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Ask HN: What do you do on an Android phone that cannot be done on an iPhone?

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151–160 of 233 posts

Re: Ask HN: What do you do on an Android phone that cannot be done on an iPhone?

#151
post #116

- the big one is to have SMS on my computer (with Airdroid). On iOS, you are limited to Apple ecosystem with iMessage. Keep in mind iMessage is way better than Airdroid, but the convenience of being able to receive and send SMS from my Windows desktop trumps the ease of use of iMessage. - direct file access is useful to transfer things in and out of my Android devices, compared to the dreaded iTunes blackbox. - there…

If your desktop/laptop runs macos, or you use an iPad, you can send and receive SMS using iMessage. You can link as many devices as you want, they just need to login to the same iMessages account.

> If your desktop/laptop runs macos, or you use an iPad, you can send and receive SMS using iMessage. You can link as many devices as you want, they just need to login to the same iMessages account.

Fradow specifically mentions the requirement of sending sms via windows desktop.

Re: Ask HN: What do you do on an Android phone that cannot be done on an iPhone?

#152
I use a DAP for all of my music and purchase most of it via bandcamp. I can barely buy music on iOS but I can (and still do) all of my library management, music purchasing and file management on a One Plus 3T using a usb c to micro sd dongle.

File management is so tricky and app centric on iOS so I dont think this will ever work.

Re: Ask HN: What do you do on an Android phone that cannot be done on an iPhone?

#153
post #59

I like to customize my phone to be exactly what I need from it. Things I do that are only possible in Android: 1) I script some behaviors using Tasker. One example is that I have a script that takes it out of vibrate mode and turns on the ringer if I'm home (GPS), the phone is plugged in, and it's between the hours of 9am and midnight. 2) This requires root, so it might not be worth the trouble for you, and it's not…

Apple has shortcuts which is actually better than tasker and has system wide support and new shortcuts can be easily shared and can easily do some of tasks mentioned above. https://www.imore.com/macstories-releases-archive-150-free-s... seriously amount of ignorance that Android fans about ios is breathtaking.

Re: Ask HN: What do you do on an Android phone that cannot be done on an iPhone?

#156
Over the years, I've found myself using my Android phone more and more like a normal user than like a power user. Price is probably the main reason I wouldn't switch to an iPhone.

I used to have Tasker to do lots of fun automation things, but getting root for some things was problematic and Tasker was a battery hog.

I used to put custom ROMs and Kernels, but somehow stock versions of the system were always more stable.

I didn't really need a terminal on my phone cause I'd have to squint a lot to type stuff.

I don't really connect my phone to a computer anymore. I have cloud storage that syncs my Desktop and Documents. It's more convenient to just upload a file to my Desktop folder and have it magically show up on my computer.

I don't explicitly download music or backup photos like I used to. Google Photos and Spotify have me covered there.

I don't keep widgets on the launcher. I keep only one home page and I like it to be minimal. I also find it better to access the feature filled app than a dumbed down widget.

I used to keep live wallpapers but they're pretty big battery drains. My wallpaper is just black cause my phone has an OLED screen.

Blocking ads across the OS is pretty good and I really do miss it, but I've often found that the more battery efficient option is to get the premium versions of these apps which are ad free. As for ads while browsing, I don't really have a good answer. Live with it?

Also, if you get an Android, I would recommend not getting one that's not heavily customized - Samsung, LG and the likes. A stock version of Android will allow you to customize with greater degree - especially when it comes to obtaining root.

IMO, I would consider Android not for any of its power features, but for normal features that should be allowed in iOS but aren't.

Examples of those are: * Setting default apps * Some decent home screen customization (hiding apps is useful) * Installing apps from other sources

Android is customizable. I've seen it myself. But with that degree of customization, I found myself tweaking incessantly and never being happy with the end result. There's always more to do and it often didn't look as polished as I would have liked.

Personally speaking, I'm sort of done fighting Apple and Google over customization and privacy concerns. I just want to get things done. If it's slightly inconvenient or the convenience comes at the cost of some data sharing, then so be it. I've read through some of the comments and I see some people that (in my opinion) are very aggressively defending their right to customization or privacy. Having tried a lot of customization on Android and owning a Mac, I don't get that anymore. By the end of the day I just end up using WhatsApp, Chrome and a few other choice apps. Those are available on any OS.

Re: Ask HN: What do you do on an Android phone that cannot be done on an iPhone?

#157
I can build it how I like it. For my daughter's play phone, I can remove all the things she doesn't need at this point: Bluetooth, GPS, dialer, federal alerts, etc. I sideload apps and tighly control what she can access (she's a toddler). For my phone, I can make similar changes and extract as much Google as possible. You cannot do this with Apple.

Re: Ask HN: What do you do on an Android phone that cannot be done on an iPhone?

#158

Having a hardware keyboard. I just can't get away with it so I'm still using my 3 year old BlackBerry Priv.

I have a Gemini from Planet Computers - it's an Android 'phone in a clamshell PDA format with a keyboard like the old Psion 5.

https://store.planetcom.co.uk/products/gemini-pda-1

Re: Ask HN: What do you do on an Android phone that cannot be done on an iPhone?

#159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[quote]- my phone will still work in 5 years. No "oh the home button is broken" scandal.[/quote] I don't think this is a standard, not every iphone button will be broken in 5 years; or no phone (with android os) has hardware guarantee for 5 years.

I'm referring to that time where iPhone 5 buttons where breaking all over the place, Apple said it was hardware and that the only fix would be to buy the iPhone 6, but then rooted versions of the iPhone could use a non official software patch to fix the issue.

Similarly, there was the time iOS 11 crippled my iPhone 6+. Apple's response of "you're imagining it, maybe buy a new phone" instead of "oh, ya, just replace the battery" soured me on Apple.

Re: Ask HN: What do you do on an Android phone that cannot be done on an iPhone?

#160
post #113
post #92

By far the best feature for me is DUAL APPS: separate copy of an app that runs absolutely separated from the parent app. This way you can have e.g. two Slacks or two Facebooks or LinkedIns logged into two profiles without endless switching. Other sweet things: support for WireGuard VPN, customizable keyboards (I'm a big fan of "finger slide" typing pioneered by, I think, Swipe), giant Google Calendar widget on the ma…

Isn't dual apps a miui only feature ?

There's always island https://island.oasisfeng.com/ which uses Android for Work to duplicate apps and allow different accounts.

And if you want something OSS, https://f-droid.org/en/packages/net.typeblog.shelter/ which does the same thing.

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