Yes. Android already does all these things. But I think the things I’m excited most about are not on this list at all.
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A private local LLM. With the on-device context of my notes, messages, calendar, etc, I’m rather excited to have a more personal LLM than ChatGPT.
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Personal messaging via satellite. I love that I can stay in touch with people outside of a cell network.
I’d add to that list. If Siri is 3/4 as capable as shown in the presentation, that’s sick. Android does not have that.
Did I understand correctly that this is only going to be in the iPhone 15 pro? Because that’s a lot more expensive than a pixel, more than I’d ever spend on a phone tbh.
The satellite im fairly sure is only pro
Satellite is on 14+
We went hiking and tried calling emergency services but my friend’s 14 pro couldn’t get any signal for some reason. Idk what was wrong, me and my friend with pixels had no issues though.
Where do you live?
This was in the LA mountains. Angeles national park
I don’t know. Pixels don’t support call vis satellite though
A private local LLM
Running on a phone? No way, not without being absolutely horrible, slow or making your phone churn through your battery anyway.
Good LLMs are olready slow on a GTX 1080, which is already miles faster than any phone out there
It’s not a LLM, it’s a much smaller model (~3B) which is closer to what Microsoft labels as a SLM (Small Language Models, e.g. MS Phi-3 Mini).
https://machinelearning.apple.com/research/introducing-apple-foundation-models
Microsoft’s penchant for making up names for thing that already have names is neither here nor there. It is an LLM, in fact its already twice as large as chatGPT2 (1.5B params).
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I’m an android user but honestly bored of hearing this shit every single year. “Android already does that” yeah, we know. It’s like having a friend that is constantly trying to one-up you, or trying to steal attention away from you at your own birthday party.
Are you talking about apple copying the features but being a bit late?
As long as you own the fact that you paid more money for an inferior product because you think it will make you look cool.
I use Apple because it’s easier to manage a grandma and a daughter. Android is great if you’re technologically adept and can install a custom ROM, but I don’t want that freedom for my “users”. Grandma used to have an Android phone for years. I’d have to clean that thing out every few months because she would just click on shit. I switched her to iPhone and now when I check, there’s far less nonsense going on. It’s just easier to be the family admin this way. There are numerous other things that Android can also do, better, and for free, but at the cost of one’s time. It’s a trade off I’m willing to make. I reject the notion Apple is outright inferior; by which criteria? It’s also not about looking cool. Everyone has smartphones and they’re not special like they may have been in the 2000s. They’re the most commodified computer people use around the world. There’s no phone that makes you cool regardless of brand. It’s a fucking phone.
That’s great! Competition in this space is working to improve both.
Instead of this stupid fanboy shit of Android vs iOS, we should celebrate an actual success in development.
Lifelong iOS hater who moved to iOS 2 years ago here. They’re different strokes for different folks.
If you’re like I used to be, get an Android! Flash a custom ROM on it! All the freedom is amazing.
Now I have an iPhone. It may even lack some features Android has. It gets them slower. But the experience is ridiculously polished and consistent. This is a device I can’t have fail on me.
I still use Linux on my gaming PC and one of my work laptops. I love it. I love fiddling with things. I just want my phone to be an appliance like my fridge now. I buy it and forget it for the next few years.
My second work phone is an iPhone, so I’m a lifelong iOS hater but I’ve had a few generations of them. Let me tell you these things crash all the time, it is only slightly better at covering for itself.
Me watching WWDC: “Android already does that.”
Me watching Google I/O “iOS already does that.”
Android is 5 years ahead of iPhone 60% of the time
Not anymore. That was true for a few years but iOS has definitely overtaken Android. Plus when you include the entire Apple devices ecosystem, Arcade, TV+, Homepod, Continuity etc iOS FAR, FAR outstrips Android.
Android is a stand alone device but iPhone is one piece in a mosaic of devices and services.
This is why now, after the last 4 years on Android, I’m switching back to iPhone.
Plus the hardware and cameras on budget Android devices are shit and I’m tried of paying for shit.
The Snapdragon 695 came out 3+ years ago and yet Qualcomm just released this year the Snapdragon 6s gen 3, which is … the 695 with a slightly higher clock speed… 🤦
For €300 - €550 they keep selling us the same junk with a different name and colour and I’m done with that bs.
they keep selling us the same junk with a different name and colour and I’m done with that bs.
Proceeds to buy an iPhone.
Except the iPhone isn’t junk - best in class CPU, best in class cameras, best in class accessories, magsafe, best in class security(FaceID), best in class messaging with iMessage, best in class emoji/animoji/memoji, best in class OS updates, busy in class animations and app design, best in class post sales service, best in class devices ecosystem…
Huge difference.
iPhones haven’t had best in class cameras in years. One of the pain points of moving to iPhone was giving up the superior camera experience of Google pixels and Samsung phones.
- Pixel is good but outside the US is barely available
- The only good Samsung cameras are on the Galaxy S line aka premium models. The rest of the phones, the ones most people buy, are crap.
For the price of a used iPhone there is NO phone that can take as good photos and videos
If you want good photos, buy a real camera with a good lens and learn to manipulate raw files. Smartphone pictures will only look good on a tiny screen. The amount of postprocessing that takes place without any of your input makes the photos look bland. That said, android phones do have the better hardware and by saving the raw files you at least get to develop the pictures yourself, the way you want it, sort of.
I have a great pocket camera but it’s not practical to carry it wherever I go. Most photos are taken spontaneously and for that reason you want a great camera on your smartphone.
Also, most Android phones cannot capture RAW.
Not at all. iPhones are very capable point and shoot camera phones, but even at a more budget price point iPhone cameras haven’t been best in class in at least 5 or 6 years.
The pixel 5-6 were like $600 phones with unmatched cameras and even better camera software. The modern non-pro pixels like the 7 and 8 also beat out all but the pro max models of recent iPhones.
Similar to that the Samsung fan edition phones were beating out iPhone cameras at a $600 price point brand new.
That isn’t to say there’s anything wrong with iPhone cameras, but they’re not nearly the best either. Even at lower price points. Like it’s becoming quite clear that you are just saying things at this point because you really like iPhones. But almost none of the things you claim are remotely true.
I’m not saying that because I like iPhones.
You are in the US so pixels are widely available and cheap. As is the FE series.
Where I live, outside the US, the Pixel is not sold nor will Google let you buy it. So pixel is a no go.
The Fan Edition Samsung costs virtually the same as the regular edition where I live, if you can find an FE. It costs €700+…
99% of our population can only afford €250-300 phones. €700 is out of reach unless you’re single, hehe a great job and still live with mum and dad. Or you are the 1%.
So at that price ALL the android cameras are shit, shit, shit.
So, if I import from the UK a used iPhone 12 it will cost about €350. At that price NOTHING can touch it below €700.
Everything below €700 is Chinese cheapie and Samsung cheapie, also known as crap phones.
To be honest as an Android user, if Apple makes their phone less locked down and give more affordable choices for phones I may try an iPhone, as I am a bit fed up with Android, and there are no other real alternatives.
I’m happy with GrapheneOS on my Google Pixel. It’s basically Android without the Google crap. It’s not for everyone though.
That said, I’d really like a third option. iOS is too locked down, Android phones have short support cycles (getting better, and is a huge reason why I picked Pixel), and Linux phones have fundamental hardware and software issues. I’m sad Microsoft, Palm, and Blackberry all gave up, there were interesting things happening in the mobile space back then.
I switched to Graphene in December and I can’t say it enough, GrapheneOS is everything I wanted Android to be for the past 15 years.
Are persistent notifications still a requirement for background apps, such as Signal? One of the reasons I switched to CalyxOS. Not the Signal persistent notification specifically, but it, in combination with all the others I needed running in the BG, made it very difficult to not miss new notifications. I like CalyxOS just fine, but I agree with you on GrapheneOS. I was very excited that it was exactly as I’ve always wanted android to be (but wasn’t), except for those persistent notifications.
I haven’t had to do anything special for signal, Home Assistant has some issues with permissions and not always reporting back if its on in the background. Still trying to figure out why its fine on mine but not on my son’s phone.
The fine tuned controls for things like network access, storage and contact scopes, etc. are just amazing.
You don’t have a persistent (albeit silent) notification for Signal and still receive push notifications? If so, my next OS may just be GOS.
The fine tuned controls are different than stock android? I thought GOS doesn’t alter the stock experience (more than is required to decrapify the OS)?
No, the only persistent notification I have to put up with is Tasker.
I honestly can say how far from stock it is because I have no clue when the last time I saw unadulterated Android (if ever lol), but it doesn’t have a lot of crap added to it.
That’s really great to hear. I’m currently on CalyxOS and, besides the Google crap added to stock, it’s very close to the last time I used stock (granted, it’s been a hot minute). Next phone will likely be GrapheneOS, as I believe my posture has shifted since I decided on CalyxOS, and the lack of persistent notifications for background tasks (such as Signal) was the main deterrent that allowed me to settle into a more relaxed posture.
Same. I thought it would be a bigger change, but it turns out I only need 5-6 apps from the Play store, and 3 need Google Play services. I only need those periodically, so I leave them in a separate profile.
My main profile has a bunch of F-Droid apps and a few manually side-loaded that update themselves. It’s pretty nice! I have also disabled most permissions on most apps, far more than stock Android lets me do (esp. sensors permission).
It’s pretty much what I want from Android. There are a handful of things I wish it did (I like shaking the phone on my Moto to get the flashlight), but all in all it’s what I expect from Android. I still want a Linux phone though.
I use Tasker to handle stuff like shaking for a light, enabling certain DND settings, etc.
I would love a phone that could dock and be a desktop replacement, I’m fine with using moonlight or something else to reach back to a server for games or bigger lifts than my phone can handle.
Cool, I’ll have to play with Tasker. I just got it recently and I think I have all my data synced over, but I haven’t gotten too far in customization.
BTW, do you know of anything like Niagara launcher? I liked that one quite a bit, but I didn’t find anything FOSS to replace it. The default is okay, I just want something that only lists a handful of apps to reduce clutter.
I just use the default one and put a couple folders on the home screen (one for stores, one for games, one for media, one for utility), then a couple widgets on the next screen over.
The only thing iOS really does better imo is the quick settings menu
Holy shit it sucks on Android compared to iOS
It looks better, it has more options, it has better overview and grouping
Like math notes. And handwriting fonts. And a customisable control centre. And phone mirroring. And locking apps natively. And pretty much all of Apple Intelligence (particularly Genmoji because I want a hyena emoji and Unicode doesn’t have one).
Hold on. This control centre thing is really annoying me over here on Android. iOS separates notifications and control centre into two separate groups. I have to swipe down twice on Android to do what took a single swipe on iOS. On top of this, clearing all notifications closes the drawer after a delay, automatically. Why? I can close it faster myself, and sometimes, I want it to stay open, but NOPE!
And then the control centre itself. Volume control just… doesn’t exist (key word: CONTROL). Brightness (which I use often) is all the way at the top, rather than the middle. Then, the control centre is split into PAGES at HALF SIZE, and they’re all just wide rectangular buttons. Then, no volume control. What the HELL is this!? I could long press to get an easy brightness slider for my torch, everything internet related was quickly accessible in a single square, and now you’re telling me iOS is even FURTHER ahead?
Did I mention there’s NO. VOLUME. CONTROL. I have to press a volume button, then a tiny on-screen button after that, and then I get sliders after I wait for the menu to pop up. Granted, that’s sliders (plural), but fuck me. This one HURTS. I sometimes find the buttons a little bit too stiff, so I usually use on-screen controls during screen on, and buttons while off.
So much for owning my phone, since I can barely change any of this, and I can only see the way my control centre looks after I’ve edited it.
FUCK!
This absolute abhorrence. The Gods forsake this wretched control centre design. It is genuinely agonising using this afterthought of an interface. This cannot stand.
I have to swipe down twice on Android to do what took a single swipe on iOS.
swipe down with two fingers
I guess one-handed phones are really dead now
I mean Android, and Samsung in particular, borrow from Apple all the time as well. Hell Samsung frequently bad mouths Apples for the anti-consumer choices one year then follows suit and does the same thing in a year or 2 themselves.
These kinds of takes are not the flex some seem to think they are in my opinion.
Yeah remember when Samsung charged you double?
No ?
Yeah me neither.
Eh? Their bog standard device cost is usually pretty on par. And Apple definitely isn’t charging you double.
Which one is bog standard? Samsung has over 12 different models on production that range from 150$ to 1900$, including two models with folding screens. Apple has
34 almost identical phones, they’re all overpriced hardware.The hardware is overpriced, absolutely. But it’s also typically better than Samsung.
By big standard I mean their “low end” device. The comparable Samsung of each generation is usually within ~$200 of the Apple model.
You mean to say that the accidentally bendy phone is better than the actually foldable phone? Or that the accidentally bendy tablet is better than the tablet that is almost 20% larger, equally thin but somehow doesn’t bend?
Really? We going to ignore the accidentally not allowed on planes because they can explode phone?
Of course, as we know no Apple device has ever caught on fire, never.
