iPhone Loyalty Hits 96.4% as Android Users Four Times More Likely to Switch

[iGeek2019]

Except when I copy something on my iPhone and Paste does nothing on my Mac sitting right next to it. At home, connected to home wifi, everything on the latest OS, BlueTooth (as always) enabled, logged into the same iCloud account etc etc. But then I magically restart Mac or iPhone and Copy/Paste between them starts ‘magically’ working. Continuity, iCloud tabs, Copy/Paste, AirDrop and similar near-network tech has been very unreliable for years on Apple devices. I don’t know exactly what stack does it rely upon (probably a mixture of BT, Bonjour, IP, WiFi, god knows what else), but it’s just unreliable. I sometimes want to send pictures to my wife and she insists on iMessage because she unknowingly and instinctively associates AirDrop with problems and frustration.

I don’t use all of the Continuity features but I have noticed it’s slightly better with my iPhone 17 Pro and MacBook M4 Pro - whether it’s to do with the new networking chip on iPhone when it comes to AirDrop/Copy and Paste - who knows.

 

[Parowdy]

What kind of graphic is that? All showing iPhones…

 

[xalea]

Not me. Switched to a Samsung Flip 7, my first Android phone ever (since the 3G came out) and have loved it. Tons of compliments. It's quick, easy to use, wonderful cameras. It's a bit dense/heavy but the form factor can't be beat. If Apple would just make a vertical folding phone I might go back. I don't want some squat dumpy book form phone.

 

[xalea]

What kind of graphic is that? All showing iPhones…

AI slop, what else? Like the article itself, most likely.

 

[FatLouie]

Users of any device, whether Android or iOS driven, often live in their own bubble when it comes to their device. World Population Review, which usually seems pretty accurate, has something to say about this matter.

iPhone Market Share

Essentially, iPhone has market dominance in wealthy areas like North America, Japan, and Australia. For the remainder of the world, Android has the market.

 

[Dr McKay]

Fr fr android sucks

ye android is not bussin fr fr no cap on g bet.

6 7

 

[slippery-pete]

How about "Honest" or maybe "Realists"?

As for the adoption rate...I doubt that figure is entirely accurate. Most of those users woke up one morning to find 26 on their phones. Had they disabled automatic updates and waited to read how well or how poorly 26 was doing, I suspect the adoption rate would be much lower. Users tend to resent a well-known GUI to them, being suddenly messed up.

"Honest" or "Realists" 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Curious, if you don't like what Apple does/produces, why do you buy any of their products? You "Realists" complain about anything/everything Apple does and yet you continue to buy their products. You want to send a message to Apple? Do it with your wallet. If enough people did that maybe Apple would be forced to change.

Reality is, Apple isn't targeting the crazy fringe on this message board with their products. They target the masses who want easy to use devices and ecosystem. Because you don't like 26 doesn't mean the large majority find no issue with it.

Apple isn't perfect, but large majority of this board act like they have crappy products/services and are run by an incompetent moron. The old saying, some people are happiest when they have something to complain about. I couldn't imagine living my life that way...

 

[FatLouie]

I’m not into Chinese hardware if I can help it.

Consumers have little choice. The components could be manufactured in any number of countries, and the final product assembled in China, Vietnam, wherever. My Studio M4 Max was assembled in Vietnam, using components from a number of countries.

This reminds me of a time frame in the 70s, or maybe the 80s, when car manufacturers and advertisers were touting the 'made in America' mantra for automobiles. Then buyers discovered that most of the parts for that automobile came from overseas. It is still the same today.

SemiConduction MFG

 

[FatLouie]

"Honest" or "Realists" 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Curious, if you don't like what Apple does/produces, why do you buy any of there products? You "Realists" complain about anything/everything Apple does and yet you continue to buy their products. You want to send a message to Apple? Do it with your wallet. If enough people did that maybe Apple would be forced to change.

Reality is, Apple isn't targeting the crazy fringe on this message board with their products. They target the masses who want easy to use devices and ecosystem. Because you don't like 26 doesn't mean the large majority find no issue with it.

Apple isn't perfect, but large majority of this board act like they have crappy products/services and are run by an incompetent moron. The old saying, some people are happiest when they have something to complain about. I couldn't imagine living my life that way...

Looks like an awful lot of 'projecting' on your part.

 

[michsu]

I have the Samsung S25 Ultra and I've given some thought this week of going back to Iphone. I probably won't anytime soon, but one thing I did like with Apple is they have a release schedule for everyone and once you got the release, it didn't already feel like yesterday's news. Also, I still use the phone mainly as an Ipod listening to Podcasts and Apple Music and getting back into the Apple Ecosystem does have its advantages. Like I said, I've been thinking about it, but I'm in no rush to make a switch.

By the way the whole messages blue vs green bubble thing just sounds really elitist to me, like the cool kids vs the nerds back in middle and elementary school. I've never understand why people have those attitudes. Personally I wish the bubbles were customizable colors. Give me orange or white (With dark text) or really night blue.

Guess where the cool kids are now, while the nerds make a lot of money.. the cool kids are in debt and they are still cool with the blue bubbles, even as adults..

Comparing other things like bullet trains, robots and even some buildings and technology, Asia, especially China, is catching up and going past America easy now. If Huawei and other brands came to the US, a lot of people will switch from Apple and Samsung, including me..

 

[Nekronos]

It’s actually like saying 96.4% of surveyed iPhone users are going to stick with iPhone when they upgrade. It’s exactly like that.

In reality it's silly stat as this question is framed like this:

When you next upgrade your phone, what will you most likely do?​

-Stay​

-Switch​

If you were to switch from iphone, that means switching both brand and OS. If you were to answer that question coming from an android, the answer could mean I'm switching to a different brand, i.e. samsung to google but staying on android.

The usefulness of brand loyalty concept when Apple is the only brand within its platform is comical.

Also, android makes things easy to switch - it's far more open with better cross-compatibility which appeals to people who do not want to feel locked down and thereby are also more willing and interested in trying different things. The survey has hypotheticals that may never pan out - being asked if you were to switch, where would you go - such answers may be irrelevant if respondents don't actually switch.

If they were interested in properly conducting a survey to flesh out ecosystem or even brand preference, these questions would need to be framed better.

 

[pigeonguy]

I unloaded my iPhone 13 for a Pixel 10a, I know anecdotal. Love the Pixel 10a, great camera and I prefer Google's core apps.

Till it breaks lol.

Went through several Pixel phones which all died due to various hardware issues.

The issues are well known to the tech community as well. Pixels are notoriously unreliable.

 

[pigeonguy]

It’s not even about Messages. You know most of the people in the world don’t use iMessage at all.

Which is also a concern.

WhatsApp is owned by Meta. That's not great... at all....

 

[ArtOfWarfare]

17.4% said they were invested in the Apple ecosystem

This is evidence of a monopoly that needs to be broken. The fact I own one Apple product should not artificially compel me to buy more of them. Companies should be able to build viable competitors to the Apple Watch without also building a viable competitor to the iPhone. I'm not saying Apple needs to be particularly cooperative, but they shouldn't be outright hostile and making intentional design choices that exist solely to guarantee that only those two devices can work together and that customers can't use a competitors device in the same way instead.

 

[Nekronos]

Of the several friends I have with phones that have Liquid Glass, everyone hates it. None of them is on the 'boards'. They have better things to do.

Polls are seldom accurate or reflective of the true situation, just as with Apple fanbois.

I can attest to this, i haven't seen anyone say anything good about liquid glass and a few family members have been unhappy with the chagnes.

Surveys like this should be taken with a grain of salt, partly because the questions are just poorly framed but most importantly its just one company surveying people trading in devices through them. That leaves all the folks going through apple, google, samsung, bestbuy and every other store out there or people who don't trade-in and sell devices themselves, on ebay, keep or pass it to friends/family.

 

[FatLouie]

Guess where the cool kids are now, while the nerds make a lot of money.. the cool kids are in debt and they are still cool with the blue bubbles, even as adults..

Comparing other things like bullet trains, robots and even some buildings and technology, Asia, especially China, is catching up and going past America easy now. If Huawei and other brands came to the US, a lot of people will switch from Apple and Samsung, including me..

That is likely very true. I went to OPPO for my Android-based phone. Putting aside the Apple ecosystem argument, the OPPO is a superior phone in appearance, build, camera, etc. In the U.S., there is this hidden market of users who are buying Asian Android phones ( OPPO, OnePlus, Xiaomi) and using T-Mobile as their carrier. These are users who have left the Samsung and Apple worlds for their own reasons.

 

[teaneedz]

Liquid Glass is big nothing burger outside a minor but loud echo chamber. Most of the regular folks don’t care.

ohhh ok. it's a "nothing burger" that accumulates more complaints, breaks UX researched and data backed standards, results in decreased adoption rates -- and that's without starting to talk about macos.

 

[elvisimprsntr]

if you have green text bubbles. We can’t be friends.

Even with RCS support, Android users are still green with envy.

 

[CEmajr]

It's hard to go back to Hamburger Helper when you're used to Filet Mignon.

 

[slippery-pete]

As I stated, I work in a Carrier Store here in Canada, and I have had hundreds of people come in complain about "what's happened to my iPHone". They don't know about liquid glass, or updates etc, they know that they woke up and their phone looks completely different and things are moved from where they normally were in the settings menus etc.

And what about the hundreds of people who have come in and said nothing to you?

 

[Mrkevinfinnerty]

Fr fr android sucks

No 🧢

 

[Tig_one]

.

And what about the hundreds of people who have come in and said nothing to you?

Pete you are slipping bud.

 

[TechnoMonk]

And what about the hundreds of people who have come in and said nothing to you?

Thousands not hundreds.

 

[Jumpthesnark]

In reality it's silly stat as this question is framed like this:

When you next upgrade your phone, what will you most likely do?​

-Stay​

-Switch​

If you were to switch from iphone, that means switching both brand and OS. If you were to answer that question coming from an android, the answer could mean I'm switching to a different brand, i.e. samsung to google but staying on android.

The usefulness of brand loyalty concept when Apple is the only brand within its platform is comical.

Also, android makes things easy to switch - it's far more open with better cross-compatibility which appeals to people who do not want to feel locked down and thereby are also more willing and interested in trying different things. The survey has hypotheticals that may never pan out - being asked if you were to switch, where would you go - such answers may be irrelevant if respondents don't actually switch.

If they were interested in properly conducting a survey to flesh out ecosystem or even brand preference, these questions would need to be framed better.

The survey actually does ask several questions aside from the one you quote, including asking iPhone and Android owners "If you were to switch, what brand would you choose?"

They also asked "Why would you stay?" with vast majorities of iPhone and Android users saying it's because of brand preference. The question for Android users is brand agnostic, so it does account for people who might switch from Samsung to Google.

You note that you don't like the "hypotheticals that may never pan out." But that's sort of the entire point of the survey. Asking people what they think they would do in the future.

The survey isn't about knowing the future with certainty, it's about understanding how people feel about their current phone. So it doesn't matter if respondents "actually switch" in the future, it's about respondents' current thoughts about their phones.

They ask both platform and company when it comes to non-iPhone owners, asking the same question related to Android, Google and Samsung. All of those results show the majority will stick with the brand or platform they are currently on, but Apple's numbers are way ahead of other brands.

 

[TechnoMonk]

One thing that never changed going back 15-16 years is third party stores and carrier sales guys pushing Android for higher commissions. I had quite a few people burnt and they never go back to Android after the pixels started failing. I don’t trust these sales guys pimping androids.