10 ms·

Android features I envy as an iPhone user

85 points by rpgbr 2y ago

pants2 2y ago
This doesn't even mention the most obvious one to me: Google Assistant. It's way, way better than Siri and well integrated (at least on pixel phones that I've used).
- nomilk 2y ago
  It's surprising how neglected some macOS/iOS features are. Siri doesn't seem to get smarter, and consequently, I pretty much never use it. When I asked it for the time yesterday when my hands were wet it glowed for a few seconds then searched the internet for "hey siri can you tell me the time". I could only shake my head and laugh. I really want chatGPT in place of siri. Spotlight search on macOS is mostly broken (with no fix in sight), and autocorrect on macOS feels like it was made by kid with limited vocab and no familiarity beyond the most commonly used words (e.g. sometimes 7/8 letters correct isn't enough for macOS to make any guess as to what you might have meant).
  - doctoboggan 2y ago
    Well you might be in luck as there is a pretty good consensus that the next iOS will be heavily focused on Siri improvements. Some people are suggesting the new iPhone will be able to run an LLM locally as the Siri backend. I will be curious to see how the usually controlling and exacting Apple will grapple with an inherently unpredictable LLM.
    - deleted 2y ago
      [deleted]
    - doctaj 2y ago
      That, unfortunately, won’t help it set two alarms at the same time.
  - switch007 2y ago
    Siri is so bad recently my homepods are basically useless. I think their APIs are overloaded or something. Siri tries to blame my internet but it's fine and the WiFi signal is strong. I don't even think asking the time is processed locally
  - pants2 2y ago
    At least with Mac we have Raycast as a vastly superior alternative to spotlight! You can also install GBoard as an alternative keyboard on iPhone and use it's superior autocorrect. But sadly there is no way to replace Siri.
    - AceJohnny2 2y ago
      Huh, hadn't heard of Raycast, I've been using Alfred for a few years, and hadn't heard of Raycast in the my little circle. I guess I'll read this https://joshcollinsworth.com/blog/alfred-raycast https://joshcollinsworth.com/blog/alfred-raycast
harles 2y ago
I’d appreciate someone pointing out what the significance of this article is. The whole thing seemed like platitudes in borderline unreadable English - but there must be some reason it reached the front page.
- makeitdouble 2y ago
  I assume it's mostly the timing, with the DMA coming into action and the DOJ lawsuit ? I think the article it has its merit. I'm following a few podcast and news outlets and they seem to be very blind to what's actually missing from iOS or Apple's influence, in that sense it is a better take than most I've seen. In particular, on browser engine most people seem to brush it off as a "every will just choose Chrome and it will all be the same" when there's a lot more to it. In particular it makes it a lot more interesting to keep Firefox on the desktop as we get history sync. The other parts (e.g. DEX) are also usually brushed off as things people don't use, but I'd wager the fact that the dominant mobile OS doesn't support it has a lot to do with that state.
- rasso 2y ago
  As a non native english speaker, your comment makes me feel highly uncomfortable. Do I need to use perfect english to be allowed to publish my thoughts? I don‘t think so.
  - harles 2y ago
    There’s a difference between quirky English and incomprehensible English. If someone has poor English but their point is understandable, there’s not much to complain about. This article however falls squarely in the bucket of poor English and possibly proofing inhibiting comprehension. If someone aspires to be a journalist in English as the author claims to be, communication and comprehensible English are critical. It’s not a nitpick - there are plenty of sections where it’s not clear what the author is trying to say like: > Although iOS is better served with good apps, some Android exclusives are missing. The broader point here is that this appears to be a very low quality/effort article, and so question was genuine: what am I missing? It clearly resonated with some folks.
pupppet 2y ago
Having never used an Android, is manipulating text as bad as it is on iOS?
- makeitdouble 2y ago
  It depends on your keyboard, but it's usually a better. The main bit would be the arrow keys, which are a lot better than swiping around. Otherwise firefox has better text selection IMHO, but it has other downsides that Chrome doesn't.
- rkagerer 2y ago
  It's awful. (At least with stock on the phones I've used)
- gofreddygo 2y ago
  Text manipulation on all phones after blackberry has just been awful.
- slivanes 2y ago
  One thing I greatly appreciate on Android is when selecting text of an actual email address (i.e. with long press), it automatically expands to capture the whole email address and gives me relevant email options straight away. On iOS you have to manually move the left and right pins which is its own little mini-game experience. Try it here: someonesemail@notyahoo.com Edit: This appears to be a Chrome thing.
  - pants2 2y ago
    Yes, this is an awesome feature on Android! > Android Oreo came with a new "smart text selection" feature that uses AI code to make smart decisions about selecting text such as addresses and phone numbers.
rado 2y ago
Transliteration in search
nmca 2y ago
ublock origin and Firefox mobile are a lovely combination!
WaxProlix 2y ago
It's hard for me to imagine not having Firefox with its (limited, true) extension ecosystem on my phone. Are people really just out there, no script, tracker or ad blockers, no dark mode enforcers, no pay wall bypassers or YouTube enhancers, just raw dogging the internet on their iPhones?
- paulproteus 2y ago
  On my iPhone, I use Wipr: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/wipr/id1030595027 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/wipr/id1030595027 It integrates with the system browser and, I think, all embedded browsers. I only use the 'privacy-safe' subset of Wipr, that is, the passive filter list that Safari supports most efficiently. It works great. I'm sure there are other options that other iPhone users can recommend to you if you ever want to try it.
- ChrisArchitect 2y ago
  I don't need a single one of those things to read this website. On Android.
  - ta8903 2y ago
    Yes, this website.
- beremaki 2y ago
  Yes
- filoleg 2y ago
  > Are people really just out there, no script, tracker or ad blockers, no dark mode enforcers, no pay wall bypassers or YouTube enhancers, just raw dogging the internet on their iPhones? Idk since when, but Safari on iOS had extensions available for quite a while. I have been using an adblocker one + a few webdev ones (not that I need it often at all, but once every few months I might need to take a look at the DOM or check network requests with no access to my laptop, it comes in quite handy).
  - 2y ago
pigcat 2y ago
I just want to be able to disable future push notifications from the notification itself (long press). That's the biggest thing I miss about Android.
- superb_dev 2y ago
  You can do that on iOS! Swipe left on the notification and tap “options”, then you’ve got a couple options to control future notifications
- PurestGuava 2y ago
  I switched back to iPhone recently from Android and I do miss being able to silence, specifically, marketing push notifications when they arrive. iOS is either all or nothing unless the app itself lets you selectively turn off marketing push notifications (and they usually don't). (Relatedly, if you're an app developer for some shop or other, and you ask for notification permissions "so we can keep you up to date on your orders!", and then the app spams me with marketing push notifications, it should mean that you and anyone else responsible gets a thousand years in the lake of fire when you're gone. Fair's fair.) Everything else I don't miss really. My years of giving a toss about tweaking everything to be just-so are pretty much gone, just give me a sensible default that I can work with and I'm happy.
wvenable 2y ago
I have a few Samsung Android devices and I mention them specifically because of all the crazy stuff than Samsung brings to Android. For audio: * Have different volumes for different app * Have one app play its sound on your phone and another app to another device. * Have two apps play at the same time. For UI: * Hide status icons that are just always on and thus meaningless. * Customize the navigation gestures * Put apps into windows, split screen, etc. * DeX for desktop environment when connected to a display -- I can even remote display to my LG TV and the magic remote can be used as a mouse pointer. For Apps: * Linux shell and apps (Termux) -- even X windows. * Firefox, Chome, even Samsung Internet as browsers. Samsung's browser has some unique features for phones and tablets and I end up using it the most. * VLC for playing downloading media easily on my devices * Smooth integration with Windows via Phone Link -- notifications, messages, photos, remote access. * Lots of notification customizations I could go on. There are so many features that I have never used but that's ok -- we all need and want a different set of features. I use many of these all the time. I used to have an iPhone (and my whole family has i-devices) but I think I'd have trouble going back to such a restrictive environment. But I still fully recommend iPhones and iPads for most people.
- eichin 2y ago
  Err, what does termux have to do with Samsung? (Samsung did beta a "Linux on DeX" briefly, but it vanished years ago...)
- 3PS 2y ago
  I use a Pixel with the Nova Prime launcher (which is a fantastic launcher) and it can do all of these things except the audio stuff. Individual app audio control is definitely one of the features I wish I had the most.
  - yjftsjthsd-h 2y ago
    What's the Pixel version of Dex?
    - 112233 2y ago
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
userbinator 2y ago
Ctrl+F "root", no results?
- amanzi 2y ago
  I haven't needed to root my phone for a few years now. Curious to hear what your reason is and if it's still as easy as it used to be?
  - userbinator 2y ago
    Full control and ownership.
  - tomatocracy 2y ago
    One thing I still use root for on Android is to enable the Keepass2Android USB Keyboard extension to work - this enables me to plug my phone into a computer which I don't want to put my password database on (eg friends/family machines), and have it emulate a USB keyboard to type my passwords directly from Keepass2Android rather than laboriously copying long randomly generated ones by hand.
  - hollow-moe 2y ago
    Permanent remote adb access with Tailscale, you can then do pretty much anything: screen mirroring or external webcam with scrcpy or even a cheap Apple:tm: sidecar using a VNC app and crafted intents.
  - iggldiggl 2y ago
    - full local backups and the resultant ability to easily revert any broken app updates, plus being able to restore those backups on a new phone if my phone breaks or I upgrade to a new device - AdAway in host file mode, i.e. without having to mess around with a fake VPN connection - toggling Wifi, mobile data and airplane mode programmatically all require root on current Android versions (turn on airplane mode automatically at night, turn off mobile data in my home Wifi and back on when I leave it, and turn on Wifi automatically when I'm near my home [1], plus restoring the original separate Wifi and mobile data toggles via e.g. https://f-droid.org/packages/be.casperverswijvelt.unifiedinternetqs/ https://f-droid.org/packages/be.casperverswijvelt.unifiedint... needs root, too) - being able to poke around on the whole file system is sometimes useful - Xposed for fixing miscellaneous annoyances that would otherwise require hacking APKs (doable but somewhat annoying) or outright compiling a custom ROM (which would be way too much effort) -- Google blocking installation of old apps without ADB -- Google introducing a bug in Android 13/14 that breaks options/overflow menus in some apps – there's a workaround, but that's of no use for old apps that won't see any new updates any time soon -- Google blocking selecting the top-level directory of my SD card in the file access folder picker, which again breaks one app that unfortunately won't see any new updates but otherwise still works fine and has no suitable direct replacement -- turning off the aspect ratio restrictions for old apps, especially seeing how I ended up with one of those ultra-tall aspect ratio Xperias as my current new phone (it seems that this might be an official feature in Android 15, but I don't want to wait that long, plus who knows how that'll actually turn out plus what other things Google might break in turn in that version) -- working around the developer of the music player I paid for introducing a #@§+$%[# timebomb in his app (disabling it two years after the build date of the respective update), and then eventually selling the app to some shady company that's mostly interested in extracting as much money as possible from the app before the whole thing probably burns (if user reviews are anything to go by, they've stopped honouring the old paid unlocker APK and are instead demanding a subscription at a totally unreasonable two-digit monthly price – for a music player for local files (!)). - still haven't found a good replacement for QuickPic gallery for my use case (folder-based browsing respecting the actual file system hierarchy, i.e. nested folders) – while somebody has been keeping up a modded version of the app based on the last version before it, too, was sold to some dubious company, I've found that file access restrictions introduced in recent Android versions require some additional root-based workaround for keeping the app working as I want it, too. [1] It seems current Android versions (or is that just a Sony-specific feature?) offer an option to automatically turn on Wifi when you're near a saved network location, but you can't configure that one.
ilius2 2y ago
You are envious. You envy. You are not envy.
nfriedly 2y ago
Some of the things that keep me on Android include: * Iceraven (Firefox) - I use a number of extensions that make the internet much more pleasant, including ublock origin, ublacklist, dark reader, violent monkey, keepa, augmented steam, and more * ReVanced - makes YouTube much more enjoyable: automatically skip ads, intros, like and subscribe reminders, and other "fluff", set custom playback speeds and remember them, return the dislike count and background playback, and so much more. * Smart AudioBook Player - I look for books on CD and rip them because SABP is so much better than any other app I've tried. * Headphones jack and especially microSD support (moto g100). I could probably live with Bluetooth headphones, but expandable/removable storage is incredibly useful and Apple seems to be dead set against it.
- reacharavindh 2y ago
  Honest question as an iPhone user. What do you have currently on your expandable storage? Asking to know what I’m missing as my music lives on Spotify, movies online, photos on iCloud, and documents wherever they are shared with users or on iCloud Drive. So, what could I use the local storage for? And how fast is it expandable storage compared to onboard flash?
  - throwaway22032 2y ago
    Photos and videos for me. I don't use cloud storage - when I started to use computers, not that lont ago, software which uploaded all of my photos to a remote server would have been considered malware/spyware.
  - nicolaslem 2y ago
    Not on your hardware, not your data. I understand most people may not care about it but tech companies have shown over and over again that they do not mind cutting access to the data they host, even to paying customers.
  - bsjaux628 2y ago
    My phone doesn't have an SD slot but following the sentiment of keeping the important things local: I was back home for a month in a country with poor connectivity, so I "downloaded" some podcast on Spotify. After 14 days the app stopped working and asked me to log in through their website to change my location. Luckily I have 30gb of music on every phone that I have ever had so I didn't miss it, but still was very pissed off by it
dawkins 2y ago
The feature I miss the most is marking numbers as spam
- ikhare 2y ago
  I switched back to Pixel after two years of using an iPhone recently. It’s got a lot better phone and text spam detection. I get 5-10 spam calls and texts a day. The iPhone got unusable.
realusername 2y ago
The #1 feature for me I can't do without is the bubble overlay. I'm learning a language and having a dictionary accessible with one tap anywhere is amazing. If you are learning a language, Android is a must have just for that alone.
microflash 2y ago
The fact that when I tap the WiFi and Bluetooth shortcuts in the notification panel to switch them off and they actually switch off is enough to keep me on Android. Also, sideloading and file system access. With Syncthing, I can sync local folders between my Mac, Windows PC and phone in one go.
- neurostimulant 2y ago
  > The fact that when I tap the WiFi and Bluetooth shortcuts in the notification panel to switch them off and they actually switch off is enough to keep me on Android. Uhm, I got a bad news for you: https://9to5google.com/2024/04/04/android-bluetooth-automatic-turn-on/ https://9to5google.com/2024/04/04/android-bluetooth-automati...
  - microflash 2y ago
    Yup. I'll have to figure out suitable ADB incantation when that "feature" comes out in Android 15 (of there's no explicit setting to turn this behaviour off in the UI)
- gcbirzan 2y ago
  I believe this hasn't been the case since they revamped the notification tiles in android 12. It for sure doesn't work like that for me on 14 on a pixel.
  - iggldiggl 2y ago
    As for actually turning the Wifi on or off, there's an additional option somewhere in the settings (which, if I remember correctly, goes quite a bit back further than just Android 12 – I think it was that way already back in Marshmallow/6) whether you want to leave background location scanning enabled or truly turn it off. As for the revamped notification tiles which mashed Wifi and mobile data together into one tile – this being Android, at least you can bring back the old behaviour via e.g. https://f-droid.org/packages/be.casperverswijvelt.unifiedinternetqs/ https://f-droid.org/packages/be.casperverswijvelt.unifiedint...
captainmuon 2y ago
After recently switching to an iPhone, the thing I miss most is a consistent back button. Second would be a better keyboard, but you can install Gboard and almost get there.
- thebruce87m 2y ago
  One of the reasons I left android was the inconsistency of the back button. Sometimes it would even take you out of the app you were in to the previous app. If you were in the browser it would never do that though. Maybe they made it more consistent? (Almost?) Every app in iOS has the “swipe from left” to go back.
  - kaanyalova 2y ago
    There is a new Android feature trying to fix that "predictive back animations", It shows you an animation when you are exiting the app using the back button/gesture.
  - needlesslygrim 2y ago
    I'm pretty sure that's the intended behaviour, and I personally quite like it, but I'm used to Android so shrug: https://developer.android.com/guide/navigation/principles https://developer.android.com/guide/navigation/principles
  - gcbirzan 2y ago
    There are a few apps (ironically, YouTube is one) that don't behave correctly, but the back button is supposed to take you to the previous screen. So if you opened that link from another app, it should take you there.
zer0zzz 2y ago
I use Windows and Android all the time and I always come back to the iPhone because it’s just a way better hardware value and has way better integration to a desktop system (the mac) than any other desktop/phone combo I know of. Android+ChromeOS could come close but the hardware is pretty inferior. Considering the grips mentioned by the author, it’s easy to get all the features I want by using iCloud. Personally I am always going to pay for cloud storage and I pay for a primary and a backup. iCloud is my primary, and I keep backup copies of my photos and files from iCloud on google drive and Dropbox as well. I used to prefer the browsing experience on Android until I realized safari on iPhone just isn’t always the smartest about figuring out the page zoom level. Brave sometimes gets it right more often, but you can always manually change the zoom. With most pages where I think WebKit is terrible and unusable I lately have figured out that changing the page zoom makes things work better. If I could make iOS do more I’d definitely want some real browser choice and maybe virtualization on the nicer iPads too. That’d go a long way to making iOS devices better at keeping me away from the laptop.
golf_mike 2y ago
No customizable launcher is is a big no no for me. Longtime Niagara launcher user,and anything else then a swipe-from-the-side accessible alphabetical, magnifying app list just feels archaic and convoluted. And also two generations into the z-flip (the smaller samsung foldable) and the ergonomics of slab phones just don`t do it for me anymore. But apparently thats a controversial one.
pockmockchock 2y ago
we need FOSS platforms like Satslink, I'm so done with phones :(
- coretx 2y ago
  Do what the name implies but does not do. Integrate a vertically polarized LORA antenna, ( and radio ) That would allow you to actually have satellite connectivity. Also: ditch the triple AAA for a single 18650.
28304283409234 2y ago
Switched back to android after 3 years of iphone. User hostility drove me. Like the ability to quickly turn off wifi and have it stay off until I decide otherwise. Iphone does not have a simple on/off switch. Baffling.
rasse 2y ago
Can iPhone do seperate volume levels for alarms and phone ringer?
big_paps 2y ago
I don’t care much about phones, but one thing which is definitely better on android is this family-link (is it called like that) integration. On iOS family-link doesnt work right and the integrated version sucks also.
yogorenapan 2y ago
The only thing keeping me on an iPhone is that mine hasn’t broken yet and I dislike waste. I got my current phone from a relative that was going to throw it away. Not being able to side load apps & use for development means I pretty much never touch it except for offline maps. It doesn’t even have a SIM card in it
bjoli 2y ago
Some things I miss on android: a fast SMB or sftp app. I have a gigabit network. 7mb/a is not acceptable. My phone can do at least 500mbit when speed testing over WiFi.
hulitu 2y ago
> is the ability to turn the phone into a computer. Android at least, can only run one app at a time.
- rstuart4133 2y ago
  Android can run at least two apps at the same time: https://support.google.com/pixelphone/answer/7444033?hl=en https://support.google.com/pixelphone/answer/7444033?hl=en
rldjbpin 2y ago
recently switched to iphone and some crucial things are missing or not in a good place, which has soured the otherwise niceties: - no way to record phone calls: missing the ability to relisten to the calls after the fact has costed me a lot of problems. - keyboard woes: some of it can be down to muscle memory but the default keyboard felt very unresponsive at first and is still a struggle at times. it is broken in Discord app for some reason (might be down to that app itself) - ALARMS!: how can someone build an alarm app that randomly goes SILENT ON SNOOZE?! maybe it is the world nudging me towards fixing my sleep cycle, but this is ridiculous. - backups: i had to make a huge compromise by forgoing with syncthing because there is no free and open-source way around it. even syncing to cloud services with encryption has little to no options. (please send help if you know something that works) - personalization sucks even today: imagine using a music creation app to create ringtones or notification tones. even then they don't work consistently across apps! besides this, i see some progress thanks to EU and other international regulations. but i doubt that it will impact these silly design choices which don't have any anti-competitive stuff around it.

85 points by rpgbr 2y ago

This doesn't even mention the most obvious one to me: Google Assistant. It's way, way better than Siri and well integrated (at least on pixel phones that I've used).

nomilk 2y ago
It's surprising how neglected some macOS/iOS features are. Siri doesn't seem to get smarter, and consequently, I pretty much never use it. When I asked it for the time yesterday when my hands were wet it glowed for a few seconds then searched the internet for "hey siri can you tell me the time". I could only shake my head and laugh. I really want chatGPT in place of siri. Spotlight search on macOS is mostly broken (with no fix in sight), and autocorrect on macOS feels like it was made by kid with limited vocab and no familiarity beyond the most commonly used words (e.g. sometimes 7/8 letters correct isn't enough for macOS to make any guess as to what you might have meant).
- doctoboggan 2y ago
  Well you might be in luck as there is a pretty good consensus that the next iOS will be heavily focused on Siri improvements. Some people are suggesting the new iPhone will be able to run an LLM locally as the Siri backend. I will be curious to see how the usually controlling and exacting Apple will grapple with an inherently unpredictable LLM.
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
  - doctaj 2y ago
    That, unfortunately, won’t help it set two alarms at the same time.
- switch007 2y ago
  Siri is so bad recently my homepods are basically useless. I think their APIs are overloaded or something. Siri tries to blame my internet but it's fine and the WiFi signal is strong. I don't even think asking the time is processed locally
- pants2 2y ago
  At least with Mac we have Raycast as a vastly superior alternative to spotlight! You can also install GBoard as an alternative keyboard on iPhone and use it's superior autocorrect. But sadly there is no way to replace Siri.
  - AceJohnny2 2y ago
    Huh, hadn't heard of Raycast, I've been using Alfred for a few years, and hadn't heard of Raycast in the my little circle. I guess I'll read this https://joshcollinsworth.com/blog/alfred-raycast https://joshcollinsworth.com/blog/alfred-raycast

harles 2y ago

I’d appreciate someone pointing out what the significance of this article is. The whole thing seemed like platitudes in borderline unreadable English - but there must be some reason it reached the front page.

makeitdouble 2y ago
I assume it's mostly the timing, with the DMA coming into action and the DOJ lawsuit ? I think the article it has its merit. I'm following a few podcast and news outlets and they seem to be very blind to what's actually missing from iOS or Apple's influence, in that sense it is a better take than most I've seen. In particular, on browser engine most people seem to brush it off as a "every will just choose Chrome and it will all be the same" when there's a lot more to it. In particular it makes it a lot more interesting to keep Firefox on the desktop as we get history sync. The other parts (e.g. DEX) are also usually brushed off as things people don't use, but I'd wager the fact that the dominant mobile OS doesn't support it has a lot to do with that state.
rasso 2y ago
As a non native english speaker, your comment makes me feel highly uncomfortable. Do I need to use perfect english to be allowed to publish my thoughts? I don‘t think so.
- harles 2y ago
  There’s a difference between quirky English and incomprehensible English. If someone has poor English but their point is understandable, there’s not much to complain about. This article however falls squarely in the bucket of poor English and possibly proofing inhibiting comprehension. If someone aspires to be a journalist in English as the author claims to be, communication and comprehensible English are critical. It’s not a nitpick - there are plenty of sections where it’s not clear what the author is trying to say like: > Although iOS is better served with good apps, some Android exclusives are missing. The broader point here is that this appears to be a very low quality/effort article, and so question was genuine: what am I missing? It clearly resonated with some folks.

pupppet 2y ago

Having never used an Android, is manipulating text as bad as it is on iOS?

makeitdouble 2y ago
It depends on your keyboard, but it's usually a better. The main bit would be the arrow keys, which are a lot better than swiping around. Otherwise firefox has better text selection IMHO, but it has other downsides that Chrome doesn't.
rkagerer 2y ago
It's awful. (At least with stock on the phones I've used)
gofreddygo 2y ago
Text manipulation on all phones after blackberry has just been awful.
slivanes 2y ago
One thing I greatly appreciate on Android is when selecting text of an actual email address (i.e. with long press), it automatically expands to capture the whole email address and gives me relevant email options straight away. On iOS you have to manually move the left and right pins which is its own little mini-game experience. Try it here: someonesemail@notyahoo.com Edit: This appears to be a Chrome thing.
- pants2 2y ago
  Yes, this is an awesome feature on Android! > Android Oreo came with a new "smart text selection" feature that uses AI code to make smart decisions about selecting text such as addresses and phone numbers.

rado 2y ago

Transliteration in search

nmca 2y ago

ublock origin and Firefox mobile are a lovely combination!

WaxProlix 2y ago

It's hard for me to imagine not having Firefox with its (limited, true) extension ecosystem on my phone. Are people really just out there, no script, tracker or ad blockers, no dark mode enforcers, no pay wall bypassers or YouTube enhancers, just raw dogging the internet on their iPhones?

paulproteus 2y ago
On my iPhone, I use Wipr: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/wipr/id1030595027 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/wipr/id1030595027 It integrates with the system browser and, I think, all embedded browsers. I only use the 'privacy-safe' subset of Wipr, that is, the passive filter list that Safari supports most efficiently. It works great. I'm sure there are other options that other iPhone users can recommend to you if you ever want to try it.
ChrisArchitect 2y ago
I don't need a single one of those things to read this website. On Android.
- ta8903 2y ago
  Yes, this website.
beremaki 2y ago
Yes
filoleg 2y ago
> Are people really just out there, no script, tracker or ad blockers, no dark mode enforcers, no pay wall bypassers or YouTube enhancers, just raw dogging the internet on their iPhones? Idk since when, but Safari on iOS had extensions available for quite a while. I have been using an adblocker one + a few webdev ones (not that I need it often at all, but once every few months I might need to take a look at the DOM or check network requests with no access to my laptop, it comes in quite handy).
- 2y ago

pigcat 2y ago

I just want to be able to disable future push notifications from the notification itself (long press). That's the biggest thing I miss about Android.

superb_dev 2y ago
You can do that on iOS! Swipe left on the notification and tap “options”, then you’ve got a couple options to control future notifications
PurestGuava 2y ago
I switched back to iPhone recently from Android and I do miss being able to silence, specifically, marketing push notifications when they arrive. iOS is either all or nothing unless the app itself lets you selectively turn off marketing push notifications (and they usually don't). (Relatedly, if you're an app developer for some shop or other, and you ask for notification permissions "so we can keep you up to date on your orders!", and then the app spams me with marketing push notifications, it should mean that you and anyone else responsible gets a thousand years in the lake of fire when you're gone. Fair's fair.) Everything else I don't miss really. My years of giving a toss about tweaking everything to be just-so are pretty much gone, just give me a sensible default that I can work with and I'm happy.

wvenable 2y ago

I have a few Samsung Android devices and I mention them specifically because of all the crazy stuff than Samsung brings to Android. For audio: * Have different volumes for different app * Have one app play its sound on your phone and another app to another device. * Have two apps play at the same time. For UI: * Hide status icons that are just always on and thus meaningless. * Customize the navigation gestures * Put apps into windows, split screen, etc. * DeX for desktop environment when connected to a display -- I can even remote display to my LG TV and the magic remote can be used as a mouse pointer. For Apps: * Linux shell and apps (Termux) -- even X windows. * Firefox, Chome, even Samsung Internet as browsers. Samsung's browser has some unique features for phones and tablets and I end up using it the most. * VLC for playing downloading media easily on my devices * Smooth integration with Windows via Phone Link -- notifications, messages, photos, remote access. * Lots of notification customizations I could go on. There are so many features that I have never used but that's ok -- we all need and want a different set of features. I use many of these all the time. I used to have an iPhone (and my whole family has i-devices) but I think I'd have trouble going back to such a restrictive environment. But I still fully recommend iPhones and iPads for most people.

eichin 2y ago
Err, what does termux have to do with Samsung? (Samsung did beta a "Linux on DeX" briefly, but it vanished years ago...)
3PS 2y ago
I use a Pixel with the Nova Prime launcher (which is a fantastic launcher) and it can do all of these things except the audio stuff. Individual app audio control is definitely one of the features I wish I had the most.
- yjftsjthsd-h 2y ago
  What's the Pixel version of Dex?
  - 112233 2y ago

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

userbinator 2y ago

Ctrl+F "root", no results?

amanzi 2y ago
I haven't needed to root my phone for a few years now. Curious to hear what your reason is and if it's still as easy as it used to be?
- userbinator 2y ago
  Full control and ownership.
- tomatocracy 2y ago
  One thing I still use root for on Android is to enable the Keepass2Android USB Keyboard extension to work - this enables me to plug my phone into a computer which I don't want to put my password database on (eg friends/family machines), and have it emulate a USB keyboard to type my passwords directly from Keepass2Android rather than laboriously copying long randomly generated ones by hand.
- hollow-moe 2y ago
  Permanent remote adb access with Tailscale, you can then do pretty much anything: screen mirroring or external webcam with scrcpy or even a cheap Apple:tm: sidecar using a VNC app and crafted intents.
- iggldiggl 2y ago
  - full local backups and the resultant ability to easily revert any broken app updates, plus being able to restore those backups on a new phone if my phone breaks or I upgrade to a new device - AdAway in host file mode, i.e. without having to mess around with a fake VPN connection - toggling Wifi, mobile data and airplane mode programmatically all require root on current Android versions (turn on airplane mode automatically at night, turn off mobile data in my home Wifi and back on when I leave it, and turn on Wifi automatically when I'm near my home [1], plus restoring the original separate Wifi and mobile data toggles via e.g. https://f-droid.org/packages/be.casperverswijvelt.unifiedinternetqs/ https://f-droid.org/packages/be.casperverswijvelt.unifiedint... needs root, too) - being able to poke around on the whole file system is sometimes useful - Xposed for fixing miscellaneous annoyances that would otherwise require hacking APKs (doable but somewhat annoying) or outright compiling a custom ROM (which would be way too much effort) -- Google blocking installation of old apps without ADB -- Google introducing a bug in Android 13/14 that breaks options/overflow menus in some apps – there's a workaround, but that's of no use for old apps that won't see any new updates any time soon -- Google blocking selecting the top-level directory of my SD card in the file access folder picker, which again breaks one app that unfortunately won't see any new updates but otherwise still works fine and has no suitable direct replacement -- turning off the aspect ratio restrictions for old apps, especially seeing how I ended up with one of those ultra-tall aspect ratio Xperias as my current new phone (it seems that this might be an official feature in Android 15, but I don't want to wait that long, plus who knows how that'll actually turn out plus what other things Google might break in turn in that version) -- working around the developer of the music player I paid for introducing a #@§+$%[# timebomb in his app (disabling it two years after the build date of the respective update), and then eventually selling the app to some shady company that's mostly interested in extracting as much money as possible from the app before the whole thing probably burns (if user reviews are anything to go by, they've stopped honouring the old paid unlocker APK and are instead demanding a subscription at a totally unreasonable two-digit monthly price – for a music player for local files (!)). - still haven't found a good replacement for QuickPic gallery for my use case (folder-based browsing respecting the actual file system hierarchy, i.e. nested folders) – while somebody has been keeping up a modded version of the app based on the last version before it, too, was sold to some dubious company, I've found that file access restrictions introduced in recent Android versions require some additional root-based workaround for keeping the app working as I want it, too. [1] It seems current Android versions (or is that just a Sony-specific feature?) offer an option to automatically turn on Wifi when you're near a saved network location, but you can't configure that one.

ilius2 2y ago

You are envious. You envy. You are not envy.

nfriedly 2y ago

Some of the things that keep me on Android include: * Iceraven (Firefox) - I use a number of extensions that make the internet much more pleasant, including ublock origin, ublacklist, dark reader, violent monkey, keepa, augmented steam, and more * ReVanced - makes YouTube much more enjoyable: automatically skip ads, intros, like and subscribe reminders, and other "fluff", set custom playback speeds and remember them, return the dislike count and background playback, and so much more. * Smart AudioBook Player - I look for books on CD and rip them because SABP is so much better than any other app I've tried. * Headphones jack and especially microSD support (moto g100). I could probably live with Bluetooth headphones, but expandable/removable storage is incredibly useful and Apple seems to be dead set against it.

reacharavindh 2y ago
Honest question as an iPhone user. What do you have currently on your expandable storage? Asking to know what I’m missing as my music lives on Spotify, movies online, photos on iCloud, and documents wherever they are shared with users or on iCloud Drive. So, what could I use the local storage for? And how fast is it expandable storage compared to onboard flash?
- throwaway22032 2y ago
  Photos and videos for me. I don't use cloud storage - when I started to use computers, not that lont ago, software which uploaded all of my photos to a remote server would have been considered malware/spyware.
- nicolaslem 2y ago
  Not on your hardware, not your data. I understand most people may not care about it but tech companies have shown over and over again that they do not mind cutting access to the data they host, even to paying customers.
- bsjaux628 2y ago
  My phone doesn't have an SD slot but following the sentiment of keeping the important things local: I was back home for a month in a country with poor connectivity, so I "downloaded" some podcast on Spotify. After 14 days the app stopped working and asked me to log in through their website to change my location. Luckily I have 30gb of music on every phone that I have ever had so I didn't miss it, but still was very pissed off by it

dawkins 2y ago

The feature I miss the most is marking numbers as spam

ikhare 2y ago
I switched back to Pixel after two years of using an iPhone recently. It’s got a lot better phone and text spam detection. I get 5-10 spam calls and texts a day. The iPhone got unusable.

realusername 2y ago

The #1 feature for me I can't do without is the bubble overlay. I'm learning a language and having a dictionary accessible with one tap anywhere is amazing. If you are learning a language, Android is a must have just for that alone.

microflash 2y ago

The fact that when I tap the WiFi and Bluetooth shortcuts in the notification panel to switch them off and they actually switch off is enough to keep me on Android. Also, sideloading and file system access. With Syncthing, I can sync local folders between my Mac, Windows PC and phone in one go.

neurostimulant 2y ago
> The fact that when I tap the WiFi and Bluetooth shortcuts in the notification panel to switch them off and they actually switch off is enough to keep me on Android. Uhm, I got a bad news for you: https://9to5google.com/2024/04/04/android-bluetooth-automatic-turn-on/ https://9to5google.com/2024/04/04/android-bluetooth-automati...
- microflash 2y ago
  Yup. I'll have to figure out suitable ADB incantation when that "feature" comes out in Android 15 (of there's no explicit setting to turn this behaviour off in the UI)
gcbirzan 2y ago
I believe this hasn't been the case since they revamped the notification tiles in android 12. It for sure doesn't work like that for me on 14 on a pixel.
- iggldiggl 2y ago
  As for actually turning the Wifi on or off, there's an additional option somewhere in the settings (which, if I remember correctly, goes quite a bit back further than just Android 12 – I think it was that way already back in Marshmallow/6) whether you want to leave background location scanning enabled or truly turn it off. As for the revamped notification tiles which mashed Wifi and mobile data together into one tile – this being Android, at least you can bring back the old behaviour via e.g. https://f-droid.org/packages/be.casperverswijvelt.unifiedinternetqs/ https://f-droid.org/packages/be.casperverswijvelt.unifiedint...

captainmuon 2y ago

After recently switching to an iPhone, the thing I miss most is a consistent back button. Second would be a better keyboard, but you can install Gboard and almost get there.

thebruce87m 2y ago
One of the reasons I left android was the inconsistency of the back button. Sometimes it would even take you out of the app you were in to the previous app. If you were in the browser it would never do that though. Maybe they made it more consistent? (Almost?) Every app in iOS has the “swipe from left” to go back.
- kaanyalova 2y ago
  There is a new Android feature trying to fix that "predictive back animations", It shows you an animation when you are exiting the app using the back button/gesture.
- needlesslygrim 2y ago
  I'm pretty sure that's the intended behaviour, and I personally quite like it, but I'm used to Android so shrug: https://developer.android.com/guide/navigation/principles https://developer.android.com/guide/navigation/principles
- gcbirzan 2y ago
  There are a few apps (ironically, YouTube is one) that don't behave correctly, but the back button is supposed to take you to the previous screen. So if you opened that link from another app, it should take you there.

zer0zzz 2y ago

I use Windows and Android all the time and I always come back to the iPhone because it’s just a way better hardware value and has way better integration to a desktop system (the mac) than any other desktop/phone combo I know of. Android+ChromeOS could come close but the hardware is pretty inferior. Considering the grips mentioned by the author, it’s easy to get all the features I want by using iCloud. Personally I am always going to pay for cloud storage and I pay for a primary and a backup. iCloud is my primary, and I keep backup copies of my photos and files from iCloud on google drive and Dropbox as well. I used to prefer the browsing experience on Android until I realized safari on iPhone just isn’t always the smartest about figuring out the page zoom level. Brave sometimes gets it right more often, but you can always manually change the zoom. With most pages where I think WebKit is terrible and unusable I lately have figured out that changing the page zoom makes things work better. If I could make iOS do more I’d definitely want some real browser choice and maybe virtualization on the nicer iPads too. That’d go a long way to making iOS devices better at keeping me away from the laptop.

golf_mike 2y ago

No customizable launcher is is a big no no for me. Longtime Niagara launcher user,and anything else then a swipe-from-the-side accessible alphabetical, magnifying app list just feels archaic and convoluted. And also two generations into the z-flip (the smaller samsung foldable) and the ergonomics of slab phones just don`t do it for me anymore. But apparently thats a controversial one.

pockmockchock 2y ago

we need FOSS platforms like Satslink, I'm so done with phones :(

coretx 2y ago
Do what the name implies but does not do. Integrate a vertically polarized LORA antenna, ( and radio ) That would allow you to actually have satellite connectivity. Also: ditch the triple AAA for a single 18650.

28304283409234 2y ago

Switched back to android after 3 years of iphone. User hostility drove me. Like the ability to quickly turn off wifi and have it stay off until I decide otherwise. Iphone does not have a simple on/off switch. Baffling.

rasse 2y ago

Can iPhone do seperate volume levels for alarms and phone ringer?

big_paps 2y ago

I don’t care much about phones, but one thing which is definitely better on android is this family-link (is it called like that) integration. On iOS family-link doesnt work right and the integrated version sucks also.

yogorenapan 2y ago

The only thing keeping me on an iPhone is that mine hasn’t broken yet and I dislike waste. I got my current phone from a relative that was going to throw it away. Not being able to side load apps & use for development means I pretty much never touch it except for offline maps. It doesn’t even have a SIM card in it

bjoli 2y ago

Some things I miss on android: a fast SMB or sftp app. I have a gigabit network. 7mb/a is not acceptable. My phone can do at least 500mbit when speed testing over WiFi.

hulitu 2y ago

> is the ability to turn the phone into a computer. Android at least, can only run one app at a time.

rstuart4133 2y ago
Android can run at least two apps at the same time: https://support.google.com/pixelphone/answer/7444033?hl=en https://support.google.com/pixelphone/answer/7444033?hl=en

rldjbpin 2y ago

recently switched to iphone and some crucial things are missing or not in a good place, which has soured the otherwise niceties: - no way to record phone calls: missing the ability to relisten to the calls after the fact has costed me a lot of problems. - keyboard woes: some of it can be down to muscle memory but the default keyboard felt very unresponsive at first and is still a struggle at times. it is broken in Discord app for some reason (might be down to that app itself) - ALARMS!: how can someone build an alarm app that randomly goes SILENT ON SNOOZE?! maybe it is the world nudging me towards fixing my sleep cycle, but this is ridiculous. - backups: i had to make a huge compromise by forgoing with syncthing because there is no free and open-source way around it. even syncing to cloud services with encryption has little to no options. (please send help if you know something that works) - personalization sucks even today: imagine using a music creation app to create ringtones or notification tones. even then they don't work consistently across apps! besides this, i see some progress thanks to EU and other international regulations. but i doubt that it will impact these silly design choices which don't have any anti-competitive stuff around it.