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Safety and security are absolutely a selling point, although not one they lean hard on in their own marketing materials. But it comes up in any comparison between iOS and Android, and not without reason.I think security with regard to malware (of which Android has like 90+% of all mobile malware according to surveys) was a selling point, but not safety/security in the privacy/encryption/etc way that the FBI incident was about.
That wasn't, as you say, much on Apple's marketing materials, nor was it much of a factor for the majority of buyers.
>Incidentally, why the past tense?
Because safety and security have become something of a selling point for Apple as of late (I'd say post the FBI incident), but it's not long ago they weren't.
So the past tense was meant to convey that those other things were Apple's selling points "back then", but leave the door open for security being a selling point for them now.
