If it’s a privacy issue then i don’t see the point, they all do the same. Even Apple has been caught out with things. There was a recent one where they got sued and are paying out millions to users for eavesdropping on us.
Apple could pay out $20 per device to users affected by alleged Siri spying. Here’s who is eligible and how to make a claim.
www.forbes.com
I will take Apple for the privacy win every day, all day. Sure Apple has got caught many times to steal user data and buying habits-OF its own products. They may have some 3rd parties they have given info too but it is still very rare. They basically use their users data to sell their users more Apple products and they had the whole CSAM back door thing that they reversed.
All corporations want to make more money any way they can. Compared to Microsoft and Google Apple is a saint. I have used Android since 2010 except for maybe 2 or three years when I went iPhone around iPhone 11 to 13. I have used custom roms when that was a thing, used Linux and BSD.
I don't love a lot of things about Apple. A lot of things really bother me but in context to the competition they are still the best in terms of security, privacy and overall polish to their OS's.
Android offers more flexibility, more cutting edge features and design in hardware, costs less and has in my opinion way better gesture support. I have loved how Android has evolved.
Samsung phones generally in the US offer the best hardware and features available on any phone. But they do some pretty crappy stuff too. I really hate that Samsung just copies Apple so much. I get that if Apple has a really good OS feature or hardware feature that they implement it too but they don't spend as much time in RD to really fine tune and polish it. They push out half baked features and then may drop it in a year or two. Apple designs from the ground up and most of their software is just much better thought out. Apple steals from Android and Android steals from Apple in software and I don't care too much about that. But when Apple designs the hardware of a phone and then almost all Android OEMS just copy the design like Samsung with the s25 series it bothers me.
The one thing I liked about the Note and Ultra series up until the s25 was a unique design. The boxy shape you either loved or hated but at least it was NO copy of anyone else. It was the one Android phone that was all Android. Now every phone currently on the market has rounded corner screen and the frame and shape look like an iPhone. You could have an iPhone 16 pro max next to an s25 plus or s25 ultra screen facing down and other than the cameras they would look almost identical.
Android phones used to have their own identity. Now all phones look pretty much the same except for foldable.
I love my s24 ultra because it doesn't look like and iPhone and no one would mistake it for one either. With the bluetooth s pen it can do more than an iPhone and add DEX and you have the flexibility and cutting edge features that make Android great.
And again I love Samsung as they have been very affordable with trade ins and free bonuses. Samsung has always delivered very reliable phones over many years and treated me right so I am a loyal customer. In fact, it is because of how Samsung has taken care of me in terms of service, cost, and great hardware that I keep coming back despite a less polished OS, less security and privacy.
At some point I would like to get another iPhone but Apple just hasn't been on their a game in a while. My 13 Pro Max was a brilliant phone. It was the updates that messed it up and Apples sort of buggy software and their terrible back gesture support which they still haven't changed that keeps me using Samsung.
The S24 ultra has been one of the best cell phones I have ever owned. But then you have the color gradient issue which you can see using their own Home Screen wallpaper!! The s24u and s25u have some of the best screens on a phone available but the color gradient mura issue really bothers me because I can see it and it looks just bad. I can't say if iPhones have this or not but I really hope that Samsung stops just copying Apple and pays attention to the details of their hardware. I hope Samsung makes a phone design that is fun with colors that pop and makes something in a bar phone that is unique to Samsung. Just do you Samsung. Get some hardware designers that are willing to take some risks. The entire market just plays it safe and especially Android used to have fun, unique and different designs and hardware. They weren't all gems and some were certainly flops but at least you could own something different.
I mean if the choice is an iPhone that may not have all the cutting edge features and some software issues they never change, at least what you do have is extremely mostly well thought out and has intentional design not trying to copy but trying to express their unique vision. We need more companies to not follow fads but make them by designing something truly unique and have their own identity and design language.
A lot of people say, "there is only so much you can do with a bar phone and we have hit peak design." I don't agree. There are a ton of subtle and big hardware designs you can make that can completely change the look and feel of a bar phone and add colors that aren't washed out and boring. At least Apple uses color very well on their phones. Samsung colors and Pixel phone colors are pretty bland and boring(except the blue on the P8P).
Okay super long rant over......
