> This and apps “redesigned” every few month

This is why my 90++ old completely non-technical mother has been using Linux since the 90s. I set up a very customized fvwm environment with mutt (also customized) and emacs (same) and helped her learn it. The beauty is that nothing has changed at all in over 25 years!

Root it, install a dns level adblocker (either for their network or just the tablet), install appropriate apps for them (preferring FOSS when possible via fdroid) and relock the tablet before giving it to them. Oh, and run a backup of the whole device first.

I can't believe it has to come to this to get a usable device for a growing segment of the population. Old people practically need their own IT department fighting for their best interests with how predatory tech companies have been towards them. They are SOL if their kid isn't a techie.

You should try using android trackphones. The instant it connects to a network it will download gigabytes of crap and launch it in the background. It doesn't matter what you're trying to do, whatever it is will get killed because all the malware needs more memory. Apps you want to install will be added to the end of the long queue. The (expensive!) cellular data will be instantly burned through by Facebook and friends.

It's incredible. Personal computing is well and truly dead for the "consumer."

The things that you complain about are the reasons why Apple has become the most valuable company in the world.

Apple has become the most valuable company in the world because they own everyone's computers so anyone that wants to publish commercial software has to bend over for them.

They're not valuable because of any service they provide.

By "computers" I assume you mean "phones and tablets", because Apple is still a small minority of the world's desktops and laptops.

Even then, ask yourself: Why do so many people pay $800 for an iPhone instead of $200 for some Android?

They didn't become #1 by selling $99 developer accounts.

> Even then, ask yourself: Why do so many people pay $800 for an iPhone instead of $200 for some Android?

Because Apple has managed to make their mass produced commodity products be a status symbol.

Why do so many people pay $800 for an Android instead of $200 for some iPhone?

I don't understand the comparison you're making, because both kinds of phone are available in a wide price range.

I think you misrepresent the human App Store reviewers as not being a service they provide to their users.

Or buy an ipad.

iOS ecosystem also has a problem with gratuitous UX changes. E.g. that physical Home button on early models was a godsend for non-tech users - if they found themselves somewhere unfamiliar, it was always there as an escape hatch, without doing anything non-obvious like swiping from the edge. And then Apple killed it.

Another frustrating thing on the notch devices is that they put the control center on top instead of the bottom. Years of muscle memory down the drain.

In fact I did exactly this to solve the ad issue, but they ended up stopping anyway because they couldn't cope with the constant UI change of their apps (Skype & TV replay apps). And there's nothing I could do about it.

It's why Apple is the best at what they do. Their apps are consistent for years.