Indeed it's a marvel, it's not very capable though
Your phone is an entire computer
241–250 of 329 posts
Re: Your phone is an entire computer
#242I really don't understand the argument here. That the product is locked down by design is a feature, not a limitation. Yes, this has the side effect of making them more money and allowing a walled garden to form, but given that the vast majority of users wouldn't do anything different with their phones if a shell was present, this is in my opinion not that large of an effect. The snide around "clicking on links is da…
I still remember the era when jailbreaking Android and iPhones was gaining popularity among less technical people. It was eye opening to watch how many people I knew would search for a random web page and then unquestioningly follow instructions on the screen to install software from the first link they clicked. All of this to get custom fonts in their messaging app or some other little feature they saw on someone’s…
> Even today there’s a culture of downloading Android builds from long forum threads on XDA developers
I did that this month. I wouldn't do that for a device I use for anything sensitive, but I have a niche use case for my old Nexus 5, and it needed to be running at least Android 8.
Re: Your phone is an entire computer
#243If you want to control the software that runs on your phone, you can. You have to choose with your wallet, and buy a phone that gives you that freedom, such as the Pixel. Buying a locked down iPhone and then complaining about it is ineffective. Wallets speak louder than words to a corporation.
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Re: Your phone is an entire computer
#244I use the Pixel, but the point is the same. Recently Google added the "Dex" like feature where I can plug in the phone to a monitor and use it as my "entire computer" - at first I was excited, I can go to a coffee shop and leave my laptop behind, but then I looked at getting a bluetooth keyboard, mouse, monitor - with battery, and it's now a worse experience. There are monitor/battery/trackpad combination products fo…
My use case was when I went to the office and I wanted to get some personal work. I brought a USB-C dock and plugged in my employer's peripherals, hop on my cellular connection and have at it.
Re: Your phone is an entire computer
#245Earlier quoted context omitted.
You don't have a laptop or desktop for those things? Whilst I may not represent the average person, I have no need to check bank statements or manage insurance immediately, so I can wait until I'm at a 'real' computer to do it more conveniently and easily and with a bigger screen and keyboard and mouse. GPs point about the 'relationship with the smart phone' seems to be pertinent. "need to install an app" to do these…
My bank only has two options for authentication: Either you use their mobile app or buy an authentication device from them that's the size of a small phone. Either way I need a handheld device. I can't say I'm happy with the direction of things. They used to offer slips of paper with single-use codes that worked fine, but those are now deprecated in favor of the smartphone app.
You can use a lot of those authentication / bank apps on a tablet without issue. Obviously it’s worth verifying before making the swap to a flip phone, but I like having minimal apps on my smartphone so I still have a backup if needed.
Re: Your phone is an entire computer
#246> Now that I know my iPhone has the capacity to run MacOS, I would very much like to do so. I’d love to consider the possibility of switching to a less intrusive phone and repurposing this iPhone into a web server. Perhaps that seems silly, but it’s really not. I’ve already paid for the device, it's clearly a full blown computer, and why should I not be able to modify it as I see fit? I kinda do that with Samsung DeX…
I also bought a flagship iphone with the idea that maybe someday it could be used for work (S25+), first of all I was disappointed that the Snapdragon chips don't actually support the new Android Terminal feature.
Anyways there is Tmux, but if I wanted to do actual work, like with my stack: nodejs, docker container (with a postgres, a redis)... I am not sure it would work. Haven't done it so far but I'd be curious of other's experiences.
Also an Xreal and a foldable keyboard and you can just work anywhere with a chair and a desk
I also wanna try running some windows game on it, apparently it's working-ish at and Valve might improve that part of the ecosystem too
I hope that in the future, buying 2 devices will not be required and instead just buying one powerful one + optional peripherals will be ok.
Re: Your phone is an entire computer
#247Earlier quoted context omitted.
They could allow unlocking the phone by burying that option deep in the settings with scary warnings etc. Most people could use the device with the restrictions. The fact that this is not possible at all is greed.
If they did that, every influencer would make youtube videos and tik toks telling people how they should enable that setting to make their phone better or more powerful "for free", and everyone would just do it, especially the people who really shouldn't because they don't know any better.
No they wouldn't. We don't have to speculate about that; Android already has a toggle to allow direct installation of apps, and most people don't turn it on.
Many Android devices allow unlocking the bootloader and gaining root or installing an alternate OS without exploits, and there are quite a few third-party Android builds for supported devices. The process is not beyond what a person of average intelligence and modest computer skills could pull off with some patience and a video guide. Only a handful of tech nerds actually do it.
Re: Your phone is an entire computer
#248> Now that I know my iPhone has the capacity to run MacOS, I would very much like to do so. I’d love to consider the possibility of switching to a less intrusive phone and repurposing this iPhone into a web server. Perhaps that seems silly, but it’s really not. I’ve already paid for the device, it's clearly a full blown computer, and why should I not be able to modify it as I see fit? I kinda do that with Samsung DeX…
I also bought a flagship iphone with the idea that maybe someday it could be used for work (S25+), first of all I was disappointed that the Snapdragon chips don't actually support the new Android Terminal feature. Anyways there is Tmux, but if I wanted to do actual work, like with my stack: nodejs, docker container (with a postgres, a redis)... I am not sure it would work. Haven't done it so far but I'd be curious of…
Yes Android terminal is a bit of a miss, I agree. You could find an S26+ exynos perhaps.
Personally I prefer tmux anyway. I'm not a dev but if I do develop something we have to use a remote login box anyway, our workstations are completely locked down.
For me a webbrowser, Android apps like office and teams, obsidian and a few others and tmux are enough. It's not a complete workstation replacement but even at home I have way more than one computer. My daily driver for web stuff, a powerful pc for gaming and 3D design, an old LTSC box for microcontrollers and several others.
Re: Your phone is an entire computer
#249I'm not convinced the author cares very much about this. He bought an iPhone. Based on his other blog posts, he knew what he was buying and what the alternatives are.
An Android phone, even with a stock OS would get him more of the capabilities one would expect from a desktop PC, but he chose an iPhone. Some Android phones let the user unlock the bootloader easily and gain root, but he chose an iPhone. With an unlocked bootloader and a well-supported device, it's possible to install a third-party Android distribution with even more freedom, but he chose an iPhone.
Maybe he likes the iOS UX or app selection better, but if that's the deciding factor then I don't think using the phone as a Real Computer (tm) is really all that important to him.
Re: Your phone is an entire computer
#250When you've had enough, vote with your wallet and come join us in the free world.