Subj : Stop waiting for the perfect smartphone AI the iPhone 16 Pro and To : All From : TechnologyDaily Date : Mon May 05 2025 19:15:08 Stop waiting for the perfect smartphone AI the iPhone 16 Pro and Pixel 9 Pro are awesome just the way they are Date: Mon, 05 May 2025 18:00:00 +0000 Description: Pay no attention to the machine behind the curtain FULL STORY ====================================================================== It is a dark time for smartphone fans. The news seems glum. Apple is sinking deeper and deeper into trouble over its failure to deliver a satisfying Apple Intelligence package. Phone makers like Motorola launch brand new phones with an hour explaining the AI features , then forget to mention the phone itself. Samsung finds itself holding hands with Google as it drops AI feature after AI feature first it was just Circle to Search , but now Samsung has given Google Gemini the Bixby button ?! Dark times indeed. The worst part is that nobody asked for these features. I dont want these AI features on my phone. I could already drop a screenshot image into Google Search, I didnt need to draw a circle to search. I never looked at my iPhone 14 and thought, Gee, I wish this phone could inaccurately summarize my notifications for me. For every great AI feature, like Googles awesome call screening features, there are twice as many terrible AI features, like the image generators that are problematic on so many levels, or the news headline summaries that simply make up imaginary news . Bad AI is distracting us from great phones Thats sad, because if you took away this AI bloat, todays phones are really great?! Todays Android phones have matured beyond most of the complaints Ive held about Android: that it was too complex and lacked a coherent interface design. To Apples defense, there are so many incredible features in iOS 18, especially the features that work between iPhones and bring iPhone people together, that it seems a shame Apple wasted so much of its billboard space on features that dont even exist, yet, like the super-intelligent Siri that unfortunately failed to graduate in time. The new Pixel 9 Pro is the most polished Pixel phone ever (Image credit: Philip Berne/ Future) Take the Google Pixel 9 series, for example. Google has a great new design, and the phone is more durable than ever before. That means its less likely to break, and youll be able to keep it longer than phones in the past. To back that up, Google also gives you seven years of Android updates. The phone shipped with Android 14, and it should last through Android 21! Thats just incredible. A few years ago, we were lucky to get any software update promised from an Android phone maker. Today, Google and Samsung both promise seven years of Android updates for their top phones, and even Qualcomm promises its Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset will be supported for the next eight years by the chipmaker. If you havent considered Android, or if you left the platform years ago, its worth a new look. Google has removed most of the confusing customization options that cluttered the home screen and app drawer. The whole interface is clean and tidy, and easier to use than ever. If you want to get complicated, you can still download a third-party homescreen launcher app, but the basic Pixel version of Android is refreshing and simplified. Apple is just as distracted as Android If you havent tried Apples iOS in a while, there are amazing new features that let you share between iPhones. You can share your contact information, photos, or even music playlists to let friends add songs to the party mix. You do this just by bringing two iPhones close together , and the phones do the rest using a feature called AirDrop. It works like magic, and it even has a cool magical effect on the screen to show its working. Apple has also added great safety features to the iPhone that let you check in with friends and family so they can know youre safe. If you think that iOS is too simple, think again. Apple has made it easy to completely customize and rearrange your Control Panel , and the iPhone homescreen now has the same sort of widgets , folders, and layout options youd expect from an Android phone. (Image credit: Apple) Best of all, Apples latest titanium build means the new iPhone is also more durable than ever before. Apple doesnt promise seven years of iOS updates, but it has consistently delivered at least five years of iOS to every single iPhone, and recently, Apple has offered the latest software to iPhones that are even older. While AI seems unavoidable, you can still ignore most of the latest AI features and just enjoy a great smartphone. Apple and Google are making top-notch phones in spite of their best AI efforts, so dont let the AI marketing and buzzwords scare you away. The Pixel 9 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro are the best phones these companies have made. Hopefully, the quest for smarter AI doesnt keep the hardware from improving as well. You might also like Apple officially delays the AI-infused Siri and admits, Its going to take us longer than we thought The Bella Ramsey Apple Intelligence ad that disappeared, and why Apple is now facing a false advertising lawsuit AI took a huge leap in IQ, and now a quarter of Gen Z thinks AI is conscious ====================================================================== Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/phones/stop-waiting-for-the-perfect-smartphone-ai-th e-iphone-16-pro-and-pixel-9-pro-are-awesome-just-the-way-they-are --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 (Linux/64) * Origin: tqwNet Technology News (1337:1/100) .