I'm tempted to move from Android to an Apple phone partly for that reason.
I'm tired of the endless android situations where an app seems to be able to do whatever regardless of permissions... and permissions can't really be managed anyway. I also don't belive Google will ever get a handle on those permissions / privacy, they just don't care to.
It doesn't help that google killed the nexus line and now we have pixels that are premium priced anyway so I may as well consider Apple where I didn't before.
The camera is also a big deal to me so a lot of the "hey it's not a pixel but" options just don't do it for me.
I really struggled with my most recent phone purchasing decision but ended up sticking with iOS because, despite how much I love the customizability of Android, I feel like the stance Apple has taken on privacy over the last few years is something I want to support.
I understand that for them it may just be a business decision and differentiator, but it is one that is important enough to me to keep me on their platform.
I stick with Apple for the privacy. There are features on Android I wish to use, but I can’t bring myself to use an Android phone or putting the effort of cleaning it from all of Google’s trackers.
Same here. Despite the atrocious UI of iOS, I've been slowly and reluctantly considering iPhone for my next phone because of the good privacy news. This news kills any consideration of an iPhone for me. I'd rather go back to a dumb phone than let a company scan my phone at will.
That's it. I'm switching to iOS. Android is like child's play when it comes to privacy compared to the features introduced just in this version of iOS. I'm sure I'll hate the lack of customizability but at least the privacy features are solid.
The only reason I have yet to move fully to Android is because right now, Android without Google is such a neutered experience that I don't see any reason to try.
I only have an iPhone because of Apple's privacy stance. I hate every other element of the company.
The short life-time of Android phones & the app's questionable privacy policies are the 2 major reasons I'm sticking to iOS, even though I think Apple is a major asshole.
Android is an awesome OS, but the app store feels "unregulated" and I feel like I'm not in control who and what copies my data.
I'm in the same boat. Due to Apple's most recent product decisions I'm losing confidence and I'm starting to look elsewhere. After reading up on the current state of Android and especially how to increase privacy and security, it seems I'll have to stick with Apple for a while longer.
I think iPhone is superior and would hate to leave it. Although I barely do much with my phone outside 2FA, browsing, and texting. A switch won't be too bad in that regard.
I do love my Macbooks though. So while these privacy invasions make me angry I'm not willing to drop Apple all together. I've been meaning to keep most of my sensitive information on a usually disconnected Linux machine anyways. I'll keep using my Macbook for development.
Just bought an iphone 12 a few years ago. Won't give that up. Probably will upgrade to a newer android brand next time, but not because of the privacy issues.
At this point there isn't a compelling reason to switch for any party. The experience on Android vs. IOS isn't meaningfully different to me, and while I think Apple probably does a better job with privacy (which I personally value highly) they do a worse job with the ownability of the device (repairability, sideloading, app store bullshit, etc.). I really wish there were more choices, but we seem stuck with two detestable options. To each their own I guess.
The only reason I am using an Android phone and not an iOS one is because of F-Droid to install the open-source app I like and need. I would definitely switch to iOS if I could have this freedom there.
I hate that with Android I trust that Google will at some point succeed with a dark pattern in letting me agree to siphon my data without my real agreement.
When I switched from an iPhone 3GS to Android, it seemed that the trade-off was between control and freedom. These days, the trade-off is between control + ok privacy and not-much-freedom + no privacy.
I also ran custom ROMS for years. It got to be such a pain that I switch back to vanilla Android with throw-away google accounts, and now have come full circle and gone back to an iPhone.
It's a similar story on the desktop - I can't abide where Windows has gone with ads and AI. I have run linux for years (and still do on servers), but need to use software that won't easily run on Linux. So, I have ended up with a MBP.
Apple might be far from perfect, but for me at least, right now they're they best balance between not being actively user-hostile, and not taking a ton of effort to get working.
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