Customization and repurposing of old phones. So far, I’ve turned one phone into a local, offline router. One into a security camera, one is my web cam.
The simple act of trying to transfer ownership of an iPhone from one daughter to another this week almost broke me. I hate how difficult they make everything.
There were some self inflicted complications to be fair.
I couldn’t fully back up the broken phone because it was in a family group with an expired payment card. My wife hadn’t had her iPhone for years so that was a pain in the arse to resolve which included waiting nearly two weeks for an email from Apple. Even when I got into her iCloud account updating the bank card failed every time, also you can’t modify a family group in the browser. I ended up borrowing a family members old iphone so I could set it up as my wifes and disband the family group, then update the payment method directly on the broken phone. We could then pay the 70p or whatever for additional storage and back it up.
I couldn’t factory reset the other phone because in addition to the passcode, you also needed the screen time passcode which nobody could remember. I eventually installed iTunes on my PC and wiped it that way.
I mean if you know all the security information I imagine it’s a lot easier but I wouldn’t have had this much trouble had they been android phones.
Not an Apple fanboy in the slightest but one could argue that the fact it was so difficult (without knowing ALL the security details) is a feature not a bug.
It’s a great phone. Good camera and it has a dedicated shutter button too. I’m not going to pay flagship money for a phone that doesn’t even have a headphone jack…
Revanced and Fdroid. Plus, I can use real third party browsers. And sideloading. And getting access to the file system. And having tons of vendors to choose from.
If you use any app other than what Apple provides, you become a second class citizen on your own phone.
Third party apps simply don’t integrate with iOS nicely unless Apple allows it. Even though you can choose a web browser, it has to use Safari’s underlying code base.
I’m on a Pixel 7. A lot of people say it’s like Google’s iPhone, but I can use Firefox as my browser natively. Adblocking actually works, too. I can choose any app as a default for whatever. Lots of FOSS! Google doesn’t own my Pixel the same way Apple owns the iPhone.
Hi. I’ve heard quite a few people do this but never managed to ask why. So, taking the opportunity to ask.
What I mean is, if the large part of the phone is about the software experience and software optimisation (and the hardware in itself is nowhere near cutting edge) what’s the upside of installing a non-google OS on it?
Perhaps I’ll try it someday. For today, just curious. If you could shed some light on it. Thank you!
Sorry for the late reply, still getting used to lemmy and missed the notification.
I’m probably in the minority but I didn’t actually do it to completely de-google.
I still have some Google services installed, they are sandboxed and limited to what I actively want though.
My main reason was removing the insane bloat that comes with modern phones. Think Facebook/Google and vendor specific apps being preinstalled without the ability to remove, forced google search bar on the home screen etc…
Now I have a pretty clean, fairly safe, OS which behaves almost exactly like a normal phone.
Also important to remember on GrapheneOS is that your google play services are
Optional
Sandboxed
Meaning even if you need google play, it’s a more private experience than stock android.
I personally use a separate user profile for apps that require google play services.
Using a custom launcher is still one of Android’s best features.
I also love having the app drawer. I keep the ten apps I use most frequently on my home screen. Firefox, Maps, PowerAmp, Phone, Messages, YouTube, Amazon Music, my bank… And everything else lives in the app drawer. I worked hard on getting a good wallpaper. I want to see it. That’s what I liked least about my old iPod Touch. Once you have a fair few apps, you can’t see the wallpaper anymore. If it’s not important enough to go on my home screen, I don’t mind grabbing it from my app drawer. Plus, I use Nova + Sesame to search. So just pulling up search and typing the first two letters gets me what I want 99.9% of the time.
I can’t find shit on my wife’s iPhone. I pull up Spotlight by default. I also do this on her MacBook because at least half the time I’m using it, I’m playing around in Terminal.
The price, a burning hatred for apple,
and I can switch over to something else like graphine os.
I haven’t done that yet but I plan to when I get a new phone though!
I’ve done Palm Treos and windowsCE phones and, blackberries, I went Motorola Droid when they first came out, try to short stint with an iPhone 4, went back to Android ever since.
What’s blocking me from going back to iPhone? Honestly they’re hardware is great. Long battery life reasonable charging. It’s the setup of the phone itself It’s the software. It hasn’t changed significantly since iPhone 4.
I want a large clock widget on my front page I want weather for this week at the bottom I want weather for today hour by hour, below that I want five folders, stuff to use while driving, media stuff, chat stuff, camera stuff, productivity stuff. I didn’t want to have multiple desktops, swiping off main will bring me to gaming stuff, then drone flying stuff, then audio stuff.
Android software options historically were cheaper and free options were better than the Apple free options I’m not really sure that’s the case anymore.
I’d like to have the option for a round watch with a functional physical bezel, that has 24 hours of battery life.
I’d like not to be penalized for using a Windows PC with my phone and my watch. Even a little garbage like you can reset your Apple account on an Apple device right now, but if you will need to reset it from Windows you have to wait 3 days.
It wouldn’t keep me from transferring but, I’d miss stuff like Samsung dex.
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Customization and repurposing of old phones. So far, I’ve turned one phone into a local, offline router. One into a security camera, one is my web cam.
The simple act of trying to transfer ownership of an iPhone from one daughter to another this week almost broke me. I hate how difficult they make everything.
Was it more involved than sign out -> factory reset -> set up as a new phone? (I’m just curious, have been on android for a few years now)
There were some self inflicted complications to be fair. I couldn’t fully back up the broken phone because it was in a family group with an expired payment card. My wife hadn’t had her iPhone for years so that was a pain in the arse to resolve which included waiting nearly two weeks for an email from Apple. Even when I got into her iCloud account updating the bank card failed every time, also you can’t modify a family group in the browser. I ended up borrowing a family members old iphone so I could set it up as my wifes and disband the family group, then update the payment method directly on the broken phone. We could then pay the 70p or whatever for additional storage and back it up. I couldn’t factory reset the other phone because in addition to the passcode, you also needed the screen time passcode which nobody could remember. I eventually installed iTunes on my PC and wiped it that way. I mean if you know all the security information I imagine it’s a lot easier but I wouldn’t have had this much trouble had they been android phones.
Not an Apple fanboy in the slightest but one could argue that the fact it was so difficult (without knowing ALL the security details) is a feature not a bug.
Agreed, but I wasn’t even able to reset the screen time passcode on the phone where we actually knew all the other security details.
Yes I’m using a Sony phone (Xperia 1V)
How do you like it?
Been deciding between an Xperia 1V and s23 ultra.
It’s a great phone. Good camera and it has a dedicated shutter button too. I’m not going to pay flagship money for a phone that doesn’t even have a headphone jack…
I see!
I understand for me the big point is the update policy. Just 2 years of OS updates is dissapointing, same as the 30Watt max charger.
But indeed the Headphone jack and SD card functionality are such a big plus.
Thanks for the input!
Is 30W low? I just charge a bit everyday morning before I go out and it got to 100%
I am spoiled haha. I had an realme x2 pro since 2018 or 19 and that was already 50watts.
Also got the Realme Gt 5G as an replacement 2 years ago which is 65 watts.
Anything below 50watts seems slow in comparison haha ;).
i ended up getting the S22U, just because the Xperia wasnt availble locally. If i had had a choice, i would have gone for the Xperia every day.
Number of reasons
There are some things that iPhone is just better but all those things are things that I can live without.
Revanced and Fdroid. Plus, I can use real third party browsers. And sideloading. And getting access to the file system. And having tons of vendors to choose from.
Mainly that there are really solid midrange android phones nowadays. I just can’t justify the iPhone pricetag.
That has to be the biggest factor by far. I got my pixel 6a for around 300€ total with a mobile plan (free calls, sms and a small amount of data)
Does everything I and realistically the vast majority of people need it for. And you can get perfectly usable phones for even less.
There is no way apple can beat that value, even if their update policy and thus longevity is one of the few things I envy.
Also many benefits of the iphone imo rely on being invested in their ecosystem.
I want a customizable phone that is not stuck in a walled-garden. Plus I do not use Apple products.
Sideloading apps is the main reason. I couldn’t use a phone without Adblock.
iPhones are also just way more expensive and the few times i’ve tried them the UX just sucked so much, form over function.
If you use any app other than what Apple provides, you become a second class citizen on your own phone.
Third party apps simply don’t integrate with iOS nicely unless Apple allows it. Even though you can choose a web browser, it has to use Safari’s underlying code base.
I’m on a Pixel 7. A lot of people say it’s like Google’s iPhone, but I can use Firefox as my browser natively. Adblocking actually works, too. I can choose any app as a default for whatever. Lots of FOSS! Google doesn’t own my Pixel the same way Apple owns the iPhone.
On a pixel phone you can even install a google free OS like graphene (that’s what I did)
Hi. I’ve heard quite a few people do this but never managed to ask why. So, taking the opportunity to ask.
What I mean is, if the large part of the phone is about the software experience and software optimisation (and the hardware in itself is nowhere near cutting edge) what’s the upside of installing a non-google OS on it?
Perhaps I’ll try it someday. For today, just curious. If you could shed some light on it. Thank you!
Sorry for the late reply, still getting used to lemmy and missed the notification.
I’m probably in the minority but I didn’t actually do it to completely de-google. I still have some Google services installed, they are sandboxed and limited to what I actively want though.
My main reason was removing the insane bloat that comes with modern phones. Think Facebook/Google and vendor specific apps being preinstalled without the ability to remove, forced google search bar on the home screen etc… Now I have a pretty clean, fairly safe, OS which behaves almost exactly like a normal phone.
Also important to remember on GrapheneOS is that your google play services are
Using a custom launcher is still one of Android’s best features.
I also love having the app drawer. I keep the ten apps I use most frequently on my home screen. Firefox, Maps, PowerAmp, Phone, Messages, YouTube, Amazon Music, my bank… And everything else lives in the app drawer. I worked hard on getting a good wallpaper. I want to see it. That’s what I liked least about my old iPod Touch. Once you have a fair few apps, you can’t see the wallpaper anymore. If it’s not important enough to go on my home screen, I don’t mind grabbing it from my app drawer. Plus, I use Nova + Sesame to search. So just pulling up search and typing the first two letters gets me what I want 99.9% of the time.
I can’t find shit on my wife’s iPhone. I pull up Spotlight by default. I also do this on her MacBook because at least half the time I’m using it, I’m playing around in Terminal.
it is more flexible,
more poweruser friendly,
way more open and free,
and most importantly:
iphone is very expensive
The price, a burning hatred for apple, and I can switch over to something else like graphine os. I haven’t done that yet but I plan to when I get a new phone though!
It’s more open and you’re not confined to how Apple thinks your phone should look like.
I’ve done Palm Treos and windowsCE phones and, blackberries, I went Motorola Droid when they first came out, try to short stint with an iPhone 4, went back to Android ever since.
What’s blocking me from going back to iPhone? Honestly they’re hardware is great. Long battery life reasonable charging. It’s the setup of the phone itself It’s the software. It hasn’t changed significantly since iPhone 4.
I want a large clock widget on my front page I want weather for this week at the bottom I want weather for today hour by hour, below that I want five folders, stuff to use while driving, media stuff, chat stuff, camera stuff, productivity stuff. I didn’t want to have multiple desktops, swiping off main will bring me to gaming stuff, then drone flying stuff, then audio stuff.
Android software options historically were cheaper and free options were better than the Apple free options I’m not really sure that’s the case anymore.
I’d like to have the option for a round watch with a functional physical bezel, that has 24 hours of battery life.
I’d like not to be penalized for using a Windows PC with my phone and my watch. Even a little garbage like you can reset your Apple account on an Apple device right now, but if you will need to reset it from Windows you have to wait 3 days.
It wouldn’t keep me from transferring but, I’d miss stuff like Samsung dex.