6 Tips for Turning Your iPhone into an Android Phone

Right now much of the mobile world seems to be strongly divided between iOS and Android. Both are great mobile operating systems with their own unique features. There are areas where Android is ahead, and there are areas where iOS is ahead.

Let’s take a look at some of the features that can make your iPhone feel more like an Android device:

Non-Jailbreak

1) Google Voice

Google Voice officially made its way to the iPhone last month. It combines your SMS messages, dialer and Google Voice mail messages within the App. Push notifications will alert you when someone sends a message to your Google voice number.

Free

2) CoPilot

This isn’t a Google application, but it’s a great navigation App for the iPhone. It works well and the price is reasonable at $19.99 if you already have an iPhone. Our recommendation? Make sure you have a car charger and somewhere to dock the device.

$19.99

3) Google Mobile

Google Mobile is a suite of Google Apps such as Gmail, Calendar, Docs, Talk, Earth, Goggles and more. Most of the Applications are awesome, especially Google Goggles, but the downside is that you need an iPhone 4 for full functionality. Even iPod 4G users are saying that Goggles doesn’t work for them in the reviews. Good news is it’s free.

Free

Jailbreak

The above Apps will give you some functions that come with Android phones, but there may still be something missing. Maybe you want more, like custom themes, animated backgrounds and more. Let’s take a look at some of those. Of course, you will have to jailbreak your iPhone (Guide here):

1) Animated Wallpaper

One of the most awesome features of Android that’s missing from iOS is Animated Wallpaper. Heck, iOS just got custom wallpaper earlier this year. Meanwhile, Android wallpapers can be beautiful and animated.

Cydia Repo: http://i.danstaface.net/deb/ and install vWallpaper.

2) Themes

Jailbroken iPhones can also use custom themes. Through Cydia, install Winterboard, your device will be restarted and now you can look for themes for your iPhone under sections. You will find themes such as Complete, Keyboard, Apps etc.

3) Better Messaging Display

There are various applications to install for SMS messaging. One of the best out there is biteSMS. It has features that the default iOS SMS client (Messages) doesn’t have. It comes with a 14-day trial, but you can buy a full license or a temporary license, or simply choose to use an ad-supported version of the application. Learn more about it at the official site here.

Android on iPhone

If you want to take it even further, you can try to install Android on your iPhone. It’s not very usable. At this point, you’d may as well just buy an Android device, but if you want to know how to do this, we’ve posted a guide: Here. Know that you probably don’t want to do this unless you have an extra iPhone and just want to do it for fun.

Getting Your iPhone to Play the Way You Want it

Chances are that you chose Android or iPhone based on the features the OS gave you, but neither OS is perfect. If you like the clean, friendly user interface of iOS, but enjoy the customizable nature and some of the additional features of Android, some of these tools may be a great workaround.