For similar reasons as to why I gave up blogging many years ago, I also gave up Android based phones. Basically I was fed up with the relentless increase in tracking me and gathering of my personal data. Google’s “Do No Evil” had turned very sour. At that time the only realistic alternative an Apple iPhone, so I took the plunge and changed.
I was aware that the Apple system was not not free of the same evils, but weighing up the pros and cons I decided that it was the least worse option. One thing I (sort of) liked was the better security of the Apple ‘walled garden’ approach to its app store. At the time Google was suffering from a huge amount of dodgy apps that seemed to be out of control. I also appreciated the greater control of the environment available to apps, for example iOS controlled the features to which the app had access rather than the other way around. I resented being locked in, but at the time the advantages outweighed the disadvantages.
After settling in to the new infrastructure, I was reasonably comfortable enough with the system such that I also invested in an iPad, and later and Apple Watch and some HomePod speakers. However, over the last few months I have become less enthusiastic about the Apple approach, having had problems with the HomePods connecting to the network, and trying to share documents and synchronise data with non-Apple devices. The Apple infrastructure has both these features so tightly tied down that any attempt to do something other than use the default Apple method is well-neigh impossible.
I have now reached the stage where I am feeling constrained and have had enough. I want a more open approach, but with both Apple and Android out of the frame I am struggling to find an alternative. Having investigated some of the many Linux based phone OSs being developed it seems none of them are currently in a state where they could be relied upon as an everyday mobile communications solution. I am fairly technically astute, but there seem to be many pitfalls with installation and keeping any of them functioning reliably on a day to day basis. Currently that prevents me from taking the plunge – but I hopefully that will soon change.