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That might have been true once, but I don't think that's really true any more. Most users are not awed by their iPhone experience as they were ten years ago. Ev

by jb1991 2y ago

That might have been true once, but I don't think that's really true any more. Most users are not awed by their iPhone experience as they were ten years ago. Everyone realizes that iOS and Android are essentially identical for most practical purposes and usability, and most are not choosing the platform for that reason any more. I also think plenty of people in-house at Apple are well-aware of these issues. Today, it is more about maintaining your suite of apps, the Cloud with all your data, the little blue bubbles in your group chats, and a host of other issues that are more a priority for choosing one platform over another, for most people. If I were to switch to Android now, it would be a huge PIA considering the 10+ years of platform integration and thousands of dollars of app purchases, iCloud, etc, that has made up a significant part of my digital life. I'm sure it would be similar for people going in reverse. Apple knows this, hence why services have become an essential part of their business.

brookst 2y ago
It’s really the cross-device stuff that keeps me in Apple’s ecosystem. Taking phone calls on my mac, having recent browser tabs from all devices on every device, etc. of course each individual thing can be done on windows / android / linux, but the out-of-the-box, no-config-required experience is really very good. Even if it is frequently and frustratingly not perfect.
- jmholla 2y ago
  Android has a lot of those features through KDE Connect now.
- zelphirkalt 2y ago
  Calls on computer? Like Signal allows? Tabs from other device? Like Firefox offers? The thing is, it is very easy in comparison to offer this cross device functionality, if you lock in your users and can simply make lots of assumptions about what software the user will be using. How much of that cross platform stuff works for non-standard browser or non-standard messenger?
  - brookst 2y ago
    Well the phone calls work on every device. I suppose there’s a case that phone numbers are non-standard, but I think it takes motivated reasoning to get there. And the cross-device stuff is based on cloudkit, so it’s easy for third parties to adopt and get those benefits using apple id rather than additional signins. Of course that has some lock in, which I recognize is so offensive to some people that the upsides aren’t worth it.
jwells89 2y ago
The thing that keeps me on iOS is that Android just doesn’t feel right, and none of the tweaks that can be applied (launchers, etc) can fix that. Animations, interactions, etc just feel… off somehow, like I’m using an early alpha build of software that has placeholders strewn about. It’s not a “it’s not iOS” thing, either. There are certain desktop Linux setups for example that don’t bother me nearly as much. It’s just Android that feels “wrong”. If only the entire front end of Android were interchangeable like Linux DEs are.
- airstrike 2y ago
  I think it's just the lack of consistency in app designs
- dylan604 2y ago
  I'm in the same mind. As much improvement as Linux GUIs have made over the years, there's always just been that last bit of polish they are missing that makes them feel just a bit klunky in comparison to an Apple OS. Does it affect performance, no, but it just has that OSS feel to it. I totally understand the $$$ differences involved, and modern *nix UIs have come a long way, but it's like that last mile problem they just can't quite get there. It does not make it unusable, it's just the thing that always makes it noticeably different.
  - ikrenji 2y ago
    considering the outright insane hiring practices of canonical im not surprised...
- diggan 2y ago
  > Animations, interactions, etc just feel… off somehow, like I’m using an early alpha build of software that has placeholders strewn about. It's funny that I'm the complete opposite. I was fine with Android, switched to iPhone (as mentioned upthread) and everything feels off, like no one cared about the UI and UX, and bugs galore everywhere. If someone handed me my iPhone 12 Mini today I'd say they're running a beta version of iOS on it. Maybe it's just a "get used to" thing as we're surely not the only ones having very opposite feelings about this. I've now had my iPhone for 4 years it seems, but I still feel like the OS is beta-level quality, should have gotten used to it by now...

by jb1991 2y ago

brookst 2y ago

It’s really the cross-device stuff that keeps me in Apple’s ecosystem. Taking phone calls on my mac, having recent browser tabs from all devices on every device, etc. of course each individual thing can be done on windows / android / linux, but the out-of-the-box, no-config-required experience is really very good. Even if it is frequently and frustratingly not perfect.

jmholla 2y ago
Android has a lot of those features through KDE Connect now.
zelphirkalt 2y ago
Calls on computer? Like Signal allows? Tabs from other device? Like Firefox offers? The thing is, it is very easy in comparison to offer this cross device functionality, if you lock in your users and can simply make lots of assumptions about what software the user will be using. How much of that cross platform stuff works for non-standard browser or non-standard messenger?
- brookst 2y ago
  Well the phone calls work on every device. I suppose there’s a case that phone numbers are non-standard, but I think it takes motivated reasoning to get there. And the cross-device stuff is based on cloudkit, so it’s easy for third parties to adopt and get those benefits using apple id rather than additional signins. Of course that has some lock in, which I recognize is so offensive to some people that the upsides aren’t worth it.

jwells89 2y ago

The thing that keeps me on iOS is that Android just doesn’t feel right, and none of the tweaks that can be applied (launchers, etc) can fix that. Animations, interactions, etc just feel… off somehow, like I’m using an early alpha build of software that has placeholders strewn about. It’s not a “it’s not iOS” thing, either. There are certain desktop Linux setups for example that don’t bother me nearly as much. It’s just Android that feels “wrong”. If only the entire front end of Android were interchangeable like Linux DEs are.

airstrike 2y ago
I think it's just the lack of consistency in app designs
dylan604 2y ago
I'm in the same mind. As much improvement as Linux GUIs have made over the years, there's always just been that last bit of polish they are missing that makes them feel just a bit klunky in comparison to an Apple OS. Does it affect performance, no, but it just has that OSS feel to it. I totally understand the $$$ differences involved, and modern *nix UIs have come a long way, but it's like that last mile problem they just can't quite get there. It does not make it unusable, it's just the thing that always makes it noticeably different.
- ikrenji 2y ago
  considering the outright insane hiring practices of canonical im not surprised...
diggan 2y ago
> Animations, interactions, etc just feel… off somehow, like I’m using an early alpha build of software that has placeholders strewn about. It's funny that I'm the complete opposite. I was fine with Android, switched to iPhone (as mentioned upthread) and everything feels off, like no one cared about the UI and UX, and bugs galore everywhere. If someone handed me my iPhone 12 Mini today I'd say they're running a beta version of iOS on it. Maybe it's just a "get used to" thing as we're surely not the only ones having very opposite feelings about this. I've now had my iPhone for 4 years it seems, but I still feel like the OS is beta-level quality, should have gotten used to it by now...