Making the switch to Android from iOS

Posted by cocheseuga on August 2, 2012 09:07 am 10

I've been on some iteration of the iPhone ever since the 3G came out. I got a hand-me-down iPhone, then sold it and got a 3G, then bought the 4 on release. I was never truly interested in anything else until the Galaxy S2 came out. I found the hardware and the software to be very interesting, but couldn't do anything because the combination of contract and I still thoroughly enjoyed my iPhone 4.

Today, I'm bored. I've extended my time with my 4 by jailbreaking, doing various themes, and switching cases every now and again. But the app locker of an OS and the form factor has left me wanting. The new iPhone, while intriguing, I don't think it's what I want. I want wider, not just longer. I will say that the size of the iPhone lended itself perfect for fitting into the side pocket of carpenter's jeans. I'm not sure how uncomfortable it will be to carry my phone in an upper pocket.

After a year of using my HP Touchpad with stock webOS, I decided a few weeks ago to install CM9. What a revelation. I love it. I installed it as a trial run of owning an Android handset, and I think I'm ready to make the full jump. After quite a long time of trying to decide which phone I wanted to go with, I think I decided on a Galaxy S3. In fact, a Zagg coupon came last night in my email and I ordered a full kit for it.

Now, before I order the handset I need to make sure this is what I really want to do. I never got fully immersed into the iOS ecosystem, but I was in there for four years. There are three iPhones in my house right now: my 4, my wife's 3GS and a spare 3G that I let my kids use for games. I won't be getting rid of those. All my movies and vids are formatted for it via Handbrake. I used iTunes Match for all of my music and got it back in higher quality, but it's mixed between MP3 and M4A. There should be no DRM though.

I suppose it would be helpful to say what I use my phone for. Phone calls are rare, but they do happen. I mainly play games and use apps, or web surf. I use my phone on runs and use GPS to track. I have a dock connector in my car that I usually have an older iPod hooked up to play playlists, but twice a month I have to make the trek into work and I like to stream Digitally Imported. I obviously wouldn't be able to do that unless I switched the dock connector for an aux input, or used one of the other iPhones and tethered it. Leaning toward the latter, because I like to control the playlists from the steering wheel otherwise. I rarely watch movies or TV shows on my phone unless it's at work on lunch break, so any conversion isn't a big deal. Would rather watch on the Touchpad anyway. I take pictures of woodworking projects I'm building. I post blogs, check mail, message and keep in touch on social networks. I guess the things I do most are play games, social networks, browse the web and take pictures.

I've already test driven some apps on the Touchpad that I simply can't live without, so I'm good that way. I currently have 240 apps, 140 of those on my iPhone, and probably only about 50 or so that get used regularly. I went through and priced all my apps on the Play Store and most of the non-games are free. Some cost, and some are unavailable. I can live without the ones that aren't, as most of those are games.

Is my body ready? Am I in for anything unexpected? Should I wait a couple of weeks and be within the window for return when the new iPhone is announced?