My primary smartphone runs the following operating system:
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- By the end of 2026, how useful do you think agentic/multi-agent AI systems will actually be in your daily work or personal projects? Posted on March 11th, 2026 | 4561 votes
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- By the end of 2026, how useful do you think agentic/multi-agent AI systems will actually be in your daily work or personal projects? Posted on March 11th, 2026 | 32 comments
Having used Android, iOS and Windows Phone... (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Having used Android, iOS and Windows Phone... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Having used Android, iOS and Windows Phone... (Score:5, Insightful)
Yeah. The physical home button now houses a really handy fingerprint reader that I couldn't go back from - I tried. You can use any keyboard that you want. I'm not sure what you mean by "slow scroll speed," since it goes along as fast as you scroll it. I don't even touch my phone when I'm texting people - hey siri will not only send texts, but also read them to me.
It sounds like you're complaining about an iPhone 3.
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What's the voice recognition quality like, when using non-default-dictionary words and with manual capitalization and punctuation?
Voice dictation on iOS? (Score:3)
After a partial answer, can I try to refine the question?
I don't have an iPhone but I do quite a bit of voice dictation on a MacBook Pro and on my Android phone (and past Android phones). I have also attempted to do voice dictation on Windows 10. The base quality of recognition seems higher on Android, but I sort of prefer working with the Mac for dictation, largely because the Mac's correction capabilities are helpful. I was unable to get anything useful out of Windows (10 and 7), so I dismiss Microsoft's
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So you're saying that the latest iPhone has finally caught up to where Android was over a year ago? great... but Android has continued to improve as well.
Fingerprint readers were on Android devices before iPhone, and are on many Android devices now.
Interchangeable keyboards are old hat for Android
And voice recognition on Android is great.
The slow scroll speed always bugs me on iPhones, it moves at the speed you move your finger on the screen, but it stops almost immediately after you lift your finger, for l
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I was saddled with an iOS device for work for over a year, I finally managed to escape it.
The "flick" on iOS "works" but nowhere near as well as on Android, never has. it slows down too rapidly, they've simulated more friction on iOS than on Android, making Android far easier to use.
My Android devices (Milestone, Note II, Note III, Note 4, S4, S5) have also all had significantly longer battery life than the iPhone I had (iPhone4) as well as being faster and smoother. I was constantly waiting for iOS, the An
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> I'm not convinced you have ever used an iOS device. The "flick" you describe works just fine on every version of iOS back to the beginning.
I just checked with my iPad Air 2 running whatever the latest iOS version is at this time, and the scrolling rate on webpages and long lists does indeed appear to be limited to a maximum rate whereas on Android it scrolls as fast as you can flick it, or at least much faster than on iOS (verified on my Nexus 6p and Nexus 7 2013)
It hadn't really occurred to me until n
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I am not aware of a single feature that was on iphone first. please list one.
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- Screenshots. iOS had this from the start.. android didn't get them until 4.0 in 2011.
- system wide, modern Copy and Paste (iOS had it in iPhone OS 3 mid 2009, Android in 2.3, late 2010). By modern I mean the long-press that pops up the copy paste menu on text anywhere, in any app. Sure android had some hobble useless copy paste from early.. not in mail or the browser where you'd want to copy and paste.. then just a couple months before iPhone OS 3 dropped they got it in the browser only.. but not until
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The N900 didn't go on sale until more than 2 years after the first iPhone, more than a year after the iPhone 3G and around 2 months after the iPhone 3GS
So there were *three* iPhone models released before the Nokia N900 was released.
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Except you couldn't send a picture through MMS/SMS on an iphone for many years.
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[citation needed]
copy and paste? I can't even believe you're willing to bring that up! Android had copy and paste from day 1. Apple had the nerve to tell people they didn't need it, until they finally changed their mind and added it. Even then, it didn't work as well as the Android version, and really doesn't to this day.
Like I said.. android had a half assed
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The point remains that Android can do many many many things that iOS can't, that the vast majority of features existed on Android first, and that almost all of them work better on Android than iOS.
iOS is half baked, and at least a year behind Android in every important metric.
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Let's list a few things that Android devices did LONG before iOS, in fact many of these features still don't exist on iOS, or are SEVERLY limited/broken on iOS
- copy and paste
- consistent back and menu interfaces
- finger print scanner
- multi-tasking
- high resolutions
- large screens
- useful stylus
- home screen widgets
- real lock screen notifications
- USB host
- HDMI output
- NFC (that can be used by all apps)
- WPA for wifi setup
- allowing apps access to enough wifi information to do diagnostics
- IR transmitter
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Ah well.. I just remember another thing that happened first on iOS before Android.. tethering. iOS had it in 3.0 mid 2009, Android got it in 2.2, mid 2010.
Huh? I've had tethering on my Android when iOS still had to be jail breaked to get tethering. That was the most importing feature my Apple friends were jealous about.
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Like I said.. by your deflections it is obvious that you were never interested in an answer to your question since you patently refuse to accept simple facts. You asked a question. I answered it with clear facts.. Then you went off on a flight of fancy. A shame.
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It is really fair to compare the iPhone to EVERY Android phone in existence when it comes to comparing features?
I'll bet that no one Android phone out there has every feature on that list above. Some of them probably come close, but so does the iPhone at this point.
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I don't know how to respond to this other than to say that tethering was a new feature in android 2.2..
http://www.androidcentral.com/froyo-feature-usb-and-wireless-hotspot-tethering/ [androidcentral.com]
I can't know for sure but I suspect your friends were jailbreaking because, even though the OS supported tethering.. some US carriers didn't allow it (AT&T comes to mind, if I'm recalling correctly). But the feature existed on iOS a year before Android 2.2 and if your carrier allowed you to use it then you could (I know I d
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It is really fair to compare the iPhone to EVERY Android phone in existence when it comes to comparing features?
As opposed to the method used by Apple enthusiasts?
Compare prices of Android flagships to last years model iPhone. And
Compare functionality of $50-100 Android with latest iPhone...
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iphone was released to the public first, but copied many of the android features that had been in development and trials from 2 years earlier.
Please do tell us how you came here from that alternate reality.
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Not sure there's much point responding to an AC but what the hell.
re: screenshots
I don't think you're correct about 2.2.. maybe some maker or another skinned it in but by and large this feature wasn't built into Android until 4.0. In either case it was on iOS first.
re: notifications
I didn't say notifications were on iOS first. I said that having notifications on your lock screen were.
re: iOS 1 and 2
Android before iOS emerged bore about as much resemblance to Android 1.0 (nevermind a modern version) as my
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Yes, yes I do. And the vast majority of Android devices still have one. There are some that have moved it on screen, but they're not the norm as of yet. Even so though, they're still vastly superior to the Apple version because the back button is guaranteed to actually exist in all apps, in the same place, and works in a consistent way. On Apple devices it's missing from many apps, in the apps that do have one it is in a different location depending on the app, or depending on what screen you're on within t
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On Apple devices it's missing from many apps, in the apps that do have one it is in a different location depending on the app, or depending on what screen you're on within the app, and if it exists at all, it may take you back one level, or exit the app, or do something entirely different, you never know until you click it.
It's becoming obvious that you haven't used an iPhone.
None of this is true.
The back button on iOS is very well defined, always in the same place when it's active, and it (quite explicitl
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No contradiction at all. Here's what you said in your post:
1) it's missing from many apps.
No it's not. It's only valid in certain apps.. but that doesn't mean it's missing any more than a google map is missing from my chess game
2) in the apps that do have one it is in a different location depending on the app
No it's not. It's always in precisely the same place
3) or depending on what screen you're on within the app
Still no. Always in the same place
4) and if it exists at all, it may take you back one leve
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As for android's back button.. here are the things it can do:
http://developer.android.com/design/patterns/navigation.html [android.com]
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Looks like you never used any Android device before...
There is a clear priority on all these "back" behaviours... and it's very consistent...
What you're saying can be compared to someone complaining that "ESC" key may close a dialog box, may cancel some edition in a form, ... in a desktop app.
Basically, if the keyboard is "on", back will make it disappear. Then, if you've a modal dialog open, it'll close it... Then, if you've some menu open, it'll close it, then it'll be closing non-modals and at last,
Re: Having used Android, iOS and Windows Phone... (Score:2)
I don't think he even knows what "consistent" means. The android back button has been a laughingly inconsistent mess from the beginning.
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Wait until you use a phone with a rear-mounted fingerprint reader, like my Nexus 5x.
Re: Having used Android, iOS and Windows Phone... (Score:2)
If you're typing a password then you get the stock keyboard. No way to change that at this point. Much safer that way anyways. Third party keyboard makers generally want access to the network before they will work. Who knows what they're recording.
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I have an iOS device and an Android device sitting right in front of me for most of the day and from what I see iOS "back" buttons are optional for the developer and do not consistently perform the same function. Furthermore, the back buttons on iOS are not tied to the system (Android back button sends an interrupt) and are generally less responsive.
That said, of the two devices the one I put in my pocket when I leave my desk is the Android. It's not perfect, but it's way less hassle and much more usable fo
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And speech to text by default too...
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I think iOS is the worst in terms of UI: No back button
There is a back button? Not a physical one but a back button nonetheless.
Closing an app takes you back to the "folder" it is in instead of the main screen
This never really bothered me (I never noticed) but it could be useful if you clicked on the wrong app icon, so you could just jump right back into the folder and enter the correct app.
the keyboard just sucks
Personal opinion. I've used android and I absolutely hate the keyboards that come on them. Most of the android keyboards I've used have a slow touch response (more of a phone thing than keyboard) and badly spaced/sized keys.
no text message to speech
Siri and accessibility setting
Re: Having used Android, iOS and Windows Phone... (Score:3)
It's also not consistent. In some apps it's a button in the top left corner, in others there's a close button in the top right corner or somewhere else, in some apps you have to pinch to close, in some you have to tap outside the window overlay,...
It's totally ridiculous, and it's the one thing that drives me bonkers on my iPad.
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Android has always had a more consistent UI than iOS, since day 1, it's been one of the strengths of the platform. By making absolutely critical items like the back and menu buttons in to physical keys they avoided the horrendous mess that is iOS
Re:Having used Android, iOS and Windows Phone... (Score:5, Funny)
no text message to speech and speech to text, .
They call that a phone call dumb ass!
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The bad grammar in your first line indicates the quality of your argument and invalidates lines 2 and 3.
If English is not your first language, my apologies as your English is better than my French, Farsi or Swahili.
Cyanogenmod (Score:2)
Re: Cyanogenmod (Score:3, Insightful)
...that is Android.
Maemo 5 (Score:5, Interesting)
Just another name for customized Debian... Nokia N900 still rocks to this day.
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Another Maemo 5 user here. My last Community SSU update was several months ago. I bought my N900 new in 2009 and, though it clearly shows that it has been well used, it is still going strong. Damn I'm going to miss this thing when it finally bites the dust.
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If only it hadn't been crippled with 256MB of DRAM. Easily the most frustrating part was the system locking up in the browser as you brought it out of sleep and it started paging like mad to the eMMC.
Dear poll gods (or Whipslash): (Score:2)
I like polls! I especially like the discussion. I don't like boring polls. They don't inspire good discussion.
Polls that I would like to see include stuff like:
What do you do at home to protect your data? Any specific companies or services you recommend? If you use a combo, explain what you use and why.
1. Cloud backup
2. RAID
3. Local backup
4. Snapshots (either machine or user data)
5. None: I trust my wife not to get cryptolocker
6. Cowboy neal [will save us all]
What are you working on learning right now? Tell
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Maybe replace it with a "Copy everything to NAS" option (which kinda implies the use of a RAID), or something?
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To suggest polls you just write 'em up like regular entries and submit them and maybe they take 'em and maybe they don't. I do not recollect ever seeing (it still may have happened) someone's poll get accepted. You'd probably have more luck with an Ask Slashdot. That's the same process.
Asbestos underwear time (Score:2)
Sailfish OS (Score:4, Informative)
Sailfish OS on Jolla, totally love it.
Re:Sailfish OS (Score:5, Interesting)
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Linux (Score:5, Interesting)
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I use linux and I have to say I can't see a lot I'm missing on Android except it's not set up like any other distro and the thing I do miss is constant updates. I suppose there is no reason that Android can't do this except for the fucking carriers that rule the system. The only way to update an Android phone after a year or two is to buy a new one.
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I did say year or two didn't I? This from google's support site.
Android updates
Nexus 5X, Nexus 6P, Nexus 6, Nexus 5, Nexus 4, Nexus 7, Nexus 9, and Nexus 10 devices get the latest version of Android directly from Google. These devices will receive Android version updates for at least two years from when the device first became available on the Google Store.
Although it also says security updates will continue for three years which is not terrible. That's the Nexus which apparently is the best option for an
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> What can't android do that linux can?
Android is Google, and Google = spying.
That's the main reason. But another reason is unlocking phones to root them in Android is hard or impossible for many devices.
Tizen but not Sailfish?! (Score:2, Interesting)
Weird how Tizen is included but not Sailfish. Is there even a single Tizen powered phone?
Priced out of Dumb Phones (Score:2)
Late last year, my dumb phone's USB (charging) port crapped out. I took it to the Sprint store and was told, it would cost $75 to replace the phone and that, in replacing my phone, I would have to buy into one of the new plans. I was using a grandfathered plan which had limited minutes and
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My brother is basically in the same boat as you, except that he was able to keep his old "dumb phone" plan even though he had to upgrade to a smartphone last year. Like you, he doesn't have a data plan.
Me, I'm pretty much the opposite. I don't use the phone enough to have wanted a cell phone at all. My very first cell phone was a smart phone. And I went with extremely limited minutes and texts, but unlimited data.
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Late last year, my dumb phone's USB (charging) port crapped out. I took it to the Sprint store and was told, it would cost $75 to replace the phone and that, in replacing my phone, I would have to buy into one of the new plans.
I assume that's because by going to the network for a new handset you were basically getting an "upgrade" - new phone on new contract. Why not just buy a suitable dumb phone on eBay for pretty much the price of postage and use that on your existing contract? Do American carriers do something odd like lock you down to using a specific device by IMEI number or something?
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When my dumb phone dies, I go to (big box store), I grab a pay as you go phone for $negligable, then I switch SIM cards. It hasn't been a problem at all.
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I was just gonna say that - in one of the local big box stores I saw a bunch of dumb phones dumped in a huge basket for under like $15/piece. So if you really want one you can get it for cheaper than a McDonald's meal.
But if you're like me, you probably have a stockpile of your previous dumb phones as well - I still have a Motorola V50 flip phone stashed somewhere in the basement, for example, so at most I'd need a new battery to get it working again.
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Years ago when I finally went away from my phone/PDA, this was before large tablets were mainstream so I had an basic phone/n810 at the time, setup I found what you described to be the case. Market was a bit different of course and so I went with an entry level Blackberry.
Time went on and as that Blackberry got older, along with the whole platform being crushed by Android/iOS, I wanted to upgrade. I went to my carrier and at 1st was going to again go with a Blackberry but was told that to upgrade to a new
That's not "smartphone", it's "annoyaphone" (Score:2)
I realized that as I was on the Metro a few months ago. About 15 or 20 people trying to get in the door before it got shut in their face, and some moron was staring at his annoyaphone, moving slowly, blocking everyone behind him, and he didn't look up until he was in, and moved around.
Go sit down and plug into the damn thing. DO NOT EVER GET BEHIND A WHEEL, or walk, or have a life, turkeys. That way, you can text the person across the table from you, since you're *deathly* afraid to, y'know, TALK to someone
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What's the rush dude? Slow down, smell the roses, sample life a little and chill. Don't let the drones bother you, they're quiet at least.
Not in the list (Score:2)
I voted 'Other' because my two smartphones run MeGo on Nokia N9 and Ubuntu on BQ.
So, you can imagine I am not craving for Apps :-)
I did get a few Apps for the N9 while they were still made for it, but that was long ago.
It is a pity, because the MeGo system is still my favorite, when I see Android and iOS of various versions.
Gingerbread (Score:2)
I bought a Samsung Galaxy something-or-other from the phone store several years ago when my old phone's battery crapped out. I've since put a new battery in the phone, and plan to replace the whole phone in the not-too-distant future.
I use my phone as a phone (!) and for some texting. For mobile applications like flight planning I use an iPad with ForeFlight [foreflight.com]. It works fine.
...laura
Demon worshipping hellspawn... (Score:2)
CowboyNeal (Score:2)
No CowboynealOS option? I am not impressed.
Symbian on a Nokia E6 ... (Score:2)
I recently bought a Lumia 550 to replace it, but after finding out that there is no easy way to sync contacts with a PC that doesn't involve a detour through the MS cloud, I'm reconsidering the switch. I mean, here's a PC, here's cellphone, there's a USB cable between the two ... why in the world does a data transfer have to go over the internet? Are there any good sites on working with W
Missing option (Score:2)
CowboyNeal makes all my calls for me.
Fellow Blackberry users (Score:2)
Slodroid (Score:2)
Compare that to my landline -- pick up handset and its ready. No boot. no shutdown. no 700 msec latency on calls.
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Yeah, it looked strange without it saying that. I must say, it should have been, "I don't have a smart phone, you insensitive clod!" We've got standards and routines around here and any disruption makes the patients act like they're on edge.
That said, I have (and like) a Windows 8 phone. I'm told I can put 10 on it but I've not done so. I've not even looked into doing so. It's the only Windows device I own. I was sick of the Android security issues. I didn't want the Apple ecosystem lock-in. So, I went with
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That said, I have (and like) a Windows 8 phone. ...But, full discloser, I don't do a whole lot except browse, text, email, and make phone calls.
I have w10 on my phone (lumia 950) and I was really disappointed with the keyboard and it's lack of options. I don't know what it's like on w8 but there's no option to have a numbers row on top, no symbols on long press, it doesn't even seem to have a vibe on input option and the swipe is very tetchy. Most annoyingly for me, the quick punctuation doesn't have a ' in it but it has a -. Who's genius idea was that? I think androids is vastly better, maybe even iOS' but I have't used that in ages.
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I really do like my Windows phone. I'm a light user like you, and the best part about my phone is that it doesn't drain down the battery when you don't use the phone. Some days it will still be at 90% by the end of the day. My Android phone used to drop down to 50% by the end of the day even if it just sat on my desk all day. It has all the apps to do all the things that I need a smart phone to do. The phone is stable, fast, inexpensive, and has a long lasting battery. What more could I really want from a
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Windows 10 has a built in flashlight that you can access from the notification area, so there's no need to even have a flashlight app anymore.
I believe this feature arrived (in quick settings) for Android with Lollipop. You can also command the flashlight on and off via voice command (Google Now), but personally I find that rather odd.
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I don't get the paranoia. I have to admit, if I was a drug dealer I wouldn't have a smart phone but given that I don't do anything that would even remotely cause problems with the authorities I can't see any reason not to have a smartphone. If I did have to do something questionable it's ridiculously easy to leave the device at the house.
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I read recently that the NSA and other criminal organisations are now pulling down so much information that they are unable to cope. My having a smartphone is helping to add to this. The more of us that are tracked by spooks, the harder it is for them
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I don't ever use my phone for financial transactions. That said, I've never had a problem and I use my phone a lot for surfing the web. I don't surf pr0n though so maybe that's why I've stayed uninfected.
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Secure from who? Pretty much every government in the world has the keys to blackberry, in addition to all the same risks of installing the wrong apps etc. I have not seen anything to indicate that all those governments also have the keys to everything on Android phones.
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And yet your comment does nothing to refute anything I said, or add any other suggestions. So helpful...
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It doesn't matter if they have the finesse to lock down their phone or not. If they do, great, the Android will be more secure than any of the competition. If they don't, then oh well, it will still be just as secure as the competition.
At no point will the android be less secure than the others.
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And iOS just works better and integrates better with my laptop and iPad...
And my Android phone integrates excellently with my tablets, old (spare) phone and any PC I sit down to whether it is home, work, friends or a Raspberry Pi that I am playing with. I suspect that Microsoft's stuff functions properly too.
You are hard pushed to find a phone OS that doesn't "just work". Apples offering just happens to be more expensive, less intuitive and uglier than the rest.
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If you haven't got root on your phone, you should sure be suspicious of who does...
It may be more "secure" if the user doesn't have root, but that doesn't mean it's less likely that others are reading your texts and emails, if anything it's more likely they have access to your phone if you don't.
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If you haven't got root on your phone, you should sure be suspicious of who does...
You should be suspicious of who does, even if you do have root. In other words, don't think you're the only one with root.
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My reply was in response to someone who basically said that having root on your phone somehow makes it less secure. Which is not true in any way.
Keeping the user from fully controlling their phone, does not stop malicious apps, hackers, and government agencies (from who knows how many different governments) from getting in.
People need to stop conflating these 2 ideas. locked down devices are not about protecting the end user. As an end user your priority should be to defeat these locks and gain control of y
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Keeping them away from root does not increase their security at all. They can still install compromised apps from the official store, on some devices like blackberry many governments still have the keys, and remote hackers are equally likely to get access with our without the user having it.
Root does not change the security of the device at all. It only allows the real owner to increase the security themselves if they know how.
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I have a very dumb phone. As I sometimes have to enter military bases as part of my job and the security guys don't want cameras in the base, I managed (it took some searching!) to find a phone without a camera.
The phone makes and receives phone calls, sends and gets text messages, includes a (simple) calculator and pretty much nothing else.
It is tiny, fits in my pants pocket easily and has a battery life of about a fortnight.
When I want smartphone services I use a tablet.
Sounds like what you need is a nokia 3310. Plus it has snake and can probably double as a tank shell if needed.
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Those are cool, but I wish they'd take a page from the Motorola Fone [wikipedia.org] and use an E-ink display instead of LED. (Also, I'd still want such a thing to have 4G and Wi-fi for tethering, but that's just me.)
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You forgot the Cowboy Neal option: "I run Emacs on my Newton, you insensitive clod!"
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