cloudless

After spending over a decade with various Android phones, I finally made the switch to an iPhone. Here’s why I made the switch and what I’ve discovered since.

The Struggles with Samsung/Android

1. Slow Shutter on Samsung Flagships: One of my biggest gripes with Samsung’s flagship phones has been the slow shutter and shutter lag. Trying to capture a moving subjects often resulted in blurry photos or missed shots entirely. This has been an issue with Samsung phones for many years.

2. Google’s Service Abandonment: Google has a notorious history of abandoning services. The most recent one being the Podcasts app. The podcast experience on YouTube Music is just terrible.

3. Hardware Design: The Samsung S24 Ultra has sharp corners that make it uncomfortable to hold. The Pixel 8 phones have issues with connectivity and overheating. The S24+ comes with an inferior Exynos processor.

4. Performance: No matter how fast the hardware is, Android phones always seem to slow down and stutter after a few months of use. It’s like they age in dog years. (My most recent Samsung phone was the S23+, and it already started lagging).

5. Apps: Android apps have an inconsistent look and feel. It’s like a patchwork quilt made by someone who doesn’t know how to sew. Also, a lot of Android apps require excessive permissions.

6. Disaster: A Samsung update once made my phone unbootable. I had to do a full reset and lost some data. People said I should have made a backup before the update, but Android doesn't provide an easy way to completely backup the phone. That was the last straw.

The iPhone Revelation

1. Shortcuts: The Shortcuts app on iPhone is a game-changer. It automates tasks in ways I never thought possible.

2. Face ID: Face ID on the iPhone is leagues ahead of Samsung’s version and even better than Touch ID. It’s fast, reliable, and just works. With the amount of unlocks I need everyday, this turns out to be more impactful than I expected.

3. Files App: The Files app is actually useful, and it has built-in support for Windows file shares.

4. Look & Feel: Everything on iOS feels smoother and more premium. The animations, the UI design – it’s all just so polished.

5. Audio: It’s much easier to select audio output in-app when connected to multiple Bluetooth devices and AirPlay.

6. Driving: CarPlay is a joy to use compared to Android Auto. Plus, Apple Maps has better voice directions.

7. Emulators: Emulators are now possible to use on iPhone without jailbreaking.

Switching to iPhone has been a breath of fresh air. While Android gave me more freedom and customizations. The consistency, reliability, and overall experience of iOS have won me over.

What was your experience switching to/from "the dark side"?

Proton Drive

End-to-end encryption ensures that no one, not even us, can access your files. Files, file names, and folder names and more, are all fully encrypted at rest and in transit to your secure cloud.

Proton is based in Switzerland, which means your files are protected by some of the strictest privacy laws in the world. Proton Drive is a neutral and stable digital vault for your files.

Proton Drive is open source, so anyone can verify that our encrypted cloud storage works as described. Proton Drive is also routinely audited for privacy and security by independent third-party experts.

Sync

All Sync plans include strong encryption which helps protect your data from unauthorized access in the cloud.

Sync doesn't collect, sell or share your personal data or app usage information to advertisers or third-parties, and we do not claim ownership of your data.

Sync is safe to use, no matter where your business operates, with USA, EU / UK GDPR, and Canadian compliance built-in, including data residency.

Nextcloud

If you are interested in hosting your own file storage, you can consider Nextcloud (open source)

Nextcloud Files is a cloud storage and file sharing software that provides easy access to sharing and collaboration from anywhere, anytime. All that without any data leaks to third parties and with full control over the data.

Switch to Linux if you can. But if you are stuck with Windows for whatever reason, you can install Windows 11 and use a local account, by creating a Windows installation media using Rufus. You can also bypass the requirements for TPM 2.0, and skip privacy questions.

If you already have Windows 11 installed, you can switch from online account to local account:

1. Go to the Settings app,
2. Proceed to Accounts > Your info,
3. And select "Sign in with a local account instead".

Amazon (AMZN.O) is planning a major revamp of its decade-old money-losing Alexa service to include a conversational generative AI with two tiers of service and has considered a monthly fee of around $5 to access the superior version, according to people with direct knowledge of the company's plans.

In addition to the solutions mentioned in the linked post, my personal suggestions:

FOSS alternatives to Adobe Lightroom:

darktable - darktable is an open source photography workflow application and raw developer. A virtual lighttable and darkroom for photographers. It manages your digital negatives in a database, lets you view them through a zoomable lighttable and enables you to develop raw images and enhance them.

RawTherapee - RawTherapee is a powerful, cross-platform raw photo processing system, released as Free Software (GPLv3). It is designed for developing raw files from a broad range of digital cameras and targeted at users ranging from enthusiast newcomers who wish to broaden their understanding of how digital imaging works to professional photographers.

Not FOSS but a free image editing application that is easy to use (Windows only):

Paint.NET - Paint.NET is image and photo editing software for PCs that run Windows. It features an intuitive and innovative user interface with support for layers, unlimited undo, special effects, and a wide variety of useful and powerful tools.