This week’s post has been pretty late. I’m a bit troubled by yesterday’s thread on Apple. So, a foreword: It’s OK to prefer something over another, it’s not OK to say people who like different phones than you are somehow more childish or less intelligent than you. Again, we are going for casual, yet intensely helpful here, so please don’t call people names over petty reasons, we have rules here.
In this post, it’s not about saying how bad iPhones are, but I’d just like to hear the perspective on iPhones from Android users. I, for one, had an old iPhone 4 for a long time (call it nostalgia, or laziness, or just being cheap), and it was my general frustration with the device that ultimately led to my preference for Androids, (It was quite a while back though).
It was absolutely painful to transfer files from the phone to my computer (Ugh, iTunes).
I got it pre-jailbroken and didn’t realize you can’t just update the system casually, so it was really fun trying to find ways to downgrade the system until I realized that I can’t and have to pray for the next jailbreak to get half my things working again.
The 40-pin cable wears out so fast, and always in the same spot on the strain relief. I swear I’ve gone through 3 of these cables in one year just from normal use.
All the browsers are somehow flavors of Safari. To do anything, I will have the choice of ad-filled websites, or ad-filled apps.
It always just seemed like I’m fighting against the system. Never did I have that “it just works” moment, until I’ve got my first Android, and realize I have the freedom to do whatever I want with it, and I can install what I want, and if there’s a problem, I can look things up and fix it myself.
(Having a back button is also a game changer.)
Of course, there is a lot that Android manufacturers can learn from Apple as well, one of the most obvious one is the time for software support: I think my old iPhone has gone through like 3 version updates over the years, whereas currently I’m lucky to get 2 out of any Android manufacturer.
But it seems that Android manufacturers are more content on copying things that works for iOS, but doesn’t work for Android, like removing the headphone jack. Or big notches. (It makes no sense to do that because of Android’s notification system uses the full length of the bar.) It’s gotten to the point that I don’t think people who makes Android phones actually uses Android but are content to copy superficial features from Apple without understanding why Apple do them.
Like a bunch of lemmings. (Heh)
Again, these are my personal preferences, I have nothing against people who prefers iPhones, nor do I think they are lesser for it, but it’s just not for me.
I’d use a one as a work phone/for iMessages though.
I would consider getting an iPhone if they went back to making cheap plastic phones again like the 5C.
Otherwise they’re just too fragile and expensive. That’s the real problem I have with iPhones, you either pay a lot of money for a fragile phone or you don’t have an iPhone. They don’t provide another option anymore.
With Android you can run the gambit from a plastic phone that is $50, it’ll be slow but it will run apps, right up to $5,000 phones with folding screens. Admittedly most of them are made by Samsung.
My work phone is an iPhone. It’s fine. 🤷🏼♀️ The camera is great, even compared to my pixel. The thing that drives me nutty is all of the ads. I love having ReVanced and xManager on my personal phone.
I’d be restricted to the apps on the app store that have to restrict themselves to the app store policies.
I wouldn’t have an alternative way to download an app if it gets banned from the app store for any reason. I remember hearing about Fortnite getting banned from both app store and play store but android users can still play it.
I couldn’t use modified apps like revanced.
I think you’d be restricted to region locks in app store which you can circumvent on play store by running a vpn, force stopping play store and then clearing data on it.
Being restricted to app store only means some extraordinary apps wouldn’t be developed like the cool apps on android that aren’t on play store.
Sometimes developers make different versions of the same apps. One is a bit restricted and is for play store. It’s restricted because it has to follow play store policies. The other version ends up having more features. I don’t see this happening on iOS. I heard about EU asking them to make a way to sideload, but I also heard that that might be restricted to EU only which means it wouldn’t pick up as much as it could.
Aesthetics:
Nothing much to say except I don’t like the iOS ui. I even fine it ugly. I much prefer the material you thing android is doing.
Lack of your own choice:
Apple decides for its users. They removed headphone jacks and then the sim card thing in US for no reason. Since they only have flagships, that’s all the users are restricted to.
Android flagships sadly seem to follow their example soon enough
All the browsers on iOS are just reskinned safari.
General bias:
I don’t like apple handles their things and many of their users. That affects my decision so I think I should put it here as a reason. I don’t think I have to mention what apple does but for their users, I live in Asia and a lot of people see iphones as a status thing which I find annoying. Feels like a matter of shoving cash in your face to flex. There’s also the bubble thing I hear in US which I find ridiculous.
Design: best
Advertisment: best
User experience: best
Reliability: best
Privacy from propietary crap in app store: best
Privacy from Apple: non existing
User freedom: worst
Design: mid Advertisement: best User experiece: mid Reliability: the same as everyone else Privacy from propietary crap in app store: best Privacy from Apple: non existing User freedom: worst
I used Android exclusively for about 3-4 years, I was even developing ROMs, then switched to iPhone for work. I wouldn’t go back to Android. Most of the problems with iPhone don’t exist anymore… the walls have mostly come down due to cloud based services and apps being able to use wifi to drag/drop files
IMO, iPhone is easy to use, great quality apps, great battery life, secure and best value for money. They have great resale for those people who upgrade every year, and long support for people who buy a phone every 5 years.
They just work
The Android system just seems so disjointed and the App Store is full of junk apps.
I’m considering moving to Apple just for a “mini” phone, and i know it would be supported for a good few years yet. Android has no comparable phone.
But I prefer pretty much everything else about Android. Not just prefer, actually I really dislike iOS, the way it’s organised, the way it handles “Back” gesture, etc.
Literally they put it in the worst possible place for 95% of the population. The top left hand corner is the hardest part of the screen to touch if you are a right-handed. Such a bizarre decision.
It’s got better recently, but it used to be that you can only do that sometimes, and it wasn’t clear when the gesture would work and when it wouldn’t. Fortunately, it seems that most apps have added support for that recently, so it’s closer to the Android back gestures.
I have an iphone 13pro as second phone because of work. A lot of times i cant use the back gesture and then i need to hit a small button in the app. Its super annoying…even after a year it is not consistent
I want to swipe in from the right edge of the screen though, where my thumb already is…
Plus it doesn’t even work consistently, some apps use different “back” swipe direction, depending on where in the app you came from to the screen you’re on. I hate it.
I ended up using my Sony Xperia XZ1 Compact for 4 years, waiting for Sony (or any other manufacturer) to release another phone of the exact same size. No, the Xperia 10 is not compact at all. I ended up with an Asus Zenfone 8. I still miss the dedicated shutter button the thw Sony.
Im using a motorola that’s ~3 years old and not top of the line. It has a headphone jack, and a stylus.
My opinion on the iPhone is that it is the industry leading phone. But it’s taking the industry in directions I just have no interest in.
I used to love the Iphone back when app devs followed strict design standards. And offered a good product for a few bucks up-front. So now I use launchers with icon-replacements, and I try to pay for FOSS apps that I use.
So nowadays, I’m looking forward to more counter-culture designs. I’m definitely looking for a phone with a physicaly keyboard or a way to attach a small bluetooth keyboard physically to the phone. But I digress.
A bit pedantic, but it is also industry leading in revenue/profit. Even in Europe and parts of Asia.
A first glance it is a pretty “duh” statement. But companies, like Samsung, see Apple’s price action and then move in unison toward it. Sure, you can get plenty of phones for relatively cheap these days. Often times with huge drawbacks or a lot of additional spying built in (or “features” like advertisements in notifications). Or you pay for it in other ways, such as not receiving more than a year’s worth of updates.
I had an iPhone 12 Pro Max before my pixel fold. I love carplay compared to Android auto, the UI personally looks prettier except for the home screen layout, I like how seamless the experience can be between Apple devices, and it’s nice to be on the platform that gets more attention from app devs.
But all was not perfect
The past 6 months that I’d had it, it would overheat anytime you had to charge it which led to issues with carplay and such. The charger itself was a pain to have be different from my USBC devices like the MacBook, iPad, keyboard, mouse, work laptop, monitor, anyone else’s phones, headphones, and literally everything else. Lastly, the lack of call screener like I’d had on my pixel 4 before it and now on my pixel fold. It’s so nice having a virtual secretary
I see iPhones as remarkable feats of technology shrouded by greedy business practices and a cultish fan base that alienates everyone that doesn’t conform to the Apple way. If Apple had an execute shakeup and started becoming pro-consumer instead of pro-shareholder then the Apple ecosystem could be an amazing tool that everyone can use, not just iPhone fanatics. I’d love to bring a Macbook around with me because of the portability and reliability, but the cost and lack of support for anything non-apple makes me consider other options, like Framework, Samsung or Lenovo, which I’m fine with. They all build fantastic machines, but they’re limited by the instability of the operating systems I can choose from.
I like them, but I like Android more, I was an iPhone user since the 4 model up to 6s, my girlfriend still is, she currently has an iPhone 13 and I am amazed of how well iOS feels and behaves, we also share an iPad it’s so good to use and with Apple you get a shit ton of versions support as well.
The iOS apps also have its charm, I think many of them are better crafted on iOS than Android…
I like Android for everything that has been discussed here already, but who knows if I go back someday to iOS, still need to improve, for now I think it is that good that jailbreak does not feels like a necessity like back in the days…
iOS is too restrictive for me. Not being able to access the file system, no sideloading, no background apps, limited app access to the hardware, etc. Apple has the best mobile SoCs, but then you can’t even run an app like Syncthing to keep some folders in sync (it can’t even access those folders) or use some app to re-encode a video in the background.
I like the UI consistency between apps and OS (Android is a bit more “messy”) but overall it’s a bit like ChromeOS. Good for basic stuff and sometimes the best for specific tasks, but try to do anything more advanced and you’ll quickly find a wall.
On my phone I have apps like Syncthing running in the background. Sometimes I run an app that gives me detailed info about battery usage, track/map the signal of mobile networks, contribute to Mozilla Location Service, can see to which bands my phone is connected to (and if rooted, even control which are used). If an app needs to use bluetooth to send a file or NFC, it can. On the other hand, Android still struggles to do fast file transfer well (at least it never works as well as Airdrop for me)… there are trade-offs.
Again, it’s a bit like ChromeOS/Chromebook vs Linux/Windows/macOS. Perfect for my parents, but not enough for me.
The hardware is fine. Things like the display (Samsung), modem (Qualcomm), cameras (Sony) can be found on Android devices (or at least similar hardware). Their SoC is the best there is, but then is restricted by software… a bit like buying a Ferrari to drive it in a city. Imagine a “gaming phone” with the latest A16?
Regarding software updates, Google and Samsung (at least on the more expensive devices) now have 5 years of software updates. Not as good, but not a problem for those buying a new phone today. Some brands are still bad though.
As a developer, the experience is so much better on Android for me. And I oppose the walled garden on a ideological level.
But I have to admit some of the features are compelling. Some of them aren’t even really Apple’s doing, such as Genshin Impact supporting wireless controllers on IOS14+, but not Android at all. Others are built in, such as the lidar scanning.
They haven’t yet tempted me over, though, because phones are incredibly expensive and even if I weren’t opposed to the walled garden, I’m pretty invested in the Android ecosystem now.
At some point I plan to borrow someone’s iPhone and try Genshin on it, and if that works well… Well, I might just switch anyhow. Or maybe I get sick of that game before that. ;)
Had an iphone11 and it was fine. I switched to a pixel 6a for multiple reasons though, mainly Google Fi. The iPhone would use data when it didn’t need to and I couldn’t control the data limits easily because the cellular settings would switch whenever the phone would get an update. I was hesitant but I’m glad I switched. Face id is the only thing I really miss.
I prefer Android, but use iPhone 12 Mini instead. The thing is, more than two years ago I was looking for a new phone to replace my aging Oneplus 6, I wanted something more compact. One that really caught my attention was Pixel 4A (Zenfone 8 wasn’t released yet, neither was Pixel 5A and I wasn’t really looking for Galaxy A or S series full of bloat either).
Out of nowhere a friend of mine offered me barely used iPhone 12 Mini for 400€ so I got that one instead and it serves me well. I still don’t like the iOS (apart from the fact that it just works), but other than that the phone itself is still very relevant, camera is good enough, it’s got plenty of power for what I need from it, only the battery will need to be replaced in a couple of months. I don’t really plan on getting something else yet, this pocket rocket ticks most of the boxes for me, even tough I can’t really tinker with OS itself and I’m fairly limited in regard to what apps do I get to use.
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I would consider getting an iPhone if they went back to making cheap plastic phones again like the 5C.
Otherwise they’re just too fragile and expensive. That’s the real problem I have with iPhones, you either pay a lot of money for a fragile phone or you don’t have an iPhone. They don’t provide another option anymore.
With Android you can run the gambit from a plastic phone that is $50, it’ll be slow but it will run apps, right up to $5,000 phones with folding screens. Admittedly most of them are made by Samsung.
I don’t care.
My work phone is an iPhone. It’s fine. 🤷🏼♀️ The camera is great, even compared to my pixel. The thing that drives me nutty is all of the ads. I love having ReVanced and xManager on my personal phone.
Sideloading:
I’d be restricted to the apps on the app store that have to restrict themselves to the app store policies.
I wouldn’t have an alternative way to download an app if it gets banned from the app store for any reason. I remember hearing about Fortnite getting banned from both app store and play store but android users can still play it.
I couldn’t use modified apps like revanced.
I think you’d be restricted to region locks in app store which you can circumvent on play store by running a vpn, force stopping play store and then clearing data on it.
Being restricted to app store only means some extraordinary apps wouldn’t be developed like the cool apps on android that aren’t on play store.
Sometimes developers make different versions of the same apps. One is a bit restricted and is for play store. It’s restricted because it has to follow play store policies. The other version ends up having more features. I don’t see this happening on iOS. I heard about EU asking them to make a way to sideload, but I also heard that that might be restricted to EU only which means it wouldn’t pick up as much as it could.
Aesthetics:
Nothing much to say except I don’t like the iOS ui. I even fine it ugly. I much prefer the material you thing android is doing.
Lack of your own choice:
Android flagships sadly seem to follow their example soon enough
General bias:
I don’t like apple handles their things and many of their users. That affects my decision so I think I should put it here as a reason. I don’t think I have to mention what apple does but for their users, I live in Asia and a lot of people see iphones as a status thing which I find annoying. Feels like a matter of shoving cash in your face to flex. There’s also the bubble thing I hear in US which I find ridiculous.
Other points:
No back button
No revanced.
Ecosystem locked.
Only expensive phones.
Design: best Advertisment: best User experience: best Reliability: best Privacy from propietary crap in app store: best Privacy from Apple: non existing User freedom: worst
Design: mid Advertisement: best User experiece: mid Reliability: the same as everyone else Privacy from propietary crap in app store: best Privacy from Apple: non existing User freedom: worst
I used Android exclusively for about 3-4 years, I was even developing ROMs, then switched to iPhone for work. I wouldn’t go back to Android. Most of the problems with iPhone don’t exist anymore… the walls have mostly come down due to cloud based services and apps being able to use wifi to drag/drop files
IMO, iPhone is easy to use, great quality apps, great battery life, secure and best value for money. They have great resale for those people who upgrade every year, and long support for people who buy a phone every 5 years.
They just work
The Android system just seems so disjointed and the App Store is full of junk apps.
I’m considering moving to Apple just for a “mini” phone, and i know it would be supported for a good few years yet. Android has no comparable phone.
But I prefer pretty much everything else about Android. Not just prefer, actually I really dislike iOS, the way it’s organised, the way it handles “Back” gesture, etc.
Literally they put it in the worst possible place for 95% of the population. The top left hand corner is the hardest part of the screen to touch if you are a right-handed. Such a bizarre decision.
You can just swipe off from the left hand side of the screen
It’s got better recently, but it used to be that you can only do that sometimes, and it wasn’t clear when the gesture would work and when it wouldn’t. Fortunately, it seems that most apps have added support for that recently, so it’s closer to the Android back gestures.
Not sure how recently you mean “recently”, but i last tried (for 6 months) iOS last year, and it was still exactly as you described.
I have an iphone 13pro as second phone because of work. A lot of times i cant use the back gesture and then i need to hit a small button in the app. Its super annoying…even after a year it is not consistent
I want to swipe in from the right edge of the screen though, where my thumb already is…
Plus it doesn’t even work consistently, some apps use different “back” swipe direction, depending on where in the app you came from to the screen you’re on. I hate it.
I ended up using my Sony Xperia XZ1 Compact for 4 years, waiting for Sony (or any other manufacturer) to release another phone of the exact same size. No, the Xperia 10 is not compact at all. I ended up with an Asus Zenfone 8. I still miss the dedicated shutter button the thw Sony.
The Asus Zenphone line seems to get great reviews in terms of small Android phones
Yes, but it’s not small imo, it’s the same size as the iPhone 14 (regular/Pro, not Mini) or S23, etc.
Im using a motorola that’s ~3 years old and not top of the line. It has a headphone jack, and a stylus.
My opinion on the iPhone is that it is the industry leading phone. But it’s taking the industry in directions I just have no interest in.
I used to love the Iphone back when app devs followed strict design standards. And offered a good product for a few bucks up-front. So now I use launchers with icon-replacements, and I try to pay for FOSS apps that I use.
So nowadays, I’m looking forward to more counter-culture designs. I’m definitely looking for a phone with a physicaly keyboard or a way to attach a small bluetooth keyboard physically to the phone. But I digress.
It’s only “industry leading” in the US. Everywhere else it gets trampled on. It’s a status symbol and nothing more.
A bit pedantic, but it is also industry leading in revenue/profit. Even in Europe and parts of Asia. A first glance it is a pretty “duh” statement. But companies, like Samsung, see Apple’s price action and then move in unison toward it. Sure, you can get plenty of phones for relatively cheap these days. Often times with huge drawbacks or a lot of additional spying built in (or “features” like advertisements in notifications). Or you pay for it in other ways, such as not receiving more than a year’s worth of updates.
I had an iPhone 12 Pro Max before my pixel fold. I love carplay compared to Android auto, the UI personally looks prettier except for the home screen layout, I like how seamless the experience can be between Apple devices, and it’s nice to be on the platform that gets more attention from app devs.
But all was not perfect The past 6 months that I’d had it, it would overheat anytime you had to charge it which led to issues with carplay and such. The charger itself was a pain to have be different from my USBC devices like the MacBook, iPad, keyboard, mouse, work laptop, monitor, anyone else’s phones, headphones, and literally everything else. Lastly, the lack of call screener like I’d had on my pixel 4 before it and now on my pixel fold. It’s so nice having a virtual secretary
I see iPhones as remarkable feats of technology shrouded by greedy business practices and a cultish fan base that alienates everyone that doesn’t conform to the Apple way. If Apple had an execute shakeup and started becoming pro-consumer instead of pro-shareholder then the Apple ecosystem could be an amazing tool that everyone can use, not just iPhone fanatics. I’d love to bring a Macbook around with me because of the portability and reliability, but the cost and lack of support for anything non-apple makes me consider other options, like Framework, Samsung or Lenovo, which I’m fine with. They all build fantastic machines, but they’re limited by the instability of the operating systems I can choose from.
I like them, but I like Android more, I was an iPhone user since the 4 model up to 6s, my girlfriend still is, she currently has an iPhone 13 and I am amazed of how well iOS feels and behaves, we also share an iPad it’s so good to use and with Apple you get a shit ton of versions support as well.
The iOS apps also have its charm, I think many of them are better crafted on iOS than Android…
I like Android for everything that has been discussed here already, but who knows if I go back someday to iOS, still need to improve, for now I think it is that good that jailbreak does not feels like a necessity like back in the days…
iOS is too restrictive for me. Not being able to access the file system, no sideloading, no background apps, limited app access to the hardware, etc. Apple has the best mobile SoCs, but then you can’t even run an app like Syncthing to keep some folders in sync (it can’t even access those folders) or use some app to re-encode a video in the background.
I like the UI consistency between apps and OS (Android is a bit more “messy”) but overall it’s a bit like ChromeOS. Good for basic stuff and sometimes the best for specific tasks, but try to do anything more advanced and you’ll quickly find a wall.
On my phone I have apps like Syncthing running in the background. Sometimes I run an app that gives me detailed info about battery usage, track/map the signal of mobile networks, contribute to Mozilla Location Service, can see to which bands my phone is connected to (and if rooted, even control which are used). If an app needs to use bluetooth to send a file or NFC, it can. On the other hand, Android still struggles to do fast file transfer well (at least it never works as well as Airdrop for me)… there are trade-offs.
Again, it’s a bit like ChromeOS/Chromebook vs Linux/Windows/macOS. Perfect for my parents, but not enough for me.
The hardware is fine. Things like the display (Samsung), modem (Qualcomm), cameras (Sony) can be found on Android devices (or at least similar hardware). Their SoC is the best there is, but then is restricted by software… a bit like buying a Ferrari to drive it in a city. Imagine a “gaming phone” with the latest A16?
Regarding software updates, Google and Samsung (at least on the more expensive devices) now have 5 years of software updates. Not as good, but not a problem for those buying a new phone today. Some brands are still bad though.
As a developer, the experience is so much better on Android for me. And I oppose the walled garden on a ideological level.
But I have to admit some of the features are compelling. Some of them aren’t even really Apple’s doing, such as Genshin Impact supporting wireless controllers on IOS14+, but not Android at all. Others are built in, such as the lidar scanning.
They haven’t yet tempted me over, though, because phones are incredibly expensive and even if I weren’t opposed to the walled garden, I’m pretty invested in the Android ecosystem now.
At some point I plan to borrow someone’s iPhone and try Genshin on it, and if that works well… Well, I might just switch anyhow. Or maybe I get sick of that game before that. ;)
Had an iphone11 and it was fine. I switched to a pixel 6a for multiple reasons though, mainly Google Fi. The iPhone would use data when it didn’t need to and I couldn’t control the data limits easily because the cellular settings would switch whenever the phone would get an update. I was hesitant but I’m glad I switched. Face id is the only thing I really miss.
Is that what your username is referring to? 🙂
Ha, not exactly but that’s a good catch!
I prefer Android, but use iPhone 12 Mini instead. The thing is, more than two years ago I was looking for a new phone to replace my aging Oneplus 6, I wanted something more compact. One that really caught my attention was Pixel 4A (Zenfone 8 wasn’t released yet, neither was Pixel 5A and I wasn’t really looking for Galaxy A or S series full of bloat either).
Out of nowhere a friend of mine offered me barely used iPhone 12 Mini for 400€ so I got that one instead and it serves me well. I still don’t like the iOS (apart from the fact that it just works), but other than that the phone itself is still very relevant, camera is good enough, it’s got plenty of power for what I need from it, only the battery will need to be replaced in a couple of months. I don’t really plan on getting something else yet, this pocket rocket ticks most of the boxes for me, even tough I can’t really tinker with OS itself and I’m fairly limited in regard to what apps do I get to use.