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Comment by ocdtrekkie | Hacker News Reader

I can tell you that it's a night and day difference switching to an OS that isn't actively trying to manipulate you. Apple isn't the good guys by any means, but once you've bought their expensive phone, you've largely already done what they want.

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That may have been true at one point but not anymore. My iPhone - which I'm typing this on - is constantly trying to get me to sign up for iCloud or Apple Pay or Apple Music or some other damn thing I don't want. The way I see it, Apple is trying to manipulate me as much as Google is and for the exact same reason: money. They want to make more money off me and if that means advertising to me in the settings menu then that's what they'll do.

> constantly trying to get me to sign up for iCloud or Apple Pay or Apple Music

"constantly" seems like a strech, sure you need a icloud account for the app store to work, but thats it.

i don't recall having been nagged for anything more than once by apple. whatsapp on the other hand ...

I have a seemingly permanent notification for the settings app to, "finish setting up your iPhone."

All I have to do is punch in my credit card number and sign up for Apple Pay. I don't want that.

now that you mention it, i remember the "finish setup..." nag. iirc it went away after i started to setup whatever and then cancel/abandon the setup thingy

> My iPhone - which I'm typing this on - is constantly trying to get me to sign up for iCloud or Apple Pay or Apple Music

That's interesting. I don't have any of these services (well, there is a free tier of iCloud you get by default) and I'm not pestered for anything. What is your phone doing to constantly try to get you to sign up for these services?

I'm just trying to use my phone. Apple Music wants me to subscribe to their streaming service. Apple Podcasts wants me to sign up for their premium offering. Apple News keeps telling me that the article I want to read is for subscribers only. It got to the point that I deleted them all so they'd leave me alone.

It might be I just don't use those apps. I use Feedly to read the news, I use Plum to listen to music, and I don't listen to podcasts. You're right though, Apple's apps shouldn't bark at you incessantly to purchase Apple's premium services.

> constantly trying to get me to sign up for iCloud or Apple Pay or Apple Music or some other damn thing I don't want

this is not happening on my iPhone

Definitely not my experience, and I don't pay for any Apple services. I had the Apple TV+ app installed for a while and I thought it was a bit annoying they used notifications to advertise new TV shows, but I did have the free Apple TV+ trial at the time.

And you don't have to buy the "expensive" phone. Their phones last nearly 10 years so you can buy used or get a new SE for $400.

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