The iPhone is the best-selling smartphone on the planet and, in the US especially, it’s clearly a dominant force. I’m an Android individual by choice, but erstwhile in a while, I spend time with the latest iPhone to take a peek inside of Apple’s garden, trying not to get trapped within its walls. Over the past respective months, I’ve been utilizing the iPhone 15 Pro off and on and, well, I’ve got thoughts.
The last time I utilized an iPhone for an extended period of time was with 2017’s iPhone X, the device that truly set the phase for Apple’s large evolution of the iPhone. But that was beautiful short-lived, as the device was rapidly relegated to a fewer random usage cases and checking in on fresh apps and features from time to time. I’ve continued to happily usage dozens of different Android phones over the years since, usually a Pixel or a foldable.
But the iPhone 15 Pro yet piqued my interest adequate to fork over $1,000 and give Apple another shot at convincing me.
What the iPhone gets right
Camera, hardware, battery life, and finally, USB-C
Before we get to the complaints, let’s talk about the good things about the iPhone, and that starts with the hardware. Apple knows how to plan a phone, and rather well too. The iPhone 15 Pro’s titanium build is massively overhyped by Apple in advertising, but it’s rather good. The telephone feels unexpectedly light, but inactive very sturdy and premium. I’ve spent most of my time utilizing the device with a Nomad leather case, but any time it’s not in that case is inactive a delight.
The hardware besides has 2 large highlights to me. For one, I love the color. The blue shade Apple is utilizing here looks great, though I do very much like the “Bay” blue colour of the Pixel 8 Pro, but Apple’s darker colour has its appeal.
The another large item is the size. Android phones of smaller sizes are frequently sacrificing a lot for their size. The Pixel 8 is simply a beautiful strong offering, but it’s besides not quite as tiny as the iPhone. And, while I’m all for large phones, I’ve truly come to appreciate utilizing a smaller device. Now, that usually comes with the asterisk of that main display unfolding to uncover a tablet – the Pixel Fold is especially good in this aspect – but it’s been a delight enjoying a full powered tiny smartphone without besides throwing distant battery life.
And, on that note.
The battery life might be 1 of the strongest aspects of the iPhone 15 Pro. For its size, it’s impressive. I’ve mostly utilized this device as a secondary carry, but on the many days I’ve run it as my only smartphone, it has done rather well, easy lasting a full day without any battery anxiety, something that my Pixel 8 Pro, despite its bigger size and battery, struggles with. Now, that might be partially due to the fact that I don’t have a crazy number of apps installed yet, but I’ve inactive been very pleased.
Plus, this is the iPhone that yet has USB-C!
I said respective years ago that USB-C is what would get me to give the iPhone another try, and I think this came at the perfect time. Apple may have been forced into it, but the company’s implementation is just what I hoped for – completely neutral. There’s no trickery going on. USB-C, for deficiency of a better term, just works. My chargers, my accessories, everything works as I anticipate to. Apple should have done this ages ago, but I’m glad it’s yet here.
And then there’s the camera. Things have come a long way since the iPhone X I last used.
The iPhone 15 Pro’s triple camera array is consistent and predictable, which is precisely what I want from a smartphone camera. I think, for stills, Apple and Google truly hit up against the same wall erstwhile it comes to camera quality. For the most part, the “better” photograph truly just comes down to individual preference. I think I inactive like the Pixel’s contrast-y look overall, but the iPhone’s take on photography is inactive great. It besides works more consistently across apps, somewhere Android truly struggles.
Here are a fewer shots taken on the iPhone 15 Pro over the past fewer months.
Video is where Apple’s camera experience definitely pulls ahead. While Video Boost on the Pixel 8 Pro gives Apple’s results a run for their money, Apple’s camera records at about that quality without hours of cloud processing, and Apple’s support for LOG recording just opens up a planet of possibilities. The average client won’t benefit from that, but the camera here is just great.
That said, let’s get to the fun stuff. The many complaints and headaches.
Let’s talk about iOS
I always knew that my experience with iOS would be full of headaches, but seemingly around all corner was another reason I just dislike the platform. There’s plenty to talk about, but let’s start with the homescreen.
Since the last time I spent time with an iPhone, the homescreen has evolved rather a bit. There are widgets, and the “App Library” too, things I always missed in my past bouts with the platform. Widgets are beautiful well done, though to be honest, it’s a feature I’ve moved distant from over the years. I barely usage it on Android, and I didn’t truly find myself utilizing it much on iOS. But at the very least it’s a well-implemented feature and has tons of developer support.
The App Library, though, is just a mess.
The iOS homescreen has always felt messy and unorganized to me just due to the fact that all single app on your device is forced to be in view. The App Library technically fixes that by giving you the option to remove those apps from the homescreen and dump them somewhere else. But somehow, it just feels worse. iOS automatically organizes your apps in the Library based on categories, but you truly don’t have any control, which makes it harder to use. There’s a search function, which is truly the only way this has felt useful to me. And it truly feels like the only reason this feature is like this is due to the fact that Apple couldn’t admit it was wrong. The app drawer on Android is simply a super simply, alphabetical list of your apps available at a fast swipe. It’s intuitive. It’s easy. The App Library is neither of those things. It’s bad.
Since we’re talking about bad things, let’s get around to what was evidently coming.
iOS notifications.
Over the past fewer months, I’ve come down to the opinon that Apple is purposefully designing iOS to make you forget about notifications, due to the fact that otherwise, I can’t see how things have come to the point they are today. erstwhile you pull down to access Notification Center, iOS only shows you 1 or 2 notifications. You gotta swipe through to access more, and it frequently feels like they’re no rhyme or reason to how they show up. The apparent goal is to show things chronologically, but that falls apart if you get quite a few notifications over the course of a day.
The way in which iOS groups notifications is my biggest issue overall. If you keep up with notifications as they arrive, it’s comparatively consistent and easy, but frequently times I’ll find that if I’ve had my telephone in my pocket for a while, I’ll have multiple groups of emails, multiple groups of messages for various apps, and multiple groups of social notifications that are just all mixed between each other. For example, if I get Telegram notifications from multiple group chats, a fewer Twitter/X notifications, and a fewer emails over the course of an hour, they might be divided into 7 or 8 groups. The chronological approach to notifications makes sense if you’re glued to your phone, but I’m firmly of the opinion that is not how it should work. Personally, I’ve found myself constantly missing notifications as a consequence of just not being able to see them quickly. And, until I truly dig in, I have no thought how many notifications I have. Whether I have a couple of messages and an email, or a twelve apps sending me notices, it all looks the same. And any notifications just never go distant until you clear them, even if they’ve been addressed ages ago. Again, this is an area I truly feel Android does it better. You can see a fistful of notification icons at the top of the screen to rapidly get an thought of what’s going on, and the grouping methodology is far, far better.
I think iOS notifications have small to no redeeming qualities, but not all aspect of iOS was so polarizing to me, like the keyboard experience.
I thought smartphone keyboards were something we figured out a long time ago, but all time I decision distant from Google’s Gboard (on Android), I’m reminded just how crazy things can get.
The stock keyboard on iOS is fine, but I think it gets a small besides much praise. The keyboard is large for two-handed typing especially. I think the spacing is truly good, and it’s easy to choice up the muscle memory too. Swipe typing, an Android original, is besides very well implemented.
But Apple’s autocorrect is way beyond aggressive, and genuinely a pain to deal with.
Autocorrect is something everyone needs, but there’s a line you gotta walk. With autocorrect in Apple’s default keyboard, the full strategy just feels like it won’t admit erstwhile it is incorrect (much like Apple itself). You can make the same correction 3 or 4 times, and it’s not going to get the point and just keep making the same correction. Beyond that, and my biggest gripe, is that autocorrect will kick in even after you’ve hit send. If you’re looking at a finished message and hit the send button, if the keyboard feels there’s a correction to be made on that last word, it will do it as you hit send. This leads to frustrating edits after the fact (if that’s an option) far besides often.
Voice-to-text is likewise annoying. Sometimes it can work wonderfully, and almost match the Pixel, which is the current gold standard for voice-to-text today. But, another times, it just goes off the rails, though not nearly as much as Samsung’s truly awful voice-to-text.
There are besides just features and options missing. It blows my head that Apple’s default keyboard doesn’t support GIF insertion, there’s no way to show a number row, and I hatred that there’s no way to minimize the keyboard without tapping in the app above it.
iOS does, thankfully, support switching out the keyboard, but I’ve not found any that I actually like. Gboard, my go-to on Android, feels like a shell of its actual same on iOS, with a layout that’s not as good and GIF insertion that’s nowhere close as seamless (which, of course, is iOS’ fault). If there’s 1 thing the keyboard truly gets right, it’s autofill. Where Android’s autofill option is messy and inconsistent (a rant I intend to have another day), iOS autofill is fast and reliable, even with third-party apps like 1Password.
Easily the most annoying part of utilizing iOS after years on Android is the deficiency of a back button. This logical part of the operating strategy feels so crucial, unless you’re Apple apparently.
iOS has been designed around not having a system-wide back button for years, so apps are well-stocked with built-in back buttons. In most cases, there’s besides a back motion erstwhile you swipe (only) from the left side of the screen. mostly speaking, the deficiency of a back button isn’t a problem, but it’s an inconvenience.
So many times I’ve been in apps that don’t have a back button in certain UIs, leaving me stuck in that screen unless I decision forward. Sometimes, crazy enough, people change their minds. But Apple leaves the task on developers to build this backtracking into their apps, and it’s just not always there. 1 example of this is the app UDisc, for tracking disc golf rounds. erstwhile I’m in a scorecard, there’s no way for me to go back to the remainder of the app without closing the app or “finishing” my card. On Android, all I gotta do is hit the back button, but since that’s not an option on iOS, I’m just stuck until the circular is over. Now, I’m certain the reaction to this will be “the developer should have added a back button,” and technically, you’re right. But why is the task on them?
Why can’t iOS have a back button? I’ve never truly understood arguments against it. To me, it just seems like a logical, useful function, and it’s crazy that in 2024 it’s inactive not a thing.
Android and iOS are both incredibly mature operating systems that know what they do, and do not want to be. As such, erstwhile fresh features arrive in either, they’re very frequently inspired by the other.
Through my usage of the iPhone 15 Pro, I’ve come across things I want Android to have, but there’s a ton I want from Android to be available over on iOS. And, ultimately, it just feels like Apple doesn’t want to admit Android did something better. erstwhile that does happen, Apple just comes up with the most convoluted way to do the thing just to avoid admitting Android was right. The best example of this is the App Library which, as mentioned, is just a mess, but this just feels like an overarching subject of quite a few Apple’s recent, overdue feature additions.
Of course, there’s a lot to be said about Android copying iOS features too. Samsung and others have been beautiful shameless about this over the years, but in a way, that’s a good thing. These Android brands aren’t truly afraid to look at a feature Apple has introduced and say “hey, that’s a good idea.”
And, yes, there are rather quite a few those good ideas in the software too.
One thing I’ve rather liked has been the ability to rotate through lockscreens quickly. The presets are useful and highly well-implemented. I besides love having lockscreen widgets, something that Android never should have thrown away.
Apps are, of course, besides a large item of iOS. The overall bar for quality seems at least a couple notches higher on iOS than it does on Android, but only if you decide to dive into apps that are iOS-only. If you live a cross-platform life, like I do, apps on iOS feels equal to their Android counterparts for the large majority. Ironically, it’s Google apps that feel the most behind on iOS. Something that I did very much enjoy was the App Store, if only for the impossibly fast app installs that feel instant compared to Android’s frequently slow process.
StandBy is another standout for me. Combined with MagSafe docks, it supercharges the always-on display with large clocks, weather notifications, and more. It’s been super useful at my desk. My Pixel does something akin with the Pixel Stand, but Apple’s implementation is better in my opinion, as I don’t always want to usage this. Being able to have it readily available by simply rotating the device is brilliant!
Then, of course, we’ve besides got to talk about the “ecosystem.”
This is simply a pitch that’s never truly appealed to me, due to the fact that I effort to live my tech life as “platform-agnostic” as possible. Apps that don’t work across devices just do not gain their place in my workflow. That’s why Apple’s approach to apps and services just doesn’t appeal to me, and why Google’s do.
But even I’ve got to admit there are any delightful small touches throughout the ecosystem.
For instance, I just picked up a MacBook Air after years of being fed up with awful battery life on Windows laptops (fingers are crossed hard for Snapdragon X Elite), and the velocity at which the MacBook can trigger a hotspot on my iPhone is wonderful. It’s truly useful for on-the-go work, and made the control from my LTE-connected HP Dragonfly Chromebook way little painful. This isn’t any outlandish idea, and you can do the same between Android phones and ChromeOS, and even any Windows laptops, but it works really well here.
Similarly, connecting the iPhone to a MacBook webcam can be borderline magical (if somewhat tedious without accessories), and better than what Android presently offers. And, on a akin MacBook note, I truly like getting notifications on the iPhone erstwhile I leave the Mac behind through the Find My app.
On that note, I’ve besides truly enjoyed AirTags. This is something that I’ll yet be getting on Android shortly now that the Find My Device network is live, but I’ll be impressed if it matches the same seamless level of integration as the AirTag has so far. 1 thing Android will definitely be missing is UWB, as AirTag supports it, but no of the Android trackers do. I besides applaud Apple for putting the same UWB hardware in this smaller iPhone 15 Pro as it does in larger models, while most Android manufacturers skip UWB on anything but their top-tier flagships. That’s a short-sighted move.
There’s besides Apple Wallet, which is superior to Google Wallet. Admittedly, I didn’t usage this a lot as the iPhone spent most of its time as my secondary device, but it integrates better with cards – it’s super convenient to see my full AMEX transaction past versus just what happened with Apple Pay – and works with far more passes. Swapping cards via a double tap of the power button is besides super useful (though I’d alternatively have a camera shortcut there).
Siri Shortcuts are also thing that impressed me. I didn’t dive into this functionality besides far, but I think it’s crazy just how much you can do with Shortcuts, and crazy that Android doesn’t have anything remotely similar. My colleague Damien Wilde loves this features especially.
Then, there’s iMessage.
iMessage is severely overrated.
It’s a good messaging app, but it’s no better than any another modern messaging app, and all of those don’t require people to buy a circumstantial smartphone just to usage it. I’ve said my part on iMessage before, and six months on an iPhone hasn’t changed anything.
Use another messaging apps people, please.
In the end, I think iOS is simply a completely fine and very well-built operating system. It has all of the features you need, quite a few helpful tricks, and an interface that’s reasonably easy to understand, even if I think any things (like notifications) are unintuitive.
I just don’t like it.
I love being able to have my homescreen just the way I want it. I love having the ability to manually sideload app updates. But more than anything, I just like the way Android, specifically on a Pixel, works. And that’s okay. Everyone is allowed to have their opinions. If you like iOS, that’s great!
The Action Button was wasted
One of the fresh things to iOS on the iPhone 15 Pro is the “Action Button.” It’s a beautiful chaotic fresh thought for the planet of iOS. A customizable button that you can choose what it does. It replaces the mute switch, and as specified defaults to replacing that functionality.
It most likely should have stayed that way.
The Action Button is simply a good thought inherently, but it has any key flaws. First and foremost is the request to press and hold the button to do anything. My first thought for this button was to delegate it to open the camera, as iPhone lacks the double-tab motion for accessing the camera rapidly via the power button. But the press-and-hold motion takes besides long and just ends up feeling more cumbersome.
Where Apple truly could have made this feature shine was in giving users 3 actions. 1 with a single tap, 1 with a double-tap, and a 3rd with the current press-and-hold. Even if just the second 2 were available, it’d be importantly more useful than it is today.
Right now, the best function for the Action Button is to usage a Siri Shortcut menu. This lets you choice and choose from respective functions. I think it’s inactive a small cumbersome due to the time required for the button to be pressed, and due to the button’s advanced placement, but it’s inactive useful functionality.
The iPhone isn’t for me, but it’s inactive the smartphone to beat
Just due to the fact that the iPhone isn’t for me, though, doesn’t mean there aren’t good reasons for millions upon millions of people to buy it. Apple has an inherently fantastic product here, and it’s absolutely the gold standard of the smartphone manufacture today.
At the end of the day, it’s hard to beat the iPhone’s value proposition. The $999 iPhone 15 Pro I’m utilizing has cutting-edge processing power under the hood that will “future-proof” it for years to come. It has more camera functionality than most Android phones. It has unchangeable software that will be updated for respective years. And it has exclusive features that Android doesn’t.
Apple has built a good product that people should love. all Android flagship gets measured up to the iPhone, and for good reason.
The iPhone is very, very good, as long as you actually like utilizing it. It’s just not for me.
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