Moving from iOS to Android
Hey there! If you’re looking to move away from big tech companies and their products, you’re not alone. I recently made the switch from Apple to CalyxOS, and it hasn’t been easy, but it’s been worth it for the sake of privacy, or hasn’t it?
Photo by Sebastian Bednarek on Unsplash
This blog post was improved with the use of ChatGPT, a large language model developed by OpenAI.
Introduction
One of the biggest challenges I faced was disconnecting from all the Apple devices I had. I had an iPhone, Apple Watch, a speaker, a TV-box, CarPlay radio and a laptop — all from Apple. I managed to replace my phone with a Pixel, but I was left with a Watch I could no longer connect to a phone, a speaker and TV-box I couldn’t connect to from my phone and could only use my radio via Bluetooth.
Operating System
I decided to use CalyxOS as it looked very clean in comparison to some other operating systems I found. However, when I tried to install it, I realized the installer wasn’t available for M1-Macbooks, so I had to use another laptop to download and install the files. The installation process was easy once I had the files, just plugging the phone into my ThinkPad and clicking enter a few times. After unlocking and locking the bootloader, the operating system was installed and ready to be configured.
Getting used to the keyboard
One of the most difficult parts of the transition was getting used to the keyboard. I had been using iPhone’s for more than half a decade, and it was frustrating to get used to the keyboard. The emoji button, to show the emoji picker, wouldn’t show up in some applications and I had to contact the support team to find out that I needed to long-press the enter key to get the emoji keyboard. Additionally, the feature to move the cursor around the screen, which I found very handy, isn’t available with the keyboard that comes pre-installed. This took some time to get used to.
Installing apps
Installing apps was effortless, as there are two stores already installed on the CalyxOS: The F-Droid and the Aurora store. The F-Droid store has free and open-source software, while the Aurora store has apps from the Play Store. I had no problems with apps and found many that I liked a lot, such as Tusky for Mastodon, Pixeldroid for Pixelfed, AntennaPod for podcasts, Organic maps for maps, Signal’s ‘Note to Self’ feature as a replacement for airdrop, and Nextcloud Cookbook for recipes. However, I lost access to FindMy, iMessage, Apple Fitness and probably many more.
Conclusion
In conclusion, moving from iOS to CalyxOS was worth the hassle for me, and I would recommend it to others who are interested in trying it out. The transition process may have some difficulties, but with a bit of preparation, it is manageable. Keep in mind that you may lose access to some apps and features that you are used to.