Mobile OSs Android is more amazing than I thought

[Heat_Fan89]

TEAM IOS here… I don’t really like android… look at their tablets too… iPad wins… iOS works very well with every OS… Android will work well with chromeos but Chromebooks aren’t really good… Macs are good !! Definitely iOS wins !

Thank you Tim for your unbiased view. Your commission check is in the mail. 🥳

 

[iHorseHead]

So… fair enough, you found an amazing feature of the hidden or passworded folders… since i posted about that I did think more about how it could indeed be useful in various ways so I’m not knocking that at all…
…
at the same time it’s a little confusing, your original post made it seem like you had gone from an iphone7 to an android / samsung newer device. (newer than iphone 7 but still semi-older)… but now you suddenly have an iphone 14 as your “main phone”?
Anyway, good point that yes android has a few (or a lot, arguably) of stuff iphone doesn’t, but it’s interesting to learn after your OP that you don’t use your amazing — older but new to you and newer than iPhone 7— android phone as your main device. why not? something doesn’t add up.

just curious… maybe people are “missing the point” since it’s unclear what your point is, or at least what your day to day scenario is, i.e. why you need a separate phone “for calling only.” most people as far as i know don’t have such usage…

Partly this subject interests me because i spent about a week with a broken iphone 13 mini and semi-seriously looked into samsung and motorola phones for ~$100, $150, $200… what struck me as “amazing” was the low cost, but then it’s hard to measure a price for aspects like mandatory use of Google software at so many levels, which is in my view not trustworthy for my personal or financial data.
After that week i decided the daily cost to me of losing icloud for my yellow Notes app files, apple pay convenience, imessage sync across laptop-tablet-phone-watch, and other reasons too numerous to recall immediately…was worth $400 to just replace my same phone.

So yeah it’s a little sad to think i could have had a phone with more “features” for $100 or $150, but ultimately i try to think of it as $400 being half as much as most newer model iphones.

Allow me to clarify:

All the phones, except iPhone 7, which I recently replaced with an old Samsung are in use.
iPhone 13 doesn't accept Micro SIM, which is why I got an old phone that was like €30 therefore Android 11 is now the latest release I've used and I'm impressed with it and think Apple should implement some of the Android's features. Such as showing how much time I have left to sleep when setting my alarm clock, such as archiving messages. You know? Why can't I ask for such features? Been waiting for those since at least iOS 8, submitted feedback and forms to Apple every year, but nope. Can't just have those 2 features. I knew Android used to have those since Android 2 at least.

And you know what? The Samsung's features on Android 11 blew my mind. It's much better than App Library's "Hidden" apps or "Hidden" photos and you can't hide files, cant customise icons as you can on Samsung with Android 11. One of the locked and hidden folder on my Samsung has FM Radio icon and is called FM Radio and when you open it it'll ask for a pattern (you can also choose between different PIN codes etc) and such implementation is impressive.

I know people laugh at me here a lot, but I personally know a lady that went through an abusive relationship and it would've helped her a lot if iPhone had such features.

Why is it so people take it as an attack when someone's impressed with something and thinks that some other company but Apple did something well? Why can't we have such features on iOS?


And iPhone 14 is my main phone. My battery health is 98% and not so long ago it was 100% and. it has an original battery and I often keep it on low power mode, yet it still runs out faster than everybody elses phones when we travel somewhere, so I always carry 2 power banks with me. Even my mom's Samsung Galaxy A51's battery lasts longer than my iPhones battery and she constantly watches YouTube.

Not really sure why is it so offensive to everyone when I ask Apple to step up their game. For me iOS 15 was the last good iOS release. Now I even struggle with changing wallpapers, while on Samsung I can have Dynamic Wallpapers, which change every time I wake the phone up.

I use so many different phones and different SIM cards of my work as I'm often on duty + I've lived in different countries and still use my old phone numbers too. Every phone has a different SIM card (except iPhone 5s and 7) on that photo and each of the phone has different MFAs as well for work purposes. And one of the phones has my home country's SIM card, so I could easily access my bank, sign documents and vote etc and others are because I work in IT Support and provide support for many different companies and need my other phone numbers for different purposes such as signing in etc.

 

[DeepSix]

IOS doesn't compare to Android. IOS is like the hooked on phonics OS. If you don't want freedom and just want to show off that logo sitting at Starbucks then Apple is the way to go.

 

[aevan]

You could turn your Samsung phone into a computer?

Genuine question: do you actually need this or you just think it's cool?

 

[aevan]

IOS doesn't compare to Android. IOS is like the hooked on phonics OS. If you don't want freedom and just want to show off that logo sitting at Starbucks then Apple is the way to go.

Yes, that is why I buy Apple products. For the logo. Especially in Starbucks.

 

[ndouglas]

[deleted] replied to wrong post.

 

[ndouglas]

Allow me to clarify:
View attachment 2541908
All the phones, except iPhone 7, which I recently replaced with an old Samsung are in use.
iPhone 13 doesn't accept Micro SIM, which is why I got an old phone that was like €30 therefore Android 11 is now the latest release I've used and I'm impressed with it and think Apple should implement some of the Android's features. Such as showing how much time I have left to sleep when setting my alarm clock, such as archiving messages. You know? Why can't I ask for such features? Been waiting for those since at least iOS 8, submitted feedback and forms to Apple every year, but nope. Can't just have those 2 features. I knew Android used to have those since Android 2 at least.

And you know what? The Samsung's features on Android 11 blew my mind. It's much better than App Library's "Hidden" apps or "Hidden" photos and you can't hide files, cant customise icons as you can on Samsung with Android 11. One of the locked and hidden folder on my Samsung has FM Radio icon and is called FM Radio and when you open it it'll ask for a pattern (you can also choose between different PIN codes etc) and such implementation is impressive.

I know people laugh at me here a lot, but I personally know a lady that went through an abusive relationship and it would've helped her a lot if iPhone had such features.

Why is it so people take it as an attack when someone's impressed with something and thinks that some other company but Apple did something well? Why can't we have such features on iOS?


And iPhone 14 is my main phone. My battery health is 98% and not so long ago it was 100% and. it has an original battery and I often keep it on low power mode, yet it still runs out faster than everybody elses phones when we travel somewhere, so I always carry 2 power banks with me. Even my mom's Samsung Galaxy A51's battery lasts longer than my iPhones battery and she constantly watches YouTube.

Not really sure why is it so offensive to everyone when I ask Apple to step up their game. For me iOS 15 was the last good iOS release. Now I even struggle with changing wallpapers, while on Samsung I can have Dynamic Wallpapers, which change every time I wake the phone up.

I use so many different phones and different SIM cards of my work as I'm often on duty + I've lived in different countries and still use my old phone numbers too. Every phone has a different SIM card (except iPhone 5s and 7) on that photo and each of the phone has different MFAs as well for work purposes. And one of the phones has my home country's SIM card, so I could easily access my bank, sign documents and vote etc and others are because I work in IT Support and provide support for many different companies and need my other phone numbers for different purposes such as signing in etc.

Hi there, sorry to hear you perceive my comments (or others’? or both…) as taking offense, or as taking your posts as an attack, or saying no you “can’t ask for such features.” To clarify I am not doing any such things. I appreciate hearing others’ experiences and ideas. and I was and am just curious about 1-2 questions re: your day to day usage or reasons for having two (evidently lots more than two) phones. It sounds like for the work you do, you need a bunch of phones and SIM cards — cool. Nothing wrong with that. I wish you well in your endeavors.

And while I agree wanting features and not having them can be frustrating (for example, FM radio in phones) — I recall, too, George Carlin’s c.2008 observation, “everybody’s got a cell phone that makes them pancakes [and more]…”

— which keeps things in perspective for me, to stay grounded and appreciative to live in a time with such myriad conveniences.

 

[Ctrlos]

I’ve given Android years of chances. It gets a lot right but falls at the final hurdle. The wallet just isn’t as well integrated into the OS. GPay actually fails at least a third of the time on any phone I use it on and that’s been a lot in the last year. Software parity still isn’t even close with iOS having much better exclusive apps and games. The phones have to resort to hardware gimmicks in lieu of cohesive software.

The best comparison is the game Alto’s Odyssey. On iOS you pay $4 once up front and have to unlock all the elements through gameplay. On Android it’s $4 to get rid of the ads from a free download and you can then skip all the gameplay with optional IAPs.

 

[Lord of the Pies]

As it happens, I made the switch from iPhone to Android this week. Went all in on Samsung:

• S25 Ultra, 256GB, black
• Buds3 Pro
• Watch8 Classic
• SmartTags
• Accessories for Qi2 charging, additional watch straps, Dbrand Ghost case etc.

It was a daunting prospect, but my rationale was quite basic.

• Mostly, that it would just be nice to spend a cellphone cycle on Android and see what it's like.
• But also, AI on iPhone leaves much to be desired
• And I was not digging iOS 26 on my 14 Pro Max

Needed to make a call as my Series 7 Apple Watch was needing two charges a day and driving me nuts. So the question was commit to Apple, go Android or get something like a Garmin.

South Africa has limited Android options, hence Samsung. Pixels aren't sold here. OnePlus doesn't support SA etc. Also worth noting that no one really uses iMessage in SA.

---

It's only been a few days, but for anyone curious, this has been my experience so far:

• It was immediately obvious that Android has come a long, long way. Honestly, there's not that much separating the quality of each operating system. The S25 Ultra is super, super slick. You should choose a platform based on what your friends and family use, which ecosystem works best for you and whether you'd lose access to apps you care about. I only needed to replace Things 3 with any.do, which tbh seems to be better anyway.
• Samsung has ripped off Apple hard in many respects. The pairing and status animations for their gadgets are almost pixel-for-pixel identical to iPhone. Not complaining though - looks great.
• I don't know why reviewers say the Buds3 Pro are more or less equivalent to AirPods Pro 2. Imo, the audio quality of APP2 is easily superior, even after playing around with the Buds EQ. And the EQ can't do anything about the slight distortion and sibilance the Buds suffer. I was also under the impression from reviews that the mic would be some next level, uber noise cancelling, behemoth for calls and meetings, but meh, can't really tell a difference. It's an okay piece of hardware though.
• I prefer the design of Android apps compared to iOS. Sometimes it's subtle, sometimes less so. WhatsApp, Spotify, Facebook and the Google apps come to mind. Highly subjective, but imo Android apps look more modern.
• Here in South Africa, some local apps (shopping, banking) are noticeably better on Android. Makes sense. It's a poor population for the most part, which will overwhelmingly be using Android and therefore justifies increased investment on that side.
• I prefer the Watch8 Classic to my prior Apple Watches about 100 fold. Looks like a normal watch, I prefer the fitness tracking UI, hugely prefer the watch faces, better battery life etc. I got a bunch of positive comments at work the very first day I was wearing my new watch.
• Setting up Samsung Pay was a nothingburger. Works exactly like Apple Pay.
• Changing icons and font family is really cool. The level of customisation is quite something.
• I use the stylus a lot at work. Using the phone like a notepad with colleagues and in meetings feels respectful. Whereas I would rarely tap away on my phone to make a few notes otherwise.
• The AI image editing features are bonkers. Miles better than Content Aware in Photoshop or Inpainting in Affinity Photo.

So far so good. Not sure I'll be returning to iPhone in a hurry tbh.

 

[Bkdodger]

As it happens, I made the switch from iPhone to Android this week. Went all in on Samsung:

• S25 Ultra, 256GB, black
• Buds3 Pro
• Watch8 Classic
• SmartTags
• Accessories for Qi2 charging, additional watch straps, Dbrand Ghost case etc.

It was a daunting prospect, but my rationale was quite basic.

• Mostly, that it would just be nice to spend a cellphone cycle on Android and see what it's like.
• But also, AI on iPhone leaves much to be desired
• And I was not digging iOS 26 on my 14 Pro Max

Needed to make a call as my Series 7 Apple Watch was needing two charges a day and driving me nuts. So the question was commit to Apple, go Android or get something like a Garmin.

South Africa has limited Android options, hence Samsung. Pixels aren't sold here. OnePlus doesn't support SA etc. Also worth noting that no one really uses iMessage in SA.

---

It's only been a few days, but for anyone curious, this has been my experience so far:

• It was immediately obvious that Android has come a long, long way. Honestly, there's not that much separating the quality of each operating system. The S25 Ultra is super, super slick. You should choose a platform based on what your friends and family use, which ecosystem works best for you and whether you'd lose access to apps you care about. I only needed to replace Things 3 with any.do, which tbh seems to be better anyway.
• Samsung has ripped off Apple hard in many respects. The pairing and status animations for their gadgets are almost pixel-for-pixel identical to iPhone. Not complaining though - looks great.
• I don't know why reviewers say the Buds3 Pro are more or less equivalent to AirPods Pro 2. Imo, the audio quality of APP2 is easily superior, even after playing around with the Buds EQ. And the EQ can't do anything about the slight distortion and sibilance the Buds suffer. I was also under the impression from reviews that the mic would be some next level, uber noise cancelling, behemoth for calls and meetings, but meh, can't really tell a difference. It's an okay piece of hardware though.
• I prefer the design of Android apps compared to iOS. Sometimes it's subtle, sometimes less so. WhatsApp, Spotify, Facebook and the Google apps come to mind. Highly subjective, but imo Android apps look more modern.
• Here in South Africa, some local apps (shopping, banking) are noticeably better on Android. Makes sense. It's a poor population for the most part, which will overwhelmingly be using Android and therefore justifies increased investment on that side.
• I prefer the Watch8 Classic to my prior Apple Watches about 100 fold. Looks like a normal watch, I prefer the fitness tracking UI, hugely prefer the watch faces, better battery life etc. I got a bunch of positive comments at work the very first day I was wearing my new watch.
• Setting up Samsung Pay was a nothingburger. Works exactly like Apple Pay.
• Changing icons and font family is really cool. The level of customisation is quite something.
• I use the stylus a lot at work. Using the phone like a notepad with colleagues and in meetings feels respectful. Whereas I would rarely tap away on my phone to make a few notes otherwise.
• The AI image editing features are bonkers. Miles better than Content Aware in Photoshop or Inpainting in Affinity Photo.

So far so good. Not sure I'll be returning to iPhone in a hurry tbh.

Enjoy your new Samsung phone and the move over to the Android side. I think Samsung overall has so many good things about it with the OS small extras that really help make the experience excellent. I dual carry one iPhone and one Android phone and I always find myself using the Android side of things. I don't have any issues with my GPay or Samsung wallet. I enjoy Android Auto over Carplay. Agree I enjoy my AirPod Pros over my Buds3. I use AWU equally with the GWU or OnePlus Watch 3 they all have things that I prefer in each. It's great having choices

 

[Lord of the Pies]

Enjoy your new Samsung phone and the move over to the Android side. I think Samsung overall has so many good things about it with the OS small extras that really help make the experience excellent. I dual carry one iPhone and one Android phone and I always find myself using the Android side of things. I don't have any issues with my GPay or Samsung wallet. I enjoy Android Auto over Carplay. Agree I enjoy my AirPod Pros over my Buds3. I use AWU equally with the GWU or OnePlus Watch 3 they all have things that I prefer in each. It's great having choices

Thanks! And oh yeah, I forgot to mention Android Auto. In my Haval Jolion Pro, wireless Android Auto is quite a bit better than CarPlay. I use an adapter to convert wired-only CarPlay to wireless, and it was always really laggy with my steering wheel controls. Android Auto has no lag whatsoever in the same setup. Google Maps looks better, the way Maps + Spotify are shown together is more space efficient etc.

I mostly use my Sony XM6 for music now, so not too fussed about the AirPods Pro or Buds3 Pro for listening to music. Both are great for calls and meetings.

The Galaxy Watch8 Ultra looks really nice. I was torn initally between that and the Classic.

 

[Bkdodger]

Thanks! And oh yeah, I forgot to mention Android Auto. In my Haval Jolion Pro, wireless Android Auto is quite a bit better than CarPlay. I use an adapter to convert wired-only CarPlay to wireless, and it was always really laggy with my steering wheel controls. Android Auto has no lag whatsoever in the same setup. Google Maps looks better, the way Maps + Spotify are shown together is more space efficient etc.

I mostly use my Sony XM6 for music now, so not too fussed about the AirPods Pro or Buds3 Pro for listening to music. Both are great for calls and meetings.

The Galaxy Watch8 Ultra looks really nice. I was torn initally between that and the Classic.

I agree I enjoyed Google maps on Android Auto including the layout with other apps. I also like that on Android Auto I could run Waze on my car screen and another app on my phone while on the car mount which I'm not able to do with Carplay.