Of course, it was a one time fling. Android is the only way. Not a middleway, but the best way.
Clearly the only solution when on Android is to buy high end handsets and nothing at the mid or lower tiers.
I just hope Treble will allow us to install a signed stock ROM (custom ROMs don't count in my book) on any device so all that matters is the hardware and customer support.
you have to compromise on the hardware side
Rooting has it's own rusks and inconveniences, though.
What is wrong with the Pixel hardware? (Have never owned one and have only heard good things)
This is due to the nav buttons being constantly visible in most apps, an option to hide them and only spring up when required would be perfect. It's not the end of the world but it's one of those things that once you notice it you can't forget it.
[1] https://www.thenextrex.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/enable...
So I guess what I'm trying to say here is:
OK GUY.
Care to elaborate? The thing I value about Android is how I can setup the things "my way" vs. "Johnny Ive" way and so make important things far more simple to do than on iPhone.
Also interesting that you chose to test waters with sub par hardware vs. going top of the line Samsung. Both Google and OnePlus are well known to have hardware reliability issues.
Oh and these days iOS is still very locked down. So it just works because you are not allowed to do much. (Like having an app like Tasker for example, or choosing if your USB port on your phone should be used for storage, charging only, or even charging other devices).
Although I suspect that Google's directionless approach does not help.
To speculate a little more wildly it's possible Google's motive is also to push the current Android manufacturers to "up their game" in the same way Google Fiber may have been a subtle threat to internet service providers.
As you suggest, perhaps this iteration of hardware will be like Microsoft Surface. Well built, slightly more pricey hardware that set the bar for the industry..?
Their customer first and formost are ad-buyers and what they sell is your data. Apple’s customers are users, and it shows.
Android really makes me sick though. Touted as free and open, but you still have to root your phone with shady exploits, payloaded over some sketchy USB shell. And then when you do, the custom roms are trash. And I wouldn’t even be rooting these devices if I could just efface some of the stock brand and bloatware, but no, every mobile provider wants me to sign into their analytics package, and billboard their logos all over the place. It’s a wasteland in all directions.
Also, what makes you prefer macOS UX than Windows or Ubuntu? They surely have their downsides, but I don't think they're THAT bad to the point of not even touching one.
An alternative view is that Linux lacks good GUI apps and Windows blows at the command line (despite Bash on Windows). Windows apps also don't have great UX chops in the areas I'd like them to. 1password on Windows sucked the last time I used it, there's no native equivalent to Omnifocus or Things, there's no great calendar app like Fantastical, there's no great indie devs like Readdle[1] or Nucleobytes[2].
This comes from someone who's used all these OSes as well as FreeBSD and OpenBSD for both work and home.
Apple aquired a lot of companies to get their "innovative" features. Siri was aquired (I know, its not great, but it was novel when it came out), PA-Semi was aquired (boosted their in house SoC development), and the original Kinect team for the iPhone X face recognition sensor suite come to mind.
A much bigger list is here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mergers_and_acquisitio...
It's impossible to say how much input/influence each of these mergers had on the products of these companies. Some of these started products, some of these enhanced them, some of these even replaced them.
I see this as more of a sign that Google doesn't care about scaring the hardware manufacturers anymore.
throwing more bodies at the problem isn't going to fix it - this is a top-down issue.
My thoughts when reading this title: https://i.imgur.com/Y6Js3Ju.jpg
Android really makes me sick though. Touted as free and open, but you still have to root your phone with shady exploits, payloaded over some sketchy USB shell. And then when you do, the custom roms are trash. And I wouldn’t even be rooting these devices if I could just efface some of the stock brand and bloatware, but no, every mobile provider wants me to sign into their analytics package, and billboard their logos all over the place. It’s a wasteland in all directions.
