WebKit - major PITA, highlighting text and googling in chrome opens safari ?

Appstore - can't install Gameboy emulator for games I've paid 20+ years ago because daddy Apple said so...

You can install an emulator with an extra $8.33 a month for a developer account.

You've been able to build and install iOS apps on your own device without a paid developer account for years now.

Right but way fewer restrictions

Originally, it was "install the emulator on your device," and you said that would cost $8.33/mo, which was wrong. Where exactly are you moving the goalposts now?

Hey, relax. Everything is not a debate. Take off the hostility glasses and re-read my post with some charity:

“Meepmorp you’re totally right, it doesn’t cost anything at all! However, I do highly recommend paying this meager sum because the benefits are quite substantial.”

> can't install Gameboy emulator

That sounds like more of an example of lock-out, than lock-in.

You have a single back up option which is the iCloud.

Can't install any app I want.

Locked into OS.

> You have a single back up option which is the iCloud.

That's false. You can backup to a computer, including to Windows. https://support.apple.com/en-au/guide/iphone/iph3ecf67d29/io...

Using Itunes........with android you can literally select another CLOUD provider.

Yes because with iOS you can also RESTORE your entire operating system from that same backup. And if you really want to, you can change the file location so that iTunes backup file sits in a cloud folder.

I back up data on my iPhone to my NAS using a third-party app.

One Drive is working for me just fine on my iPhone, and there are other options available like DropBox and Google Drive as well.

iPhone doesn't not allow phone backups using another cloud provider? Are you talking about backing up images?

Yeah sorry, thought that’s what you meant.

For whole phone backup it’s either iCloud or hook it up to a computer.

Does Android allow whole phone backups to third parties without rooting?

iMessage and FaceTime are the biggest ones, leaving the ecosystem will make the experience of talking to you worse for anyone using an iPhone still.

Thankfully only the US is afflicted with this stupidity.

The rest of the world chose a different stupidity, locking in their messaging to Meta's platform.

Is it really worse though? I can use WhatsApp on any device I want, I'm not locked to iPhone.

Japan uses LINE. Network effect implies a convergence to one app (pick your poison) and I am certain WhatsApp is better than the US situation.

Yes, it is really worse. One is an ad network built on mass surveillance of users; the other sells hardware.

Whatsapp has no ads, though. If it did my country would probably use a different app.

And nobody has made fun of me for having an android phone. Videos and group chats just work.

And when I was on an Android phone, Apple users weren't too happy about me trying to use talk/hangouts/meet/duo or whatever Google's messaging app of the week was.

For interoperability, nothing beats SMS/MMS/POTS/SMTP.