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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

#361
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…

> I'm constantly amazed by how people spend so much of their income on Apple products

I don't know about other people, but I went iPhone specifically for the value/$. Got a used iPhone SE 2020 for $150 in late 2021, and expect to use it for 5+ years. I seriously doubt that there are any Androids out there that could get even close to that.

It really helps that Apple's CPU/SoC is substantially superior to what everyone else uses, so older iPhones tend to feel snappier. Between that and Apple's clearly superior OS support, I don't know why value shoppers who don't want to install their own firmware would go with Android.

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

#362
post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its annoying as hell, because iMessage isn't really useful when most of the people I write to don't have an iPhone. 100% I blame Google though, they need to get their ass together and make their own. It needs to work with everbody who already have a google account and they need to commit to it for 10 year minimum. Then it is reasonable for Apple to create a system so they can talk together.

Google built more messaging apps than people have fingers in one hand, possibly two. They are not good at them. Even if they would, what's the incentive for Apple to become interoperable? They want a moat and people that buy what they sell inside the moat.

Incentive is to make it better for their users who have Android friends. They already did that with the last update that meant you could do Facetime group calls with them.

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

#363
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…

iPhones just work. Macs just work. 99% of people don’t want to spend time configuring anything.

Both iOS and Android stopped innovating like 5 years ago, but at least the Apple ecosystem doesn’t feel dead like Android.

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

#364
post #258

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I kind of went the other way, I have had androids since 2010ish, then tried an iphone at the beginning of corona since my old sony phone couldn't run teams properly. Had it for 2 years and hated it so much I went back to android. I couldn't even install a separate browser like firefox that was not just a skin and the ad-block on safari drove me crazy. It only prevented items from being displayed but not the network r…

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

Except they do? You can get a VPN app that blocks network requests, like 1Blocker. Also AFAIK android doesn't support adblockers?

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

#365
post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its annoying as hell, because iMessage isn't really useful when most of the people I write to don't have an iPhone. 100% I blame Google though, they need to get their ass together and make their own. It needs to work with everbody who already have a google account and they need to commit to it for 10 year minimum. Then it is reasonable for Apple to create a system so they can talk together.

I don't understand -- are Android users not able to receive your iPhone text messages? I've never had that problem.

Sure, but I would also like to send them pictures and I would like some security about it too.

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

#366

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.

Interesting, this is what I'm considering too after exclusively using Android+Windows since forever. The enshittification of Windows is mainly what has changed my mind - worse privacy, UX, forcing users to use online accounts - but also life seems more simple when you only have Apple to consider instead of whatever shenanigans that Microsoft and Google throws at you. Furthermore, the UX of the Apple eco system seems…

One thing to note is that Apple also tries very hard to get you to log in to their online services when you use your phone or laptop. They're not as overt as MS about requiring it yet, but I would not be surprised if it was coming.

As for UX, I feel like it's hit and miss for me. With the huge caveat that I haven't used Windows 11, Windows beats MacOS in a lot of areas. For example, I prefer older versions of Windows to MacOS for window management, and Explorer is a lot better than Finder in my opinion. Those are two major pieces of the user experience!

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

#367

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…

I've launched Android based hardware products, I should be as Android deep as anyone can be and I use an iPhone.

"iPhone is better than Android because iPhone can do X" was never why anyone used iPhones. iPhones generally did things years later than Android but did them significantly better.

And Apple didn't need to convince people, they straight up were luxury devices compared to decay prone Android devices. Android lagged in locking down background services so battery would worsen over time as random apps did random garbage in the background. Lots of devices had weird eMMC and virtual FS bugs that'd also slow them down over time. And for a truly embarrassing length of history, top apps for things like flashlights would install lock screen ads on your device.

I agree it's more personal preference these days, but that's mostly because Google went and copied Apple's walled garden approach. Things power users loved got gutted, more and more core functionality became part of Google Play Services that vendors aren't allowed to modify. Because of Project Mainline even the Android runtime is about to start getting updated via Google Play.

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

#368
post #250
post #202

Earlier quoted context omitted.

iPhone is not what it is cracked up to be. A lot of lock in. Some things are absolutely annoying. When I went to Poland, I had to change my region to download apps from appstore, it messed up all my purchase history and subscriptions. One thing I like is that I have an iPhone 12 and have no need to upgrade, the phones have a much longer life imo. The statement "apple stuff is just so easy and it works" is EXTREMELY m…

> The statement "apple stuff is just so easy and it works" is EXTREMELY misleading. When it works it works but when it doesn't you generally won't find much good advice. I've been a Mac fan since OS X came out in 2000/2001, and had iPhones and android phones for years. Just a general "I like all the OSes... and I hate all the OSes" kinda person.... The worst thing about being caught in a situation where something doe…

That echoes my general experience everytime I try the Apple ecosystem again: it's fine until it's not fine.

I suppose it's equal parts {stricter locks} + {smaller number of devices} + {fewer dev resources?}

Last time for me, it was MacOS never having implemented USB-C DisplayPort MST (daisy chaining monitors).

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

#369

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

What’s mid performance about an iPhone?

Nothing. The iPhone SoC blows every android out of the water. Apple has been dominating mobile performance ever since they went to 64-bit in 2013. That's a decade of leadership in silicon. No android comes close. Not sure what OP is thinking.

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

#370
post #312

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Per dollar? Everything. If cost is not considered, nothing much really.

The Samsung Galaxy S23 and iPhone 14 both start at $799.

Which versions, exactly?

Because each one of those has 3 (Samsung) or 4 (iPhone) major models with wildly different specs, and each of those specs has often times major differences in quality between the two lines.

[https://www.pcmag.com/news/samsung-galaxy-s23-vs-apple-iphon...]

Samsungs adware and weird modifications being a major negative IMO too. Though that's a taste thing I guess.

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