this post was submitted on 29 Jul 2023
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Android is struggling to keep its market share in the United States, as Apple continues to take over in the market. But, despite Android as a whole losing ground, Google Pixel phones are becoming a bigger slice of the US market.

Counterpoint Research reports that, in Q2 2023, US smartphone shipments dropped by 24% year-over-year. That includes both iPhones and Android phones, and virtually every brand saw a drop in shipments. Samsung saw US shipments drop by 37% while Motorola saw a 17% drop. TCL saw the biggest decline at just shy of 70% year-over-year, and even Apple saw a 6% drop.

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[–] basuramannen@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Is there an Android phone that supports dual boot? I would like to have that so can use Lineage or something similar and only boot into Google android when I need to use banking app or government ID that requires the safetynet antifeture. This would free me from carrying two phones. But I suppose a locked down bootloader can not support dual boot and an unlocked will not support the safetynet antifeature.

[–] Nonononoki@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Use Magisk, it bypasses SafetyNet. No need for dual boot https://github.com/topjohnwu/Magisk

You must install the Universal SafetyNet Fix afterwards https://github.com/kdrag0n/safetynet-fix

[–] LaughingFox@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

Yuck why do people continue to buy Apple products?

[–] Hazdaz@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It's still 45% marketshare Android vs 55% iOS. With the way the title reads, you'd think Android was down in the single digits and barely hanging on.

Personally I just don't see how anyone uses iOS. The iPhone I have is just awful. The UI is clunky and I'm absolutely baffled why this stupid phone weighs so much. That's not a good thing, damn it. My Samsung is infinitely better device in my opinion. But I'd still love to see a third player come in. I was sad when Microsoft killed off their phone OS. It might not have been great at the time, but more competition is always better. And then if course there's also PalmOS. So sad to see such a cool OS die off.

[–] Whirlybird@aussie.zone -1 points 1 year ago

The UI is clunky

What do you mean by this? Is this just another "snappy" type thing that is meaningless?

[–] ScrivenerX@lemm.ee 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I use a pixel and I have a hard time justifying a different phone.

Maybe things have changed but the last Samsung I had was an S7 and I didn't like it. It suffered from bloat and didn't last all that long. Battery issues and the screen started to lose sensitivity.

I've used iphones and they aren't bad, but I really dislike apple's app store and effort to control everything on my phone. Also everytime a new phone came out my old phone became next to unusable for a month.

I got a pixel 3 and loved it, now I have a pixel 6 and don't see changing my phone any time soon or going to a non-pixel phone. They last a long time, they work well with everything and the camera is excellent.

[–] Ooops@feddit.de 0 points 1 year ago

Still using an S7E to this day as the battery seems basically indestructable...

The one single weak spot? I actually had to replace the glue.

[–] worfamerryman@beehaw.org 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

As an iOS user the bloat on android is a huge turnoff for me.

I’d potentially switch to a Samsung if it didn’t have all that stuff pre installed on it.

It may be the second biggest reason I’m sticking with iOS. Of fact, if they got rid of bloat and iMessage was available on Android, I’d jump over in a second.

[–] Psythik@lemm.ee 0 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Well there's your problem. You're looking at Samsung phones.

Honestly, they're one of the worst when it comes to bloatware. They do it because their devices are so popular that they can get away with it. Stick with a Pixel, and you can't go wrong.

(BTW, what's with iPhone users' obsession with iMessage? Google Messages has the same capabilities. Not trying to hate; genuinely curious. If your only experience with texting on Android is with using whatever came with your device, then I understand why you'd prefer Apple's implementation. That's the whole appeal of Android: if you don't like how a component works, you can swap it out.)

[–] worfamerryman@beehaw.org 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

To answer the iMessage thing.

I’m from the states but live in a different country. It’s the easiest free way to stay in touch with family and friends.

A number of people have been like β€œjust move to X and if they don’t follow, then forget about them.”

But it’s not really realistic to ask all the people I might contact throughout the year to switch to a new app in case I contact them.

So I truly feel locked in because of that.

[–] float@feddit.de 0 points 1 year ago

You don't really have to choose. I have WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal and Threema installed all at the same time. I don't like Apple and since there's no iMessage for Android (I guess), I can't use that. But that's not really my choice, it's Apple's choice. I won't let them lock me down into their ecosystem. Just send SMSes to the people you only have on iMessage and that don't understand why they are implicitly forcing their opinion on others.

[–] crab@monero.town 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

GrapheneOS is what keeps me from switching from Pixel.

[–] Yoz@lemmy.world 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Watch the Louis Rossman video on YouTube about Graphene OS developer.

[–] sigerus@feddit.de 0 points 1 year ago

That developer stepped down

[–] ratboy@lemm.ee 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

My Android phone fucking blows. The one I had prior was great but I lost it. I hate the constant alerts from the apps I can't delete, I can't take up close photos anymore without it looking like shit and not focusing, the screen will flip horizontal at random times when it's got the lock screen option turned on. I don't want a Google phone, though.

Anyone have opinions on the OnePlus phones?

[–] maeries@feddit.de 0 points 1 year ago

You can disable alerts on a per app basis

[–] ocassionallyaduck@lemmy.world 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Google keeps locking tons of Android features away behind their own privatized software stack.

Better for Google, but they are cutting their nose to spite their face here, as Android as a whole suffers for it.

Stuff like call screening in the android dialer would be possible on any brand of device. But no, pixel only.

The pixels have the very best android experience. It comes close to iPhone. But pixels aren't the whole market. Overall Google is trying to claw back control of the entire platform and I hate it.

[–] SafetyGoggles@feddit.de 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Stuff like call screening in the android dialer would be possible on any brand of device. But no, pixel only.

Other OEMs also have their own features that are exclusive to their own phones. They can also implement them into AOSP, but they don't. Instead, they keep the features to their own devices. A lot of times when there's a new feature on Android in general, more often than not you'll see comments like "Samsung had this since years ago".

So if other OEMs are allowed to have platform specific features, Google is allowed to have theirs too. Or in other words, if you want to hold Google responsible for holding back Android, you have to also hold other OEMs responsible too.

[–] ocassionallyaduck@lemmy.world 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Google owns the platform. You're not really comparing like to like.

It's like saying since Google can modify some files in Windows that Microsoft doesn't control the platform.

Sony upstreams many of its changes, but you're right that Samsung does not. This is both because of differentiation, but also because often the changes are in defiance of the "official" Google spec in android and merging is refused.

One plus for example offers further customization on gesture input that is missing in Android 13, allowing corner bottom swipes, hiding the little nav line, etc. But this cannot merge.

Google has decided a "solution", to hell with if your features are better. I would love to see these features in android mainline. But Google won't allow it. Sony made a theme system years ago, but Android wouldn't fully merge it, and took another 5 or so years to make something.

[–] SafetyGoggles@feddit.de 0 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

It's like saying since Google can modify some files in Windows that Microsoft doesn't control the platform.

You complain that I'm not comparing like to like, yet you're taking Windows, a closed sourced operating system, as an analog to AOSP, an open sourced one?

This is both because of differentiation

But why are other OEMs allowed to differentiate, and Google is not?

Yes, Google has the "official control" of how Android should be, and not all OEM changes are in line with that. But contributing upstream is not the only way to make the Android ecosystem open.

Take for example, Galaxy Watch with WearOS. There are multiple features that the watch can do, ONLY IF ITS PAIRED WITH A GALAXY PHONE. I have a Galaxy Watch 4. It has ECG and Blood Pressure sensors. But I can't use it (officially), because I don't have a Galaxy phone. Why? Because Samsung is keeping that exclusive with a software lock that totally doesn't have to be there. Measuring ECG and Blood Pressure doesn't need anything from my phone, it's all on the watch.

Another example also regarding using Galaxy Watch with a non Galaxy phone, which is even more absurd, is that if you're using a Galaxy Watch with Galaxy phone, they will sync DND status between them, but if you're not using a Galaxy phone, it'll not sync. They literally added codes for it to not work on non Galaxy phone.

Also, the example you used in your original comment, the call screening feature, uses language models that Google paid for the development and trained. I think it's fair for them to uses that technology that they invested in to help boost their own profit instead of just giving out for free.

[–] Transcendant@sopuli.xyz 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I got a pixel 7a about 6 months ago. It's a brilliant phone, once you remove all the google shit / bloat and block all the trackers.

[–] iturnedintoanewt@lemmy.world 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] Transcendant@sopuli.xyz 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I wanted to try it out today. The install looked intimidatingly-complex to me, is there an 'easy mode' installation method?

[–] crystal@feddit.de 0 points 1 year ago

The web installer is pretty simple.

It may seem intimidating because they're being super cautious. (Stuff like "You should avoid using a USB hub" is bordering paranoia.) But that's not because they need to be cautious. The GrapheneOS installer is very safe. The reason they're being so cautious is because they want to be more than 99% sure it works.

If something goes wrong, like you use the wrong browser or fail to install the driver/package, it won't break your phone; the install just stops and you can try again.

The one thing that may break something is if during install the cable gets disconnected or the power goes out. That's unlikely by itself, but even if it does happen, you phone will most likely be fine.