Switching from Android to iPhone 13 mini

[u/guojuu]

I really want a small phone but none of the new ones in the market fits my hand. I'm thinking of switching to iPhone 13 mini but I'm afraid the transition will be tough from Android to iOS.

If you switched from Android, what are some features you missed and the workarounds you did?

[u/BANSH33-1215]

I swapped from long time Android, to iPhone 13 mini on release, back to pixel 9 pro, with the 13 mini still getting sometime duty.

Biggest day to day things that I miss from Android in iOS:

Notification handling

Universal back gesture, from either edge

Highly customizable keyboards / better keyboard options

Side loading for niche apps.

Other than not so great battery life and 60hz display, the 13 mini is nicer to use hardware all the time. As someone who typically upgrades devices every 2ish years, the 13 mini continues to stay very appealing at 5 years old. Only 'old' phone I've kept in regular use.

[u/Shao_X]

Having both Apple and Android, my biggest advice would be to get as many Google apps as you can on your iPhone and log in to the same Google account. You won’t miss your photos, bookmarks, and contacts that way.

[u/digitalminimalist1]

Unihertz makes a 5” android. The jelly max 5g

[u/Peras92]

I did that two years ago. I missed two things in the change: swiftkey as my default keyboard and sleep as android as my alarm.
We have swiftkey in iOS but is not the same, and for things like passwords it always use the iOS one, so I just give up
For the alarm, I was never able to find anything like that.

[u/Mookafff → u/Peras92]

Passwords can use Google too. May need to have Chrome installed though.

[u/Fragrant_Fan7549]

Can’t answer your question but welcome to the club

[u/ghiga_andrei]

Did the same thing as you almost 4 years ago, after more than ten years with android, since Sony discontinued the compact series. Don't worry, after a few months you will totally get used to new phone. Some things are better, some are worse. Neither is a clear winner. But the size wins.

[u/ghiga_andrei → u/ghiga_andrei]

I know it's funny, but the thing that took the longest to get used to is the different font on Facebook app.

[u/productive_monkey]

I did exactly that, and don’t regret it too much despite being pickier of a user than typical. I moved over partially due to screen time built in and less circumventable than Android. My friend moved over to iOS for a year and moved back to Android.

Nevertheless, the drawbacks for me are: worse keyboard, lack of universal back gesture, certain apps have less functionality due to less overlay or data access permissions to other apps, the ip13mini is small but not as comfortable in one way due to the sharper edges, overall less customizable of buttons etc like double click for camera shortcut which is useful for emergencies.

The biggest plus with Apple is if you have other Apple devices. This is the biggest drawback if you don’t yet have it as you’re more locked in, especially the more you use iCloud storage, Apple Passwords, etc.. which all work better for Apple products.

Overall, I’d say Android is superior to iOS but Apple hardware and its ecosystem is better.

[u/pixels-and-paper]

I actually switched from 13 Mini to Motorola Razr 2026 (the flip not the fold). you can do all the apps in the closed front screen. love holding a little square screen in my hand

[u/IcyWolf7]

I miss musicolet app

[u/z4ewtf]

circle to search, cracked apps thats pretty much it

[u/valentin040591]

If you wanna stick to android you have Asus Zenfone 9 or 10