Because I can use the real Firefox and not a Webkit imposter. I tried an iPhone for a year but it was too restrictive for me. Having a choice in phone manufacturer helps too. I’ve had phones from many different companies over the years.

This is probably specific to the Pixel phones, not sure how much if any is relevant to other manufacturers.

1. Call screening and spam filtering is amazing. Having the phone automatically screen unknown callers means I haven’t had to deal with a spam caller in years. And valid callers don’t seem to have any problems understanding whats happening anymore. I used to get several who confused it for a voice mail when it first came out, but now it seems they understand how to leave a screening message and wait for me to pick up.

2. The phone tree and hold for me when calling businesses. Being able to read the options and click the text makes it so much easier to get through the options without having to really pay attention, then having it hold for me until a person answers lets me do other things instead of having to keep listening.

3. Song identification on the lock screen. Whether I’m out at a bar or restaurant or at home watching a TV show and a song I like but don’t know starts playing, being able to see exactly what it is without even touching my phone is so convenient. I’ve found so many cool new bands I never would have without this feature. Its also amazing how it can often identify covers made specifically for TV shows right when they first air.

4. Amazing camera and cool features like photo sphere and the new magic eraser. The camera might not be as head and shoulders above Samsung and Apple as it was in the past but it’s still always amazing how well it does in different conditions.

Browser choice. Actually browser ENGINE choice. And the ability to set my own default apps, including the launcher.

F-droid. Side loading.

NewPipe, and Firefox Browser with uBlock Origin installed

That’s it.

• Headphone jack
• SD slot

Yes I’m using a Sony phone (Xperia 1V)

It’s more open and not locked down to proprietary software.

I want my app icons close to the bottom of the screen where my hands are and not at the top of the screen just because Apple demands it. Also I can have ad free apps like ReVanced

GrapheneOS, other custom OSes, ability to hack/mod/repair.

Apple is one of the most scummy and anti-consumer companies in the world, they won’t ever get a dollar from me or any endorsement.

It’s more open and you’re not confined to how Apple thinks your phone should look like.

Well, I don’t trust the companies.

But Lineage without Google gives me a decent smartphone experience with minimized tracking capabilities for 3rd parties. (Yeah, provider can still do quite a bit, but the VPN takes care of a bit more there, still not all though)

I don’t anymore, but when I did, it was the extra freedom and modability. In particular, the ability to use SwiftKey is really important to me and once upon a time iOS didn’t even allow that.

Now I want my phone to just work and do all my experimenting on Gentoo. Which I use for gaming, no less. iOS is just very convenient by default, even if it’s not perfect. But I could never get Android to be perfect for me either. The only thing I really miss is Vanced though.

The developer experience is miles better even with android studio being a buggy mess

It is also a great companion for sailing the high seas

It’s open source.

I’ve been thinking about this for a while. Years ago I would have said customisation (root, custom ROMs, etc) but lately the need for that has gone down a lot for me. Now, it’s:

• Termux - a Linux terminal on the go
• Syncthing - self-hosted file sync
• Home screen widgets for Todoist

• Firefox with addons
• NewPipe with SponsorBlock
• USB type C
• Custom ROMs
• APK Sideloading
• USB Debugging for testing my Godot projects directly on the phone
• No apple tax
• Maybe more…