I don’t want an iPhone, and it’s a long story as to why I’m stuck with one.
So, I’m 17 and my Dad is an Apple fanboy. He started using Macs back in the '90s, and he’s always been using their stuff. Over the years, he’s managed to get my mum and her parents to ditch Android, and his parents to move on from their RAZRs. Now that everyone has iPhones, I have no hand-me-down routes. I have asked to get an Android, using my own money that I earned, but he always brings up the same arguments:
“Androids are inherently less secure than iPhones”
“We all use iPhones”
“Apple’s proprietary ecosystem just works”
“I had an Android once. Once.”
“Are you just trying to stop the Find My tracking? What if I need to find you?”
That last one could easily be misinterpreted. It’s an emergency thing; he’s not spying or anything. Don’t worry.
I have an old Android in a drawer somewhere, but it’s running 4.4, it isn’t supported by any ROMs, and the battery barely lasts half an hour, so there’s no point in trying to get it to work.
I’ll also be going to university this year, so I should be able to get a cheap Pixel on eBay and flash GrapheneOS onto it soon enough.
I also fell into the Mac ecosystem back when OSX 10.1 & 10.2 came out. A reliable system that was actually innovative and looked nice! Runs on Unix, similar to the rock solid freeBSD I’d been in the process of exploring! Difficult to hack, fast, easy to program!
Then the changes started. Someone put a fresh out of the box Mac on the internet, “if you can hack this machine, it’s yours!”. I think they popped it in about 30 minutes.
You couldn’t get into certain areas of the OS any longer, by design of apple.
Before you know it, you have a sports car of a computer or phone, but it won’t go where you want it to. That’s why I refuse to get in.
All to say: android has some pretty rough edges, but with graphene or my preference CalyxOS, you have hardware that’s fast, as secure as you decide you want it to be (with the added inconvenience that can add) and for less than you’d pay for your parent’s gilded cage. If you’d like, a good counterpoint to your dad’s “security” claim is the fact that Android code is fully visible for all to see.
If you’d like to maintain quality video/voice calls that are also fully encrypted in an open-source manner between Android and Apple, I’ve got my family using Signal messenger. Just to avoid that irritating ‘blue/green bubble’ discussion.
Good luck to you in your future endeavours, you don’t have to win every fight, you only have so much energy. But do talk and research the points that matter to you, including being free to use the hardware you paid for as you personally deem fit.
Androids are as secure as the user allows IMO.
If we all kill witches, can we bring back Salem witch trials? Just because everyone doesn’t it, doesn’t make a good reason, that makes you a lemming.
Apples proprietary ecosystem is designed around that. Android system works also works well with windows with their latest update.
Good for you. I had an iPhone once. It was like being outside with handcuffs.
Use Google maps location. This is what my family does to track each other.
Just thoughts on counters.
There’s 3 answers:
1: work (possibly school?)
2: you are a child and your parents bought it.
3: you’re weak and let someone else or money make your decision…
I mean the only thing that could make the story “long” is adding in excuses or trying to get sympathy.
