Yeah, fuck Apple! Let’s give all our personal data to Google and let them sell it to the highest bidder, and charge us iPhone 17 Pro prices for iPhone 11 performance at the same time! /s
Sure would be nice if there were a third option, because right now, you’re choosing between privacy and freedom to install cracked apps and more easily steal media. Because let’s face it, that’s what people want to sideload for. Both stores offer emulators now. That excuse is straight out. It’s basically down to whether you can install a torrent client or not. Or porn apps, but you can use those through the web. (You can also torrent through the web, via a seedbox, but it’s not as straightforward and it’s not free.)
Remember, Google took away a lot of the things that made Android different from iOS. They took your headphone jack. They took your memory card reader. They even took your buttons to make the bottom of Android phones look more like the bottom of iPhones. They’re coming for sideloading next. They made a concession and said they wouldn’t take it, after all, but they said the same about ad blocking in Chrome. They backed down, they backed down… but ultimately, they did it. And since sideloading is about ad blockers and their threat to Google’s profits as an advertising company, the same will happen with sideloading. They’ll back down once or twice, but ultimately, that is the direction they are going to go.
As someone who uses both… I just wish Apple could make a keyboard. I have a 2019 Android phone and a 2024 iPhone. If I’m gonna be spending time typing online, I will boot up the Android phone, hotspot it off my iPhone (it’s WiFi only, I don’t have a SIM card in it), and type on that. Because Gboard on Android is that much better. Web browsing too, you can’t beat Firefox with uBlock Origin.
I know… there are open source (/Linux) phones out there, and I’m excited for them, but they won’t come to the US because to do so, they’d have to get approved by the carriers, and the carriers won’t do it. They’ll need to put spyware and adware on them. Apple doesn’t let them do it for now (that was their original deal with AT&T, and everyone else who wanted to carry iPhone has had to honour it), but Android phones get it so bad. They get a splash screen at boot. They’re forced to install apps and games. They get ads from the carrier in the notifications. It’s terrible. So I imagine some Linux phone maker trying to break into the US market will be subject to the same. And who knows, maybe iPhones will at some point, too. But we aren’t there yet.
Trash. I mean, in some ways it’s better than Apple’s keyboard, but what makes Gboard so damn good on Android is, it does things iPhones don’t allow. Gboard on Android associates your typing with your account and how you type and the kinds of things you say. Apple does not allow Gboard for iOS to get that information, and it doesn’t run as fast or as efficiently as the iOS keyboard. I don’t feel comfortable using any third-party keyboard. It’s like using a keyboard on top of another keyboard. I feel the delay.
Yes, I know about GrapheneOS and their loyalty to Google. So you still have to pay Google for the device and then you can install GrapheneOS on it.
I also used CyanogenMod (and the others, AOKP and Paranoid Android and many of their derivatives) back in the day. Tickled fucking pink to see that Paranoid Android still exists. That fork was fun.
I also used a phone where everyone wanted a certain custom ROM for that phone, so bad, that they got together the money and actually bought this guy the phone. He said “suckers,” flipped it on Ebay, and that was that. I don’t recall if he ever promised to build for us if someone bought him the phone or that was just hopium. I also did not donate to the endeavour. So a phone has to be actively supported by developers, or a developer, and as they themselves get newer phones, they tend to drop older ones. So you’re not getting new versions of Android, new features, or even security fixes. Needless to say, I don’t trust custom firmware.
Yeah, fuck Apple! Let’s give all our personal data to Google and let them sell it to the highest bidder, and charge us iPhone 17 Pro prices for iPhone 11 performance at the same time! /s
Sure would be nice if there were a third option, because right now, you’re choosing between privacy and freedom to install cracked apps and more easily steal media. Because let’s face it, that’s what people want to sideload for. Both stores offer emulators now. That excuse is straight out. It’s basically down to whether you can install a torrent client or not. Or porn apps, but you can use those through the web. (You can also torrent through the web, via a seedbox, but it’s not as straightforward and it’s not free.)
Remember, Google took away a lot of the things that made Android different from iOS. They took your headphone jack. They took your memory card reader. They even took your buttons to make the bottom of Android phones look more like the bottom of iPhones. They’re coming for sideloading next. They made a concession and said they wouldn’t take it, after all, but they said the same about ad blocking in Chrome. They backed down, they backed down… but ultimately, they did it. And since sideloading is about ad blockers and their threat to Google’s profits as an advertising company, the same will happen with sideloading. They’ll back down once or twice, but ultimately, that is the direction they are going to go.
As someone who uses both… I just wish Apple could make a keyboard. I have a 2019 Android phone and a 2024 iPhone. If I’m gonna be spending time typing online, I will boot up the Android phone, hotspot it off my iPhone (it’s WiFi only, I don’t have a SIM card in it), and type on that. Because Gboard on Android is that much better. Web browsing too, you can’t beat Firefox with uBlock Origin.
I know… there are open source (/Linux) phones out there, and I’m excited for them, but they won’t come to the US because to do so, they’d have to get approved by the carriers, and the carriers won’t do it. They’ll need to put spyware and adware on them. Apple doesn’t let them do it for now (that was their original deal with AT&T, and everyone else who wanted to carry iPhone has had to honour it), but Android phones get it so bad. They get a splash screen at boot. They’re forced to install apps and games. They get ads from the carrier in the notifications. It’s terrible. So I imagine some Linux phone maker trying to break into the US market will be subject to the same. And who knows, maybe iPhones will at some point, too. But we aren’t there yet.
Have you tried GBoard on iOS? It’s been my go-to for years.
Trash. I mean, in some ways it’s better than Apple’s keyboard, but what makes Gboard so damn good on Android is, it does things iPhones don’t allow. Gboard on Android associates your typing with your account and how you type and the kinds of things you say. Apple does not allow Gboard for iOS to get that information, and it doesn’t run as fast or as efficiently as the iOS keyboard. I don’t feel comfortable using any third-party keyboard. It’s like using a keyboard on top of another keyboard. I feel the delay.
I’m sorry, but have you heard about the actual third option, GrapheneOS?
Yes, I know about GrapheneOS and their loyalty to Google. So you still have to pay Google for the device and then you can install GrapheneOS on it.
I also used CyanogenMod (and the others, AOKP and Paranoid Android and many of their derivatives) back in the day. Tickled fucking pink to see that Paranoid Android still exists. That fork was fun.
I also used a phone where everyone wanted a certain custom ROM for that phone, so bad, that they got together the money and actually bought this guy the phone. He said “suckers,” flipped it on Ebay, and that was that. I don’t recall if he ever promised to build for us if someone bought him the phone or that was just hopium. I also did not donate to the endeavour. So a phone has to be actively supported by developers, or a developer, and as they themselves get newer phones, they tend to drop older ones. So you’re not getting new versions of Android, new features, or even security fixes. Needless to say, I don’t trust custom firmware.