Some Initial Thoughts On iPhone6 and iOS8

Comments (Archived):

1. Swipe from far left of almost off screen right usually takes you back now in ios. Works great in safari and I miss it on Android 🙂

   1. Thanks. Will try that. Good to know these tricks

      1. iOS is all about tricks, once you are in, you are in forever

2. #3 is not possible right now. I have come to like Android’s back button, too. On iOS, back button is usually top, left corner but it is not consistent. You can sometimes swipe from the left edge, too. Double tap the home button to get a list of previous apps.I’ve been working on Android recently, learning the OS. What I can say is the two OSes are very similar in concept, but implementation is very different. I think that holds true at the UI level, too.

   1. Swiping from the left almost always works. But you can’t switch back to a previous app like you can on Android, which is something I wish we had on iOS.

      1. iPad has a multitasking swipe gesture you can turn on but iPhone does not.

      2. press the home button 2x quickly and you get the iOS version off alt-tabbing.

3. When I was using the iPhone, the calendar was synched to my gCal and I didn’t see a big difference now that I’m on Android. There is a way to make Google Maps a default, and there’s Gmail for iOS too.I just wrote about the reverse side of your experience, having gone to Android with an iPhone UI on Xiaomi (the best of both worlds). The Mi3’s MIUI is definitely an iOS skin inside an Android, plus you get to keep the 3 buttons at the bottom, AND the USV Android extension for sharing posts to USV.com. Try testing an Mi4 before you go back to Nexus. http://startupmanagement.or…

   1. I am using the Gmail app. How do I make gmaps default on all apps?

      1. Have you tried this:http://www.cnet.com/how-to/…

   2. Hi William,I read your Mi3 post this AM.I will be switching off my Verizon 4S soon, I may look to an unlocked iPhone 6 on T mobile, just not sure how the coverage in the CT burbs…..ApplePay will be interesting to watch if it gets any traction.

      1. T-Mobile works for me throughout Fairfield County, with a few spotty locations, like North Stamford / Greenwich border…but that’s what happens in the woods, right?

         1. Another spotty location is my house. 🙁

            1. Does that explain why I never hear from you anymore? :’-(

      2. yup. I have been drug-free for 1.5 years, and it feels great.Contracts and locked phones are a drug that the carriers keep handing you to keep you under their thumbs, and the phone manufacturers are in cahoots more or less.

4. The next platform on from mobile is alluded to in these Corning videos:* https://www.youtube.com/wat…* https://www.youtube.com/wat…I already coded for this scenario.In terms of the next OS (for Web and mobile and ???), it will be something AI-centric. The original team that produced SIRI is working on a framework with investment from Li Ka-Shing’s vehicle.

   1. I want that

      1. It reminded me of something I showed you 3 months ago (that I invested in), and you said “I want that” 🙂 shhh.

      2. The AI OS? Here’s Dag Kittlaus, the founder of SIRI, on what his new team’s working on:* http://techcrunch.com/2014/…* http://www.wired.com/2014/0…The AI OS is missing vital bits of the software and systems puzzle, though. That’s to do with W3C’s semantic and sentiment structures, existing Knowledge Representation ontologies and the inherent problems with probability trying to cluster Natural Language terms.That’s where my system fits in.As for the Corning vision, well………..the Japanese are working on smart mirrors for the bathroom and the car. Bathroom example:* https://www.youtube.com/wat…At the moment, the cost of production is similar to that of a smart HDTV and the retail cost is high so consumers are less likely to upgrade it compared with smartphones and wearables. Plus huge sheets of glass are not exactly portable.Still…imagine being able to order toiletries directly from bathroom mirror (enabling fmcg producers not to be subject to retail pricing they have no control over, but able to deliver product direct via something like Amazon Fresh)……Ah and who filed a patent for an all-glass delivery device?A_P_P_L_E, :*).

         1. the inherent problems with probability trying to cluster Natural Language termsHistorical success has come not from shaping the vehicle design around the demands of the natural (language) terrain but rather from shaping the (language-meme) terrain to fit the artificial limits of the (AI) vehicle ?

            1. Indeedy. So knowing the limitations of the AI vehicle for natural language I invented another system:* https://plus.google.com/113…Happy Ada Lovelace day!

5. Supposedly Apple is coming out with new software that will integrate all devices better, phone, tablet, laptop. I have had trouble with iCal over the years-and haven’t gone with the Google Gmail;Gcal system. Almost switched a couple of times. If the new upgrade with Apple doesn’t work like I want, I will go to Google. But it will be a pain to switch my email….

6. If the experience is similar, the hardware equal (or is it), the price wildly different, then you go to ask why Apple is always sold out.The power of brand becomes even more powerful as the playing field levels.

   1. The Apple brand is definitely hitting its strides. Apple is the #1 most valuable brand today (Interbrand), and with a 21% increase in brand value since last year (the highest increase among the top 20)As a user, you are “paying” for that brand’s premium value, and they know it. http://www.businessinsider….

      1. The true test of great brands is at the intersection of the premium you pay for it and the satisfaction you receive.Both are at the top of the charts for Apple.

         1. But as I like to say there is a balance with brands between the party in your brain (PIYB) (an expensive watch is an example of this or perhaps a fur coat) and the actual utility value combined with as always the case the PIYB.What the brand can do for you. Not just the head game part.With apple this is not just IOS it’s also the quality and durability of the actual hardware as well as the hand holding and Apple store experience. Down to the mouse. Even the mouse.Over the weekend I just fired up the phone that I had before the first iphone. It still had texts and some pictures on it. I was really amazed at how backward it is compared to what I am using now.What’s amazing is that Apple has pulled this off at such large scale.How many luxury brands can you think of that have done this? [1] That are able to take what has become a commodity product charge a bundle and sell so much. I can’t think of any. I mean it’s very common in a niches.[1] A question can you think of any I can’t.

         2. Apple transcends the product-only relationship with their users so well. It’s like they’re hugging you with their product.

            1. Brilliance at work…

            2. here’s my fave: http://fc00.deviantart.net/…

            3. The difference between the two graphics says it all. You have just made his case.

   2. Some luxury brands strategy is to make 1 less product than the market demands. [1][1] Even non luxury though. To this day I remember being in Miami and there being a long line of old people outside woolfies deli restaurant waiting to get in. That line is in my brain this many years later. Don’t ask me about the ending of the netflix movie I watched last night though.

      1. If i remember correctly (over my many lunches with my grandmother), nothing short about the product offerings at Wolfies.

   3. Very very very very important point. And the question is, how sustainable is that? The answer, I believe, depends upon the local market.

      1. Dunno….Do not underestimate the power of a brand and its staying power if fed properly.

         1. Indeed.My point though is not that a brand is unimportant or that it can’t be sustained but rather that a premium brand is likely a more potent force in some markets than others. Rolls Royce don’t sell the same numbers in all geographies.

            1. Consumer Electronics is a 100% brand driven marketplace.That is the Apple segment. Who else is in it?

            2. There has to be a communication problem here.For example, given that Apple is certainly a premium brand in China but that it is by no means the market leader in a nation of >1bn people we have to acknowledge the possibility that whilst brand is certainly important in consumer electronics so is price. Brands can be established at many price points. Xaoami, for example, doesn’t have the cool factor of Apple but it sells more iphone like phones in China than Apple because they are good products and a lot cheaper. Similarly, there is no way that iphone is anything like its current iterations with its current branding is going to take a big slice of India or Indonesia. It seems to me that the jury is already out on this point. In short, I don’t believe for an instant that Apple owns consumer electronics. And as I find it hard to believe that you believe it either, I conclude there has to be some communication problem.

7. How does the battery compare to the Nexus 5?

   1. About the same

8. Some sort of secure unlocking system that didn’t involve me inputting my password each time is the biggest gripe I have about Android right now. TouchID seems like a very elegant way to solve it. I know L will have some more options on not having to unlock via password in certain situations but Android needs a more elegant simple solution. This is where a manufacturer could separate themself from others IMHO.

9. Fantastical for iPhone and Mac are both great. The natural language processing works shockingly flawlessly.

   1. What do they do?

      1. You can just type “Meet Jonathan to thank him for the tip on Tuesday at 9am at Maison Kayser” and it’ll create the appointment just as you’d think/hope it would.

10. I agree with you regarding Apple’s calendar program (and Maps). I wish Apple would just buy the Sunrise app and integrate it into their iOS. That’s the calendar app I use on my iPhone.

    1. I will give it a try. Thanks!

    2. I know there is a lot of Sunrise calendar love in this thread, but I personally prefer Tempo. [https://www.tempo.ai/] – My favorite feature is probably that I can set the default Maps link to Google Maps. So when I’m headed to an appointment, one click and I’ve got the address in Google Maps vs having to Copy the address, Open Google Maps, Paste the address and then route.

       1. I tried all of them mentioned here and a couple more. They were un-installed as fast as they were installed. Maybe it’s me…but I stuck with the standard Calendar app. I don’t need anything fancy except to do what it does, and GCal sends me a daily reminder about my day’s schedule.

11. I disagree that the OS’s will necessarily become more homogenous. Of all the points above, Touch-ID is the most telling.Touch ID was never about making it easier to open your phone. It was about verifying your identity. Consider the forthcoming Pay. With your fingerprint you’ll be able to authorize any purchase on your cards – in-store or in-app. Every card oligopoly and every major bank accepts Touch ID as your authorization.Looked at it from another way, when every major credit card, and every major bank looks to Apple/Touch-ID to irrefutably authorise billions of payments from their customers accounts, you know they’ve created a new identity model. One that’s not only secure, but also easy and accessible to millions.This is a game changer. =ID. Your phone and soon your Watch is now your irrefutable ID. Critically its an ID that can easily interact with your world. Where does this lead? If my online account is accessed, do I confirm with Watch? If I arrive home, does my alarm switch off and lights turn on? If I checkin to a hotel, does my phone tell me my room# and a wave let me enter.This is a fascinating new direction. HomeKit, WatchKit and HealthKit are the new developer playgrounds. And its a place that isn’t easy for Google to follow.

    1. Android will add it

       1. Android will add it but here’s where hardware fragmentation and slow OS adoption slows down the rollout.The life of a person who buys every new Nexus device is very different than those on the Samsung/HTC train

       2. Touch-ID is a hardware play.

       3. Android already supports it. Samsung and HTC both have fingerprint readers on their phones and they’re pretty awful.

          1. I had touch fingerprint on an IBM notebook in 2007. It was a novelty that wore off.

    2. “And its a place that isn’t easy for Google to follow.” Why? (genuinely interested why you think that)

       1. Touch-ID is implemented at the hardware level. Not only in the sensors, but in secure silicon. Hence its not an Android (aka Google) challenge, its primarily a hardware challenge at the OEM level. This OEM ecosystem is highly fragmented.

          1. google can push standards for hardware that OEMs will need to embrace to receive access to google APIs. fragmentation is increasingly in name only.

             1. Nope – hardware fragmentation is an increasing problem for developers.

             2. for developers, sure. for platforms? not so much, because they control all the levers. this is the age old debate of whether hardware is truly commoditized, or to what extent hardware captures defensible value relative to software. the real opportunity is in software, google can use its software muscle to force hardware players to do what is needed. can apple use their hardware muscle to force apps to conform to their hardware? i highly doubt it, which is why apple has to become more “open” and fragment their devices more and more (such as through more screen sizes).

          2. well then Moto/Lenovo will do it

    3. I also said that HomeKit, WatchKit and HealthKit are 3 of Apple’s user-locking schemes, because the gap is narrowing between them and Android devices on the smartphone-only pissing contest scale.That said, HealthKit is very un-baked and too early. HomeKit is totally clonable with a panoply of Android choices. WatchKit will be interesting, but that’s a smart watch play, not a smartphone play.Tim Cook said that the Apple Watch is Apple’s most significant product since the iPhone. I’m willing to bet that in 3 years, Apple might have more revenues from the Apple Watch product than from the iPhone. Just sayin…

       1. Apple kremlinology is a lucrative business. Though highly secretive, Apple’s plans often hide in plain sight.“The most personal device Apple has ever created” was actually how Tim Cook’s concluded to the keynote that announced Watch. Personal is a revealing choice of word “concerning one’s private life, relationships, and emotions rather than matters connected with one’s public or professional career.” Watch perhaps has a different vision to the on other rectangular screens in Apple’s portfolio. It taps into these deeply personal relationships. It’s your personal trainer. It’s you health monitor. It’s your credit card.It’s also a vision that’s troubling to many. Why do I need a another screen in my life? Bijan Sabet touched on just this in his less-is-more post. “I don’t want another thing to interrupt my moments. I don’t want to see any sort of notification when I’m playing basketball in the driveway with the kids. I am finding the joy of walking into my house, taking the phone out of my pocket and leaving it on the counter.”Rather “connected with one’s public or professional career” Watch may perform a whole new set of jobs. Very sensitive and personal jobs, which rely on either Watch or iPhone (through Touch ID) being your irrefutable identity.

          1. thanks for correcting me- he said “the most personal device”….but that says a lot about its future expectations.

          2. i’m expecting the Apple Ring (finger ring) at some future juncture.

          3. I think people are underestimating the scope of things that can be achieved with a tactile interface. Like sound it can be a very subtle background information processor.

             1. Very subtle, very personal and potentially vital. Less @mention, more hypertension alerts.

       2. I’m actually really into the Apple Watch, think it will be pretty nice even right out of the gate. And i’ve beta tested dozens of smartwatches, so know what to hope for.Problem is, like Fred said in another comment, it kicks me into [being stuck with] Apple, and I’m not into that.

       3. I’ll take that bet.

       4. [HomeKit + (millions of installed) TV ] = easily clonable?TV is the trojan horse for acting as the HomeKit’s brain, for remote access and control.

          1. AppleTV is vulnerable. In the near future, you won’t need an extra device (like Chromecast, AppleTV or Fire or Roku) to pair to your smartphone. You can do it via wi-fi. This already works for some smartTVs (e.g. Philips with YouTube). And why pay $100 for AppleTV when you can get the exact same thing with a Chromecast even if you have an iPhone or Mac.

             1. That presumes their is no major shit it what the TV product can deliver.

             2. so its vulnerable to the iPhone (and Android)maybe that’s why its always been a “hobby” at Apple

             3. I think so…although they have a large installed base of 20 million sold devices, but I’m willing to bet not all of them are in use.It dawned on me that all this is going to be done in software via your existing wi-fi when I saw a free Roku stick that came with the RCA TV that literally replaced the $90 Roku box I bought a year ago (I think Roku is challenged). Then the Philips smartTV had a straight wi-fi pairing to YouTube from *any* smartphone that bypasses Chromecast as long as it’s on your wi-fi.I’ve been testing a bunch of smartTVs, and I’m seeing what’s happening there. i like Vizio a lot, another new one from China. The back of their remote is a full keyboard. That’s clever.

             4. APPLETV NOT A DEVICE.IT ADAPTER TO LET IPHONE/IPAD ACCESS TV.THINK ABOUT IT ANY OTHER WAY WRONG WAY TO THINK.

             5. Correct . It’s a tunnel for content to your TV, just like Chromecast but more closed.

             6. wondering / have read – AppleTV as gaming platform…using the phone or ipad as the controller

             7. Bet #2 I’m willing to take on you.In fact, I’ll give you 2 to 1 that you are wrong on this one.After working with the glass vendors I can assure you that they will simply not get this done.And there is the very minor issue of the zillions of itunes accounts.We on?

             8. Yes. Will take the challenge for the finest wine bottle in your cellar against a 15-20 year old Chateau Musar. I have been home testing just about all the SmartTVs I can get my hands on in the past 4 months, having fun at it, and learning a lot. Watch for Vizio, a company from China with 100 employees who is outselling Samsung currently in the US. Watch for Philips who isn’t a TV household name, but is getting a few things right. Both of these companies have impressed me so far, ahead of Samsung, LG, Insignia and Sony. RCA is toast.

             9. damn. i want to be around for the payout on this bet!!!!

             10. Consider yourself invited!But we haven’t decided if it will be Toronto or NY though.Maybe a 3rd bet will pick the city 🙂

             11. The pour out? The thought has me salivating.

             12. I love bets where I am happy to lose.Honestly I don’t get to hang with you enough.How about come down to NY, we grab Fred and I’ll take care of us and have Arnaud the owner and Somm at Racines, personally guide us through an evening?About the glass.It’s just a commodity business and I don’t see why you think the smarts are going to be in the glass itself, nonbranded, offshore companies with no connection to the consumer.Who am I gonna call when itunes doesn’t play on Vizio, one of the 100 employees in China?This ain’t a computer, this is a billion people in their PJs, in their living rooms.

             13. That sounds like a plan!!

             14. Ah, the plot thickens on the bet!I think we’re barely into the first generation of smartTVs. If you think about it, a smartTV is just a big display connected to a PC and connected to the Internet. And you know all the good stuff you can do with a PC on the Internet.

             15. You are of course correct and we’ve been here for a bit actually.Back what–eight years ago I was building custom displays and negotiating to get 3D on them so have so serious scars.But–you are correct– but I obviously need to take a writing course as I’m simply not making my point.Yes it is just glass. A few companies build the housings and a smaller number of huge facilities stamp out the glass itself.The question is not that its a glass display connected to the web, it is whose model benefits and can get adoption of that connection when the glass itself.One owner has a TV for a decade and how many computer and tech changes in that timeframe?By building a model that is incorporated into the glass itself its a weird model to my mind. And if anyone doesn’t understand consumer software it is the TV manufacturers.

             16. But you can also update that smartTV like you update your iPhone.

             17. Of course.And yes, some smarts need to be in the housing of the glass but I see neither the software foresight nor the model that makes me think that one of these players will become the brand that matters in my living room.

             18. Big piece of glass connected to the cloud

             19. I’ll add to the bet. I will tell you this. The name smartTV is an oxymoron. People watch TV to be dumbed. Not to be smarted. Maybe not you but the vast majority of people.You watch TV to be dumbed, no different than you do CandyCrush or whatever to waste time. The reason why the system works where people look at a finite number of shows that are on at a given time is exactly because they don’t want to think.This is a technology looking for a problem.

             20. But those TVs are really “connected” TVs, which is probably a better name for them. I think it’s the first generation we’re in, so we’ll see where it goes. Another trend I see is using your smartphone to control that TV & make it do some more interesting stuff.

             21. Nail. Head. Contact!

             22. I still don’t see it as vulnerable due to cheaper alternatives.TV has a great processor, smartphone/tablet class OS. What is seen on TV right now is just the tip of the iceberg.Apple still uses the A5 chip for its TV box (4 years old), which means it certainly benefits from greater yield and lower costs of production at their fab.So, there’s a huge opportunity for  to leap frog, should it decide to use A7 in the next generation TV, and cut the price to $69 or $79.Home automation device market is quite fragmented, and Apple has a huge opportunity to take a considerable chunk of it and consolidate.Opportunity doesn’t mean, guaranteed success. Home Kit is still in its infancy, and FWIW, it can just be a big flop if not implemented and supported well.my opinion may be biased, because most of my digital content purchases are in the  eco system.

             23. Have you tried the other solutions like Roku, Chromecast, SmartTVs and Amazon Fire? I have. AppleTV is a me-too product at best, and an expensive one to boot. The whole TV casting/streaming segment is still immature and unravelling.

             24. You are talking as if this was a battle of technologies.In fact you sound like Google and their strategy with Google TV and G Plus–two massive failures in the consumer market.This is of course tech impacted but this is the living room my friend, the world of consumer electronics.Being geek smart has little to do with winning.

             25. Not at all Arnold. I think you mis-read me. Anon Techie was the one taking a speeds and feeds comparative approach. I’m looking at the usage drivers that will make this win. I’m betting that the average consumer will want things to be integrated into their TVs, as they get new ones replaced. The other segment will stick something in the HDMI slot and make them smarter, but not in how we see Chromecast or AppleTV do it. It will be something even more open like equipping your TV with a universal something.

             26. I think this is a battlefield that Apple and Google can’t afford to loose or control.

             27. It sounds like they are both having problems w/ content providers.Perhaps the trojan horse in Google’s case is youtube

             28. Could be.Media rights are anything but simple.

             29. Re: Meto, I tink you are forgetting the apple eco system that the apple TV front ends…..On my phone, ipad, macbook, there is a little icon that lets me push the screen to the large display….movies, photos etcI just think the Apple TV has more potential by virtue of the installed base of users w/ iPhones and MAC os machines

             30. But you can do thid exact same thing with a Chromecast or paired smartTV. They don’t care whether you have an Android or iPhone. See this related discussion we’re having:https://disqus.com/home/dis…

             31. Great Point re: Chromecast. Thank you for sending the link to the discussion.

             32. Home automation,,,,,fragmented – I have been disappointed w the vendors / categories that have announced so far – lacking fanfair

12. The danger of TouchID is that you can’t “forget” your fingerprint.

    1. Yup. If it is stolen from you its a big problem

       1. The fingerprint record isn’t accessible to a thief.

          1. that would depend on whether they had your finger or not!

          2. if you replace the word “thief” with “government,” is the statement still true?

          3. Not yet but it’s potentially just an exploit away…

    2. Can you not erase it w/ remote wipe feature of find my iPhone

       1. Not likely to be an option in the circumstances in which you might prefer to forget your fingerprint.

          1. You can wipe the whole phone remotely, Touch ID included.And the Touch ID is stored on a local chip, never in the cloud. I’m not security expert but you can reason why that might be more secure.

             1. See above.

             2. What is that circumstance and the issue? I’m not sure I follow

             3. I must be missing something big here (which I often do)….1. I get an iPhone2. I set the phone to scan and “remember” my thumb print….3. I use it…and it works ok for logging me into the phone and say Apple pay4. I loose my phone5. I log into “find my iphone” – and confirm that it is in the loose6. I then decide to wipe it….7. Get a new phone, and then set it up again w/ a new scan of my thumb….

             4. 1. I get an iPhone2. I set the phone to scan and “remember” my thumb print…3. I use it…and it works ok for logging me into the phone and whatsapping my friends about universal suffrage…4. I’m running down Connaught Rd. and instagram a pic of one of the tear gas canisters raining down around me…5. I’m illegally detained “for the good of society”…6. While I’m “interrogated”, a team of rather brave lawyers who are denied access to me and don’t know where I am, make a habeas corpus application to a high court justice…7. I’d prefer to “forget” my fingerprint…

             5. Seriously, if you are in such a serious situation, just reboot your iPhone. All your fears will be laid to rest.(Touch ID won’t work after restarting iPhone).

             6. Ah of course: “Officer, if you’ll just put that hand cannon down and allow me to reboot my phone…”It applies to almost any conceivable situation: you might have been DWB and doing 58 in a 55.

             7. Again, if you are going to put yourself in such a situation, just don’t use an iPhone, or don’t use TouchID on the phone. Just disable it. You can still forget your password.

             8. You’re a bit late to the race, Fangio.

13. I was hoping you were going to write about your iOS8 experience…1. Mac OS and iOS integration https://www.apple.com/osx/p…A. Fred – I sent you an email about this about a week ago and flupped it, I think you opened the email and saw a photo of the phone talking to an iPad…and your response was that you use a nexus….B. There are some neat features of the two OSs and devices working together – may require you to use the native Apple apps ( Safari, pages, mail client etc.) – these will be of no use to Fred…..C. The ones that may be of interest are:The phone hand off – re: my Iphone 4S rang the other day while I was on my macbook…and all of sudden the call rang on the Mac ( as well as the phone) – it allowed me to answer and take the call while my phone was in the other room…D. Instant hot spot, Macbook connecting and using the LTE service on your phone, I know you can do this today…they have seemed to make this just a lot easier to do.For these to work, I think you need to wait for Mac OS Yosemite refresh, I was using a beta copy and the phone hand off went live for me last week after I upgraded to Beta 5

    1. I’m not really into this stuff. It kicks me into Apple and I won’t allow that to happen

       1. YUP – still thought phone ( vs apple apps) integration was neat.

14. ApplePay,Might be the other reason why iOS 8 /iPhone 6Coming to a store near you soon….

    1. At Wells Fargo in this month.

       1. I am embarrassed to say that I am hooked on $1 ice coffee from Mickey D’s, apparently they are part of the roll out as well…

          1. Down vote.#thatsnotrealcoffee

             1. Did I say “Embarrased”I don’t often check in w/ Swarm while there 🙂

             2. Hahaha!

             3. How dos this look Mac-Cafe 🙂

             4. No McD logo in the foam?

             5. McD’s coffee is better than Starbucks (IMHO)

             6. that’s like saying stalin is better than hitler. perhaps true, but not quite meaningful.

             7. Let’s not go all Godwin.It’s like saying Brezhnev is better than Stalin.

             8. Let’s not go all Godwin.That law is only valid after a somewhat extensive back and forth so that the discussion has deteriorated and the fuhrer’s name is invoked.

15. I find these two app very useful replacement for the native mail and calendar apps. They both are well designed and have desktop version that synchronized with the mobile app, so transition is seamless:1. Dropbox’s mailbox is amazing mail app – with simple gestures I go over my emails, focus on what important and schedule mails as reminders.2. Sunrise Calendar – great aggregator of different calendars.

    1. Thanks!!!!

    2. Have you tried Hop (email app) and even Boxer is not bad.

16. Some thoughts:When I had an Android (admittedly a few versions back), the back button did not seem at all consistent. Wasn’t sure if that was some rose-tinted glasses, but I hope it’s improved.Regarding Google Calendar: Did you set up the Calendar sync via Caldav? A good primer: http://www.redmondpie.com/h…Calendar substitute app: I’m a huge fan of Sunrise. It’s what the calendar app should be. Highly recommend.Mail substitute app: I’m a huge fan of Mailbox for nice/simple e-mail. For anything complicated, I use the actual GMail app. I rarely if ever use the iOS mail app.Regarding maps: When apple maps open, You can pass the address/route to another app. Quick article on this at http://www.cnet.com/how-to/… By the way, Waze is now my routing app of choice wherever I drive. Bought by Google, but adds social & data points in a safe way. Has saved me from at least a few tickets. ;)Been interesting to read about your transition. Looking forward to hearing how it pans out.

17. Fred, for #5 above, you should be able to set notifications preferences for each (or most) apps under Settings > Notifications… One chooses Badges, Banners, etc. Most or all of my notifications show up on my Home screen and I rarely open the actual notification center area.

    1. I was playing with thatWhich do I choose for top screen notifications?

       1. Fred, I think you want the Banners for what you’re describing. That puts a banner at the top of the screen. A badge puts a dialog in the middle. I use banners a lot.

       2. Also, when a banner appears, you can swipe it to go directly to that App item, or you can just access your home screen to do other stuff without having to deal with the banner at that time.I send a ton of reminders from my calendar and they show up as banners. Most I don’t need to access the calendar for. But IMs and such I want to go straight to the pertinent action usually.

18. I just got a Oneplus One running Cyanogen Mod. I love the near total customizability of it (although I understand that some do not).

    1. Got one – real nice phone.

    2. You did! Cool.

19. As I am writing this it occurs to me that I am trying to use iOS like I use Android. I’ve set up my iPhone home screen to be as identical to my Android home screen as I can. I’m trying to make iOS work the way I am used to working.Most of what your wrote above ie “I miss the three buttons at the bottom of the screen” and “But I miss getting the notifications across the top of my home screen.” are really just examples of what I will call “the delta effect and muscle memory”. Meaning you are used to one thing and the fact that something is different throws you for a loop. But only until you get used to it.In a sense it’s the inverse of what happens with a new car design which is strictly visual. Typically a new car design makes the old design look undesirable and you will typically want the new design and in fact it will make the existing design look bad or old in your eyes (unless you own an old big red car that is..)But with something that is either visual (in a different way) or depends on muscle memory (like what buttons to hit or where to look) it’s simply (and you realize this) a matter of getting used to the flow.

20. you can t change access default apps (mail, maps, contacts…). i don t understand this is still not possible. to me it looks like a “anti competition trap” similar to what microsoft built with internet explorer and was forced to change later on.

21. See also Steven Sinofsky’s post on how to assess a new product. Basically, don’t fight it: it’s trying to do things differently. http://blog.learningbyshipp…

    1. I am clearly fighting it!

       1. Worse than that, you are missing out on some of the cooler benefits of iOS by not being totally in the Apple IT ecosystem.That being said, anyone in their early 50’s who is a creature of habit who decides to change phones should be awarded a medal.

          1. “That being said, anyone in their early 50’s who is a creature of habit who decides to change phones should be awarded a medal.”James HRH – Man… that is so true. Life feels shorter as you get older. I really don’t want to screw around with learning new tricks & devices unless there’s really a clear and valued payoff in it for me.I have been using a Treo 680 since 2006. It is one of the best values I’ve ever spent money on. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve dropped that thing on asphalt or concrete and it stills keeps humming along. And I still have the original battery! Go figure.Everyone around me has iPhones and Samsungs (Androids) and as cool as they are… I spend zero time learning new apps.I know I’ll have to switch someday and I am building a wish list, but when I do have to finally switch over – it will be on a par with the launch of a startup for me!Thanks goodness for this forum – one of the best collections of tips, shares, and useful insights on the web.

       2. Changing Habits is one of the hardest things as you know. Suggest 3 more weeks and request a subsequent post on the things you REALLY like about the iPhone/iOS hardware/software ecosystem.I’ve long been an iOS native, but have used the latest Android device as a 2nd phone for years. Again, due to set habits, it’s tough to embrace Android for me as a primary device despite using it from the beginning.Think Apple Pay and Apple Watch, along with Homekit, Healthkit are the wild cards next 2 years that may change Apple’s position in the duopoly, especially in Western markets. Touch ID is also a sleeper for a whole host of 3rd party App driven services & conveniences.Last suggestion, if you go back to Android, suggest keeping the iPhone as a back-up 2nd phone. I find having two on different networks REALLY helps when traveling even in the US, due to the spottiness of even the top carrier networks.Thanks for the post.

    2. This feels like a Kansas native reviewing a vacation in New York by talking about how the fast food restaurants are different and noting that there is no Walmart.I admit, android feels the same way to me.

       1. And I admitted as much in my post

       2. Kansas native here. Appreciate you reinforcing my simple-mindedness.

          1. You’re lucky you don’t live in one of the states bordering the center of the universe. You’d get much more reinforcement of that kind quite regularly.

    3. You have great posts. I find them so factual I can’t really comment. Best regards.

22. I believe Sunrise Calendar is the solution to your fourth comment.

    1. Fantastical is also nice.

       1. I dunno what i’d do without Fantastical.

          1. I’m also using Sunrise for a long time and can’t imagine switching to something else.

             1. I never leave comments but I really want to put up my hand for Sunrise. I never thought I would love a calendar app but I love Sunrise! It integrates everything: google, facebook, and apple calendars

             2. sunrise is great, also https://www.acompli.com/ for email + calendar

    2. 100% agree. Hands down the best calendar app I’ve seen – and it’s on both platforms.

    3. +1 Sunrise is the solution.

23. My wife’s iPhone 5 died early this summer and we couldn’t revive it. She had shut off photo sync with iCloud as it was consuming all of our her memory and she couldn’t take new photos so I shut it off. She lost a month or so of photos, but overall the net loss wasn’t a big deal.I had bought a Nexus 4 when it came out to have on hand for testing and to use in cases like this. It was really interesting to me to see an iPhone user for the past five years (I believe) adopt Android. There were so many things she loved about it like native integration with all things Google, but she never really got use to how it worked. I noticed she responded to my texts less frequently as the notifications would get buried in the notification center, and she used her phone less frequently. When the new iPhones were announced I ordered a 6 and she’s been thrilled to have the iPhone back. She knows exactly how it works and is definitely in her comfort zone.It’s funny though, I found myself super jealous of the calendar and mail experience. Even though you can install the Google Mail app, it still isn’t as smooth as the native app via Android.The whole thing got me thinking about this blog post and how you feel really comfortable with Android. I bet if you used the iPhone for six months you’d feel really comfortable with the platform and experience some loss switching back.

    1. …and sorry for the long comment 🙂

    2. A loss of a month of photos is a big deal!

       1. Yeah – though it helps we both take a lot of photos of our kids and share the ones we really like with each other via text, or to them (for the future) via email. We thought the Genius Bar could help, but the phone bricked. In retrospect I should have paid for additional iCloud storage.

    3. She had shut off photo sync with iCloud as it was consuming all of our her memory and she couldn’t take new photos so I shut it off. She lost a month or so of photos, but overall the net loss wasn’t a big deal.What’s the reason you didn’t back it up to the PC?

       1. It had been a month – I should have been more diligent after shutting off the cloud sync.Also backups were annoying with her 11″ MacBook Air as she didn’t have enough space to continuously do that, so had to copy off photos on to an external drive then setup a new iPhoto share.Basically I’m the worst. I’m an engineer yet didn’t have a good solution here.

          1. Move where the backup goes. A few ways to handle that. This is one of them:http://aaltonen.us/2011/01/…Can just use a cheap portable usb drive. Then for added safety you can use “super duper” to clone that drive to another drive.

          2. Picturelife.com is a great solution. You can even host the pictures on your own S3 bucket if you want.

24. Have you noticed any issue with contacts? I switched from an Iphone 4s to a Galaxy S4 a while back and noticed it was difficult to contact certain users of iphones. Not all, but some. It would be interesting to see if the same happens going from Android to Apple. I will also note that while I do enjoy android much better, I miss Imessage. Wish android would come out with a similar feature. New reader. Keep it up.

25. Re #1: Samsung’s S5 has been offering exactly this for a while now; so does the Note 4 coming to US carriers this Friday.I didn’t realize until yesterday I had this on my S5 all these months. But it works fantastically, you just swipe over the home button, which sticks out a bit on the Galaxy phones. It even lets you train your thumb w/ a side swipe while you hold the phone 1-handed.

26. Another huge point I expected to see on this initial list is THE CAMERA.There is no contest between iPhone 5 and above, and most of the non-camera-centric Samsung models and most other Androids: iPhone is superior in many ways.

27. I share your views on iOS mail, though i do like iOS calendar. I gave up on iOS mail a while ago and have been using Acompli (acompli.com) and am very happy with it. Makes filing/tagging email super easy, search is fast and accurate, and makes finding time on your calendar very easy and elegant, plus more.

28. BTW, for the native calendar, if you are having this problem…Invitee responses stuck under iOS 8 | Apple Support http://buff.ly/1w3MziL

29. I’m looking forward to @kidmercury:disqus theory on why @fredwilson:disqus switched to Apple. The first post I thought he had been hacked but surely a conspiracy?!

30. I highly recommend Fantastical as a calendar replacement.

31. Benedic beat me to it. But for sure don’t try to make iOS be like Android (or vice versa). Neither immitates the other well :)I think the convergence is superficial. I might note how what is drawing you to the google ecosystem is as much about the service as the specific UX. There are definitely UX nuances but it is about the service I think. Few tend to favor the iCloud services for mail/cal/contacts (maybe drive). Interesting how the client apps (keynote, pages, numbers) are preferred on Mac but may or may not translate to the apps and definitely not the desktop web (say on Windows).Apple took steps with extenions to allow integration across apps. But still hard to do some cross-app scenarios (e.g. open a link in an app to browser/email uses built-in apps). I suspect in another round you’ll be able to have third-party first class mail, cal, maps (maybe sms). Photos made a lot of progress.

    1. “Few tend to favor the iCloud services for mail/cal/contacts (maybe drive). “I agree (apart from Drive – I don’t think anyone sane favors that).And of course this google ecosystem is available on iphone. In other words, Google has heavily penetrated the iecosystem.

32. Fred – if you use Chrome as your primary browser, Google Maps (or any google product) opens automatically

33. There was a time when FB and Twitter seemed to be copying each other. Our environment affects so much of how we think and design.

34. After a long, long time with Android phones, I’m gonna try switching to iPhone 6 Plus. I know I’ll miss the back button, simultaneous voice/data, and that there will be other switching pains.However, after a long weekend spent with my brother where his Verizon iPhone 6 got better LTE than my Verizon LG G2 (which seems to get better reception than my previous Samsung Note 2 and Galaxy S3), I want to give it a try.

    1. that’s because Bijan has connections at the top of Verizon 🙂

       1. hah!

35. The thing which bothers me about Android is the ugly skins/layers manufacturers put on stock Android… Samsung’s is especially bad. Damaging a good Android design for the sake of differentiation.

    1. yup. i buy all my androids at the google play store for that reason

    2. Buy a Nexus or a OnePlus One.

    3. yup. i buy all my androids at the google play store for that reason

36. so the new nexus is announced on thursday. it will have the new android 5.0 os. if it isn’t a 5.9″ screen i may buy it. if it is i’ll have to reconsider my other options.i’m trying to resist the iphone cult. i’m from a protestant country.

    1. that is my next phone

       1. i’m just hoping it isn’t going to be quite that big. the 6 Plus is a bit too much in my hand.I would like to start my Android life at 5.0 though.

       2. https://www.youtube.com/wat…i may need new pants.

37. Fred,I have been on iOS for about 2 weeks after switching from a Moto X.The Gmail application for iOS is superior to the native client, however, the Android version is far superior, especially taking into account the handling of multiple Gmail accounts.Sunrise is a fair calendar replacement, unfortunately, they inject their marketing messages into calendar invites, which makes it a no go for me.I absolutely hate the handling of links in iOS. I would love for all links to be opened in my native browser, that way I have a single history of my browsing activity. Eg twitter, I cannot find links / stories I have read in the past. Furthermore, I was unable to even login to Disqus to post this comment from the iOS twitter client.iPhone 6 is great, but I think I will be back on Android soon.

38. Almost every time I get a new computer/device I spend the first few hours/days just configuring things to be like the ‘old’ OS/way I knew how to use and think about things…it’s a fairly rare event that I adopt a ‘new’ way of thinking about or doing something within my workflow/world (I suspect that’s the case for most actually).There’s probably a decent business in just making this switching/upgrading but ‘mapping as closely as possible to your old way’ quick and simple itself…

39. I have the iPhone 6+, the “phablet” iPhone on the Verizon network and I love it! I previously owned the iPhone 5 and 5s but I love the larger screen.I use it with Voice over LTE (VoLTE) service which has HD high definition voice for much better call quality. It also has better range for me than the Verizon 4G in that I’m able to make clear phone calls in parts of the building that I was unable to previously. You don’t have to pay for data on the audio VoLTE.Today only audio is supported but will soon be video as well as audio promised by the end of the year. The video calls will have to be initiated over the VoLTE (which with video you’ll have to pay for data), but will allow you to switch over to WiFi service if you have it after the call is initiated.Another big advantage of the iPhone (esp in NYC) is that there are five stores in Manhattan including one store open 24/7/365 that have genius bars in case of problems.I’m a big user of apps Tweetbot, Instapaper, DarkSky and OneNote in addition to the standard apps.

40. A couple of thoughts….First, as others have said, don’t try to replicate Android. Embrace iOS’s way of doing things and the various apps out there for doing them if you want to really explore it. I understand the impulse but I think if you’re really set on having things work the Android way you’re best served by using Android.Second, explore alternate apps. For example, for mail I love Acompli (no connection) because of the way it allows you to focus on things. There’s even a builtin calendar and, while it’s not a calendar competitor for Fantastical or Sunrise (both are awesome), it’s handy.Third, I think and hope that the extensions introduced in iOS8 will enable some very interesting things in apps, but those likely won’t really be noticeable for 6-12 months.

41. Mail, Calendar, Maps, Notifications. You ave summed it up nice. It is like, I would send this dude a SMS. And he would respond to it like I had sent him a snail mail. He would take his sweet time. Ends up the culprit was the iOS notification system.

42. “It was not that hard to move from Android to iOS (other than downloading all of those apps and configuring them). When I go back to Android in three to six months, I don’t think that change will be particularly hard either.”This is an incredibly important point. Admittedly you are far from being a regular user, but this reflects my belief that the gap between the two (when comparing the latest versions of Android) is much smaller than most people suppose and it is pretty easy to switch.The significance of this of course is that if there isn’t a clear differentiator then price becomes yet more important. And this suggests that Apple pricing (and indeed premium Android OEMs) is likely to come under pressure with increasing commodification. I suspect we can rely on the Chinese OEMs to accelerate this trend. OEM’s such as Xaomi and OnePlue One are cases in point.Even as the device becomes commoditized the ecosystem is a potential differentiator and some make much of this fact. My observation is that the ecosystems are characterized by (a) the greater uniformity of Apple’s makes life easier for developers, but Android is pulling away in terms of volume (b) Google knows more than Apple about reliability and latency for a large global network. (c) Google builds better core apps like calendar, email and maps.There is one difference between the two ecosystems that is absolutely fundamental. Apple does not collect as much user data, indeed Tim Cook recently represented this as a virtue. Google of course does collect a huge amount of such data and is the data science company par excellence. The question is whether this data, and the insights that data science can derive from it, can enable Google to build products that Apple cannot emulate. Google Now is an early example of such a product. One may argue that even if Google can build such products it is in their interest to build and iOS version of the product given Apple’s market penetration. And this is a good point. But it does not alter the fact that if Google does take a material lead in this category of product and if the market does respond to such a product it is entirely up to Google whether they put it on iOS to extend the reach of the product, or have it as Android only to attempt to further grow market share for Android.There are very smart people who are sanguine about Google’s growing market share and likely takeover of the developing world in the context of commodification. They are confident that Apple will not follow the course that was charted for Macs / Pcs. I confess I am not so sanguine.

    1. Great points. When I switched, it made me realize how hardware independent we really are. If I had to switch out of the Apps I use, that would have been a much bigger problem. Luckily 95% of the essential Apps are available on both platforms, making this a neutral factor.Indeed the ecosystem, the support, the brand are all factors that favor Apple for now…but even those gaps will come under pressure eventually.

       1. Unless I’m mistaken the essential Apps on iOS are not available on Android: eg mail, calendar.

          1. Which ones are you referring to specifically?

             1. mail, calendar

43. If you prefer Google Apps as your defaults and you can’t accept a third party solution, It’s really hard to move from Android to iOS; but I think it’s even harder for an entrenched iOS user to move to Android because of the lack of apps or parity of features in apps. How long will I have to wait to get Hyperlapse or the new quick checkin feature in Swarm on Android?

44. Interesting tidbit about being in China, Gmail (and everything else Google) was blocked almost all the time including the official Gmail app on Iphone. Having Cloudmagic email app really saved me, it worked pretty flawlessly to pull down my Gmail.

45. Fred, I am a long time Android enthusiast but have switched to iPhone 6 if nothing else for ability to us Apple Watch, which is the real game changer in my view, not iPhone or iOS 8 itself. To make up for the gap in losing Android, I am doubling down on my use of Nexus 7, which I will now have one everywhere I am on a regular basis. In other words, I will use Nexus 7 wifi for everything but the phone. Nexus 7 helps mitigate my missing Android and gives me benefit of Apple mobile. It also helps me deal with missing the spare battery option of Android (ie, I am on Nexus 7 most of time so don’t need to charge my iPhone except at night).

46. > I miss the three buttons at the bottom of an Android phone. I’m never sure how to get back to a previous screen on iOS. I’ve come to realize that by tapping at the top of the screen, I can often get back to the previous screen. But it is super nice to have a back button that works identically on every app and I miss that.There is a dedicated gesture in iOS. Swipe right from the left edge. In most apps, it goes back to the previous view. It is not a replacement for the back button, but it works decently well.

    1. it doesn’t work in google maps, it doesn’t work in tumblr, and it doesn’t work in a bunch of other apps i usei guess i’ll just try it on each app and figure out where it does work

47. You know there has been a really important side benefit to this discussion. Because you have shown a willingness to switch to the iPhone and giving it a shot at least, this discussion has been quite balanced, and derided of the typical polarized views from past posts on that same topic.But also, it may be a sign of maturity and acceptance that both platforms are here to stay, and that any extreme views are a futile pissing contest exercise that no one will win.

    1. it’s a sign of my new found maturity and my acceptance of things i don’t like but are here to stay!

48. Can your smartphone do this?

    1. what is this William?

       1. Smartphone home screen on Xiaomi.

          1. i like it. is it unique to Xiaomi?

             1. It’s due to their proprietary MIUI. I held my finger between screen rolls in the cube mode & took a pic.

49. One of the things Apple does better than any Android phone I’ve owned (four makes/models, two carriers) is haptic response and accessibility features. Those are two of the most important features for the disabled, especially those with a neuromuscular and/or motor control disorder(s).Per your remarks above: an additional limitation of Android devices, is the widely varying implementations among handset/tablet manufacturers and carriers. It can be very difficult for the disabled to switch back and forth from between different “touch screen” presentations / GUIs among gadget sets.The Apple implementations are consistent from one device to another. One exception for the Android devices: Kindles. But again, I think it’s the same high-level solution as Apple. Single vendor control across the OS/Handset/presentation layer.I’ve met with several assistive technology professionals who have the same issues with existing Android devices. Many do not recommend Android (phones especially) for the disabled. Perhaps this will change going forward.

50. “6) I like the “today” tab in the notifications service. Its a lot like what Google has done with Google Now. I think Google should copy Apple and put Google Now into the notifications service.”Doesn’t it already do that? I get notifications telling me I need to leave for meetings etc…

51. http://bgr.com/2014/10/14/g…interesting piece on user testing of camerastldr note 4 more favorably reviewed than the 6

52. I hate not having a consistent Back button on iPhone … whenever I use my wife’s 1/2 the time I have no idea how to go back and 1/2 the time I’m afraid pressing the top of the screen will do something I dont want.I’m also not a super fan of the “Do it” (Add / remove/save) action etc being at the top especially when more than one action is possible.

53. Also agreed on the duopoly and things getting more similar over time. I think this has been a big issue for Microsoft when they try to force “Windows” (and its paradigms) onto every device they work with … sometimes it’s better to have a different way of doing things especially for custom/smaller devices or devices like Fridges that have not traditionally had such interfaces …

54. Hi Fred, did you see the article in September, “Evolution’s Random Paths Lead to One Place?” http://www.simonsfoundation…It reminds me of the convergent trajectory of elements you describe with your iPhone and Android.The Harvard biologist Michael Desai created hundreds of “worlds” of yeast, watched them evolve over 500 generations, and came to the conclusion that, regardless of initial conditions, the yeast evolved to roughly the same point. The research was apparently unprecedented in size and scope.On the one hand, you porting your Android thinking to iOS and our general ability to make our own future dampen the analogy. On the other, isn’t it interesting to think of mobile operating systems hurdling to a convergent space?

55. Last sentence: “I need to be looking somewhere else for a new and different experience.”Come join the Windows Phone party! We’re the 3% and loving it! Seriously, I hated IoS from the start, took up and left Android after four years and now very happy with the Windows Phone OS. A good WinPhone like the Lumia 1020 is awesome. It runs fast, has a great battery, a good enough screen and oh yeah, it has an awesome camera.Do not get an entry level like the 630 as you are a power user. If you like the BIG iphone6, grab a 1520, it’s a powerhouse near phablet. You could also wait for the 830 due out sometime in the next couple of months in the States if you don’t want the girth but the most recent WinPhone. Personally, I recommend the 1020 to anyone interested. It packs a lot of RAM for a WindowsPhone – to manage the 41MP camera. I’m not a big user of the camera, but the hardware comes in handy for power-users.Apps – most all of the big-name apps are on the Windows phone now. Nokia has some darned good apps as well.E-mail/Calendar – I use gmail for personal and business accounts. I’ve had zero problems with both.Cortana – best assistant I’ve seen and used amongst the three platforms….. And no, i’m not a Winphone fan-boy. Just someone that got sick of rows and pages of neatly laid out icons or widgets and vendor make overs that lagged out phones so bad they constantly needed ever higher specs. WinPhone was the answer, yeah, it had (and still has) issues but the 8.1 update has been awesome and Microsoft is putting a lot of effort into the platform so the best is still yet to come.

56. what can I say more?

57. Having tested Sunrise and a host of other calendar apps, Tempo is hands down the best I’ve seen and the only 3rd party app I’ve used to replace a core function on the iPhone. Still waiting for one of the dozens of startups shoveling the same “email sucks” pitch to actually deliver in the promise because email really does suck.

58. This site claims that there is a way to change the default map app to Google Maps in iOS 8: http://ioshacker.com/how-to…Cnet also claims that this trick works!I have not try it … I hate workarounds! iOS 8 should give the user the power to change de default app.

59. Glad you are making an earnest attempt to embrace the iPhone 6 and iOS8, I hope your post inspires others to do the same.I think everyone agrees – there are predominantly only two mobile operating systems but the iPhone 6 is simply amazing and its success is undeniable!Apple’s focus and creative precision is what proves out in the end, and that’s all the competitive separation they need to produce such enviable products and financial results.

60. Like wearables? 🙂