The Dark Side: multiple Android -> iPhone 6+

masraum · 09:58 PM

OK, I finally did it. I'm not generally a first or even early adopter of things. I'm not a gadget freak that's gotta have the latest and greatest. I started my smart phone life with the first Google phone, the G1, several months at least after it was released. I eventually upgraded to a G2. I really liked the HTC phones, so I eventually moved to the HTC One S. I was pretty "Android" diehard. I recognized that there were things that Apple was doing right, but I thought Android was the superior product. My first tablet was an iPad (the original) because there weren't any good Android tablets yet. It was good, but not great. I eventually upgraded to the iPad Air and that's a much, much, much better tablet. About 2 years ago, we got the missus a Macbook Air 11". It's a great little laptop. A few weeks back, I decided to upgrade her old phone (Samsung Galaxy S2). I figured the iPhone 6 plus would be easier for her to see without her glasses and would integrate well with her Macbook. It was a great phone. She kept saying that I should upgrade. My phone was 3 years old, and after about 2 weeks, I woke up to a phone that wouldn't run without being plugged in. The battery was not technically replaceable, but it is, you can buy them online and there are instructions, but I took that as a sign.

I wanted an iPhone 6. My eyes are good (not as great as they once were), and a big, but not too big phone made the most sense to me. Then I read that the iPhone 6 plus has an enhanced landscape mode, compared to the 6. I also saw that the battery is 60% bigger (2900mAh vs 1800mAh) and should last at least 20% longer. Those two things sold me. I'm less concerned with the optical image stabilization that the 6 plus has, but I'm sure there will be times that I appreciate that was well. The camera is pretty impressive compared to my last smart phone's camera. So far, I'm really digging it. iOS has come a long way. I'm sure that I could have been happy with and had originally planned to get one of the new Android phones, but the Apple stuff all works so seamlessly together.

My wife's laptop and phone and my ipad and phone all work together and talk to each other. If I'm at work, and she sends a text to my phone, I can respond from my ipad or phone, same goes for her with the phone and laptop. We bought swype for her phone, and since our accounts are family, I was able to install it for free on my phone.

And now I've got ApplePay set up, and I setup the "touch ID" which is the finger print scanner which works EXTREMELY well. The main "button" for the phone is the scanner, you can set up multiple fingerprints. Once your finger is scanned, you can scan that finger in any orientation to the button and it's recognized. And it's darn fast. At least half the time, just hitting the button does the trick. It has you "scan" your finger multiple times and has you move your finger around so you don't even have to be very precise on the placement of the finger for it to work. It's very impressive compared to the various finger and hand print scanners that I've used in commercial applications in the past.

I guess I've been converted. I nearly bought a new iMac last fall, but my old PC is still running just fine, so I didn't spend the money. I'm pretty sure the next PC will be an iMac.

stomachmonkey · 05-11-2015, 08:29 PM

Welcome.

FWIW the 6 does landscape just fine.

jorian · 05-11-2015, 09:27 PM

I'm reading your post on my iPhone 6 in landscape. I'll admit it is sometimes a little slow going to landscape.

masraum · 05-11-2015, 09:56 PM

Sorry, not that the 6 won't do landscape, but that the 6 plus has some tweaks to make it more landscape friendly.

iPhone 6 vs. iPhone 6 Plus: A closer look

Quote:

Fortunately Apple (apparently) recognized this, and emphasized landscape mode on the iPhone 6 Plus, which we find to feel more natural in hand (just grip each side of the 158 mm long phablet). For the first time on an iPhone, the Plus' home screen will rotate for horizontal use, and its Mail app shows two columns in landscape (one for list view, another for message view). Safari even shows your landscape browser tabs the way it does on an iPad (basically desktop-style). You won't get any of this on the smaller iPhone 6.

Landscape mode is where the iPhone 6 Plus can become less of a big iPhone and more of an iPad mini-mini.

Third-party developers have picked up on this landscape focus pretty well. Standards like Flipboard, Amazon and eBay are (annoyingly) still limited to portrait-only, but you will find App Store fare like Newsify, Pocket and Microsoft Outlook (among many others) that do rotate into landscape.

The latter group helps to make the iPhone 6 Plus your one device to rule them all pocket computer. But that continuity is broken a bit when you go back to those portrait-only apps.

GH85Carrera · GH85Carrera's Garage

I have an iPhone 5. I have been eligible to upgrade for almost a year. I have played with the 6 plus and it is just too big for my tastes. I am waiting for the new 6S or whatever it will be called. I figure it will have the better camera and other features of the plus in a 6 size package.

My wife is still using a 4S that is getting long in the tooth. The battery is getting pretty old and she really needs to update. She is just too cheap.

Holger · 05-12-2015, 04:32 AM

I love my iPhone 6. I am not a power user but I just love it.
The 6+ is a no-go for me. It is like holding an iPad to the head.

The only thing is that the phone is a bit slippery. It takes some time to get used to it. Always afraid to drop it!

dennis in se pa · dennis in se pa's Garage

Apple products are SO SUPERIOR to ANYTHING ELSE! Apple share holder here!

911dean · 911dean's Garage

6+ user here. It seemed big the first day, now it's fine. I'll also move to an Apple computer when the time comes.

What is this landscape thing? I'm fairly computer illiterate.

Holger · 05-12-2015, 06:23 AM

Landscape means that you hold the phone crosswise and the icons are arranging accordingly. Seems not possible previously.

masraum · 05-12-2015, 07:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Holger

Landscape means that you hold the phone crosswise and the icons are arranging accordingly. Seems not possible previously.

masraum · 05-12-2015, 07:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

I have an iPhone 5. I have been eligible to upgrade for almost a year. I have played with the 6 plus and it is just too big for my tastes. I am waiting for the new 6S or whatever it will be called. I figure it will have the better camera and other features of the plus in a 6 size package.

My wife is still using a 4S that is getting long in the tooth. The battery is getting pretty old and she really needs to update. She is just too cheap.

I could be wrong, but I'm betting the 6 is the new small size.

911dean · 911dean's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by Holger

Landscape means that you hold the phone crosswise and the icons are arranging accordingly. Seems not possible previously.

Thanks... I guess I didn't know the correct terminology