Well, I tried for almost a year to learn Android but wasn't getting enough out of it to continue. I signed up to trade in my very slow, very old Apple devices & my newer Galaxy for (most of the cost of) a new iPhone.

I'm most looking forward to getting back:

• Bear
• Cloud Outliner Pro
• Day One
• Awesome Note
• Hash Photos &
• Grid Calendar.

I'd used these apps daily for years, and their features, extensively, but quit in an effort to force myself to adapt to Android.

This was a bad idea. I've never seen anything take the fun out crimping or steal my chance at having a productive day faster than trying to work with my notes and outlines while trying to find, then learn new apps, and adapt to a new operating system all at once.

I'm coming out of this looking forward to pulling everything back together, and with a few new thoughts:
• Software is to be used and when we're lucky, enjoyed, but not necessarily kept up with, if there's nothing requiring us to do so.
• Sometimes we're learning and sometimes we're not, and that's fine.
• Obsidian looks amazing...ߘ

My first smart phone was an Android. I hated it. I could never get the feel of it. When I got my first iPhone, I felt completely at home with it. Although I must admit I still haven't settled on my app set as you have.

Curious: How do you integrate Awesome Note with your computer... or do you?

Steve

Well, I have an amusing admission. Living in France as I do, but with a business still in the UK, I had two iPhones for my two phone accounts.

Silly!

So I looked into upgrading to an iPhone XR (the earliest version, I believe, that supports two SIM cards, one being an eSIM, of course). I also wanted one for my wife/business partner.

And wow! Even refurbs are impressively expensive! Or more than I expected/wished to pay, anyway.

So I did something that only a CRIMPer would do. Despite my major (and ongoing) reservations about Android, I investigated Android – specifically, Android 11, which is supposed to be more privacy-aware than previous versions. Please note that I have always been a passionate anti-Android person, not least because of Google’s octopus-like embrace.

And behold! I am now the proud owner of an Android smartphone (Blackview A70, for those who’re interested, because (a) seriously cheap, (b) enormous screen, (c) enormous battery, (d) support for dual SIM and 128GB SD card, not the usual and/or kludge).

Having brutally turfed out anything that could compromise privacy (with the exception of certain Google apps to which I have had to resign myself), I’ve been favourably impressed.

So many more apps are available for macOS/Android than was the case last time I conducted a brief, negative pilot (about 3 years ago). The transition is so much more seamless. Android 11 is so much more like iOS (not by accident, I assume). And Android 11 even has a number of desirable traits that iOS doesn’t have.

For someone who’s not a major smartphone person, like me, the new phone is more than sufficient. I’ve got my key data on there, mainly in UpNote (but not NotePlan, alas, an Android version of which doesn’t yet exist); I’ve got shared calendars, contacts and e-mail; I’ve got an amazingly huge screen (my iPhone was a 7, and I was very fond of it, but I look at it now and it seems positively Lilliputian); I’ve got an enormous 5,400 mAh battery which usually lasts a couple of days (although it’s quite variable, which I gather is not unusual in Androidland). And I’ve got ALL my music on a big SDX card.

What’s more, the phone cost me about EUR 80 (ca. USD 85 or GBP 70, depending on market rate fluctuations). I can’t believe how good it is. No, it’s not super-fast, but I don’t play games. The sound is clear, the screen is clear, the messaging notifications are clear, settings are easy to access (with a command centre that’s at least the equal of iOS’s). It’s not too heavy (actually, it’s lighter than my wife’s iPhone 7S, and about the same size, even though the screen is an inch larger).

Android is still a shifty, devious weasel. But I feel more in control of this particular shifty, devious weasel (V11.1) than I did using previous versions (no, I don’t use Gmail, although I do use Microsoft Outlook).

Yes, I’d return to an iPhone like a shot if I suddenly inherited lots of money or was offered one for free. But in the meantime, I’m a fairly happy Android bunny (although maybe I’m also waiting for the other shoe to fall…)!

Cheers!
Bill

Steve,

I never had a need to bring to my PC, but since Evernote appears to be the only way to get them off of my iPhone, they are everywhere Evernote is.

I'm waiting for DoogiePIM v3 to be released in a few days, and if the documents section is a little more developed than before, I'll move them from Evernote & be busy linking for quite some time.

The apps I mentioned have suited me for years. Having no business or group sharing needs, no content creation to be shared as of yet and no task sharing keeps me on the shallow side of the software pool, for sure, much easier to stay with the same apps.

Stephen Zeoli wrote:

My first smart phone was an Android. I hated it. I could never get the
feel of it. When I got my first iPhone, I felt completely at home with
it. Although I must admit I still haven't settled on my app set as you
have.

Curious: How do you integrate Awesome Note with your computer... or do
you?

Steve

Stephen Zeoli wrote:

My first smart phone was an Android. I hated it. I could never get the feel of it. When I got my first iPhone, I felt completely at home with it.

Interesting... I have the exact opposite experience. I've had a number of iOS devices (from ipod touch to a recent iPad) and feel claustrophobic in the very limited freedom Apple give its users.

Switching to Android was a liberation. Free at last! Everything from the launcher, the SD card expansion, a functional file manager, to a real USB port is great (and a stylus, as it is a Samsung Note). Not to mention the most important, being able to install any version of an app (through .apk loading). "Upgrade" anxiety free !

Typical case of YMMV of course ;-)

Pierre Paul Landry
IQ Designer

Bill,

This is a great story. I think it's hugely important to be so technologically adaptable, and I have so much respect for it. I think that's why it took me so long to finally throw in the towel. I wanted to believe I'd eventually adapt. I guess we all have limitations.

Everything you mentioned in your comparison is absolutely true.

All of my phones have been used heavily, but were well cared for. Still, iPhones always needed battery cases, which are very heavy, ugly and after a while, hurt my wrist. They have no stylus, or anywhere to put one. They're shamefully expensive, and do have dreary displays in comparison to Samsung. My Android is lightweight, easier to hold (not as wide), the display is beautiful and bright. Sounds is loud and clear. Escaping the iPhone design has been a joy, and that's not even counting the speed.

The two notes apps that have performed the best so far are I think are Notion and UpNote. For journaling, Diarium has the most sharing features, Diaro is the best looking. But neither compared to Day One and probably only because I've used it so much for so long. I think UpNote has done an outstanding job designing their interface for Android, especially in comparison to most Android apps. Dynalist also looks good & works very well. Many of them do but I can't even find half my photos on this phone to take advantage of these great aops. Muscle memory wins this round, I suppose.

I will most certainly not miss the Play Store or the 80's style pop up ads in apps, it seems like vandalizing a developer's work.

Anyway, nice take on the differences.

Sarah

Thanks for the information, Sarah!

Sarah wrote:

Steve,

I never had a need to bring to my PC, but since Evernote appears to be
the only way to get them off of my iPhone, they are everywhere Evernote
is.

I'm waiting for DoogiePIM v3 to be released in a few days, and if the
documents section is a little more developed than before, I'll move them
from Evernote & be busy linking for quite some time.

The apps I mentioned have suited me for years. Having no business or
group sharing needs, no content creation to be shared as of yet and no
task sharing keeps me on the shallow side of the software pool, for
sure, much easier to stay with the same apps.

Stephen Zeoli wrote:
My first smart phone was an Android. I hated it. I could never get the
>feel of it. When I got my first iPhone, I felt completely at home with
>it. Although I must admit I still haven't settled on my app set as you
>have.
>
>Curious: How do you integrate Awesome Note with your computer... or do
>you?
>
>Steve

Thanks, Sarah – no particular virtue on my part, just an ongoing curiosity about all the technology that’s not in my immediate sphere of reference; but sometimes (often unexpectedly, as in this case) this can cause a major paradigm shift!

Thanks also for the info on Android apps – still a very new area for me. But I’ve discovered quite a lot of good ones (as well as a huge amount of dross).

On the notetaking front, UpNote is especially good, but Dynalist and Workflowy are pretty good, too, as is Evernote. Because there are so many good macOS exporters for Apple Notes, I’ve exported most of my confidential notes to UpNote (sadly, it doesn’t automatically import images, but hey – Joplin does, on the other hand, although I don’t like Joplin’s UX as much). Neither Joplin nor UpNote rely on iCloud (nor do Dynalist or Workflowy), which is very convenient.

For e-mail, Outlook is nice, rather to my surprise; I’ve also played with Spark, which seems pretty capable (although I find it much too fussy); the Microsoft universe appears to be quite capable of transferring contacts everywhere, even if you’re not using Google as the underlying platform (okay, okay, so you could argue they’re all as bad as each other!).

As far as task management is concerned, you might want to look at TickTick, which is very cross-platform (Chinese, too, but it works very well and is regularly updated – more powerful than most other task management apps IMHO). And, of course, Todoist, which is steadily improving (although still doesn’t provide enough space for notes, unlike TickTick). I’ve been a bit disappointed by Microsoft To-Do, which is supposed to pick up flagged e-mails from Outlook but in my case… doesn’t.

Besides Notion – which is, I agree, nice on Android – the other online notetaking app that works well is Nuclino. And I’ve got a couple of other favourites on the phone, like Simplenote and Microsoft’s new all-in-one “Office” app. More than enough for a simple smartphone!

Do you mean that

(a) iCloud is very convenient, or
(b) the fact that they don't rely on iCloud is very convenient?

I've never used iCloud, so I've no idea of its convenience (or not)

Thanks!


MadaboutDana wrote:

Neither Joplin
nor UpNote rely on iCloud (nor do Dynalist or Workflowy), which is very
convenient.

iCloud is extremely convenient; it's the main way I share files.

https://youtu.be/CIXr_MNO874

Some developers don't use iCloud because (a) their apps are cross-platform and need to be usable on non-Apple platforms, (b) some filetypes don't sync well under iCloud, and/or (c) developers feel that offering their own sync solution is a value-add that helps substantiate their subscription rate.

For Joplin it's (a) because the\y work on Windows, Linux, macOS, Android and iOS, not sure the reason that Mac/iOS UpNote uses a proprietary cloud.

I own UpNote but I'd still prefer full control of my files. (And with the improvements Apple's made to Notes, currently in beta for upcoming OS revisions, I might migrate back to it.)

I agree with @satis: iCloud is extremely convenient, and I use it all the time.

But I can’t use it with an Android phone (or well, I can, if I use it in a web browser, but… clunky!).

So simple Android-friendly alternatives are very welcome.

I’m just experimenting with a slightly mad but potentially handy Android-friendly alternative whereby I copy my favourite iCloud folders into JottaCloud (an ultra-secure Norwegian file-syncing service I can thoroughly recommend); JottaCloud does work on Android. In my experience, it’s very, very fast. You can specify which folders you want to sync with JottaCloud – including, as it happens, iCloud folders.

This could be a convenient way of sharing all the markdown files I have in iCloud with my various Android markdown apps. Okay, so doubling the amount of syncing that goes on, but also backing up my favourite data! Well, that’s how I justify it to myself… ;-)

Jottacloud sounds interesting. How is the encryption?

One thing I liked about Spideroak was the encryption was at the endpoint. Spideroak's servers didn't do any encryption or decryption. That was all done on the user's machine.

Seems like the way to do it.

Well, here are some relevant passages from JottaCloud’s help files (https://docs.jottacloud.com/en/articles/1359359-security-at-jottacloud

Infrastructure

All of our services run in our own data center's. We run our own routers, load balancers and physical servers.
We use both our own internal DNS servers and external DNS servers.
Our data centers are located in Norway. Jottacloud services have been built with disaster recovery in mind.
All of our servers are within our own private network with network access control lists (ACL’s) that prevent unauthorized requests getting to our internal network.
Service Levels

Our uptime is 99.9% or higher. See our status here.

Data

All customer data is stored in Norway. Read our Privacy Guarantee here.
We do not have individual datastore for each customer. However strict privacy controls exist in our application code to ensure data privacy and prevent one customer from accessing another customers data.
All data is encrypted at rest on server
Data Transfer

All data sent to or from Jottacloud is encrypted in transit using 256 bit encryption.
Our API and application endpoints are TLS/SSL only and score an "A+" rating on SSL Labs' tests. This means we only use strong cipher suites and have features such as HSTS and Perfect Forward Secrecy fully enabled.
Authentication

Jottacloud is served 100% over https.
We have two-factor authentication (2FA) and strong password policies to ensure access to cloud services are protected.
Permissions and Admin Controls

Jottacloud enables permission levels to be set for any employees with access to Jottacloud admin tools.
Application Monitoring

On an application level, we produce audit logs for all activity
All access to Jottacloud applications is logged and audited

With all due respect, if you can do what you're doing on a 6" phone -- or even a tablet -- you're not doing much which demands anything too sophisticated.

Listerene,

If possible, please clarify your reply, as it can be interpreted a few different ways.

Do you mean that there aren't many notes or outlines that could be written on a mobile device that would require sophisticated software (or something to that effect)?

If so, are you including web apps?

Sarah


Listerene wrote:

With all due respect, if you can do what you're doing on a 6" phone --
or even a tablet -- you're not doing much which demands anything too
sophisticated.

Hey @Listerene,

Well, as @Sarah says, I’m not quite sure what you mean, but yes, for me a smartphone is primarily a communications platform and – as a secondary function – an information access device (but not information management; I prefer to do that on a desktop/laptop).

As I said earlier, I don’t play games or do anything spectacularly demanding on my smartphones. But I do expect to be able to consult important information on them, whether in note form, database form or document form. I do expect to be able to take brief notes on that information for subsequent, more sophisticated treatment.

I don’t expect to do complex information management tasks on a smartphone – as you say, it’s not optimised for that. My standard workstation comprises a couple of mammoth monitors and a powerful notebook (MacBook Pro); that’s where the true “management” activity takes place.

But information isn’t useful (or at least, in my case it isn’t) if you don’t have easy/quick access to it, ideally while you’re mobile.

Maybe that clarifies my view of smartphones a little more?

Note that messing about with various notetaking/information management apps isn’t part of my management activity; it’s primarily a CRIMPer’s experimental impulse to find even better ways to manage/consult/access/carry information. The smartphone side of things is mainly “access/consult/carry”. Even my tasks/appointments are actually managed from my workstation, although I’ll enter them on my smartphone as they arise.

Like every CRIMPer, I suspect, I’ve played with Bluetooth keyboards and smartphones, and lost interest fairly quickly.

I would, on the other hand, contest your suggestion (if I’ve understood you correctly, that is), that tablets aren’t suitable for doing sophisticated things on. Take a look at Federico Viticci’s fascinating descriptions of his work on iPads for more on that (macstories.com). But even then, it’s worth mentioning that he uses a large iPad Pro as his main workstation, not a 6-inch smartphone.