I’m getting real sick of Apple. I used to be a pretty big Apple fanboy, but over time I have been starting to resent them more and more.
It started a few years ago, when I needed a new laptop because the 2016 MacBook Pro had the backlight not working defect and I was out of the period to get it fixed.
I looked at the MacBook Air, but even to this day, it only has 256gb hard drive and 8gb ram. After upgrading the storage space, the price was insanely high. I don’t mind paying extra for an upgrade to storage and ram, but not $400 more for something that should be the standard amount at this point.
Then iMessage being locked to iPhone. Since I’m from the US but don’t live there I’m pretty locked into iOS for iMessage unless I want to deal with and pay for international messaging.
Now, once they’re forced to open the app store, something that a lot of people want, they are being so petty about it.
I just got an iPhone 15 to upgrade from my
iPhone XR, but I’m really thinking about just moving to a pixel and saying buy to Apple for
Good.
seriously, how hard is it to ask your mum to install a single app so you don't have to pay to message her? what will that take like 5 seconds?
i have plenty of friends overseas who use ios and we message just fine. surprisingly they didn't defriend me when i requested they install an app we can both use.
wtf sort of shitty friends and family do you have??
I find it intriguing that you're only just now discovering the challenge facing many smartphone users in the United States, where the use of iMessage is dominant.
The problem isn't with 1:1 chats, but with being excluded from group chats. If everybody is chatting on iMessage, I'm sure you can find the challenge in getting everybody to use your preferred alternative.
You know what really sucks? Is that I'm in the exact opposite situation you're in. I've been using Pixels since they came out and androids since the Galaxy S3.
I'm so done with Google and their shitty, inconsistent services that I've been waiting for Apple to open up iOS to sideloading and Firefox so that I could leave Android.
Turns out the grass is brown and dying on both sides and we consumers have a choice between two trash options.
So with apple being shit and me not really liking samsung recently, what Android phones are good? I'm eyeing Lenovo since they make solid laptops but are they any better?
Lenovo is a solid choice for a laptop. I really would encourage you to explore Linux rather than Windows. Pop_os and Elementary both have a MacOS feel - I use Pop_os
As far as phones, I use a Pixel 6a, the 6a is the budget model - it performs well and has a great camera. The good thing about androids is that you can customize the hell out of em. Fairphone is another one I would recommend because you can do all of your own repairs if that is important to you.
The Samsung Galaxy line is very popular and they just announced they will support the phone for at least the next 7 years - so there's longevity there - so dunno if that will change your mind, a lot of kinks have been worked out ( just don't buy their appliances)
Ubuntu cinnamon user for the last year and a half love it. As for phones I have an s22 but I'm tired of all the bullshit bloatware that comes on it. Like I cannot fully uninstall Facebook on this thing without knowledge of how to use adb. And if uninstall something samsung deems critical, it could break half the features on the phone.
The pixels are fine, but I have the Pixel 8 Pro and it still has too many bugs considering it's Google and I'm getting real tired of the enshittification of all of Google's services and apps.
Every year they get either more bloated, more hindered, or killed altogether.
I'm really bitter about Google Play Music and Google Podcasts being killed. Along with Google Now.
Motorola is good but their camera can do some work. Otherwise those phones are great too. OnePlus 12 also just came out and has a great price to performance ratio
This might be their strategy. There's no way they could come to the conclusion they'd be allowed to continue charging a fee for access. The DMA is explicit:
(57) If dual roles are used in a manner that prevents alternative service and hardware providers from having access under equal conditions to the same operating system, hardware or software features that are available or used by the gatekeeper in the provision of its own complementary or supporting services or hardware, this could significantly undermine innovation by such alternative providers, as well as choice for end users. The gatekeepers should, therefore, be required to ensure, free of charge, effective interoperability with, and access for the purposes of interoperability to, the same operating system, hardware or software features that are available or used in the provision of its own complementary and supporting services and hardware. Such access can equally be required by software applications related to the relevant services provided together with, or in support of, the core platform service in order to effectively develop and provide functionalities interoperable with those provided by gatekeepers. The aim of the obligations is to allow competing third parties to interconnect through interfaces or similar solutions to the respective features as effectively as the gatekeeper’s own services or hardware.
(7) The gatekeeper shall allow providers of services and providers of hardware, free of charge, effective interoperability with, and access for the purposes of interoperability to, the same hardware and software features accessed or controlled via the operating system or virtual assistant listed in the designation decision pursuant to Article 3(9) as are available to services or hardware provided by the gatekeeper. Furthermore, the gatekeeper shall allow business users and alternative providers of services provided together with, or in support of, core platform services, free of charge, effective interoperability with, and access for the purposes of interoperability to, the same operating system, hardware or software features, regardless of whether those features are part of the operating system, as are available to, or used by, that gatekeeper when providing such services.
It's an incredibly risky strategy, as the fine is payable immediately. That's up to $38B for the first offence. They've had years to check compliance with the EU, so leaving it to the last minute then claiming "confusion" won't be a valid defence. If Apple continues to renege on their legal responsibilities, a second fine of up to $76B can be levied. There are additional fees for late payments and other infractions too. The EU legal system uses the principle of the spirit of the law. This is contrasted with the US system which is the "letter of the law." As such, constructive evasion isn't taken lightly in the EU. Anything but free access is clearly intentional non-compliance.
Serious response: the average consumer doesn't give a fuck.
Most people don't know this is going on.
Most people couldn't care less about side-loading apps. They'll only ever get stuff from the app store.
And then there is the contingent that buy apples products because of their walled garden ecosystem. They want to trust the apps they download are vetted by apple. They don't care if the air pods don't have all the features if you use them on Android because they'll always have an iPhone. They don't care if they can't customize xyz on their phone because they like the design choices or will always adapt to the choices apple made.
If all of this sounds really shitty to you, you probably aren't their target demographic.
Continue not buying their stuff. It crazy how worked up non-customers get over this stuff. It's not like rabid apple fans are grabbing their pitchforks. It's always Android weenies(self included in that group) that do the bitching.
I have seriously considered switching the last few years because, at the very least, they pay lip service to privacy. They also have different incentives in terms of data harvesting since they don't also run a giant ad business at their core (Google). This type of lawsuit isn't the reason I haven't. It's dumb shit like not having a back button or knowing where basic things are.
Right, like how they design connectors that when shorted will instantly fry your CPU.
Or the part where they design flex cables that are too short for you to bend your screen back all the way.
There is a long list of hardware fuck ups that are outright stupid choices that competent engineers would never make. The only reason these defects exist is because they cause people to buy new devices more frequently.
They know how to do fancy hardware, not how to do reliable and durable hardware.
It crazy how worked up non-customers get over this stuff. It's not like rabid apple fans are grabbing their pitchforks.
See, here is where we disagree. The amount of revenue Apple generates, makes them an example for other companies, and you see them start making the same dumb choices.
I want this trend of tech enshittification to stop and the brain-dead Apple fans are to blame. Because they allow themselves to get milked for revenue, the whole consumer space has to deal with companies trying hard to nudge the boundaries with every new product. All aimed at extracting just a little more money than they did before.
So no, in addition to not buying their shit devices and services, it actually helps to make others stop buying their shit as well. I am done allowing people to take the easy way out and to stay ignorant about the consequences of their choices. If you praise Apple to me, you're going to get an earful.
It's always Android weenies(self included in that group) that do the bitching.
Oh, I've seen my fair share of Apple users being all high and mighty.
I have seriously considered switching the last few years because, at the very least, they pay lip service to privacy
Their privacy is a joke. They harvest your data as much as anyone. Sure, Google harvests a little more, but given that Apple with their premium prices on everything could manage without harvesting data at all, yeah, they're as shitty as Google.
I just wished it was as easy as making apk files but for apple devices, I don't want to pay for an apple developer account every year so I could make a free app for my family to use.
Look into a tool called expo. Maybe it only works with react native, but I was using it to load an app I was building onto testers devices and I didn’t have a developer account.
In the meantime you can use SideStore to side load two apps on your iOS device. Down side you need to open the SideLoad once a week and renew access to your side loaded apps.
AltStore requires you to have a the AltServer opened on your Mac and your phone on the same WiFi to refresh. SideStore is branched off AltStore but allows to renew and install apps right from your iPhone (you only need a computer for the first install of SideStore iOS app, or if you to re-activate if you go past the renew date). I had AltStore before and SideStore is much easier to deal with imo.
For anyone looking to sideload on their iPhone without jailbreaking or paying for a dev account, look into Trollstore, if your IOS version is compatable, you can sideload unlimited apps thanks to the 2 coretrust bugs.
To use trollstore you need to make an IPA app. I use react native with expo which requires apple developer account to sign the app before compiling, or you need to own a Mac to use Xcode to compile, which no one in my family owns one.
