This article may contain personal opinions and opinions of the author.
iOS 14 is here and offers features that used to be at the core of what makes the Android software experience unique: widgets, an app drawer, the ability to switch from Apple’s Safari and Mail apps, custom gestures from Backspace that allow you to quickly launch Google Assistant to replace Siri in a much more streamlined way. In other words, the walls of the walled garden have begun to crumble. And that’s a great thing. It means more options, more options for iOS users.
However, some writers took it to the extreme: Raymond Wong of InputMag argues that there is “There is almost no reason to buy an Android phone anymore.” I get it: That title is for sale, and it’s in our human nature to love controversy and have strong feelings about the devices we use for hours every day. But more than that, aside from the provocative title, there are many great thoughts in that article. Daring Fireball’s John Gruber adds color to this piece with a comment that says it feels like Google has lost interest in Android. Google is “boring android”Gruber says. And looking bored enough Android 11 ad and the seemingly complete lack of steam in the Google Pixel project, the locomotive that is supposed to show the best of Android, all that is kind really.
There are many reasons to buy an Android phone through an iPhone.
But of course there are many reasons to buy an Android phone instead of an iPhone. While Android updates are a mess I’ve stopped thinking Google is even trying to fix, there are some inherent benefits to having the incredible variety and creativity of dozens of phone makers instead of relying on the mercy of one, Apple.
Or imagine you want a cheap phone with a great battery life? The iPhone SE is once again your only budget phone option and comes with a 1,821 mAh battery, a size that pales in comparison to the 5,000 mAh battery in the Moto G Power, again a phone that costs half.
Want fast charge? Sorry, even the $ 1,000 iPhones only support 18 watts and charge for about an hour and forty minutes. Android phones? the Oppo Find X2 Pro has a 65 watt charger and a full charge takes 39 minutes. Or look at OnePlus phones that continue to charge fast while using the phone and cost much less.
If you think there is “almost no reason to buy an Android phone” anymore, what would you say to the person you want to take long-range zoom photos? Animal lover or bird watcher? Sorry, no iPhone supports it, but the vast Android ecosystem has many options for you: the Huawei P40 Pro Plus comes with a native 10X zoom lens, the Galaxy S20 Ultra can zoom up to 30 times with decent quality, and I can tell you about at least a couple more phones that offer you options you just won’t find on iPhones.
Having a company that takes care of your ecosystem is great, but it does not help the geek who wants a folding phone which magically transforms into a tablet (cough, Galaxy Fold). Or the artist who draws on his phone and wants a built-in pencil (Hello Galaxy Note!). Are you an advanced user who wants to easily connect an SSD to your phone to transfer files? Android offers that option.
Of course, there are many other reasons why there will always be a reason to buy an Android phone instead of an iPhone. It is absurd to claim otherwise. There will always be socialism, and there will always be capitalism. There will always be benefits of having a carefully controlled and nurtured ecosystem, but there will also always be benefits of having an open ecosystem, where everyone can contribute more freely.
However, it is true that you feel that Google has stopped worrying much about Android.
What bothers me is not that “there is almost no reason to buy an Android phone anymore.” What bothers me is that Google has stopped worrying so much.
- Where’s that Google smart watch to boost the ecosystem and give it expansion and new zest?
- Where are the exclusive apps that would attract someone to Android, just like Apple does with services like Apple Arcade?
- Where’s that Pixel 4a, the long-awaited budget super phone that Google is delaying over and over again?
- Where are the shooting to the moon with Android: the kind of Face ID revolution in biometrics, where are the futuristic projects like those AR glasses that Apple is obviously working on?
- And last but not least, when will Google finally handle Android update clutter?
These are valid questions that continue to be swept under the rug for next year, and then next year again, and then next year once again.
