I got an iPhone 4S, and why it's enough for me

[starseerdrgn]

 So, I now have a used/refurbed iPhone 4S to my name, and I'm satisfied. See, I bought an iPhone for a few specific reasons.

1 – Calls and SMS/MMS/iMessage from my Macs

Since I run MacOS 10.10 (Yosemite) on my iMac, and MacOS 10.12 (Sierra) on my MacBook Air, I can answer and make calls through my iPhone via the Facetime app on OS X. I can also send and receive messages through the iMessages app, including SMS and MMS, so long as my phone is on the same wifi access point. This is immensely helpful for me, since having to reach over for my phone—which can sometimes be across the room—can take me away from what I'm doing. With this, I just respond to a notification on my desktop, and the call goes over my headset. 👍

2 – iCloud Drive and Photos library

On my Macs, I use iCloud (it works better than Dropbox and OneDrive, for sure), and keep photos in my Photos cloud library as a secondary backup. With an iPhone, I can save my photos there natively, and get to my files on iCould without issue. (more on this below)

3 – iTunes

Yes, I still use iTunes. A lot of people take the piss out of it, but I still like it. Outside of Winamp, it's my favorite jukebox these days (what with the deaths of Zune and Groove Music). iPhone works great with iTunes.

4 – Safari

I don't trust most browsers. Firefox has gone to shit as of late, Opera is effectively Diet Chrome, and I don't trust either of them. Edge is okay, but only Windows 10, and I won't touch that OS. SeaMonkey's development keeps getting held back by the failing Mozilla, Pale Moon doesn't work on OS X, and other browsers are pretty much third-class citizens in the "Use Chrome or Else" world of web browsing. Safari still works quite well, though. I like it, I like WebKit, and it's a good browser.

iOS Safari and MacOS Safari sync up data like bookmarks and tabs, so this is a huge plus for me.

5 – The apps I want

Frotz (interactive fiction interpreter), LimeChat (IRC), YouTube, myAT&T (paying the bill and checking remaining data), Telegram, iBooks, iTunes, Safari, Photos, Messages, Mail, Phone, Notes. Seriously, I only needed to install 5 apps that weren't there by default, and that's all I really needed. I'll probably need Steam later (because fuck Steam Guard for being proprietary and relying on a smartphone app), but these are all I really need.

 

So, you're probably thinking: Why not just get a cheap Android phone and find alternatives?

Well... For one, this iPhone 4S only set me back $38 and some change, since I bought it off eBay.

For another, the cheap Android devices tend to be utter crap. The Acatel One Touch that my mate Sildrae has is nice, but it's hard to find them around town or online for a decent price these days. And I won't buy Samsung after the hell I had from them with my old laptop (Failtop the First), voiding the warranty due to a defective HDD and no way to recover the key on the drive. HTC would be the only good one in my book, but I don't have the money for one of their handsets.

I also rather like Apple's offerings for services, and I already use Macs. Plus, I like the feel of the iPhone 4S, even though many people don't.

And... Well, I just wanted an iPhone again. Outside of Windows Phone 8 and Firefox OS (both of which are dead), iOS has given me the most enjoyable experience of all phone OSes. I don't enjoy using Android, and never have. It always comes out as a mess for me.

I'm glad I have this phone, it has a fresh battery, and I'm sure it'll last me quite a while.