iPhone vs Android

Hearing Aids
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#116

I don’t have a horse in this race, but after having been an ardent opponent of the IOS ecosystem for years, it does have some significant benefits for the average user (and some significant pitfalls - Itunes PC desktop…).

Rather than get into the minutae of that though, the main benefit that I’ve run into is that all the devices operate consistently - whatever the type of phone, phablet or tablet, they all look and feel the same. Not so critical if you use one or two, but very useful if you run them for product demos, taking payments and illustrating apps in a few locations. I know you can emulate the same principle by sticking with one supplier of android phones and tablets, but (quite apart from the lack of integration of an accessible hearing aid connection) the look and feel of the Google Apps just doesn’t ‘sell’ as well - even if you ignore the underlying GUI.

I’m no fan of Jobs’ mantra, but making a ‘just works’ product with a minimum of fuss for your average boomer who doesn’t have a technical bone in them, is quite an achievement.

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#117

Well I was in the technology my whole life and didn’t like Apple for a long time. But after retirement I decided I no longer wanted to fuss with hardware or software so I move to the Apple products. Are they great, no but they integrate well together and my aids work very well with IOS

#118

@lgthunder6 I’m so sorry that you were wrongly accused. I’ve only been here for a few months and I have found this forum incredibly helpful in getting my first hearing aids and sorting out using them with my phone to meet my wishes.

I have read many thousands of posts and some time back there was a very mean and negative person who has since left. Unfortunately, lately there are some who are quick to judge new posters here, not having the patience to treat those not “fully conversant” in proper HA use and terminology, with respect.

Please don’t be discourage by a few posts that did not understand that you were actually trying to provide useful information that you had encountered. It is worth the time to ignore those who are derogatory toward others. Overall this is a very helpful and caring community.

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#119

Thank you! I appreciate your kindness. I am still trying to learn how the forum works. I truly thank you.

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#120

HI Blue Crab,

I totally relate to your post. Like you, I love my Android phone. In my case, it is an old Samsung Galaxy V phone, which works perfectly well with the streamer for my Widex Beyond 440 hearing aids. This is notable especially because the Widex website does not even list this phone as being compatible with the hearing aids.

I won an Apple Mini Ipad 2 about 5 years ago, and I use it regularly, but I still prefer the Android system. My audiologist, however, keeps recommending that I get an Apple phone. She tells me her Android-loving patients much prefer the Apple phone once they try it. As my current phone no longer has sufficient space for my apps (it is only 16 mg), I am going to bite the bullet and try an Apple phone. If I am not totally over-the-moon about it, it will be returned and I will go back to Android, but a newer model, which I hope works as well with my hearing aids as my current phone does.

For many reasons, I dislike Apple products, but I will try to be open-minded and will report my experiences with an Apple phone on this blog.

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#123

We do get trolls here. You are a new member, and people don’t know you yet. Don’t lose heart, this really is a great forum. I can tell you that a few years ago you would have been chased away by the trolls that were regulars here. But things have changed for the better under new sponsorship.
You sound like your heart’s in the right place. Stick around, we’re glad to have you.

(I’m doing this on my phone. Took 3 tries to get it right. :persevere: )

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#124

Uh huh!! Android. :sunglasses:

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#125

And I got pinged via email twice… :eyes: :rofl:

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#126

Touché!!!
:joy:

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#127

Speaking of people who are jumping to conclusions and making thoughtless posts…

A speculation is an “accusation?!” I think if you make uninformed posts as lgthunder6 did (she’s had her HA’s ~a year, knows that they only work through a streamer, and should have known that the quoted website had a blatantly incorrect line in it)

that for just letting fly with such a post, people guessing what such a post might mean comes with the territory of making such off-the-mark posts. The question under discussion was, “Why in the world would anyone make such an incorrect post?!” I’m sorry. A very likely answer on many open forums would be “it might be (but not necessarily is) a trolling post.” I think accusing people of deliberately insulting you is just as incorrect as the intended or unintended implication of citing an erroneous website when a poster should know from their own experience that the website contains an erroneous and very misleading line.

Letting fly with any old post leads to posts by readers letting fly with speculations as d_wooluf said, what such a “weird” post could mean. The other interesting thing about lgthunder6’s follow-up compared to her original post is that her follow-up says the streamer worked so badly she stopped using and returned it but her initial post says the Android connection (whatever it is, relative to the erroneous linked website) is fantastic - the point of her original post - lgthunder6 is so happy with the Android connectivity?! That’s “weird,” too!

#128

@jim_lewis, I suggest, respectfully, that sometimes the best course of action when faced with a set of probable misunderstandings is to give the other party the benefit of the doubt and just to let things slide. All I’ve seen here is a poor choice of words at most.

5 Likes
#129

Different strokes for different people. I am into tech, have rooted many Android phones, fastidiously updated between many ROMs/phones/versions - and I have been through the android->iphone->android->iphone cycles. While the “ROM” thing sounds impressive to many, it can set you up for failure many times and requires too much commitment from you.

For me, I have finally figured out that I am staying with iPhone going forward and getting off the Google eco system. I have turned off lot of Google Apps, set maximum privacy settings and have started using other non Google applications. For HAs, nothing like iPhones. It also helps that I am on the Apple ecosystem (my old MBPro is still going so strong that I have not upgraded in years).

So its just a series of decisions I made in the larger context that applies to me. Different strokes for different people. Find what you like and stay with it. We have other more important things in life to worry about.

#130

I agree totally. And I think that attitude should start at the level of anyone, including Igthunder6, responding to our speculative or baffled commentaries: “might be a trolling post” or your quote of the seriously erroneous line in the linked website with the your remark “weird” thrown in. In a way, the respondents to these remarks, in making a big deal of out of offhand comments with such remarks as: “Unfortunately, lately there are some who are quick to criticize new posters here, not having the tolerance, patience, and courtesy to treat those not “fully conversant” in proper HA use and terminology, with respect” is “trolling” - - seeking to make an inflated controversy out of something when there really is little of anything: just that curiously wrong post gets curiously speculative or baffled replies. …

#131

I gave that post much thought, and I was trying to convey kindness to lgthunder6, and by her reply it succeeded.

I admit that I made a poor choice in wording, but my intent was to comfort someone rather than offend anyone else. I’m hypersensitive to others feeling having recently lost two close friends to suicide, feeling I did not pay enough attention to their spoken feelings. So I apologize for the poor wording.

Many years ago as a young man, under a very stressful situation, and old priest told me,
“It never hurts to be kind to someone”.

At the entrance to the community room in the senior housing where I live is this quote:
“Everyone is fighting a battle you know nothing about, be kind always”.

That is how I want to treat people, with kindness. My showing kindness to someone was not meant in any way to offend others.

6 Likes
#132

I rarely use my Samsung 9 for calls and nobody calls me. They know if they wish to call, use my landline connection. I have KS7 HAs but they don’t connect to my new Samsung. If I purchased a new BT dongle they would most likely connect, but the sound is pretty tinny so I don’t care. I like the fact that I can upgrade the memory with the Samsung. Just buy the chip. Mine came with tons of apps, like silly games that I will never play. All I have to do is go to settings and nuke the apps that I don’t want. Simple stuff. I almost took my Sammy back and bought an iphone, but I just couldn’t go there. I am used to Droid and Windows and that’s where I will remain.

I once contract a real nasty virus that took a long time to cure, so I bought a top of the line Apple with touch pad and fancy BT or cordless mouse. All the bells and whistles. My wife freaked out, may she rest in peace, and I took it back to the Apple store. The kid asked what was wrong with it. I told him ‘I don’t like it’. He was SHOCKED! He said he worked in that store and I was the first person who brought one back. I asked him if I got some kind of award. :slight_smile:

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#133

BlueCrab:
Nicely written! I felt largely the same way as you, but finally made the switch to Aople for a few reasons you didn’t mention:

  1. Facetime, and the fact that others in my family had iPhones.
  2. Photo quality: Just shot a video at 8 to 10 times zoom. Lots of obvious camera shake (as one might expect) but the playback was largely without shake!
  3. Music apps.
  4. The Apple watch. Series 4 is now dayiight readable - great on the golf course). Now has fall detection and EKG ability.
  5. Most good Android and Microsoft apps are available in iOS versions.
  6. Apple seems to put user privacy high on its list of importance.
  7. I have a smart home (lighting, spronklers, alarm, etc.) with Alexa, Google and Apple speaker links. The Apple home hub is by far the best for that purpose.

That said, I enjoyed your comments.

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#134

I don’t believe that to be true of any of them Apple or Android. I recently had a friend that lost a hard drive and he had backed up everything except his email. He uses gmail and so contacted Google to see what they could do. They had everything from when he opened his account with them—many years–and were able to restore everything. If you’re using the internet and use any of the mail programs like GMail, social media like facebook or twitter or use a smart phone where all the apps are asking permission to access all your other apps you ain’t private. There is no such thing for the well connected individual.

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#135

Wow. Great explanation! I could have written an identical post (if I’d thought of it), because it encapsulates exactly how I feel about the subject.

I am alone in my family. I have never owned an iPhone. My wife, two daughters, and three or four grandchildren all do. My wife and I bought two of them Android phones and they ended up switching. I don’t know if any one of them has ever added an app to their iPhone – if they have, it’s very, very few.

The one thing you didn’t mention is cost. Every time I upgrade my phone, I find great discounts (the last one was half price) and free goodies that Samsung packages as an incentive. I acquired a VR headset, a 360-degree camera, and a fitness tracker that way. On the other hand, when I found my daughter had switched to an iPhone from the LG we had bought her, I was upset when I found out she had paid full price. When I looked into it, though, it was her only choice.

Back in the “old days,” when Apple came out with its fantastic desktops and laptops, the biggest reason I stuck with PCs was cost. Yes, the Apple products were reliable, but you paid for it.

I also have several hundred apps on my phone, many of them being utility apps that improve the way my phone works or ways I can use it.

I spent nearly three years looking for new hearing aids because I was waiting for Android compatibility and kept being disappointed by false promises. Just as I was about to finally give up and switch to Apple, I saw the announcement for the Phonak Audeo Marvel here. I was ecstatic, and I love how it’s working with my phone. Finally, no need to switch!

3 Likes
#136

Sorry, but NOBODY does more to protect user privacy than Apple.
https://www.apple.com/privacy/approach-to-privacy/

And if you think your data is private in Gmail…think again. Google sells targeted advertising based on words found in your email messages. Apple’s iCloud mail accounts are private and secure, and can also be restored from a backup. Sure, social media accounts all have huge privacy issues, but those risks are irrespective of whether one uses the Android or Apple platforms.

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#137

Sure. And I’ve got a great deal on some Florida property. There is not a single stored system in this country that is immune to search and seizure. Nor is there a single internet connection that is absolutely private including Tor. When you put yourself online you’re open. Fact of life. If I was worried about people seeing what I say I sure as hell wouln’t be interacting on the internet.

2 Likes