iOS and Android are two distinct mobile operating systems. Those who like to play with new operating systems and customize their phone rather than let the phone manufacturer call all the shots may prefer Android. Those who prefer a more stable, simpler and user-friendly mobile OS may prefer iOS.
If you were an Android user and is now switching to iOS instead, this is the post for you. Here are 10 questions that you might think of asking and the quick answers to those concerns. If you are new to the world of smartphones and you want to try iOS first, you might also be able to learn a new thing or two here.
1. Syncing Mail, Contacts, Calendars
Android is hassle free with it came with syncing mail, contacts and calendars as it was managed with a Google account. It is similar to the iPhone as all you have to do is log in to your Google Account twice through a few settings. Read all about how to do it
here.
2. Transferring Existing Photos To IPhone
Transferring any sort of media to your Android device was as easy as transferring something to a portable flash drive, however with the iPhone it is slightly more challenging as you have to
download and install iTunes to
sync music and pictures.
The first step of transferring your Android pictures, videos and music files to your iPhone would be to
transfer them to your desktop PC via USB cable or wireless with an app like
AirDroid.
Once it’s there, you’ll have to launch iTunes to transfer all of it to your iPhone.
Using the new
iTunes 11 is not that hard; syncing music is merely a
drag-and-drop action of songs from your iTunes library on your computer to your device.
As for pictures, you’ll have to click on your device on iTunes and select the Photos tab. Check ‘Sync Photos from’ and select the folder with all the pictures you want synced to your device. You can choose to select the entire folder of pictures with subfolders or just select a few subfolders.
3. Sharing Photos/Files With Android Users
The iPhone is not friendly with other mobile platforms, so sharing email attachments, photos or music files can be a pain. The best way to do it is to use
Bump.
Bump allows you to share contacts, email attachments, photos, videos and even music files. It also works cross-platform which means you can
share files with Android users if they have the
Android version of Bump.
4. Backup & Restore IPhone Data
The good thing about the iPhone is that with iTunes, you can securely backup your iPhone data to your computer and to iCloud. We suggest you backup with both methods and with our complete guide, you can do it properly without hassle.
5. Syncing Browser Bookmarks
On any iDevice, our number one choice for web browsing would be
Google Chrome as it has much more features than the pre-installed Safari.
Good news is, if you use Google Chrome on your desktop and previous Android device, all your bookmarks and history will be synced to Google Chrome on your iPhone as well. It will automatically sync once you’ve signed in with your Gmail account.
6. IPhone Security – Finding Missing IDevice
When you first set up your iDevice, there is the option to enable the
Find My iPhone app by Apple. The app lets you
locate your iDevice including your MacBook on a map,
remotely lock your device,
erase all data on it, or
display a personalized message on the device.
Aside from this app, there are other apps you can download on your device that can help you find your missing iDevice.
7. Customize Ringtones
Using custom ringtones on the iPhone is not easy as you have to go through iTunes (again) and there is a
unique ringtone file format that you have to use. Moreover, you
cannot use custom notification sounds for individual apps unlike in Android. To customize your iPhone’s ringtone or SMS tone, check our previous
article for complete instructions.
8. Battery Life – What You Need To Know
If you’re coming from Android, chances are you could’ve used your device throughout your day with messaging, social networking, web surfing and occasional calls. However, you should know that the iPhone does not have the greatest battery life.
However, there are a few common
ways to conserve battery power like
disabling auto brightnessand using a lower brightness setting,
using less 3G and more Wi-Fi as 3G/LTE drains the battery really quickly and of course turning off Locations, Bluetooth and 3G/Wi-Fi when not in active use.
Settings for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and Brightness can be found on the first page of Settings. As for 3G settings, it’s under Settings > General > Cellular.
9. Cables & Connectivity
If you previously own an Android device, getting the charging cable is as easy as going to any electronic store. The MicroUSB cable is used for digital cameras, cellphones and MP3 players, as by the top 14 mobile phone manufacturers in the world. But not Apple. You can only get the charging cable from Apple stores.
So, you’ll probably have to bring your Lightning cable around or buy an Apple
Lightning cable converter to charge your iPhone 5 or iPad Mini (with help from older charging cables) or connect to previously owned 30-pin accessories.
There are also very few speaker docks from other manufacturers that support the Lightning cable since the old 30-pin connector supported every iDevice like the iPods, iPad and iPhone.
10. Troubleshooting & More
In this final section, we’ll cover basic but essential things to help you fully utilize and enjoy your iPhone.
How To Enable Lockscreen Security
Unlike Android’s many ways to unlock your phone, iOS has only 2 ways to secure your device. You might see more people using 4-digit passcodes because it’s easier to key in. But for added security, you can use a combination of letters, numbers, symbols and special characters as your lockscreen password.
Here’s how to enable it.
To enable lockscreen security, go to Settings and tap on General, then tap on Passcode Lock.
Now, determine if you want a 4-digit or a complicated combination of characters as your passcode. If you want a 4-digit passcode, then turn on Simple Passcode; if not, turn it off and tap on Turn Passcode On.
Set your passcode with the on-screen number pad or keyboard. Once you’ve keyed it in twice, your iPhone is secured with the Passcode.
You can then tweak the settings in ‘Require Passcode‘ whether you want the passcode to be entered every time the screen is unlocked or only after it has been locked for a preset amount of time, e.g. if you set it at 1 min, if you lock and unlock your phone under a minute, the phone will not ask for a passcode.
You can also choose to enable Erase Data which clears all the data from your device if there are more than 10 failed passcode tries (we advise against this if you have a child at home who has access to your phone).
How To Restart An Unresponsive IDevice
If you happen to download a poorly made app, which caused your iOS device to become unresponsive, you can do a force restart to make it work again. To do this, all you have to do is hold down the home and power button at the same time. Hold it until the Apple logo appears on screen then let go. Your device will start up.
How To Take Screenshots
Taking a screenshot on iDevices is easy. All you have to do is hold the power button on the top and quickly press the home button in the middle. Your screen will flash white confirming that you’ve taken the screenshot, which is saved into your Photos app.
Sharing Via Email
You can also send photos and videos in your phone via email but take note that the iPhone willlower the quality of your files so that the attachment is not too big. This is useful at times, for a speedier attachment, but if you want the photos of the best quality and resolution then take these steps.
Tap on Edit and select either one or more picture files. Now tap on Share and select Copy.
Then go to the Mail app. When you compose a new mail, select Paste on the body of the email. This way all the high resolution photos and videos will be attached. You can then add your usual text and send it away.
