Why does every phone other than the iPhone come with android?

TheVoice said:
It's not really like that, because regardless of who your supplier is your electricity is the same.
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I'd say it's an apt comparison actually, considering most apps/services are exactly the same on iOS or Android. People spend very little time interacting with the operating system itself once the phone is set up and their content is on it.
 
MichaelAwkward said:
I'd say it's an apt comparison actually, considering most apps/services are exactly the same on iOS or Android. People spend very little time interacting with the operating system itself once the phone is set up and their content is on it.
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Even the most popular apps and services still tend to launch new features on iOS first though. If I switch from Scottish Power to SSE I don't have to buy new plugs, sockets or electrical devices whereas switching from one mobile OS to another means migrating data (which even popular apps like WhatsApp don't seem to allow easily) and buying the same or equivalent apps again.

I've known lots of people who have considered moving from iOS to whatever the appealing Android device is at the time and then relinquished at the last minute because the thought of migrating over and re-learning how things work was too much hassle. People tend to stick with what they know, even in a competitive market.
 
mrochester said:
Well the only option if you don’t like android is to use iOS.

Why isn’t the world crying out for competition in this space? Why does the tech world seem resigned to accept monopolistic dominance?
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But what would you honestly do differently to those two? They're converging on things and the differences to me are minimal beyond interchanging a flick or press instead of a swipe.
 
I used Windows phones for many years, I honestly thought they were pretty good and connected well with Windows 10 desktop. I still think the tiles system was better then the Android icon system for operation.

However recently Windows phone stopped loosing support, the final straw was Facebook messenger, so I've had to move to Android. The other thing I liked is the Lumia phones were all 'in house' so you knew the Phone and OS was going to work well together, that it always did. I think it's a huge shame as would have just kept running Windows phone if I could.

Whats happened to mobile phones is exactly the same as computers in the 80/90's. Atari, Commodore, Amstrad, Acorn all gone and only Apple and PC compatible survived. Same thing again this time except it's Apple and Android compatible and the playing field is smart phones and smart devices.
 
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mrochester said:
it might not be a case of forcing someone to make something they don’t want it might be more a case of restricting the business practices of other companies that has resulted in there being so little competition.

something like preventing google from being able to use profits from advertising to fund loss-leaders like android. If android had to stand on its own two feet instead of being massively subsidised market conditions for potential competitors would be massively improved.
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Android isn't a loss leader though, Google make billions in profit from Android.

Thanks to a lawyer, we know now that Google has made $31 billion in revenue and $22 billion in profit from its Android operating system. According to Bloomberg, a lawyer for Oracle disclosed the numbers — which Google says were confidential and shouldn't have been revealed publicly — during court last week in the ongoing lawsuit between the two companies.
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The problem is the applications not the phone OS. If we had a standardise software that apps were written on, then I’m sure there would be loads of mobile operating systems out there.
 
Its down to the applications available, i am not going to buy into a phone ecosystem if it has sod all support.
It is very very difficult to develop an OS and a large software catalogue around it - hence why we only really have MS windows and Linux on the desktop.

No apps, no point.
 
WhatsApp support for Windows Mobile is finally going this December. I still use a Windows Phone for personal use but this has pretty much killed it off for me. Reluctantly got an android phone to start getting used to and I really miss the active tile system and the simplicity of how it all works.
 
Sp00n said:
Creating a mobile operating system with a sustainable ecosystem around it, manufacturer buy-in and third-party app support is a very difficult and expensive thing to do.

See; windows mobile

However, there are some alternatives; HarmonyOS, Ubuntu Touch, Tizen and Sailfish to name 4, none of which have the third party support that the duopoly of Apple/Google have and tend to require you to run specific supported hardware.
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This. It's extremely complicated creating an OS hence why Microsoft and Bill gates are so rich.
 
Before all the touch screen there was quite the variety of OS. But back then, Google invested a lot.
Despite now being only between Android or iOS, there's quite few differences between phones running Android. At least the visual.
Personally I don't like the Samsung take. Using a Sony now, and find it a bit better, but again, used quite few Sony before and never got as frustrated as when using the S6 Edge. But the best for me was the Motorola take on Android. Minimum rubbish installed, much closer to the pure version of Android than most. Shame few basic features unavailable for mid-range phones.
 
the market is stale because it's got to the point now that there's really nothing left to do. it's no different to desktop OS. They have become everything they ever could become. There's nothing left to add other than small tweaks and improvements. Another player would add nothing, so why would you want them there. Other than choice they would have nothing to offer.

Can you suggest anything that this other mobile OS creator could give that android/iOS don't or can't?

mrochester said:
It’s a rather sorry state that I’M supposed to be grateful to have more than one choice!!!

it should be these companies should be grateful for my business.
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Why can't you be grateful and they be grateful too? What makes you say they aren't? How much do you pay for Android? You get to use software that's cost billions, and you pay what, £5 extra when purchasing a phone? And you're not grateful? Windows is the same. I paid something like £40 for windows 10. This is a piece of software so fine-tuned that it's now boring. It costs MS billions over the years to get to this point. Man hours after man hours to get here. And I paid £40 for it. I'm grateful. why aren't you?

The market becoming stale could lead to the ability for someone to come in and create a new mobile OS, though I don't know why anyone would now bother. I imagine if you look at user stats, there are about 15 apps 90% of users use regularly. You'd need to create a decent OS, pay the companies that make these apps to make a version that works on your OS, and then I guess offer money for people to swap over, maybe every search you do on the phone you get 2p.

I imagine the biggest issue would be getting google apps on your OS. There will be some like google maps that users don't want to use an alternative.
 
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It's highly customisable, if there is something you dislike 9 times out of 10 you can just change it to something else.
 
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