iPhone vs Android

[BlueCrab]

Hello all. I have decided that I need to address this topic in its own thread and at some length. I’m trying real hard to be friendly here, let me know if I’ve missed the mark.

In my current search for new hearing aids, I have made numerous attempts to convince people that I am fully committed to Android. Yet all too often, the solution to any connectivity problem or even a simple request for advice, is “get an iPhone.” Many times these comments are made derisively. The implied comment being “get an iPhone you idiot.” In a recent post on my recent search for new aids, I specified that I would never have an iPhone. Yet, I have encountered the following comments:

“Once we remove Android requirement from our equation, all our options suddenly expand manifold and focusing on the core features of the hearing aid becomes easier. In my view, no android solution can match Made for iPhone stability and ease of use at present.”

and…

“I have no idea what your problem with iPhone is, but the old expression regarding cutting off one’s nose to spite his face comes to mind.”

So I guess I need to take some time to explain myself a little better. In the future, when people have a hard time understanding my choice, I can just point them to this post. If you disagree with anything I say here, feel free to say so. I don’t mind debate and, as long as you’re reasonable, I’m a pretty easy guy to get along with.

I see one major difference between iPhone and Android. iPhone offers stability, Android offers customizability. That’s it in a nutshell. Some people need reliability, and are willing to sacrifice customizability to get it. Some people want customizability, and are willing to sacrifice reliability to get it. I’m in the latter.

I like to use an analogy comparing Apple to a car manufacturer:

I’d like a truck.
Here’s a nice white truck for you.
Can I get it in red?
No.
Okay. I see it’s a crew cab. Can I get a standard cab?
No.
Okay. Umm. The radio appears to work only with iTunes. Can I install a different radio?
No.
Okay. It has an automatic transmission. Can I get it in manual?
No.
Well, I don’t care for the exhaust system, I’ll probably install an aftermarket exhaust.
You can’t.
Oh. So tell me, why should I buy this truck?
Because there’s a 98% probability that it will never break down before you buy your next truck.
Very good. Here’s my money.

If stability over customizability is your preference, then iPhone is the phone for you. I get it and have no problem with that. My wife loves her Galaxy Note 5. Her first smartphone was a Note 2. She says she would never want to be without her S-Pen. But she also says that if I were not in her life, she would probably have an iPhone. I’m a tinkerer, she’s not. I get it.

Here’s another point. For 80% of smartphone users, all they do with their phone is:
1. Make phone calls
2. Text message
3. Social Media
4. Listen to music
5. Surf the web

Well, either platform is going to do those five things without issue and, with the possible exception of listening to music, pretty much in an identical manner. That’s why a lot of people can easily switch between platforms.

I am in the other 20%. I have well over 200 apps on my phone, and have spent over $300 on those apps. My wife once asked me if I was addicted to getting apps. I thought about that for a while, did some introspection, then realized how I felt about this. I’ve spent a lot of money on this phone. I spend a lot of money on this phone for the data service every month. I’m going to make this phone earn its keep. Out of those 200 apps, only 7 are games. None of them are social media. I have 15 calculators, several different note taking apps, banking, three different office suites, three bible apps, two electronics references, etc. And on the customization issue, probably somewhere around 20 of these apps are simply to make my phone work the way I want it to. I have a fitaly keyboard, and I don’t want to lose that. I rarely use stock apps. Text messaging, email, calendar, to-do list, they are all custom apps that work the way I want them to.

I see this phone as a massive toolbox, and right now it is chock full of tools. If I were to switch to iPhone now, just so I don’t have to wear a Bluetooth dongle around my neck, I would have to start all over and rebuild that. I would solve one problem, and create 200 other problems.

So you see, I am fully immersed in this platform. It’s not going to change in the foreseeable future. Please respect that. Android may not work as well with hearing aids as iPhone, but it does work with hearing aids. I know there is a subset of people on this forum using Android and very happy with their setups.

I enjoy a little humorous banter, but a lot of the comments I’ve received sound more like derision than banter. And please don’t take my adamant stance as derision towards you. I don’t hate Apple or iPhone users, I just love Android. Trying to get me to change is as futile as trying to get a Harley rider to buy a Kawasaki.

Thank you for listening.

[cvkemp]

I believe you should always be happy with what you have and use. I have used android in the past and did my best to really like it. But back then I was still working so I was always experimenting with hardware and software. Now that I am retired I could care less about experimenting and just want things to be simple so I have time to do the things I didn’t have time for before. So I do like Apple devices and Mac. But that is me. I am glad you enjoy android and I have nothing against it. And I only use the least number of apps that I can get a way with.

[Don]

Well said. Notice how many posts are about iPhone issues or something not working correctly.

[Neville]

I’m on your side. I was a PC gamer growing up, which meant that I always avoided apple as overpriced and underperforming relative to my needs. I recently got my first iPhone for work. There are a lot of things about it that are neat. It works really well. It makes creepy and yet convenient predictions about my life. But I don’t LIKE it. I don’t derive much joy from using it.

[Mark_Chambers]

I hate them all. There are positive aspects to cellular phones and one can hardly exist without them in today’s society but to me, at least until I retire, they are more than anything else a leash from which there is no escape. It was bad enough when the beeper was invented. It was worse when the first cellular phones were thrust upon us. Now? Phone calls, emails, text messages of every type from work to friends and family to marketers. YOU ARE NEVER ALONE. I hate them. Rant over.

[Neville]

The trick is to carefully cultivate a reputation for being difficult to get a hold of and generally not answering texts and emails immediately.

[Mark_Chambers]

Friends and family are not too much a problem. Work on the other hand is not a matter of convenience. I will answer the call or respond to the inevitable voice mail. Yeah voice mail. Add that to the list of annoyances.

[BlueCrab]

My employer makes everyone carry a pager. Remember those? It gives me the convenience of saying “sorry, my battery was dead!”

[cvkemp]

I remember those days, I would be on call carrying two phones and sometimes three pagers all at the same time for as long as two weeks in a row. The last few years I did it I was wearing my aids and would take them out and go to sleep at night and I would miss calls or pages or both. I am a heavy sleeper and being as hard of hearing as I am I would just say sorry I didn’t hear it. And trying to take a call on the cheap company phones was a challenge too they never had Bluetooth and the phone volume and quality was poor at best.

[dryspin]

My first step into the smart phone world was the blackberry. Then came the droid x. Finally the IPhone. I’ve been using iPhones since the 4s model was released. Now it’s the iPhoneX. I’m pleased with everything it does. It’s not perfect, but for what I need a phone to do it’s fine. Recently acquired blue tooth hearing aids. They pair with the phone flawlessly. I really enjoy the handsfree calling and ability to adjust the hearing devices with my phone. Signia needs to get on the ball and come out with an app for the Apple Watch. I’m anxiously waiting for that to arrive.

[z10user2]

I equate the issue to a religion. You “believe” in some form of higher power. You “believe” your local sports team is the best and this is their year to win the championship. You “believe” that the i-device is better than any other device. You “believe” an Android device is better than any other device.
For each of them, you look at the other believer and think they’re crazy. How can you possibly believe in that higher power when my higher power is the right one. How can you think your team is the best and will win when clearly and obviously my team is and will. How can you think the i-device is all that when my Android can do all of this.

And so you get division. You get tribes. You get camps. Never the twain shall meet and all that.

(I don’t have either device. Clearly and obviously the Blackberry OS10 was the best device )

[efigalaxie]

I have used Palm, Blackberry, Windows Mobile, Android, iOS. They each have pros and cons. Right this moment, the iPhone is easier for hearing aids. That is changing. The Phonak Audeo Marvel will connect to any Bluetooth at the cost of battery life. Resound is working with Google to get direct pair low energy Bluetooth on Android. I was on a Note 8 and went to iPhone X for the direct connection. I have the phone streamer and use it for connecting my Motorola 2way at work.

The phones ARE tools. I, too, call the rabid bickering religious wars. Use what works for you.

[prodigyplace]

Although I was skeptical when first announced I believe Apple’s MFI program for hearing aids is a real asset to the hearing loss community.

Personally I really tried to get an Android phone I liked. The one I liked most was a Samsung Epic 4G that had a physical keyboard. You could not really use GPS or LTE due to battery drain. Later I move to a Google Nexus 5. I then got KS6 aids that are MFI. I tried its Android connectivity and was not impressed.

Later I decided to move to a phone carrier that did not support the Nexus so I bought an iPhone. The MFI experience for phone calls was a huge plus.

I understand having many paid apps. Even if offered on both platforms most would require buying again. Since you have so much invested in your toolbox switching makes little sense for you. Depending on the use cases perhaps an Android tablet with an iPhone for calls and music would work for you.

[d_Wooluf]

Hey, that was the type of well-developed, thoughtful and controlled exposition that those of us who dabble in Android vs iPhone threads can all aspire to. Well done.
Btw, Apple sucks.
Just kidding.
Mostly.

[John_Green]

There are basically two kinds of people. Apple people, and everyone else. I have never had a cellphone that I actually liked. I have owned a bunch of them. I had an iPhone once. I ordered it off eBay for my wife and when she saw that it wasn’t new, refused it. I used it for a while. At first, I thought it was a pretty good phone. My main issue was with the iTunes software that I was forced to use with it. I absolutely hated it and removed it pretty fast. I understand that there are alternatives now. After a while, I began to like the iPhone less and less. I ended up getting my wife to take it and she used it for a while. I currently have some sort of LG Android phone. I decided that since I would never find a phone I would like, I would just use this one and put up with it. I am not a fan of Android. I won’t ever buy anything Apple because of their business practices, and I just don’t really care for Apple’s way of doing things PC and phone wise. I don’t want to stream my phone calls to my hearing aids. Tried it once and didn’t like it. Our society today practically forces one to pick a side in almost everything and defend it with religious zeal. I personally don’t buy into that. If you like Apple, and a lot of folks do, then by all means go that way. But please don’t put others down who might think differently.

[prodigyplace]

Thank you.
I am an old Unix admin so of course, a phone based on the toy OS Linux (kidding) attracted me to Android and Apple prices helped direct too.

I realized I could not find a phone based on Sun Solaris, HP HP-UX or SGI IRIX

[prodigyplace]

@John_Green iTunes software has not been needed for the iPhone in many years. The iPhone syncs to Apple’s free iCloud Internet service.

iTumes is for Apple Music & video services which are not needed on the iPhone. They are optional subscriptions.

[BlueCrab]

I have used Palm, Blackberry, Windows Mobile, Android, iOS.

I still have my Tungsten T2. Keep it for nostalgia’s sake. Had a pile of apps on that thing too. I’ve always pushed these devices to their limits. It was on the PalmOS that I discovered the fitaly keyboard. I mourned the loss of it when I moved to Android. Recently, I was able to construct my own. It is a much better way to enter text with one finger.
I had a folding keyboard that folded like a “W” rather than folding in half like today’s folding keyboards. It was far superior to anything on the market today.
As technology moves forward, I often feel like I’m losing things that really shouldn’t be lost.

[z10user2]

I had a Samsung Palm flip phone from Sprint. Loved it. Then CDMA got retired by my carrier. Then I learned about hotspot and got a little LG Android. Then Blackberry came out with their phone and I had to have that.
Amongst many other phones since the Motorola brick.

[BlueCrab]

My wife once had a Samsung flip phone and she too really loved it. She still talks about it to this day. Then we both got Sanyo Katanas. We had those phones for 7 years, and for 7 years she talked about how much she missed her Samsung. When we decided to make the jump to smartphones, I was sure I wanted Android, and she was sure she wanted Samsung. She got the Note 2 for the stylus, I got the S3. Now we both have Note 5s and the stylus really is great. Wouldn’t want to be without it. Which I guess brings me back to my main point. Even with all of the problems I’ve faced over the last 3 years, I still prefer Android.