Android is now better than iOS, says head of Instagram | Hacker News Reader

Android is now better than iOS, says head of Instagram

threads.net

20 pointslawgimenez31 comments

It is completely expected that leadership from Meta would say that, given "It also expected measures taken by Apple, Inc. to protect user privacy to cost it some $10 billion in advertisement revenue, an amount equal to roughly 8% of its revenue for 2021" [1]

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meta_Platforms

Android is now better than iOS, says owner of a newly released product that is so bad for privacy towards the consumer, that it’s not allowed in the EU. Android, the platform that has some of the most lax privacy rules, agree that you should totally trust all of them with your data… I smell something, and it ain’t roses

> Android, the platform that ...

Was built and maintained by... a literal advertising company?

I use Android, but yeah, let's not pretend that Android and iOS revenues come from the same place.

Then why is he still using an iPhone? https://www.threads.net/@mosseri/post/Cu4en-1gb-e

Because they’re speaking as the head of instagram, and apple keeps curtailing the ability for third parties to collect user information. So while as a user using an iphone is to their benefit, as an employee of Meta iPhones are not.

Reminder: Threads has yet to launch in the EU (and it might take months yet), because of its poor data protection and direct cross-feed of Instagram data.

And that feature doesn't work on Android

...as long as you don't need to write code for it I guess...

Xcode and the iOS system frameworks might be weird, but compared to the mess that is Android development it's like alien technology ;)

Yet the open source ecosystem is thriving on Android, whereas it's incredibly cumbersome to use open source apps on iOS.

IMHO it’s more expensive than cumbersome. You “just” have to pay 99$/year then hit build and run. Or is there something I missed?

Yes, and you have to build everything yourself, or you have to sign up to testflights.

You can develop apps without paying the fee, but you'll need to pay if you want to actually publish. That's been a great move IMO, because it's a gateway to stop spammy apps from appearing on the store. If you put in $99 and have to go through a review process, you'll put the extra effort into making a good app.

Oh yeah I even forgot about the free tier

Well you also need to have a mac. And mac minis have 8gb of ram that makes them practically useless for serious work. So you need a >1000$ system.

They are both terrible in their own ways in my opinion, I could also write an entire paragraph on xcode

I just don't agree, android development environment is pretty easy, what year do you live in?

I need to deal with native code and android-ndk.

Unfortunately the android-ndk is stuck in the 90's, not much I can do about that.

Gradle and Android Studio just amplify those problems instead of helping (the best thing that can be said about AS is that it is the only debugger solution for Android that actually works, but otherwise it feels a lot like Eclipse, just with a modern UI theme bolted on).

"Better" is subjective. It's drastically better in some aspects (e.g. flexibility in UI - I cannot stand "just plaster all apps on the home screen" "organisation"; but also user control and feedback (errors mean something, and are shown, not vague spinning wheel until the end of time)), worse in others (privacy controls). Depending on what matters to every person, it could be better or worse for their specific needs and wants.

> I cannot stand "just plaster all apps on the home screen" "organisation"

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211345

That's quite nice, it has improved quite a bit! It's still less flexible than Nova Launcher that I've used on my Android phones for like a decade.

I use Android and think it's better for a variety of reasons, but it's highly subjective. There are some things I could point to and say "this is almost objectively better for these reasons", but "Android is better than iOS"? Hmm.

Is this a PR stunt aimed at keeping people engaged on threads ?

It's just a random shitpost reply to a random tweet. Not sure why this is on the front page

I understand that some people find it charming, but I recently owned a flagship Samsung phone, the S23 Ultra, and it was quite frustrating. It had two separate payment apps, Samsung Pay and Google Pay, each with their own issues, and neither worked as seamlessly as Apple Pay. On top of that, there were redundant Google and Samsung applications, making Android a messy experience for regular users. It's definitely not a phone I would recommend for my mom or elderly neighbors whom I provide phone support to. Personally, as someone who wants to use my phone without constantly tinkering with it, Android is not the ideal choice.

I have a Pixel, it has Google Pay. It's extremely seamless, I just wave my unlocked phone towards the terminal and I've paid, I don't know what more can be improved there. I also want to use my phone without constantly tinkering, so I choose to tinker only when I want to. Other times I don't have to. At least I have the option.

Given most people use Android and do so quite happily, I think your post is maybe more a projection of your own preferences.

Before posting links to Threads please remember that it is not available globally.

Only for the work profile feature Android is absolutely worth it. With iOS you are forced to either carry two phones or give access to your company to your personal phone.

Google assistant is way superior to Siri, I use it all the time to add stuff to a groceries list or to ask random questions in my native language: 0 problems. With Siri this is just not possible.

And finally: my Pixel 7 costs half of an iPhone and the experience is flawless! I'm getting Nexus 5 vibes with this phone. They really nailed it this time.

Since he didn't list why and how. I don't know what we can learned from the post.

OK more importantly, is anyone else getting directed into the Thread app with this link - then back out to a web link

(on iOS at least - maybe iOS is not good enough to view content in the app anymore)

Android is now better than iOS… if you’re an ad-based company that profits from undermining user privacy and monetizing personal data without consent.

iOS is better than Android... if you're Apple selling your users to even sleazier companies.

That site takes SO LONG to load. What a mess.

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