People want a computer for their pockets, not a locked-down glorified iPhone.
Google does not quite seem to get that.

If it is not rooted, you don't own it.

The google pixels are the easiest to flash custom Roms

@jonas-w Yeah, better unlock that bootloader shortly after purchase, or one is trapped with locked-in data that can not be backed up without massive effort.

@exerceo stability and comfort >>>>> some weird idea of ownership

It's very difficult for me to find a new phone I would want to use. Not sure what I'll do if my 6 y/o phone gets dropped from updates.

@aviophile How is being unable to properly manage files and processes more comfortable?

I don’t think being a “power user” on your smart phone is what a majority of folks want. Having it “just work” is enough.

@wackOverflow Any feature one does not need can be ignored, but missing features can not be used when needed.

@exerceo right but you have to argue that the time and resources spent on implementing those features is justified by user demand in the first place.

@wackOverflow Even without useful extra features, fewer restrictions or optional restrictions would be nicer than enforced restrictions.

@electrineer
Feel the same. Currently using my 3.5 year old phone and i think this is the last one which i would buy again. Anything after that has too many cons that outweigh the pros.

Will probably never switch to Apple, as it is to locked down for me, but the performance seems to be good.

The new android phones are just bloated piece of mess and i don't know if I want to use a custom Rom.

The hardware from the samsung phones look great pen/fold/crazy cameras/etc. But I don't think that android as it is today will last long.

I currently have the Samsung s10+, it still gets updates and does feel as new. Battery lasts long enough for me and the cameras are great. Fingerprint sensor under the display and face recognition. Still has a headphone jack (altough i don't use it / shame on me) and "already" has an usb-c port.

I really hope that my phone will last a long time and that there will be good alternatives, when i *need* to buy a new one.

@jonas-w I went motorola because all the samsungs have encrypted boot shit that makes custom roms practically impossible. My last phone was samsung and nobody was able to make a custom rom for it. I used to have a Droid and it has tons of roms for it.

@jonas-w spend a lot of time doing that ducking surveillance? It's built into the proprietary binaries and circuitry itself gentfick

You can't say "People want" as if it's a majority.

Let's face it: it's a tiny minority. Which is why more powerful phone OS:s will easily get sidelined during rebuilds to make room mass market appeal.

@jiraTicket The majority is too lazy to complain and just tolerates it, and the rest of complaints are futile and change nothing.

Who would want a less capable operating system?