# I hate my IPhone, suggestions? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 21, 2023, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-my-iphone-suggestions/993473 "2023-11-21T12:09:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2023, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-my-iphone-suggestions/993473/81 "2023-11-22T19:40:28Z")
Just hit the green button in the upper-left corner. ---
**Author:** ![echoreply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/echoreply/32/3641_2.png) [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2023, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-my-iphone-suggestions/993473/82 "2023-11-22T19:50:56Z")
I have a friend who is _extremely_ tech savvy, and he switches between iPhone and Android every few phones. He’s perfectly capable of using either, but eventually some hardware or software bug or design issue will drive him away. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2023, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-my-iphone-suggestions/993473/83 "2023-11-22T20:00:43Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > Just hit the green button in the upper-left corner. There is no green button. And that’s exactly the reason tech is so very very unpleasant. The times that someone has told me, “just … do this simple thing, and then presto!” and the simple thing is nowhere to be found, or come to find out it’s the button that locks all your files are as numberless as the sands on the beach of a country I was sorry I ever visited. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2023, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-my-iphone-suggestions/993473/84 "2023-11-22T20:02:26Z")
Well, you’ll only see it if the phone app is in use, and in the background. I suppose it’s fairly subtle, though. ---
**Author:** ![echoreply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/echoreply/32/3641_2.png) [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2023, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-my-iphone-suggestions/993473/85 "2023-11-22T20:24:04Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > There is no green button. And that’s exactly the reason tech is so very very unpleasant Believe me, this can be frustrating for people who are good with tech, too. Me: _can’t do thing I used to be able to do_ Me: _searches, finds outdated explanation_ Me: _date limits search, finds lots of junk websites with new dates and old explanation, but no new explanation_ Me: _Posts to someplace_ How do I do this thing? Others: Here is the old outdated explanation Me: No Others: You’re an idiot (If I’m luck) Yet others: No really, it doesn’t work like that anymore (If I’m really luck) Dev who wrote the damn thing: Now you have to swipe in a circle ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2023, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-my-iphone-suggestions/993473/86 "2023-11-22T20:31:57Z")
I know what you are talking about and if you aren’t looking for it it is completely unnoticeable. And even if you did notice it, it’s not exactly intuitive that you touch it to hang-up rather than just being an indication that you have a phone call in progress even though your screen is showing your email. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2023, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-my-iphone-suggestions/993473/87 "2023-11-22T20:45:57Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > Well, you’ll only see it if the phone app is in use, and in the background. > I suppose it’s fairly subtle, though. Yeah - as opposed to being able to see the big honking red “hang up” button which is how you expect to be able to end a call. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2023, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-my-iphone-suggestions/993473/88 "2023-11-22T20:49:04Z")
Well, to be fair… A smart phone is **not** a desktop computer. There’s extremely limited screen real estate, so putting up an huge “hang up” button over whatever app you are trying to use (while on the phone) would probably not be very well received by most people. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2023, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-my-iphone-suggestions/993473/90 "2023-11-22T20:54:18Z")
Well, for a first post, that’s pretty amazingly wrong. The iPhones are consistently rated best in battery life (compared to other smart phones). As for the camera losing is “viability” - I don’t even know what that means. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2023, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-my-iphone-suggestions/993473/91 "2023-11-22T20:57:29Z")
I don’t disagree - but “Just hit the green button in the upper-left corner.” sounds kind of dismissive of the person who didn’t notice it / doesn’t realize it will end the call. And wouldn’t a red button make more sense? Since it’s the red button I hit to end the call if only the phone app is open. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2023, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-my-iphone-suggestions/993473/92 "2023-11-22T20:58:47Z")
No, hitting the green button does not hang up the call - it takes you back to the phone app, so you can hang up, hold, merge or mute calls. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2023, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-my-iphone-suggestions/993473/93 "2023-11-22T21:41:28Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > Go look at Garmin again. You absolutely do **not** need a phone to be anywhere near the watch for recording & you can see some metrics of your activity on the watch. What you need a phone or PC for is to upload it to their site. Either on the phone or website you can see much more than you can on just your watch. However, your activity is saved on your watch until you go home & upload it; that can be days/weeks later. > > Garmin watches are GPS devices first & lite-smart watches second. Almost all of them go at least a week, & the longest life of [up to two months](https://www.garmin.com/en-US/blog/general/how-long-will-my-garmin-smartwatch-battery-last/) . An apple watch wouldn’t make it thru the day if you’re doing a long bike ride with GPS on. Your tone is somewhat accusatory, but I suggest you look at Garmin again yourself. For example, your claims for battery life are quite wrong - using a moderately priced model ($299) the [vívoactive® 5](https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/1057989#specs) shows a battery life WITH GPS ENABLED (the whole point of the exercise) of 21 hours, -7- if you’re using music and other features. Sure, if I turn off almost all the features, it’ll last for much, much longer, but that’s true of most smart and no-so-smart devices. Which is something I explicitly stated in the section you quoted, so I am somewhat frustrated with your criticism. Onto your next criticism, sure, you can get tiny bits of basic information on a smartwatch (Garmin, or any of the others) - but lets be honest, no? If you’re looking at more than 2-3 individual pieces of data, there’s no way to review it on that screen. As I said, I have a smartwatch myself. So again, to access most of the information you DO need a smartphone or PC, _ESPECIALLY_ since the OP was referencing their current tracking information such as AllTrails which would be neigh (heh) unusable for trail tracking and the like, even if a smartwatch option existed. Last, I made plenty of qualifiers in the section you quoted and the rest of my post. Sure, if I wanted to blow all of the OPs money, you can always get more, longer, better performance, even solar supplemental options. But I was talking generalities, and was clear about it, even down to the use of emphasis italics for “seems” right before I said “most”. Seriously, I have no problems with Garmin, heck, if you read my other post after I linked the Spot I specifically said “I’m sure Garmin and other better known outfits make similar devices”. For that matter, the horseback riding feature isn’t (according to Garmin) available on all devices, but MOST have the option to download an App for that via Garmin Connect, which is right back to my earlier cautions. So, please moderate your judgement, you’ve certainly more overgeneralized than I, and with fewer qualifiers. -cough- Anyway, back to the OP - all smartphone OS (the various flavors of iOS, Android, even Windows [which was actually my favorite for a few years] ) have their quirks, and each update changes _something_ that is bound to affect some or many users poorly. Again, that’s the OPs point in part - the recent update changed the way they interact with the device in a way that they’re ready to look for alternatives. The rest of the arguments about simplicity / ease of use of one or the other aren’t really germane - nor is the criticism that the OP should just keep digging away at something that’s become an obvious chore. Especially because _it WILL happen again_, if not this update, then the next, or on the next phone. Now, the OP _can_ choose to make that effort, frustrating though it may be. They can embrace alternate options, which I tried to lay out to the best of my ability, but that had consequences as well. This site seems to be most apropos and _relatively_ recent (7 months) > **[GPS for Rookies: Tracking Miles on Horseback](https://horserookie.com/gps-for-horseback-trail-riding/)** > > Utilizing GPS within an app or a wearable device is a great way to track your ride. GPS technology can add an extra layer of safety to your solo ride, provide useful insights into your performance, and help you achieve your horseback-riding goals.... And oh look, it specifically mentions some of the ones I and others mentioned above: satphones (including the Garmin InReach which @Spiderman suggested), other _dedicated_ wearables, and even the Spot trackers. Although some seem more pricy and single-tasker than makes sense, although I’m sure it does for horse-focused invididuals. Maybe it’ll give @Ulfreida a good place to start looking, or so I hope. ---
**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2023, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-my-iphone-suggestions/993473/94 "2023-11-23T03:24:26Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Yeah - as opposed to being able to see the big honking red “hang up” button which is how you expect to be able to end a call. If you’re in the phone app, just tap the big honking red “hang up” button. Or just push the big honking side button. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2023, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-my-iphone-suggestions/993473/95 "2023-11-23T03:26:01Z")
But people having this complaint aren’t in the phone app; they’ve moved to some other app while yakking on the phone and now need to hang up. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2023, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-my-iphone-suggestions/993473/96 "2023-11-23T03:29:41Z")
Right. That’s what the green button in the upper left corner is for. ---
**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2023, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-my-iphone-suggestions/993473/97 "2023-11-23T03:31:49Z")
Or just push the big honking side button. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2023, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-my-iphone-suggestions/993473/98 "2023-11-23T03:40:34Z")
There’s a side button that hangs up the phone? That’s not very intuitive. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2023, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-my-iphone-suggestions/993473/99 "2023-11-23T03:44:33Z")
I’m an Android guy; I despise all things “I”. It would never occur to me that any of the side buttons on an Android device hung up the phone. I sure hope they don’t. I just checked, and none of the three side “buttons” (one of which is a non-moving touchpad) hang up the phone. ---
**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2023, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-my-iphone-suggestions/993473/100 "2023-11-23T03:45:04Z")
To a certain type of person, maybe. But now that you know about it, you probably won’t forget it. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2023, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-my-iphone-suggestions/993473/101 "2023-11-23T04:13:41Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > There’s a side button that hangs up the phone? No, there’s a side button that honks. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-my-iphone-suggestions/993473.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-my-iphone-suggestions/993473.md?page=6)