> - Chrome/chromium is adware garbage now. FireFox is the only browser I use

This is actually one of the stronger arguments in favour of Android's though, you can install (real) firefox and (fully functional) ublock origin, while Apple prevents you from doing so on their non-macos products.

Safari on iOS worldwide supports extensions. There is UBlock origin lite and i.e vinagre for youtube background videos. I am still amazed google does not allow extensions on their default browser.

Microsoft Edge on Android now also supports some extensions, one being uBlock Origin. Seems just as powerful as the real thing. And has the benefit of using the Chrome engine.

Firefox on Android isn't just a reskin of chrome? When did that change?

It never was. There was firefox lite 2018-2021 that was apparently, but going back to 2010 Firefox was Firefox.

Pixel phones have won blind camera tests last few years without Apple coming close though.

This is tricky. Most Android phones apply heavy color saturation and contrast adjustments, by default, to the images and the display itself, where iPhone tends to keep things more "raw". But, "pop" is what the average person usually prefers. It's post processing step that can heavily influence favor, unrelated to the camera. The Samsung cameras are still objectively better though, in many metrics.

My work involves showing images accurately on screens, and I always have dig through all the settings to make the Android phones just to show an image without heavy modification (for Samsung, it's 3 separate settings!). There is no such setting for iPhone, where the default experience is a (literally) color calibrated screen.

In my view Pixels have been dominating in still photos for years but their video has never been on par with iPhone. I'd put my old Pixel 3's still camera up against my iPhone 13 any day (if my Pixel hadn't bricked itself a little out of warranty like all of mine seemed to).

The difference between the photos on any flagship phone for the past 5 or so years is insignificant and mostly up to personal preference, but the difference between iPhone and anything else in videos is massive.

This is because iPhone photos are ubiquitous which causes photos from less common phones to stand out. And the less common phones likely optimize for this A/B test scenario by e.g. increasing contrast and saturation. Meanwhile Apple likely has little to no interest in optimizing for A/B tests with minor smartphone players, and instead optimizes merely for delivering satisfying photos in the widest range of scenarios.

Pixel photos are very good too, for the record. I just think the "blind camera test" is worthless.

That's quite an interesting way to explain why Apple does poorly in blind tests. The real reason though is that Apple's cameras are just not as good, but I suppose it's easier to explain away by making up biases.

My and your personal preferences for one camera over the other isn't the issue. Nor am I claiming that one is objectively better than another. My point is that blind tests (between two cameras of similar quality) are worthless simply because they don't reflect the preferences the test-taker would actually have given extensive use of each camera.

The issues with blind tests like this are well-known. I assure you I have no interest in persuading you to alter your own preferences.

For pictures but not for video, the stabilisation is better on iOS typically

Stabilization is about to all become post processing AI based and if we know there is only thing Apple sucks at now a days it's software.

There’s huge value in having proper optical stabilisation, even if you’re using AI better input will still equal better output.

What if I personally don't tend to agree with most people over what constitutes a good looking photo?

> I back everything up to my NAS via an iCloud docker shim

As someone who refuses to pay extra for iCloud storage, can you tell me how to do this? I haven't figured out a good (read: easy) way to backup photos from my iPhone to computer/external storage (I don't want to use iTunes software cause I don't need everything syncing both ways).

Image Capture used to be the simple way, but they removed the "delete imported items from phone" option and made it default instead now, which is quite the landmine.

I'd be curious too. Family fills up iCloud very quickly. I use a self hosted immich instance on my nas to back photos up and share with family members.

Have you tried the app PhotoSync? It has tons of options to automatically back up all your iPhone photos to somewhere.

I was under the impression that every browser running on iOS was just backed by WebKit - so it's basically just a firefox skin.

Try Brave on iOS. Adblock that works, and for free.