After my posts just over a month ago, wherein I decided to give my Android phone one last chance to convince me to replace it with another similar model, I had some fantastic suggestions of apps to use. Dolphin Browser and Fast Reboot were a revelation to me, and made for some more interesting minutes spent browsing.

However, the irritations are still there, and after six weeks, I finally made the decision and ordered my upgrade - the iPhone 4S. I can’t say I’m 100% looking forward to it, I like the variation of having a non-Apple device, but having said that, not having to carry a phone and an iPod separately is also appealing.

Here are a few quick reasons why I finally opted to move away from my HTC:

1. The software is never updated. There’s all this talk in the tech blogs I follow of Honeycomb this and Ice Cream Sandwich that and I never see any updates at all. I remember one update perhaps when I first had the phone, but since then it has been nothing at all. I can understand that they want the new software on the new phones to encourage you to buy and upgrade, but if sticking with Android means being stuck in the past for 18 months at a time, well, that isn’t selling it to me.
2. Possibly related to the first option but the inbuilt social networking application stopped working with no explanation at all. I had Peep, as it is called, set up with Twitter, and when they changed their API it simply stopped updating. I don’t know if an update would have fixed it or if Twitter ruined it for everyone, but it was irritating. I opted for the official Twitter app instead, which is what they wanted, I’m sure.
3. The storage space is driving me loopy. I knew that installing more apps would be problematic of a phone with such a small amount of space, but I moved as much as I could to the SD card. It was practically back to it’s out of the box settings, and still I was getting the little “low on space” notification. What more can I do?
4. The market stopped allowing me to buy apps. I can download free ones, and I can buy apps via the website, but through the online app, there is nothing doing. It won’t let me. I’ve had a look at everything I can think of, updated all the info in my Google Checkout but it’s not having any of it. And therefore, I am not having any of the apps. Oh well.
5. There’s talk, and I know it is an ongoing, constantly changing situation, of phones tracking your every move and keypress. I’m not exceptionally fussy about this, if I was I wouldn’t have a phone, but supposedly on the iPhone you can definitely turn this off whereas Android is more of an unknown. These are just things I’ve heard and know far too little about. By itself, it wouldn’t make me switch, but on top of everything else, it’s time for a change.

Thus, I opted for the 4S. For a while I considered the Nokia Lumia because it’s been a while since I had a Nokia, and the Windows Mango platform is new and interesting. To be honest, I just couldn’t face being that much of an early adopter again, particularly given Windows’ track record in introducing new software.

I don’t know if the iPhone will suit me, I’ve heard mixed reports about it. A few have said they are sad that I’m leaving the Android world, but of course, it is not a one way street. At the end of this contract, this entire situation will likely raise its head once more, and we’ll be having this conversation again.

I bet you can’t wait.