The Android 12/13 UI really grinds my gears. Excessive amounts of whitespace, and the notification shade has become “kiddified” - Turning off wifi/mobile data now takes 2 taps, the icons are all ridiculously big and takes up so much screen space, etc.
I personally don’t like phones that are excessively big, because I use it a lot on my commutes. Screen real estate is valuable to me, and while whitespace has its uses, I think Android 12/13 went too far - it might work better on a tablet, but it sucks on a phone. I was really tempted by the Pixel, but ended up getting a Samsung partially because of this (One UI doesn’t have the same bloated-whitespace look).
Am I the only one? Surely Google did user testing… didn’t they?
I’m thoroughly unhappy with Android and Google in general. I’ve been an Android user since v1.5 on the Motorola Droid.
I know it’s a big jump and that Apple is far from perfect, however since the security on iphones is often better than Android phones, the updates are far more regular, and the general experience is superior, I’ll be switching once my OnePlus 8T dies. My wife has always had an iphone since I’ve known her, and I’m often envious of the cool and free things her phone can do. Apple also isn’t an advertisement company with interests that conflict with your privacy.
I’m a longtime Linux user, but Android is NOT what I wanted from a phone running on the Linux kernel and hasn’t been for years.
From a security and privacy point of view you’re better off using a degoogled Android phone, preferably running AOSP, than you are being part of the Apple ecosystem. They’re not selling your data to others because they’re tracking it for their own malevolent purposes.
My OnePlus 8T has been modified for tweaks not available in the stock software, but doing so makes banking apps not work a good portion of the time thanks to the modified bootloader. Some outright refuse to let me use them.
I’ve owned multiple Pine phones, but they’re just not there yet. iOS is going to be my temporary stop while Linux phones mature further. Mobile websites are not a great replacement for native apps.
In the meantime, I will be divesting myself from Google’s services. It’s not a perfect solution, but nothing ever is.