The following is an opinion piece I wrote because it has been driving me up a wall. The opinions expressed herein are mine and mine alone, and do not reflect the views of any organization I am, will be, or have been affiliated with at any point.
I’ve had many discussions about it with friends and family, and on the previous iteration of this very blog, but as a reluctant iPhone user who came from Android: I’d rather use a Google Pixel. That hurts to say, because the iPhone experience is good — the way my AirPods Pro move between my phone and my laptop is a convenient thing I’ve come to enjoy.
However… a few things have popped up that have started to eat away at me, and I felt compelled to write about two of my biggest gripes.
I feel like I’m being limited because of my iPhone. The animations feel slow, there’s a lot of waiting when scrolling, RCS isn’t end-to-end encrypted like it is on Android (which is an obvious issue, especially in the wake of the new US President’s Administration), some apps straight up aren’t available… it feels almost like I’m being punished, in a way. We’re coming up on iOS 19 this summer, nearing its twenty year anniversary. I really feel like it’s time for this to change.
The biggest one, though, is that Apple doesn’t let me sideload an app or install anything from any other store besides their’s. My friend in the EU can do this — why can’t I? Because I live in the United States? That seems utterly ridiculous. Why region lock something that, frankly, should be basic functionality. Look, if this was still the iPhone 2G or 3G/3GS era, I’d get it. This functionality wasn’t available en masse yet. But it’s not, and now it is thanks to Android, Windows, and even macOS itself! Devices have grown up!
Otherwise, I actually enjoy the iPhone experience. There’s a reason I enjoy using my iPhone 13 Pro Max. But they’ve gotta fix some of these things, y’all. As sad as it is, it isn’t 2007 anymore.
P.S. If you are an iPhone user in the States, at least download WhatsApp or Signal, and encourage your friends to do the same.