Switching from iOS to Android is much easier if you’re already familiar with the Android experience, but it’s hard to practice with an Android device before you buy, especially these days. Luckily, Samsung New Zealand has recently created iTest, a small web app for iPhone that includes everything iOS users could want in an Android test drive.
iTest simulates the Galaxy phone experience directly on your iPhone. You can play with the home screen, browse the Galaxy Store, and even view some apps. You can even interact with fake phone calls and text messages to see how they work on Galaxy phones.
The iTest experience is not identical to using a real Galaxy phone, of course. iTest can’t recreate the camera of a Galaxy phone, the settings app is truncated and some gesture controls will be lost. Still, there are plenty of options available to get an idea of how the menu of a Samsung Galaxy looks and works. iTest also includes numerous tutorials to help you find the settings of a Galaxy phone and Android, even for features that are not available in the web application.
How to use iTest on the iPhone
- Open the file ITest website.
- Scan the QR with your iPhone’s camera app.
- Tap the link when it appears, and follow the instructions on the screen.
- Once iTest is installed, tap the app screen icon to open it.
- An initial screen of the virtual Galaxy phone with apps and settings to play will appear.
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iTest is a good introduction to Samsung phones, but it’s worth noting that it’s not representative of the Android experience all Android phones.
All Android OEMs offer a slightly different flavor to Android; Using a Samsung phone is different than using a Pixel phone, both different from OnePlus phones, for example. Available applications, features, and settings may vary depending on the company that makes the Android phone and the version of Android that it supports.
That said, there are enough similarities between the brands that iTest can at least give you an idea of what Android devices in general can do.
Out of curiosity, we tried installing the iTest app on a Pixel phone to see if it allowed us to test the Galaxy at home on a device that is not from Samsung, but all it does is open a link to the Samsung online store. On the contrary, you can recreate (most) the Pixel phone experience on non-Pixel phones. And for Android users who want to jump to iOS, Apple’s official guide it’s a good place to start.