After a blatant theft of my wife’s HTC 10 a couple of weeks ago, we decided to shift her to an iPhone since the other four family members use iOS and there are benefits to all of us using iPhones. At least, that is what I thought at first.
Ever since my wife started using smartphones she has refused to accept new phones since I always had extra phones around after testing and writing about them. She didn’t want to spend the money on a phone when my hand-me downs were still in perfect condition.
She started off with my old Windows Phones and over the past couple of years has been using Android as her primary platform. My daughters took my old iPhones or purchased older generation iPhones and thanks to last year’s compelling T-Mobile trade-in offer, we bought their first brand new phones with the iPhone 7.
For about a year, my wife has been using the black HTC 10 I bought. Over the years, HTC phones have been her favorite due to the responsiveness, camera performance, and ability to survive her regular drops. She has tried Samsung and Nexus devices, but was never as happy as she was with an HTC phone.
My wife stocks greeting cards at various stores in the area and carries a work bag that contains her tools of the trade, including a Windows Mobile-powered Motorola scanner. She has a cart of products with her tool bag and moves through the card aisles to complete her work.
A couple of weeks ago she was working under the card stand getting out some products and noticed a man standing close to her work cart about 10 feet away. After she looked up and saw him, he took off around the corner. She went to check her tool bag and cart, only to discover her HTC 10 was now missing.
She started looking around the store and told store associates and the store manager she thought the guy stole her phone. One clerk noted the guy left already so there was nothing she could do now.
She called me on coworkers phone and I used Android Device Manager to try to find her phone. It showed her phone was last at the store location so I sent the lock and notifications to try to make sure her phone could be locked down, if nothing else.
Unfortunately, within about 30 minutes Android Device Manager showed that the HTC 10 was no longer associated with her Gmail account. It appears that the thief hard reset the phone and it was now his.
My wife did not have any security on her phone so I had her change all of her passwords. If the phone was hard reset, then it is unlikely there was anything to worry about the thief getting off the phone. However, there was also a microSD card in the phone that had photos on it so all of the photos are viewable by the scum. This theft had me immediately go and lock down the microSD cards in my Android phones as that is an unnerving feeling knowing a thief can browse the card and see part of your life.
There are many reasons people choose one operating system over another and no single OS is best for everyone. Here are the primary reasons my wife decided to give the iPhone a try:
After weighing the pros and cons, we went to the T-Mobile store to bring my wife back to T-Mobile. She switched to Cricket a couple years ago to experience better cellular coverage, but wanted to reduce monthly costs and give T-Mobile another chance with its improved network coverage.
We picked up a new T-Mobile SIM, but had to place an order for her new iPhone 7 since she wanted the new red one. It arrived a few days later. This is the first time I have seen the red one and it is gorgeous.
I wanted to share my experiences helping someone make the transition since there have been some challenges and in talking to a few other family members they had the same recent experiences moving to an iPhone. Even though I have been using an iPhone for years, I learned something new during this transition too. Let’s take a closer look at some challenges:
There are only a couple of days left and I am sure the iPhone 7 will be sticking with my wife. She is happy with the camera, is getting used to the interface, the size is right for her hand, and the improved communications with other iOS users is pleasing to her.
The iPhone connects reliably to her Acura and Siri even works well with the voice button on the steering wheel. My wife has also learned that she need to lock down her phone and the fast iPhone front facing fingerprint scanner makes this quick and easy to accomplish.
I offered up some of my other new Android phones and offered to buy her a new Android, but she is making a committment to iOS.
