These two things would make you leave Android

Android has become an indispensable part of the modern smartphone world. Google’s operating system supports phones from almost every company except Apple. There is little evidence that it will hurt Android’s growth and popularity in the years to come.

But what would it take to get out of Android? We asked our readers this question in a recent survey. Below are the results.

What would it take to get off Android?

Results

This was a very popular poll that has received close to 24,000 votes since it was published on Aug. 24. Despite the flood of responses, two options caught our readers’ attention. “Google blocks it like iOS” and “a better alternative operating system is emerging” were the two most popular options with 27.7% and 24.6% of the vote, respectively. Interestingly, more readers are interested in Android becoming iOS than updates becoming a premium feature. The latter election received only 18.9% of the vote.

See also: Android 12 functions – everything confirmed so far

The remaining three decisions received some support. At the top is “lack of innovation” with 9.3% of the votes, followed by “large OEMs that are giving up” with 7.2%. Surprisingly, even if Google sold it, readers wouldn’t give up Android as only 6.6% of respondents choose this option.

Overall, it seems unlikely that readers will have to make that choice, at least not anytime soon. There is little evidence that Google plans to lock down Android. There are also a number of alternatives, none of which really match Android’s popularity or functionality.

Notably, at least 5.7% of our readers gave their own reasons. You can find some of them below.

Your comments

• dooms_day: When iOS offers the same freedom as Android, e.g. Another thing is if Apple is getting rid of its walled garden to make its devices play better with third-party hardware.
• ItsWynn: The day Google stops making pixels is the day I buy an iPhone.
• Virre: I would just leave Android for a great open source alternative.
• Keith: Mine is easy. The SD card. I have a Note 9 and I still use an SD card, albeit archaic, but I do. Plus, I can download music and videos without going through all of the iTunes hoops.
• Lcd1701: It would take a disastrous event like the demise of Google before I ever thought about getting away from Android – and that would be like turning Microsoft’s stomach upside down. It’s not going to happen. I don’t want a forced UI that isn’t customizable. I am not a power user, but I am also not an unenlightened sheep.
• Rauvin: I’d probably just jump for a more privacy-centric operating system. One with a decent update program that all OEMs have to respect, along with the operating system that respect my data but still has a lot of the customization and functionality of Android. Just having a great new operating system may not be enough.
• disqus_jdDrXoKt8V: I would prefer the platform that protects my privacy better and gives me more control over it. Until recently, it looked like iOS did better than Android when it came to protecting users from ads and marketers, and generally not to sell user information. But now Apple has stepped in by breaching the integrity of the end-to-end encryption of their messages. Not good decisions!
• Derek Jennings: I’m probably leaving it because I’m tired of Google not bothering about it. Wear v2 is barely working, they killed Play Music for YouTube Music which is junk and not even supported by the Google Assistant, and other things like this keep showing how little they care about their core customers.
• Blaize19: When webOS came back.
• Zagreus: For me, the operating system is not the be-all and end-all. For me, “Android” is the standard operating system, whereby all other operating system variants are similar but different and have their own frustrations and functions. I’d leave any version of Android for hardware features, a combination of small enough to really use a one-handed 3.5mm jack, wireless charging, and a decent SoC. The best I’ve seen is 3 out of 4 (iPhone 12 mini, Pixel 4a, etc). I would even consider the Xperia 1 III if it wasn’t that expensive.
• Brian: Bring back Windows Phone. Yes, seriously.
• rouxenator: I stayed with Symbian until the end. Might as well do with Android.

That’s it for this poll. Thank you for all of your votes and comments. What would make you quit Android? Do you agree with the survey results? If you have any other thoughts please drop them below.