I use a custom privacy focused rom, which I cant do on iOS.

I didn't see anyone mention photos. Maybe an unpopular opinion, but I don't like the processing on iPhone pictures. They all look a bit soft.

They may win in video, I don't care about that enough for it to matter. Android cameras get way better development, partnerships, and processing, IMO.

I run stock Android on a Pixel device. I use android because I disagree with the walled garden approach. I should be able to share a photo album or message with anyone I want and I should be able to load software from wherever I want.

At this point there are very few meaningful differences. They are both capable and there are plenty of good phones to choose from. I'm just used to Android.

I like android phones because they're cheap. if I damage it, no big deal.

Sideloading of apps, Pixel features and having an always accessible back button/gesture

When I was younger I couldn't afford iPhone prices.

Nowadays, Safari is such a pile of trash that ruins my job day to day that by god, I refuse to give the company that made it money

@Cameri I came to Android to use rif for reddit. It's gone now and now i'm using the mastodon app chatting with everyone on lemmy.world and other instances. I have a main account on lemmy.world but i just use it to moderate my sub check my notifications and that's about it. I really like my S23 though

I use Windows, Linux and MacOS daily, and want a phone where the connectivity features don't care what platform I'm on. iOS wants you to be on other Apple devices.

Beyond that, Android is more flexible. I don't do much fiddling with my phone's configuration but I like to have the option.

Lastly, I just like the interface better. That's subjective, and no I understand completely why iphone folks prefer that interface, but I like the stock android interface much better.

I actually use iOS but I’ve had phones on both sides of the aisle several times in the last 15 years. I work in cybersec and android excels at that kind of thing. Infinitely more power to access systems, use terminal, pull up ip based webpages, and a far more comprehensive app suite to do so. Personally, I’ve just found iOS more stable in my day to day but I have an android tablet for best of both worlds.

The customization, just being able to place icons anywhere on a screen without having to fill from top to bottom. Seems so simple and yet you just don't have the option on Apple. Just an example, but its that over and over again

Back then, I found out that Android is more cutomizable than Apple, as well as cheaper. Not only that, I felt like Apple was restrictive at times. Also I can change my batteries which is significantly cheaper than buying a new phone every time.

@Cameri what has been said.

Plus the price. Really.

My current phone costed me less than 200$ and I got it from a seller that likes to inflate the prices.

It's got everything I need:

• Stock Android
• 128 GB of storage
• 4 GB of RAM
• A headphone jack
• Triple camera (which does suck at times tho, but I do have a DSLR as well whenever I need something better. And no, the phone camera doesn't suck at night tho).

For me, it's a few things:

1. I've never been particularly fond of the ux and closed garden nature of iOS. The irony of course is that my primary laptop is a macbook, and my workstation OS is Windows and Linux.
2. I'm pretty specifically fond of the experience I get with Google's pixel line, in that I can remove pretty much all the crap wear that I can't get rid of on things like Samsung phones, they are fairly sturdy and performant, and I just like how stuff works.

For me it's mostly the freedom and potential for customization and personalization. I like being able to install almost any app I want, being able to use 3rd party hardware like cables, bluetooth devices, etc. Not saying you can't do any of that on Apple devices but it just doesn't feel as free. I also don't feel like I'm rewarding the questionable choices Apple does with their devices, like making it difficult to repair yourself. Their phones don't feel like they're truly mine.

Tbh because it was cheap when I was younger, and now I don't really see a need to switch to iPhone (and have thus never used one). I like the photography on Pixel and also the UI better than iOS.

I bought my first Android smartphone in 2008. In terms of computer ecosystems that I was interacting with leading up to that, I was using Windows, Mac OS, and Linux for various applications, so I don't think there was any tribalism in my decision to go Android. Rather, it was just that in testing Android and iOS through friends and at the telecom store I just could not wrap my head around iOS from a usability perspective. Android just felt really intuitive to me. I never have and probably never will be a mobile device power user, so flexibility in that regard wasn't a factor either. To this day, I've never had any serious software issue with Android devices, and they just do what I need them to do, in a format that I have gelled with from the get-go.

1. Ability to root
2. Ability to root
3. Ability to root

Gives me a lot of flexibility on customizing the look and feel, running apps / doing things that are otherwise prohibited - (e.g. using Android Auto in a banned country, keeping some bloatware apps / system processes from accessing internet, screen projection in AA), cleaner ways of ad blocking, more thorough control of the phone in general.

I've done Palm Treos and windowsCE phones and, blackberries, I went Motorola Droid when they first came out, try to short stint with an iPhone 4, went back to Android ever since.

What's blocking me from going back to iPhone? Honestly they're hardware is great. Long battery life reasonable charging. It's the setup of the phone itself It's the software. It hasn't changed significantly since iPhone 4.

I want a large clock widget on my front page I want weather for this week at the bottom I want weather for today hour by hour, below that I want five folders, stuff to use while driving, media stuff, chat stuff, camera stuff, productivity stuff. I didn't want to have multiple desktops, swiping off main will bring me to gaming stuff, then drone flying stuff, then audio stuff.

Android software options historically were cheaper and free options were better than the Apple free options I'm not really sure that's the case anymore.

I'd like to have the option for a round watch with a functional physical bezel, that has 24 hours of battery life.

I'd like not to be penalized for using a Windows PC with my phone and my watch. Even a little garbage like you can reset your Apple account on an Apple device right now, but if you will need to reset it from Windows you have to wait 3 days.

It wouldn't keep me from transferring but, I'd miss stuff like Samsung dex.