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
My issues with apple are mostly around repair. Cost of first party repairs and active fighting against user or third party repairs.
My iPhone got some water damage, and now faceid doesn’t work. Because it’s water damage, they won’t even do the “faceid repair” for like $200, they’ll only replace the device for $550. Like most parts on the phone it’s paired to the phone, so it’s impossible to salvage a part and do the repair myself.
So I’m here with no faceid for like a year because I don’t want to pay them that much for the repair (might as well get a new phone at that point) and I don’t want to buy a new iPhone and reward apple for this bs.
If I do buy another iPhone eventually, I might just give in though and play their fucking game fully and just buy the applecare. Just fully go in on the fact that I’m subscribing to the iPhone experience, not actually owning anything.
The only thing keeping me from switching to an Apple device is ads on youtube. You can get a modded youtube app on Iphone but it takes way more work compared to an android. If you don’t have a mac, file transfer is also a pain on windows machines.
On the other hand, Apple UX really is great. If you prefer UX over customizability, I don’t see why you wouldn’t go for an Iphone.
Apple refuses to integrate RCS into iMessage despite Google publicly calling it out and inviting it to do so. Apple is not incentivized to do so since they enjoy the iMessage ecosystem lock-in. Google is further ahead than Samsung, and allows you to use RCS with their stock Messages app. Personally, I use Signal with all my friends and family which works on both iOS and Android.
Let’s go through your example features…
Face ID: This is available in the latest Google Pixel models via Face Unlock. No it’s not as good as iOS, but you also have the fingerprint reader as an additional option with Pixel, which you don’t have on iOS. As someone who experiences Winter, I’m glad to not have to show my face to unlock my phone when I’m bundled up or skiing with a helmet/goggles on. Easier to just take a glove off for a hot second to unlock the phone.
iMessage: This is blue bubble envy, and it’s pretty slick I can’t lie. Again, I’ve been beneficial to have my friends use Signal, but if all your friends are using iMessage it can be annoying. This is a problem of Apple’s own making, however, and I wouldn’t reward them (on principle) for sustaining the issue despite options being available.
Home Screen UX: Not sure how Android doesn’t win this one hands down. Home screen customization is way behind Android, and even with the latest changes in the latest versions of iOS, it’s still behind.
Battery Life: I don’t find my Pixel 7 to suffer from poor or even remotely poor battery life at all. There are Android phones like the Asus Zenphone 10 that are crushing even the best iPhone on battery life. It’s easily a two-day phone, and they do it all in a compact package.
Extended Software Support: Again, it’s all in who you choose to buy from if you value long term support. Samsung gives four years of OS and five years of security updates for its phones. Google gives three years of OS updates and five years of security updates on its phones. Not quite as good as iOS, but not worth spending a bunch extra for an iPhone.
Ultimately though, it’s Apple’s hostile approach to allowing users to repair their own products that has me staying away from purchasing their phones. Not just in the build process, but in their unwillingness to sell component level replacement parts of any kind to independent repair shops. And their support for killing right-to-repair legislation.
I appreciate the thorough response, thanks! And I hear most of this but I’d give some pushback on a few things. Most of this comes from experience with Samsung devices so keep that in mind.
I recognize that the RCS thing is an apple problem that they’re making. But my issue is that even if they solved RCS, I think that iMessage is still somewhat running away with messaging and I can’t convince anyone to use signal. I like the security, but signal isn’t very feature rich. And I’m kind of done waiting for a better android alternative to exist unfortunately. If it did, I might come back.
FaceID: I too love the fingerprint reader. My Note 10 isn’t great with having it under the screen and I’d prefer face unlock personally. I can’t imagine FaceID to be any less convenient than having a wet finger and being unable to scan it. So I’d call that neutral for me personally.
iMessage: I know I’m rewarding them, I hate it, wish I could live without it but it’s stopping me from getting video messages from people.
Home Screen UX: it’s less about customization (not being able to place apps in certain places bugs me) but more about the design language itself. I guess less about the home screen specifically and I mean more about the general UI layout, drawers, and control panel. All those are mature on android and I just fine the Apple stuff easier to visually control. Especially comparing the Apple stuff to OneUI or material you. I know I can fix some of what I’m talking about, but I don’t necessarily want to fiddle with it.
And Battery: isn’t usually a problem for me with a note device, but I’ve had issues before. Like a weird bug used to drain battery for no reason (Linus of LTT noted this a few times on his Note device). But in general, Apple seems to be making advances in efficiency that aren’t present in android devices yet. Hence the larger (and heavier) batteries in many devices.
Again not trying to start a war, don’t feel obligated to respond. Just hope that explains my thoughts here.
In my case is because the stuff I buy has to be mine. It’s a matter of principle.
I root and degoogle all my phones and install custom ROMs on them (and FOSS apps from external stores, such as fdroid). I couldn’t deApple an iPhone, so it’d kind of limited for me. Plus, frankly speaking, I couldn’t care less about RCSi/Message, it’s not like there aren’t enough messaging options out there.
I hate to disappoint you, but the software part controlling your phone is the baseband processor. No matter what you replace and root, that one is in control and you cannot in any legal way replace it.
I mean, you can say the same about nearly all hardware for sale today (coreboot etc being the exception). Being able to control what the OS is doing is enough for most enthusiasts.
I just really dislike the interface, I have both an Android (personal phone) and an iPhone (work phone) and I find the iPhone frustrating and annoying to use. But that’s probably just me.
Exactly the same for me, I find my work iphone to be unintuitive and unresponsive compared to my Pixel phones. Although I will say Apple’s face authentication is pretty great.
I find it too basic and difficult to identify how to perform actions and manage the device.
Don’t get me wrong it’s excellent for users who want a straightforward phone that is simple and intuitive to navigate and operate, and it’s also likely improved on usability even more since I last tried using one.
However sadly the iOS interface is just not for me…
In my family, everyone else has an iPhone and I have Samsung S23. So I can maybe give both perspectives. If you just want a phone to be a phone, it’s hard to go wrong with an iPhone. It’s always the best default choice. That being said, I personally can’t go back to an iPhone. Lots of people recommend Google devices because of the “stock” Android experience but I greatly prefer the interface, integration, and customization of Samsung devices.
Anyway, in no particular order why I like Android/Samsung:
The ability to just copy movie and TV shows files onto the device and play them with VLC. This is a must for me for travel. iOS is still a pain in the ass for this.
In screen finger-print reader and face unlock (both are useful)
Ability to cast a Dex desktop to my TV with one click for showing off content
Customized gesture navigation (swipe up middle - home, swipe up right - back, swipe up left - apps) – full screen is available no button bar
THE BACK BUTTON – every time I use an iPhone I hate hate hate the lack of a back button
Browsers with ad block
Customized YouTube with ad blocking (revanced)
Customized notification icon bar – hide icons that are always on (bluetooth, etc), battery percentage no icon.
Separate profile for Work and Personal – my employer has control only of the work profile and can’t remote wipe my entire phone.
Custom home screen apps (I use Nova 7)
USB-C – one single charger for all my devices (phone, laptop, tablet, buds, etc).
Ability to wirelessly charge my watch and my ear buds using the back of the phone (this is great for travel)
Open source console emulators
I can probably think of more but that’s a good start.
Apple is the “you will own nothing and like it” of phones. You are told how to use your phone, whatyou can and cannot use your phone for, when you can use your phone, etc. The interface is horrible and by trying to make everything so simple it makes it hard as heck to do almost anything more difficult than connecting to wifi. Try using Control D DNS to block ads on an iphone sometimes, PITA. I control my experience on Android from what ROM i use (Lineage), the fact i run no google apps package, the DNS i use, to where exactly i put my icons on my homescreen and how said homescreen behaves.
I’m interested in why you think android has any privacy benefits. If you are talking full-google android, I don’t see how running an OS made by a company whose business model is finding out every bit of info they can about you is privacy positive.
Now if you are talking lineage and/or grapheneOS
Without gapps, sure.
I like Apple because my phone just works. Sure the customization isn’t there, but I’d waste time on it if it was. Also stay on Apple because last time I checked, the Apple Watch was the only wearable that tracked wheelchair activity properly.
iOS has gotten far buggier since Steve’s departure though. The “paint the back of the fence” mindset got ruined by Tim Apple and capitalism.
Apple products are for people who want to be treated like children. The corporate parent locks down your device and controls how you use it. Android devices, depending on the manufacturer, are for people who want to be treated like adults - free to make their own decisions and mistakes. This is the main difference between the two.
I run windows on the desktop, Linux on my server, and iOS on my phone.
I used android for years and had all kinds of fun rooting and installing alternate OSes. Modern android devices (the mainstream ones anyway) are loaded up we undesirable apps and services and partner bullshit.
I would have agreed 10 yrs ago, but, it seems to me that the landscape has changed. Last year I decided to change with it. The iPhone is a compelling mobile experience, I doubt I will go back to android, but we will see what comes.
I think that this statement is only made by people who enjoy tinkering and adjusting their devices. To a certain extent, apple let’s you do that. You can change plenty of settings on an iPhone. Sure stuff is off limits, but I wouldn’t be complaining that Android Auto treats me like a child because I can’t modify it. The customization and adultification is only good if you’re going to use it or are okay with complexity.
And as I pointed out, they’ve developed a lot of unique features at this point that other phones are struggling with. It’s the competition between dumb simplicity and focus vs trying to appeal to everyone. And that’s fine, like I said it’s not a war.
I noticed that with all my friends and family, once they get into the ecosystem, they can’t get out.
Apple has a lot of proprietary systems that forces users to get into the ecosystem. That ecosystem is expensive to maintain. And say you wanna switch back to android. Then you’re met with the sunk cost fallacy. What are you going to with all the hardware and services you bought that is now useless outside of the ecosystem?
If you feel Apple’s features appealing over Android for their price, go right ahead.
The thing that turns me off is that once you are there, you are kind of stuck in Apple’s ecosystem. It’s Apple that decides how long a program/application is supported on your computer or phone, not each developer. I still have apps designed for Android v.2 on my phone and they work fine. Apple phones were only recently “forced” to allow application side-loading, until then Apple had to know every single app you downloaded because it was through their store, and linked to your AppleID. Whereas you have Fdroid or you can easily compile your own apps without agreeing to odious terms from Cupertino.
I’ll give Apple credit they have a decent quality and fully-featured ecosystem for mobile and computing. The only issue is that they intentionally make it difficult to use alternatives to their products that are outside their ecosystem, which isn’t for me.
I hear you on all of these points. But I asked myself if I can live with those flaws to have something that works more seamlessly and doesn’t have the social cost of not having iMessage. Turns out, I feel like I can. Some of us must choose the dark side I guess. But like I’ve said, I’m not opposed to coming back to android if they can get some of my gripes with the platform ironed out. Like if everyone switched to using whatsapp around me or went to signal, I wouldn’t bother switching.
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My issues with apple are mostly around repair. Cost of first party repairs and active fighting against user or third party repairs.
My iPhone got some water damage, and now faceid doesn’t work. Because it’s water damage, they won’t even do the “faceid repair” for like $200, they’ll only replace the device for $550. Like most parts on the phone it’s paired to the phone, so it’s impossible to salvage a part and do the repair myself.
So I’m here with no faceid for like a year because I don’t want to pay them that much for the repair (might as well get a new phone at that point) and I don’t want to buy a new iPhone and reward apple for this bs.
If I do buy another iPhone eventually, I might just give in though and play their fucking game fully and just buy the applecare. Just fully go in on the fact that I’m subscribing to the iPhone experience, not actually owning anything.
Apple is a walled garden and because of it I will not touch their products. Stuff tends to be over priced too.
Do not use face ID on phones other than Apple and maybe Samsung as most are easily spoofed.
A phone is a throw away device so my opinion is buy the cheapest one that does what you need.
The only thing keeping me from switching to an Apple device is ads on youtube. You can get a modded youtube app on Iphone but it takes way more work compared to an android. If you don’t have a mac, file transfer is also a pain on windows machines.
On the other hand, Apple UX really is great. If you prefer UX over customizability, I don’t see why you wouldn’t go for an Iphone.
Apple refuses to integrate RCS into iMessage despite Google publicly calling it out and inviting it to do so. Apple is not incentivized to do so since they enjoy the iMessage ecosystem lock-in. Google is further ahead than Samsung, and allows you to use RCS with their stock Messages app. Personally, I use Signal with all my friends and family which works on both iOS and Android.
Let’s go through your example features…
Face ID: This is available in the latest Google Pixel models via Face Unlock. No it’s not as good as iOS, but you also have the fingerprint reader as an additional option with Pixel, which you don’t have on iOS. As someone who experiences Winter, I’m glad to not have to show my face to unlock my phone when I’m bundled up or skiing with a helmet/goggles on. Easier to just take a glove off for a hot second to unlock the phone.
iMessage: This is blue bubble envy, and it’s pretty slick I can’t lie. Again, I’ve been beneficial to have my friends use Signal, but if all your friends are using iMessage it can be annoying. This is a problem of Apple’s own making, however, and I wouldn’t reward them (on principle) for sustaining the issue despite options being available.
Home Screen UX: Not sure how Android doesn’t win this one hands down. Home screen customization is way behind Android, and even with the latest changes in the latest versions of iOS, it’s still behind.
Battery Life: I don’t find my Pixel 7 to suffer from poor or even remotely poor battery life at all. There are Android phones like the Asus Zenphone 10 that are crushing even the best iPhone on battery life. It’s easily a two-day phone, and they do it all in a compact package.
Extended Software Support: Again, it’s all in who you choose to buy from if you value long term support. Samsung gives four years of OS and five years of security updates for its phones. Google gives three years of OS updates and five years of security updates on its phones. Not quite as good as iOS, but not worth spending a bunch extra for an iPhone.
Ultimately though, it’s Apple’s hostile approach to allowing users to repair their own products that has me staying away from purchasing their phones. Not just in the build process, but in their unwillingness to sell component level replacement parts of any kind to independent repair shops. And their support for killing right-to-repair legislation.
I appreciate the thorough response, thanks! And I hear most of this but I’d give some pushback on a few things. Most of this comes from experience with Samsung devices so keep that in mind.
I recognize that the RCS thing is an apple problem that they’re making. But my issue is that even if they solved RCS, I think that iMessage is still somewhat running away with messaging and I can’t convince anyone to use signal. I like the security, but signal isn’t very feature rich. And I’m kind of done waiting for a better android alternative to exist unfortunately. If it did, I might come back.
FaceID: I too love the fingerprint reader. My Note 10 isn’t great with having it under the screen and I’d prefer face unlock personally. I can’t imagine FaceID to be any less convenient than having a wet finger and being unable to scan it. So I’d call that neutral for me personally.
iMessage: I know I’m rewarding them, I hate it, wish I could live without it but it’s stopping me from getting video messages from people.
Home Screen UX: it’s less about customization (not being able to place apps in certain places bugs me) but more about the design language itself. I guess less about the home screen specifically and I mean more about the general UI layout, drawers, and control panel. All those are mature on android and I just fine the Apple stuff easier to visually control. Especially comparing the Apple stuff to OneUI or material you. I know I can fix some of what I’m talking about, but I don’t necessarily want to fiddle with it.
And Battery: isn’t usually a problem for me with a note device, but I’ve had issues before. Like a weird bug used to drain battery for no reason (Linus of LTT noted this a few times on his Note device). But in general, Apple seems to be making advances in efficiency that aren’t present in android devices yet. Hence the larger (and heavier) batteries in many devices.
Again not trying to start a war, don’t feel obligated to respond. Just hope that explains my thoughts here.
On battery: Samsung seems to have a battery quality issue for many years now.
On longevity: I think every Samsung flagship I’ve had felt very noticeable slower after just like 3-6 months of use.
Ive sworn off of Samsung for the foreseeable future.
In my case is because the stuff I buy has to be mine. It’s a matter of principle. I root and degoogle all my phones and install custom ROMs on them (and FOSS apps from external stores, such as fdroid). I couldn’t deApple an iPhone, so it’d kind of limited for me. Plus, frankly speaking, I couldn’t care less about RCSi/Message, it’s not like there aren’t enough messaging options out there.
I hate to disappoint you, but the software part controlling your phone is the baseband processor. No matter what you replace and root, that one is in control and you cannot in any legal way replace it.
I mean, you can say the same about nearly all hardware for sale today (coreboot etc being the exception). Being able to control what the OS is doing is enough for most enthusiasts.
I just really dislike the interface, I have both an Android (personal phone) and an iPhone (work phone) and I find the iPhone frustrating and annoying to use. But that’s probably just me.
Exactly the same for me, I find my work iphone to be unintuitive and unresponsive compared to my Pixel phones. Although I will say Apple’s face authentication is pretty great.
I find it too basic and difficult to identify how to perform actions and manage the device.
Don’t get me wrong it’s excellent for users who want a straightforward phone that is simple and intuitive to navigate and operate, and it’s also likely improved on usability even more since I last tried using one.
However sadly the iOS interface is just not for me…
I switched a couple years ago, the stability was the best part for me, and the fact that all of your peripheral devices just work, it’s really nice.
In my family, everyone else has an iPhone and I have Samsung S23. So I can maybe give both perspectives. If you just want a phone to be a phone, it’s hard to go wrong with an iPhone. It’s always the best default choice. That being said, I personally can’t go back to an iPhone. Lots of people recommend Google devices because of the “stock” Android experience but I greatly prefer the interface, integration, and customization of Samsung devices.
Anyway, in no particular order why I like Android/Samsung:
I can probably think of more but that’s a good start.
Apple is the “you will own nothing and like it” of phones. You are told how to use your phone, whatyou can and cannot use your phone for, when you can use your phone, etc. The interface is horrible and by trying to make everything so simple it makes it hard as heck to do almost anything more difficult than connecting to wifi. Try using Control D DNS to block ads on an iphone sometimes, PITA. I control my experience on Android from what ROM i use (Lineage), the fact i run no google apps package, the DNS i use, to where exactly i put my icons on my homescreen and how said homescreen behaves.
I’m interested in why you think android has any privacy benefits. If you are talking full-google android, I don’t see how running an OS made by a company whose business model is finding out every bit of info they can about you is privacy positive.
Now if you are talking lineage and/or grapheneOS
Without gapps, sure.
I like Apple because my phone just works. Sure the customization isn’t there, but I’d waste time on it if it was. Also stay on Apple because last time I checked, the Apple Watch was the only wearable that tracked wheelchair activity properly.
iOS has gotten far buggier since Steve’s departure though. The “paint the back of the fence” mindset got ruined by Tim Apple and capitalism.
Apple products are for people who want to be treated like children. The corporate parent locks down your device and controls how you use it. Android devices, depending on the manufacturer, are for people who want to be treated like adults - free to make their own decisions and mistakes. This is the main difference between the two.
I run windows on the desktop, Linux on my server, and iOS on my phone.
I used android for years and had all kinds of fun rooting and installing alternate OSes. Modern android devices (the mainstream ones anyway) are loaded up we undesirable apps and services and partner bullshit.
I would have agreed 10 yrs ago, but, it seems to me that the landscape has changed. Last year I decided to change with it. The iPhone is a compelling mobile experience, I doubt I will go back to android, but we will see what comes.
I think that this statement is only made by people who enjoy tinkering and adjusting their devices. To a certain extent, apple let’s you do that. You can change plenty of settings on an iPhone. Sure stuff is off limits, but I wouldn’t be complaining that Android Auto treats me like a child because I can’t modify it. The customization and adultification is only good if you’re going to use it or are okay with complexity.
And as I pointed out, they’ve developed a lot of unique features at this point that other phones are struggling with. It’s the competition between dumb simplicity and focus vs trying to appeal to everyone. And that’s fine, like I said it’s not a war.
Surprisingly, iOS has better privacy than Google because Apple is a hardware company while Google is an advertising company.
I noticed that with all my friends and family, once they get into the ecosystem, they can’t get out.
Apple has a lot of proprietary systems that forces users to get into the ecosystem. That ecosystem is expensive to maintain. And say you wanna switch back to android. Then you’re met with the sunk cost fallacy. What are you going to with all the hardware and services you bought that is now useless outside of the ecosystem?
If you have an iPhone, you can’t text on your computer unless you have a MacBook
If you feel Apple’s features appealing over Android for their price, go right ahead.
The thing that turns me off is that once you are there, you are kind of stuck in Apple’s ecosystem. It’s Apple that decides how long a program/application is supported on your computer or phone, not each developer. I still have apps designed for Android v.2 on my phone and they work fine. Apple phones were only recently “forced” to allow application side-loading, until then Apple had to know every single app you downloaded because it was through their store, and linked to your AppleID. Whereas you have Fdroid or you can easily compile your own apps without agreeing to odious terms from Cupertino.
I’ll give Apple credit they have a decent quality and fully-featured ecosystem for mobile and computing. The only issue is that they intentionally make it difficult to use alternatives to their products that are outside their ecosystem, which isn’t for me.
I hear you on all of these points. But I asked myself if I can live with those flaws to have something that works more seamlessly and doesn’t have the social cost of not having iMessage. Turns out, I feel like I can. Some of us must choose the dark side I guess. But like I’ve said, I’m not opposed to coming back to android if they can get some of my gripes with the platform ironed out. Like if everyone switched to using whatsapp around me or went to signal, I wouldn’t bother switching.