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What happens if I replace a piece of the Apple puzzle with a Pixel?
Recently, I had to return my iPhone 12 mini due to a faulty camera; while I wait for a replacement to arrive (or rather, decide whether to even order a replacement), I have been using Google’s Pixel 4a 5G.
Now, Apple is well known for its ecosystem, the excellent way its products work in unison. On their own, Apple devices are great, but when you start pairing them, you get something akin to magic.
And a good part of 2020, I was living content entirely in that ecosystem; I had the iPhone, the iPad, the MacBook, the AirPods, the Apple Watch, etc., etc. So you can imagine the disruption I experienced when I suddenly had to trade what is arguably the center of Apple’s ecosystem, the iPhone, for a humble Android device.
Was going to be horrible. I was going to go from having all my devices communicating with each other to having a phone that ignores all my other devices. How was he going to deal with it?
Pretty good, it turned out. Despite all of Apple’s insistence that their devices work better together, including an Android phone in the mix didn’t cause much disruption.
Sure, I could no longer use my Apple Watch (I might, but only as a watch and fitness tracker, although it didn’t send my health data anywhere, and I could still unlock my MacBook). And sure, I couldn’t use Apple’s Photos app to access all my shots from my phone, and I couldn’t use iMessages to reply to messages on my other devices. But I quickly found workarounds for all of that.
For photos, it was easy; I’ve always used Google Photos to back up my photos, even when I was using an iPhone (Google’s free storage is better than paying for iCloud space … I hate that that ends in June). And while there is no native Google Photos app on the MacBook, there is one on the iPad and you can access Google Photos in the web browser.
Similarly, Android Web Messages can also be accessed in the browser. And while it may seem, at first, like a hassle to have to log into a website to read and reply to text messages instead of using the iMessages app, I can remind you that you will need internet access either way, so that’s a bit washing. And you can still use Messages for Web to send images or GIFs or any attachments you want to send from your computer or iPad.
In fact, Google seems to have an answer for almost everything. You can install Backup and Sync to keep your files in sync between your MacBook and Google Drive / Google Photos. You can download Chrome and sync web pages between devices, and even make it your default web browser.
Simply put, I didn’t miss a step when replacing my iPhone 12 mini with the Pixel 4a 5G. Despite all that Apple talks about how well their devices work together in their ecosystem, it wasn’t too damaging to swap the core component of that ecosystem for something relatively strange.
The door, however, does not open completely both ways. While companies like Google and Microsoft have made their apps, programs, and services readily available to macOS and iOS users, Apple hasn’t done the same for Windows, Chrome OS, or Android users. And that, for me, is a real bummer. Of course, Apple has no inclination to do this; doing so would only affect their iPhone sales.
But really, that is only true if you prefer apple apps. If I prefer to use Pages for writing or Notes for taking notes, it would be beneficial for me to use only Apple products. If I preferred to keep all my photos in iCloud, it would only make sense to have a smartphone with a camera that instantly uploads to that service. But I do not do it. I use Google Docs and Microsoft Word to write. I use Keep or OneNote for the notes. And as mentioned, I use Google Photos to store photos. In fact, the only Apple app I’m intrinsically linked to is Apple Music, and … well, look, that’s the only one available on the Google Play Store.
It could be argued that there are other apps available on iOS that are simply not available on Android. An example that comes to mind, and one that I use almost daily, is Photofox, an application for which I simply have not found an equal in the Play Store. And perhaps for you, that would be a deciding factor; if so, you will be better off with an iPhone. But for me, the only apps that are exclusive to iOS, like Photofox, I prefer to use on my iPad anyway.
And that brings up another point: I don’t know if this idea of infiltrating the Apple ecosystem with a non-Apple device would have worked as well if I was swapping a different component. I mean, my Lenovo Duet Chromebook tablet wouldn’t communicate with my MacBook like an iPad does. A Wear OS watch wouldn’t work with my iPhone like the Apple Watch would. There are absolutely benefits to pairing certain Apple devices with other Apple devices.
Also, this experiment would not have worked in the opposite direction; There is simply no way to make an iPhone play as well with a Chromebook or PC. Sure, you can still use Google Photos for your camera roll, but you’ll never be able to reply to your iMessages on your PC (at least, there’s no easy way to do it).
No, I think this works best only if you prefer Apple devices but want an Android phone. What I have learned here is that most of the benefits that the iPhone has when paired with other Apple devices can be easily replicated with an Android phone.
Of course, not all Android phones are the same as the iPhone. The iPhone is an excellent device (unless you’re having camera issues), and I wouldn’t recommend replacing it with a $ 100 Android phone. And for the record, I’m not comparing the Pixel 4a 5G to the iPhone 12… yet. That story will definitely come soon.
But this experience has made me realize that you don’t always have to go “all inclusive” to get the best possible experience with the devices you have. And as much as Apple likes to announce the magic of its ecosystem, it is possible to introduce a small Android into the mix without ending the world.
