Switching from iPhone headaches

[Deleted User]

Having not used an Android phone in over five years, I was a bit frustrated that features like "OK Google" didn't work right out of the box, that I had a lot of bloatware to delete or disable, and that some apps like Verizon Voicemail and Caller Name ID are a trap to get you to pay an extra fee per month. I have no idea if Moto Voice is better than OK Google, but I couldn't get that working at all because it wouldn't accept any short phrases like "Hello Moto" or "OK Computer" or any profanity once I got frustrated, and it's not very user friendly to an iPhone switcher. Disabling the Moto Voice function let OK Google work, and that's fine. Motorola's own switching app from the Play store is incompatible with the Turbo 2, the Samsung one that Verizon recommended to me that lets you sign in to iCloud to grab your iPhone backups is only for Samsung phones, and the Verizon switcher app just makes a giant mess of your new phone. Most of these aren't really phone issues, but as an iPhone switcher, I don't see a lot of consistency even with the Motorola apps. The Motorola Connect app phased out PC connectivity making it useless bloat for anyone who doesn't have a lot of Motorola stuff.

Once I got all the garbage cleaned off the phone and installed the Google Now launcher, I had a Droid that looked how I expected a Droid to look, I still wasn't happy for a while. I don't use the Gmail account that I use with the Play store for my actual email, I use Outlook. That's fine I guess. Disabled Gmail, installed Outlook. Only problem, Outlook SUCKS. I don't understand how the app is so bad on Android when it works fine on iPhone. Sent Microsoft some hate mail and killed it, the stock Mail app does just fine for Outlook accounts.

There was a lot of that for me, switching headaches. I'd been using an iPhone for a long, long time and didn't have to do things like set a new one up, wonder why Siri/OK Google can't hear me, have a massive fight with getting my text messages off my old phone... I was so frustrated the first day with my phone, I actually called the Google help desk to complain about what a pain it is to switch from iPhone.

One last thing, getting the text messages transferred from my iPhone to my Droid was pretty much OK after I located some legitimate documentation on the procedure. Ting had instructions on their website, but Verizon was no help. The first thing I tried before I found the Ting how-to was a pay-to-play software, and that's just no good. Ultimately, it took about two hours to transfer five years of texts from my iPhone, but it lost all the MMS photos.

 

[doogald]

Yes, it's very disappointing that Motorola's switching app no longer works if that's true - it was a great way to switch, and available a few years before Apple offered anything for switching from Android to iPhone (which was just made available in the last few months.) Until the new Apple transfer app there was also no way to transfer text messages from Android to iPhone.

When Motorola offered the voice service a couple of years ago, they required that you use the phrase "OK Google Now". I think that Moto Voice works best with a slightly longer phrase than "Hello Moto" though "OK computer" I think should have worked. I'd try "Ok Turbo 2" or "Hey Turbo 2" and see if that works. You also should be ina very quiet room to set the feature up.

Verizon Visual Voicemail has a free and paid level; the paid level offers a few extra features. You can use visual voicemail without paying. I agree about Caller Name ID and the rest of the preinstalled apps - it's frustrating that these apps exist, especially because if people really wanted them they could get them on the play store. Still, the iPhone has similar preinstalled apps that I never use - Apple Watch, Apple Health, Reminders, Game Center, Stocks, Weather, Tips, Find Friends.

Just one more tip: if the stock email app doesn't work well for you going forward, the Gmail app can actually connect to Outlook mail accounts. It's not just for Gmail accounts. I'm not sure why the Outlook app doesn't work well on Android - I don't use it myself, but that's really Microsoft's responsibility (as you said.)

I hope that your experience going forward is better than your first day.