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AIBU?

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Original poster

to be pissed off with the assumption that we all have fucking iPhones?!

214 replies

Bogeyface · 05/10/2015 23:46

Some of us cant afford them, some of us prefer android, some of us just (shock horror) want to call and text so dont need a smart phone at all!

So why is all the latest tech geared towards a phone that is outsold by android phones 5 to 1?! Surely it makes more sense for business to use the Android platform on the basis that so many more people use it than to narrow their market to iphone users only?

I bank with Natwest, I would like to be able to use my phone to pay for things in the event that I have forgotten my purse, but I cant because I choose to use an Android phone.

This is leaving aside the whole thing about why iphones are seen as so wonderful. I used one for a while, they are counter intuitive and obscenely expensive. I will stick with Samsung Galaxy thank you!

OP posts:
MorrisZapp · 06/10/2015 08:17

I'm an android user, have had HTC phones since the dawn of smartphones. Dp has an iPhone, to be honest the only reason I wasn't keen was because his first iPhone had a very hard sided design whereas the HTC is smoother, softer, sleeker.

I guess I phones are more hand friendly now but I'm set in my android ways and my latest upgrade (HTC one M8) is effing amazing and named after my favourite motorway

By the way I looked online to see how much I could get for my old HTC desire handset, great phone in perfect condition.

Eight quid. Yes that is the market value of a used smartphone, the same price as two bowls of Shreddies in Shoreditch.

Flowerpower41 · 06/10/2015 08:21

Even if I wanted one there is no way I could afford one.

No way. It has taken me ten whole months to be able to buy a replacement hoover and I have been using the brush and dustpan and carpet sweeper in the house the best part of the year.

I am old fashioned and intend to remain so. Whereas I will buy one for ds when he goes to secondary school I will stay out of the 21st century on this matter for as long as I possibly can by which time hopefully they will cost no more than a packet of weetabix so I might be able to russle the cost of it up. :(

RainbowFlutterby · 06/10/2015 08:24

OK, I'm old, but back in the days before smart phones were even a twinkle in Steve Jobs eye (probably) it was the opposite way round. Everyone had Windows/Microsoft PCs except techy people who liked to show off their techy credentials by having Macs. Now the techy people wouldn't dream of having Apple. Inverse snobbery really.

Trills · 06/10/2015 08:24

None of these things "just work" - they all need you to learn how to use them - and once you are used to one way of doing things you will think the other way is more difficult.

Sending a text on your partner's opposite-type-of-phone is not more difficult than on your phone, you just don't know how to do it.

Remember Who Wants To Be A Millionaire - it's only easy if you know the answer.

KitKatCustard · 06/10/2015 08:25
WhatchaMaCalllit · 06/10/2015 08:25

I'm not an iHater but I can see where the OP is coming from. All partnering devices (e.g. music centres) have a docking station is designed for Apple devices and not Android. Android devices can be played through bluetooth but not charged at the same time while Apple devices can dock, play and charge at the same time.

I was a complete Nokia-head when they were around. Wouldn't use anything else but Nokia but now wont touch a Windows phone or an iPhone.
Android works for me (apart from the example above).

Trills · 06/10/2015 08:27

Previous posters are right - the reason that many apps are released for iPhone first, or with new features for iPhone first, is about the fragmentation of slightly-different-software and slightly-different phones in the Android world.

It's also about the assumption that iPhone users have money that they are willing to spend.

The Android market could be considered to be made of
a - people who could afford iPhones but prefer Android
b - people who could afford iPhones but don't want to spend that much money on a phone
c - people who can't afford iPhones

So even though the Android market as a whole is larger, only the a group are worth targeting if your business model includes selling apps or selling in-app purchases.

DrDreReturns · 06/10/2015 08:30

I think that in the developing world the vast majority of smart phones are Android ones.

Jux · 06/10/2015 08:31

I love iStuff, but I have an android phone and a pc, but I do have an iPad. I have used Apple products since the late 80s and they are beautiful and gorgeous.

I went over to the dark side when I could no longer afford the programmes I needed on my desktop. Of course, at that point I saw how foolish I'd been spending all that dosh on the lovely Apples, but can't bear to leave totally, and so I now have a good mix of platforms.

It is unlikely I will ever get an iPhone - my friend has one and it's big and heavy.

My problem will come when Apple do a stand alone e-reader to rival the Kindle. The Kindle is not v pretty......

DrDreReturns · 06/10/2015 08:40

Interesting, taken from www.smartphonemarketresearch.com/mobile-software-statistics-2015/

to be pissed off with the assumption that we all have fucking iPhones?!
Ricardian · 06/10/2015 08:45

Now the techy people wouldn't dream of having Apple.

I just don't know where that idea comes from. Computer Science? Mac land. Computer security? Mac land. Start-up App Development at Silicon Roundabout? Mac land. Where is this mythic world in which people are using Linux as a raw desktop operating system (rather than virtualised on a Mac) or where geeks are using Windows through choice?

DrDreReturns · 06/10/2015 08:49

I'm a techy person (computer programmer) and I wouldn't dream of having an Apple product. The same goes for all but one of my colleagues.
It's a mixture of the locked down nature of the products and the ethos of the company. I've heard a few tales about Apple that don't paint them in a very good light. While none of the tech giants are perfect, they are definitely the worst of the bunch imo.

murphys · 06/10/2015 08:51

I think that in the developing world the vast majority of smart phones are Android ones.

Yes I agree with this, although iPhone is a popular choice, for those in a higher income bracket.

They are a status symbol. It is thought that if you have an iPhone, then you are pretty much doing okay for yourself.

FellOutOfBedTwice · 06/10/2015 08:59

I'm surprised to hear that iPhones are such a small section of the market. Absolutely everybody I know has an iPhone. All of my extended family, all of my work colleagues, all of my friends. We are in London and predominantly 25-35 age range- I wonder if that makes a difference.

Georgethesecond · 06/10/2015 09:01

We all have iphone 4/5s. I had thought I would go back to Android next time. But this summer DS1 fried his iphone by accidentally taking it swimming. So an unexpected change of handset (he bought a second hand 4s). He lost nothing, photos, contacts, notes all there because it was all backed up with iCloud. Which made me wonder. Would it have been the same had he fried an Android handset?

DrDreReturns · 06/10/2015 09:12

iPhones aren't a small section of the market in the UK - something like 42% market share compared to 48% for Android. Globally Android is dominant - around 80%, a lot of that is in the developing world.

LookARandomName · 06/10/2015 09:27

I'm a techy person (again, computer programmer) and would not want anything to do with Apple - perfectly fine with Android stuff (and yes, I do use Windows).

A friend who I used to work with (who wasn't at all tech-inclined) got a new Apple phone to replace his old one, and wanted to move the contacts over. I said to him "can't you just transfer it using the NFC" (which I've done on previous Android phones), but it turns out iPhones don't have that function - or at least didn't at the time. Asked him then if he couldn't just save them to the sim (which, again, I've done on an Android), but it seems that option just wasn't available.

In the end he re-typed them all onto the new phone. And people think they're the "leaders" in technological innovation (and don't even get me started on people who think they "invented" the tablet computers - Psion? HP?).

Pastamancer · 06/10/2015 09:29

Android backs up too so your DS would have been fine with Android.

As for working out the box, I bought my new handset, switched it on and entered my Google log in details. All I had to do next was enter the wifi password which I would have had to do with iPhone anyway. All my contacts were available as were my photos and apps which downloaded and installed automatically

PrimalLass · 06/10/2015 09:33

Snap. I like in scotland where signal... no matter what phone you have is fleeting at best.

Eh, not the whole of Scotland. I'm only about 15 miles from you and get 4G in my wee Fife village.

JennyOnAPlate · 06/10/2015 09:34

I got an iPhone a year ago after years on android. I have to say I honestly can't see any significant difference!

I don't agree with the idea that iPhones are a status symbol though...not when half the 11 year olds at dds school have got one!

IKnowIAmButWhatAreYou · 06/10/2015 09:36

Iphones work better for non-techy types, the elderly or bewildered. Geeks love them too!!

Android seems to suit the "normals" in between the 2 extremes. I love my android phone but can't get on at all with my work I-turd.

I love the way that all the Apple "innovations" at launches are stuff that Android users have had for ages - that's why we don't get excited about it!!

BitOutOfPractice · 06/10/2015 09:40

The world is divided into apple people and android people. Not better. Just different.

I personally can't get worked up about what other people have / like

OP, I'm puzzled though, if Androids are so fab, why haven't the manufacturers / developers developed an Android Pay system? I'm sure retailers would sign up for it

FWIW I'm an apple user and I don't use it to pay for anything.

morecoffeethanhuman · 06/10/2015 09:42

I had iPhones for years and there was always something messing up, and they never lasted well!!
Now ive a windows phone and is sooooo much better for me - yeah took a bit of getting used to but now I am ill never go back!
And URNBU!! Everything is made for Apple - even my daughters school app! Annoys the hell out of me that everyone assumes iPhones are the only decenct smartphone!
Ps my 7yr old has my old one Cus its a load of crap to me but she can play minecraft on it lol

fearsomepixie · 06/10/2015 09:44

George yes, assuming the phone was backed up to Google servers, which it most likely would be because you need a Google account to set up an android. I can't imagine anyone actively choosing not to back up and it asks you very clearly do you want to do this.

I upgraded my android phone recently, same manufacturer just newer model. Within half an hour (and that was with me doing it on the go because I was so excited) my new one had all the apps, settings, contacts etc that my old one had.

For everyone who says "oh I had android for ages and hated it, never looked back since I went to iPhone" there will be others saying the reverse. My DH was a dedicated apple fan until he started having problems with them. Switched to android and now says he'll never go back. I don't "hate" iphones or think that everyone using them is a sheep, I just prefer android for myself.

I will say there are a lot of misconceptions about android though, and a lot of them are propagated by iPhone users!

PosterEh · 06/10/2015 09:45

For those who find iPhones restrictive or chose android phones because they are customisable can I ask what it is you have/wanted to customise?
I understand in principle that apple products are more "locked down" but what does that mean in practice?