. But frankly things I worried about with my Android phone before I don’t have to worry about now: does my bank support GPay? Essential for me as I don’t want to carry all my cards. Will I get this latest app feature? Apps are consistently prioritised on iOS. Is there support for this on my phone? How easily can I get the screen replaced? And more. Some of these worries are quite trivial and not worth worrying about but since coming back to iPhone I’ve not had to worry.

This isn’t meant to be a comparison and frankly if I could stick iOS into the body of the Nothing Phone (3) I would in a heartbeat. But I hope my shared experience will encourage an Android user to try out iOS if they never had or will encourage an iOS user to give Android a go. Both are excellent operating systems with their own perks but for me it seems like iOS is the one I’ll be sticking with for the next 8 years.