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
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…
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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.
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iMessage: This is blue bubble envy, and it’s pretty slick I can’t lie. Again, I’ve been lucky to get my friends to 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.
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Home Screen UX: Not sure how Android doesn’t win this one hands down. iOS home screen customization is way behind Android, and even with the latest changes in the latest versions of iOS, it’s still behind.
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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.
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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.
That’s fair enough. Maybe my problem was that I was buying Samsung phones then. Thanks for pointing all this out, definitely helped me in this decision process.
Same experience with a flagship Samsung tablet. Within 6 months it was lagging noticeably and after a year it was borderline unusable. I thought it was an Android issue but what you’re saying makes more sense. My current phone is a Oneplus. They have their own set of issues, but after 20 months my 9Pro is as snappy as it was when I bought it.
This comment is really informative and summarizes most of my feelings about it. I’ve gone through all three and it does really feel like what you value. My partner and I eventually went with Google as well
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.
Customization isn’t really the end all be all, if you already like the iOS homescreen there is really no reason to customize it. In that same vein, I’ve been using the same android launcher for years and years and never use any of the more advanced stuff like widgets and whatnot. Just a basic experience that lets me keep my icons where I want them. And since I go for a one-page only full of icons and folders style, the iOS launcher would be perfect for me.
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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.
I have a different philosophy. Phones may be throw away (becoming less and less the case though) but they’re also the technology that I interact with daily and hourly.
I’m a student so my productivity is highly dependent on being in group chats, typing up emails, taking tablet notes, work on a laptop, etc. But the biggest impact to my workload at any one time is my phone.
Now my android isn’t bad at any of the tasks I throw at it, but there’s a larger social impact for not having iMessage.
In my case it 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 RCS/iMessage, 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.
This way of thinking could be extended to the microcode on a x86 CPU, the Intel Management Engine, or even the propietary Broadcom boot blob on a Raspberry pi IMO.
While the real solution would be RISC with fully transparent hardware and an open-source boot process, I myself am happy settling for as much control as I can get over my device. For me that’s root access on my Android, and Linux on everything else.
There are still unsolved issues such as Qualcomm GPS modules using clear HTTP to fetch the Almanac with details such as your device’s serial number, regardless of root or custom rom ☹️
If 100% control is not achievable, I’m fine with an 80%. With an iThing, we are close to 0%.
Just one person’s opinion, but I switched to an Apple phone last year after several years using top of the line Android devices, and I’ve been really happy with it. The features are all rock solid, and their particular brand of walled garden is one that I don’t tend to mind much.
That’s pretty comforting. I’m kind of nervous to switch but it’d good to hear you haven’t had a bad experience
If your stuff just working is more important than customization and you take care of your devices you will probably be very happy. The platforms do have some significant differences in how notifications and the UI work vs Android so not everyone is a fan.
For me the typical 4 plus years of full OS updates and support is great. Never have to worry if my “insert android vendor / carrier” is supporting the next OS release.
Have had the iPhone 3, 3GS, 4s, 5c, 7, and am now on a 14. My 7 I used into the ground, did one official battery replacement on it (gets kinda short on battery life at year 2-3, but never had any issue with any App Store app. Of note my upgrade gap got a lot longer with the 5c as since about that generation they have become so reliable and powerful that it takes a lot for them to be obsolete.
No notes here, my thoughts exactly. I will say though, the info regarding android updates on older phones is a mess. Like okay new android update, but when will my phone get it? Or will it at all? No clue. It’s frustrating that I can’t even tell if or when or what I’ll get in any android update.
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.
Android manufacturers, particularly Samsung, are trying very hard to align themselves with the iPhone which is a concern. Google is also becoming increasingly hostile towards deGoogled custom ROMs (which are one of the main reasons to use Android). The future isn’t looking good for Android but it would have to be significantly worse to even come close to rivalling the “pay more for less” Apple experience.
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.
Of course. People with more knowledge will always have a wider view than those with less knowledge. The average Android user probably thinks the main differences are the UI/hardware/price, just like how the average iOS user thinks the main difference is the applications. The actual main difference that I described is not something many people will understand because they don’t know enough about how these operating systems function and what you can and can’t do with them. People being unaware of reality does not change reality, however.
I don’t think you’re wrong but I was just pointing out that there are design decisions being made and it’s not always about reducing you to a child-like interaction. It’d be like if I said that Windows babies it’s users because I can’t loosen every bolt inside of the OS and kernel. Like yes it’s technically correct that Linux is more modifiable and for more power hungry users, but truly if you don’t use those parts it doesn’t matter.
Unfortunately the way I see it is that Android is so unfocused at times that it comes at the cost of basic ergonomics. Look at oneUI for instance. The top drawer has like 50 buttons. The volume slider on androids is a pain to use. So it’s less about Apple being a railroad with one track and more about if you only ever need the one track, it sure does move you in a straight line better than all the stops.
That’s just me though, I get why you see it that way and I get your points.
I made the switch last year from a Razer Phone 2 with a waning battery to a used iPhone 12. There’s a lot I enjoy about iOS. FaceID is wonderful and it pairs with Bitwarden and other login services very well. The camera is very nice, takes great pictures and has an excellent zoom. The live photo option is cool but takes up a lot of space if you take a lot of photos. I’m a very avid Swype user and used Swiftkey on Android. Never had much of an issue with it as it had very good predictive text. Swype and predictive text feels terrible on iOS, on the stock keyboard and with Swiftkey (which I think is getting removed from the AppStore soon). It’s constantly putting in words that don’t make any sense. So I constantly have to go back and edit what I’m typing. It also switches itself back to the stock keyboard multiple times a day. I don’t care for Safari so I use Firefox. Apple forces Firefox to use webkit and doesn’t allow extensions like on Android. I do run Adguard vpn and that seems to do decent at blocking ads. I ended up ordering a battery and paid for a replacement in my Razer Phone 2. It’s a huge heavy rectangle, but it’s almost stock android and gets 3 or 4 days on a charge. I’m really considering switching back but I don’t feel like moving my 2FA and other crap right now.
I hear ya. I use a lot of those services but I can tell you that I haven’t liked any keyboard on android. So I like this input because it’s very close to my actual use case. Even then though, I feel like I’ll manage. And even if I can’t, I’ll be holding onto my Note 10 for a bit before reselling it. If I feel like going back to it, I’ll just return or sell the iPhone and the cost of doing that is low enough that I’d rather try it and fail.
Just wanted to see what other people’s experiences have been and if I’m in the right mindset with androids being behind. Seems like it depends on what you want to have and maybe my use case has just changed. Cheers!
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.
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…
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.
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 think you’re much more of a power user of android than I am. I heavily use my phone but I don’t modify to that extent.
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.
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?
Not wrong and I’m aware of that danger. However, I’ve stepped out of that ecosystem before and will be buying used devices for whatever I buy. Apple devices don’t lose value at anywhere near the rate as other devices. So I feel comfortable that if I needed to abandon ship, I’d have the option without losing too much money.
I also think it helps that I’ll be keeping my data out of iCloud and I also won’t be buying anything that can’t be used separately. So no airpods max headphones or home speakers for now. Hopefully those steps help mitigate that because I know how their walled garden works.
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.
Not to negate your post, but VLC on iOS has some decent file copying features now - you can connect tonetwork servers (ftp, smb, dlna) in the app, and either stream files or download them. You can also turn on a web interface hosted on the phone (while the app is running) and upload files if you’re on the same network. I’d like to be able to copy files over usb like with android phones, but Apple will probably never allow that.
Agree with most of your other points though, and I’m probably going to get an android tablet for videos, Netflix and emulators while hanging around at home.
Number 6 isn’t all the accurate. Safari on iOS has extensions, so you can get an ad blocker.
To be far though, it’s probably better on android.
Woke up and chose violence today huh? ;)
Having used both, I’d say stick with Android if you prefer tinkering, hop to iOS if you just want to pick up your device and do stuff.
Neither platform has any real privacy unless you do a de-googled Android (and that should be a third category IMO). Apple claims privacy but is at least moving toward a place where that isn’t really true. Privacy is a moot point when it comes to smartphones I guess.
To answer your question: don’t move to iOS if it doesn’t support a feature/function that is non negotiable for you. The stuff that works on iOS works well, and the stuff that doesn’t just basically doesn’t exist for the most part. iOS really only puts stuff into production that it thinks are near enough perfected already and everything else isn’t released outside beta programs.
For Apple, privacy means restricting access to your data for third parties. They take it for granted that they themselves should have access to everything. Apple protects your privacy from third parties, but not from Apple. In that regard, they actively compromise your privacy, because they upload and keep a lot more of user data on their servers than one would expect, and are semitransparent about that at best.
Of course the same is true for google, plus google makes more money with ads and owns a lot more of “internet infrastructure”: For Apple, they have control over your OS and maybe browser. Google owns the OS, your browser, the DNS server, the search, the cached version of a website, the captiveportalcheck server, maybe even the domain register and hosting provider. Apple has targeted apps as well, but the pure scale of what google is doing makes it so much worse in that regard.
The same is true for manufacturers like Samsung, Huawei etc. as well, they too want as much of your data, and want other parties to get as little, as possible. That’s just what’s happening across the industry: data is the new gold, the fewer parties have access to a certain set of data the higher its value.
Very simply put:
IPhone -> Apple tries to get all your data, but restrict access for third parties
Stock Android -> Google and manufacturer x try to get all your data, but restrict access for fourth parties
Then there are Linux phones, probably great for privacy but honestly not practical at the current state. And then there are custom roms like LineageOS, grapheneos etc. That’s where I always land, because I want actual privacy including from the maker of my device. Also, clean LineageOS on a well supported device is just miles ahead of any stock android rom if you ask me. But if I did not have the time or skill to flash custom roms I could totally see me buying an iPhone. I won’t, because lineage, but you get the point.
Tl,Dr: Get LineageOS or GrapheneOS. If you can’t or don’t want to: IPhone might be slightly better in terms of privacy.
Sorry for the wall of text, hope it helps someone!
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.
For that price why not get an android instead? Unless, your work requires an iPhone, etc.
I was all anti apple a while back, but when I first got an iPhone for work I kinda really enjoyed it. And eventually found myself using my iPhone a lot. I think it’s mostly around performance, every flagship Samsung I’ve bought felt really crappy to use after a few months. A factory reset sometimes helped, but who wants to do that regularly.
I’ve enjoyed my time with google pixels in the past, so I might be tempted to go that route in the future.
I’m sending this from my almost 4 year old iPhone 11 that works quite well. Better than any android I’ve had even 2 years into its life.
I feel this and repair is a big downside. However, I’ve never needed to repair my previous phones. And I’m planning on buying a $500 used iPhone. So I guess I’d just eat the cost for any repair more expensive than a screen replacement. But tbh, official Samsung parts for their phones aren’t exactly cheap and most comparable phones to the iPhone aren’t any easier or cheaper to repair for the most part.
Yeah, that’s largely why I switched to iPhone to begin with. The phones have the potential to last for many years with the software support they get.
It may not help you now, but Apple has started offering Self-Service repair kits, parts, and manuals for iPhone 12 and newer, including re-syncing the paired parts. It’s not perfect, but it’s a start. Even if you don’t personally have the skills to fix it, a 3rd party repair will have an easier time.
They only offer a couple of parts (no faceid), the parts are expensive (usually the same or more as having apple do the repair), and they do not offer any parts at all for my iPhone 11.
Surprisingly, iOS has better privacy than Google because Apple is a hardware company while Google is an advertising company.
Surprisingly, Android has better privacy than iOS, because Android will remove permissions from apps that haven’t been used in a while, and Android gives users permission to globally disable the camera and microphone, which is not possible on iOS.
Completely and utterly incorrect. Apple blocks 3rd party apps from collecting data, while all their first arty apps, from Health to Safari, are all covered under “first party” and therefore are subject to “anonymous” data collection. Sound familiar?
They’re both the same, and in fact I’d stay Android is more secure for data since it at least gives you the option to use open source 3rd party apps that you can see yourself do not have tracking built in.
Apple collects your information: yes But Apple doesn’t sell your information for ad targeting to 3rd parties. Thats the important point for some people (at least for me). I don’t want to be re-targeted again and again when I browse the net.
Safari is also one of the better privacy browsers on the market. Obviously not better than Firefox or the new DDG browser, but it is readily available for the average user which is important.
(I use both Android and iOS because of work.)
But Apple doesn’t sell your information for ad targeting to 3rd parties.
Again, completely and utterly incorrect. All those Apple Privacy ads are pretty good, I’ll admit. However, all you need to do is look at any company’s revenue numbers to see the real truth.
https://www.insiderintelligence.com/content/apple-ad-revenues-skyrocket-amid-its-privacy-changes
https://www.vox.com/recode/2022/12/22/23513061/apple-iphone-app-store-ads-privacy-antitrust#luMMel“Well, I guess I still trust Apple as an advertising company more than the others”
5. Acceptance
I asked my sister who is eagerly switching back to Android after dipping her toes in iOS for only a year:
That dumb green/blue text bullshit.
this is a US thing only btw. Nobody outside cares if the tick is blue or green. ah and nobody uses SMS anymore outside the US
If you have an iPhone, you can’t text on your computer unless you have a MacBook
Good point
Microsoft’s new version of Phone Link can do it. It doesn’t support group texts or MMS though.