After the news cycle recently exploded with the announcement that Google would require every single Android app to be from a registered and verified developer, while killing third-party app stores …
Cost. You can get performant brand new phones for $200 that will last you 2+ years
OS-wide adblock. I cannot comprehend how iOS users live with out it. I see my GF using her phone and every other scroll of something is an ad.
Some other sailing-of-the-seas things that I’m not comfortable posting online about, but it saves me a lot of money on subscriptions from big corporations.
You got me there. I can probably get a gently used iPhone from a generation or two back and maybe get down to $300, but I dunno about $200. You’re 100% right on that one, and more to the point, mid-range Android isn’t nearly as bad as it used to be. One of the biggest secrets in mobile is that performance has plateaued.
You can only block ads OS-wide on Android if you’re rooted. AdAway (and I suppose others like it) edit the HOSTS file which trumps DNS. DNS is what iPhone users use, and what unrooted Android users use. The problem with DNS isn’t that it doesn’t work — it does — it’s that bad actors can tunnel around it. So Google, great example, the app I mean, has its own DNS. They have various reasons but what it boils down to is “we can tunnel around your ad blocker.” They definitely do this on iOS. They probably do it on Android. But editing HOSTS can beat that. And no, I don’t get ads on YouTube, either — but I do not use the app. You can, if you’re on Android and you’re rooted and you have a good HOSTS file. I can block YouTube ads with Safari and uBlock Origin (yeah, we got it now) but it’s just DNS. I will concede that the best way to browse on a phone is Firefox for Android with uBlock Origin. Us iPhone users wish we had that. We don’t. But we can get close. Really, the only ads I see are in the App Store. It’s become a cesspool of shit.
I don’t sail on my phone. I’ve tried, a few things don’t work. I have computers for that. I have a good/decent emulator that works good. As far as movies, music, shows, audiobooks, I have a Plex server and my iPhone has no problem accessing that. I bet you could use an Android phone as a Plex server though. Not that I’d want to. But you probably could. Maybe. Like with root? I dunno. But anything on my iPhone (not counting Plex stuff), I can get on your Android phone. And vice-versa. I mean, not to use your Android phone as an example, that’s kinda hostile, I mean if I have an iPhone in one hand and an Android phone in the other, I got no problem getting stuff from one to the other. Either way. Best if they’re on the same WiFi, but I can make one a hotspot in a pinch.
Cost. You can get performant brand new phones for $200 that will last you 2+ years
OS-wide adblock. I cannot comprehend how iOS users live with out it. I see my GF using her phone and every other scroll of something is an ad.
Some other sailing-of-the-seas things that I’m not comfortable posting online about, but it saves me a lot of money on subscriptions from big corporations.
You got me there. I can probably get a gently used iPhone from a generation or two back and maybe get down to $300, but I dunno about $200. You’re 100% right on that one, and more to the point, mid-range Android isn’t nearly as bad as it used to be. One of the biggest secrets in mobile is that performance has plateaued.
You can only block ads OS-wide on Android if you’re rooted. AdAway (and I suppose others like it) edit the HOSTS file which trumps DNS. DNS is what iPhone users use, and what unrooted Android users use. The problem with DNS isn’t that it doesn’t work — it does — it’s that bad actors can tunnel around it. So Google, great example, the app I mean, has its own DNS. They have various reasons but what it boils down to is “we can tunnel around your ad blocker.” They definitely do this on iOS. They probably do it on Android. But editing HOSTS can beat that. And no, I don’t get ads on YouTube, either — but I do not use the app. You can, if you’re on Android and you’re rooted and you have a good HOSTS file. I can block YouTube ads with Safari and uBlock Origin (yeah, we got it now) but it’s just DNS. I will concede that the best way to browse on a phone is Firefox for Android with uBlock Origin. Us iPhone users wish we had that. We don’t. But we can get close. Really, the only ads I see are in the App Store. It’s become a cesspool of shit.
I don’t sail on my phone. I’ve tried, a few things don’t work. I have computers for that. I have a good/decent emulator that works good. As far as movies, music, shows, audiobooks, I have a Plex server and my iPhone has no problem accessing that. I bet you could use an Android phone as a Plex server though. Not that I’d want to. But you probably could. Maybe. Like with root? I dunno. But anything on my iPhone (not counting Plex stuff), I can get on your Android phone. And vice-versa. I mean, not to use your Android phone as an example, that’s kinda hostile, I mean if I have an iPhone in one hand and an Android phone in the other, I got no problem getting stuff from one to the other. Either way. Best if they’re on the same WiFi, but I can make one a hotspot in a pinch.