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

#161

Post by xbhatnag »

tdewitt wrote: post #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.

I believe some of this is available on iOS:

https://www.imore.com/amber-alerts-your-iphone-what-they-are...

https://www.imore.com/how-to-use-parental-controls-iphone-ip...

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

#162

Post by Fradow »

sametmax wrote: post #123
Fradow wrote: 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…

pulsesms is a good alternative to airdroid for the desktop sms experience. Still not on par with iMessage, but way better. Also, kde-connect has a better integration for remote desktop/phone control. In the end, I only keep airdroid for sharing files and contacts.

Thanks! I'll definitely try that, since I only use Airdroid for SMS, and it has some issues (especially MMS that are not handled, and the link is often broken and don't reconnect automatically)

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

#163

Post by xbhatnag »

iqandjoke wrote: post #154

For Android AOSP, you can fix the bug yourself. Can you do that on iPhone iOS other than filling a Radar?

You're right. But can you imagine the patience of a power user to do that?

They'd have to identify what the bug is, get the source, make the changes, test it, build the OS for their own device, upload the fix to Gerrit for review, go through multiple rounds of code review, get it merged in.

I've probably simplified some of those steps.

You could do it, but would you? Remember, not every power user is a developer.

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

#164

Post by timbit42 »

pavelevst wrote: post #97
abrookewood wrote: post #95

I can plug my phone into my computer and copy files to and from it like it was a regular USB drive. Honestly, once I realised this wasn't possible on an iPhone my decision was pretty much made up.

iExplorer (even trial version) gives almost same experience

Does iExplorer run on Linux?

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

#165

Post by RandomBacon »

obarthelemy wrote: post #104
obarthelemy wrote: post #91

- Widgets on the actual home screen, no swiping required. Every app has widgets (except Skype !), so you can have whichever info you need most right there - true browser, true addons. Unlike iOS, Android doesn't limit 3rd-party browsers to reskins of the OS' Web engine, but allows desktop-like from-the-ground-up browsers. You can get Firefow and put uBlock Origin and Privacy Badger on it. - sideloading w/o rooting. E…

On the flip side, mu iBrother made the transisiton to Android about a year ago. His major pain points were: - no iMessage. It's not particularly good or different compared to whatsapp, Skype, Messenger... but it's not available on Android and people are used to it. - in case of an issue, the solution is brand+model-specific. For some reasons he wanted a Notifications widgets, you get that differently for a Samsung or…

There are apps that allow you to use iMessage on Android.

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

#166

Post by RandomBacon »

dredmorbius wrote: post #50

Termux. https://termux.com I've got an actual userland Linux shell and package ecosystem, with 1,231 available packages (compare against ~6k for Red Hat / CentOS, 70k for Debian), including standard shell tools, editors, and scripting languages, plus several Android-specific tools and APIs. The scripting tools open up broader archives via pip (python), npm (node.js), and cpan (perl). Many of the "Linux" shell and scr…

> unpredictable process termination

Settings - Battery - Battery Optimization (dropdown menu upper right, three dots)

Change it for the apps you don't want Android to terminate.

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

#167

Post by [deleted] »

RealStickman wrote: post #88
lstamour wrote: post #68

As no one’s mentioned it yet, the stock Android Dialer supports VoIP to a degree that most iOS apps do not. If you use a SIP provider that doesn’t support a native iOS app, Android will likely give you a nicer experience out-of-the-box. Also some Android tablets have half decent OLED screens, though stock iPhone OLED will out-perform them. Android has USB-C support that iOS is only now starting to get with the iPad P…

You should try a different browser. Brave or Opera can do much more regarding blocking content than chrome. (Google is an ad company after all)

[deleted]

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

#168

Post by RandomBacon »

lstamour wrote: post #68

As no one’s mentioned it yet, the stock Android Dialer supports VoIP to a degree that most iOS apps do not. If you use a SIP provider that doesn’t support a native iOS app, Android will likely give you a nicer experience out-of-the-box. Also some Android tablets have half decent OLED screens, though stock iPhone OLED will out-perform them. Android has USB-C support that iOS is only now starting to get with the iPad P…

> it’s impossible to do Content Blocking in Chrome the way one can on iOS.

Firefox with uBlock Origin or just about any other add-on will work kn Android. It's the best solution there is.

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

#169

Post by Havoc »

mstaoru wrote: 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…

What app do you use for wireguard?

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

#170

Post by sombremesa »

Using apps for free. I use the app "1 second everyday" quite extensively. My friend tried it out on iPhone and lo and behold, a lot of the free features I take for granted on Android are paid features on iOS. What a strange result of the different perception of willingness to spend on the two platforms. (Or perhaps it's the result of having a more open app platform?)
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