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

[Bogeyface]

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!

PPs are saying "android are way better and have superior capabilities". What does this mean in practice? What can you do with an android phone that iPhones can't?
I don't have a smartphone so have no idea what superior capabilities I would want on a phone (though I might get a camera on my next mobile phone )

I haven't read the full thread but I was incensed last night after setting up an online account with a well known retailer who would not let me proceed without entering, specifically, a mobile phone number. Not everyone has one at all, let alone an iPhone. Ridiculous.

BitOutOfPractice - 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

They have - Google Wallet and Android Pay have existed for years (Android lets developers access the NFC quite easily and use it for all sorts of things, whereas Apple has only started to use it just now for their pay system only). The problem is, due to how open and diverse Android is, it can't really be relied upon to be that secure.

PS - NFC = Near Field Communication. Android phones have used this for ages to transfer contact information, music etc just by touching two phones together, and a few other things (I can control my main camera remotely from my phone, for instance, so I can set up group shots). iPhones have this chip but Apple seem reluctant to use it for anything but the new Apple Pay.

A couple of examples:

• if you want to expand the memory in an Android phone in a lot of models you can insert a memory card to do this. I don't think you can do this in an i phone.

• you can't replace the battery in an iphone easily, it is soldered in. Batteries have a finite life, so Apple want to force you to buy a new phone when it just needs the battery replacing. When my phone's battery started loosing performance I just bought a new one and swapped it with the old one.

Apple stuff tends to be very locked down and restrictive about what it will allow you to do as a user which is why techy people dont tend to like them -we want to use all of the machine we've paid for! However, this is what keeps them fast for non-techy users and is a large part of why apple stuff is seen as "it just works"

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 can add a different texting app, one that lets me add repeat notifications, wallpapers etc.

I can add different email apps, browsers, I don't have to have every app I own on the screen.

If I want to change settings for an app I can do it from that app....

There's loads, Android tends to get things first - swype keyboards, NFC, fingerprint sensors....

The phones are all different from each other - I can go big, small, built in keyboard, dual sim, triple sim, different spec cameras, removable memory cards.....

It's endless....

I absolutely fucking detested my iPhone, such a relief to get rid.

I can add different email apps

You can do that for iphones too. I use MyMail.

all the developers, techies and support guys i work with generally have android phones too (talking 100s people here), the windows guys, project managers and consultants have iphones .....

BugritAndTidyup
do you mind if I ask you the name of that app, please? I have a preverbal child too

There are lots of good apps available, it's a case of finding one that suits your child's developmental level. We are currently using an app called picture AAC which has been developed by a company called hearty spin. It is only available on Apple devices but that suits us well as my son uses an iPad at school and at home so it keeps it the same for him which is essential when the child has profound learning difficulties.
If you don't already have an iPad it might be worth trying to get funding for one through the family fund and make sure you get a really robust case like the griffin defender or similar for it as well. The range of robust cases available for the apple devices is another reason why they are a winner in my house.

Try having a Microsoft lumia then you'll appreciate all that is available on Android!

Having said that, it is a good phone and the cheapest by a mile that I could get wifi calling on, hence why I left android!

re the screens iphones use non tempered glass, most android phones use special toughened glass - that's why virtually everyone with an iPhone gets cracked screens wheras people on android phones can drop them at will like i do :). the conspiracy theorists will say that apple do this deliberately becasue people have to pay their crazy prices for new apples screens as they scare them by saying the warranty will be invalidated if not. I'm not sure but think they may have finally stopped this scam with the latest iphones?

Adding to the chorus of how more convoluted it can be to develop for Android. DH has been doing some of this, lately and because of the fact that one phone manufacturer saves its images with a differently named file format than all the rest, for example, he's had to modify the code. iOS has its foibles, but at least it's a consistent platform.

I'm quite happy with my lot with Android. My last phone was a windows phone. The range of apps for that was dire and not just because it's a minority platform. Even the bloody Internet doesn't work properly on those things.

Ha! Just seen RebeccaCloud9's post :o

FlowerPower, did you notice my breakfast cereal themed comment above yours?

Unless your DS needs the very latest smartphone, you can pick up the previous model for literally the price of cornflakes.

Then you can run it on a SIM only contract for the price of two chicken sandwiches a month.

LookARandomName - I'm on my 4th iPhone and have transferred my contacts quickly and easily every time, so I'm confused as to why your friend couldn't - you just use iCloud. You don't have to be techy to find out how to do it, you just have to know how to Google.

I am a tech at work, and that's one of the reasons I have Apple - I don't want to be a tech at home as well. I just want something that works, and I've never found anything that I want to do that I can't do on my Apple stuff. If I ever do want desperately to do something that only Android can do, I would consider a change, but till then I'm happy.

And techy DH has had to embrace the Apple. His work phone is an iPhone (though his personal one is Android) and he has to work on both windows and mac laptops for his current project. Even cutting and pasting on the mac initially involved a lot of swearing, simply because it's not done how he's used to doing it! As for running a second monitor off the mac - yep they like to keep things so simple that the cable can go in either way. Only it only works one way.

He's not a fan :o

I had a second hand iPhone 4S but the battery life was letting me down - it kept dying even though it claimed to have 35% charge left - no greedy apps running in the background.

I bought an Android phone a month ago - Moto G 3rd gen. Great phone, great camera, great battery life. Only cost £140 from Tesco - £120 when I used some vouchers. I don't miss the iPhone at all.

I have an iPad (retirement present) but when that becomes old I'll be getting an Android tablet.

I managed to have an android phone for ages without having a Google account. Probably because I don't really use a lot of apps. I don't mind android, but I don't like the idea of having to do everything thru Google, thus linking up my email accounts, everything I do online, my pinterest, Facebook. It makes me feel strangely paranoid!
It does bother me that you can't easily find docking speakers for anything other than i stuff. Had a Nokia windows for a while, I liked it actually, and it was indestructible, unlike my Samsung phone screen smashed 1st first time I dropped it.

I had an iPhone 4, then bought a Nexus. Hated it so bought an iPhone 6 and I love it. No comparison for me.

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.

You can. Easily. Via iCloud. So you don't save them to the SIM, you sync your phone via iCloud, sign in on your new device et voila, everything is there.

I'm really surprised at the "techy people never use iphones" - I know a LOT of techy people who use iphones. It is just personal choice.

Through work I tried every handset you can think of. Straight back to iPhone every time

Does anyone care about the massive waste caused by constantly having to have the latest gadget?

My friends laugh at my one woman, nobody cares anti apple stand.

I hate the fact that Apple is so geared up for itself, nothing on it works with anything else, you can only use it in conjunction with Apple products etc etc its a selfish phone!! I love my Sony Experia.

Dp brought home a Macbook to replace the previous laptop, I hate it and now I hate him and am still considering LTB. Its shit, nothing is where it should be and everything is anti windows just because Steve Jobs hated Bill gates.

i quite like my iPod though!!!

The battery life on my Xperia Z3, is 100x better than my iPhone 6.

Like I said, I was a huge iPhone fan since the first iPhone. I just believed that Apple was superior because I guess I was a bit brainwashed. My opinions on Androids was based on nothing factual, just opinions from others from other Apple fans.

I have used plenty of window computers to know that for me Macs are far superior for what I want to do on a PC.

It's so much easier to add a ringtone as well on Xperia. No faffing around, just go to the song on the app and click 'set as ringtone'. With Apple, you are paying for the name. There is nothing an Apple can do that an Android can't that justifies the big difference in price. You are paying more but having much less options and you can't even add a sim card for added memory, so most people will pay for the most expensive version of the phone just so they can get decent memory.