I bought the iMap Weather Radio the day this was originally posted. Found it on sale for $5 but now that I have it I would have paid more. It actually, in many ways, is far more advanced than I need. But the part that makes it dear to me is that my phone will now wake me up in the middle of the night regarding any weather situations I selected. Thanks for the tip Heather! I own a traditional weather radio, but I only turn it on when I already have an awareness of bad weather. It is not unusual for me to be unaware of bad weather until I read one of Dawn's postings, so this app really helps override the 'clueless' factor.

Jane - If you avoid high risk behavior (by sticking to legit websites, legit apps from mainstream sources, and don't respond to spam/malware laden messages and emails), I'm going to say your risk is somewhere between zero and misiscule. If you'd feel better by installing a security app, then do so. Make sure you set up your phone to require a password/security pattern for access. It's a pain but a simple protection that buys you some time to notify your carrier should your phone fall into unfriendly hands. You have no liability for unauthorized/fradulent access to your financial accounts no matter what means are used. The institution is on the hook when that happens, not you. Banks and financial institutions are pushing their apps and new forms of transactions using smartphones. A new system called proximity payment will allow you to trigger a payment by passing your smartphone near a sensor. All these uses and more will only grow, fraud losses is just one of their costs of doing business. Their losses of various kinds with credit cards are surprisingly large, and I suspect they think things like proximity payment systems will provide more security FOR THEM. Use and enjoy your phone for your financial transactions (I do the same) and lose no sleep about it.

Debby, I'm sure you'll get a lot of use and enjoyment from your new phone, have at it!. Sometimes phones are like new cars, the excitement and joy they generate alone are worth the price paid. As a reasonably capable tech user who serves as tech support for both Apple and non-Apple products in the family, it's my view that hardware differences are few. With one exception - Apple has always emphasized hardware and software for exceptional media capabilities in Macs, iPads and iPhones. In a household with a variety of Apple "stuff", it all coordinates and works together seamlessly. Apple's software stresses ease and simplicity of use, being cool and lots of sizzle. People love Apple products more than owners of competitive products. Are the differences real or imagined? Non-Apple products usually have the same capabilities - an example is that when an app developer produces an IOS app, there will also be an Android version and vice-versa. So saying - "my iPhone will do ......" is usually not something that's unique, unless talking about a media item. In the camera department, as an example, one Motorola model has a Hasselblad attachment. Is it as good or as flexible as an iPhone. Or better? I don't know, but it's just an example of what's commonly possible. With battery life, the Apple 11 Pro has a battery of about 3100mAh. The last Moto phone I had had a 4000mAh battery. Even at nearly 3 years old when I replaced it, it lasted a full two days with fairly heavy use, 3-4 with lighter use. As with most things, we all have our preferences. What is common is that so many of the newest tech gadgets and capability are fun and extremely useful and make one wonder how we lived without them before.

mtvhike, Google Maps has real-time traffic info and offers routing alternatives accordingly. The updates seem like they come every minute or two, because you can see the little info bubbles on alternate routes shown on the map changing from maybe first "8 minutes longer", then maybe "10 minutes longer", etc. Same happens when on a delayed segment and the traffic flow changes. In my two year old VW, the USB connected Android phone becomes integral with the infotainment system. Navigation by voice command entry is possible and works well, same with searches (the Google equivalent of Siri) for points of interest to choose from or navigate to or to call. I've had the same experiences using my phone in rental cars that were Hyundais, Hondas, and once a VW of a different model than I own. To try, I just put the Google Map app on Wifi only, downloaded a map of my area, put the phone on airplane mode with Wifi off (no signal of any kind), and put in a destination I knew to be a hike off the road. It found my present location and came up immediately with directions and a route. Whether or not the last bit would have been on a marked trail, I don't know, but the phone would have given me step by step maneuvers and tracked my location. To a trail-head, no problem. I know from prior experiences you can always enter destinations by longitude and latitude, for destinations outside of built up areas. Works fine. So yes, these are my experiences. If you're both using iPhones with CarPlay, then that's the difference. Or Waze instead of Google Maps. Or, it's something else. I regularly take long drives so I bought what I consider to be a burner phone - a cheap Tracfone Samsung that was $60 - to use in the VW to avoid having my good phone on such extended charges and too many on and off cycles. It works flawlessly. The suggestion came from the salesman who sold me the car - he talked me out of buying the model with built in GPS that was only available on an upgraded feature line and was about $4K more. He said "buy a cheap phone and a cheap plan and spend the remaining money on something else." And so I happily did. Having a phone with a cord plugged in is a bit less tidy than having a built in unit (as I have in two other cars and in the other cars I've owned for the last 15 years) but it functions well.