I was an iOS supporter until iphone 5 then I discovered the beauty and freedom of Android.
To this day with Samsung s22+
But currently I am a bit tired, there is no android phone that I am passionate about, oneplus has given me nothing but problems, Samsung with exynos is a disaster (not to mention the new blockages at sideload and the green stripes on the display), I don’t even want to go near all the other Chinese brands, and Nothing is not what it promised to be.
I want to go back to iOS but there are a few things holding me back:
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how can sideload be managed on iOS? Are there modified apps like youtube, reddit?
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I follow a lot of NSFW channels on telegram, discord and reddit itself, are there any problems on iOS? are there ways around this? (my girlfriend has iOS, and every time I want to forward an nsfw gif she doesn’t see it)
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surf the sea, is it complex on ios? Especially in terms of gaming?
TBH only yt, nsfw and modded apk keep me on android. Thanks a lot in advance
Get a Pixel, install GrapheneOS and you’re done.
can’t wait for my s22u to die so i can do that
You can wait for a cat to fall into a garbage can or you can push a cat into a garbage can and get it over with.
i would never do that to a cat and i don’t have money for a new one
Given how expensive phones are in terms of environmental cost you really shouldn’t be buying new phones unless your current one’s broken to the point of unusable.
You, my good person, have quite a way with words.
I would have gotten a pixel years ago
No expandable storage
Pixel Phone with GrapheneOS is simply the best solution available right now.
And remember kids. Buy your pixel second hand
Just be careful. OEM lock can fuck you over big time
word.
Am writing this on one in my second VPN only user profile. It’s like having two phones
Fairphone 4 with eOS, escaping Google and Apple’s duopoly is quite liberating and not as hard as I thought it would be. Yeah, eOS is technically Android, but deGoogled.
my girlfriend has iOS, and every time I want to forward an nsfw gif she doesn’t see it
Say what? There’s no content censoring that I’m aware of. I’ve had no issues looking at all kinds of NSFW/NSFL content.
Regardless, you’re likely not going to enjoy the lack of modified apps and game piracy; I don’t do either of those. Maybe it’s possible but you’ve gotta jump through so many hoops IMO it wouldn’t be worth it.
Zero issues with NSFW though, that’s bizarre to me. There’s screen time web content filtering but I believe that only affects safari.
My partner can’t view webp/webm content on ios either. It’s a real pain once in a while.
I can tell you that there are channel marked as NSFW that share video and gif and if I send it to my gf, on her phone (even with nsfw enabled) she get the message “this channel is used to share pornographic material” while on android I can see everything.
Apple did something a while back to limit nsfw stuff on iOS. There was a setting in discord that you had to change to see nsfw stuff and some communities you had to join it from the desktop before you could view it on the phone.
I’m remembering more now, Apple had a policy that was like we might block your app if it’s for nsfw. So some apps got worried and limited nsfw stuff on iOS.
What do you mean by channel, like on Telegram?
This is a region specific Telegram setting if so, it’s not iOS. Tell her to disable the adult content filter.
iOS is way too locked down. Granted, it depends on what you do and what you need, but since you’re asking in this community yeah… not the best choice.
Honestly just get a Android phone that’s just pure Android OS and nothing else, you don’t have to deal with the added junk that Samsung or whoever want to add on top of the OS. e.g. Google Pixel is quite excellent for this. And even still, if you end up wanting a different OS try installing GrapheneOS & see how it goes.
I really want to jump on Pixel, because, again I hate how iOS is locked for everything. but I hate in the same way that G2 seems to overheat. I didn’t know grapheneOS this is interesting…
I’ve been using two different (refurbished) Pixel phones with CalyxOS for over 3 years now. It is a really great experience :) And the photos the phones can take are great, too!
*cries in s23 ultra
Samsung is garbage IMO, and OnePlus has been getting worse for years. Pixels offer the smoothest experience. Nothing phones are really nice too.
Wdym about the gifs? there should be nothing stopping you from sending those on any device.
Sideloading is possible, but there’s more hoops to jump through than on Android. Plus an overall smaller amount of apps available to sideload.
Piracy depends on what you’re pirating. TV/Movie wise you’ll be fine, as well as ROMs for the few emulators iOS has (relative to android). I doubt you’ll have any luck with apps or mobile games.
Wdym about the gifs? there should be nothing stopping you from sending those on any device.
I forward gif from channel that maybe are marked as NSFW, I know that also some content creator makes 2 channel on telegram because if they are marked as NSFW are not shown on ios anymore.
Pixel are really expensive and I read that the 7 pro gets really hot, and I don’t like it, while the 8 it’s a bit small after the s22+
Dude, Pixels of any generation compared to iPhone are actually cheap. iPhone are the most expensive overrated phones ever made.
Like the other guy said, used/refurbished pixels are pretty good deals. The overheating is a bit overblown, yes some people get a bad device but you can just return it if it’s really bad. My experience with the pixel 7/ 7 pro is that it’s very smooth and don’t notice any overheating even in hot climate, and Android 14 and also the upcoming 15 updates helps with heat and battery significantly.
I’m really afraid of this, I’ve seen a video of a pixel 7 pro that stop a videocall on telegram for the overheating issue. I just can stand this, because I sometimes travel and I want to take picture and long long videos…
There are mountains of complaints in the googlepixel sub about the terrible tensor chip. Not sure why so many here are ignoring the inefficiency and overheating. The modem is also really bad
Pixels second hand are decently cheap from my experience
As I said to someone, pixel 7 is affordable for me, but I’m afraid of the overheat, the G2 seems really terrible soc
Some sideload services offer paid games for free
First I would say best Android right now, is a pixel with custom ROM installed.
Sidload: there exists modified apps for iPhone. To install them you have 3 options (if not in EU) you can sideload using your personal free apple dev account, there you are limited to 3 different apps and you have to reinstall them every 7 days to keep them working, if you pay apple 100$ a year, you can upgrade to a “real” apple dev account without the limitations. Easiest way to self sign apps using above methods would be AltStore application. The third way is Sideloading using a service, that uses enterprise certificates to distribute such apps, those services are either expensive (e.g. BuildStore) or they inject ads into the apps you sideload (sorry, you have to “google” yourself).
I had no issues with NSFW on Reddit, Lemmy and discord yet, 🤔 for discord I don’t know if it changed since I used it. NSFW on telegram is blocked in the iOS app, but the webApp of telegram can be added to the homescreen and then it feels like an App
I use the sea via the self hosted arrr apps and have added the webUI of each to my homescreen, alternatively you can control your arrr apps using LunaSea app. For streaming, I use plex and jellyfin which both work great on iOS
For youtube, there were some modded apps, but I just went with premium via India, because that was more convenient.
I block ads on my phone by routing my internet through my server running adGuard and on device I use 1blocker as backup (since i payed for lifetime long time ago)
Xiaomi. Or poco, redmi… Same stuff. For 200 bucks you get awesome phones and you can usually always remove stock and install LineageOS. They are all freely uockable and still under warranty after that.
Get a model near its end of market life, buy new the oldest you can find… Unlock, install LineageOS, enjoy.
I bought my Poco X3 NFC for 160€ 4 years ago and still rocks today with LineageOS 21 (Android 14).
(It usually take 6 months to 1 year for each new model to get LineageOS support, so don’t buy the latest model Also worth looking if there is official support on LineageOS before buy, or at least some unofficial ports).
Get a model near its end of market life, buy new the oldest you can find
This is a very good advice for someone who is buying a new phone to install a custom ROM on it, since they are indepandant effort they need some time to hack things and find workarounds
Yes, I am a maintainer for a 4 years old device, and I would love to be able to buy it new today! New battery and all.
Asus Zenfone are nice as well
Can you unlock them easily and still have valid warranty as well? That would be a great point
Asus bootloader is locked. This brand is a dead man walking just like sony
It’s dead to me too then. Useless crap. Maybe the best hardware and software, but still closed crap.
I have recently gotten an iPad, because my carrier had a banger of a deal (30% off on the 2024 Air, 48 months payment no interest) and my Huawei tablet was getting long in the tooth, so I jumped.
I have owned Android since the first Galaxy (no number), tablets since the first 7" Galaxy Tab.
I have gone through a few tablets, 3-4 Samsung, Lenovo, Huawei, a couple of no names, and I got the iPad, because for tablet things is still the reference. Best experience hands down.
Would I get an iPhone? NO WAY.
The iPad is an occasional use device. I use it for media consumption, some social media (not much of a user) and for graphics stuff with the Affinity suite, which BTW is reason enough to get an iPad if you do design/photo. It’s the device for when the laptop is too cumbersome, or overkill. It’s great to take notes, scribble, sketch. It’s awesome to edit pics on the go, which I do a surprising lot.
But… Apple limits what I can do. Too much.
Would I accept the constraints of iOS in my main electronic device? No. I can live with the iPad’s constraints because I have a super capable phone (a 4 year old Xiaomi which is truly fantastic), which I can tune as I wish, and because it’s use case is fairly well defined. I would not compromise with my phone. Simple things like changing the launcher, what goes on my lock screen like alternate number / emergency contact, or whatever clock I want, or the keyboard, or installing apps from wherever I want, or rooting and changing the ROM (not all phones) or not dealing with iCloud bullshit, or having proper Firefox with extensions, or torrenting, or any of the tweaks, modifications, or whatever that make my Android MINE.
Just search for “things that iphones can’t do”. You’ll have reading for an afternoon.
THIS ^
Thank you so much, I didn’t think about Firefox, I’m a firefox user on every system I have, and I rely a lot on extensions. And I have my little server with sonarr, radarr, jellyfin and syncthing that is not so much, but it works and I had fun making it, I don’t want to lose the joy of do what I want with my phone.
Have you looked at Sony phones? I recently switched to the Pixel Fold from a 1 Mark IV. Sony phones are some of the best IMO.
Sony excels at product, sucks at marketing. Their phones are truly fantastic.
How? Even though sony makes camera lenses, their smartphone cameras are terrible compared to the competition and their own standalone cameras
OMG I was a Sony user long time ago, Xperia X was so so beautiful!
read the megathread. rentry.co/megathread
Mobilism is a source for pirated ios apps, but it’s quite limited. I agree with the people mentioning pihole, but if you have to block ads on-device change the dns settings and/or use brave browser, which has the most adblock capabilities on iOS. Altstore is an alternative appstore (AltStore PAL in europe costs 1,50 a year in europe iirc) which has alot of cool apps and allows sideloading of ipa files on-device. I generally do recommend a pixel with grapheneOS, though I haven’t tried it myself yet.
Edit: Forgot to mention some of the downsides of AltStore, which includes needing to refresh the app once a week wirelessly or wired via a computer running Altserver
Funny, I followed the same exact course. IPhone 2-5 then switched to Samsung after 5. I feel like they had a strong edge at that time and it was getting to be more and more of a PITA to jailbreak the iphones then. Pixel w graphene sounds intriguing but I can’t imagine it’s without headaches. If you are already sideloading things frequently though you might be the type to not mind some of the extra steps graphene will demand. I wouldn’t blame anyone for going with Apple right now - I don’t think the Android benefits are as strong as they used to be. At the same time, I don’t see any attractive reason to switch since for me it would mean more cost and dealing with the frustrations of an ecosystem switch without any clear reward in return.
good answer thank you, the problem is that if I have to sideload every week it could be an issue for me. My concern is about youtube, because I watch so much vanced, reddit (that I still read but I’m writing here when I can), and the freedom to see nsfw. I love to try games and on the high seas I can find a lot of apk but I don’t know if its the same on iOS.
The telegram thing is caused by telegram itself
Login with a pc and disable safety filters for your account and you’ll be fine
iirc the play store version of telegram is the same as the App Store version, but on android maybe you downloaded it directly from the telegram website (?)
Anyway, safety filter can be disabled
Wait WHAT BLOCKS ON SIDELOADING for Samsung?? I’m not in the loop
Normally it’s blocked by default which is pretty easy to get around (It’s just a setting toggle) but apparently Samsung added a second “safety” autoblocker to a recent update. (Which can also be turned off, so I’m not sure what all the fuss is about, aside from being a mild inconvenience.) https://www.androidauthority.com/enable-sideloading-one-ui-6-1-1-3463446/
Interesting. I don’t like this at all. Remember AT&T tried this with locked phones (or something like that I believe) where unknown sources was completely gone?
Ya it’s not a good look of things to come, but so far it’s not a huge issue (yet).
Ya it’s not a good look of things to come, but so far it’s not a huge issue (yet).
Not a huge deal now, but…I don’t like this move…I don’t like it AT ALL…
Sideloading is quite bad. If you’re in the EU, I know you can use AltStore PAL, which costs money (~€1.50 a year), but all you’ll be getting is emulators, virtual machines, clipboard managers, and torrent clients.
There is another method for sideloading that works anywhere and lets you download modified apps, but it is very limited, tedious, and probably insecure. I’ve done it, it’s not worth it. Better to stay on android or use a browser with adblock or something.
I don’t think iOS has any specific limits to do with NSFW stuff, I’ve never heard of anything anyways.
Pirating games is probably not going to be worth it either since you have to sideload apps with the second method.
Other types of piracy are probably fine. If you have AltStore PAL you can get a torrent client and an emulator.
