299 - it's mr iphone to you, sir 📱🤳
goodbye mr robot
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After 12 years of denial, defensiveness and a heavy dose of peer pressure, I've finally done it.
I've bought an iPhone.
WOOF it's a big change, but I wanted to document my first impressions - things I like, things I don't like, and things I miss.
For some context:
- My previous phone was the Google Pixel 7 - so it's in a normal upgrade period for me of 3ish years. Most of the comparisons will be with this phone as opposed to Android in general (as I think different OSes (namely Samsung) have different stuff they include)
- I bought the iPhone 17 Pro because I like the 'plateau', the cameras are better, the battery is better (as compared to the base model), but I didn't want to go Pro Max because I thought the screen would be too big for my puny little hands
- I'm mainly getting it because a) it's useful for the celebrancy job to be able to Airdrop photos, b) a change of scenery and c) content for the newsletter
So here are some thoughts in no particular order!
- Camera: to me, the iPhone has better cameras, but Google has better post-processing software. I think with the Pixel I got used to just snapping a photo and even if I didn't do any editing it would just magically get better or adjust it in my library so that when I came back it looked nicer. But with the iPhone I just take a picture, and it's kind of...done? It looks better, it looks sharper, and it looks nicer without having to wait for any post-processing. Night and evening photos are also brighter I think - but then again, I don't take many of those.
Note: I've tried using the ProRAW settings on the iPhone since that's one of the things that it features for it's cameras, but I don't know if I'm able to use it to its full potential yet (especially in the editing part of it). Perhaps I can just add that to the queue of hobbies to get into? :D
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Size: It's not about the size, it's how you use it. The iPhone is a teensy bit smaller than my Google Pixel 7, but imperceptibly. When I picked it up, it felt 'chunkier' than my Pixel, which I like a bit less, but I'll probably get used to.
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Performance: it could be new-phone syndrome, but the apps are quicker and snappier. The battery is definitely new-phone vibes as well, lasting 'til the end of the day at like 30-40% or so with relatively medium usage. But more surprisingly for me was like...my BeReal photo is quicker. My Instagram is smoother. My Facebook animations are nicer. I don't know if iOS devs are just better or the software they're writing in is nicer but the performance is noticeably better on iOS. The gestures (swiping forward and back) are a bit harder to access, but I think that's a user error rather than a phone thing.
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FaceID / biometrics: I just prefer biometrics to FaceID. It's convenient, don't get me wrong, but I don't always want to have to pull the phone to look at my face to actually unlock things. I'll sometimes just have my phone next to me while I'm writing and I don't like...craning over so it can see my face. It's kind of incentivising you to engage with your phone, as silly as that sounds, because you have to actually turn it to focus on you AND look at it with your eyes because it tracks them - with fingerprint biometrics, I could just quickly check in on a notification while it's next to me and then leave it alone.
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iMessage: TEXT EFFECTS ARE SO COOL. Bitmoji's are fun, memeojis are fun, and yay for blue bubble. STICKERS OF GANDALF. Just so much joy in the app. However, for people I've been texting, most of them will use WhatsApp, or Messenger, or other cross-party platforms rather than just iMessage. I'm not used to working out of my Messages app that much either, since I think most people have moved to use other apps? Perhaps I'm just late to the party.
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Physical buttons: I count 5 buttons on the Pro - power, volume up, volume down, Camera Control and Action button. It's relatively intuitive, and I kind of like that there are so many of them. The Action button is a programmable button (awesome!) and the camera control solves my previous Pixel problem; you usually double-tap to open the camera on Pixel, but sometimes I didn't do it quick enough so it would just turn on my screen rather than open the camera. This one, the camera control is specifically for camera, so no ambiguity on the button press! However, the actual control (using it for zoom etc.) is not as nice and I think the physical pressing might actually bump the phone a bit more than I'd like.
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Shorcuts: this is a GREAT feature / app; on Android I had downloaded this app called 'Tasker' which essentially does this but could never work it out because it was too intense. To have native automations app is pretty goddamn cool - I've already set one up that toggles White Point and Colour Filters to make my phone essentially grayscale - help me focus when I need to. It helps scratch the engineer itch in me that wants to automate everything that I can...and with the possibilities Shortcuts unlocks, coupled with the Action button, you'd think that this was an Android phone LOL I think I might go get some NFC stickers and start doing some fun shit.
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Appearance, icons and widgets: I'm torn on this one a bit. Android has so many different apps that can supplement the experience - it has infinite customisability on icons, widgets, wallpapers etc. (even moving ones and parallax) - which iOS is lacking (unless you get root / jailbreak). However, the native home/lock screen which can change on command is suuuper interesting. You can essentially switch 'modes' for your lockscreen - going from one that has...I dunno, weather updates, to one that has all your reminders on it. The vibe can change with a simpler switch. I really like that.
The widget system doesn't seem as good as the Pixel - it doesn't snap to the grid the same way, and it's not as customisable in terms of size or style. The clock below, for example, can't fit in that little space where it would slot in nicely just below. They do have 'stacks' which I thought would be a cool inclusion for widgets, but after experimenting with them I think they suck. You want widgets to see things at a glance; I don't wanna scroll to find more stuff underneath!
Also, I thought Spotify had forgotten a player controller as one of the widgets, but no - that's because Apple natively just has that as the front screen and in the Control Center - nice. Icons can be moved to any part of the screen (great!) but in some circumstances they still order themselves at the top of the screen? I couldn't work out why and that was a bit annoying.
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Notifications and Control Centers: I don't like the notifications system as much. Okay, cool that you can schedule them and they group up together, but the Android experience for notifications is much simpler to me - it's all in one place. There isn't this weird difference where if you swipe down from the top right edge you get the control center, but from the top middle->left edge, you get the notification center. I just want to be able to easily see what notifications I have at once in a screen that I can pull down somewhere. Also, it's not intuitive to see the detail of the notification by long pressing on it - Android has a little arrow on the side which indicates you can swipe or click for more detail; much easier to understand!
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Navigation: On that note, I truly do miss the Google 'universal back button' - on iOS it seems pretty random as to which apps have a 'swipe to go back' functionality. I just try it on different apps to see if it works but that's not great because it's hard to learn the different navigation behaviours of different apps. Also, I had this app called QuickCursor which made it easier to navigate the top part of the screen for my small li'l stubby hands which there's no iOS equivalent for. Sure, you can pull the screen down in 'one-handed mode', but that's not what I want (also Pixel had it too anyway).
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Search and App Library: Google always had a search bar on your home screen which would natively assume that you're doing a web search, but ALSO show you your app recommendations. If you do press enter, the Pixel sends it out as if it's a search query. I liked that! That's how I use my search; if the app I wanted came up then I'd click that instead (before pressing enter).
On iOS, the front page search is different: when I press enter, I then have to press 'search Google for this query' which is just a little bit of friction I don't like. It also remembers my previous search, which I wish it could just refresh to new.
Also it might just be me but the App Library looks so disorganised. I know it's sorted by type, but it just looks like a mess LOL Android orders it alphabetically which I find easier, but maybe its just something that I gotta get used to...
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Wallet: absolutely DESTROYS Google Wallet - sorry I'm like halfway to the actual machine and it already goes beep? Genuinely a killer app and inclusion by Apple. It's SO quick it's almost ludicrous - from a functionality standpoint it's actually better than the PHYSICAL CARD. I think I'm gonna try and go walletless as much as possible.
I haven't tried a few features, like AirDrop or MagSafe, and I have ordered Airpod Pros because I want to try them out. Perhaps AirTags as well? Anyway - more to experiment with so I'll update you when they get tested :D
Final verdict - was it worth it to shift over? Honestly don't know yet. Loving some features in iOS, missing some of the ones on Android. I'll let you know in another 6 months.
Chat soon :)
(P.S. If you've got any feedback for the newsletter, just hit the reply button!)
📋 Today's Question
Request: If you've got an iPhone, what kind of tips and tricks, apps or shortcuts can you recommend? How do you use it and how have you set it up?
Keep in mind I don't have a MacBook and I'm not planning to get one :P but I do have an iPad!
For example - here's a link to the Dopamine shortcut that toggles White Point and colour filters to make your phone just that little bit more boring.
✔️ Real Life Recommendations
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Magnolia - 3.5 stars - this 1999 film by Paul Thomas Anderson is an absolute TRIP. Tom Cruise as a seduction / Andrew Tate-like figure, Philip Seymour Hoffman as a really gentle nurse-like figure. Julianne Moore in a crazy dramatic role. JOHN C REILLY AS A GOOD DRAMATIC ACTOR it's crazy the number of people in this that have gone on to do wonderful things. The story itself is purportedly about coincidence and all the ways that people's lives overlap - I don't think it really hit the mark for me in that way, but it's a good watch. Three hours though, so maybe watch it over two nights if you can.
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Seoul Garden - I was lucky enough to attend the grand opening of this place in Chadstone (invited by my friend Laura). It's an All You Can Eat buffet for KBBQ and Hotpot - and at $50 per head it's pretty good! The selection is very wide ranging and the cuts of meat they give you for the KBBQ is delishhh. The marbling on the meat is insanely nice, and the other cooked side dishes rival some of the top buffet places I've been in Melb. Highly recommended!
🚌 Adventures on the Information Super-Highway
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Why Grandmas Stopped Buying this 70-Year-Old Beloved Boxed Mix - okay so this one is pretty interesting; apparently it was a thing in our grandma's generation to have recipes that required 'one box of Betty Crocker cake mix' and then add all the other stuff. But because of shrinkflation, the boxes don't have the right amount of ingredients anymore, so they can't make 'grandma's classic cookie' recipe! Another thing lost to capitalism I guess...
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How People use ChatGPT - if nothing else, it's interesting for the graphs on page 16 which show most people are using it for Practical Guidance, Information, and Writing. Most of the queries are non-work related, and the main growth in queries have been in generating multimedia (most likely due to the inclusion of better models and multi-modal generation). There's a section on 'Who uses ChatGPT' but it's relatively obvious.
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You can't screenshot this - pretty cool, eh?