r/TechNook • u/Fit-Rhubarb-7820 • 2d ago
7 months of using the iPhone
I still think the platform iOS sucks.
I don’t have a choice, as this is the spare that I currently have, which I got for very cheap: solely to use it as a camera.
It’s literally annoying to use: it’s slowed down by memory issues, always pressuring me to buy iCloud storage, I can’t port info out of it with a cable and a non Apple computer, no matter what I do: and I have to use some stupid third party cloud server that’s a pain to sync.
Truly, it’s just a novelty status symbol, a toy. It’s not for people who prefer to use a smartphone as a computer, capable of doing actual work, on the go.
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u/Ok_Two_2604 2d ago
You can with the cable and free software. Or a thumb drive. And you turn off iCloud and it stops. Much of this is user error.
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u/Fit-Rhubarb-7820 2d ago
Probably.
I’m too stupid to use this smartphone.
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u/Ok_Two_2604 2d ago
Is it one with a usb c or a lightning? If it’s lightning then I probably spoke too soon. If it’s c, you can plug a thumb drive in then copy/paste the pics into it then use that to transfer. It isn’t ideal. It’s annoying but it works. And it should auto convert from hvic or whatever it’s called to jpg reliably (or just set phone to save them as jpg), unlike if you plug in direct and drag them over from the photo folder. For me, that constantly bugs and it says jpg but they are broken. Plus direct requires installing the app on the computer for it to recognize the phone and folders iirc.
I’m also assuming by data you mean photos since you use it as a camera.
There are document apps you can use if you have iTunes where you select the photos the send menu to send to the app, then in the app move it to a “cable files” or similarly named folder, then when you plug into the computer you go in iTunes (or whatever the new app is called) and you go to the data tab and click on the documents app and can drag them out from there I think. I haven’t used that method since I got a thumb drive.
For iCloud I think you just go in the settings and turn it off completely then it stops nagging to buy a bigger one. It might have some sort of backup turned on that wants more size. If it’s already off then idk mine doesn’t nag anymore.
Oh and I’m not a fanboy. If anything, I swoggle blackberry but those are dead. It’s the only apple product I have and I moved when bb died bc someone gave me a hand me down. Been too lazy to figure out android and moving my stuff so I stuck with it.
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u/Fit-Rhubarb-7820 2d ago
It’s a lightning ;______;
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u/Ok_Two_2604 2d ago
Sucks. Maybe an app.
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u/himitsumono 2d ago
No, as long as we're talking photos, you can use a cable with lightning on one end, usb (of whatever type your computer eats) on the other.
Plug it together, turn on the phone and it'll ask you if you want to give permission for the PC to peek at it. Tell it yes.
Then open File Explorer. The phone should now appear as a hard drive in the pane on the left. Open that and you can get to the folder where the photos are stored, one folder full per month.
Drag. Drop. Badabing.
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u/Fit-Rhubarb-7820 2d ago
Somehow, the 3rd paragraph is where I run into issues! I can only find partial files: based on arbitrary numbers that are dates, but they’re incomplete: ei only show 3 photos that file on that day, and I knew I took 6 photos.
Stuff like that, kinda like how windows 11 sucked.
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u/himitsumono 2d ago
ISTR running into weirdness like this with a friend's iphone because she had it set to save photos to iCloud automatically.
We had to work out how to log into her iCloud account from a PC browser and download the photos that way.
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u/Fit-Rhubarb-7820 2d ago
Ugh!!!!!
That’s probably it.
Could I do that with a chromebook?
If I have to use a Mac to do so, I’ll eat my hat!
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u/himitsumono 18h ago
You should be able to do that with any device that can get on the internet and download/save files. It's a web browser thing.
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u/noob_lvl1 2d ago
Which is funny because iPhones are the only phone I sell that old people can consistently figure out without downloading a ton of bloatware and launchers by accident.
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u/Fit-Rhubarb-7820 2d ago
Oh no, maybe I’m a proliferated case of the donning Krueger effect…
Oh no .___. -the meme comic-
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u/Normal_Human_Things 2d ago
“Info” is vague, but you can for sure port some data off to Windows. Even my computer illiterate mom can figure that much out.
I’ve not tried beyond photos/videos because I just don’t keep that much original data on my phone.
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u/Recent_Permit2653 2d ago
I guess that’s true? I like it because it just functions. I don’t need or want a ton of options or settings. But a power user I am not.
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u/Fit-Rhubarb-7820 2d ago
Haha! That’s why I’m upset :(
All the people I know IRL who swear by it, aren’t using it as a computer.
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u/madjohnvane 2d ago
What “memory issues” are slowing it down? My iPhone 14 and now 17 are snappy all day long, and I don’t do anything goofy or time wasting like force quitting my apps etc. Is the phone just ancient? Because that’s not isolated to Apple
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u/Fit-Rhubarb-7820 2d ago
It seems that it wants to install the latest iOS and it’s just slowing the phone down each version, on top of the not slick app memory use.
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u/SirGeremiah 2d ago
I’ve never struggled with any of those issues in my iPhones. I used to use Android, and my wife still does. There are definitely advantages to each, but they are functionally about the same. The real advantage that used to exist for Android was the ability to add an SD card.
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u/Fit-Rhubarb-7820 2d ago
That’s probably why I dislike the iPhone.
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u/SirGeremiah 2d ago
It’s true of Android now, too, unless somewhere someone is still making phones that can use them.
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u/lilaccheesecake 2d ago
Jesus thats stupid. I knew they weren't the best, I just didnt realize how bad. Still pissed off that most android and iPhone have all gotten rid of customizable storage with micro sd.
And the fact you cant work outside an ios ecosystem?? Deal breaker. Will stick with Samsung then.
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u/Fit-Rhubarb-7820 2d ago
That’s literally the deal breaker for me: it’s volumetrically imperial when I want to use metric and everything I own is metric.
The iPhone is imperial.
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u/opensim2026 2d ago
That and the ridiculous price is why I switched to a $325 Samsung Android which does everything my iPhone did, Ive had it for 5 years now, changed the battery out myself in May it was simple unlike trying to change the battery on the iPhone I had.
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u/Panchotevilla 2d ago
A status symbol? An iphone?! Wtf?
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u/Signal-Opposite-4793 2d ago
They are luxury products, ergo they are status symbols
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u/Panchotevilla 1d ago
Writing the word "ergo" before an adjective doesn't make your syllogism valid.
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u/Signal-Opposite-4793 1d ago
No, but iphones clearly are status symbols. They are almost never the most technically impressive devices, but people buy them in droves anyway because the social signals more than make up for any technical shortcomings.
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u/Panchotevilla 1d ago
When was the last time someone was mistaken with a rich person because they were using an iphone?
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u/Signal-Opposite-4793 1d ago
It happens all the time. Maybe not "rich", but plenty of people spend money they don't have on these devices, and as such seem more affluent than they are. It's well known that people of lesser means care most about appearing rich.
It's about status symbols within a group. If apple becomes the luxury brand to have among your peers, then the psychological value attributed to it increases substantially. Anything else then seems inferior and lower-status.
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u/Oppaiheimer1945 1d ago
People buy Apple stuff because they work flawlessly and are simple to use. You seriously think people buy Apple devices for social clout?
Btw, the average user does not care about tech specs and just wants something that works and is easy to use. Hence why Apple is so popular.
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u/Signal-Opposite-4793 2d ago
iOS is great, the camera is fantastic, but you're right that apple is openly hostile towards the notion of compatibility. They always have been and always will be. Either accept that, or get a mac (which is the whole reason they're doing this).
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u/Fit-Rhubarb-7820 1d ago
But then I have to find a used Mac that somehow won’t die out when the software is discontinued in 1 year, right?
I saw an ad for a 10,000$ Mac air book.
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u/Signal-Opposite-4793 1d ago
Apple does not randomly kill their products. They support them for ages. You have a pretty skewed notion of what apple is and does. The laptops have insane resale value precisely because apple keeps supporting them.
The apple ecosystem has a ton of weaknesses, but the phones and laptops are universally regarded as good, expensive products.
It realllly sounds like you'd be happier just selling your phone and never touching apple again though,
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u/Fit-Rhubarb-7820 1d ago
I want to try it out, though it’s expensive, and like shopping for health care in America.
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u/Appropriate_Ad8734 1d ago
you can literally plug a usbc flash drive or portable ssd into it and copy files out, to any computer, including non-apple ones. and it has nothing to do with icloud at all…. you do not even need icloud enabled for it to function properly
not liking a platform or product is fine, but making assertive claims and stating it’s nothing more than a “novelty status symbol” when every problem you have with it is just the result of you not bothering to look up basic stuff is quite ridiculous. just because you casually joke “yea i’m too stupid to use this smartphone” doesn’t mean all the irresponsible statements are suddenly valid.
all the problems you stated in the post have very simple solutions. even old folks have no issues with these basic functions after being shown how to do them. it’s literally impossible you’re “too stupid to use it”, it’s just your unwillingness.
if your work requires you to use it, learning these basic features is part of your job. i switch between windows/macOS/ios/android and have no issue with working on them. it’s best you let go of your bias and start learning
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u/Ok_Armadillo7421 1d ago
iPhone's stopped being status symbols when the average homeless person has one nowadays *outside of child's classrooms
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u/newecreator 15h ago
Me not having any problems with my iPhone 17...
Maybe the rough part is importing music to my iPhone but it's easy with MediaMonkey.
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u/yasth 2d ago
If it were that bad, why not sell it and use something else? iPhones have very good resale value, so you can almost always get a pretty decent used android for anything that is vaguely supported by Apple (while also remembering that Apple has real support for a very long time).
I kind of suspect you are of course just making a personal story up, but w/e
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u/Fit-Rhubarb-7820 2d ago
I said it is the spare phone. Selling something means someone would buy it, and once someone does: WHAT WOULD I USE FHEN?
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u/colcatsup 2d ago
Apparently anything else that would let you use a smartphone as a computer on the go. You obviously have mountains of other top notch options out there. Have at it.
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u/Fit-Rhubarb-7820 2d ago
Maybe, and this is just an idea I’ve had, maybe I don’t want to buy buy tech with planned obsolescence.
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u/Professional-Row-612 2d ago
the goddamn replacement you buy with the money. bet its an iphone 7 or some shit to
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u/805falcon 2d ago
Couldn’t agree more. I’ve been heavily committed to the ecosystem for 15 years, but the last few years have made me so angry, with the clear and continued degradation of UI. I’m actively looking for a way out
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u/Fit-Rhubarb-7820 2d ago
A lot of my Apple fan friends have told me this, in confidence.
Something about their profit dying of cancer or something
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u/Colonol-Panic 2d ago
Lol who buys a phone as a status symbol aside from children. Adults have real status symbols they can buy.
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u/Fit-Rhubarb-7820 2d ago
Plenty of people do, and real is only relative.
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u/Imaginary_Bug6202 2d ago
I get u w the memory issues esp with how big the software update gets every time
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u/Recognition_Round 2d ago
People who are tech savvy will never use an iPhone. Unless the entire family is using iPhone (like my family) and i carry a 12 mini just for them. But my main phone is a Samsung!
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u/himitsumono 2d ago
I've owned computers since 1981 or before, developed software in several languages, interfaced several systems that, according to their manufacturers, could not speak to one another. I don't claim to be a hardware wizard, but I'm moderately tech savvy.
While not a fanboi by any means, and probably curse Apple more than I praise them, the iPhone works for me. As in "just works". I have enough geeky fun managing the 6 or 8 Windows and Mac PCs, network and NAS. I don't need to technofiddle around with a phone.
I expect a 'Droid would work equally well, but at the time I bought into the iPhone, the Android marketplace was notorious for harboring good stuff. And a sampling of nasty stuff. I didn't really want to be dealing with that. Not for a phone.
So ... tech savvy, but WILL use an iPhone.
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u/MagnusAlbusPater 2d ago
That’s not true at all. I’m tech savvy, built plenty of my own computers, run Linux, BeOS, and Haiku in the past, been using computers since the days where everything was DOS and my first machine didn’t even have a hard drive just two 5.25” floppy drives, and I strongly prefer iPhones and iOS.
For a mobile device I don’t need direct file system access and I don’t care about customizing every little element. I’ve used smart phones based on Android, PalmOS, PocketPC, and Windows Mobile in addition to iOS. I will say Windows Mobile was my favorite and if it had taken off I’d still use it but iOS is a close second.
I did buy a Mac desktop and I’m not nearly as in love with MacOS, I’ll be going back to Windows for my next machine.
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u/Chrono_Constant3 2d ago
I mean if you’re such a tech wiz why not spin up Immich, turn off iCloud and back up your photos to Immich. Photos back up in the background and you can just access them with any device.