After using a work android device, I’m continually frustrated by not being able to do the same simple tasks on iOS. iPhone hardware is truly excellent but the software is just so limiting. Anyone else on the verge of switching to android simply because their productivity on that OS is far better and less frustrating? Any hope that iOS 18 actually contains real improvements that make life easier for a power/business user?
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Anyone else becoming frustrated by lack of progress w/ iOS?
- Thread starter Hkfan45
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I think that real productivity is truly impossible on all smartphones. Productivity to me = a keyboard and mouse. I try to use my phone as little as possible.
I’m talking about the ability to set up complex automation and also simple tasks in android (upload videos from within the videos app) instead of iOS which makes you open YouTube to upload. Why can’t I upload videos directly to YouTube from Photos? WTF apple? Why can’t I automate when and where my multiple VPNs turn on and the conditions it turns on and off?
Also, androids new generative AI features in Android 14 are phenomenal along with magic eraser. Where is that apple?
The argument against those features used to be battery life but the android device I use gets the same battery life as my 13PM, even with all those features.
All the things you list I couldn’t care less about.
I suspect the only reason you can upload to Youtube directly from the Android photos app is because Google makes both Android and YouTube, so they built a way to do this easily from their OS.
If Apple had a video sharing platform like YouTube, I bet you'd be able to upload videos directly to it from the Photos app.
Apple for some reason allows uploads directly to Vimeo but not YT. Why?
You clearly are not a power user. I’d love apple hardware coupled with software that truly works with users to make their lives easier.
What do you mean by that? Is this option different from what you're asking for?
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Yeah, go ahead and try to set it to automatically connect based on a specific Wi-Fi network. You can’t. Something so simple in android yet limited in iOS. Dumb.
Well I think that just proves my point. Why would you upload to Youtube from your phone in the first place. All serious Youtube videos would need to be edited using a desktop app anyway.
Sure, iPhone has always been a few years behind Android when it comes to niche features. But when Apple introduces them, it does them rather well (with a few exceptions).
People with niche interests like yours always gravitate towards more open systems. Use Android then
At least NordVPN can white list specified WiFi Networks.
I do agree that I am missing some features from Android though.
Why can’t we change the damn flashlight and camera buttons on the lockscreen or hide them all together since we finally have Lock Screen widgets now
Why can we STILL not put the app icons anywhere on the screen or adjust their size. It’s almost like android has a patent on this or something? It’s been 17 iOS generations and still NOTHING.
Proper Picture in Picture on Max / Plus screens
A way to show, which photos have already been sorted into albums in the camera roll feed in the Photos app
Not really Android specific but Apple needs to take a look at WhatsApp and steal some of its features for iMessage, which go beyond some sticker / Memoji adjustments every year 😴
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Those are features a very small percentage of people would use regularly. The beauty of iOS is in it’s simplicity, clean UI and user friendly experience. Feature bloat is the antithesis of that. It sounds like Android is the OS for you
Personally I wouldn’t want Youtube integration or generative AI in photos 🤷🏼♀️ and the Youtube integration in Android is probably there because Google owns Youtube
I uploaded a youtube video directly from an older copy of iMovie a few days ago. So I agree it's likely a business decision, maybe Google was charging money for direct access to the youtube upload api.
You can do that, but it depends on the VPN software; it's not built into the OS. I use windscribe and it auto-connects when I'm on my work network, but no where else.
No idea about youtube as I don't use it on my phone. Can you not upload from the share sheet?
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I wonder if this is one of those "samsung bots" people keep talking about :|
I haven't had any issues like that for iOS. IPADOS ON THE OTHER HAND, HOOOOO BOY
This 7th gen iPad I have now is gonna be my last iPad. I am not buying another one after this. Any iPad stuff I've done I use my Macbook Pro now instead, and when the consumer model Apple Vision shows up I'm gonna get that and have that become my new iPad.
This 7th gen iPad I have now is gonna be my last iPad. I am not buying another one after this. Any iPad stuff I've done I use my Macbook Pro now instead, and when the consumer model Apple Vision shows up I'm gonna get that and have that become my new iPad.
But... but computers will be obsolete in a year! iPads are the new computer!!! /s
Anyways, this decision is totally understandable. They aren't for everyone, but somehow iPads line up with my lifestyle just right, which is a pretty niche set.
Apple has nothing to do with this; it's something the Vimeo app does.
Vimeo probably provides a target for video sharing in their app using the iOS API, while YouTube does not. I don't have the Vimeo app installed and there's no option for Vimeo when I go to share a video.
Nope. Every version of iOS since iPhone OS 2.0 has added useful new features and welcomed QoL changes.
I don't want big changes just for the sake of change, and there are still features I rely on as a heavy power user that still aren't available on competing platforms like Android.
I don't want big changes just for the sake of change, and there are still features I rely on as a heavy power user that still aren't available on competing platforms like Android.
I have a few little things that I wish I could do, like other automation triggers or whatever, but nothing anywhere close to being a deal-breaker for me. With the exception of one piece of software that only runs on macOS/Windows, I can do anything on my phone that I do on my laptop. There’s no must-haves left for me on iOS; everything that’s been added has just been icing on the cake for me for years.
Anyway. I want to actually contribute something, so: have you tried setting up a shortcut that checks for a list of known WiFi networks, and then connects or disconnects to VPNs based on what network you’re connecting to (or disconnecting from)?
I set up this shortcut for checking to see whether I’m on a known network, and then connecting to a VPN if it’s not one of those networks. Then you can set an automation that whenever the phone connects to WiFi, that shortcut runs. Might not be exactly what you’re looking for tho
Many popular YouTube videos can simply be done on iPhone, like Shorts.Well I think that just proves my point. Why would you upload to Youtube from your phone in the first place. All serious Youtube videos would need to be edited using a desktop app anyway.
Sure, iPhone has always been a few years behind Android when it comes to niche features. But when Apple introduces them, it does them rather well (with a few exceptions).
People with niche interests like yours always gravitate towards more open systems. Use Android then
This is Google’s problem, but Apple certainly put an influence on that.
Also switching to Android is not so black and white, which I’ve learned is not even worth suggesting.
iOS is not simple at all, those are incremental features you learned over the years.
Feature bloat is stickers, thumbs up confetti, subscription features, etc.
OP wants basic necessities, yet you have Safari profiles on top of tab groups, end to end encryption, security keys, Lock Screen and Home Screen widgets, long presses that behave differently, all the different camera modes and formats, yet you wanna argue simplicity. Things are already complicated.
iPad keeps changing its main mode of multitasking that is unfamiliar, yet we see Apple slowly going back to what’s tried and true.
A lot of conveniences that every user here uses stem from macOS.
