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Comment by duiker101 | Hacker News Reader

You will be able to go to a Genius bar and get your support. If that's what you are after, the answer should be yes. But I would advise against it. You will move from one gated garden to another. You are right, breaking out from Google is very hard and painful, but I would argue breaking out of Apple might be even harder.

A while ago I started having the same worry about Google and started to cut them out. I began with email and moved to FastMail with my own domain, then I moved my drive and Photos (currently on DropBox) and then all other things (Apps/contacts/calendars)

Admittedly, it's more expensive, but each component is now separate and if something goes wrong I don't risk losing everything in one go.

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I'm on Fastmail with my own domain(s), my photos and files are mostly local, with a backup on iCloud and on OneDrive and I'm using an iPhone and an iPad. I also have an iCloud subscription.

Why would an Apple device stop anyone from doing what you just outlined?

Nothing, but that's not what OP asked for. He seems to be wanting to move everything to Apple, not OneDrive, not Fastmail etc... my comment was about moving out of being all-in with Apple. Google's takeout service is okish, but I am not aware of similar services on Apple and there is a even stronger tie between services and devices with Apple, which makes it also more expensive to want to move away from it.

I see, thanks for warning me.

Aside from the absolute need to make sure you sign out of iMessage on your iPhone before you get rid of the device (so your friends still using iMessage will still be able to reach you using SMS), what is it about the Apple ecosystem that would lock you in that wouldn't be solved by using the iOS version of Google Drive to back up the iPhone before you sell it?

It's not the actual selling of the device the problem, it's the way you are locked in the walled garden. Let's say, you don't like the next iPhone. You want something different. Well, tough shit, you will need to find a new way to store all your photos and files since you won't be able to use those either on any other device. Same goes for anything else you might have in your iCloud.

Now, I'm not saying that you can't use other services or anything, all I'm saying is that if you put all your eggs in one basket, it becomes hard(not impossible, usually, just harder) to then move them away.

Again, using the iOS version of Google drive to back up the iPhone would back up all the photos, videos, contacts, and calendars.

All the user would need to do is sign into their new Android device with the same Google account they used to backup the iPhone.

Copying user files from iCloud Drive to Google drive (or any other cloud storage option) is likewise extremely simple.

I'm not aware of any lock in that isn't related to apps that aren't available on both platforms.

You just move everything from iCloud over to something else. I don’t see where any lock-in is for what you’re describing.

The iMessage lock-in thing is dead and over with. This is no longer an issue. Please stop parroting it

I absolutely detest Apple products but absolutely love that their customer service is par excellence.

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