Mosseri didn’t get into why he felt Android to be superior
This is disappointing, because I’d really like to hear what he has to say on the subject.
As an Android user in the U.S., I feel the exact opposite.
As an IT sysadmin doing mobile device management with BYOD in the workplace, iOS has a clear edge if you’re willing to pay for MDM products that handle it. The built-in options in Azure are…varied for both products. ( https://download.microsoft.com/download/e/6/2/e6233fdd-a956-4f77-93a5-1aa254ee2917/msft-intune-enrollment-options.pdf )
As a personal user, though, the sheer ridiculous amount of variety of the android kernel between different carriers and models on the current version alone is positively insane. It should be a beautiful bonus smorgasbord of consumer choice, but with all of the carriers rolling their own lockdowns, hobblings, and forced includes it’s a buyer’s nightmare of trying to find a device that doesn’t lock out the things you want while also letting you remove the things you DON’T want (preferably without needing adb to do so).
Separate text notification sounds for each contact? Not always!
Advanced SMS options? Totally inconsistent.
MAC Address randomization? Roll a d20 against the number of flagship models and carriers in your area. You’ll probably get it, but no guarantees.
Heaven forbid you want to do something that should be straightforward in today’s day and age like download your SMS History? Voicemails as audio files? Custom Do Not Disturb settings? Good luck.
Apple users have been sending text messages interchangeably between their phones and computers/tablets for years. I still recall the shock and awe when my android phone was getting a barrage of text messages from my boss because he could send them with the full keyboard on his laptop while I was one-finger-punching the touchscreen on my phone to reply.
A lot of this isn’t the direct fault of the android kernel itself, but it is a large portion of the default android user experience in the U.S. and as such it’s what I have to base my judgement of the android kernel ON.
Android should be the superior option, but at this point in time, I don’t think it is.
Get a pixel and install GrapheneOS. Using a pixel and Linux machines, you can use KDE Connect to get basically every integration you get with iOS and macOS. Admittedly not everything is quite so seamless like Apple’s products, but it’s quite nice. Plus, no Google snooping on your stuff (unless you choose to install Google services, which you can do with one tap)
KDE Connect rocks. It’s objectively better than Windows Phone Link because, somehow, it fucking works.
Isnt the dude who runs graphene a nutjob?
Any thoughts on /e/OS
Thankfully that guy stepped down (or is stepping down)
Still a forever ‘no’ for me. Anyone taking over for him tolerates him , and who is to say if he is only symbolically step down and will still run things behind the scenes?
Thankfully we are spoiled for choice on security oriented ROMs these days and nearly everything will run on a Pixel. No need to use a ROM created by someone so toxic they put their projects in jeopardy.
