iPhone/Apple vs Android/Google - friendly debate

[Tradd]

A friend and I have been having a friendly debate on the usual iPhone vs Android debate with some twists. Put aside how much you might have invested in one system (apps, music bought,etc).

How much do you want to get away from made in China (Apple) and do privacy concerns play into your decision (Apple seems much better with this than Google, which developed the Android OS)

You can get Android phones made in Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea (Samsung). iPhones are all made in China.

I love my Apple Watch, which needs to be paired with an iPhone.

Your take on this debate?

[happystuff]

I prefer android, mainly because of the restrictiveness of many Apple products/systems/etc. For example, Apple's Facetime(that's the name of the app, right?) only works Apple-to-Apple, but Google's Duo will work Android-to-Android as well as Android-to-Apple.

Edited to add: The price differences also make my decision pretty easy. lol.

[Tradd]

Then there are third party apps - such as WhatsApp - that can be used

[iris lilies]

I have nothing to say about security, and don’t care where anything is made. I don’t care about price.


I’m a very low level of sophistication user when it comes to tech stuff. So my main criteria is how hard is it to use?


The iPads are crazy simple to set up I’ve been using them for several years now. So much intuitive stuff associated with them. I don’t especially like my Apple phone, but I have no illusion that any other kind of phone would be better.


I hated my last Hewlett-Packard computer, hate it with a passion and I’m trying to get rid of it this year. Much of that has to do with we were new Windows 7 users at the time. I don’t know that later versions of Windows are any better. I am going to use MS Office on a Mac because I don’t want to get used to another word processing program or spreadsheet program.

[Tradd]

IL, the Apple Numbers spreadsheet program is dreadful. Horrid.

[iris lilies]

IL, the Apple Numbers spreadsheet program is dreadful. Horrid.

I do use it at a kindergarten level because I move Excel files to my iPad just for reading purposes for the most part, so I don’t try to do real spreadsheet work on it. Not that I can do advanced or even medium level spreadsheet work anyway. My spreadsheet skills are very limited. It is possible that Apple’s Numbers program would work for me but I dont want to test it.

[Alan]

I've used both Android and IOS phones and currently own current versions of both, an iPhone SE 2020 and a Google Pixel 6. Some years ago when I switched from Blackberry I had iPhone models 4, 4S, 6 and 6 plus before moving over to the Pixel 2. I purchased the iPhone SE about 18 months ago and then got the Pixel 6 when it came out this past fall. Since then I've been changing back and forth between the SE and Pixel, mainly because I can't determine which one I like best, although I think if I had to be satisfied with just one, I'd probably go exclusively Android.

Facetime is the major reason I haven't given up the iPhone. My special needs grandson likes to Facetime with me several times a day and Apple simply refuses to release a Facetime app for use on Android phones. I've actually installed Android's Duo app on his iPhone but he refuses to use it. So, when I have my sim card in the Pixel, I keep the iPhone nearby so that he can continue to Facetime me at his leisure. Like all modern smartphones, the iPhone works just fine without a sim card as long as you're connected to WiFi and don't use it for its phone capabilities, although you can actually get away with that too if you have a Google Voice number and the Voice app on the iPhone.

If I were doing a review of Android vs Apple I'd give the iPhones bonus points for fit and finish while giving Android bonus points for software elegance and versatility.

[Tradd]

Alan, what about going with WhatsApp? You can do video calls on it just fine. I use it all the time.

[Alan]

Alan, what about going with WhatsApp? You can do video calls on it just fine. I use it all the time.

Oh I'm sure it works wonderfully, but getting my grandson to switch to something new would not only be difficult on its own, but the list of extended family members he Facetimes with would also require a buy in and I'm the only Android user in the group. He'd never be able to navigate using different apps for different contacts.

[Tradd]

Oh I'm sure it works wonderfully, but getting my grandson to switch to something new would not only be difficult on its own, but the list of extended family members he Facetimes with would also require a buy in and I'm the only Android user in the group.

Oh. Didn’t catch that part.