I won’t say it’s a permanent thing, but at least for a while I’ll have an iPhone 14 Pro in my pocket and first impressions are – perhaps unsurprisingly – very good. This isn’t the first time I’ve ventured into the Apple world with a series of posts in 2019 that saw me spend a month with an iPhone and last year with the iPhone SE.
Things will be a little different this time around though, as there’s no specific end date in sight and – I won’t be leaving Ausdroid – I’ll be exploring many other features over time as well. As a starting point, however, one of the goals of this exercise is to show that being able to switch and switch between operating systems is actually much easier than it used to be.
As the editor of a mainly Android-based website, I naturally start with Team Android. However, I have to say that with the help of the Move to iOS app and some very simple on-screen instructions, the switch to iOS was depressingly easy!
All you have to do is install the app on your Android device, turn on your new iPhone and follow the bouncing ball until you get the chance to install from a previous device. Android migration is one of them, and that’s when the magic happens.
That being said, I believe a key reason the transition has been so easy for me is that I’m comfortable in the cloud. Much of my workflow is cloud-based and data is usually stored there as well, but I take precautions with strong password practices and 2FA wherever offered.
What does the Move to iOS app offer?
Well, it’s basically in the name; the ability to quickly and very easily switch from Android to a new iOS device. For me, the move to an iPhone 14 Pro, and even with gigabytes of data transfer, took less than half an hour after the initial seal was ripped from the box, although the process wasn’t as seamless as I’d hoped.
If you choose to use a blank canvas, this process will be even faster. If you have a setup that works for you, I’m not sure why you would do that. But let’s take a quick look at the issues I had first: The “promise” is that all the free apps on your Android device will be ported to the iPhone as part of the move.
Most apps passed, but not all
It’s an early stage and at this point I’m not even sure why some of the apps didn’t show up. I didn’t expect sideloaded apps to do this and they didn’t, but the best theory I have is that apps where the developer has some paid options or the app names between platforms don’t match exactly, be skipped.
The reality here is that if you want to switch from an old phone to a new one, you need to go from iPhone to iPhone or Pixel to Pixel with the setup as “intact” as possible. Neither is flawless, but for now for me – if you view it as competition – that’s a point for Apple.
The migration was so easy that I genuinely believe a non-tech savvy “elderly” family member could do the job without help and all the missing apps can be easily installed.
First thoughts on the iPhone 14 Pro
Of course, being Apple’s crème de la crème, there’s a lot more to discover than my initial thoughts on the device. That will come with time and – I suspect – more, more detailed articles in the coming weeks.
For now, though, first impressions are that Apple continues to make some of the most easily recognizable hardware around. The hardware is well constructed and the performance of the device is excellent (thanks to Apple’s own M2 silicon), making it a really tempting package, apart from the price…
But whether or not I think a phone is really worth $2,599.00 is a discussion for a later day.
