Seriously Thinking about Switching Phones

[Mark112887]

This may not be the place for this but I just feel like I have to get this off my chest. Ever since this 4.3 update I have been very disappointed in Samsung, one of the main reasons I decided to go with this company when I was purchasing my cell phone is because of how open their devices were when compared to companies such as HTC.

I fell in love with android as a whole in regards to a phone OS because it afforded me the ability to do what I wanted with my software in a way that no other operating system available could do. Now that Samsung has taken it upon themselves to incorporate this new security feature into all of their new devices across the board this has quite frankly soured me on Samsung and I'm heavily considering switching to Apple being as I already have an iPad.On this forum those words might be frowned upon but the way I see it I already have a ton of applications purchased in the Apple ecosystem and I am really disgusted when it comes to what Samsung is forcing upon the people that have chosen to use their devices

I just felt the need to vent

 

[CrimsonPride]

Well what exactly are you wanting to do that you are now not able to do? I do not like the way samsung is headed with their phones either, but going from samsung to apple because you dont like being locked down is like moving from the USA to north korea because you dont like the way your government works. android is still 100 times more open than ios

 

[Mark112887]

I completely understand what you're saying because Apple is notoriously more locked down then android. However I feel very angry that Samsung has decided to do what they are doing and invalidate our hardware warranties based on something we do to our software. We are consumers, we are not in the enterprise sector and we should not be subjected to the same constraints as they are, yet we are having this new security "feature" imposed on us and I just don't think that it is right by any means whatsoever. When I spent $600 to buy a device out right I expect to own it and to be able to do what I want with it and up until now I have been able to, I completely understand Samsung refusing to do warranty repairs for people that have bricked their phones in the process of flashing custom software however when they decide to completely invalidate a products hardware warranty based on a software modification I think it is completely and totally wrong.

What I said about wanting to switch to Apple I said out of anger towards Samsung. I said this because when it comes to the Apple ecosystem I already have about 100 apps purchased and I like how easy it is to back up the device without jumping through hoops to do so. Yes Android is a more open operating system as far as being more customizable but since the addition of this new boot loader it essentially has crippled my ability to do the type of customization to my device that I would prefer to be able to do. I have to take the blame for that because I was stupid last night when I upgraded and did not do my research prior to upgrading because if I had I would've discovered the new security and stayed away from the update.

What makes me want to switch to Apple again is that since the last time I used an iPhone they have incorporated all of the features that I would normally have to jailbreak to get, so in essence a jailbreak is pretty much useless to me today because I have everything I would want with in the stock iOS.

To be honest part of me would like to hold on to my Samsung device in the hope that one of the android developers in the community will find a way to reset the counter and allow us to once again be able to downgrade and do what we please with our devices. However the current outlook on the situation does not look too promising in my opinion

 

[CrimsonPride]

well from what i have heard, samsung will still fix any hardware faults even if you have non stock software, this used to be the case but i have not kept up to date with it. i always buy a 2 year accidental damage warranty so if i do end up dropping it or even bricking it, i am covered. but i am curious as to why you say ios has all the features you want without jailbreaking, but this must not be the case with android.

 

[Mark112887]

Android does in fact have all the features that I want. As a matter of fact android contains a bunch of features that I don't think I will ever use. My wanting to switch back to Apple is more of a move that would be done in protest to Samsung. As of right now it appears that tripping the flag in the new boot loader only invalidates the devices warranty, which when you look at it only lasts for a year anyway, at least in my case. When I switched to T-Mobile in February 2013 I decided to go with their prepaid plan instead of their regular service, so I paid for my phone out right and was unable to carry any phone insurance on the device which was fine for me at the time and still is now because I am very careful with my devices.

What I don't like as of right now is that there is no way for those of us who have accidentally voided our warranty to flash any custom ROMs. Quite frankly I don't like being blocked off from a part of my device that I once previously had access to. So in my anger I thought about switching back to Apple for the little things such as the ease the backup, syncing between my iPad and iPhone and the ability to use any of the apps that I have purchased for my iPad on my iPhone. Primarily the reason I started thinking that way is because I am so pissed off at Samsung.

I hope that sometime in the not too distant future somebody comes up with a way that we might be able to fool the boot loader into letting us install custom ROMs once again, so that for those of us who accidentally upgraded to 4.3 we will be able to install custom ROMs once again

 

[ironass]

First and foremost, as this thread is in the General forum, the Knox enabled, Android 4.3, firmware in no way affects un-rooted users.

Secondly, as far back as 3 months ago, posters were being warned of the consequences to rooting of updating to Android 4.3 and to not install the stock Samsung, Knox enabled, firmware in posts all over the forum such as, Knox Security & locked bootloader on new firmwares...

WARNING... if you are rooted or thinking of rooting the latest Android 4.3 firmware

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So, if you want to carry on rooting or root your phone in future, then do not update to the Knox enabled Android 4.3 as it is a one way street.

Those that heeded the warning did not update and are now able to run the latest ROMs, Knox free and with unlocked bootloaders, such as the one I am on, as per #1.5 of the post.

For those who did update to Knox enabled firmware there are methods of rooting such as described in #1.6 of the post. There are even custom ROMs that do not trip the Knox flag for some versions. Check on the T-Mobile, All Things Root forum or xda developers forum for ROMs and rooting methods such as this.

As discussed in #1.10 of the aforementioned thread, there is still some ambiguity surrounding the tripping of the Knox flag and warranty.

Whether we like it or not, this sort of enhanced security on mobile/cell phones such as is already installed on Samsung, Blackberry and Apple is here to stay and will be spreading to other manufacturers in due course.

 

[Mark112887]

I fully understand that I am the one that screwed up, I'm not trying to blame anyone other than myself but for some reason your post comes off to me as angry although I'm sure it was not intended.

I made the mistake of not doing my research before I upgraded and now I have to deal with the consequences, which are basically no warranty and no ability to install custom ROMs. Normally I don't come onto the forums unless I either have something to contribute or a question and I haven't had either in the last few months so that's the reason that I had missed all of the warning threads

 

[ironass]

I fully understand that I am the one that screwed up, I'm not trying to blame anyone other than myself but for some reason your post comes off to me as angry although I'm sure it was not intended.

I made the mistake of not doing my research before I upgraded and now I have to deal with the consequences, which are basically no warranty and no ability to install custom ROMs. Normally I don't come onto the forums unless I either have something to contribute or a question and I haven't had either in the last few months so that's the reason that I had missed all of the warning threads

No, not angry at all and I am sorry if it reads that way to you. It was not intended that way... just a statement of the facts. I hope, rather, that it points you in ways around your current situation and explains why Samsung had to take the decision they did.

 

[Danielson2047]

Starting a post with "i have to get something off my chest, i'm very upset with samsung since the 4.3 update" implies that you are indeed angry with the company and not yourself for heading the warnings. I updated knowing what i was doing, as my s4 i'd rather have stock-rooted. Custom roms are just to much messin around for me anymore. Back in the OG Droid days i'd screw around for hours with that stuff, but just don't have the time anymore.

 

[Gomjaba]

Personally I switched to android, from years of iPhone, because of the possibilities you have to customise your phone. I started to use all kind of different ROMs etc. But always went back to stock, as in the long run, it does end up being the more stable one. Now Knox, I don't even care about the warranty counter myself as my bank account includes smartphone insurance (UK, NatWest, Silver account). In fact, it took 24hrs to get a replacement while you wait weeks for Samsung to sort things out. So warranty isn't an issue.

In fact, I started to like Knox. If you got a company Exchange account and you like to connect to it, Knox comes in handy.

1. If your company server requires password protected phones, it would only affect Knox, not your whole phone.

2. ActiveSync - technically your company can wipe and lock your phone. Again, this would now only affect Knox and not your actual phone

So you have pros and cons really.

My wanting to switch back to Apple is more of a move that would be done in protest to Samsung.

Ditching Android in favour to Apple because of Samsung Knox shows that you either don't know what else is out there, or you just look for a reason to switch to Apple and you need yo convince yourself.

If Knox pees you off already, then iPhone will pee you off even more.

And this statement just proves my point indirectly

Quite frankly I don't like being blocked off from a part of my device that I once previously had access to.

Whilst you will never have access to iOS to begin with, iOS is the definition of blocked. Ever tried torrenting a movie directly to your phone, without paying attention whether it's in the right format, connect your phone directly to your HD plasma and watch the downloaded movie straight out of the box

Not gonna happen unless you got hours of copying and converting when using iOS devices

 

[Mark112887]

After having some time to think this over I woke up this morning and decided to purchase an iPhone 5. I have listed my Galaxy on eBay along with every single accessory that I have for the phone. I've decided that if it does not sell there is about a 60% chance that I'll go ahead and keep both phones and enjoy the best of both worlds or at the very least have a different phone to use depending on what mood I'm in.

I completely understand what is being said in that iOS is the definition of locked down. Yes there are jailbreaks but the efficiency in which they are released pales in comparison to that of the android community. That said to be completely honest having a jailbreak is not that big of a deal to me.

For me it's a lot of little things that also play a part in me having made this decision. I already have an iPad and I am already deeply immersed into the App Store and I like the ability to be able to use my already purchased applications on my phone. I understand that you can also do that with android Google Play however because I do not already own an android tablet I do not have that luxury. I'm not looking to create this scenario where we start bashing one ecosystem in favor of another, I will be the first one to admit that I initially said what I said at the beginning of this thread out of frustration towards Samsung I have nothing against android but once I had one reason to be upset with them all of the little things that bugged me about Android became reason for me to purchase an iPhone.

As far as what I think will happen, I personally think I will end up with both phones and I will just occasionally switch between the two

 

[Mark112887]

There is an app on the app store called GPlayer that lets you copy and play any video file out there. As far as torrenting on my phone I don't do it

 

[Gomjaba]

Just making the point, showing how open Android is. Given how quickly you decided to buy an iPhone just shows that you wanted one regardless. Not saying it's a bad thing. Whatever suits you. But blaming Samsung for wanting to go Apple is silly and I doubt its the only real reason

 

[Canesfan]

After having some time to think this over I woke up this morning and decided to purchase an iPhone 5. I have listed my Galaxy on eBay along with every single accessory that I have for the phone. I've decided that if it does not sell there is about a 60% chance that I'll go ahead and keep both phones and enjoy the best of both worlds or at the very least have a different phone to use depending on what mood I'm in......................................................................................................
As far as what I think will happen, I personally think I will end up with both phones and I will just occasionally switch between the two

You may want to try to sell your Galaxy S4 to Gazelle.com. I had excellent experience with them with two former iPhones, receiving a good price for them, and no hassle at all compared to eBay.

 

[Goodspike]

Ditching Android in favour to Apple because of Samsung Knox shows that you either don't know what else is out there, or you just look for a reason to switch to Apple and you need yo convince yourself.

If Knox pees you off already, then iPhone will pee you off even more.

I would tend to agree with this. I don't like Samsung or Apple due to their litigation practices (and Apple for other reasons too), but Samsung right now makes the best Android phone and they are pretty quick with updates (maybe too quick!).

But if I were going to switch to another phone OS it would be Windows, not iOS, because I don't like the control Apple takes over virtually everything (including deciding what screen size I prefer). I actually switched from AT&T to Verizon years ago because at the time AT&T limited where you could download apps. I didn't want to be controlled in that way either! I haven't researched Windows phones though, and any switch is over a year off, so I have no reason to research them at this point. But clearly moving to Apple is not the direction to move if you get upset by lack of control.

 

[mikedt]

I completely understand what you're saying because Apple is notoriously more locked down then android. However I feel very angry that Samsung has decided to do what they are doing and invalidate our hardware warranties based on something we do to our software. We are consumers, we are not in the enterprise sector and we should not be subjected to the same constraints as they are, yet we are having this new security "feature" imposed on us and I just don't think that it is right by any means whatsoever. When I spent $600 to buy a device out right I expect to own it and to be able to do what I want with it and up until now I have been able to, I completely understand Samsung refusing to do warranty repairs for people that have bricked their phones in the process of flashing custom software however when they decide to completely invalidate a products hardware warranty based on a software modification I think it is completely and totally wrong.

TBH I might be thinking a similar thing about Samsung as well, I'm not really interested in KNOX and e-fuses and locked bootlloaders and whatnot. I like the phone to be mine to do with as I like. I do have a Samsung at the moment, but don't think I'll be buying another one. The phone I'm seriously thinking of getting next is the Oppo Find 5. This is one of the very few phones where the manufacturer actually encourages owners to use different ROMs, endorses CyanogenMod, Paranoid, OmniROM, XDA, etc. and does not void the warranty either. :thumbup:

Might want to have a look at the Find 5 yourself, if you want a phone that's truly yours to own.
http://en.oppo.com/products/find5/

What I said about wanting to switch to Apple I said out of anger towards Samsung. I said this because when it comes to the Apple ecosystem I already have about 100 apps purchased and I like how easy it is to back up the device without jumping through hoops to do so. Yes Android is a more open operating system as far as being more customizable but since the addition of this new boot loader it essentially has crippled my ability to do the type of customization to my device that I would prefer to be able to do. I have to take the blame for that because I was stupid last night when I upgraded and did not do my research prior to upgrading because if I had I would've discovered the new security and stayed away from the update.

What makes me want to switch to Apple again is that since the last time I used an iPhone they have incorporated all of the features that I would normally have to jailbreak to get, so in essence a jailbreak is pretty much useless to me today because I have everything I would want with in the stock iOS.

See for me the iPhone is definitely not on my list, mainly because it's prohibitively expensive here (equivalent of $1,000), the iTunes requirements(I don't have Windows), and TBH I like the larger screens these days.

 

[Zrock1]

I just switched over from a iphone over to a S4.. i found the iphone had way to many restrictions.. I could not even find a app that worked properly with reminders that you could snooze. I spent good money on apps for the iphone and still never did what i wanted. The s4 did what i wanted right out of the box.. still have not had to DL any apps for work..

 

[Goodspike]

. . .and TBH I like the larger screens these days.

I hear the iPhone 8S will have a larger screen.

On the screen issue, we went with a S4 mainly because of the wife's poor eyesight, but after booting up my old phone (Moto D2G) last month for the first time in months, I can't believe I found such a small screen acceptable. There's no way I could go back to a small screen.

 

[Mark112887]

For anybody that cares I thought I would post an update as to my current situation. Turns out I went perusing on eBay the other night and I found an OK deal on an iPhone 5. The phone got here yesterday and after using it for 24 hours I have to echo the sentiment of the post above me, I have no idea how I once found such a small screen acceptable. The whole time I was sitting there trying to use the phone I felt like I was holding an ice cream sandwich no pun intended, it has become clear to me that I cannot leave android as far as my phone is concerned. I do own an Apple iPad and I do enjoy it but that is because I believe as far as games Apple at least in one perspective has a better selection in their app store.

As far as what I have decided to do, I bought a practically brand-new extremely gently used HTC One and while I have not received it in the mail yet, in my mind I could not be happier with my decision. If there is anything that this little adventure has taught me it is that I can never go back to using iOS as my phone interface. As far as my phone is concerned I am android all the way

 

[Gomjaba]

My wife just ditched her iPhone for an S4 Mini ... That's the smallest screen size I could get away with, barely ....