Nearly 9 in 10 US teenagers use an iPhone, spelling disaster for Google’s mobile future

    • jonne@infosec.pub
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      1 year ago

      Yeah, there’s the whole green vs blue chat bubbles thing too. They’ll leave people with Android phones out of the group chat, which isn’t exactly great for your social life at school.

    • onlinepersona@programming.dev
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      Their parents are to blame too. You shouldn’t be giving a kid everything it wants. How the fuck would a kid find the money to buy such expensive trash anyway?

      • RGB3x3@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        When my newborn daughter turns 12 or 13, she’s getting a dumb phone. She needs to be able to call and text her family, that’s it. Then she can go through the stages that I went through of dumb phone to slightly better dumb phone to low-tier smartphone to flagship as she gets to be 18. At that point then, she’ll be old enough to buy it with her own job money

    • onlinepersona@programming.dev
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      Yes - right now. If 87% of teens in the US have iPhones, what do you think will happen to that stat in the US and then the world, where people copy-paste US trends to feel wealthy or cool (even adults)?

      • yata
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        1 year ago

        The subheading does specify that is in the US. And in the main text of the article, the very first line in fact, it mentions that Android has the largest market share worldwide.

        • Kusimulkku@lemm.ee
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          1 year ago

          Makes sense to include mentions that this is about the US in the Lemmy post. US is not the default

  • Lucidlethargy
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    1 year ago

    Guys, should an essential device be “cool”? It doesn’t hurt, don’t get me wrong… But is it a good reason to buy a device you need?

    Buy this shit because it works, not because it’s cool. Android lets you do more, so I own one. That’s it. Fuck Google, I just want to install third party apps.

    • GregorGizeh@lemmy.zip
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      These are teenagers. Buying anything is done under the consideration of how cool it is. Literally everything else is not important during consideration, what matters is having the thing that makes you socially accepted.

      If old school cell phones with monochrome pixel displays and zero functionalities beyond telephone and sms were trending, instead of just being a niche for people fed up with social media, kids would buy that in a heartbeat.

      You probably forgot how overwhelmingly important social status and belonging to a group is at that age.

      • miss_brainfart@lemmy.ml
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        1 year ago

        Classmate once rocked up with that new thing called „iPhone“ and was the coolest kid on the block. Then I took out my Siemens M35 and showed them my swappable front covers, and said that each week I would put a different one on.

        Suddenly this ancient brick was cooler than an iPhone.

        Kids and teens are very easily convinced that something is cool

  • einfach_orangensaft@feddit.de
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    1 year ago

    americans just love the golden cage, also apple puts more into ads than lobbyists during a presidential election campain

    • anti-idpol action@programming.dev
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      Yeah they did a very clever thing for the past decade or so, by slapping their illuminated logo onto their laptops, then aggressively contracting TV studios to have the actors use Macs

  • Virtual Insanity @lemmy.world
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    They both suck. I wish my phone was like a PC and I could install whatever OS I wanted.

    Now we live in a day where if you deviate from the manufactures installed OS you get no hardware or warranty support.

    Imagine Dell refusing warranty if you installed Linux on a server.

    I lean slightly to Android, but an not happy with Google’s bullshit tricks with their phones, not the bloat and bullshit on a Samsung phone.

    I’ll be looking for an alternative soon… But there isn’t much it there if you want an affordable near flagship.

    • Omgpwnies@lemmy.ninja
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      Imagine Dell refusing warranty if you installed Linux on a server.

      If you install Linux on an OEM PC, you will be denied service until you put Windows back on. Mentioning a server isn’t a fair comparison.

    • RGB3x3@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I know Microsoft isn’t a very good alternative as a company, but I do wish Windows Phone had taken off better.

      At least it would have been some competition to the Duopoly we now have.

      • computertoucher5000@programming.dev
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        I do wish Windows Phone had taken off better.

        I had a job once that issued me a Nokia Windows phone and I was stunned by how much I actually sort of enjoyed the experience. Granted all I did was check emails, ACK alerts and message coworkers on it, so admittedly a very intentionally on my part pared down user experience. Sadly Windows phone didn’t last long enough to figure out if that was the result of Microsoft, or the result of Nokia.

      • Virtual Insanity @lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Like the other person said… Had a warranty issue with a Samsung a few years ago that kept it out of my hands for a couple of months, bought a cheap and nasty $50 phone that was part of a prepaid package here in Australia, just happened to be a Nokia windows phone. It was about the lowest end model you could get…

        And I too was kinda stunned how much I liked it. I went into the experience with a fairly negative attitude thinking I’d suffer though it until my regular phone was repaired.

        Yet came out looking it more than I’d like to admit.

        So… Yeah… Sounds have been great for windows mobile to stick around.

  • Navarian@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    Apple may have a monopoly on teens in the US, but the fact that most android phones are cheaper, more powerful, more customisable and look better, will keep Google in the top spot with android.

    Also, and I realise this is anecdotal, but where I’m from in the UK, having an iPhone stands you out as a bit of a dullard. Wasted money and all that.

  • Hubi@feddit.de
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    Why are iPhones so popular in the US compared to Europe? Is it a peer pressure kind of thing? Or simply status? The difference seems to be pretty substantial and I don’t think it can be explained by user experience alone.

    iPhones have a 58% (US) vs 26% (EU) market share.

    • sergih@feddit.de
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      I think it has to do with the messagin app. For some reason in the us it’s still common to use plain sms messages, which on an iPhone get translated to the blue bubble, but when sent to an android become the infamous green bubble.

      This is however not the case in the EU bc sms messages were still expensive enoughfuring that time that when whatsapp released, everyone did the switch so as to not to pay the sms fees, and now, even if sms are basically free, everyone uses whatsapp as the default messaging app.

      And as we know on whatsapp there’s no differentiation of anything regarding the device you are sending messages to, so no constant reminder of “this guy had an android”.

      Just my 2 cents on why this could be.

      • Hyperreality@kbin.social
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        which on an iPhone get translated to the blue bubble but when sent to an android become the infamous green bubble.

        The interesting thing is that the green/blue bubble thing is only infamous in the US.

        As you say, outside the US, people use messaging apps like whatsapp or wechat.

      • hushable@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        off topic, by any chance are you using Jerboa? ses like your comments is missing some spaces and I suspect it might be a bug with the app

        • sergih@feddit.de
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          Yes! Wow it has to do with the app? I was going crazy, yes when I delete a word it shifts back and joind with the last word, it drives me nuts, are they planning on fixing it? Or do you recommend me another app?

      • Mongostein@lemmy.ca
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        The blue bubbles mean you’re using iMessage, which is encrypted. You don’t have to download a separate app owned by Facebook which makes texting iPhone to iPhone so much better.

        • Kid_Thunder@kbin.social
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          In the US most carriers (and certainly the big 3) support end-to-end encryption via RCS. Though of course, Apple won’t support the Diffie-Helman exchange outside of iMessage or anything RCS at all.

          • Mongostein@lemmy.ca
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            …which you need to install Google or Samsung messages to take advantage of, so it’s the same thing.

            Until all phones use the same protocols in their stock messages app, SMS will still be used to send between the different platforms.

            • Kid_Thunder@kbin.social
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              RCS is a standard and is application and even operating system agnostic. Anyone, including applications outside of Android can support it.

              iMessage is not a standard and certainly not agnostic.

              • Mongostein@lemmy.ca
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                Ok, well I still don’t want to install another app to use it so I guess we’re stuck.

                What really needs to happen is for all the phone makers agree to use the same protocols (and I really don’t care which) so we can all have end-to-end encryption by default.

                • Kid_Thunder@kbin.social
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                  That’s the thing. Essentially everyone has agreed, except for Apple. This includes 12 phone manufacturers and at least 55 operators world-wide.

                  Even Microsoft since Windows 10 supports RCS in the Your Phone app, so if you’re using a Windows desktop or laptop, even it supports RCS.

            • schnokobaer@feddit.de
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              No, which Apple would have to integrate into iMessage.

              Until all phones use the same protocols in their stock messages app

              Literally the point. Everyone is waiting for Apple, EU is considering forcing them (again.)

              • chi-chan~@lemmy.world
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                1 year ago

                I really hope they won’t, because it’s very bad for privacy.

                It’s fantastic for security, but a privacy disaster.

        • Hyperreality@kbin.social
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          Stupid question, but does imessage allow you to record messages, post videos, pictures, gifs, attach files, hold polls, start groups, etc?

          Or is it still mainly an sms based thing?

    • IDontHavePantsOn@lemm.ee
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      While other commenters are correct about the marketing in some aspects. As a parent of teenagers I will say if they don’t have an iPhone they will be mocked relentlessly. The whole bubble color thing is real. They think androids are for poor people even though androids have a much larger range of price. This isn’t a “my kids” thing. This is a “everyone in school thinks” thing.

      God help me when they get their next upgrade and suddenly my chargers start going missing because “someone stole” theirs…

      • 768
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        They think androids are for poor people

        So it boils down to classism among youths and in schools?

      • sederx@programming.dev
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        1 year ago

        this is the same excuse i hear for people circumcising their kids.

        are us people so weak to peer pressure?

    • Jackcooper@lemmy.world
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      Apple is headquartered in America and used a lot of marketing with celebrities, musicians, trendsetters etc.

      Samsung is really popular in Asia. There’s something to be said for homefield advantage.

    • ALostInquirer@lemm.ee
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      What’s the carrier situation like in the EU? Do they market the iPhone aggressively in Europe? I’d suspect both of those may have some influence on the difference, but I’m as interested as you in what’s affecting the differences in adoption between both regions.

  • onlinepersona@programming.dev
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    If the US had a functioning FCC that wasn’t toothless aka their own Margrethe Vestager, European Commissioner for Competition, and Digital Markets Act, iMessage wouldn’t even be a special.

  • Lowlee Kun@feddit.de
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    Iphone is the superior phone for people that really dont want to know how a operating system works and dont want to learn either. Always when i talk about something i do on my phone that Apple has locked its users out of doing my iPhone-friends go “That sounds complicated” when its mostly basic af. I would not even dare call myself a power-user, because i am not. Its just that iphone is perfect for the tech illiterate.

    • cm0002@lemmy.world
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      Hm, we should start saying iPhones are for boomers, that’ll probably change the tide lmao

      • Hyperreality@kbin.social
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        TBH boomers and gen-z are quite alike when it comes to tech savviness and social media use, especially when something isn’t an app.

  • ZILtoid1991@kbin.social
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    A lot of it is due to peer pressure, marketing, and such.

    I’m not from the US, but I knew people, who berated Android for having lower-end models (which meant even their flagship models are lower-end), some models still having headphone jacks (one of them screamed at me for buying a wired mouse, thus not insentivizing manufacturers to develop even better wireless technologies, thus enabling him to have a wireless audio interface and a portless Macbook (would be super elegant)), etc.

    There’s also Apple’s massive foothold in the education market. I guess kids using iPads are more likely to stay with other Apple devices in the future.

  • anti-idpol action@programming.dev
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    When Jobs kicked the bucket, RMS rightfully said that this mf’n evil genius has figured out a way of making people run to their stores with their arms stretched forward, asking them to handcuff them.

  • Gallardo994
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    Whoever considers an iPhone as a status thing is generally broke anyway. I personally own both S23U and i14PM and I still use S23U because it helps me in my daily life much more than an iPhone. People claiming something about others based on a fucking phone preference aren’t worth my time.

    • RGB3x3@lemmy.world
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      Android Inferiority Disfigurement Syndrome.

      Everyone knows that’s a thing. Text and Android from an iPhone and the iPhone suddenly slows down, starts sideloading random apps, and Siri won’t shut up about how much customization Android allows for. /s