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

  •  CleoTheWizard   ( @LimitedBrain@beehaw.org ) OPEnglish
    3•1 year ago

    This is the kind of perspective that I really appreciate so thank you for it. I think that saying I’m in the US is relevant because over here it’s definitely where Apple puts the stranglehold on people and it isn’t the same in other countries.

    Best comparison I can give is how it is to have an iphone in your country and not use whatsapp. Let’s say that only iphones could use whatsapp in your country and no one else could. Except that half the population still uses whatsapp regularly. That’s pretty close to what it’s like here. Without iMessage, my family sends me videos and I literally cannot see them. They’re sent to me in a smear of blurred pixels. It’s awful. I know Apple is to blame but it’s irrelevant if I want pictures and videos from my family no not get sent over SMS.

    I also hear you about the cost. I’m not someone who can afford to randomly go pick out a new iPhone without some serious decision making. And I won’t be buying new, I’ll likely buy an iPhone 12 to save a lot of my money.

    I wish the US market was different but I’m curious if you’d make the same decision to be able to communicate better with over half of your friends and most of your family. Thanks again for the feedback though!

    •  cobra89   ( @cobra89@beehaw.org ) English
      2•1 year ago

      I run a hackintosh VM and use Airmessage to talk to my friends and family over iMessage from my Android phone. It’s not perfect but it certainly bridges the gap for me with iMessage.

      However getting the Hackintosh VM to be recognized as a genuine Mac so that iMessage works is technical and to be frank, kinda tricky. But if you’re technically inclined with some Linux experience or experience using the Mac terminal you can probably do it.

      Only downside is the tricks to connect my phone number to iMessage haven’t worked for very long. So I just have my family use my email address to iMessage me. If they put your email address into your contact with your phone number it works pretty seamlessly.