I’m planning on switching platforms and I’m just curious of the opinions of people here. I think that Android can have advantages in areas of privacy and external app installation, but most of the benefits come with a lot of tinkering out of the box.
I’m a very capable person at modifying my phone and I don’t generally mind doing that. I can make the interface work however I want. But I find myself caring less and less about how I interact with things in the light of what Apple is doing.
I’m looking at Android and it seems to be pretty far behind iOS at the moment. The messaging service is a huge sticking point and progress isn’t being made to unify iMessage with RCS apps. It seems to me like Samsung is making more progress with the platform than Google itself is. Like they’re the ones carrying it right now.
Keep in mind, I’m not a shill here. I haven’t used iOS in years. I still think they’re overpriced phones and Apple isn’t a great company. And I wish USB-C was a thing. This isn’t an ad. I’m just frustrated with the android platform and Apple seems to be leaving it behind.
Example features: FaceID, iMessage, home screen UX, battery life, and extended software support.
So can anyone tell me if they feel the same or help me in my decision? Not trying to start a tech war btw
From a non-US perspective, Apple is unfeasible if you’re not rich.
Last year I was given an iPhone as a gift (which I did not ask for), and I had to endure almost a year of it, until I decided to resell it and buy myself a new Android phone.
Everything, from a simple charger or a cable, costs triple. And because Apple is not officially in my country, you never know if you’re buying an original product, or some crap that will kill your phone.
App developers for iOS are obsessed with forcing everything to be under a subscription. And it’s fine if your income is over 1500 USD a month, but for a South American living on 200-300, it’s impossible to pay ten 5USD subscriptions. Local app development (banks, virtual wallets, etc.) are more focused on Android development because this is the third-world and most sane people own Android phones, plus it’s much cheaper to work on that platform.
You cannot customize the appearance of your phone, order the icons (with gaps in-between), use custom icons, or anything you can do with something as simple as a freemium one-time payment custom launcher on Android. Nova Launcher is capable of doing a million things on an unrooted phone, but nothing like that exists for iOS. You cannot even separate the volume of ringtones and multimedia (I have four different volume options on my new Android).
Locally, people use WhatsApp or Telegram, or the social media apps. We also use old fashioned calls, though people nowadays prefer WhatsApp to bridge the calls. There’s no “problem” of integration, because people have chosen that and it’s rare to know someone with an iPhone. And if you have an iPhone here, you have to use WhatsApp anyway.
And iPhones are very attractive to robbers, so if you go out with your iPhone you’re almost inviting someone to rob you… so you don’t take it out in public, and you don’t use it for what it’s supposed to be used (note taking, calls, texting, pictures, agenda, etc.). You only use it at home… might as well own a dumb phone and a PC. (Not that Android users don’t get robbed, but Androids are more of a lottery, while an any-gen iPhone will fetch a higher price.)
In the end, I sold the phone and got some USD bills, which is always good to have here. I got a mid-range Android that costs 1/3 of an iPhone and does a lot more. Mind you, I’m not rooting it or tinkering too much with it beyond cosmetics. And while I try to degoogle myself, I’m also not going to go out of my way.
Even so, if the choice is giving Apple or Google my data, there’s really no real benefit in picking one or another. It’s just a matter of deciding which one we care less about or costs us less. So, you do you. If you’re happier with an Apple product, all the better for you.
You are not logged in. However you can subscribe from another Fediverse account, for example Lemmy or Mastodon. To do this, paste the following into the search field of your instance: !technology@beehaw.org
A nice place to discuss rumors, happenings, innovations, and challenges in the technology sphere. We also welcome discussions on the intersections of technology and society. If it’s technological news or discussion of technology, it probably belongs here.
Remember the overriding ethos on Beehaw: Be(e) Nice. Each user you encounter here is a person, and should be treated with kindness (even if they’re wrong, or use a Linux distro you don’t like). Personal attacks will not be tolerated.
From a non-US perspective, Apple is unfeasible if you’re not rich.
Last year I was given an iPhone as a gift (which I did not ask for), and I had to endure almost a year of it, until I decided to resell it and buy myself a new Android phone.
Everything, from a simple charger or a cable, costs triple. And because Apple is not officially in my country, you never know if you’re buying an original product, or some crap that will kill your phone.
App developers for iOS are obsessed with forcing everything to be under a subscription. And it’s fine if your income is over 1500 USD a month, but for a South American living on 200-300, it’s impossible to pay ten 5USD subscriptions. Local app development (banks, virtual wallets, etc.) are more focused on Android development because this is the third-world and most sane people own Android phones, plus it’s much cheaper to work on that platform.
You cannot customize the appearance of your phone, order the icons (with gaps in-between), use custom icons, or anything you can do with something as simple as a freemium one-time payment custom launcher on Android. Nova Launcher is capable of doing a million things on an unrooted phone, but nothing like that exists for iOS. You cannot even separate the volume of ringtones and multimedia (I have four different volume options on my new Android).
Locally, people use WhatsApp or Telegram, or the social media apps. We also use old fashioned calls, though people nowadays prefer WhatsApp to bridge the calls. There’s no “problem” of integration, because people have chosen that and it’s rare to know someone with an iPhone. And if you have an iPhone here, you have to use WhatsApp anyway.
And iPhones are very attractive to robbers, so if you go out with your iPhone you’re almost inviting someone to rob you… so you don’t take it out in public, and you don’t use it for what it’s supposed to be used (note taking, calls, texting, pictures, agenda, etc.). You only use it at home… might as well own a dumb phone and a PC. (Not that Android users don’t get robbed, but Androids are more of a lottery, while an any-gen iPhone will fetch a higher price.)
In the end, I sold the phone and got some USD bills, which is always good to have here. I got a mid-range Android that costs 1/3 of an iPhone and does a lot more. Mind you, I’m not rooting it or tinkering too much with it beyond cosmetics. And while I try to degoogle myself, I’m also not going to go out of my way.
Even so, if the choice is giving Apple or Google my data, there’s really no real benefit in picking one or another. It’s just a matter of deciding which one we care less about or costs us less. So, you do you. If you’re happier with an Apple product, all the better for you.