After seven years with Android, I return to iOS

It was that sound which kept replaying in my head. The soft "plop" of my beloved Motorola DROID Turbo as it tumbled out of my breast pocket and landed in the toilet. It was about 5am and I thought that my DROID Turbo had been safely housed in my breast pocket. Apparently, it slipped out in between my shirt and the sweater I was wearing.

My initial thought was that I had grabbed it fast enough to prevent serious damage to the device, especially since the DROID Turbo, like many high-end Motorola phones, is protected by P2i's nano coating. But that protection covers spills and light rain. Could this water resistance actually protect a phone that had been submerged, albeit very briefly?

The initial prognosis looked good. Everything was functional, running normally. Had I taken the time to think about it, what I should have done is turned off the battery. When your phone is water damaged, removing the battery will prevent your phone from shorting out. But I was in denial because the phone appeared to be working. I put on Netflix and fell asleep. When I awoke the next morning, the Turbo was dead.

Hoping to revive the handset, I took a plastic bag and filled it with two servings of uncooked rice. I placed the Turbo inside and sealed the bag, hoping for a miracle. Yes, there are many who say that this does not do a thing, but it was worth a shot.

Meanwhile, I needed to find a replacement phone to use and my daughter offered her old Apple iPhone 5. Earlier this year, she had purchased a rose gold Apple iPhone 6s Plus and could afford to spare the older the model. I was instantly intrigued at the idea of using iOS after so many years of being an Android user. In fact, the last time I used iOS regularly was back in 2007 when I owned the OG Apple iPhone. But the rest of my family was on Verizon and voice calls were handled differently back in those days. So back to Verizon I went, seeking a phone that was as capable as the iPhone.

First, I tried Verizon's iPhone killer at the time, the LG Voyager. That naturally led to the LG Dare. By the time I landed the Phone Arena gig in early 2009, I was using the BlackBerry Storm 9530. But from there, it has been a succession of DROIDs with one exception. I owned the Motorola DROID, Motorola DROID 3, Motorola DROID 4, the HTC DROID DNA, the HTC One (M8) and the Motorola DROID Turbo.

So there I was with an iPhone 5, using iOS regularly, and I found myself smitten with it. The self-correcting keyboard was as amazing as I remembered. It might be a cliche, but everything just worked. Since iOS is designed explicitly for the iPhone, I felt that gave the iPhone a major advantage over my Android phone which was manufactured by Motorola, but powered by the Google built OS. This is not something to take lightly since it helps Apple update the iPhone in a more timely manner than Android handsets. In fact, no sooner did I start using iOS than the update to iOS 9.3 was released. On Android, updates hitting my phone were cause for a major celebration.

I even found that the iOS version of certain apps looked better than the Android version. In my mind, I had already made the switch to iOS permanent. Considering that I had rather enjoyed the smaller screen on the iPhone 5, I decided I would buy the Apple iPhone SE. But then, something happened that I didn't expect. The DROID Turbo sprung back to life.

After the first day of its rice therapy, the DROID Turbo showed some signs of life. By the third day, everything seemed fine except that the phone would not charge. So I continued with the rice until lo and behold, the Turbo started holding the charge. But it is too late. After just a week of using iOS, it is already in my blood. Which is a shame in some ways, because the DROID Turbo is a great phone that still holds up after 18 months on the market. In some ways, it is better than the Motorola DROID Turbo 2.

So now I embark on my life as an iOS user. My smartphone journey, which started with the OG iPhone, now continues with iOS 9.3.