Penny Arcade

Synth · October 2018

Exactly what I was thinking, and why I switched, after ten years, to iOS this year. It definitely has its fair share of downs, but I feel like the more polished experience outweighs them.

Kagera · October 2018

I think with Android you get what you put into it. You can have any aesthetic you want it’s very customizable. I don’t want to put effort into that shit however so iOS is fine for me. There is some customization here too but not to the same degree.

Preacher · October 2018

For me when I used an Iphone you had to use itunes on your pc for like updates and things and I fucking hated that. Android for life.

marsilies · October 2018

I've been an avid user of Android since the first Android phone, and "it's fine" is a pretty apt description. That said, I don't think iOS is that much better.

Preacher wrote: »

For me when I used an Iphone you had to use itunes on your pc for like updates and things and I fucking hated that. Android for life.

iOS has fixed that, you can do everything from "the cloud" now.

Grendus · October 2018

By this point the two are basically at feature parity. I like Android better personally, and have bought a lot of apps that I'd hate to have to rebuy or replace on iOS, so I have no real reason to switch. But I don't mock people who use the iPhone anymore, it's a solid device.

I think by this point we've mostly lost our phone enthusiasm as they've basically become slightly less powerful supercomputers that fit in our pockets instead of needing to be plugged in all the time.

Preacher · October 2018

marsilies wrote: »

I've been an avid user of Android since the first Android phone, and "it's fine" is a pretty apt description. That said, I don't think iOS is that much better.

Preacher wrote: »

For me when I used an Iphone you had to use itunes on your pc for like updates and things and I fucking hated that. Android for life.

iOS has fixed that, you can do everything from "the cloud" now.

Yeah I figure as signal improved you probably didn't need to, but at this point I'm much happier with google and it helps them keep track of my everyday activities.

Monkey Ball Warrior · October 2018

Earlier on in Android I'd hoped to see something closer to the open PC ecosystem where apps were sideloaded more often than not. But Android, especially early on, turned out to be such security joke that the only option Google had was to take Apple's "all apps come from one place and are vetted by humans" approach. Which basically leaves them with a slightly less pretty and dramatically less consistent version of iOS anyway.

Which I'm sure google is fine with, but I'm not happy. Phones are currently a terrible platform. We tolerate it because phones are required.

dennis · October 2018

Monkey Ball Warrior wrote: »

Earlier on in Android I'd hoped to see something closer to the open PC ecosystem where apps were sideloaded more often than not. But Android, especially early on, turned out to be such security joke

So, you hoped to see it like the PC, where you could download and run any unvetted arbitrary code, but were disappointed that this turned out to be rather insecure? Am I missing some nuance here? There's a reason why PCs were (and are) rife with malware.

I'd hoped to see PCs and phones take a more sandboxed approach, with OS-level controls to poke holes in that sandbox. iOS did the former but never really the latter. Android eventually did a little bit of both, but I'm still not happy with where we are now with it. I basically use the same policy as with PCs of not running code that I don't trust.

Kred · October 2018

To each their own, but I never understood the appeal of iOS. In any way. Using it to do anything is counter-intuitive. Feels like trying to use your phone/PC/whatever with one hand tied behind your back.

Beyond that the absolute shitshow that is iTunes was the final straw for me. My wife just had to have an iPad when they came out, so whatever. Using iTunes for even the most basic of tasks was rage inducing. She thought I was being stupid, tried it herself, and the next day told me to get rid of the iPad. Last Apple device I will ever own. It's one thing to put out bad software, and then work to fix it. But iTunes was horrible from day 1 and got worse with each update. I can only conclude they did that on purpose and there's no excuse for it.

They're one of those companies that tries to dictate how you will use the product, and ignores customer feedback on how they want to use it. MS and Android are far from perfect, but they're much better than anything Apple has produced.

Again, just my opinion, I don't care what other people use. I'm just mystified by the crowd that believes iOS is some marvel of software engineering.

doconnor · October 2018

The main reason I choose Android over iPhone is the fact you can get a command prompt on it.

Kagera · October 2018

Brand zealotry always confused me. Be it Microsoft or Apple, Coke or Pepsi, or the myriad console wars I usually just shrug and use both if I can.

I’m sure there’s something I care about enough to fight over it but it’s usually fleeting and fickle.

Edit: OH YEAH. NFL 2K5 was way better than Madden even till this day. Fuck EA for monopolizing the nfl license you assholes!

MarcinMN · October 2018

I'm rather impressed. I feel that just a couple years ago this would have already been 100+ comments of people waging the old iOS vs. Android war. Perhaps humanity is finally moving on from this particular battle.

Now we just need to move on from the million other battles humanity has.

Kagera · October 2018

MarcinMN wrote: »

I'm rather impressed. I feel that just a couple years ago this would have already been 100+ comments of people waging the old iOS vs. Android war. Perhaps humanity is finally moving on from this particular battle.

Now we just need to move on from the million other battles humanity has.

Yeah now people are at each other’s throats over politics. Which matters but still...

Lucascraft · October 2018

I've been with iOS for the entirety of the smart phone era. But that's not really brand loyalty so much as it's the fact that I'm pretty locked into their ecosystem at this point. I've bought enough premium apps, and I've got all my music in iTunes. And I'm just invested deeply enough that moving to Android is not financially a sound decision.

Kagera · October 2018

Lucascraft wrote: »

I've been with iOS for the entirety of the smart phone era. But that's not really brand loyalty so much as it's the fact that I'm pretty locked into their ecosystem at this point. I've bought enough premium apps, and I've got all my music in iTunes. And I'm just invested deeply enough that moving to Android is not financially a sound decision.

That’s where I am too. I’m not gonna try to convert anyone or be weird about it but iOS is my goto and I’m okay with that.

rahkeesh2000 · October 2018

Monkey Ball Warrior wrote: »

Earlier on in Android I'd hoped to see something closer to the open PC ecosystem where apps were sideloaded more often than not. But Android, especially early on, turned out to be such security joke that the only option Google had was to take Apple's "all apps come from one place and are vetted by humans" approach. Which basically leaves them with a slightly less pretty and dramatically less consistent version of iOS anyway.

The play store is hardly vetted, with piles of freeware (low barrier for devs) and numerous legally questionable things being sold for money that don't last more than a day on iOS. I'm not sure a "secure" sideloading world would look much different.

zepherin · October 2018

Last time I had an android, it was with Samsung, and the hardware and interface were just not great. Samsung couldn't leave well enough alone, and instead of icecream sandwich they had a custom interface which was just dogshit. And the interface would just lockup for no particular reason, and samsung released it and stopped supporting it.

I got the 4s about 6 months later, and it worked, and the 7 worked and the x works. No problems, all apps work and updates are frequent.

Zenigata · October 2018

Who needs to own your own device when you can pay some of the highest prices for a phone to borrow from the company who wants to tell you not to repair their devices unless they say so? Not sure why the Apple faithful seem to miss on the aspects that continue to make Android a popular alternative for those of us not scared of some menus and customization. But then again, most people shovel down stuff like McDonalds which honestly is sickening. Sad to see people bringing back the "It just works" nonsense.

Add in the exorbitant higher prices and knowing buying any of their products just throws more firewood into the dumpster fire that is flagship smartphone prices. These new flagship phones do not justify these insane price increases.

zepherin · October 2018

I don't think we are bringing back the It just works, it never stopped working. It still works as it were.

It definitely doesn't light on fire on planes. It doesn't contain pre-installed bloatware. And pretty much any modern smart device costs $texas for the latest model.

That being said there are things I wish I could do on it, but for most of those I have a tablet and a laptop for, and those are better suited for the task.

Also I have a bunch of apps purchased so they have me locked into their sphere.

...A quarter pounder with cheese is pretty good sometimes.

Nightslyr · October 2018

It's weird that Gabe is praising iOS' aesthetic when it's painfully boring, sterile, and dated. White and Apple grey, with some acrylic/translucent effects, isn't exactly a look I'd expect him to vehemently defend.

Monkey Ball Warrior · October 2018

dennis wrote: »

Monkey Ball Warrior wrote: »

Earlier on in Android I'd hoped to see something closer to the open PC ecosystem where apps were sideloaded more often than not. But Android, especially early on, turned out to be such security joke

So, you hoped to see it like the PC, where you could download and run any unvetted arbitrary code, but were disappointed that this turned out to be rather insecure? Am I missing some nuance here? There's a reason why PCs were (and are) rife with malware.

I'd hoped to see PCs and phones take a more sandboxed approach, with OS-level controls to poke holes in that sandbox. iOS did the former but never really the latter. Android eventually did a little bit of both, but I'm still not happy with where we are now with it. I basically use the same policy as with PCs of not running code that I don't trust.

Window's security problems (which are, to be fair, much improved over the old days) has nothing to do with the ability to run arbitrary code. See: every other non-phone OS that exists.

dennis · October 2018

Monkey Ball Warrior wrote: »

dennis wrote: »

Monkey Ball Warrior wrote: »

Earlier on in Android I'd hoped to see something closer to the open PC ecosystem where apps were sideloaded more often than not. But Android, especially early on, turned out to be such security joke

So, you hoped to see it like the PC, where you could download and run any unvetted arbitrary code, but were disappointed that this turned out to be rather insecure? Am I missing some nuance here? There's a reason why PCs were (and are) rife with malware.

I'd hoped to see PCs and phones take a more sandboxed approach, with OS-level controls to poke holes in that sandbox. iOS did the former but never really the latter. Android eventually did a little bit of both, but I'm still not happy with where we are now with it. I basically use the same policy as with PCs of not running code that I don't trust.

Window's security problems (which are, to be fair, much improved over the old days) has nothing to do with the ability to run arbitrary code. See: every other non-phone OS that exists.

That assertion is completely unsupported by history.

Now, it isn't JUST downloading and running arbitrary code. But that is and has always been a big part of it. Those popups that try to get you to download and run their "virus checker" that's actually ransomware are there for a reason. My mom fell prey to one of those within the last year. Finally just gave her and old iPad, because then she couldn't download and run arbitrary code.

Monkey Ball Warrior · October 2018

dennis wrote: »

Now, it isn't JUST downloading and running arbitrary code.

That's basically what I'm saying. Obviously, hand-vetting each binary is a possible solution to security. It is the only way Android is even tolerable. But another, better way is to fix your permission system so that running the "wrong" binary has less chance to ruin your day. This is how linux, bsd, etc handle it. Something like Qubes takes this a step further.

In truly sensitive environments (corporate deployments, etc) you can always do both.

I just don't like the idea that we have to depend on GenericMegaCorp to say which binaries are "okay", for whatever definition of "okay" they decide to apply this week.

Tofystedeth · October 2018

Part of the problem is things like ransomware hit user documents. You can't easily lock that down because if they're not editable by the current user and applications they run, then they're useless.

dennis · October 2018

dennis wrote: »

Now, it isn't JUST downloading and running arbitrary code.

Monkey Ball Warrior wrote: »

That's basically what I'm saying.

No, it's really not. You said "Window's security problems (which are, to be fair, much improved over the old days) has nothing to do with the ability to run arbitrary code. See: every other non-phone OS that exists."

"Has nothing to do with" is not the same as "is only part of".

dennis · October 2018

Tofystedeth wrote: »

Part of the problem is things like ransomware hit user documents. You can't easily lock that down because if they're not editable by the current user and applications they run, then they're useless.

My wish for sandboxing would be that you give each application permissions for what files to edit in which directories (or generalized stores, like "My Documents"). Yes, I get that it's a hassle. Protecting your documents from ransomware generally is.

Monkey Ball Warrior · October 2018

Okay, fair enough. In my head "nothing to do with" meant "this is not the cause" not "this has no impact on the problem". Vetting executables obviously solves the problem. But the lack of vetting isn't the cause of the problem itself, overly loose permissions are.

jungleroomx · October 2018

I do laugh that people who are in the Apple ecosystem and cannot leave because Apple has completely restricted any digital rights to their entire userbase as a reason to keep using it.

Now they're collapsing the ability to repair their devices in case anything breaks.

They're a top tier shitty anti-consumer company in an industry rife with shitty anti-consumer companies.

lionheartssj · October 2018

I do enjoy the occasional DOS prompt.

vanner11 · October 2018

These two vacillate more between Android and iOS than a bottle of Vaseline!

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