[Slaul]

For whatever reason I was under the impression that those phones were larger than they are. Thanks for pointing those out to me!

I'm still probably going to switch to Apple because I've been working towards being more privacy conscious in the last several months and Apple's stance on privacy and encryption is appealing.

[Aloha]

I was an android early adopter who switched in 2012 - and I'll explain why.

At the time I had a T-Mobile G2 which was approaching the end of its natural lifecycle, I was also dissatisfied with the software quality of android overall - at the time I was looking for another android phone running stock android with a keyboard (something that didnt exist effectively), because the android on screen keyboard at the time was so awful - so I started looking at the iPhone - at the time I expected the same difficulties with iOS that I had with android (android always felt like it was half-done, for example non-scrolling context menu's that scrolled off the screen) - but I found overall that the software quality was just better with iOS - and added benefit is, my iPhone largely 'just works' - I spend all day repairing and building technology, the last thing I want to do is have to invest cycles to keep my own kit working.

With iPhone when it doesn't work (or has an issue), I take it back to the 'fruit store', and they make it all better, without me having to be much involved in the process - however with iOS this has happened precisely twice (once for a software bug, the other for a hardware issue), versus in two Android phones, I was performing a factory reset of the device about once a year due to software bugs (text messaging DB, apps that wouldnt uninstall, having to perform space management with a SD card and internal storage, email that would just stop syncing randomly, digitizer would stop working, etc), as well as a lack of updates to still new-ish hardware. While I realize with Google I have much more control and flexibility with how I can use my device, for me at least this added control is largely unimportant for my use case - yes there have been a few cases I wish I could do things with my iPhone that it doesnt do, but these are mostly edge cases, when I want to use my phone in a non-typical use case.

In addition with Apple, I know what the product they're selling is - and its not me. With Google, I've got a sneaking suspicion that I'm the product - don't get me wrong, I use Google, I like Google, but the relationship between Apple and I is much more clear cut. I also trust Apple as more likely to keep my data secure, and to stand at my side if someone (specifically the government) wanted at it.

[iamatworknow]

This mirrors my own experience.

As a Samsung Note 2/4 owner I used to give myself a lot of excuses as to why iPhones were "bad" -- non-expandable storage (even though I never maxed out the storage that came built in with my Android phones), non-user replaceable battery (even though my battery hardly ever dips below 50%, as whenever I'm in a place where I can plug it in, it's plugged in), a more restrictive ecosystem (even though I barely use more than the web browser and a few other common apps on any phone).

My tipping point was visiting Canada one time with data roaming turned off. Despite this, Sprint decided overnight that my Note 4 needed to download the Sprint NASCAR app that I did not request or have any intention of ever using. The download, since I was roaming in another country, cost me about $20 on my next statement.

Shortly thereafter I got an iPhone 6S Plus and haven't looked back. I'm still with Sprint, but thanks to iOS's restrictions I don't have to have any of their junk installed on there, which couldn't be removed from my Note 4 without rooting it.

I will say, however, that I'm still not a fan of iPhones killing the headphone jack, so I don't intend to upgrade until it becomes strictly necessary.

[Aloha]

I only use the headphone jack for a wired headset telephone style headset, I only very rarely listen to music on my phone. For my use case, getting a charging headphone adapter dongle and leaving it hooked up to the headset I use, will serve my needs perfectly.

[iamatworknow]

And that may be how I go, but for now I have no need to upgrade. iOS 11 hasn't given me any of the issues on the 6S Plus other people talk about (perhaps because I use my iPhone in a more limited capacity than many other people).

[Aloha]

It's clear to me that the RAM limitations of my 6S are present, I'm more often then not seeing apps starting fresh rather than resuming state.

[BatFastard]

Android is much tighter these days

[matwood]

I'm in a similar boat as you. I was an iPhone user who switched to the HTC One for Android, and had problems. I then went to a Nexus 5 thinking it would fix my issues, but still had various problems. When the large screen iPhones came out I gave up my experiment, switched back, and wondered why I ever left.

People tell me Android has improved since then, but it always felt not quite done. I'm still happy with the iPhone. Meanwhile, a co-worker in the office received his new Pixel 2 XL and RMAed it the same day because the proximity sensor doesn't work.

[Aloha]

I consider hardware quality to be about equal across smartphone vendors, aside from obvious bugs in new hardware.

[beezle]

The LG G2 was released in September of 2013, even allowing a year for life cycle would be late 2014?

[Aloha]

It wasn't an LG G2, it was an HTC Desire Z rebranded as a T-Mobile G2

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTC_Desire_Z

[seba_dos1]

Switching to Apple doesn't really seem like a good way to move towards being more privacy conscious. Even if you don't mind the walled garden and lack of control of your own device (you should if you really want to care about privacy), recent revelations like silently granting special permissions to Uber app should remove any remaining appeal there may have been in them.

[Slaul]

I'm not looking to build the fort knox of phones or anything, I'm trying to take the path of least resistance to having a more private, secure device.

I'd rather have a phone/OS built by a company whose primary source of revenue is not user data.

From my, admittedly limited, understanding of the issues between iOS and Android it seems like iOS is more secure/privacy oriented with some obvious caveats like the Uber app issue you mentioned.

[seba_dos1]

All I'm saying is that you'll just be under a delusion. False sense of security is way worse than no security at all.

If you really want/need to stick to the big two systems, some AOSP build with microG is way better option that iOS, where you can do almost nothing to actually get your privacy back into your own hands.

[annabellish]

If that's your only reason for changing, Samsung's Knox suite is considered to be highly secure, and is permitted for DoD use et cetera.