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Comment by fma | Hacker News Reader

I found a more permanent solution. Instead of replacing it with a new battery, I replaced it with a Samsung S8. There are some things I miss about the iPhone, and maybe I'll consider it again in the future..but after 3 iterations of iPhones I got off the hype train when "it just works" became "it just doesn't work". I also had issues with backups and lost data...

My wife got the iPhone X (yes...I know, $1000) and she's encountered a few bugs/crashes. I make fun of her for it. I find the usability of my Samsung not as good as iPhone when iPhone was at the peak, but I'm ok with it beacuse I'm not buying a device that touts itself as 'it just works'...plus I got it for 1/3rd the price after massive discounts.

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Once the Android platform starts offering a default security posture somewhere above "wide open barn door", that always provides the latest Android updates and doesn't involve installing a rootkit on your phone, I may give it some consideration.

Also don't somewhere around 80% of the available Android phones on the market have JTAG connectors on them? No thanks. Cool if you want something hackable, but not cool for a device that follows you everywhere and knows everything about you.

Edit: This seems to be an unpopular opinion, but really platform and application security are a feature set and it happens to be the one where iOS is kicking Android's ass. Some people may or may not care about it, just like some people may or may not care about battery replacement. For me it's the #2 thing I need my phone to do after make and receive calls.

Same for me. The Google Pixels and the Essential PH-1 are good options if you want an Android phone as they receive regular monthly security updates.

...for now. Google has shamelessly abandoned Nexus and Moto devices in the past: who's to say they won't just do it again when they decide it's too much work/not shiny enough?

I had similar problem with Samsung's Galaxy Nexus. It was fast, but after 2 years it became super-slow. Software updates were released only in first year. Maybe they use the same CPU limiting?

The whole industry of portable ad-clicking devices is awful. Just accept that you have to buy new hardware every 1-2 years. You can't even buy "regular" calls-only phone now.

Are you saying that Samsung phone batteries don't go bad over time?

I'm saying I've invested a lot of money in a platform that touts itself as the best and user friendly. My recent personal experiences has shown that it is not. Hence, I refuse to pay the luxury tax on an item that does not provide me a good experience. Their tagline is "it just does". Sorry, no, it doesn't.

I saved ~$500 when purchasing the flagship phone of another platform, so even if the experience is poor, I have an extra $500 in the bank.

Also - the Samsung S8 gives you very fine control on throttling the CPU to save power.

I think the issue here is CPU performance being tied to battery degradation as a method of planned obsolescence, rather than a complaint about iPhone battery life.

It's not really planned obsolescence, they made the trade off of CPU speed instead of battery life when the battery gets old. This is more reasonable than you might think as deep discharges use up batterie life faster. The other option is for the phone to not keep it's charge for nearly as long which would likely be more annoying.

In either case it's a ~40$ repair to replace a phones battery and IMO a good idea at ~2-3 years old on all phones. Assuming you keep your phone for 4-5 years.

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