(unpaywalled version on archive.today: https://archive.ph/03cwZ)
Interesting figure that comes out of the article: 87% of US teens prefer iPhones. Also the explanations given aren’t quite surprising, I guess it’s mostly because of iMessage. Teens will feel like outcasts if they get an Android phone while their friends still use iMessage because of the green bubbles.
It’s actually hilarious how we allowed consumerism to take us this far and that we have now peer pressure over smartphones.
“You’re telling me in 2023, you still have a ’Droid? […] You gotta be at least 50 years old.”
ouch 😔
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Apple and Android developers go about creating their experiences in different ways. Android developers look at specs on a piece of paper. They want the highest and best specs and customization, so that, on paper, when compared side by side, there devices appear to be objectively better than iPhone.
Apple on the other hand, looks more into the psychology of how or why people do what they do, and how they interact with their devices. They take the “thought” out of it, so anyone can pick it up and figure it out.
I think Apples way speaks to people on a subconscious level, where it’s just a fluid pleasant experience all around, but people have difficulty figuring out WHY they prefer iPhones.
This makes people believe that the only reason people might buy an iPhone is because they want to appear “cool” and are victims of good marketing
Nothing makes me cringe more than kids who buy an Apple device and pretend they own it.
Yeah they like beats too
Nah beats by dre is old school now. They just use airpods now.
The new Beats stuff actually gets reviewed pretty well now. Not that it qualifies as a hifi experience for the price, but it’s at least not a complete ripoff anymore.
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Apple did good work there.
No more weights or are the weights of higher quality now?
Lol my reference is 10 years old
I know a 46 year old man who constantly complains about green bubbles in group texts. He doesn’t seem to realize that it’s his phone that isn’t following a standard and instead has chosen to refuse the RCS standard and lock him into proprietary bullshit.
Why do you know this person? Seems like you shouldn’t have to listen to anything he has to say anymore…
Sheep come in many age groups. I have an iphone for work, and I have turned off iMessage.
“why don’t you have an iPhone?”
“I do, unfortunately. But turned iMessage off because it’s shit.”
“But now your messages come in green bubbles. It’s annoying!”
“Send your message in Teams”
“On android phones you can get different messaging apps, and on some of those apps you can change the color of the text bubbles (both send and receive) to suit your needs. If the color is really an issue for you, just change it! Oh iPhones can’t do that? Shame…”
Yup. And one that randomly assigns a color for each chat. It’s nice.
Even worse. Over a decade ago, Google offered to integrate with their protocol for a shared improved user experience. Apple forbid it.
It’s not laziness on their part, or “better features” because they get to have control. They literally want the poor user experience to encourage just this kind of bullying.
Funny thing is that Google does the same thing all the time. Back when Microsoft released Windows phone, they had made a few really amazing apps. One of them was their email app. Google went out of their way to ensure Gmail would never work on it past the basic functions of reading and sending email. They also pretty much forbid YouTube from working on windows phones.
The email thing stuck out the most because Google announced they were dropping support to whatever protocol Microsoft was using to communicate with Gmail servers, then Microsoft announced they would use a different protocol and next week Google went “oh right we are also dropping support for this other protocol”.
That’s fair. As a developer that has been burned by Google dropping support for shit they created, I can’t say for certain it was malicious or just Google being Google.
They used to create a ton of tools and protocols and drop support a couple years later because it wasn’t worth it to them to maintain it. Lots of pet projects used to get promotions, but no budget for sustained support.
A big client onboarding and exposing major flaws could absolutely shine and unwelcome light and force them to take a critical eye and come to the conclusion of “yeah, everyone that worked on that has moved on, it’d take too many resources to revive it, and it’s just going to help our competitor anyway. Our business need for it is gone because does similar things. Cut the cord”
It sucks, and isn’t an excuse. I stopped using Google dev tools because of it long ago. Very unreliable. But I don’t think it’s the same intent as Apple by a long shot.
Mom, I’m tired of having software choices! I need to be locked into an ecosystem immediately!!
You are assuming they know about and care about those issues. The teens in my life don’t care.
You are assuming I should be taken at face value :)
Is this US specific? Because plenty of people (kids included) use Android in our country. Samsung is the most popular I think.
I’m in the US with an Android and have never actually encountered this, only heard about kids bitching about it. Adults definitely don’t give a shit. It’s very childish behavior.
I live in South Korea where Samsung is and this is still very much a thing here as well. Galaxy phone’s are more and more becoming an old people phone.
Found the answer:
In Colombia a few years ago Xiaomi was every where. People getting an iPhone most like get a “are you paying 3 times to do the same as this other phone? You crazy” from their friends, at least I’m my social circle.
I believe the United States are Apple’s biggest market.
yeah this must be very american specific. most people here cant afford iphones and dont care enough over a stupid color. theres a lot of people who also swear by some android brands like samsung.
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Must be nice having a generation of entitled brats
Yep, iPhones are not a big thing outside the US in my experience. They did not even cross 20℅ market share global until a couple years ago.
It is very US specific. There are other countries where ios have a majority market share, but in most countries the majority market share is android.
A bit like that here in UK. My job includes asking up to 150 people per day to switch off their phones. They are all late teens to middle aged. Majority are teens/early twenties. iPhones are by far the majority for younger British people. Others tend to be Samsung, Oppo or One+.
I think its a fashion statement thing, and don’t forget the teens probably have their bill paid by their parents.
You pay over $1000 for a iPhone? Pretty fucking cringe if I do say so.
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My entire life I’ve been reading news that only iPhones are cool, yet my social circles don’t care and have never said anything like this. I feel like this is a ‘Hello fellow kids’ type of investigative journalism, that is a secret apple ad.
I’m 36, have had windows mobile pocket PCs thru HTCs and eventually Samsung Galaxies, and have absolutely been shamed several times by different friend groups over the last decade plus lfor not having iMessage. It def ramped up in the later 2010s
Can you expand on your experiences? Was the social pressure constant, or just a comment? Do you think it impacted your relationships with your friends?
Who the fuck calls Android devices “'Droids” unironically? This couldn’t have been real teenagers. Not ones from the past decade at the very least.
Motorola 👀
guess we can thank TikTok and Snapchat for that?
Psst. Side bar.
I like retro stuff.
Oh my god. I didn’t even see that! Lmao
What you are referring to as droids is in fact Android/Linux, or as I’ve recently started calling it, Android+Linux.
…
Good one! :)
Apple has a great advertisement department. They are great at pumping such news stories.
I’m also convinced these are really just paid for by Apple ads. I’ve never seen anyone care about such a thing.
Eh, that was my highschool experience at least. It was never super serious or anything, like it’s not like I was being bullied lol, but I was regularly teased about it in my friend group.
When I was in highschool, the phone was attached to the wall in the kitchen. Simpler times.
When i was in school, you could throw the phone against a wall and the wall got damaged. Simpler times.
How do you do fellow consumer
Nah. That’s North America. iPhones in North America have become a status symbol, you have to be available on iMessage, otherwise they’ll contact you by SMS. I know a lot of people in Canada who have no other messaging app (WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal, etc.). They only communicate via iMessage.
Unless you care about privacy (signal), why even have a second messaging app? I have the phone to make calls and send texts. The default shit works well on iphone and android.
My family uses Whatsapp and my work uses GroupMe. If we just text, things get lis5t or come in oit of order.
Just off the top of my head…
It’s called the network effect. The rest of the world (except China) uses WhatsApp so if you want to communicate with them you use whatever they use.
Because SMS is unreliable. On several occasions, SMS messages have either been delayed by hours or simply never reached their destination. Mind you, that’s my experience here in Canada.
Most tech “news” is paid by the subject of the said news.
How often are you around teens though? My dad is a high school teacher and his students are always surprised and ask him why he has an Android and not an iPhone.
I’ve heard this is an American thing. I’m Canadian, and my kids are teenagers and only one friend they have has an iPhone, the rest are on Android (as are all of my friends now, the last one went over to Android last year)
Yes this is definitely a major American thing. There isn’t really anything equivalent to the green bubble shaming outside of America. And I would Hazard a guess that this is also more prevalent in more affluent coastal areas. As well as especially on the West coast. Apple’s back yard.
High school teacher here, and I see this a bit (although I have an iPhone)
I mentioned it in another comment, but this was real in my experience. At least in highschool. It’s not like I was bullied or anything, but I was teased about it quite a bit and honestly it made me want to switch to iPhone just to fit in.
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Our group moved to a private discord. Solved that problem.
I’ve never run into that, but I feel like it’s a good pivotable moment:
"Yeah Bob, this closed source walled garden isn’t playing nice with the group chat… good point, let’s move to Signal where everyone can have a good experience. "
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Going from one app (iMessage) to two isn’t an unambiguous win though. All the iPhone users’ experience got worse.
To be clear, this is such minor shit that the real answer is, “ok, I guess we’ll live with it because that’s how we communicate with our friends now”, but it is certainly nicer for them if everyone is on an iPhone and they don’t have to solve that problem.
I hope Sup. will take off. That will get a lot more people using the Fediverse in a format they prefer if there’s a FB Messager alternative attached to it.
I have, in my dating life, gotten lightening charging cables to have around the house.
It’s never fun to have someone ask you for a charger, you saying “Sure, use the fast charger right there”, and not have the lightening cable for their phone. But it’s also a catch-22, if you DO have the cable they need then its “Why do you have this cable, you don’t have a iphone”.
It’s like having some spare toothbrushes and women’s hygiene stuff just in case someone stays over. You’ll score points for being thoughtful, but on the other hand they’ll be like: waaait a minute …
Top iphone tip, heh -
When guests leave little reminders around the house, keep them in labeled zip loc bags, not in a general lost and found bin.
Far less awkward when they ask where their stuff is and you pull out a huge box of jewelry and clothing - “Can you describe your earrings for me?” - never goes down well.
Yeah, much better to go: “What’s your name again? Ah Jessica, let’s see… Jade, Jane, Jasmine… ah right Jessica, here’s your stuff!”
“it’s an ex girlfriend’s” is a good ice breaker.
[email protected], now also the best place for dating tips.
Personally, I would appreciate the thoughtfulness of it.
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For someone who likes customization and privacy, both of them have their flaws. I’m leaning toward a pinephone with a lineageos (custom android rom) at the moment as the best alternative, and yes, I’m a crusty old millennial nerd.
Tell me more about this Pinephone.
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It has no apps. But it runs Linux!!!
So is it awesome or shitty?
Yes.
They are talking about running LineageOS on Pinephone. LineageOS is based on Android so Android apps work on it.
Ohhhh, ok then it’s not private unless it has hardware switches.
My pinephone has hardware switches.
Don’t they all?
yes, i believe they do. Although I only knew for certain that mine does. But it is older.
yep exactly what I meant, thank you for translating. I will never run a googled operating system or browser again. Thankfully chromium and lineage make it easy to break up with google while still using their Netflix account, so to speak.
Don’t know if you’ve already heard about this or not, but I highly recommend looking into GrapheneOS on a Google Pixel. GrapheneOS is fewer headaches than lineageos, and the Pixel is easier to acquire. On the whole, it ends up being more privacy focused as well, despite the irony of being a Google phone.
I really just want the ability to completely disable the selfie camera and all radios with a Killswitch, and take out or swap the battery if I so choose. I can’t do that on a pixel. But I would definitely prefer grapheneos or copperhead if I did have a late enough pixel model.
Fairphone then
oop thanks, that’s what I meant to say. My old millennial ass is losing vocabulary. Cause I’m old and uncool now. 😅
Welp, I am the only one in class using Android, so I get some laughs. If I am going to drop Android, it will be for full fledged GNU+Linux phone. Postmarket OS already officially supports Android apps via Waydroid.
I don’t see how I’d use something as restrictive as iOS. Not even being able to sideload apps without jailbreak, so Apple decides what you install.
There’s so much stuff I’d miss, I’d feel like using a modern day feature phone.
How is that cool?
Not simping for Apple (I use Android) but you can sideload without jailbreak. You can do it with a free Apple dev account or with Sideloadly.
I think it speaks volumes about Apple that some people’s knowledge about iPhones is based on years old info and negative experiences. Not that it matters to them.
Edit: for clarification, I think the fact you have to jump through hoops to put software on hardware you own is bullshit
Don’t you have to re-certify the app every 2-4 weeks or something when you sideload it?
I’ll admit it’s been a while since I’ve looked, because I just don’t care anymore about what device does what how
The fact that official way is still to create an account, aka ask Apple for permission is dumb.
While I agree with the sentiment, what are some examples of the “so much stuff”? The big one for me is the red tape around browsers.
Sorry for the late reply, but I was asleep.
Maybe I could find some more stuff, this is what I’d miss the most.
Well, he/she mentioned installing apks from anywhere you like, for example.
I was literally just looking 5’ ago for a white noise generator app in the Play Store and struggling to find anything not ad-supported.
Headed over to f-droid from my Firefox browser, did a search, downloaded and installed the apk directly and now I have it.
That’s a pretty awesome level of freedom.
I was there Gandalf, I was there 1000 years ago when you had to install itunes and there was no copy/paste
Kids are dumb
I remember when multitasking was a huge deal when it was first added
… to the original Macintosh! Yes, I am that old.
System 6 represent!
I remember debating the superiority of my LifeDrive versus a first or second-gen iPod touch at the time. And also eyeing a Galaxy Player. What a throwback! Oh how simple those times seem now.
Kids are dumb
They aren’t. They’re just easily manipulated.
They are actually pretty dumb too
How so?
Children ? In general ? Their brains aren’t fully formed ? They lack the ability to processes consequences.
They have in the last completed “challenges” that have resulted in their deaths.
Adults aren’t particularly smarter either. But children have a reason. Adults don’t
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US teens are stupid.
Always have been. My generation liked Vanilla Ice and Milli Vanilli.
Or are just being given slow and aweful low end android phones. IPhones will be faster and better in every way.
It was the same with laptops 10-15 years ago, people were comparing cheap 400USD laptops with 1500USD macbooks and saying thise are better without ever seeing 1000+ USD PC.
It is about money/status and performance too.
I can freely laugh at a colleague with new 1.5k USD macbook with soldered 8GB ram + soldered 512GB SSD while using my three year old thinkpad with 48GB of RAM and 2TB SSD costing the same with upgrades.
I did this; got my husband’s kid a low end android phone on “pay as you go” since I knew he would either lose it or have it smashed within a few months. Was right on both accounts.
And yes that phone was as slow as molasses.
There’s probably a lot more to this than people realize. My parents definitely did this crap; give you kid the cheapest garbage that you can find them act surprised when they hate it and ask for the more expensive alternative that’s nearly guaranteed to actually work.
If you’re getting your kid an iPhone then you kinda have to spend for something that’s at least barely competent. Android gives you near-infinite ways to cheap out.
My dad did this with me when I asked for a guitar when I was in HS. I got his co-workers crappy classical guitar that was practically made out of plywood. I think I played it for 10 minutes. Fast forward over 20 years later and I own over 10 different good guitars (after a few years of not playing at all, don’t give him credit for that lol 😃)
This is probably it. iPhones all meet Apples standards but low end Android devices can be true garbage.
It’s like having a shitty netbook and swearing off Windows as a result.
This was a major point in the intel mac era, but since they moved to their M-series chips, it’s a lot more of an apples to oranges comparison anymore. Pixels moving to the tensor platform is similar in this regard.
I own a Pixel 7 but I hate that you always have to reach a compromise on something. This time it’s the SOC. The Tensor G2 is a toaster. I looked for the Galaxy S23 and it has camera issues with shutter lag.
Motorola
I’m happy with with mid-range Motorola with mid-range expectations. $300 androids are the best.
The shutter lag has been very very noticeable and even annoying on my Galaxy A42. It was fine during the first year of purchase, but then it got worse. Taking a picture can now take up to 10 seconds.
I feel you on this. Might consider switching to iPhone once they switch to USB C for charging.
Every single pixel I’ve owned came with a problem or two especially when it comes to hardware.
Samsung on the other hand, has great hardware but once 2 years is up and software support ends, it feels outdated in software
Samsung is now doing 4 years of Software updates, Still not enough compared to Apple.
Also depending on the region you are stuck with Exynos, and the fucking garbage Exy modem which is a total dealbreaker.
I have the Pixel 6 and Dual SIM still doesn’t properly work 2 years after release. Modem will still randomly crash after 30 minutes or so. Hate it
Interesting. I’ve owned a Pixel 3, 4a-5G and a 7 and have had no hardware issues, even side loading unsigned software and stuff (e.g. hacked version of Samsung health for the Watch 4).