[RockRobotRock]

Sounds like a bait comment but I'll bite.

Is the iPhone tech jewelry? It costs about the same as flagship Androids and many not tech-savvy people prefer it because of its ease of use.

Apple uses this magical new idea called market segmentation, if you didn't know.

[ActorNightly]

Not bait. There is nothing wrong with getting tech jewelry btw..

Its the same story with luxury cars. For the vast majority of people, something like a 250 hp crossover with part time AWD is pretty much the most functional vehicle you can buy. The driving use case for the average person doesn't depend on things like driving dynamics, higher horsepower figures, exhaust notes, or even interior trim. But if your dopamine circuits are trained on being in a BMW and feeling the leather and hearing the engine and experiencing short bursts of higher acceleration, then you are going to think that your current vehicle is better than the former, but you are not making that decision on anything objective.

In the same way, people like Apple products mostly for vanity. You can get a Pixel 8 for half the money of the iPhone and do all the same stuff as the iPhone.

[amf12]

Regardless of the price it is. Not everyone is opting for an iPhone because of its "ease of use".

[littlestymaar]

> many not tech-savvy people prefer it because of its ease of use.

You realize how much you're hurting your argument when saying this?

iPhones are in no way “easier to use” than Android phones, if anything the lack of a back button and more limited Windows support makes it marginally harder for beginner to use but that's not hard to overcome either so it's not a deal breaker in any way. But it's not easier, except in Apple's marketing pitch and Apple fan's head.

The only thing saying things like this shows it that's you're an Apple fan whose PoV is too biased to be worth reading.

[mrtksn]

It’s very hard to understand what Android’s up to because it can do anything. Also, you can’t tell what the back button will do - is it going to close the app or go back?

On the other hand iPhones are very predictable. There’s one button or one gesture that takes you home and one gesture to take you back. Also, apps always stay with their limits, don’t blend in the OS beyond notifications,widgets and playback controls.

That’s also part of the reason why Apple wants to keep it as a walled garden.

iPhone’s are miles ahead of any Android in ease of use. Once you deep dive, they might be about the same but Apple still has the consistency advantage.

[littlestymaar]

> Also, you can’t tell what the back button will do - is it going to close the app or go back?

I've yet to encounter a single app that “closes” when pressing the back button…

> or one gesture that takes you home and one gesture to take you back.

And while gestures are ok in terms of UX, they aren't discoverable at all, hence my argument about bigger barrier to entry for beginner with iOS.

> That’s also part of the reason why Apple wants to keep it as a walled garden.

Nope, the reason is a mix of company's culture and profit motive. Since job's death Apple has largely departed from its former design consistency obsession.

> Once you deep dive, they might be about the same but Apple still has the consistency advantage.

The consistency advantage Apple has only exist compared to different Android phones (jumping from one Android brand/OS version to another is generally confusing), but it only matters when you change phones, and people have refrained to upgrade their iPhones to newer iOS version for years now so jumping to a new iPhone also come with a feeling of confusion if you were used to a former iOS version.

As I said before, most of what you're talking about doesn't really exist except on Apple's marketing and fanbase mind.

[mrtksn]

>I've yet to encounter a single app that “closes” when pressing the back button…

Here is how to reproduce: Tap back button until the app closes.

Oh you will say that the app didn't close, it went into the background? Maybe, maybe not - users can't tell without further investigation.

This alone makes it 10x harder to use than iPhone. On iPhone, there's no concept of closing the app. Well, there's but its not a relevant thing %99 of the time because apps are very limited on what they can do in the background and its very obvious if the are doing something(you see controls on the screen because they will have to use some system service like playing audio).

[littlestymaar]

> Oh you will say that the app didn't close, it went into the background? Maybe, maybe not - users can't tell without further investigation.

As I said, I've never encountered the “maybe not” option, so I'm suspecting you're making stuff up again…

> This alone makes it 10x harder to use than iPhone.

Come on. You realize you're embarrassing yourself, don't you?

[mrtksn]

Yes I am very embarrassed for not agreeing with your opinions.

Maybe you should consider writing arguments defending your position instead of personal attacks though. It keeps conversation useful for everybody.

Another thing about the Android is its toxic hateboy mentality among the fanboys, they can't just tell what they like about something and tell why they believe its better. They also feel the need to take down the competition and insult the users of the competition. Unbearable bunch really, and those are the people you have to deal with the moment you have issue with your phone.

[ActorNightly]

This argument of UI design needs to die a quick death.

The fact is, no matter what interface you use, you are going to become accustomed to it, and over time you are going to be just as efficient at doing stuff.

I can easily make arguments about iPhone shitty notification system compared Android, or lack of easily accessible settings, but we both know that people who use the iPhone don't really have an issue with it.

This is the same "vim vs IDE" pointless arguments that people used to have.

[mrtksn]

Doing more things is not about ease of use. The notification example is horrible, why would you do more things in the notification beyond immediately reacting(an action like reply) to it? If you do more, it's not a notification its a widget that is presented in a list and this makes it 10x harder to use instantly because it breaks concept of notifications. Can be useful in certain workflows but this doesn't make it easier to use, it makes it versatile which can be good if you are willing to deal with the added complexity.

[Our_Benefactors]

> iPhones are in no way “easier to use” than Android phones

Sorry, this is just delusional. Android has no unified standard for how the OS is implemented between devices. Every time you get a new android phone, you need to relearn new UI quirks specific to that device. I honestly don't know how someone could claim with a straight face that Android is easier to use than iPhone.

[littlestymaar]

> Every time you get a new android phone, you need to relearn new UI quirks specific to that device.

“Everytime” is in fact every 3+ years in average! At this rate, even iOS changes its UX in a way you need to learn new stuff, and that's fine.

And while there are undeniable differences from one device to another, it's a completely pointless metric! For the user the only thing that matter is what happens on your device.

Pretty much no-one cares if their neighbors' phone is the same as their own, what matters is how easy it is to use your phone. Also I can tell you, as an Android user, it's orders of magnitude easier to use any other people's Android phone than it is to use an iPhone with its undiscoverable hand snaps to get to the previous screen! Long term iPhone users (and MacOs users for that matter) have internalized the idiosyncrasies of their platform, and forgotten that there's actually an non-trivial learning process. Obviously it's “much simpler” once you've already learned it, it's the kind of statements people make about the command line as well…

[Our_Benefactors]

> Also I can tell you, as an Android user, it's orders of magnitude easier to use any other people's Android phone than it is to use an iPhone with its undiscoverable hand snaps to get to the previous screen! Long term iPhone users (and MacOs users for that matter) have internalized the idiosyncrasies of their platform, and forgotten that there's actually a non-trivial learning process.

Hey, let me try!

Also I can tell you, as an iPhone user, it's orders of magnitude easier to use any other people's iphones than it is to use an Android with its multiple runic symbols crammed together and baked into the OS that always takes up a portion of the screen! Long term Android users (and google users for that matter) have internalized the idiosyncrasies of their platform, and forgotten that there's actually a non-trivial learning process.

[littlestymaar]

Nobody argued that people came to Android because it's easier to use though, that's why the argument works for me but not for you. Nice try though ;).

[ActorNightly]

Why make stuff up?

All android phones have the home screens, the bottom app drawer, the app switcher, and the top drop down menu for quick settings. The only big differences between Android phones are extra features that a phone may have. For example, Pixel has a bunch of interactions you can do with it that you can't do with other phones.

[littlestymaar]

> Why make stuff up?

Because Apple is a religion[1], that's it. Worshipers will say whatever it takes to defend their cult, that's basic human psychology.

[1]: https://www.zdnet.com/article/anthropologist-confirms-apple-...

[Our_Benefactors]

All android phones can implement whatever menu structure, app icons, and other flavors on top of the OS - Samsungs implementations being notoriously hated. That some minor bits are consistent across the platform doesn’t fix this. There’s also the fact that android App Store has a far worse shovelware issue.

[sensanaty]

> It costs about the same as flagship Androids ...

The large majority of people out there aren't purchasing flagship Samsung phones though, most people just buy mid-range/budget phones.

> ... and many not tech-savvy people prefer it because of its ease of use.

Perhaps if you're using versions of Android from 10+ years ago this is true, but nowadays iOS and Android are pretty much on-par from a usability POV. If anything as a life-long Android user forced into an iPhone for work, I find the stupid gesture shit on iOS waaaaaay more obnoxious than anything else on Android, but that's just a case of getting used to it and the annoyance goes away slightly after a while (though it's still there for me).

I mean seriously, I imagine the large majority of people's use of phones is them clicking on whatever the default browser is, assuming whatever they're doing on their phones isn't in one of the native apps they can install with like 3 clicks. Occasionally they'll open the Camera. I don't even see how you could make these flows any simpler than they already are other than a direct-to-thought type of interface.

[RockRobotRock]

Good points. My perspective is skewed towards high-end phones, and I haven't used Android in a couple years.