My experience with the iOS app store years ago was worse than Android. Searching for apps that were not chock full of spam was useless. I had to research the apps outside of the store then find direct links to them due to clones with the same names.

I have no idea why Apple and Google allow so much hot garbage in their app stores.

I feel like the standard should be two phones. A disposable 'banking' phone: tiny, no camera, no speakers, small SoC, just the absolute bare minimum to live.

...And then a 'media' phone without all the enshittification.

My last iPhone was a iPhone 5. Or 6, maybe?

Fast forward, and I've been on Android until right now, when I got an iPhone 16 in a loss-leader sale.

...And I am astounded by how much worse it is. My old jailbroken iPhone's UI was both simpler and 100x times more customizable and useful than all these bizzare required gestures; I spent days trying to teach my Mom and grandpa how to use it, to no avail. At the same time, its as uncustomizable as ever.

I had basically every feature the 16 has now, like the action button, and more. And it somehow feels slower in browsing than my SD845 Android 9 phone.

It wasn't perfect back then, but the App Store is flooded with garbage now.

I literally want my iPhone 5 back. WTF has Apple been doing?

Fast refresh rates are amazing. I cherished my old Razer Phone 2.

TBH getting a nice dongle like a Fiio KA5 is not so bad. It's small enough to just hang off the cord, and sounds better anyway, and you don't have to throw it away every phone switch.

Eh, even if they got it right and more popular, it would have enshittified quick.

Well who made the decision to put non-system apps in the system partition?

Aurora store front end works fine no Google account needed.

I know, and that's exactly my point. They used to be in the user space, now they are in the system partition. They CHOSE to do this.

Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't. And even when it does, it still requires Google's spyware to be installed on your device.

The best thing about switching to an iPhone is that I use my phone way lesser

Thanks for the anecdote now i know i can just stay in gos

Not so bad?

That thing costs 230€ vs a free headphone jack.

Sorry, I meant the KA1 or KA3, got them mixed up. My KA3 was like $50 used.

I use it on my PC, too.

Considering the cost in reference to the hardware, and that I can use it basically forever, and that it's a lower distortion DAC than any phone? It's not bad. And it's a barely-noticable addon for my headphones that just lives on the cord.

Only certain apps require play services, aurora store itself requires no play services. Just the potential for the apps you are trying to use. I've used F-Droid and aurora for years.

That's a really lousy excuse in support of enshittification.

How do you know most of users want that?

Even if most of them do, that still negatively impacts literally millions of users who don't want that.

Most is anywhere from 50.1% to 99.9%

So what are you actually saying? Because you aren't being very precise.

Most people want to engage in hetero sexuality, so everyone who didn't shouldn't get to?

That's the same logic you are using, I highly doubt you would agree that all non hetero relations should be discarded and given a giant middle finger. If you do feel that way JFC go touch grass or whatever

I've used them both for years also (along with Accrescent and Obtainium). You're not wrong, Aurora Store itself does not require Play Services, but most of the apps do. Like I said, sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't. The biggest problem is that you can't receive notifications without Play Services. Even supposed "private" apps from the likes of Proton and Signal do not support UnifiedPush. Despite the Android system itself being mostly open, the vast majority of developers do not make their apps available outside of the Play Store without Google services. And many of them are now being encouraged to use proprietary attestation from Google as well. Since the vast majority of people simply do not care, the developers don't either. The best solution I've found is to create a work profile and keep all the apps that require Play Services in there.

The point is, it's not nearly as simple or easy as it's made out to be in the above comments, and FDroid is most certainly not a "replacement" for Google Play Store.

Trying to find a 2025 moto g stylus currently. Recently rediscovered hired much I enjoy a headphone jack. Headset runs out of power? Plug in and continue. Also expandable memory wouldn't have lost me hours of recording that I won't ever get back because my phone got a little wet and shit the bed

Could you develop on "attempt to have everyone leave bluetooth" ? What do they want us to use instead ?

"[...] leave bluetooth always on"