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Various iPhone models have been with me for a really long time. I went through the SE 1st and 2nd generation, 11, 12 Mini, 13 Pro Max, and it turns out that my last iPhone was the 15 Pro
 at least until Apple makes foldable phones that, when folded, will be the size of a regular phone, and when unfolded at least a 7-8” tablet. There are many rumors that Apple is working on such a device. The latest say the launch may happen in the second half of 2026. Well, there are no concrete details on this topic, and my patience has run out. Besides, I am aware that even if Apple releases a foldable, it will cost around 20,000 PLN.

After this introduction, you are probably guessing already, dear Reader, that the titular traitor, for whom I gave up on an Apple phone, is the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold.

The Ecosystem Problem

Over all these years, I got deeply immersed in the Apple ecosystem. I kept all my photos in iCloud, as well as notes, reminders, calendars, contact information, and the entire office suite. All summaries, e.g., investment spreadsheets or home finishing cost estimates, I kept in Numbers. It was extremely convenient, especially having all my other devices also with the Apple logo – tablet (iPad) and laptop (MacBook Air M1). Additionally, some time ago I managed to convert my wife, who was a staunch Android user, into a dedicated Apple user—maybe even more passionate than me now. This made the ecosystem suck me in even more because I had not only my own data in iCloud but also shared data. What we used most intensively were shared albums for children’s photos and shopping lists. Now, having switched to a Samsung device, I hit reality like a concrete wall. Leaving aside the fact that it is necessary to move everything to new apps, which this time I am choosing cross-platform, the worst part is that Apple makes everything to make such exporting difficult or even impossible. Only now have I understood what a truly closed ecosystem means. The best Apple haters call it, I believe, a golden cage, and it is quite an accurate description.

I started with contacts. Basically, there are two options. The first is to export the entire list to a .vcf file and transfer it to the new device. Here comes another surprise, since obviously I cannot do this through AirDrop. Such shock and disbelief
 The second option is syncing the contact list with a Google account. Generally, the number list transfer went smoothly, so I can’t complain.

Next up were calendars. I took the easy way and simply synchronized both phones with the same Google account (ugh, tsk). At first, I had serious reservations because I don’t really trust Google, but I finally decided that I’m too old now to remain a privacy warrior on the Internet. As old timber, I put convenience above that—several levels above. I know, I know, shame on me, I’m a loser or whatever. Besides, what fight against Google can I really talk about when I just bought a phone with an operating system from the same giant? Even if I didn’t give them access to the calendar this way, they still know everything about me, and even more because Gemini AI, based on its analysis, can predict better than I what I will do next.

I couldn’t move Reminders, of course, so I had to retype them manually. Luckily, I kept the more important stuff simply in the calendar. What I haven’t figured out yet is the folder with the shopping list shared with my wife. When I think that I’ll have to convince her again to use some other app, I’d probably prefer to go back to medieval solutions with a yellow sticky note and pen.

Photos
 This is where sharing in iCloud worked definitely best. When you have a child, especially the first one, you generate petabytes of photos every time the child makes a strange face or videos where it farts for the first time. It was no different for me and my wife. There were so many that I quickly discovered that the shared album has a limit of media items you can upload to it, which is about 5000 (I don’t remember exactly) photos or videos. So here’s a quick pro tip – divide albums by years, or if that’s still not enough, by quarters. Back to the topic. I have a sudden idea on how to solve this problem, but I don’t know yet how it will work out. I already own quite an old Synology NAS, specifically the DS220j model, with two 4-terabyte drives inside linked in RAID. Before moving, I deleted all data from it, restored factory settings, and intended to sell it, but I think I’ll keep it and set up the whole system again. However, for that, I need fiber internet, not the lousy radio connection which gives me speeds of 2.5 MB/s at best. Fortunately, that shouldn’t last long (I hope) because infrastructure has been delivered to my house, and only bureaucracy remains. Earlier, the NAS served me only as backup storage for photos and a network drive. The question is how well it will perform as a network photo gallery working in real time. I know Synology offers a range of mobile apps, including one for photos, but how it will work I will probably review in a separate post. For now, I only transferred photos and videos from one device to another using Samsung’s Smart Switch app, and I must admit it worked quite nicely. I did this by connecting the two phones with a USB-C cable.

Notes
 Here I can only light a candle. I have no illusions that I will manage to export all notes from Apple Notes in any reasonable way. From what I have already investigated, the only option is to export them as PDF files, but it seems impossible to do this in bulk — you have to export note by note. If that is really the case and there is no way to automate it, I will unfortunately have to spend a few evenings going through all the notes, filtering out the truly useful ones, and transferring them. I think there wouldn’t be many if I hadn’t stored scans of absolutely all my purchases from the past X years in Apple Notes. There are quite a lot of receipts and invoices, and these are data I simply must transfer.

Finally, what shocked me the most. You would think messengers, especially Signal, would be rather (or definitely) multiplatform solutions. Well
 Being on iOS, you can message someone on Android via Signal, but you cannot fully transfer your account with all messages from one system to another. It’s simply impossible. You have to basically start over on Android, which results in complete disconnection from the iPhone account that was previously the main device. So I lost my entire chat history, and all my contacts received a notification that my security keys changed and should consider whether they can still trust me. That’s actually good security.

I didn’t have many problems transferring the rest. I didn’t use the automatic migration system because I decided that switching systems is the moment when I must give up a bit of convenience and set everything up from scratch. Switching from one iPhone to another was so easy and pleasant that I never wanted to do it manually, but it must be admitted that continuously sweeping mess under the carpet isn’t the best solution. So now I have a clean slate, and I’m fine with that.

Android isn’t as bad as I remembered

The system with the green robot logo is no longer what it used to be. I hadn’t used it for a really long time, and I admit that the very first minutes after starting the Samsung erased all the bad memories associated with it. Samsung’s One UI really delivers. It’s efficient, visually appealing, and user-friendly. I expected some struggles getting used to a different layout, but I was wrong. It’s clear that many mechanisms are copied from one to another, and under different names, we basically get very similar products. That’s great because I immediately felt right at home. Of course, part of the interface is different because each manufacturer has their own proprietary solutions, but really it’s easy to switch.

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor combined with 12GB of RAM is a powerhouse that I have not been able to slow down in any way so far. The Z Fold supports multitasking because you can put up to three apps on one screen simultaneously, and it doesn’t slow the phone down at all. It seems we’ve already reached a performance level where there are no longer “slower” or “faster” phones for the average user.

Standard for Android, unthinkable on iOS

One of Android’s biggest advantages is that unlike iOS, it allows wide configuration of almost everything. Apple enforces many things with a “because it has to be that way” approach, and many useful functions that are just standard on Android don’t exist or users don’t even realize they could be missing them until they switch from iOS. You can clearly see this in comments under conference coverage when Apple presents “new and revolutionary” features in the next iOS iteration, and Android users reply, “Greetings, we’ve had that for 20 years.”

This includes even such trivial things as the bottom navigation bar (recent apps, home, back). iOS uses gesture navigation: back is a swipe from the left edge to the right, home is a swipe from the bottom, and recent apps are accessed by a small swipe up from the bottom. I got used to this over time, but it was never my favorite navigation style. Android, however, offers a choice: you can navigate like on iOS or use the old good buttons at the bottom. Small thing, but nice.

Older iPhone models used Touch ID fingerprint authentication, which worked great, and I looked askance at the new Face ID unlocking method during its presentation. Over time, both I and most users got used to Face ID and it became one of the iPhone’s flagship features. In my opinion, it’s a mechanism that works brilliantly and, importantly, I trust it a lot. I was afraid this would be one of Samsung’s biggest Achilles’ heels. However, it turns out the Z Fold has a fingerprint reader integrated into the power button, and it works really well. Plus, you can also enable face recognition. It works with both the camera above the main screen (used when the phone is folded) and the under-display camera inside. Moreover, both methods work simultaneously and complement each other nicely. Another case where Samsung offers choice and more than “one right way.” I cannot comment on comparing security between Apple’s and Samsung’s solutions. I know Face ID is truly secure, but I know nothing about Samsung’s face recognition. Would a twin, if I had one, unlock my phone?

One UI has more quite interesting features impossible to experience on iOS. The first that comes to mind is the slide-out sidebar on the right with the most useful apps. Then all the AI functions and system integration: searching based on screen content, clipping, text translation, spellchecking, or even rewriting whole messages based on a short prompt. There’s a lot, and it works pretty well, and importantly with full Polish language support. Samsung even thought of allowing assistant interaction via a long press of the power button. And that’s not all the surprises, because instead of launching the default Bixby (wtf?!), you can link Perplexity, ChatGPT, or Gemini. As a happy Perplexity Pro user, I chose that option and it works great; I really appreciate simply being given the choice of what I prefer. Unthinkable on iOS, where you’d at best get a disabled Siri.

I’m sure I would find much more, but I don’t want to artificially extend this post. I think I have already expressed my point of view enough.

iPhone has its advantages, too

I don’t want to sound like someone who flipped the switch from one side to the other and went from a huge Apple fan to its greatest critic in five minutes. I’m writing this all fresh because it’s a unique time for me when, for a short moment, I am familiar with both systems at once and can compare them. The differences I try to catch may seem like pouring cold water on hot oil—the eternal robot vs apple war. In practice, I really try to be objective, so now I’ll write what I think is better about the iPhone or what I simply miss after switching to a competitor’s device.

Probably some will say I’ve hit rock bottom with the next statement, but I’ll say it anyway—I trust Apple more than Google. I know it’s like choosing between plague and cholera, but I think so despite all the strange stuff the Apple users do. So when it comes to my data, I’d rather entrust it to Apple. I have ambivalent feelings about Samsung itself, but here we are mainly talking about software, and in software, there is a lot from Google embedded. You can avoid using GMaps, GKeep, Gmail, or GCalendar, but you still use a system that in practice belongs to them, and you can’t escape it.

Definitely a plus for the iPhone 15 Pro over the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 are its eyes and voice—that is, the camera and audio. Both are my subjective opinions, but I think for taking pictures, an average user will find it much easier to take a good photo with an iPhone than a Samsung, especially in poor light conditions. I came to this conclusion yesterday while taking a picture of my daughter I had just put to sleep; her innocent expression barely visible in the soft light of the night lamp charmed me. For clarity, both phones take phenomenal photos, but I believe the iPhone’s are prettier. As for codecs and sound in general, I am no audiophile, but if I can hear a difference in Bluetooth audio on AirPods, which I used with the iPhone and continue to use with the Samsung, or through car speakers, it means the difference really exists, and again, I think the advantage is with the iPhone. I don’t know what technology is behind Apple’s codecs, but if I had to use two words, I’d say – “more” and “better.”

The first time I launched the Play Store, I was struck by the amount of ads and aggressive sponsored “suggestions” displayed there and the confusing interface. When searching for an app by name, the results display the following sequence:

  1. sponsored

  2. the best matched result (only one!) which isn’t always what I’m looking for

  3. sponsored

  4. time-limited events, i.e., even more pressuring sponsored suggestions

  5. more results where it might be what I’m looking for if the search engine in point 2 didn’t show me what I needed

The App Store is more user-friendly in this aspect and also clearly shows what data the app collects about me and any additional costs after installation.

The built-in office suite and other manufacturer apps is both the biggest advantage and a trap of iOS. I already wrote that it’s like a golden cage. If you don’t plan to flee the Apple ecosystem, having free access to all these tools is really a big plus.

Pro tip for iMessage

I didn’t think about this at all, but before inserting the SIM card into the new phone, you must deactivate iMessage. Especially if it’s an eSIM, not a physical card, because activating it on the new phone automatically disables the old one. The problem is, if you forget this like I did, iMessage stays active, and on the new Android phone you won’t receive SMS messages from people you previously messaged via iMessage. Their messages will simply disappear or go to other devices where you had iMessage configured. I realized this only about a week later when several friends told me, “Hey, I already told you about this!” However, for forgetful folks like me who switched their SIM hastily, there is a lifeline. Just go to the Deregister iMessage page, go to the “No longer have your iPhone?” section, select your country, enter your phone number, enter the CAPTCHA, and hit “Send Code”. Shortly after, you’ll receive a 6-digit code via SMS on your new phone, which you enter in the box below and confirm. If everything is done correctly, iMessage will be completely deactivated for your number, and all messages will come as regular SMS on your new Android phone.

A good change?

Well, I’m excited, but my feelings speak for themselves. I think it’s hard to blame me, since I not only have a new phone but also experience a completely new (for me) kind of device. It’s a hybrid, both a smartphone and a tablet. People, this thing folds/unfolds its screen, which means the tablet fits into my pocket. I know it’s nothing new because such devices have existed for quite some time, but for me it’s a total novelty. Clearly it’s a revolution not just for me because while most people know what it is about, they are still curious about this device. “He bought it to show off,” sure, but also out of curiosity because my patience waiting for an Apple foldable just ran out.

The next post will probably have more about the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 itself. This one was supposed to be a short introduction, but as usual, it turned out quite long.