• After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.

Help iPhone convert

Ahmed Chandab

Lurker
Nov 29, 2016
6
2
Hi All

Need some advice please. I'm almost ready to jump ship. Been an iPhone user for about 5 years now. I tried last time to convert to android with a Samsung S5. What turned me off was the following. Please advise if they have been resolved in the Samsung Edge 7 and latest software

* Slow scrolling and lag under medium use.
* Too much bloat ware and unnecessary apps.
* confusion with multiple versions of the same app. Like two photo apps and two store apps. Why? And can they be removed.

Pretty much I want it to be simple and clean interface which iOS does very well however restricts you a lot as well.

Thanks in advance.
 
The S7 Edge will be an improvement over the S5 but if you want a clean, unadulterated interface you should look into getting a Pixel or a Nexus, Samsung has lessened its morphing of Android's user interface on its phones and but it's still noticeably altered, and it still adds its own collection of apps.

If you're referring to a '...confusion of multiple versions of the same app' than that's not normal in any way and that particular S5 had some issues that needed to be cleaned up and corrected. However if you actually mean that there were different apps added that did the same function as existing apps, than again that's typical with Samsung branded phones.

But it needs to be noted that's also an aspect to Android itself in a general sense -- with Android the user often has multiple choices in apps that do the same thing. You get to pick the one you prefer because there are typically feature sets, options, functionality, and the user interface in one app that will be different in another app. If you don't like how one app looks you can often just pick a different one. Apple focuses more on this is what you get, this is what you use. Two different ways that appeal to different people. If you don't want to bother with picking and choosing what you like and don't like, that's most certainly your preference so you might actually want to stick with an iPhone.
 
Upvote 0
argh this adds another phone now.

I may have worded that incorrectly, i mean two photo apps. Yes it's great to have the choice, but can i completely remove one or the other and just keep one so everything defaults to it?

You say samsung adds its own apps. Your talking about the Samsung Store as one, what else is added from Samsung and can they all be removed?
 
Upvote 0
With Android, most phone carriers and manufacturers typically add their own apps along with their own branded 'look and feel' on top of the basic Android user interface. If you want to clean and optimize a branded phone, it will typically take some time and effort on your part. Offhand it sounds like a Samsung phone just isn't going to be the best choice for you, but I'll be the first to say that's hardly a definitive opinion. And yes, you can usually change one app to be the default much more easily with Android than with iOS (emphasis on 'usually' as there are some things relative to basic Android system processes you can't manipulate as a general user). So when there are two (or more) different email apps or two different photo manager apps you just opt to use the one you prefer as the default app.
 
Upvote 0
In general apps that are pre-installed cannot be uninstalled. But you can generally make everything default to one app, and you can usually "disable" alternatives if you can't remove them (which has the same effect: pre-installed apps live in a different partition so don't take up space that your own apps could use, so if they disappear from the app drawer and won't run then as if they are not installed, the only difference is that you can find them in the app manager menu). You can always uninstall any app you installed yourself.

I personally use very few built-in apps, as there's usually a better alternative in the play store. But then I either disable built in apps which I don't want, or hide them from the app drawer (a third party "launcher" - the app that provides the desktop and app drawer - will allow you to do this), so I rarely see them. Unlike an iPhone, which puts all apps on the desktop, with Android you have more options for hiding away unwanted or rarely-used stuff.

There are occasional exceptions to the "you can make everything default to one". For example, the camera app will let you view the photo you just took, but this uses the Gallery app, and you may not be able to choose which gallery app the camera app uses (with some manufacturers their camera app may be hard-coded to use their gallery app). If you use the manufacturer's gallery app anyway you may not notice this as a problem, or it may be that the S7E does let you change it, but I mention this as an exception that I have encountered. Usually though if you have 2 apps that can open a particular type of file, when you try to open one it will ask you which app you wish to use and whether you want to do so just once or always. If you select always then it won't ask you again.

I don't have an S7 Edge, so cannot tell you what apps it includes. And if you are buying it through a carrier they may add their own apps too, so even if I had one my answer might not be complete/correct. And because I've never even used an S7E (too big for my tastes) I can't comment on its scrolling (though I'd expect the Pixel to be better in that respect - I could name a couple of others too, but you didn't want more options). My advice would be to go and play with one before laying out money on it and see how it feels to you, because only you can say what you would find OK.

If you make the change though you will find things "complicated" at first, just because some things are different and you are used to the iOS way of doing everything. When I use iPhones I find them strangely complicated and awkward for some tasks, which is in part because I'm used to doing things a certain way and can do them more quickly with Android.
 
Upvote 0
Cheers svim, can i delete or remove the other app if i don't want to use it. ie: photo, email, store? or does this require rooting the device?
Also is there a list of samsung apps that clash with google apps such as s voice and google talk. How do i know which is best to use and can i get rid of the other. Sound like a noob but this is big reason people don't want to jump ship from ios to android.

TBH i will more than likely go with the s7 edge, it has a lot of features that i want like wireless charging and the edge swipe, so i guess i just want to remove all the crap i dont need from it
 
Upvote 0
In general apps that are pre-installed cannot be uninstalled. But you can generally make everything default to one app, and you can usually "disable" alternatives if you can't remove them (which has the same effect: pre-installed apps live in a different partition so don't take up space that your own apps could use, so if they disappear from the app drawer and won't run then as if they are not installed, the only difference is that you can find them in the app manager menu). You can always uninstall any app you installed yourself.

I personally use very few built-in apps, as there's usually a better alternative in the play store. But then I either disable built in apps which I don't want, or hide them from the app drawer (a third party "launcher" - the app that provides the desktop and app drawer - will allow you to do this), so I rarely see them. Unlike an iPhone, which puts all apps on the desktop, with Android you have more options for hiding away unwanted or rarely-used stuff.

There are occasional exceptions to the "you can make everything default to one". For example, the camera app will let you view the photo you just took, but this uses the Gallery app, and you may not be able to choose which gallery app the camera app uses (with some manufacturers their camera app may be hard-coded to use their gallery app). If you use the manufacturer's gallery app anyway you may not notice this as a problem, or it may be that the S7E does let you change it, but I mention this as an exception that I have encountered. Usually though if you have 2 apps that can open a particular type of file, when you try to open one it will ask you which app you wish to use and whether you want to do so just once or always. If you select always then it won't ask you again.

I don't have an S7 Edge, so cannot tell you what apps it includes. And if you are buying it through a carrier they may add their own apps too, so even if I had one my answer might not be complete/correct. And because I've never even used an S7E (too big for my tastes) I can't comment on its scrolling (though I'd expect the Pixel to be better in that respect - I could name a couple of others too, but you didn't want more options). My advice would be to go and play with one before laying out money on it and see how it feels to you, because only you can say what you would find OK.

If you make the change though you will find things "complicated" at first, just because some things are different and you are used to the iOS way of doing everything. When I use iPhones I find them strangely complicated and awkward for some tasks, which is in part because I'm used to doing things a certain way and can do them more quickly with Android.
Agree Hadron. Cheers for the detailed post. I am getting an S7 Edge pretty much free so i will have a chance to play around with it side by side with my iphone. I guess what i liked about iOS was the ecosystem that you have one universal app on all devices and sync with all my other devices and cloud. So if the gallary app for examply on the s7 edge is the default app on all my devices like a tablet if i get one they im happy. I am picky yes but if you're forking out for the best phone on the market i think you have a right to be.
 
Upvote 0
Cheers svim, can i delete or remove the other app if i don't want to use it. ie: photo, email, store? or does this require rooting the device?
Also is there a list of samsung apps that clash with google apps such as s voice and google talk. How do i know which is best to use and can i get rid of the other. Sound like a noob but this is big reason people don't want to jump ship from ios to android.

TBH i will more than likely go with the s7 edge, it has a lot of features that i want like wireless charging and the edge swipe, so i guess i just want to remove all the crap i dont need from it
As @Hadron just wrote out, the ability to actually delete an app is conditional. Some apps are installed by the manufacturer or carrier and cannot be removed (unless you're rooted). But unlike Apple with Android you can change whatever you want on your different screens. You can delete the icons you don't want, add what you do want, and arrange them in any order on each screen. There are also third-party launchers that add and enhance what you can do with the basic Android interface.
Regarding what's 'best to use', that's completely subjective and your choice. Use one a while , use the other, and then pick what you find works the best for your situation and what you feel most comfortable using.
 
Upvote 0
Agree Hadron. Cheers for the detailed post. I am getting an S7 Edge pretty much free so i will have a chance to play around with it side by side with my iphone. I guess what i liked about iOS was the ecosystem that you have one universal app on all devices and sync with all my other devices and cloud. So if the gallary app for examply on the s7 edge is the default app on all my devices like a tablet if i get one they im happy. I am picky yes but if you're forking out for the best phone on the market i think you have a right to be.
Well there is no "best phone on the market" - there may be a best *for you*, but that is different. ;)

There are plenty of apps that can sync between devices via the cloud. If you care about having exactly the same app on all devices then a third party app has the advantage that you can do this without tying yourself to one manufacturer for the hardware. If you insist on using the built in app then if this is one that Samsung make their own version of then you are constraining yourself to a Samsung tablet too (Samsung will be happy, but I don't see the advantage in locking myself in to one manufacturer).

As you can probably guess this isn't something that bothers me at all - if e.g. there's an app that works better on a tablet and one that works better on a phone then I'll use whatever works best on each device. I'm picky in a different way: I deliberately have multiple apps for some things because no single app is best in all aspects, and will change apps any time I come across a better one rather than "settling" for whatever I am given.
 
Upvote 0
Im like you Hadron, i was referring more to syncing of settings in the cloud. I have managed to use my own apps for as much things as possible with my NAS. Such as movies, music, pictures, notes etc. So it makes it easier for me to switch between ios and android. ANyway will update once i have used it for a week or so. Cheers all for the valuable info!
 
Upvote 0
Samsung recently introduced Samsung Cloud. Before they already were backing up system settings to your Samsung account, but that did not include app setups and settings. Now it's allegedly almost like an iCloud Backup where a near image of your phone is backed up. I have been backing up to it, but never tried restoring from it yet.

One thing to note however, is that Android is closer to a PC than iOS, in a way that apps can have deeper interaction with the system than apps can do on iOS. So sometimes, it's not ideal to restore everything back, as it would also restore the problematic setting or app.
 
  • Like
Reactions: badcatz
Upvote 0

BEST TECH IN 2023

We've been tracking upcoming products and ranking the best tech since 2007. Thanks for trusting our opinion: we get rewarded through affiliate links that earn us a commission and we invite you to learn more about us.

Smartphones