Actually the outright prices seem to be about the same between Australia and the US. In fact, sometimes I have seen it cheaper.
The iPhones hold their value the best here, which is typical with many Apple products.
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.
iOS 7 is really making it difficult to switch to a different OS now
- Thread starter saintforlife
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Actually the outright prices seem to be about the same between Australia and the US. In fact, sometimes I have seen it cheaper.
The iPhones hold their value the best here, which is typical with many Apple products.
The one BIG problem with Iphone ecosystem is that it is proprietary to that platform. In many places Iphone has become the "minority". Many of my friends/relatives are now using Android. The so-called Apple ecosystem has become USELESS in sharing/social networking.
For a while now, the trend is to move to platform independent cloud services. Apple-type eco-system is so archaic and should go the way of the dinosaur.
I just mean more expensive in the fact you cannot subsidize and then resell the phone for practically the outright cost.
So you can't share through dropbox, facebook, twitter, flickr or tumblr on your iPhone?
Maybe mine's special.....
I get your post though. That was kind of my point. For me, the fact that my friends and family all use iPhones makes it incredibly easy to pop up 800 photos on photo stream and share them instantly with 10 people. Obviously this is worthless on my HTC One.
I will say Apple isn't the only one to do this. Samsung's S-Beam/"bump" thing is proprietary to Samsung devices as well. Really its a marketing thing - they want you to buy their stuff so you make your friends and family buy their stuff - or vice versa.
See how its working on you? Your friends have Android, so you get Android.
And I definitely highly disagree with your last sentence - you may not see the benefit - but for someone with an iMac, iPad and iPhone, the ecosystem is unreal. Syncing, sharing all happening in the background or with very little effort from me. It's all pre-setup and easy to use. I also know where everything is and where to share things versus thinking "which service should I use to send this photo album?". In no way is Apple's ecosystem archaic - and like I said, there are plenty of other sharing options on an iPhone and more coming with iOS 7 (AirDrop looks fantastic - albeit proprietary like S-Beam).
It just as "incredibly easy" with Google+/Facebook/Dropbox/Box/G-drive on Android/PC as well and you are not restricted to photo only. And anyone on any platforms (incl. iOS) can be part. The only reason you use lower function photostream is because Apple platform purposely restricts the capability of the other software.
But the BIG difference is the non-proprietary options are also available in Samsung. You know when I press "Share" in Android you can choose which methods are used.
I still have friends that use Iphone. They are not alienated from us using Android. But if those friends using Iphone insist on using proprietary iOS stuff then they are alienating themselves from the rest. Apple is the one that is polarising people which is very bad.
All my PCs/tablets/phones are mostly pre-setup to sync easily with Google without need to tied to one specific hardware platform. Apple eco-system is archaic because it is platform specific (not because other factors).
Being that this thread is about iOS 7, I'd be remiss if I didn't include the fact that iOS 7 has opened up the share sheet quite a bit and APIs are available for devs to add their apps for sharing.
Photo stream can share videos now and its not "lower functionality", its built into the photo app so its simply more convenient. I don't use it because Apple restricts other options. If I wanted to share to someone not using an iPhone I'd share through my dropbox (which has every photo I've taken on my iPhone on it) or through any number of social networking sites.
Perhaps I don't feel this sting like others because I don't use some of the lesser known, more obscure apps for sharing. Truth is, photo stream works for people who have iOS devices, dropbox works for everyone else.
Best thing about photo stream is I can share instantly with anyone I want and add photos on the go like its just another album in my phone. I'm sorry you don't like Apple - but to say that we're somehow "limited" is pretty hilarious given I've been able to share with anyone I've needed to - though now the last two members of my family who had Androids have gone iPhone now, I don't have to worry about utilizing multiple services.
Much easier across one platform and one service - everything is right in front of you in the same app (when it comes to pics and vids).
same here, i was recently planning to buy an android phone but after the unveiling of iOS7 i think i'll wait for the iphone 5s. but there's one more thing i wanna see in the next iphone : a new design, the would be lovely.
Flikr and Vimeo got added by default, as well as AirDrop - and from what others have said, they've seen other apps popping into it.....
Apple noted they were adding over 1400 new dev APIs......wouldn't be a big stretch to figure sharing is in there.
EDIT: I guess I could be wrong - I saw the AirDrop API and support for devs to add AirDrop sharing to their apps (which is awesome in and of itself) and maybe though that was the sharing thing......nothing explicitly stated on Apple's website, and I'm not a dev.
Like I said, I've read some instances where people have seen third party apps in the share sheet. Could be full of **** though....
Last edited:
Have you tried different keyboards? My favourites are SwiftKey for landscape and the new Google keyboard (not the Samsung one) for portrait. When I first got the SGS3, I hated typing on it as well. It wasn't until I discovered SwiftKey and then later Swype and the Google keyboard that I felt the typing experience was really good.
i might jump back to the iphone when the 5s comes out im on the nexus 4 right now, im waiting to see if the htc one comes with the stock android operating system. i love to be able to jump around to whats hot a new and never be tied down, i was never the type to purchase many apps as gaming to a cell phone is not appealing to me. I am true gamer (PC).
i get urges to jump back and forth about every 6 months, i really want to try the a windows phone as well.
i get urges to jump back and forth about every 6 months, i really want to try the a windows phone as well.
I think the control center changes it. android always known to do things faster than iPhone in less button pressing with iOS 7 it will be different.
my colleagues always showed me how they can do a lot from the lock screen which i couldn't.
The rest besides the new notification center are mostly gimmicks for me I never needed them. I just want the device to do what I need (Mail,Music,Web,Messages and Photos).
There are still basic things missing in iOS but i like it more.
Personally, after playing with iOS7 for the past 5 days or so I think it may make it EASIER to decide to switch to android for some, especially power users. It is probably the biggest change to iOS ever, but I just don't find it as drastic as Jony Ive made it out to be (he has a way with words doesn't he?). UI inconsistencies and preferences aside, I think we have a better idea of where Apple is heading for the time being with iOS even though it's a Beta 1. For someone coming from Android, I doubt they will be impressed. I think the same would also apply to many coming from heavily tweaked jailbroken phones. Apple is giving us more features but we still lack any ability to customize even the obvious things like control/notification center (perhaps this will change in the final version? Not so sure). For many users this will be enough. I just don't think it's enough for those looking for a bigger change.
To be honest, I haven't been impressed by any Android tablets to make me switch. My iPad is mainly for casual home use so I have no desire to customize and tinker with it like I do my smartphone. It does what I need. (The iPhone didn't. It lacked certain features so that's why I decided to switch to Android). Also, its nice to play around and use different OS's.
Last edited:
All excellent points that have been pointed out by others many times before.
I always pose this question. If the tables were turned and it was apple that offered third party freedoms and android that didn't, if it was apple that offered notification lights and widgets and screen sizes and android OEMs that didn't, would the same people be as forgiving and understanding and apologetic to android? How would the conversations be then? Somehow I doubt it.
I'd guess those of us who's preferences and needs align with Apple's philosophy would be just as happy with Android.
Just because you want this to be about the companies themselves, doesn't mean its so. The only reason I buy things with Apple on them is because of the way Apple does things - not simply because of the Apple.....if the tables were turned, I'd likely use Android - provided them somehow also provided for the desktop/laptop services as well.
More choices doesn't necessarily mean better services. For me, having one service/provider that does everything is preferrable. Then I don't have to wonder which service I use for sharing, which I use for music, which I use for communication, does friend X use that service?, which service does friend Y use?
Like I said - my family and friends are all on iPhones - for me, the choice is obvious - iOS is the simplest option for just about everything I do. I completely understand, however for those who don't have iOS surrounding them, that Android would be the better option.
This just comes down to either an inability to understand or really a choosing not to understand why iOS is so great for the hundreds of millions of people who use it.
Well said! I can agree with Android proponents that it is DEFINITELY more open and flexible than iOS. But if the way iOS works for me, and I prefer it that way, the lack of flexibility is pretty irrelevant. Having 16 different ways to share a picture is pointless if the iOS way is the most efficient for me and the people I'm sharing with.
I could understand the anti-walled garden sentiment if iOS didn't make logical sense in how it performs important functions. But the reality is, it works perfectly for the majority of people who own an iOS device. Since that's what we ALL want in a device, I'd say neither iOS nor Android are inferior/superior to each other... just different.