i still like my android but i do wish they would get back to prioritising widgets again, like apple has done - and get developers to do it as well.
i also like apple watch over my samsung watch. i think the apple watch is top in it's class - that combined with apple fitness+.
if apple could set defaults, use actual browsers (like android), and have an open in menu like android, i'd switch. i don't think i could ever get used to apple's notifications though. android is still superior there.
also you can't set phone or messaging or other defaults. in android, i can not have a default and get a pop up every time (or use linksheet) to ask how i want to open something
I’m looking forward to iOS 18 as I have to run an iPhone for work.
From what I understand, this update is gonna bring a lot of things iOS was lacking in terms of personalization.
Now I would really want them to improve on how things are handled outside of their walled garden as I’ll never buy a new mac (maybe an old one to run Linux) and they’re never gonna convince me with their old tricks of keeping special features between Apple devices.
We need a Linux version or equivalent to iTunes to backup your phone, better interoperability with Windows/Linux..
The iPhone is a great product but I feel like the walled garden is preventing me from fully enjoying it.
Yeah I know but honestly it looks really complicated for someone who's not at ease with terminal. Just finding the instruction to install it on Fedora (so no sudo apt install) is difficult, so I'm scared to do anything wrong, especially with important data.
So now I'm still using a Windows 10 virtual machine even if it's awfully slow on my not powerful computer..
As much as I hate apple and google, I want a future where all these can be done locally without massive servers and sending all data to cloud .
Apple clearly have a edge over google in that regards.
Ah, you mean like the sync that Palm OS used to have? Yup, that was neat, and I'm still waiting for Android to pick up some of the neat features from back then.
I miss palm OS. I think it had some undeniable jank but it also had great features and a bit of “charm”. I’m pretty sure I still remember most of the Graffiti alphabet!
I totally bought a Palm off eBay few months ago. It's been fun to use Palm OS 5 again. I got a model that actually has WiFi, which was also interesting to set up a AP that was compatible with it.
One I got had a dead battery, ordered a new one, it was so much nicer to open the old tech and replace the battery. Just screw and little solder. No glue and impossible small stuff to work with.
Look into the past , what a huge server does now a small SBC can do now . In 10 years what chatgot runs in cloud could potentially be running in a smartphone
Good for Android, now if they’d only implement all of the Apple-only features that create the lock-in appeal then maybe they’ll get somewhere. When my Pixel Buds flow seamlessly from device to device to the third and fourth device then maybe we’ll talk
My SO has current gen Pixel devices all around and it’s yet to materialize. To my mind, Google could sync Bluetooth pairing info across all Android devices if they put their minds to it. But even if they did, they would need to work with Microsoft and other vendors to get the kind of ambiguity that would compete with Apple’s product line. As it stands, if you buy the Apple product you get the best hardware and the software compliment is five years ahead than the competition. Google and Microsoft need to leapfrog
I have the Pixel Buds Pro and they kinda do that, but yeah not very well. I have them paired to my phone and my laptop, and sometimes randomly they'll silently disconnect from my laptop and permanently pause whatever I was watching if my phone plays a notification. I can't fix it until I disconnect from and reconnect to my laptop multiple times.
One time I was watching a video on my laptop and they randomly connected to my desktop! I hadn't used them on my desktop in at least a year, until then!
All in all, they can flow seamlessly, but it's 60/40 on if it works properly
At least the noise cancelling and passthrough are fun to mess with
How many devices do you switch between? For me, it’s phone, tablet, two laptops and my watch. I think that the Pixel Buds can switch between two without needing a re-pair. Meanwhile, I can stream my Apple TV audio to my AirPods as they’re also an audio source! Even if Google released basic support for this today, they still wouldn’t be able to fully catch up because they have no truly realized desktop/laptop OS so I’d live in a mixed ecosystem.
I have them paired to a few things, but only ever use them on my phone and laptop. That's why I was so confused when it connected to my desktop, since it was last paired and actually used a long time ago.
I guess it's a complicated issue for me, since they're paired with more than 2 things but only ever connected to 2 things
Exactly. Also memoji on Android would be nice as well as the better emoji content on iPhones..
The bedtime mode on iPhone is also very cool as well as the ability to set your contact photo which other iPhone users will see when they call you.
Plus I think Apple have done a better job with widgets because they look nicer and are stackable.
Imo as an android user, android has been neglected by Google for a while and apart from Samsung no other OEM's are adding for software to rival Apple.
Which is one of many reasons why I'll be switching back to iPhone. I see more and better user features being added to iOS.
The only thing Google has done with android lately is Material You, and it's not as rich as apples customisation. And circle to search is a stupid feature which only benefits Google more than the user.
Satellite messaging is already available in Android 15 beta, and the LLM in the device will only be for iPhone 15 Pro and above, so most iPhone users will not be able to use it.
I think Pixel 8 and 8a do too, or at least are capable, since they're the same chip. I'd check, but I put GrapheneOS on my phone so I don't have all of the Google stuff.
Satellite messaging is already available in Android 15 beta
Perhaps in software, but I don't think there is a current phone that has the hardware to take advantage. For now, this is essentially an Apple only feature. It's a pretty good bet we are going to see some flagships released with it in the next year though.
And? How many android devices can you name that actually support satellite messaging today? When the feature DOES come on the android side, I imagine it is going to probably be flagship devices as well. Seems to be a silly thing to call Apple out for.
I know that Pixel 7's and above support it. There are Reddit posts showing they have the feature already. Satellite messaging is just using standard 4G/LTE from Starlink. I wouldn't be surprised if this is only an OS update away for most newer phones.
Correct. It needs hardware and will only be on flagships, if the OEM includes it..
Another nice feature on the latest iPhone is the UWB chip egg even the older models have but now you can find another iPhone 15 user in a crowd if they share their location. The UWB chip will guide you right to them
I've wanted something like this for at least a decade for when my wife and I get separated in the Mall so that instead of calling her to see where she is (and she often doesn't hear it ringing) I'd be able to just use the phone to lead me to her... Pretty useful in real life. And it also works for your misplaced tracker tile, air pods, iPad etc
Android 15 beta... so it'll be available on phones, out of the box, without anyone having to build/install a custom, on phones actual normal humans buy in about 2030 then.
Yes, in fact that is the only kind of ai i would ever use and entrust my data to. Not the apple one, but an open source model that is running only on my device and answering only to me; using the data I provide only for my interests? That one I would use.
It wasn’t a software issue, but a human issue. People got scammed and gave their logins away.
This system is built so that nobody can access it and they’ve went to extreme lengths to make it so. It’s also available for auditing, it hardware and software.
“It’s a very thoughtful design. Indeed, if you gave an excellent team a huge pile of money and told them to build the best “private” cloud in the world, it would probably look like this.”
Matthew D Green, cryptography teacher at Josh Hopkins
LLM is AI correct? If my phone is going to do AI at all, I prefer it be done on device for sure. For privacy reasons if nothing else. But it's not anything I've really looked into. I have the S24 and the only AI feature I use is the Circle to search... which I don't consider to be AI.
LLM is a form of AI, specifically the text AIs like ChatGPT that have suddenly made "AI" a dinner table term. AI in some form or another is almost definitely being used in your device - even for things like filling in gaps in low-quality voice calls, and probably has been for a while. But the problem is that unlike those "old" AIs, LLMs require some significant power to run, so running them on phones will probably require meaningful trade-offs. But the increased security is also a meaningful benefit.
Yep, and Android also suffers from plenty of malware within the Play Store. I’d rather a company focus on combating that than worrying so much about minor features.
Edit> Yeah I figured I would be downvoted. People are very tribal and base their identity on such which means they will disagree with me. I am a pragmatist and don’t want to deal with malware and a shitshow of fragmentation — so while it does suck to be within Apple’s walled garden, it at least fits my needs.
This is a common argument and it always makes me wonder what people mean by it. No ill intent from my end here, I use and like Apple as well as FOSS, but I can’t think of anything I can do on Android that I can’t on iOS. I admit I’m a very basic user though, I prefer to do heavy lifting on a laptop.
I am genuinely curious. Do you have some examples?
f-droid, termux, new rom if you want that.. not paying $100/y just to install an app you developed(I know you can do that without paying but it's not without major hassle)
I agree that alternative app stores are definitely a boon and I can't wait for the EU to nail Apple to the wall over dragging their feet on that. Competition is good and that 30% fee monopoly is bullshit.
There are iOS terminal clients (I like Termius). The ROM thing, yeah... I installed /e/OS on my Fairphone 4 just for the privacy aspect, but functionally it's not better or worse than what came in the box. There might be reasons to do it but utility-wise I don't very well see the point in this day and age.
I hadn't thought of the developer license requirement to run your own software, I personally don't do that but I can see it being a deal breaker. Thanks for your thoughts. :)
I'm an android user but honestly bored of hearing this shit every single year. "Android already does that" yeah, we know. It's like having a friend that is constantly trying to one-up you, or trying to steal attention away from you at your own birthday party.
Honestly who gives a shit, we are talking about phone OSes. I dont have a strong enough opinion about any of this to care which of them does what first. Use what you like and move on mentally
I use Apple because it’s easier to manage a grandma and a daughter. Android is great if you’re technologically adept and can install a custom ROM, but I don’t want that freedom for my “users”. Grandma used to have an Android phone for years. I’d have to clean that thing out every few months because she would just click on shit. I switched her to iPhone and now when I check, there’s far less nonsense going on. It’s just easier to be the family admin this way. There are numerous other things that Android can also do, better, and for free, but at the cost of one’s time. It’s a trade off I’m willing to make. I reject the notion Apple is outright inferior; by which criteria? It’s also not about looking cool. Everyone has smartphones and they’re not special like they may have been in the 2000s. They’re the most commodified computer people use around the world. There’s no phone that makes you cool regardless of brand. It’s a fucking phone.
I would say the days of needing to flash ROMS is over, and Android is much more user friendly than it used to be. Especially if you're on Pixel or Galaxy phones. My Mom, who's almost 70, uses a Galaxy 21 FE, and loves it.
Not sure about the parental controls, etc that might help with keeping an eye on loved ones though.
I'm switching to iPhone because Google has let Android languish for years now. Samsung does more for android than Google does for goodness sake.
Apple users get fun and cool updates which is why they love it. Plus best in class photos and videos so they can share photos with friends and family with confidence, as opposed to android which has shit cameras and even shittier video.
Samsung does more for android than Google does for goodness sake.
I agree with you, even when I dislike One UI... I think Google although simpler is more of my liking... But oh boy stock AOSP is so limited that for some users it is even too similar to iOS, with the distinction that you can sideload easier (for now).
Lots of features that Google releases each Android iteration literally have been here in One UI, MIUI, Color OS you name it.
My last brand new Pixel phone had debug strings in the user interface and the UI was not responsive. It’s the daily annoyances and details that made me get an iPhone. Comparisons have been stupid since the beginning of smartphones.
