At the moment I am thinking about getting a new phone in the foreseeable future. I was long time using android, but switched to iOS 5 years ago because of the longer update period. Now also some android devices offer a longer update support of about 5 years. Now I am thinking about switching back to android.
But i am wondering: is there any big difference from a privacy perspective between iOS and android? I know you can go for custom roms on android that are focused on privacy which i also used in the past, but i am not planning on doing this in the future. So it would come down to stock android vs stock iOS. Any advice there or is all lost anyway?
Probably depends largely on how you plan to use it. Android gives you the ability to download FOSS apps from F-Droid (or Obtainium, …). Being unable to do this because of iOS would be a huge minus for me in both usability and privacy/security. If you never plan to use that though, it becomes a lot closer.
If you want the best stock experience, I recommend getting a Google Pixel. It gets fast updates, has 5 years of support and is one of the most secure devices you can get hardware-wise. You also have the option of installing GrapheneOS on it (which is very quick and easy through the web installer), which is likely the best OS for privacy and security. It also gives you the option of using Google Services in a sandbox, which probably doesn’t even feel much different from using stock google android.