Apple and I have very different notions of what it means to own something.

• Firefox with ublock and a normal engine

• Newpipe for downloading stuff off YT

• OSMand for offline navigation

• f-droid for foss software

• Rethink to carefully ban everything that doesn’t need internet from connecting

• a phone with a nice amoled screen and all-day quickcharging battery that costs 180€ (motorola g52)

• not one ad anywhere

a better question is, why would I want anything else? An iphone seems like a sharp downgrade.

Paying 20% - 40% more for dumbed-down OS that limits what software I can use. I mean literally any one of those alone is a deal breaker. It was never gonna work.

I feel like I’m using a toy phone I bought for a 7 year old.

Preference.

I’m a developer and android is more friendly to developers, i have more control over my device. I can use any browser without being stuck with Safari. If i don’t like my phone i can choose from many more manufacturers without losing my apps and subscriptions.

I think most of all i have problem with Apples culture, their smugness and acting like they invented everything. I don’t think I’m their target audience.

Sideloading apps

Paying x4 times the price for a device

• Can’t have the wifi and hotspot on and the same time
• Can’t record calls
• Can’t make homepage icons small
• Can’t remove the default keyboard
• Worse apps

deleted by creator

File level access to files. I would love to have the option of moving files in folders and connecting it to a PC to drag and drop files.

True multi tasking.

Ability to install apps from other sources.

Hate how they handle photos. You can’t easily download your pictures like with Android you can just plug your phone into the computer and it becomes a hard drive you can mount and download them.

I don’t want to

Notification light. Repairability (I can practically op this thing open like the hood of a car). Far cheaper options. Headphone jack. Side loading. Fingerprint sensor. Dedicated shutter and focus button. Non proprietary charger that isn’t terrible. Emulators. Firefox plus adblocker. Customisability (least important for me honestly).

I am just happy that I have options. I can do whatever I want with this hardware. I own this device and have complete freedom. I work in repair and I am thoroughly aware of apple’s anti-consumer practices and it disgusts me. I could never buy a device from apple out of principle.

It sickens me when I have to tell customers “your totally repairable device is fucked because apple makes it arbitrarily impossible to repair.”. It makes me even sadder when they just buy another apple device, rewarding them for their behaviour.

Much like many of the iPhone users when you asked the converse question, it’s not so much that something is stopping me, but that I have no interest in it. I don’t see any benefits that I care about, and it would cost time and money to switch.

Let’s pretend for a moment that I did have some desire to switch, perhaps due to some new hardware from Apple or changes to Android I found unpalatable. Here are some things I’d consider major barriers:

• Sideloading - I want to install stuff without permission from the hardware or OS vendor. Maybe I’ll even write a niche app without asking permission.
• Administrative access - I have root on my Android phone, and I didn’t have to fight it to gain root (I know that’s not true of every device). If I don’t have root or can’t get it easily, it’s not really mine.

That’s… basically it, but those are big things and Apple’s position on them is so opposite mine that they’re risking severe sanctions from the EU to comply with the EU’s sideloading regulations in the most useless way they can.

• Actually being the owner of my phone. Apple decides everything for their users and allows them little freedom. I want to be able to put random apps on my phone, including maybe even my own.

• Price. Shit’s expensive. I now got a Pixel 8 for less than 500 euro’s. Before that I had phones around the 300 euro price range.

• Their ecosystem. They try to lure you into an everything Apple ecosystem. Stuff like iMessage is horrible for consumers. With an Android phone I have choice of apps, smart watch, earbuds, etc. Apple will always try to force you into buying their fancy but expensive things.

• No benefit, there’s plenty of cool Android phones.

Etc etc.