Blue ticks and group chats.
Cos they never made it away from the pre-installed apps.
this post was submitted on 23 Feb 2025
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through significant promotion and advertisement by APPLE, the mackbook, is used by tons of programmers though, and i have used the desktops at university library.
• American company
• Secure
• Little to no bloatware
• Isn’t a google product
• Isn’t a google product
• Isn’t a google product
• same version of the OS in all devices
• customer support that actually answers the phone within a few rings and supports your device over the phone.
• isn’t a google product.
That’s a few off the top of my head.
The customer support one is literal leaps and bounds above the competition.
I can call Apple and have someone answer very quickly, but you can’t really call Google. I can get Apple to call me if I don’t want to wait or I can take it to a store and have anything non-physical fixed for free.
Yep. Exactly. I’ve never had an issue with any apple decide that lasted over just a few hours before it was resolved. That’s enough to win me over.
Google can keep their whistles and bells.
It’s status. Apple is regarded as more expensive and high quality.
Except the most expensive phones on the market are android devices.
It's actually incredibly difficult to tell if someone has the latest iPhone or one that is five years old.
Exactly.
The short answer is capitalism. Wasting money is a status symbol.
The answer is marketing by Apple and mobile carriers, which lean on peer pressure via iMessage. Plus the iPhone built on the success of the iPod, which led the market for mp3 players.
- iphones are the first recognized "smartphone".
- apple is an american company.
- apple has a massive fanbase that is completely dedicated to apple and all their products.
i'm not sure what the global usage of apple products is, but i think here it's probably a lot higher than in other places. throw in the fact that there's only one device capable of (legally) running apple's mobile software, and there you have it.
also, their advertising didn't hurt either. no one on the android side had the kind of advertising they did until maybe 6 or 7 years later and by that time you were probably already well established in the iphone ecosystem.
They used to innovate, no doubt. But their products provide absolutely terrible value now. Great resale, sure. But you're overpaying 20% for the hardware you're getting which is not the case on the Android side. The only thing iPhone universally does better is 1) video and 2) ecosystem (if all your products are Apple). The rest is a tomaeto vs tomahto situation.
Not relevant to most basic users but I could not use a phone where I did not have the freedom to sideload apps, especially if I'm overpaying for the hardware.
Freedom is not one thing. The choice between iOS and Android is not a choice between zero freedom and unlimited freedom. You’re simply choosing which freedoms you want to prioritize.
I’m planning to switch to an Android device running an alternative OS with my next purchase after using iPhone exclusively since the 3g. That’s driven by a change in priorities: I want the freedom that comes from using a phone that isn’t a surveillance and advertising vehicle. For years now though, I’ve been enjoying the freedom of knowing my phone will continue to receive updates for a minimum of 5 years after I buy it new while some of my Android friends will be lucky if they get two.
The iPhone came out before Android, so Apple had first mover advantage it could solidify to a sticky user base.
Also, a "free" Android experience only occurs when you've got full control of everything. Android was a lot more willing to give up control to third parties, including carriers. With Apple, you're only giving control to one company.
I think you overestimate the value of those first two years.
What else justifies 60% market penetration?
I mean apple has spent at least the last decade using iMessage as a way to bring people into the platform and keep them there. Ie the articles from a few years back about using it to manipulate teenager behavior a la Instagram, or the epic games discovery documents which indicated this was a deliberate and cruel strategy from apple to lock ignorant people into their platform to avoid losing their social network.
Tldr: they deliberately try to make people lose friends if they leave the platform. You might say "shit friends" and I'd agree, but this is the FUD that apple spreads.
So they used the first two years to build a consumer user base in the way that RIM couldn't and then was able to defend its market share.
The iMessage strategy couldn't work if people didn't buy in.
when you cant even have an app without a corporation’s approval
Apple has successfully positioned themselves as “the good guy”.
- Apple broke the monopoly of phone provider locks, and still prohibits phone provider bloatware.
- Apple seems like the only provider with any care for privacy, and many of their features and policies are privacy focussed
- Apple puts more effort than most software providers into usability
- you might think Apples constraints on the App Store blocks legitimate opensource and personal projects, but it mostly blocks commercial exploitation. It blocks behaviors that abuse customers or their privacy, that will give users a bad experience. I’ve read the requirement for a fee with a real credit card is actually the most effective strategy against malware
- every major app is available in the App Store
- its just a phone. My phone needs to just work, unlike my computer which needs to do whatever I want it to.
So maybe the root cause is lack of consumer protection in the US, but my experience with iPhone is much better than with Android phones. I’m not blind to corporate shenanigans but I do feel better protected in the Apple ecosystem. I do have freedom to choose almost any legitimate app, and I’m not particularly interested n futzing around with my phone anyway
Mostly because of bullying. Android users are poor shamed.
Surely that's not a uniquely American phenomenon.
Americans don't really value freedom. Not really. Americans pretend they like freedom, but they will give up all their freedoms for the slightest bit of convenience, and because social media told them so.
Am I talking about consumer electronics, or politics? Impossible to say.
I understand the sentiment you are going for, but I think it is a little cheap regarding the opinion of 300 million+ people.
In my horribly narrow opinion, the American freedom is simply the freedom to choose. Nothing more, nothing less. The freedom to own a tiger, buy a tank or be "Florida man" for a day.
It is not "free" from manipulation and sometimes it really feels like a 5 year old choosing to do the opposite of the right thing just "because".
Sidenote: I ABSOLUTELY do not think it is the best way to build a nurturing society, but I get why it has such a passionate supporter base.
it is a little cheap regarding the opinion of 300 million+ people
Actually iPhones are generally a little expensive, and mostly talking about around 150 million of those 300 million people 😜:
In the United States, there were over 150 million active iPhones in 2023
https://www.statista.com/topics/4753/apple-products-in-the-us/#topicOverview
It was a nurturing society when most were in communities that interacted with each other. We have lost that for many reasons
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I have no need for third party apps.
For anything beyond texting or scrolling, I have a desktop.
Defying mask mandates wasn’t due to a ‘love for freedom’ but due to delusions and selfishness.
I can only speak for myself and my kids. I have an iPhone because my work gave me one for free. They only support iPhone for security reasons. Keeping Android devices up to date across a large fleet is challenging leaving security gaps. For my kids they wanted my old iPhones because it’s what all their friends have.
Tbh androids privacy is shit. I’d rather deal with Apple than Google both on hardware and privacy any day. The only way I’d switch is to something like Graphene
Because my belief in political freedom has nothing to do with my phone choice and it would be odd to conflate the two.
When I had an android I had to spend a lot more time making sure apps would work with my phone and that my phone would be "secure" whereas I have less concerns of that with apple.
Simply put with apple I dont have to do as much work to make sure things work.
Until there is a better alternative to the new evil that is google/alphabet, apple is a lesser evil.
Eh you can achieve similar or greater privacy on a Android phone simply because it's not locked down in the way an iPhone is.
Not an American, but as an iPhone user who has had Android phones since cupcake before: iPhones „just work“, they are a lot less janky than Android, the ecosystem is smooth (although admittedly and intentionally less so when leaving it), they get updated for longer (and at the same time!) and apple has a much better privacy track record than the competition (a low bar).
Yes, I would prefer to install my apps from anywhere I want on the device I should own. An open source phone from top to bottom would be my dream, but Android is about as far removed from that as an iphone. Google took Linux and made it into a Frankenstein nightmare that is wholly dependent on them.
Just try to stick to open source and make your phone respect your privacy and see how far you get. Start at the usually locked bootloader, install a rom without google and see how few apps are left that do not require google services. And even then you are most likely dependent on binary blobs for the drivers, meaning the manufacturers can (and will) pull the rug from under your efforts as soon as they no longer feel like updating their shitty built of Android for the device in time.
I do not have time for that. What I have is enough money to buy a phone that comes as close as possible to my idea of safety, freedom and privacy without constantly jumping through burning hoops. If I am to be in a cage, it better be golden.
they are a lot less janky than Android
What did you find so problematic and unsolvable?
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You have to connect it to a server to even use it
That's also true of the versions of Android that 99.99% of people use
cannot have any third-party apps without an online account.
Most people don't care. They'll use the suggested app store and have an account already.
Right or not, it is what it is.
Americans have been propagandized by Apple advertising into thinking Apple products are "high class."
Ask yourself: Why does anyone wear a Rolex?
It boils down to the same thing, showing people your wealth and thus "social value" (barf) via conspicuous consumption.
If it wasn't conspicuous consumption, why would US people literally judge potential dating partners on what kind of phone they use?
Its function is exactly what the name implies: to alert people that you have money in the bank. I Am Rich was available for purchase from the phone’s App Store for, get this, $999.99 -- the highest amount a developer can charge through the digital retailer, said Armin Heinrich, the program’s developer. Once downloaded, it doesn’t do much -- a red icon sits on the iPhone home screen like any other application, with the subtext ‘I Am Rich.’ Once activated, it treats the user to a large, glowing gem (pictured above). That’s about it. For a thousand dollars.
This was barely a year after the original iPhone's release. The attitude toward Apple products has persisted ever since.
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