Switch from Android to iOS — Muscle Memory in Denial

I understand the fact that my reasons for why android is better than iOS could be due to my recent switch to iOS coupled with my muscle memory being in denial. Apart from the common reasons like android is customizable, available in a variety of price range, Google sync, external storage, dual sim, etc. there is more I have to talk. It's more about the UX than the physical differences.

No swipe Keyboard

The first app I downloaded was not WhatsApp, Facebook or Instagram. It was GBoard (Google Keyboard). Downloading GBoard on iOS felt like asking for a Happy Meal in Burger King. The swipe keyboard is an addiction on Android. And typing on the stock iOS keyboard was such a pain. Feature phones had their typing priorities set straight back in the days (T9 Keyboard). They knew how important it was to not to waste time on typing each character.

2. Screenshot from Two hands mandatory (Discovered shortcut later)

Most of the times, taking a screenshot is a reflex. And when Android phones (OnePlus in my case) has given you the easiest way to take screenshots with one hand, it was just impossible for me to believe that screenshots required two hands on the iPhones except X. In iPhone X, you'll have a collection of screenshots in your album that were taken accidentally because of power and volume button being pressed so often. Also, once you take a screenshot, Apple requires a forced action on the screenshot and you can't switch to the previous app before taking a decision on the screenshot. I was trying to switch apps and it didn't work. For a second I thought that the Home button of my iPhone is dead! (After asking for a review of this article, a friend told me about the shortcut for Screenshot on the screen.)

3. Back shortcut not integrated by all apps

In some apps, the swipe option for the back is not integrated (not Apple's fault). After trying for at least three failed attempts at going back you accept the challenge to climb to the top left (the farthest point on the screen) corner to go back for such apps.

(Tip: Double tap [Yes, Tap! Not Press] the home button on your iPhone to pull the screen down. I love this feature. 9 out of 10 people I asked didn't know about it though. Apple loves hidden shortcuts!)

4. No launcher. Congested Home Screen

It's weird to have a cluttered home screen all the time. You have to swipe the multiple screens to find an app. It makes me feel like I'm using a Redmi phone.

5. Overloaded Search results

The search option gives so many results that what I was looking for was lost somewhere in "the news article published about it".

On searching "Uber", the dropdown list showed Uber without an icon, Uber eats, uber customer care, Uber India and then Uber with the icon.

So I chose the first result — Uber (without icon) instead of Uber icon expecting it will be the same, and it gave me another search result on Uber instead of opening the app. (You have to try to feel the frustration. Search a contact name and then tap on the contact (with contact icon), it opens another search result of that contact instead of showing the contact details.) It also takes long to load results. By the time you tap on a search result, the list changes!

4. WhatsApp has a better experience on Android

I can write another article alone on this point alone. But I'll just bullet a few for now.

Can't sync chats from Android to iPhone: I understand the security reasons but it's the same app on both the platforms. Find a solution? People are landing on Mars and they can't solve this tiny problem. There are some cheap hacks on the internet that I tried, but none of them worked (for free) or looked trustworthy.

Can't view user's profile picture directly from the chats list: The shortcut doesn't exist. It's a tap on Android and four taps on iPhone.

Micro-interactions coincide: Pulling down the keyboard overlaps with background scrolling.

Search chat option is hidden under Chats heading: which is everywhere on iPhone. I had to go to the New message icon [looks like Edit icon] to Search for a contact. Poor path.

Selecting pictures from a source other than Photos app is not allowed: If you have an old picture in Google Photos, you can not select directly from WhatsApp. You have to download it first from the cloud, which takes up space on your phone again and one of the purposes of keeping your pictures on cloud fails.

5. Editing Text on iPhone is difficult

I like how iOS has the magnifying feature to select the editing point, but the long press to show magnifying feature gives a lag. A single tap between a word doesn't land your cursor in between but to the end of the word. After trying for multiple times, I used the magnifying feature to edit, but instead, it selected the word. It got so irritating to edit the word. In short — long press to edit is very confusing and coincides with the select text option.

6. Messages App

I tried to mark the marketing texts as "Read". I tried to long press to select if Apple allows me to select multiple and delete all or mark as read. I ignored "Edit" for a while as I thought "Edit" can't mean "Select". The New Message icon looked like Edit as well. After trying different techniques I went to Edit and selected few messages manually, it showed Delete option for the selected messages. But I still couldn't find "Mark as Read" option. Also there's no "Mark as Unread" in case you want to prioritize a message.

Also, an app should be consistent throughout platforms. iMessage app doesn't show text messages from android users on my Macbook. I understand it costs me to reply to such numbers and the medium is different, at least it can maintain uniformity and inform me about such messages.

8. I confused the 3D touch action with Long Press.

Once, I tried removing an app from my iPhone sitting in a taxi. Every time I long pressed, it gave me some shortcuts for the app but no way to delete the app. I tried for a while, (staring at a screen in a taxi triggers my motion sickness), to figure out where I was missing the options. I kept repeating the same long press and it gave the same options. After giving up and taking a break of ten minutes I tried again, this time a bit delicately having given up. That is when I realized that my iPhone was taking my Long Press attempts as force 3D touches.

9. Unsubscribing an app from App Store is a pain

Try it once, you'll know!

10. Doesn't allow Third Party apps to access Messages

I agree Apple thinks of me as a kid who might share sensitive data by allowing third-party apps to access my messages and hence doesn't provide an API to developers to read incoming messages. If that's how much Apple cares about me — why does it allow me to buy apps from the app store that I trust blindly — but are actually there to exploit me. Apple can just ask users if they want third-party apps to read the OTPs and make our lives easier. I never had a problem with my Android phone reading the OTPs.