Android User's Journey Back to Apple - Part 2

One long-time Android user's journey back to Apple after seven years away (a multi-part series of posts)

First Things First . . .

I decided after bringing home the MacBook Pro, that I would try to experience the entire Apple ethos, by sticking with Apple native apps and trying not to use the Google apps with which I was so accostomed.

I remember as I began re experiencing macOS, seven years after leaving the Apple eco system, what I would describe as these small delightful surprises. Little did I know at the time that these were microscopic fissures forming in my Google armor.

I’ll mention some of the most important here, and hope to provide greater details for my use of each of them in later posts in this series.

Native applications - remember that I had been using mostly web applications on ChromeOS for seven years so Apple Mail, Reminders, Notes, Contacts, Calendar and more were very powerful in comparison; they all have full featured menu bars with tons of options. Reminders in particular is a work of art and surprisingly feature rich for a native application. And they all are interoperable with one another.

Drag and Drop - I couldn’t believe how easy it was to select items like files, an email message, an appointment from the calendar or just selected text, and then to drag that thing to the desktop, or even to another application like Notes, while maintaining a link back to the originating application and element.

The Share Sheet - if I were to pick a single element that I have used every single day and still amazes me, this is it. No matter what application from which I access the share sheet, it is consistent in what it offers, and includes the three most important native apps for my workflows; mail, notes and reminders. And, it can be customized with further automations.

I can create a reminder (task) or note from an email message, I can create a note from a reminder, or reminder from a note. I can share any of these things with someone via Airdrop, Messages, or Mail, or just provide a link, and when doing so the others can collaborate on the item with me if desired, or just be provided with a copy of the item.

Preview - this is so subtle but so powerful when compared with any other operating system. I can preview virtually any text-based or image file by simply selecting it and pressing the space bar, no need to convert the file or open an application, just press the spacebar; this saves so much time.

Spotlight - so Google is the king of search, but I was never able to see the level of information I can see by pressing Cmd+Spacebar and typing some text. Applications named with the search text, Documents and other files, Email messages, Contacts, Wikipedia entries, Web search results, Automation shortcuts, Siri suggestions. The list goes on, nothing like this is available on ChromeOS or Android without third-party applications.

Shortcuts - some refer to these as Siri Shortcuts but calling them this is short changing them. Shortcuts are bits of automations that allow you to customize and create efficient workflows triggered by geographic location, date/time, focus mode, another shortcut or manually pressing a button or selecting the shortcut from the share sheet. Entire books and training series have been created to demonstrate the power of Shortcuts, and to me they are the coup de gras of the Apple eco system and unmatched by other OS’s.

Focus Modes - these are very powerful for allowing you to, well focus, on specific applications, people, and notifications for specific times when those things are most important, and others are distractions. I have focus modes for work, personal, driving, sleep and do not disturb; and they really do help you focus on what’s important at different times in your day.

As you can hopefully see, I was starting to enjoy all the perks I was finding in Apple, and the chance of me returning the MacBook Pro at the end of my return window was quickly fading. In fact, I was now getting the itch to try an iPhone and see if it could produce the same excitement. I’ll talk about that experience in the next post.

For now, subscribe to be notified of the next post in this series, and thanks again for reading. J