Here’s why it’s so hard to switch from Apple to Android

The global smartphone market is bursting with potential and consumers are much more aware of what they want to purchase, unlike before. While there are a slew of tech gadgets available today, it has always been ‘Apple’ that has been known to be better than the best. It is often said ‘Once an Apple loyalist, always an Apple loyalist’, which means it might be hard for you to switch to an Android. Let’s read further to find out why:

Being a part of Apple’s ecosystem has its benefits. For one, you can enjoy the beauty of iMessage, it syncs seamlessly across all of your Apple devices. The moment you decide to make a switch to Android, it’s goodbye iMessage. When you take the plunge, remember you need to get rid of iMessage by turning it off on all your Apple devices and then deregister your

phone number from iMessage on this specific website:

selfsolve.apple.com/deregister-imessage.

Once you successfully turn off iMessage, your text may all get messed up. Someone may send you an iMessage and you won’t receive it. And if you are in an iMessage group, you need to make a new one for SMS. Why is it so hard to make the switch?

iMessage is one of the many ways Apple keeps users in their ecosystem. Take iCloud for example, it is Apple’s built-in cloud storage space that automatically keeps all of your notes, calendar events, Safari bookmarks and photos. You can seamlessly access all this information on any of your Apple devices, but not on your new Android.

There’s no iCloud app for Android, meaning there’s no easy way for you to transfer all your iCloud data to your Android. Of course, if you’ve been using Google as your main ecosystem, then you may have an easier time going back and forth between your iPhone and Android, but then what about your photos that are stored on your iPhone that are backed up on iCloud? How do you transfer those?

You can ask your phone carrier to help you out, but if that doesn’t work out, turn to several apps that can help transfer your photos from your iPhone to Android. And speaking of apps, you may have trouble transferring those too. For the most part, you have to re-download them individually and you might need to repurchase iOS apps on The Play Store. But if you use a FB login or registration, you might be able to get around that!

The Play Store does have more apps than the Apps store, but some iOS apps you use might not be available on the Play store, like Bear or Rent the Runway.

While we can’t discount that Google has made transferring this data process easier with the Quick Switch Adapter for the Pixel, but even if transferring photos and apps are made easier, it’s hard to say goodbye to AirDrop. You will no longer be able to conveniently send files from your iPhone to your MacBook to your iPad or to another person’s Apple device. The only advantage - you will stop getting weird AirDrop messages when you’re at a public place.

Switching to Android also means losing all of Apple’s pre-installed apps. There may be a good chunk you don’t use, but think about FaceTime? You have to use another app to video call people like Facebook Messenger or Google Duo, which also means getting whoever you want to call to use those apps as well.

You’ll also be losing Apple News, Voice Memo, Podcasts, Health, Wallet and Apple Maps (that no one uses, by the way).

You aren’t just saying goodbye to Apple software, it’s also giving up on your other Apple products and accessories. If you have an Apple Watch, it will basically become useless.

If you have AirPods, you can still use them on Android, but it won't be as seamless or customisable. Besides, all your chargers, adapters and dongles that you bought will begin to collect dust.

And as Android phones keep coming up with more innovations that iPhones lack like better cameras with wide angle lenses, it doesn’t really make sense for Apple users to help their users jump ship.

iPhone users are in a walled garden, but have some sympathy - it’s way easier to enter Apple’s ecosystem than it is to leave it!