Phones So I bought an iPhone... meh...

[Blue Quark]

I’ve been looking at getting back into Apple’s products because I’ve been seeing a lot of places which are interested in knowledge and experience with them. So, yesterday, I took the plunge and bought an iPhone 11.

Color me unimpressed. I mean, it looks nice and there are certain aspects of the UI which are cool, but everything seems so limited and it feels like I put on a pair of handcuffs. It’s not even a matter of me being heavily invested in Google’s ecosystem: all I have had is an Android-running phone. However, I’ve had to graft onto it Google’s apps (and it feels very much grafted on) and then of course you cannot just take the phone and plug it into any computer to add or remove files.

Apple’s apps are cool, and I guess I can see how if someone is really into doing a lot of multimedia production work, they would be cool to use, but is that all Apple’s much ballyhooed ecosystem is about?

I had gotten it thinking it would be a good idea to have the hardware so I could become familiar with it and claim the relevant expertise on my resume, but who seriously needs to own one of these things just for that, unless you’re literally staring at zero and know nothing about smart phones and other modern mobile devices?

Anyhow, I’m taking this back to Apple today. My Moto G Power is eminently more useful than this thing is.

 

[Jason2000]

Apple’s apps are cool, and I guess I can see how if someone is really into doing a lot of multimedia production work, they would be cool to use, but is that all Apple’s much ballyhooed ecosystem is about?

Considering both these systems have pretty much the same apps this comment makes zero sense. But then again your whole post makes zero sense. I do not know about you but I use apps 99% of the time on my phone which makes both Android and iOS close to equal in my opinion except for the fact that iOS apps are generally better. But use whatever you feel makes you feel superior. Its just a phone.

 

[Zwhaler]

I feel the hype about Apple's ecosystem applies mostly to folks who bought the iPhone as their first smartphone some 10+/- years ago and never left. So by now, iCloud, iMessage, and these other features are ingrained in their usage patterns and are considered normal. This is what makes it hard to leave. I didn't care for the 11, with its low-res screen by today's standards. The 12 is much much better and even the 12 mini is intriguing. I've been off of iPhone for years and years now so it's easy to look past Apple's ecosystem. If I wanted to be a part of it, I would.

 

[Abazigal]

The allure of the Apple ecosystem comes into play when you own multiple apple devices and they all work great together.

The standard combo is iphone+Apple Watch+AirPods. Throw in the ipad for airdrop and app sharing, then Apple TV and HomePod for airplay and that’s where the synergy really makes its presence felt. But of course, that’s a pretty hefty investment to make all at once.

 

[Hazmat401]

The allure of the Apple ecosystem comes into play when you own multiple apple devices and they all work great together.

The standard combo is iphone+Apple Watch+AirPods. Throw in the ipad for airdrop and app sharing, then Apple TV and HomePod for airplay and that’s where the synergy really makes its presence felt. But of course, that’s a pretty hefty investment to make all at once.

I have to agree.... my iPhone and my MacBook Pro along with my Beats has been great

I use Airdrop every day between devices from PDFs to memes

 

[The Game 161]

The allure of the Apple ecosystem comes into play when you own multiple apple devices and they all work great together.

The standard combo is iphone+Apple Watch+AirPods. Throw in the ipad for airdrop and app sharing, then Apple TV and HomePod for airplay and that’s where the synergy really makes its presence felt. But of course, that’s a pretty hefty investment to make all at once.

Exactly I mean the true strength is in the ecosystem and how it all works.. When it comes to the apple watch and ipad apple are on another level to the competition

 

[Oohara]

I feel the hype about Apple's ecosystem applies mostly to folks who bought the iPhone as their first smartphone some 10+/- years ago and never left. So by now, iCloud, iMessage, and these other features are ingrained in their usage patterns and are considered normal. This is what makes it hard to leave. I didn't care for the 11, with its low-res screen by today's standards. The 12 is much much better and even the 12 mini is intriguing. I've been off of iPhone for years and years now so it's easy to look past Apple's ecosystem. If I wanted to be a part of it, I would.

What do you mean? The 11 Pro and the 12 Pro screens have the same PPI.

 

[DaPhox]

What do you mean? The 11 Pro and the 12 Pro screens have the same PPI.

Where did he mention anything about 11 pro & 12 pro?

 

[Vegastouch]

The allure of the Apple ecosystem comes into play when you own multiple apple devices and they all work great together.

The standard combo is iphone+Apple Watch+AirPods. Throw in the ipad for airdrop and app sharing, then Apple TV and HomePod for airplay and that’s where the synergy really makes its presence felt. But of course, that’s a pretty hefty investment to make all at once.

It is and imo the AirPods are a bad design. They look dumb hanging down ones ears for one thing and i see them falling out of peoples ears often.
Im not one to try every Earbud out there but i have tried a few different brands and JBL is a winner for me.
They have several different options and styles to choose from and they always connect really fast by themselves and most work independantly with either Bud while using just one. I have 3 different JBL wireless earbuds.
Ive tried Skull Candy, Bose, and want to try Jabra.....may not though. JBL working fine.

Not sure why everyone buys Apple buds just because they have a iPhone. ANY BT earbud will work fine with iPhones.

I dont wear a watch so i wont ever have one to talk about them. I have three FireTV boxes that work fine and i use Amazon Music. The world doesnt need to be all Apple. Other things work well together.

 

[Apple_Robert]

The allure of the Apple ecosystem comes into play when you own multiple apple devices and they all work great together.

The standard combo is iphone+Apple Watch+AirPods. Throw in the ipad for airdrop and app sharing, then Apple TV and HomePod for airplay and that’s where the synergy really makes its presence felt. But of course, that’s a pretty hefty investment to make all at once.

The Apple ecosystem is like being married to the right woman. She isn’t any more perfect that you are but, you know in your heart of hearts that the relationship has become fun, productive, meaningful, and deeper over the years, and you wouldn’t trade that for anything.

* analogy from a single guy who sometimes thinks he knows what women are thinking. I find out a lot that I don’t have a clue.

 

[Oohara]

Where did he mention anything about 11 pro & 12 pro?

Is the quote not appearing for you? I bolded that bit.

 

[The Game 161]

It is and imo the AirPods are a bad design. They look dumb hanging down ones ears for one thing and i see them falling out of peoples ears often.
Im not one to try every Earbud out there but i have tried a few different brands and JBL is a winner for me.
They have several different ones to choose from and they always connect really fast by themselves and most work independantly with either Bud while using just one. I have 3 different JBL wireless earbuds.
Ive tried Skull Candy, Bose, and want to try Jabra.....may not though. JBL working fine.

Not sure why everyone buys Apple buds just because they have a iPhone. ANY BT earbud will work fine with iPhones.

I dont wear a watch so i wont ever have one to talk about them. I have three FireTV boxes that work fine and i use Amazon Music. The world doesnt need to be all Apple. Other things work well together.

Because air pods are the best option for those with apple devices. No matter what device you use it will start working with that device no messing with bt settings.

Other things may work together just not to the level of apple devices. I had tried the Samsung phone, watch and tablet ecosystem but really does not compare. None out there do to me...

 

[filu_]

For me, the Apple ecosystem is a waste of money.

Buying a computer so that it communicates well with the phone? I do not think so.

Watch? It shows the time. I don't want notifications on my wrist. I avoid notifications at all, except for my immediate family.

iPad? Does not need. Nice to browse the internet but the world is not internet I sold it.

Apple TV, Apple Music, Spotify, Netflix - I don't use it.

I have great Sony headphones for Jack because my phone supports them. I listen to my CDs that I have on the memory card in my phone.

 

[Apple_Robert]

For me, the Apple ecosystem is a waste of money.

Buying a computer so that it communicates well with the phone? I do not think so.

Watch? It shows the time. I don't want notifications on my wrist. I avoid notifications at all, except for my immediate family.

iPad? Does not need. Nice to browse the internet but the world is not internet I sold it.

Apple TV, Apple Music, Spotify, Netflix - I don't use it.

I have great Sony headphones for Jack because my phone supports them. I listen to my CDs that I have on the memory card in my phone.

Nothing wrong with liking the 90s and the tech it produced.

 

[bbrks]

Another pathetic thread from one of Apple haters.
People, you are seriously answering to it

 

[michael9891]

For me, the Apple ecosystem is a waste of money.

Buying a computer so that it communicates well with the phone? I do not think so.

Watch? It shows the time. I don't want notifications on my wrist. I avoid notifications at all, except for my immediate family.

iPad? Does not need. Nice to browse the internet but the world is not internet I sold it.

Apple TV, Apple Music, Spotify, Netflix - I don't use it.

I have great Sony headphones for Jack because my phone supports them. I listen to my CDs that I have on the memory card in my phone.

I'll forever ridicule when people talk about the ecosystem and not being able to leave it, this doesn't work as well with that, blah blah blah.

But you're making a sweeping statement that all Apple products in the ecosystem are a waste of money, which is simply not true.

Just because the Apple watch isn't a product for you, it doesn't mean millions of people don't love them and find great value in them.

While you might not care about the iPad, there's no doubt that as a tablet, it's simply unrivaled. The Tab S7+ is a great alternative if you don't want an Apple product but it doesn't have anywhere near the support iPad has with it's amazing choice of apps in it's dedicated app store.

I don't use Apple TV, Netflix or any kind of streaming media, but I can fully appreciate how much they offer for a reasonable price for those who want it.

So just because you don't care about certain products because they're not useful to you, it's wrong to call them a waste of money and be so dismissive about them.

 

[DaPhox]

Is the quote not appearing for you? I bolded that bit.

Again, the bit you bolded says absolutely nothing about 11 pro & 12 pro.

 

[Vegastouch]

Because air pods are the best option for those with apple devices. No matter what device you use it will start working with that device no messing with bt settings.

Other things may work together just not to the level of apple devices. I had tried the Samsung phone, watch and tablet ecosystem but really does not compare. None out there do to me...

My Wife uses JBL earbuds as well and they work just fine with her iPad. Mess with BT settings for what?

Im talking about Earbuds and why everyone thinks they need Apple Airpods. The design for me is reason alone not to buy those. Dont stay in the ears well and they look lame imo. Stem headphones are 2010. When they first came out and i saw them i was like, why the hec did they use that style? New and improvd came out, same dated look.

I know many will say its the best design, works the best,.....yada,yada,yada,but just watch. When they finally redesign them to modernize them, it will be the greatest upgrade ever,....as usual.

 

[Abazigal]

It is and imo the AirPods are a bad design. They look dumb hanging down ones ears for one thing and i see them falling out of peoples ears often.
Im not one to try every Earbud out there but i have tried a few different brands and JBL is a winner for me.
They have several different options and styles to choose from and they always connect really fast by themselves and most work independantly with either Bud while using just one. I have 3 different JBL wireless earbuds.
Ive tried Skull Candy, Bose, and want to try Jabra.....may not though. JBL working fine.

Not sure why everyone buys Apple buds just because they have a iPhone. ANY BT earbud will work fine with iPhones.

I dont wear a watch so i wont ever have one to talk about them. I have three FireTV boxes that work fine and i use Amazon Music. The world doesnt need to be all Apple. Other things work well together.

For me, AirPods have been the most comfortable pair of wireless earbuds I have worn. They have long battery life, the case is small enough to fit inside the coin pouch of my jeans, and I can wear them all day without feeling any soft of discomfort. Plus they have yet to fall out of my ears, and I am on my 2nd pair since I got my first one in (end) 2016.

I love my Apple Watch for the health tracking, Apple Pay, notifications, siri on the wrist, quick glanceable info (am using the siri watch face so I have my calendar on my wrist, and quick access to certain apps and controls (like music playback or retrieving passwords via the 1password watch app).

As for Apple TV, I am subscribed to Apple Music, and that’s the only music player app available on it so far. I also like the integration with the apple system.

For example, I have 3 older 3rd gen Apple TV’s that I use in school for airplay mirroring purposes. As a teacher, I value the ability to mirror my ipad to the projector screen so I can move around the classroom while teaching.

There’s also the photos app, so any photos or videos I have stored on my iphone or ipad, I can view on my big screen thanks to iCloud.

And because my TV supports HDMI-CEC, I can use siri from my Apple Watch to turn it on when I get back from work (hey siri, turn on the living room), or I can turn on youtube with a shortcut from my wrist. Cheap thrill, I know, but hey, it saves me a click.

I also have a 2018 iPad Pro that I use for work and leisure. The writing experience with the Apple Pencil is great, I like being able to airdrop files or sync content via iCloud, I have a great library of apps (notability, fantastical, LumaFusion, Apollo, Tweetbot just to name a few), and I need to only pay once yet can share them amongst my apple devices.

It’s just an amazing experience when everything comes together.

 

[Blue Quark]

Whoa... I hadn't really expected this kind of reaction. I'm not really sure if I expected any particular kind of reaction.

First, I didn't start this thread with the thought of picking a fight with anyone. It's not as though Apple's ecosystem is useless or without any merit at all. That said, I simply found that iOS has been surpassed in a number of areas by Android, and that shouldn't really come as a surprise to anyone. There's very little in the way of libre-licensed components in iOS, and while Android is by no means in total a libre-licensed OS, it is based on many such components, either written right along the existence and history of GNU+Linux, or contemporaneously with Android. And just like any desktop environment for that ecosystem, there's been legitimate competition of ideas which have driven things forward.

I give Apple (and the late Steve Jobs) all the credit in the world for assembling iOS. It truly moved us out of the era of PDAs and into the era of smart phones (and tablets). However, there are still some incredible and deliberate limitations placed on iOS. With Android (and my aforementioned Moto G Power) I can take it and plug it into any computer I want, and directly access it as an external storage device just the same as anyone can access a hard drive, flash drive, etc. Without having to register anything, I can move onto it any data I see fit, copy from it any of that very same data, take it to another computer and do the same thing, and there's never any concern about user accounts or linkage. None. And why should there be?

Now, I don't personally use media software to control music and/or video collections, but there's plenty of people out there who do, and a great many of those programs will support talking to any Android device you plug in.

There are definitely apps which are unique to iOS: Garage Band, iMovie, iPhoto, any of a variety of medical software (diagnostics, imaging, etc.) and so those are situations, not unlike with Windows, where there's simply no good alternative. Either you run iOS, or you don't run those apps. Period. But I guess I was kind of struck by how I felt so restricted, and/or required to set up formalized processes or accounts, just to do things like use VLC instead of iTunes to play videos and music. And even something as truly minor and petty as text cursor insertion control (that is, getting the insertion point to go exactly where I wanted instead of at the beginning of a word or in between words) is lightyears ahead on Android. Why? Apple has been at GUI development since Steve Jobs and his crew visited Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center (or PARC) back in 1979. They have been building UIs since Lisa for goodness' sake. If they don't know by now how to handle dealing with text, then I really am at a loss for what else to say. And beyond that, how much better is the iPhone 11 (and iOS 13) than the original iPhone, or the iPhone 3G, or the iPhone 4, and their assorted releases of iOS? And yet, we're still stuck with a 4x6 grid of icons, the only two things of which you can do is put them in folders and re-order the order they appear on? You can't put them in their own positions and leave white space around them? There's no desktop widgets? Nothing? Really? Mac OS X has had widgets since, I dunno, probably version 10.0. Maybe 10.1 or 10.2? Android has had desktop widgets since FOREVER AGO.

Again, there are positive things to be said about Apple's hardware. It physically functions as smooth as glass, and depending upon the Android UI you're comparing it with, it can offer a richer experience. However, surely there's more to a UI than just those two specific things. Also, the iPhone 11's A13 CPU without a doubt runs circles around my Moto G Power's Snapdragon 665. This, among other things, enables a richer experience on the device than what I have on my mine.

I just wish it was an unfettered experience as with Android.

 

[Abazigal]

Whoa... I hadn't really expected this kind of reaction. I'm not really sure if I expected any particular kind of reaction.

First, I didn't start this thread with the thought of picking a fight with anyone. It's not as though Apple's ecosystem is useless or without any merit at all. That said, I simply found that iOS has been surpassed in a number of areas by Android, and that shouldn't really come as a surprise to anyone. There's very little in the way of libre-licensed components in iOS, and while Android is by no means in total a libre-licensed OS, it is based on many such components, either written right along the existence and history of GNU+Linux, or contemporaneously with Android. And just like any desktop environment for that ecosystem, there's been legitimate competition of ideas which have driven things forward.

I give Apple (and the late Steve Jobs) all the credit in the world for assembling iOS. It truly moved us out of the era of PDAs and into the era of smart phones (and tablets). However, there are still some incredible and deliberate limitations placed on iOS. With Android (and my aforementioned Moto G Power) I can take it and plug it into any computer I want, and directly access it as an external storage device just the same as anyone can access a hard drive, flash drive, etc. Without having to register anything, I can move onto it any data I see fit, copy from it any of that very same data, take it to another computer and do the same thing, and there's never any concern about user accounts or linkage. None. And why should there be?

Now, I don't personally use media software to control music and/or video collections, but there's plenty of people out there who do, and a great many of those programs will support talking to any Android device you plug in.

There are definitely apps which are unique to iOS: Garage Band, iMovie, iPhoto, any of a variety of medical software (diagnostics, imaging, etc.) and so those are situations, not unlike with Windows, where there's simply no good alternative. Either you run iOS, or you don't run those apps. Period. But I guess I was kind of struck by how I felt so restricted, and/or required to set up formalized processes or accounts, just to do things like use VLC instead of iTunes to play videos and music. And even something as truly minor and petty as text cursor insertion control (that is, getting the insertion point to go exactly where I wanted instead of at the beginning of a word or in between words) is lightyears ahead on Android. Why? Apple has been at GUI development since Steve Jobs and his crew visited Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center (or PARC) back in 1979. They have been building UIs since Lisa for goodness' sake. If they don't know by now how to handle dealing with text, then I really am at a loss for what else to say. And beyond that, how much better is the iPhone 11 (and iOS 13) than the original iPhone, or the iPhone 3G, or the iPhone 4, and their assorted releases of iOS? And yet, we're still stuck with a 4x6 grid of icons, the only two things of which you can do is put them in folders and re-order the order they appear on? You can't put them in their own positions and leave white space around them? There's no desktop widgets? Nothing? Really? Mac OS X has had widgets since, I dunno, probably version 10.0. Maybe 10.1 or 10.2? Android has had desktop widgets since FOREVER AGO.

Again, there are positive things to be said about Apple's hardware. It physically functions as smooth as glass, and depending upon the Android UI you're comparing it with, it can offer a richer experience. However, surely there's more to a UI than just those two specific things. Also, the iPhone 11's A13 CPU without a doubt runs circles around my Moto G Power's Snapdragon 665. This, among other things, enables a richer experience on the device than what I have on my mine.

I just wish it was an unfettered experience as with Android.

I don’t think anyone believes you are trying to pick a fight, but you are posting this on an Apple forum, so any such post is definitely going to garner a fair amount of attention.

Either way, to each their own.

 

[Zwhaler]

What do you mean? The 11 Pro and the 12 Pro screens have the same PPI.

OP upgraded from iPhone 11 (non-pro).

 

[ian87w]

Whoa... I hadn't really expected this kind of reaction. I'm not really sure if I expected any particular kind of reaction.

First, I didn't start this thread with the thought of picking a fight with anyone. It's not as though Apple's ecosystem is useless or without any merit at all. That said, I simply found that iOS has been surpassed in a number of areas by Android, and that shouldn't really come as a surprise to anyone. There's very little in the way of libre-licensed components in iOS, and while Android is by no means in total a libre-licensed OS, it is based on many such components, either written right along the existence and history of GNU+Linux, or contemporaneously with Android. And just like any desktop environment for that ecosystem, there's been legitimate competition of ideas which have driven things forward.

I give Apple (and the late Steve Jobs) all the credit in the world for assembling iOS. It truly moved us out of the era of PDAs and into the era of smart phones (and tablets). However, there are still some incredible and deliberate limitations placed on iOS. With Android (and my aforementioned Moto G Power) I can take it and plug it into any computer I want, and directly access it as an external storage device just the same as anyone can access a hard drive, flash drive, etc. Without having to register anything, I can move onto it any data I see fit, copy from it any of that very same data, take it to another computer and do the same thing, and there's never any concern about user accounts or linkage. None. And why should there be?

Now, I don't personally use media software to control music and/or video collections, but there's plenty of people out there who do, and a great many of those programs will support talking to any Android device you plug in.

There are definitely apps which are unique to iOS: Garage Band, iMovie, iPhoto, any of a variety of medical software (diagnostics, imaging, etc.) and so those are situations, not unlike with Windows, where there's simply no good alternative. Either you run iOS, or you don't run those apps. Period. But I guess I was kind of struck by how I felt so restricted, and/or required to set up formalized processes or accounts, just to do things like use VLC instead of iTunes to play videos and music. And even something as truly minor and petty as text cursor insertion control (that is, getting the insertion point to go exactly where I wanted instead of at the beginning of a word or in between words) is lightyears ahead on Android. Why? Apple has been at GUI development since Steve Jobs and his crew visited Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center (or PARC) back in 1979. They have been building UIs since Lisa for goodness' sake. If they don't know by now how to handle dealing with text, then I really am at a loss for what else to say. And beyond that, how much better is the iPhone 11 (and iOS 13) than the original iPhone, or the iPhone 3G, or the iPhone 4, and their assorted releases of iOS? And yet, we're still stuck with a 4x6 grid of icons, the only two things of which you can do is put them in folders and re-order the order they appear on? You can't put them in their own positions and leave white space around them? There's no desktop widgets? Nothing? Really? Mac OS X has had widgets since, I dunno, probably version 10.0. Maybe 10.1 or 10.2? Android has had desktop widgets since FOREVER AGO.

Again, there are positive things to be said about Apple's hardware. It physically functions as smooth as glass, and depending upon the Android UI you're comparing it with, it can offer a richer experience. However, surely there's more to a UI than just those two specific things. Also, the iPhone 11's A13 CPU without a doubt runs circles around my Moto G Power's Snapdragon 665. This, among other things, enables a richer experience on the device than what I have on my mine.

I just wish it was an unfettered experience as with Android.

As a long time Android user, I can definitely see the points you made. For example, like you said, Android has made it easy to do wired file transfers from a PC by simply adopting USB mass storage.

But fast forward today, even I hardly ever plug my Android to my PC for any file transfers. Majority of people don’t either. On my PC, every data that I need are synced through OneDrive, and I can simply get those files whenever and wherever I am on my Android through OneDrive. The idea of having to use wired USB actually feels very archaic and highly inconvenient, and most Non flagship Android are still on USB2.0. Doing it via OneDrive is more seamless as I don’t have to remember manually copying the files to my phone. Whatever I’m doing on my PC will be automatically available on demand on my Android phone. Much much easier and more convenient.

Furthermore, the types of stuff we used to require manual wired copying have been supplanted with streaming services. Majority of people are no longer copying their music and movies manually. They just use Spotify and Netflix. Thus although Android has that advantage, it’s a wash today considering that most people have different behavior.

As for iOS, even on my first ever iOS device, my iPhone 7 Plus, I never feel the need to connect to wired USB (other than to clear the analytics logs, I had this question in a different thread). Even copying videos can be done wirelessly. VLC on iOS allows copying of videos straight from a desktop browser, simple drag and drop.

It seems that your impression was based on the old Apple (eg. There’s no iPhoto anymore, Apple dropped the i many moons ago). iOS 14 gives live tiles (called widgets, but I consider them live tiles) to iPhones, and also a faux app drawer. Although still not as highly customizable as Android, it’s now an option for iOS users.

 

[juice3250]

I fall somewhere in the middle. I have been on Android for 5 years and told myself I’d never switch to Apple. I love the customization but something always felt like it was lacking. Every android device I used never felt as polished as it should. I just wanted a phone where the hardware would be married to the software and provide this flawless experience. I thought that would be pixel. I had the 4xl for a year and it performed just like every other Android. Works great for the first 9-12 months. Then starts to slow down and lag. Battery life gets worse. Albeit not as bad as Samsung phones slowing down. The gestures on the pixel were never as smooth nor consistent as iOS.

As far as AirPods. I have never liked them nor saw the reason to own them. Far too expensive and they don’t stay in my ears or give me any kind of passive noise cancellation. I have been perfectly fine using $30-$40 earbuds. I currently use the Jabra 65t with my 12 pro. I also see no need to ever plug my phone into my windows pc. My wife has an iPhone as do all of our friends and most of our family. It just makes sense for me to own one as well. My kids are going to use iPhones when they eventually get them so I might as well familiarize myself with the ecosystem so I can better understand the phones and how to keep them safe.

The app quality is just better on iOS from my experience. Any app that has a camera embedded into it runs so much better on iOS. Instagram and Snapchat are a laggy mess on Android when using the camera portion of the app.

 

[LIVEFRMNYC]

Samsung > Apple.