I switched from iPhone to the Pixel 2: One-week report • Hacker News Board

Re: I switched from iPhone to the Pixel 2: One-week report

#261

Post by anthonybsd » Tue, May 01, 2018, 1:31 PM UTC

Saaster wrote: post #168

I wish I could switch to the iPhone, and I've tried several times. The hardware is excellent. But these are my deal-breakers that keep me on Android (I've only ever had Google Nexus / Pixel phones): - Lastpass or any other password manager on iPhone is a joke, requiring multiple convoluted steps and using the "share" menu in the browser because of the Apple lock-down. Lastpass on Android? Click the password field in…

>Lastpass or any other password manager on iPhone is a joke,

It's pretty seamless for me with 1Password. Maybe it's an issue of Lastpass itself?

Re: I switched from iPhone to the Pixel 2: One-week report

#262

Post by boudin » Tue, May 01, 2018, 1:32 PM UTC

iaml wrote: post #227

boudin wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't see how Apple is better with privacy. I get it's a big part of their marketing, but it's.... marketing. Phone still comes with siri, with apps you can't remove, with location tracking. Apple cloud is, as all clouds, you giving away your data to Apple, so you end up having to trust them blindly. I know it's not part of their business model so far, but they still collect and own a lot of your data. As long as a…

What? You can completely disable siri, remove almost all apps (excluding phone, clock and stuff like that) and completely disable location tracking. Also, you can use it without logging into icloud, or disable sync.

You can do exactly the same on an android phone packed with google apps (I'm not sure if you can pass the login process without a google account though), but by default it's not like this. In both situation, the apps aren't really removed if I'm not mistaken.

If I'm also not mistaken, you have the obligation to use the apple store to install app, so the app you are using are tracked. Even installing an app can give some very personal information (depending on the app of course).

Re: I switched from iPhone to the Pixel 2: One-week report

#263

Post by wilsonnb » Tue, May 01, 2018, 1:33 PM UTC

tjoff wrote: post #192

matwood wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Siri is definitely Apples biggest weakness, but the headphone jack? The phone comes with a little adapter. If you're a person who has tons of nice headphones laying around, but a couple more adapters and call it a day. Is it a bit of inconvenience at first? Sure, but don't act like there is no way to plug in headphones or that it's the end of the world. And Duo? I'm a tech person and I can't keep all of the Google co…

Royally disagree with the headphone jack. That is a huge issue that I don't ever see an end to. You never know when you need a headphone jack and there is no realistic way to carry an adapter all the time. And that is even if I'm willing to buy $100 worth of worthless adapters and do my best to sprinkle them out in my life. Friends car? Stereo in the summer vacation house? Buying bluetooth headphones doesn't mitigate…

I'm willing to believe that you never know when you need a headphone jack but most people actually do know when they will need a headphone jack.

Going on a plane? Probably bring an adapter. Like to listen to music in your car? Keep an adapter in your car. Listen to music at work? Keep an adapter at work.

Re: I switched from iPhone to the Pixel 2: One-week report

#264

Post by elahd » Tue, May 01, 2018, 1:34 PM UTC

YouKnowBetter wrote: post #136

My whole family (parents, sister & her kids, wife & our kids) have switched to iPhones (and macos devices) years ago. Result: 1. no "technical" issues anymore. As the go to IT guy in the family this alone is worth the supposed premium price one pays for the Apple logo. 2. Everything is updated, at all times. 3. "Facebook logs my sms" are a none issues 4. All devices die of old age (even the devices that have since lo…

I've had the same experience with my immediate family (siblings, parents, in-laws). A few years ago, I made pretty clear that if their next phone wasn't an iPhone, they were on their own with regards to support. I set up iCloud backup (with a premium storage tier) and installed ESET NOD32 on every computer that I "support." There hasn't been a single "support call" in 3 years (aside from hardware and forgotten passwords).

It sounds cold, but now I actually get to enjoy time with family instead of being bombarded with technical questions. They're also less frustrated with their devices.

Re: I switched from iPhone to the Pixel 2: One-week report

#265

Post by yawn » Tue, May 01, 2018, 1:35 PM UTC

jvannistelrooy wrote: post #129

For my job as an app Product Manager, I use several different devices on a daily basis. I also switch between an iPhone and Android phone as my personal device every half year or so, to stay up-to-date with both platforms. I think articles like these are interesting to read, but not relevant anymore. iPhones and high-end Android devices both offer a mature user experience, and you can't objectively say that one is be…

Agreed. I switch every once in a while (iPhone 3GS -> Evo 4G -> Nexus 4 -> Nexus 5 -> iPhone 8) to keep things interesting. Most of the apps I used on Android are present in iOS. I would give an edge to Android on general OS design and a big edge on notifications (coming from Android, notifications on iOS are embarrassing). Overall, I think it's a wash though.

Re: I switched from iPhone to the Pixel 2: One-week report

#266

Post by ghaff » Tue, May 01, 2018, 1:35 PM UTC

towndrunk wrote: post #230

intended wrote: post #207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Head phone jack is a big issue. I have no desire to keep one on me at all times on the off chance that I will need it. I just stop listening to music or using the device for that use case. Basically dropping the functionality of the phone significantly, unless I’m home or near my tech storage locker. This is assanine design.

...and you can't charge the damn thing while using the headphones... what the hell?

Get a Belkin dual lightning/3.5mm adapter. Look. I personally think this is typical Apple removing a legacy connector a beat or two too soon. But $50 or so in adapters later I have zero issue.

Re: I switched from iPhone to the Pixel 2: One-week report

#267

Post by wilsonnb » Tue, May 01, 2018, 1:35 PM UTC

ntsplnkv2 wrote: post #231

tjoff wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Royally disagree with the headphone jack. That is a huge issue that I don't ever see an end to. You never know when you need a headphone jack and there is no realistic way to carry an adapter all the time. And that is even if I'm willing to buy $100 worth of worthless adapters and do my best to sprinkle them out in my life. Friends car? Stereo in the summer vacation house? Buying bluetooth headphones doesn't mitigate…

Almost every modern car now has USB or bluetooth, even cheap entry level compact cars. > Friends car? Stereo in the summer vacation house? Bluetooth speakers are pretty much ubiquitous nowadays. I don't think I've seen an aux cord in 2 years. Why should a tech company design for old tech? Do you also dislike monitors that don't have VGA just in case? I'm not saying there are scenarios where that would be an issue. Bu…

Bluetooth has quality issues compared with an AUX cable unless you're using the fancy codecs that aren't supported by most devices.

Also, anecdotally, I drive a Chevy from 2012 with no bluetooth for anything but answering calls. Cars without bluetooth are still very common.

Re: I switched from iPhone to the Pixel 2: One-week report

#268

Post by viraptor » Tue, May 01, 2018, 1:36 PM UTC

ntsplnkv2 wrote: post #231

tjoff wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Royally disagree with the headphone jack. That is a huge issue that I don't ever see an end to. You never know when you need a headphone jack and there is no realistic way to carry an adapter all the time. And that is even if I'm willing to buy $100 worth of worthless adapters and do my best to sprinkle them out in my life. Friends car? Stereo in the summer vacation house? Buying bluetooth headphones doesn't mitigate…

Almost every modern car now has USB or bluetooth, even cheap entry level compact cars. > Friends car? Stereo in the summer vacation house? Bluetooth speakers are pretty much ubiquitous nowadays. I don't think I've seen an aux cord in 2 years. Why should a tech company design for old tech? Do you also dislike monitors that don't have VGA just in case? I'm not saying there are scenarios where that would be an issue. Bu…

My last 3 cars had Bluetooth in them. Each had some kind of issue with it. For some reason car manufacturers put in crap that's anywhere between incompatible and randomly failing when connecting to flagship phones. And there's no real way to report an issue back to then. So they do have Bluetooth and I still use the aux cable with them.

Re: I switched from iPhone to the Pixel 2: One-week report

#269

Post by wilsonnb » Tue, May 01, 2018, 1:37 PM UTC

dspillett wrote: post #252

matte_black wrote: post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many stereos and cars should accept Bluetooth connections by now, so I’m not sure what the problem is.

The problem is that people want a headphone jack. More stereos and cars don't have BT than do (significantly many more in my experience). Bluetooth pairing is a faf compared to just plugging in a jack, and many devices still only remember pairing with two devices or just one so your friend may have to repair when you are done. Double adaptors (I still see people sharing a single audio source on headphones that way) a…

The real answer here is to use the lightning -> 3.5mm adapter which comes with the iPhone, I believe.

Re: I switched from iPhone to the Pixel 2: One-week report

#270

Post by matwood » Tue, May 01, 2018, 1:37 PM UTC

mirkules wrote: post #81

chrischen wrote: post #6

I had the same experience when first switching to Android after a lifetime on iPhone. But after a year of really getting to use Android features it eventually became apparent Android has its own problems, and I ended up switching back to iOS. It'll seem great at first since it does things differently and improves on many aspects of where iOS fails at while it's fresh in your mind, but you'll need to spend much more t…

This is the review I'd really like to see. I'm not interested in "first impressions" or "1 month in". I'm interested what happens after a year, two or even three years. I have an iPhone 6S+, and it works almost flawlessly - animation is still good, very few app glitches, and even the original battery is in decent shape. I'd like to hear how Androids from that era fare compared to iPhones from that era - because I pla…

> I'm interested what happens after a year, two or even three years.

I can write an older version of this review, so it may be a bit out of date now. I owned the iPhone 1, 3g, 4, 4s, got tired of waiting for a larger less expensive phone, and moved to Android. I had the HTC One X, Nexus 4, and Nexus 5 (also a Nexus 7 tablet). I move back to the iPhone for the 6, and have had the 6s, 7+, and now the X.

The One X was almost a disaster that forced me to switch back. As soon as I had to deal with carrier and HTC crap, I immediately thought mistake but made it work and decided to never get another non-Google Android phone.

IMO, Google hit a sweet spot with the Nexus line because they were priced well and performed well. I had nagging issues with them, but for the price I dealt with them. The build quality was also not quite the same as the iPhone, but again at that price they were great. On my value recommendation quite a few friends left their iPhones and gave the Nexus line a shot (all have since moved back to the iPhone).

My main issues were around performance, camera quality, general quirks (a google process would randomly spin out of control causing the phone to really heat up and be fully out of battery in about 10 minutes). If I didn't notice this happening, then I would end up with no phone until I charged again. This issue along with Google moving the price up near flagship is what caused me to look at the iPhone again (I can write an entire other rant about how Google destroyed my perfectly working N7 with an update).

I looked at some of the other manufacture flagship Android phones and IMHO, none are worth the flagship pricing. The build quality is just not the same as with the iPhone at that price. And since Google decided to go flagship also, I decided to give the iPhone a shot again. Once back on the iPhone, only then I realized how much I took for granted all the things that just worked. At this point, I doubt I'll ever try Android again. iMessage, Continuity, my Apple Watch, etc... all rely on the iPhone now. Plus, I think my point is still true that even the latest Pixel2XL screen is not as nice looking at the screen on my X. I've looked at the them side by side and even the Android people in the office agree.

I'm sure someone will come along and say I'm an idiot and Android is the best thing ever (I'm sure it is for a lot of people), but you asked for opinions from someone who used both extensively :)