Android

What hackers pick instead

• Apple iOSRecommended for strong security, privacy and years of updates, but critics dislike the iOS 26 Liquid Glass redesign, input lag and bugs, and Apple's restrictions on apps and APIs.308recommend
• LineageOSA free Android distribution that gives old or unsupported phones new life with more control and less Google, though critics cite lagging security patches, unlocked bootloaders and banking-app breakage.186recommend
• /e/OSRecommended as a privacy-focused, de-Googled Android for phones that works well day to day. Most common caveat: app compatibility, especially apps that need Google Play services.89recommend
• Sailfish OSLinux-based phone OS with a gesture UI and Android app support, valued as a real third option. Critics often cite weaker privacy and security than AOSP.80recommend
• Ubuntu TouchPeople recommend its open Linux freedom, root access, clean interface and stable daily use. Common caveat: few apps, and volunteers now maintain it after Canonical defunded it.35recommend

Every quote

The 40 most detailed of 1434 comments. Each links to the original.

1. Android users highlight a better system. On that platform, developers must separate promotional, transactional, and service-related notifications into channels.

   Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “Duolingo Used iPhone's Dynamic Island to Display Ads, Violating Apple Design GUI”

2. I would not consider having to send a copy of my government ID to Google, or having them be able to block apps when so ordered by government, to be acceptable.

   Mixed · Apr 2026 · in “Phone is about to stop being yours”

3. Sounds like just trying to save face, they didn't have a language of "we're only _MAYBE_ stopping everyone from installing non-verified apps" back then.

   Mixed · Nov 2025 · in “Android developer verification: Early access starts”

4. Android was built from the ground up for mobile devices and handles things like background apps, notifications, and charging as expected on a phone.

   Recommends · Aug 2026 · in “GrapheneOS in 2027 available on high-end Motorola phones”

5. Android practices the principal of least privilege where individual permissions are granted instead of giving it blanket access to everything.

   Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “A new Android malware from Google”

6. Yes, now, the issue I'm talking about is solved for the general public on the latest Android devices! At reported cost to power users.

   Mixed · Apr 2026 · in “Android now stops you sharing your location in photos”

7. I specifically use Android because of this, among other requirements, that Apple imposes on software development on their platform.

   Recommends · Aug 2026 · in “Google replaced Git tags for certain source code with obtaining via Google Drive”

8. Android is a unified system working together to make the device race to sleep as fast as possible, with as few wakeups as feasible

   Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “Phosh 0.56.0”

9. I can get the source of the kernel, including all drivers, running on my android phone with a few clicks and build a custom ROM.

   Recommends · Nov 2025 · in “Android 16 QPR1 is being pushed to the Android Open Source Project”

10. you can still install arbitrary APKs (after a 24-hour wait period). This alone still puts android leagues and bounds above iOS.

    Recommends · Oct 2026 · in “AOSP Source Releases Are So Late Developers Disassemble Libraries to Report Bugs”

11. Android does help a little for existing toggles by giving you an 'About 129 notifications per day' blurb below the entry.

    Mixed · May 2026 · in “What Apple and Google are doing to your push notifications”

12. Android is by far the most optimized OS (as a whole, including user space, graphics stack everything) for mobile devices.

    Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “Phosh 0.56.0”

13. Android 17 fixed a massive number of privacy weaknesses including vulnerabilities which will not have patches backported.

    Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “Fairphone 6 wide camera experimental Linux support”

14. I can pick any 10yo old android phone from my drawer and develop for it, no problem and without asking for permissions.

    Mixed · Apr 2026 · in “Phone is about to stop being yours”

15. The hardware and software security of Android/iOS/iPadOS/GOS devices are leagues ahead of Linux servers in all aspects

    Recommends · Aug 2026 · in “GrapheneOS in 2027 available on high-end Motorola phones”

16. On Android, if you don't like Google providing the service, you can switch to OpenAI, Alexa, or even your own service.

    Recommends · Nov 2025 · in “Apple nears $1B Google deal for custom Gemini model to power Siri”

17. I think Android does it properly too because they have to handle an entire zoo of screen sizes and resolutions there.

    Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “Microsoft forced me to switch to Linux”

18. Remote Attestation and Developer Verification both make Android OS and platform more secure against malicious actors

    Recommends · Nov 2025

19. Android is better because they allow you to change individual notifications right from the notifications themselves

    Recommends · May 2026 · in “What Apple and Google are doing to your push notifications”

20. It's really a shame I can't actually do what I want like with android where I could make custom permanent free apps

    Recommends · Nov 2025 · in “People are using iPad OS features on their iPhones”

21. On Android, if you don't like the app store(s) that came with the device, you can use another one or none at all.

    Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “Apple testing new App Store design that blurs the line between ads and results”

22. The hostility of Google's business side towards projects based on AOSP has also led to many additional issues for the Pixel OS which could have been avoided.

    Criticizes · Oct 2026 · in “GrapheneOS has fixed the Android 17 QPR1 kernel performance regression”

23. Android is closed-source but with some open-source components, for only some of which they'll actually follow the license and give you the source code.

    Criticizes · Jul 2026 · in “Why the future is local app”

24. Most of power-user's potential self-defense mechanisms against abusive and monopolist app and service providers are intentionally neutered by Android

    Criticizes · Sep 2026 · in “How Fairphone built the Fairphone Gen 6+”

25. Their solution will be to push mandatory and nonconsensual updates to your devices which limit your device and your freedom in the name of security.

    Criticizes · Apr 2026 · in “Codex for Almost Everything”

26. Google should not be allowed to fraudulently go back on their promise now that they have driven the other open ecosystems out of the marketplace.

    Criticizes · Mar 2026 · in “Android: Balancing Openness and Choice with Safety”

27. They've been chipping away at AOSP for years, pulling more and more parts of the Android experience into their proprietary Google Play Services.

    Criticizes · Sep 2026 · in “F-Droid 2.0”

28. Android users will at some point next year not be able to install software unless the developer has paid and registered itsef with Google

    Criticizes · Nov 2025

29. the way how they introduced the "For how long should you be able to install apps?" question is a hook that makes you think about timing

    Criticizes · Mar 2026 · in “Android: Balancing Openness and Choice with Safety”

30. It's a clear loss of functionality for a group of people who are educated about the advantages and disadvantages of embedded EXIF data.

    Criticizes · Apr 2026 · in “Android now stops you sharing your location in photos”

31. There's a long history of Google slowly making the experience worse if you want to take advantage of the things that make Android open.

    Criticizes · Nov 2025 · in “Gemini 3”

32. Android was successful in multiple fronts in replacing C. Its "intents" and low level interface description language for hardware interfaces are great replacement for C ABI.

    Recommends · Feb 2026 · in “C Isn't a Language”

33. Google seems to be doing the right thing mostly though. Providing both the locked down device, and making provisions for people who want the non-standard option too.

    Recommends · Feb 2026 · in “F-Droid: "Keep Android Open"”

34. Android's userspace is largely specifically written to run on top of the Linux kernel with extensive use of SELinux and other Linux-specific APIs.

    Mixed · Aug 2026 · in “GrapheneOS in 2027 available on high-end Motorola phones”

35. Yes android was more customizable, and yes the universal back and home buttons are still better than the multi tap and hidden gestures on iOS

    Mixed · Apr 2026 · in “Phone is about to stop being yours”

36. In this case Android only knows the file-structure and EXIF because the file is requested by Chrome from a Media Library in the OS

    Mixed · Apr 2026 · in “Android now stops you sharing your location in photos”

37. All of those capabilities more or less exist on Android, which is why multiple smartwatch ecosystems have been built on top of it

    Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “iOS 26.3 brings AirPods-like pairing to third-party devices in EU under DMA”

38. Older versions of android are completely vulnerable as they allow user level storage access between apps with user confirmation.

    Mixed · Nov 2025 · in “Insecure Data Storage in IoT Smart Lock App”

39. Once Android lost the plot again, and especially in the US market, all that energy started going in some very silly directions.

    Mixed · Jul 2026 · in “Qwen3.8 is launching and going open-weight soon”

40. On Android you can just have two accounts logged in at the same time, so there's no need to switch regions in the first place.

    Recommends · Jun 2026 · in “Siri AI”