My Journey to iOS - Part 2

Monday, September 7, 2015 at 6:56 PM UTC

This is day 4 with my new device. So far I really like it. It's fast, stable and easy to use. What I still don't like is the missing customization options for the desktops, i.e. the widgets and the free arrangement of my app icons. I also miss "AlarmDroid", my alarm clock app on Android that I used for years. This app is the best you can get on Android. I like especially the proximity functions: you can just "wave" over the device to snooze the alarm - awesome. If you know an alarm clock that supports this on iOS, please let me know! What I found so far were alarm clock apps that have to stay in the foreground and must be used as a "real" clock residing on a desk or table. Nice but not what I want. All the alarm clocks I found so far stopped working when sent to the background and when the screen was locked. So currently I am using the built-in alarm clock which is quite ok. It plays my mp3 file as ringtone but the snooze button is hard to find with eyes kept shut.

The camera

One thing that annoyed me on my HTC in the past few months: the camera. Once it was praised as the best camera in a smartphone (the so called "Ultrapixel" camera) with less but bigger pixels. This produced really great photos - but only when there was enough light. My hope with the iPhone camera is to produce better photos even in difficult light situations such as in-room with less light. What I like so far is the handling of the camera in general. I also can launch it from the lockscreen without unlocking the device. Yesterday night I bought an app that alone is worth the deal with the phone itself: ProCamera. This app costs about 5 bucks plus 2 bucks for the real HDR stuff. This is the best camera app I've ever seen. Clean, straight, comprehensive and it makes superb photos! If you don't have it, get it - now!

Touch ID

This is by far my favorite feature on this device and it's OS. As far as I remember this was the last real invention Apple made and built into their products. The setup is easy as pie and it works excellent. I setup my two thumbs to unlock the device but you can add more fingerprints if you like. I also like the way to unlock purchases with only putting your finger on the knob instead of typing in passwords. Nice!
I don't know how the other phones work with fingerprint recognition - at least my Lenovo Thinkpad sucks in this contest.

Apps

Of course I installed more apps within the last 2 days. First of all: my navigation app (Sygic). I have an issue reactivating my license I bought years ago so I think I must contact the support to gain the whole functionality. The so called "premium" functions expire in 6 days. I bought the maps of Germany and I want to use them again. Despite this I also found out that luckily the "Here Maps" app is also available on iOS. This s also a great navigation program and maybe it will become my new favorite - who knows. Today I installed the IBM Verse app (the IBM Connections app is already running fluently) and I must admit that this app is even better on iOS that it is on Android. It's just the fact that it is just one application and not separate apps you have to launch independently. It's just a question of "feeling" better. I don't hear music with my phone. I am not one of those who run through the streets with their white earphones, just showing the world "hey, look at me, I am using an iPhone" - go away, you hipsters. I consume music on my PC and in my car (by the way: the Spotify app is 1:1 as the Android one and it's great). So the need for an alternative for the music player wasn't really given but I just wanted to test some other players than the built-in one which I don't really like. I found "Listen". I like it's unconventional user interface. If you are not familiar with it then you can't handle it - I like that because I am a nerd Grinsend 

As I mentioned before I switched to another camera app, ProCamera. Again: buy it NOW, it's the best camera app you can get!
I have some issues though: Dropbox is using camera upload when I am on WiFi. But it doesn't start to sync until I open the app and switch to the photos section. iCloud starts to sync immediately after taking a photo and while I am on WiFi. Maybe this is a bug? I also could not setup sound notification to the built-in Email app. I get visual notifications though but no sound. So far I am happy with it but I ask myself what's wrong here... Last but not least: I have my Swipe keyboard back (except when it comes to enter a password which opens up the built-in keyboard only). I have my dark keyboard back and I have the swipe gestures and the learning features - yeah!

Some words about the display protection

I bought a display protection foil that is not a simple plastic foil but a true glass plate (thicker than any of those foils available). It's true glass and not that flexible than the foils you may know. The application of it has another benefit (in addition to the protection of the glass): it "surrounds" the home button which I felt to be a bit sharp on the edges (the metal ring). After the glass plate was attached the button is now "below" the plate which results in less "sharpness" because you don't touch the ring anymore. I truly recommend you to get one of those "true" glass protectors.

Conclusion of day 4

Except missing my alarm clock AlarmDroid I am quite happy with the device. Even the battery seems to be quite robust despite my heavy usage over the last days. There's no reason for me to charge it every evening. One thing: I have to buy more charger cables for it. I have tons of Micro-USB cables but only one for this device. Today another one arrived which I carry in my car with an also new car adapter.







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