Everyone has their preferences, I would love to hear why you guys prefer using Android!
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Browser choice. Actually browser ENGINE choice. And the ability to set my own default apps, including the launcher.
F-droid. Side loading.
This is probably specific to the Pixel phones, not sure how much if any is relevant to other manufacturers.
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Call screening and spam filtering is amazing. Having the phone automatically screen unknown callers means I haven’t had to deal with a spam caller in years. And valid callers don’t seem to have any problems understanding whats happening anymore. I used to get several who confused it for a voice mail when it first came out, but now it seems they understand how to leave a screening message and wait for me to pick up.
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The phone tree and hold for me when calling businesses. Being able to read the options and click the text makes it so much easier to get through the options without having to really pay attention, then having it hold for me until a person answers lets me do other things instead of having to keep listening.
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Song identification on the lock screen. Whether I’m out at a bar or restaurant or at home watching a TV show and a song I like but don’t know starts playing, being able to see exactly what it is without even touching my phone is so convenient. I’ve found so many cool new bands I never would have without this feature. Its also amazing how it can often identify covers made specifically for TV shows right when they first air.
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Amazing camera and cool features like photo sphere and the new magic eraser. The camera might not be as head and shoulders above Samsung and Apple as it was in the past but it’s still always amazing how well it does in different conditions.
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Because Android is technically open source and the hardware is free enough that I can install an alternative OS if I want to.
Also, the phones are cheaper and have headphone jacks!
Sideloading. And I refuse to pay Apple’s insane prices tbh.
Mostly Sideloading and GrapheneOS. And that it’s mostly open source
I like the variety of hardware available, and the customization available in the software, especially with third party launchers.
I recently started using Niagra Launcher, love the minimal design it has.
Curious if Niagra affects phone performance? I love the look of it, but my Pixel 3 is aging.
I haven’t noticed performance issues or any battery drain on my S22 Ultra
- Firefox with addons
- NewPipe with SponsorBlock
- USB type C
- Custom ROMs
- APK Sideloading
- USB Debugging for testing my Godot projects directly on the phone
- No apple tax
- Maybe more…
For me it’s probably the ability to sideload apps, among other things. Apps like NewPipe which would never make it to the Play Store are apps that I use every day, because they are just good apps. Also, I just like the UX of my Pixel compared to an iPhone - I couldn’t live without things like a back button, and I sort of don’t like the iOS UI.
If you use any app other than what Apple provides, you become a second class citizen on your own phone.
Third party apps simply don’t integrate with iOS nicely unless Apple allows it. Even though you can choose a web browser, it has to use Safari’s underlying code base.
I’m on a Pixel 7. A lot of people say it’s like Google’s iPhone, but I can use Firefox as my browser natively. Adblocking actually works, too. I can choose any app as a default for whatever. Lots of FOSS! Google doesn’t own my Pixel the same way Apple owns the iPhone.
Don’t like Apple’s anti consumer attitude, same reason I don’t buy Nintendo products.
- I can build my own ROM and add any tweaks I want to the source
- Full filesystem access, not the circus act iOS is running with their “file management”
- I can run any browser I want, download any file I want
- I can sideload any app I want, and install open source apps from F-Droid
- I can use projects like ReVanced to install modified apps effortlessly, and don’t have to go through the AltStore/Apple Developer BS to install simple things like uYou
- I can entirely replace my home screen with a different launcher app if I wanted to
I want my app icons close to the bottom of the screen where my hands are and not at the top of the screen just because Apple demands it. Also I can have ad free apps like ReVanced
I could post why I do not like Apple, but that isn’t why I prefer Android.
I like how there are a ton of options on Android. I can control what hardware I have, from an ultrabudget $100 phone to a $2000 foldable flagship. I can choose how I control my device, I can choose how my device looks. All of these things add up to letting me have the best experience.
I also like how you can install custom ROMs on many devices. This allows even more options in terms of personal control.
The simple act of trying to transfer ownership of an iPhone from one daughter to another this week almost broke me. I hate how difficult they make everything.
Was it more involved than sign out -> factory reset -> set up as a new phone? (I’m just curious, have been on android for a few years now)
There were some self inflicted complications to be fair. I couldn’t fully back up the broken phone because it was in a family group with an expired payment card. My wife hadn’t had her iPhone for years so that was a pain in the arse to resolve which included waiting nearly two weeks for an email from Apple. Even when I got into her iCloud account updating the bank card failed every time, also you can’t modify a family group in the browser. I ended up borrowing a family members old iphone so I could set it up as my wifes and disband the family group, then update the payment method directly on the broken phone. We could then pay the 70p or whatever for additional storage and back it up. I couldn’t factory reset the other phone because in addition to the passcode, you also needed the screen time passcode which nobody could remember. I eventually installed iTunes on my PC and wiped it that way. I mean if you know all the security information I imagine it’s a lot easier but I wouldn’t have had this much trouble had they been android phones.
Not an Apple fanboy in the slightest but one could argue that the fact it was so difficult (without knowing ALL the security details) is a feature not a bug.
Agreed, but I wasn’t even able to reset the screen time passcode on the phone where we actually knew all the other security details.
@Cameri I came to Android to use rif for reddit. It’s gone now and now i’m using the mastodon app chatting with everyone on lemmy.world and other instances. I have a main account on lemmy.world but i just use it to moderate my sub check my notifications and that’s about it. I really like my S23 though
