Apple

My experience switching to iPhone 4 years ago after only android is texting is incredibly more annoying due to terrible autocorrect and prediction on iphone

My take on the list: seems most issues are related to Samsung specifically. I've never owned a Samsung Android so I can't really relate to them. I don't really see the performance issue happening with mid tier androids though - I'm using a Motorola edge 20 and it is still just as fast as it was two years ago. Weaker decides definitely have this problem, but a flagship is not supposed to. Might be related to Samsung bloatware, maybe.

Complaints about apps and Google abandoning services is 100% real. I don't mind the inconsistent look and feel tho, I even kinda like it - I wouldn't like it if everything on my phone looked the same year after year (I tend to switch launchers and icon/theme sets from time to time). Also not a fan of the extra animations Apple tends to have (I'm saying this based on osx as I haven't actively used any iOS in a while). I've probably even tweaked the animation settings on my phone back when I got it to speed them up. Still, Apple's app ecosystem is miles ahead of android's in almost every way. Even though apps can do much more on Android than on iOS, the store is trash and Apple's isn't (store itself still has some issues but the average app on it is much better).

I'm curious about this shortcuts app. I vaguely remember hearing about it when it came out but I'm not sure what it can do, I'm gonna check it out. Can't comment on some other items as I don't drive, don't take many pictures, don't use my face to unlock and only really use one Bluetooth audio device.

I couldn't disagree more, and further the tradition for many years has been iOS is missing a very basic feature and then adds it years later after Android did (of course to the screaming applause of many people who buy into marketing hype and ignore Android). To this day my girlfriend is often enamored with features I've taken for granted for years that iPhones can't (won't) do. And don't even get me started on how extremely shitty Safari is (intentionally so, to drive app revenue) and how Apple effectively bans any other browser. Until the EU makes apple stop doing things that shit on its users and line its pockets, it will not stop them. Pathetic company and no one should accept its shitty anti-consumer business practices. Lol and they pretend to care about security and privacy but that's 97% theater/false. Fuck Apple is the absolute nicest way I can sum it up.

I have the 15 Pro Max after using Samsung for many years.

No one has mentioned the keyboard here.

I can type decent enough, however, having to go back and forth for numbers, letters, and symbols is frustrating at best.

The gallery app is not as easy as Samsung, imo. Instead of moving something to its own album I have everything stuck in “recents”. Hopefully, I will never forget to immediately move any photo to the proper album.

Photo editing on Samsung has more options.

iCloud wants to sync everything even when you tell it not to. I have documents hiding in there somewhere and apparently not even Apple can figure out where they are.

Spotlight search is amazing.

Adguard with Safari is not too bad. Reader mode is nicer, imo

I found the files app decent enough.

Overall a decent phone. Could it use improvement, yes. I look forward to ios18.

Takes time to write thoughtful, detailed post in an Apple Enthusiast community

gets downvoted by 30% of readers

😒

I got a 15 pro this year. This is my first apple phone.

I agree with your Android "struggle" list completely and would add that every single model I ever owned (especially the Google phones) had some unbelievable hardware issue that made using the phone a maddening experience. From calling that wouldn't work at all to black screen on wakeup that wouldn't go away, every time I bought a new phone it felt like the timer had begun on finding what new exciting awful hardware bug was going to present itself and whether Google would warranty replace it.

I agree with most of your iphone revelation comments. Face ID is miles better than anything I ever experienced on Android. Look and feel is definitely better. The audio switching is as easy as it gets. Carplay is... fine. I don't like the work flow better and some of the decisions are weird when moving from app to app within apps, but I'm used to them now and don't see them as often.

What I disagree about:

• Shortcuts is a shadow of what I could do with Tasker. It's like eating baby food after having a Michelin rated meal. It's fine. It's not the end of the world and Shortcuts covers the use cases of most things, but man it was jarring to see what it couldn't do when compared to Tasker.
• Apple Maps sucks and boy I've tried.
• Comparing emulation is crazy talk. There's a billion emulators available on Android and Apple doesn't have what Android had a decade ago.

What I like about apple that you didn't mention:

• Integration of apple stuff: it all works out of the box as you'd expect. This wasn't always the case with Android and having it all just work is pretty great.
• Apple stores are cool for getting stuff fixed quick. Kid broke their screen and we had it swapped in an hour. No calling around to see if my local shops had my Android phone screen in stock.

What I hate about apple that you didn't mention:

• No custom launchers. I HATE IT I HATE IT I HATE IT. I can't believe people put up with this shit.
• Apple people and their obsession with text messaging using the Messages app. My god, texting has always sucked and apple people still use it.
• I miss Fdroid every single day. Sometimes I don't need a super slick app with a subscription for some simple thing. I just need a little app that does a little thing.
• EVERY APP IS A SUBSCRIPTION FOR GOD'S SAKE EVERY SINGLE DAMN ONE

For me add the fact that the AirTag network is vastly larger and more mature than Tile or another other service. And Apple Pay works better* and I was sold

* anecdotal personal experience, ymmv

I tried going to android, got a Samsung galaxy s5 way back. I couldn’t believe how shitty it was, it constantly tripped over itself and felt like a very old laptop.

Some told me that I would have to remove all the bloatware. Kind of defeats the purpose of a phone imo, the whole point is that it’s a convenient computer, if I want full customization there are other devices out there.

file manager ruins any apple experience

My experience mirrors yours.

The realization that for most apps, the iPhone version clearly has more effort put into it.

Seeing what an app ghetto the Play store is; they let anything on there and it’s scams galore.

Janky UI, as you said.

The final straw for me, though, was phone calls not ringing on the phone and going straight to VM. This was on a “pure” Google phone using Google Fi. When a phone can’t even act like a phone anymore, I’m out.

At my age, I don’t have time or desire to fiddle with shit constantly. I want it to Just Work.