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.
Other Purpose of iPhone if You’re Not In the Ecosystem?
- Thread starter macher
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Not really. The ecosystem is a big part of it, for me, but there are plenty of other reasons to go for iPhone even if you'd embedded in a competing company's ecosystem as far as services go. I find that my iOS devices run Microsoft's apps better than any other devices, personally.
In addition to that, having the best camera, long battery life, more refined apps, and not having to give my information to Google to use the OS are the biggest reasons for me to choose iPhone, and why I'd do it again even if I didn't own any other Apple devices.
In addition to that, having the best camera, long battery life, more refined apps, and not having to give my information to Google to use the OS are the biggest reasons for me to choose iPhone, and why I'd do it again even if I didn't own any other Apple devices.
The Apple 'ecosystem' is largely an imaginary bubble for a lot of people. On a whim, I switched platforms a few years ago. I spent less than $20 to rebuy apps I had and most of the data was stored 'app side'. It's not like the old days where you were locked into a large amount of iTunes purchases that you 'lost' when you switched. Music was portable years ago and most people stream content now anyways.
Many people think if they switch platforms they will 'lose' a lot more than they do.
Many people think if they switch platforms they will 'lose' a lot more than they do.
The iphone is a good phone without any other Apple accessories or having any other in your circle with an iphone. Because it's an excellent smartphone on it's own, is a reason you may want to purchase it, if it's your first phone or are on android and are looking to switch.
I don't use their "ecosystem" at all. I use an iPhone because I'm too lazy to change and having a phone controlled by Google just seems wrong in about 10 million ways. I'm definitely not a fan of Apple and grudgingly use an iPhone cuz to me it's the better of two evils
If you're not interested in any "ecosytem," there's no point in buying a flagship smartphone at all. One would save a lot of money purchasing a prepaid no-contract TracFone from any retailer, or an AT&T Go Phone, or something like a Verizon prepaid Moto E5.
The last one, the Moto E5, is a great little prepaid phone for under $70, as it gives you access to Verizon network, 4G LTE w/ preinstalled nanoSIM, 16GB storage, 8.0 MP camera. Great burner phone for backup, or to give to one's kids.
That sounds like you were never really deeply invested to begin with. I have hundreds of dollars spent on apps, like being able to share them with my iPad, have an Apple Watch and AirPods, and enjoy the iCloud and airdrop integration with my iMac. Then there are the ios-only apps and services like Apple Arcade.
I could switch, but it feels like it would be more effort than it is worth. Basically, the benefits which android is much touted for are not the benefits that interest me as a user.
Best hardware, great software. Supports apps from many platforms and developers.
It's easy to understand why many people's first foray into Apple products is iPhone.
It's easy to understand why many people's first foray into Apple products is iPhone.
• To make phone calls
• To send emails when away from a computer
• To text someone
• To do light web browsing if out somewhere away from a computer
Why would I choose an iPhone for that when I could pick up any old crap phone and get the same result? Because I *generally* like the look and finished feeling of iOS. I jailbreak to fix what I don't like.
But I was never able to be a part of the Apple ecosystem to begin with. Apple killed support for PowerPC Macs, which I use, a long time ago.
People hate on Google, so far two in this thread, but Google has allowed me to stay relevant by *mostly* supporting the devices I use.
I’m mostly in the Google ecosystem except for iCloud photos and iCloud contacts. Other than that I prefer the Google platform. People hate Google because of the non privacy but IMO I think that’s what makes Google better in a lot of instances. I don’t mind Google knowing my search habits and I like it when Google suggests this or that based on my habits.
Best hardware, best after sales support, best App Store (apps aren’t full of adverts or spyware), best resale value, longest support of software updates etc.
I’ve got many family members who have switched to iPhones because in their own words “they just work all the time”.
I’ve got many family members who have switched to iPhones because in their own words “they just work all the time”.
If you don't mind or actually prefer Google's tracking then look into a nice Android phone. You can't go wrong with Samsung
I'm curious. One of the most stated reasons for current jailbreaking is to install a system-wide adblocker to remove in-app ads.
You aren't saying that the App store is free of ad supported apps are you? Because I know that to not be true.
As to resale value…are you meaning for most people? This one I ask because resale value is no criteria for me. I don't resell my devices, I just keep them until they die. Right not my old iPhone 5 is on it's fourth replacement.
Sure, the ecosystem is an advantage of iPhone. But it is still a smartphone by itself, so we can look at its points as a smartphone. (Disclaimer, I use both iOS and Android).
- Mail. I still find iOS default mail app to be superior than many other iterations of mail app. And it is compatible with enterprise features like Office 365 business and GSuite. I only use one default mail app in iOS, while on Android, I have several email apps (Gmail, outlook, etc) as they all lacks certain things or others.
- GPS and compass. With my various use of Android phones, I personally find the GPS on iPhones to be more accurate, and hardly ever need any calibration. On Android, even my flagship Huawei P30 GPS and compass are not as reliable as my iPhone.
- Encryption and security. iPhones are more secure by design. Looking from enterprise perspective, administering iPhones is a lot easier than Android. Worse, some Android skins don't even support encryption and thus not compatible with things like GSuite.
- Easy backup and restore. I can backup my iPhone, change to a new iPhone, restore, and it's like I never left the phone. On Android, it's very confusing and inconsistent amongst all brands. Even Google doesn't backup everything. It's definitely a lot more hassle. Samsung, Huawei, all are trying to do their version, but then there's the trust issue. Do you trust them with the whole content of your phone?
- Support and international warranty (where applicable). This makes the price premium of iPhones worth every penny. No Android OEMs can even match this. I have had my Verizon (US) iPhone 5 serviced in Japan, and my Japanese 6S serviced in Singapore and Australia. No questions asked. This may not matter for some, but it is for me.
- Still support all of Google's ecosystem. Even if you're a Google only user, the iPhone still has all the Google apps. And syncing contacts, calendar, etc from Google is not an issue at all. I know because I use Google for my contacts and calendar instead of iCloud.
- Having iMessage for your iPhone friends. I personally don't have anyone on iMessage (everybody's on whatsapp), but this can be a social dealbreaker if your friends are on iMessage and you're the only one who's not.
- Zero adware/carrier bloatware. Just like Windows, Android phones carriers a ton of unneeded baggage. Samsung has Microsoft apps pre-installed, taking up space. The Chinese phones like Huawei and Xiaomi have their own bloatware and duplicate app store, games, and other data collecting apps that you need to uninstall/disable. Then you have to deal with the carrier bloatware if you're in the US, or the local bloatware (some countries forced Android OEMs to pre-install some local bloatwares). Out of the box, it's just not a great experience. With iPhone, all I need to care is what Apple put in it.
Of course, Android phones their their own advantages, and I can make a list that is as long as the one here. But that's for another thread. iPhone is still a great phone even for someone not having any other Apple devices.
Sure.
- Dual/twin apps for messaging apps (on some OEMs, although not on stock Android). This is a great feature on dual SIM phones.
- Dual profile (on some OEMs). It's like having two virtual phones in one phone, each with its own home screen and set of apps.
- Variety of phones. Want a great $100 phone? Want to pay $1000 for a phone? Want one without notch? Want one with 4 cameras? 8GB RAM? SD slot? Rainbow color? etc etc. For any configuration you can think of, there's probably an Android phone for it. And the cheap ones are getting better and better.
- Depending on where you live, some local/government apps are only available on Android simply due to its vast marketshare.
- Customizable home screen and themes (for some OEMs). You can literally theme up your phone to your heart's content on some OEMs, compete with different icon packs.
- New phones being released very often, especially if you're in countries where the Chinese phones exist (Xiaomi, Realme, Oppo). If you're a collector, or someone who just want to change phones often, going Android allows you to do just that. Thus most youtubers love Android. But I find restoring old phone data to a new phone to be annoying and time consuming on Android, especially if you switch brands.
- Complete independence of a PC/Mac. Android has its own safe/recovery partition for recovery mode, and you can initiate this without connecting the phone to a Mac/PC. iPhones, unfortunately, still needs a mac/PC for recovery mode.
So it all depends on what you're looking for in a phone.
It's just a device -- as long as it does what you need/want and you like it (for whatever reason) that's really what matters.
I would go as far as saying most iPhone users run Windows on their main personal computer. iPhone is just a great phone to the point where there are only one or two true competitors in the market.
I used to get Nike shoes back in 1983. I was 12 or 13. Nobody at school was showing up in full Nike gear, which would been a tracksuit back then. No one at school was even aware of such a thing.
You mean not owning a mac or anything? I have a PC and yet, I still own an iPhone.
What do you mean by ecosystem? I use my iPhone, have some apps, and I'm happy with what it does
Pretty much this, it's a phone, a camera, an internet access tool, a multi-media source of entertainment, and so on, and oh yeah, I also use a PC, and I still manage to accomplish what I intend to do. Go figure...
I guess it goes back to how long you've been in the "ecosystem". For me, when I got my first iPhone (a 4S), even though I had a MBP at the time, I still synced/managed it through my gaming rig/PC - none of the more modern conveniences (syncing iMessages/texting from macOS, iCloud Password keychain etc etc) were around yet.
If you had an iPhone, were satisfied at how it performed doing what you wanted and were able to live with all that, life was good - you didn't give any (or didn't give much) thought to any of the things it couldn't/didn't yet do (and the associated "ecosystem" Apple came to develop with successive software iterations)
If you had an iPhone, were satisfied at how it performed doing what you wanted and were able to live with all that, life was good - you didn't give any (or didn't give much) thought to any of the things it couldn't/didn't yet do (and the associated "ecosystem" Apple came to develop with successive software iterations)
Yeah, back when I came in (late 2011) iMessage and Facetime were the majors. iCloud was mainly backup and for allowing transfer of contacts and such. One of the biggest things that turned me off to the 'ecosystem' at that time was finding out that iCloud was only one way unless you had another iDevice.
At the time, contacts you had in Entourage couldn't be pushed to Address Book and from there get pushed to the iPhone to end up in the contacts list on the device. I had to find alternative methods.
So it comes down to how much you were willing to buy into the 'ecosystem' as Apple created it. By this point I've got way too many alternatives that i use and have used for years to care very much about Apple's 'ecosystem'.