Okay, this is not an iPhone vs Android Phone debate. I respect your right to choose whichever platform that you want.
I mean, iPhone seems so antithetical with the idea of freedom. You have to connect it to a server to even use it, all apps have to go through a centralized server, no option to install whatever apps you want, which means, you literally cannot have any third-party apps without an online account.
Most of my fellow americans seems to love the idea of freedom so much, yet just buy into a closed ecosystem with no freedom? 🤔
Like almost 60% of Americans use iPhone, kinda weird to preach freedom when you cant even have an app without a corporation’s approval. If it were any other country, I wouldn’t find it weird, but for a country that’s obsessed with the idea of freedom (so much so that they disobeyed mask mandates), it’s really weird to be using a device with zero freedom.
• American company
• Secure
• Little to no bloatware
• Isn’t a google product
• Isn’t a google product
• Isn’t a google product
• same version of the OS in all devices
• customer support that actually answers the phone within a few rings and supports your device over the phone.
• isn’t a google product.That’s a few off the top of my head.
It’s status. Apple is regarded as more expensive and high quality.
Except the most expensive phones on the market are android devices.
It’s actually incredibly difficult to tell if someone has the latest iPhone or one that is five years old.
Exactly.
The short answer is capitalism. Wasting money is a status symbol.
- iphones are the first recognized “smartphone”.
- apple is an american company.
- apple has a massive fanbase that is completely dedicated to apple and all their products.
i’m not sure what the global usage of apple products is, but i think here it’s probably a lot higher than in other places. throw in the fact that there’s only one device capable of (legally) running apple’s mobile software, and there you have it.
also, their advertising didn’t hurt either. no one on the android side had the kind of advertising they did until maybe 6 or 7 years later and by that time you were probably already well established in the iphone ecosystem.
They used to innovate, no doubt. But their products provide absolutely terrible value now. Great resale, sure. But you’re overpaying 20% for the hardware you’re getting which is not the case on the Android side. The only thing iPhone universally does better is 1) video and 2) ecosystem (if all your products are Apple). The rest is a tomaeto vs tomahto situation.
Not relevant to most basic users but I could not use a phone where I did not have the freedom to sideload apps, especially if I’m overpaying for the hardware.
The answer is marketing by Apple and mobile carriers, which lean on peer pressure via iMessage. Plus the iPhone built on the success of the iPod, which led the market for mp3 players.
Mostly because of bullying. Android users are poor shamed.
Surely that’s not a uniquely American phenomenon.
Freedom is not one thing. The choice between iOS and Android is not a choice between zero freedom and unlimited freedom. You’re simply choosing which freedoms you want to prioritize.
I’m planning to switch to an Android device running an alternative OS with my next purchase after using iPhone exclusively since the 3g. That’s driven by a change in priorities: I want the freedom that comes from using a phone that isn’t a surveillance and advertising vehicle. For years now though, I’ve been enjoying the freedom of knowing my phone will continue to receive updates for a minimum of 5 years after I buy it new while some of my Android friends will be lucky if they get two.
Your definition of freedom is an interesting one
Yep! Like I said, freedom is more than one thing. The way this questions is framed tries to put the blinders on and obscure that fact, creating a false equivalency between the freedom to sideload software and some abstract notion of “absolute freedom” which doesn’t actually exist. We’re rarely choosing between absolute freedom and zero freedom, certainly not in this case.
The iPhone came out before Android, so Apple had first mover advantage it could solidify to a sticky user base.
Also, a “free” Android experience only occurs when you’ve got full control of everything. Android was a lot more willing to give up control to third parties, including carriers. With Apple, you’re only giving control to one company.
I think you overestimate the value of those first two years.
What else justifies 60% market penetration?
I mean apple has spent at least the last decade using iMessage as a way to bring people into the platform and keep them there. Ie the articles from a few years back about using it to manipulate teenager behavior a la Instagram, or the epic games discovery documents which indicated this was a deliberate and cruel strategy from apple to lock ignorant people into their platform to avoid losing their social network.
Tldr: they deliberately try to make people lose friends if they leave the platform. You might say “shit friends” and I’d agree, but this is the FUD that apple spreads.
So they used the first two years to build a consumer user base in the way that RIM couldn’t and then was able to defend its market share.
The iMessage strategy couldn’t work if people didn’t buy in.
when you cant even have an app without a corporation’s approval
Apple has successfully positioned themselves as “the good guy”.
- Apple broke the monopoly of phone provider locks, and still prohibits phone provider bloatware.
- Apple seems like the only provider with any care for privacy, and many of their features and policies are privacy focussed
- Apple puts more effort than most software providers into usability
- you might think Apples constraints on the App Store blocks legitimate opensource and personal projects, but it mostly blocks commercial exploitation. It blocks behaviors that abuse customers or their privacy, that will give users a bad experience. I’ve read the requirement for a fee with a real credit card is actually the most effective strategy against malware
- every major app is available in the App Store
- its just a phone. My phone needs to just work, unlike my computer which needs to do whatever I want it to.
So maybe the root cause is lack of consumer protection in the US, but my experience with iPhone is much better than with Android phones. I’m not blind to corporate shenanigans but I do feel better protected in the Apple ecosystem. I do have freedom to choose almost any legitimate app, and I’m not particularly interested n futzing around with my phone anyway
Americans don’t really value freedom. Not really. Americans pretend they like freedom, but they will give up all their freedoms for the slightest bit of convenience, and because social media told them so.
Am I talking about consumer electronics, or politics? Impossible to say.
I understand the sentiment you are going for, but I think it is a little cheap regarding the opinion of 300 million+ people.
In my horribly narrow opinion, the American freedom is simply the freedom to choose. Nothing more, nothing less. The freedom to own a tiger, buy a tank or be “Florida man” for a day.
It is not “free” from manipulation and sometimes it really feels like a 5 year old choosing to do the opposite of the right thing just “because”.
Sidenote: I ABSOLUTELY do not think it is the best way to build a nurturing society, but I get why it has such a passionate supporter base.
It was a nurturing society when most were in communities that interacted with each other. We have lost that for many reasons
Tbh. It’s the same in the UK. Our governments, of both sides, are killing any perception of privacy we had and no-one is doing/saying anything.
Having said that people are mostly dealing with the terrorist inspired killings here that the are allied to the immigration issue.
The people have had enough, the governments of the last twenty years have been obvious or more likely not looking (at the disquiet).
There isn’t enough room to think of the loss of privacy/security yet. We are in a hell of a mess.
I have no need for third party apps.
For anything beyond texting or scrolling, I have a desktop.
Defying mask mandates wasn’t due to a ‘love for freedom’ but due to delusions and selfishness.
I can only speak for myself and my kids. I have an iPhone because my work gave me one for free. They only support iPhone for security reasons. Keeping Android devices up to date across a large fleet is challenging leaving security gaps. For my kids they wanted my old iPhones because it’s what all their friends have.
Until there is a better alternative to the new evil that is google/alphabet, apple is a lesser evil.
Eh you can achieve similar or greater privacy on a Android phone simply because it’s not locked down in the way an iPhone is.
Tbh androids privacy is shit. I’d rather deal with Apple than Google both on hardware and privacy any day. The only way I’d switch is to something like Graphene
Because my belief in political freedom has nothing to do with my phone choice and it would be odd to conflate the two.
When I had an android I had to spend a lot more time making sure apps would work with my phone and that my phone would be “secure” whereas I have less concerns of that with apple.
Simply put with apple I dont have to do as much work to make sure things work.
political freedom has nothing to do with my phone choice
Lol… Mass data collection entered the chat
which happens more overtly on android
On Android to have an option to deny the parasite access 🐸
That really depends on many factors starting with who made your phone. The cheap $20 Huawei android phone I got as my first android because my previous phone died and I was broke was absolutely dumping everything put through it to someone in the cloud. That is why it only made phone calls.
So you really think the world’s largest ad company makes a phone where you can just “deny” access easily?
If you use Google services, which you do with android (unless you’re a hardcore degoogler) they’ll know everything about you.
unless you’re a hardcore degoogler
Bro installing a ROM does not require a CS degree… It requires a USB cable and ability to read instructions which I know is hard for USian pedon but it ain’t “hardcore” lol
WTF is up with this limp dick attitude in here
I swear people hate the idea of freedom
Can you walk through your mom in installing a rom on a random Android when she lives 1000km away?
If not, it’s not easy enough.
Well then keep uploading your shit into tim apples cloud jfc
I hope you got nothing to hide dear 🤡
Bootlickers got nothing to hide… Also Android is the same thing unless degoogled.
IMO Android is worse unless you really tinker with it. Most people don’t even know how to side load an app, much less root and degoogle. Many people don’t know to buy carrier unlocked phones or can’t afford to. The last android I used had several carrier apps forced onto it, unable to be removed, including apps I refuse to use like Facebook, which I’m sure the carrier got a kickback to force on us. Then the carrier decided no more updates despite the manufacturer releasing more major updates.
Most people just don’t know or care enough to do what should be done with an android phone. They just want a device to call and text on that can also crush candy or whatever other distraction they prefer.
A man who doesn’t tend to his own business will have another man do it for him
Most people just don’t know or care enough to do what should be done with a [wife]. They just want a [wife to cook and clean] that can also [fuck on command] or whatever other distraction they prefer
