My mom is currently using a Samsung S9+ and I figured it’s time to upgrade. My mothers use case is basically this:
Youtube watching videos, shorts or news.
Whatsapp calling to friends or family (Video included)
Saving some recipes from sites and just going through them for cooking.
Rarely takes pictures but they are simple point and shoot ones without any filters, effects etc.
The reason I am thinking of getting her an iPhone 16e is that I can enable the ADP and disable iCloud for her. In android while watching YouTube or browsing any website she clicks on the ads by mistake and installs the apps without knowing.
Every week I manually delete apps that she installs without her knowing like those shitty games or the photo editing apps. I figured that enabling the ADP and keeping iOS with lockdown mode will reduce some of this as I enable NextDNS with ad filters on. Youtube is the only one I can’t get to turn off ads and she can’t use youtube in a browser.
Since she doesn’t use much cameras, i thought why not get her an iPhone 16e instead of regular 16 or something else. I don’t know if there is any other Android fork that can disable app installing or locking it down like iOS does. Graphene OS might be too complicated for her and she may not be able to do the switching profiles or anything of that sort.
I am not saying that iOS is better than GOS but for her use case, i am just assuming that iOS is okay for her usage of phone.
Please make your suggestions if I am right or wrong. Probably gonna get her a phone after next week for her birthday.
Note that ADP / disabling iCloud / enabling Lockdown mode won’t stop her from installing apps from the App Store after clicking on ads. Lockdown mode will also present some challenges as some apps will be broken without obvious signs for the cause, and need to have Lockdown disabled for them manually in Settings, or for websites in the menu for them.
You might also want to consider that she might have trouble adapting to a different OS. Looking at the S9 situation and that it’s been out of support for 3 years at this point, I’d recommend just getting a Pixel, with default OS. There just isn’t much you can do on the privacy side for unwilling participants other than an adblocker, attempting to teach them, and trying to mitigate some aspects. At least a Pixel will ensure long term support, consistent UX, and no non-Google bloatware / spyware.
Personally, I would find it very challenging to justify buying an iPhone 16e over a used iPhone 15 Pro that can generally be had for not much more. I know a lot of (“normal”) people who get a lot of use out of Magsafe tbh, and simple point-and-shoot photos often benefit from good zoom. But if you really want to buy new or directly from Apple I don’t think you can go wrong with the 16e or any of their current models either.
Stock Android is the worst operating system on the market from a privacy perspective, and I don’t even consider it a close race. I would never buy someone a Pixel unless I knew they would use a custom ROM. I do think GOS could potentially easily work for the use-case you’ve described, without her even knowing about it, but I also think it is valid to not want to experiment on your mother with this sort of thing
If you trust the GOS team (which it sounds like), then GOS agrees that an “iPhone is the next best choice for a private and secure smartphone” after GOS.
Anecdotally, I can confirm that every older, lifelong Android user in my family who later switched to iOS has needed tech support from me significantly less often (essentially never)
As far as iOS features go, I do not think your mom would benefit from Lockdown Mode, but she certainly would benefit from Advanced Data Protection. Using NextDNS can become a bit of a tech support problem, but if you’re fine with being tech support then it’s a good idea. Regardless of whether you use NextDNS or not, I would definitely install AdGuard to block ads both in Safari and in most in-app WebViews.
YouTube Premium is the only subscription service I find provides more value than it costs. Virtually infinite ad-free content on every topic imaginable for <$14 per month is crazy.
Not tested this personally, but on iOS I believe you can use Screen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions to disable App Store downloads and installs. You can set up a different pin/passcode for this. Perhaps someone else with experience here can elaborate on this further.
Yeah, that will hide the App Store. But from the OP it sounds like the user really goes out their way to install random crap, so I’d assume they’ll just disable it. Not sure about the extra passcode stuff, but this really sounds more like a people problem.
Nah, virtually every vendor-customized stock is way worse than stock Pixel. You not only have the exact same Google crap but also Samsung / Xiaomi / whatever’s shit too, and migration across different vendor devices is also often a pain in the ass. Also, subtle UX differences with settings and whatnot being reordered randomly.
Maybe you have easier to teach relatives, but for me iOS was a no-go since they couldn’t figure out the UI/UX. At that point giving / selling all their data to only Google and not using half a decade out of support devices was an improvement. But again, YMMV.
thermal issues would be a big reason – I myself know two people who both have had issues, one with a 15 pro and the other with the pro max, and you can find lots of posts about it online
I agree on the troubleshooting part. My mom calls me instantly if there is any issue. I figured an iOS device wouldn’t run into as many issues like a normal Android does. GOS is out of the picture cause I can use it without any hiccups but if she ever wanted to open her banking apps to check balance or anything, I can’t explain to her all the sandboxing and profiles.
I will look into the Adguard setup as well. I preferred lockdown mode as the URL’s in the messages are not clickable by default.
I will look out for iPhone 15 Pro as well. Thankyou!
PixelOS has competitive privacy with iOS. In my opinion Jonah is biased towards iOS due to his personal usage of Apple products. On “Stock Android” you’re not forced to sign in and you can even disable Google Services so they have no ability to send data. You don’t rely on Google to obtain apps with forced sign in unlike with Apple. Pair that with vastly superior VPN support, better secure element, user profile support, private space, longer update policy on paper etc. A second hand Pixel from the “a” series is also quite a bit cheaper. The choice is clear cut if you look at it objectively.
Remember that OP’s mother is not very technically gifted. She may not even understand why degoogling is even important for example.
From an out-of-the-box privacy experience, it would be easier to sit her down and explain why she should limit location tracking when iOS prompts her to, or to use a password manager for all logins.
As someone who would prefer the stock pixel over iPhones because of FOSS-related purposes, I think most of its privacy benefits come from its customizability. The average person will not bother with installing apps outside the Google Play store anyways, but someone like you or me can accept the risks of doing so.
The unfortunate situation with security-oriented project is that people mistake their mission scope as anything beyond that. Privacy isn’t the main focus here…a close second but not always.
GOS saying that iPhones are a decent secure option does not contradict the fact that a degoogled Android phone can be more private (at the cost of certain security flaws depending on the model). There is no reason why both statements cannot coexist.
You’ve summed it up perfectly Kevin. My mother is well educated but telling her to degoogle or to sandbox her whatsapp, youtube is going to be a pain because she will ask “What do I have to hide?“
I do not have an answer to that nor am I going to put effort into it much because she has no Facebook,TikTok, Insta etc. Just for the sake of WhatsApp and YouTube I can’t force her to use GOS.
I don’t think there’s a huge benefit in using GrapheneOS over Apple for “privacy reasons” its more about the apps you actually install, and I don’t think GrapheneOS has ever marketed itself in that way.
It’s mostly anti-Apple rhetoric spread by people who want to find reasons to not buy Apple. Personally I don’t use apple products and I have none because I don’t like vendor lock-in to that ecosystem however for aged people specifically that are used to those products I don’t see it as a massive “privacy downgrade” to continue to use those products.
What I would keep in mind is any product you recommend, you will be on the hook to support.
Not challenging what people say is pretty dumb. Even if it would be GrapheneOS making the claim but they instead have even said they prefer PixelOS over iOS. Goes to my point.
Your reasoning was that the idea of iOS being better than stock Android is bias from personal use of Apple products.
I demonstrated that that doesn’t hold up to scrutiny.
Personally I think that stock Android phones can be made at least as private as iOS, it not more so, but this requires tweaks and sacrifices that common users are unlikely to make (like disabling or removing Google Play Services). Therefore iOS is a better choice then stock Android vis-a-vis privacy for common users like the OP’s mother.
I’m not sure what to tell you, I can’t help that reality is biased towards the solution I’ve chosen.
Does it not seem much more likely that the reason I own an iPhone is because of these facts? It being the other way around to “justify” iPhone use is clearly absurd. If they were not true I would buy a different phone today, there are no switching costs or attachment for me here.
I think some people interpret my use of iOS in very bad faith because they assume I use phones like they do (i.e. too much), whereas in reality it sits unused most of the time because all mobile platforms are currently evil, and it makes much more sense to use a Linux laptop for general computer use.
