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Android loses 8% of its global OS market share in five years

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Re: Android loses 8% of its global OS market share in five years

#251

Post by fsflover »

rglullis wrote: post #242
lawl wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's pick your poison. The only reason I'm still on android is because at least I can (still) have root there. I'm saying still because of safety net. But if apple let me have root, i'd probably prefer an Apple over Google. Mobile phones and their user hostility is a cancer. I'm seriously considering using a full GNU/Linux handheld for mobile things i can do in a browser, and keep an android phone for app garbage tha…

Consider the Android distros that are free from Google services. I am on /e/OS which has an android base. Between its app store and F-Droid, you get almost everything you'd want from a mobile OS (minus games) without all the Google/Apple/Samsung crap.

> you get almost everything you'd want from a mobile OS (minus games)

You forgot reasonable support time: Proprietary drivers prevent you from upgrading the Linux kernel, and the device becomes very insecure and outdated within few years.

Re: Android loses 8% of its global OS market share in five years

#252

Post by Kye »

tomComb wrote: post #247
Kye wrote: post #225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I thought that too with my last Android. It never got them, so my next phone was a 6S Plus in 2018 (launched in 2015) that still gets updates.

How do you know you didn't get them? They are silent. Also, I don't think that 'not getting them' is an option other then with video drivers. The whole idea is that security updates should be pushed immediately to all devices and not require user action. You get them even if you don't want them.

There was a place to check in settings. The last one was years before. I don't know how it's done now.

Re: Android loses 8% of its global OS market share in five years

#253

Post by vetinari »

selimthegrim wrote: post #113
VWWHFSfQ wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From my experience if you stay on the Google flagship/Pixel line then everything is great. Pretty much every other vender is garbage and will screw you and you'll have the experience you're talking about.

Thoughts on Sony?

Last time I had a Sony phone (Xperia Z5), the hardware was quite nice and the software was nearby stock Android, except for some apps like launcher, camera or gallery, which were a slightly nicer than the stock ones.

But they were on a strange schedule, they released a new flagship every 6 months instead of every year. They of course could not support all the models at the same time, so the support was shorter that competition.

Re: Android loses 8% of its global OS market share in five years

#254

Post by fsflover »

hellisothers wrote: post #59
lawl wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's pick your poison. The only reason I'm still on android is because at least I can (still) have root there. I'm saying still because of safety net. But if apple let me have root, i'd probably prefer an Apple over Google. Mobile phones and their user hostility is a cancer. I'm seriously considering using a full GNU/Linux handheld for mobile things i can do in a browser, and keep an android phone for app garbage tha…

What does having root on your phone improve for you?

Did you hear about the free software philosophy? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Free_Software_Definition

The main point of it is that if you don't have the control over your computing, someone else has and they can use this power for their own advantage against you. Examples are numerous: https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-software-even-more-impor....

Re: Android loses 8% of its global OS market share in five years

#255

Post by MBCook »

notreallyserio wrote: post #227
MBCook wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t think I’ve ever used android for more than about 30 seconds on someone else’s phone. I wasn’t aware there was a difference in the notification system. What makes android better?

Android notifications can be more interactive. They're you perform quick actions like reactions to slack messages or archiving emails. Basically the things you can do on an Apple Watch but not the iPhone.

That’s up to the developer, the APIs have existed for 2ish years I think. I reply to texts and Slack messages through notifications.

There are limits, but it’s not display only like it used to be.

Re: Android loses 8% of its global OS market share in five years

#256

Post by tomComb »

Kye wrote: post #252
tomComb wrote: post #247

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you know you didn't get them? They are silent. Also, I don't think that 'not getting them' is an option other then with video drivers. The whole idea is that security updates should be pushed immediately to all devices and not require user action. You get them even if you don't want them.

There was a place to check in settings. The last one was years before. I don't know how it's done now.

No, that's just for the security updates that must be applied as full firmware updates, usually because they are in the kernel. Google has been progressively redesigning Android over the past decade to the point where they can do all non-kernel security updates immediately and silently via the play store. It's a much better way to do it IMO.

Re: Android loses 8% of its global OS market share in five years

#257

Post by micronova »

laerus wrote: post #229
micronova wrote: post #188

[flagged]

People just don't care about privacy because they "have nothing to hide". It's convenience above all else.

> People just don't care about privacy because they "have nothing to hide". It's convenience above all else.

Normality used to be defined by the majority. Not anymore, and it just feels hopeless. ... Of course they don't have anything to hide: it's all on the table already, for years, ready to be exploited by campaign advisors and policy makers. The result is this planet imploding we're experiencing nowadays and it will only get worse.

Re: Android loses 8% of its global OS market share in five years

#258

Post by fencepost »

I'm carrying 2 phones these days, one iPhone SE that I've had for a couple years and look forward to getting OS updates on for another 3+ (unless I decide I just must have 5G and upgrade) and now a Samsung A53 5G that they've also promised will get at least 4 generations of OS upgrades. Without the newer trend towards longer support for devices, I'd probably have looked at a second iPhone instead.

Google (and handset vendors) started to make relying on an Android phone for more than a couple years just as unattractive as depending on a Google service for more than a few years. Combine that with the long-ago demise of "don't be evil" and the more recent utter failure of "fine, be evil, but at least don't be f*cking creepy" Google's a hard sell these days. The way all the rest of us get caught in the fallout of their internal (product) politics got old a long time ago.

Re: Android loses 8% of its global OS market share in five years

#259

Post by selimthegrim »

vetinari wrote: post #253
selimthegrim wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thoughts on Sony?

Last time I had a Sony phone (Xperia Z5), the hardware was quite nice and the software was nearby stock Android, except for some apps like launcher, camera or gallery, which were a slightly nicer than the stock ones. But they were on a strange schedule, they released a new flagship every 6 months instead of every year. They of course could not support all the models at the same time, so the support was shorter that c…

I think they have finally gotten their support schedule together with the latest one.

Re: Android loses 8% of its global OS market share in five years

#260

Post by hypothesis »

mixedCase wrote: post #233
Georgelemental wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I use a custom ROM on my Pixel phone to strip out all the user-hostile tracking. It works quite well honestly, no major usability sacrifices

SafetyNet?

Are you somewhere where banks won’t let you use their website and force app usage?
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