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US smartphone shipments fall sharply, but Android more than iPhone

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Re: US smartphone shipments fall sharply, but Android more than iPhone

#181

Post by joshstrange »

mike00632 wrote: post #175
joshstrange wrote: post #163

Personally I don't understand the friends I have that use Android. They wear it as a badge of pride that they didn't give Apple money [0], ok... cool? None of them use a third-party app store, none of them use a custom rom, none of them really customize the phone at all past stock. I understand if you want to go the Android route to root/customise it but if you aren't going to do that then I really don't get the poin…

What if we just want to customize our home screen? I use a custom launcher which doesn't require root or a custom rom.

I totally understand that, that's why I said "I understand if you want to go the Android route to root/customise it" but none of my friends are doing that, that's what puzzles me.

Re: US smartphone shipments fall sharply, but Android more than iPhone

#182

Post by entropy273 »

realusername wrote: post #152
SyrupThinker wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Am I misunderstanding something, I think that gesture exists on iOS? Swiping from the left screen edge to the right navigates back in any properly designed app. Alternatively sheets are usually dismissed by swiping down. Do you have particular apps or contexts in mind where this did not work?

On iOS it's app dependant, it might work or not. On Android, swiping left guarantees a going back event sent from the OS, it'll always 100% work.

90% of apps (that don’t override the default UINavigationController behavior or use some custom cross-platform framework) support the back swipe gesture.

Re: US smartphone shipments fall sharply, but Android more than iPhone

#183

Post by AuthorizedCust »

jansan wrote: post #178
AuthorizedCust wrote: post #48

Android’s problem is Pixel is the only good one, and it has not been flagship quality since the Pixel 2. The 3 had odd issues, the 4 had a laughable battery life, and 5-7 are a weird mix of midrange and flagship capability (trending towards flagship, but not in the club yet). All other Android vendors are on a continuum of crap, between these points: 1. loaded with bloat and customizations that aren’t better than wha…

> Android’s problem is Pixel is the only good one, and it has not been flagship quality since the Pixel 2. You should have added that this only applies if you exclued non-US products.

Huh? Samsung is South Korean.

Re: US smartphone shipments fall sharply, but Android more than iPhone

#184

Post by pmontra »

FirmwareBurner wrote: post #52
AuthorizedCust wrote: post #48

Android’s problem is Pixel is the only good one, and it has not been flagship quality since the Pixel 2. The 3 had odd issues, the 4 had a laughable battery life, and 5-7 are a weird mix of midrange and flagship capability (trending towards flagship, but not in the club yet). All other Android vendors are on a continuum of crap, between these points: 1. loaded with bloat and customizations that aren’t better than wha…

Hot take: I find recent Samsung flagships far superior to what Google offers, especially the latest S23: small and speedy with longer SW support than a pixel, better CPU/GPU and better cameras, at a decent price. Bloatware and Android implementation is also not too bad. Also Samsung DEX can save your bacon in case your laptop dies and you don't have a spare but need a quick desktop experience for some multitasking pr…

It's reasonably small for today's bloated standards. Unfortunately it's heavy even if it's not a 200 g monster. The real problem is that it costs 3 times as much as a phone is worth. Not that I couldn't spend those money, but why?

Re: US smartphone shipments fall sharply, but Android more than iPhone

#185

Post by kaba0 »

FirmwareBurner wrote: post #65
throw9away6 wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Samsung blowtware is a problem though

Which bloatware and what problems does it make you? For me, I don't really consider Microsoft Office as bloatware as I can use it, plus, what's bloatware for you might be useful apps for others, and I found it stays out of my way once I push it to the side if I don't need it, so it's existence is a non-issue for usability. Samsung bloatware used to be bad in the past but now it's decent IMHO, and I think people are b…

I am just personally opposed to Google having all that much access to my data, which is quite funnily only possible to prevent on an android by having.. a pixel and installing GrapheneOS on top.

Sure, lineage and such exist for other phones as well, but people seem to forget that it is not some thinkpad where you can just swap the OS to your liking — plenty of phones have proprietary firmware that auto-wipes on reinstall. I wouldn’t want my fancy, expensive S-twenty-X’s camera to become essentially garbage.

Re: US smartphone shipments fall sharply, but Android more than iPhone

#186

Post by joshstrange »

jansan wrote: post #174
joshstrange wrote: post #163

Personally I don't understand the friends I have that use Android. They wear it as a badge of pride that they didn't give Apple money [0], ok... cool? None of them use a third-party app store, none of them use a custom rom, none of them really customize the phone at all past stock. I understand if you want to go the Android route to root/customise it but if you aren't going to do that then I really don't get the poin…

Maybe they just want a descent browser on their phone. Another reason could be theat they don't have an abundance of financial resources and are fine with a $200 phone.

> Maybe they just want a descent browser on their phone.

Safari is just fine on mobile.

> Another reason could be theat they don't have an abundance of financial resources and are fine with a $200 phone.

They are buying flagship Samsung or Pixel phones, finances isn't a factor here

Re: US smartphone shipments fall sharply, but Android more than iPhone

#188

Post by mrguyorama »

williamdclt wrote: post #44
ApolloFortyNine wrote: post #11

Honestly I don't know how iPhone users live without the back button (or more accurately now, the back gesture). I used an iPhone for a year (work phone) and just could not get over how much harder it was to work a large iphone. I felt like I had to reach every corner of the screen much more often than on Android.

That's not so bad, swiping right works well. The _real_ pain is how bad ios autocompletion is, compared to Android's

Luckily gboard autocomplete gets worse with every single update of the keyboard app so just wait a few more months and it will be comparable.

Re: US smartphone shipments fall sharply, but Android more than iPhone

#189

Post by partiallypro »

diebeforei485 wrote: post #158
partiallypro wrote: post #122

Does this mean the US government can finally start treating Apple the way it treats Microsoft, etc when it does clearly anti-competitive things? They get away with murder sometimes and no one bats an eye. Even here on HN, it's full of people that turn a blind eye because they have a love for Apple. Everything as spun as "looking out for the user" as if not using USB-C, locking out RCS, the "Apple Tax" etc are anythin…

I don't think not using USB-C qualifies as an antitrust issue. It is appropriate to focus on the App Store commission, absolutely.

The "lightning port" is to block vendors from making universal products for its competitors while it lets Apple collect a licensing fee to use it, and it creates tons of needless e-Waste. No one cares though, at least not in the US.

Re: US smartphone shipments fall sharply, but Android more than iPhone

#190

Post by aluminussoma »

optymizer wrote: post #59
aluminussoma wrote: post #19

I am planning to make the switch this year. As a long time Pixel user, Google's support of its own hardware has been subpar. My phone was only officially supported for 3 years. They will increase support for new phones, probably because Apple does the same. It is too little, too late for me.

Long time Android user here (since 1.5 on G1), had all the Nexuses and Pixels as well. Give the OnePlus phones a try. My family's switched to using them and I've been impressed with the battery life and hardware. The software is closer in spirit to the Nexus line.

My mother asked me for a phone recommendation and I told her to try OnePlus. It is a beautiful phone (for an Android) but very buggy. It often fails, at random, at it most basic job of making phone calls without needing a restart. I regret making that recommendation.
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