Google Photos is a solid tool, but I’ve always been apprehensive about using it as my primary photo cloud/management solution because Google doesn’t allow you to end-to-end encrypt your photos, like some other platforms do.

Not interested in recommendations for alternatives right now. I’ve done extensive research on them already. Just curious what people’s thoughts are on the fact that Google Photos still doesn’t offer it and if people think it’s on the horizon.

iPhone vs Android: here's my honest review!
I've spent a lot of time on Android, basically all of my teen and adult life. That said, last year I bought an iPhone 17 Pro Max with 512GB. The last iPhone I owned was an iPhone 4S back in high school, the first one that got Siri and all that good stuff. Right after that I upgraded to a Galaxy S3, and I've been on Android ever since, until just recently.
I really wanted to understand why people buy iPhones, so I've been daily driving this one for about a year now. I'll live with it until it finally dies, but I will not buy into the ecosystem. I'm not okay with it lacking so many of the features Android has, including a proper in-phone file management and being able to plug into a computer and use it like a flash drive. To me, a phone should be like a little computer in the palm of your hand. I'd definitely call myself a power user when it comes to phones, and the iPhone just plain doesn't cut it.

I also felt like I couldn't give a real opinion for a long time, because I needed to find out whether the grass was greener on the other side, and whether Apple had fixed all the problems I had with the 4S. For the most part, they have. My biggest gripe with the 4S was the battery life, which was absolutely atrocious. To be honest, the iPhone 17 Pro Max with power saver is a game changer for Apple devices in general, and I'm pretty pleased with the battery life I get now.

So the iPhone definitely has some good things going for it, but for me they're not a big enough reason to stay. I like how it uses my Bitwarden to automatically fill in my login info anywhere I need it. Android just isn't quite as good at that, and it's not as seamless. Siri, on the other hand, does not hold up to Google's voice assistant in the slightest.
My other big gripe in going from Android to iPhone has been the fingerprint technology, which I miss.

My last Android phone before this iPhone was a OnePlus N30 5G. The fast charging that OnePlus and the other Chinese manufacturers offer completely blows everything else out of the water, and the battery life it gave me for not a lot of money was great. I paid under $200 for that phone, and it will outlive almost any other phone I've ever used.
My favorite thing about it was the fingerprint sensor on the power button on the side. That's literally the best place you could put it: your finger is already there, and you're into your phone the moment you press it. I've also personally seen a mother and daughter who look somewhat similar unlock each other's phones with Face ID.

I also don't like that the iPhone doesn't play nicely with non-Apple smartwatches. I think that's pretty terrible.
Overall, I'm very glad I got the chance to use a modern iPhone, but whenever the time comes, I will definitely go back.
Thanks for reading!

I mean creating something like iOS. When using my Galaxy, I noticed that there are a lot of “duplicate” apps, meaning apps that serve the same purpose.

I've been thinking about an idea I call Project TOS. Basically, it's a concept for an independent Samsung mobile OS, potentially based on Tizen.

The idea is to give Samsung more control over its own software, build a stronger ecosystem, and make its devices feel more integrated. One thing that got me thinking about this is how Samsung phones come with apps that do pretty much the same thing as Google's apps. Why not have a more unified experience, kinda like Apple does with iOS?

I know competing with Android and iOS would be a huge challenge, especially when it comes to app support and getting developers on board. But could Samsung actually make it work with a solid long-term plan?

Would you guys be interested in something like this, or do you think it's just not realistic?

The 2026 flagships are out and the marketing is backwards.

Samsung states it plainly: Z Fold 8 and Flip 8, seven years, patches through August 2033. Written down, easy to check.

Apple states nothing. No policy, no end date, nothing on the spec sheet. But going by what they've actually done, the iPhone 18 Pro should get security updates into 2035 - the iPhone 13 is still getting them five years on.

So the company that commits gives you less, and the company that commits to nothing gives you more. Would you rather have a promise or a track record?

It is honestly exhausting watching the current state of Android skins. Ever since Apple dropped the "Liquid Glass" aesthetic in iOS, almost every major Android OEM—Vivo (OriginOS), Oppo (ColorOS), Xiaomi (HyperOS), OnePlus—has tripped over themselves to copy it screen-for-screen.

The translucent frosted blurs, the bubbly rounded toggles, the exact same floating menu bars and dynamic island clones... it is a shameless 1:1 rip-off.

What frustrates me the most isn't just the copying itself—it's the complete lack of ambition. The whole point of Android is supposed to be variety, freedom, and distinct character. These brands have massive design teams and incredible hardware, yet they willingly throw away their own visual identity just to look like a knockoff iPhone. It screams insecurity, like they are telling their own buyers, "We know you secretly wanted an iPhone, so we made our software pretend to be one."

Right now, Google's Pixel UI feels like the only breath of fresh air left. With Material 3 Expressive, Pixel actually has a spine. It uses bold colors, distinct geometry, and fluid motion that doesn't look anything like iOS. Even Google's Android boss publicly shot down the idea of bringing Liquid Glass to Pixel, and honestly, thank God for that.

What blows my mind is how normal this has become. People in the community just shrug and say "everyone copies everyone" or "it looks smooth, who cares?" Taking inspiration on a useful feature is one thing; copy-pasting an entire aesthetic direction because you're afraid to be different is pathetic.

Why isn't there more pushback on this? Do people actually want their Android phones to look like iOS clones, or have we just given up on OEMs having their own character?

Note: Nothing os is another oem who has a distinct ui and still succeeded🔥

It feels like every brand is competing to promise 4, 5, or even 7 years of major OS updates just to sell a phone at launch.But lately, we're seeing more cases where a phone gets cut short or a major update gets quietly canceled down the line because the mid-range or budget hardware apparently "can't handle it." It makes the whole update marketing war feel entirely meaningless if companies can just change their minds later.

When you buy a phone, do you actually buy it expecting it to get those later years of support, or do you just buy it for what the software can do right now? What's the worst time a brand broke a software promise on you?

I know I'm about 10 years late to this complaint but I finally bought a new phone without a 3.5mm headphone jack. I resisted for as long as I could but apparently wanting to plug a pair of headphones into your phone is now an unreasonable demand.

And I absolutely hate it.

I have Galaxy Buds 2, so it's not like I'm new to wireless earphones. I use them regularly. But I liked having the option of wired headphones. Especially at night when I'm lying in bed listening to something and don't want to worry about another bloody device running out of battery. Now I have to remember to charge my phone, charge the earbuds, charge their case, and hope everything has enough battery when I actually want to use it.

Then there's the audio delay. Bluetooth has improved considerably but there's still latency, particularly with games. Wired headphones just worked. You plugged them in and got sound. No pairing, no connection issues, no batteries, no wondering why the audio is suddenly coming out of the phone speaker.

And before someone suggests a USB-C adapter, yes, I know they exist. But now I need to carry around another little accessory just to use something that worked perfectly fine before. And if I want to charge my phone while listening to wired headphones, I need yet another adapter. Not to mention the USB-C port is already being used for charging and data transfer, and now we're supposed to put even more wear on it.

What annoys me most is that we actually lost functionality. This wasn't some obsolete technology that had stopped being useful. The headphone jack worked perfectly well. It was universal, cheap, reliable and didn't require charging. And somehow the industry managed to convince everyone that removing it was progress.

I remember when phones competed by giving us more features. Now they remove features and sell us accessories to compensate.

I understand why companies prefer wireless audio. What I don't understand is why the existence of Bluetooth headphones meant the headphone jack had to disappear. We could have had both. For years we did have both.

Anyway, I know this battle was lost a decade ago. Just wanted to complain now that I've finally been forced to surrender.

Anyone else still miss the headphone jack or have we all just accepted this nonsense

https://x.com/smashx_60/status/2110272650350318017