Why do some iPhone users forcefully also carry an Android phone?

I carry both all the time, been that way since 2013. One active device is in the pocket while the other is in the backpack. I swap them once in 6-8 months.

I work in the enterprise mobility domain. This highly competitive domain evolves very fast and staying on top of the latest development means investing in the best hardware (both iOS and Android).

Outside this, I prefer certain services which work best. Example: I love using Apple car play services over android auto or using Google Maps on Android devices. Am sure a lot of people keeping both may have similar thoughts, and have the best of what both offer.
 
I've heard this a couple of times. Why though? what are the reasons?

1. Earlier iPhones didn't have dual sim functionality. You can check most of the dual phone users are using old iPhones.
2. Photography public want to shoot with iPhones and SLRs but need microsd card support.
3. Earlier iPhones had poor battery backup. So many carried Android as backup.
4. People buy iPhones without realizing some of their apps have no alternatives on iOS. Until recently, there was no official option to transfer whatsapp chat between these platforms.
5. Showoff janta buy iPhones on multi year EMI plans. (like R15). They have no money left to pay for iTunes or a music subscription. So they keep their old android phones for media playback.

iPhones are probably outselling Android in big cities. I'm not surprised. iPhones better the android in almost every way (my net iPhone usage is very tiny). Android hasn't innovated in a last few years except for themes. Google has castrated itself. It's making android uglier and impractical day by day. The flux of people from Android to iPhones is increasing. And many of them get shocked by how much iOS is different from android. So some of them retain their old android phones for a little longer.
 
1. Earlier iPhones didn't have dual sim functionality. You can check most of the dual phone users are using old iPhones.
2. Photography public want to shoot with iPhones and SLRs but need microsd card support.
3. Earlier iPhones had poor battery backup. So many carried Android as backup.
4. People buy iPhones without realizing some of their apps have no alternatives on iOS. Until recently, there was no official option to transfer whatsapp chat between these platforms.
5. Showoff janta buy iPhones on multi year EMI plans. (like R15). They have no money left to pay for iTunes or a music subscription. So they keep their old android phones for media playback.

iPhones are probably outselling Android in big cities. I'm not surprised. iPhones better the android in almost every way (my net iPhone usage is very tiny). Android hasn't innovated in a last few years except for themes. Google has castrated itself. It's making android uglier and impractical day by day. The flux of people from Android to iPhones is increasing. And many of them get shocked by how much iOS is different from android. So some of them retain their old android phones for a little longer.
The last 2 years of flagship androids were bad, poor SoCs by Qualcomm fabbed at Samsung led to overheating, lower sustained performance & lower battery life (check something like S20FE 5G vs S21FE on GSMArena battery tests). So indirectly, Samsung helped Apple gain more audience in the flagship phone market.

SD 8 Gen 2 is finally competitive.

Just to add, another reason I have seen is that *ahem* content is easier to access in android.
 
to experience best of the both worlds
Android OS & iOS

both great OS in their own ways
This..
I have been using both concurrently almost since the first android phone launch.
I keep all work/banking/ personal stuff on iOS as in general, i find it more reliable and secure (subjective opinion, don’t flame me for this )
and use the android as a back up for any non standard/ ahem/keeda use case that I may have as i find it more flexible in that regard
 
This..
I have been using both concurrently almost since the first android phone launch.
I keep all work/banking/ personal stuff on iOS as in general, i find it more reliable and secure (subjective opinion, don’t flame me for this )
and use the android as a back up for any non standard/ ahem/keeda use case that I may have as i find it more flexible in that regard
yes similar case here..my main phone is iPhone and also use a Android for other purpose
 
for maps.
I never cared for iphone unless I have realized how smooth apps run on . I constantly need mapping apps like- OSM, Gaia etc and android phones get slow and sometimes feel cannot even handle it. I have seen my maps recording fail on android couple of times but apple never once.
The android i am using is med budget (25k) with plenty of storage left too so it is not because of using cheap android against iphone( even iphone i am comparing to is X) so both are equally in todays times but still apple performs exceptionally well .

however it is not like Apple does not have flaws I recently posted about how even after deleting hundreds of gbs I still cannot get storage back on iphone. God knows what backup it is downloading.

Both have the plus and minus.
android for ease of use and iphones for efficiency and smoothness.
 
My primary phone is an iPhone simply because of the better privacy options, app quality/design being much better, Face ID being less awkward when using biometrics zillion times a day and MagSafe accessories being quite convenient.

I use an Android tablet for entertainment because I can mess with it any way I can without worrying about personal stuff. My secondary phone is an Android because I can run multiple profiles/accounts on it to completely isolate work stuff.

It is definitely not by force, but choice. iOS had a government app problem but since Apple made it free for government apps a couple of years ago, there is no app gap that I face in daily use.
 
My primary phone is an iPhone simply because of the better privacy options, app quality/design being much better, Face ID being less awkward when using biometrics zillion times a day and MagSafe accessories being quite convenient.

I use an Android tablet for entertainment because I can mess with it any way I can without worrying about personal stuff. My secondary phone is an Android because I can run multiple profiles/accounts on it to completely isolate work stuff.

It is definitely not by force, but choice. iOS had a government app problem but since Apple made it free for government apps a couple of years ago, there is no app gap that I face in daily use.
LOL, If you think you have better privacy on iOS, then you should read these:

iPhone Privacy ‘Lies’ Exposed Again

Apple Tracks You More Than You Think
 
My primary phone is an iPhone simply because of the better privacy options, app quality/design being much better, Face ID being less awkward when using biometrics zillion times a day and MagSafe accessories being quite convenient.

I use an Android tablet for entertainment because I can mess with it any way I can without worrying about personal stuff. My secondary phone is an Android because I can run multiple profiles/accounts on it to completely isolate work stuff.

It is definitely not by force, but choice. iOS had a government app problem but since Apple made it free for government apps a couple of years ago, there is no app gap that I face in daily use.
I also used to belive it until one of the family member got an iPhone 13. One day we were just talking about homestays, and voila the next day their whole fb feed was full of homestay ads. They never even searched for homestays on internet.
 
Apple is better at marketing, hence people think it has better privacy than Google (don't forget the iCloud leaks). In the future, Apple might even start their own Google adsense like program, who knows.
LOL, If you think you have better privacy on iOS, then you should read these:

iPhone Privacy ‘Lies’ Exposed Again

Apple Tracks You More Than You Think
It is amazing that people pick up on this in isolation. Apple does collect analytics as does every other vendor and it is not a secret. As of now they are using it for ads on the App Store which I never open anyway.

FB admitted to losing $10 billion in targeted ad revenues and third-party data proliferation is what I am more worried about.

On Android, it is simply a wild wild west where each app can track far too much and the data can be aggregated and sold quite easily publicly. While iOS at least keeps getting patched for 6-7 years, most Android users don't even have the latest patches or features. The alternate is far worst.


Most people have nonsensical, simplistic views of the platforms and I don't subscribe to that. If you think people can't make their choices base on experience and need to base it on marketing, then that is your point of view.

Having used a lot of apps on both platforms, the difference in choices is stark. On iOS, the apps have to follow consistent design practices. The apps have to work with all permissions disabled. Also, there are paid apps available that don't indulge in shenanigans. On Android, some apps seem to still have prompts based on Ice Cream Sandwich. Few apps refuse to allow you to use them unless you provide certain permissions. The interfaces are cluttered to put as much content on your face as possible. Most won't offer paid apps because 80% users will never purchase anything on Android or sideload modded apps from shady sources.

I have made peace with my choice of platforms. I prefer using iOS as a daily driver and Android to mess around with. People can choose whatever they think works for them.
 
Last edited:
It is amazing that people pick up on this in isolation. Apple does collect analytics as does every other vendor and it is not a secret. As of now they are using it for ads on the App Store which I never open anyway.

FB admitted to losing $10 billion in targeted ad revenues and third-party data proliferation is what I am more worried about.

On Android, it is simply a wild wild west where each app can track far too much and the data can be aggregated and sold quite easily publicly. While iOS at least keeps getting patched for 6-7 years, most Android users don't even have the latest patches or features. The alternate is far worst.


Most people have nonsensical, simplistic views of the platforms and I don't subscribe to that. If you think people can't make their choices base on experience and need to base it on marketing, then that is your point of view.

Having used a lot of apps on both platforms, the difference in choices is stark. On iOS, the apps have to follow consistent design practices. The apps have to work with all permissions disabled. Also, there are paid apps available that don't indulge in shenanigans. On Android, some apps seem to still have prompts based on Ice Cream Sandwich. Few apps refuse to allow you to use them unless you provide certain permissions. The interfaces are cluttered to put as much content on your face as possible. Most won't offer paid apps because 80% users will never purchase anything on Android or sideload modded apps from shady sources.

I have made peace with my choice of platforms. I prefer using iOS as a daily driver and Android to mess around with. People can choose whatever they think works for them.
Let's not move away further from the truth. You'd expect a company that advertises security and privacy of their users for a most part of the last 10 years, would also value the effort and time of white-hat ethical hackers and security researchers. Instead, that is not quite the case.

Apple paid the least amount of bug bounty program among the Big 3 (Microsoft and Google) . And not only that, independent security researchers found it more frustrating to work with Apple, sometimes not even crediting or paying them for discovering the vulnerability.

Data from 2019 to 2022 shows that Apple lags behind Microsoft and Google in terms of bug bounty payouts, amounting to $20 million. During the same time, Microsoft paid close to $40 million and Google over $30 million.

Now, you may argue that since Apple’s products/services are more secure, the bounty paid will also be less due to less discovery of bugs. However, that's not the case because clearly Apple has a bad reputation in the independent security research field.

All of these above-mentioned data points to one thing: actions speak louder than words. Apple's privacy and security ad campaigns are more to benefit them and showing who is the boss, rather than benefiting the user. It would be better if Apple can put their mouth where their food is and start respecting the hacker and security community like Microsoft or Google, both of which ironically does not advertises security and privacy for their products.
 
Back
Top