Who could Android be possibly recommended to at this point?

I know iPhones aren't affordable for the layman in many countries. But for anyone with an option, why would you buy an Android? All the "customization" things I cared about when I was on Android are either doable on an iPhone now with better implementation, or something I don't care about.

I was a die-hard until I went through enough cycles of Google deprecating and reinventing their apps and services every year, breaking my workflow/habits, that I got sick of them and moved to Apple everything. And all the changes I've seen since then are only making me happier I got out of the ecosystem when I did. Unlimited Google Photos backups with Pixels are gone, Google Play Music is gone, the free development/distribution environment is gone, etc.

If people can't even develop for the thing without going through the Google process, they're really just a shitty iOS knockoff.

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pfix 3 hours ago | parent | next [-]

But this thread is about the option to install apps on your device regardless of OS vendor approval, and that's not possible either with iOS nor is iOS open source. And that's what this is all about. If you don't care about open-source and user freedom, then this change wouldn't matter to you anyway.

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bpye 4 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I switched back to Android in large part for KDE Connect. You can get continuity esque features that work with any desktop operating system. I also get to use real Firefox instead of a Safari wrapper. I still use as few Google services as possible, pretty much just Maps.

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_factor 3 hours ago | parent [-]

KDE Connect works just fine on iOS.

	▲	bpye 3 hours ago \| parent [-]
		It "works" but it is significantly less useful. Notification mirroring doesn't work, you can't read/respond to text messages, it can't reliably run in the background. These are all due to limitations imposed by Apple.

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wolpoli 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

At this point, I wouldn't recommend Android other than enjoying the much steeper discount with the headset. For me, the only thing that is keeping me on Android is easier access to commas on the keyboard.

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pjmlp 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I love the Java/Kotlin userspace, even if it is Android Java flavour, and the our way or the highway attitude to C and C++ code, instead of yet another UNIX clone with some kind of X Windows into the phone.

In the past I was also on Windows Phone, again great .NET based userspace, with some limited C++, moving into the future, not legacy OS design.

I can afford iPhones, but won't buy them for private use, as I am not sponsoring Apple tax when I think about how many people on this world hardly can afford a feature phone in first place.

However I also support their Swift/Objective-C userspace, without being yet another UNIX clone.

If the Linux phones are to be yet another OpenMoko with Gtk+, or Qt, I don't see it moving the needle in mainstream adoption.

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cyberax 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

> But for anyone with an option, why would you buy an Android?

How the heck this is true?!? iOS is just bad.

Its usability is bad, its interface is bad, its apps are just a ton of crap, and it _will_ keep getting worse.

I'm not even talking about its "walled concentration camp" app model.

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iririririr 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

you're a really vanilla user then.

wake me up when there's an adblocker on an iphone.

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ClikeX 3 hours ago | parent | next [-]

There are several that plug into Safari, and Pihole just works. Does Android have ad blockers that do more? It's been a few years since I switched.

	▲	bpye 3 hours ago \| parent [-]
		I can run proper uBlock Origin in Firefox on Android. Sure something like Pihole works, but I am often on mobile data or other WiFi networks.

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zie 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Thankfully you don't really need an adblocker for apps on an iPhone. Your browser could use one, but thankfully those do exist :)

That said, I want off the iOS ecosystem, but Google has basically said guess what? We are going the way of Apple, so we don't care about you either.

So right now there isn't really anywhere else to go. I'm going to keep trucking in iOS for now, but I hope I find something better soon.

	▲	Marsymars 3 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		> Thankfully you don't really need an adblocker for apps on an iPhone. Your browser could use one, but thankfully those do exist :) uBlock Origin on Firefox Mobile is significantly better than any Safari adblocker I've been able to find. (1Blocker's the best I've found for Safari.)
	▲	gspr 2 hours ago \| parent \| prev \| next [-]
		> Thankfully you don't really need an adblocker for apps on an iPhone. That's for me to decide, thank you very much.
	▲	iririririr 3 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		who is talking about app adblockers. power android users get their apps from fdroid. You relly are out of touch. And you know very well, There are only meme adblockers for the browser on IOS.