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arnduros t1_iu7z9i8 wrote

After 11+ years of Android, the iPhone 13 Pro Max was my first iOS device too.

First things first:

  • If you like Android‘s back gesture (it works on both sides), get ready to be disappointed. iOS has a different concept: You „push“ something back the way it came from. So if a new screen comes in from the right, you „grab“ the left side of the screen and push it back to the right. Sometimes „cards“ (noticeable by not going all the way to the top; the previous screen is visible on the top under the new card) turn up from the bottom, you push them from the top back to the bottom. All of this makes sense! The behavior is actually a lot more predictable than Android’s back gesture. But it’s more work for your fingers 😅

That out of the way, some things you might want to consider:

  • iCloud works great, but iCloud Photos can be a bit confusing. Yes, it backs up your photos just like Google Photos, but it mirrors your phone. So if you delete a photo on your phone after it’s been backed up to iCloud Photos, it will also be deleted on iCloud. I also still use Google Photos for that reason.
  • Get a VPN! And I don’t mean for changing your geolocation. I use AdGuard Pro, it’s a VPN that essentially is always running and blocks out advertising in many apps, especially Safari. Works really well and is well worth the money. You can still whitelist certain sites and all that. Speaking of Safari:
  • Use Safari. I know, coming from an Android device you’re probably tempted to use Chrome or Firefox, bit give Safari a try for a few days. It’s naturally better integrated into the system, supports extensions (like AdGuard Pro) and works beautifully with:
  • Apple Keychain. All your website and app login credentials get saved into Apple‘s Keychain, meaning you can log in with FaceID. It’s a very convenient, built-in password manager basically. If you use a PC, you can download iCloud and via an extension, you can even use Keychain in browsers like Chrome or Edge on your PC.
  • You can add your Google account to iOS and it will sync stuff like contacts. You don’t have to move them to iCloud (I did, however - it’s easiest to do it in the iCloud web interface on PC).
  • It still annoys me that there is no camera roll in the Photos app. More or less anything gets saved into one folder, no matter if it’s photos or videos taken with your phone, downloaded media, media from apps etc. Some apps give you the option to create their own folders/albums. If you want a folder with just camera media, you have to create an album and move it there, while it still has to stay in the main album. It’s not a real copy, it’s basically just links to the media in the main folder. All of that is annoying, cumbersome and one of my main gripes with iOS.
  • If you somehow think you can access iPhone‘s settings via Control Center (which is essentially Android‘s quick settings), forget it. You can only access settings by opening it via the app icon on your home screen or in your app library. Which you will do a lot, especially in the beginning and since app settings are usually not in the apps themselves, but in the settings app.

These are a few good starting points. You’ll figure the rest out as you go along, sometimes a quick Google search will help, but all in all the switch isn’t hard. Just be open to do some things in a new way. Sometimes the Apple way is mind-blowingly cumbersome (don’t get me started on custom ringtones), oftentimes it’s actually more logical than on Android.

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bluejaygotham OP t1_iu9y0ed wrote

Thank you for the write up, I really appreciate it! The back button is looking like a common theme around here, and luckily I already use a VPN.

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CeruleanCynic t1_iu9224u wrote

I'm really going to struggle with safari because all my passwords are save in google chrome. Do you know if I can sync chrome passwords with apple keychain? I think that would be the only way to make that switch.

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