I don’t care if anyone has a Xiaomi, Oneplus, Samsung, etc. Each brand is using a modified version of Android, and they chose to be compatible with each other. But for example the “blue vs green bubble” drama is a thing specifically because of Apple locking their unsuspecting users into a closed ecosystem. And it sure isn’t Android’s fault for not being compatible with it.
The more power a company like this gains, the worse will it be for the whole industry.
At least there’s choice with Android. I’d much rather it was possible for FOSS phones to actually exist but in the meantime the lock-in with Apple is an absolute non-starter, as is basically everything about their UX philosophy.
If Apple let my install alternate OS. I might consider the hardware.
It really just depends on if you prefer customization or reliability.
For example, I’m an apple boi because I like that every app in the store is made specifically for an iPhone (which is easy for devs to do since there’s little variation). It leads to better maintained and performing apps because devs can optimize for the device it’s running on.
On android, you have way more choices, which some people prefer. But for myself, I get really annoyed when I launch an app and it fills 95% of my screen, but not all of it, because my phone is slightly taller then the 2000 other variations out there. It’s much harder for a dev to optimize their app when there are so many variables to account for on android.
Neither phone (or company for that fact) is better. They serve different demographics of users is all.