So I switched to Android...

Green messages, diehard dedication, arguments. People ride really hard for their phone operating systems, and like, I kinda get it. But not really. I just never cared that much about phones. I ride them 'til the wheels fall off. I just want them to do the smart phone thing - a few apps, make some calls, text. Whatever.

That being said, I've been a lifelong Apple user. My dad, who bought my very first smart phone for me, got me an iPhone, so I just kind of stuck with them. While I have no particular loyalty, I did get pretty integrated with the ecosystem. I had a Macbook, an iPad, used the cloud. La la la.

Apple has been sucking, though. To be honest, I feel like their drive to innovate died with Steve Jobs. They've fallen into the same pattern pretty much all of these techslop giants have - churn out new shit every year with few to no meaningful changes. Actually, they're kind of worse in that regard. They've stagnated.

So, when my iPhone 11 bit the dust, I figured I'd branch out. Honestly, the decision was pretty easy. I went back and forth a bit - I have friends on the Apple ecosystem, sharing locations is handy, it integrates with my other tech, all of that. But overall, to my earlier point: my main priority is that it does the phone thing. Either OS will do that.

I knew that when I did change phones I wanted a flip phone. The novelty and aesthetic really drew me, so it was a matter of picking between a few options. I ended up with a Motorola Razr running android - less common than the Samsung Flip, but functionally the same.

I was so excited to boot up my new phone and customize it. However, when I got her fired up, all my YouTube research did not prepare me for the... Surprises.

First impressions

After finally getting the phone charged and on, I was immediately confronted with a whole lot of bullshit.

I mean that.

Just, bullshit. Bloatware. Junkware, random games and apps that I didn't want.

I was so confused, and Motorola's software made it so "recommended" stuff would, like, automatically get added to the phone. Like, why the fuck is my phone coming with Candy Crush and Monopoly pre-installed? The fuck?

That shit pissed me off so bad. It took me an annoyingly long time to just uninstall stuff and disable any of the auto-added apps. In addition to that, the razr came with not one but two (2) AI companions. Feedle dee dee! 

Thankfully, I will say, disabling shit is actually really easy to find with a search of the settings (and, god, you will want to use that search feature). There's a lot of shit between the phone settings and the "Motorola Settings" which seem to be a separate thing.

Within the first few hours, I started to regret my decision, and not even because Apple had done anything so much better. It's just that the Razr and the pre-loaded junk pissed me off so bad it was losing by default.

It wasn't all bad, though.

Stuff I liked

I like a lot of features of Android and the razr specifically. To start with, I like the navigation and gestures a lot more. There are a lot of customization options for gestures. You can customize it to be more "Apple like" (think like "swipe up to go to all apps" gestures). However, I decided to commit to the switch, and I have no regrets.

Android has buttons on the bottom of the screen that you can tap which are pretty straightforward. There's a back button, a Home button, and a button that'll pop up all of your active apps. This seems pretty simple, but having just BUTTONS for this stuff is, idk, really nice to me. More buttons. Hashtag normalize buttons. Hashtag buttons 2k26.

I also LOVE the like hand gestures. If you do a karate chop it'll pop up your flashlight. If you like rotate your hand fast it pulls up the camera. This kind of stuff is AWESOME, especially when trying to film during concerts. SO much better than having to like hold down a button or navigate a screen.

Customization

Android is definitely winning in this category. I've barely scratched the surface, but it's so easy to set up themes, change colors, change app icons. Like, kids could do this stuff. And I fucking love it.

We live in a world where tech has gotten so samey and bland and boring. I am living for the ability to style my phone to my liking. I could even go further and sideload stuff. Like, you can get real wild with it. I can't be assed as of yet, but the possibilities, well, not endless but a lot.

A tangent: The flip thing

I purposely got a flip phone which comes with its own set of challenges but benefits. I researched extensively between Razr and Samsung. Samsung is kind of the better phone, but Razr's outer screen had a lot more functionality at the time which is why I chose it. I can use literally any app I want from the frontscreen. Mind you, they don't all work great, but it's kind of awesome. I watch my little YouTube videos, set timers, text. I love it.

Apparently the Razr is also... finnicky. A ton of reddit threads are dedicated to cursing the phone for its weird, screen, reporting visible bends, cracks, dead pixels and lines... So far I've been fine, but I'll kind of cross that bridge when I get there.

Stuff that still pisses me off

Rapidfire round. While I got over or customized to get rid of my initial reservations, there's still some stuff that sucks. I didn't think I'd miss Apple - I figured Android would have equivalents for everything, but honestly? I miss some of my shit lol - mostly from a functionality standpoint.

• You're swapping out Apple with Google in terms of accounts for the cloud, your apps, etc. This is not ideal if you want to divest (though both kinda suck)
• I miss sharing locations. There's not a singular equivalent like Find My - I'd have to use Family 365 or whatever else
• No native weather app - the phone came pre-loaded with AccuWeather which is RIDDLED with ads vs. Apple Weather which was seamless, sleek, and straightforward. There is a weather widget but that's not the same (and it pulls from AccuWeather)
• In general, I miss the suite of apps - instead of just native apps I have to pick and choose different apps. Gmail, WeatherWise, Google Messages, Waze
• Speaking of Waze... The maps. I miss Apple Maps. Idk it just hits different. Waze is fucking weird tbh, Idk how else to describe it. The vibe is off. And Google Maps kinda sucks. Like the navigation doesn't really proactively notify me of the lane I wanna be in or of traffic conditions like Apple.
• And lastly

God Google Gemini is stupid.

I can't believe I took Siri for granted.

"Siri, text my sister."

"Siri, get me directions to H-Mart."

"Siri, set a timer for 30 minutes."

These seemingly simple voice commands in the year of our lord 2026 should be easy to accomplish for our advanced technology. After all, voice commands have been a thing for, what, 30 years now? Surely, harnessing the money and technology of Google means we can have an intelligent, efficient assistant on whom we can rely on... Right?

Wrong, wrong you silly little truffle.

So, the voice assistant for the Razr is Google Gemini, I guess? And anyway it sucks. It literally has not accomplished 1 (one) task properly that I've asked it to in the like 9 months I've owned this phone.

I ask it to text my sister. It tells me I don't have anyone matching that name in my contacts. I look up how to set it up, follow instructions, update her relationship in my Contacts, add her to family. I ask it to text my sister. It says I don't have anyone matching that name in my contacts.

Boy.

I ask it to set a 30 minute timer. It sets a 3 minute one. Genuinely this is a task a trained dog could do. Google's so-called pinnacle of innovative intelligence is regularly outperformed by the average golden retriever.

At this point I literally never do it. Congratulations, Google-slash-Android, your system is so incompetent you've motivated me to be more independent. Thanks? I guess? Not ideal when I'm elbows deep in kneading dough and need a timer but. Cool?

It just pisses me off so bad because this is all I've got. I don't have the option to install some other voice command system that I know of. communities are being razed to the ground for software that can't do basic shit.

This shit pisses me off so bad. I never relized how much I'd miss Siri until I lost her... Siri, I'm sorry.

In conclusion

Overall, the Apple vs. Android wars are goofy. It's always just a matter of your personal preference, what works for you.

I think Android is better for someone willing to put in some legwork to customize their mobile experience. It's not gonna be polished out of the box but you can mold it into something great that fits your needs.

Apple is awesome if you want something that is sleek, straightforward, and functional out of the box. I will say, aesthetically Apple's UI just feels more lux, more classy, and if you're drawn to that, you may prefer it.

Overall, I'm content, though I think if Apple were to make a flip phone, I may go back. Maybe.

Byeeee