You won't regret switching. Happy to have you join the Samsung family. If you have any issues just go to settings and in the upper right hand corner hit the little magnifying glass and that will ask you to enter whatever you are looking for. It should help you with any issues.
Welcome to the Galaxy! You will find that your device isn't dramatically different in terms of basic function from your iPhone. Apps and navigation should feel very familiar and be a quick adjustment.
The biggest difference is CHOICE.
While your Apple device had only Apple apps installed out-of-the-box, you will notice that your Samsung device immediately presents you with multiple options from competing ecosystems: namely, Samsung, Google and Microsoft apps, many of which do the same thing.
This is mostly a matter of preference with no right or wrong EXCEPT for your messaging app. You need to use Google Messages with RCS to keep features you are accustomed to having on your iPhone such as typing indicators, read receipts, and emoji reactions.
โข Hopefully you purchased an unlocked device directly from Samsung instead of through your carrier because unlike iPhone, carrier bloat can be a concern. Samsung doesn't install games and other apps on your phone, that is your carrier. Samsung allows carriers to do this on carrier locked devices so their devices more accessible through subsidized pricing. If you did buy a carrier phone and don't like these apps being installed, next time buy direct, buy unlocked, buy outright.
โข You will notice you have two app stores: the Play Store and the Galaxy Store. While some apps exist in both, generally you will get third party apps from the Play Store and Samsung-specific apps and utilities from the Galaxy Store.
โข When I switched from iPhone, notifications were one of the most difficult things to get accustomed to. They are just fundamentally different. On Galaxy, the screen does not wake for incoming notifications, but keeping notifications set to Brief rather than Detailed allows banners and edge lighting to appear on the AOD to notify you. You will probably also want to use the card view for Lock screen notifications ( settings > notifications > Lock screen > cards)
โข Your Galaxy phone is likely going to run hotter than your iPhone due to the powerful Snapdragon chip inside and differences in heat dissipation. You will feel this heat at the top of your phone near the camera module. This is generally not a cause for concern unless the phone is shutting itself off (overheating protection)
โข You can perform regular maintenance on your device using Good Guardians. It's an official Samsung app. You don't need any third party apps that claim to clean up your device or improve performance. Samsung's official app is more than sufficient. Good Guardians: https://apps.samsung.com/appquery/appDetail.as?appId=com.android.samsung.utilityapp
I hope you found this helpful! Reach out if you need anything โบ๏ธ
