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Comment by hackersword | Hacker News Reader

Android loses when it comes to not having enough clout to enforce a standard on the manufacture and carriers.

My last attempt at an android was a Samsung Note3 on Verizon.

Pretty much every app had 3 versions - google/android version - samsung version - verizon version

Locked bootloader so couldnt' really remove the duplicates.

Critical Security update released by a google? Well first has to be approved by Samsung ... that takes a month at least , then approved by Verizon.

Realistically if you saw the security update w/in 3 months that was pretty fast.

So a zero day exploit ... 3 months waiting for patch.

Android really won.

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Note 3 was like a century ago in 'smartphone years'. A lot has changed since then (Samsung handled the precise duplicate apps problem you're talking about on the most part). Also, even then Google had its own phones (e.g. Nexus) and the only fair comparison to iOS would be stock Android. Now, the new line of Samsung flagships are really smooth, hugely less clutter than before - however, it remains the case that the only fair comparison to iPhones would be with the Google Pixel line.

Both the Note 3 and the iPhone 5s were introduced in 2013. Guess which one is still getting updates?

Yes, it's given that iPhones have a longer update cycle. My comment was not related to that though.

Actually it does. An iPhone 5s user would not be getting a different user experience than an iPhone 8 user. The Note 3 user would have to buy a new phone to get a better experience.

Well, definitely the iPhone 5s users are not getting the same experience as the iPhone 8 user. There are hardware changes that just can't be done via a software update - so that point is moot. My point, again, was that Samsung's out of box experience has changed a lot since then, and that at present, the experience from Note 3 (from old times) shouldn't be a deciding factor of whether "Android won" or iOS (/Apple).

I purposefully chose the iPhone 8 because it is the latest phone that has Touch ID instead of Face ID. The hardware changes are it’s of course faster and has a better camera but that’s about it. The software experience would be about the same.

I am not sure. If you agree with Steve Jobs, you shouldn't be separating Hardware from Software. Can you do hands free 'Hey Siri' on the iPhone 5S? That's a critical 'Software' functionality for me that's been working since the original Moto X (2013), or Nexus 6 (2014).

Yes if it is plugged in.

https://ios.gadgethacks.com/how-to/siri-101-use-hey-siri-han...

The only time thst I need to be able to activate Siri hands free is when I am driving. Even my cheap car has Bluetooth with a button on the steering wheel that activates it. It’s much more reliable than Hey Siri for me.

That's the point, most of the day you're not plugged in. I know it works when plugged in, but the Android phones that I named and later ones in their series) work without being plugged in.

And yes, you use Siri hands free so rarely because it doesn't work (as you acknowledged). That's not the case with Google Assistant which works really great for most people - and I use it extensively (almost all day) - both with my phone and Google Home.

>Yes, it's given that iPhones have a longer update cycle. My comment was not related to that though.

But that aside from duplicate apps, my 2nd more important point was SECURITY. An iphone user w/ phone from 2013 can still feel confident that his phone is secure , an android user from 2013 is laughably insecure.

If you use your phone for any work related sensitive data , and android phone is a huge gamble.

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