Surprise.
Bet you didn’t see this one coming.
This week’s post has been pretty late. I’m a bit troubled by yesterday’s thread on Apple. So, a foreword: It’s OK to prefer something over another, it’s not OK to say people who like different phones than you are somehow more childish or less intelligent than you. Again, we are going for casual, yet intensely helpful here, so please don’t call people names over petty reasons, we have rules here.
Previously on Lemmy:
Past Discussions:
In this post, it’s not about saying how bad iPhones are, but I’d just like to hear the perspective on iPhones from Android users. I, for one, had an old iPhone 4 for a long time (call it nostalgia, or laziness, or just being cheap), and it was my general frustration with the device that ultimately led to my preference for Androids, (It was quite a while back though).
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It was absolutely painful to transfer files from the phone to my computer (Ugh, iTunes).
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I got it pre-jailbroken and didn’t realize you can’t just update the system casually, so it was really fun trying to find ways to downgrade the system until I realized that I can’t and have to pray for the next jailbreak to get half my things working again.
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The 40-pin cable wears out so fast, and always in the same spot on the strain relief. I swear I’ve gone through 3 of these cables in one year just from normal use.
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All the browsers are somehow flavors of Safari. To do anything, I will have the choice of ad-filled websites, or ad-filled apps.
It always just seemed like I’m fighting against the system. Never did I have that “it just works” moment, until I’ve got my first Android, and realize I have the freedom to do whatever I want with it, and I can install what I want, and if there’s a problem, I can look things up and fix it myself.
(Having a back button is also a game changer.)
Of course, there is a lot that Android manufacturers can learn from Apple as well, one of the most obvious one is the time for software support: I think my old iPhone has gone through like 3 version updates over the years, whereas currently I’m lucky to get 2 out of any Android manufacturer.
But it seems that Android manufacturers are more content on copying things that works for iOS, but doesn’t work for Android, like removing the headphone jack. Or big notches. (It makes no sense to do that because of Android’s notification system uses the full length of the bar.) It’s gotten to the point that I don’t think people who makes Android phones actually uses Android but are content to copy superficial features from Apple without understanding why Apple do them.
Like a bunch of lemmings. (Heh)
Again, these are my personal preferences, I have nothing against people who prefers iPhones, nor do I think they are lesser for it, but it’s just not for me.
I’d use a one as a work phone/for iMessages though.
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Sideloading:
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I’d be restricted to the apps on the app store that have to restrict themselves to the app store policies.
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I wouldn’t have an alternative way to download an app if it gets banned from the app store for any reason. I remember hearing about Fortnite getting banned from both app store and play store but android users can still play it.
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I couldn’t use modified apps like revanced.
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I think you’d be restricted to region locks in app store which you can circumvent on play store by running a vpn, force stopping play store and then clearing data on it.
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Being restricted to app store only means some extraordinary apps wouldn’t be developed like the cool apps on android that aren’t on play store.
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Sometimes developers make different versions of the same apps. One is a bit restricted and is for play store. It’s restricted because it has to follow play store policies. The other version ends up having more features. I don’t see this happening on iOS. I heard about EU asking them to make a way to sideload, but I also heard that that might be restricted to EU only which means it wouldn’t pick up as much as it could.
Aesthetics:
Nothing much to say except I don’t like the iOS ui. I even fine it ugly. I much prefer the material you thing android is doing.
Lack of your own choice:
- Apple decides for its users. They removed headphone jacks and then the sim card thing in US for no reason. Since they only have flagships, that’s all the users are restricted to.
Android flagships sadly seem to follow their example soon enough
- All the browsers on iOS are just reskinned safari.
General bias:
I don’t like apple handles their things and many of their users. That affects my decision so I think I should put it here as a reason. I don’t think I have to mention what apple does but for their users, I live in Asia and a lot of people see iphones as a status thing which I find annoying. Feels like a matter of shoving cash in your face to flex. There’s also the bubble thing I hear in US which I find ridiculous.
Other points:
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No back button
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No revanced.
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Ecosystem locked.
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Only expensive phones.
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Overpriced. It maybe used to be worth it, but these days all phones look and work the same anyway.
I used to be an iPhone person, bought a new one every two years from the iPhone 4 in 2010 until my iPhone SE broke in 2018. That was when iPhones jumped to being like $1000, so I thought fuck it and bought a $150 Android.
I was ready for a really rough transition but it turns out these days all apps are cross platform React Native with data stored in the cloud. Once you’re logged in literally everything is exactly the same.
I think that Apple makes a quality product, but I can’t stand the company and their mindset towards consumers. I don’t like that they tell me what my user experience will be and demand that I enjoy it. Their products remind me of America Online (AOL), where they put the internet into a can and fenced off the user experience. It’s great for the most basic of users, but frustrating if you want to have control and do things your way.
I’m forced to use iphones for work, so I’m not unfamiliar with ios, but I prefer my S23 much more.
If Google started taking privacy and E2EE as seriously as Apple, I wouldn’t even be thinking of switching over to iPhone, but now I’m thinking whether to stay with Android or switch. (also no ads would be great on Google TV/Chromecast)
I love not having features!
I would never own one. I don’t like closed systems that try to lock my data away. Also, the inflexible UI sucks.
I didn’t really care much about other people’s preferences until this past weekend at my Aunt’s celebration of life gathering. My cousin insisted on sending photos taken there via iMessages (translation: group mms) instead of posting somewhere or using email. Blurry is an understatement. Those photos are useless.
Excellent hardware, mediocre software, too expensive. To elaborate on the software, long software update is good. And the iPhone is certainly smooth. However it requires too many workarounds for/straight up can’t do what I would consider basic features on Android. And it certainly isn’t bug free. For the average user though, I don’t think they care about any of that, they only care about the brand, which is why the iPhone still sells so well.
Excellent hardware
More like excellent industrial design, good chip design and good software support*. The hardware itself is nothing special; having a badly engineered aspect has been the “standard feature” for many Apple devices (butterfly keyboard, soldered SSD-s, phone chassis prone to bending are some examples that come to mind).
For comparison, I had a Huawei P7 phone (back when Huawei was still in good graces everywhere) that was thinner, and had better screen than the contemporary iPhone while also having a strong, beautifully machined aluminium chassis. It proved a very durable and dependable tool, and cost ⅓ of the price of an iPhone. The weak point was update support—it was shipped with Android 4.4.2, updated to 4.4.4, and that was that. Android 5 was supposedly released, but never arrived via OTA and when I updated manually after spending some time searching for the new firmware, it proved to be buggy and half-baked.
*Caveat: when I tried to download KDE Connect for an older iPhone, I couldn’t because the OS is no longer supported and Apple store doesn’t offer older versions of the apps. On Android I can still dig up an old version from Github or some other source and install what I need—I was still able to install Kodi on my old 4.4.4 phone to use as a DLNA music streamer. On an old Apple device, you’re shit outta luck.
As a developer, the experience is so much better on Android for me. And I oppose the walled garden on a ideological level.
But I have to admit some of the features are compelling. Some of them aren’t even really Apple’s doing, such as Genshin Impact supporting wireless controllers on IOS14+, but not Android at all. Others are built in, such as the lidar scanning.
They haven’t yet tempted me over, though, because phones are incredibly expensive and even if I weren’t opposed to the walled garden, I’m pretty invested in the Android ecosystem now.
At some point I plan to borrow someone’s iPhone and try Genshin on it, and if that works well… Well, I might just switch anyhow. Or maybe I get sick of that game before that. ;)
If apple allowed you to open up the software and increased ease of hardware repair they’d be my choice. The products are high quality but you have no choice in anything. I enjoy being able to install custom roms on my android. That being said Samsung is getting just as bad as apple. Can’t even put a custom roms on my zfold cause unlocking the bootloader disables the cameras. Google is also pushing more and more to make android less open and more like apple and Samsung is really trying to do the same thing. I’d like to see another OS enter the market. Linux for Android is looking promising but I’m afraid there will never be a market ready model. Pine phones are close and libre is nearly there but phosh is disgusting and not a viable replacement.
Apple products are for the technologically feeble.
Im using a motorola that’s ~3 years old and not top of the line. It has a headphone jack, and a stylus.
My opinion on the iPhone is that it is the industry leading phone. But it’s taking the industry in directions I just have no interest in.
I used to love the Iphone back when app devs followed strict design standards. And offered a good product for a few bucks up-front. So now I use launchers with icon-replacements, and I try to pay for FOSS apps that I use.
So nowadays, I’m looking forward to more counter-culture designs. I’m definitely looking for a phone with a physicaly keyboard or a way to attach a small bluetooth keyboard physically to the phone. But I digress.
It has been so long so I couldn’t remember the details. But when I got an Iphone 4 back in the day (1st ever iPhone, after many Androids). It got me so frustrated doing anything on it.
One of my biggest frustration was: There’s no “bulk selection” AT ALL! Want to delete pictures? One by one. Delete phone history? One by one. Delete Contacts? ONE! BY! ONE!.
I thought to myself “How could ANYONE use this thing?”
Get rid of it after 4 months and never looked back.
ITT: people who haven’t used anything later than an iPhone 6 /s
Seriously though, I am curious if anyone has spent more than a month with a 13 Pro or later; it sounds like most of the gripes are about shittier/older iPhones/iOS versions.
Lots of good points here (like the universal back button/gesture 🤤) and it’ll be interesting to see how things change after the 15 gets USB-C and maybe some sideloading at some point over the next couple of years 🤞
Can’t wait for USB-C on iPhone so everyone can share cables.
I feel like I’m the only one on Lemmy who isn’t confused by USB specs though.
I mean, I think it’s pretty easy to get confused by all of the different protocols there are that can’t all run on the same looking cable/connector.
Just by picking up an errant wire, it’s pretty hard to tell if it has power delivery, can do Thunderbolt 3 or 4, a low wattage, but high throughput USB 3.2 cable (which in itself could do 5, 10, or 20Gbps), or just basic USB 2.0 especially if both ends are USB-C.
Oh, it’s actually not that hard. Now Lemmy explain:
The 3.x are spec revision numbers, it’s the fhe Gen number that indicates the data speed, so USB 3.0/3.1/3.2 Gen 1 are all 5Gbps.
All USB-C cable can do 100W PD regardless of data transfer, EPR labeled ones can do 240W but it’s very recent and not very popular.
You can just look at the number of pins inside the plug to see if the cable only supports USB 2.0, as the 3.0 data pins will be missing and there will only be 14 or 16 pins total instead of the full 24.
IPhones are irrepairable, good looking, feature packed, reliable, android mocking, mostly great phones with intentional design flaws, from whose platform you can’t easily switch away, created by an unethical company trying to squeeze every penny out of you
Back in the day when mobile data was multiple euros per megabyte, I had an ipod 4G as my first ‘smartphone’. The UI was unbelievably smooth for the time but I found the OS very limited, so I jailbroke it and tinkered a lot with it. After the release of the iphone 6, apple shipped an update to my ipod that made it super slow. Most games that would run perfectly before became unplayable over night.
That day I made a decision to not buy or recommend any apple devices. Android was great back then, so I never looked back.
A couple of months ago, my dad got an iphone for work and after playing around with it for 20 minutes, I wondered how anyone uses this. The UI is very slow and glitchy compared to my oneplus 8 (which is a 3 year old phone at this point) even when I switch my phone to 60hz to make it fair.
It always just seemed like I’m fighting against the system. Never did I have that “it just works” moment, until I’ve got my first Android, and realize I have the freedom to do whatever I want with it, and I can install what I want, and if there’s a problem, I can look things up and fix it myself.
I very much agree with that statement and find myself in the exact same position with windows, so I’ve switched to linux. It’s genuinely incredible how much better it is after gaining a few dozen hours of experience with it.
I use Arch btw.🥰
