These are all very valid arguments...except that first one. I'm going to point out why you should not get a feature phone/dumbphone right here:
- Software's proprietary
- No E2EE messengers like Signal
- On that topic, typically no browsers like Brave
- Also on that topic, no Tor/VPN support, no way to change DNS server, no way to deny location data, etc.
- Typically poor software support, meaning vulnerabilities may never get patched
- Typically poor processing power
- The aforementioned Nokia N95 is a 3G phone, and every carrier on the planet either has already shut the 3G network down or is in the process of shutting it down
That leaves us with two real choices, an iPhone or an Android phone. If you were to ask me even five years ago, I'd have said Android phones were vastly superior, and would likely have led you to a OnePlus device. These days they're almost equal (Android still has the edge over iPhone) and I'll steer people over towards either the latest iPhone or the latest Google Pixel.
Why to pick/not pick an iPhone:
- Code's not public, which means it's difficult to find vulnerabilities (this can be either a positive or a negative)
- +You can back your phone up through your computer even though Apple recently made it to where most of your iCloud backups is now encrypted
- +Both the hardware and the software is designed in-house, meaning a seamless interface with even third-party apps
- +iPhones typically have much longer update support (the iPhone 5 series, for example, was released in 2014 and received a security update in January 2023 - while not iOS 16.3, it's still an update 9 years later)
- -Cannot change the default messenger/dialer away from Apple's apps
- -Most toggles are hard to find on purpose
- -Web browsers are all running WebKit
- -You're stuck with Apple
Why to pick/not pick an Android phone (NOTE: The minuses can be mitigated by just buying a Pixel):
- +Open source, meaning it's easy to find and patch vulnerabilities on your own
- +Can change the default dialer/messenger to something more privacy-respecting
- +Toggles are relatively easy to find
- +Web browsers are running their own engines
- +Pixels often have the least amount of tracking of all non-modified Android phones
- +Work profiles can help further compartmentalize your apps from one another
- +Can degoogle Android, and it's easiest to do so on a Pixel
- -Samsung and OnePlus track you through their own apps
- -Too many "cheap" Android phones that can be loaded with malware due to poor support
It's really up to your personal preference here. Both devices run some version of UNIX (iPhone is based on OsX, Android is based on Debian) and have similar security in that regards. It's a matter of risk vs reward on your choice of daily driver. I personally own two Pixels (see EDC). The former is my "personal" phone and the latter is my "professional" phone.
It's also worth noting that you can now secure both Google accounts and Apple IDs behind FIDO2 USB security tokens. Apple literally just added this functionality in January 2023 while Google has had it for a few years. I highly recommend buying at least 3 FIDO2 tokens and configuring them (Apple ID requires 2 of them at a minimum).
While I'm on the topic of UNIX-based phones, I want to touch on Linux Mobile devices. They're often not as private as their Android counterparts. I have a PinePhone that I have never been able to get working right no matter which distro I flash on it. If you really need Linux on your phone that bad, just install Termux on an Android phone.
One more thing: It's also safer to browse the web and do other stuff on a smartphone than it is on a dumbphone/feature phone or a PC. Both Android and iOS operate on "the principle of least privilege." What this means is that an app doesn't do anything you don't let it do, and has to ask for permission to use specific features on the phone (for example, the Facebook app - WHICH YOU SHOULD NOT BE USING AT ALL - has to ask permission to access your location, contacts, files, etc.). This principle doesn't exist on PCs, and the one OS that even restricts just location data system-wide is Windows.
The principle of least privilege also means that apps can't read what other apps are doing unless you give those apps specific permission to do so. This is why I'm more comfortable using Brave on my iPad than my Linux laptop despite the iPad version running WebKit. I'm even more comfortable running Brave on my Pixel. Of course, this is predicated on you not simply blindly pressing "allow" on every permission pop-up just to get rid of it.
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