Iphone Advantages

[iowagirl]

I'm adding my son's cell phone on to my plan due to his dad not paying the bill again. At this point we are staying with US Cellular but probably moving to Verizon once my contract on my phone is up. Is there any advantages to me switching to an Iphone 6 over my Galaxy 6 at this time? We are also combining my bf's phones all on one plan for better rates. I got a pretty good deal on 5 Iphone 6's if I want all 5 of them. Its a big chunk of money to spend on phones but I know at some point I'm going to have to buy 2 phones anyway when we go to Verizon. So far those are the only 2 companies that have good coverage in my area. The others are good in the cities but not out in the middle of nowhere where I live and work.

The only reason we are considering moving to Verizon is because of the Canadian coverage and plan on spending more time there as the kids graduate.

[terran]

If your plan has limited texting then there is an advantage to being in the same ecosystem (iOS or Android) as most of the people you interact with. Most of the people we text with have iPhones so we use almost no text messages since they mostly go through as iMessages.

[MommyCake]

I'd wait and get a new phone once you switch to Verizon.  They have good deals sometimes.   I got my iPhone for less than $35 with Verizon.

[vodsonic]

If privacy and security are important to you, consider this: Apple's revenue model involves selling hardware. Google's revenue model, which Android is tied into, involves collecting information about users and selling it to other people. The now-old saw is, if an online product is free, then you're not the customer — you are the product to be sold.

While not perfect in this regard, I believe Apple has a strong interest in providing users of their hardware with extremely robust security.

Some of this trickles down to third-party apps within the respective ecosystems, also. For instance, the sheriff's department where I live provides iOS and Android apps that will send push notifications about local incidents, road closures, etc. to your phone. They clearly (and sensibly) purchased app templates that they then customized for local use.

Here's the difference in their two apps: The iOS version of the app asks permission to send you push notifications, and still works if you deny it access to your location info. The Android version asks for access to your microphone, camera, contacts, call history, browsing history, etc. etc. ad nauseum, and I heard one report that the app won't work without access to all these things.

This is a very local, specific example, but it's one of many, and a good way to highlight the difference I mentioned between how Apple and Google treat your personal information. I think the iPhone is well worth the premium price.

[dang1]

"any advantages to me switching to an Iphone 6 over my Galaxy 6.. ?" None for me

I'm with Verizon and horribly smashed my Galaxy S4's screen a while back, and was putting up with it, until I couldn't anymore. Could have repaired the screen but my last couple attempts didn't work out too well. I looked into Androids and iPhones as replacement, and eventually splurged: got a used 32 GB Galaxy S7 off ebay for $300. It's supposedly a B grade used but absolutely pristine, working great.

I suppose a big part in choosing a Galaxy is that I'm used to the Galaxy interface and having to get used to other Androids and iPhone is a hassle. I also familiar with Motorola Androids but in the end the S 7 is a better for me.

As for being out in the middle of nowhere, if there's no Verizon coverage, my Delorme Inreach can always connect to an Iridium, lol

[iowagirl]

I've always had Android, ok I once had a blackberry but that doesn't really count does it? I was informed I don't like change. I really don't mind change but I always like to know its going to be good before I do. I think I'm going to wait until we switch companies in a few months. A co-worker said they have the best deals during the fair in August so I'm going to try to hold out until then.

[Daley]

If privacy and security are important to you, consider this: Apple's revenue model involves selling hardware. Google's revenue model, which Android is tied into, involves collecting information about users and selling it to other people. The now-old saw is, if an online product is free, then you're not the customer — you are the product to be sold.

This point could be viewed as a bit of a disservice, as it plays down and obscures the fact that Apple does actually datamine its customers just as much as Google does, and it does so for profit. Perhaps not through advertising revenue, but instead through overpriced devices selling an "experience" with greater vendor lock-in and cult-like psychological marketing. There may be privacy settings, but there's still a lot of telemetry data that Apple gathers on iOS that you can't opt out of. Though this is true to varying degrees among all smartphone platforms, the devil is in the details, so to speak.

It's worth pointing out that Apple doesn't have an exclusivity to this sort of claim, either. Windows 10 Mobile has very aggressive privacy settings on hardware access for applications that typically won't break core functionality as well. They also provide considerably more fine-grained privacy settings with the core OS itself, permitting users to opt out of nearly everything Microsoft would otherwise scrape. It also works well without needing to create a Microsoft account (though it does unfortunately restrict application updates), has the ability to side-load applications like Android does, and plays nicely with Apple's cloud services, Google's cloud services, and any OS you want to plug it into and share data between. The application selection might not be as robust as its competition, and it may not be a platform best suited for everyone, but it does really well on the basics as a phone used as an actual communications tool as opposed to a boredom alleviator.

Also, it's worth pointing out that Apple restricts access to basic carrier settings with certain mobile networks on the iPhone that other manufacturers do not, and that restriction effectively breaks core phone functionality with iMessage when used with certain mobile providers. Additionally, their stricter "hardware privacy end encryption" efforts, combined with a non-user replaceable battery and their ongoing proprietary interfaces chosen over industry standards only prove to make it more expensive to maintain for any length of time, repair cheaply, or use with existing accessories. They also lobby heavily against having right to repair laws from being passed. It's not enough that they charge some of the highest prices for phones available on the market today, they then dictate to an extent who you can and cannot use as your mobile carrier (which influences how much you spend per month), they make you buy higher priced accessories and peripherals that can only be used with a couple generations' worth of iPhones these days, and are bending over backwards to make repairs and maintenance as expensive as possible for end users.

Don't just take my word for it, though. Research yourself.

[jamesbond007]

No real benefit for going with one over the other. Everything you hear are just perceived benefits. Get what you like. For me, I buy Android because the phones are generally cheaper and I am on project Fi for my monthly phone bill ($45 for 2 lines). So yeah Android it is for me.

[iowagirl]

I had to laugh when my bf said he wanted to get a smart phone it had to be an iphone. Now you can count on 1 hand how many times he has used a smart phone and that would me my android phone but his mom & sister insist that iphones are the only phones that work and since he knows zero about them I laughed all the way to the store. So last night he got his first smart phone, an iphone 6. I didn't get one, I kept my android. My son didn't want one either he wants to keep his iphone 5 c and fix the screen. It was a good deal but it was also a lot of money I didn't need to spend.

I do believe that at one point Apple used to be more secure with things but I didn't think that was the case anymore. From reading all the comments I think I made the right choice for now. Maybe the next phone, we'll see when that time comes.

[vodsonic]

Great points throughout your post, Mr. Daley. Good food for thought and probably further research if I can find the time at some point.

At this point, Apple is the devil I know. The only point where my experience might differ with yours is on repairs, as I have successfully replaced screens and batteries on several iPhone 5 models, and was surprised how user-serviceable it was compared to the various iPod models I have had the misfortune to open the hood on over the years.

If privacy and security are important to you, consider this: Apple's revenue model involves selling hardware. Google's revenue model, which Android is tied into, involves collecting information about users and selling it to other people. The now-old saw is, if an online product is free, then you're not the customer — you are the product to be sold.

This point could be viewed as a bit of a disservice, as it plays down and obscures the fact that Apple does actually datamine its customers just as much as Google does, and it does so for profit. Perhaps not through advertising revenue, but instead through overpriced devices selling an "experience" with greater vendor lock-in and cult-like psychological marketing. There may be privacy settings, but there's still a lot of telemetry data that Apple gathers on iOS that you can't opt out of. Though this is true to varying degrees among all smartphone platforms, the devil is in the details, so to speak.

It's worth pointing out that Apple doesn't have an exclusivity to this sort of claim, either. Windows 10 Mobile has very aggressive privacy settings on hardware access for applications that typically won't break core functionality as well. They also provide considerably more fine-grained privacy settings with the core OS itself, permitting users to opt out of nearly everything Microsoft would otherwise scrape. It also works well without needing to create a Microsoft account (though it does unfortunately restrict application updates), has the ability to side-load applications like Android does, and plays nicely with Apple's cloud services, Google's cloud services, and any OS you want to plug it into and share data between. The application selection might not be as robust as its competition, and it may not be a platform best suited for everyone, but it does really well on the basics as a phone used as an actual communications tool as opposed to a boredom alleviator.

Also, it's worth pointing out that Apple restricts access to basic carrier settings with certain mobile networks on the iPhone that other manufacturers do not, and that restriction effectively breaks core phone functionality with iMessage when used with certain mobile providers. Additionally, their stricter "hardware privacy end encryption" efforts, combined with a non-user replaceable battery and their ongoing proprietary interfaces chosen over industry standards only prove to make it more expensive to maintain for any length of time, repair cheaply, or use with existing accessories. They also lobby heavily against having right to repair laws from being passed. It's not enough that they charge some of the highest prices for phones available on the market today, they then dictate to an extent who you can and cannot use as your mobile carrier (which influences how much you spend per month), they make you buy higher priced accessories and peripherals that can only be used with a couple generations' worth of iPhones these days, and are bending over backwards to make repairs and maintenance as expensive as possible for end users.

Don't just take my word for it, though. Research yourself.

[Daley]

Great points throughout your post, Mr. Daley. Good food for thought and probably further research if I can find the time at some point.

At this point, Apple is the devil I know. The only point where my experience might differ with yours is on repairs, as I have successfully replaced screens and batteries on several iPhone 5 models, and was surprised how user-serviceable it was compared to the various iPod models I have had the misfortune to open the hood on over the years.

Appreciate the kind words, and glad to have provided a few data points worth chewing on.

I completely understand where you're coming from, and I would point out that I don't discourage people who have already sunk money into an iPhone from giving it up and trading out. In the interest of use-it-up-and-wear-it-out environmentalism, I encourage folks to take the lumps of the platform and use it until it breaks. I simply steer to alternatives when/if they're in the market for another device. But be aware of the direction they're going...

It's been a subtle generational engineering thing, and past rushed efforts and missteps with public backlash show where they're heading, and it's not pretty. Making the fingerprint camera a mandatory part of the device's hardware encryption seemed a little disingenuous. Now they're integrating the home button/fingerprint reader into the screen assembly itself and the old Error 53 returns "for your own protection", thus closing off DIY and third party repairs of the most fragile part of the device without official Apple parts that aren't available to anyone outside of Apple. Unfortunately, too, most after-market, third party "cheap" batteries have a tendency to swell and fail a lot quicker (not that Apple's own batteries won't eventually do so as well). Lo-and-behold, isn't it interesting how thin the phones are now and how you can't get an Apple made battery without a ridiculous price tag and mandatory additional service fees except from their "geniuses" directly, and them publicly stating their handsets are only designed to have a two year service cycle. It's almost as if the device is designed to be physically damaged by the normal swelling of an old lithium ion battery. That's some entertaining "environmentally friendly" "security" theater. Thanks, guys!

Now, too, they're starting to "embed" GSM SIM cards in their iPad tablets for your convenience of course, stripping away the very core concept of the freedom of the GSM design spec and not tying hardware to carriers. How convenient that this act takes all market freedom away from shopping for mobile service outside of the select carriers Apple deems worthy to support with its magical embedded SIM card.

It's easy to boil a frog alive when you raise the temperature slowly and tell the frog any heat felt is for it's own good.

[vodsonic]

And, more valuable data points to chew on - thank you! Definitely makes me think twice about upgrading past the iPhone 5. Mine is probably running on fumes, but still going strong, at four and a half years and counting... I do love technology that I can drive 'til it drops.

[iowagirl]

I mean this is a really good way. You guys are all nerds when it comes to phones. Great information about them. (And yes I call the IT guys at work nerds too).

Still think I will stick with my android and only upgrade when I have too. That would be when and if I change services as they keep telling me the S6 won't work on other networks.