Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Interest in Switching to iPhone Drops Among Android Users Ahead of iPhone 13 Launch, Survey Shows
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Who is ‘we’? Unless you work for Apple, you are not part of ‘we’. As to answer your question, companies need new customers to sell their products. They cannot sit on their laurels to guarantee future success.
Not surprising. Aside from CSAM. Android has matured a great deal over the years. I'm sure many realize the difference isn't as big as it once was. Plus I'm sure most interested in switching have switched.
Not sure how many times it needs to be said by people. They (Google, Facebook, &c) are doing it Server Side only (as far as we know). The iPhone is doing it Client Side. That's the big issue for most.
The software exists on the iPhone which does the checking and reporting. While some grossly misunderstand how the software functions. Others do understand it and understand the potential of how it may be manipulated.
If Apple, say made it a part of the Photos app. Where you may uninstall the Photos app. Taking the scanner (plus database) with it. Many complaining would probably find that acceptable. As you could remove the software from your phone capable of doing the scanning. Thus removing the backdoor. Then replace it with a local only photo viewer, editor or whatever you want.
Not sure how many times it needs to be said by people. They (Google, Facebook, &c) are doing it Server Side only (as far as we know). The iPhone is doing it Client Side. That's the big issue for most.
The software exists on the iPhone which does the checking and reporting. While some grossly misunderstand how the software functions. Others do understand it and understand the potential of how it may be manipulated.
If Apple, say made it a part of the Photos app. Where you may uninstall the Photos app. Taking the scanner (plus database) with it. Many complaining would probably find that acceptable. As you could remove the software from your phone capable of doing the scanning. Thus removing the backdoor. Then replace it with a local only photo viewer, editor or whatever you want.
I usually upgrade my phone about every 3 years - I don't "have to have" the latest. After around 3 years there are usually enough improvements across the board to make it worthwhile. This year it was going to be the camera upgrades as I'm currently on an iPhone 8+ and would like the same screen size in a smaller package.
However, the lack of a fingerprint scanner kills it for me. In my part of the world we are still wearing masks ans probably will do so for a t least the next year. Also, I frequently unlock my phone while doing something else. Having to plant my face in front of it isn't a big deal but it all adds up (I occasionally open my phone and use Siri at night. Not sure how that would work without fingerprints - I hate typing passcodes these days).
I'm goingto pass this year and see if the underscreen reader is ready for next year. I'm not going to be stuck with a phone that doesn't work as well for me fro the next 3 years.
However, the lack of a fingerprint scanner kills it for me. In my part of the world we are still wearing masks ans probably will do so for a t least the next year. Also, I frequently unlock my phone while doing something else. Having to plant my face in front of it isn't a big deal but it all adds up (I occasionally open my phone and use Siri at night. Not sure how that would work without fingerprints - I hate typing passcodes these days).
I'm goingto pass this year and see if the underscreen reader is ready for next year. I'm not going to be stuck with a phone that doesn't work as well for me fro the next 3 years.
As it stands today, both operating systems are bad choices. There's no good choice available.
Pick either one - you still lose
Pick either one - you still lose
I'm still an iOS fan and I'll remain on the system, but I'll admit Android grew a lot in recent years.
Hope not.
I'm waiting the the 13 release to get a new 12 at a discounted price.
HAH!!!
I remember friends trying to convert me to Droid. Yeah, no... With all the CSAM flap, I wonder how many are reacting to that. *shrug* I'm still not converting to the Android side. I switched to Nextel once upon a time, and regretted it nearly every day. Yikes...
WOW indeed...
One client, the only way I could make a call out was to stand in the center of their parking lot. The office had to call them, and tell me to call back, and I stood there, like an idiot, calling the office. Their PTT service barely worked there too. They were the biggest client they had, and I spent months there. It got old really quickly.
I remember friends trying to convert me to Droid. Yeah, no... With all the CSAM flap, I wonder how many are reacting to that. *shrug* I'm still not converting to the Android side. I switched to Nextel once upon a time, and regretted it nearly every day. Yikes...
WOW indeed...
One client, the only way I could make a call out was to stand in the center of their parking lot. The office had to call them, and tell me to call back, and I stood there, like an idiot, calling the office. Their PTT service barely worked there too. They were the biggest client they had, and I spent months there. It got old really quickly.
Last edited:
I just did a quick Google search and found the number to be as high as 26% of respondents.
Either way, both sides constantly have a number of people who switch back and forth.
Me, I use both. My phone is Android--period.
Tablet I switch between Galaxy Tablets and iPad about equal but currently using iPad Air 4.
Laptop is Windows--no room for discussion.
Please post a link to the article stating iPhone is “hemorrhaging users to Android.”
Please post a link to the alternate study which shows this number is higher. Or are there other things you are imagining that you think you need to share?
But misery always loves company. (I hate people who are happy on a rainy day. 😆😎)
But it's all tribalism. You are 'in', 'of the Body', or not. Why humanity has to divide itself by irrational indications is stocking the world of people with advanced degrees just trying to figure out why, and people looking to literally cash in on that bizarre tendency.
Most people are hard to contain in a single box. It's what makes everyone we meet so exciting, and not. *shrug*
When I was on Android, I used Nextcloud to upload my photos to my own server (which I still use, and do with iOS). There are also other services that do encryption on device before upload as well.
And it looks like I'll be doing that again, or looking at the Libre phones. I don't see Apple backtracking this at this point, and I've a feeling it's only going to rapidly get worse.
While there is some misunderstanding on this point, many do understand this. It's the detection on the phone part that bothers many. Matthew Green said it well when he essentially said the technological advances here blur the lines of where the surveillance is allowed to happen. If I put my stuff on someone else's servers, then I'm ok with them scanning it. But I'm not necessarily ok with them using my physical device to accomplish the same.
And while yes, it potentially allows E2EE for iCloud photos, Apple has said nothing of the sort yet. And is E2EE that helpful if there's a way to have the information hashed/scanned anyway?
I'm playing devil's advocate a bit here, but that's the general rub...
You're not wrong in this, but what Apple is doing here is in a class on its own when it comes to privacy intrusion.
You seriously don't know of anyone who uses an Android phone that hasn't paid more than $150 for their phone? So you've never seen someone use a flagship device that runs Android? Even Honor phones cost more than $150.
"And they also happen to be hemorrhaging users to Android.."
That was definitely not the case last year where they picked up record number of new users switching from Android. It remains to be seen if CSAM will reverse that trend.
And misinformation worked great! Google scan photos with human interaction, Apple created a complex system based on mathematical hashes with multi DB from different organisations, all to guarantee privacy... and users now have fear to use Apple and will instead use Google services with much less privacy and actual photo scan.
Once more... this technology can be used to scan for all kinds of data on your phone. Once the door is open, you can't close it anymore. Now, Apple claims that they would never bow to any desires of any government, but can we be sure that will not change? And its also not clear how hashing of the pictures actually works and which pictures are in the central database. There have been already several articles about how you can provoke a false positive match and how people could become victims of manipulated pictures being sent to them which show a Christmas tree but let the alarm bell ring in Apple headquarters. The problem is that as a user you don't have any control over this.
AND... How do you make sure this technology isn't secretly scanning all of your pictures on your device and not only before sending one? Apple only has to flip the switch with an update and nobody would notice.
This kind of technology on (private) client devices is a big NO NO!
I could have imagined many reasons why Apple could lose me as a customer, but this one I actually didn't see coming... I am an Apple customer since the 90's. My whole work environment, the family, everything is dominated by Apple devices. Apple would lose not only the sales for one iPhone, but a a whole family and my business with all devices we are using for good. And I am pretty sure that I am not the only one. This will become really expensive for them...
Last edited:
Why do so many people think that's the problem for those of us that don't want any scanning on the phone?
Which will probably never happen. Governments wont like that.
I'm in a similar mode myself - trying to rethink how I interact with my phone, and how much of my life I entrust to it now. I think I'm going to wipe the entire device, and start from scratch, with no iCloud services switched on, and manual backups.
They've already shown us via China that our data isn't safe if the government dangles the marketshare carrot in front of Apple. The fundamental right to privacy doesn't exist in China, and now it's here. It's not about the current security, its the trajectory this sets us on.
I bought an android phone as a development test device (The new Pixel 5a 5g.) It is quite slick and in some regards I prefer it, but in most ways it just kind of feels like an iPhone imitator. Like everything is there, but just a little bit off. Things like the app switcher on iOS follows your finger, but on android it kind of just does its own thing. Also widgets on android kind of suck compared to iOS now, no developers seem to implement them or care what they actually look like. The pixel has no weather widget out of the box...Yeah you can customize everything, if you are willing to waste a lot of time on it. iOS + iOS widgets look great out of the box.
But the hardware itself is quite nice for $450. To me the screen is comparable to the iPhone 12 Pro, which is more than twice the price. Camera is good, thanks to google processing.
That said, if I had no phone today and wasn't deeply entangled into the Apple web (iMessage, iCloud Photos, App Store subscriptions, Apple Watch, Apple fitness, music, my job as an iOS dev
, etc.), I would most likely go android. The price difference is too great, and it would also mean a much easier time avoiding platform lock-in...
But the hardware itself is quite nice for $450. To me the screen is comparable to the iPhone 12 Pro, which is more than twice the price. Camera is good, thanks to google processing.
That said, if I had no phone today and wasn't deeply entangled into the Apple web (iMessage, iCloud Photos, App Store subscriptions, Apple Watch, Apple fitness, music, my job as an iOS dev
, etc.), I would most likely go android. The price difference is too great, and it would also mean a much easier time avoiding platform lock-in...Er, There are no "fact"s for future events -- unless you're a time traveler, that is, and even then, nobody will believe you.