Hello
I recently bought a Samsung Galaxy Flip3 in lavender. I am really enjoying the flip form factor. I am planning to use it with my work number.
However, I am curious if anyone here is using an android phone and how do you make it work within an Apple ecosystem. Or does the Android phone live alone which is what the Samsung flip3 is doing.
I have a Pixel 5. It is my secondary phone and my 1st 5G phone. It is not well integrated into the Apple ecology but this is on purpose as I want to use this as a backup and diversified OS.
Personally, I like the Google Play Store presentation than the iOS app store. I also use a lot of G Suite products but these apps are working well on my iPhone, iPad and Mac.
I also purposely use two different phone for different CarPlay , Android Auto experience
Not sure this helps
by the way, I really like the Samsung Galaxy Fold 3 but it is way to pricy for me to be used as a secondary phone
I agree with this. The only thing I do not about the Play store is that there is no change log for app updates. I like to go through the history to see what has changed
no , I do not use both phone on daily basis. However, I do carry them both when I leave home. The Android phone has better location tracking on Google maps
I have a Pixel 4a, used mainly as an MP3 player next to the bed, as it has a headphone jack still, which means I can used headphones in bed for sleeping if I need to.
I used to write the occasional article for the Micro Mart magazine in the UK, and would ensure that I had an Android and iPhone to ensure that I could test both operating systems for whatever I was writing about.
I don’t tend to take it out the house anymore, though there was a period that I was using it with my work provided SIM card whilst the iPhone 6S they’d given me had issues with battery life. Like @fuzzygel, I quite liked the Google Maps tracking to show where I’ve been (privacy issues aside) and certainly in my old job, that was extremely handy when doing timesheets and mileage, so I’d carry an android then. I no longer travel like I used to, so that aspect has dropped off a bit.
At one point, I tried to get it syncing contacts with iCloud, but gave up and stuck them in Google instead, as I could access them on iOS. Notes and everything else, I tried briefly and then realised that life is to short.
Yes. I never had an iPhone.
I don’t like any corporate ‘ecosystem’, but prefer open standards and self-hosting. So integrating an Android phone is actually easier than using an Apple device. I do have all my data on my Mac and iPad too b.t.w.
Based on your set-up, I assume you are not using icloud drive or apps that are exclusive to Apple hardware
Can you please share the apps and services you use to ensure they work well between ecosystems?
Which Android device are you using?
Yes. I used to switch between Android and iOS earlier, but hadn’t done so for a few years.
I’ve been running iPhone plus a Samsung for close to an year now — and I can’t go back to a solo setup now.
It’s nice that Android just works really well as a single device. It doesn’t need to benefit from an ecosystem like Mac+iPhone+AppleWatch may do. It’s best ecosystem is Google and those apps/services are on any platform, so I don’t need to run Windows instead of Mac at all.
So yeah, for me, it lives separate from my iCloud setup; but has all of my Google (+Workspace) setup as a backup.
Android’s main appeal for me has been the ability to install and update apps from other regions. I have to travel between a few countries for work and life, and one set of apps are (frustratingly) locked behind a country’s app store on iOS and Android.
Having to switch between iOS App Store accounts to install these apps is annoying but doable, however on Android I can just sideload the .apk and be on my way without having to juggle accounts on the Play Store.
This coupled with a few custom apps, and a far better messages and call filtering system means that I prefer to keep my receiving phone numbers in the Samsung and use a data SIM on the iPhone (for use with VOIP apps which can better handle filtering and blocking).
Don’t get me wrong though, iPhone is still the primary device, but the Samsung is being used enough that I’m eyeing an upgrade to a Fold3 after having ditched my iPad last month.
Side note: I like following your blog!
I’m currently using a Samsung S10.
Basically all my syncing is based on WebDAV (notes), CalDAV, and CardDAV. With some cross platform ownCloud file syncing as well.
Apps on Mac: FSNotes, Fantastical, and Contacts.
Apps on iPad: Notebooks, Calendar, Reminders, and Contacts
And on Android Markor, aCalendar+, Tasks, and the default (Samsung) Contacts app.
The ownCloud app is installed on all my devices too.
the key difference between Android and iOS (apart from the Google vs Apple ecology) is that Android system is highly configurable. It can be a good thing for some but may not suit others.
Android also has more latitude of connectivity such as NFC (which is not as locked down as iOS), again, this is a double edged sword. Tasker in Android can be a good automation tool that nothing in iOS (afaik) can match
Thank you @Lucky for your detailed response. sideloading of apps has been so great and easy. I usually get the apk from https://www.apkmirror.com. I am not interested in cranked/privated software. I only sideload apps that are not available in the current store. Google Play store has the same issue as App store when it comes to accessing apps that are region based. The concept of travel is unknown to both ecosystems.
@Lucky @vco1 @fuzzygel What task managment system do you use since my prefered Things is not multiplatform. I do not anticipate switching but I am keen to know what system people use especially in a multiplatform system.
I use iCloud calendar and contacts. I have not figured out how to sync this to my Android device.
I was a bit surprised how expensive android phones are. With that said. Samsung phones are really well made. The flip3 wasnt cheap eiher but during the black friday sales, it was 35% off which made it cheaper than the iPhone 13 mini.
@Lucky you made my day. My sincere thanks 
I do not write often. I write when I have something to say or am trying to figure out something for myself.
you can use todoist, which is truly multi-platform. Also very good in supporting natural language input
this may be one of the downside of Android OS. Be very careful in downloading or sideloading apk files. Only choose those from very reliable sources. APKs are known to contain malware as bonuses
I’m using simple todo’s/tasks. Basically the CalDAV tasks. Through Fantastical on the Mac, Reminders on the iPad and Tasks on the S10. No specific task manager.
Same here. I use apkmirror (because it’s reliable) to get georestricted apps. Not interested in cracked apps, or the vanced/++ versions of popular apps either.
As for task management, I still use Things as my main task repository for work along with Reminders for personal stuff.
My iPhone or Mac is always close enough to use Things/Reminders that I haven’t tried to fit in a cross platform solution in, but if I did it would be TickTick. But it’s mutually exclusive with Things and misses a start date.
Another option is Google Tasks, which besides the web app on desktop and native app on iOS/Android also plugs in to Fantastical. I use it occasionally when I want to track an email thread with Gmail’s own deeplink (which is limited to their ecosystem).
Pleasure is mine.
No.
I’m seeing this post only now so… Yes, I have and I’ve always had an Android phone. Often tempted by the iPhone and iPad for compatibilty and ecosystem smoothness with my Mac, but honestly, it’s very hard to beat (1) customization and (2) automation possibilities on Android.
On the automation side, I bought Tasker but the learning curve is quite steep so even though I know how powerful it can be, I’m not using it right now (I wish there was an official routines sharing site, lile BTT did). But I settled with Macrodroid and am a very happy user.
When it comes to the apps I use those which are multi-platform, and am quite happy with them too:
From the top of my head, what I miss most on Android at the moment is (1) a good local markdown editor, a la Typora and (2) a way to interact with my knowledge base currently managed by DevonThink.