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Comment by kelvinjps10 | Hacker News Reader

Android is still more open, you can side load apps. For example I like newtube and revanced, it's easier to sync local files like when using syncthing. AnkiDroid is a fantastic app. I can use extensions in Firefox, and real alternatives browsers. If android gets so locked down so it's almost as using an Apple phone, I'll use graphene or just stop using a smartphone altogether.

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I tried switching to graphene after frustration with the latest direction of iOS.

Yes I could use Firefox and ublock to get around YouTube ads, but it actually worked worse than using Orion browser on iOS to do the equivalent. The Pixel 10 Pro couldn’t manage 2x without audio stuttering even at 360p. My iPhone can do it with 4K YouTube video, not that I need that.

iOS natively supports self-hosted contacts and calendars. No hoops. Android needs a separate app that may or may not work (my experience: it doesn’t work and doesn’t give useful feedback when it doesn’t work).

The app quality is so much worse on Android I had to go back. No forward gesture in apps and browsers - insane omission. There are literally only two calendar apps on Android that allow touch-based event editing - Business Calendar 2 Pro (paid subscription) and the Samsung exclusive calendar.

How does a modern smartphone not ship with a decent calendar?? Or touch friendly web navigation?

The rendering engine of the browser is far down the list of priorities compared to supporting basic daily workflows.

> No forward gesture in apps and browsers - insane omission.

Supposedly it's there, but it's up to the app to support that gesture.

> Samsung exclusive calendar

I am actually still wondering whether Samsung isn't the way to go, they do make sure to allow you the choice of not having to use Google apps, so they have their own calendar app, their own AI app, etc. I am currently on Nothing phone which is full-on Google. Might give Samsung a try before I move back to iOS.

EDIT: although I can already see they have no CalDAV support, either: https://eu.community.samsung.com/t5/mobile-apps-services/sam...

> How does a modern smartphone not ship with a decent calendar?? Or touch friendly web navigation?

You're comparing semi-abandoned AOSP tools with commercial Apple utilities.

No I’m comparing Apple Calendar to Google Calendar, Fossify Calendar, Simple Calendar, Etar calendar and literally every other calendar available in the Play and F-Droid stores.

There only two calendars in the entire Android ecosystem that support efficient use, one is a vendor lock in, the other is ugly as sin and requires a subscription.

As for web navigation, I’m comparing Safari to Vanadium and Firefox, neither are semi-abandoned.

Just tried on my pixel 9 pro with firefox and newpipe without issue (except that 2x is shit by itself of course)

Android is the OS for the rest of the world. The people who need a smartphone, but cannot in good conscience pay what Apple is asking. A phone for the poorest 10% of the planet. A phone for those who don’t really think about what phone they should have.

Put in that context, it is not strange at all that your specific need is not met. All those people with Android, they don’t use a calendar to manage their lives. Maybe work forces them to use a calendar but that’s it.

That’s a bit inconsistent with Samsung flagship prices.

Samsung flagship phones are a rounding error in the sea of Android devices.

Samsung and Oneplus have phones that cost as much as ¡phones or more.

You're right, but if you're already thinking about spending $1.5k on a phone that's super locked down, you might as well get an iPhone. That's my point.

I recently switched to iOS and found alternative for those. For YouTube without ads and background playback you can use Brave. For syncing files between devices AirDrop is easy and doesn't require internet. There is an official Anki app for iOS where AnkiDroid is a third party app. In regards to extensions Safari does support them, along with Orion, but I decided to forgo using them.

>real alternatives browsers

Using webkit as the underlying engine within the different browsers on the platform has provided enough customization. The parts I actually care about in regards to the browser are the parts actually handling the user experience and not the engine itself. Webkit has evolved enough that it is good enough for my needs at least.

There's also very good SyncTrain app for SyncThing.

How do you restrict the Internet access for a chosen app? Also Brave relies on Chromium, so it's a sand castle, reliable while Google allows that.

How does Brave rely on Chromium when you can’t use it on iOS? There’s only WebKit.

End of sideloading means end of 95% of site visits for me, just because of the ads flood. Only HN and the like will survive. And I don't want to pay 4 digit sum for a phone that wholesale costs 30.

For now. Google just waged war on sideloading. I think the current state of it is that adb will throw a warning with a cancellation timer before the sideload initiates. It's only a matter of time before we get an "update about sideloading in Android."

Though you're right in that Android will always have the upper hand in browser freedom. I definitely miss running real Firefox (with real extensions) on my phone. If only Snapdragon could provide anything close to A-series CPU performance.

What's annoying to me is that I have to use DavX for calendar synchronization and some apps still add events to the (apparently default) Google calendar even after I disabled Google Calendar app.

You get a general feeling that Android is half assed if you don't use a Google account. Adding tasks using Gemini voice assistant? Sure, but only if you use Google Tasks. And so on.

I moved to Android from iPhone and am actually considering going back for those very reasons. Super annoying to see these limitations, iOS was much more provider-agnostic.

I just tried to move to Android because it's more open. Was not prepared for the "open" OS to not have basic support for self-hosted calendars. Yes, contacts and calendar are a core OS level feature in 2026.

Yes DAVx5 exists, but Google Calendar was buggy with local calendars and DAVx5 actually didn't work reliably afaict.

Calendar.app is totally seamless with synology on iOS. Same with contacts.

Android was working overtime to make sure I use Google for everything. iOS isn't perfect but I don't have to jump through crazy hoops to be in control of my data.

> DAVx5 actually didn't work reliably afaict

I've been self-hosting it for several years, with the entire thing (ntfy / UnifiedPush for calendar event updates, Radicale for CalDav & CardDav) working perfectly once background "optimization" is disabled

iOS was actually much worse - it happily synced to an ip address and port on the LAN, then failed silently and without error messages when using a VPN away from home.

> tried to move to Android because it's more open

At least we agree on this - AOSP is more open, but that's not what's on offer any more. Hell, Android Beam was AOSP, and super nice for transferring files. It's now "Google Share", with all the proprietary bullshit that implies, and NFC's utility crippled if you don't use Google Services.

OK, but don't you have problems with apps that add events to calendar transparentny? These add events to Google calendar here, not my self-hosted synced with DavX. Something I can't fix at all.

Also, do you use Gemini for adding calendar events and tasks?

> don't you have problems with apps that add events to calendar transparentny?

Not to be dismissive, but no, not at all. I'm not even sure which apps I'd want that add something to my calendar. A massage therapy place's app might do this, but I prefer the website when booking anyways. Beyond that, I'm not sure what types of apps would do this (though I'm confident you have examples that'll seem obvious as soon as they're listed).

I could imagine gMail doing something like this with Google Calendar, but I avoid the panopticon for myriad reasons - not least of which was, last time I had an issue with my eMail services provider, I recieved an intelligent, issue-resolving response from support, within 24 hours

> do you use Gemini for adding calendar events and tasks?

No, and the most I'd consider is a locally-run LLM on something like a local Home Assistant with a few microphones around the home. I don't believe I'm a person of interest, but "We kill people based on metadata" has left me with little appetite for something so personal being run and controlled by for-profit, American entities.

This is something I appreciate about Apple/iOS (and by extent, macOS as well). They still provide a "neutral" calendar app & mail app (and even reminders can sync with other services). Apple offers email, but they don't really try to convince you to use it or force you into it (at least, they didn't used to). It's just "whatever service you use, we don't care but here's some nice native apps to use with those services"

Android OOTB, especially on Pixels, just sort of assumes you are using Google for everything. There's no "Calendar" there's only Google calendar, there's no Mail app there's only Gmail, etc.

iOS feels like an agnostic OS, however locked down, Android still feels purely like a Google product meant to push Google services.

Exactly that. It's mind-blowing, to be honest, because I hear Android fanboys claim the system is so much more open, when it reality it's a mixed bag: iOS is more open in some areas, Android in other, but it's not a clear-cut case at all. There's some hope in EU making them be more open, at least on some fronts, e.g. https://www.heise.de/en/news/Google-EU-demands-Android-be-op...

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