iTrapped: All the things Apple won't let you do with your iPhone ...

[aggiesal]

I've been saying this for years.
I purchased the iPhone 7, to try something different.
Within 2 weeks, I hated the thing, for exactly the reasons listed in this article, and felt like I had made a mistake.
I kept it to get my money's worth, hoping it would get better, fighting it every step of the way.
Finally got a different phone last year.


By Geoffrey A. Fowler
Technology columnist
May 27, 2021

Have you ever tried to swap Siri for a better voice assistant on your iPhone? Don’t bother, you can’t.

Tried to buy e-books from the Kindle app? Can’t do that, either.

Send iMessages to someone with an Android phone? Nope. Backup your iPhone to Google Drive? Nope. Get your own iPhone repair parts from Apple? Nope. Transfer your digital life to a different kind of smartphone? Good luck, my friend. When you buy an iPhone, it isn’t really yours.



It’s time to reclaim our iPhones. The debate that’s happening in courts and Congress about Big Tech’s power is also playing out in the palm of our hands.

I’ve used an iPhone for the past 12 years, and like most of you I am not looking to change. But we’ve become so accustomed to restrictions Apple built into the iPhone, we don’t even realize how we’re contorting ourselves to comply — or what we’re missing out on. One sign we’re being manipulated by a monopoly is when it’s hard to even consider an alternative. Apple says it’s protecting our security and privacy, but it has become clear that locking down our iPhones is also about controlling us so Apple can make more money.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/05/27/apple-iphone-monopoly/

[jimfields33]

1. I've had an iPhone for 10 years

I just got IPhone 11 after having iPhone 6 for 7 years. I got zero for turn in. Lol. Not shocked. The only thing I hate is you can’t cut the number of rings you get for a phone call. It goes on forever until it hits the voicemail. Other then that I’m very pleased with Apple. They last forever. I have a macbook, iPad and iPhone. They all work with each other. Could not imagine wanting to use another platform not connected to Apple. They typically are inferior and causes virus’. That’s why Apple won’t allow it. Smart! Hope congress stays out of it. None of their business.

[Aristus]

2. I still use iPods.

I have one from 2006. Still going strong.

[jimfields33]

3. Excellent! I have a shuffle around somewhere

I’d bet it still works too. Finding it would be the only obstacle. Lol.

[Initech]

40. My 2009 iPod with a 160GB hard drive finally kicked the bucket last year.

After 10+ years of use. It served me well. Now I run all my music through my Note 20 with a 512GB memory card.

[aggiesal]

6. I have an iMac, MacBook Pro & iPod ...

I enjoy each one daily.
But I couldn't throw my iPhone far enough away.
Very uncustomizable (if there is such a word).

If forces their defaults on your phone during upgrades and you can't remove their pre-installed apps, even if you don't use them.

When I go to the Apple store for something I want to change, Apple acts like they own your phone.
Once they sell me their phone, it's mine, not theirs.

I wonder why PC became the standard and not Mac?
Hmmmm!

[jimfields33]

9. I think PC was ready first.

Had businesses had a choice today, MAC would be used widely especially with the endless virus’ PC’s get. That costs companies a fortune every year.

[aggiesal]

13. Apple 1 was released in 1976, IBM PC was released in 1981 ...

The reason PC's were so popular was for its customization capabilities.

Apple has always had a closed system, until Apple II, which was customizable.
Then Apple returned to its closed system ways after Apple II.

[sir pball]

31. Nope. The PC was expandable and open, MacIntosh wasn't.

Businesses adopting the IBM PC as the defacto standard had nothing to do with timing and everything to do with IBM making the platform open, so any manufacturer could build a compatible machine. Given the choice of a completely closed, monolithic system from a single manufacturer, or an array of everything from cheap junk up to the then God-Emperor IBM themselves, it was a no-brainer.

macOS is just as susceptible to malware as Windows, security has been comparable since the XP days. Windows gets targeted more because of the far greater market share; as Apple has grown more popular there's been a corresponding rise in macOS malware, so much so that Tom Cook recently testified the situation was "unacceptable".

I've been using Macs since 1986, I'm typing this on a 2012 MacBook, but my blind evangelism days are long past - Apple does some things better, and some things worse, just like any other tech giant. They aren't special.

[jmowreader]

59. Actually...no, IBM didn't do that

The reason anyone could build a "compatible machine" was that someone from a company named Phoenix Technologies reverse-engineered the PC's BIOS chip. Those of us who've been working in this industry long enough remember the reviews of "PC clones" and "PC compatibles" that listed just how compatible a non-IBM PC was with software written for the PC.

And there were, in fact, two reasons why the PC became the standard: it came out in 1981 - the Mac shipped in 1984 - and it said IBM on the front of it.

[Tree Lady]

16. What I do with the preinstalled apps is I put

Them all in one folder so not using up a bunch of space. Label it apple apps.

[aggiesal]

28. I remove them from the screen, but I want them off my system ...

and reclaim memory I can use, for apps I want to load.

[frazzled]

52. Some are pretty handy

We were installing a window shade the other day and couldn’t find our level. (Think we lent it to son once and he didn’t return it.). So boom, I looked in the preinstalled Utilities app, and there was the digital level, which I’d never seen or used before. Worked perfectly.

Close the apps you don’t want.

[Earth-shine]

17. you can't remove their pre-installed apps,

Same for Android. The manufacturer of each phone puts its apps on there. I can remove them from the screen, but not from the phone.

> I wonder why PC became the standard and not Mac?

PCs were designed and made by IBM in the early 80s. The PC was awful, but businesses wanted IBM.

(In my opinion, an IBM PC in 1982 was inferior to a Commodore 64 or Atari 800.)

Apple could not compete in the business world. So, Apple successfully went after the education market, and then the artist/musician/graphic designer market.

[aggiesal]

18. I gave my thoughts on IBM PC popularity in my #13 above n/t

[csziggy]

30. PCs became the standard because Macs were overpriced and so was the software

My first computer was an Apple ][ back before Apple cut off third party software vendors. I liked my Apple but when it came time to upgrade in 1987 and I priced Macs, the computer cost twice as much as a PC clone, plus the only software had to be Apple licensed - no open source, free ware, or independent third party.

To buy the accounting, word processing, and database programs from Apple would have cost about 75% of the already overpriced Mac. Instead I bought a PC knockoff, got shareware programs to do everything I needed for just a little over a third of what a Mac setup would have cost. As a small business I could not justify spending that much more for actually less since there were many other, non-essential programs I was able to buy for much less for my PC.

Apple shot themselves in the foot with how they went after the clones and unlicensed third party vendors. If they had let the open market do their thing, they would be the dominant platform. Think about it - even after the 1980s, Apple dominated the school computer market. Kids would have loved to continue in the same OS they had learned in school.

And Apple didn't learn - as the article in the OP indicates. They still want total control of what their users can do with their devices. That's why I have not purchased an Apple product since that original Apple ][ and probably never will.

[aggiesal]

35. That's a great call on the price! n/t

[mopinko]

62. i was wondering when someone would mention price. ed discounts

was how they did it. as expensive as they were for 'normal' folks, those discounts were 50%.
they did hook a lot of students in the arts. i think back in the day it was harder to get a pc to run adobe.
so much money, and so few programs.

i started out on a commodore 64 w a terminal emulator.
1st pc was an att. went through a couple more built machines, then the ex started building them.

when i started doing graphic design, i got a mac.
when i went back to school, it was all mac. the ex got into photography at about that time and took a couple classes w me.
his pc's were every bit as fast as my mac.

i keep buying them mostly out of laziness.

[csziggy]

65. Oh - I'd forgotten about Apple's superiority with graphics

Yes, they had better graphics - especially for photo editing. In the early 1990s I needed some photos scanned and couldn't afford a scanner. I had to go to a local graphics company and we had all sorts of discussions about resolution and format. Whatever format they wanted to do them in was no PC compatible and my Micron computer was not up to opening the really high resolution they wanted to use. So it was a compromise on quality. Between that local company and Seattle Filmworks which gave scanned versions of the film they developed, I got into graphics pretty thoroughly.

About ten years later, I got PhotoShop Elements free with a hard drive and learned it - that may have been about when Adobe was trying to get into the PC market and using Elements as a toehold. Then there was an Adobe offer to upgrade to the full version of PhotoShop and I went for it. Right now I am at PS CS6 and haven't upgraded for a while. I think when I upgrade my computer, I will upgrade the Lightroom subscription I got to use on my traveling laptop to the full version and just go with subscription from now on.

[mopinko]

66. elements was part of shutting down the counterfeiters.

i learned on a bootleg 6. they had to crack down but they had thousands of new users. what to do?
give them a paint program like the one that came on macs. get their info. make them customers.

pc graphics cards were made for gamers, mac was made for pros.

adobe did big ed discounts too. i went to adobemax for half price.
it was fun. alllllll kinds of deals.
it was virtual this year. got 3 mos free cloud.

i'll be stickin w cs6. unless someone pays me real money to do this stuff.
i mostly end up doing it for love. a good way for an introvert to contribute.

[csziggy]

71. I'll have to decide when I upgrade my computer.

The one I'm on is Win 7 Pro. CS6 is about what it will handle. Like I said, I got a sub for Lightroom for my laptop, so it won't be much more to upgrade to Photos hopefully for everything.

[dalton99a]

7. The number of rings depends on your carrier

It can be changed by calling 611 (customer service). There are also instructions online but they tend to be outdated.

[jimfields33]

10. Thank you. I'll try that.

I know it’s a small issue but it bugs me to no end.

[frazzled]

4. I send text messages to people with Androids all the time

from my iPhone 7. You just don’t send as iMessage. I texted my Android daughter-in-law several times this morning.

Is this reviewer completely unsavvy? I’m a senior citizen with little interest in tech tricks, and I find this not difficult and completely transparent.

[aggiesal]

14. Writer didn't say that iPhone couldn't send text messages to android phones ...

just that iPhones couldn't send iMessage messages to android phones.
That was one feature I really enjoyed.

[frazzled]

43. Yes, I acknowledged that.

What’s the difference between sending an iMessage and a text? Nothing. And you can do both with an iPhone, easily

[aggiesal]

46. I don't think that's true ...

A text message only sends a link.
The iMessage allows you to view the contents of the link in the message itself.
For example, if someone sends me a link to a youtube video in a text message, the link will open in the browser to view the video.
With iMessage, I can view the video in the messaging program itself without going through the browser.
A feature I really liked.

[frazzled]

51. Oh dear

Then the person with the Android has to touch the link? Heaven forfend. (They have to with iMessage as well if they want to view the whole web page, though videos, yes, you can just play). I’ll check if that’s so next time I text one of my Android friends or relatives and send a link.

This is not a fatal problem, I think one would have to admit. For those of us who are Mac users, the synchronicity of our computers, tablets, and phones is like butter. So we’re unlikely to change from an iPhone.

[aggiesal]

54. Being able to view a link through a text message was a nice feature ...

I can't do that with my android phone.
I think that was the point.

Yes, it is not fatal and I can just select the link and the browser automatically opens, but
I really liked the iMessage feature.

[MineralMan]

5. My Wife Switched to a Samsung Android Phone

Her 3 year old iPhone was starting not to hold a charge over a full day, whether she used it or not. She tried all of the online tips, but none worked. So, she switched to the Samsung. She likes it much better, overall. It's also vastly cheaper, has a much longer battery life in standby mode, and all of her apps are available for both OSes. The final trigger, though, was the end of the headphone jack. She must have a dozen sets of earbuds and mics. All useless if she bought a new iPhone. Bye, now, Apple.

She hasn't found any limitations, either, and I can be her tech support guy, since I'm a Samsung Android user, too.

[aggiesal]

11. I'm not a fan of Android, but at least it's not an iPhone ...

If I could find an alternative workable phone OS, that doesn't track everything I do or where I go,
on a popular phone I'd buy it in a second.

I ended up buying an Android OnePlus McLaren phone.
I keep my GPS off at all times, and it runs the TOR Browser.

[MineralMan]

19. I used Google Maps and Android Auto

for driving directions. Both use location services only when I'm using the apps. You can do that in Settings.

As for tracking, I don't give a damn if Google knows where I am. In fact, I count on that in my car. I also mark my parking spot if I'm in an unfamiliar place, so I don't have to look like an idiot looking for my car.

I'm just not concerned with all that crap. It's my phone. It's my handheld computer. I don't care.

[lindysalsagal]

32. OOOooo!!! How do you mark your parking spot on android?

I've got google maps.

[MineralMan]

41. Here's a link:

Step-by-step instructions at the link:

https://lifehacker.com/make-google-remember-your-parking-spot-for-you-1834839413

[lindysalsagal]

42. That. Is. Awesome!

Thanks! 😁

[MineralMan]

44. Enjoy!

[Ilsa]

61. I love my Samsung android.

Seems much easier to use than the iphone I had before.

[RainCaster]

8. My employer made me use an iPhone

I was very happy to turn it in when I quit two years later. I really hated the 'walled garden' that apple tried to impose on me. I kept my Android the whole time.

[madinmaryland]

47. I had an employer ask me to use a Blackberry. I told him to pound sand, that I was

Going to use my iPhone. This was 2012 and the blackberry was 2001 technology. I only stayed there a year before getting fed up with them.

[SoonerPride]

12. IMHO it is iPhone or nothing

I wouldn't own an Android.

Ever.

[MineralMan]

20. Your phone; your choice.

[cagefreesoylentgreen]

15. Uh, what?

I have no idea what this guy is talking about. I’m able to purchase Kindle ebooks on my phone just fine. I’m able to read them and read any custom documents that are in my Amazon Cloud drive.

This sounds like a puff piece written by someone who just wanted something to bash.

[aggiesal]

26. Did you use the Kindle app? ...

I think he's saying that you can use the Kindle app in the iPhone to purchase an e-book.

[cagefreesoylentgreen]

53. I use Safari

I use the web browser on my iPhone to purchase an ebook. It then shows up in my Kindle App Library. If I want to read something off Project Gutenberg, then I download the format I want onto my computer or phone, email it to my Kindle address, and it shows up in my Kindle library on all devices.

Seriously, how is this difficult? Apparently it is for the author of that article.

[aggiesal]

55. Not that hard, I get that ...

But, why won't Apple allow purchasing through the Kindle App?

[cagefreesoylentgreen]

57. Curious

You believe I should care about this, when I already have a way of acquiring what I want? This is not a compelling reason.

FWIW, you can’t purchase from the Amazon app either, but you can use Safari do exactly the same thing.

[GoodRaisin]

21. I was a PC and Android user up until I retired. Then my company gave me an Ipad Air as a

retirement gift. Once I picked it up and started using it I liked the IOS user interface better and stopped using my Windows 10 PC. Once my Android's 2 year old motherboard fried I replaced it with an Iphone SE and am still using it today (5 years and counting.) And, since then, I purchased a second Ipad on sale, plus an Apple TV, and they all still work very well. I like having the same user interface on my phone and my tablets and how well they connect through the cloud on all my apps. I like that I can make my tablets ring when a phone call comes in and answer on the tablet if I don't feel like getting up to retrieve my phone. I also like the feature that allows me to find my phone by going to one of my Ipads and using the "find my iphone" feature to make it start ringing, so I hear where it's at and can go straight to it without the frustration of looking all over the house for it. I like not having to worry with viruses or buying virus protection software once a year. I find the Apple applications simple enough and easy to use. The music I listen to on my Ipads through my headphones is high quality. I could go on. My only gripe is Apple hasn't provided a dialer on the Ipad, but you can still initiate calls with your contacts if needed.

So, I have to say that, at least in retirement, the Apple devices have been the perfect solution for me. There's no way I'd be willing to give these up to go back to PC and Android devices. I do look forward to any improvements they make in the future.

[48656c6c6f20]

22. When I need to be like everyone else, it's iPhone for me.

But when I need to be myself I choose Android Pixel.

[we can do it]

23. Idon't care

[hlthe2b]

24. I've had iphones for years and while this might irk some, I appreciate the control Apple maintains

over its IOS, its apps, and security-related issues.

I do not want it to go "open-source" so to speak. Get a damned android if that bugs you, I say. Leave my iPhone alone.

[Fiendish Thingy]

25. I really don't care about any of the complaints listed in the article.

Still think Apple should be subject to an antitrust investigation, but that won’t stop me from enjoying my numerous Apple products.

[genxlib]

27. Two big ones that are real economic impacts

Battery replacement and extra memory storage

When I had an android I could buy spare or extra batteries at whim. I often had multiple ones and could swap them out when I ran low. I think this feature has been removed from newer android phones but that was a big deal.

Second is onboard memory. Android phones allow you to add Micro SD cards for really cheap extra memory.

Both of these are big money makers for Iphone because they are often the reason to upgrade and buy higher end models.

[Iggo]

29. While I do feel for the guy who wrote the article...

...as I was going down his list I was all “Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope....”

I really think he should get a device that does what he wants it to do, instead of getting a device that doesn’t and then demanding that it change into the thing he wants.

[brooklynite]

34. Is it "I hate Apple and so should you" time already?

Nobody has ever made you buy an iPhone, Mac, iPad, Apple Watch, etc.

[aggiesal]

36. Never said I hated Apple. I know you meant that in general not necessarily directed to me ...

I do have an iMac, MacBook Pro and an iPod. No iPad.
But I just really hated the iPhone, for a lot of the same reasons that the writer points out.

[Beetwasher.]

37. For the Life of Me, I Can't Figure Out How To Get My Voice Memo's off of my phone and onto my PC

Without buying additional software. There's free trials of software that do this, but they only let you transfer a few files for free. I have hundreds of VM's on my phone and you can't transfer them easily. When I connect to my PC, those files don't show up to just copy over.

[aggiesal]

38. If they're on your phone instead of your carrier servers ...

Try attaching them to an email and send it to yourself.
Maybe that would work.

[Beetwasher.]

39. That's hundreds of emails to send

[aggiesal]

49. Yea, it's not pretty ...

What I usually do is create an email in my account through a browser on my phone, add files, and save it as a draft
Then I go on the computer and bring up the drafts section and download the files.

If I have to do more, I delete the files from the email after downloading and save it as an empty draft.
Go back on the phone and pull up the same draft email and load more files.

Go back and forth until I'm done.
At least you don't have to email yourself hundreds of times.

Just a suggestion.

[Beetwasher.]

63. Thanks, appreciate it

Occasionally I do email them to myself but it’s such a pain in the ass! Your suggestion is a bit better but still have to attach one by one. Uggh.

[aggiesal]

73. Let me know if you were able to accomplish that task. Have a great day. n/t

[ecstatic]

45. It's too closed a system for me

I like that I can decide which virtual keyboard to use, or which text messaging app I prefer, etc. Also, I can do a lot more tinkering on Android without being forced to root/jailbreak.

[Ron Obvious]

48. I like to think I'm in charge of my own equipment

And that my phone and computer work for me rather than the other way around. That's hard enough to maintain with stock android systems, let alone Apple's walled garden.

[Mosby]

50. Apple should be broken up.

This BS about how a phone isn't a computer is just stupid.

[Takket]

56. this article is kind of silly......

they talk about imessage to android, google drive backups, kindle app compatibility...

umm... those are all competitors in the digital marketplace. A company like Amazon makes a kindle app because it makes no sense to close themselves off from the Apple market, but don't expect it to do everything a kindle can do because ultimately Amazon wants you to buy their product. (Your beef with with Amazon, not Apple)

Some of these complaints are like saying Burger King sucks because you can't buy a Big Mac there... well if you want a Big Mag, go to McDonalds.

[apnu]

72. This

The article is full of minor gripe and total misunderstanding of tech.

[AnyFunctioningAdult]

58. I have worked in IT

Most of my career and have been building my own computers since I was a teenager. Because of that, I never could stand Apple. I want to be able to build it myself and swap components out and do my own upgrades. No dice with Apple. I do understand why a lot of people like it though. It is simple and it works within its own ecosystem. It just seldom plays nice with others and especially not in an enterprise environment. Every time some new executive wants to bring in a Mac to be their business computer I roll my eyes. People say Apple has no viruses which is not true. They have less because they are less than 8% of the marketshare. If you are a nefarious virus developer, who are you targeting? Big business or the independent artist? That argument is seldom given its proper context.

Virtual machines and servers? Ghost town for Apple. Touch screen on a MacBook? There has NEVER been one. EVER. Windows has had touchscreen capabilities since 2003. Apple? Nope.

But yeah, I get it. Non-IT people love them and I do understand why. But if you want customization and enterprise scalability they have no place. Shiny toys

[mopinko]

67. my ex built his own from the get go, too. he urged me to go mac when i started doing graphic design.

it's funny. i had great tech support cuz he couldn't stand to have a non-working computer.
the only time i had a problem was when i accidentally deleted a system font.
him- i know nothing about macs.
me- but, but, but
him- ok, i'll ask the google.
and- ok, yeah, unix. i got this.

he behaved after that.

[Hobo]

60. It's pretty...

Fucking simple, do you homework. If you want to do the actions listed in article, don't buy an iPhone.

Clickbait of Clickbait

Hobo

[milestogo]

64. Never had one, never will.

[RegularJam]

68. Love iPhone jealousy....

And I'm not even a fan of Apple. My iPhone does rock. Only Apple product I use.

[JCMach1]

69. Would never ever own an 🍎 product...

The lack of control is a red line I have never crossed...

I have had Windows, Linux, and Android phones since the birth of the iPhone monstrosity

[BradAllison]

70. I'e never had a problem with my iPhone

Whatever.