Those who are against iOS and Apple in general, have you tried their devices lately?
I am dissapointed in my peers.
For years I have always been told to stay away from Apple devices and the company in general.
However, no one who said that actually used their devices, or used them but not recently (some had like iPhone 4s in the past).
Their knowledge was always based on some 3rd hand impressions or internet related peer pressure.
I am in the EU, and Apple devices aren’t as popular as in the US, mostly everyone uses an Android phone and a Windows machine.
That also led me using Android and Windows in my daily activities, for the last 15 years.
After many phones, starting with HTC Wildfire, i have continously been let down by my phone every 1 to 3 years after purchase.
First i was buying flagships, then mid-high, then back to non-pro flagship variants.
I was also trying diffenent brands; HTC, LG, Sony, Samsung, Xiaomi, Nokia, OnePlus.
When my last phone died, and i had to buy a new one, i had no idea what to get.
Everything seemed bad, i had them, they look the same, software looks the same, i was afraid of picking a “wrong” phone again. Every single one of them had some issue i couldn’t get over.
Either notification problems, bad battery life, slow performance on camera, issues with sharing stuff, fingerprint annoyances, restarts…
Mind you, not everything was on a single device. One had great battery life but i wouldn’t get messages sometimes, other was great but battery life was poor, and on most of them the camera was laggy or buggy.
1 year ago, maybe a bit more, it dawned on me that the only brand i haven’t used anything from is Apple, so i got a basic iPhone 13 to “check it out”, planning on using it for a week or two just to see what the fuss is about.
I was using my Android device as the main phone, and the iPhone as a second phone, I wasn’t ready for the jump.
After a week i found myself doing everything on the iPhone apart from voice calls, so then i finally took the SIM and retired my Android phone.
6 months later, my Windows laptop battery died and the repair would cost more than what the laptop is worth. So i decided to purchase a thin and portable laptop with intention to install Debian on it, as i was done with Win11 bugs and “features”.
After looking for 2-3 weeks, comparing different laptops, i was set on a HP 14inch laptop with a price tag of about €1300.
Then i remembered that i am still thinking with my peers in mind. They were enraged on how i “betrayed” them by switching to iPhone.
I decided to look up Mac laptops and found out that they are actually very similary priced as the one i wanted to buy.
I got out and purchased a M2 Air, basic configuration.
I had no idea about the iPhone-Mac compatibility and integrations. Found out about AirDrop and other features. I was in love with this new combo that, cliche, “just works”.
My “friends” literally went 180 on me just for the dumb reason of using one brand instead of the other. None of them has actually tried to use Apple hardware.
They were mocking me about being “locked in”, “fallen for their marketing”, and other stuff. “How do you like your iCloud subscription?”, things like that.
I have to tell you, i do not use any paid service from Apple.
I succesfully conected my Apple devices to my home server where i keep my files, photos, calendar and all the other applications on it.
I am not locked in, i feel like i have even more freedom because some services work better than on Android or Windows.
Syncing works flawlessly, something that was always janky on Android.
Sorry for the long post.
I guess what i am trying to ask is, why so much hate? Why can’t a person decide for themselves? Why is macOS/iOS looked down upon regarding connectivity with other devices and services when that’s clearly not the case?
Why do people that have no first hand experience so vocal and opposed to the brand?
Shouldn’t you at least try and then be the judge?
I think you should talk to your friends about this, not us.
They know why they (appear to) judge you better than any of us can infer from reading your side of the story.
But to answer your question as written: Yes, I am very familiar with their hardware and products. The hardware is good. The products are coherent. The company is dishonest, monopolistic and anti-consumer. I value my consumer freedom higher.
But whether due to incompetence, lack of monopoly or a trace of human soul, most mainstream brands don't harm consumer rights as effectively as Apple do.
^ Exactly this. I was an Apple fanboy (perhaps even shill) until the iPhone 5S when my device had a bad NAND chip causing it to randomly and sporadically blue screen and reboot (as a PC user, the blue screen irony was not lost on me) and Apple jerked me around for 3 months until the phone was out of warranty and then told me I should have bought Apple Care on the phone even though the issue started before the 1 year warranty had expired.
I didn't find this acceptable as I had written proof I'd taken the phone in to the shop multiple times during the warranty period, ended up calling their corporate office of the president where they worked with me to generate logs from the device and send them to Apple techs who would review it, at which point they came back and said "yeah it looks like the NAND chip is bad" and "but it's out of warranty". When I told the person from Apple this was ridiculous because I'd been an Apple customer for decades and I'd had umpteen Macs and Macbook laptops and iPhones and I'd never had this problem with any other Apple device (the whole point being the devices are 30% more expensive because they're high quality and don't have these types of problems), she cut me off and said "Apple doesn't have a customer loyalty program, sir." and dead-ended the entire conversation right there.
I took the 5S out to my driveway and smashed it with a hammer and went and bought a $200 HTC One E8 and I've been an Android user ever since and will never give Apple a penny if I can avoid it. The products were fine, the software was good, but the service/company is rotten.
What does that have to do with a device? To each their own, but i wouldn’t choose my daily drivers based on a company. We almost all drive gas cars, and big oil=bad, same with a lot of other stuff in our life but people are somehow really worried about their phone brand
It always surprises me how many people go for the self burn. Whining about a few paragraphs of texts is basically admitting their literacy level or attention span is pitiful.
That said, people who don't like Apple still have legitimate reasons. Stuff like being forced to use proprietary connector, their "walled garden". Basically if you're happy within the limits of how you think they should do stuff it's great, but not everyone is. None of that has really changed.
Use what you like though. People calling switching to Apple if that's what you prefer a "betrayal" are being ridiculous.
People from both sides bought into the relative propaganda.
Your general experience is consistent with what most say about Apple, regardless of big company values. We all know they are about nothing more than profits.
When you're writing a text, you're putting down a stream of thoughts. Our thoughts can be very chaotic and hard to understand. So it's a good practice to review your texts. Are sentences connected to each other? Does this thought lead to the next one? Does this paragraph add value? Should you move or delete something? It takes practice to become a good editor.
You can also learn from how other people structure their texts. I pay attention to that when I read a post on Lemmy or article in some magazine. It's a pleasure to read a good text. I try to understand, what makes it good and what makes a bad text bad. That knowledge helps me write better texts.
It takes a lot of practice, but is worth the time investment. Some tips:
Go over everything you write and cut out things that are redundant or not central to your point. Repeat this many times per text.
One "point" per paragraph.
Three sentences or less per paragraph.
Focus on writing around paragraphs. Look over your text and see all the islands of text. Do they contain multiple different thoughts? Break up, move, or delete. Are they similar? Merge and reduce.
Try writing the same thing with less words. Try removing the less important stuff. You can also ask ChatGPT to summarize and split in paragraphs what you need. Practice makes perfect
I don’t really care what others think about companies, but when people i hang out with start judging me based on their views about some company, that gets weird
I'm not reading that whole post, but in answer to the title. I use an android for my personal phone and an iPhone for my work phone. I've used both side by side for more than the last 10 years. Without a doubt the android phone is more functional and easier to use. I don't give a shit about cameras, messaging apps, or brand loyalty. The android is more affordable and allows me to send texts, surf the internet, and watch YouTube without adds through vanced. I would never consider getting an iPhone as my personal use phone.
If you like Apple and Mac, go ahead, use whatever you like. I think the hate comes from the hype attitude apple users typically have. They are a bit too hardcore about it and it gets annoying. I know, some bad apples spoil the lot (pun?) and I'm sure there's Apple lovers who don't go around preaching or trying to convert anyone. My sister loves her iPhone, yet I never heard her recommend me get one, or even brag about it.
Now you will have to understand different people value different things. For me, if you can't sideload apps, if it's too hard to jailbreak, if it's too expensive, if I can't run the niche software I need to run- I'm not going to bother. For these reasons I'm not an apple customer.
Finally, no, no haven't used any Apple products lately. I think the last time I did was a Mac at uni some 5 years ago, and I've always found the interface counterintuitive. The mouse design is very uncomfortable. I don't like their keyboards. Perhaps these things changed or maybe we have compatibility, but again, adding to the reasons in paragraph 2- I don't see why I should bother.
I guess what i wanted to ask by creating the post is exactly what you are saying.
Why would you want to jailbreak a phone or sideload apps? Maybe you don’t have to? I was blown away by the amount of apps and features baked into the iOS and macOS, i had no idea that was the case.
And you can’t even know if you don’t try. Look at the amount of people saying, for example, you can’t have adblock on safari (you can), or that there are no automations on ios (there are).
I’m not trying to preach or to convert anyone, i’m just saying that i’ve been living under a rock and didn’t know about any features the ios/macos offer.
Also, apple products work just fine, sometimes better, with non-apple hardware and software.
What would I do without NewPipe? Can you run it on your iPhone? I've never experienced poor performance with my hardware, why should I pay triple the price? I didn't need to jailbreak my current phone, but I did my previous one. I can't even remember why I did, but I was happy I could. Some people like tinkering with stuff this way, the same goes for computers. Why would anyone pay more to get less enjoyment out of what they buy?
I understand you don't need or care any of these features, and that's fine. Most people love listening to Spotify on their iPhone, I'm cool with that. I don't know what else needs to be understood here other than essential character differences. People are different.
I use an iPad for work. It's getting better now that they have widgets and allow a little customization. I hate the app store and the keyboard (even with gbosrd installed it's still clunky), and almost everything about using it. That said, it starts quickly, has good battery life, and is durable. Good device, terrible os. Android feels like the opposite - less reliable (more restarts) but much more pleasant to use.
I haven't used an apple computer in a hundred years but i dint remember it being bad. My kids use macs for design stuff at home and work and love them. As someone else mentioned, i think it's ios that is hated.
I had an iPhone 12 for two weeks before I returned it. I tried to like it because, while you're still in a corp walled garden and they cannot really be trusted, they so far are better than Google at least with regards to privacy.
However, there's a list of stuff that got me too annoyed. Some examples:
the stock keyboard is just garbage. All the infamous typos on social media come from iPhones because they choose to correct words that have already been written. You also cannot sensibly replace the stock keyboard because you cannot block a specific app's data usage and keyboards are far too critical apps to grant internet access.
stock apps are good overall (better than Android) but that means people don't make replacements. The mail app could've been great but they choose to not support PGP and it's practically impossible to set up.
you cannot replace Safari completely, some apps still open it. Safari is crap because no way to install adblock.
you still feel that iOS wasn't developed as a multi-threading system. I had a few apps that wouldn't correctly work while in background
apps are far more expensive than for Android. Lots of subscription-based plans, more comparable to full-price PC software than mobile apps.
no native file system access. Apps are sandboxed and handle their files themselves. I prefer to do that myself but no chance on iOS.
the community is garbage. Every question or critcisim is the user's fault. The Holy Corp does not make mistakes. Collective Stockholm syndrome.
I also ran into various bugs. I do on every platform but the "it just works" narrative is especially strong for Apple and it's just not like their fans claim.
I find the keyboard much better than gboard. I don’t use autocorrect tho.
Stock apps are one of the things that kept me. I didn’t have to search the play store for an app, it was already there. I use imap for mail, and the mail app is the best app i ever used on any mobile device. Paid apps included.
There is adblock for safari
Background sync works a lot better for me than on Android. I never have to worry about syncing photos or files, while on Android it would stop and i wouldn’t notice for weeks that my photos disn’t sync.
Apps are more expensive, but better as well. There are apps that are the same as on Android but pricier on iOS, i agree there.
I don’t use a filesystem on any computer, or should i say built-in storage. Everything is connected to my home server and that part works as intended.
For that part, the Apple website has an actual user documentation for iOS and MacOS and it’s good. Not the best, but far better than anything available for Android.
You have to actually give it a try. It isn’t like android. It requiers some adaptation. That said, i understand if someone found their OS of choice and doesn’t consider anything else, i just never was in that postition with Android.
I use Apple devices for work and although their hardware and software are reasonably well refined, I would never choose to use them for my personal devices as long as they continue their anti consumer walled garden approach.
How am i locked in? To what? My phone talks perfectly fine to my other computers as well. It just has some nifty features with the Mac. I have a lot of “same brand” tech that doesn’t have any distinguishable features.
I haven't tried nor will I want to try Apple products for the following reasons:
Apple products seem to always have some critical design flaw under the surface, or even something I can only put down to deliberate malicious designed-to-fail, not-repairable shenanigans (soldered SSD, serializing even trivial parts like screen opening sensor, having high voltage backlight pin right next to low voltage signaling pin that connects directly to the soldered CPU etc).
The software is extremely locked down, I simply cannot function without Fdroid and installing packages straight from Github (how else am I going to extract the necessary encryption keys to use a gadget with an unofficial FLOSS application instead of the official spyware?). Android is not perfect, but at least I can hack it and mutilate it as I see fit and there are custom ROM-s. My next phone will probably run /e/ OS.
Plus Apple lacks the critical-to-me hardware like 3.5mm analog audio output. IR blaster is also nice to have when working with AV stuff that may not have the remote with them.
Last, but not least, they're simply too expensive for me. I'm not willing to pay more than 300...400€ for a phone, and I don't want to buy a mobile gadget used—demons only know what that thing has been through. And Apple desktop/laptop computers—yeah, well, just no. I like my standardized x64 architecture, where I can upgrade RAM and storage as I see fit for cheap and install whatever opsys I want, just fine thankyouverymuch.
My ex's dad worked for someone that would get a new phone for each member of his family yearly and then would give his old phones to his employees. I ended up receiving year-old iPhones until 2020.
My local library had an iMac lab. I spend countless hours doing my work and hanging out there, all using iMacs. Eventually, I also bought an Apple Intel laptop with the awful butterfly keyboard, only to sell it a couple of months afterwards.
So I have tried Apple hardware. Up until 2020 it was the only smartphone hardware I ever used. It was the computer hardware I used for the vast majority of my middle and highschool years (heck, even in college there's an iMac lab that I spent quite some time in).
I spent most of my life using Apple hardware with Apple software and when I switched to repairable hardware and libre software exclusively, my life improved.
Good for you.
I switched to libre or at least alternative software which is (almost all) cross-platform compatible.
I replaced almost everything apart from some niche software that only works on windows.
The day i can game on linux is the day windows goes to the VM just for that few pieces of software required for my business.
That said, mac comes with most of the every-day items preinstalled. Mail, spreadsheets and the likes. Windows on the other hand - not so much. Windows mail app can’t hold a candle to the mac app or even the ios app.
You need to pay for office for that. Same on android.
I can do 99% of stuff without installing any app from the app store.
You can side load on iOS but the cert is only valid for 7 days then you need to refresh the certificate. You can use AltStore to do that automatically. Or get an subscription on one of those piracy sites that provide 1 year certs or pay for an developer account.
My main metric is can I run software on the device of my choosing. On iOS you cannot run your own software, there's no f droid. That's a deal breaker for me. So I don't recommend it..
On Mac OS you can run whatever you want. And that's fine.
It's ultimately up to you, I don't like seeing advertisements, I like to run my own software.
For now. I really think Apple has been letting the entire macos experience decay on purpose. Then, they'll release a self-hosting xcode for iPad and old yeller the mac for good, as I am sure they have been dreaming of for years.
They were enraged on how i “betrayed” them by switching to iPhone.
Your friends need to chill the fuck out.
I've used Apple devices for work in the past (phone and laptop) although not for about 7 or 8 years and they were fine - bit of a learning curve as I have always been a Windows and Android person, but I got used to them, and those aspects of them that I found ideosyncratic (or just plain dumb!)
That said, it'd take a pretty big shift for me to want to go back to Apple by choice, but that's partly because of cost and the sheer number of apps I'd have to buy to replace those I have.
But, if you want to go with Apple, it's your call, and your friends should not be taking it so seriously.
I'm anti-cloud for many reasons, privacy being one of them. I want access and control of my own files. I use Syncthing to sync my files between all my devices.
I would be unable to do this on iPhone as access to the file system is extremely locked down on iOS devices.
I'd be unable to use Syncthing to properly sync my devices on iOS as it is completely locked down. You can't run a daemon that's always running on iOS and multiple apps cannot have access to the same files. Each app has their own little sandboxed playground.
First, you really shouldn't let your friends tell you what to buy or not buy. Advise yes, but nothing more.
Personally, there's a lot about the Apple ecosystem I just don't like. I have no doubt whatsoever that their products are probably great and work together well. But their pricing and the way they treat users when it comes to repairs are the main problems I have with them.
I think it's just better to use what works best for you.
I would agree but then again i tried to repair some other brands hardware and it was even more difficult. At least with apple you know what to expect. Try to repair an Acer laptop in the EU, good luck with the local “official” repair guys
Well, I was thinking more that apple generally just want you to buy new stuff. So stuff is made as unserviceable as possible. Yes, in recent years this seems to have been duplicated by other manufacturers. It's quite annoying.
As someone who actively avoids Apple products I do not have any issue with their hardware or software and actually recommend apple to people like my mom who need things that just work and work well. The reasons though that I personally avoid Apple is I disagree with many of their anti consumer practices, their "walled garden" mentality, and their blatant refusal to make things more repairable. On that note you mention HP and I avoid them as well for the same reasons. HP, Dell, and other big name manufacturers of Windows laptops and PCs use the same tactics as apple. I personally built my own desktop and bought a second hand laptop that I replaced some parts in and put Linux on so it runs much better now but these are things I can't recommend to people like my mother.
As for phones it is the same story as above but sadly virtually all options when it comes to manufacturers are anti consumer so the main thing that keeps me on Android is the ability to install apps from other places.
I think people take the anti apple train a bit too hard sometimes because they are easier to s**t on than having to name 20 different windows manufacturers or Android ones.
Side note many software engineers I know swear by MacBooks because their underlying kernal is more similar to unix and also the whole "it just works" part is huge when your company is buying you the machine and can't really fuck up by buying any 1 of the maybe 6 choices they had through apple
Brands are nowadays another way to communicate social status. Apple is the peak of conspicuous consumption hence the negative associations for some. Furthermore, Apple devices, although great for what they do, they come with numerous caveats. You’re limited on how much you can do with them. Great if you’re a newbie, not so great if you know your way round a computer and like for things to work your way. Their customer support used to be top notch but now it’s just an other outlet to force you into another expense. Over the past few years they’ve behaved very much against the interest of the consumer. So that didn’t help their public image among those who care about stuff like this.
That is not to say their products are good. On the contrary, they’re great. Polished and generally, reliable. Until they’re not. Whatever you’re friend’s opinion know that it’s mostly based on their sense of identity and values.
I don’t know about the support part, i was on call with support for the first few days about basic functionality regarding the phone and the laptop and they were very polite and helpful.
Also, there’s a easily accessible user manual for every device and every function on their website, something that can’t be said for a lot of other brands.
I think all major brands are going in that direction. I work in electronics repair (not consumer electronics) and it used to be “a thing” to have schematics available for a device you are repairing. Not anymore, and for a long time.
I know. I saw consumer devices from the 60s I believe with instructions and schematics.
But there are companies that are better and ones that are especially bad. Apple is becoming the latter. And on top they are actively fighting the 'Right to repair' movement.
My Lenovo laptop from a few years ago had a service manual available with all the user serviceable parts and pictures describing how to open it up and replace things.
I used to carry around my laptop every single day. I've opened it every few years and collected all of the dust and lint out of the cooling fins, replaced batteries in each of my devices, upgraded them and kept them running for years and years.
You're right. Unfortunately things are getting worse. Maybe I'm getting a Framework laptop next. I don't want anything that is glued shut with everything soldered on. A computer is not a disposable product or single-use.
And I hope the EU forces smartphone manufacturers to make those batteries replaceable. So we can all see their argument they can't build things as thin and waterproof has been a lie. I'm just not sure my current Pixel phone bears up until 2027.
Actually, it seems Apple are going in the opposite direction.
They redesigned the internals of the iPhone 14 which iFixit really liked and they’ve got their own self service repair program so you can buy legitimate Apple parts, although admittedly you could imagine the EU had a huge influence on this.
It’s taken them a few years to get these up and running, but seems like they’re slowly getting to the right point. Maybe this year the pro/pro max will use the redesigned internals architecture to make those more repairable but I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
Yeah. But they're still deliberately designing replacement parts like the screen and fingerprint reader so they can't be swapped and the whole phone will stop working. And they're hiding replacement parts to suffocate independent repair shops. And presumably to tell you to buy a new phone for 1000$ instead of the 10$ replacement part.
And while their iPhone might get better. I've heard it's simultaneously getting much worse for their M2 Macbooks.
I'm not convinced by their politics. Maybe they're doing one small publicity stunt but reality is different.
People has often a natural need to play teams. I would have serious discussion with your friends about it. Because there is a limit when friendly ribbing turns not friendly. And that doesn’t sound healthy friendship.
iPhone is great for some people and Android is great for some people. I am happy you found what works for you.
But I have to ask what are you using for syncthing? Last time I tried it it was really sub par compared to my android.
I gave up with trying to have serious conversations about not-serious topics with people in my life, it isn’t worth the time.
I would much rather enjoy a meal or a drink and talk about something that actually requires some critical thinking than to just have piss contest on whose phone is better or whose car is faster, if you know what i mean.
I’m using nextcloud and synology drive (both available from the internet) with SMB fall-back through wireguard in case i need access to other folders on the server.
I don't need to. iPhones are pretty but every time I've been forced to use one I wanted to pull my hair out, I know they're vaunted for being easy to use but I find them incredibly unintuitive, and I need help to do basically anything. MacOS is mostly Fine™ (with that being said - no window snapping? really?!), but they have no laptops with a number pad on the keyboard, and even if they did, they don't have matte display options so I couldn't comfortably use the damn thing anyway. It's a laptop, I'm not going to use it exclusively in darkened rooms with the lights turned off.
Edit: Also, MacBooks are entirely unupgradable. So that's a hard no from me based on that alone. The "need more storage/RAM? Buy a new laptop!" approach is just entirely unacceptable as far as I'm concerned.
A lot of people that have feelings and behave like your friends do so out of insecurity. Apple stuff works really well within their own ecosystem. They’re kinda dicks about how they run their app-store, and I do believe they overcharge for most everything they make; but it doesn’t change that their stuff works really well, consistently.
I have to use Windows, OSX and various forms of Linux on almost a daily basis. They all have pros and cons.
They've become a lot better in the past fifteen years in terms of usability and respect for their users, but the price point is still out of whack. They sell style as much as function... sometimes to the detriment of function.
Most of the things I use my phone for don't work on iPhones. They work just fine if you want the limited apps that they have available. I've found that making custom automation is not even a thing with Apple. You can't side load apps, so you're limited to just what they offer inside their store.
iPhones are for people who aren't really into tech and just want something very basic that works.
If you're not writing your own software for the phone, and you don't need access to the raw sensor data, there's likely an equal app for iPhone now. I was in the same boat for a while - needing things that only android offered. I switched to iPhone in '19 I think, and I've found replacement apps for everything except detailed wifi scanning. Also, the apps I used on android which offered direct GPS tracking would show how many satellites and nominal locations are just binary - you have signal or you don't. That's frustrating when you're at the edge of signal and trying to get a lock.
I can see how it would be a deal breaker if you need a specific app for work. I can't switch to mac as several of my (multi-thousand dollar) analysis programs are windows only, and if an update breaks something or there's an incompatibility, it costs me $2k/day to troubleshoot.
I don't write my own software. I will alter apps sometimes, though. Mainly I use things like Tasker to create my own apps. I have about 85 apps that I've made using Tasker. It's pretty much my entire reason for having a smart phone. Unless something has changed with Apple, you can't run something like Tasker and you can't side load your own altered apps.
I use apple products as main devices since I was 16 and bought my first Mac, I’m not a fan girl, these are all shitty companies so Android/Google, Apple or Windows for me it’s the same but I have to say that the way iOS works is super intuitive to me, it’s like my brain works the same way (obviously there’s some stupid stuff like the way Settings are arranged) and I have also Android devices form various brands but I wouldn’t change my iphone/mac even if I have to buy everything refurbished because the cost is prohibitive!
The keyboard is ok, I registered many abbreviations so writing is very simple;
Safari works fine and you can install adblockers, or if you want you can download another browser, just without extensions;
If you are a geek and privacy focused I agree that a de-googled Android is the best but for the average joe an iphone works well
Slowly but surely i’m getting on the same boat.
If i lost my phone tomorrow and couldn’t afford a new one, i would much rather get a second-hand iphone from a year or three ago than a cheap android
I just don't like how you get around in an iphone. Admittedly, I haven't used Macs in a very long time, so maybe they're pretty good nowadays (I still hear you can't upgrade them at all tho, sooo...maybe not?), but most of it comes down to me feeling lost navigating the thing.
The other thing is how expensive Apple Products are in comparison to the competition, and the walled garden thing they got going on. Androids are just easier to move around in, cheaper, and give me more control over my device. That's the other big thing that steers me away from iphones: I pay more for a "premium" product and get a lack of control over it.
On android: If I wanna not use the Play Store, I can ignore it and use something else, if I don't like the stock apps, i can look for replacements that do suit my tastes (tbf, I can do this on Apple too, but there isn't much by comparison), if I wanna install a custom ROM, I can install it, if I wanna root the thing and sideline apps while I'm at it, I can, if I want to brick my phone...I'm an idiot, but I have that option. I can do none of that, or do some of it in a limited way, on an iphone.
Pretty much, I don't like how unintuitive the UI is, how restricting the system feels to me, and the company's overall anti consumer stance
I personally am not the biggest apple fan but I find it downright disturbing how your "friends" are so adamant about this. My own dislike stems from overinflated prices, working conditions in the electronics sector in general and apple in particular (I have a fairphone and a headache about tablet use...) and waaaaaaay back I had an iPad that wasn't compatible with a windows/linux machine.
Doesn't mean apple doesn't have their good points, you are most firmly entitled to decide yourself what you spend money on and anything else wouldn't be decent behaviour in my opinion. Let alone how I'd treat my friends. Stating an opinion is nice and healthy, what they do... Not so much.
I had an iPhone 12 for a couple of years but got fed up with how restrictive iOS is. I've also had a few iPads over the years but never really used them as much as I'd have hoped. My only experience with a Mac was trying to use an iMac on campus back when I was at uni and it was the slowest and laggiest computer I think I've ever used.
iPhone are great, but restrictive. The DMA will open up competition on iOS for those in the EU soon. We'll be able to install competing app stores, and download and install any software we like without having to go through Apple.
MacBooks are really well built. I'm not a big fan of macOS, but it does integrate well with my iPhone.
Ignore anyone who mocks you for using the right tool for the job. People who make technology their whole personality don't really have much depth.
Oh, Apple's ecosystem is absolutely brilliant, but the problem is that it only works with Apple hardware and software with no indication of future cross platform compatibility. So you basically get suckered into buying Apple products only, if you want to keep your passwords, documents, podcasts, etc.
Like migrating into Apple's platform is easy, but moving back out is almost impossible. The main problem lies with how irritating it can get to consume content provided by services outside their domain.
Personally I am happy with my Macbook, because I can still download and install apps without using the App Store, but I could never see myself migrating to iOS because that would mean losing my manga collection, my emulators, the ability to watch free movies on Stremio, etc.
Edit: Oh, yeah the iOS keyboard is an absolute travesty. It makes textboxes so frustrating to deal with. How can you have a virtual keyboard without a clipboard in this day and age?
I'd say both are good it just depends on what you like, Ive noticed android gets a lot of features first but they are always clunky to the way apple will implement them. Personally I still prefer Android because I change my launcher to kiss and make everything text based, I prefer windows over Mac just because I'm used to all the shortcuts already and the way software works. Having used Mac at work for a while I always had to second think taking screen shots and all that going between windows and Mac
I oppose the Apple brand because of the typical users. They are a quite toxic group in my experience. For me, this is so bad, I would not even touch the IOS devices if they were actually good.
Recent Apple is the whole problem! Jobs era apple was amazing, but Cook era Apple is just a style brand with mediocre products. I used to love everything apple made, but for a long time now I've disliked almost everything they've done.
I’ll never buy a Mac, but I love my iPhone. It’s quick and snappy. Last time I had an android (although it’s been about 5 years), the phone shit the bed after about a year of normal use.
Lots of comments, low votes, yeah, lemmings don't like Apple at all 😂
I have used Apple smartphones in my teenage days, up until 2020 where I ditched my old iPhone 6s for a Poco F2 Pro, I was pretty comfortable with it, and it is my main phone even until this day. (Currently using custom ROMs, I did not even wait until the warranty to expire to get rid of stock MIUI lol).
I have always liked the freedom of my gadgets, I was always keen to jailbreak/mod whatever I can, unfortunately iOS did make this harder even until today, but at the same time it improved a lot to make some users not miss too much jailbreak (I was one of them since I used less and less my phone).
This very fact of liking freedom made me enjoy the Android side more (my other big Android device is the Nvidia Shield TV and I sideload every shit that interests me).
I legit think most lemmings don't give the opportunity to at least test Apple devices, I know they are corporate, I know they are closed source, but I still think it is a bit of close mind to not even acknowledge them as what they are.... A more than capable adversary of Android smartphones, heck, my girlfriend has an iPhone 13 and it feels so premium (even her previous 11 and 7 did), the apps are so well made, the apps barely reload in the background with its joke amount of RAM, even with its very limited customization side you can tweak a lot the home screen and the lockscreen overall to some next level shit... I'd like to have different kinds of home screens per session based (routines) on Android, and no, changing launchers does not count as they have cringe animations since A11...
In a nutshell every time I try it is a hell of a well made phone, but even having that in mind I'd not get back to it... Not in the short term at least, Android has grown on me so much that first I'd get a premium Android device (maybe Pixel because I don't like One UI), but if iOS keeps improving who knows, maybe someday.
That’s exactly how i feel, apart from the premium androids, because even though i paid the premium price, it never felt as a good phone.
Fast, maybe, well built, not really, and the apps are the same no matter what you paid so it kind of feels like you got ripped off.
I’m salty as hell because deep down i really want android phones to be great.
I see, if you are not comfortable with the software you could try a custom ROM I guess, they usually are better crafted than bloated stock ROMs.
And yeah that is what held me to buy a premium device back in the days, I'd barely use the goodies such as the camera and my device had SD 865 which is still a more than capable processor yet, with these nice specs and a good custom ROM it really feels like a Pixel software speaking.
Yes. I recently switched from an iPhone pro to a Pixel pro and I greatly prefer the Pixel. I'm still learning cool new things I can do with my Pixel after months of use. The text selection is absolutely awful on the iPhone, as is the keyboard. Those two things alone were reason enough for me to switch.
I would love to try a Pixel, unfortunately it’s not sold in my area and i wouldn’t have any support if something went bad with it. The best phone i had was a Nokia, and it was the phone with the worst hardware, but the stock Android experience was beautiful.
I’ve used Mac and iOS for most of my life. I find it funny that some people feel a need to tell me why they could never use apple when I never once thought about what they use or what they think.
Via Claude.ai, a simplified version of the OP's complaint:
(I really wish people who say that they "can't write" would process their text through an A.I. "editor" to save us all from their bombastic prose.)
...
For years, my peers told me to avoid Apple devices. However, none of them actually used Apple devices recently. Their knowledge was based on outdated information or peer pressure.
I'm in the EU where Apple isn't as popular. I've used Android phones and Windows PCs for 15 years. I was constantly let down by my phones after 1-3 years, across brands like HTC, LG, Sony, Samsung, Xiaomi, Nokia, OnePlus. Each phone had issues like notification problems, bad battery life, slow camera, restarts.
A year ago, I decided to try an iPhone 13 to see what the fuss was about. After a week, I was doing everything on the iPhone. Six months later, when my Windows laptop died, I considered a thin Debian laptop.
Then I remembered my peers' anger when I switched to iPhone. So I looked at Mac laptops, which were similarly priced. I got a base M2 Air. I loved the iPhone-Mac integration and features like AirDrop.
My "friends" mocked me for using Apple, claiming I was "locked in" and "fell for marketing." But I don't use any paid Apple services. I connected my Apple devices to my home server successfully. I feel more freedom because some things work better than on Android or Windows.
Why so much hate without first-hand experience? Why can't I decide for myself? Why is Apple connectivity looked down on when that's not the case? Shouldn't you at least try before judging?
I prefer my own intelligence even if flawed. I think that’s the beauty of it. Nothing against AI, but i don’t like the idea of running thoughts through an AI for a post on the internet, feels weird.