From the moment Steve Jobs unveiled and released the iPhone in 2007, I knew there was no going back. The moment I could get one, I did, instantly becoming an Apple die-hard fan. I swapped my HP for a MacBook, and became an early adopter for each new piece of tech that Apple has released in the years since. I even got in line at 3 AM to get an iPhone 4 on launch day. I loved how well designed Apple products were and how intuitive the operating system was, and I particularly appreciated the connectivity between products. My love affair with Apple was an almost two decade season of bliss.
However, over the years and with each new iPhone iteration, I’ve grown less enamored with Apple. Not that they are doing anything necessarily wrong, they just aren’t doing anything as exciting as they used to do. I think it’s more of a commentary on the state of technology right now more so than one on Apple’s quality overall; tech companies are at that semi-boring state where they are refining previous breakthroughs before they make their next big one.
So, I’m embarrassed to say that my devotion waned, and I found myself getting excited about other phones. More specifically, the Galaxy Z Fold3, Samsung’s signature folding phone. Here was a phone that was doing something new, exciting, and revolutionary. A touchscreen phone that could unfold into a tablet? What is this, the future?
I knew that switching from iOS to Android would have a steep learning curve, but I was up to the challenge. I recently started a job at Dell and therefore had to switch from my Mac to a Dell laptop; a process that wasn’t simple but also honestly wasn’t that hard. I felt I could get used to the nuanced differences between the two, and I was ready to try something new. So on a whim one Friday morning, I went to the AT&T store and, despite the comments and weird looks, I traded in my iPhone 11 Pro Max for the Galaxy Z Fold3.
At first, I absolutely loved the phone. Switching from the front screen to the larger inside screen was seamless and gave me that jolt of techno-bliss that I was craving. The phone felt like magic in my hands, the same way the first iPhone did all those years ago. Yes, there were issues and hiccups with learning the Android operating system, but I was intrigued by the countless opportunities for customization that were now available to me. Apple’s iOS is very locked down and doesn’t really allow for users to make adjustments to better suit their personal style, so the transition to Android OS was like taking the training wheels off of my bike (and the front tire so now the bike is a unicycle and it’s also going down hill and I don’t have a helmet on and everything is on fire).
For about two hours, I was really starting to envision a future where I was an Android die-hard fan. Then reality started to sink in.
The first thing I noticed was the battery life. Within seconds of using the phone, the battery dropped from 100% to 90%. In mere seconds. I constantly needed to have a charging cable near by so that the phone could stay plugged in. And it wasn’t just because I was using battery-taxing apps; I was texting. Not good.
Speaking of texting, yes, my texts came across as green to all of my iPhone-using friends and family, but I knew that was going to be the case. What I didn’t know, however, was that I wasn’t going to be able to send videos through text message. My sister was creating a birthday video for her husband and asked me to send in a message. I could send a video that was three, maybe four seconds long, but any longer and the phone wouldn’t allow me to send it. Sure, there are workarounds, but do I really want to send people a link to a video that they have to open through OneDrive?
FaceTime? Nope. Which, I should have known as FaceTime is a specifically-Apple app. However, my wife is a nurse and on the days she works, we rely on FaceTime so that she can see the kids, otherwise she could go three days without seeing or talking to them. Again, there are a few workarounds, but one of them requires all of my iPhone using friends and family members to download a different app, and the other requires the iPhone users to send a link to a scheduled FaceTime–not the seamless experience I was used to.
There were other quality of life features that I only realized I would be missing after my weekend of terror; things like being able to search through all the pictures my wife and I have texted each other, or group FaceTime calls with family, or being able to tap the little download icon next to images sent in a text message, or being able to unlock my phone with my face, or being able to use my BackBone One controller to play video games. Not deal-breakers, but annoyances for sure.
Within 36 hours of purchasing an Android phone, I was back in the AT&T store, trading in my Galaxy Z Fold3 for an iPhone 13 Pro Max. Everyone in the store laughed and me and said “I told you so,” and it was well deserved. I will say that the phone itself is an astonishing leap forward in smartphone technology and hardware. I loved the phone, and can’t wait for Apple to make a similar device. And while there are people who love Android’s operating system, there is a reason why iOS works as well as it does. It is so tightly controlled by Apple so that they can ensure the same level of quality across all of their products for all of their users. It just works.
I’m sorry, Apple, for doubting you. I’ll never stray again. Now, can you please release a folding iPhone?
Mark Pereira is a senior writer for Boss Rush Network. He loves iPhones and Apple products and will never be unfaithful to the iPhone ever again and is truly sorry and hopes Apple will forgive him. You can find him on Twitter where he’s tweeting from his iPhone that he loves.
Featured Image Source: Hiptoro