iPhone or Android?...about to upgrade

[ts1234]

I am sure many may have a view for other reasons, but want 100% of the focus for this question to be related to interfacing with HS4.

I use HSBuddy, the Homeseer app, Geofency, and PHLocation on my iPhone. I'm a Windows user and I don't like iTunes at all, but have learned to live with it. I have a dream that being able to use things like Tasker makes a phone much more capable of interacting with HS4, but I'm not even sure if I need much more than what I get out of my current iPhone and the apps outlined above.

If Android devices are not leaps and bounds above iPhone for this I'll probably stick with and iPhone...only because everyone else in my family has one and I play tech support for all of them.

If you do reply...please be concise on what the advantages and disadvantages might be. Please also keep in mind that if some advantage takes six months to learn how to do, or involves jailbreaking a new phone, it's probably not something I care to do.

Thanks in advance for even taking the time...

Tom

[Rupp]

Ford vs Chevy which is better. This question rarely produces any significant value. I'd say stick with what you have unless something isn't working is significant enough to force you to change.

[ts1234]

Rupp...It is. but about 20 car magazines make their living breaking down facts and doing comparisons. My main goal is I'm not familiar with things like tasker and can't really grasp the value add. I'm about to make an $1100-$1400 choice and felt it wise to see what others thought. I once remember, but not even sure both my geofence apps run on Android.

[IanIreland]

Android every time for me. Much easier to 'play' with.

[ts1234]

IanIreland - THANKS! That's kind of the feeling I gotten watching posts over the last few years. Is there anything in particular you could list that you've done with it that would be much harder or just not possible on an iPhone?

[langenet]

Android for me as well. I used to use tasker for one use case though can't even remember what for now. If you're an iPhone user, you'll hate Android when you start using it. At least this is the experience my wife has. Then again, tables turned, I hate iPhone as well...

[skybolt]

I started off with the original apple iPad with cell data modem, only because that is all there was and thought what a great Idea. Got an iPhone through work and thought wow, what a great device. Then came alone Samsung and have been an Android user ever since, but only Samsung devices. Now they have almost doubled in price where both Apple and Samsung are so ridiculously priced it's crazy, 1500-2000 for a phone!? Still on a Note 8 from three years ago which is still currently updating, runs great and no waiting on anything. The issue with Android is you need to stick with big names like Samsung or Google (pixel), otherwise your getting a cheap knock off of some outdated thing that use to work ok. And now even Google is dumbing down there phones and limiting external memory (SD card) forcing you to get the larger capacity phone.

Tough decisions to make these days. All in all I would still go with Android, not because you can hack it, but because it has a better user experience and is more customizable. For me Apple is very sterile in their usability, but both Apple and Android work great with very little distinction as to which one is "best". So I would just stick with what your use too, as I am sure there are little nuances that you take for granted that may not be there if you switch. JMO.

[ts1234]

langenet & skybolt - Thanks for the comments! As a Windows user I'm a bit fed up with iPhone (especially since forced to use iTunes still). I'm guessing there are a lot of things I'd have to adjust to. I think most plans give you 30 days to change you mind. Maybe I'll take that approach .

[Wade]

...not even sure both my geofence apps run on Android.

Geofency is only available on iphone.

[ts1234]

Wade - Thanks! I thought I remembered something like that. I'm a little torn as I'd like to keep that option, but have converted all my geofencing to Bluetooth via mcsMQTT so that it all runs local and doesn't depend on anything but HS4...like a phone. However, I'd still like to be able to do things like turn the heat on when returning to the Denver area boundaries so it'd actually be warm when I came home vs just coming on when I pulled up.

[ksum]

There are other geofencing apps which work on Androids. Tasker may have the ability, been a while since I used it. I don't do any geofence stuff any longer. Only on the phone our daughter had when we used it to track her walk to school. Then Tasker would turn off the ringer, etc for lower battery consumption when she was close to the school building and turn everything back on when she was leaving the building area. But I do not use phones to determine if someone is/isn't home.

The biggest difference between Android and iPhone is the level of the system Android allows you/apps to change vs iPhone. You can access more on your Android. That said, manufacturers end up putting their own front end on an Android and the only way around that is to get a Pixel. So while a Samsung user will be bale to do some things, they may not be able to do others. Samsung has a front end more like an iPhone.

All that said, I have a Pixel 2XL now and will do the same for the next one. But it will be a while as this phone is still running strong. My daughter is on her second iPhone, both bought after the Pixel. But that is Pixel vs iPhone, not Android vs iPhone.

[ts1234]

ksum - Lots of great info THANKS!

[Kevb]

I've found geofencing with HSBuddy to be very solid with my Samsung S10+. Also looking at getting a new phone soon- whichever it is, my wife and I are getting the same one. No way am I going to try to figure out both!

[ts1234]

Kevb - Thanks!...and too funny but I get it.

[jmaddox]

I've had both an Iphone and Android device. My last Iphone was the X. Currently using Android, Samsung Z Fold 2.

Moving from Iphone to Android was a bit of a shock to my system. Took me a few tries to get used to answering the phone when I had to press and slide the phone icon out a circle. I was so happy to find a setting that disabled that and let me just tap the icon to answer/decline. I still find the Android notification system mildly annoying. Digging through settings is as annoying on an Iphone as it is on an Android device.

I prefer the Android widgets to Iphone's version. I like the Apps Edge Panel on Android. I find the pop up windows on Android a bit annoying to interact with, they feel clunky to use and to switch to full screen. I like being able to close all open apps with one tap on Android vs having to swipe up on every single app on my Iphone. I like my Android themes. My iphone X only had face recognition and since I wear a mask at work I like that my Z Fold 2 has both face and fingerprint recognition.

I found that Geofency seemed to work more consistently on my Iphone X than EgiGeozone on my Z-fold 2. EgiGeozone picks up my work fence fine but not always my home fence. My wife's Iphone 8, using Geofency, rarely registers her arrival/departure from work. Her phone registers the home fence most of the time.

I have homeseer-homebridge set up; it provided excellent control via Siri. When I told my wife I was getting an Android maintaining homebridge-Homeseer was an issue she brought up requesting I maintain it. I sort of miss using Siri for voice control of my home automation via my phone since there isn't an equivalent I'm aware of for Android.

I don't know if this is an android or iphone issue but HSMobile on my home network doesn't connect unless I turn off wifi first. I think this is also an Iphone issue since the last time my wife tried to use HSMobile she complained it wouldn't connect. She went to bed early or I'd go snag her phone to check. I suspect HSMobile is trying to log in using the routers external IP and my router doesn't support NAT Loopback. I don't recall if my Iphone had this issue or not. I suspect I could avoid this by setting up a VPN I've just not had the motivation to do so since I don't use HSMobile that often.