Here you are not going to read a “review” as such, nor an exhaustive analysis of the quality of the cameras, the performance of the processor or the management of system resources. Today I want to tell you  about my first weeks with iOS (and more specifically with an iPhone 11 Pro Max) after 9 years using Android.

I am not the only one who has surrendered during all this time to the Mountain View operating system: due to ignorance, price, comfort, variety of offer … Many may be the reasons that lead us to choose Android. But if you, like me, are curious about iOS and you want to know  if the change between one and the other is too drastic , if certain nuances are missing or if you are not going to get used to it, today I will tell you my  personal experience after my first two weeks with iOS.

Premium experience, yes, definitely: I switch to the iPhone 11 Pro Max after 9 years with Android

In my circle I have some friends  Apple fanboys who took the slightest opportunity to bring out how great, wonderful, incredible, that is this company and its products. I remember specifically how one of them spoke to me with special passion about packaging and its plastics. I didn’t understand it, until I opened my first iPhone.

The packaging of Apple products is on another level . By my profession, I have unpacked dozens and dozens of products and I had NEVER achieved that wow effect that I felt when opening the iPhone 11 Pro Max and the Apple Watch Series 5. It is not only the elegance and the distribution of its components inside the boxes, if not that the plastic itself and the way to open it is something that no other manufacturer has copied.

We are facing a brand that, although it has always been synonymous with distinction, this fame is well deserved and we noticed that from minute zero.

First steps: a trip by AVE was enough to catch up

The main fear that a person who, like me, has spent his whole life on another operating system, can have is not feeling comfortable in the transition to iOS. I love technology (obviously) and I have it alarmingly present in my day to day. I don’t usually have a problem using the different devices that pass through my hands, but in the case of iOS as the operating system on my personal mobile I did think it would take at least a couple of days to get used to it.

I picked up the phone in Madrid and returned home to Granada immediately. I took advantage of the AVE trip to catch up, investigate, install apps, make the necessary configurations so that everything was to my liking, etc. When I got off the train  I was already totally comfortable with iOS, as if I had been using it my whole life . Three and a half hours in which I did not take my eyes off the screen at any time was enough to configure the device from scratch , put it to my liking, try practically all the apps of my day to day and get used to its use.

Contrary to what it may seem when we have never used it,  iOS is extremely easy and intuitive to use . It has some little things that may seem more complicated than in other OS (I’ll tell you about them later), but in general the user experience is excellent from almost the first moment.

Interface, animations and gestures

This is the basis for every user moving from Android to iOS. Once you get familiar with the operating system (in my case, as I have said, in just over three hours) the iOS interface becomes very easy on the eyes . A somewhat subjective part may come into play here depending on our personal tastes, but the interface looks clean, uncluttered and elegant .

The animations are fast and make the transition between apps and tasks seem smoother than on other operating systems. It is? I have done the test with a top of the range of Android and really, in practice, there is no difference between the speed of one and the other, but the effects of the animations help to make something that, even if only like placebo effect for the user, appreciated.

Another issue that I would like to highlight is the issue of  gestures. Here you may need a little explanation to understand how it works.

• Scroll down the top left of the screen: Open notification center
• Scroll down the top right of the screen: open control center
• Scroll up from the bottom of the screen: discard
• Scroll up from the bottom of the screen by holding in the center: opens apps open in the background
• Scroll down from the middle of the screen: Open Siri Search and Suggestions

In the first moments it seemed somewhat complicated, but as soon as you get used to it (here your adaptability comes into play) it is very simple and each gesture is made out of inertia.

And what is this “Apple ecosystem”, is it really noticeable?

I currently have the  iPhone 11 Pro Max, Apple Watch Series 5, and first-generation Airpods with me. I can honestly tell you that the iPhone and the Apple Watch are the perfect couple. They both manage to get a lot more out of it and make the experience flawless.

As for the Airpods, it is a product that I already used with my previous smartphone and that it is better used in iOS. Precisely on this subject I will offer you an article later to explain everything in detail.

Myths and legends: iOS is not difficult and you do not have to pay for everything

If you are thinking about switching to iOS, you will surely have some questions on your mind. Is it difficult to use? You have already seen that in my case the change has not been complicated at all. Here you must do some self-criticism and analyze your own learning capacity and your skills with technologies. In any case,  iOS is a very intuitive and easy-to-use system. 

Another of the great myths is  if the apps are paid or if there is a variety . In my case, I have been able to install ALL the apps that I had on Android on my new iPhone and without paying anything for any. 

In this I have noticed the change …: I switch to the iPhone 11 Pro Max after 9 years with Android

So, has my experience been honors? No. But there is nothing perfect. Yes, there are some points that could be improved. For example, the issue that NFC does not work for sending files between devices . I used it quite often and it is something that I miss now.

If, like me, you are a lifelong Android user, surely you have everything at home adapted to this system. There are many alternatives and solutions, but, in any case, beyond having to do some additional configuration, I have not experienced compatibility problems with the rest of the devices that I already had at home (Smart TV, TV Box, smart speaker, various gadgets …).

The  management of notifications has turned me something more complex in iOS. And it is true that it is a point in favor, because it allows you to customize it a lot, but in a first contact this is one of the aspects that can give more headaches until we find the perfect combination for us.

One more thing …: I switch to the iPhone 11 Pro Max after 9 years with Android

In future articles I will tell you more about the experience with my first iPhone , those functions or features that have surprised me the most and that are really worth it, as well as, of course, some more in-depth opinions about the devices that I currently use, the iPhone 11 Pro Max and the Apple Watch Series 5 ( I already talked about the Airpods before).