10 reasons to make the switch:From iPhone to Android

For a long time, “iPhone” was synonymous with “smartphone”. Android’s steady rise to power in the smartphone market puts them up there, and most times, exceeds the standard that was set by Apple. As such, there have been more people jumping over to the Android side of things from iOS. We’ve got ten good reasons for you to make the change.

Price

Let the numbers speak for themselves: the iPhone 5S  with 64 gigabytes of internal storage will run you near $850 dollars off-contract from Apple. The current Android flagships keep up to iOS devices are often much cheaper. In this case, the Galaxy S4 from Samsung can be bought for around $600 dollars online. As well, you can grab a 64 gigabyte microSD online for another 50 dollars.

Personalization

With Android, you can rearrange and customize  your smartphone to your heart’s desire. It starts with the backgrounds, heads over to your app icons and widgets, and then finally your home screen and lock screen. You can even decide what kind of keyboard that you want to use on it, for example Swype or TouchPal X. You can install different launchers, you can root your device and install a custom ROM. There’s a ton of things you can do for your Android device.

For the iPhone, it’s a little tricker. You can change the background and some stuff, but in order to realize somewhat of the same control you get on your Android, you need to jailbreak it.

Product Variety

With a variety of options having to deal with your software, Android has a good selection when it comes to the hardware side of things as well. While iPhone users can currently choose through a handful of Apple devices, there are hundreds of smartphone that are running the Android system, from high-end flagships to entry level mobile devices. While many of the older mid-range devices had a hard time keeping with an iPhone, this year there have been a plethora of offerings in that class that have been giving the iPhone for a run for its money.  As well, the higher end models blow the iPhone out of the water.

For example, if you were to throw in the Samsung Galaxy, the HTC One, the Sony Xperia, LG G2, and Huawei Ascend P6. All of the before-mentioned cell phones combine different approaches towards design and software. The HTC One has been getting rave reviews for its superior design, the Galaxy S4 is generally regarded as the best all around solution, and Sony and LG have been upping their game in terms of devices with their latest releases. Finally, the Ascend P6 is making a huge splash into the market, stealing design ideas from Apple and applying them in an Android settings.

Large displays

As an iPhone owner, you can’t freely choose the display size. You’ve got two options: 3.5 to 4 inches. For Android smartphones, you can get quality devices with a screen size  both smaller and larger than the iPhones. And if you’ve experienced using a smartphone with a display larger than 4.5-inches, it’s hard to go back to the iPhone.

NFC

NFC technology hasn’t been fully embraced in all markets, but it’s definitely on the rise with more merchants accepting to use it. We have given tips as to why NFC is a benefit in the past and are hoping to see a better integration of the technology over the next few years. As such, many of the best Android smartphones include a NFC chip, with Apple missing the mark with its iPhone 5S this time around.

Google services

When it comes to organizing your everyday life, Google is your friend. At your finger tips you’ve got access to your contacts, calendar, e-mail., browser, Google Drive, Google Docs, Google+, YouTube, Google Now and more. All of this is integrated closely into the Android operating system and you can truly take advantage of the number of services that Google offers.

Apps

For a long time, the app selection category has gone to Apple time and time again. Their App Store had a huge variety of apps to choose from and was the haven for most mobile developers the first few years. However, the quality and attractiveness of the Google Play Store has exploded over the last few years. Android Apps are priced cheaper, more often, compared to their iOS counterparts.Statistics have even show the Play Store taking on the App Store in many different areas now.

No iTunes

Most people found iTunes incredibly awkward and annoying when They tried it out, with this mindset,  Furthermore, being tied down to using this service in order to sync iOS devices makes it even more frustrating. With Android phones, you’re not tied down by those chains. If you want to transfer music over to your smartphone, simply connect your device via USB and drag your files over to the appropriate folder. The Play Store can also be used to buy music online, find a better music player in their app store, and a ton of options for Internet Radio.

Diversity of ROMS: stock, custom, and manufacturer firmware

Apple has just released iOS7 and has completely redesigned their user interface (UI). While this has been graced as a god send for iOS users since it’s the first big UI change since the emergence of first version of iOS, it’s really non-news for Android users. Being able to change UI, either with a custom ROM or launcher, has been common place for some time now.  As well, they got a ton of options to choose from when it comes to how they want their device to work and look like.

Stock Android is the pure Android with any manufacturer customizations to the OS. You can find this on all Nexus devices and also the Google Editions of the Galaxy S4 and HTC One. Most smartphones, however, come installed with a customized version of the OS that feature extra apps and features unique to the manufacturer. You can do some comparisons between these different types of Android and stock Android.

As well, you can also install alternative firmware if you so choose. From there, you can install one of the more popular ROMS, such as CyanogenMod, on your device. One upside to stock Android and custom ROMs over the manufacturer ones? You most likely will receive an update to a new Android version if it should come out, often it takes the manufacturers some time to get the updates rolling.

Root

One of the basic requirements for installing a custom ROM on your device, is that you have to have it rooted. By rooting, you get administrator rights for your device and can do and install whatever you want. You can install and delete apps at will, screw around with the performance on your device, or, in this case, install a new firmware. However, rooting and playing around without knowing what you’re doing can have some negative consequences, either by soft bricking the device or deleting a necessary file system.

Android is the way to go if you’re looking for as much flexibility as possible when it comes to software and hardware.