I tried to go to iOS just for curiosity since 2 years but I think the next device will be an Android again for these reason:
- you cannot simply install applications outside the AppStore
- developing applications even for personal use requires macOS, an Apple developer account, etc
- it lacks of decent applications, such as an email client that works, thanks to limitations imposed by Apple on what the applications can do in background
- it comes with stupid limitations. Such as you can't to a software update on a mobile network (why? To this day with cheap plans that gives you 50G or even unlimited data for 10 euros at month a lot of people no longer even have a landline internet connection and thus Wi-Fi at home, and have to use another phone in hotspot mode to download an update, this is pure insanity of Apple!)
- it works well if you are all-in in the Apple ecosystem, for example you have also a Mac, but it doesn't integrate with Windows (the Windows phone companion that lets you to receive notifications on the PC and other stuff is only available for Android, since iOS doesn't have APIs to do that stuff such as read notifications).
- the only browser allowed is basically Safari and this to me is very wrong for the open web (it's true that in Android you have Chrome, but you can install whatever browser you want, such as Firefox). Safari doesn't support progressive web apps for example for no reason, so you are forced to install an app while you could have used its PWA enabled website.
- you are forced to use Apple services, while in Android using Google services is an option (you can have an Android OS without Google Apps, even if it can be impractical I like having this possibility at least in theory). For example the only way that I found to backup my photos was to pay iCloud, since Google Photos (that did give you unlimited space back then) didn't work in background and thus you have to open it to sync (something that is pretty useless for a backup tool that you want to be always running...)
- it's less user friendly, there are things that are complicated for no reason. This was confirmed by a lot of people that transitioned to iOS and find it more difficult to use
- to this day it's practically impossible to mod (jailbreak) an iPhone to overcome its limitations. In the past there was jailbreak that really did solve many of the issues, but this day it's nearly impossible
- lack of support for open standards, such as the usage of the proprietary lightning connector instead of USB-C (something that is now a requirement in the European union by the way)
From the hardware perspective, it's well built for sure, but I find it too expensive for what it offers. The iPhone that I actually have (an iPhone XS bought new for 600 euros) it seemed expensive when I bought, now to get an iPhone of a similar range (that is an iPhone Pro) you have to spend at least than double that price! A decent Android that is enough to me for my daily tasks can be bought for 200 euros, a top spec one for 600. To me the added cost of an iPhone is not justified.
Over the years, my family has had a mix of iOS and Android devices and even though the Android device was generally less expensive up front, the iOS device ended up being less expensive overall because after a few years the resale value was still pretty good. Generally, they all were decent devices.
All of your points about installing software outside of the app store are valid and if that's what you need, iOS is not for you and I think that's okay. Choosing the platform that best supports the software you need to run has always been how you decide what to buy. The other way around doesn't make any sense. It would be like buying an PS5 and then saying it sucks because you can't run Excel on it.
The resale value is not that great either. My phone, bought for 600 euros 2 years ago (it was already an older mode, by the way) now has a value of 200 euros if we see the price if sold used to a person through an online used items announcement marketplace, if sold to a store it has zero value.
Anyway I don't usually sell phones, when I change a phone (that is not often, till now I only has 3 smartphones, two Androids and the iPhone that I currently have, on average I keep a phone 5 years, especially my first Android was born with Android 4.0 and I stopped using it with Android 7, changing trying out all the custom roms that were available) I usually end up giving it to somebody in my family anyway that upgrades its old phone.
> All of your points about installing software outside of the app store are valid and if that's what you need, iOS is not for you and I think that's okay. Choosing the platform that best supports the software you need to run has always been how you decide what to buy. The other way around doesn't make any sense. It would be like buying an PS5 and then saying it sucks because you can't run Excel on it.
I think it's not only that. I think that Apple practice should be considered illegal (and I think the European commission will need to take an action like they did with Microsoft and Google) since it's abuse of dominant position. You are forcing the developers to pass trough the App Store, and thus be forced to support payment trough Apple Pay and thus give a percentage (that is not small, by the way) of your profit to Apple. This to me is not right.
Having the possibility to install third-party "app stores" on Apple devices should be a requirement by law. I don't said that it should be simple, a user may do something difficult to do that (if the reason is to protect unaware users that would otherwise install malware on their phones) but it should be possible.
Yes, this law should apply to any operating system in a general purpose device, such as a PC, smartphone or tablet. In reality the only vendor that doesn't allow the installation of software from sources that are not the official store (as far as I'm aware of) is Apple. I'm not saying that it should be easy, in Android you have to go trough the settings and enable an option, this is correct since you don't want people installing .apk that are received via email with one click, but it should be possible to do.
Done forget about the Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony game consoles! Those are what I'm most excited for being opened. I would love to be able to run stuff I write on my PS5.
To me that is (to this day) less important, since modern consoles are actually PCs with a custom form factor, that you can build with mostly off the shelf parts. In the past it was different, but consoles were always modded (except the modern ones, but I would say for a lack of interest).
- you cannot simply install applications outside the AppStore
- developing applications even for personal use requires macOS, an Apple developer account, etc
- it lacks of decent applications, such as an email client that works, thanks to limitations imposed by Apple on what the applications can do in background
- it comes with stupid limitations. Such as you can't to a software update on a mobile network (why? To this day with cheap plans that gives you 50G or even unlimited data for 10 euros at month a lot of people no longer even have a landline internet connection and thus Wi-Fi at home, and have to use another phone in hotspot mode to download an update, this is pure insanity of Apple!)
- it works well if you are all-in in the Apple ecosystem, for example you have also a Mac, but it doesn't integrate with Windows (the Windows phone companion that lets you to receive notifications on the PC and other stuff is only available for Android, since iOS doesn't have APIs to do that stuff such as read notifications).
- the only browser allowed is basically Safari and this to me is very wrong for the open web (it's true that in Android you have Chrome, but you can install whatever browser you want, such as Firefox). Safari doesn't support progressive web apps for example for no reason, so you are forced to install an app while you could have used its PWA enabled website.
- you are forced to use Apple services, while in Android using Google services is an option (you can have an Android OS without Google Apps, even if it can be impractical I like having this possibility at least in theory). For example the only way that I found to backup my photos was to pay iCloud, since Google Photos (that did give you unlimited space back then) didn't work in background and thus you have to open it to sync (something that is pretty useless for a backup tool that you want to be always running...)
- it's less user friendly, there are things that are complicated for no reason. This was confirmed by a lot of people that transitioned to iOS and find it more difficult to use
- to this day it's practically impossible to mod (jailbreak) an iPhone to overcome its limitations. In the past there was jailbreak that really did solve many of the issues, but this day it's nearly impossible
- lack of support for open standards, such as the usage of the proprietary lightning connector instead of USB-C (something that is now a requirement in the European union by the way)
From the hardware perspective, it's well built for sure, but I find it too expensive for what it offers. The iPhone that I actually have (an iPhone XS bought new for 600 euros) it seemed expensive when I bought, now to get an iPhone of a similar range (that is an iPhone Pro) you have to spend at least than double that price! A decent Android that is enough to me for my daily tasks can be bought for 200 euros, a top spec one for 600. To me the added cost of an iPhone is not justified.
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