‘You’re Telling Me in 2023, You Still Have a ’Droid?’ Why Teens Hate Android Phones / A recent survey of teens found that 87% have iPhones, and don’t plan to switch

It is an American problem.

It's almost entirely due to peer pressure created by apple. They bully people who can't use ichat. My family does this to me, and I'm way too old for that shit.
- I troll them back by writing out: Liked "Copy-paste-of-your-whole-message"
- The peer pressure isn't created by Apple. It is creation of their own mind. Their own lack of self confidence.

87% of US teens. Here in Germany I see a big mix of devices in teenagers and grown ups hands and nobody seems to care about it.

There are still enough people who are obnoxious about it, and most of them seem to be iPhone users interestingly
- Like the vegans of smartphones
- As an iPhone user who was not obnoxious about it I’ve seen a fair share of pushy android user in school. Then again so were the Xbox vs PlayStation kids. They’ll grow out of it.
- They also always refer to it as "my iPhone", never "my phone", at least all the users I have met (NL). I find this very odd.
I see a big mix of devices in teenagers and grown ups hands
Casually observed anecdotal evidence is even more worthless than a survey.

87% seems insanely high unless the survey was being done inside an apple store or something. But the article just keeps asking if I'm a robot, so I can't actually read it.

But the article just keeps asking if I'm a robot
At some point you'll just have to come to terms with it.

87% of teens are lazy fucks who don't know how to download an app that isn't TicTok, surprised?

It's scary how tech illiterate most teens / young adults are. Despite the fact that they live their lives through digital interfaces, the majority do not know how to use a keyboard properly.
I wrongly had assumed that by being surrounded by so much tech, young people would just soak it in and strive to optimize it's use through early mastery. It turns out that despite everyone using tech all the time now, it's still the same thin slice of the pie that scratch the tech any deeper than the top surface.
- I feel like we’re getting old. Is this our “kids these day can’t even change their own oil” moment?
- They are the new boomers now. Like even basic folder navigation is something that is difficult for them.
  https://www.theverge.com/22684730/students-file-folder-directory-structure-education-gen-z
- No kidding. I'm in my late 30s and regularly have to help 18-24 year old coworkers with connecting their phones to the bluetooth speakers or help with stuff on the computer. I never thought that would happen when I was growing up. I always thought they'd be much better than me!
- But that kinda makes sense. They never had that period where tech sucked and you had to struggle through it. Even as a developer I'm noticing the junior developers amazed at the stuff i know how to do and they ask how i soaked it all up. It's cuz i had to just to get basic shit to function.
- Young gen Z here. I remember time when casual adults (not nerds interested in tech) considered kids the experts. From perspective of time I can guess it was because they didnt have any 'digital sense' and saw kids playing on mobile devices.
  However these days... I everyday see peers using tech in ways we living in tech bubble consider inproper. They use proprietary software, charge battery to 100% and discharge it to full 0, dont care about privacy, accept bloatware instead of flashing rom/uninstalling with adb, they dont know what bootloader is, dont check repairability of devide before purchase, accept everything soldered into motherboard, they think LLM arent just large next-word suggester, they dont boycott companies shitting on them, they use trademarked words while meaning generic things like 'googling' and 'ipad', post their real profile photos on facebook, they accept predatory monetization models.
  I dont want to say Im smarter than everyone, but Im just sad that this gen fell so low.

Let them enjoy it, they have yet to grasp how dire the situation is.
When I was that, I became a Linux user the moment I realized I can't just use XP or 2000 (what was on our home PC) on a laptop coming with 7, cause no drivers. Some literacy followed.
What I really felt bad about - everybody around carrying that expensive tech without any understanding of it, as if it were normal to use a portable personal computer for Instagram, Facebook, making photos etc. Like hitting nails with a microscope.
It's actually become less disgusting today. Back then (around 2012) normies would aggressively behave as if progress looked like Instagram, Facebook etc, with their dumb screen poking, and my idea of how computing would be cool is something stupid and old and imaginatory , as if they had any understanding to evaluate that.
OK, just a little flashback.

I'm personally so tired of defending android to iPhone users. At the end of the day, it's personal preference. IPhone is a walled-garden, curated and closed system that has features that are more uniform and well developed across the whole brand. Android has custom options for a huge variety of things that iPhone can't match simply due to the nature of android's open system. Android also tends to have significantly cheaper modern options, but iPhone tends to get OS and security updates much longer.

They both have huge market shares and neither can fill the other's niche well enough to bump the other out. It's not a competition, it's just preference. Is it really such a big deal to point out that teens prefer one over the other? Once the next generation comes to an age of owning phones, we might just find that they find iphones lame and old and swap back to android. That's kind of how generations tend to work.

I would prefer my phones to work well with other phones. If your phone requires that everyone else buy the same overpriced phone, it is not a better device. Anyone can make something that talks well with itself.
- I'm on the same page as you. It should be noted, however, that the kind of exclusivity you find repulsive actually works as a selling point for apple. It's like, "Buy an iPhone! All your friends have them and you want to be able to talk to them right?" Peer pressure is a hell of a drug
- Using Apple devices isn’t just about the communication it’s about the whole ecosystem working together. No one does that as well across phone, tablet, laptop/desktop, watch, tv box, and speakers. That’s what sold my tech-illiterate wife and that’s why they’re so popular.
You robbed Apple of the true superiority of their offering: the hardware. There isn’t a phone out there that comes close to being as well designed and beautiful as an iPhone. That’s important to some people.
- That's a silly take.
  The hardware offerings outside of Apple are just more diverse. You could buy a $40 Motorola or LG and get exactly what you'd expect. Or you could get the flagship Samsung or Google and blow the iPhone out of the water.
- Fuck Apple for normalizing the removal of 3.5 mm jack.
- I don’t care about the beauty and I think some android phones are prettier, but iPhone hardware is ludicrously fast and that’s one of the reasons I have one.
- beauty of an iphone
  Generic ass glass slab with a very short service life
  Miss me with that clown shit.
- Well designed and beautiful are two very subjective words for a discussion about objective differences.
  I think that iphones are bland and kind of ugly for their caliber of technology. My last phone was the sage-back pixel 5 and I absolutely loved the design of that thing. The thing is, looks alone don't constitute superiority.

This is only in the US I assume? The article isn't very up front about it.

Apple holds 57% of the phones market versus Android’s 42% in the U.S., according to web traffic analysis site Statcounter. The data skews worse for Android when narrowed down to teenagers. According to a survey of 7,100 American teens last year conducted by investment bank Piper Sandler, 87% of teens currently have an iPhone, and 87% plan on sticking with the brand for their next phone. But the stigma regarding Android phones is mostly an American phenomenon, at least to the degree to which it affects purchase habits. Worldwide, per the same Statcounter report, Androids represent the significant majority of all smartphones, holding a 71% share of sales compared with Apple’s 28%.
From the article.

A truly lost generation

And being able to easily side-load apps. Also being able to just use a USB C cable like every other device. ( will not apply to future EU, but will probably remain relevant other places ).
I just really fucking hate apple and thier walled garden bullshit.
- Ha, I forgot about USB-C. My niece's iPhone was dead and we had nothing to charge her phone with. We were absolutely surrounded with tech but not a single Lightning cable. Forced incompatibility was having a leopards ate my face moment.
I don’t get this. Are you saying that iPhones are more disposable? iFixit says iPhones are more repairable than almost all android phones.
The software situation is no contest. My iPhone 6s, released in 2015, is still getting security updates in 2023. It got its last OS update in 2021. Meanwhile, most premium flagship Android phones don’t get security updates for more than 3 years, much less OS updates, and even that’s a recent change.
Not to say iPhones couldn’t be better, but I left Android specifically because of longevity. I wish all phones were as repairable as Fairphone.
Apple has the longest support of any phone maker by far.
Name one Android phone that gets 5 years of the latest OS, without rooting or installing a third party OS, followed by another couple years of security updates.
- The Fairphone. Fairphone 2 was updated from Android 5 through 10 (5 years on the latest version) Fairphone 3 started at 9 and is currently on Android 13, that's five years, and hasn't had it's last update yet.
  That's two Android phones with at least 5 years on the latest OS, and Fairphone 2 got patch updates until this year, giving it support and updates from 2014 until 2023

Gen Z here. Even if I could (somehow) afford an iPhone, I can't imagine buying them because they're just so locked-down... How can you use a phone you can't even access file system on? Hell, even load apps the manufacturer doesn't like? AND sell a kidney for this? Around me, iPhones are a minority but still prevalent, but I am living in a major, pretty wealthy city.

Stock android doesn’t want you to access the file system either. And the stock file manager on iOS/iPadOS is more than enough to do any kind of reasonable file management. And their are legitimate security and data privacy/protection reasons to want to use an abstracted file manager and give apps limited access to the underlying file system.
As far as sideloading, you can do it with a developer account or you can use web apps to fill in the gaps for a big chunk of those use cases. But if you need better performance from sideloaded emulators or virtualization host or programs of those sorts which apple doesn’t allow on the App Store, you will have better luck on android.
iPhone makes a design choice to be more restrictive by default than android but it’s for good reason. If full control of your privacy is something you value then you should definitely consider running an open source ROM on an android phone but you should also consider why you are doing something and consider if it is something that is secure and if there isn’t a better workflow to accomplish the same task.
For instance, on device ad blocking. Do you really trust that ad block developer with permission to inspect network traffic on your device and potentially modify ui elements to block ads (but maybe more). Or is that something that is better left on the edge of your network on a device running pihole.
Sorry to get so wordy on you, but I always getting slightly amused when someone criticizes an iPhone for being locked down and then runs stock pixel ROM with like a couple pirated apps and a shady web blocker on it
- And the stock file manager on iOS/iPadOS is more than enough to do any kind of reasonable file management.
  My mom was given an iPhone as a gift years ago, so I remember my reaction to this. When you connect it to a computer, you can only see the photos folder. So you can't even drag-and-drop music there. How is this "more than enough"? Maybe something has changed, I don't know.
  But if you need better performance from sideloaded emulators or virtualization host or programs of those sorts which apple doesn’t allow on the App Store...
  You just spoke in favor of not being so strict, lol. But also there are far more common cases where this can impact regular people, such as bank apps being deleted due to sanctions. I personally don't use mobile banking, but that's pretty important for a lot of people, isn't it?
  Do you really trust that ad block developer with permission to inspect network traffic on your device and potentially modify ui elements to block ads (but maybe more)
  If its code is open to be inspected by anyone - why not?
  and then runs stock pixel ROM
  That's not the only alternative. I personally don't yet use a smartphone properly so haven't tried, but there are options for custom, more private OSs. Also pixels are pretty expensive so not the best comparison for "common" user.
- But if you need better performance from sideloaded emulators or virtualization host or programs of those sorts which apple doesn’t allow on the App Store, you will have better luck on android.
  It seems like one of the differences is, is your phone a tool to run your life or is it your playground? Those are very different requirements that ought to be separate
  My phone is a tool to run my life, so it is important to just work. Similarly, my laptop is pretty vanilla because I want it to just work, my router is out of the box because it’s critical for my network to just work, and my home automation is a default install on a physical box because it is a tool I need to just work. For playtime I have a lab network, and servers and a rPi cluster and VMs, and a bunch of old equipment I could resurrect to varying degrees. I can play all I want, without destabilizing my tools

We've let Apple buy its way into our school systems. Of course kids are going to gravitate toward iPhones. Part of their schooling every day from Kindergarten is using iOS.

I don’t know what you’re talking about. My kids school is all Chromebook and I think many are these days.
- Seriously there has never been so many different options for tech in schools these days.
  When I was in school the computers were all original macintoshes with the school upgrading to the iMac G3’s in the early 2000. (I loved the design of those computers except that damn hockey puck)
  9-12 was MS office and Windows 2000/XP though
  Now the same school uses chrome books, windows 10, google workspace and classroom and the only apple products are just a cart of iPads they let kindergarten and first graders use
- I'm sure it varies by state and maybe district, but around here, it's iPads K-5, then MacBooks 6-12.

In this case, it really is the children who are wrong.

I think Apple marketing has a role in it. Their commercials and packaging gives the iPhone an elitist aura. Kinda like a calone, jewelry, fancy watches, fancy cars.

Because Apple did a dick move and targeted with paid influencers that segment of population because they are the most succeptible to fashion trends and easy to manipulate due to their natural tendency to buckle to peer pressure in order to integrate and feel accepted?

A important thing, that a lot of people here seem to forget: teenagers are more likely to be influenced by fashion trends, than reason, but they aren't stupid.

I dunno, I'd call that one of the definitions of stupid. Not that they are necessarily overall stupid, but IMO being influenced by fashion trends without reasoning about it is a stupid trait (in kids or adults).

Not really relevant. The majority of teens isn't able to make an informed decision about which is better anyway, and in fact none of the 2 is recommended anyway unless you count in AOSP-based distributions (based off of the open source Android without Google apps), then Android wins of course. But when you compare iOS vs. proprietary Android, it's like comparing 2 different forms of diseases.

So yeah while statistics are interesting it's important not to interpret too much into some. Like, "majority of teens dislikes Jazz music". Well, it doesn't really matter whether they dislike it or not. Popularity doesn't represent quality necessarily. Sometimes, but certainly not always.

In Germany the mobile landscape is more "diverse", I'd say closer to 40%/60% iOS/Android from my own observations. And since we "care" "more" about privacy in schools or public institutions (we still care plenty little but I guess Germany is on average at least known for being a country that does more for data protection than others, so maybe that counts as something?), it's also probably less iOS infested, although I do know that some schools and public institutions do use iOS devices. But I don't think everyone does.

You’re approaching this entirely as a contest of what’s the best kind of phone. Of course a survey of teens is not a great way to decide that.
However it’s incredibly important to any company whether their product is / isn’t liked by the younger generation that’s coming up right now.
Old customers die off and younger ones grow older and wealthier, so you’d better pay attention to what the youngs think, because it will inform your business.
Android enthusiasts can refute this result a million ways, but there’s no question that this headline is not great news for Android.
- I don't think so. Android has been marketshare leader for a long time. Maybe iOS is massively popular in USA, but outside of USA it isn't. Also, as long as marketshare has a sort of "critical mass" it's fine. Look at OSX for example, it has around 20% marketshare and that number is still high enough that it can't be ignored. So I think both are here to stay whether they have 20% or 80%.
Also I question the accuracy of this data anyways, according to the article it's only a sample size of a little over 7k people. Also anecdotally as a current college student I have not had any exclusionary behavior towards me as an android user, and know that some of my friends also use Android but tbh it just doesn't come up in conversation either.

I have no issue with iPhones, but I've never owned one, and have no intention of buying one in the foreseeable future. "It just works" has never appealed to me as a marketing tactic. I want to know how things work, and have access to get in and play around with things.

My beef is with Apple playing the good guy when anyone with half a brain knows they are just as bad as everyone else. Their whole ecosystem lock in without caring about anything else is what really gets me. They are literally opening up their users to potential privacy issues because they would rather force people to use an iPhone than implement basic RCS capabilities.
There’s a spectrum of answers here.
— As a tech guy I prefer to know how stuff works and to be able to play around with them. That’s critical for my servers and automation projects
— However as a person, I want my phone to just work, and to be secure and private by default, as far as those things go in current times. I also want a company that stands behind their products, even if I never need it, I want a tool that is well built, I want to count on security updates for several years, and there is quite a bit of built-in functionality that I like
— as a parent, I want to take advantage of secure family functionality on the iPhone, I want their phones to just work and to default to secure and private, as far as that goes. I want phones to be well built and well supported, to survive a teenager. And most of all, I don’t want to have to show my kids how to use a phone I don’t have, or to help them recover from their mischief.
After getting an iPhone for my mom, and running into multiple issues just setting up the account, including an apparently rare known UI bug*, I can't say I am convinced by the "It just works" slogan.
I really don't see the difference in experience for an average person buying any big brand android phone vs an iPhone.
*something about an old account re-setup not working on the phone and apparently some steps had to be done in the web interface. The phone UI was just giving an unspecified error and I had to dig deep into Google to find out wtf is wrong. A non-tech person would have no chance of solving it on their own.

Probably the same teens paying stupid money for trainers that someone scribbled on with sharpie!

About five years ago, non-tech folk would switch from Apple (which was paid for by family) to Android (which is what they could afford entering the job market). As a tech geek, I actively pursued Android offerings with the latest stuff (waterproofing! encryption!) and got good results from it. The general rule was to buy a phone from the manufacturer and use the base OS rather than the hobbled offerings from the telecommunications stores.

I have an iPhone, but I’d probably prefer an Android just because you can install things from outside the App Store.

After disabling a million warnings, being constantly reminded you should not do it, and i wont be surprised if future versions will require rooting for doing so.
I have always been an android user, but honewtly, if libre android OSes didnt exist, i would have been an iphone user already.
- With all my due respect, iOS is even worse. They don't provide access to the file system of their phones/tablets, still refuse to open iMessage to rival OSes, they don't even release their apps for other operating systems.
  You can't for example backup WhatsApp on Android and restore your backup on iOS.
  They don't support Bluetooth file transfer and they are/were requiring to develop their apps on macOS. Not to forget all those lawsuits they filed against Samsung and other Android manufacturers at the beginning of the smartphone revolution.
- It's literally just one toggle? It's been the same for over a decade.

I do agree with right to repair, but I tried to leave apple. And it was fucking miserable.

3 different places to change settings. Some don’t have all the settings to change so you have to go to another. Fuck all that.

And the auto correct adapts to your fuck ups, and changes them to your fuck ups? No thanks.

I’m not a fan boy. I just want it to work or know where to fix it.

Get a different keyboard, bro. Changing your default keyboard has been a thing on Android for like a decade and a half. Even so, most keyboards these days have a shortcut that's basically 'long press the wrong prediction -> don't predict again'
Also, the android settings menu has had a search function for a few years now. You don't have to know where to look to find most things.
The analogy I have always used is that it's like trying to cook in someone else's kitchen and all of the things you need aren't where you'd usually look.
- I have the same theory that I always mention to those who are hesitant to switch devices!
  I used to be annoyed about not having my Android devices work like iOS.
  Enjoying new tech was a lot better after I started viewing them as different devices instead of pure replacements.

I own both, a iphone X for work and a cheap Motorola G series phone (200 euro).

I prefer my Android phone, the customization, ease of use. With Android you feel more like an Admin, iphone you are just a user for overpriced stuff

Idk where they got this data from. In my kid's school almost everyone has Androids. Granted I live in a poorer area of the country where apple shit is rare and most people have cheap Chromebooks.

I'm sure it's highly variable by region, I live in a, I suppose you couldn't call it rich, but not a poor area, and nearly everyone in my school has an iPhone. Not only an iPhone, but usually the latest one or at least within a couple generations.The district also provides us with MacBooks. (Writing this from a Pixel 6 though!)
- Fairly new. Last year they had 2020 models from HP. My kid moves to a different building this year so I don't know if they'll have something different or not but they're good enough to do school work on and not much else which I guess helps make sure there kids don't fuck around with em.

Let us know how it goes.

If people give me shit about my Android phone, I point out that their phone can fold exactly once before they'll need a new one. Android is still the only option for power users.

Effective marketing.

Modus operandi for apple, too. "Get one because everybody has one" is one of the biggest marketing tools they push to sell their tech.

only reason I have an iphone is that the mini's are so awesomely small. Never will return to a phone larger than 5.4!

but that's for convenience and I never ever see a phone as a status symbol. I mean the are basically all the same and can do all the same, so why the fuzz?