As Smartphone Industry Sputters, the iPhone Expands Its Dominance::Apple, which is set to release a new iPhone on Tuesday, has increased its share of smartphone sales by converting Android customers and adding teenagers.
Unless an iphone becomes literally the only option, I don’t see myself ever getting one. I’m deeply morally opposed to their walled-garden approach, and I won’t even get one Samsung’s Androids for the same reason. It would be nice for me if there was more people like me, but regardless, as long as there’s a freer option, I’ll be taking it.
It’s too bad Android didn’t lean more into it’s relative freedom. Instead, almost all Android manufacturers have followed Apple’s lead closely. I have to believe there’d be a sizeable market for a flagship Android phone with, say, a removable battery, headphone jack, SD card slot, and an easily unlocked bootloader.
Bootloader a are usually pretty easy to unlock, it’s Safetynet that is the biggest problem these days. Though you can generally sandbox it a little bit with a custom ROM. If, however, you try to keep it stock and have it rooted with Magisk it can be a nightmare depending on the manufacturer.
Aside from maybe the headphone jack, those are all features that enthusiasts want but average consumers don’t care about enough to compromise on size, waterproofing or price.
Smartphones depend so much on economies of scale, and a limited pool of cutting edge components, it would be hard to sustain a niche market just for enthusiasts.
Its like picking between different types of cancer, its either walled garden or a privacy nightmare.
And Apple is out there dual wielding both issues while adding a human rights violation as well
I’m not familiar with any human rights violations from Apple, unless you’re talking about in their supply chain, in which case many of the reports recently come from Apple themselves as they investigate their suppliers. It’s not like other manufacturers aren’t using factories in China or India, or cobalt mines in developing countries.
What are you referring to?
I’m just opposed to their brand ethos. They always complicate things in the name of simplicity.
apple mice have 1 button to click, and that this decision was made (in the 80s) because they thought 2 button mice would confuse the average user.
… and now apple users command + click all the time, like that isn’t more complicated.
That’s not why I hate apple, but it is why I hate apple. They perpetually put the cart before the horse.
“We stopped including a charger in the box to help the environment”
Actually this means more boxes are being created in total and this is worse for the environment. 🤦♂️
Edit: God you apple stans are annoying af. I guess y’all are just an extension of their obnoxious ethos lol.
Apple Mice have had right click for 14 years, and their trackpads have used two finger click in its place far longer than that. And before that, any two button mouse worked just fine in OS X from 2001 on (earlier if you ran the beta of OS X). So your information is anywhere from two decades to one and a half decades out of date. Well done.
Someone’s mad.
So what you’re saying is they put the cart before the horse and eventually succumbed to the market pressure of their mistakes.
Got it.
Oh look, they did it again.
What’s really sad is that you’re out here promoting a trillion dollar company for free. Well done.
“We stopped including a charger in the box to help the environment”
Actually this means more boxes are being created in total and this is worse for the environment.
How so? That thought only works if you think they still manufacture the same amount of chargers and package them. Which would be pretty dumb given that they aren’t guaranteed a sell. Also, who doesn’t have a bunch of different chargers already?
You can Google for the myriad of reports on this very topic.
Here’s the top result.
Lmao, are you forgetting they also changed the cable from standard usb to lightning to USB c to lightning after they stopped including the brick?
Apple devices have had right click for a while now. It’s a two finger press.
I went with the Motorola G Stylus 5g. It’s not perfect, but it does have an SD slot, a headphone jack, FM radio, an easily unlocked bootloader, and a built-in stylus I didn’t expect to care about but which I have grown weirdly dependent on. I just wish it had a removable battery.
How are you liking it? That’s at the top of my short list for my next phone? Any major flaws or issues?
I don’t see myself ever going back to Android (beyond my work phone that is) because it’s so much hassle. An iPhone I can get second hand and keep for five or six years. Most Android manufacturers stop supporting their devices pretty much after release.
I don’t want to be forced to upgrade my phone all the time. It’s a tool, switching it out is a hassle. I don’t want to think about it all the time, it’s just meant to be there and work when I need it.
That’s something I never got from Android. I liked my OnePlus One, but I hated that I had to flash updates myself and use MAGISK to circumvent security stuff so I could use my day-to-day apps.
Honestly I think it’s a problem with the whole “smartphone” market altogether. You don’t really own your device, and the manufacturers would love it if you upgraded yearly. It’s why twice-a-year releases were so popular for a while.
All I hope for is for all the anti-consumer bullshit to get regulated out of existence.
It sounds like you made some choices about how you engaged with android phones that you regretted. Maybe you weren’t aware of the consequences of your choices, which I can see being a reason to favor apple (because they don’t offer choices).
However, your experience could have been completely different. There are plenty of ways to use android’s that don’t involve nearly as much effort as you describe. Security updates can be nearly automatic, requiring only a restart. Root access isn’t strictly necessary, but is choice you can make. And changing phones can be as easy as logging in to your Google account (nearly everything gets synced automatically).
I don’t want to change my phones. I want the device I paid out of my nose for to work however long I want it to.
In Sweden we have this authentication service called BankID, which is central to daily life. I use it to authenticate online purchases, pick up parcels, pay my bills, order groceries, handle doctors appointments, contact my ISP. You name it, it does it.
Now I have my issues with BankID as a platform, but it’s what we have. Not using it is an option, but adds so much extra administrative overhead. Need to cancel your electricity because you moved? Sure, it’s a five minute phone call with BankID, or alternatively a two week process with forms and BS.
The nature of this software means you need to have a phone with a recent security patch. They stop allowing older operating systems to run it for obvious reasons.
Thus, when I switched out my OPO in 2020 it was in part due to the failing hardware, but primarily because of how flaky the setup was. I had to unlock the boot loader to flash a ROM, BankID wouldn’t run with an unlocked boot loader, so I had to root the blasted thing to run MAGISK to fool the piece of shit that all was good.
I could obviously have upgraded to a newer phone, but with Android at the time I’d be in a similar spot a couple of years down the road. Apple has many issues, but they at least offer support for their devices for years.
The iPhone 5S was released the same year as my OnePlus One, and got a security patch back in January 2023. The OnePlus One got its last in 2016.
Samsung has dropped support for their $1980 Galaxy Fold 1, and it was only released in 2019. The iPhone XS I got second hand for $400 in 2020 was released in 2018 and got a mainline OS update the other day.
Android might work great for you, but until some major things change I’ll stick to iPhone as my personal device and keep Android as my work phone.
What? Your complaints would be solved by simply… not rooting your phone lmao.
My options were either rooting the device or throwing it out and buying a new one as a very important app didn’t support older OS versions anymore.
What apps required that much circumventing? I’ve owned solely Androids and I’ve never run into “my phone’s software is so outdated I can’t run XYZ apps on it”
Do you do something really special on your phone that requires the latest version, in which case your experience is not going to be relevant to most users… Or are you just wayyyyy overstating the actual impact it had on your life?
I hated that I had to flash updates myself and use MAGISK to circumvent security stuff so I could use my day-to-day apps
This right here heavily suggests they rooted their phone which is not exactly something recommended for a “one and done” type of phone setup. Not exactly well versed there but I doubt jail breaking an iPhone would net you a better experience than rooting an Android phone. So this, to me, reads like uninformed whining.
I mean google plans on supporting the pixel 8 for a really long time, sampsung provides support for a pretty long time
Yeah, and that’s excellent, it’s sad that it took a decade and a half to decide to do so though. Fairphone I believe is setting out to offer security patches for ten years, so whenever I’m swapping out my Pixel 6, that’s probably the company I’m going with.
Apple has many issues. They’re obviously greedy. I hate their underhanded marketing strategies. Their greenwashing makes me cringe. I hate how hard they cling on to locking down their phones, and I’m glad the EU has stepped in. But they have been offering the best software support on the market.
My phone is five years old, and I’ve had it for three years. The battery could suffer replacing, but other than that it feels brand new. The only crashes I’ve ever had have been Samsung’s stupid smart home app, and some apps in beta testing. I miss the ability to have two apps open side by side, but that’s the only thing I miss with my Android phone.
