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Comment by hsn915 | Hacker News Reader

Switched from Android to iPhone a few months ago.

Hard to believe the difference. Android is really bad at many things, and I had a good brand (One Plus 6).

Taking a picture on Android is an awful experience. The Camera app takes about 3 seconds to open, and freezes for a second when taking a picture.

The Camera app on iPhone opens instantly and takes photos instantly.

The quality of the pictures taken on the iPhone are also much much better.

I don't like the closed model of the iPhone, but the quality is currently unbeatable.

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I switched a few months ago and I can't believe the lack of difference. They are very similar. If I want to see the weather, I tap the square with a cloud on it. If I want to start Spotify, I tap that icon. I turn it on and off with a button on the side and turn the volume up and down with the other buttons. The camera takes pictures and I can use the map to navigate in my car. Maybe the Apple camera is better this year, but the Google camera will probably be better next year. Both place calls and can send/receive text messages.

For me (and I think most people) the two are very substitutable. One is a Toyota Camry and the other is a Honda Accord. They are both fine.

I don't know if this is supposed to be a serious comment.

Everyone I know who uses an Android is frustrated with it all the time.

I'm sure the people who make Android also think it's fine. You just tap the button and then an app opens. Who cares if it's janky and freezes half the time? Certainly Android developers don't seem to care.

Not really my Android experience. Any bad Android vibes come two things. Apps that go from good UX to terrible UX or apps that intentionally behave badly (looking at you MS Outlook & your Bing Search poison)

> Apps that go from good UX to terrible UX or apps that intentionally behave badly

At one point, I remember certain google sites displaying differently (and in an obstructive way) when I would browse from Firefox, but not from Chrome.

That's certainly a thing. Sometimes it's just lazy coding.

Conversely, Firefox is the only app that lets me clean up bad site practices (eg: by using Kill Sticky). Conversely to that, in Android I have browse on FFx 68 because newer FFx (still!) has mostly non-existent extension support.

100% serious. I switched to iPhone fairly recently. My last phone was a Pixel and it worked well enough but the battery was shot and the camera was a generation or two old.

I have been using Pixels for many years and have never been frustrated with them.

I think iPhones are relatively homogenous but with Android - it really matters which phone you have (and whether they're running custom apps or closer to stock Android).

So it's unclear when someone says "they feel very similar" without saying what "they" are.

Switched from Pixel 2 to iPhone Pro Max 13 a few months ago. I refer to it as my gilded preschool. The basic quality is phenomenal, but there are so many things I had done to customize my Android to my tastes that I can't do on my iPhone. It's been a very mixed bag for me.

> I had a good brand (One Plus 6). Taking a picture on Android is an awful experience.

Good brand. Terrible camera app. I carry a OP6 and the awfulness of it's camera is legendary. Besides what you mentioned, the camera app is often incapable of focusing. To deposit checks, I have to use an old phone.

That and the utterly dismal battery life (drains fast with heavy use) will make this my only OP device. I accept good brand but I wouldn't go as far as good phone.

All that said, even this OP6 is still a better option for me than an Apple phone. My first and foremost requirement will always be rooting.

generalizing from one android phone is unfair. there are a gazillion phones, some with better camera than iphones.

I've had many androids and iphones throughout the years (I think starting 2010), and i often switching from android to iphone and back. Even when I had the higher end devices like google pixel it just wasn't as high quality as the iphones.

Oneplus is a good brand since when? They are a Chinese manufacturer like many others.

I'd put them squarely midrange. They start out better but their OS modifications often wind up sabotaging the hardware (insanely fast charging to go with the insanely fast, heavy use drain).

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