I‘ve been in the Apple ecosystem for over half my life.
But lately, I find myself increasingly frustrated by Apple's behavior. There are many reasons, but it boils down to their arrogance. While I don‘t agree with everything the EU decided, Apple's public reactions irritate me.
So I‘ve wondered if I should make the switch to Android, in part thanks to my ongoing love affair with the Boox Palma (the Mac is less of a problem due to its more open nature; the iPad... is the iPad— but I‘m planning to pick up a Boox Note Air 3c).
However, I have often realized that I‘m stuck with iOS. And it‘s not due to the Apple ecosystem: I only use iMessage with two people, iCloud for backup storage and photo sync, and subscribe to no other Apple service. I could quickly replace these services without much hassle.
The reason I don't believe I can switch is because of the indie app ecosystem. I rely on many apps that have no Android equivalent or alternatives remotely as polished.
Here are all the apps I rely on and I would miss:
- Reeder
- Overcast
- Craft
- Bear
- Photomator
- Halide
- Ivory
- Parcel
- Soulver
- Paste
- Things (though I use Reminders right now)
- Game Track
- Carrot
- Darkroom
- Fantastical
It also doesn‘t help that many of the cross-platform apps available on Android tend to be much less polished than their iOS counterparts.
So while Apple may disagree with me (and do so very publicly) and think the success of the iPhone and iOS is solely their own merit, I argue that without the third-party developers, we would still talk of Apple as the iPod company.