The Samsung Galaxy S23 has hit the masses and it’s one of the best Android phones you can get right now, especially the S23 Ultra. However, for those who don’t need all the fancy bells and whistles like the S Pen and 200MP main camera, the regular S23 is powerful enough even for the average person, especially if you prefer smaller devices.
I’ve been using the Galaxy S23 for a few weeks and so far my experience has been wonderful. I know it’s early in the year but for me the small size of the S23 is perfect and comfortable. Android also does a lot of things better than iOS, such as individual volume controls and notifications. But I still mainly use my iPhone 14 Pro – although Apple has some big bugs, like overprocessing pictures after you’ve taken them.
Here are some reasons I still use my iPhone 14 Pro, even though I really like the Galaxy S23.
Joe Maring/Digital Trends
When I joined Digital Trends last year, I had to step out of my comfort zone and learn Android after using an iPhone exclusively for over a decade. One of my favorite things about iOS is the ability to return to the top of the screen in any app, which is incredibly handy after getting lost in endlessly scrolling social media.
I was actually shocked to discover there is no such feature on Android when trying to tap the top of the status bar to return to the top of my Instagram or Facebook feed after scrolling for a few minutes. I ended up having to scroll all the way to the top, which is quite a hassle.
I know it’s pretty silly, but tapping the top of the screen to return to the beginning of the app you’re in is such a time saver. It also feels so natural and intuitive on iOS that I’m genuinely surprised it doesn’t exist on Android. Maybe it’s something Google can consider adding in Android 14.
Software Elasticity Joe Maring/Digital Trends
I’ve been using an iPhone since I got the original as a gift back in 2008, so I’ve looked through every single version of iOS out there. And one of the things I absolutely love about iOS is the elasticity of the operating system itself.
What do I mean? Basically the smooth scrolling and the “bounce” effect you see with the scroll bar on the side when you reach the end of something. Even the dynamic island on the iPhone 14 Pro has subtle but quirky little animations when activated because you’re swiping from an app like Music, especially if your flick leans more in a certain direction.
But if you’re using Android, the scrolling suddenly stops once you reach the end – there’s no fun “jump”. Coming from iOS, it’s actually pretty jarring. After years of using iOS, it’s the little things like elasticity that make it a whole lot more enjoyable to use.
Seamless integration with other Apple devices Digital trends
My first iPhone was also my first Apple product, but I’ve since transitioned to Macs and get an iPad and Apple Watch every few years. Essentially, I’ve spent my entire tech life on an Apple device for the last ten years. I’ve also been in the tech journalism industry for just as long, and iPhone’s seamless integration with iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch has made my personal and work life so much easier.
For work, I need to take a lot of screenshots or photos for my items. Once I’ve made any necessary changes, the ability to AirDrop my images to my iMac means I can quickly rename and drag them into WordPress. For my Android phones, I need to do some extra steps like: For example, I could go into Google Photos, find the images I need, and then download them—still easy, but not as seamless as just sending what I need.
I also love being able to use the universal clipboard to copy and paste text, images, photos and even videos from one Apple device to another using Handoff, which I just can’t do with an Android phone.
These are just some of the biggest examples of how my iPhone has seamlessly integrated with all of my other Apple devices, to the point where it’s just an essential part of my workflow. Again, I know it’s possible to get the things I need from my Android phone to my Mac, but it’s just not that seamless. Plus there are other perks like iCloud and iMessage that tie everything together.
Easy communication with iMessage Joe Maring/Digital Trends
Speaking of iMessage, it’s pretty much my main way of communicating with all of my friends and family, who also mostly use iPhones. I not only have access to iMessage on my iPhone 14 Pro, but also on my iPad and Mac with all my messages synced. I also like that iMessage lets me send SMS from my computer thanks to SMS forwarding on my iPhone.
But the main reason I love using my iPhone for iMessage is the fact that I can send full resolution video clips to other iMessage users. I used to never be a video person, but that changed when I had my daughter. Now I make at least one video of their cute antics every day and I love to share that with my family. And with iMessage I can send the full resolution video to others without doing anything fancy or special.
However, I don’t like that every time a video is sent to me by someone with an Android phone (or vice versa), it ends up super-compressed and pixelated. That’s because it’s sent as MMS and all major carriers in the US impose an arbitrary limit on the video file size sent over MMS. Of course, this could be solved if Apple implemented Rich Communication Services (RCS), but that’s another story entirely.
Since most of my family and friends also use an iPhone, iMessage is the easiest way for me to communicate with them. I’d still like to see a way to bypass the pixelated video clips with non-iPhone users at some point, but until then I’ll stick with iMessage.
The iPhone Has Better Apps Christine Romero-Chan / Digital Trends
If using iOS has taught me anything over the past decade, it’s that you’ll generally find better apps than you can find on Android. Many of the app developers I’ve followed over the years also develop exclusively for Apple’s platforms, including Mac. There’s just something about iOS (and Mac) apps that have a certain level of polish and finesse that you don’t really see in many Android apps.
For example, I used to use Tapbots’ tweetbot when I was active on Twitter, and now I use their mastodon app, Ivory, instead. Before Elon Musk killed Tweetbot, it was the only way to use Twitter and I could never find the same kind of app experience for it on Android. The same goes for Ivory – there are many mastodon apps for Android, but Ivory just feels way more polished and intuitive to me.
One of my favorite photo editing apps for iOS, Darkroom, isn’t available for Android either (there’s a copycat on the Play Store, but it’s not the same). Even if you use cross-platform apps like 1Password, Facebook/Instagram, etc., the iOS version always feels like it runs smoother and is more fun overall.
Apple isn’t perfect, but I still like it Prakhar Khanna/Digital Trends
Ever since I started delving into the world of Android devices, I’ve learned that there are definitely areas where Android excels, and I understand that. Notifications actually make sense, the volume control is tweaked, and there are plenty of granular settings to really customize your entire experience.
But Apple’s iOS has many little tweaks in the software that I still enjoy using. They may be small, like the bounce and elasticity, but these things help make the software enjoyable to use. Things like iMessage make my life easier and app experiences feel more refined overall. When you use a device all day, things like this come into play.
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