Technology

I am sorry, but altstore is trash. iOS needs more options.

There is nothing wrong with liking what you like, it is just not fair to try and tout something as superior when they are not really comparable. Android and iOS are phones and that is where the similarities end. Using an android phone is more akin to using a portable computer (especially if you are a power user) while iOS is a simpler experience for those who don't need all of the features you would get on android. They both do what they do really well, some of the things they do are better than the other, but neither is TRULY better than the other.

For instance, three of the biggest things for me when it comes to android is:

1. Alternative ROMs

2. Filesharing

3. Modularity

On android, I use GrapheneOS (custom ROM) which has a level of security I absolutely need in my day to day life if I am going to be carrying around a networked computer on my person at all times. I sync certain files and folders in realtime with my Linux machines using syncthing, and I install most of my apps from fdroid, one for privacy and security reasons, but also because I love free and open source software.

iOS can achieve things similarly, but what I don't like is that they want you to use it within their ecosystem. For instance, file sharing on iOS to your computer is easy on MacOS, a PITA on windows, and damn near impossible on Linux unless you either use a VM or you are just accessing your pictures.

I guess that's the biggest thing about iOS to me is that apple wants you to be in their walled garden and ONLY in their walled garden. MacOS is not a great choice for the work that I do and as such, I stay away from having iOS as a daily driver.

That being said, I have a friend who is an apple freak to say the least. He has a workflow that integrates perfectly with his apple devices. His m1 macbook air, his m1 Mac mini, his iPhone, his apple watch, his homepod, etc etc. He doesn't have a technical workflow and doesn't do anything seriously complicated or application specific, and he loves it. One joke he commonly makes is that "nothing integrates as well as apple" when it just isn't the case.

I can't comment much off personal experience when it comes to the airtag system equivalent on android, but believe it or not it is actually a thing and it isn't bad. It actually works similarly to the apple system but the only thing is, there are less android users in the US. I personally stray away from that because I do not like location services at all and go out of my way to NOT use them.