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Why I'm Ditching Android

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Re: Why I'm Ditching Android

#161

Post by PascLeRasc »

da02 wrote: post #108
epmaybe wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's discontinued, but you can still purchase the device (for fairly low price too!). On top of that, based on Apple's track record for software support, you can expect support for at least another year, if not more. Note that the iPhone 5S, a phone released in 2013 on iOS7, received the iOS12 update not too long ago.

Where can they be bought? Via a cellphone provider or online retailer?

Swappa is the best place for used phones. SE's there are $110-150 in good condition.

Re: Why I'm Ditching Android

#162

Post by SquishyPanda23 »

SamWhited wrote: post #12

I've been coming around to this way of thinking more and more lately. Apple has a clear business model that involves selling high-end phones and other hardware and taking a percentage of app sales, not selling me to advertisers. I've found at least 5 different privacy settings buried in various places around the Android menus in a confusing way (instead of just having a single switch in the privacy settings menu), an…

> Apple has a clear business model that involves selling high-end phones and other hardware and taking a percentage of app sales, not selling me to advertisers.

I would just be a little cautious about this. Apple is currently sticking it to Google by making it easy to block ads and by offering appealing privacy features.

But we don't know what Apple will do if everyone switches away from Android. I would guess that the profit stream from selling everyone's data to advertisers when most users are locked into their ecosystem will be very appealing.

Similarly to how Google and Facebook both eschewed ads while drawing people away from other services that were swamped with ads.

Re: Why I'm Ditching Android

#163

Post by z6 »

da02 wrote: post #108
epmaybe wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's discontinued, but you can still purchase the device (for fairly low price too!). On top of that, based on Apple's track record for software support, you can expect support for at least another year, if not more. Note that the iPhone 5S, a phone released in 2013 on iOS7, received the iOS12 update not too long ago.

Where can they be bought? Via a cellphone provider or online retailer?

It's still a capable phone, but keep in mind the hardware is between 3 and 4 years old at this point.

Re: Why I'm Ditching Android

#164

Post by com2kid »

reaperducer wrote: post #141
tootie wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you can say that if privacy is important to you, then you are probably more aligned with Apple's business plan. The article says as much. It's not like Apple are being more magnanimous, it's just that they don't profit off of user tracking so they use it as marketing ammo against Google users. As a developer, it constantly burns my biscuits that Apple software only runs on Apple hardware. The fact that I have…

The fact that I have no choice but to buy expensive Apple devices to develop for their platform is irritating. I've never understood this line of thinking. Maybe it's because I've been selling programs commercially since the 1980's. Back then, if you wanted to develop a program for a Commodore 64, you bought a Commodore 64. If you wanted to port it to a TRS-80, you bought a TRS-80. If you needed an Atari version, you…

And yet now days, cross plat development for any other imaginable combination is possible.

Apple is the lone hold out here.

But they also have no reason to change.

Re: Why I'm Ditching Android

#165

Post by bootlooped »

dorfsmay wrote: post #76
jimktrains2 wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been using CyanogenMod and now LineageOS since my first Android phone, and I love it over OEM. I'm unfortunatly still tied to GApps, but at this point it's basically contacts and calendar sync along with Maps, along with a random Play-store-only app (e.g. Transit). (I find almost everything I need in F-Droid.) (Yes, I have OSMand and offline maps, but I still like Google Maps for some things.) My biggest problem…

I hate how Google Contacts and Calendar are so much superior to any other offer. I can easily find alternative to everything google except for those two. Especially true with Contacts I feel like I'm doxing everybody I add to it. I have tried many alternative, but nothing even remotely measure to it.

I personally find Gmail and Drive to also be superior offerings. The only problem I have with either is privacy.

Gmail's integration with Drive and Calendar are really nice. It's a very mature web email app besides all that. It's not hard to find other email solutions, but in my experience they lack the polish and integration that makes Gmail so valuable.

I have been looking for a good zero-knowledge cloud storage solution that fit my requirements for a while. All of the alternatives I've tried have severe limitations or unresolved issues.

Re: Why I'm Ditching Android

#166

Post by elt0r0 »

luxuryballs wrote: post #107
josteink wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I also tend to agree with the OP that the iPhone SE is a reasonable size, unlike every Android phone on the market. This the single biggest reason I abandoned android for iPhone: A premium phone in a reasonable form factor.

I grabbed the SE before it went out of Apple stock recently and because I also loved the form factor. I ended up upgrading to the XS because the SE would drop calls consistently in my downstairs home office. The XS has to-date never dropped a call for me. Just thought I’d mention it for anyone else who frequents lower signal areas.

Was using wi-fi calling an option?

Re: Why I'm Ditching Android

#167

Post by yorwba »

pseudoandy wrote: post #24
wowamit wrote: post #9

To say that I'm ditching Android is a pretty incomplete statement - because there is no one Android. It really matter which flavour of Android we are talking about. And which specific device. For example, the bloatware might not be a problem on a unlocked Pixel device. At this point, both iOS and Android are in pretty stable states. It comes down to individual preferences. Author primarily seems to have an issue with…

I do not have any extra bloatware from any manufacturer, due to the fact that I run a Xiaomi Mi A1 as my daily driver, but I still would appreciate the choice to be able to manually install only the apps that I would use, e.g. Firefox instead of Chrome. I do have 64Gb of internal storage, but I obsess about every lost megabyte due to something I don't use( even when disabled or not used, Chrome still runs functions o…

> but I still would appreciate the choice to be able to manually install only the apps that I would use, e.g. Firefox instead of Chrome.

I have a Xiaomi Mi A1 with Firefox and no Chrome anywhere. I flashed LineageOS with the Open GApps nano package (which does not include anything you can also get from the play store, like Chrome) and don't even know what the stock experience is like. So far I didn't experience any major problems running a non-stock ROM.

Re: Why I'm Ditching Android

#168

Post by slothtrop »

JimGuns wrote: post #140

I am not sure how people are figuring this out now. It's only common sense given googles business model and their history that your android phone is nothing more than a tracking and data generation device. I am sure Apple has it's flaws but Google uses Android to double down on selling your info. Be smart, pick up an old Blackberry 10 device and use its Android emulator.

How do you feel about the android-based blackberrys?

Re: Why I'm Ditching Android

#169

Post by ummonk »

com2kid wrote: post #164
reaperducer wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The fact that I have no choice but to buy expensive Apple devices to develop for their platform is irritating. I've never understood this line of thinking. Maybe it's because I've been selling programs commercially since the 1980's. Back then, if you wanted to develop a program for a Commodore 64, you bought a Commodore 64. If you wanted to port it to a TRS-80, you bought a TRS-80. If you needed an Atari version, you…

And yet now days, cross plat development for any other imaginable combination is possible. Apple is the lone hold out here. But they also have no reason to change.

Really? Is there a practical way to do windows development on Linux?

Re: Why I'm Ditching Android

#170

Post by muro »

TheRealPomax wrote: post #93
muro wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Chrome is the webview for all apps, might be tricky to remove.

It's not, though. WebView is the built in web view mechanism for all apps that don't want to roll their own web view, and Chrome for Android is a browser that makes use of that WebView mechanism. Strictly speaking, a browser is just an interface that lets you interact with web pages. And you're not locked into WebView: if you actually wrote your own, you're entirely free to deploy it. It's just insanely hard to write…

I understand your point and you are right. There is a difference between theory and practice - in practice, it is Chrome.
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