@corlin @Valkyrie_D Having traveled a lot overseas, I can say that getting around without a smartphone can be very difficult. Recharging travel cards for public transport or booking a ticket on a high-speed train pretty much requires a computer or smartphone. Looking up train and bus schedules, calling a cab, etc. are difficult without a smartphone. Locking and unlocking your credit card to prevent theft is simplified. Translating signs and posters is a breeze with a translator in your pocket.

@peterquirk @Valkyrie_D

True.
If I traveled overseas today, I would buy a cheap smartphone, used. In the country I am visiting.
And put very little personal info on it. Just the absolute necessary.

@opie I’m also surprised by the results thus far!!! And, the arguments are very valid and reasonable!

@thedisasterautist @Valkyrie_D
Move across all devices seamlessly makes apple superior in my book.

@thedisasterautist @Valkyrie_D

I have an older iMac, an apple tablet and previously an iPhone, there was no way to move old photos to the phone. Tried everything. Specifically, there was no way to move old Samsung phone images to the iPhone. I could move DSLR pics from the Mac to the phone, it would not move Samsung pics.

@KGinKS @Valkyrie_D: I haven't had an Android phone since maybe 2012, but I did see this just now. Seems a bit convoluted, but Samsung and Apple do absolutely hate each other.

https://youtu.be/Tmbgep5_aOU

@KGinKS @Valkyrie_D: I saw this as well, though as you said, you may've already given it a shot.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT205063

@KGinKS @Valkyrie_D: Years ago I moved my photos directly from my Motorola Android to my Mac via USB and then they shot into the iPhoto Cloud thingy, but that was back in the day before cables were longer cool.

@thedisasterautist @Valkyrie_D

I saw it. I could copy anything from iTunes to the iPhone EXCEPT Samsung photos.

Three hours, on and off, with tech support at apple. Ok, try this, I'll call back in 30 minutes. No resolution. The following Monday they announced they were killing iTunes and splitting into separate modules, no further updates. 3 hours.

@KGinKS @Valkyrie_D: I hated iTunes on Android. I'm not that big a fan of it on Apple.

I'm old. So I almost always move things manually, like we did in the old say when there was no cloud and everything had to be done via cable transfer.

@KGinKS @Valkyrie_D: I'm not a fan of anyone's tech support centers. Rarely had any positive experiences. Not infrequently I knew more than their CSR ops, and other times, as happened to you, they never called back. I did always get the "How Did We Do?" emails.

@thedisasterautist @Valkyrie_D That feature becomes much less impressive once you find out they built it for the explicit purpose of pursuing vendor lock-in.

I wish the mobile OS market was more diversified, though - it'd be nice if instead of 2 major usable options, there were... IDK, 12.

IMHO, Apple's walled garden & anti-consumer practices are lame... & Google's everything-written-in-Java "wonderland" of software inefficiency annoys me.

More options would force them to make better systems.

@IrelandTorin @Valkyrie_D: I'm buying and using my computers and peripherals for me. Also, I don't use loads of different apps and other software whatnottery, as my tech use is minimal and practical. So if vendors get locked in that is on them, and I don't find Apple's practice in any way less impressive for it. If they are indeed practicing legally actionable anti-consumer practices, then by all means, they should be held to account. As for the walled garden, that's eminently superior to...

@IrelandTorin @Valkyrie_D: ...Google's comically under-curated and laughably cyberinsecure "Javaland", at least as far as I am concerned.

Microsoft waited years and years too late to come out with their Windows Phone, and I had one and dug it well enough, but oh well.

Apple's slid noticeably on quality since Steve died, and I say that as a general "Steve's a real asshole" person for years and years. But they're still better than Google anything, FMM.

Alas, I only work with what tech is...

@IrelandTorin @Valkyrie_D: ...available, not what could've been if someone somewhere at some time had done something different or something. Yeah, more options would be better, but we do not have them, and at least as far as I am concerned, I cannot invent them or even invest in any candidates. So it's above my pay-grade, and I don't worry about it.

@thedisasterautist @Valkyrie_D Well, technically speaking there is a third alternative (or a whole spectrum of alternatives, depending on how you count), but it's... well, last I heard, it wasn't exactly the most polished experience out there. Yet. Although that could've changed since I last checked - that was a while ago.

I'm talking about non-Android linux distros targeting smartphones.

A few that come to mind: PostmarketOS, Mobian, Arch Linux ARM, and OpenSUSE ARM.

@thedisasterautist @Valkyrie_D Presumably you could also use KDE Plasma Mobile on Gentoo running on ARM, but that would probably be considerably more of a headache to set up... even if for no other reason than because Gentoo.

@IrelandTorin @Valkyrie_D: I’ve heard of the Linux and OpenSUSE ARMs.