You can use an Android phone without using any of Google services and without a Google account. Can't do that with an iPhone.

I can sideload apps and install custom ROMs. They aren't perfect but in terms of freedom they're far better.

Google is no more morally good than Apple, but at least pixels run android and are cheaper than iphones. That's basically why I have a pixel: I have no interest in an iphone (though I admit their cameras are outstanding)

> Google is no more morally good than Apple, but at least pixels run android and are cheaper than iphones. That's basically why I have a pixel: I have no interest in an iphone (though I admit their cameras are outstanding)

Honestly, the main reason I chose and prefer Android is that it's possible to side-load apps. Originally that was because I planned to develop some dumb apps for personal use and didn't want to deal with any corporate bureaucracy. I never did that, but I have no interest in losing the capability.

On iOS you can side-load apps that you build and sign yourself, even without the $99/year membership.

And you have to re build and sign them every 7 days, as opposed to the "install the APK once and it's there forever" of Android

Weird, for me it lasts a year. Maybe because my account used to subscribe?

Isn’t it only for a few weeks or something?

Nothing stops you from developing and installing your own apps on your own iPhone with Xcode. AFAIK you don’t even need to pay for a developer license. You only have to pay if you want to distribute the app to others.

The apps become invalid after about 7 days after compiling them. So for development its fine but if you are building utilities for yourself to use, it could be an issue.

> The apps become invalid after about 7 days after compiling them. So for development its fine but if you are building utilities for yourself to use, it could be an issue.

Exactly, they deliberately crippled the feature to make it too painful to bypass their corporate bureaucracy. It's only useful for the narrow uses that suit Apple. In no way is that ability comparable to side-loading on Android.

To be clear, even if you do pay up, then they still expire on each anniversary of you signing up.

Sadly Google doesn’t need to be that much better for a bunch of us. I need Gsuite apps daily. Google Maps is still the better alternative, and we all probably watch Youtube.

Getting rid of Google is not an option. The choice comes down to how much Apple I want in my phone.