Other Leaving iPhone after 20 years

[throAU]

Ditching iOS and going to android because of software quality is certainly a move.

Not one I'd just as having any sense whatsoever, but good luck.

 

[flybub]

You hated the Apple Watch? I love mine so much I'm still using my Series 2! I've got it set up exactly how I want it.

Just a different user experience I guess. It's a great piece of tech for who it was made for, it just wasn't made for me.

 

[flybub]

Ditching iOS and going to android because of software quality is certainly a move.

Not one I'd just as having any sense whatsoever, but good luck.

I used Android for 17 years, besides a 6 month stint with the iPhone XR. I know all the ins and outs of the OS and things are more efficient on the Android side of the fence. I thought the 16 Pro would be the phone to get me to the Apple world and I actually didn't mind iOS 18 at all visually, but goodness, the amount of taps it takes to get something done is crazy. Once 26 came through, sh*t hit the fan and I despised using my phone everyday. Just the ugliness of the OS alone was enough to throw in the towel.

 

[flybub]

My data point. I like iOS 26. We have a 14PM, 15PM, IPP m1, IPP m5, HomePod, ATV, 2 AW Series 10 and MacBook Neo on iOS 26 and no issues. Family doesn’t have issues, business associates etc.

Everybody’s experience is different.

Agreed my friend. Experiences vary and what one would consider a flaw, is another persons simplicity. Individual volume controls on Android is a beautiful thing, to my coworkers it's just unneeded confusion and they don't want to deal with it. Different strokes.

 

[uacd]

I came to realization that phones will never be as cool as they were in 2012.

But maybe I am doing something wrong? I have 17 Pro, but for my tasks I would have been ok with 17e, a cheap iPhone version.

Chase price instead of chasing brands!
There are not so many good Android smartphones that will perform as good as 17e. That’s without mentioning that modern Android smartphones are a disgrace to their own legacy: these phones have no radios, no minijacks, no microSD card slots (which is a BIG deal), cheap models don’t even offer something as basic as wireless charging or NFC. I mean, iPhone has no radio or microSD either, but then the question is why pay same price for something that has same functionality but offers significantly worse user experience? Apple clearly wins here since they offer all-in-one device and competitors still playing “copy-paste” games and do not offer any interesting features that would make me even look at their devices.

It doesn’t matter how bad iOS 26 is, the phone itself is a good value product. Only single camera (which is ENOUGH for 95% of users), enough storage, good screen, good grip, all communications and even MagSafe now. Should have waited and grabbed that instead of 17 Pro.

I don’t want LiDAR or ultrawide camera. But let’s be honest: this phone is good only because of 4x/8x camera, though that isn’t as good as it was marketed. It will lose focus in low light and often makes blurry images.

As for cameras, all modern phones, no matter the brand, make ugly plastic HDR images. What is the point of having Samsung or Pixel instead of an iPhone? Photos would be nearly identical thanks to aggressive algorithmic photography.

Having said that, I would still grab an iPhone because it is what I got used to. There are no rivals in terms of using it for communication. FaceTime, iMessage, other apps work much better on iOS, despite general UI sluggishness that iOS 18 and 26 have brought. Though photo management is much better on Android devices, iOS Photos app is a joke.

P.S: upgrading to newer phone should not be done on yearly basis unless you are on a plan or have a very sweet discount for your older model. I’ve used my 11 Pro until I cracked screen, and if I fix it the phone will still work as before. Planning to do the same with 17 Pro and not interested in useless upgrades in the next 5-8 years from now, unless they make compact phone similar to old iPhones (5/5s/SE).

UPD: since there are many phones now with full 1 inch sensor (Vivo and Xiaomi models specifically) and lots of megapixels (Samsung) I want to address that too. And no, they are not winners. Camera is not just about the sensor size. It is about processing, color science and individual sensor designs. I’ve seen a few real examples of recent Xiaomi 17 Pro Ultra.

The guy who made the video said he shot it completely on this phone. What can I say? iPhone shoots same plastic-looking videos. Dunno about other people, I cannot see clear advantage of this 1’ sensor that would make me “shut up and take my money!”. I think that processing means much more these days than sensor size, with poor processing they can make even the best camera module look like a toy camera.

And oh, btw. If someone wants phone only to take photos and videos, GoPro Mission 1 will be available in stores starting May 28. And it would be 600$ for the cheapest version. Caveat? It can shoot REAL and pure 8K30 or 8K60 OPEN GATE (!) in Pro version (which is 700$ afaik). Or you can get the ILS version and slap a proper MFT lens on it, how cool is that? Can any smartphone match that? Google is playing their upscaling games and Samsung having limitations here and there

 

[Luftkopf]

I used Android for 17 years, besides a 6 month stint with the iPhone XR. I know all the ins and outs of the OS and things are more efficient on the Android side of the fence. I thought the 16 Pro would be the phone to get me to the Apple world and I actually didn't mind iOS 18 at all visually, but goodness, the amount of taps it takes to get something done is crazy. Once 26 came through, sh*t hit the fan and I despised using my phone everyday. Just the ugliness of the OS alone was enough to throw in the towel.

This makes sense to me as I’m the exact opposite. I’ve used iOS since v1.1, and every time I’ve used an Android it has been a super irritating experience. iOS just makes sense, and I enjoy iOS 26.

 

[MacInTO]

A foot out the door already for me. It's crazy that we're on .4 of iOS 26 and the OS still sucks. Bugs everywhere, laggy animations, apps crashing. I did factory reset but that didn't do any good. My 2014 MacBook is on it's last legs and I probably won't buy another one. I bought a Series 10 Apple Watch when I got my 16 Pro, but that lasted about 3 weeks. I hated the Apple Watch so I sold it. Never had an iPad and I use all google apps on my phone. The only thing left is waiting on the Pixel 11 to drop so I can punt this iPhone into the river 😂. When my Apple worshiping extended family starts complaining about problems that aren't getting fixed, sh*t is getting bad.

I agree about iOS 26. I had my iPhone on airplane mode (no wifi either) and the find my app drained the battery 20% in six hours last night. iOS 26 and the dual SIM functionality is one of the reasons I switched back to Android. iOS was turning off one of my lines as I crossed a border. Apple thinks that is what I want, but instead it turned off my primary phone line. Apple is out of touch in regards to how people use dual SIM phones. I've used two SIMs in a phone long before Applehad dual sim functionality.

I'm a life long Mac user but I won't buy another Mac because my older Macs (2012 mbp, 2012 mac mini, 2013 mac pro) work fine for my purposes. Plus I'm still using Mojave so I can't use a Mac newer than ~2018. I had an ipad pro for about a year but traded it for a Samsung Galaxy tab S7+. The iPad pro I had in 2018(?) had a worse screen than my Samsung Galaxy tab S10.5 from 2014!

I had an apple watch that was gifted to me but I didn't find any use for it so I gave it away. I did get a Xiaomi smart watch in 2018 just to try it out. It was gimmicky but still works to this day. I used it both with an Android and an iPhone. The battery life is insane as I can get 45 to 60 days on one charge! Most days I wear a regular analog wrist watch that only tells the time. And I don't have to charge it!

I switched back to Android as my main device a few weeks ago when I got the Xiaomi 17. It is the best phone I've ever used. I can unlock with a fingerprint, face or pattern - although my Samsung S9 from 2018 could do this also. The camera is amazing and I have been getting three days of use from one charge. I also like that it can accept two physical SIMs, two eSIMs or one of each.

I'm still an apple fan because of the loyalty most users have to Apple products because it results in good stock performance! 😍💰

 

[Sensamic]

It’s the basics like this that wouldn’t take them much to update, but they just refuse to bother. That, for me, is enough to leave. It’s negligence.

iOS fails in the basics, like:

- Stock keyboard.
- True multitasking in the background or with two apps open in split view.
- Back button or gesture all over the place.
- Assistance functionality, like Siri compared to Gemini.
- Not being able to truly active or deactivate WiFi and Bluetooth in the quick settings toggles.
- No gestures to pull down the notification panel (ALL Android phones have this by now, very useful with big phones).
- No quick settings toggle for auto-brightness. You have to go deep in the settings menu...
- Files still duplicate if you copy them from app to app.
- Finder/Files app is horrible.
- No full functionality integration with USB pendrives or hard drives.

 

[eyoungren]

iOS fails in the basics, like:

- Stock keyboard. Don't type much on my iPhone. I have many, many computers with nice keyboards.
- True multitasking in the background or with two apps open in split view. Don't use
- Back button or gesture all over the place. Don't seem to need that.
- Assistance functionality, like Siri compared to Gemini. Don't use.
- Not being able to truly active or deactivate WiFi and Bluetooth in the quick settings toggles. I'll give you this one.
- No gestures to pull down the notification panel (ALL Android phones have this by now, very useful with big phones). Huh? Swipe down from the top center.
- No quick settings toggle for auto-brightness. You have to go deep in the settings menu...Brightness control is in the Control Center.
- Files still duplicate if you copy them from app to app.I don't do that. I have computers.
- Finder/Files app is horrible. See my comment above this.
- No full functionality integration with USB pendrives or hard drives. Don't use.

My replies in red…

 

[Sensamic]

My replies in red…

Then you are the perfect user for iPhone, good for you.

You don't seem to need a SMARTphone. Maybe try a basic phone just for calls? We live in the smartphone era. Get with the times.

Also, dictation is terrible.

You seem to have not understood two of my points, which are very simple to understand.

Auto-brightness is fundamental. Manual brightness controls are definitely not the same.

 

[Ctrlos]

iOS fails in the basics, like:

- Stock keyboard.
- True multitasking in the background or with two apps open in split view.
- Back button or gesture all over the place.
- Assistance functionality, like Siri compared to Gemini.
- Not being able to truly active or deactivate WiFi and Bluetooth in the quick settings toggles.
- No gestures to pull down the notification panel (ALL Android phones have this by now, very useful with big phones).
- No quick settings toggle for auto-brightness. You have to go deep in the settings menu...
- Files still duplicate if you copy them from app to app.
- Finder/Files app is horrible.
- No full functionality integration with USB pendrives or hard drives.

My only riposte would be that Android Phones don’t automatically fix these issues by themselves. You need something like ZArchiver to get a half decent file browser. Neither OSes should have toggles or notifications at the top of the screen (there is a lot of unused space on the multitasking view).

The need for USB storage on a phone is highly subjective and importing photos from an SD card is a lot easier on iOS Photos because Google Photos can’t do it; you have to stick them in a device folder first so I suppose you need better USB support to begin with?

Multitasking on a slab phone of any size is a sub-par experience unless it folds. Swiping from app to app in full screen is a lot more intuitive.

The universal back gesture is something Apple should have stolen years ago.

App Parity is however still an issue. I’ve been around the Play Store for years and yet to find a layer based image editor that doesn’t need some horrible subscription or isn’t festooned with ads. On iOS I can grab a subject straight from a photo with a click and then drop it into Pixelmator fairly easily.

 

[eyoungren]

You don't seem to need a SMARTphone. Maybe try a basic phone just for calls? We live in the smartphone era. Get with the times.

Yes, I have had this suggestion in the past. Fortunately, I'm not the type who only gets what I need and has to justify it.

I buy what I want. And sometimes I have to wait for it. But if I only bought what I needed, not much of what I own would be anything I want.

Lastly, I know what era we're in. I have a smartphone. I just choose not to put my entire life on it.

 

[ghostanime2001]

You'll love android for sure especially now because they are making great improvements that ios missed and wilfully doesn't want to improve on

 

[Sensamic]

My only riposte would be that Android Phones don’t automatically fix these issues by themselves. You need something like ZArchiver to get a half decent file browser. Neither OSes should have toggles or notifications at the top of the screen (there is a lot of unused space on the multitasking view).

The need for USB storage on a phone is highly subjective and importing photos from an SD card is a lot easier on iOS Photos because Google Photos can’t do it; you have to stick them in a device folder first so I suppose you need better USB support to begin with?

Multitasking on a slab phone of any size is a sub-par experience unless it folds. Swiping from app to app in full screen is a lot more intuitive.

The universal back gesture is something Apple should have stolen years ago.

App Parity is however still an issue. I’ve been around the Play Store for years and yet to find a layer based image editor that doesn’t need some horrible subscription or isn’t festooned with ads. On iOS I can grab a subject straight from a photo with a click and then drop it into Pixelmator fairly easily.

No need for Zarchiver or Google Photos for any of the tasks you mentioned. I can do all that with stock Samsung Files app and Photos app.

Also, I can do layer editing with Samsung Photos app.

All stock apps. You wouldn't believe ALL the features Samsung has implemented in OneUI over the years. It's endless and all very convenient.

 

[Sensamic]

Yes, I have had this suggestion in the past. Fortunately, I'm not the type who only gets what I need and has to justify it.

I buy what I want. And sometimes I have to wait for it. But if I only bought what I needed, not much of what I own would be anything I want.

Lastly, I know what era we're in. I have a smartphone. I just choose not to put my entire life on it.

Who said anything about putting your entire life on the phone?

Maybe you haven't heard that phones are also work devices. People get work done with their phones, that's something we've been able to do since they became smartphones, again.

Would you want a phone that doesn't connect to the Internet? Maybe you don't need it, since all you do is pretty much basic.

Again, smartphones. We need them to evolve, not to stay dumb.

 

[eyoungren]

Who said anything about putting your entire life on the phone?

Maybe you haven't heard that phones are also work devices. People get work done with their phones, that's something we've been able to do since they became smartphones, again.

Would you want a phone that doesn't connect to the Internet? Maybe you don't need it, since all you do is pretty much basic.

Again, smartphones. We need them to evolve, not to stay dumb.

The iPhone, like any other smartphone, is a Jack of all Trades and Master of None. Its great for what it does and in some areas it excels. But, I prefer to use a tool that is appropriate to the task when I'm actually doing work.

And yes. I do use my iPhone 11 Pro Max when I am out of the house and I want to read Google News or reply on Reddit. I just don't use it to do work a computer can do better. And I don't need to.

 

[Sensamic]

The iPhone, like any other smartphone, is a Jack of all Trades and Master of None. Its great for what it does and in some areas it excels. But, I prefer to use a tool that is appropriate to the task when I'm actually doing work.

And yes. I do use my iPhone 11 Pro Max when I am out of the house and I want to read Google News or reply on Reddit. I just don't use it to do work a computer can do better. And I don't need to.

Yeah, but millions of people around the globe do rely on their smartphones to do actual work, thanks to them being able to connect to the internet, edit videos and pictures, use navigation apps, follow the stock market, do video calls, etc.

So, in all these cases, it's actual useful to have true multitasking, computer-like apps, etc.

 

[eyoungren]

Yeah, but millions of people around the globe do rely on their smartphones to do actual work, thanks to them being able to connect to the internet, edit videos and pictures, use navigation apps, follow the stock market, do video calls, etc.

So, in all these cases, it's actual useful to have true multitasking, computer-like apps, etc.

Sure.

But just because you see deficiencies in iOS based on how you use a phone, doesn't automatically make them deficiencies to others.

Or put another way. I'm not going to abandon iOS because YOU think Android is better, based on how YOU use a phone.

I'm not arguing that the stuff you mentioned isn't factual. I'm just arguing that because I don't use my phone the same way you do, I don't see that as a deficiency.

Some will agree with you and some will agree with me. It just depends on how others use their devices.

 

[ThunderSkunk]

I hear ya. The last iPhone I really liked using was the 6S. I wouldn't even say I was in love with it at the time, but everything after that has introduced faster chips and better displays, but at a cost of removing features, adding some substantial limitation or nagging pain in the butt during everyday usage. I am optimistic that the new CEO is a product guy, and has made comments about big changes in mind. Hopefully Cooks Ops era of austerity winds down a bit, and Apple spend some of its treasure chest on product instead of financials, reintroducing more useful features, and a size & shape that doesn't fit like a concrete block in your shorts or dress pants. Until that day, I'll just keep enjoying old iPhone 8s.

 

[ghostanime2001]

I hear ya. The last iPhone I really liked using was the 6S. I wouldn't even say I was in love with it at the time, but everything after that has introduced faster chips and better displays, but at a cost of removing features, adding some substantial limitation or nagging pain in the butt during everyday usage. I am optimistic that the new CEO is a product guy, and has made comments about big changes in mind. Hopefully Cooks Ops era of austerity winds down a bit, and Apple spend some of its treasure chest on product instead of financials, reintroducing more useful features, and a size & shape that doesn't fit like a concrete block in your shorts or dress pants. Until that day, I'll just keep enjoying old iPhone 8s.

I think they should develop the air into its own thing and get rid of the e series

 

[Luftkopf]

iOS fails in the basics, like:

- Stock keyboard.

I suspect the keyboard problems are tied to predictive text. I’ve had it tuned off since it was introduced to iOS, and I have no problems with my keyboard.

- True multitasking in the background or with two apps open in split view.

Wouldn’t complain if it were introduced, but don’t care either way. Goodness knows the phones can handle it.

- Back button or gesture all over the place.

No. Please no, keep that Android stuff in Android! Or at the very least let me disable it, I’m happy with how it works now.

- Assistance functionality, like Siri compared to Gemini.

These seem very popular amongst a certain subset. I will never understand why.

- Not being able to truly active or deactivate WiFi and Bluetooth in the quick settings toggles.

Fair.

- No gestures to pull down the notification panel (ALL Android phones have this by now, very useful with big phones).

Swipe down from the top doesn’t work for you?

- No quick settings toggle for auto-brightness. You have to go deep in the settings menu...

Or the control centre.

- Files still duplicate if you copy them from app to app.
- Finder/Files app is horrible.
- No full functionality integration with USB pendrives or hard drives.

Can’t comment, files does everything I’ve asked of it, but I’m not a demanding user in this aspect.

 

[valinda]

I’ve been back and forth with android and iOS. I’m a basic user. A lot of things I don’t know how to do, or really don’t need to do. Both have their pros and cons. I can use either or. I have been using my iPhone 17 pro max exclusively for awhile now. For me, the text messaging is so much better on the iPhone. My poor little Samsung Flip only gets used at home.
One thing annoying about iPhone though is Siri, she’s pretty useless. I couldn’t find my iPhone, and didn’t have my watch charged, so I asked Siri to call my phone. She couldn’t do it, but Alexa could 😅

 

[jerryjohnson]

One man's meat is another man's poison; besides, there's also aesthetic fatigue—homegrown flowers aren't as fragrant as wild ones.

 

[BigMcGuire]

Then you are the perfect user for iPhone, good for you.

You don't seem to need a SMARTphone. Maybe try a basic phone just for calls? We live in the smartphone era. Get with the times.

Also, dictation is terrible.

You seem to have not understood two of my points, which are very simple to understand.

Auto-brightness is fundamental. Manual brightness controls are definitely not the same.

As an Apple user (since 2011) - I see a lot of us older Apple users often revert to using our MacBooks as our means of communication. I get all my text messages on my Mac (SMS, RCS, iMessages, etc). I answer most of my calls from my Mac as well. I don't use my iPhone very much. As someone in their 40s - I notice others near my age or older do the same. Meanwhile, people half my age seem to live on their phone and use it for everything.

I can't stand the iPhone keyboard. It is horrific to type on. I'll use voice to text before typing on that monstrosity. And most of my day I'm on my Mac and I can text/type from my keyboard. Dictation works for me really well - it isn't perfect but it gets 95-98% of what I say. Chat GPT Whisper API is perfect - I can't wait for Apple to get something like that (I use Spokenly with my own API key).

Only time brightness bothers me is when I have the sun hitting the phone and it goes full brightness. Otherwise seems to work just fine.


Quick thoughts from a current 17 Pro Max holder:

Every iOS has had bugs. I didn't hate iOS 26 as much as everyone else did - what I did dislike was losing the usability of the top of the screen in a lot of my apps (including iMessage) - I like to read a screen full of text, no hovering bar at the top.

What bothers me is these damn phones are now approaching $2k. Maybe I'm not made of gold like everyone else but I think this will be the last Pro Max I buy - planning on keeping it for 4 years+ (kept my 15 Pro Max for 2 years). I upgrade my Mac every 5+ years. Guess I'll be doing the same with my phone.

 

[BigMcGuire]

I would love to buy a $600-$800 Android and start over. Problem is, most of my family is Apple so iMessage and FaceTime works really well with them. I have a large Apple Movie and Books collection over the years.

App quality on Android is nowhere near iOS, especially iPad OS in my humble opinion.

I don't like being the product sold. There's a cost to Android. If I went Android it would be ASOP or Nothing Phone or Fair Phone or something like that. I have Encrypted DNS, AdGuard Pro at the network level, and use Apple's Privacy Relay. Advanced Data Protection (ON) means a lot to me - I can't get to my iCloud data on a browser and I like that. I love having Verification Code Verified - Encrypted End to End iMessages with those I care about.

The unity between my Watch, Mac, iPad, and Phone is crazy good (calls, texts, data, etc). I don't think I could give that up. And I really like my Apple Watch. But I'm getting older and my bank account isn't going as far as it used to.