I changed to iPhone a year ago and have wasted hours and hours to figure out simple things:
1. Transferring images from an iPhone to a PC is such a pain! The organization of the files is a complete mess, when transferring images by cable they lose all their information data (for example on which date you took the photo) and iPhone generates new file formats that can’t be opened by a PC.
2. iPhone does everything to make you dependent on their iCloud service.
3. When you do manage to transfer your photos to your PC, you will notice that every time you transfer and delete your photos, their count starts all over again. This results in files that all have the same name! On Android devices, the name generation of images is based on the date and time when they’re taken. This way you’ll always have a clear structure and chronological order of your images. It’s such a basic feature, and iPhone makes it impossible to choose another naming for you photos!
4. Any time limits are a joke! When I put a time limit on an app, the pop up has a button to directly dismiss the time limit. What’s the point of a time limit if you can click it away?
5. Focus modes are a joke as well. Even if I exclude notifications in a certain focus mode, it will show me that I have received these notifications during this focus mode. What’s the point of a notification to tell you that you received notifications that you specifically silenced for said focus mode?
That security checks with 6 steps authorization, constant logins and need to press 10 buttons for simple operation is really annoying
I am definitely going back to android phone with my next phone
They take half an hour to charge before you can turn them back on, androids are within a minute. The charging looks like the battery is dead and when you unplug, then it looks like it’s charging. No intuitive on/off as others have said. I have to use an iPhone for work and everyday I exclaim how I hate it.
I found it funny how you expressed your frustration with the iPhone you use for work. I know it doesn’t feel funny when you actually have to use it. Personally, each time I use an iPhone, I feel lost within minutes and I can’t wait to get back to my Android smartphone.
I agree. To add insult to injury, you are forced to use iCloud. iCloud: “let’s take your high quality video and add a bunch of compression artifacts to make your vid look like crap” “let’s completely forget that your phone has Wifi capability and FORCE your synched vids and photos to synch only via the cellular network and completely ignore your settings and make you wait forever for the privilege”
“Let’s make sure that vids and photos are corrupted, sometimes, when you try to synch your stuff via USB cable”
iPhone: great camera installed on a delicate flower of a device with a crappy operating system.
I’m constantly trying to free up space on my iPhone, but Apple seems to be sabotaging me at every attempt. “Deleted” files, images, etc. simply reappear after a reboot. I don’t have the funds to upgrade right now so I’m being punished for it. It’s very frustrating. I’ve been a lifelong Apple user but I’m starting to rethink my options.
My sister wanted me to transfer about 2000 photos to a thumbdrive on a old iphone 8 plus. A third party lightning to usb thumbdrive adapter want recognized by the iphone 8 for proprietary reasond.
Ultimately i transferred those photos by uploading to google drive and downloading to my pc.
I found it unfathomable why in some photo albums one cant have a “select all” photos option, and i had to painfully select one photo at a time to upload to google drive.
It appears to me that the IOS operating system is quite un-intuitive. Rather i found it a primitive os, speaking for myself.
I beleive the closed door Apple eco system detracts from its overall utility.
It took some effort of apple users in the 90th to move me away from “IBM-compatibility” to apple products – but then it really got me.
In agony I experienced the decline of apple since Steve Jobs’ death.
But now I am so ready to switch to Android – I am so fed up with this – sorry, I have to spit it out – heap of sh*t.
I’ll get a used Android phone and start the transfer out of the apple cult.
I couldn’t agree more; however, I would go even further. Not only does Apple dumb down the experience to the point where I feel like I’m being treated like a toddler, they do so while telling their users (who, frankly, act more like a cult than a customer base) that Apple is inherently superior to Android in every way. And they’re foolish enough to believe it. The reality is that each platform has its advantages and disadvantages.
For reference, all of my family — everyone — is on iPhones. The first time they tried to green-bubble-shame me, I shut them down by saying that if they didn’t like the color of the bubble in their iMessage app, they should switch to a different phone or a different app.
Nonetheless, at one point I tried to get on the Apple bandwagon just to see if it was worth all the hype. It wasn’t.
First: Crappy/nonexistent customization. There was virtually no way to customize my iPhone. I couldn’t create a home screen like I did on my Android phone: iPhone simply plopped all my apps on the home screen, and then left it up to me to find them afterwards. On my Android phone, I have my most commonly used apps on the first home screen, then my travel- and banking-related apps on the next one (bank, credit card, Amtrak, airline apps, etc.). The next one is my news and streaming apps. That allowed me to organize my phone’s home screen in a way that makes sense to me. Doing something like that was literally impossible on the iPhone.
The lack of customization isn’t limited to the home screen, either. I have custom ringtone/notification sounds which I have recorded myself and I assign them different meanings. When I get a phone call, the ringtone is the theme song from a silly BBC sitcom that is about 30 years old. When I get an e-mail, it’s a cartoon character’s catchphrase. When I get a WhatsApp message, it’s a different TV character’s catchphrase. When I get a text message, it’s a like from a Monty Python movie. And so on, and so on… in other words, the entire experience is customized to me and to my tastes. On my Android phone, I could do all of that in a few simple clicks. On my iPhone, it was a nightmare: After I recorded the audio, I had to somehow get the audio file to my desktop/laptop computer (I e-mailed it to myself as an attachment). Then I had to physically connect my iPhone to my computer with a cable, open the sound file in iTunes on my laptop, “synch” the file with my iPhone, then disconnect the phone, then set the sound file as my ringtone. It was ridiculously complicated.
I remember trying to set up a widget on my iPhone that would show the time on the home screen. It literally didn’t exist. When I did an Internet search for a solution, one of the Apple iSheep said, “Just go to your Clock app and open it, and then you’ll see the time” – of course, ignoring the whole reason why I wanted the widget in the first place.
Second: Despite its amazing marketing (and Apple is, at its core, a master at marketing) their products are not all that innovative. I recently saw a TV ad for Apple Watch showing that it can be used as to remotely take a photo from an iPhone, and I literally laughed out loud: I’ve had that feature (for free) with my Samsung S-Pen for over 10 years. Yes, my S-Pen isn’t an Apple Watch with all the features & apps that a watch has, but it also came included with my Samsung phone and didn’t cost $400 extra.
Third: The sucky Apple keyboard. On my Samsung phone, I can customize the heck out of my keyboard and install multiple languages on it. On Android, I literally couldn’t add a row of numbers above the letters: It’s simply not possible. And given how often I combine letters, numbers and symbols for my usernames and passwords, it made logging into anything a headache.
Fourth: They made it virtually impossible for me to switch back to Android. Once I got my iPhone set up and working, they automatically included me as an iMessage user, so all my Apple family members started sending me messages there. When I finally couldn’t take all the Apple Crappiness, I pulled the SIM card out of it and went back to my Samsung phone. However, I wasn’t getting messages from my Apple users anymore. The reason? Apple still considered me an Apple user, so all the messages were sitting out there in iMessage, which of course I couldn’t use. My aunt even sent me a birthday message that I never got, because it went to the crappy iMessage app instead of my Samsung phone. I had to delete my Apple account, and even that took several weeks to complete.
Fifth: The garbled messages from Apple iMessage. When my family members create a group text, if they create the group with only Apple users, and then try to add me later, they literally can’t. They have to create a brand new group with all the same members, and then add me. On my Android phone, I can add recipients to any group I want to. But when I am on a group message with Apple users, their messages often come through garbled: I can see that they have sent a message, but Apple is apparently not smart enough to forward me the message in MMS and instead tries to send it as an unreadable iMessage message. Not only that, but with the now widespread use of RCS (which, unlike iMessage, isn’t proprietary and is used by hundreds of phone companies around the world) Apple has only recently announced that it will support RCS in an upcoming iOS release – but they’re waiting a year to do it. So, apparently, iMessage isn’t everything they claim it to be, or else iMessage would already be compliant with that standard. But that still doesn’t stop the iSheep from trying to green-bubble-shame anyone who doesn’t buy into the Apple cult.
I’m having to agree. I finally switched over to the iPhone about four years ago, mostly out of privacy concerns, after years of reservations.
When Apple products work, they work great. When they don’t work, they are infuriating. For one, there are the permanent iTunes purchases from years ago, even when I no longer want them. So I started purchasing all of my music from elsewhere, like Amazon, to solve that problem. Now when I delete a song from iTunes it stays deleted.
Next there was the fact that half of my music (~800 albums, 15,000 songs) would randomly disapppear – sometimes the entire album, sometimes just certain songs. They were “locked” because I was supposedly in the wrong country. After several failed attempts to address that, I removed all of my music files and re-added them. I’ve had to do that twice now, but it seems to have worked.
Now it’s become the problem of storing and sorting photos, particularly Live Photos, a few hundred of which I inherited from family members who have died in the last few years. Apple *will not* allow you to export a Live Photo to a Windows PC as a Live Photo. Instead it separates them into two separate files, a MOV and a JPEG. So since I can’t store them there, I have to leave them in iCloud if I want to retain them as Live Photos.
Organizing things in iCloud is an absolute pain. Separating out the Live Photos and moving them to a different iCloud account is impossible. Organizing and sorting photos in iCloud is a horrific, time-consuming waste. I tried AirDropping them to another device and it wouldn’t work – it kept sending them to my Downloads folder, with no way to move them into photos. So I tried deleting several thousand files in my Downloads folder, which doesn’t allow you to simply “Select All” and then delete. So that wasted time.
Then there’s the issue of “Unsaved Photos,” which cause havoc. Apparently a photo sent to me in a message isn’t saved, even though I saved it on my phone. So that causes idiotic errors. There is apparently to way to filter shared photos, so I have to go through 2,000+ photos and save each individually. Some it will save, but many give me an unspecified error.
For four years, since I bought my first iPhone, I have tolerated this nonsense. I have spent the last two days looking for a solution that can actually work, long-term, without any luck. Sorting and organizing photos and videos in iCloud is a nuisance. You can’t create separate albums and organize them there because deleting a photo from an album DOESN’T DELETE IT FROM YOUR LIBRARY.
I’ve wasted hours of my life trying to do nothing harder than separating out a few Live Photos and sending them to another device or account, with no luck. The amount of effort required to try to perform a very basic computer function is absolutely absurd, all because Apple won’t allow me to store and view Live Photos on a PC, because they won’t let me transfer Live Photos en masse to another account, and won’t allow me to create FOLDERS in my iCloud account.
There are things you have failed to mention. For one, bluetooth connectivity and the inability to share files over bluetooth.
You also, can’t easily add custom ringtones.
Third party hardware has to be licensed for certain applications.
Etc..
The real reason for the ‘i’ in ipod, iphone, imac, is not internet, inspire, individual, inspire, inform or any of the other BS they have spewed out.
A reliable source told me that it stood for Idiot. As in “It needs to be so simple an idiot could use it”
The ‘i’ stands for idiot.
Monkey see, Monkey do.
Enough said, eh?
I agree with all of this! I’ve been an Android user since v Cupcake. I recently found that I can only use an iPad for a specific application that is not offered in Android for general aviation. So I bought the iPad mini 6. It’s so awkward and clunky! Customization?? I want the clock widget to display digital time in local and UTC so I can SEE it during flight, nope, can’t be done. Come on!
Android gestures work three same way in every app every time, there’s no guess work. Apple either has no guesture support in one app or totally different support in another. Maddening!
Don’t forget moving your finger over the phone on your desktop while listening to an audio. Because it assumes you put the phone against your phone and it stops playing it.
I agree with this argument. iPhones are for toddlers and extremely s***id people. You Can’t even program a wifi router with them because the network starts as unsecure. I can program a Cisco router with my Android devices. With apple to even see the login screen you have to use an Android device to first program a wireless AP with a password so the (I) device will connect these are the worst devices in the world I can’t believe people are stupid enough to keep buying them.
How selfish of Apple to not make the phone compatible with drag and drop MP3 files, like everyone else, but instead making it a time wasting nightmare of file conversion into their stupid proprietary format.
As for owners of iphones, – it brings to mind the story of The Emperors new clothes.
I agree with everything you said especially how they removed the headphone jack, I also hate how users are forced to buy wireless headphones. Samsung S22 and 21 removed the headphone jack and my parents didn’t notice until they bought it. About you saying with iPhones you have to swipe down to see your battery percentage, I had the same problem on my Samsung phone but there should be in the settings if not than that is pretty stupid
I’ve owned windows phone back in the day. And I’ve owned numerous Android devices. I now own an iPhone so I feel my personal experience has a little leg room. The best smart phone I’ve ever owned is hands down my Windows phone. Next is iPhone. I swore to never buy an Apple product because of the fan boys and issues i experienced all around with the price point. Android was supposed to be the inexpensive better OS. My Samsung Galaxy S9 was the absolute worst phone I’ve ever owned and because it was as bad as it was, I’d owned other Android phones, but Samsung price point was exactly what iPhone was. My S9 heated up and froze at the 19 month mark. iPhone at 3 years has not skipped a beat. No lagging. No heating up. No freezing. So yes, it’s a good smart phone. I also know they support their products for 6 years minimum. They hold their value way more than Samsung. Is it better than Windows phone no. But unfortunately carriers no longer have Windows as an option.
Writing this in 2023. I owned several different iPhones until iPhone 12 and iOS 16 when I had software issues and problems with battery life. I became tired of Apple’s proprietary nature with their services such as iTunes, Apple TV and everything in the App Store. Good luck restoring your phone if you forget your passcode. Apple security and privacy is marketing hype, as are some of their other selling points. iPhones are well made, but the design doesn’t change much from year to year, unless you use your phone for everything except making calls. I switched to a mid range Android that compares to the Apple flagships in features, and performs better in some areas. The manufacturer provides 5 years of security updates, and that was a selling point for me. I don’t feel locked into one ecosystem as I did with Apple. iOS used to be the best, but they’re losing ground.
iPhone is trash and the users are obnoxious. I have been excluded from multiple text groups because they couldn’t or didn’t want to add an android device. Apple is a toxic brand.
Another terrible thing in iOS is the one-tap call when browsing through call logs or whatsapp log, which make accidental calls very probable. And you cannot disable this. Apple says you have to click on the small i to the complete right side to prevent the one-tap call.
My cat, after 13 years got scared cause we got our roof replaced. He started to run away for days at a time. I tried to find something similar to an apple tracking device to put on my cat’s collar, so I could find out where his hideout was. There is *nothing* comparable to it. I cannot afford an apple phone. I HATE apple.
You failed to mention the famous ” cant reset the Apple ID password for 3 weeks” That is absurd to me.
The Apple Store wiped my phone and then I was told that they could do nothing at the store and I would need to call Support. Support is where I got the great news that my phone was going to be out of service for 3 weeks. Then I was told that no matter if I called support they could not/ would not change the date for my reset.
I have seen many reviews that contain the similar stories. I cant believe that in these tough times of Covid and inflation, Apple is actually impeding people from holding down a job if they have no functional phone. So I have no respect for the upper management on taking no action.
I bought my first iPhone, still having an Android as well. This phone is a nightmare. Everything said here I totally agree on. Plus, the sensitivity of the screen is so poor, I push and push for something to happen. Never again, probably the most over rated product in history.
this is the second time my employer has given me an apple i phone and said here set it up and lets get started. this is the second time I have run into major roadblocks setting up my new email and getting online. it wants to send me a verification code to set up my email but insists on sending the code to an email that is not yet accessible. when i give it another email address it says it cannot use because its already in use. well no f-ing kidding. its my email address of course its already in use. im done with frustration nd am going to give the phone back to the boss and let him deal with it. this phone is a huge pile of crap. please share this comment with all those thinking about a new iphone. not recommended.
I have a MacBook Pro and absolutely love this computer, but I have a Samsung premium phone. Why? Because the Iphone is just too lame. It’s style is also outdated. How could one company build 2 vastly different devices?? One smart and the other dumb as a rock?
I purchased a IPAD recently and found it to be a joke. It’s crippled by the IOS. The primary issue with IOS is that the apps permitted on their system are “dumbed down” to the point where they are built for a child. There are no high end configuration options. The IPAD’s UI is built for a childs use with it’s big, unconfigurable ICON’s and total lack of smart options.
Just look at the features packed into a Samsung tablet, even an old one, as compared to a new IPAD and I have to ask, why would anyone want the IPAD?
I’m not alone. I know many others who love their MacBook’s, specifically because of the MacOS, but find IOS to be vastly inferior and own high end Android phones.
Apple has an untapped market of consumers. Those who would like to see either a tablet or a phone with the MAC OS. They need to expand the MAC OS and ditch IOS.
Samsung though lacks it’s own high end Office suite. Overall,the MacBook Pro is ideal, but tough to shove in your pocket. Apple needs a MAJOR upgrade to their portable computer equipment in my opinion.
You forgot how you can’t customize the volume for anything. I’ve been trying to figure out how to turn vibrant on while in silent mode. You should be able to control your alarm volume Separately right nope. Still can’t figure out. I wish I never switched to the iPhone 14 pro max. I’m so disappointed in my upgrade Decision.
You forgot mention Apple not allowing GPS spoofing apps, weight scale apps and just about any kind of app where you can do things far more interesting than Candy Crush.
Got an iPhone this time around. Someone told me they improved since I last had one (iPhone 4). They actually got way worse. For one, texts don’t even have time stamps LOL so pathetic. Should have gotten an android.
Used Windows and Android for years. My employer “up”graded my old work Android 6 for an SE iOS 15 and I hate it. When you say you “can’t disagree” that switching to Apple is easy – well I can, it’s horrendous. AMaps has some advantages over GMaps if you’re not a car user. It’s possible to make phone calls so I try to just use it for that.
I also agree with all said here- and to add, the iphone reached its peak performance on the iphone 8. It did all a phone needs to do. I think most comments here are from folks more technically savvy than I, but how f*cking much does a phone need to do? After Steve Jobs, Apple began using us as their new beta-testing group. Nothing is fully tested and released too early and we had to endure all the bugs. Apple could even be more profitable if they would return to making quality products for adults and not kids. Iphones that don’t do everything but what you need them to. All we need is internet, maps, text, and email. nothing else.If you’re trying to do on an iphone that is easier done on a laptop then you’re a child.
Apple truly is the worst. Once my current phone dies, I’ll definitely not buy another one. terrible, bug ridden operating systems, no user control, forcing Apple TV, the lying, the worker exploitation, the worker deaths–Apple is truly the worst.
First off I have to say, if my email gets bombarded with spam this post is no better than Apple.
I read through the replies and like many I have been an iPhone supporter for years.
Privacy and security is my primary concern.
This comes at a cost when using any cell phone no matter the ecosystem.
Apple is no better than Google on privacy. This can be seen clearly for anyone that pays attention. They prioritize profits over user experience and harvest data relentlessly.
I’ve been active since windows 3.11 and only use Linux nowadays. I understand the need for open source communities on many levels. Apple will never support open source.
Why can’t I use Firefox addons? Because they don’t get paid and/or they can control them, simple answer to a difficult question.
I will never buy another iPhone after this one. I refuse to be a victim to an outlandish mega corporation that preys on ignorance.
Problem is, I hate android too…
I’m awaiting the Linux revolution in smart phones. Which won’t be mainstream nor ease of use for many years. But… the biggest issues lie in the consumers. If you desire ease of use, you comply with data harvesting, corporate influence, chains and locks. This will always be the norm and it will not change for a very long time.
Throw that iPhone in the lake. It’s useless other than making calls.
Apple died with Steve Jobs. This article just feeds into my beliefs. Personally I can’t stand the iPhone. All the reasons listed above and more. Thanks for the article!
as an iphone user (used to have an android, still have an android for work) here is my opinion response to your 10 reasons
1.you can move all of your “home screen” apps to the second screen in about 2 mins. But thats a real tough one for lazy people. I get it..
2. There is ZERO difference there buddy. wow
3…….ahhh nevermind. You all are just bunch of crybaby clowns that truly need to get a life. telling everyone at every chance why androids are better than iphones. I bet you are socially retarded.
It’s not an anti-apple thing. You would have to pry my fingers off of my MacBook pro. It’s the absolute best device on the market and integrates with everything smartly.
IOS is the exact opposite. Android does have many negative attributes, and I would prefer to just stick with one company and platform, but IOS is a joke. I simply don’t understand how one company can produce the most superior laptop on the market, while also producing the most limited phone/tablet. They really need to ditch IOS and make their phones smarter and more configurable.
IT worker and Android user for decades. Nothing is intuitive on my iPhone 13 Pro max. When is this thing going to remember and suggest my all too often typed email address? Why does touching a link online not work? I have to open in new tab instead. The Swype feature sucks eggs. The keyboard is horrible, even after installing an upgraded version. Why huge widgets v. icons? I can’t wait to go back to Android.
I once liked Apple decades ago. But ita now dead as far as I am concerned. Android is the real king. Its open sourced. Its often hacled to get around pesky Google junk. Apple is full on proprietary nonsense. And caters to the gullible cattle that graze its field.
I wrote my first computer program on punched cards, but I’m not a mobile phone person. I was given an old iPhone SE recently and was amazed at how bad the interface was. Unlike Android, I found intuition of no benefit to navigation and, in the absence of on screen prompts, very awkward to use. The online manual is almost useless.
Anyway, I thought I needed a new battery, because it will only work when plugged in. Nothing had prepared me for the hurdles thrown up by the website while trying just to get the address of a service center. First, I was asked to logon using my Apple ID. It didn’t recognize that, but liked my email address. It then demanded two-stage authentication, but could only send the code to the phone itself (which doesn’t work because the battery is dead). Why not give email a try …?
Eventually I spoke to somebody who sounded as though they were on the moon because the latency was so pronounced. He gave me an address and phone number. I phoned the number … it was the same number I had just used. Duh!
I always thought the Macintosh was rubbish. Then I thought the iPhone was pretty bad. Now I realize that it’s Apple itself is rubbish.
If I really needed a mobile phone, I would definitely prefer Samsung, Huawei, or even a complete nonentity like Teclast. I would not actually spend money on Apple.
I just got an IPhone a week ago after using Google Pixels from the launch and I hands down HATE the IPHone. Thanks for the article, it made me realize I’m not crazy! Sending it back tomorrow 😎
iPhones are not smart phones. Siri Shortcuts have severe shortcomings. The major things you would want to do with a smart phone cannot be automated–and by automated I mean it does it automatically. For example, something everyone wants; SHUT OFF CELL DATA when connected to home wifi network. TURN ON CELL DATA when no longer connected to home wifi. Can do it on my Samsung, not on iPhone.
I absolutely HATE my iPhone. It’s for work so I do not have a choice. Biggest complaint is the total lack of controls and customization that gets worse with every new IOS and device. Charging hundreds of dollars for an extra $20 worth of memory. App store is getting too restrictive. The fake 5-star reviews on every app. iCloud storage default on and annoying me constantly begging for subscription money. The nanny phone wants to tell me when I don’t get enough sleep, if I listen to headphones for too long, or if I’ve had too much screen time. The apple crap maps tries to force me to walk when I’m close to a destination by only giving walking directions. The arrogance of these people. Hey Apple, I DON’T NEED OR WANT YOUR HELP! Stop trying to control me! Just make a phone with a keyboard that doesn’t suck, a device I can setup how I want and then just piss off. The anti-innovators! Every company that makes phones > Apple.
Totally agree with this, and the lack of an option for re-arranging or cleaning the home screen is what disappoints me the most. I was so supprised after many years not using an iphone, and now I got the latest model iPhone 13 pro max as a gift, the lack of this feature still remains. I have desperatedly tried to find a way to solve this problem but I had to give up. It is much easier to use android phones, the only and biggest problem with android phones is that they will lag after a while.
Fully agree with all points, iphone is so under required level for 2022, far behind of Android based competition. I can’t wait to get rid of my iphone 11, terrible OS with bad apps. “Customization” is such a poor as all other points you put together.
I have been rallying against Apple for decades. Their IOS, their proprietary everything, their sneaky way of changing things just enough that often you have to buy upgraded or new accessories just to use the new phone, their shitty Itunes insistence for file transfer (barely usable), the failure of the IOS to be able to transfer a large number of files in one shot (usually picking more than 10 or 12 files for transfer results in “something went wrong, do you want to try again?), the already mentioned dumbing down of everything, the insistence on asking for the Apple password for every instance of downloading an App, even in the same session on the phone, I can go on and on. I wrote apple today asking them if they would kindly fire all apple executives without pay nor compensation packages/bonuses, and then disband the company. I should have mentioned that it doesn’t need to be by this weekend, but by the end of the month would be fine too.
I started trying to move about 200 videos from an Iphone to a PC. Two hours later I have about 40 videos transferred. Jumping through hoop after hoop, getting disconnected and having to shut down the Iphone after every 12 – 15 file transfers due to the wired connection dropping. Yes, this is through the original Iphone cable. I HATE APPLE!
Long time iPhone user here and I will never own another one after this one.
From the very early days when I got my 8+ I started to fill up iCloud so tried to delete photos off there. To my horror I realized it was also deleting the photos from my phone!
Then there were updates that changed basic interface features in email and other issues.
Then to recent updates taking away integral features like being able to have my texts read aloud when driving, and not being able to send texts to non-iPhone users without repeated resets of my wifi (by going into airplane mode and out again quickly).
Chatting with support no one knew anything and they all tried to get me to do the things I’d already said I’d done to try and fix it. Ultimately I found out that I need new ear pods to listen to my messages now.
As for the texts…..who knows.
I’m furious with them and will never buy another apple product.
Apple prides itself on a polished well controlled experience. I think that meets a lot of end users needs who just want that. Certainly there is Android for those who want options so I am not sure this is a big deal. I don’t see Apple opening up a lot to being like Android.
Yeah. Different world now.
What happened to the volume on my phone? Who knows? I just use a speaker now. Access screens with touch. Huh?
No volume. No way to activate screens. I phone 11. Wow!
Great article! Most everyone I know has an IPhone and they look down on us Android users like we have leprosy. In an effort to appease the masses I have been using an iPhone exclusively for the entire weekend. I hate it.
You touched on just about everything I feel but there are 2 things I can just not get over. On my android device, if I want to call someone I can open the diaper app and start spelling their name using T9. For example, calling mom is 666 (I know, right) but after those numbers her name immediately pops to the top of my list. No so on iPhone. I took my an hour of research to find this out. You MUST go through contacts or favorites to find the person you want to call. It’s just one more added step and I absolutely hate it.
As of April 5 2024. The Android is a far superior product next to the iPhone. I am so embarrassed for this company. They have completely ruined their product. How does this happen?
Loved your comments. Not being a techie l cannot comment on all of your points but l found some of them very relatable. The one about the App Library- l despise it, a complete waste of time and l can’t get it off of my phone! This goes to the point of being treated like a toddler by iphone people albeit in a different sense. I personally don’t think much of ANYTHING about iphone is simple but since they cost so much why cant we set them up like we want them? They just keep adding worthless time consuming features for no reason other than obviously someone in Tech world is trying to justify their position in the company.
My other major complaint is the photos program. Its always been ridiculous but it just seems to offer less and less control over time! I create small videos and have used many video apps and there’s always some problems in accessing what l want. The fact that you can’t delete from the library without deleting from the albums is so stupid! You can hide pics to declutter but then u have to unhide them and move them into a specific folder which then means the originals also go bk into the general library, recluttering it up. You can’t just move your photos into an album without them also being in the library. Ive read a lot of tutorials and used some photos programs but its all clumsy and aggravating and just about the time l get a handle on how to use one then it gets a “nice” upgrade, is completely changed for the worse and l hate it! Not long ago l switched to an $1800 android but took it back the next day! I hated it even worse! I think l need to just get a good camera and a jitterbug phone and be done with it!
Everything on the iphone is just plain awful. I really dislike this phone. I agree with all of your points completely. It is just a badly designed interface and is impossible to customize even slightly. I have buyer’s remorse.
Hi, Annette, sorry to hear that, now I wish I’d written this sooner 🙂
If you’re looking for a smartphone that’s as well-built as an iPhone but without the software shackles, you can try the Samsung Galaxy S22.
The keyboard just plain sucks. Have to flip boards just to input numbers and symbols. My passwords are alternating alpha numeric with symbols in the middle. On my LG and Samsung, no keyboard flipping required. And for the longest time, my iphone keyboard didn’t show lower case letters when shift or caps lock was off so I would always have to test the key case before typing passwords. How stupid was that?
On my iPhone 12 Mini, I installed SwiftKey as soon as I could. Unfortunately, that does nothing for password input, as the default iPhone keyboard is still used there.
The keyboard also does not allow you to add long press special characters… which is a crime against the power user who leverages their phone for more than just texting. I have heard a lot of people try to excuse this but if you try to write a line of code without this feature you are in a world of hurt.
I agree with everything you said. One thing I will add is apple software has NEVER been intuitive. I hate it. I’m tired of having to “google” how to do simple things in iPhone. I loved my windows phones. I loved my Samsung S7 edge. But I was alarmed at all of the malware that google allowed into the play store and just switched to iPhone 13pro max. Love the battery life but it’s a damned brick. Where is my beloved back button? Also I loved my google search bar that intuitively knew to go back to being blank after a search instead of holding onto the last search results. Grrrrrrr. iPhone is a pretty stupid smartphone. I will also say as an ex telecom marketer that working with apple during device launches was a nightmare. The worst manufacturer to work with. Hence my resistance to own an apple. I would have loved to purchase a new Samsung S22 but the malware in google play store stopped me. I also hated all the Samsung bloatware.
Great article. I was beginning to think I was losing my
mind. I loved my iPhone 4 and from there on each one gets worse. What really blows my mind is that the Apple Community is accepting this shoddy, sloppy mostly useless problem. As having volume is not a given anymore. Next stop. Android
Best to all
77 Responses to “Why do Apple’s iPhones suck and are still bad in 2024?”
I changed to iPhone a year ago and have wasted hours and hours to figure out simple things:
1. Transferring images from an iPhone to a PC is such a pain! The organization of the files is a complete mess, when transferring images by cable they lose all their information data (for example on which date you took the photo) and iPhone generates new file formats that can’t be opened by a PC.
2. iPhone does everything to make you dependent on their iCloud service.
3. When you do manage to transfer your photos to your PC, you will notice that every time you transfer and delete your photos, their count starts all over again. This results in files that all have the same name! On Android devices, the name generation of images is based on the date and time when they’re taken. This way you’ll always have a clear structure and chronological order of your images. It’s such a basic feature, and iPhone makes it impossible to choose another naming for you photos!
4. Any time limits are a joke! When I put a time limit on an app, the pop up has a button to directly dismiss the time limit. What’s the point of a time limit if you can click it away?
5. Focus modes are a joke as well. Even if I exclude notifications in a certain focus mode, it will show me that I have received these notifications during this focus mode. What’s the point of a notification to tell you that you received notifications that you specifically silenced for said focus mode?
Thank you for sharing your frustration as well as real-life examples of your experience.
That security checks with 6 steps authorization, constant logins and need to press 10 buttons for simple operation is really annoying
I am definitely going back to android phone with my next phone
and why the hell is it so hard to copy a phone number from google? Why does it ask for permission to paste?? AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!
They take half an hour to charge before you can turn them back on, androids are within a minute. The charging looks like the battery is dead and when you unplug, then it looks like it’s charging. No intuitive on/off as others have said. I have to use an iPhone for work and everyday I exclaim how I hate it.
I found it funny how you expressed your frustration with the iPhone you use for work. I know it doesn’t feel funny when you actually have to use it. Personally, each time I use an iPhone, I feel lost within minutes and I can’t wait to get back to my Android smartphone.
I’m just trying too figure out away to convince my family to switch to Android
I agree. To add insult to injury, you are forced to use iCloud. iCloud: “let’s take your high quality video and add a bunch of compression artifacts to make your vid look like crap” “let’s completely forget that your phone has Wifi capability and FORCE your synched vids and photos to synch only via the cellular network and completely ignore your settings and make you wait forever for the privilege”
“Let’s make sure that vids and photos are corrupted, sometimes, when you try to synch your stuff via USB cable”
iPhone: great camera installed on a delicate flower of a device with a crappy operating system.
I’m constantly trying to free up space on my iPhone, but Apple seems to be sabotaging me at every attempt. “Deleted” files, images, etc. simply reappear after a reboot. I don’t have the funds to upgrade right now so I’m being punished for it. It’s very frustrating. I’ve been a lifelong Apple user but I’m starting to rethink my options.
Biased.
Can you please be more specific? With which of our complaints you do not agree?
My sister wanted me to transfer about 2000 photos to a thumbdrive on a old iphone 8 plus. A third party lightning to usb thumbdrive adapter want recognized by the iphone 8 for proprietary reasond.
Ultimately i transferred those photos by uploading to google drive and downloading to my pc.
I found it unfathomable why in some photo albums one cant have a “select all” photos option, and i had to painfully select one photo at a time to upload to google drive.
It appears to me that the IOS operating system is quite un-intuitive. Rather i found it a primitive os, speaking for myself.
I beleive the closed door Apple eco system detracts from its overall utility.
This must have been very frustrating for you. Maybe this article can help you transfer large numbers of pictures: https://www.digitalcitizen.life/transfer-photos-iphone-android/
It took some effort of apple users in the 90th to move me away from “IBM-compatibility” to apple products – but then it really got me.
In agony I experienced the decline of apple since Steve Jobs’ death.
But now I am so ready to switch to Android – I am so fed up with this – sorry, I have to spit it out – heap of sh*t.
I’ll get a used Android phone and start the transfer out of the apple cult.
I couldn’t agree more; however, I would go even further. Not only does Apple dumb down the experience to the point where I feel like I’m being treated like a toddler, they do so while telling their users (who, frankly, act more like a cult than a customer base) that Apple is inherently superior to Android in every way. And they’re foolish enough to believe it. The reality is that each platform has its advantages and disadvantages.
For reference, all of my family — everyone — is on iPhones. The first time they tried to green-bubble-shame me, I shut them down by saying that if they didn’t like the color of the bubble in their iMessage app, they should switch to a different phone or a different app.
Nonetheless, at one point I tried to get on the Apple bandwagon just to see if it was worth all the hype. It wasn’t.
First: Crappy/nonexistent customization. There was virtually no way to customize my iPhone. I couldn’t create a home screen like I did on my Android phone: iPhone simply plopped all my apps on the home screen, and then left it up to me to find them afterwards. On my Android phone, I have my most commonly used apps on the first home screen, then my travel- and banking-related apps on the next one (bank, credit card, Amtrak, airline apps, etc.). The next one is my news and streaming apps. That allowed me to organize my phone’s home screen in a way that makes sense to me. Doing something like that was literally impossible on the iPhone.
The lack of customization isn’t limited to the home screen, either. I have custom ringtone/notification sounds which I have recorded myself and I assign them different meanings. When I get a phone call, the ringtone is the theme song from a silly BBC sitcom that is about 30 years old. When I get an e-mail, it’s a cartoon character’s catchphrase. When I get a WhatsApp message, it’s a different TV character’s catchphrase. When I get a text message, it’s a like from a Monty Python movie. And so on, and so on… in other words, the entire experience is customized to me and to my tastes. On my Android phone, I could do all of that in a few simple clicks. On my iPhone, it was a nightmare: After I recorded the audio, I had to somehow get the audio file to my desktop/laptop computer (I e-mailed it to myself as an attachment). Then I had to physically connect my iPhone to my computer with a cable, open the sound file in iTunes on my laptop, “synch” the file with my iPhone, then disconnect the phone, then set the sound file as my ringtone. It was ridiculously complicated.
I remember trying to set up a widget on my iPhone that would show the time on the home screen. It literally didn’t exist. When I did an Internet search for a solution, one of the Apple iSheep said, “Just go to your Clock app and open it, and then you’ll see the time” – of course, ignoring the whole reason why I wanted the widget in the first place.
Second: Despite its amazing marketing (and Apple is, at its core, a master at marketing) their products are not all that innovative. I recently saw a TV ad for Apple Watch showing that it can be used as to remotely take a photo from an iPhone, and I literally laughed out loud: I’ve had that feature (for free) with my Samsung S-Pen for over 10 years. Yes, my S-Pen isn’t an Apple Watch with all the features & apps that a watch has, but it also came included with my Samsung phone and didn’t cost $400 extra.
Third: The sucky Apple keyboard. On my Samsung phone, I can customize the heck out of my keyboard and install multiple languages on it. On Android, I literally couldn’t add a row of numbers above the letters: It’s simply not possible. And given how often I combine letters, numbers and symbols for my usernames and passwords, it made logging into anything a headache.
Fourth: They made it virtually impossible for me to switch back to Android. Once I got my iPhone set up and working, they automatically included me as an iMessage user, so all my Apple family members started sending me messages there. When I finally couldn’t take all the Apple Crappiness, I pulled the SIM card out of it and went back to my Samsung phone. However, I wasn’t getting messages from my Apple users anymore. The reason? Apple still considered me an Apple user, so all the messages were sitting out there in iMessage, which of course I couldn’t use. My aunt even sent me a birthday message that I never got, because it went to the crappy iMessage app instead of my Samsung phone. I had to delete my Apple account, and even that took several weeks to complete.
Fifth: The garbled messages from Apple iMessage. When my family members create a group text, if they create the group with only Apple users, and then try to add me later, they literally can’t. They have to create a brand new group with all the same members, and then add me. On my Android phone, I can add recipients to any group I want to. But when I am on a group message with Apple users, their messages often come through garbled: I can see that they have sent a message, but Apple is apparently not smart enough to forward me the message in MMS and instead tries to send it as an unreadable iMessage message. Not only that, but with the now widespread use of RCS (which, unlike iMessage, isn’t proprietary and is used by hundreds of phone companies around the world) Apple has only recently announced that it will support RCS in an upcoming iOS release – but they’re waiting a year to do it. So, apparently, iMessage isn’t everything they claim it to be, or else iMessage would already be compliant with that standard. But that still doesn’t stop the iSheep from trying to green-bubble-shame anyone who doesn’t buy into the Apple cult.
Thank you for sharing your experience. Excellent comment and key points.
I’m having to agree. I finally switched over to the iPhone about four years ago, mostly out of privacy concerns, after years of reservations.
When Apple products work, they work great. When they don’t work, they are infuriating. For one, there are the permanent iTunes purchases from years ago, even when I no longer want them. So I started purchasing all of my music from elsewhere, like Amazon, to solve that problem. Now when I delete a song from iTunes it stays deleted.
Next there was the fact that half of my music (~800 albums, 15,000 songs) would randomly disapppear – sometimes the entire album, sometimes just certain songs. They were “locked” because I was supposedly in the wrong country. After several failed attempts to address that, I removed all of my music files and re-added them. I’ve had to do that twice now, but it seems to have worked.
Now it’s become the problem of storing and sorting photos, particularly Live Photos, a few hundred of which I inherited from family members who have died in the last few years. Apple *will not* allow you to export a Live Photo to a Windows PC as a Live Photo. Instead it separates them into two separate files, a MOV and a JPEG. So since I can’t store them there, I have to leave them in iCloud if I want to retain them as Live Photos.
Organizing things in iCloud is an absolute pain. Separating out the Live Photos and moving them to a different iCloud account is impossible. Organizing and sorting photos in iCloud is a horrific, time-consuming waste. I tried AirDropping them to another device and it wouldn’t work – it kept sending them to my Downloads folder, with no way to move them into photos. So I tried deleting several thousand files in my Downloads folder, which doesn’t allow you to simply “Select All” and then delete. So that wasted time.
Then there’s the issue of “Unsaved Photos,” which cause havoc. Apparently a photo sent to me in a message isn’t saved, even though I saved it on my phone. So that causes idiotic errors. There is apparently to way to filter shared photos, so I have to go through 2,000+ photos and save each individually. Some it will save, but many give me an unspecified error.
For four years, since I bought my first iPhone, I have tolerated this nonsense. I have spent the last two days looking for a solution that can actually work, long-term, without any luck. Sorting and organizing photos and videos in iCloud is a nuisance. You can’t create separate albums and organize them there because deleting a photo from an album DOESN’T DELETE IT FROM YOUR LIBRARY.
I’ve wasted hours of my life trying to do nothing harder than separating out a few Live Photos and sending them to another device or account, with no luck. The amount of effort required to try to perform a very basic computer function is absolutely absurd, all because Apple won’t allow me to store and view Live Photos on a PC, because they won’t let me transfer Live Photos en masse to another account, and won’t allow me to create FOLDERS in my iCloud account.
There are things you have failed to mention. For one, bluetooth connectivity and the inability to share files over bluetooth.
You also, can’t easily add custom ringtones.
Third party hardware has to be licensed for certain applications.
Etc..
The real reason for the ‘i’ in ipod, iphone, imac, is not internet, inspire, individual, inspire, inform or any of the other BS they have spewed out.
A reliable source told me that it stood for Idiot. As in “It needs to be so simple an idiot could use it”
The ‘i’ stands for idiot.
Monkey see, Monkey do.
Enough said, eh?
I agree with all of this! I’ve been an Android user since v Cupcake. I recently found that I can only use an iPad for a specific application that is not offered in Android for general aviation. So I bought the iPad mini 6. It’s so awkward and clunky! Customization?? I want the clock widget to display digital time in local and UTC so I can SEE it during flight, nope, can’t be done. Come on!
Android gestures work three same way in every app every time, there’s no guess work. Apple either has no guesture support in one app or totally different support in another. Maddening!
Glad I’m not alone in this. Have a great day!
Thanks for sharing your experience.
Don’t forget moving your finger over the phone on your desktop while listening to an audio. Because it assumes you put the phone against your phone and it stops playing it.
Funny! 🙂
I agree with this argument. iPhones are for toddlers and extremely s***id people. You Can’t even program a wifi router with them because the network starts as unsecure. I can program a Cisco router with my Android devices. With apple to even see the login screen you have to use an Android device to first program a wireless AP with a password so the (I) device will connect these are the worst devices in the world I can’t believe people are stupid enough to keep buying them.
apple sucks. Siri sucks. why is siri still such a piece of shite craptastic useless software? why is auto correct on iOS such cr@p?
I hate those effinglazy@ss-effers even more every passing day
How selfish of Apple to not make the phone compatible with drag and drop MP3 files, like everyone else, but instead making it a time wasting nightmare of file conversion into their stupid proprietary format.
As for owners of iphones, – it brings to mind the story of The Emperors new clothes.
That’s awful, indeed.
Point one is false. You can make the iPhone screen as bare as Android.
I agree with everything you said especially how they removed the headphone jack, I also hate how users are forced to buy wireless headphones. Samsung S22 and 21 removed the headphone jack and my parents didn’t notice until they bought it. About you saying with iPhones you have to swipe down to see your battery percentage, I had the same problem on my Samsung phone but there should be in the settings if not than that is pretty stupid
I’ve owned windows phone back in the day. And I’ve owned numerous Android devices. I now own an iPhone so I feel my personal experience has a little leg room. The best smart phone I’ve ever owned is hands down my Windows phone. Next is iPhone. I swore to never buy an Apple product because of the fan boys and issues i experienced all around with the price point. Android was supposed to be the inexpensive better OS. My Samsung Galaxy S9 was the absolute worst phone I’ve ever owned and because it was as bad as it was, I’d owned other Android phones, but Samsung price point was exactly what iPhone was. My S9 heated up and froze at the 19 month mark. iPhone at 3 years has not skipped a beat. No lagging. No heating up. No freezing. So yes, it’s a good smart phone. I also know they support their products for 6 years minimum. They hold their value way more than Samsung. Is it better than Windows phone no. But unfortunately carriers no longer have Windows as an option.
Thank you for sharing your experience.
Writing this in 2023. I owned several different iPhones until iPhone 12 and iOS 16 when I had software issues and problems with battery life. I became tired of Apple’s proprietary nature with their services such as iTunes, Apple TV and everything in the App Store. Good luck restoring your phone if you forget your passcode. Apple security and privacy is marketing hype, as are some of their other selling points. iPhones are well made, but the design doesn’t change much from year to year, unless you use your phone for everything except making calls. I switched to a mid range Android that compares to the Apple flagships in features, and performs better in some areas. The manufacturer provides 5 years of security updates, and that was a selling point for me. I don’t feel locked into one ecosystem as I did with Apple. iOS used to be the best, but they’re losing ground.
iPhone is trash and the users are obnoxious. I have been excluded from multiple text groups because they couldn’t or didn’t want to add an android device. Apple is a toxic brand.
Another terrible thing in iOS is the one-tap call when browsing through call logs or whatsapp log, which make accidental calls very probable. And you cannot disable this. Apple says you have to click on the small i to the complete right side to prevent the one-tap call.
My cat, after 13 years got scared cause we got our roof replaced. He started to run away for days at a time. I tried to find something similar to an apple tracking device to put on my cat’s collar, so I could find out where his hideout was. There is *nothing* comparable to it. I cannot afford an apple phone. I HATE apple.
You failed to mention the famous ” cant reset the Apple ID password for 3 weeks” That is absurd to me.
The Apple Store wiped my phone and then I was told that they could do nothing at the store and I would need to call Support. Support is where I got the great news that my phone was going to be out of service for 3 weeks. Then I was told that no matter if I called support they could not/ would not change the date for my reset.
I have seen many reviews that contain the similar stories. I cant believe that in these tough times of Covid and inflation, Apple is actually impeding people from holding down a job if they have no functional phone. So I have no respect for the upper management on taking no action.
I bought my first iPhone, still having an Android as well. This phone is a nightmare. Everything said here I totally agree on. Plus, the sensitivity of the screen is so poor, I push and push for something to happen. Never again, probably the most over rated product in history.
this is the second time my employer has given me an apple i phone and said here set it up and lets get started. this is the second time I have run into major roadblocks setting up my new email and getting online. it wants to send me a verification code to set up my email but insists on sending the code to an email that is not yet accessible. when i give it another email address it says it cannot use because its already in use. well no f-ing kidding. its my email address of course its already in use. im done with frustration nd am going to give the phone back to the boss and let him deal with it. this phone is a huge pile of crap. please share this comment with all those thinking about a new iphone. not recommended.
I have a MacBook Pro and absolutely love this computer, but I have a Samsung premium phone. Why? Because the Iphone is just too lame. It’s style is also outdated. How could one company build 2 vastly different devices?? One smart and the other dumb as a rock?
I purchased a IPAD recently and found it to be a joke. It’s crippled by the IOS. The primary issue with IOS is that the apps permitted on their system are “dumbed down” to the point where they are built for a child. There are no high end configuration options. The IPAD’s UI is built for a childs use with it’s big, unconfigurable ICON’s and total lack of smart options.
Just look at the features packed into a Samsung tablet, even an old one, as compared to a new IPAD and I have to ask, why would anyone want the IPAD?
I’m not alone. I know many others who love their MacBook’s, specifically because of the MacOS, but find IOS to be vastly inferior and own high end Android phones.
Apple has an untapped market of consumers. Those who would like to see either a tablet or a phone with the MAC OS. They need to expand the MAC OS and ditch IOS.
Samsung though lacks it’s own high end Office suite. Overall,the MacBook Pro is ideal, but tough to shove in your pocket. Apple needs a MAJOR upgrade to their portable computer equipment in my opinion.
You forgot how you can’t customize the volume for anything. I’ve been trying to figure out how to turn vibrant on while in silent mode. You should be able to control your alarm volume Separately right nope. Still can’t figure out. I wish I never switched to the iPhone 14 pro max. I’m so disappointed in my upgrade Decision.
You forgot mention Apple not allowing GPS spoofing apps, weight scale apps and just about any kind of app where you can do things far more interesting than Candy Crush.
Got an iPhone this time around. Someone told me they improved since I last had one (iPhone 4). They actually got way worse. For one, texts don’t even have time stamps LOL so pathetic. Should have gotten an android.
Used Windows and Android for years. My employer “up”graded my old work Android 6 for an SE iOS 15 and I hate it. When you say you “can’t disagree” that switching to Apple is easy – well I can, it’s horrendous. AMaps has some advantages over GMaps if you’re not a car user. It’s possible to make phone calls so I try to just use it for that.
I also agree with all said here- and to add, the iphone reached its peak performance on the iphone 8. It did all a phone needs to do. I think most comments here are from folks more technically savvy than I, but how f*cking much does a phone need to do? After Steve Jobs, Apple began using us as their new beta-testing group. Nothing is fully tested and released too early and we had to endure all the bugs. Apple could even be more profitable if they would return to making quality products for adults and not kids. Iphones that don’t do everything but what you need them to. All we need is internet, maps, text, and email. nothing else.If you’re trying to do on an iphone that is easier done on a laptop then you’re a child.
Apple truly is the worst. Once my current phone dies, I’ll definitely not buy another one. terrible, bug ridden operating systems, no user control, forcing Apple TV, the lying, the worker exploitation, the worker deaths–Apple is truly the worst.
First off I have to say, if my email gets bombarded with spam this post is no better than Apple.
I read through the replies and like many I have been an iPhone supporter for years.
Privacy and security is my primary concern.
This comes at a cost when using any cell phone no matter the ecosystem.
Apple is no better than Google on privacy. This can be seen clearly for anyone that pays attention. They prioritize profits over user experience and harvest data relentlessly.
I’ve been active since windows 3.11 and only use Linux nowadays. I understand the need for open source communities on many levels. Apple will never support open source.
Why can’t I use Firefox addons? Because they don’t get paid and/or they can control them, simple answer to a difficult question.
I will never buy another iPhone after this one. I refuse to be a victim to an outlandish mega corporation that preys on ignorance.
Problem is, I hate android too…
I’m awaiting the Linux revolution in smart phones. Which won’t be mainstream nor ease of use for many years. But… the biggest issues lie in the consumers. If you desire ease of use, you comply with data harvesting, corporate influence, chains and locks. This will always be the norm and it will not change for a very long time.
Throw that iPhone in the lake. It’s useless other than making calls.
Yes apple sucks.
I have an iOS 15.6
The phone has no back button.
And those who say a back button on the phone is not important are liars.
Apple died with Steve Jobs. This article just feeds into my beliefs. Personally I can’t stand the iPhone. All the reasons listed above and more. Thanks for the article!
as an iphone user (used to have an android, still have an android for work) here is my opinion response to your 10 reasons
1.you can move all of your “home screen” apps to the second screen in about 2 mins. But thats a real tough one for lazy people. I get it..
2. There is ZERO difference there buddy. wow
3…….ahhh nevermind. You all are just bunch of crybaby clowns that truly need to get a life. telling everyone at every chance why androids are better than iphones. I bet you are socially retarded.
It’s not an anti-apple thing. You would have to pry my fingers off of my MacBook pro. It’s the absolute best device on the market and integrates with everything smartly.
IOS is the exact opposite. Android does have many negative attributes, and I would prefer to just stick with one company and platform, but IOS is a joke. I simply don’t understand how one company can produce the most superior laptop on the market, while also producing the most limited phone/tablet. They really need to ditch IOS and make their phones smarter and more configurable.
IT worker and Android user for decades. Nothing is intuitive on my iPhone 13 Pro max. When is this thing going to remember and suggest my all too often typed email address? Why does touching a link online not work? I have to open in new tab instead. The Swype feature sucks eggs. The keyboard is horrible, even after installing an upgraded version. Why huge widgets v. icons? I can’t wait to go back to Android.
I once liked Apple decades ago. But ita now dead as far as I am concerned. Android is the real king. Its open sourced. Its often hacled to get around pesky Google junk. Apple is full on proprietary nonsense. And caters to the gullible cattle that graze its field.
I wrote my first computer program on punched cards, but I’m not a mobile phone person. I was given an old iPhone SE recently and was amazed at how bad the interface was. Unlike Android, I found intuition of no benefit to navigation and, in the absence of on screen prompts, very awkward to use. The online manual is almost useless.
Anyway, I thought I needed a new battery, because it will only work when plugged in. Nothing had prepared me for the hurdles thrown up by the website while trying just to get the address of a service center. First, I was asked to logon using my Apple ID. It didn’t recognize that, but liked my email address. It then demanded two-stage authentication, but could only send the code to the phone itself (which doesn’t work because the battery is dead). Why not give email a try …?
Eventually I spoke to somebody who sounded as though they were on the moon because the latency was so pronounced. He gave me an address and phone number. I phoned the number … it was the same number I had just used. Duh!
I always thought the Macintosh was rubbish. Then I thought the iPhone was pretty bad. Now I realize that it’s Apple itself is rubbish.
If I really needed a mobile phone, I would definitely prefer Samsung, Huawei, or even a complete nonentity like Teclast. I would not actually spend money on Apple.
I just got an IPhone a week ago after using Google Pixels from the launch and I hands down HATE the IPHone. Thanks for the article, it made me realize I’m not crazy! Sending it back tomorrow 😎
Sorry to hear that you’ve had such a bad experience.
iPhones are not smart phones. Siri Shortcuts have severe shortcomings. The major things you would want to do with a smart phone cannot be automated–and by automated I mean it does it automatically. For example, something everyone wants; SHUT OFF CELL DATA when connected to home wifi network. TURN ON CELL DATA when no longer connected to home wifi. Can do it on my Samsung, not on iPhone.
Sounds like you are just plain lazy…next
I absolutely HATE my iPhone. It’s for work so I do not have a choice. Biggest complaint is the total lack of controls and customization that gets worse with every new IOS and device. Charging hundreds of dollars for an extra $20 worth of memory. App store is getting too restrictive. The fake 5-star reviews on every app. iCloud storage default on and annoying me constantly begging for subscription money. The nanny phone wants to tell me when I don’t get enough sleep, if I listen to headphones for too long, or if I’ve had too much screen time. The apple crap maps tries to force me to walk when I’m close to a destination by only giving walking directions. The arrogance of these people. Hey Apple, I DON’T NEED OR WANT YOUR HELP! Stop trying to control me! Just make a phone with a keyboard that doesn’t suck, a device I can setup how I want and then just piss off. The anti-innovators! Every company that makes phones > Apple.
Totally agree with this, and the lack of an option for re-arranging or cleaning the home screen is what disappoints me the most. I was so supprised after many years not using an iphone, and now I got the latest model iPhone 13 pro max as a gift, the lack of this feature still remains. I have desperatedly tried to find a way to solve this problem but I had to give up. It is much easier to use android phones, the only and biggest problem with android phones is that they will lag after a while.
Fully agree with all points, iphone is so under required level for 2022, far behind of Android based competition. I can’t wait to get rid of my iphone 11, terrible OS with bad apps. “Customization” is such a poor as all other points you put together.
I have been rallying against Apple for decades. Their IOS, their proprietary everything, their sneaky way of changing things just enough that often you have to buy upgraded or new accessories just to use the new phone, their shitty Itunes insistence for file transfer (barely usable), the failure of the IOS to be able to transfer a large number of files in one shot (usually picking more than 10 or 12 files for transfer results in “something went wrong, do you want to try again?), the already mentioned dumbing down of everything, the insistence on asking for the Apple password for every instance of downloading an App, even in the same session on the phone, I can go on and on. I wrote apple today asking them if they would kindly fire all apple executives without pay nor compensation packages/bonuses, and then disband the company. I should have mentioned that it doesn’t need to be by this weekend, but by the end of the month would be fine too.
I started trying to move about 200 videos from an Iphone to a PC. Two hours later I have about 40 videos transferred. Jumping through hoop after hoop, getting disconnected and having to shut down the Iphone after every 12 – 15 file transfers due to the wired connection dropping. Yes, this is through the original Iphone cable. I HATE APPLE!
Long time iPhone user here and I will never own another one after this one.
From the very early days when I got my 8+ I started to fill up iCloud so tried to delete photos off there. To my horror I realized it was also deleting the photos from my phone!
Then there were updates that changed basic interface features in email and other issues.
Then to recent updates taking away integral features like being able to have my texts read aloud when driving, and not being able to send texts to non-iPhone users without repeated resets of my wifi (by going into airplane mode and out again quickly).
Chatting with support no one knew anything and they all tried to get me to do the things I’d already said I’d done to try and fix it. Ultimately I found out that I need new ear pods to listen to my messages now.
As for the texts…..who knows.
I’m furious with them and will never buy another apple product.
Apple prides itself on a polished well controlled experience. I think that meets a lot of end users needs who just want that. Certainly there is Android for those who want options so I am not sure this is a big deal. I don’t see Apple opening up a lot to being like Android.
Yeah. Different world now.
What happened to the volume on my phone? Who knows? I just use a speaker now. Access screens with touch. Huh?
No volume. No way to activate screens. I phone 11. Wow!
Great article! Most everyone I know has an IPhone and they look down on us Android users like we have leprosy. In an effort to appease the masses I have been using an iPhone exclusively for the entire weekend. I hate it.
You touched on just about everything I feel but there are 2 things I can just not get over. On my android device, if I want to call someone I can open the diaper app and start spelling their name using T9. For example, calling mom is 666 (I know, right) but after those numbers her name immediately pops to the top of my list. No so on iPhone. I took my an hour of research to find this out. You MUST go through contacts or favorites to find the person you want to call. It’s just one more added step and I absolutely hate it.
Or you can just say “hey siri, call mom”. and not even tough your phone
As of April 5 2024. The Android is a far superior product next to the iPhone. I am so embarrassed for this company. They have completely ruined their product. How does this happen?
Loved your comments. Not being a techie l cannot comment on all of your points but l found some of them very relatable. The one about the App Library- l despise it, a complete waste of time and l can’t get it off of my phone! This goes to the point of being treated like a toddler by iphone people albeit in a different sense. I personally don’t think much of ANYTHING about iphone is simple but since they cost so much why cant we set them up like we want them? They just keep adding worthless time consuming features for no reason other than obviously someone in Tech world is trying to justify their position in the company.
My other major complaint is the photos program. Its always been ridiculous but it just seems to offer less and less control over time! I create small videos and have used many video apps and there’s always some problems in accessing what l want. The fact that you can’t delete from the library without deleting from the albums is so stupid! You can hide pics to declutter but then u have to unhide them and move them into a specific folder which then means the originals also go bk into the general library, recluttering it up. You can’t just move your photos into an album without them also being in the library. Ive read a lot of tutorials and used some photos programs but its all clumsy and aggravating and just about the time l get a handle on how to use one then it gets a “nice” upgrade, is completely changed for the worse and l hate it! Not long ago l switched to an $1800 android but took it back the next day! I hated it even worse! I think l need to just get a good camera and a jitterbug phone and be done with it!
Thank you for sharing your experience with the iPhone and adding to the conversation in a constructive manner.
Everything on the iphone is just plain awful. I really dislike this phone. I agree with all of your points completely. It is just a badly designed interface and is impossible to customize even slightly. I have buyer’s remorse.
Hi, Annette, sorry to hear that, now I wish I’d written this sooner 🙂
If you’re looking for a smartphone that’s as well-built as an iPhone but without the software shackles, you can try the Samsung Galaxy S22.
The keyboard just plain sucks. Have to flip boards just to input numbers and symbols. My passwords are alternating alpha numeric with symbols in the middle. On my LG and Samsung, no keyboard flipping required. And for the longest time, my iphone keyboard didn’t show lower case letters when shift or caps lock was off so I would always have to test the key case before typing passwords. How stupid was that?
On my iPhone 12 Mini, I installed SwiftKey as soon as I could. Unfortunately, that does nothing for password input, as the default iPhone keyboard is still used there.
The keyboard also does not allow you to add long press special characters… which is a crime against the power user who leverages their phone for more than just texting. I have heard a lot of people try to excuse this but if you try to write a line of code without this feature you are in a world of hurt.
What? A power user on an iPhone? That’s just… Unthinkable! But seriously, the iPhone keyboard should get an award for being this useless.
You can turn on long press in System Preferences.
I agree with everything you said. One thing I will add is apple software has NEVER been intuitive. I hate it. I’m tired of having to “google” how to do simple things in iPhone. I loved my windows phones. I loved my Samsung S7 edge. But I was alarmed at all of the malware that google allowed into the play store and just switched to iPhone 13pro max. Love the battery life but it’s a damned brick. Where is my beloved back button? Also I loved my google search bar that intuitively knew to go back to being blank after a search instead of holding onto the last search results. Grrrrrrr. iPhone is a pretty stupid smartphone. I will also say as an ex telecom marketer that working with apple during device launches was a nightmare. The worst manufacturer to work with. Hence my resistance to own an apple. I would have loved to purchase a new Samsung S22 but the malware in google play store stopped me. I also hated all the Samsung bloatware.
Great article. I was beginning to think I was losing my
mind. I loved my iPhone 4 and from there on each one gets worse. What really blows my mind is that the Apple Community is accepting this shoddy, sloppy mostly useless problem. As having volume is not a given anymore. Next stop. Android
Best to all