The biggest reason for me using Android is simply because of how much competition there is in the space. If I use Apple products and don't like something they do then I'm stuck on an older version at best and need to migrate everything from their walled garden (at great cost) at worst.

With Android, I can use Samsung one generation, switch to Pixel the next, and give Motorola/some other smaller company a chance later. I can choose a phone that has the exact features I want - better battery life? great camera? best performance? great display? cheap price? smaller display? larger display? There's a phone for each of those.

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snowwrestler 12 hours ago | parent [-]

What would be the “great cost” of moving from an iPhone to an Android phone? I’m struggling to think of what would cost money at all, aside from the phone itself.

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xmprt 12 hours ago | parent | next [-]

There's no straightforward way to migrate between an iPhone and Android so you'd spend a lot of time. Also I'm not sure if it's even possible to fully move over - for example would you be able to export your iMessages? Also, if you're fully bought into the ecosystem with Airpods and a Watch, you'd be better off replacing those (at least the watch which turns into a paperweight without an iPhone).

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killingtime74 11 hours ago | parent | next [-]

I've migrated back and forth. Most things are backup to cloud now. Only thing missing was Signal messages last time and I think they now fixed that. Do people still use plain SMS now?

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acoustics 11 hours ago | parent | next [-]

iMessage is extraordinarily popular in the US. Its userbase dwarfs Signal by over an order of magnitude

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killingtime74 11 hours ago | parent [-]

Ah fair enough. Not as many use it here in Australia

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yzydserd 10 hours ago | parent [-]

Is there data behind that or is it just anecdata?

A year ago someone on HN said “I can confirm that iMessage is extremely common in Australia. WhatsApp is very uncommon, outside of people with European (and maybe South American?) friends or family to keep in touch with.”

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39365562

My guess is you’re both expressing truths of your individual social circles but making unjustified extrapolations to an entire nation.

	▲	killingtime74 6 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		That's true . The only stats I could find are unreliable SMS marketing company ones.
	▲	dboreham 10 hours ago \| parent \| prev \| next [-]
		iMessage is very popular in the US but 90% of users just think they are "texting". There's no other way to send an SMS for them.
	▲	realusername 9 hours ago \| parent \| prev \| next [-]
		I can also confirmed that iMessage is basically unused in France. (And that was a core argument in the EU of Apple against the DMA for iMessage, so even Apple admits its low usage in the EU) The issue with iMessage outside the US is the branding, it's branded as an SMS app and SMS being dead (outside of ads and delivery drivers) doesn't help for adoption.
	▲	immibis 8 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		iMessage is popular in the US because everyone has an iPhone because everyone has iMessage and everyone connects it to social status - network effects. The same reason (besides the social status) everyone uses WhatsApp in Europe. This has more to do with the way the iPhone was launched, and the American desire to own the most expensive product, than any technical merits.

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riffraff 11 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

How about photos? Moving from android's Google photo integration to apples icloud photos integration seems.. complicated

	▲	vladvasiliu 4 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		I don't know how to take pictures out of Google photo, but it's very easy to move outside photos into Apple Photos. I do this quite often since I'm a Sunday photographer and wrangle my images in Lightroom Classic on a Windows box. If you have an iCloud subscription, you can do this directly with a browser, just click upload and wait for it to happen. There's also a Windows client for iCloud, but I've never tried it.
	▲	freehorse 9 hours ago \| parent \| prev \| next [-]
		Use third party, cross platform software like ente and you have no problem moving to or from any platform. Use platform dependent services and you get locked in. It is very simple, actually.
	▲	hawaiianbrah 11 hours ago \| parent \| prev \| next [-]
		I’m on iOS and backup my photos to both iCloud and google photos
	▲	killingtime74 11 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		I've always been on Google only so that helps a bit. It works to backup on iPhone as well

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freehorse 9 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

That’s only if you are deep into one ecosystem or the other, or you don’t want to start with a clean state. Taking the time to move some basic apps and install the rest in time as you need them does not take much.

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whyenot 10 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

> need to migrate everything from their walled garden (at great cost)

It's not just about migrating the phone, if you own an Apple Watch, AirPods, one of their laptops, their online services, etc. all that stuff works best within the Apple ecosystem. If you move they don't work as well (if at all) and you may need to replace them. If you are deeply bought in to Apple products, it really isn't that easy to move.

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FireBeyond 41 minutes ago | parent | prev | next [-]

The lost cost of the apps and purchases you've invested in that you will likely now need to re-purchase?

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viraptor 11 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Time and existing apps I already paid for. Even upgrading to a new Android phone costs me a few hours of setup. Moving to iPhone (or the other way) would be seriously painful.