by Anonymous Coward writes:
on Friday October 25, 2019 @06:18PM (#59348572)
As time goes by, i use my smartphone less and less. I'm only annoyed by most 'features'. The killer apps to me are the calendar, and navigation system. Both are easily replaced by other devices. A paper calendars might work just as well. And as far navigation systems go, i done most my life without and should be fine and probably would hesitate to purchase an electronic one for the infrequent cases i need it though i might as they are really convenient. It's nice that it got a decent camera but it doesn't have to be a smartphone for that feature.
So... I don't use my phone a lot. A dumb phone or feature phone would be enough for my usage. I do like the option however of being able to use a browser on occasion or play the occasional game when waiting at the doctor's office. Again, both activities i could do without easily too, i don't need to immediately know how something is spelled and can read a magazine. My monthly data cap has become way too much anticipating streaming video or whatever heavy use i throw at it and then the ISP doubled it to 20GB. But in the last two years i realize - i don't. Might as well take a cheaper plan though they don't go much cheaper than this with unlimited calling in my country.
I'd rather read paper magazines. And use a computer when dedicated to do so - at a PC. Yes, i use a computer a lot. But it's a convenient device, more ergonomic, larger screen, convenient interface instead of this clumsy touchscreen that seems to mandate oversimplified UI designs.
And my phone? I care less and less about it, couldn't care less what OS it runs at this point might as well be anything exotic, like feature phones used to do (bet most of them run Android too these days). I know i could answer the poll with those options given, but that doesn't feel i accurately described the situation - i don't use my phone enough as a computer anymore to consider the actual platform important or relevant. Cowboy Neal now uses my phone.
Oh by the way. At work i also develop Android apps - the Apple port may come later, for use on phones and tablets. For that reason alone i must be reasonable familiar with a smartphone both internal and interface wise. It's not that i am too stupid to use a phone or don't know what limitless capabilities it has. I just don't like the damn thing as a device, ok? Same for tablets, in case you wonder. Just give me a real desktop experience with mouse and keyboard. Come back when there's a wireless brain-to-computer interface, then we talk again about mobile computing.
Currently I'm using Android just because it came with the phone/tablet and it's locked down so hard that you can't change it without inviting Chinese rootkits to run. I'm very frustrated with Android's constant incompatibilities, even from just version to version of Android. I don't like it's opaqueness. I don't like that it isn't real open source Linux.
Here's to hoping that someday Raspberry Pi's will shrink down enough to become fully functional low-cost phones and tablets so we can run open source Linux
That's pretty much how I feel too, although this phone isn't even locked down beyond the usual (you could easily root it or even replace the stock OS). Also it's a Nokia and I get every update that is available for Google's own phones for at least two years - just a bit late. I prefer to get the updates although most visible changes to the OS have been detrimental to me, but for security reasons. I dislike Android and I think the thought of using Java on a low-power low-performance mobile device with limite
That's why I use a Pixel phone. It is the most consistent experience because Google actually updates their phones with new features unlike other flagship brands that may or may not update their phones to the latest version of the OS because of all the customizations they make to it
OnePlus supports several generations of phone updates with their proprietary Android flavor OxygenOS. Definitely longer than Samsung or Motorola did. They do get staggered though, latest first and then older devices.
I configured my launcher (Nova) to be as similar to an iPhone as I could, so that when I need to help someone with an iPhone, I have a rough idea how to navigate the thing. (pages left to right, no widgets, etc)
I don't mind it, I have Android features but without being entirely idiotic when I pickup an iPhone to use. Can't say the same for MacOS though:/ that baffles me no end.
I recently had to work with macOS, I went from nearly twenty years of Linux ( using window maker and gnome ) to macOS. I was surprised to discover that I was able to make it work exactly like my gnome setup. You could even change all the keyboard shortcuts (like how to change the keyboard layout, or how to change to another desktop). I then got used to some really nice things. I donâ(TM)t think that going back to Linux / gnome will be easy now ^^. (And Iâ(TM)ve been using Windows 10 but just to pl
Same, I have always had android phones, well after I started with the original tmoblie sidekick. But for playing little games I use an ipad, I have an older smaller android tablet but never use it anymore. But the only reason we have an ipad is my wife got it for free when she signed up for college classes. If we didn't get a free one I probably would have bought another android tablet.
The browser works fine for most things. The main thing I miss are the special-purpose integrations that used to work and don't anymore. It's going to be a problem for me when WhatsApp stops working, though; my parents moved over to it almost entirely a few years ago.
true, but most people only use a tiny set of apps anyway. I look at my Samsung s9 and can honestly say I literally only use 7 apps. 2 games, Nine email/calendar, 2 banking apps, telegram and the browser.
8.0 had major flaws in its general design (Why can't "Metro" apps be windowed? Whose idea was it to segregate the Start search results?!?) and it was obviously a stupid UI for a desktop or even a laptop. The interface worked pretty well on a tablet, though. I mean, you wouldn't want an interface that works like an Android (or iOS) device on a desktop or laptop, but that doesn't mean they have bad interfaces in their intended niches.
More to the point, the Win8 "desktop" interface and the Windows Phone 8.x /
SERIOUSLY??? Windows 10 is the largest piece of spyware ever created!!! And you think you are not being TRACKED on your Windoze phone??? Just because Mickey$oft says so???
If the main selling point of Windows Phone was how the interface looked, then you could run Android with the "Launcher 10" launcher. Try doing that on Android and then you'll discover how much better Windows Phone feels, and how painful Android really is regarding the lack of integration of everything, as it depends on apps for all its functionality.
I'm still happily using Windows Phone. No tracking. Great interface.
It really is kind of ironic that Microsoft screwed it's mobile future because of their insistence on one OS platform for EVERYTHING. They thought this was where Apple was going, but Apple in turn started making different OS's for each platform (even the iPad's OS is a sub-platform of iOS just for iPads). And now it looks like Microsoft is finally killing off the whole universal app platform idea as a result. I shake my head at this because it's the desktop that ended up killing a promising mobile platform (
I want to use Linux/Plasma. What device are you using? Is there any decent hardware out there?
Libre 5 doesn't look like it's coming out any time soon. Same with the PinePhone. I tried ordering a Nexus 5X off eBay to run Plasma but my order got cancelled. I want to use Linux on mobile but there are zero devices! help!
Cool, I have a one too, but I use it more as a handheld linux computer to toy around with - my phone is Nokia 6.1, though I'd love to see it running Maemo that was updated to how the system would've improved over the years:) It's frigging good little device:) And I believe it could also act as a generic remote controller, if a proper program was written to do it, since it has the IR - maybe someone even has written one? IDK.
Didn't even think of that - most times I'm on a subway or waiting for something in a public place, I dig out my Kindle Paperwhite too, not my phone. The screen of it is so much better for reading than a tablet screen ever could be. Mine doesn't have a backlight though, but I find it rarely needed.
Technically, yes, although they try to hide it on the e-ink models. It's a pretty limited thing, much more akin to a portable media player than to a smartphone, but it's there. They don't release an SDK for it anymore, though (there was one, and some really old e-ink Kindles still let you load third-party apps/games, but that was dropped years ago).
Kindle Fires (the ones with color LCD or LED screens) are just Android tablets running a customized version of AOSP that Amazon calls "Fire OS". The vast majorit
Yes, it's a bare bones Linux command-line inside with Java for the UI. I used the Linux From Scratch guide as the basis for it when I was a developer for Kindle 2, DX, and 3. Later versions changed significantly and I've lost track of what was done. People have gotten inside and published howto guides on rooting and customizing the Kindle. I'm biased but I don't desire anything beyond the stock experience. The eInk display is so limited that there just aren't many practical apps to make for it. Maybe email a
Anyway, this poll strikes me as a gigantic loser. How many times have they done this one? Is it part of a longitudinal study?
Suggested alternative polls, though still offended after making another long, possibly even thoughtful, suggestion that was ignored... (No proposed options for that reason.)
Best financial model for app production. (Should be linked to the general objective of revealing the financial motivations of developers to reduce malware distribution.)
Yay Sailfish! One more user here. Unfortunately you are right, the browser is horrible.:( I end up having to use emulated Android apps for most tasks (browser, messaging, maps, various proprietary crapps), but at least it's good that there is this option, and the core system is from neither Google nor Apple.
I use Apple, but I feel like it's the least bad of 2 horrible options. Android is a piece of invasive spyware designed to siphon every bit of personal information it can from its users and sell it to the highest bidder, the lowest bidder, and everyone in between. I tried Android briefly and got fed up with every simple Apple taking access to my cellular connection, contacts list, messages, photo library, GPS logs, etc... Especially since that's nothing compared to what Google is taking themselves. Goog
This is why I use Apple too. I will never buy Google hardware because it always does much more than advertized and even has hardware it doesn't need for what it does for the user (microphone in Nest [popularmechanics.com]).
Android has a lot of dark patterns; makes it very easy to send data to their servers: contacts, calendar, etc. Takes A LOT of caution to keep it local, and just one slip-up to send it up.
Apple has traditionally been the more expensive option, but I'll (reluctantly) pay that premium for a modicum of privacy.
I'd say Apple hardware is competitive at the higher end, if not always the pinnacle. RAM shouldn't be an issue except as an "I have more" type spec, if the system runs fine, which it seems to do. The cameras are generally rated very highly, and the screens get good objective reviews too.
My biggest reason to recommend Apple is the length of time a phone gets supported & patched software. Look at the % of devices running IOS 13 (or even 12 & 13) vs. the Android world where even a few year old device
Sorry didn't read carefully, but I use LineageOS therefore Android. Bit about Linux desktop 'true' though, don't understand why more people do not use it.
Use whatever makes YOU the most productive, and don't try to convince others they are doing it wrong - this is wasted energy.
I contend that anyone who considers themselves to be a professional in the tech space should be capable of doing the things they need to do on any device put in front of them. I use iOS devices and if I had to use Android I would be able to do so without fuss.
Imagine all the people - using the OS/Device that makes them happy and productive... and being happy that others use what makes
I personally see very little difference between the two and easily switch back and forth. Iphone has slightly more educational apps. Android has better parental controls and is more customizable. Android gets a bad rap because it is available on both high end and low end phones but if you compare high end to high end or mid range to mid range, they basically have the exact same features. It is a little harder to pick an android phone though because there are so many different options and different quali
I use both: my personal mobile is an Android, but work provided one is iOS. Can't say which one I use more, probably the work one as I don't have to worry about data usage.
My primary desktop OS is macOS, I switched properly about 10 years ago - mainly for *nix functionality and for graphics (mainly frontend dev, but venturing more and more into backend).
As much as I've tried to adopt iOS, it leaves me cold after using Android for years. I'm so used to being able to completely customise whatever I want. I love the crazy wild west nature of it all - such an incredible amount of choice and diversity. I love the fact that it'll connect to anything, that somebody, somewhere, will ha
I bought a feature phone ( alcatel flip 3) as a burner about two months ago to have a cheap phone for a camping trip.
I discovered, the phone did everything in a EDC device. With Google assistant, Maps, and contacts sync, it covered what I need to have with me all of the time, but none of the extra crap like Facebook, etc. Thus I pulled the sim out of my primary phone (oneplus 6T) and have been running kaios for about six weeks now.
I use an iPad mini for the other phone related crap I need, or pull out
As long as one doesn't play games or use niche cloud services Sailfish is pretty awesome. I never liked the Android UI and as we all know there are aspects to Google that are problematic. Apple made it onto my naughty list before the launch of the first iPhone, I could never use their devices anyway, they're not made for people who's brains are wired like mine.
For decades the first thing I did when I got a PC was scrub windows and install Linux. Now when I get a mobile device I scrub Android and install S
People ask me why I do not own any Apple devices...
It's because I have watched the appalling behaviour of the Apple corporation with "intellectual property". They had no problems with following (not leading) industry norms but set their lawyers on anyone who then followed those same norms. They tended to go for smaller and more innovative companies. It seems that Samsung was too big to intimidate or drive into insolvency. Their court actions against them may have just been standard US "International" co
Missing options: None, don't care and Cowboy Neal (Score:4, Interesting)
As time goes by, i use my smartphone less and less. I'm only annoyed by most 'features'. The killer apps to me are the calendar, and navigation system. Both are easily replaced by other devices. A paper calendars might work just as well. And as far navigation systems go, i done most my life without and should be fine and probably would hesitate to purchase an electronic one for the infrequent cases i need it though i might as they are really convenient. It's nice that it got a decent camera but it doesn't have to be a smartphone for that feature.
So... I don't use my phone a lot. A dumb phone or feature phone would be enough for my usage. I do like the option however of being able to use a browser on occasion or play the occasional game when waiting at the doctor's office. Again, both activities i could do without easily too, i don't need to immediately know how something is spelled and can read a magazine. My monthly data cap has become way too much anticipating streaming video or whatever heavy use i throw at it and then the ISP doubled it to 20GB. But in the last two years i realize - i don't. Might as well take a cheaper plan though they don't go much cheaper than this with unlimited calling in my country.
I'd rather read paper magazines. And use a computer when dedicated to do so - at a PC. Yes, i use a computer a lot. But it's a convenient device, more ergonomic, larger screen, convenient interface instead of this clumsy touchscreen that seems to mandate oversimplified UI designs.
And my phone? I care less and less about it, couldn't care less what OS it runs at this point might as well be anything exotic, like feature phones used to do (bet most of them run Android too these days). I know i could answer the poll with those options given, but that doesn't feel i accurately described the situation - i don't use my phone enough as a computer anymore to consider the actual platform important or relevant. Cowboy Neal now uses my phone.
Oh by the way. At work i also develop Android apps - the Apple port may come later, for use on phones and tablets. For that reason alone i must be reasonable familiar with a smartphone both internal and interface wise. It's not that i am too stupid to use a phone or don't know what limitless capabilities it has. I just don't like the damn thing as a device, ok? Same for tablets, in case you wonder. Just give me a real desktop experience with mouse and keyboard. Come back when there's a wireless brain-to-computer interface, then we talk again about mobile computing.
I use Android, but would rather use Linux... (Score:2, Interesting)
Currently I'm using Android just because it came with the phone/tablet and it's locked down so hard that you can't change it without inviting Chinese rootkits to run. I'm very frustrated with Android's constant incompatibilities, even from just version to version of Android. I don't like it's opaqueness. I don't like that it isn't real open source Linux.
Here's to hoping that someday Raspberry Pi's will shrink down enough to become fully functional low-cost phones and tablets so we can run open source Linux
Re: (Score:2)
That's pretty much how I feel too, although this phone isn't even locked down beyond the usual (you could easily root it or even replace the stock OS). Also it's a Nokia and I get every update that is available for Google's own phones for at least two years - just a bit late. I prefer to get the updates although most visible changes to the OS have been detrimental to me, but for security reasons. I dislike Android and I think the thought of using Java on a low-power low-performance mobile device with limite
Re: I use Android, but would rather use Linux... (Score:2)
That's why I use a Pixel phone. It is the most consistent experience because Google actually updates their phones with new features unlike other flagship brands that may or may not update their phones to the latest version of the OS because of all the customizations they make to it
Re: I use Android, but would rather use Linux... (Score:1)
Re: I use Android, but would rather use Linux... (Score:2)
OnePlus supports several generations of phone updates with their proprietary Android flavor OxygenOS. Definitely longer than Samsung or Motorola did. They do get staggered though, latest first and then older devices.
Re: (Score:3)
No mobile device (Score:1)
n/t
4th Option: Bitechsual (Score:4, Funny)
Bitechsual - someone who uses both Android and iOS.
What has that got to do with tech? (Score:2)
That is like calling somebody a multibotanist because he likes to eat various plants.
Was biconsumerspyjewelrytrinketual too long for ya? ;)
Re: What has that got to do with tech? (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I configured my launcher (Nova) to be as similar to an iPhone as I could, so that when I need to help someone with an iPhone, I have a rough idea how to navigate the thing. (pages left to right, no widgets, etc)
I don't mind it, I have Android features but without being entirely idiotic when I pickup an iPhone to use. :/ that baffles me no end.
Can't say the same for MacOS though
Re: 4th Option: Bitechsual (Score:1)
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Windows Phone (Score:3)
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And few apps.
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Yup. It's a feature.
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The browser works fine for most things. The main thing I miss are the special-purpose integrations that used to work and don't anymore. It's going to be a problem for me when WhatsApp stops working, though; my parents moved over to it almost entirely a few years ago.
Re: (Score:2)
Great interface ... (Score:2)
I guess you loved Windows 8.0 then ...
Unlike everyone else on the planet.
Nothing wrong with being different of course.
I just wish you could be on your home planet, as you'd be happier there. ;)
Re: (Score:2)
Me, too!
Re: (Score:2)
8.0 had major flaws in its general design (Why can't "Metro" apps be windowed? Whose idea was it to segregate the Start search results?!?) and it was obviously a stupid UI for a desktop or even a laptop. The interface worked pretty well on a tablet, though. I mean, you wouldn't want an interface that works like an Android (or iOS) device on a desktop or laptop, but that doesn't mean they have bad interfaces in their intended niches.
More to the point, the Win8 "desktop" interface and the Windows Phone 8.x /
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ROTFLMAO!!!
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SERIOUSLY??? Windows 10 is the largest piece of spyware ever created!!!
No, that's Google Android and its suite of apps.
Re: (Score:1)
Nuh uh!
see, I can play this game too.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I'm still happily using Windows Phone. No tracking. Great interface.
It really is kind of ironic that Microsoft screwed it's mobile future because of their insistence on one OS platform for EVERYTHING. They thought this was where Apple was going, but Apple in turn started making different OS's for each platform (even the iPad's OS is a sub-platform of iOS just for iPads). And now it looks like Microsoft is finally killing off the whole universal app platform idea as a result. I shake my head at this because it's the desktop that ended up killing a promising mobile platform (
GNJ/Linux. (Score:2)
With a few Android compatibility layer bits and self-coded pieces to go with my own distributed file system.
GNU! (Score:2)
I ... I have no excuses.
At least I did not write GNAA. ;)
Re: (Score:3)
I want to use Linux/Plasma. What device are you using? Is there any decent hardware out there?
Libre 5 doesn't look like it's coming out any time soon. Same with the PinePhone. I tried ordering a Nexus 5X off eBay to run Plasma but my order got cancelled. I want to use Linux on mobile but there are zero devices! help!
Maemo (Score:3)
As long as my N900 phone keeps working I'll be using it.
Re: (Score:2)
Cool, I have a one too, but I use it more as a handheld linux computer to toy around with - my phone is Nokia 6.1, though I'd love to see it running Maemo that was updated to how the system would've improved over the years :) It's frigging good little device :) And I believe it could also act as a generic remote controller, if a proper program was written to do it, since it has the IR - maybe someone even has written one? IDK.
Kindle OS (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
Didn't even think of that - most times I'm on a subway or waiting for something in a public place, I dig out my Kindle Paperwhite too, not my phone. The screen of it is so much better for reading than a tablet screen ever could be. Mine doesn't have a backlight though, but I find it rarely needed.
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I tried a Paperwhite once, but it didn't do white text on a black background.
These days my main mobile device is a 7inch Kindle Fire
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Does a Kindle have an OS?
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Technically, yes, although they try to hide it on the e-ink models. It's a pretty limited thing, much more akin to a portable media player than to a smartphone, but it's there. They don't release an SDK for it anymore, though (there was one, and some really old e-ink Kindles still let you load third-party apps/games, but that was dropped years ago).
Kindle Fires (the ones with color LCD or LED screens) are just Android tablets running a customized version of AOSP that Amazon calls "Fire OS". The vast majorit
Re: (Score:2)
Thanks!
Re: Kindle OS (Score:1)
Yes, it's a bare bones Linux command-line inside with Java for the UI. I used the Linux From Scratch guide as the basis for it when I was a developer for Kindle 2, DX, and 3. Later versions changed significantly and I've lost track of what was done.
People have gotten inside and published howto guides on rooting and customizing the Kindle. I'm biased but I don't desire anything beyond the stock experience. The eInk display is so limited that there just aren't many practical apps to make for it. Maybe email a
Re: Kindle OS (Score:1)
The best feature of the Kindle is zero robo calls.
Obviously (Score:2)
CowboyNeal
I thought Cowboy Neal had become a couch potato? (Score:2)
Can he still move these days?
Anyway, this poll strikes me as a gigantic loser. How many times have they done this one? Is it part of a longitudinal study?
Suggested alternative polls, though still offended after making another long, possibly even thoughtful, suggestion that was ignored... (No proposed options for that reason.)
Best financial model for app production. (Should be linked to the general objective of revealing the financial motivations of developers to reduce malware distribution.)
Best guide to ap
Sailfish (Score:4, Interesting)
Fast, pretty and can use one-handed. Future is secure.
Cons: browser is weak and a few bits are still closed. Native apps are few.
Android was just horrible. Apple charged a fortune for locked down crippleware.
Re: (Score:3)
Reluctantly using Apple. (Score:2)
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This is why I use Apple too. I will never buy Google hardware because it always does much more than advertized and even has hardware it doesn't need for what it does for the user (microphone in Nest [popularmechanics.com]).
Re: (Score:2)
Yup: it's also why I use Apple.
Android has a lot of dark patterns; makes it very easy to send data to their servers: contacts, calendar, etc.
Takes A LOT of caution to keep it local, and just one slip-up to send it up.
Apple has traditionally been the more expensive option, but I'll (reluctantly) pay that premium for a modicum of privacy.
Re: (Score:2)
Pretty even (Score:1)
Linux (Score:2)
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I use iOS, but you do you... (Score:2)
Use whatever makes YOU the most productive, and don't try to convince others they are doing it wrong - this is wasted energy.
I contend that anyone who considers themselves to be a professional in the tech space should be capable of doing the things they need to do on any device put in front of them. I use iOS devices and if I had to use Android I would be able to do so without fuss.
Imagine all the people - using the OS/Device that makes them happy and productive... and being happy that others use what makes
Re: I use iOS, but you do you... (Score:2)
I personally see very little difference between the two and easily switch back and forth. Iphone has slightly more educational apps. Android has better parental controls and is more customizable. Android gets a bad rap because it is available on both high end and low end phones but if you compare high end to high end or mid range to mid range, they basically have the exact same features. It is a little harder to pick an android phone though because there are so many different options and different quali
IOS is for Classist Bastards (Score:2)
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MVS (Score:2)
I use MVS the most as a mobile Operating System.
ubuntu touch (Score:1)
from ubports. on a fairphone2. bit archaic but ok for me.
Both Android and iOS (Score:2)
I use both: my personal mobile is an Android, but work provided one is iOS. Can't say which one I use more, probably the work one as I don't have to worry about data usage.
Walled garden, but secure?, vs wild west? (Score:1)
My primary desktop OS is macOS, I switched properly about 10 years ago - mainly for *nix functionality and for graphics (mainly frontend dev, but venturing more and more into backend).
As much as I've tried to adopt iOS, it leaves me cold after using Android for years.
I'm so used to being able to completely customise whatever I want. I love the crazy wild west nature of it all - such an incredible amount of choice and diversity.
I love the fact that it'll connect to anything, that somebody, somewhere, will ha
KaiOS (Score:2)
I discovered, the phone did everything in a EDC device. With Google assistant, Maps, and contacts sync, it covered what I need to have with me all of the time, but none of the extra crap like Facebook, etc. Thus I pulled the sim out of my primary phone (oneplus 6T) and have been running kaios for about six weeks now.
I use an iPad mini for the other phone related crap I need, or pull out
Sailfish (Score:2)
I have my reasons (Score:2)
People ask me why I do not own any Apple devices...
It's because I have watched the appalling behaviour of the Apple corporation with "intellectual property". They had no problems with following (not leading) industry norms but set their lawyers on anyone who then followed those same norms. They tended to go for smaller and more innovative companies. It seems that Samsung was too big to intimidate or drive into insolvency. Their court actions against them may have just been standard US "International" co