iPhone or some Android

pibbuR

Feeling ... lonely?
Joined
November 11, 2019
Messages
2,094
Location
beRgen@noRway
I need to get me a new phone. My current one (a Samsung thingy) has several troubles. I'm considering getting an iPhone. They're hideously expensive, especially the ones with the storage I need (at least 256Gb) due to storing my entire music collection on the device. Samsungs (and some other Androids) are cheaper since they support microSD cards. But there is one thing I've read that I wonder if it's worth considering.

This: "Apple’s Latest iOS Update Includes App Tracking Shield To Protect iPhone, iPad Users" (https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2...tracking-shield-to-protect-iphone-ipad-users/). Apparently tracking (by apps?) from sites like FB is by default turned off, in stead of you having to adjust settings to block it, which may be cumbersome. Facebook is pissed, which to me seems like a good thing.

But the question is: Is this important?

I've also heard that apps from apples app store are less likely to contain malware. Don't know if it's true.

I don't doubt that Apple does its own tracking, but there is the question: Who is the baddest guy when it comes to privacy: Google or Apple?

These are the thing I'm curious about right now. There are of course also thechnical aspects, but I'll come back to those if I need your advice.

pibbuR who wonders.

PS: There are also other reasons for wanting an iOs device. There are apps the I would like to use, only available on iOs, especially some music apps by Jordan Rudess of Dream Theater fame. I haven't found anything comparable on Android. (Maybe there are, but I haven't been able to find them). DS.

PPS. Regarding my music. Spotify is NOT an option, there are too many things I listen to that are not available there, and I don't want two sources of music. DS.

PPPS. One thing reagarding price. My pusher (subscription provider) has this nice almost-new offer, selling refurbished second-hand phones with 2 years warranty. If I can find one here, I'll save thousens of NOK's. Probably won't get 5G, but the way I use the phone, 4G is more tha good enough. DS.
 
Joined
Nov 11, 2019
Messages
2,094
Location
beRgen@noRway
Yeah, iPhones are hideously expensive. I made the jump to iOS after being fed up with my last android phone. It was a Google Nexus. And after plenty of instability (also experienced with my previous phone, a Samsung Galaxy S1) I decided to jump to an iPhone 6s. And was very happy all around, except for one thing. The awful battery.

But other than that, I no longer experienced the issues I had on Android. Crashes and freezes. Even during simple phone calls. Then the proximity sensor, that shuts off the screen, started messing around where I would constantly touch the screen with my ear. I'm not sure why androids, in my experience, are always less stable. I did have a theory that it could be due to the fact that almost everything on an Android runs on a VM with a garbage collector, so most things are not deterministically run. Whereas on an iPhone almost everything is native and resource management is deterministic. I could be wrong, and it might be something else.

A caveat to all this, is that I used my android (as I do my iphone) in as close to factory settings without installing shit upon shit on it. So the apps (of which I have very few compared to others) are likely not the cause of these issues on Android.
 
Joined
Jul 31, 2007
Messages
6,247
...
A caveat to all this, is that I used my android (as I do my iphone) in as close to factory settings without installing shit upon shit on it. So the apps (of which I have very few compared to others) are likely not the cause of these issues on Android.

When I first got a smartphone, I donwloaded a lot of apps, including games. Turned out I didn't play any of them except mah jongg and sudoku, and rarely (never) used most of the apps. Now I only download apps I need and actually will use.

pibbuR who BTW doesn't use Tapatalk.
 
Joined
Nov 11, 2019
Messages
2,094
Location
beRgen@noRway
One more question: My Samsung has the ##¤@@ Bixby "helper" in addition to the ##¤@@ Google Assistant. I've disabled as much as I can, still they pop up occasionally just to pester me. How is Siri?

pibbuR who fortunately never has seen Cortana.

PS. Once again I'm reminded of something I've told you about earlier. When my oldest for the first time sa the "nice" little doggie in the Window Explorer search interface, her immediate reaction was: "THAT ONE HAS TO GO". The I knew she was my daughter. DS

PPS. Actually, I didn't have any doubts as soon as I got the eye colour thingy correct. DS.
 
Joined
Nov 11, 2019
Messages
2,094
Location
beRgen@noRway
I have for years had two phones - work & personal. So I tend to always have an iPhone and Android (right now it is iPhone 12 Pro Max and Google Pixel 4a). For the longest time I used the SD card to load up music, etc. Not so much anymore - even small publishers like Bandcamp allow you to stream purchases, so the amount of 'digital but not online' content I have shrinks each year.

One option I have used on iOS is 'iTunes Match' - basically it allows you to have your music library available on any of your devices (for an annual fee, of course). Like so many other things, this minimized my need for massive storage.

Both Android and iOS devices are great - personally I find that the work on privacy and data protection is actually having an impact on how often I find myself looking at ads that show that Google or Facebook have ignored my settings and preferences and sold my data anyway ... which is why they are mad about it!
 
Joined
Oct 18, 2006
Messages
14,930
One more question: My Samsung has the ##¤@@ Bixby "helper" in addition to the ##¤@@ Google Assistant. I've disabled as much as I can, still they pop up occasionally just to pester me. How is Siri?

Siri is better than Cortana, much better than Bixby, and IMO better than Amazon's Alexa (which we honestly use more than anything else) ... but not as good as Google's Assistant.
 
Joined
Oct 18, 2006
Messages
14,930
I have had the flagship devices of both at different times.

If you go for the flagship apple or Samsung they're both almost the same price usually and similar quality.

If you go for non flagship that's where you save money but when I did that I then bought a flagship one a year later as it wasn't so good.

:)

I think it's really a matter of preference. If you buy a Samsung s21+ or the apple Pro max 13 then you end up with really good phones.

My two cents.
 
Joined
Nov 13, 2006
Messages
9,177
Location
Manchester, United Kingdom
Siri is better than Cortana, much better than Bixby, and IMO better than Amazon's Alexa (which we honestly use more than anything else) … but not as good as Google's Assistant.

Can you avoid using and not see Siri entirely?

pibbuR who liked Siri Endresen (his favourite teacher at high school). Other Siri's - not so much.

PS. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luddite DS.
 
Joined
Nov 11, 2019
Messages
2,094
Location
beRgen@noRway
I have had the flagship devices of both at different times.

I think it's really a matter of preference. If you buy a Samsung s21+ or the apple Pro max 13 then you end up with really good phones.

Overall, yeah, it might be. Especially at the high-end. But another thing to consider is that one company has it's whole business model around the idea of monetizing all your data. While the other is not perfect at that, especially with the recent iPhone scandal around running scanning your device for abusive content, I'd still rather put my eggs into the basket that's not directly motivated to milk me for all my data.
 
Joined
Jul 31, 2007
Messages
6,247
I recently replaced my huge Nexus 6p, which died due to old age, with a Pixel 4a. Very happy with it. Good price/value ratio (got it for ~300 Euro, IIRC). Fairly lightweight, too. I also got a lovely, grippy case for it without screen protector. All in all, just right for me.

Next time I'll probably replace it sooner, maybe when the security updates are discontinued in ~3 years, with the next current mid-range vanilla Android offering.

Got an iPhone X at work that I only use as a normal phone. And even though I can see the Apple appeal, its eco system and price policy just aren't for me.
 
Joined
Aug 30, 2006
Messages
3,486
I have had the flagship devices of both at different times.

If you go for the flagship apple or Samsung they're both almost the same price usually and similar quality.

If you go for non flagship that's where you save money but when I did that I then bought a flagship one a year later as it wasn't so good.

:)

I think it's really a matter of preference. If you buy a Samsung s21+ or the apple Pro max 13 then you end up with really good phones.

My two cents.

I usually don't go for top models. The second best in general offer better value for the money, methinks. (But I will need a 256 Gb - I still have all my music bought and stored)

I will probably go for this phone if i choose iPhone: iPhone 11 Pro 256 GB which I can get at a reasonable price from my pusher's almost-new campaign. Or I may wait a bit - probably iPhone 12 will start to appear soon now that number 13 has come.

pibbuR who no doubt, given his current mental state, will need a lot of time to make a (n uncertain) decision.
 
Joined
Nov 11, 2019
Messages
2,094
Location
beRgen@noRway
I'm not keen on buying Samsung ever again, they're bloated with Samsung apps. But they're good quality - at least in the upper range, and the displays they make are usually very good. For a low-range model, it's best to read enough reviews before buying. And if that's a Samsung, it's best to take the one with as much storage memory as possible.

Last time I bought a Google Pixel 2, very happy about that. But they're sealed so you can't replace the battery on your own. Not that it matter much since smartphones get obsolete in a few years, before the battery needs replacing. I don't know if the latest Pixel devices are good, I believe the last but one (5?) is.

About the SD card though, you have to check first. Android changed a lot in security policy and many apps don't store on external devices, which makes an SD card almost useless. Samsung used to tweak Android enough to allow it more easily in the past, but I have no idea if that's still the case.

EDIT: iPhones… it's a matter of taste. Their system is too simplistic and not open enough for me, and expensive as you said. I have no idea about tracking and the behaviour of apps on that.
 
Joined
Aug 29, 2020
Messages
10,155
Location
Good old Europe
...
About the SD card though, you have to check first. Android changed a lot in security policy and many apps don't store on external devices, which makes an SD card almost useless. Samsung used to tweak Android enough to allow it more easily in the past, but I have no idea if that's still the case.

So far, I've not had any probelms using the SD card on my current Samsung (it has the latest Android version AFAIK). But thanks for the tip, I will verify that it works if I go for a phone supposed to support an SD.
 
Joined
Nov 11, 2019
Messages
2,094
Location
beRgen@noRway
So far, I've not had any probelms using the SD card on my current Samsung (it has the latest Android version AFAIK). But thanks for the tip, I will verify that it works if I go for a phone supposed to support an SD.

Perhaps they continue to make it so. If you take another Android brand, it's best to ask or check first. It will mainly depend on the app, IIRC it requires extra programming to allow the user to choose whether it's internal memory or something else.
 
Joined
Aug 29, 2020
Messages
10,155
Location
Good old Europe
Can you avoid using and not see Siri entirely?

Absolutely - I have things set up so that I have to unlock my phone and push a button to bring up Siri. Never unintentional.
 
Joined
Oct 18, 2006
Messages
14,930
I use a Pixel 4A 5G, with GrapheneOS installed. It's a hardened and privacy-focused version of android. It's very stripped down, and allows you to set things up as you wish, instead of being loaded with intrusive commercial bloatware. By default, applications are sandboxed and can't access your contacts and such if they tried.

For further privacy it makes use of secure profiles, which are easy to switch between, and which are isolated from each other. I use a separate profile for apps that are trashy but occasionally useful, like one I have for train times.

I've had no trouble with it at all.
 
Joined
Nov 8, 2014
Messages
12,085
I use a Pixel 4A 5G, with GrapheneOS installed. It's a hardened and privacy-focused version of android. It's very stripped down, and allows you to set things up as you wish, instead of being loaded with intrusive commercial bloatware. By default, applications are sandboxed and can't access your contacts and such if they tried.

For further privacy it makes use of secure profiles, which are easy to switch between, and which are isolated from each other. I use a separate profile for apps that are trashy but occasionally useful, like one I have for train times.

I've had no trouble with it at all.

A lot of work setting it up that way? I assume it must be, since it's a Google phone???

pibbuR who is not sure if he want to spend much time finding out how to do things like that and implementing it.

PS. Never heard about that phone. Major branches in Norway are Apple, Samsung, Sony, Oneplus and Nokia. also Xiaomi (not sure I want a chinese phone). But I see that the Google phone is available from some vendors. DS.
 
Joined
Nov 11, 2019
Messages
2,094
Location
beRgen@noRway
Go to a store. Any.
See which phone is the cheapest one.
Buy.

You have a PC. I know you do.
Which phone you buy doesn't matter, it's all the same overrated and overexpensive bs with prices higher than a decent PC.

The question remains what to do with the money you didn't waste on a phone because you bought the cheapest one.
Invest into a microscope.

You are at age when a phone should not be fragile so much it reacts to a wrong stare and breaks on a whim.
Buy CAT.
It's not the cheapest offer, but would probably survive a nuclear war.
 
Joined
Apr 12, 2009
Messages
23,459
Not a lot of work. The Pixel phones are the favourites for open-source devs, because they implement pure Android, are easy to unlock, and have excellent, open security hardware. There's a procedure to install Graphene, but not very onerous, IMO. Then it's just a question of installing the stores and apps you want.

But, it's clearly not as straightforward as something out-of-the-box configured for us by The Combine. For me it's worth it, because clean Android minus the Google tentacles is very pleasant - a bit like a nice fresh Linux installation. But there's nothing really painfully techie in normal use. For maximum convenience, though, obviously not the first choice.
 
Joined
Nov 8, 2014
Messages
12,085
Not a lot of work. The Pixel phones are the favourites for open-source devs, because they implement pure Android, are easy to unlock, and have excellent, open security hardware. There's a procedure to install Graphene, but not very onerous, IMO. Then it's just a question of installing the stores and apps you want.

But, it's clearly not as straightforward as something out-of-the-box configured for us by The Combine. For me it's worth it, because clean Android minus the Google tentacles is very pleasant - a bit like a nice fresh Linux installation. But there's nothing really painfully techie in normal use. For maximum convenience, though, obviously not the first choice.
I will of course consider that option.

One phone I really would like to get is the Fairphone. This one is, unlike most phones, constructed so you can replace almost everything in it. I see that its now available in Norway. My youngest daughter has one. I'll take a closer look at that one, now that it's available in shops in Norway.

pibbuR
 
Joined
Nov 11, 2019
Messages
2,094
Location
beRgen@noRway
Back
Top Bottom