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2017 - A year leaving the Apple walled garden
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I also came back. It was mainly due to Samsung dropping the ball with security updates once again.
So I spent 1k on the Pixelbook, 850 on the Pixel 2XL, 100 on a pair of USB C headphones, yet I’m back to using the iPhone X.
We both have problems.
I keep trying to leave but I can't do it. Tried the Pixel 2 twice and it just doesn't wow me. I'm starting to think I like the walled in garden. Now I just have to decide the best way to acquire all of my new Apple gear.
I've been out of it since I stopped working for Apple - coming up on a year.
Got hooked on the Surface Pro 4, Surface Book and waiting for the 15inch Surface Book 2. That replaced the iPad Pro - Apple pencil, MacBook Air and my tired Mac Mini.
Got a OnePlus 3 that's served me really well. Waiting on the next offering from OnePlus - as long as they keep the headphone port. That replaced my dead iPhone 5 (loved that phone).
Still using Apple music - family package. Not a fan of it though.
Spent so long waiting for a 4k Apple TV that I gave up watching TV.
The transition was pretty painless and I've not missed it at all. Saying that, I keep hanging around to see if Apple DO release something that could tempt me to step back into the garden.
Got hooked on the Surface Pro 4, Surface Book and waiting for the 15inch Surface Book 2. That replaced the iPad Pro - Apple pencil, MacBook Air and my tired Mac Mini.
Got a OnePlus 3 that's served me really well. Waiting on the next offering from OnePlus - as long as they keep the headphone port. That replaced my dead iPhone 5 (loved that phone).
Still using Apple music - family package. Not a fan of it though.
Spent so long waiting for a 4k Apple TV that I gave up watching TV.
The transition was pretty painless and I've not missed it at all. Saying that, I keep hanging around to see if Apple DO release something that could tempt me to step back into the garden.
The best thing I’ve learned is that family is really thankful when I give them high end tech for birthday and Christmas. Also, I’m buying all my gear from the sources.
Haha. Mine goes up on Swappa. So now I'm trying to decide if I max out my Apple Store card or hunt it all down on Swappa.
I love apple walled garden. But my love for iPhone is dead. I've always used android and ios as mobile devices at the same time. Always. At the moment, I'm using two android phones. No iPhone anymore. Tried iPX, hated the face id, hated latest iOS. Decided to drop Apple phones all together. No regrets I'm afraid.
Only thing that I do miss is Mac OS and iOS integration. And that's about it.
Only thing that I do miss is Mac OS and iOS integration. And that's about it.
I like my iPhone 8 Plus hardware. I love the LCD display. It’s perfection as far as I’m concerned for ordinary usage. (I still value hi dpi OLED for VR). But the software is giving me fits lately. First my Touch ID stopped working out of the clear blue so I had to register my prints again...this happens to me on my Samsung phones, too, but so far not on my Pixel 2. When I had the X, Face ID got wonky, too, out of the blue for a few days. I’m convinced it’s a software thing and not the hardware, otherwise the hardware wouldn’t work so great most other times.
I’ve not been able to update my Watch OS software for a week. It hangs my iPhone up in limbo and I end up having to reboot. I have had apps freeze on me. There’s been all kinds of little strangeness here and there I can’t even note them all down. I would totally scrap it all and start fresh but I don’t want to lose my iMessages. Are those in the cloud yet?
I was thinking back to the phone I loved the best in recent years and it was the IPhone SE on iOS 9. Then iOS 10 came out and it was too much for such a simple little phone. It was when 10 got on it that I put it aside and went onto my HTC 10.
I like the features of iOS 11 but the stability is awful. I’m so glad they’re going to take this year to get it sorted. If they do, then I’ll be happy with iOS and iPhones again. But right now, with the way things are, I’m not putting any more money into the ecosystem. I’d wanted a HomePod, but having just read the potential repair costs and seeing all the problems for a multi-user environment have put me off.
I got my husband an Apple TV 4K for Christmas and it’s just awful. There are so many glitches and we have to reboot almost every time we use it. Like once close captionining got stuck on and we had to reboot to take it off. Sound would not play randomly for no apparent reason. The remote is a nightmare. It’s pretty, but twitchy and makes inputting things impossible to get right the first try. Siri looks for some names phonetically instead of being pre-programmed to recognize famous names. I don’t watch tv except on rare occasions with the family. I’m glad for that, because I think I’d go nuts trying to use this new Apple TV. If I really want to watch something I will watch it on my phones or iPad.
iPhone SE 2 is the only thing that could make me buy a iPhone again. If it ever comes out, it will probably lack Face ID, and that is a huge plus in my book. But only if they can fix their software. Funny, since software is the best thing Apple had when compared to competition. Not anymore. They are falling behind. Rapidly.
I also detest latest MBP redesign due to gimmicky touch bar. Switched to Lenovo until Apple comes to their senses. But had to use a MBP for my project for two weeks. And after a few days, Touch ID stopped working. When I went to preferences to set it up again, I couldn't. Mac OS didn't allow it for some strange reason. After a reboot everything worked again (after I set Touch ID again).
Funny thing is, I hate windows because of reboots. Now Mac OS is heading in the same direction
I’ve heard a lot of bad things about the Touch bar. I haven’t seen it in action in person. My husband and I have older MacBooks. Mine is non-retina from 2011 or 2012 and still on Snow Leopard, though I was actually using Windows on it a lot. The demands of raising a family and caring for aging parents took me away from the things I needed real computers for. But I find myself missing what I used to do with photo editing, in particular. I’m starting to take stock of real computers again...tentatively. What I am used to doing can not be done efficiently in iOS.iPhone SE 2 is the only thing that could make me buy a iPhone again. If it ever comes out, it will probably lack Face ID, and that is a huge plus in my book. But only if they can fix their software. Funny, since software is the best thing Apple had when compared to competition. Not anymore. They are falling behind. Rapidly.
I also detest latest MBP redesign due to gimmicky touch bar. Switched to Lenovo until Apple comes to their senses. But had to use a MBP for my project for two weeks. And after a few days, Touch ID stopped working. When I went to preferences to set it up again, I couldn't. Mac OS didn't allow it for some strange reason. After a reboot everything worked again (after I set Touch ID again).
Funny thing is, I hate windows because of reboots. Now Mac OS is heading in the same direction
Apple let so much slide while they were preoccupied with something else. I don’t know if it was building out that campus or trying to beat Tesla Motors or...what. They had Siri first before there was an Alexa. I’m not sure when exactly Cortana was created but Siri was the one everyone knew. There is no excuse for her to be as poor as she is even with the privacy concerns. They gave the excuse that the limitation was with the microphones but I’ve tested the same damn mic using Google Assistant and the phone hears me fine.
They also let Android manufacturers beat them to providing good first rate stereo audio recording capability on a smart phone. Now Google camera software is kicking iPhone camera software every which way. It’s getting to be a morbid pastime watching and wondering how much more ground Apple is going to cede to competitors while raising their prices ever higher.
I still think Apple’s got something special in what they do. The materials and design of the Apple Watch is so much nicer to wear than all the offerings I have tried from the competition. iMessage has so many advantages. Their fit and finish did used to beat everything else around. But I’m not sure how that’s going these days, either.
I do think Apple can and will turn it around, but I am afraid what they’re going to charge for it all!
That microphone excuse was such weapons-grade BS. I can’t really blame the microphone when I can see on the phone screen that it has transcribed what I said flawlessly, but Siri still fails to do anything useful with it.
Well, I really doubt Apple Watch can help Apple. At least in a big financial way. I have yet to see Apple Watch in a wild. Only places I have seen it are UK and Germany. Italy, Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia, Hungary... 0 AW seen. And I'm in a tech industry, so...
iMessage might be popular in the US. But in the EU, not so much. Almost everyone I know uses whats app, or viber. WA being the more popular solution. Android is dominating the EU so no surprises there.
As a primarily .NET developer, I've switched to OS X in 2008. I believe. And I still enjoy Mac OS very much. Still way better then Windows. And I used to love and admire Apple very much. Lately, things have changed. Mac OS while still the best computer OS for me isn't as great as it used to be. Not even near the golden SL days.
iOS lacks a lot of basic functions, but even the stability of the iOS isn't what it used to be.
I have lost a lot of faith in Apple, and I really doubt they can turn things around. Why would they? No matter what they do, they sell a lot of their products. iOS is a milking cow, and Apple will milk it for as long as they can. When the profit plummets, then we can expect some radical changes. Until then? I highly doubt it.
But when those changes come, I'm afraid it will be too little, and too late. But I do hope that I am wrong.
Nothing wrong with trying something new. My wife and I were dedicated iPhone users since the early days of the iPhone in Canada (started with the 3GS) and have owned, between the two of us, seven or so different iPhones in the last eight years. After so long I just got tired of iOS being the same all the time. Same menus, same icons, little to no customization... iOS won't even let you do simple things like put icons wherever you want them on the home screen without snapping them into a forced top-to-bottom, left-to-right pattern.
A little over a month ago I switched to a Samsung Galaxy S7 (new) and so far I'm LOVING it. So many new tweaks to play with, the OLED screen is gorgeous to look at (perfect size for me and 16:9 ratio, I hate 18:9), wireless charging is an unexpected new favourite feature (that I didn't have to buy the newest $1000 iPhone to get - same goes for the OLED), and it's just an overall breath of fresh air after years of stale iOS. The first thing I did was install Nova and completely redesign my home screen, amazed by the number of options you have. Custom icons for any app I want, expandable by countless icon packs, freedom over the layout, even the design and color of little things like the app tray icon, page indicator, everything. Downloaded Textra messenger for texting and was able to change the background color to make my own dark mode, custom bubble shape and colors for individual conversations, emoji style, etc.
I could basically make the UI that I look at every day, my own. And when I get tired of that look I can reskin everything all over again whenever I want. I really appreciate that freedom you get with android.
A little over a month ago I switched to a Samsung Galaxy S7 (new) and so far I'm LOVING it. So many new tweaks to play with, the OLED screen is gorgeous to look at (perfect size for me and 16:9 ratio, I hate 18:9), wireless charging is an unexpected new favourite feature (that I didn't have to buy the newest $1000 iPhone to get - same goes for the OLED), and it's just an overall breath of fresh air after years of stale iOS. The first thing I did was install Nova and completely redesign my home screen, amazed by the number of options you have. Custom icons for any app I want, expandable by countless icon packs, freedom over the layout, even the design and color of little things like the app tray icon, page indicator, everything. Downloaded Textra messenger for texting and was able to change the background color to make my own dark mode, custom bubble shape and colors for individual conversations, emoji style, etc.
I could basically make the UI that I look at every day, my own. And when I get tired of that look I can reskin everything all over again whenever I want. I really appreciate that freedom you get with android.
I'm using Exchange to sync my calendar, contacts, email etc. for business.
I use Gmail for personal email and not much else.
I use Google Photos to sync my photos, and also Amazon Drive to backup/sync my huge non-phone photo library of RAW files.
I use OneDrive to sync both business and personal files across my devices... two Microsoft accounts for business and personal.
I use OneNote for note taking across Note 8 and Surface Pro.
I hear this a lot, but never heard of anyone having their Samsung device hacked due to a security update being late. I think this overblown.
Don't understand all this walled garden stuff. I currently own:
- iPhone X
- Pixel 2 XL
- Macbook Pro
- iPad Pro 9.7
- AirPods
- Pixel Buds
- HomePod
Are you serious? You have never run into a situation where Apple stuff only talks to other Apple Stuff?
Try using Waze or Google Maps in your car with CarPlay.
Try using an Android phone to stream to your Apple TV.
Try using anything other than an Apple product to do anything with your HomePod.
Try messaging an iOS device from Android.
Try streaming Spotify on your Apple Watch.
Try any continuity features between Apple and some other device.
The point is that if you stay all Apple, life is grand, albeit a bit boring in some cases. If you try to mix other things, not so much.
My initial move was motivated by the desire to carry one device that served as a tablet for note taking with a pen, and also be my full function work / home computer. Apple does not make such a product. So if I was going to go outside the garden, then I was going to deal with this friction.
If it doesn't bother you, that's great. But don't pretend its not a thing.
I switched back and forth for years before settling on iPhones AW Apple TV iMac and one powerful Windows gaming system.
I just can't get past the the fact that my entire family is on Apple and we share Apple Music and live the imessage infrastructure. We don't like siri and her competitors and regularly turn it off.
I still occasionally try Android phones for my secondary cell but I think I'm just too used to using the simplistic Apple interface.
BTW, were's the Homepod section of Macrumors?
I just can't get past the the fact that my entire family is on Apple and we share Apple Music and live the imessage infrastructure. We don't like siri and her competitors and regularly turn it off.
I still occasionally try Android phones for my secondary cell but I think I'm just too used to using the simplistic Apple interface.
BTW, were's the Homepod section of Macrumors?
It's not a thing. I use multiple devices and different platforms without issue. What you're complaining about is Apple not allowing some of its baked in features/products to work with other features and products on non-Apple devices. That's fairly normal business practice (why in the world should Apple make continuity features available for Windows machines, in example?) And if you love using these baked in features, you're not in a walled garden, you're using the platform that works best for you.
BTW, I message Android devices constantly from my iPhone. No idea what you're talking about here unless you mean iMessage, which, again, is just whining about a specific Apple feature that's advertised as a plus for Apple not being given to other OEM's for use.
Please feel free to list all the phones Samsung Pay is available on? How come OP Dash Charging doesn't work with non OP devices?
One interesting bit of tech history is Siri was created and slated to be released for all 3 of main mobile OSes at the time... Android, iOS, and Blackberry. However, Apple bought out that company and decided to make it their own. I was shocked to hear years ago that Siri was inferior to Google's version, and later on, Alexa. I figured Apple acquiring that company would've been the ticket for them to get a jump start in that arena and come out on top. I guess their main intent was to buy them out to deny Siri on other platforms. AFAIK, it would've been too little, too late for Blackberry OS, but Google managed pull through regardless.
The funniest thing is that Apple has done more in the last couple years with Siri than the years prior.
You again? Shocking. Even the most avid Apple fans understand the concept of the "walled garden". I've never heard of anyone seriously touting interoperability being a strength of Apple. If you want to ignore it, then that's your choice. You will likely find this thread frustrating.
Thought I would update, after playing around with different routers, I’ve currently settl d in a Draytek VDSL modem and Google WiFi, I friggin love Google’s app! How the further of home WiFi should be!
And I’ve recently decided to go with Apple Music, I’ve tried Amazon Music and Spotify, but Apple Music is the only one I can control with my Fords Sync system, and the service has really impressed, it sounds great too! Spotify also sounded great, Amazon music not so good.
And I’ve recently decided to go with Apple Music, I’ve tried Amazon Music and Spotify, but Apple Music is the only one I can control with my Fords Sync system, and the service has really impressed, it sounds great too! Spotify also sounded great, Amazon music not so good.
Yes! I received one as well and I can't believe how buggy it's been. I thought maybe I had a bum unit. Guess not. My regular ATV4 was flawless.
[doublepost=1518480638][/doublepost]I experienced a new gotcha with using Google cal;
If you send a Google generated invite to an iOS user (who is using iCloud only) - the invites do not automatically show up in the iOS/MacOS calendar inbox (add attachments in email is enabled). Every other invite (like Exchange or iCloud) always showed in iCal or Calendar inbox. You have to manually click on the .ics attachment in the email to get it to show in Calendar. Easy for me to manage but not so easy for a tech adverse family member and would be enough to get them to stop/complain about a transition away from 100% Apple. In reading around the web, they both blame each other for the problem.
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