Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2018/07/31/im-an-android-loving-iphone.html
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On the downside, the new Google News app, left of home page, will not shut up about the British Royal Family. I’m ready to cromwell the lot of them.
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Though I much prefer Android personally, I really can’t get militant in the choice between an iPhone or a high-quality Android phone - they’re both great.
Though it does seem a little odd to me that you’re comparing the camera on Apple’s top-shelf, only-one-iteration-old 7 Plus to a phone whose starting price is barely over $500. Even now, a bottom-rung 7 Plus costs about $150 more than the OnePlus 6. So, yes, I would expect the iPhone to have a better camera.
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“Even a few years ago, finding a brand name case for an Android phone was damn near impossible.”
This is untrue. I had multiple name-brand options even with my G1, literally the first Android phone.
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For me, screen size is a major factor. I don’t want a slab in my pocket, I want something small and light. Your choices in the realm of small phones are basically something cheap and distinctly second or more often third tier… or an Iphone SE.
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I recently switched to Android having used iOS since day dot.
Initially i found the difference refreshing. I love that i can have an “other” default browser and calendar. I love the split screen feature. I love that all installed apps don’t have to be on the home screen. I desperately miss the mute switch on an iPhone. I really don’t like the battery life - i ran the battery down while using Google Maps directions. Plugged in the charger to our car radio but the battery drained faster than charged. In a similar scenario the iPhone would charge faster than it drained while using Google Maps. Also little things annoy me like the picture viewer. I seem to get about 3 different viewers when i click on a photo i’ve just taken through the camera app or when i view photos through file manager. Nit picks but i’ll get used to it.
The thing is iOS has its share of annoyances too so i’ve come to accept that no OS will be perfect.
I think people overestimate how hard it would be to switch from iOS to Android or vice versa. It feels like you’re really enmeshed in the apps you use, because you use them all the time, but we’re not talking about learning to fly a new kind of helicopter; if you just bit the bullet, you’d probably have figured out any issues within a week. Sometimes you’ll realise you don’t care enough to bother with (say) migrating old messages. But if you try to have a transitional period, you’ll never make that leap.
As for software investments, how much have you really sunk into apps that (a) you still use and (b) don’t use subscription pricing? I would guess the figure is below $50 for almost everyone.
Those Android recommendations are both over $600. I expected a cheaper option.
Choice is good
Cross-platform apps are good
I’m too committed to the never-ending flow of quirky games on iOS to ever give up my iPhone, though. Being an Android gamer is like being a Mac gamer in the 1990s.
It’s a bit weird how disappointed you seem to be with the camera, considering that other reviewers (like Anandtech) say it has an excellent camera. Admittedly, even they say it lags behind others in low light (even if a recent update supposedly has improved that somewhat), but they still praise its camera and call it “among one of the best cameras in terms of exposure, colour reproduction and resulting natural high dynamic range images. The 16MP shooter also was able to very much obtain some of the most detailed shots among current generation devices”. It’s obviously not the best camera in the world (higher resolution than most flagships and the smaller pixels this necessitates, plus possibly not the most expensive/high-end lenses in existence make this pretty much a given), but I still find it odd how strongly you come off in saying that it’s bad. Care to elaborate?
Being a phone gamer is like being a movie downloader in the late 1990s/early 2000s. Gaming with only a touchscreen interface (outside of the very, very few games that adapt to this well) is very, very similar to how it felt watching blockbuster films through some horrible camcorder recording on a low-res CRT.
That’s one opinion. I for one love having instant gratification in my pocket whenever I want it. It’s more like watching TV at home with your snuggle pal and a salty snack.
Or maybe, like having a hip flask full of “courage” to get me through the work week, who can say.
It used to be that android was the choice of people who had specific reasons to not get an Iphone (avoidance of walled gardens, lack of swapable batteries, demand for upgradable storage, and the like). Because iphones were generally better overall unless you needed something they did not provide.
Now, it’s neck and neck as to which phones and which OS is best. So the choice really comes down to a philosophical trade off. You can have a phone that gets updates and security patches for years and that does not spy on you and sell the data to advertisers, but is a closed walled garden when it comes to apps… or you can have a phone that is more open ecosystem wise but it may never get timely updates and it spies on you for advertising purposes.
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For me it’s certainly to do with the sunk cost fallacy. I’ve been buying apps for the iPhone for years, and while I don’t use 99% of them regularly any more, I like to still (mostly) have the option.
If I jump ship, I’m casting all of those apps aside.
Add to that the fact that my iPhone 6S is paid off, and it makes it even harder to switch until this phone craps out.
But I would be lying if I said I don’t think about it. Nothing about the latest generation of iPhones (apart from the camera) appeals to me.
I enjoyed getting Seamus’ opinion.
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The notion of completely switching over to Android isn’t enticing to me. I have far too much of my money invested in iOS software, accessories
For me, Android’s killer feature is Google-Fi, which is truly about the closest anyone has come to making a “world phone”. Being able to jump on and off planes and across borders, and just switch seamlessly without thinking “am I gonna get hosed for data roaming?” is fantastic Being able to use data for anything anywhere in the world for the same price I pay at home is awesome. At home I’ve never had a bill over $30/mo. If they ever made Fi available on iPhone I might consider moving back, but for now you’ll have to pry my Pixel and Fi ut of my cold dead fingers!
I think of my “investment” in apps like my “investment” in magazines in the olden days (except that apps cost much less than a magazine, and in most cases less than a newspaper). If it gets to the point of influencing your future decisions, clinging to those apps is no different to hoarding newspapers.
Fi is just just a regular network (MVNO); you can use it with an iPhone.
Yep. Intellectually, I get it. But the hoarder blood flows strongly in my veins, especially when it comes to digital files that take up so little physical space.
So far we’ve avoiding creating mazes of “things” that we have to navigate to get through our house, but it’s not hard to see a tipping point coming; me with my movies and games, my wife with her books and POP heroes.
I look forward to the day when I can cut it all loose, but it’s likelier that I’ll die first.
Nope. Got some pretty expensive stuff on my android phone. At least two apps > 100€. Most of the rest is rather low-level, but several paid versions of apps like PodcastAddict and Yatse would be lost if I change the platform, as well.
It might be true for many, but not for me.
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Loved the article SeamusBellamy!
It so reminds me of the Pocket PC vs. PALM days. Even back then Mac lovers tended toward PALM devices while PC lovers generally preferred Pocket PCs. PALM users who tried Pocket PCs had to admit that the larger screens and stylus input were definitely a plus but they tended to moan about not being able to use their beloved PALM software. It just goes to show the more things change, the more they stay the same.
As I see it, as a reviewer he does need to mention the camera. Just a fact of life, really. And it’s a comparison between the two devices he is using day in, day out. OnePlus has its fans amongst geeks, so it does pay to let them know what sort of hardware they are getting.
