Are you going to run out and get a Samsung S9?

Closingracer

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I guess it's more of a personal choice. One thing about stock android is that there are no extra apps. I tried ASUS Zenfone 5 for a couple of months, then the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 for about 6 months. My problem with these phones was the cluttered interface.
There were too many apps, it felt like too much "in your face". And with no option to remove them, I was forced to keep the apps, which just adds to the phone operating slow in the long run.
With stock android, almost everything is customizable and only a handful of default apps. At this point I have about 35 apps (20 default) on my phone.
And the home page is a plain wallpaper without the Menu, Apps, Google Search, or the Top Notification bar. It was not possible on my old phone. But then again, personal choice.

You can disable them. I disabled chrome and used edge . Honestly wish I could do it on my iPhone but I’ll love with safari
 

mogelijk

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I actually find stock Android bland and boring . Prefer Samsung and always have . LG nexus 5 was the only nexus phone I liked

Think of stock Android like a blank canvas -- you can then add the 3rd party apps, such as the various launchers, to get it just they way you want.
 

Closingracer

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Think of stock Android like a blank canvas -- you can then add the 3rd party apps, such as the various launchers, to get it just they way you want.

And it’s bland. I rather have Samsung touchwiz ui. Honestly it’s always going to be an iPhone or a note device for me
 

Closingracer

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Even if we disable them, the apps are still there. I was looking for more permanent solution.
I also use Edge (synced with laptop) and Duckduckgo (when I am feeling paranoid about privacy) along with Chrome on my phone.
As for doing it on an iPhone, maybe somebody else can help you out. I personally don't understand the allure of the iPhone, hence sticking with Android.

You want to know the allure of the iPhone for me ? I prefer Android through and through . I loved my Galaxy note 8 . 8 months in and the phone is just as new with no Samsung lag as all call it . The phone is easily one of the best Android phones out there and for good reason. It’s a beast and love the camera which has a better portrait effect IMHO then the iphones (overall I prefer how you can adjust the effect after) .



Anyways my note 8 could barely last a full day on a charge. It would last around 5-7 hours before it runs out and that’s with me not doing much with the phone . At the end of the day I require a phone to last most of not all the day and the iPhone has always done it for me . It’s fluidity between my MacBook and phone also helps . I enjoy a more stable battery which is why i have an iPhone and tbh probably always will . Just got tired of micromanaging my battery and I’ve noticed I’ve upgrade almost yearly to 6 months between android phones where I’ve kept my iOS devices longer ( iPhone 4,6 plus , 7, X)
 

mogelijk

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Even if we disable them, the apps are still there. I was looking for more permanent solution.
I also use Edge (synced with laptop) and Duckduckgo (when I am feeling paranoid about privacy) along with Chrome on my phone.
As for doing it on an iPhone, maybe somebody else can help you out. I personally don't understand the allure of the iPhone, hence sticking with Android.

1) Security -- While you can secure Android it is harder and, because apps can share info, if someone "hacks" your phone they can get almost all your information. While Apple's "walled garden" can be inconvenient, it helps make it secure. Even if you install an app with spyware, the information it can get is limited. On top of this, the iPhone tends to be much more stable than Android phones -- though Samsung and Google have made advances and iOS 11 has had alot of issues (compared to previous iOS versions).

2) Updates -- Apple does by far the best job of keeping phones up to date, as well as providing frequent updates. While you can get something similar for the Pixel, it is till limited to 3 years (up from 2) on the Pixel 2, compared to 5+ years for most Apple phones (the iPhone 5s was released in 2013 and will be getting iOS 12 this fall).

3) Battery life -- while Android has improved, it still depends on huge batteries (which makes the phone larger) to get battery life similar to Apple.

4) Ecosystem -- Apple devices tend to work very well together, in a way Android doesn't. The few places Android does allow this (such as through Chrome or Hangouts), it works just as well on Apple devices.

5) Apple Watch -- it is just better, by far, than Android watches, to this point. I say that as someone whose first smart watch was a Moto 360. I'll be interested to see what Google might release this fall, the rumors of the Pixel Watch sound interesting.

6) Accessories -- It seems like everyone makes cases and other accessories for Apple phones. You find far fewer (though still a lot) for the Samsung flagships, and not much (comparatively) for other Android phones.

Those are what I can think of as the "allure" of the iPhone, off the top of my head. Android has advantages, as well but, at least for now, not enough for me to switch back on my primary phone.
 

Almeuit

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1) Security -- While you can secure Android it is harder and, because apps can share info, if someone "hacks" your phone they can get almost all your information. While Apple's "walled garden" can be inconvenient, it helps make it secure. Even if you install an app with spyware, the information it can get is limited. On top of this, the iPhone tends to be much more stable than Android phones -- though Samsung and Google have made advances and iOS 11 has had alot of issues (compared to previous iOS versions).

2) Updates -- Apple does by far the best job of keeping phones up to date, as well as providing frequent updates. While you can get something similar for the Pixel, it is till limited to 3 years (up from 2) on the Pixel 2, compared to 5+ years for most Apple phones (the iPhone 5s was released in 2013 and will be getting iOS 12 this fall).

3) Battery life -- while Android has improved, it still depends on huge batteries (which makes the phone larger) to get battery life similar to Apple.

4) Ecosystem -- Apple devices tend to work very well together, in a way Android doesn't. The few places Android does allow this (such as through Chrome or Hangouts), it works just as well on Apple devices.

5) Apple Watch -- it is just better, by far, than Android watches, to this point. I say that as someone whose first smart watch was a Moto 360. I'll be interested to see what Google might release this fall, the rumors of the Pixel Watch sound interesting.

6) Accessories -- It seems like everyone makes cases and other accessories for Apple phones. You find far fewer (though still a lot) for the Samsung flagships, and not much (comparatively) for other Android phones.

Those are what I can think of as the "allure" of the iPhone, off the top of my head. Android has advantages, as well but, at least for now, not enough for me to switch back on my primary phone.

Agreed. #1 is pretty much while I will always be iPhone or Pixel.

#2 is also why.. I won't ever keep a phone over 3 years so the time limit thing isn't an issue. Hell I have trouble even keeping one for a year.

No joke #5 makes me want to get an iPhone. My gf is getting a cellular Series 3 tomorrow... and I would LOVE to share stats with each other and "compete" in a friendly way (plus it would be good for us both).
 

mogelijk

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I would agree with you on most of the points here.

Security: If apps can share info, that should also apply to apps on apple devices. Now, I am not sure how that system works, but my methods of security are pretty much guaranteed to give results. (Using the phone only when necessary.) I'd rather do stuff on a bigger screen hence the preference of a laptop which is a different issue for a different time.

Updates: Devices today last about 3 years anyway, unless its an old school Nokia. Either the plastic breaks, or the phones start lagging, or manufacturers slow down your devices citing illogical reasons. So since you are going to be updating your device anyway, updates is out of question.

Battery Life: Mine lasts about 2-3 days so I think I am all set here. Since you say apple devices last longer, you would be one of the few people who have said so to me. It's been a running joke about how apple devices can't last a full day. I am yet to see great battery on an apple personally. I have not seen the performance of the 7, 7+, 8, 8+ and X. So, don't know how those perform.

Ecosystem: This is in fact a great point in favor of Apple, if only the devices were a little bit affordable. To fully benefit from the apple ecosystem, you'd better have the Phone, Watch and the Mac. And getting involved in the ecosystem feels like binding yourself to it. As most of the stuff is incompatible with everything non Apple.

Apple Watch: This is an area where other manufacturers definitely have a lot to work on. The current solutions are just not good. But again, if you look at the lifetime of these devices, they don't usually last more than 3-4 years. But I ended up getting one anyway.

Accessories: Apple built itself as the device for the elite and it helped in their growth. Its also the fact that, if people spend $1000 on a phone, they will easily spend $50-100 on an accessory. But if the phone is $200 you feel hesitant to spend the same amount on the same accessory. That's why accessories for high priced phones are easily available. Check out any third party accessory manufacturer, let's say Noreve (I have bought from them in the past). They offer a very wide range, but it's the premium devices that are marketed as "best sellers." Because these are the ones that sell. Just because we don't see a lot of accessories for other devices, it does not mean they don't exist. From a marketing point of view, it makes more sense to promote the product that sells.

As I have said earlier, it's more of a personal choice to go for an Apple device or not.
As I see it, there are some pluses and a whole lot of negatives. For somebody else, the positives might outweigh the negatives, and they can definitely choose to go for it. But that is not going to be me.

Security: Apps on Apple are not allowed to share information. You can cut and paste, and you can also allow the app to see some system info (such as GPS data, health data, etc.) -- though you must give those permissions. But, as a good example, I use a password manager and on Android it can Autofill my username and password into apps; on Apple I have to manually cut and paste it because of the "walled garden" Apple forces apps to run in. It is less convenient but it is more secure.

Updates: And the fact we are both here tends to show we are not "average" users. Many people are no using phones three years are longer -- looking at one site, it shows at least 20% of users are using an iPhone 6 or older. Particularly as carriers have gotten rid of "free" upgrades, people are less willing to buy new phones -- particularly as new phones aren't really adding a lot of new "must have" features. This is doubly true with people who don't like gestures, so don't want to upgrade to the iPhone X (or the ones that will release this fall) or to Android P.

Battery Live I will have to admit, on the "normal" sized 6/7/8 the battery life is not outstanding -- the have a small battery and power users will not get a full day from the battery. OTOH, the Plus sized iPhones have been quite good. In my case, with the iPhone X it works quite well -- particularly over periods where I don't use it heavily (Apple standby time is incredible). But, to give an example, my iPhone X is currently at 73% charge after 27 hr and 10 minutes in Standby with 3 hr and 30 minutes of usage. So it has lasted more than a day already, and it will be another day before I even think of charging it. By contrast, my Galaxy S9+, with similar usage, is needing to be charged daily (was charged yesterday and I put it on the charger with 53% battery today.

Accessories Sorry, I can't completely agree with your theory that it is just because it is an expensive phone. One example, why were few accessories made for the Essential phone -- it was a flagship priced at $800 at release; and is definitely a premium phone with it's Titanium and Ceramic construction -- yet almost no accessories are available for it. The Pixel is another great example; Google's flagship and priced accordingly, yet almost no accessories. But even to use the Galaxy S9+, as an example, I still can find a lot more (likely over twice as many) accessories for my iPhone X as for my Galaxy S9+; and I am looking. To give one example, Burkley cases has three pages of accessories for the iPhone X, it has two pages for all their Samsung (all phones, not just one device) accessories. Looking at Ringke (just at random, hadn't looked previously) they have 16 items listed for the iPhone X, ten for the Galaxy S9+. And this is consistent with my experience -- the mainstream case makers, while they will offer cases for most popular phones, still offer more for Apple devices. And their are smaller companies that tend to offer far more Apple, or even only Apple, accessories, than they will the Android manufacturers combined.

I fully agree it is personal choice and I don't see there being a "right" or "wrong" answer, it all depends on what the person is wanting from their phone. I absolutely love things about both but my daily driver, at least for now, remains an iPhone. Though, at some point (perhaps when there is a worthy Android watch) I may switch to an Android phone, such as the Pixel.
 

msm0511

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I used to like the S-Pen but that was years ago. Now the Note line has lost its draw for me since the S-Pen isn't that useful.

I am kind of over Samsung devices since I use all Google stuff so the Samsung "add-ons" are redundant to me. Plus they are really awful at security updates.

I'm not a huge Samsung fan, but one thing I'll give them is some of their duplicate apps are much better than Google's alternatives. Samsung's browser blows Chrome out of the water in speed, especially since you can use an ad blocker. I can't tell you how much I hate Chrome on mobile. I prefer Samsung's mail app as well, but that's because I use my iCloud address as my main email. I like their Camera app better, their Photos app more than Google Photos, and honestly until carriers start supporting RCS I like Samsung's messaging app better.

It's funny how much I like Android as a whole, but dislike almost every Google app.
 

msm0511

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Agreed. No joke [URL=https://forums.imore.com/usertag.php?do=list&action=hash&hash=5]#5 makes me want to get an iPhone. My gf is getting a cellular Series 3 tomorrow... and I would LOVE to share stats with each other and "compete" in a friendly way (plus it would be good for us both).


I've said many times that if Google could figure smartwatches out it'd be a tough decision on which platform to use as a daily driver. My  Watch keeps me on iOS more than my iPhone it feels like sometimes.
 

Wildo6882

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I've said many times that if Google could figure smartwatches out it'd be a tough decision on which platform to use as a daily driver. My  Watch keeps me on iOS more than my iPhone it feels like sometimes.

The main thing that keeps me on iOS and with Apple is the ecosystem. Watch, phone, tablet, TV. If Google actually had the whole ecosystem made by them, supported by them, etc., I’d probably be with Android. Sure they have all of those things, but it’s haphazard. You have Google for phone, then different companies for all of the other devices.
 

Closingracer

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1) Security -- While you can secure Android it is harder and, because apps can share info, if someone "hacks" your phone they can get almost all your information. While Apple's "walled garden" can be inconvenient, it helps make it secure. Even if you install an app with spyware, the information it can get is limited. On top of this, the iPhone tends to be much more stable than Android phones -- though Samsung and Google have made advances and iOS 11 has had alot of issues (compared to previous iOS versions).

2) Updates -- Apple does by far the best job of keeping phones up to date, as well as providing frequent updates. While you can get something similar for the Pixel, it is till limited to 3 years (up from 2) on the Pixel 2, compared to 5+ years for most Apple phones (the iPhone 5s was released in 2013 and will be getting iOS 12 this fall).

3) Battery life -- while Android has improved, it still depends on huge batteries (which makes the phone larger) to get battery life similar to Apple.

4) Ecosystem -- Apple devices tend to work very well together, in a way Android doesn't. The few places Android does allow this (such as through Chrome or Hangouts), it works just as well on Apple devices.

5) Apple Watch -- it is just better, by far, than Android watches, to this point. I say that as someone whose first smart watch was a Moto 360. I'll be interested to see what Google might release this fall, the rumors of the Pixel Watch sound interesting.

6) Accessories -- It seems like everyone makes cases and other accessories for Apple phones. You find far fewer (though still a lot) for the Samsung flagships, and not much (comparatively) for other Android phones.

Those are what I can think of as the "allure" of the iPhone, off the top of my head. Android has advantages, as well but, at least for now, not enough for me to switch back on my primary phone.



1) it’s fine when you run with your common sense


2) past 3 years who cares . I’m not going to be using an iPhone 6 in 5 years let alone an Android device


3)that’s why I went back to an iPhone


4) why I prefer using apple since I have a MacBook


5) I thought this but tbh I use watches for notifications and I actually prefer the look of my Fossil explorer watch over the square look tho the Watch OS is better


6) with Samsung phones accessories is practically on par.
 

msm0511

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The main thing that keeps me on iOS and with Apple is the ecosystem. Watch, phone, tablet, TV. If Google actually had the whole ecosystem made by them, supported by them, etc., I’d probably be with Android. Sure they have all of those things, but it’s haphazard. You have Google for phone, then different companies for all of the other devices.

Yeah, I have a MBP  TV, Apple Watch, and iPhone X. They work so well together. Another issue I have is the ecosystem when it comes to Android. I don't really use anything Google except an old gmail acct, sometimes search, and YouTube. Being that I'm not much of a fan of any Google services or hardware it's a wonder I even tried Android in the first place.
 

Closingracer

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I have never used the Note 8 or the iPhone, so can't say from personal experience. But a colleague has his Note 8 on the wireless charger almost half the day. So would definitely agree with you on the battery issues. And another colleague has the iPhone SE, which he does not charge in the office. So my guess is either he charges it every morning to 100% or the phone's battery is genuinely good. (My bet is on the former).
Personally, I use a Motorola as my primary device. Not the best, but I tend to use the phone as a phone and not as an accessory for every part of my day. I take about 10 pics a month, at most, so don't need a great camera. An okay one will do it for me.
The battery life on it is great. It often lasts me 2-3 days on a full charge. I don't use social media through apps on the phone. I would rather use my laptop browser. (windows 10 also has options for social media apps).
As for the fluidity, Windows 10 is making strides in that direction. It's not perfect, but, given enough time, it will get there. (I use the Microsoft launcher on my phone).

As I read it back, I realize, it's the lifestyle and more of a personal choice, to stick with what I have and not go for an Apple. :)

While I do have a MacBook Pro and use it my phone is my computer that I do everything on these days.
 

msm0511

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While I do have a MacBook Pro and use it my phone is my computer that I do everything on these days.

I definitely use my phone more than my MBP because it's always with me and more portable. There are a few things I just can't do enjoyably on my phone though. Forums is one. I've yet to have a good experience using forums on a phone, whether it be iOS or Android. I've used both browsers and apps, but I find it cumbersome to use the smaller display. Replying to quoted posts is one thing, but to browse random threads is another story. The format is plain better on a larger screen.
 

Closingracer

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I definitely use my phone more than my MBP because it's always with me and more portable. There are a few things I just can't do enjoyably on my phone though. Forums is one. I've yet to have a good experience using forums on a phone, whether it be iOS or Android. I've used both browsers and apps, but I find it cumbersome to use the smaller display. Replying to quoted posts is one thing, but to browse random threads is another story. The format is plain better on a larger screen.

Eh I love Tapatalk IMHO. Has all the forums in one place
 

msm0511

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Eh I love Tapatalk IMHO. Has all the forums in one place

I have and use Tapatalk for quick replies, but exploring and reading long threads is still a pain for me. I feel like I need to be able to see more than a small mobile display can offer. Of course, that's just my opinion. I'm not discounting yours. I know people who rarely if ever use anything other than their phones for anything.
 

LCW

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Came very close to getting an S9 today. But I didn't. I think the impulse is over... maybe... ;)

At least WWDC is around the corner. iOS12 beta could be refreshing enough to smash any notion of "cheating"...
 

Mr Segundus

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I took the SIM out of my X and put in it my S9+ about a week ago. I'm kinda furious that my X's battery is down to 97% capacity only after owning it for 3 months. A battery should never degrade that quickly. Samsung's battery's degrade only 5% after two years!

If Apple doesn't figure out the battery technology in this year's iPhone, I won't be getting one. I can't imagine how terrible the battery capacity will be after a year of use if they don't change it.
 

msm0511

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I took the SIM out of my X and put in it my S9+ about a week ago. I'm kinda furious that my X's battery is down to 97% capacity only after owning it for 3 months. A battery should never degrade that quickly. Samsung's battery's degrade only 5% after two years!

If Apple doesn't figure out the battery technology in this year's iPhone, I won't be getting one. I can't imagine how terrible the battery capacity will be after a year of use if they don't change it.

I got my X on launch day, and it's still at 100% capacity after 7 months.
 

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