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US smartphone shipments fall sharply, but Android more than iPhone

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341–350 of 796 posts

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

#341

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 don't want the OS to have any material differences at all between devices. Android should be like Windows, which is the same no matter where it's running. Even the "good" changes that manufacturers make are unwelcome, because they dull much of the appeal of an OS like Android where hardware vendors are interchangeable and can be switched on a whim without software downsides. I don't want to become dependent on some…

> Even the "good" changes that manufacturers make are unwelcome, because they dull much of the appeal of an OS like Android where hardware vendors are interchangeable and can be switched on a whim without software downsides. I don't want to become dependent on some manufacturer-specific change.

So you want a worse software experience all the time in case you have to use said worse software experience in the future because of a hardware change? And you don't want Android hardware vendors to be able to differentiate themselves with software, giving all of the power to Google?

Doesnt make sense to me. Seems a bit like cutting off your nose to spite your face.

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

#342

The link should really be to the original report [0]. This 55% is iPhone's share of phone shipments in Q2, not the number of users of the respective phones at any given time. In other words, fewer people are buying smartphones than were before, but Apple saw less of a hit to their numbers than everyone else did. Contrary to existing comments here, this stat doesn't appear to indicate that people are switching from An…

The Android market is way way harder to pin down than the iPhone market. Manufacturers have been walking out software support horizons in the Android world, which should have an impact. To the extent that Android users have shifted toward Samsung and Pixels, that would also tend to walk out the software support window of the Android cohort. And finally, last year there were crazy sales that I don't think have been as good this year, from what I've seen. I upgraded from S21 to S22 ultra last year for $18, no contract term.

OTOH, Qualcomm seems to have closed the gap in SOC performance and efficiency with 8gen2.

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

#343

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Funny, my last android was samsung which I had many of the issues you describe above, and in particular it felt very bloated. I've been getting older generation Pixel S and they are very good for the price. usually 1/4 the price of a comparable flagship iOS and I never have any issues.

Samsung is the Apple of android. Big marketing budget, mid performance at best.

what's above mid performance in android world then?

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

#344

I'm thinking of making the switch to iPhone this year once the USB-C model comes out Whether I regret it, not sure, I mean Android isn't _that_ bad really and the Samsung phones are good, but I think Apple have nailed the ecosystem thing a lot better than what google have.

> Android isn't _that_ bad From a support after the sale perspective? Yes it is. The $399 2016 iPhone SE is still getting security updates today. The original Google Pixel is also from 2016 but stopped getting any sort of updates at the end of 2019. If you want a basic phone that will be supported as long as possible after the sale, the support length per dollar spent proposition of the SE models is pretty unbeatable…

I have an iPhone SE. It might still be getting security updates but the actual user experience is quite bad now; new features and apps are just not designed for it. Meanwhile the original Google Pixel doesn't have the newest security updates but Play store apps and features still work properly on it.

If you read the OP linked report, contrary to the popular sentiment here and on Apple sites, that more people hold on to their Android phones longer than iPhones despite the lack of security updates

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

#345

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I don't see how Apple can claim to prioritize privacy when they won't even allow real ad blocking.

I think Apple's strong claim is security, not privacy.

???

https://appleinsider.com/articles/19/03/14/privacy-thats-iph...

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

#346

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yup...my parents share videos from their iphone to my android and it is of a quality where you can literally count the pixels. Maybe there is a way to share higher quality, but they're not tech savvy and just do what is the default.

Maybe you could use any app asking WhatsApp, Telegram, Skype, Signal or even Messenger (is it still a thing?) They work well with video. WhatsApp wouldn't be running Europe if its videos were bad.

Telegram is by far the best one for video/photo quality because it doesn't do any (visible) compression, meanwhile WhatsApp and Messenger (yep, still exists) noticeably degrades the quality.

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

#347
post #316

The link should really be to the original report [0]. This 55% is iPhone's share of phone shipments in Q2, not the number of users of the respective phones at any given time. In other words, fewer people are buying smartphones than were before, but Apple saw less of a hit to their numbers than everyone else did. Contrary to existing comments here, this stat doesn't appear to indicate that people are switching from An…

I'm constantly amazed by how people spend so much of their income on Apple products; it's almost like their lives are ruled by the status they feel an iPhone brings (and the consequential sacrificial purchasing). It likely varies by area and average income, here it's almost an inverse correlation - the less-well off kids at school tend to have parents on iPhones and the comfortable parents are on whatever works for t…

It isn’t any different than buying Nike, Gucci, or Michael Kors. Many folks are extremely brand and status conscious.

Appearing high status is more important than many other expenses.

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

#348

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I don't see how Apple can claim to prioritize privacy when they won't even allow real ad blocking.

I think Apple's strong claim is security, not privacy.

The 3 story "Privacy. That's iPhone." billboard down the street from me suggests otherwise.

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

#349

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…

This "Pixel is the only good Android" sentiment is so bizarre to see. Similarly the point about Samsung devices being loaded with bloat and customizations that aren't better. That second argument was valid like 5 years ago, but definitely not today. Samsung devices do still have a lot of customization, but most of it is actually pretty useful in my experience. Lots of little features that I hadn't realized would be n…

Indeed, Samsung is still dealing with the bloat reputation from the TouchWiz days, which is a shame because some of their features like multitasking are way better than stock/pixel android.

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

#350

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I made the switch at the end of 2021 after only having an android phone since the very first one. I wouldn't say I regret the change but I would say I'm not impressed. The way so many of my friends mocked me for having an android phone and talked up their iphones made me think I _must_ be missing something. Alas, I don't feel that I was. Every once in a while I boot up my old android phone (oneplus 6) and use it and…

Apple's real genius is in their marketing. This was clear as day over 10 years ago, and is just as clear today. Back in the early days of iPhone vs Android, there was a huge meme of iPhone users praising Apple for "inventing" features that Android had years ago [0]. I remember (but can't find right now) a screenshot of a conversation of an iPhone user all happy about iPhone getting SwiftKey and then saying "When is A…

The dichotomy to me is in the hardware vs software divide.

Apple mobile devices are absolutely luxury hardware.

Apple mobile OS/software is... functional to a most generous description.

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