I was an iOS supporter until iphone 5 then I discovered the beauty and freedom of Android.

To this day with Samsung s22+

But currently I am a bit tired, there is no android phone that I am passionate about, oneplus has given me nothing but problems, Samsung with exynos is a disaster (not to mention the new blockages at sideload and the green stripes on the display), I don’t even want to go near all the other Chinese brands, and Nothing is not what it promised to be.

I want to go back to iOS but there are a few things holding me back:

  • how can sideload be managed on iOS? Are there modified apps like youtube, reddit?

  • I follow a lot of NSFW channels on telegram, discord and reddit itself, are there any problems on iOS? are there ways around this? (my girlfriend has iOS, and every time I want to forward an nsfw gif she doesn’t see it)

  • surf the sea, is it complex on ios? Especially in terms of gaming?

TBH only yt, nsfw and modded apk keep me on android. Thanks a lot in advance

  • HatchetHaro@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
    25·
    5 months ago

    iOS is probably the worst choice if you want to sideload apps. I would recommend sticking with Android and run your Samsung into the ground (maybe flash a custom ROM?) before getting something like a Fairphone.

    Besides, what do you want to be “passionate” about in mobile phones? To me, they’re just tools for browsing the web, playing games, and staying in contact with friends and family while on the go; anything extra is superficial.

    • TheDuckPrince@lemm.eeOPEnglish
      3·
      5 months ago

      Actually I love to testing modded app, rooting, changing roms, with samsung and oneplus I lost this because install a custom rom brings a lot of issue with banks, camera (damn camera2 api) and so on almost all modern phone is not convenient to go to a custom rom

      • PetroGuy@lemmy.caEnglish
        9·
        5 months ago

        so you are choosing to go from having issues with those things to not being able to do it at all? I don’t understand. isn’t finding/solving the issues part of the testing you mention?

      • mr_right@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
        2·
        5 months ago

        I dont think its possible -or easy- to install custom roms on samsungs since they dont allow unlocking the bootloader

  • deranger@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    15·
    5 months ago

    my girlfriend has iOS, and every time I want to forward an nsfw gif she doesn’t see it

    Say what? There’s no content censoring that I’m aware of. I’ve had no issues looking at all kinds of NSFW/NSFL content.

    Regardless, you’re likely not going to enjoy the lack of modified apps and game piracy; I don’t do either of those. Maybe it’s possible but you’ve gotta jump through so many hoops IMO it wouldn’t be worth it.

    Zero issues with NSFW though, that’s bizarre to me. There’s screen time web content filtering but I believe that only affects safari.

      • Taleya@aussie.zoneEnglish
        15·
        5 months ago

        Yeah but there’s a difference between’doesn’t support webp’ and ‘blocks porn’

    • TheDuckPrince@lemm.eeOPEnglish
      2·
      5 months ago

      I can tell you that there are channel marked as NSFW that share video and gif and if I send it to my gf, on her phone (even with nsfw enabled) she get the message “this channel is used to share pornographic material” while on android I can see everything.

  • wolf@lemmy.zipEnglish
    151·
    5 months ago

    there is no android phone that I am passionate about,

    Not what you asked for:

    A phone is a tool which should enable you to do stuff. Be passionate about friends, hobbies, art, not a piece of plastic.

    Being forced to use iOS (work phone) and Android (Samsung, also work), both suck IMHO but Android sucks less.

    My next Android will be a Pixel, as others suggested custom roms are the way to go, but even vanilla Android is more functional/open/practical for my needs than iOS.

    I would never buy Apples shit with my own money: Dumped down, locked down and in the end you are renting a device from Apple to pay fees for their Appstore and Cloud offerings and vendor lock in. No thanks.

    • prole@beehaw.orgEnglish
      31·
      5 months ago

      I will add that, after getting my first Pixel as my previous phone, I’ve found the Google vanilla Android experience is better than Android on other carriers that fill the phone with bloat that you can’t get rid of without rooting.

  • Brickfrog@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
    13·
    5 months ago

    iOS is way too locked down. Granted, it depends on what you do and what you need, but since you’re asking in this community yeah… not the best choice.

    Honestly just get a Android phone that’s just pure Android OS and nothing else, you don’t have to deal with the added junk that Samsung or whoever want to add on top of the OS. e.g. Google Pixel is quite excellent for this. And even still, if you end up wanting a different OS try installing GrapheneOS & see how it goes.

    • TheDuckPrince@lemm.eeOPEnglish
      2·
      5 months ago

      I really want to jump on Pixel, because, again I hate how iOS is locked for everything. but I hate in the same way that G2 seems to overheat. I didn’t know grapheneOS this is interesting…

      • StructureOfChaos@lemmynsfw.comEnglish
        5·
        5 months ago

        Pixel phone with GrapheneOS, it’s an unbeatable solution. Rock solid, reliable, safe & secure and private. A lot of people mentioned Pixel 8 gen to be really with very long-term support (about 7 years if I not mistaken), so that’s really worthy!

        Edit: typo

  • ssm@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
    10·
    5 months ago

    There are other mobile OSs besides Android and iOS. That being said, iOS is one of the most locked-down restrictive platforms on the planet, and any “freedom” you have now can be taken away in a single update as soon as Apple gets an angry letter from Nintendo or the RIAA or whatever.

    • TheDuckPrince@lemm.eeOPEnglish
      3·
      5 months ago

      This comment has definitely stopped me from wanting to switch to iOS, I can’t do it, if I don’t sail the high seas I don’t feel comfortable, I only spend my money where I have a grain of apparent freedom

  • Shimitar@feddit.itEnglish
    112·
    5 months ago

    Xiaomi. Or poco, redmi… Same stuff. For 200 bucks you get awesome phones and you can usually always remove stock and install LineageOS. They are all freely uockable and still under warranty after that.

    Get a model near its end of market life, buy new the oldest you can find… Unlock, install LineageOS, enjoy.

    I bought my Poco X3 NFC for 160€ 4 years ago and still rocks today with LineageOS 21 (Android 14).

    (It usually take 6 months to 1 year for each new model to get LineageOS support, so don’t buy the latest model Also worth looking if there is official support on LineageOS before buy, or at least some unofficial ports).

    • mr_right@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
      0·
      5 months ago

      Get a model near its end of market life, buy new the oldest you can find

      This is a very good advice for someone who is buying a new phone to install a custom ROM on it, since they are indepandant effort they need some time to hack things and find workarounds

      • Shimitar@feddit.itEnglish
        1·
        5 months ago

        Yes, I am a maintainer for a 4 years old device, and I would love to be able to buy it new today! New battery and all.

  • priapus@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    101·
    5 months ago

    Samsung is garbage IMO, and OnePlus has been getting worse for years. Pixels offer the smoothest experience. Nothing phones are really nice too.

    Wdym about the gifs? there should be nothing stopping you from sending those on any device.

    Sideloading is possible, but there’s more hoops to jump through than on Android. Plus an overall smaller amount of apps available to sideload.

    Piracy depends on what you’re pirating. TV/Movie wise you’ll be fine, as well as ROMs for the few emulators iOS has (relative to android). I doubt you’ll have any luck with apps or mobile games.

    • TheDuckPrince@lemm.eeOPEnglish
      31·
      5 months ago

      Wdym about the gifs? there should be nothing stopping you from sending those on any device.

      I forward gif from channel that maybe are marked as NSFW, I know that also some content creator makes 2 channel on telegram because if they are marked as NSFW are not shown on ios anymore.

      Pixel are really expensive and I read that the 7 pro gets really hot, and I don’t like it, while the 8 it’s a bit small after the s22+

      • youmaynotknow@lemmy.mlEnglish
        6·
        5 months ago

        Dude, Pixels of any generation compared to iPhone are actually cheap. iPhone are the most expensive overrated phones ever made.

      • hasty3827@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
        31·
        5 months ago

        Like the other guy said, used/refurbished pixels are pretty good deals. The overheating is a bit overblown, yes some people get a bad device but you can just return it if it’s really bad. My experience with the pixel 7/ 7 pro is that it’s very smooth and don’t notice any overheating even in hot climate, and Android 14 and also the upcoming 15 updates helps with heat and battery significantly.

        • TheDuckPrince@lemm.eeOPEnglish
          21·
          5 months ago

          I’m really afraid of this, I’ve seen a video of a pixel 7 pro that stop a videocall on telegram for the overheating issue. I just can stand this, because I sometimes travel and I want to take picture and long long videos…

          • Gailthesnail2@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
            1·
            5 months ago

            There are mountains of complaints in the googlepixel sub about the terrible tensor chip. Not sure why so many here are ignoring the inefficiency and overheating. The modem is also really bad

        • TheDuckPrince@lemm.eeOPEnglish
          21·
          5 months ago

          As I said to someone, pixel 7 is affordable for me, but I’m afraid of the overheat, the G2 seems really terrible soc

  • elucubra@sopuli.xyzEnglish
    8·
    5 months ago

    I have recently gotten an iPad, because my carrier had a banger of a deal (30% off on the 2024 Air, 48 months payment no interest) and my Huawei tablet was getting long in the tooth, so I jumped.

    I have owned Android since the first Galaxy (no number), tablets since the first 7" Galaxy Tab.

    I have gone through a few tablets, 3-4 Samsung, Lenovo, Huawei, a couple of no names, and I got the iPad, because for tablet things is still the reference. Best experience hands down.

    Would I get an iPhone? NO WAY.

    The iPad is an occasional use device. I use it for media consumption, some social media (not much of a user) and for graphics stuff with the Affinity suite, which BTW is reason enough to get an iPad if you do design/photo. It’s the device for when the laptop is too cumbersome, or overkill. It’s great to take notes, scribble, sketch. It’s awesome to edit pics on the go, which I do a surprising lot.

    But… Apple limits what I can do. Too much.

    Would I accept the constraints of iOS in my main electronic device? No. I can live with the iPad’s constraints because I have a super capable phone (a 4 year old Xiaomi which is truly fantastic), which I can tune as I wish, and because it’s use case is fairly well defined. I would not compromise with my phone. Simple things like changing the launcher, what goes on my lock screen like alternate number / emergency contact, or whatever clock I want, or the keyboard, or installing apps from wherever I want, or rooting and changing the ROM (not all phones) or not dealing with iCloud bullshit, or having proper Firefox with extensions, or torrenting, or any of the tweaks, modifications, or whatever that make my Android MINE.

    Just search for “things that iphones can’t do”. You’ll have reading for an afternoon.

    • TheDuckPrince@lemm.eeOPEnglish
      3·
      5 months ago

      THIS ^

      Thank you so much, I didn’t think about Firefox, I’m a firefox user on every system I have, and I rely a lot on extensions. And I have my little server with sonarr, radarr, jellyfin and syncthing that is not so much, but it works and I had fun making it, I don’t want to lose the joy of do what I want with my phone.

    • lemmyvore@feddit.nlEnglish
      3·
      5 months ago

      Same here. iOS is so severely limited compared to Android it would be unusable to me as an phone.

      As a tablet I use it 99% for streaming apps (music and series) that I put on while cooking or doing chores, 1% as a backup device for things like access to my bank app.

  • foremanguy@lemmy.mlEnglish
    7·
    5 months ago

    On mobile you have 4 choices :

    • Stock Android, the worst you can get, simply not use it

    • iOS, as worst as android but with better UI

    • Degoogled Android, good choice, avail able on many devices 👍

    • Linux phones, the best but in early development and only available on some devices only

  • Petter1@lemm.eeEnglish
    81·
    5 months ago

    First I would say best Android right now, is a pixel with custom ROM installed.

    Sidload: there exists modified apps for iPhone. To install them you have 3 options (if not in EU) you can sideload using your personal free apple dev account, there you are limited to 3 different apps and you have to reinstall them every 7 days to keep them working, if you pay apple 100$ a year, you can upgrade to a “real” apple dev account without the limitations. Easiest way to self sign apps using above methods would be AltStore application. The third way is Sideloading using a service, that uses enterprise certificates to distribute such apps, those services are either expensive (e.g. BuildStore) or they inject ads into the apps you sideload (sorry, you have to “google” yourself).

    I had no issues with NSFW on Reddit, Lemmy and discord yet, 🤔 for discord I don’t know if it changed since I used it. NSFW on telegram is blocked in the iOS app, but the webApp of telegram can be added to the homescreen and then it feels like an App

    I use the sea via the self hosted arrr apps and have added the webUI of each to my homescreen, alternatively you can control your arrr apps using LunaSea app. For streaming, I use plex and jellyfin which both work great on iOS

    For youtube, there were some modded apps, but I just went with premium via India, because that was more convenient.

    I block ads on my phone by routing my internet through my server running adGuard and on device I use 1blocker as backup (since i payed for lifetime long time ago)

  • fmstrat@lemmy.nowsci.comEnglish
    6·
    5 months ago

    Long time Samsung user. Get a Pixel 8. Install Obtainium. Use it to install Neo Launcher and 99% of the apps you probably use. Or just switch to GrapheneOS. You will be happy again.

    I also found filly changing my layout helps. My daily calendar, task list, and clock are the only things on my first home screen.