7 things you’ll hate about switching from Android to iOS

These days, Android and iOS aren’t as different as you might expect because iOS is picking up multiple features that were once only available on Android. For instance, Apple recently allowed the sideloading of apps on iOS, which Android users have been enjoying for years. As both operating systems have matured, each followed the paths first charted by their smartphone rivals. If you’re considering switching from Android to iOS, Apple’s mobile experience isn’t perfect. Here are the top things we found most annoying about the switch. If you can deal with these, you may survive.

Notification management is annoying

Apple has struggled with notification management since the earliest days of iPhone OS in the late 2000s. Despite some attempts to catch up with Android’s excellent but imperfect system, Apple took a step back with the latest iOS changes.

Notifications are no longer front and center on your lock screen. Instead, they’ve been pushed to the display’s bottom portion to emphasize your wallpaper. As cute as that might sound, it impacts productivity on the iPhone. Changing the default Stack view in Settings to List view brings it back to an iOS 15-like experience, which still isn’t very good.

Android’s method for bundling apps makes more sense, improving everything from email management to text messages to social media posts. You can also quickly reply to most notifications, making it faster and easier to fire off responses without opening apps. Plus, most notification management is handled through an app rather than system settings.

On iOS, you’ll dig through Apple’s preferences menu to find the service you’re looking for. Only then can you customize your notifications. It’s not all bad. Scheduled Summary remains great, but notifications could use more interaction to make them useful.

Some Google apps aren’t as intuitive on iOS

This rule isn’t universal, but for a large portion of Google’s productivity suite, you might find your tools lacking on iOS. The apps don’t always feel intuitive, and jumping through hoops to link your services can feel exhausting.

Open a Maps link in Gmail, for example. There’s a chance you’ll click through additional menus to view directions to an address rather than using a default app to load into navigation automatically.

It’s worse with some of Google’s iOS tools. Gboard is the most glaring example. While it’s our favorite third-party keyboard on iOS, that doesn’t make it good. Apple might allow you to swap out some applications on its phones (such as keyboards, maps, and browsers), but they must fit into rigid requirements. Chrome, for example, uses the same rendering engine as Safari. You might have access to your desktop bookmarks but won’t enjoy the same experience as on Android or desktop platforms.

For years, Google kept its design language similar to that of Android. However, that has slowly changed over the last few years. The company also occasionally rolls out new features to iOS before they reach Android, which might frustrate dedicated fans of Google’s in-house mobile platform.

Meanwhile, some of the company’s most famous apps, including its entire suite of productivity tools, are missing key features. For example, triple tapping to highlight a paragraph is missing from Docs.

It’s limiting, and the same is true of Google Drive. On Android, you can view documents in the Drive app. On iOS, it reroutes you to the Google Docs app. It’s frustrating. Google apps are popular on the platform despite these shortfalls. While these issues should be resolved over time, you’re better off using the company’s apps on Android.

Layout customization is limited on iOS

iOS customization has come a long way since the platform’s earliest days. It took several years for wallpapers to arrive on the home screen, leaving users stuck with a basic black backdrop. These days, widgets make the iPhone feel more dynamic, and icon customization is possible if you’re patient enough to wade through Apple’s headache-inducing tools. That’s to say nothing of the company’s lock screen overhaul in iOS 16, which — notifications notwithstanding — has left plenty of AP’s staff feeling more than a little jealous.

Still, there are plenty of restrictions when changing your iOS experience, starting with your layout. Apple pushes every app or widget to the first available slot on the screen, snapping your content up and to the left. This can lead to a cluttered interface, partially cleaned up by the addition of the App Library in iOS 14. For a company that seems intent on bringing notifications as close to your thumb as possible, you’d think app icons would follow suit. Alas, no luck.

iOS limits widgets in the same way, which is frustrating. The only way to maximize the use of widgets is to fill your screen with them. This can lead to layouts that are overwhelming to look at.

And then there are the app icons. iOS introduced a way to change the icon images, but it’s more of a workaround than a feature. You can use the Shortcuts app and a custom icon to create a shortcut to an app. But clicking it opens Shortcuts and then the app. It’s an extra step when they could support third-party app icons.

Changing app icons on Android is still a process, especially outside third-party launchers. Still, it feels less like a workaround. Tinkering with settings to customize the icon’s appearance is usually less painful. It’s probably about the same amount of work as the Shortcuts solution on iOS, but it gives you more control over the look and feel of your phone.

You’re locked into the App Store (for now)

Apple built the success of iOS on the back of the App Store. Launched with iPhone OS 2, the App Store has become one of the biggest ways for the company to earn cash, by serving as a host for developers big and small. The company has seen no shortage of controversy over its monopoly on iOS, even leading to a lawsuit from Epic that it (mostly) won. That’s not to say Apple isn’t seeing any consequences of its hold over the software on the iPhone. Still, anyone with a Samsung or Google phone is better off when it comes to app choices.

On Android, the Play Store serves a similar role to the App Store. As you’d expect, it’s faced criticism of its own — along with a similar departure from Epic and Fortnite. Android is an open platform with fewer restrictions than what Apple puts on its users. If you don’t like the Play Store, you don’t have to use it. Sideloading is easy to learn, allowing any APK file to be installed on your device. If that sounds like a security threat, third-party app stores like F-Droid, Aptoide, and Amazon’s Appstore are excellent replacements with trustworthy reputations.

This is changing slowly but surely. After the EU demanded that Apple open its store to competition, the iPhone company agreed. Third-party stores have arrived for iPhone users in Europe. Other iPhone users won’t want to be left out, so there will be pressure on Apple to bring the same openness to iOS in America and elsewhere (or laws might again force them to). Although third-party app stores are allowed, there aren’t any yet.

A broader choice of accessories

If you’re buying into iOS, you’re buying into an entire ecosystem. For many, that’s a fun and exciting proposition, especially if you own a Mac or an iPad. For everyone else, it might be a nightmare. Older Apple devices still require a proprietary Lightning cable, which can be a pain when switching from USB. If you have the latest iPhone model (the iPhone 15 series comes with a USB-C port) it’s easier to charge Apple devices as certain iPads have USB-C, and the Lightning cable is on the way out.

Accessories bump into other limitations. If the Apple Watch’s square design isn’t your cup of tea, too bad. While some of our favorite wearables work on iOS, the Google Pixel Watch 2 and Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 do not.

There is a trade-off. The iPhone has as robust a selection of cases and other third-party gadgets as you can find on the market. But you’ll need to be okay dealing with some limitations, especially regarding accessories that work across multiple platforms.

Reliance on iCloud can be a headache

Apple loves to route users through iCloud for everything. On iOS, it’s a default for anything from saving files to backing up your phone. You can download other cloud storage options like Dropbox or Google Drive, but they have limited functionality in comparison, and Apple will keep trying to pull you back to iCloud for its core functions.

That’s not just annoying for new users. It also means that your free iCloud storage can fill up quickly, so you must frequently manage it and ditch the content you don’t want there.

In a lesser way, the same is true of Safari. Apple’s excellent security and privacy features are focused on Safari and are often only activated for Safari browsing. You can download Firefox or Chrome, but they won’t get the same benefits, and their performance can be spotty. The Apple ecosystem may be great, but you’re forced to use it.

When Apple ditches something, you have to ditch it to

A common theme here is that you have options with Android. When Android adds new features or capabilities, you can usually use them or find another way. Even big hardware changes aren’t impossible because you can switch to another manufacturer if worse comes to worse.

With Apple, you don’t get more choices. You get Apple’s choice. If Apple decides to get rid of something, you’ll lose it, even if you want to keep it.

Some of this crops up when iOS phases out older iPhones because they can’t keep up with features. One of the worst offenders may be FaceID. If you buy a new iPhone, you must use FaceID recognition or ditch biometrics. If you prefer a fingerprint scan, Apple isn’t doing that on the iPhone anymore. When dictatorial decisions remove features you liked, you may start longing for the old days.

Are you ready to make the switch?

Switching to iOS from Android can be a pain, but much of this is subjective. If you are an Android fanatic, read our guide that lists five reasons you should continue to be an Android fan. With the right tinkering, you can make iOS look and feel more like Android. If you want to know more about switching to iOS, we have a guide to make the process less painful.