After spending over a decade with various Android phones, I finally made the switch to an iPhone. Here’s why I made the switch and what I’ve discovered since.

The Struggles with Samsung/Android

1. Slow Shutter on Samsung Flagships: One of my biggest gripes with Samsung’s flagship phones has been the slow shutter and shutter lag. Trying to capture a moving subjects often resulted in blurry photos or missed shots entirely. This has been an issue with Samsung phones for many years.

2. Google’s Service Abandonment: Google has a notorious history of abandoning services. The most recent one being the Podcasts app. The podcast experience on YouTube Music is just terrible.

3. Hardware Design: The Samsung S24 Ultra has sharp corners that make it uncomfortable to hold. The Pixel 8 phones have issues with connectivity and overheating. The S24+ comes with an inferior Exynos processor.

4. Performance: No matter how fast the hardware is, Android phones always seem to slow down and stutter after a few months of use. It’s like they age in dog years. (My most recent Samsung phone was the S23+, and it already started lagging).

5. Apps: Android apps have an inconsistent look and feel. It’s like a patchwork quilt made by someone who doesn’t know how to sew. Also, a lot of Android apps require excessive permissions.

6. Disaster: A Samsung update once made my phone unbootable. I had to do a full reset and lost some data. People said I should have made a backup before the update, but Android doesn't provide an easy way to completely backup the phone. That was the last straw.

The iPhone Revelation

1. Shortcuts: The Shortcuts app on iPhone is a game-changer. It automates tasks in ways I never thought possible.

2. Face ID: Face ID on the iPhone is leagues ahead of Samsung’s version and even better than Touch ID. It’s fast, reliable, and just works. With the amount of unlocks I need everyday, this turns out to be more impactful than I expected.

3. Files App: The Files app is actually useful, and it has built-in support for Windows file shares.

4. Look & Feel: Everything on iOS feels smoother and more premium. The animations, the UI design – it’s all just so polished.

5. Audio: It’s much easier to select audio output in-app when connected to multiple Bluetooth devices and AirPlay.

6. Driving: CarPlay is a joy to use compared to Android Auto. Plus, Apple Maps has better voice directions.

7. Emulators: Emulators are now possible to use on iPhone without jailbreaking.

Switching to iPhone has been a breath of fresh air. While Android gave me more freedom and customizations. The consistency, reliability, and overall experience of iOS have won me over.

What was your experience switching to/from "the dark side"?

Amazon (AMZN.O) is planning a major revamp of its decade-old money-losing Alexa service to include a conversational generative AI with two tiers of service and has considered a monthly fee of around $5 to access the superior version, according to people with direct knowledge of the company's plans.

My favourites:

Augmented Steam - Augmented Steam is a browser extension by IsThereAnyDeal that improves your experience on the Steam platform by providing helpful information and tons of customization options.

Bitwarden Password Manager - At home, at work, or on the go, Bitwarden easily secures all your passwords, passkeys, and sensitive information.

ClearURLs - Removes tracking elements from URLs

Dictionary Anywhere - View definitions easily as you browse the web. Double-click any word to view its definition in a small pop-up bubble. It also supports Spanish, German, French language alongside English. Enjoy Reading Uninterrupted!!!

Don't track me Google - Removes the annoying link-conversion at Google Search / maps / ...

Facebook Container - Prevent Facebook from tracking you around the web. The Facebook Container extension for Firefox helps you take control and isolate your web activity from Facebook.

Google Container - Prevent Google from tracking you around the web. The Google Container extension helps you take control and isolate your web activity from Google.

LibRedirect - Redirects YouTube, Twitter, TikTok... requests to alternative privacy friendly frontends.

Sidebery - Vertical tabs tree and bookmarks in sidebar with advanced containers configuration, grouping and many other features.

Startpage - This search engine extension protects users from being tracked while allowing them to search the web in complete privacy. Startpage is a private search engine with no tracking, storing, or selling users’ search history.

Undo Close Tab - Allows you to restore the tab you just closed with a single click—plus it can offer a list of recently closed tabs within a convenient context menu.

uBlock Origin - Finally, an efficient wide-spectrum content blocker. Easy on CPU and memory.

According to zombbo, the developer of Censor Tracker: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/censor-tracker/

I am one of the developers of the Censor Tracker add-on, which is listed on Mozilla’s add-on repository. We recently noticed that our add-on is now unavailable in Russia, despite being developed specifically to circumvent censorship in Russia.

We have not changed any visibility settings, nor have we received any emails regarding this action.

Our Russian users now see this message when they visit the page of Censor Tracker:

*That page is not available in your region.

The page you tried to access is not available in your region.

You may be able to find what you’re looking for in one of the available extensions or themes, or by asking for help on our community forums.*

Can anyone suggest or explain what this is related to? Was there some request from the Russian authorities to make the extension unavailable in Russia or is there some other reason for this decision on Mozilla’s part?

Once my work day is over and my baby is asleep, there’s nothing I love more than settling in with my weighted blanket, grabbing some pillows, and playing video games. I don’t get to play video games as much as I’d like to anymore, so I need every tool at my disposal working for me to make sure I can maximize my time. I reached out to my fellow gamers here at Mozilla, and here’s how we use Firefox to help us game.

[Community Challenge 38] The Night Feeling

The Night Feeling

The Night Feeling is the thoughtful nostalgic emotion you feel when you walk/drive alone at night, or see a city skyline at dusk with the wind in your face.

The feeling you get when you’re feeling lonely but at peace, thoughtful but melancholy, and homesick for something you can’t quite remember.

Inspired by: !thenightfeeling@lemmy.world

Rules

• Follow the community’s rules above all else
• One comment and image per user
• Embed image directly in the post (no external link)
• Workflow/Prompt sharing encouraged (we’re all here for fun and learning)
• Posts that are tied will both get the points
• The challenge runs for 7 days from now on
• Down votes will not be counted

Scores

At the end of the challenge each post will be scored:

• Most upvoted: +3 points
• Second most upvoted: +2 pointS
• Third most upvoted: +1 point
• OP’s favorite: +1 point
• Last two entries (to compensate for less time to vote): +1 point
• Prompt and workflow included: +1 point
• Most creative: +1 point

The winner gets to pick next theme! Have fun everyone!