MisterAlexEsq – I enjoyed reading, and I think the critiques are the sign of a thoughtful user. You could probably base a tech community podcast on that trait or something. ^ ^
The only criticism I didn't really "get" was the one about image processing – Apple spends enough time bragging about their image processing pipeline and dedicated ISP that they clearly put it plenty of effort and are proud of it. (You could chalk that up to marketing, but I think I consistently saw the passion in Phil Schiller's eyes.) Everyone has their preferences, and I'd have said was impressed with Google's advancements about five years ago, but I really couldn't pass a comparison test between a current flagship Pixel and a current flagship iPhone, so I'm at least wondering what constitutes the "gap" for you. (Meanwhile, my iPhone is a first-generation SE from 2016, and I think my photos look great, so what do I know?)
Volume control: I'd forgotten that thing about only being able to adjust media volume when media was playing. I always have "Settings > Sounds > Ringer And Alerts > Change With Buttons" turned off, so to me it feels like I'm always able to adjust "the device's volume," when in actuality my ringer volume is always set to 50%. (And I don't use phone service with my iPhone, and I don't think I have any audible notifications, so that's fully out of mind for me.)
Text: I know what you mean about the annoying pause. This is a little awkward on the iPhone, but you also have the system-wide cut/copy/paste gestures from the iPad: pinch three fingers to copy a selection, repeat the gesture to cut it, and reverse the gesture to paste. In addition, a three-finger tap often brings up a standard cut/copy/paste menu without a pause; this menu isn't the text-specific popover you get by tapping within a text field.
And of course, this is here for a reason:
https://www.apple.com/feedback/iphone/
