Over 80% of US teens are iPhone owners, according to survey

[slamscaper]

Open platform? You must be joking. Come to the United States and buy a phone, you'll find that most if not all Android devices sold by the carriers are just as locked down as any iPhone is due to locked boot loaders and eFuses. Then because they're locked down by the carriers in order to "protect you" you're at the mercy of the carrier to grace your device with an update which more often than not, it won't.

Yeah, I'll get an iPhone instead that I know will get a proper software update schedule.

Not joking at all. Android is much more open and every modder knows this. To jailbreak an iPhone you need to get through three levels of security. Just because Samsung uses eFuses doesn't mean you can't root their phones easier. I've been doing it since the Galaxy S2 and now I have a Note 8, which can be rooted easily even with a locked boot loader and eFuse. Triggering the eFuse does nothing but void your warranty, it doesn't stop the device from being rooted.

You've clearly never installed custom roms. Android is an open-source OS, while iOS is not. Jailbreaking usually isn't the easiest due to Apple's constant updates to thwart the process, plus isn't NEARLY the same as rooting an Android phone. Jailbreaking only allows a person to install custom apps that Apple's doesn't allow. Rooting allows a hell of a lot more, including flashing custom roms (AKA custom operating systems developed by using the open source code from Android) to fundamentally change everything about the firmware and software on your device.

SIM locks are not a huge deal either. Carriers like Tmobile will let you SIM unlock after six months if you have the phone paid off in full, and now even provide an easy app that does it automatically. Some of the other carriers may be a bit more stringent, but ultimately they will let you SIM unlock provided you own the phone and you've had service through them for a while.

 

[thelatestmodel]

Why do you feel iphones are cool? Every person I know that uses iphone does so because they prefer it. Suggestion: stop thinking phones are cool/uncool and just use what you prefer.

You clearly don't "understand" what quotation marks are for. I didn't say they were cool.

 

[trparky]

I've been doing it since the Galaxy S2 and now I have a Note 8, which can be rooted easily even with a locked boot loader and eFuse.

I've heard that it's an absolute pain in the ... posterior to do this and that Samsung tries to stop you at every turn. Something about Samsung Knox.

Triggering the eFuse does nothing but void your warranty, it doesn't stop the device from being rooted.

This I know but some of us want a warranty on our devices in case something goes wrong like the screen gets broken.

You've clearly never installed custom roms.

I did so a couple of years ago but that was back when the Nexus series of devices still existed. I used to be all about that kind of stuff until I just... got tired of it. That kind of stuff stopped being interesting to me. I spent more time loading and tweaking stuff than actually using said device.

Android is an open-source OS, while iOS is not.

This I know, I'm not entirely stupid you know.

Jailbreaking usually isn't the easiest due to Apple's constant updates to thwart the process, plus isn't NEARLY the same as rooting an Android phone. Jailbreaking only allows a person to install custom apps that Apple's doesn't allow.

I haven't even jailbroken my iPhone, I find that it does everything that I need it to do and a whole lot more.

Rooting allows a hell of a lot more, including flashing custom roms (AKA custom operating systems developed by using the open source code from Android) to fundamentally change everything about the firmware and software on your device.

Yes, I know that... I used to be part of that scene back when ... well, I said this earlier in this reply.

SIM locks are not a huge deal either. Carriers like Tmobile will let you SIM unlock after six months if you have the phone paid off in full, and now even provide an easy app that does it automatically. Some of the other carriers may be a bit more stringent, but ultimately they will let you SIM unlock provided you own the phone and you've had service through them for a while.

I'd rather have a device that the carrier has no hands it at all. I want my carrier to be nothing more than a dumb pipe. Give me my bits and stay the heck out of the way.

I just got to the point where I wanted a device that works and got a proper software update schedule. I don't care about tweaking stuff anymore, I have my Windows desktop to get my geek on with. As for my phone, I just don't care anymore. So hence the reason why I went to the iPhone and have never looked back; it just works and that's all I care about. I know a lot of people who think the same way, they tweaked stuff until it broke but then it became *meh*, they grew out of the phase and went to the iPhone.

 

[Nobina]

I've heard that it's an absolute pain in the ... posterior to do this and that Samsung tries to stop you at every turn. Something about Samsung Knox.

The way I do it is put a file in a program called Odin, click start and after 2 seconds it's done.

 

[trparky]

The way I do it is put a file in a program called Odin, click start and after 2 seconds it's done.

And I've read that you can't do that any more, at least not in the United States. The carriers in the US have these devices so locked down you can't do crap with them. In the US you can't do that unless the package you upload to it via ODIN is digitally signed with a specific digital certificate.

Maybe it's different in the Europe but here in the US these devices completely locked down.

 

[Rippleman]

You clearly don't "understand" what quotation marks are for. I didn't say they were cool.

if you don't feel they are cool, then cool. Point: Use what you prefer and not what other prefer for you; even if that means being "uncool" and using an iphone.

 

[HyPeroxya]

The nexus devices still exist .. and still work , fine (nexus5 v1) (TCO)!

 

[Axiarus]

Samsung's marketing is about as convincing as Apple's. Have you seen that one commercial for the new Samsung Galaxy S9? "Here's an invitation from the whole wide world. To your brother, to your sister, to your best friend's girl." I've seen that commercial so many times I can recite it from memory despite how annoying it is. That kind of marketing is some seriously powerful stuff. People will see that commercial and instantly think "I want a Samsung."

Combine that with the amount of marketing that's in your typical carrier store and it's no wonder why people buy a Samsung over any other Android device. Period.

Samsung's marketing engine is so darn powerful that in the eyes of many people Samsung equals Android, Android equals Samsung. It's quite literally that simple.

Yeah, but its pointless to complain about how slow updates come down the pipeline when there are phones out there that get them first. Android gets updates fairly quickly, Samsung may just not push it out as fast. That is not Google's fault.

 

[Fuchsia2020]

Wow, such vitriol from the Android camp. What? Are you that insecure that you need to hate on the iPhone every time one of these articles come up?

I confess, I do have an iPhone and I like it; it does everything that I need it to do and a whole lot more. I come to these articles to have a good laugh over the hate spewed by the Android users, it's hilarious!

Android user's comments include things like "You can't do this and you can't do that", "You can't customize stuff", and other such absolute nonsense. OK, I can agree on the fact that you can't customize a lot of stuff but as for the other things my iPhone does everything that an Android does. iOS isn't holding me back in any way, shape, or form.

Oh, you can't multitask. Bullcrap. I can play music while I'm browsing in Safari. This isn't iOS 3 days guys, this is the days of the new iOS where you CAN multitask.

What size microSD card did you add to that iPhone? Have you found the back button yet?

 

[trparky]

What size microSD card did you add to that iPhone? Have you found the back button yet?

Considering that Android is restricting the use of the MicroSD card when compared to how you could use one back in the Android 4.0 days a MicroSD card is becoming more and more useless. As far as the back button, I don't care; I just swipe to the right from the left side of the screen and that's my "back button".