Packed with the much-loved S Pen, the Galaxy S22 Ultra has me in a stranglehold because it’s super convenient for taking notes easily as a journalist who attends many tech events and needs to regularly capture a mountain of information.
I’m also a fan of the Galaxy S22 Ultra’s 40MP selfie camera. Photos appear in warmer tones compared to the iPhone 14’s 12MP shooter. HoweverI can’t deny that iOS 16 is a beautiful, seamless mobile operating system that is attractive enough to persuade me to #TeamiPhone.
1. Security
Recently I decided to download one of the best mobile games, Yodo1’s Rodeo Stampede: Sky Zoo Safari, on the iPhone 14 while I was testing the battery life. Imagine my surprise when a message popped up asking me to access files, such as my private photos and videos, that are not necessary for the game to function.
Knowing that the game is also installed on my Galaxy S22 Ultra, I was wondering how much data the app has collected from me so far. On iOS, however, Apple immediately tells you that an app plans to track your every move — and you have the power to decide if you’re willing to allow it.
Apple began enforcing its app tracking transparency in April 2021, requiring developers to ask users for permission to track their activities outside of the app. Of course, most people don’t like being stalked. According to data from Flurry, only 15% of users agree to use app tracking.
On Android, however, you don’t get a choice to unsubscribe. You will get the message “By tapping ‘OK’ you accept the terms of use and confirm that you have read the privacy policy”. Some people will just tap OK out of impatience, but they don’t know if they consent to their data being sent to third parties. Yaks!
In addition, the Apple App Store is undeniably more secure than the Google Play Store. It has stricter auditing and auditing processes for app submissions so that malware and other nasties slip through the door and infect its users’ devices much less frequently. As we reported last year, built-in protection for the Google Play Store only recognized 31% of spyware threats.
2. Easy Data Transfer with AirDrop and iCloud
If I want to send photos to my PC, I can use Phone Link, which allows me to link my Galaxy S22 Ultra with Windows. However, it needs a lot of work. The app is extremely slow when it comes to syncing photos. And while I appreciate that it can show me text messages from my phone, Phone Link is notorious for not showing notifications on a regular basis.
On the other hand, retrieving content from my iPhone is seamless with services like iCloud. After logging into my account online, my photos are instantly accessible for download. I can even download videos, something Phone Link can’t.
Granted, I can use Google Drive to download photos and videos, but iCloud, which instantly syncs your content across devices, removes the tedious steps of selecting the photos and videos you need before waiting for the upload, which sometimes fails for me for unknown reason.
For the ease of data transfer alone, I’m ready to ditch my PC and Android for a MacBook Pro and an iPhone.
3. Siri Dictation is elite
Google Assistant and Bixby sweep the floor with Siri when it comes to entertainment value, engagement and AI swag, but one thing Siri nails is dictation.
Thanks to the new iOS 16 update, using dictation to construct lyrics is more seamless than ever. For example, if I’m dictating a text to a friend, I no longer have to interrupt the flow by stopping to add an emoji. I can just say “crying emoji” and Siri will, as expected, show the . enter factual crying emoji without any problems. When I try this on the Galaxy S22 Ultra, it writes out the words instead of the emoticons I want. Poor!
4. The iPhone has better features for travelers
If you often go on holiday to places where you don’t speak the local language, in my experience you are better equipped to tackle language barriers with an iPhone. If you come across a sign you don’t understand, you can just take a picture of it, long press on the text and get a translation in English. This cool feature, known as Live Text, was introduced in iOS 15. Apple later expanded this feature to videos (something Google Translate can’t).
You can do the same for price tags. It’s easy to overspend in countries if you can’t calculate the conversions in your head. For example, you can snap a picture of a price tag that says “5,000¥,” and with a short, long press, you can get a quick conversion to your home currency (in my case, that’s $34.55).
5. Action mode is a great video feature
The Galaxy S22 Ultra may be able to record in 8K, a nice perk for YouTube content creators, but the iPhone, especially the 14, has arguably better video features. Movie mode is cool, but action mode is what it’s all about!
If you’re recording fast-moving activities, such as a salsa dancer or a busy crowd, the action mode makes the videos more stable. I tested the action mode while recording a group of joggers in Central Park, and I was impressed with how stable it looked (like I was holding a gimbal).
What it comes down to:
Keep in mind that I only got the iPhone 14 to review, which doesn’t have Pro benefits like the eye-catching Dynamic Island UI, a new 48-megapixel wide camera, and more. If I had the chance to experiment with the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max, who knows how quickly I would have jumped off the Android ship?
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