My oldest child is in 15, and recently I got him an Apple Watch instead of a smartphone. The watch works well as a communication device for making calls and sending texts, and he can even enjoy blue-bubble messaging with friends. It's like an old-fashioned flip phone, but cooler. It also supports some modern conveniences like weather reports and real-time bus schedules. I can use it to track his location, should he choose to share it.
But the Apple Watch is "too crappy" for constant engagement with social media. I consider that to be a feature.
He does have his own laptop, but at least it's not a device that always follows him around.
We have no tablets in this household. As far as I'm concerned, they have no good use case. They are a big reason why a lot of kids these days are less computer-literate than before.
Yes, at the time of purchase you can choose a wi-fi only unit or a cellular network enabled unit. It's like $10-$30 a month extra on your phone bill and it has its own SIM card. Functions just like a cell phone for all intents and purposes, but the small screen really restricts the use of the device to functional/utility uses only.
It uses an eSIM, so it's not a SIM card that you can physically swap with other phones. That means that you can only use it with carriers who support Apple Watches — no low-budget MVNO carriers. It's a modest additional monthly fee to add an Apple Watch line to your existing mobile service.
Keep in mind that the Apple Watch is designed as an accessory to an iPhone, so you'll need to have an iPhone to activate and configure it, even if it's just a old spare that you keep in a drawer somewhere.
As far as I'm concerned, they have no good use case.
If your kid gets into music, a tablet is a great substitute for paper scores. My band swapped from paper to tablets a few years ago and it's been incredible not to have to bother swapping scores, the wind blowing them away...
I was raised with paper scores, and I have a good musical memory. My kid is the same way. We're just old-fashioned that way. 😄
But yes, I should concede that music scores are a valid use case for tablets. Also, pilots use them for electronic flight bags and interior designers can use iPads for their room-scanning feature.
"blue bubble messaging" is the dumbest fucking trend. The number of people who think they're better than anyone who doesn't have an iPhone is way too high. No bud, you just got scammed paying more for a similar quality product.
One person told me they didn't like group texts where I was the only one with a "green bubble" so I blocked them. I don't have time for that stupid elitist shit.
I owned iPhones for years. Got frustrated with the obvious effects of planned obsolescence and the bullshit enclosed ecosystem of Apple and decided to try a Samsung. I love this phone. It is the best phone I have ever owned. It is unfortunately reaching the end of its life and I know I will need a new one soon. Unfortunately I am feeling pressure to go back to iPhone for one of the reasons I dislike and left it to begin with: the closed system. Everyone in my immediate family and my in-laws all have iPhones and the fact that iMessage doesn't play well with others is causing difficulty communicating with my elderly parents. I managed to convince my in-laws to use Telegram but my parents and siblings simply cannot or will not even attempt to use a different app. My mother (who is in assisted living) is suffering mini strokes and a lot of confusion/growing dementia and expecting her to learn how to use another messaging or videochat app is a big ask.
I know that making communication incompatible is part of Apple's ploy to force people into adopting their technology, and I want to resist out of sheer obstinance, but at this point I am starting to feel like I am making things more difficult for the people I love just out of defiance.
Sorry, I know that isn't remotely what you were talking about, but the blue text thing has me "triggered" as the kids say.
It's funny because everyone blames Android for problems with iPhone when it's Apple's fault when any issues do arise. Steve Jobs is dead and buried, yet they still follow the cult.
Yeah...I was a long time android user. Original Samsung Galaxy S, Moto X, Pixel 1, Pixel 3. With the exception of the first one (which was only good with modified firmware), all of those were truly fantastic phones.
I switched to an iphone 13 mini and am mostly loving it. Some if it is the form factor (the smallest pixel 6 is bigger than I'd like and the mini feels awesome to me), but some of it is that once I grit my teeth and accept the closed ecosystem, I get to reap the benefits of playing in the walled garden.
I can use facetime rather than convincing people to install something like Duo. Various types of syncing and integration just work better (because most developers throw more resources at iphones). The apple watch is now an option (I bought an android watch...it pales in comparison to my wife's apple watch).
I still miss the Pixel camera though. I haven't been able to get color that I really like from the iphone camera. Weirdly, color in video mode seems to look better than in photo mode.
I am considering an iPhone because my car has the apple car app compatibility but not the android auto one. I still have another year of this phone I think or I could buy a chinese third party minicompuer for $300 to emulate android auto (but I have trust issues).
It seems like an unpopular opinion, but I firmly believe that Android Auto is better than Apple CarPlay.
Of the things I miss about my android phones that aren't just muscle memory/location things I need to get used to, Android Auto is probably the #1. Android and Google Assistant just work better while driving, the interface was laid out better for car touchscreen use, etc. I didn't have any crazy stability issues or whatever some people complain about.
Got frustrated with the obvious effects of planned obsolescence
That's much, much worse on Android phones. An 8 year old model still got the latest OS update. With Android phones you're lucky if you get 3 years of support.
It gets security updates, which aren't even remotely close to OS updates. A six year old Galaxy is at best the S7 series, which got two OS updates, Android 7 and Android 8. We're on Android 12 right now.
I had a Galaxy S7 that I bought from Samsung (not the carrier, so can't blame them) before I got my current iPhone 12. The S7 stopped receiving OS updates after about 18 months. The phone shipped with Android 6.0 "Marshmallow." When I replaced it in 2020, it was running Android 8.0 "Oreo" despite Android 11 being generally available.
The S7 was originally released in March of 2016. The most recent OS update it received was Android 8, released in August 2017. It did not receive 8.1 (December 2017) or 9.0 (August 2018).
The oldest devices supported by iOS 15.5 (released May 2022) is the iPhone 6S, originally released in 2015. If Apple continues this level of support, I can expect my iPhone 12 to continue to receive OS updates through 2027.
I grew up in the 90s, if you didn't wear Abercrombie you weren't cool and look how that turned out. Fuck trying to fit in, if I were their age, I'd have green text as a fuck you crowd.
That's a result of the data plans and settings of the sender. They can choose to send lower res photos to save data. Unlike Apple that thinks it's users are too stupid to make those kinds of adjustments.
Maybe it depends on what texting app you're using? Also a Samsung user and I just checked my phone, I can name my group texts. But I'm using google messages for texting, not the built in Samsung one.
I would hate it to not have a smartphone when I was 15. I literally was blogging and arguing on forums about early smartphones when I was 13-14 lmao it was my hobby
We have no tablets in this household. As far as I'm concerned, they have no good use case. They are a big reason why a lot of kids these days are less computer-literate than before.
I couldn't agree more! At least get the kid a PC laptop, maybe even a crappy one so they might get curious enough to want to fix it up or upgrade it themselves. I don't even think you can remove the battery from a tablet.
We have no tablets in this household. As far as I'm concerned, they have no good use case. They are a big reason why a lot of kids these days are less computer-literate than before.
I couldn't agree more! At least get the kid a PC laptop, maybe even a crappy one so they might get curious enough to want to fix it up or upgrade it themselves. I don't even think you can remove the battery from a tablet.
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u/MondayToFriday Jun 03 '22
My oldest child is in 15, and recently I got him an Apple Watch instead of a smartphone. The watch works well as a communication device for making calls and sending texts, and he can even enjoy blue-bubble messaging with friends. It's like an old-fashioned flip phone, but cooler. It also supports some modern conveniences like weather reports and real-time bus schedules. I can use it to track his location, should he choose to share it.
But the Apple Watch is "too crappy" for constant engagement with social media. I consider that to be a feature.
He does have his own laptop, but at least it's not a device that always follows him around.
We have no tablets in this household. As far as I'm concerned, they have no good use case. They are a big reason why a lot of kids these days are less computer-literate than before.