Not what I'm looking for

I've been super fortunate to be able to use an Android phone (Pixel) for the past few months, mainly for app testing, and improving, the Micro.blog apps.

Switching to Android has been a breath of fresh air. It's different. It actually does a lot of things I like, and I love it for the fact that it, in some way, does feel a bit more personal than your "normal" and well-polished SpongeBob (iOS) — if you know the episode where SpongeBob turns normal you know exactly what I mean. I know, a bit off a tangent, you get the point I hope.

iOS is very normal, for the average person. They give you a features set that they think suits 99% of the people buying it. That's what I think anyway. That's perfectly fine. Nothing wrong with average.

Android also feels normal, but it allows you to go outside of the bounds of what Google would want you to do — yes, it feels a little less polished because of it, but I think given the flexibility and general freedom (not 100%, but 100% more than Apple would give you) makes it a superior platform in general. Funny enough, as far as I know, Android is actually open source too.

Android feels like it has heaps of personality compared to iOS — from the boot up, to the little sounds and how it feels to use, to how it behaves day to day like the way it notifies you when it sense it's in the pocket. Little things, you know.

It's been an unexpected surprise for sure. It's also been an itch I wanted to scratch for a very long time, and I am happy to have had the opportunity. Given the choice between an iPhone and a good Android device, I would struggle what to choose.

As a very small back story where I come from, once Apple introduced the original iPhone, and I was fortunate enough to buy it just after my flight training, I never went back nor looked at anything else. Everything was beneath it for such a long time — I regret every moment telling people why to choose the Apple product in all cases — I even worked in an Apple shop for some time.

Long story short, Android gets a lot of things right, but also gets a lot of things wrong. It's a balance. Each platform offering something just slightly different, better or worse. Same for iOS.

Now a lot folks might be well into each ecosystem — that's understandable. When you come from Android and go to iOS it's much easier as Google do provide all their apps there. Apple does not. That is if you heavily rely on their services, which is of course a sticky point for most blog posts I see about this topic. Fair.

Personally I barely use any third party apps, nor do I use cloud storage (iCloud/Google Drive) or anything I might need on hand — I prefer it that way. Looking back over the years, having a note or 2 at hand was all I needed — but not much else. This makes it easier for sure, and that was years in the making. I don't have reminders/to-do lists, nor do I need notes in general. As long as I can get into my gym, with their app (I know!!!), that's all that matters! Pictures were important to me when our daughter was smaller — not so much anymore. I take 99% less photos now.

During this test I also gave my wife my iPhone (a Mini) as hers was being weird, and I inherited her SE. Needs a new battery and the top of the screen no longer accepts any meaningful touch input at all and the screen goes crazy because it probably thinks it's being touched. Fine with me. This exchange also allows me to keep my Apple Watch — I use it for time telling, waking me up in the morning and to allow me to listen to music in the gym (I don't track any workout, ever). I desperately want an iPod Shuffle, that you can clip on, that can connect to bluetooth headphones! Please god. Please!

The iPhone SE — WHAT A PHONE! It's absolutely magical. It's small, light and doesn't feel like it's going take over your life.

I kept the iPhone off for a while, especially during December and January (and parts of February) — I would only turn it on for updates and sync my Watch.

Funny thing, the Apple Watch has been fantastic since turning off the iPhone — no distractions with notifications, no nonsense — just a Watch and music player. It didn't feel like an extension of my phone at all which was great. It felt like its own little device. Which it should be really.

I'm not a fan of connecting a device to another — these should be standalone and have their own purpose.

And that brings me to my point of the post.

Both Android and iOS devices are not the devices I am looking for.

A long time ago I heard the word "Ambient Computing" — I think it was Google that said this during one of their keynotes.

I would love a device that, without taking away attention from the real world (important!), that I could potentially talk to to get messages to my loved ones (wife and daughter) and just go about my day without ever to having to really look at it.

I don't need a big screen, if any. I don't want to know about anything except allowing my wife and daughter to get in touch with me.

I want to use my voice to interact and, if I can't, perhaps with simple touch to get things moving and be done. I don't need much.

The Apple Watch seems to be that device for me — doesn't take away my attention, allows me to message the people I care about and also gives me a good time in the gym with good music.

I hope that this space expands more in future. The less screen I have, and the more time in the real world I can spend, the better.

Allowing me to talk at home with a device, or outside somehow with another (wearing on a wrist) and all be connected without giving it much thought? Bliss.

Will it ever become true? I don't know.

One can dream for sure.

That's the kind of device I am looking for.