It's definitely an adjustment, sacrificing one-handed accessibility for a larger screen. It's a little harder to take food pics lol, and I found myself having to use both hands when reading while lying in bed. But because of my bad vision in my right eye, I can definitely appreciate the larger screen for reading.

I have yet to really play with the camera but I've definitely noticed it's improved ability for taking photos in low-light conditions.

I'm really excited to test out the quick autofocus with my puppy; taking non-blurry pics of a hyper pup is one of the hardest thing to do.

My only real complaint is a temporary one -- most third-party apps haven't been redesigned to support the larger screen yet, so they all look like blown-up zoomed versions of the 5S. Surely this will become a non-issue soon.

Depending on how techie you are, Apple's WWDC announcements last week left you with one of these impressions:

• “No new iPhone?! LAME.”
• “PATHETIC. Android has had all of that for years!”
• "HOLY. SHIT. MINDBLOWN."

If you're in the first group, you're most likely a consumer and not a developer. We have to remember, WWDC — short for World Wide Developer Conference — is a developer conference. For developers. Not consumers.

If you're in the second group, I got news for you: everyone copies. That's how technology moves forward. The best ideas are copied, remixed, refined, and evolve. As long as consumers win, why do we still need to argue about this?

If you're in the last group, you are either an iOS developer or an Apple enthusiast, and have a solid understanding/appreciation of how Apple does things.

As a developer and user experience designer, my job entails identifying specific user problems, researching/testing the right solutions, and delivering them to the right people at the right time. My passion lies in finding what makes new technology meaningful to real people, not just early adopting techies like me.

With that said, I'll try to break down all the developer stuff into real world examples for you.

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Former Apple Genius, Scotty Loveless, shares his insights on iOS battery drain from his two years of working as an Apple Genius.

Two things stuck out to me:

I have confirmed this behavior on multiple iPhones with the same result: percentage points actually increase after disabling these background functions of Facebook.

After iOS 7's changes to multitasking, this sheds some light for me:

By closing the app, you take the app out of the phone's RAM . While you think this may be what you want to do, it's not. When you open that same app again the next time you need it, your device has to load it back into memory all over again. All of that loading and unloading puts more stress on your device than just leaving it alone. Plus, iOS closes apps automatically as it needs more memory, so you're doing something your device is already doing for you. You are meant to be the user of your device, not the janitor.

The truth is, those apps in your multitasking menu are not running in the background at all: iOS freezes them where you last left the app so that it's ready to go if you go back. Unless you have enabled Background App Refresh, your apps are not allowed to run in the background unless they are playing music, using location services, recording audio, or the sneakiest of them all: checking for incoming VOIP calls , like Skype. All of these exceptions, besides the latter, will put an icon next to your battery icon to alert you it is running in the background.

Buzz around the fabled "iWatch" has really hit fever-pitch levels since 9to5Mac's big scoop. Here's an overview of everything that we know, what we should expect, and what I think could happen.

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As part of my annual tradition, here is a list of my favorite apps, services, and tech products that I used throughout 2013.

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Just look at the top end of that China bell curve. That's a lot of fucking cheddar.

It might not seem like it now but the Touch ID fingerprint scanner has potential to be a real game-changer (assuming it works reliably, unlike Siri). We live in a world of multiple devices, countless apps & social networks...remembering all those logins and passwords is a huge pain in the ass.

I'm reminded of this every time my parents have to call me from the Philippines because A) they forgot their password or got locked out of their accounts for too many failed login attempts.

Identity & Authentication are two things that are due for innovation, and Apple just made the first step towards improving that for mainstream consumers. It might not be a feature that'll make your jaw drop or impress you, but it'll be something you won't be able to live without once you've had it.

The last time I shared my predictions before an Apple event, it was mostly wildcard predictions that were dead wrong, LOL. Just for kicks, here are my Apple predictions for tomorrow (September 10th).

Lower-Cost iPhone 5C - 99% Confidence

Apple has its eyes on the China market. Although Apple is a premium brand that charges a premium on all their products…China's budget-conscious market is far too important to ignore. The 5C will be plastic, come in probably 5 colors, and for the most part be what the iPhone 5 is today.

Note: This will be lower-cost but not low-cost. I say it'll start at $50 with a two-year contract.

Goodbye iPhone 5 - 50%

This is the hardest to predict. If they keep it, should the 5C be priced higher or lower than the 5? What features would separate the 5 from the 5C? Your guess is as good as mine.

Goodbye iPhone 4S - 75%

Based on the blogosphere, it's a toss-up on whether the 4S, the 5, or both will be discontinued. I think Apple needs to get everyone on the new Lightning plug and the 4-inch Retina screen as soon as possible.

Next-Gen iPhone with Fingerprint Scanner - 99%

If this works reliably (unlike Siri), this has potential to be a real game-changer. 100% chance Apple will keep it simple for the first year and use it strictly for unlocking the lock screen. 60% chance it will be used for iCloud stuff this year.

Within two years, 60% chance Apple will get into mobile payments.

(Limited) Offline Siri Access - 85%

In iOS 7, Siri can be used to do simple settings like "disable WiFi" and "turn on Bluetooth". Simple Siri commands like that really shouldn't require an internet connection.

Wishlist: Siri should learn your most common commands (for me, that'd be "call Mom") and execute them instantly, without an internet connection.

32, 64, 128GB Models - 70%

16GB gives a terrible user experience these days, especially because popular apps like Instagram and Vine quickly eat up space. It's time to double the memory.

Gold iPhone - 90%

Not gold gold but champagne gold. Apparently gold is the best-selling aftermarket casing for iPhones, globally. It'll probably sell well internationally.

Graphite iPhone - 70%

Some recent leaks show a new graphite-gray casing for the new iPhone.

"iPhone 6" instead "5S" - 40%

Apple needs to drop the "S" moniker because it implies the new iPhone is only a "half-upgrade." Otherwise, Samsung will continue to (effectively) use their ridiculous advertising budget to tarnish the iPhone brand.

iPhone Launch Day on Sept 20th - 98%

AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, and Apple all blocking out vacation days for employees the weekend of the 20th. Can't read the tea leaves any clearer than that.

Also, Apple typically launches the new iPhone ten days after the unveiling.

iPhone Game Controllers - 99%

Games for the iPhone will support a new standardized game controller. Tie this in with AirPlay + Apple TV, and you got yourself a mini game console for the living room.

Apple TV software update - 60%

The rumor mill is buzzing that something is coming to the Apple TV but no one is sure what. Whatever it is, if it's not unveiled tomorrow, it'll be unveiled next month.

Larger Screen iPhone - 0% this year (but 60% next year)

A few new behind-the-scenes things in iOS 7 totally convince me that larger iPhone is in the cards. Apparently large-screen phones sell really, really well overseas.

iWatch - 0% this year (but 90% next year)

So many tea leaves to read:

1. Apple has been stockpiling on medical sensing technology for a reason. 2) Apple hired the fitness guru behind the Nike FuelBand. 3) Tim Cook has publicly said "I think the wrist is interesting" while sporting a Nike FuelBand. (Tim Cook is also on the board of directors at Nike.)

That's all for now. We'll see what happens tomorrow!

For that past couple years, I've felt that I could totally be happy with an Android as my phone and an iPad as my secondary mobile device. I felt the smartphone should be for communication and the iPad should be for everything else. So for Christmas, I decided it was time to step outside of my Apple bubble.

I bought the Moto G.

"Why did you switch??"

Let me clarify: I didn't switch. I'm still a very happy and loyal iPhone user. But there are two reasons why I bought my first Android.

Mobile Web Development

For most of my career, I've worked at marketing agencies where my job was to pump out as many sites as quickly as possible. But now that I'm an in-house web developer, all my projects are ongoing and long-term. For the first time in my career, I finally have the opportunity/responsibility to optimize my sites to be as fast as they can be.

As the mobile internet continues to grow, I need to be able to stay on top of both Android and iOS.

Google

When it comes to web services, nothing beats Google. And to be frank, I don't trust iCloud. I don't use iCal, iMessage, @iCloud.com email, iChat, or Safari. Instead, I use Gmail, Google Calendar, Hangouts, Google Drive, Google Voice, and Chrome.

To me, investing in Android doesn't mean "switching sides." Rather, I see it as moving myself closer to Google, a company that I've always loved for their web services.

"Why'd you pick the Moto G??"

For an unlocked smartphone with the latest OS, you simply cannot beat $179. And because it's manufactured by Motorola, a Google company, I have faith the device will have great support for OS updates in the future.

As a budget phone, the Moto G does have its shortcomings. The camera sucks, there is no LTE support, and it's only 16 GB…but none of those matter to me! I only need to be able to test my sites in the web browser. Anything else is a bonus.

Speaking of bonuses, the Moto G comes with 50 GB of complimentary Google Drive space.

To me, the Moto G is the iPod touch of Android that just happens to have phone capabilities.

What I Love About Android

• App Defaults & Intents — One specific problem for me is finding the right video player that works with all my cloud/network drives. On iOS, I'd constantly be making trade-offs. I'd find a video player with a great interface…but had shitty cloud integration. Or I'd find a video player with great cloud integration…but a shitty interface. With Android, I can easily pick an episode of Modern Family from my Dropbox and open it in MX Player Pro.
• LED notifications — It's smart, simple, and saves a lot of battery by not lighting up the touchscreen everytime a push notification comes in. If they had this for iPhone, I'd use this to notify me of unread messages from certain people. (But then again, maybe smartphone LED notifications will be overshadowed by push-enabled iWatch/smartwatches.)
• Launcher & Lock Screen customization — This has a lot of potential. Aviate, Cover, and Facebook Home are all playing with some innovative ideas but I'm still waiting to see one launcher/lock screen app that really nails it.
• Bigger screens are awesome for reading and watching videos. The two most-used apps on my iPad mini are Netflix and Instapaper. Being able to do these on a large-screen phone is pretty damn nice.

What I Don't Like About Android

• Inconsistency of the Back button — This thing drives me NUTS. Sometimes, it's just intuitive to be able to jump back to the previous app with a tap of the Back button. Other times, when I expect to get to an app's main screen, the Back button just throws me back to the homescreen.
• Shitty interactions — Overall, the Android interface is good enough to do its job but it's the lack of the fun, interactive bouncing and physics that sets it a notch lower than iOS.
• Inconsistency of icon design. The homescreen just looks so damn ugly on Android because all of the app icons look completely different. Icon gradients, sizes, shapes, and even the rounded corners are just all over the place.
• Big screens are annoying for one-handed use. While I really love having the extra pixels for reading and watching videos, it's annoying to navigate around the phone with just one hand. I constantly have to change my grip to navigate around.
• Mini-USB is annoying after being spoiled by Apple's Lighting connector. "Did I plug it in the right way? Nope. Okay, lemme flip it over. Hmm, that didn't work either. Lemme flip it over again. Okay, there we go."
• I have yet to find an Android-exclusive app that I really love.

"What would it take for you to switch to Android?"

I quickly learned 90% of the iOS apps I really care about have an Android counterpart (e.g. Chrome, Circa, Dropbox, Feedly, Google Hangouts, Instapaper, Netflix, Simplenote). But there are few things that iOS does better than Android for me:

Syncing Twitter between Desktop and Mobile

Twitter is huge for me. I use Twitter Lists to stay on top of four things: tech news sites, tech bloggers, friends, and basketball.

Tweetbot for Mac/iOS syncs timeline positions across devices seamlessly. It's an underrated killer feature that separates Tweetbot from all other Twitter apps.

In addition to timeline syncing, Tweetbot also does an amazing job of syncing mute options. #NFLteams, #NHLteams, #TVshows, #horoscopes, tumblr.co, instagr.am, etc…all that shit is off my Twitter timelines, both on my iPhone and Mac. Mute once, muted everywhere.

Maintaining My 10 Year Old Music Library

This coming April, my iTunes library turns ten. That's ten years of obsessively organizing, rating, and tagging over 6,500 songs. With each song properly tagged, I'm able to dynamically create really awesome Smart Playlists.

Amazon Music, Google Music, and Spotify are not compelling enough for me to throw away my 10-year investment in iTunes.

Take Great Photos

The iPhone 5s' burst mode is totally the underrated killer feature. When I take action photos of my niece and nephews running around, I never miss a moment because I can take 10 shots/second and full resolution.

To be fair, I have yet to play with the cameras of other Androids.

Closing Thoughts

Overall, after a month of owning the Moto G, I've found that Android is really good…but it's not great. I like it…but I don't love it. I really like how Android gives me a ton of customization options…but I don't love any of the options.

(Sidenote: When iOS 7 came out, a lot of Apple haters cried out "Apple copied Android!" I have no fucking clue what the fuck they were talking about; iOS 7 is nothing like Android.)

The Android ecosystem has come a long way these past two years and I can confidently say it satisfies 90% of my app needs. The phablet form factor is something that's growing on me, especially because my vision has degraded from cataract and eye surgery.

If I were to seriously consider switching from iOS to Android, it'd basically come down to one simple question:

Which solves my computing problems more: tighter integration with Google services or tighter integration with Mac apps?

For now, I'll have to stick with the latter.

Maybe over time, things will change. Maybe my interest in Twitter will diminish. Maybe an iTunes competitor will invent a smarter, more automated way to organize my music. Maybe Google will conquer the next era of computing — wearable computers, smart TVs, smart car displays, and home automation.

Until any of that happens, I plan on keeping the iPhone as my daily driver while having the Moto G riding shotgun.

Update: After less than a month of getting my first Android, I've decided to return my Moto G. I also recycled my iPad mini at Gazelle.com and used the money from both to purchase a 32 GB Nexus 5 (Google Play Edition).

While the iPhone 5s is still my best option as a primary mobile device, the Moto G worked out so well as a secondary mobile device (for reading, streaming, and mobile web development) I decided to consolidate my iPad mini and Moto G into one legit Android.

• Mac mini with 1TB Fusion Drive — For a $1,100 Mac, this baby is FAST. It gives me all the performance I need to open large Photoshop files while coding sites, and plenty of space for my massive iPhoto library.

• iPhone 4S — My iPhone is my communications hub where all of my notifications are pushed to. And the outstanding 8 megapixel camera lets me capture precious moments that I want to carry with me for the rest of my life.

• iPad mini — For a few months, I was iPadless because I sold my first-gen iPad in anticipation of the mini. What happened? I compensated by overusing my 4S, which had a significant affect on battery life. I see my iPad mini as my primary mobile consumption device, and a way to "extend" the battery life of my iPhone.

• Google — Chrome has the right balance of feature robustness and simplicity. Gmail is still king of email. Google Reader is an absolute must-have (I don't care if bloggers say Twitter is the new RSS). Google Voice development has been extremely stagnant for the past couple years but having web access to all of my text messages has saved my ass countless times.

• Flipboard for iPad/iPhone — still, by far, the best way to stay up-to-date with Google Reader, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and now Tumblr.

• Instagram — If I had to give up all social networks except one, I would keep Instagram. It's by far the most personal social network out there because everyone post things that make them happy, unlike Twitter/Facebook where some people only use for passive-aggression, bitching and whining.

• Tweetbot for iPad — the best Twitter app out there. For me, the killer features are cross-device placeholder syncing (i.e. Tweet Marker) and being able to retweet as a different Twitter account.

• ProCamera for iPhone — This is my secret weapon for taking great photos. Specifically, I love how I can lock exposure and enable image stabilization with one hand for close-up shots (e.g. food, lol).

• Facebook — Simply because all of my friends are on it. Most of my friends don't have Twitter so Facebook is still the best way for me to reach everyone in my life.

• Pinboard — This has become a big part of my consumption workflow. When I find an interesting link on Tweetbot or Chrome, I'll save it to Pinboard, which will push to my Google Reader via RSS to read for later.

• Instapaper — While Google Reader is my inbox, Instapaper is my "Save for Later" bin where I'll dump long articles that aren't time-sensitive. Recently, it's been filled out with a lot of How To's and Quora posts.

• Dropbox — I always need a way to share large files across people and devices. Been a loyal user since 2006.

• Drafts App — This summer, I retired my iOS app experiment, PostMate for iPhone. Drafts shares the same workflow as PostMate for quickly drafting and sharing text, but supports a lot more external apps/services.

• Backblaze — online backup solution. This thing has saved my ass a few times this year.

• Bitcasa — infinite online storage. It's still in beta but I've been dumping a TON of stuff on here. I don't put anything mission critical on here because it hasn't earned that much of my trust yet, but for now, I use it to store things like movies, TV shows, etc.

• Imgur — Tumblr used to be a very important source of entertainment for me but I figured out that 90% of viral posts on Tumblr come from Imgur. Now I just go straight to the source.

Honorable Mentions: ForkLift for Mac, DayOne, Slingbox, Siri, iTunes Match, Skype

Heating Up for 2013: 1Password, Pinterest, App.Net, New Myspace, GitHub

Cooling Down: Tumblr, Trillian, Voxer

Dismissed: Path, because none of my actual close friends are on it.